Waiting on Faith (She's Beautiful Series Book 2)

by Nicole Richard

  Lowering my voice, I said, “Okay, I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”

  “I love you, too. See you soon, Blue.”

  We disconnected the call, and I stretched in my bed. I didn’t want to think about where that nightmare was going, and was thankful that he had called when he did.

  “So Vicki got the room we wanted confirmed?” Addie asked from her spot on my sofa.

  She came over a few hours ago to hang out and keep me company, since Cy was still in Charleston. It had only been two days, but he would be home tomorrow, and I couldn’t wait.

  “Yeah, she called a while ago to let me know. I bet she threatened the banquet manager to get us the spot on such short notice.” A laugh bubbled while I shook my head.

  When Vicki, AJ’s mom, mentioned the country club still hadn’t confirmed the exact room we had requested, we panicked a little. But today we had added a few more details to our top-secret baby shower planning, and everything was coming together perfectly. I was one hundred percent positive Grace would be equally surprised and thrilled.

  “What are you and Cy doing for Valentine’s Day?”

  “Not sure. All Cy said was it was a surprise.” I handed her a glass of my homemade Blackberry Sangria and sat opposite her.

  “Surprises can be fun.” Her smile dropped as quickly as the words left her mouth.

  “Hey.” I reached forward and tapped the side of her thigh. “Why the long face?”

  She waved it off. “It’s nothing, really— ”

  “Addie, you know you can talk to me, right?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, it’s just . . .”

  “It’s just what?” Both my eyebrows rose, wondering what would make the girl who had no filter hesitate.

  “I shouldn’t even be asking this— ”

  “Addilyn Mae Montgomery, will you just say what you need to say!”

  After a huge sigh, she blurted, “Did you and RJ— ”

  I sat straight. “What? No.” I shook my head. “Addie, no! Nothing happened with me and RJ.” I paused for a second. “Well, besides one drunken awkward kiss that had no chemistry whatsoever.”

  She stared at me blankly for a minute. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even asked. I had no right.”

  “Hey, it’s fine. I’m a little confused that’s all. Why would you want to know about RJ?”

  “You know he and I dated back in high school, right?”

  “I did. Grace had mentioned it to me.”

  I always wondered if and when Addie and I would have this conversation.

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” she asked, leaning forward a little.

  “Well, I don’t know. I just . . . I mean, if you and RJ had a thing at one time, I just didn’t want it to be awkward between us, you know? Plus, you’re with Jase. I mean, are you two doing okay or are you having problems? Is that why you’re asking?” Jase, Addie’s long-term boyfriend, lived a couple of states away. I’d never met him, and it didn’t escape me that she rarely talked about him.

  “That’s the thing. This whole long distance arrangement is making me crazy. I have no idea what to think or do anymore.” She blew out a breath, puffing her cheeks out as she did so. “Shit, I don’t know anything anymore.” She closed her eyes and rubbed the tiny space between her eyebrows. “Forget I said anything.” She waved her hand in dismissal.

  “Addie— ”

  “No really, Nat. Forget it.”

  I stared at her, trying to read her expression, but I came up empty. “Well, if you insist. But you do know I’m here if you ever need a friend, right?”

  “I do, and thank you.” She smiled, but there was sadness hiding in the depths of her sparkling blue eyes. She looked so lost for a second, that I spit out the first thing that came to mind just so I could change the subject.

  “Wanna help with gift ideas? I still haven’t gotten Cy anything and I have no idea where to start.”

  “I’m sure if you wrapped yourself in a pretty pink bow—nothing else—screwed him senseless on every flat surface, you’d make him the happiest man alive.”

  “Addie!” I screeched and we both broke out in laughter. “I need ideas, besides the obvious.” I had already bought a set of pink lace lingerie with tiny bows on it for the night, so he was definitely getting bows. “What about you, are you seeing Jase?”

  “Who knows? I’m not even sure how much I care anymore.”

  I didn’t get a chance to answer, because she stood abruptly. “Hey, I better get going. I’ll see you later, okay?”

