by Y. L. Stokes
“Great, I wanted to give your number to Nicole just in case she needed to contact me. With all the packing, I left my planner home somewhere with your number in it,” Ashley said sheepishly.
Nick smiled. Ecstatic that she seemed excited about spending the weekend with him, he said, “Sure, I’ll get it down for you.” He quickly wrote his number on a sticky on his desk. “Hey…I was thinking about having Jack check out your place to see what type of security system you need,” he offered, hesitant, not sure how receptive Ashley would be to the idea of his wanting to protect her and Marcus.
“You don’t have—”
“I know I don’t, but I want to. I promise he’ll get you the best for a great price. Let him check it out, and you can talk to him about it.”
Ashley shrugged. “Okay, tell Jack Nicole will be there.”
Nicole nodded and checked her watch. “Shoot! I’ve got to be going. You guys have a wonderful time, and Ashley, don’t worry, I’ll take care of the house for you.”
Nicholas and Ashley shared a smile. The day couldn’t end soon enough.
Ashley had just finished with her last client for the day. The guard called to let her know that Maggie had arrived with Marcus. Nicholas walked in.
“That Maggie?” he asked.
Ashley nodded. “Yes, she and Marcus are down in the lobby.”
“Why don’t we go ahead and take your bags to my truck? That way we won’t have to try and carry them along with Marcus,” he suggested.
Ashley smiled at the excitement showing on his face—the same expression Marcus had when excited. The coincidence stunned Ashley; how could Nicholas and Marcus have the same look? She mulled over the question as they gathered the bags and headed for the elevator.
Once in the truck and on the road, Ashley took quick glances from Nicholas to Marcus. For some reason there appeared to be a slight resemblance between them.
That just can’t be!
“Are you okay?” Nicholas asked with concern, breaking into her thoughts.
“Yes, I guess I’m just a little tired.”
Nicholas nodded understandingly. “When we reach the house, you can go up and take a quick nap while Marcus and I get dinner going, if you like.”
Ashley heard the confidence in his voice. “How on earth are you going to cook and play with Marcus at the same time?” she asked with a smile.
“You don’t think I can do it?”
“No, I don’t. I’m sorry, Nicholas, but you don’t have any idea how hard it is.”
“Okay, let’s make a bet,” he challenged.
“What kind of bet?” Ashley asked a little cautiously.
“I bet you while you take your nap, I’ll take care of Marcus and have dinner ready and on the table when you wake up. If I win…let’s see…what can be my prize…?”
She waited for him to answer, prompting him with her eyes. “What?”
He flashed a quick grin. “You’ll have to tell me a little more about you and Marcus.”
“I can agree to that, but what if I win?”
Nicholas shrugged. “Whatever you want…do we have a deal?”
“Yeah, sure, why not?” she said with a shrug of her own. “I’m going to win anyway.”
“My, you’re mighty confident!” Nicholas laughed and made a turn into a gated neighborhood.
Ashley couldn’t say anything, too full of wonder at all she saw. As they pulled into his driveway, a white Victorian-style home lay before them. Green trim bordered the eaves, and two old-fashioned rocking chairs sat on a porch that seemed to go completely around to the back of the house.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
“I think it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to see the inside. How many bedrooms do you have?” She climbed out of the truck and saw to Marcus. Even the lawn was immaculate!
“Only five.” He’d said it so nonchalantly, but his words rendered Ashley speechless. “Come on and I’ll give you a tour.”
In the foyer, he placed the bags on the floor. To the left, a state-of-the-art kitchen looked even bigger and better than some of the fancy restaurant kitchens she’d worked in while going through college. It boasted a commercial-sized stainless steel refrigerator and cabinets everywhere—even around the center island. Another hallway led from the kitchen to a sunken den with nice leather furniture and a big-screen television. She looked up. Speakers in the ceiling!
