by Tess Summers
He nodded reluctantly in understanding as he absent-mindedly turned the bell pepper over and over in his hand. She was right, it wasn’t fair to her; it wasn’t fair to him to be without her either, especially since she was carrying his child. But until he was free to fight for her, he’d have to accept that even though a part of him was dying not being able to hold her.
“I hate this,” he whispered.
Cassie plucked the vegetable from him and put it into a plastic, produce bag—spinning it closed before placing it in her cart.
“Me too,” she said matter-of-factly. He realized she was dismissing him when she turned to him with a fake smile. “Thank you for coming with me, but I’ve got it from here. I’ll be in touch about things.”
“Can I at least go to your appointments with you?” he asked hopefully.
She mulled over his request as she moved along the aisle. “Yes. I’ll let you know when the next one is, okay?”
He wanted to tell her he loved her and was going to find a way for them to be together again, but until he could back that up, it wouldn’t be fair to say it, so he simply leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“Take care of yourself, doll. Let me know if you need anything, please? Anything. Even if it’s pickles and ice cream at three in the morning, all you have to do is say the word, and I’ll be at your doorstep with Haagen-Dazs and Vlasics.
That drew a small smile, and she patted his hand. “Thank you. I hope things work out for you, Luke. I’ll text you.”
He knew that was his sign to go, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave, desperately trying to think of something else to say to keep him there with her even for only a few more minutes.
“I can’t believe we’re having a baby,” he said with a big smile.
“It took me a little while to come to terms with it, too.”
“How long have you known?” Keeping her talking was working, she hadn’t shooed him away yet.
“I took a home test last Thursday and went to the doctor today. I called you when I was finished with my appointment.”
“I wish I could have been there with you,” he murmured.
She smiled politely but didn’t respond further.
It was time to go. He couldn’t put it off any longer.
“Please let me know when your next appointment is, doll.”
“I will. Take care.”
With that, he reluctantly left her looking at the spinach. At least she was eating healthy.
Chapter Forty-Two
Cassie
The next month flew by, the holidays passing in a blur. She still felt sorry for herself when she was alone in bed, unable to sleep, picturing Luke with his family at Thanksgiving or on Christmas morning as Lucas unwrapped his gifts from Santa. Meanwhile, she didn’t even bother with a tree.
Next year, she thought. Every holiday after the baby was born was going to be a big deal, so she was going to cut herself a break until then.
She heard from Luke every Monday morning like clockwork, asking how she was feeling and if she needed anything, then inquiring about her next appointment. The tone of his texts or calls was always polite and friendly, but never suggestive or even flirtatious.
Their exchanges usually went something like this:
Luke Rivas: Good morning! How are you feeling this Monday?
Cassie: I’m fine, thanks. You?
Luke Rivas: I’m great. Another busy week ahead.
Everything okay with the baby? Any concerns? Do you need anything?
Cassie: Everything seems to be right on track. I will keep you posted if something changes.
Luke Rivas: Be sure to let me know when your next appointment is.
Cassie: Of course.
Luke Rivas: Have a great week.
Cassie: You too.
They could have been talking about a car for how impersonal they were; except the man who sold her the Lexus had been far more engaging when he followed up with her after the sale.
The impassive nature of Luke’s texts made her wonder if things with his wife were working out. She especially liked to torture herself, wondering if he and Adriana were being intimate. It had been almost three-and-a-half months since she and Luke had sex. She was kidding herself if she thought he wasn’t sleeping with his wife.
Hell, Cassie had thought about propositioning Cooper the few times they’d had lunch or dinner. Not because she wanted to date him, she was just that horny. She couldn’t imagine Luke was any less horny, and he had a wife living with him. The wife he was trying to reconcile with even if he said it was only for the sake of his son.
As Brenna would say, it wasn’t very Christian of her, but she really hated Adriana Rivas. She didn’t deserve Luke after what she’d put him through. It wasn’t fair she got to be with him every night with her child while Cassie would never get the same opportunity with her baby.
Part of Cassie wondered if Luke ever really wanted to divorce Adriana since he never did in all the years after she left him, and now Lucas was a convenient excuse not to. Cassie’s pregnancy complicated his life, sure, but the fact he hadn’t been willing to divorce Adriana and fight for Cassie told her all she needed to know.
Buying the house next door to Brenna proved to keep her exceptionally busy. Ava Sterling had sold her condo—in a day—so Cassie was now dealing with home inspections on both the buying and selling end of things. Not to mention all the other things that came with being a new homeowner—everything from working with architects and designers, buying furniture to be delivered when she moved in, to simply establishing the utilities for her beach house in her name.
Her own beach house. That was crazy!
Almost as crazy as decorating a nursery. She would never have imagined it yet here she was, buying baby furniture. Alone. It was bittersweet. She was starting to get excited about being a mother, something Luke had wanted so badly, and now, they weren’t together.
Her new place was a four-bedroom, two-story beach house similar to Brenna’s, but in need of updating. Cassie was okay with that since it meant she was going to be able to remodel it to her specific tastes, and she got it for a song. She had contractors lined up ready to start the day after she closed.
