by Holly Rayner
“Hi,” was all I said. I pushed myself up in the bed. I wished I had at least had my coffee.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I have a lot of explaining to do and I’d really love to see my wife and my son…if you’ll let me.”
“I’m willing to listen,” I said. I wanted to cry. I wanted to tell him that I just wanted to come home, but he was right, he still had explaining to do.
“Can I send the car for the two of you? We’ll take a walk down near the docks and have a talk.”
“Okay, in an hour?”
“Perfect,” he said. “Holly?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
With tears in my eyes I said, “I love you too.” I hung up and had a good cry. Then, I had my coffee and my shower. Mom fed Eric his breakfast for me and by the time the car arrived we were ready. Mom hugged me and wished me luck. I thanked her for everything and hugged her back. Then, Eric and I were off to see the man we both loved the most in the whole world.
The car took us to the docks, but it must have been a private dock. There was no one else around. I couldn’t even see Aiden, yet. There was a little sandy area that had been gated off for Eric to play in; it even had toys in it, beach balls and blocks. I sat the baby down in it and he squealed with delight. When I turned back around, Aiden was standing there looking at me. I wish sometimes that he wasn’t so good-looking. It would be easier to stay mad at him for a while.
“Hi,” he said with a grin. God I love him, was all that I could think at that moment.
“Hi, this place is nice.”
“Yeah, it’s where I keep the yacht. It’s nice and quiet here most of the time.”
I looked around; I didn’t see any boats at all. “So, where’s the yacht?”
“He’s out there,” he pointed out near a tiny little slip of land that I could barely see. “He’s on his way back in. I was hoping that you would agree for us all to go on a family vacation for about a week.”
“A week? How did you get that much time off work?”
“I hired an executive to help Randall and tied up a lot of loose ends yesterday. It’s why I didn’t call until today. I’m sorry, but I wanted to come to you with solutions, not excuses. I fixed the problem at work, and thanks to you and your P.I., and Jake…my eyes are open at last to Cecile and her…manipulative ways.”
“What about Mark?” I desperately wanted Cecile out of his life, but I was still feeling guilty about him losing Mark. I know that wasn’t my choice on either side but not just his eyes light up when Mark is in the room, his whole persona does. I couldn’t deny him something that meant that much to him.
“Jake promised he’d make sure I can see him. I believe he’ll keep his word. I guess I should have called him a long time ago to compare notes. Cecile did a number on us both. You were right baby; he had a lot to say that I didn’t even know.”
“Good. We still need to talk about the kiss,” I said. “I’m trying to tell myself that it doesn’t matter but I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
“I have to accept responsibility for that. I fell for her pathetic, damsel in distress routine and for about three seconds, I lost my head. I stopped it right away and I felt sick about it. That’s why I had to tell you as soon as I got in…but I have no excuses, just extreme remorse and apologies. I love you, Holly. That will never stop I will never want anyone but you and my boys in my life. I’m learning how to be grown-up, I promise.”
I laughed at that. This man had taken the financial world by storm before he was thirty years old, yet he admitted himself that he had yet to become a grown-up.
“I’m learning too,” I admitted. “Sometimes it all feels like play-acting, doesn’t it?”
“It does, I thought I was the only one that felt that way about it. It was my strange little secret. Do you think you can forgive me?”
“I think I can,” I told him with another smile. “I might need a bit of physical convincing.”
He grinned and stepped up towards me then and he took my face in his hands. Wrapping his fingers up in my hair he put his face close to me.
“Physical convincing is my specialty,” he said with his own grin. Then turning serious, he added, “I couldn’t live without you, Holly. I don’t know when I actually realized that, but I know it now, in my heart. I need you to live as surely as I do air to breathe.” Then he kissed me, and I promptly melted in his arms. I would have loved to stay there too, but two things happened, first, as the yacht came into dock it honked, loud, then, poor Eric began to scream. I calmed him down while Aiden went out to talk to his captain. When he came back he said, “Are you two ready?”
“What about our luggage, and all of Eric’s things?”
“I made sure everything we might need is on the boat. I promise, it’s well stocked.”
“Okay then, we’re ready. Are you ready little man?” I asked Eric. I could just be a proud mama but it sounded like he said, “Yes.”
~
Chapter Eight
~
“Where are we going?” I asked him once we were settled on the yacht. I had just taken his word that it was a place I would like and that I’d have everything either Eric or I would need.
“We’re going out to the island. I know you love it there and I do too.”
“Yay!” I said. I loved the island. Partly because it was when Aiden and I first started to open up to each other when we first met. That seems so long ago now when I think of all that has happened in between. The other reason I love it so much is because it’s where we were married. It will always have a special place in my heart. Just knowing we were going there gave me a deep sense of peace in my heart.
Aiden smiled and said, “I’m glad that you approve. I thought you might.” He went over and picked Eric up and held him up to look at the water. When he turned him back around towards him, Eric grabbed a handful of his face.
“Da da!”
“Oh my God! Holly did you hear that? He said Da da!” Aiden was smiling from ear to ear. I almost expected him to jump up and down.
I laughed, “I did hear that,” I told him. Then to Eric I said, “Aren’t you supposed to say “Mama” first?” I looked back at Aiden; he had tears in his eyes.
“This is the stuff right here. This is the stuff that I’ve been missing. I don’t want to miss anymore. We have enough money. I can hire a dozen people if I need to and keep the business running. I don’t want to miss it when he walks and when he runs. I don’t want other people to be there to teach him things that his daddy is supposed to be there to teach him. I want to hear him say I love you to my face.”
