His Every Desire (Contemporary Romance Box Set)

by Alexis Winter

  If I can get out of this job, I’ll gladly take a job anywhere in Chicago to be with them. I don’t care if I lose money or my benefits. None of that matters anymore. Now, all I care about is Mia and our baby.

  It takes me several long minutes before I have myself under enough control to get up. But, I finally stand and finish my walk back to the restaurant. I place my order and sit down, pulling out my phone to call her once again. Like every other time, it goes to voicemail. She can ignore my calls, but she won’t be able to ignore me when I’m back home this weekend.

  Usually, I work six weeks in order to get two weeks off, but this job has been a little more hands-on than most. I left Chicago twelve weeks ago, and I haven’t seen Mia in ten. Levi said she was ten weeks pregnant. That means she must have conceived when she came to Canada to visit me. I laugh when I think about the baby coming out saying Aye. I wonder if she’s counted the weeks and figured it out for herself yet.

  God, I wish she’d answer the phone.

  Since she won’t, I decide that maybe she’ll read a text. I quickly type out a message.

  Mia, please call me back. I love you and want to be with you. Please, call me!

  I drop the phone onto the table and watch it like a hawk, willing it to do something. But nothing ever happens. I eat my dinner, have a few beers, then head back to my room. The whole time, my phone doesn’t leave my hand.

  The week passes slowly—too slowly. I spend all my free time trying to reach Mia, but she never returns any of my messages. I’ve tried calling, texting, email, and Facebook messenger. All have failed to reach her. I’ve talked to Levi several times, and he promises that he’s talked to her, that she’s okay. He even tells me that she’s agreed to pick up the next time I call, but she still doesn’t. I think she’s afraid that if she does answer, I’ll only tell her I want a divorce. She doesn’t know that I know about the baby. And she still doesn’t know the real reason why I want our Vegas wedding to end. I just want the chance to explain. As I pack my things to leave tonight, I pick up my stack of mail that’s been sent to the hotel. Inside a large envelope is the divorce papers. I open it and pull them out, reading over it. Mia’s signature is scribbled across the line. This isn’t her normal, neat handwriting. This was something she forced herself to do after she found out about the baby. Seeing her written name, it makes my chest hurt. Just seeing this, I can read all the pain she felt when she signed it.

  I don’t sign my name. Instead, I stuff the papers back into the envelope, and then I put everything into my bags. I pick up my duffle and sling it over my shoulder as I head for the door.

  The plane ride is long, and even though I slept through most of it, it takes forever before I’m landing in Chicago the next afternoon. I was hoping to make it earlier in the day, but with all the delays and layovers, I’m lucky to be here at all. I make a couple stops, pick up some flowers and a fluffy teddy bear for the baby, and then make my way to her.

  I try the knob first, hoping its unlocked, but it’s not. I knock and wait. I wait some more and then knock again. It occurs to me that she’s probably used the peephole and doesn’t want to see me. That, or she’s sitting at that desk with her headphones on, ignoring the world. I try knocking one last time before sliding down the wall. No way am I moving. I’ll sit here all damn night if I have to. I pull my knees to my chest and hang my arms over them as I lean my head back, looking up at the ceiling.

  Hours pass. I go from sitting against the wall to pacing the hallway to laying down along the hallway. Finally, around ten P.M., I hear the elevator ding, and I sit up just in time to see her walk down the hallway. She hasn’t seen me yet as she’s looking down at the keys in her hand. When she does, our eyes lock, and she freezes. Her mouth drops open, and her eyes glaze over like she’s surprised to see me.

  “Mia,” I whisper, slowly closing the distance between us.

  “You’re back?” she mumbles.

  I nod. “I’ll always be back, Mia.” I come to a stop directly in front of her, our eyes locked.

  “I—” she starts, but I cut off her words with my lips as I pull her against me for a lip-crushing kiss.

