“I said it didn’t matter and it doesn’t. We’ll just hire the best lawyer we can to make sure Kenny doesn’t take too much time away from us. And when she is with him, that’ll give us some time alone.” He voice broke toward the end and she saw him quickly wipe away a tear.
“Are you really sure?” she asked.
He nodded and his face crumpled. “I love you. This hurts so much, but it doesn’t change how much I love either of you.”
She sat beside him and hugged him. But when he broke into sobs, she scrambled back to her feet and picked up the envelope.
“Stop, please,” she said. “I want you to look at this.”
She handed it to him.
He refused to take it. “I already know what it says.”
“Please.”
He finally took it and looked down at the paper with the results. His head snapped back up to meet her eyes. “Wait a second.”
Her mouth pulled into a sad smile.
“Am I looking at this right? This says that I’m her father.”
Carolyn nodded slowly. “You are.”
He pulled together his eyebrows. “What the hell? Why did you say—”
“I needed to know for sure. I needed to know that you meant what you said and that you really did love us. And now I know.” Now it was her turn to break into sobs.
He came and put his arms around her. “I can’t believe you did that me. Geez.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to make sure.”
He squeezed her tighter. “She’s really mine. I can’t believe it.” He chuckled. “In all the times I’ve been hit on the field or injured, in my whole life when I’ve been dumped or insulted, the only thing worse than the pain I just felt was Austin’s death. It was like I’d lost her, too. That was a horrible two minutes.”
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
“I know. It’s okay. I’m so relieved. I need to sit down.”
He sat hard on the sofa. He was even paler now than he had been before.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded and bent down to put his head between his knees. “Too many strong emotions all at once.”
She sat beside him and rubbed his back. Jocelyn made a gurgling noise and looked up at him. She kicked the ball with her foot and it rolled right to him.
“Look at that,” he said. “She’s already a kicker.”
“She’s a star. Just like her daddy.”
“She’s also due for a nap,” Gabe said. His mouth stretched into a wide smile. He reached over and cupped her breast.
“It’s too soon,” she said, but she felt the desire stirring in her. She wanted him so badly. There had been plenty of fooling around. As much as they were allowed to do without actually having sex. But that’s what she wanted the most.
“Your appointment is tomorrow. One day can’t affect things, can it?” He kissed her, tugging on her lip with his teeth.
“Mmm.” She closed her eyes and kissed him. As the kiss heated up, so did her body. He was right. What difference could one day make? She needed him now. “The baby,” she muttered around his lips.
“One sec.” He pulled away from her and scooped Jocelyn up. He took her into her room.
While he was out of sight, Carolyn quickly yanked off her top. She was a little nervous. So much had happened to her body during the birth. Would it hurt? Her breasts were still so sensitive.
He came back out to the living room and grinned when he saw her in just her bra. “I like this look.”
He came to her and they resumed kissing. She pulled his shirt over his head and he released her bra. He knew to be careful with her breasts. Many nights, he had fondled her while she used her hand on him. He gently pinched her nipples and tugged slightly. Though it was easy to make them hurt, her nipples were so sensitive that just this movement sent waves of pleasure through her body.
She slipped out of her pants and he did the same. She lay back on the couch and motioned for him to climb on top of her. He rubbed his hard dick against her panties, her wetness seeping through.
“I want to be inside you so bad,” he moaned in her ear.
“Just… be careful, okay? It might hurt.”
“I will.” He pulled back to stare into her eyes, smoothing her hair back. “Tell me if anything hurts.”
She nodded and he slid her panties down. He rubbed his cock between her lips, covering himself in her wetness. They continued to kiss and he pinched her nipples as he pressed against her. She was so hot, she couldn’t wait any longer.
“Okay,” she breathed. “I’m ready.”
“You sure?”
“Yes!”
He pulled his mouth into a half smile. “Okay, okay.”
He moved slowly, pressing in just the head of his dick first. He stopped to look at her. It didn’t hurt, so she nodded. He pressed farther until he was fully inside her and paused again. It didn’t hurt, but things did feel tight. Like when she went long stretches without having sex.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded and tugged on his earlobe with her teeth. He groaned and started moving in and out of her slowly. So slowly. Too slowly. After a few minutes, she whispered to him, “Faster.”
