A Beautiful Kind of Hope (A Beautiful Kind of Series Book 1)

by Cathy Johns

  “Thank you, guys… you all know how much this means to me.” I tuck my hands into my pants pocket and walk around the room not sure how this is going to sound having brought a new face they are yet to know as the woman who’ll be dealing with the children’s home. I know I have complete faith in Hope and that she won’t mess this one up, don’t ask me how but I know. It’s this gut feeling I have that can’t be denied. She’s the right person for this and I see how happy she was with Kelly and not forgetting her child…

  “I want Hope to be in charge of that.” There, I’ve said it. It’s all in the open.

  I see Leo and Mark push their chairs behind and look at me like I’ve lost my mind before that look turns into a small grin and its times like this I want to have those supernatural powers where I can read their minds and know what the hell they’re all smiling about.

  “About time brother” Sam says. “That woman has you wrapped around her fingers.” He adds before they all burst into laughter. These men will be the end of me.

  “Does not.” I try to defend but I know with Sam, I can’t argue. He already knows more than the others and his woman, Molly, damn, I forgot he’s been on her case since the first time we walked into that strip club. I thought he was still into older women but seeing him with Molly over the weekend, I knew my brother has got it bad this time.

  “Oh, yes brother.” The three of them chip in at the same time, leaving Cecilia looking at me with a smile on her face.

  “She sure is something,” Cecilia says before standing up to leave the room and then pauses at the door. “I know she won’t disappoint you Taylor.” She adds.

  “How do you know that?” I ask.

  “Because I do.” I know that’s a story for another day as Cecilia walks out of the room closing the door behind her.

  I turn to look at my brothers and I find them whispering at each other like some women before turning their eyes on me.

  “Are you done gossiping?” I ask smirking at them.

  “We weren’t gossiping, we were actually talking about you” Mark says.

  “And?” where in the hell did I pick them from?

  “Hope has you wrapped around her fingers brother and we are happy that now you have a pussy to poke your dick into” Leo says. Damn it, they will truly be the end of me.

  “And who said I’ll be poking my dick in her pussy?” I ask trying to avoid this conversation before they all see through my bullshit but I’m not ready for what Leo says next.

  “Fuck, you haven’t had sex with her yet?” I knew he’d see through me.

  “What makes you think I haven’t?” I ignore his question, I want to be done with this meeting before my girl arrives and finds us talking about pussy and dick here.

  “Because it’s written all over your face, brother.” Sam says and I feel like I want to punch his stupid face.

  “Sex frustrations” Mark adds.

  “Nope. He’s waiting for the right time. Remember, the guy has gone for almost five years without sex” they all shake their heads but the grin on their face… “I feel sorry for his hand.” Leo says and I flip him the bird.

  “Assholes” I mutter.

  “Tell me something,” Mark raises his eyebrow, his mouth curling to the side. “Have you even gone down on her?” his question makes me want to throw a file at him.

  “I’m not discussing my sex life with you man-whores” I say before we hear a knock on the door. I stand up to open it and wow, Hope stands on the other side and I feel the urge to protect her from my crazy asshole of brothers.

  The smile on her face makes me forget that I have three sets of eyes looking at us, I want to devour her mouth and get her out of that pretty dress she’s wearing that’s hugging her hips in a way I never thought possible. I trail my eyes all over her body, taking in everything that’s on her and I feel jealous that my brothers can see what I’m seeing.

  “Hey” I murmur.

  “Hi yourself” she says tiptoeing and planting a soft kiss on my lips. That’s enough to have my dick responding. I pull her in my arms and kiss her like this is the first time I’m tasting her lips, lips that taste like strawberry. She prefers lip gloss to lipstick and I’m okay with that, almost natural. Deepening the kiss, I press her hip against my cock and I know she knows how badly she affects me because she nips on my lip before breaking the kiss, giving me that look that has my pre-cum coating my boxers.

  Jesus!