  Her arms wrap around my neck the way they always do, and I gently pick her up against me, turning us around to her apartment. I lightly press her back against the door and continue my assault on her mouth. We’re both breathless when we pull away.

  “I love you, Mia. I need you, and I want to marry you,” I breathe out as she slides down to her feet.

  “But you wanted a divorce,” she says, turning her back to me while she unlocks the door. The door opens, and she walks in. I take a moment to gather my things from the floor. When I walk in, I hold out the flowers and the bear.

  “I said I wanted the divorce because I want a real wedding. I want you to get your dream wedding to celebrate all we’ve overcome to get here. I didn’t want a divorce to get away from you. I love you.” I place my hand on her cheek and bring her mouth to mine. “These are for you,” I say, handing her the flowers.

  She takes them. “Thank you, but Trent, there’s something else you need to know.”

  “This is for the baby,” I say, now holding out the bear.

  She gasps as her mouth drops open. Slowly, she reaches out and takes the bear. “How? Who?”

  “Levi let it slip a week ago. I’ve been calling you like crazy. Why haven’t you been answering?”

  She falls onto the couch, tears falling from her eyes. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but then you said you wanted a divorce, and I just freaked out. I could barely handle you saying you didn’t want me. I was scared that you’d say you didn’t want the baby either.”

  I sit at her side and hold her hand. “Sweetheart, you should know better. All I’ve ever wanted was you.”

  “I was scared that you’d think I’d trapped you or something. I didn’t do this on purpose.” She shakes her head as she wipes her eyes.

  “I know, baby. Shhh, please don’t cry. You know how much I hate to see you hurt.” I sit back on the couch and pull her onto my lap. The moment her hot center presses against my groin, my body comes to life, even though now isn’t the time.

  I cup her cheeks and force her to look into my eyes. “I want you, Mia. I love you. I want to marry you, and I want this baby. I want a life with you. If you don’t want a big, fancy wedding, we’ll keep the papers we got.”

  “We’re already divorced,” she cries.

  I smile and shake my head. “No, we’re not. I haven’t signed anything yet.”

  Her eyes pop up to mine again. “You haven’t?”

  “Nope,” I say around my smile as I pull her mouth to mine, pressing soft kisses to her lips.

  She breaks the kiss. “How long do we have? Two weeks?”

  “Don’t worry about that right now,” I whisper, pulling her back in. I hold her against me as I stand and move us to the bedroom. I place her gently on the bed before kicking off my shoes and crawling up her body. Her legs wrap around my hips and her arms around my neck. She kisses me deeply, endlessly. Her tears mingle into the mix, making our kisses warm and salty.

  “Sweetheart, please stop crying,” I whisper against her lips as I work her pants over her hips.

  “I can’t. I’m just so happy,” she cries out, causing me to chuckle.

  “Me too,” I agree, moving my mouth to the junction between her thighs. When my tongue runs between her slick folds, she lets out a moan that sounds like it came straight out of a porno. Hearing her, tasting her, feeling her body against mine, it all has me ready to explode. I double my pace until she’s writhing beneath me, calling out my name, and arching her back off the bed.

  Finally, when she quiets, and her release ends, I push my jeans over my hips and slide into her, where I’ve always belonged.

  Being with Mia, it’s like an out of body experience. It feels magical and pleasurable beyond imagination. It’s like riding your favorite high. It’s something I’ve always yearned for and something I
never wanted to end. Now, it doesn’t have to. Now, we can finally have everything we’ve always wanted for the rest of our lives.

  She holds me close as I move inside her body. “I love you, Mia,” I whisper against her shoulder.

  “I love you too,” she replies, her golden eyes locked with mine.

  Every time I try to leave her body, I’m only pulled right back in. We spend the rest of the night not talking, only making love again and again. Finally, when the sun is about to rise in the sky, she lays her head against my shoulder.

  “Did you mean what you said?”

  “Every word of it,” I promise her. I roll us over so she’s on her back, and I’m on my side, hovering over her, looking into her eyes. “I love you, Mia. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t care if you want to burn those divorce papers or if you want a whole new wedding. I want you and this baby.”

