B00BR2BOUU EBOK (35 page)

“How did you know I would come back here?”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

“Is that right?” I turned round and crossed my arms in front
of my chest. “Technically, I shouldn’t be here. We haven’t even gone on a date
yet! You made me break my rule. I think I should leave.” I smirked at him.
Yes,
my smirk will rival yours very soon, you wait and see.

“Hunny.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and threaded
his fingers underneath my bra straps. “You are not going anywhere right now...Other
than into that bath, then I am going to kiss and lick every single inch of your
body, make love to you again, fall asleep with you in my arms, wake up and
stare at you for a while, go and make you breakfast, make love to you again,
and then we can go on a date.” He moved his hands behind my back and unhooked
my bra.

“It’s supposed to be the other way around. We are supposed
to go on a date first.” I stepped out of my shoes.

“That’s just stupid.”

I scoffed and smiled at him. “Why?” I held his hand as I
stepped into the bath.

“Because if my date sucks, then I have already slept with
you.” He shot me a satisfied look, so I playfully punched him in the arm then
lowered myself into the water that was gloriously perfect in temperature. He
climbed in after me and sat at the opposite end. We sat there staring and smirking
at each other for minutes, and I tried catching the rose petals with my toes as
he watched me, amused.

“Tell me something, Bryce. If I decide that I want to spend
the rest of my life with you, what happens next?”

“Hunny, you’ve already decided that.” He said with a cocky
look on his face.

Smartarse.
“I haven’t decided anything.” I smiled in
defence.

“Yes, you have, it’s written all over your face.”

“You are so unbearably cocky, Bryce.”

“And you are so unbearably beautiful, Alexis.”

“Stop trying to distract me with your compliments.”

“I’m not,” he laughed.

“Okay, say I have already decided it’s you, and only you. What
happens next?”

“We live happily ever after.”

“Where do we live happily ever after?” My eyes softened from
playful probing to seriously seeking an informative answer.

“Where do you want to live?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not sure this apartment is very child
friendly.” I waited to hear his response. I’m not sure he had even considered
what changes he would have to make in order to have me and my children in his
life. He grabbed hold of my foot, stilling it from swirling the water in front
of him, then lifted my toe until it was resting on his lips. I glared at him with
a warning that if he even tried to stick it in his mouth, I would unleash some
form of fury on him.

“It’s simple, my love. We can live anywhere you want,
whether it be in a house by the sea, on a mountain, in the city, or on the
moon. If you want to live here we can, and I’ll do everything possible to make
this place just as much a home to you and the kids as it is for me. You just
have to say the word, Hunny, that’s all.”

“So you have thought about this?”

“It’s all I think about. I will live, breathe, eat, and
sleep, anywhere you want me to. So long as it is with you. That’s all I care
about.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why give up your life for me, that’s a lot to ask.”

“I’m not giving up my life at all, Hunny. I’m simply
starting a new one.” He gripped my foot tighter and put my toe between his teeth.

“Bryce Edward Clark, I’m warning you.” He closed his mouth
and I felt the tip of his tongue caress my skin.
He is still so fucking
sexy, even with a foot hanging out of his mouth.
I dipped my head down
under the surface and opened my mouth to fill it with water. He watched me curiously
as I position my head on an angle, an angle I hoped was perfect for what I had
in mind. Then with a heaving breath, I expelled the water from within my mouth
launching it like a fountain in his direction. It hit him fair and square in
the face, even surprising me at my accuracy.

I held my breath and pending laugh, waiting for his
reaction, which could have been anything from laughter, to disgust, to anger,
to arousal or he could have been simply impressed by my marksmanship. He gave
nothing anyway, not even his devilish glint as he wrenched my legs towards him
sinking me under the water again. He pulled me back up and sat me on his lap. I
had managed to get a little more water in my mouth during his payback-dunk, so I
fountained that at him too. He pulled me aggressively to his lips, and wrapped
his arms around me, then after what felt like minutes without oxygen when we separated
our mouths.

“I don’t care where I am Alexis, as long as it is with you.”

“I know, I just want you to realise it’s not always going to
be like this, like how we are now in this bath. Young children don’t want to
see their naked mother in a bath full of water, straddling her new boyfriend’s
lap.”