The biggest selling point was its location. Being next to Brenna when she was about to become a mother provided her with a sense of peace—she wasn’t all alone in this, help was right next door.
Luckily, the condo’s buyers were not going to be moving in until late spring and agreed to let her rent it back for a month once they finally closed, so she didn’t have to stay at the beach house while renovations were being done. Brenna had offered to let Cassie stay with her and Ron, but Cassie didn’t want to intrude on the newlyweds. She’d stay overnight with them here and there if she were at her house working late but not for an extended period of time.
The condo needed minor repairs before closing, so she went to the hardware store for materials and ran into Ben, of all people.
“Well, well, well…. Look who it is and more beautiful than ever.” She recognized his baritone voice before she even turned around from the plumbing supplies she was currently perusing.
“Mr. McCallister. Well, I do declare, as I live and breathe,” she teased, fanning herself and using her best Southern drawl impression. “Why, whatever are you doing in these here parts?”
With a grin, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hi, sweet thang. I live around here now. How are you?”
“I’m okay.” She put her hand on her visible bump. “Pregnant and exhausted but surviving. How are you? How are things going with the ladies?”
“You know I don’t kiss and tell, Missy.” Ben winked that adorable, charming wink of his. “But I’m doing well. I’m glad to see you are too.” He tilted his head at the plumbing package in her hands. “What are you up to?”
With a heavy sigh, she explained. “I sold my condo and have to fix a couple of things before I can close on it.”
“Congratulations
! Are you staying in town?”
Cassie knew he was probably probing her for Luke’s sake, worried she was going to skip town with his best friend’s baby like Luke’s wife had.
“Actually, I am. I bought a place on the beach next to my sister.”
“Niiice. So, I’ll be first on your list to call for housesitting, right? It always pissed me off when Luke got to—” He stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry. Is it okay if I talk about him?”
Her laughter suggested how ridiculous he sounded. Patting her belly, she teased, “Well, we obviously have a history, I think it’d be pretty silly to pretend we don’t.”
“Okay, good. I was worried. I’m not allowed to talk about you with him.”
“What do you mean, you’re not allowed to talk about me?”
“Well, not you, in general. You if you’re, you know, out with someone else.”
He must have been talking about the time she picked up Cooper at his shop. She nodded her head in agreement.
“I understand that. I mean, I’d prefer not to hear all about his domestic bliss if you don’t mind. But given our circumstances, he and I are connected for life, so there’s no use pretending he doesn’t exist.”
Ben snorted. “There’s definitely no domestic bliss although he does love being a dad. He’s really excited to do it again. From the start, this time. He doesn’t want to miss anything with… Him? Her?”
“We’ll know next week.”
He nudged her with his elbow. “I’m going to be a kick-ass uncle, ya know.”
“I have no doubt.” she chuckled. “Maybe you’ll even get baby fever yourself.”
Expecting him to scoff, she was shocked when he shrugged with a grin and with his steel-booted toe, tapped the bottom shelf filled with bins containing white plastic casings of varying sizes.
“Maybe.”
“Ben McCallister, are you becoming domesticated?” she teased as she clutched his elbow.
“I plead the fifth.” He tried to change the subject by taking the package from her and turning it over. “So, what repairs are you doing? Do you need any help? I’m pretty handy when it comes to fixing things.”
She grabbed his arm around his bicep. “Oh my God, Ben, I would love you forever. I have no idea what I’m doing! I was going to go home and watch YouTube videos to try to figure this out,” she confessed.
His deep, booming laugh echoed off the metal shelves in the aisle and gestured toward the cash registers. “Come on, mamasita. I’ve got you covered.”
****
Luke
The bellman in Cassie’s apartment was busy with a Girl Scout troop when Luke marched into the building and made his way to the bank of elevators. It was probably because he acted like he belonged there and his face was familiar, coupled with the older man’s preoccupation with the eight young girls’ animated cookie sales pitch that Luke made it to Cassie’s apartment without her receiving notice he was coming.
Knocking loudly on her door, he waited only a few seconds before brusquely rapping his knuckles again hard against the wood.
Her tone was annoyed as she came toward the door, yelling. “I’m coming.” then he heard her mutter softly, “Jesus, relax.”
That made him briefly grin, in spite of himself.
She yanked the door open, her scowl turning into a look of surprise, then bewilderment.
“Hi?” The greeting was in the form of a question. He barged in without being invited. She closed the door behind him with a sarcastic, “Come on in.”
She’d barely gotten the lock latched when he whirled around at her.
“You have a doctor’s appointment this week to find out the sex of the baby?”
The bewilderment remained in her expression. “Yes.”
“Mind telling me why I have to learn about this from my best friend?” he accused. “When were you planning on telling me about it? An hour before, hoping I wouldn’t be able to make it?”
“Are you fucking for real right now?” She stared at him in disbelief. “You… You’re fucking with me, right?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” As he towered over her, the desire to touch her clashed with his anger as he tried to control both.
“I did tell you, asshole.”
