For His Pleasure: The Boxed Set, Books 1-6 (For His Pleasure, For His Taking, For His Keeping, For His Honor, For His Trust, For His Forever) (70 page)

“Do what? I’m just trying to help you chill out. Release your shoulders a little bit. Breathe. Come on, Kallie.”

She was at a crossroads now. If she really screamed or tried to run away, he might stop her and then she’d truly be in trouble. Kallie didn’t want to believe something like that was really happening to her. “Okay, I’m better now,” she said.

“Better?” He kept his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. And then he leaned in and tried to kiss her.

Kallie pulled away from him. Her back was against the large storage cabinet now. “Don’t do that,” she said.

“What the heck is your problem?”

“I don’t want to kiss you. You’re married and you’re my boss.”

And then he laughed. He laughed like she’d just said the funniest thing he’d ever heard in his life. “Kallie, you really are naïve. It’s The Hamptons. This is the way it is around here—ask anyone. And I mean anyone. We hire cute nanny’s to take care of our kids, and then we get a little something extra on the side. It’s no big deal, even though you might think it is, coming from Ohio.”

“I just want to go right now. Please.”

“No.”

She was feeling like she might cry. “Why can’t I go?”

“Because.” He smirked. “Because I said so. I’m your boss. You really don’t get how this works, do you? Ask anyone, Kallie, and they’ll tell you. Part of your job is to do what I say, when I say it—including this little bonus thing I’m explaining to you.”

“And does Trina know about it?” Kallie said, meeting his gaze. “Would she tell me how silly I’m being?”

Brad’s jaw set. “Part of the deal is that the nanny keeps her mouth shut. Of course, the wives understand that this goes on. Why on earth would my wife be dumb enough to hire a hot little piece of tail like you if she didn’t know, on some level, that I would be staring and salivating all day long? If she didn’t know, on some level, that you and I might be attracted to one another?”

“I’m not attracted to you.”

He grinned. “Your nipples beg to differ, Kallie. They’re hard and I can see them through that itty bitty shirt you’ve got on.”

“Do not talk to me like this. I don’t want to stand in this room with you anymore.

Just let me go, okay?”

Brad sighed. “Look, obviously we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. I’m sorry if I hadn’t made things clear between us. I’m sorry if I upset you. Forgive me?”

Kallie barely nodded but didn’t answer him. “Can I please go now?”

“Just tell me you forgive me.”

“I forgive you.”

“Now give me a hug.” He walked to her again, hugging her without her reciprocating, and then his lips were on her neck and his hands were groping her ass, squeezing, pulling her hips into his hard erection.

“No!” She screamed. “Leave me alone!” She pushed against his chest with all her might—fear and adrenaline seemed to give her a burst of strength that surprised both of them.

Brad stumbled back and fell over the laundry basket, his face a mask of surprise.

“Fuck!” he shouted, as he landed on his butt, elbows hitting the floor, the basket spilling clothes everywhere.

Kallie ran out of the laundry room and sprinted down the hallway, then out the front door. Her breath was already coming in gasps and she was crying in fear and anger and confusion.

The whole thing was a blur. She kept running, remembering her days in track and field in high school, starting to find a rhythm now, pacing herself as she made her way down the driveway and onto the narrow forest road.

She didn’t even know where she was going. She just knew that she was going to get far, far away from the Danvers’s home.

***

Sometimes life was just plain weird, and you got dragged into situations you’d never imagined yourself being in.

So it was that Nicole found herself at Bottle and Cradle, a boutique baby store, ready to go shopping for baby clothes with Erica Jameson—the same woman who’d viciously insulted her not so long ago.

She didn’t quite know how Erica was so adept at worming her way into spending more time together than originally planned, but suddenly lunch had become brunch and then that had turned into Erica and Nicole meeting at eight-thirty in the morning at Bottle and Cradle.

Erica was standing beside the entrance to the store with a big, sunny smile on her face when Nicole arrived.

Nicole got slowly out of the car, and then walked to greet her mother-in-law with a hug. Erica squeezed her warmly and pecked her on the cheek.

“You are positively glowing, Nicole.”

