Be Mine, Sweetheart (Something Borrowed)

by Codi Gary

  She shook her head. “When you kiss me, I forget everything else except how good it feels to be with you. Just now, when you pulled me to you, is the most relaxed I’ve been since Thursday.”

  He bent down and picked up his bag. “Then let’s go inside and maybe I can relax you some more.”

  She laughed and shut the door behind him once they were inside. Fungi was curled up on the couch, practically sprawled on top of Pepper, who was grooming the kitten lovingly with his tongue.

  “When did that happen?” he asked.

  “Yesterday. Since the veterinarian gave Fungi a clean bill of health on Saturday, I figured he should get to know his cousin. I actually thought Pepper was going to hate his guts, but it’s just the opposite. I think he loves the tiny monster more than he loves me.”

  Chris set his bag down with a chuckle. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “You’re right. I am the controller of the food after all. I will always be numero uno.” She walked into the kitchen and he followed behind, his gaze traveling down to her tight yoga pants hugging her backside. “Are you hungry at all?”

  His eyes snapped up when he realized that she’d caught him staring at her ass and smiled sheepishly. “No, I’m fine. I grabbed something in Folsom.”

  She turned around with her back to the counter, her arms crossed over her chest. “Please tell me what you found. I can’t stand it.”

  He knew she wasn’t going to accept not knowing the details beforehand, but he needed her to. There was no way she wouldn’t let something slip if she knew and he didn’t want to risk not having the leak right where he wanted them. “It’s complicated, baby. I just need you to trust me. Did you get Alejandro and Teresa to come?”

  “Yeah. Turns out they hadn’t left town. They’ll be by at ten.”

  “Good.”

  “Are you sure you can’t just tell me? I’m going to go crazy all night wondering.”

  Chris closed the distance between them and pulled her against him. She kept her arms crossed like a wall between them and he could understand her irritation with him, but he needed to do this. Kelly was a professional, but she would often take things personally, and if she knew who it was who had almost destroyed her, she might blow the whole thing.

  “I can’t tell you about who set you up, but I do need to tell you something else.”

  She dropped her arms and looked up at him. “All right.”

  “I’ve been stressed about what being with you will mean, and I’ve been a little scared. You know me. I like order; but when I’m with you, I’m a mess of emotions.”

  “A little insulted, but okay,” she said.

  “What I’m trying to tell you is that I didn’t want things to change because all of my relationships had fizzled out, and I was afraid we’d be the same way. And I can’t not have you in my life.”

  “Chris, I—”

  He held up a finger. “Please, let me finish.” She nodded her head. “You helped me realize that the best way to keep you in my life is to take stock of my feelings and what I want. And I want you with me, always, as my everything. It’s what you’ve always been for me, Kelly. It just took me awhile to realize it.”

  He paused, taking a deep breath.

  “I love you.”

  Kelly’s full lips split into a wide grin. “I know.”

  Chris frowned. “No, I really love you.”

  “And I really know.”

  “Are you messing with me?” he asked.

  “A little.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Chris, I love you too. I couldn’t imagine feeling the way I do about you and you not loving me too. It just didn’t seem possible. So, I decided that I would take back my I love you and let you have this first. You know, since I’ve initiated everything else.”

  He kissed her, stroking her back with his hands. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, will you take me upstairs and distract me? Otherwise, I might go crazy and torture you until you tell me what you know.”

  “Patience, my love,” he said. “Good things come to those who wait.”

  “I know.”

  Her soft gaze warmed his heart and he picked her up, carrying her up the stairs to bed.

  Chapter 30

  Kelly sat behind her desk, with Chris at her back like always. Veronica stood off to their left, while Teresa and Alejandro occupied the chairs across from them. Kelly tried hard to keep her feet from nervously dancing beneath her desk. No matter what she’d said or done, Chris wouldn’t share his master plan and now that the moment of truth was there, she was seriously anxious.