Dressed in a pink flowing top and black stretch pants, she started waddling toward the kitchen, and he stood frozen. This was the first time he’d seen her obviously pregnant. His anger instantly dissipated, replaced with regret and sadness.
Cassie came back with her phone and started forcefully scrolling on the screen. Shoving it at him, she declared, “See? Right here. I told you the time, date, and place.”
He took it from her, biting back his smile when he looked at the screen. “Uh, Cass? You didn’t hit send, doll.”
She snatched it from him, shaking her head when seeing the pending text.
“Shit. Damn pregnancy brain,” she muttered.
The phone in his pocket chirped. He pulled it out and laughed. It was her message.
“Thanks.”
“There, now you have it. Anything else you need to bark at me about since you’re here? I’d hate for you to have to make a second trip to barge into my place and yell at me, uninvited and unannounced, I might add.”
He brushed against her as he headed toward the kitchen. “As a matter of fact, there is.”
With a heavy sigh, she followed him. “What now, Luke?”
“You let Ben fix your faucet?” He started inspecting her faucet, looking for any mistake his friend hopefully made while he helped her.
“Among other things.”
“What the hell does that mean?” he roared.
“It means,” she planted her hand on her hip, unimpressed with his tirade, “I let Ben fix my faucet, among other things.”
He was hanging on by a thread. He’d had lunch with Ben this afternoon and had worked himself into a fit, thinking about Ben helping her instead of him, not to mention he didn’t even know she was moving before today. Then he learned about her appointment, and he almost came unglued right at the restaurant table. Ben had managed to calm him down, but the minute Luke left lunch, he started to get upset all over again. He left work an hour early, hoping to catch her at the condo.
The oversight about actually sending the appointment text soothed him a little, but he was still mad about her asking Ben for help. Whether she was pushing his buttons on purpose with her, among other things didn’t matter. It was working.
“What kinds of other things?” he snarled.
The glint in her eye told him the button pushing was on purpose, and he gripped the edge of the countertop tightly.
“I don’t know, things that needed to get done before the sale…”
“And that’s another thing. When were you planning on telling me you were moving?”
“I dunno,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “When I actually moved, I guess.”
“You don’t think that’s something I should probably be made aware of?”
He could tell she was starting to get mad, which part of him took delight in. He’d rather have her pissed off than not giving a shit.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” She thrust her finger into his chest. “You don’t get to come barreling into my home, yelling at me about having someone help me with things I needed to have taken care of. Demanding I keep you informed of my every move. Sorry pal, you lost those privileges when you chose your wife over me.”
Luke grabbed her finger, and the two stood staring at each other in a Mexican standoff. He noticed her chest heaving and groaned internally. Her tits were getting bigger, too. Unable to resist, he kissed her wrist tenderly.
“Goddammit, Cass, I didn’t choose her over you. It will always be you, doll.”
She closed her eyes and let him continue kissing her. He could feel the goosebumps covering her skin and pulled her into him. His mouth captured hers, and after a momentary, token resistance, she succumbed to him. Their tongues tangled until they w
ere angling to deepen the kiss, his arm wrapped around her waist, arching her back so she was completely enveloped by his frame. Cassie mewled when he pressed his cock between her legs. The heat from her pussy was like a flame, and his cock was the moth being drawn to it.
She began to subtly grind against him. Luke pulled her shirt over her head, then freed her heavy tits from the confines of her bra. He wanted to stop and stare at them in amazement but worried any discontinuity would break the spell she seemed to be under. Instead, he began suckling one nipple while pinching and rolling the other. Cassie gently tugged the hairs at the back of his neck, holding him where he lavished her deprived tits with much-needed attention.
She reached down to unbutton his jeans, and his throbbing cock started to sing the hallelujah chorus when her petite fingers encircled the head and began to stroke his shaft. Luke groaned into her chest, sucking her pebbled peaks with ferocity. It’d been so long since he’d felt her touch and his cock was weeping with joy. At this rate, he was going to come in her hand like a pubescent schoolboy.
Gently tugging her black pants over her beautiful belly and down her thighs, he lifted her on top of the counter and continued removing them. To his delight, he found she wasn’t wearing panties. He spread her legs wide and ran his index finger up and down her soaked slit. With both hands, he pulled her pussy lips apart and dipped his head down to lick her labia using long strokes of his tongue. She bucked her hips against his face, and he slid one finger inside her tight little hole while his tongue began to alternate flicking her clit and sucking it. Her little pearl was rock hard in his mouth, and she spread her legs further apart. Bowing against his mouth, she started to moan.
“Yes, baby. Right there. Oh, fuck, Luke, yes. Right there. Don’t stop, please don’t stop!”
He replaced his mouth with his fingers and began to polish her nub while he continued finger fucking her. Her pussy started to quiver around his digits while she gasped for breath and raised her hips an inch off the counter.
“That’s it, baby,” he purred in encouragement. “Come for me. Come all over my hands.”
Her frustration was evident in her cry. He could tell she was so close but seemed to be giving up, sliding her thighs together.