“Oh, what a shame.”

I laughed and kissed the tip of his nose. “Even though Nate
and Charlotte are well mannered and well behaved, I really don’t know how they are
going to react to seeing me with you. It might get pretty ugly at times, Nate can
be quite jealous and punishing.” The thought of how my kids would take this
sudden, monstrous change in their lives terrified me, but I was their mother
and could handle their wrath and lashing out if that was what it was to be. Bryce
on the other hand, did not have to put up with it.

“Alexis, Hunny, stop worrying about things that have not yet
happened. We will deal with it, when and if, it needs dealing with.”

“Why are you always so optimistic and relaxed?”

“I’m not, well not always. I guess it’s because of something
my Mum said to me once, not too long before she passed away actually. It was
just after my year twelve school exams when I had been overcome with stress.”
He rested his head back on the rim of the spa, and I watched him delve deep
into his mind, recalling a very personal memory. I wanted nothing more than to comfort
him as he did it, so I trailed my fingers down the sides of his face as he
continued. “I had been stressing and panicking about my results, making
everybody’s lives a living hell, my own too, obviously. Mum had dragged me into
the garden, her favourite place in the whole world. She told me to ‘lay on the
grass and look to the sky’. I remember rolling my eyes at her thinking it was
ridiculous, but I did what I was told. She then held out a beer, a cigarette,
and a paper bag. ‘Choose one,’ she said. I thought she’d gone nuts, because I
didn’t smoke, nor was I eighteen yet, and a paper bag? Why would I need a fucking
paper bag? I opted for what any seventeen year old would, and I choose the
beer. She opened the bottle and handed it to me, then lit up the cigarette. I
had no idea Mum smoked, so again I thought she’d gone nuts. She lay down beside
me and touched her head to mine. ‘Bryce’, she said, ‘Life is too short to worry
about things that are out of your hands. Take these results for instance, you’ve
completed your exams and now have to wait, so wait. Don’t stress about them,
don’t think about them, just put them out of your mind for the time being.’ I
remember telling her that was stupid and naive. She blew a smoke ring just
above us, and I laughed as I said to myself,
who is this woman and what has
she done with my Mum
. ‘It’s not stupid Bryce, she continued, ‘It’s the smartest
thing you can do, it allows you to keep your calm, your sanity, and your wits. Because,
if the result or the situation does not pan out the way you want it to, you are
then fully prepared to dive in and do whatever it takes to change it. Remember
that Bryce, do not dwell on the negative or the unknown, it’s foolish’.” He
looked back into my eyes, as though he had been somewhere else while he was
talking.

“Your Mum was a very smart woman, by the sound of it.”

“Yeah, she was, and slightly nuts.” He smiled and lifted me
up. “Now, get out of this bath! I want to taste you for the rest of the night.”

***

Bryce did exactly what he said he would. He kissed, licked,
and tasted every part of my body for an hour or so, and then we made love once
again. I fell asleep on his chest and woke to him inches from my face, taking
in every part of me with his stare. He cooked me bacon and eggs for breakfast,
which as per usual stimulated my taste buds to the brink of explosion, then he
hungrily devoured me on the kitchen bench.

“You are lucky, Mr. Clark.”

“I know, Ms. Summers.”

I rolled my eyes at his cheeky answer and smirk. “No, you
are lucky because you got screwed without having to take me on a date.” He
looked at me strangely then frowned.

“I told you I would take you on one today.” He walked over
to me and cupped my face.

“I know, but you can’t. I have to go home and spend some
time with my family.” I placed my hands on his, removed them from my face, and
replaced them on my arse. “But I’ll take a raincheck, and let me tell you, it
better be the best date in the history of dates, or you’ll find yourself off my
kissing permission list, for...Hmmm, let’s say a full 24 hours.”

“That sure as hell is not going to happen, my love.”

“We’ll see.”

***

I stepped out of the walk in stadium wearing a pair of jeans
and light pink fitted shirt. He was sitting on the end of the bed sulking, so I
walked over to him, pushed myself in between his legs and ran my hands through
his hair.

