by Grace Owens
He ground his very hard erection against me and while my first instinct was to put my hand down his pants, I chose to grab him on the outside instead. Hard.
“Your wife, as you so nicely put it, doesn’t care to know,” I said through clenched teeth.
“You sure?” he challenged and pushed into my hand instead. How was this guy not in pain from me grabbing him? “Because it seems as if she needs to be reminded who she belongs to.”
By some miracle, I managed to spin around in his arms. Sure, the way he was looking at me with hooded eyes made me clench my thighs together, trying to relieve the ache that was slowly building there. But he had no right to talk or touch me like this.
“I belong to no one, Cailean Baker.” I poked him in his chest. Hard. It probably hurt my finger more than it hurt him, though. “Least of all you. Now, take me home or let me go so I can find another way.”
“Like hell you are,” he grumbled and moved to open the passenger door. When he went to help me up into his monster truck, I quickly swatted his hands away. It might have taken me a bit of effort to get up without his help, but there was no way I was going to allow him to touch me again.
He waited until I was buckled before closing the door and rounding the truck to the driver’s side. I was starting to feel even more lightheaded than before. I knew I shouldn’t have been drinking as much as I had and I was sure that I was going to end up regretting it, sooner rather than later, remembering my vow to never drink again after Vegas. Obviously, it was too late for that.
The beast roared to life as Cailean settled into the driver’s seat. I briefly wondered what he did for a living that required him to drive a truck like this. If he had followed his dad’s footsteps and became a dentist, I doubted he needed it. It was possible he had taken after his mom and joined her in the party planning business, although he didn’t look like he was the kind of guy who enjoyed planning anything, let alone someone else’s party.
“What happened to you?” I asked, looking at him for the first time with honest curiosity.
“Oh, so now you’re curious?” he asked with a big smile.
God, he’s beautiful.
I quickly put that thought away. This was Cailean Baker, the guy who had tormented me at every opportunity he could possibly get. He might have said that he wasn’t the same guy anymore, but to me, he was. How could someone possibly forget the guy who had started calling me Gertrude the Rude after I had refused to hand him my lunch one day?
“No,” I said with a big sigh and closed my eyes. This car ride was taking way too long and I was starting to feel uncomfortable, both physically and mentally.
“Do I need to pull over?” he asked worriedly.
“I’m fine.” I closed my eyes in an attempt to will everything to stay where it was supposed to – I didn’t want to ruin his fancy leather seats by puking my guts out. Or maybe I should…
“Okay.”
The car fell silent after that, he never answered my question and I didn’t push him for an answer. It was getting harder to push the nausea away and I would be lucky if I made it all the way home without humiliating myself.
↞ ♥ ↠
I woke up much the same as I had in Vegas, although I wasn’t nearly as hungover as I had been then. My bed felt a bit different and the sheets were softer than I remembered, but with a pounding head and heavy eyelids, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep.
A bursting bladder prevented me from taking any enjoyment in sleeping a bit longer and I reluctantly opened my eyes. Taking a look around, the haze quickly lifted from my eyes as I took in the unfamiliar room.
The bed was a lot bigger than mine and judging by the rumpled look, someone had slept next to me. The whole room screamed male with its dark walls and wooden accents, but I still had my underwear on and I wasn’t sore, so I was pretty sure nothing had happened. Besides, I hadn’t consumed that much alcohol last night, I was sure I would have remembered if something had happened again.
Cailean was supposed to take me home and I remembered falling asleep to the loud rumble of his truck. I vaguely recalled the feeling of being airborne, but that could have been my imagination playing tricks on me.
But… how else did I get here?
Scanning the room for something to cover my almost-naked body with, I saw my dress hanging on the door and my heels carefully placed to the side. The fact that the rest of the room was sort of a mess, made me smile that he had taken such care of my clothes. That was, until I remembered who he was. Still, the mere thought of putting on the fancy dress again made me shudder.
I looked around again and found a discarded t-shirt on the floor to put on. At first I cringed at the thought of wearing anything of Cailean’s, but when his scent enveloped me, I couldn’t help but inhale. There was a hint of cigarette smoke, but mixed with the other scents, it smelled like a campfire.
The bedroom didn’t have a bathroom attached so I carefully peeked out of the door and found it right across the hall. There were noises coming from the apartment, but Cailean was nowhere to be seen so I tiptoed across the hall, feeling the need to be quiet for some reason.
I snooped. Of course I snooped. I was a curious person by nature, but to have access to Cailean’s bathroom proved to be too tempting not to at least look around. Aside from regular bathroom stuff, there was disappointingly nothing exciting to report. It was all very manly - dark grey rugs with matching shower curtain. I guess you couldn’t do much decorating with all the brick walls that seemed to surround the apartment, but it didn’t even look as if he had even attempted to make the place feel more homely.
I dreaded facing Cailean, but after finishing my business, I had no other choice. A shower would have felt good, but it somehow felt too intimate to use his. Especially after what we’d done in Vegas.
