One More Time (MMG Series Book 3)

by Hilliard, R. B.

  After breakfast, Isabella and Sally disappeared to put Milly down. This gave me a chance to talk about the Jimmy situation with Garrett, Cas and Bobby.

  “From the looks of it, this is not going to be a quick fix. We arrived in time to deal with the drug plant, but I have a feeling as soon as Jimmy hears it went bust, he’ll come at her harder,” Garrett said.

  “Damn. I was afraid of that,” I told him.

  “I made a call and they are expediting the paternity papers. They should be processed by the end of the day,” Bobby said. “As soon as that happens, Jimmy will not be able to claim Amelia as his child anymore without a battle he will never win.”

  “Have you figured out what his angle is, yet?” Cas asked.

  “No,” I replied.

  “He’s got his irons in several political fires and it appears he’s pissed off a lot of people along the way. The safest thing is to get Isabella and Amelia to Charlotte,” Garrett advised. “That way we can watch over them easier. We don’t want any backlash when Jimmy discovers he’s being looked into.”

  His words made my chest feel tight. “You think he’ll find out?” I asked.

  “If I’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that anything is possible,” he replied. “Jimmy appears to have eyes and ears all over the city. Someone’s bound to eventually spill.”

  I glanced over at Cas. For some reason Ibby liked the guy. “Convince her,” I said.

  His eyes shot to the ceiling. “It’s not me she wants, man.”

  “Who wants who?” Isabella asked, from the doorway. Sally was standing next to her. I wasn’t sure how long they had been standing there listening. Shit.

  I decided to let Garrett, Cas and Bobby work their magic and convince the girls Charlotte would be the safest place for them both to be right now. The whole time they talked, Ibby’s eyes remained on me. Christ, those sapphire blue eyes did funny things to me. It was if they reached deep inside and touched parts I didn’t know existed. Funny thing…I was slowly discovering I liked it. I liked the way she made me feel inside. I felt whole.

  Once Garrett finished mapping out their plan, Ibby held up her hand to halt all conversation. Turning to me, she asked, “Are you sure you want us in Charlotte with you? I mean, it’s a lot to take on.” Her eyes looked moist and she nervously bit her lip. For some reason, her shy insecurity called to the protector in me. Someone had made this amazing woman feel unwanted. Warring emotions of anger and desire battled inside me. I wanted to destroy whoever had hurt her, while at the same time I wanted to take her to bed and wipe away the hurt. The primal part of me wanted to mark her, to make her mine. She may have doubted men in the past, but that was no more. Isabella Fisher was mine and it was high time she knew it.

  Finally, not able to stand it any longer, I turned to Garrett and asked, “Are we done here?”

  He gave me a knowing smile and nodded his head, “For now, yes.”

  I handed Milly to Sally and then made my way across the room to a wary looking Ibby. Snagging her hand, I pulled her out of the room.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered. I could hear Sally and the guys snickering behind us but I didn’t care.

  “Showing you how much I want you with me,” I told her.

  I heard her breath catch before a lightly whispered, “Oh.”

  “You good with that?” I asked, trying not to smile at how damn cute she was.

  “MmmmHmmmm,” she responded and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

  We rounded the corner and I laughed as she bolted down the hall and into her bedroom. By the time I closed the door she had her yoga pants off and was working on her top. I loved how she was always ready for me. No matter the situation, Isabella Fisher wanted me. Nothing felt better. Stripping off my clothes, I pounced and smiled as she let out a shriek of laughter.

  Careful not to hurt her, I pinned Ibby’s arms to the bed and sat on her stomach. My hard dick was mere inches from her luscious lips. Leaning down, I whispered in her ear. “I want you.” Her breath hitched and she frantically nodded her head. “Tell me I can have you, baby.”

  “You can,” she gruffly admitted and my dick jumped.

  “Tell me you’ll give Charlotte a chance,” I continued.

  “I will,” she agreed.

  I sat up and reached for the nightstand for a condom, but before I could get one in hand, I felt her warm lips wrap around me. Holy fucking shit. Isabella and I had done a lot in our short time together, but she had yet to wrap her luscious mouth around my cock. Damn, but it felt good. Reaching her hands behind me, she found purchase on my ass. All I could do was watch my hard cock slide in and out of her beautiful mouth. Her pink tongue twirled around and around as she licked and sucked and those sapphire eyes. Fuck, those sapphire eyes stared deep into my soul.