“Stop sulking, Mr. Clark. I will see you tomorrow.” He
wrapped his arms around my backside and pulled me into him so that we both fell
onto the bed. “Bryce, let me go, I have to go.” My phone rang from within my
hand bag which was on the bed just above our heads. I stretched over him to
retrieve it, exposing my breast which was virtually pressing into his face. He
gripped the edge of my bra with his teeth and yanked on it, then kissed and
licked my flesh. “Stop it.” I giggled, and grabbed my phone. “I have to answer
it, it’s Rick.” He reluctantly let me go, with an angry look on his face.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Lexi, where are you?”

“I went out with the girls last night, I’m on my way back
now.”

“Oh, okay. Listen I’m ringing to ask you out on a date.” I
smiled only slightly, not because I was excited about his proposal, but more so
that I found it strange he was doing it over the phone.

“Why didn’t you just wait to ask me when I got home?”

“Because, I didn’t want to wait.”

“Oh, okay.”
Weird!
“Um, what about the kids?”

“They are helping me with it.”

“With what?”

“The date, silly. Lex, how much did you drink last night?”
It’s
not the minor traces of alcohol in my body that is confusing me Rick, it’s your
weirdness right now.

“Not much. Sorry, I’m just confused.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, just tell me you’ll accept my date
and I’ll see you when you get home.”

“About that, Rick. Have you arranged for somewhere else to
stay?” I turned slightly in Bryce’s direction. He was listening carefully and
dissecting my every word in my conversation.

“Yes, Lexi, I’m staying in a hotel in town for now, but I
don’t plan on doing that for long. So, do you accept my date proposal or not?”

“Yes, okay.” I lowered my voice. “I’ll go on a date with
you.” I noticed Bryce flinch out of the corner of my eye. “Look, I’ve got to
go.”

“Okay, Lex, see you soon. I love you.”

“Okay, bye.” I hang up. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him
I loved him too, which said something in itself. I turned back around and
replaced myself in between Bryce’s legs. His fists were clenched and his
knuckles were white.

“I have to go, Bryce.”

“You’re going on a date with him?”

“Yes, well sort of, he was actually quite weird about it.
Anyway, the kids will be with us, so technically I don’t think it is a date.”

“Do you want to go on a date with him?” He looked devastated,
and I hated that I was torturing him like this. I remembered what Jade said to
me last night, ‘Lex, decide who it is going to be quickly, or stop seeing them
both and take your time. It’s just not fair, and it’s just not you.’

“Honestly Bryce, I don’t want to leave here at all. I want
to grab my kids, bundle them into the car, bring them here, and start our new
life together. But, I can’t. I have to give him a chance, a chance to see if
there is anything at all left between us. He didn’t cheat on me Bryce, so I owe
him at least a chance.”

Bryce dropped his head. “He doesn’t deserve a chance, Hunny.
He gave you up.”

“He fucked up just as much as you did, Bryce, so he deserves
just as much a chance as you do.” He stood up, looking angry. I wrapped my arms
around his waist. “I’m sorry.” It was killing me, I knew I wasn’t trying to
play them off against each other, but it felt that way and felt horribly wrong.

“You don’t need to be sorry, Alexis.” He unwrapped my arms.
“Go home and give him that chance if it makes you feel better. Deep down, I
know you are now mine, and deep down I know you will stop this when you realise
that.” A tear started to roll down my cheek, he lifted his finger and gently wiped
it away. “Don’t cry, my love. I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow.” He started
to walk me to the elevator, and I felt he was now in a hurry to kick me out. He
pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, and instantly I recognised they
belonged to the Charger. “Here, take your car.” I smiled at the word ‘your’.

“It’s not my car, Bryce.”

“Like hell, it isn’t.” He placed the keys in my hand then
closed my fingers around them. “I’ll see you in the morning, my love.” Then he
kissed me on the forehead and helped me into the elevator.

“Why do I have a feeling you are anxious for me to leave?” I
didn’t like it, I felt I had upset him, hurt him and he was now keen to get rid
of me. He put his hand on the door to stop it from closing, then walked in
cupped my face and kissed me deeply.