The shuffling I had heard earlier was coming from somewhere in the apartment so I knew he was here. The bathroom door creaked behind me as I made my way out into the hallway and followed the sounds coming from the kitchen. It was a small kitchen that looked even smaller with Cailean’s massive frame taking up the space.
“Morning, babe,” he said cheerfully and turned around to face me. My heart skipped a beat at being caught staring, but it was at the sight of him in his tight boxers and his beautiful inked chest on display that really got to me. I was convinced I was dreaming because there was no way I was standing in Cailean’s kitchen after spending the night with him.
Right?
“What-” I cleared my throat, not realizing how hoarse it was. “What happened?”
“Ahh, this again, huh?” He shot me a smile and put a steaming cup of coffee down in front of me. “You got drunk. I took care of you. We fell asleep. Now you’re standing there in my clothes, looking sexy as fuck, while I’m offering you coffee.”
Right. That makes all the sense in the word, I thought sarcastically.
“I’m pretty sure I asked you to take me home,” I muttered and carefully picked up the cup of coffee. I needed it. Desperately.
“And I did,” he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “Just not the home you’re used to.”
I could have gone off on him, but instead I just shot him a glare and sipped on the black coffee. While I wasn’t one of those girls that liked the sugary coffee drinks, some milk would have been nice. But again, I didn’t want to interact with him more than what was necessary. I did, however, need to find my purse so I could get going.
“Purse?” I asked, looking around for it. His apartment was small, but it suited him. The living room was right off the kitchen and I spotted the front door not far from there. It didn’t look as if he had a dining room, but if he was living here by himself, what was the point?
What if he’s not?
I tucked the thought of him having a significant other away for later. Maybe use it for leverage later if he does have someone and I could use it against him somehow. Although, another part of me sure hoped he didn’t. The mere thought of b
eing with someone who belonged to another woman made my skin crawl.
“Over there,” Cailean said, interrupting my rambling thoughts and pointed to the black coffee table.
I rounded the charcoal - a common color scheme in this apartment - couch and found my purse where he said it was. My phone was surprisingly not dead as I fished it out. I tried to shove the hurt of having no messages from Allie asking if I made it home alright and pulled the Uber app up instead. Lesson learned, I would start driving my ass everywhere even if I was offered a ride.
“What are you doing?” Cailean asked from over my shoulder and I jumped at his close proximity.
“Gee, don’t sneak up on people like that!” I put my phone to my chest, preventing him from seeing anything. Not that I was hiding anything. Still, it was private. “I need to go home and take a shower so that I can get a few hours of work in.”
Why are you explaining yourself?
“Take a shower here and then I’ll take you to work.”
“Right, because you can be trusted to take me places.” I shot him a glare. “Besides, I’m not going to work in my bridesmaid dress.”
“Who took a piss in your coffee?” He put his hands up in surrender as if I had somehow offended him. “I’ll take you home.”
I looked down at my coffee in disgust and set it aside. It would have been safer for me to just order an Uber to come pick me up - I didn’t want Cailean to know where I lived - but I was tired and a bit hungover so keeping up with the arguing was the last thing I wanted.
Chapter 4
◆◆◆
CAILEAN KNEW WHERE I lived and yet, it had been weeks since I’d seen him. Six weeks to be exact, not that I was really counting or anything. He had taken me home as promised that morning and while he had tried to invite himself up to my apartment, he hadn’t pushed for anything. I shot him down and that had been it.
Did I wonder what had happened to him? Yes. Did I wonder if I had done anything wrong? Yes. Did I want to wonder about any of those things? Hell no.
I was almost to a point where I dared to hope that he had given up. Any time when there was mail for me, I found myself silently wishing he had come to his senses and served me with divorce papers. Had I been that lucky so far? No.
I had busied myself at work, trying to get my mind off of everything. I guess, technically, it was my internship so it wasn’t my real job… yet. It kept me busy nonetheless, which was a good thing. It kept my mind from wandering, and out of the four of us interns, working harder only made me look more appealing when it came down to whoever got the actual job.
Two more months and I could finally start saving money for a better apartment and get my car fixed rather than patched up. Two more months and I might have a high enough salary to get a lawyer for my divorce.
Two more months, Gertie.
“Gertie!” Allie said loudly, snapping her fingers in front of my face. It wasn’t even seven o’clock in the morning and my thoughts had a way of wandering whenever I was tired, today being no exception. I hadn’t even gotten home until eleven last night, but if anything, the business world was competitive. Long hours were expected.
“Huh?” I asked dumbly, taking a sip from the wonderful coffee I had in my hands.
“I was just asking if you wanted to grab lunch today?” she asked, looking at me with curiosity and a hint of worry.
We were currently carpooling since my car had broken down two weeks ago and it was still in the shop. Granted, it had only been there for a couple of days. Another thing I didn’t have time for. Carpooling wasn’t ideal considering my late nights, but it was nice spending this time with Allie. Whenever I could focus, that is.
“Sure, if I can get enough done before then, I should be able to meet you somewhere.”