Nicholas walked over to the desk and pressed a button. The blinds moved aside, revealing a wide picture window. He went to the doors and opened them. Ashley crossed out onto the patio that faced a large backyard. As soon as she touched the threshold, the fragrance coming from the beautiful flowers that littered the garden just beyond the patio tickled her nose. Marcus nuzzled her neck as if thinking the scents came from her.
“What do you think?” Nicholas asked and stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Wait until you see it at night,” he whispered in her ear.
His nearness was driving her mad. His lips brushed against her earlobe, and she stifled a groan.
“Come on, let’s finish the tour.”
Having reached the last bedroom upstairs, she turned to him, a suspicious brow arched.
“I thought you said it had five rooms.”
He’d only shown her four.
“Well…there’s another one just off of the master bedroom,” Nicholas hedged.
“So…can I see it?” Ashley waited for him to answer and wondered at his hesitation.
“Yes, but you have to promise not to get angry.”
Marcus had fallen asleep, and her arms grew tired. “That’s fine; I just need to put him down somewhere.” Ashley noticed her comment made Nicholas a little uncomfortable. “Nick—?”
“Here, I’ll take him—”
“Why do I have to promise not to get angry, Nicholas?” she asked, standing before him with her arms folded across her chest as he settled her son in his arms.
“Um…well…I kind of went shopping.”
Her frown deepened.
“Follow me.” He led her through the master bedroom to the adjoining door and opened it.
She walked in. Baby furniture and toys filled the room. She stared in awe at how beautifully decorated the room was.
“When did you do this?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“The same night you agreed to stay the weekend. I know I should have asked you first, but I—”
“I can’t believe you did this!” Before he could try to explain again, Ashley came up to him and gave him a kiss on the lips. “You have no idea how special this is! How could you think that I would be angry with you? Do you know that no one has ever done anything so wonderful for Marcus or myself?”
A tear started down her cheek, and Nicholas thumbed it away. “Don’t cry, I didn’t want you angry, but I don’t want to see you cry, either,” he admonished.
“Okay, I’ll wait until I’m alone!” she said jokingly.
“No, not even when you’re alone. Your eyes are too beautiful to be filled with tears.” Before she knew what was happening, he’d lowered his mouth to hers.
Even as he was mindful of the baby he held, the kiss was different than before. A kiss filled with a promise of passion so strong that it shook Ashley to the core.
She was still reeling when he ended the kiss.
“You go ahead and get Marcus settled, and I’ll bring your bags up. You can have the master bedroom, and I’ll sleep across the hall,” he said.
Ashley frowned. “You don’t have to give up your bedroom for me.”
“I know I don’t have to, but I want you to be comfortable. This is to be a relaxing weekend for you, so while you unpack, I’ll get dinner started. Let me know if you need anything. The house is equipped with an intercom system in each room. I’ll keep the one in the baby’s room on just in case he wakes up.”
Before Ashley could respond, Nicholas l
eft the room. Ashley was sure she hadn’t mistaken the passion she’d seen in Nicholas’ eyes, and that the kiss had affected him just as much as it had her. “Why is he trying to hide what he’s feeling from me?” she asked herself. “Well, my man, he can’t hide it forever,” she added to her sleeping son and settled him in the crib.
Nicholas had to get his body under control before he made his way back upstairs. He walked into the kitchen and entered the walk-in refrigerator, taking several deep, cooling breaths. This would be harder than he thought. Luckily, he’d been holding Marcus while they’d kissed, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have been able to subdue the passion she’d ignited within him.
He remained in the refrigerator for a few more moments before grabbing Ashley’s and Marcus’ belongings and carrying them to their rooms.
After moving the bags upstairs, Nicholas started dinner. Grilled salmon with steamed vegetables. Ashley joined him in the kitchen half an hour later; he was in control again.
“Why is it that you have such a big house?” she asked after taking a seat on the opposite side of the island.