  Clearing my throat, I adjust my hard dick and take her hand in mine.

  “Gentlemen” none of them deserves to be called gentlemen. Their actions speak louder than words when I see them gawking at my woman. “You all remember Hope?” I hear them clearing their throats before humming a response.

  “Yes” they say and you’d think it’s some sort of a church choir.

  “Hope, you remember my brothers?” I know she does.

  “Yes.” She says before her eyes land on Leo.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I’ve got a lunch date.” With that, I walk out of the boardroom not looking back as I lead us to my office. I just want to be with my woman and no one should interrupt us.

  Heading to my office, I open the door for her and she walks in as I take my time ogling her. She has one fine ass. Her curves are in all the right places and to think other men have seen her makes me see red. No one is allowed to look at her. Whatever her life was it’s in the past and I’m the only one allowed to see her naked, and that ass… everything about her belongs to me.

  Walking in behind her, I close the door but don’t turn the lock as I walk to my desk and sit behind it. I give her time to look around my office as she leans on the door, taking it in.

  A man can get used to this. Gazing at her as I trail my eyes along her gorgeous body.

  Hope

  After admiring his office, I turn the lock on his office door making sure it’s locked before walking slowly, my eyes never leaving his as I watch him prop his elbows on top of his desk. This is the first time he has invited me to his office even when I’m supposed to be here for other things, like what he has in mind towards the Children’s home and what he really needs from me. ‘You’re mine and I’ll always take care of what’s mine, Hope.’ Those were his words almost a month ago. I’m his, always will be his even with all the doubts I have.

  Why me?

  He chose me, a girl struggling to make ends meet, a sick mother who hardly remembers who she is and a brother who calls her his mother.

  Life. It couldn’t have gotten any better.

  I kind of froze when I knocked on his boardroom meeting after Cecilia directing me there. I didn’t expect to find his brothers, the way their eyes glazed on me making me feel like I could wish for the world to open up and swallow me whole. Nothing about their gaze seemed to be judging me and I’m used to having men look at me like they want to devour me and have their way with me, but looking at his brothers felt somehow strange. Only Sam can tell who I am, but the rest… I guess we’ll have to come clean about it soon since I wouldn’t want them thinking that I’m with their brother because of his money.

  “What are you thinking in that pretty head of yours?” Taylor asks snapping me out.

  “Your brothers” I say without thinking. I promised myself that I’ll never keep things from him and my worry is part of me being honest with him.

  “What about my brothers?” he asks.

  “Maybe they think I’m with you because of who you are” I whisper tugging on my dress.

  He rubs his thumb on his chin his eyes never leaving mine and I wish I knew what he was thinking about, maybe he thinks the same thing too. Damn it, I can’t help myself when my head tells me that I have nothing to offer him. Why doesn’t he get it that we’re not of the same circle, that we live in two different worlds?

  “You need to change your perception, baby.” He says. “Maybe I need to prove to you in some other way why it has to be you. Why I chose you.” He adds. His words are enough to make my hear
t want to rip out of my chest, and I know I have this smile that’s about to hurt my cheeks since I can’t smile more than I have. Never in my life have I ever known a man who would keep reminding me why it has to be me and no one else. Most men are after what’s between my legs and that’s not what I wanted for myself. I always thought that I’d meet someone who’s as humble as I am and he’ll take care of me like a man is supposed to do and respect me above all other things but Taylor… he was the last man I was expecting.

  He’s charming as hell, a sex-god who seems to have me twisted in the right places and looking at him, I can’t help myself but get lost in him

  “I want to kiss you” he says.

  “I would like that.” I murmur.

  “And maybe taste you” that has me clenching my legs together. He should have used the word eat me up because he devours me like I’m this meal he can’t do without.

  “How about we skip the kissing part” I giggle.

  “Not going to happen baby.” I giggle again when I see him lick his lips. I guess all thoughts of what we were to talk about are somewhere waiting for us in his boardroom or outside his office door. “It’s just us two.” He says as if reading my mind on how we’re going to keep things down when I quite well know he tends to make my voice box hurt after so much screaming and begging.