  She smiles, happy to finally hear those words come from my mouth. I wish I could’ve said them sooner. I wish I could’ve realized how she felt about me sooner. I’ve always been on her hook, but I wasn’t sure if she was on mine—not for the longest time. In fact, I was completely surprised when she muttered those words to me. Up until that point, I thought she just liked our occasional romps.

  “When is your next doctor’s appointment? I want to come.”

  “You do?” she asks, smile still in place.

  “Of course. I want to be involved with as much of this as I can. I don’t want to miss anything.”

  “That’s kind of hard for someone in your position.”

  “Levi is going to work on getting me out of my contract. He can’t promise anything, but he’s looking into it. In the meantime, we have two weeks.”

  She curls into me, and I hold her close. The good thing about my job is that these two weeks are mine to spend how I please, and I plan on being right here for every minute of it. Mia also works from home, so she makes her own hours as well. We have nothing to do and no place to be. Together, we drift off to sleep for the first time since we laid down last night.

  I wake later in the day to find the bed empty. I stretch and look from my left to my right. My eyes land on something glistening from the bedside table. I roll over to get a closer look and find the wedding band and engagement ring I don’t remember buying. I pick them up and stand from bed. I call through the apartment, but she doesn’t answer, so I move into the bathroom, finding her in the shower. She doesn’t say anything when I step in, so I guess she hasn’t noticed me yet.

  I climb into the shower with her—her head is tilted back with her eyes closed as she rinses the shampoo from her hair.

  “I know you’re in here,” she says with a smile as she finishes up.

  When she opens her eyes, her gaze lands on me. I’m kneeling before her with the two rings in my hand.

  “Mia Fowler, I’ve been in love with you since my eyes first found you. I know I’ve screwed things up between us for years now, but please, don’t judge me for the dumbass I was. Judge me for the man who will do anything to be a part of your life—our child’s life. I promise to love you every moment from now until forever. Will you please continue to be my wife?”

  She’s wearing a small smile, and her eyes are watering, tears running down her pink cheeks. Slowly, she nods.

  “Of course, I will,” she cries out.

  I laugh as I slide the rings onto her finger. Standing up, I pull her against my chest and press my mouth to hers.

  “I’m sorry neither of us remember our wedding night, but I’m completely down with planning a wedding now if you want. We can do it right. You deserve for me to do it right.”

  She smiles up at me. “You want to renew our wedding vows?”

  “Yeah, whatever you want to call it. I want you to have your dream wedding and honeymoon.”

  She presses her soft lips to mine once more. “I love you so much,” she whispers against my lips.

  For the rest of the day, Mia and I stay indoors doing nothing but eating and lounging around. Earlier in the day, Dani and Levi called and insisted we join them for dinner now that we’re a real couple, and as hard as Mia tried, she couldn’t get us out of it. I think she’s secretly happy that she gets to show off her ring that was intentionally placed there instead of waking up to them by surprise.

  “Come on. We can say you got sick. Pregnant women get sick all the time, right?” I say, holding her back by her hand.

  “Yes, they do. But these are our friends. Let’s go have dinner. It will be one hour, two tops,” she argues, tugging me off the elevator.

  “I just got back into town. Is it really so bad that I want to keep you all to myself just a little while longer?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her waist.

  “No, not at all. But if we’re going to do this wedding thing, I want to do it before I get fat. And I want a honeymoon before we have a baby. I’m going to need help with planning, and Dani is awesome at this stuff.”

  “Fine,” I mumble, walking down the hallway.

  She knocks on the door and then looks over at me. Seeing my grimace, she elbows me gently in the ribs. “Turn that frown upside down.”

  The stupid line makes me laugh just as the door is being opened. “Hey, guys. I’m so glad you made it. I know how busy you must be these days,” Dani says, pulling Mia in for a hug before tugging me in the same way.

