Beautiful Abyss (California Dreamers #3) (9 page)

She shakes her head just as slowly.

After a few moments she finally makes eye contact with me. “Sex never felt like that before.”

“In a good way or a bad way?” I ask.

“A good way,” she assures me.

“Why do you look so sad?” I run my thumb over her cheek.

“I don’t think Dex ever really cared about me. I think he just liked the fact that I’d spread my legs for him whenever he wanted.”

My stomach tightens like I’ve just been punched in the gut. How could that asshole treat her like that? Abby should be treasured and adored, not used.

I place a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. “I want to be a part of your life. Hopefully a really big part.”

That’s when she finally gives me the smile I’ve been hoping for. “Don’t say that until you’ve had a chance to spend more time with Sadie. You might change your mind if I ask you to change a diaper.”

“How about tomorrow?” I offer.

She bites her bottom lip as if she’s giving my offer consideration. “It’s my aunt and uncle’s date night. I’ll ask them if it’s okay for you to come over for dinner and a movie while they’re out.”

I gulp. Not many things intimidate me, but I have to admit that I’m a little bit scared of spending the entire evening with an eleven month old.

“Let me know what they say,” I tell her with as much confidence as I can muster.

She places a kiss on my cheek. “I’d better get going. My aunt and uncle will get mad if I stay out too late.”

“I definitely don’t want your uncle mad at me,” I tell her.

She frowns. “He talks tough, but he’s really a big softy.”

“He threatened to shoot me. He said he had a gun.”

She laughs. “He won’t even kill bugs. He scoops them up and puts them outside. He was just trying to scare you.”

“He kind of did,” I admit.

“Do you want to take me home on your moped?” she suggests.

“You really want me to take you back on that thing?”

She grins. “I really do. It’ll be nice to get some fresh air. Do you have an extra helmet?”

“I do.”

Once Abby and I are dressed we sneak down the hallway so we won’t disturb Nellie and Roscoe. I realize it’s pointless when I hear laughter coming from the kitchen.

“Do you want to meet my roommates?” I whisper to Abby.

“Yes,” she replies enthusiastically.

I grab her hand and pull her into the kitchen.

Nellie is sitting on Roscoe’s lap and she’s feeding him leftover pizza. It’s a little kinky, so I’m glad they’re both fully dressed. 

“Hey,” Roscoe says when he realizes Abby and I are staring at them.

Nellie gives a wave until she swallows the pizza in her mouth. Then she says, “Hi.”

“I wanted to introduce you to Abby.”

She gives them a shy smile.

Nellie hops down from Roscoe’s lap and extends a hand to Abby. “Great to meet you. I’m Nellie.”

Roscoe rises from the table and joins us. “I’m Roscoe.”

This is a lot more awkward than I thought it would be. Nellie and Roscoe aren’t saying anything and neither is Abby.

Of course I have no idea what to say.

Finally Abby says, “Chris tells me the two of you are screenwriters.”

They both nod. Then Nellie says, “I have a script going into production soon.”

“That’s fantastic,” Abby tells her. “I actually know someone famous.”

Nellie laughs. “Let’s not get carried away. It’s a low budget indie film. But it is a screenwriting credit. Baby steps as they say.” Then she points to me. “This is the guy who’s going to be famous one day.”

“I’m working on it,” I add.

“You work at a nursery?” Roscoe says.

Abby nods. “For now. My aunt and uncle own it.”

“We have quite a few of your plants,” Roscoe comments.

Abby gives my hand a squeeze. “Chris was very persistent about meeting me.”

“You couldn’t have worked at a bakery? Or a liquor store? Something we actually could have used.”

Roscoe’s joke makes Abby laugh.

“We’d love to invite you both to dinner one day,” Nellie offers.

Roscoe gives her a kiss on the temple. “Great idea.”

“I’d like that,” Abby tells her.

“Then it’s a date,” Nellie says.

“I’d better get Abby home,” I suggest.

Thoughts of Abby’s uncle and his gun are still in my head. 

Five

I feel like a girl.
Seriously
. I’ve already put on three different shirts and I can’t decide what to wear. 

I’ll be hanging out with Abby and Sadie for dinner and a movie. I don’t want to wear a dress shirt, but a t-shirt is too casual.

I finally decide on blue polo shirt and jeans.

This time I’m bringing Abby some fancy chocolate that Nellie recommended. Nellie says she loves them, but doesn’t buy them very often because they’re so expensive.

She wasn’t exaggerating. The candy is
really
pricey. I got the smallest box they had and it was still twenty bucks.

I just hope Abby likes it. 

I take my moped to her aunt and uncle’s house. She told me to arrive after six, so they’d already be gone. I’m really good at following instructions, especially those that mean that I won’t be threatened with a gun again.

Even though Abby insists he wasn’t serious, and that her uncle wouldn’t hurt a fly, his threats still freaked me out.