  “Baby, if you keep that up, I’m gonna blow,” I panted, as I quickly placed my hands on the headboard so I wouldn’t fall over and crush her. Instead of slowing down, as I expected, she sped up. My nuts were on fire. As if sensing this, her left hand slid from my ass around to my balls, where she gently gave a squeeze. At the same time, she flattened her tongue, hollowed her cheeks, and gave a good hard suck. I literally felt my brains slip from my head and explode out my dick. Never, in all my days, had anything felt this damn good.

  After taking care of my girl, I took off for my aunt’s house to make sure the cleaning ladies had done their job. While I was doing this, Ibby and Sally were to tie up loose ends in Charleston. I was anxious to get everyone back to the safety of Charlotte. Until that happened, we were sitting ducks. Isabella had no clue Charlie and I had spoken on the way to the jail the other night. He filled me in on what he knew about James Marsden. He knew Jimmy had the power to do serious damage and wanted both Ibbs and Milly beyond his reach. So did I. I knew Piper, Ellie and Joss would wrap their arms around my girls. They were good like that. Yes, I was terrified of screwing things up, but I wanted to try. No, I had to try. This is my chance, Mom. Help me not to mess it up. Isabella and I had spoken very little about our families. I knew her dad took off when she was a baby. I also knew she had a dead beat mom and a shit sister. That’s why her Uncle Charlie was so important to her. She knew I had a big brother named Adam, my parents died when I was fourteen and my aunt had raised us. That’s it. I knew my past would eventually come back up and I would have to explain what happened. Hopefully when the time came, I would be ready for it. Until then, I planned on us getting to know each other in every possible way.

  I pulled into my aunt’s driveway and cut the engine. It looked as if the yard guys had been there. Pulling out my key, I thought about all the great memories we shared in this house. Shaking off the sadness, I got out of the jeep and opened the front door. Fragrant cinnamon from my aunt’s potpourri candles hit me and my eyes watered. Adam and I had given her a candle every year for Mother’s Day for as long as I could remember. She loved them. I was relieved the house no longer stunk of death. No one tells you that you can smell someone dying, but you can. It’s a sickly sweet, sad smell. I made my way from room to room. It looked as if everything, except the huge storage closet outside the family room, had been cleaned out. Good. The cleaning service was due to come one more time in two weeks and then Adam would be home. About damn time. I missed my brother. My heart lifted when I thought about introducing him to Ibby and Milly. After what happened with my parents, neither of us were big on relationships. To this day, I don’t think he’d ever had one. He’s gonna love my girls.

  Thirty minutes later, I was ready to go. On my way out the door, I grabbed a picture of me and my aunt from the hutch in the living room. It was taken the day I enlisted in the army. We were standing outside the recruiting office with big smiles on our faces. By the time I enlisted, Adam had already been in for two years. I remember how proud I was to follow in his footsteps. Better that than a traveling salesman like my dick head dad. Sitting next to the picture was one of the cinnamon candles. Without thinking, I grab
bed that, too. Then I bolted for the door.

  Charlie was there when I got back to Isabella’s. To help pass the time before leaving, we decided to go out for a celebratory moving dinner. We made plans over dinner for Charlie to come and stay with us soon. I even suggested when he was ready to retire, he should sell the bar and move to Charlotte. If he missed the action, he could always help out at Dragonfly. Lord knows we could always use the extra hand. He looked interested. Later that night, while it was dark and hopefully Jimmy was asleep, we packed the cars.

  The next morning, as planned, we woke before dawn and took off for Charlotte. I did not relax until we hit the North Carolina border. My girls were with me and we were away from Jimmy. All was finally right in the world.

  Chapter Nine

  Isabella

  ‡

  I was sad to leave my uncle, but happy to be away from Charleston and Jimmy’s influence. When Dillon walked me to the bedroom and told me how much he wanted us to move to Charlotte and live with him, I completely lost my heart to him. I knew he had commitment issues, but the fact he was willing to set them aside for me and our daughter spoke volumes. He wants us played over and over in my head like a broken record. Jimmy made me feel like an object. Dillon made me feel wanted. There could not be a larger difference between the two.