I touched his face where a tear was running down his cheek and then I leaned forward and kissed that spot. “I agree, baby…this is the stuff, the good stuff.”
A while later we got to watch a pair of dolphins swim alongside us for a while. I wondered if they were the same ones that Aiden and I had seen before. He humored me, I think, and told me they looked like the same ones to him too. I don’t know much about dolphins, maybe they really were. Eric was fascinated by them and one of them kept jumping up high and splashing water on us, sending Eric into fits of giggles. I loved to hear my baby laugh. It was like listening to the most beautiful music in the world.
By the time we docked he was so worked up it was difficult to get him ready for his nap. The staff from the yacht took our bags to the bungalow and I went to put Eric down for his nap. I was going to put him in the master bedroom but Aiden told me to turn right when I got halfway down the hall. I did and that took me into one of the other bedrooms. Aiden had it done in a little boy theme with baseballs and footballs on the walls. Everything was painted brown and blue and there was a crib and a fully stocked changing table and a closet and dresser full of beach clothes.
“Oh my gosh, how long have you been planning this trip?” I asked him.
“Since yesterday,” he said with a grin. “Did I do okay?”
“You’re amazing,�
� I told him, “You did great.”
“Well, the staff actually deserves most of the credit. I just gave them colors and sizes and they did the rest.”
“But the thought was all you, and I love it. We love it, don’t we Eric?”
“Dada!” the baby said.
“Okay, it was cute the first time but I want a little mama action, alright?” I told him with a smile.
He smiled too and then he said, “Da da!” Aiden thought that was quite amusing.
I took Eric in to put him down for his nap and when I came back, I could smell something wonderful. I followed the smell out and found Aiden on the patio just outside the kitchen with the barbecue pit fired up and two thick steaks in the middle of it, grilling. He looked so cute. He was wearing a white apron and it already had barbecue sauce all over it.
“That smells wonderful,” I told him. “Do I have time for a quick shower while they cook?”
“Yep, you should have everything you need in there,” he told me.
I kissed his lips and said, “No, everything I need is out here and in the nursery. The rest of it is just a bonus.” When I started to pull away he pulled me back in around my waist and kissed me again. It turned into a passionate kiss and neither of us wanted to end it.
When we were finally forced to in order to breathe he said, “My steaks are good for half an hour or so, our potatoes are already baked and the salad is in the refrigerator. What I’m trying to say is that I have a little bit of time on my hands…do you need me to wash your back?”
“I’d love that,” I said with a smile. It had been over a week since we’d been intimate. It wasn’t always easy with a baby in the house, and it had only gotten harder with all the animosity that Cecile had caused between us. I was practically dying for his touch.
“I’ll meet you there,” he said. Then he pulled me in again for another hot kiss.
When we came back up for air I said, in a breathless voice, “Hurry or I may have to start without you.”
He let out a sexually frustrated groan and I went on ahead while he adjusted his steaks on the grill. I opened the closed door in the master bedroom and my mouth fell open. It was completely stocked with beautiful, stylish new clothes all in the perfect size. I found a pair of green silk shorts and a matching camisole. Then I went over to the nightstand and again was delighted upon opening the drawer. It was full of pretty, sexy underwear. The bottom drawer was pretty, practical underwear. Both drawers held panties, thongs, undershirts and bras. I knew my husband was a billionaire. I knew that when he talked, people listened and jumped up to get him whatever he wanted. He wasn’t even a mean, pushy, controlling guy….it was just a simple fact that no one wanted to piss off a billionaire…just in case.
I went into the bathroom to find all of my favorite products. Aiden had to have gone through the bathroom at home and taken inventory. I was flabbergasted by all he had done in only one day. The linen cabinet was stuffed with thick, fluffy towels as well. I reached inside the glass shower and turned on the water, adjusting the temperature until it was comfortable. I stripped down then and stepped in. A few minutes later when the shower doors were completely fogged up I heard one side slide open. My gorgeous husband stepped in behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. When he pulled me up against him, I could feel that he was as excited as I was. He put his lips on my neck and began to kiss and lick and nibble all across both sides of my neck and up to my ears. At the same time, I felt him begin to move his hands over my body. Between the feel of his hands and his body and the warm water cascading down my back, I was in heaven.
“Hand me that sponge,” he said. I was so relaxed already that I could barely move. I reached slowly up and took down the fluffy new purple sponge on the shelf and gave it to him. Aiden poured a generous amount of body wash on it and starting with my neck, then he washed down the backs of each of my arms, and giving me goose bumps, he ran it down my spine and across the small of my back. He washed across the curves of my butt and down the back of one thigh across the foot and back up the other leg. When he’d finished with my back, he washed the front where he stopped a lot more to explore. By the time he was finished, I was hot all over. I actually wished that I was a bigger person so that it would have taken him longer to wash me.
“Dry off and meet me in the bed,” he whispered in my ear. I didn’t ask any questions, I did as he asked. Within five minutes, he joined me. We made love while Eric slept and our dinner cooked. We didn’t have a lot of time, but I don’t think either of us would have needed much either way. We were desperate for each other by the time we finally came together and it was a quick, passionate, almost animalistic coupling on our part. We collapsed afterwards, spent and satiated. If it wasn’t for Eric being in the house we may have fallen asleep and let the steaks