  She glanced behind her at Chris and he nodded.

  “Since everyone is here, we can get started,” Kelly said. She waved behind her at Chris. “Mr. Ryan is the company attorney, as you remember, and he has some information he’d like to share.”

  “Enough with the theatrics,” Teresa said. “I get enough drama on my show. You said that you knew who really sold us out, so tell us.”

  Chris picked up the manila envelope off the desk and pulled out the papers inside. He set down a sheet of paper in front of Teresa.

  “This is a copy of the check that The Daily Gossip wrote for the scoop on your wedding and pregnancy. Can you read the name aloud for us?”

  “Juan Rodriguez. Who is that?” Teresa asked.

  “That is your fiancée’s legal name. Apparently, he felt Alejandro Garcia was a better name for business.” Chris pulled out several more papers and Kelly leaned over to see what they were. “In case you don’t believe me, this is his driver’s license before he legally changed his name.”

  Teresa stared at it, and then turned to Alejandro. To Kelly’s shock, the calm, professional Teresa flew at her fiancée, beating him over the head with her fists.

  “You stupid bastard! Why would you do this? I thought you loved me!”

  He grabbed a hold of her wrists and glared at her. He threw her hands away from him and snapped, “Loved you? How could you think I would love you? You thought you were better than me, treated me like your lap dog.”

  “What? Are you crazy? I wanted to marry you! I am having your child.”

  “So, you say,” Alejandro sneered.

  Oh no he didn’t.

  This time, Veronica jumped in to restrain her cousin before she beat him some more. It didn’t stop the string of angry curses to escape Teresa’s full lips, though.

  When Teresa calmed down, Chris came around the desk and patted Teresa on the shoulder. Kelly smiled as Chris laid down another document, clearly on a roll. “Your fiancée has been a busy guy. Apparently, he wasn’t too happy with the prenup you made him sign. So, while he was in town last week, he also made a stop at the producer’s office for your show and let him know that you were pregnant with his child and the two of you were getting married.”

  Teresa’s face drained of color, but Chris didn’t stop, just kept pushing forward.

  “Now, I don’t know if he thought that his relationship with you would score him a bigger part in the show or that the studio heads would be so furious that they’d fire you, but he underestimated your appeal. They decided that they would work around your pregnancy next season with a new fantastic storyline. Congratulations, by the way.” Chris shot Alejandro a look filled with mock pity, clicking his tongue. “But poor Alejandro was informed that his character would get killed off because it had reached its ‘natural climatic end.’ I guess that’s code for ‘we don’t employ lowlife weasels who rat out their fiancées to get ahead.’”

  “Bastard,” Alejandro snarled.

  “Actually, my parents were married,” Chris said.

  “You know what, Mr. Ryan?” Kelly said thoughtfully.

  “What’s that, boss?”

  Kelly leaned back in her chair, her expression deceptively innocent. “I think A
lejandro here is one of those men who doesn’t want his woman to be more successful than he is.”

  Chris pretended to be shocked. “You don’t say.”

  Alejandro sat erect in his chair, his face a stiff mask of fury.

  Veronica, who had been holding her cousin back, suddenly stepped around Teresa and slapped Alejandro upside the head. Very hard, by the way his neck snapped forward and then back. He swung around in his seat, and she pointed her finger at him, only an inch from his nose. “You almost made me lose my job, pendejo.”

  Alejandro let loose with a rapid burst of Spanish, and by his expression and hand gestures, Kelly was pretty sure he was telling them all to fuck themselves.

  Chris waited until Alejandro was finished before he spoke directly to Teresa. “The good news, Teresa, is that Kelly is more than happy to tear up your contract with Something Borrowed, officially and without penalty, as the evidence proves Something Borrowed was not at fault for the wedding being canceled. However, because some of the vendors had nonrefundable deposits, we cannot get those back for you.”