“Well, after Jack came to live with us, what was once a place that was just big enough for my mom and me became a place just barely big enough for three. This, to me, was great because it was hard being an only child, especially when Mom had to work a double shift. Don’t get me wrong, now, I know it wasn’t easy for Mom to take care of us, and she hated leaving us home alone when she had to work a double, but she knew that we wouldn’t do anything bad when she wasn’t there.”
“Jack’s parents didn’t give her any money?” she asked.
He shook his head, shrugged, and chopped up some veggies. “Not that I’m aware of. I seriously doubt it.”
“What about your other friends?” Jack said something about your mom taking care of four of you?”
“He was just spilling his guts, huh?” Nick looked up at her, a smile on his face.
“I guess….”
“Well, Sean and Patrick are twin brothers; their mother worked with my mom at her second job. One day their mother didn’t come into work. My mother was immediately worried because she’d suspected that the woman was being abused. So my mom decided on her lunch break she’d go and check on her. When she got there she knew something was wrong. Mom said that as she walked up to the door she heard babies crying. She tried the doorbell and saw that the door wasn’t closed all the way. When she looked inside, she found her coworker in a pool of blood with her babies sitting next to her crying. Mom called the police and requested an ambulance. It didn’t take them long to arrive, but when they got there they knew that Mom’s coworker wasn’t going to make it, but before she passed she begged my mom to take care of her boys. The policeman that had arrived at the house first promised that they would catch the coworker’s husband, assuming he’d attacked her. He also vouched for my mother at the custody hearing too. So now, our house that was made for two became made for five. There were some good times and bad times. Jack and I felt huge because now we were big brothers. Man, we really thought we were the big men of the house.” Nicholas chuckled. “When Mom wasn’t there, they had to listen to us.”
Ashley looked at him suspiciously, yet smirked. “Did you two torture those boys?”
Nicholas laughed and shook his head. “No, my mom made us promise we would never do anything to hurt them and that we’d always take care of each other. So that’s what we did. But as we grew up, we quickly outgrew our house. So I promised myself and the others that when I built a house it would have more than enough room for all of us to live comfortably, if for whatever reason any of them needed a place to stay.”
Ashley’s expression softened to a genuine smile. “So that’s why you made the promise.”
“Yes, it is,” he said gruffly, clearing his throat. He felt a little uncomfortable being so sentimental with her. “This shouldn’t take too much longer; would you like to go out on to the patio?” he offered. “We can turn on the intercom so we can hear Little Marcus in his room.” At her nod of agreement, Nicholas grabbed two wine glasses and a bottle of Merlot. The sun setting along with the hidden lights in the flowerbeds illuminated the flora, casting a soft and relaxing glow.
“It is so beautiful out here,” Ashley stated softly.
Nicholas nodded. “I love to come out here after I get home from work; it helps me unwind.”
Ashley grinned and winked. “I bet the women you bring here love it.”
“You’re the first woman other than my mother who’s ever been here.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper.
Nicholas shrugged before he went back inside to check on the food.
Marcus’ cries came through the intercom as they sat down for dinner. Ashley stood to get him. Nicholas stopped her.
“No, I told you that I’d cook dinner and take care of Marcus. You sit back and enjoy your meal.”
Nicholas fetched Marcus and made a detour to the kitchen pantry to pull out a jar of baby food and warm it in the microwave. He returned to the patio, and Ashley looked at him, surprised.
“Baby food?”
“I told you I got everything Marcus might need.” He set down the food and went back into the house to bring out the highchair he’d bought. “How’s your dinner?” Nicholas asked and settled the baby in the seat.
She nodded with enthusiasm. “It’s delicious! Would you like to work for me when I open my restaurant?”
“You’re really serious about opening a restaurant, huh?”
“Yes, it’s something I promised myself I’d do. My mother had always wanted to open her own, but my dad never wanted to stay in one place too long.”
Nicholas heard the note of sadness in her voice. “Then I think you should do it and name it after your mother.”
Ashley smiled. “That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
Marcus slapped his hands on the tray in front of him, and Nicholas chuckled. “I guess I’d better get him his food. Someone appears to be hungry!”