  “Sure. I’ll see you. Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will, thanks, Nat. Oh hey, I really liked your ideas for the baby shower today. I think Grace is going to love it.”

  I gave her a hug and waved good-bye before closing the door. Right as the deadbolt clicked, I heard her ear-piercing scream, and my heart sank to the soles of my feet.

  I twisted the deadbolt and threw the door open. Addie was standing right at the foot of the porch steps with both hands pressed to her chest.

  “What the hell happened?”

  Following her line of eyesight downward, I saw what made her scream.

  “Oh my God, Nat . . . what the hell!” Addie cried out.

  On the bottom porch step was a strategically placed red, heart-shaped box of chocolates with a gutted rat and a red rose with a broken stem clutched between its teeth. My body began to shake, and I grabbed Addie.

  “Get inside now,” I whispered harshly, dragging Addie by the crook of her elbow. Two seconds was all it took to lock the door and arm the alarm. What the hell were we supposed to do now? Do I call Cy or do I call Pete?

  Terror ripped through me like a lightning bolt, and my legs gave out. With my back pressed against the door, I slid down until my butt hit the floor. Shock infiltrated every last crevice.

  Addie’s hands grabbed onto both my knees, and I saw her lips moving, but her words sounded like gibberish.

  Then she disappeared.

  What seemed like hours later, I really had no idea, she was handing me a bottle of water. I couldn’t move my hands to take it.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” She sat next to me on the floor and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “I got ahold of Pete; he’s on his way.” She rubbed the side of my arm in an attempt to comfort me. “They got two other calls similar to this within the last hour. Apparently a couple of high school kids thought it would be hilarious to randomly prank people within a two-mile radius.”

  At that point, my body was numb. All I could get out was a whispered, “Thanks.”

  “BABY, ARE YOU sure I can’t take you out somewhere? We haven’t been anywhere outside of this house, well, besides work, for three weeks.”

  “I’m good staying here with you. We have the baby shower in a few days anyway.”

  After the incident, Cy had rushed home from Charleston and we had spent our Valentine’s Day hanging out at his house. I didn’t even get to give him his present, me wrapped in a big pink bow and sex.

  Of course, Pete had told Cy that they had caught the two seventeen-year-olds who placed the “special delivery” on my front steps, but no matter how much he tried to persuade me, I refused to leave the house for anything other than work and a trip to the grocery store.

  Nothing anyone said would allow me to chalk it up to a random prank. It pretty much screamed Trent. And seriously, what could I— or the law— do when there was absolutely no proof? So instead, I let fear take over and I became a temporary hermit.

  “But, Blue . . .” He pressed a lingering kiss to my cheek.

  “How about you, me, and this couch have a movie date? I’ll even make popcorn.” I turned at the waist to look into his chocolate-colored eyes. “You can choose the movie.”

  “Anything.” His hand traveled under my shirt and caressed the skin right below my breasts.

  “Umm hmm.” I closed my eyes and let him cop a feel for a few seconds longer before I jumped up. “Pick a movie. I’ll be
back with popcorn.”

  “How about we make our own movie?” Cy waggled his eyebrows, and I skipped faster toward the kitchen.

  “Nope. I want a Hollywood classic, not a new release.”

  “Damn woman.”

  Sadie raced across the kitchen floor and collided into a cabinet right as I pressed the start button on the microwave. I bent down to pet her and she did that little yelp-bark thing when she was hungry. “Okay, okay, baby, let me get your food.” I pulled open the pantry door. “Where’s Boones, huh, little girl?” I searched the pantry from bottom to top and then top to bottom. The dog food was nowhere in the pantry.

  “Hey babe, where did you put the dog food?” I called toward the living room.

  “In its usual spot in the pantry, why?” Cy called back.

  “Are you sure? It’s not there.”

  A minute later, Cy walked right behind me to stand in the doorway to the pantry. “I swear I put it right there.” He pointed to the corner where we normally kept the dog food. “It was there yesterday.” I looked over my shoulder and he scratched his head. “Am I going senile?”