“Did you say glowing or growing?” Nicole joked.

Erica laughed. “I know how it feels when you get to this point and you just want to get the darn thing out of you already. But believe me, it will be here before you know it.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

“Shall we?” Erica asked, and then opened the door without waiting for a response.

The two of them walked into the store, and the little chime announced their entrance. A perky salesgirl approached and asked if they needed help finding anything in particular.

“I think we’ll just browse for now, darling,” Erica told her, looking around and making a beeline towards the clothing racks and shelves of baby accessories. “It’s so fun to shop for a newborn or even a baby that’s not yet arrived. I swear, nothing gives me more pleasure than to buy an outfit and imagine it on your tiny little baby girl.”

Nicole smiled tightly. She and Red had agreed that they wouldn’t be purchasing baby items (not clothes or diapers or any of it) until much closer to the birth of the child.

The truth was, they were being nervous and somewhat superstitious. It felt like they’d be tempting fate if they started counting their chickens before they hatched, so to speak.

Red hadn’t even wanted to set up a nursery or paint a room in their house to prepare for the little girl’s arrival. He was at least as jumpy as Nicole was about the pregnancy, and the idea of going through another miscarriage was so horrifying to him that he wouldn’t even utter the word.

Nonetheless, Nicole and he both knew the specter of another miscarriage hung over this pregnancy like a pall, and they avoided it like the proverbial elephant in the room.

Still, even with her fears and doubts, she hadn’t been able to say no to Erica’s kind offer to buy the unborn baby a few outfits. It was such a sweet gesture, and she seemed to be trying hard to rebuild the trust that had been destroyed on her fateful visit those months back.

“Oh, look at these little socks. Adorable!” Erica squealed, holding up the tiniest pair of pink socks that Nicole had ever seen.

“Those are some cute ones,” Nicole agreed.

“We should get them. Don’t you think?” Erica waved at the salesgirl. “Excuse me, but could you bring me over a cart please?”

Nicole felt bad for the salesgirl. They could easily have walked the twenty feet and gotten their own cart. But the girl dutifully brought one to Erica, smiling and commenting on how lovely her outfit choices were.

Already, Erica had grabbed a little red dress, light blue pants, and a tiny pair of booties.

She tossed all of them into the cart, which she then took from the salesgirl without a word.

Nicole thanked the salesgirl as she passed, and then went back to following Erica around the store as the older woman picked items up, seemingly at random, and tossed them into her cart.

While they walked, Erica talked almost nonstop, while Nicole listened to her various opinions, non-sequiturs and random observations.

“You know, I’m so impressed with how you and Red are managing this pregnancy,” Erica said, as the cart continued to fill with tiny items of clothing. She flung another dress into the mounting pile of clothes.

“I’m just trying to survive,” Nicole said.

“Of course it seems that way, but you’ve actually done something I never would have thought possible.”

“What’s that?”

Erica stopped and pawed through a rack of miniature pajamas. “Red has always dated the most beautiful women in the world,” she said. “I’m not revealing any secrets by saying that, am I?”

“No, of course not,” Nicole said, but she was getting warning pangs of tension in her stomach suddenly.

“Because this is really a compliment to you, Nicole.” She looked at Nicole with a little smile. “I’m truly shocked that you finally got that boy to settle down.”

“I didn’t force it on him.”

Erica selected one of the pajama outfits and tossed it into the cart. “Obviously he loves you. Obviously. What I mean to say is, I always thought he’d be very uncomfortable with a normal woman. I never thought Red could be with a woman who would age and get pregnant and have perhaps a case of varicose veins, or maybe even some cellulite on her thighs.”

Nicole suddenly felt more unattractive than she’d felt in quite some time. “I don’t think I have varicose veins,” she said sharply. “Maybe you can point them out for me.”

“Not you, darling. I was speaking in general terms. The notion of Red being with any woman who might start to be less than perfect with age, or because of life circumstance—I just couldn’t picture him doing it. Until you came along.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“It’s a big compliment. He must really love you, Nicole, because I would have sworn that man would end up like Hugh Hefner—in a series of vapid relationships with empty headed beauty queens who wanted nothing but fame and money and their face on the cover of some ridiculous magazine.”