  “That’s fine,” Teresa said, stabbing Alejandro with a dangerous glare. “When I take him to court, I’ll get my money back.”

  “Oh, that reminds me.” Chris laid a piece of paper in front of Alejandro.

  Alejandro leaned forward, squinting at the paper. “What is this?”

  “That is a contract. Basically, it states you are going to contact all of the media outlets you took money from and retract your statements about Something Borrowed. In exchange, Something Borrowed will not file a lawsuit against you for defamation, and we will not release these photos to the press.”

  “What photos?” Alejandro asked.

  Chris gave him a white envelope, and when Alejandro saw what was inside, he clutched them to his chest in horror.

  Kelly was dying to know what they were of, but figured she would ask Chris later.

  Chris examined his cuticles like a cop with a solid case just waiting on a confession. “I have copies, in case you were wondering if you could just destroy those. You have until tomorrow afternoon or my colleague will release the photos and you will spend years and all the money you’ve earned, in litigation.”

  Alejandro took the pen Chris held out to him with a jerk and signed the paper with hard swipes. When he stood up, and started to leave, Chris called out to him.

  “I have one more document for you, but it’s up to Teresa on whether or not she wants you to sign it.”

  Alejandro paused in the doorway, but didn’t remain silent. “What does that mean, she has to decide if I sign it?

  Chris pulled one more document from the envelope and held it out to Teresa. As Kelly watched Teresa read it over, a sad little smile spread across Teresa’s lips.

  Then, she held out the document to Chris and nodded.

  Chris stood up and handed it to Alejandro. “This is a document that will terminate your parental rights to Ms. Valdez’s unborn child. In exchange, she will not file a lawsuit for the breach in your confidentiality agreement.”

  “What confidentiality agreement?”

  “It was a subsection of your prenup. Apparently, Ms. Valdez’s agent didn’t trust you.” Chris smiled at Teresa. “Smart man.”

  “Actually, woman.” Teresa sniffed. “She kept telling me that he was no good, but I didn’t see it.”

  “That’s not your fault. You thought you had fallen in love with a decent human being. Just because he turned out to be slime has nothing to do with you.” Chris focused his attention on Alejandro, who was practically pulsating with rage. “In conclusion, you sign and you can walk away from this with a small shred of dignity and money, or fight, and lose everything.”

  Alejandro took the contract and signed it against the back of the door. “I never wanted a kid anyway. I was content to just sleep with her until I could move onto bigger and better things. She was the one who didn’t know how to take her pill.”

  Chris took the contract from him. “Classy. You really are a prize. Now, you are signing away your parental rights of your own free will?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, you can go then.”

  “One sec.” Kelly came around the desk and stood in front of Alejandro. “You almost destroyed my reputation and my business I’ve spent the last ten years building with your petty revenge. And for what? Because you were too stupid to realize you had something really good? Or that you were so greedy you couldn’t just love Teresa, you wanted to own her too?”

  Alejandro scoffed and attempted to turn away, but in a flash, Kelly grabbed him by his shoulders. With a loud grunt, she brought her knee up and slammed it into his groin.

  Alejandro crumbled to the ground with a silent scream. Kelly turned and flashed Chris a brilliant smile.

  “Hey, thanks for those kickboxing videos. I feel a lot better now.”

  Chris walked over to Alejandro and helped him up. As he escorted the hobbling man out of the room, he shot Kelly an exasperated look.

  Once they were out of sight, Kelly turned to Veronica and Teresa. “I guess kicking his balls up into his throat was too much?”

  “I’d call it just desserts,” Veronica said.

  Teresa stood. “I appreciate you and your attorney discovering the truth. It would have been humiliating to find out all of this from my producers when I got back to LA.”

  “I am sorry to say it was selfishly motivated,” Kelly said. “Something Borrowed is my life. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost it.”

  “I am glad that it did not come to that.” Teresa hugged Kelly, then held her hand out to her cousin. “Do you mind if I steal my cousin today?”