He sped up and she felt her orgasm building fast. It had been so long and she couldn’t contain it. She cried out as she came. He pushed into her harder, speeding up even more until he came, too, moaning into her ear.
“Oh God,” he said, his arms shaking. “That was so good.”
“Mmmm,” was all she could manage. There was a slightly cramping in her stomach, but overall, it hadn’t hurt. She was relieved. She missed having sex with him. Her stay in the hospital, then the weeks of waiting after had all stretched into many months of no intimacy of this sort.
Her heart felt so warm that tears came to her eyes.
“What’s wrong? Did it hurt?”
She shook her head. “I missed this. I missed being close to you like this.”
“Me too.” He kissed her and lay his head on her chest. “I love you.”
“I love you.” She ran her fingers through his hair until they heard a small cry come from Jocelyn’s room.
He didn’t hesitate. He jumped up and pulled on his pants, then came back to the living room holding the baby against his bare chest.
“Now, that’s a view I like,” she said.
He sat beside her and she took a long look at her daughter and her future husband, feeling more content than she had in a long time.
Brock
Big Easy Bears I
by
Becca Fanning
Chapter 1
“Okay Gia, today is the day. You are going to have this talk with him and you are going to make him understand. You are going to win this fight,” she said to the face in the mirror. It was a soft, delicate face, so much like her mother’s, but her hair—that dark almost-black-brown—was her father’s, if he’d ever worn it long. “You can do this.” She took a deep breath, smoothed her hair, twisted it back in a professional updo one last time, and stepped out of the bathroom. Down the hall, she could see the clock on the stove. She was running late for work. “Ah, shit.”
She grabbed her shoes, purse, and phone, and ran for the door.
Her condo was twenty minutes from work on a good day, twenty-five if all the lights were against her, and if she was lucky she could make it in eighteen. She needed more than luck today, and what she got was a nightmare.
A road construction project had started, not on her route but just down a side street, and that meant traffic was being detoured onto her usual route, backing traffic up a full light. Another light was down—looked like a traffic accident overnight—and she had to wait to be waved through by a cop. A jerk in a huge black SUV cut her off and then proceeded to slam on his brakes and nearly reverse into her trying to get a parking spot in the curb lane. She slammed on her brakes in turn, and the car behind her almost rear-ended her.
When she leaned on her horn, h
e gave her the finger and took up most of her lane as he tried to wiggle his giant vehicle into the moderate-sized spot. The lane beside her was packed, and everyone behind her was moving into what few openings popped up, so she was stuck there until he finally gave up and sped off again. Even with the AC running in the car, she felt hot and flustered by the time she arrived at the office.
She made it up to her office without further mishap, but her heart was pounding and she was already tasting bitter defeat. Being late wasn’t the way to prove you were ready for bigger and better things. Not that she could tell her boss she considered moving on to another company ‘bigger and better’ than working for him.
She had her whole argument planned out. She just hoped he would still listen to her.
“You look rough,” said Carol. Carol’s desk was just across from hers and they often had lunch together.
Gia rolled her eyes and her shoulders. “The drive in was hell.”
“Well, he’s waiting for you. Good luck in there. I know how he can be.”
“Thanks. I really hope this goes well. I don’t want to just quit—it would devastate him.”
“He’s pretty strong on the whole company loyalty thing, yeah. But you’ve got this.” Carol offered her a reassuring smile and then hurried off, her arms full of papers for copying or shredding or whatever.
Gia took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and walked up to the wooden door that separated the CEO’s corner office from the rest of the ‘executive floor.’
“Come in,” said a smooth Cajun voice.
Gia went in smiling. “Good morning. I hope your drive was better than mine.”
“Given that you’re late, and that you are never late, I would say yes, undoubtedly. How was your weekend?” Mr. Carosa said. He was seated behind a giant wooden desk. Behind him, New Orleans shimmered in the early autumn heat.
“Lazy. I needed some time to recharge. And to think. I need to talk to you.”
“Of course, have a seat.” He gestured to the chair that faced the desk. “What’s troubling you?”