“I didn’t realize you thought so little of Red. He’s not like that at all.”

Erica smiled and gave her a narrow-eyed sidelong glance. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes.”

“Good, then. I like to be proven wrong, as much as it may seem otherwise.” She threw another pink shirt into the cart. “And look at how happy you are. The best revenge, as they say, is living well.”

Nicole nodded brusquely and then they continued up to the register to check out.

When they arrived, Erica yawned and shook her head. “Excuse me, but is there a restroom I can use?”

The salesgirl was unsure. “We have one, but it’s usually reserved for employees.”

“Oh, I’ll just be a minute. If you could ring her up and I’ll just run and powder my nose.”

“Sure. Just go back through the door behind me and it’s on your right.”

Nicole watched as Erica basically left her holding the bag at the register, prancing off to the back of the store so she could use the restroom while Nicole paid for everything.

The salesgirl started ringing up the nearly two-dozen items that Erica had so generously picked out for Nicole’s baby.

Nicole was boiling inside, furious at herself for being duped so easily by Red’s manipulative mother. How could she have let herself believe that this nasty old crone had suddenly become the world’s sweetest pussycat?

She knew that she should have refused to pay for the things that Erica had so brazenly handed to her at the last second. But then again, Nicole thought that it was easier to just get through the next little bit of time she had to spend with the woman and then make sure to never fall for her crap again.

Erica was probably hoping that Nicole would be angry or give her a piece of her mind for being so thoughtless and presumptive. But Nicole wouldn’t make the same mistake she’d made the last time they’d had words, when she’d let her temper flare.

Erica had used that moment to capitalize and create more drama.

When the items were all nicely folded and put away in bags, the salesgirl gave her a big smile. “Your total comes to six hundred and seventy-nine dollars.”

Nicole sighed and handed over her credit card.

Erica was still nowhere in sight as Nicole brought her bags to the car and loaded them in the trunk.

Finally, just as she was slamming the trunk closed with an angry ka-thunk, Red’s mother came waltzing out of the store. “So, are you ready for lunch?”

Nicole was about to reply, but Erica answered her own question. “Of course you’re ready for lunch—look at you.”

Nicole almost—almost—told her what she could do with her baby clothes and her opinions. But just when she was almost ready to blow her stack entirely, she heard the distinctive sound of her cell phone ringing.

The nasty comeback died on her lips and she gratefully reached into her purse and retrieved her phone.

The Caller ID read: Kallie.

Normally, she’d never take a non-emergency call when she was spending time with someone else, but Erica didn’t deserve Nicole’s courtesy. “I just need to take this call,” Nicole said.

Erica’s lips pursed, but she kept quiet.

“Hello?” Nicole answered. There was no reply. Maybe it had been an accident—

maybe Kallie hadn’t meant to call her at all.

“Hello?” she asked one more time.

And then she heard crying. Faintly, someone tried to speak.

“I can’t hear you,” Nicole said, putting a hand over her ear and turning away from Erica, as if trying to block out the woman’s presence entirely.

“Ni…Nicole?” the girl stuttered on the other end.

“Kallie, is that you?”

“Ye—yes.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Suddenly her heart was pounding. She could tell something awful had happened, but couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was.

“I…I didn’t know who else to call.”

“It’s okay. Tell me what happened.”

“I had to leave the house. I ran…I’m…I’m on the corner of Burk and Hawthorne.”

Nicole wasn’t sure where that was, but she could use the GPS to find her. “Are you safe right now?”

“I…I don’t know. I think so.”

“Do you want me to call the police?”

“No.” The girl’s voice grew louder, more insistent. “Please, please don’t call the police.”

“Are you hurt in any way?”

There was a long pause. “I’m not hurt.”

“Listen, I’m coming right now—I’m on my way, Kallie. Tell me the address again? Give me a house number.”

Kallie told her an address and then Nicole got off the phone and looked over to Erica, who was watching her with an anxious and somewhat mistrustful expression. “Is something wrong, Nicole?”

“I’m so sorry, Erica, but something’s come up. An emergency situation.”