Marcus began blowing bubbles with his food. Nicholas knew Ashley tried to contain her laughter, but she lost the battle as a wad of strained peas hit Nicholas right between the eyes.
Once able to catch her breath, she said, “You two need a bath!”
Nicholas glared at her but couldn’t stop his laughter either. Marcus, watching the two grownups, started laughing also.
“Look, I’ll clear away the dishes while you two go and play for a while. Why don’t you try that huge room with all the toys?” Ashley suggested after she’d calmed.
“Oh, I guess you found it, huh?” Nicholas asked, a weak look of innocence on his face.
“Yeah, I found it, all right, even though you conveniently left it out of the tour. So as long as those toys stay here, I don’t mind.”
Nicholas accepted the reprieve he’d been given. He quickly wiped his and Marcus’ face and headed for the room full of toys just off of the foyer.
Ashley stared after them for a moment before turning to clear away the dishes. After loading the dishwasher, she wiped down the countertops and table. Noises came from the room where Nick and Marcus played, and just as she started for them, the phone rang. Shrugging, she answered it, not wanting to break apart the boys’ fun.
“Hello?”
Silence on the other end.
She tried again. “Hello?”
No one answered. She replaced the receiver and went to the playroom. Ashley smiled watching the way Nick and her son played. It seemed almost perfect. Tears filled her eyes. She needed to be alone for a while to get her emotions under control. “I’m going to go up and take a shower,” she said from the door and turned away quickly so Nicholas wouldn’t see her lose it.
The sunken tub in the bathroom looked so inviting she took a long, luxurious bubble bath. It felt wonderful, the water so soothing and relaxing. Engrossed in her serenity, she drifted off to sleep.
She came to, no longer in the tub. She lay on
a bed wrapped in a towel, Nicholas looming above her. Only a towel covered him as well. He must have just finished showering. Her eyes traveled the length of his body—every inch of him cut to perfection. When her eyes met his, her body reacted of its own accord. Ashley sat up, reached out to trace the contours of his chest, and slowly ran her hands over the sprinkling of hair that covered it. She loved the way his body reacted to her touch. The lightest contact, and his muscles constricted. Because of her movements, her towel slipped to the floor, forgotten, just like her inhibitions. Her hands reached his towel, and she raised her eyes to his.
“What do you want?” he asked hoarsely, as if holding back.
Ashley didn’t even think about lying to him. “You,” she whispered.
His eyes fluttered closed briefly, and he clenched his jaw. “Show me.”
Ashley came up on her knees, slipped her arms around his neck, and brought his mouth to hers in a hot and sensual kiss. Using her tongue, she traced the outline of his lips. Nicholas opened his mouth to her. Her tongue darted inside, and he let out a growl in the back of his throat. His arms went around her, pulling her up against his body. Their bodies touched—electric. Ashley swore blue sparks flew around them.
She ended the kiss and pressed her lips alongside his neck. Her hand traveled down his ribbed stomach until her fingers encased his thick member. He groaned and cupped the nape of her neck, bringing her face back to his.
“Do you have any idea as to how badly I want you?” he asked in a tight whisper.
“Show me,” she said, just before his mouth reclaimed hers.
Nicholas lowered her to the bed. His palm ran across her breasts, and her nipples tightened. His lips left hers. She let out a whimper that quickly turned into a moan of pure pleasure as his mouth touched her breast. He circled around the nipple with his tongue. Before continuing down, he did the same to the other.
His hands seemed to be everywhere. He trailed kisses down her stomach then nipped her inner thigh. Her legs instinctively opened for him. Ashley couldn’t keep a coherent thought in her head. Feelings swarmed through her body, overwhelming her. She’d never experienced anything so exhilarating or fulfilling. Her breath came out in short gasps. His lips kissed her thighs again. She knew what was about to happen and thought her heart would stop just from the anticipation. His mouth reached the juncture between her legs, and Ashley screamed his name.