Luckily there isn’t a car in the driveway when I arrive. When I take off my helmet I run a hand through my hair so it looks half-way decent. Then I grab the box of overpriced chocolates and head to the front door.

Abby opens it before I have a chance to knock.

“You must have
EST
,” I tell her.

She laughs. “
ESP
. Extra sensory perception.”

“Exactly.”

“Come in.” She moves over so I can enter.

I hand her the box of chocolates as I head inside.

“These are really expensive.” She stares at the candy.

“I hope you like them.”

“I’ve only had them once before. They were like heaven in a bite.”

I notice Sadie is sitting in a plastic thing on wheels. She’s playing with an animal shaped toy. Is it possible that her eyes got even bigger since the last time I saw her? Are her eyes growing faster than her head? Is that a thing with babies, or just Sadie?

I realize there’s a lot I don’t know about kids.

“Something smells really good.”
Is she baking bread?

“Homemade pizza,” she tells me.

My mouth starts to water.

“I hope you’re hungry,” she adds.

“Starving.”

“Good. It’s almost ready. I should probably check on it.”

While she’s in the kitchen I walk over to Sadie to get a closer look at what she’s doing. The toy always seems to end up in her mouth. When she notices me she smiles and tries to hand me the toy. Drool is dripping from it.

“No thanks,” I tell her. Then I wonder if babies even understand English. I think they have their own language and at some point you have to teach them English. I wonder when that happens.

Luckily Abby comes out of the kitchen quickly and Sadie tries to hand her the toy instead. Abby grabs the slobbery thing like it’s nothing. “Thank you, Sadie.”

The baby jumps up and down in her plastic wheelie thing.

Maybe I should have taken the toy from her. She seems very happy that Abby took it. It just looked so slimy and wet.

“Dinner’s ready if you are,” she tells me.

I follow as she rolls Sadie into the kitchen. The table next to the front window is all set up. Abby even lit a large white candle.

She places Sadie in a highchair at the end of the table. I take the seat at the other end and Abby sits in the middle between the two of us.

The homemade pizza has fresh tomatoes and mushrooms on it. No meat. Probably because her aunt and uncle don’t like it.

“The crust is gluten free,” she tells me.

I have no idea what gluten is, but I do know a lot of people don’t like it.

“And all of the ingredients are organic.”

I can tell by the tone of her voice that she’s being a little sarcastic. Right now I’m hungry enough to eat almost anything, even rabbit food.

“Dig in.” She points to the pizza in the middle of the table.

I take one slice just to make sure that I like it.

She watches me while I take the first bite. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely not something I’d go out of my way to eat.

“It’s good,” I tell her after I swallow.

“I know it’s not great, but it’s better than kale salad.”

“Definitely better than kale salad,” I agree.

I take another bite of the pizza. “It’s starting to grow on me.”

Abby takes a few nibbles of her food. Then she feeds Sadie a few small bites of the crust.

This is the part I hate about dating. The awkward silences because I don’t know what to say that won’t make me look like an idiot. That’s probably why I’ve avoided it all these years.

“So what’s your favorite movie?” Abby asks.

At least that’s something that’s easy to answer. “Don’t laugh.”

She smiles. “Is it
E.T
.?”

“How did you know?”

“Because it’s my favorite movie too.”

I take her hand in mine. “Isn’t it weird that we have so much in common?”

“Maybe we were destined for each other,” she says.

My heart feels like it could expand right out of my chest I feel so much love for Abby right now. I know I’m not the brightest bulb in the closet, but I’m smart enough to know that I need to keep my feelings to myself for a while.

“What kind of music do you like?” I ask her.

“I like almost everything…”

“Except country,” we both say at the same time.

I quickly finish the rest of the pizza on my plate.

“Do you want more?” Abby asks.

Even though I feel like I could eat more, I’m not sure I want any more gluten-free organic food. 

“I’m good,” I tell her.

“You’re great,” she fires back.

We both laugh.

“You’re great too.”

“I’d better clean up the dishes.”

“You hardly ate any of your food,” I observe. No wonder she acts like she’s starving whenever we go out.

“I’m not that hungry.” She rises from the table. “It shouldn’t take me very long.”

“Do you need some help?” I offer.

“Would you mind feeding Sadie some applesauce while I do the dishes?”

I panic. Maybe I should tell her I’ll wash the dishes and she can feed the baby. Although I’ve never actually washed dishes. That’s what a dishwasher is for. “Your aunt and uncle don’t like dishwashers either?”

She shakes her head. “Nope. We’ve got to hand wash everything.”

“I’ve never fed a baby before,” I admit.

She waves a hand at me like it’s nothing. “She loves applesauce. It will be fine.”

She hands me a small spoon and a tiny container of applesauce. My heart starts to pound when I look over at Sadie. Her huge eyes look hungry.

Before I have a chance to tell Abby I can’t do it she disappears into the kitchen with all of our plates.