  “Well . . . you are creeping up in age.”

  “Yeah, but I still make you scream.” He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulled me back into his hard body, and pressed his tongue past my lips.

  Sadie took that moment to nip at my ankle, and I giggled against Cy’s lips.

  “I can’t keep my hands off you.”

  The microwave dinged, signaling that our popcorn was ready, but how could I munch on our snack when Sadie was still hungry?

  “Let me get the popcorn. Will you look for the dog food?”

  “Sure thing, baby.” Cy leaned in for a quick kiss.

  I had just dumped the bag of popcorn into a bowl when Cy yelled.

  “Hey, I found it, but why was it sitting on the washing machine?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe you forgot you moved it?” I tossed a small handful of popcorn in my mouth.

  “No way, I always put it in the same spot. And why is this side door unlocked?”

  “What? I never use that door. How could it be unlocked?” Cy walked back into the kitchen with the bag of dog food under his left arm. “Open.” I tossed some popcorn into his mouth. He caught one of my fingers and sucked all the butter off.

  “Umm, delicious. You know what I want to put in your mouth.” He chuckled and released my hand from his hold, his smile dropping a little. “You really need to be more careful.”

  “Cy, I never use that door. I don’t understand how it could have been unlocked.”

  “I don’t know, but it wasn’t locked. Promise to check it from now on?”

  “I promise.”

  “SURPRISE!” EVERYONE IN the petitioned turquoise-and-lavender decorated ballroom yelled as AJ escorted Grace in for a supposed nice, quiet lunch. The surprise on her face was all I needed. She clearly had no idea we had planned this for her.

  “Oh my gosh, you didn’t,” she said, before covering her mouth with her hand, trying to hold back her tears. “Thank you so much. It looks absolutely beautiful.” Grace looked around the room at all the people who loved her and had come to celebrate.

  “I love the color scheme. It’s perfect.” She tilted her head, taking in all the decorations. Those were mostly Addie’s doing. She had gone to town and made sure everything matched. I was in charge of making the four-tier diaper cake. Thinking about that darned thing made me cringe a little. I cussed at that case of size-one diapers for four and a half hours as I rolled each and every one. The frustration was worth it, though. It looked great in the center of the gift table.

  “You guys really are the best friends I could have.” She threw her arms around both Addie and me, laughing through her tears. Over her shoulder, I caught Cy’s eyes. He was watching us just be friends and smiling the kind of smile that made my heart sing.

  He had a way of speaking to me, to my heart, without ever having to say one word.

  I felt someone nudge my elbow, pulling my attention away from him so they could swoop in and give Grace a hug, too. It turned out to be Grace’s mom, so I quietly backed away from the pair as they hugged.

  Addie, who had already moved to the front of the room, was waving wildly, requesting everyone’s attention. “First, I’d like to thank each of you for joining us today to celebrate two people who couldn’t be more perfect for each other and the little one they each had a hand in making.” Addie looked at Grace, who was trying valiantly to pull herself back together. “We’d like to go ahead and start this blessed day off with lunch, and once everyone’s bellies are happy, we’ll go ahead and have some PG-13 fun.”

  Grace giggled, blotting the skin under her eyes with her linen napkin as she beamed a smile at Addie. “Thank you, Nat. You don’t know how much all of this means to me,” she whispered in my ear.

  My throat was thick with emotion, so I refrained from words and kissed her cheek.

  AJ walked to Grace, and she turned to the crowd of guests.

  “Hopefully we don’t, but in case we forget, we’d like to thank each and every one of you for being here today.” AJ looked to Grace with so much love on his face you would have had to have been blind not to see it.

  “Yes, thank you all of you for being here. Having each of you here to celebrate the welcoming of this child. . .” Grace looked down, resting her hand against her belly. “Your love and support means more to us than you’ll ever know.”

  AJ kissed Grace on the nose and Addie took over the floor again. “Okay everyone, eat up. I have some games to win and some prizes to collect!”