  The first few days in Charlotte did not go as planned. Instead of hanging out together as I fantasized, Dillon worked nonstop. He left around three every afternoon and I felt him sink into bed late each night. Since Sally had the spare bedroom, Amelia was in a Pack ‘n Play on the floor next to our bed. She hated the Pack ‘n Play, therefore, I hated the Pack ‘n Play. The second she made a peep, which was often, I would grab her and haul it to the living room so we didn’t wake Dillon. The place was small. Add Sally and Brutus to the mix and it felt as if the walls were closing in.

  Morning three, I woke extra cranky. Dillon had taken Sally to Dragonfly the night before in order to show her around the bar. He ended up training her while they were there. This did not make me happy. One of us clearly needed to stay with Amelia. Since she was hungry, tired and my child, I knew it had to be me. Sensing my unhappiness, both Dillon and Sally promised I would get to train on Thursday, as well as possibly take the stage on Saturday. This morning I was feeling left out and, well, just blah. Dillon hadn’t touched me since we’d been back. I had uprooted my whole life to be with him and now he was too busy for me. I was contemplating banging a couple of pots together to wake the house when I heard a knock at the door. Brutus barely growled, so I figured it had to be someone he knew and relatively liked. On my way to the door, I kicked Amelia’s play mat out of the way. Then, realizing how childish I was being, I straightened it back up and answered the door.

  “There’s my precious baby. Girl,” Piper sang, grabbing Amelia from my arms. “Welcome to Charlotte,” she said, giving me a squeeze with her other arm.

  “Dillon told you?” I wasn’t sure how often Piper and Dillon talked. Then again, I wasn’t sure of anything Dillon did or did not do.

  “He called when you got back and told me we needed to talk. He wanted you to be there, but I made him spill over the phone. Don’t be mad,” she sweetly said. “Speaking of D, where is the big guy?”

  “Asleep. He’s been working a lot. Come in, sit. Want coffee?” I asked.

  She smiled down at Amelia, who was staring up at her with a wondrous look on her face. “Coffee would be great. I was at Dragonfly with your girl, Sally last night and it was crazy. By the way, she is funny as shit. Poor D, though. In order to come get you in Charleston, he had to switch shifts around at the last second. The past two nights were payback to those who picked up his shifts while he was gone. He’s basically worked back to back doubles. By closing time yesterday, the boy was dead on his feet.”

  My heart dropped when she told me this. Handing her a cup of coffee, I said, “I didn’t know. Why didn’t he say something? I would have helped out.” Here I was having a pity party and he was busting his tail to make things right with his co-workers. All because of me. I felt horrible.

  “Thanks for outing me, Pi,” Dillon said sleepily from the doorway. He was standing there in nothing but gym shorts. His hair was all ruffled and his face had more scruff than I’d ever seen on him. The man was scary sexy. A throbbing ache thrummed between my legs. As if sensing the effect his presence was causing, he prowled across the kitchen toward me. His silver eyes had darkened to a gorgeous pewter grey. When he reached me, he ran his hand over my ass and whispered in my ear, “Good morning, baby.”

  I bit back a moan and shook the lust from my brain. “Want some?” I asked as I held up my cup of coffee.

  “Would love some,” he replied. His lips turned up in a very knowing smile and I stiffened as he rubbed against me. I sighed when he headed across the room and plucked Amelia from Piper. The man is dangerous, I thought as my eyes took him in. I liked Piper and all but I sure wish she hadn’t picked this morning to stop by.

  “Hey!” Piper complained.

  “Mine,” he said.

  As soon as Dillon turned his back on Piper, her eyes shot to me and she mouthed, “Quit eye fucking him.” Good thing I was in the kitchen, because the coffee I spewed all over the counter was much easier to clean up in there than in the living room.

  “Piper,” he warned, as he made his way over to the chair opposite her and sat down. Piper responded maturely by sticking her tongue out at him, which made me laugh even harder. I knew right then Dillon’s best friend was also going to be one of mine.

  “She looks more and more like you every day, D,” Piper dryly mused. Amelia was the spitting image of me, not Dillon.