  We walk into the apartment just as Levi walks out of the kitchen. “Hey.” He smiles. “It’s good to see you two together.” He shakes my hand and then pulls me in for a quick, guy hug. “See, I told ya she’d forgive you.”

  “There was nothing to forgive. I just misunderstood, that’s all. I think that’s bound to happen in my current state,” Mia motions toward her stomach that’s still flat and sexy as fuck.

  “Come help me in the kitchen,” Levi says, pulling me into the kitchen while the others stand in the living room, talking about window treatments or something.

  “There’s beer in the fridge,” Levi says as he takes his place at the stovetop.

  I grab a beer and sit down at the table.

  “So, I’ve been looking over your contract,” Levi says.

  “And? Did you find anything?”

  He nods. “I believe I may have.” He stirs something then puts the spoon down as he grabs some papers off the counter and moves to sit next to me. “There is a buyout after your first year of fulfilling your contract. So, you signed this January of last year. Technically, since it’s been over a year since you signed this, all you have to do is pay back twenty-five percent of your sign-on bonus, and you’re out.”

  “Really?”

  He nods. “Yep. It looks like you’ll need to pay about six thousand dollars to get out, though, but it’s your out.”

  I nod, thinking it over. I’d pay anything for my freedom; to be able to spend my time at home with my wife and newborn baby. My wife. I have a wife. It’s not just me that I have to think about now. It’s Mia and our unborn child. I would call my boss right now and quit, but I decide to wait and talk with Mia about it first even though I know she’ll jump for joy.

  The girls end up wandering into the kitchen and sitting down at the table.

  “So, Dani. Do you want to be my maid of honor?” Mia asks.

  Dani’s eyes light up. “Really? You guys are getting married again?”

  “We’re getting married the right way this time. A wedding with cake, photographers, and witnesses,” I laugh.

  Everyone joins in as Levi plates the food.

  We all sit around and talk while eating our salads. Levi and I have a beer, Dani has wine, and poor Mia sticks with iced tea. Sitting here, I can’t help but look around at how my life has changed. Before that crazy weekend in Vegas, I hadn’t seen my friends in months. I was convinced Mia hated me for always sleeping with her and running off back to work, and I never thought I’d end up married with a child on the way. It feels like everything is starting to come full circle. Like I’m finally getting the
life I always wanted, and Mia is getting the life she’s always deserved.

  “Thanks for dinner, guys,” I say, as Mia and I leave Levi and Dani’s apartment for the night.

  “No problem. And Mia, we’ll meet up tomorrow to talk specifics on the wedding,” Dani says before Levi pulls her back in.

  “Wow. That was fast,” I say, reaching out and taking her hand as we walk to the elevator.

  She shrugs one shoulder. “I knew if anyone could throw together a magical wedding this fast, it’d be Dani. She’s a planner through and through. Kind of makes me laugh when I think about her wedding, though.” She giggles.

  “What do you mean?” I ask, hitting the button to the ground floor.

  “Levi and Dani ran off to get married. It wasn’t planned, and it was pulled together quickly. They didn’t tell anyone, but they went a couple of days ahead of time and bought rings and got their license and everything. Then was surprised by her pregnancy. She was sick almost the entire time. That’s why everyone demanded a Vegas trip. She needed a weekend away, one that could replace her morning sickness memories.”

  “I’m glad,” I say, thinking about the story she just told me. If it hadn’t been for the two of them running off to get married, and then having a horrible time, they never would’ve brought us all together for the Vegas trip that got Mia and me together in the first place. Full circle.

  When we walk into the apartment, we head straight to the bedroom. She stands on one end, stripping down, and I stand on the other, doing the same. I can’t hold off my smile when I see the way she’s taking me in.

  “Hey, where’s your ring?” she asks, noticing my bare left hand.

  “Oh,” I say, reaching into my bag and pulling out the ring. “I took it off for this moment.”

  Her brow furrows. “What moment? The one where you see me naked?” she laughs.