  His brown eyes never leave mine as he taps his index finger subconsciously on the armrest, his other hand tightening around the armrest of his office chair as if fighting his own will to stand up and come to where I am.

  “Good to know” I bite my lip. “I might discover today a part of me that I never knew existed and wouldn’t want your employees looking at you later in a weird way.” I tease.

  “Baby, you can scream all you want because what I have in mind…” he lets his words trail off as his eyes devour every part of me.

  This teasing has to stop today. His mouth detonates me like some fireworks on New Year’s Eve and it’s not doing me any good, rather, it’s leaving me sated and frustrated at the same time. Sexually frustrated. I don’t want to hold it any longer, I’m going to give myself to him, today, maybe even now and not care about the consequences later.

  A part of me wants to know if he’s capable of the things he keeps whispering into my ears. I want to know if he’s able to fulfill each and every single word he promised.

  I walk towards where he’s seated and push his chair behind so I can stand between him and his desk, I turn around so I can create some space on top of his desk before turning my front to him and prop myself on top of his desk. My white floral dress hikes up exposing my thighs and I can see the excitement in his eyes as he watches my mocha toned thighs. He runs a finger over them and then pulls away.

  “You look beautiful” he says, this time his eyes search for mine so I can see the honesty in them. To this man, I’m not just a woman he wants to toy around with, sleep with, and then throw away like a fish bone. No, he’s made sure that since the first time we met at the club, no other man has been able to come close to me.

  Being the youngest billionaire in the country at the age of twenty-six, that’s a challenge to so many people out there especially men who rely on their parent’s fortune to make it through in life. And for Taylor, this is all his sweat, nothing to do with his parent’s fortune even when his father was a well know man in the country.

  I made sure to stand my ground that I’m not interested in getting his help and he made it clear to me that I was not to allow any other man beside him lay their filthy hands on me. Well, that was something that seemed next to impossible to do since having to spend most of my nights as a stripper and the men who came at the club had one thing in mind… making sure they grabbed some asses and boobs, and if given a chance, some pussies. To Taylor, it was very simple, no man was to lay a finger on his woman’s body whether he was there or not.

  I came to learn later that he was in cohorts with my best friend, Molly and one of our bouncers at the club to keep an eye on me. All I could do was dance, sometimes on the poles and watch the crowd go wild and right now I’m glad he did that. I know he says he owns me but I never see it like I’m his property. I’m this woman he respects even when he is just him, doing things because they feel okay to him, carrying me over his shoulder and giving me mind-blowing orgasms.

  When he asked me to come work for him, I refused. I didn’t want him to pity me and the fact that I had responsibilities to take care of seemed next to possible. I’ve met men out there who will say anything just to get under your pants. They will promise you heaven and earth but I learned that the hard way when I thought my mother was happy, but when the man got what he wanted from her, he went MIA. I don’t want to make that same mistake but with Taylor, I want to take that risk. Risk it all.

  I’m a stubborn woman. The things I’ve been through have clearly turned me into that person. I don’t take small gestures for granted, they caused me my mother’s health. Now I have responsibilities to take care of, a mother to support and a son who I adore with everything that is in me. How I wish things were different, that I could have her back and tell her of this sweet man I’ve met and maybe give me relationship advice.

  “What are you thinking?” I hear Taylor ask snapping me out of my reverie. I didn’t see him removing his suit jacket all that time my mind was wondering.

  “Nothing important” I lie. I know this is important and I have to let him know about it but for now, I’ll just enjoy this day.

  “Whatever it is you know you can tell me” Taylor says and I can see he means it from the look he gives me. I know I’m yet to talk to him about last night, my story telling. We didn’t talk about it after Nelly and I talked telling me my mother had a rough day and I know he’s eager to know.

  “Tell me about your child.” He takes my hand in his and squeezes gently. I knew this would come but I never thought it would be now.