  Smiling down at Amelia, who was happily stretched across his lap, he said, “Mommy invited the wicked witch over to play today, didn’t she?” Amelia kicked her legs and squealed. She gave him a toothless smile and his eyes shot to mine and widened in surprise. “Holy shit, she just smiled at me.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell him she’d been doing it off and on for the past two days. Instead, I offered to get the camera and bolted for the bedroom. When I got back, Piper and Dillon were both leaning over Amelia, making ridiculous faces at her. I shot a dozen or so pictures of them acting like goof balls.

  I offered to make everyone breakfast, but Piper couldn’t stay. She had just stopped by to ask us to Kurt and Joss’s house on Sunday, as they were planning a late afternoon pool party and early dinner. I hadn’t been in a swim suit since before Amelia was born and was pretty sure I wasn’t getting in one on Sunday. Amelia had never been in a pool before. However, thanks to Sally, she had the cutest baby swimsuit and cover up I’d ever seen. Joss apparently wanted to come invite us herself, but was still having severe bouts of morning sickness. I knew exactly what that felt like. Wanting to help out, I wrote down every morning sickness remedy that worked for me and made Piper promise to deliver it straight to Joss. She also promised to come watch me sing at Dragonfly Saturday night. Every time I thought about taking the stage again, butterflies flittered through my stomach. I hadn’t been on stage since the week before Amelia was born and missed it terribly. As soon as Piper left, Dillon went to put Amelia down for a nap.

  “Whatcha thinking about?” Dillon asked. I had been so caught up in my thoughts I hadn’t heard him come back in.

  “Piper’s great,” I told him. “I see why she’s your best friend. However, ummmm, I’m not sure I’m ready to be seen in a swim suit quite yet. I still have quite a bit of baby weight to lose.”

  His silver grey eyes crinkled with amusement as he stepped closer. “Piper’s a pain in my ass,” he fondly said, “and you have a crazy sexy body.” He placed both hands on the counter on either side of me, caging me in, and I tensed. Not because I was afraid, but because I was aware. This man lit up all of my senses and then some. He stood before me, his naked, hard, golden chest almost touching mine, and all I could think about was how I wanted to lean over and lick his tattoo from one end to the othe
r. I took a deep breath to calm myself and his rich, masculine scent filled my senses. Desire stormed through my veins, making me feel hot and very, very bothered. “Hey?” he said, tilting my chin with his fingers. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I rasped. His eyes shot to my mouth and darkened with need.

  “I’ve missed you,” he whispered, then he captured my mouth with his and all I could think about was him stripping me bare and taking me right there in the kitchen. I don’t think I’d ever wanted anything more.

  The distinct sound of someone clearing their throat made us both pull back.

  “Sorry to interrupt the show but I need coffee,” Sally said, passing by us.

  Dillon let out a frustrated sigh and dropped his forehead to mine. “Make it up to you later?” he asked. Closing my eyes, I nodded my head. When I opened them back up, he gave me a smile that I felt all the way to my soul. I’m in love with him. The revelation both excited and frightened me. The last time I thought I could love someone, I had been terribly, terribly wrong. Wanna go house hunting today?” he asked.

  I pulled back to see if he was serious. “What about work?”

  “I’m off today and tonight.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Really?”

  He smiled back at me. “Swear it. How ‘bout we shower, feed baby girl, and go, just the three of us. We’ll make a day of it. Sound good?”

  “Yes!” I squealed and bolted past him for the bathroom. I was going to spend the day with my two favorite people and hopefully find a place to live. If I had anything to say about it, it would be a very big place, where uninterrupted kitchen sex would be a regular occurrence.

  The third place we looked at was townhouse on Sullivan Street. It was absolutely perfect. Upstairs consisted of two bedrooms, each of which had bathrooms attached. They were separated by a bonus room that was big enough to serve as Dillon’s office and also double as a guest room if necessary. Downstairs had a huge master bedroom and bath with a walk in closet. The kitchen had just been redone with hardwood floors, honey cabinets and granite countertops. It had everything a person could dream of. The living room had a huge fireplace and opened into the kitchen. Both rooms took up most of the front of the house. The dining room was off to the side and the washer and dryer were in a tiny room off of the kitchen. My favorite thing about the place was the screened in porch that spanned across the back of the house. It was amazing. I could tell by the way Dillon’s eyes lit up, he felt the same as I did. This is it.