“You need to eat,” she scolded, looking me over. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Allie worked as a kindergarten teacher at a school downtown Seattle, something that suited her bubbly personality perfectly. It let her bounce her energy off on little kids rather than on Nick, or me for that matter. However, she also tended to mother everyone, which I normally didn’t mind; it was nice having someone look out for you. She just took it too far sometimes.
“I’m fine,” I answered shortly, instantly regretting my tone. “Sorry, I’m just stressed out with the internship and all that.”
“Okay.” I could tell that she wasn’t buying it and I knew I needed to make sure I carved out enough time for lunch today.
↞ ♥ ↠
I ended up being the shitty friend I had vowed not to be when I had to cancel lunch with Allie. Food was the last thing on my mind. In fact, it took all my effort to keep down the breakfast sandwich I’d scarfed down when I thought my nausea was due to hunger.
I was actually about to leave at a decent hour, causing a few eyebrows to raise in surprise - normally I stayed until it was dark outside - when I bumped into Cailean on my way out.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in surprise and took a look back at my office building, thinking he was maybe meeting up with someone else. Maybe he had a date with someone I worked with, or worse, for. Or maybe he simply had a meeting about a merger since that was what my company did - it bought up smaller companies and merged them together. Sometimes I think my choice of career had something to do with the bullying - I had to work my ass off, but I was in control and I had power. Something Cailean had taken away from me in high school.
“I came to pick you up,” Cailean answered and took my hand without asking.
“I don’t need you to pick me up.”
“Allie told me differently.” He stopped leading me down the busy sidewalk and looked me over. It gave me the opportunity to look him over as well and of course the asshole looked good in black jeans and matching grey Henley. “She said I needed to make sure you were alright and that you left when business hours ended.”
Suddenly, I was furious with Allie for telling him that. If she was so concerned, she could have came and picked me up herself instead of involving Cailean. I knew she had only done it because she cared and that she had no idea who Cailean really was to me, but it still made me angry.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, checking my phone to see how long it would take before my Uber was here.
Five minutes.
“I see you missed me,” Cailean said in an amused tone. I wasn’t in the mood for his games today so I said nothing back, knowing it would turn into an argument if I did. “You can admit you’re happy that I’m back. It won’t kill you.”
“I’m about to puke all over your shoes if you don’t stop talking,” I threatened. Unfortunately, my threat did hold some truth to it.
“You don’t need to use all that charm to get in my pants, Gert. I’m more than willing.” He laughed, probably thinking I meant it as a joke. “How about dinner?”
“Please keep your pants on, Cailean. And no, I do not want to have dinner with you. What I want is to go home and get in bed. And if I could wake up unmarried tomorrow, that would be great too.”
The thought of having dinner with Cailean brought memories back from high school. He and his group always made sure I had no one to sit with at lunch, let alone eat with. One day, I was going to find out what he had done to get the whole school on his side, because how could one teenage boy keep the whole cafeteria too full to leave room for a small teenage girl who just wanted to fit in? Eventually, I had just given up and ate my lunch in the bathroom, on the days that I actually ate lunch. No matter how gross that was, it was a lot better than the whisperings and stares of the cafeteria. Even if I had managed to sit down in that room, it would have been unbearable to know that I was what everyone was talking about.
“How many times do I have to tell you, Gert? You’re mine and you’ll stay that way.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re delusional?”
“Only you, so maybe we need to question who the delusional one is,” he said smugly and I wanted nothin
g more than to slap that smirk off his gorgeous face.
Would we ever get past the constant arguing and battling over who got the last word? I realized with that thought that I thought of Cailean as a common occurrence in my life and not something that would go away. When had that changed? He needed to go away for both our sakes.
“Bye, Cailean,” I said when my Uber pulled up. It was as if I was speaking to a 4-year-old instead of a grown man.
“Later, babe!” he yelled out after me.
Again with having the last word.
↞ ♥ ↠
“I think something’s wrong with me, Allie,” I said in a panic as I stormed past her.
“What?” she asked in confusion as she closed the door and followed me.
“There’s something wrong with me,” I repeated. “I wake up every morning tired as all hell even though I’ve fallen asleep as soon as I get home every night. Then there’s the constant puking even though I don’t have a fever. Though that’s surprising, too, because I’m hot as shit all the time,” I rambled on.
“You don’t think…” she trailed off.
“I think.” I grabbed my purse and fished out the two pink boxes I had bought the night before. I still hadn’t taken a test, too scared of what it might say.
“Don’t you, you know, have to have sex for that to happen?”
“I did. Vegas, remember?” I was surprised she had forgotten about my mystery encounter already considering she was so interested in my love life.
“Well… holy smokes, Gertie,” she said and blew out a giant breath. “I guess you could be on to something. I mean, you did cry while watching that movie last weekend.”
It was true. I had bawled my eyes out while watching a Nicholas Sparks movie with her and Hanna last weekend. I never cried while watching TV.
“Will you help me?” I asked, trying not to freak out. I might just be overreacting. Hopefully.
“I can’t pee on them for you, but I’ll be there when the results come in,” she reassured me.
Thankfully, Nick was working this weekend so we had the house to ourselves. It was embarrassing enough to rope Allie into this and if I could have handled it on my own, I would have done it at home.