I let out a sigh. I guess I don’t have any other options. I’ve got to feed the baby the applesauce.

How hard could it be?

Apparently it’s a lot harder than I thought. She keeps spitting the stuff back out when I feed it to her. And then she laughs like it’s a game. There’s more applesauce all over her highchair, her shirt and my shirt than actually went into her mouth.

When Abby finally gets done in the kitchen she cracks up when she sees the mess Sadie and I have made.

“It’s not funny,” I tell her.

“It’s a little bit funny.”

“There’s applesauce everywhere.” At least I managed not to get any on the floor.

“Let me get some paper towels and wet wipes.”

She disappears again and returns with the cleaning supplies. Abby is definitely experienced in this area. She’s got everything wiped up in no time. She’s even got the applesauce off my shirt.

“Sorry about your clothes,” she tells me.

“It’s okay.”

“I hope that wasn’t too traumatic for you.” Her voice sounds so sad.

“Next time I think I’ll wash dishes, and you can do applesauce duty.”

“Are you sure you want there to be a next time?” she asks. At least now I understand why her mood changed so quickly.

“Of course there’s going to be a next time,” I assure her. “Wild horse riders couldn’t keep me away.”

“I’m not sure you’ve got that quite right, but I appreciate the sentiment. Would you like to watch TV while I give Sadie a bath and put her to bed? Then we can watch the movie.”

I frown. I know my feeding skills were nonexistent, but I don’t want her to think I’m totally useless when it comes to helping out, even if I probably am.

“I don’t want to scare you off with a diaper change,” she tells me. “We’ll save that for another day.”

She takes Sadie into her arms and I follow her into the living room. She points to the remote control on the coffee table. “Watch whatever you want. I shouldn’t be too long.”

I plop down on the couch, but don’t bother to turn on the television. I don’t really watch it that often. I grab a magazine from the coffee table instead.

It’s got more advertisements than actual articles. Most of them are for clothing or perfume. I finally land on a page that’s advertising lingerie. At least it’s something I enjoy looking at. It’s even more fun peeling it off whoever is wearing it. I imagine what Abby would look like wearing it.

Hot.

Sizzling.

I wonder where I can buy it for her.

I think about Abby lying in my bed in the black silk teddy. Her beautiful dark hair stretched across my pillow. Her perfectly sized breasts peek out at me from her lingerie.

My dick is getting hard just imagining the scenario. But I know I need to keep it in my pants tonight. What if her aunt and uncle came home while we were right in the middle of something? He’d shoot me for sure.

When Abby returns she’s got some kind of electronic thing in her hands.

“What’s that?” I ask when he sits down next to me.

“This is a baby monitor. So we can make sure everything is okay with Sadie.”

There’s so much I still need to learn about kids. “How do you know so much about babies?” I ask.

“I took a parenting class. And I’ve read a lot of books.”

I’m not a big reader. I can’t even remember the last time I read an entire book. Maybe it was in high school, but probably not. I did a lot of skimming and asking other kids to tell me what happened in the stories.

A book that could teach me about babies I would definitely read. “Can I borrow one of those books?”

Her eyebrows rise. “You want to read one of my parenting books?”

“Yeah. I don’t know anything about kids, but I think I should know.”

She grins. “You really want to do that?”

“I really do,” I insist.

“Okay, I’ll loan you one before you leave.”

“What would you like to watch?” she asks.

I shrug. “Whatever you want.”

“Something very adult,” she tells me. “The only movies I usually watch are for kids.”

She hops up from the couch and grabs a movie from the small collection on the shelf next to the television. Then she turns on the television and pops the DVD into the player.

“When Harry Met Sally,” she says when she sits back down next to me.

“I’ve never seen it.”

“It’s funny.”

I grab her hand in mine. “I don’t usually do this.”

“Do what?”

“Sit and watch a movie with a girl.”

She tilts her head. “What do you do on dates?”

“I don’t go on dates,” I tell her.

“Ever?” Her voice rises with surprise.

“I go on dates with you.”

“What about before me?”

I shrug. “Maybe in high school. I can’t remember. I was really busy with sports, but I did go to prom. Does that count?”

“No movies? Dinners? Bowling?”

I have to laugh. “Bowling? I’ve never been bowling in my life. When I’m with a girl I’m usually doing what I’m good at. Entertaining her in the bedroom. This kind of stuff I’m not that good at.”

She starts to rise. “Would you rather go into my bedroom? We have time before my aunt and uncle get home.”

I pull her back down on the couch with me. “That’s not what I meant. I like what we’re doing. I’m just not used to it.”

She relaxes her head onto my shoulder. “Is this something you could get used to?”

I put my arm around her and pull her close. “This is something I could definitely get used to.”

Her hair tickles my nose and I get a whiff of light strawberry scent. Maybe it’s from her shampoo? It’s actually turning me on a little.

Is there anything about Abby that doesn’t turn me on?