  Truth time.

  “Michael” I say a smile on my face. Where do I start?

  “You have a son?” he asks.

  I nod my head as I reach for my phone in my purse. I want to show him a picture that I have of him on my phone. The minute I unlock my phone, I search for the photo in my gallery and show him the photo that takes pride on my screen. The photo was taken a week ago when I had to attend a parent meeting at his school.

  “He’s five years now” I find myself saying. I watch Taylor take his time with the photo and then looks back at me. “He looks like you but I don’t get it.”

  I know what he means. Michael’s dad was from Scotland, a tourist and he met with my mother in one of my mother’s holiday trips in Mombasa. They hit it off like teenagers and when the guy discovered my mother was pregnant, he took off like a coward.

  “He looks like my mother” I tell him. Apart from Michael’s brown skin that looks like Taylor, everything else is my mother.

  “Were you married to the dad?” He asks and I know I have to come clean with this. I don’t know what makes him think like that and not to mention the fact that I confessed to him that I was a virgin last night.

  “Taylor, I wasn’t married and I’ve never been. I’m a twenty-four-year-old virgin who never got to live her life because my family comes first.” I inhale thinking of what to say next before exhaling out. “Taylor, Michael is my baby brother” I whisper.

  “What…? How…?” I can see how confused he is right now but I need to get it all out in order for him to understand.

  “Five years ago, I came home for school break. I had just joined university as a second-year student studying Mass Communication, my life had always been my mom and myself and I was looking forward to spending a few days with her. When I got home, I got the shock of my life, my mother was pregnant. Eight months to be precise. How she managed to hide it from me, I’ll never know. I knew she was seeing someone but I never got to meet this person since the school was out of town and I had projects I was working on and my mom was hardly home. One month later, Michael was born, at firs
t, it all felt wrong, you know, having someone else in our life where for the last nineteen years it had been my mama and I.

  “I was forced to change school and come back home since I didn’t want to be far from my family especially my brother. I guess my bond with Michael started the minute he was born, he was my baby since then…” I laugh when I think of how crazy I would go if I found him crying. “I hated it when he would cry, you know, he was my little angel and I tried the very best to be a wonderful sister but I didn’t know how soon that would change when my mama fell ill.”

  “Oh, sweetheart” Taylor says taking both my hands in his and squeezing gently, assuring me that he’s here for me.

  “One day my mom was laughing and the next she was screaming, yelling at me in a banking hall saying I wanted to kidnap her.” I break in tears when I remember that day.

  “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here. Just let it all out.” I take comfort in the way he has his arms wrapped around me and I let it out before continuing.

  “I had to provide documents so the police could believe that I was truly her daughter even when we both looked alike. I thought it all had to do with postpartum depression but as time went by, things got worse, she started forgetting things that were of importance to her, she would look at Michael and ask whose baby is it, and sometimes it was me she couldn’t remember. She would lock herself in the room and break everything and that’s when I knew something was terribly wrong. I took her to the hospital so that the doctors could check up on her and for a moment I thought my mother was losing her mind and when I booked an appointment for her with a neurologist, that’s when I knew something wasn’t right. Alzheimer’s, that’s what the doctor said. I had to step up Taylor, and be a mother to Michael. At one year, he had no one else but me, we became inseparable, started calling me his mama and I couldn’t stop him. I accepted it all, this fate, and this life. They are all that I have now.

  “My mother’s health made me make decisions that no one else could. I had to drop out of school and look for a job. I got employed as a secretary in one of the well-known law firms in town, I had to get another job and that’s when I started working at the club. I didn’t do any of that because I wanted to. God, stripping my clothes has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. All my life, I wanted that first time I would strip for anyone to be for that special person in my life. Now, there’s nothing special about it, I feel dirty all the time and the men who reach out to touch my skin…” I let my words trail off and look at the man who has his hands wrapped around me, his finger lifting my chin so our gaze is on each other.