  Turns out Addie wasn’t kidding, and I decided halfway through a very spirited game of Guess the Baby Food, that she was cheating. I didn’t know how, but there was no way a normal person would know what squash baby food tasted like.

  By the time all the presents were opened and dessert was served, everyone, especially a very pregnant Grace was pooped. I sat leaning into Cy and he’d been rubbing small circles at the bottom of my shoulder, which felt amazing.

  “I can’t wait to see you swollen with my baby in that gorgeous body of yours.”

  It was out of the blue, and I even surprised myself when I didn’t flinch. Normally, I would have cringed at the words, but somewhere deep down, I wanted that with him. Down the road, I knew in my heart I hoped to spend the rest of my life with him as his wife and the mother of his children. I didn’t realize how much until Cy’s hand absentmindedly made its way to rest on my now flat tummy. Not wanting to freak out, I forced a smile. His eyes shone with so much love.

  “One day, babe. I want that too.”

  Cy’s lips spread from ear to ear into the largest grin I had ever seen on his gorgeous face. “I love you, Blue,” he said, leaning in and pressing a soft sweet kiss to my lips.

  How would I ever find the courage to tell him?

  All that talk about babies made me want to get my girl home and start the process. My house was closer by minutes, but we had left the dogs at her place, so we headed there instead.

  I could read it all over her face, in her smile, her eyes. She was going to give me a full-blown cat and mouse chase. I loved a good challenge.

  The moment we walked in the door, she picked up Sadie, rubbed her head, and gave her a kiss before she walked both dogs out to the back porch.

  Nope, she didn’t want any interruptions.

  Adjusting myself, I headed straight for the bedroom, stripped down naked, and lay on the bed with my arms resting under my head and a smile on my lips.

  Took her a little while, but I was patient. “Cy, babe. Where are you?”

  I didn’t say one word, but I could hear her getting closer.

  With eyes intent on the bedroom doorway, I didn’t miss the look on her face when she saw me. I heard her suck in a breath, and she bit the inside of her cheek. “What are you doing?” she asked, not moving an inch.

  My right hand grabbed hold of my swollen cock, stroking with languid mo
vements. Her eyes darkened and she moved into the bedroom, eyes locked on my hand.

  I stroked. She removed her shirt, and I decided self-restraint felt like torture. I licked my lips and clenched my jaw. She slid her skirt down her thighs. As she stepped out of it, she took a few steps closer to the bed.

  A throaty groan grumbled its way up, and she dragged her bra straps down her arms, exposing her breasts before reaching back to unhook it letting it completely fall from her body.

  “Come here.”

  “Hmm, what do you want, babe?” she hummed.

  “I want you to fuck me. I’ve been dying all day to be buried deep inside you.”

  “Yes please.”

  Natalie moved from the foot of the bed and sat astride me. Grabbing onto my shoulders for balance she leaned in and kissed me. My mouth opened for her, our tongues swirled, and moans filtered the air. Natalie bit my bottom lip, grazed her teeth against my jaw then slid her panties to the side, seating herself right onto my hard cock.

  “Blue.” I grunted out, grabbing her hips to halt her movements.

  “You like that huh, babe? You love it when I seduce this cock, don’t you?” She sank onto me, and I dug harder into her hips, trying to control her movements. There was no way I would last five minutes if she kept talking like that.

  “Shit, baby.”

  “Just let go.”

  A few more gyrating movements and her breath hitched. I leaned forward, sucking her pebbled nipple into my mouth and biting it before releasing her with a pop. I rocked my hips and flipped her under me in one smooth motion. My eyes were fixed on her fists, which were now gripping and twisting in the sheets, and my thumbs dug harder into her hips as I slammed into her, pushing deep and rocking my pelvis against her clit.

  “Yes,” she hissed. “Faster.”

  Of course, I obliged.

  The sheets popped off the two top corners and the pillows dropped to the floor. Her soft hands reached between our sweaty bodies; she grabbed her breasts and pulled at her nipples.

  “Grab my ass, baby.”

  The next punishing thrusts had her screaming out her pleasure.