“You know I’m thankful for this job. You put a lot of trust in me, putting me in an administrative assistant’s position straight out of school, giving me the chance to attend meetings with you, learn from you …”
“Gia, you’re my daughter, I would support you no matter what path you chose for your life. I was honored you chose to follow me into business.”
“Right.” She took another deep breath and pushed on. “So, I need you to support me now. There’s only so much I can learn staying in this one position in this one company. I need to leave the company for a while, gain some experience working for someone who doesn’t have the same last name as I do. It wouldn’t be permanent. Once I have enough experience, I could come back. I just don’t see how I can get enough experience to someday be a partner in your business, and eventually CEO in your stead, if I stay here as your personal assistant.”
“You’re right,” Giancarlo said, smiling at his daughter over steepled fingers.
“I don’t want you to be mad at me. I’m not abandoning the family enterprise. I’m …”
“You’re right,” he said again. “Sweetheart, I’ve been thinking the same thing. A friend of mine mentioned that a temp position has opened up, and I thought of you right away. It is for an administrative assistant, but,” he held up a hand to silence her protest, “it’s in politics, not business. If you want to learn something of the cutthroat negotiations of the business world, learn it from politicians. No one knows double-speak, carefully worded promises, and forced diplomacy like a politician.”
“And after that?” she said, wary.
He shrugged. “After that, we’ll talk. We’ll see what sort of experience you are interested in gaining and we’ll find you a job that will provide that.”
“So, this temp position is a proving of sorts?”
“Not at all. Gia, you have already proven yourself to me. I saw this as an opportunity for you to further your horizons. I only want what is best for you. But there is one thing.”
“What one thing?”
“You start today. After lunch. I will manage on my own this morning. You get your desk packed up and your stuff taken home, have a nice lunch, and then you go meet your new boss. I left the information with Sandra at the front.”
“Thank you.” Relief and excitement washed over her. “Thank you. I thought you’d be angry.”
“Why should I be angry that my little girl wants to be the best businesswoman in the world? I’m concerned that you’re already planning for my retirement, though.”
She laughed. “Not for many years, I promise.”
“Go on then.”
She grabbed an empty filing box and began filling it with personal items from her desk. Carol looked up from her computer.
“Fired?” she asked. “Or quit?”
“Extended leave of absence for professional development purposes,” Gia said with a huge smile on her face.
Carol cocked an eyebrow.
“He said yes! He even got me a job. He agreed I needed more experience, different experience. I start a new job today!”
“Yay!” Carol came around and hugged Gia. “Today? When?”
“After lunch.”
“Good, then we’re going for an early lunch to celebrate. What do ya say to that?”
“I say I’m definitely in. Let me get this stuff loaded, and I do have about an hour worth of work to do before I go, no matter what the big boss man says, and then we’ll go. Okay?”
“Deal.”
Gia took the box—mainly dishes, a few photos, and a pair of running shoes, and a change of gym clothes—down to her car. On her way back up, she stopped at Sandra’s desk. “Mr. Carosa said you had a paper for me.” She never called him Dad at work, not unless she and Carol were just chatting about casual stuff. He was Mr. Carosa, sometimes Giancarlo to the other executives, but never ‘my dad.’
“Here you go,” Sandra said. “I’ll be sorry to see you go.”
“I’ll be back,” Gia said. “This is just temporary, a chance to stretch my wings a little, make a few connections of my own.”
“Well, good luck out there.”
“Thanks.” She grabbed the elevator and on the way up she unfolded the paper. The address ‘1300 Perdido Street’ was written at the top and she frowned at it. Perdido was a long street, but the 1300 block was right in the heart of the city. She looked at the name written beneath it and began to shake. Her hand balled into a fist, crumpling the paper.
She marched off the elevator, across the executive floor, past Carol, and straight into her father’s office without knocking. He looked up from his computer, startled for a moment, and then amused.
“What is this?” she said, waving the paper.
He raised both eyebrows. “I cannot see through paper, nor through your hand. Would you care to tell me what it is?”
“My working orders,” she snapped. “Would you care to tell me what this is about?”
MUNDO (BBW Bear Shifter MC Romance) (MC Bear Mates Book 2) Page 37