  Kelly recognized the grief in the other woman’s eyes. Her fiancée had turned out to be a dirt bag, and she was hurting. She wanted to be surrounded by people she loved.

  “Of course. You can have her for as long as you need. And it will get better.”

  Veronica squeezed Kelly to her. “Thank you so much for not firing me.”

  Kelly laughed. “It wasn’t you and I knew it. But when you get back to work, we need to talk about your event load and what to do while I’m in Hawaii at my parents’ vow renewal.”

  Veronica’s jaw dropped. “You’re going to let me stay a bridesmaid?”

  “Consultant. And yes, I am.”

  Veronica practically danced out of her office with Teresa, but the door didn’t even close before Chris was back, his blue eyes narrowed. He looked pissed.

  “You couldn’t just let it go? You had to unman him?”

  She shrugged. “Seemed a small price to pay for nearly destroying the lives of three women. Think about it; I almost lost my business and reputation. Veronica thought she was going to lose her job. And Teresa not only could have lost her show, but she would have had to share her child with that douche canoe for the rest of her life. In my opinion, he got off easy.”

  Chris groaned loudly. “See, this is why I didn’t tell you it was him beforehand. You would have shown up at his hotel room and run him off before I managed to get him to agree to our terms.”

  “Is he pressing charges because I gave his nards a hate tap?”

  Kelly saw his lips twitch in amusement. “No.”

  She came around and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Then I don’t see why we’re still talking about this.” She stood up on her tip toes and brushed his lips with hers. “Or talking at all.”

  “We can’t have sex here,” he murmured, even as his hands drifted down to cover her back side.

  “Then let’s go back to my house.” Laughing at his shocked expression, she added, “What? I deserve a mental health day and if you didn’t hear, most of my clients have bailed, so my schedule’s wide open.”

  Chris let her go and opened the door of her office. “Well, let’s get the hell out of here and see if we can
find something to pass the time.”

  Chapter 31

  Two weeks later, Kelly stood on a sandy beach on Honolulu, her bare feet sinking into the soft sand. The wind caught the flowing skirt of her coral dress, dancing the fabric around her legs and whipping her hair out of the elegant updo and into her face. The lullaby of the ocean played under the soft classical music her mother had chosen for the pre-ceremony.

  Next to her, her dad stood tall in a black tux, his silver hair thinning at the top, but his hazel eyes just as sharp as when she was a child. The sun beat down on him from above and she could see the sheen of sweat on his skin from the humidity.

  “Are you nervous, Daddy?” she teased.

  He snorted. It didn’t take a genius to realize that her dad had only gone along with this vow renewal because her mother had insisted, and he wanted to be anywhere but standing in the humid Hawaiian air in a penguin suit. His words, not hers.

  A handful of her extended family sat in the white folding chairs on either side of the aisle, along with her parents’ closest friends. Palm trees swayed in the distance, and the looming tower of their hotel cast a shadow across the guests.

  And then, in the third row back next to his parents, sat Chris, wearing a gray suit and giving her the goofiest smile. His hair was freshly cut, but the sunshine hit his locks, causing a glow atop his head, showcasing the highlights in the short strands. His blue eyes perfectly matched his tie; she knew that because she’d picked it out last week and slipped it into his suitcase.

  The bridal processional started, and everyone stood.

  Kelly watched as her mother came out of the sliding glass door of her parents’ hotel suite and walked slowly down the stairs. As she made her way across the sand, Kelly noted the high-necked white dress that gathered under her mother’s breasts and flowed down to the sand. Her mother held up the skirt of her dress with one hand and her gorgeous bridal bouquet in the other. Her dark hair framed her face in a straight A-line cut, and a wreath of white roses and baby’s breath sat atop her head.

  From a distance, her mother appeared younger, but as she drew nearer, Kelly could make out every line around her eyes and mouth. She’d earned them through years of smiles and tears, laughter and heartache.