GONE - Part Three (The GONE Series Book 3) (8 page)

"I loved every minute of that." He's wrapped me into his arms now. After he came, he pulled me out of the ties and dropped to his knees to kiss me. "I want you just like this."

I should be disappointed that I didn't orgasm but I'm not. "I love being like this with you."

"I'll help you come in a little while." His voice is a whisper against my neck. "I'll lick your beautiful body. I'll do that all night."

I want to tell him that it's not what I need right now.  My emotions are still right at the surface after he gave me the necklace. It was a beautiful gesture and one that speaks of his feelings for me. I want to tell him how I feel too but I'd need to do that with words and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet.

"I love the necklace so much." My hand moves to my neck and I cradle the pendant in my palm. "I can't believe how beautiful it is."

He moves his body so he can lean on one elbow and look down at me. "I thought about asking Ivy to recreate the necklace your mother gave you but…"

"I'm grateful that you didn't," I interrupt him. "That was something special she had made for me. This is something special you had made for me."

"I spoke to Ivy about it." He covers my hand that is cradling the pendant with his own. "I couldn’t have come up with that design on my own."

"It's very thoughtful." I nuzzle my head under his neck. "It's just so beautiful. I love it."

"It's only the start." He pulls me closer to him. "I'm going to give you beautiful things as often as I can."

"You're going to spoil me."  I move slightly so I can look into his eyes. "You don’t have to spoil me."

"I'm not spoiling you, Lilly." His lips graze over mine. "I'm treasuring you. You are a gift to me. You're the greatest gift I've ever received."

"I didn't know my life could be like this," I say softly. "I never thought I could be happy."

"When you came into my life I didn't think that happiness could exist for me," he pauses to touch my chin. "I never realized that I could care this much for a woman. It just didn’t seem like something I was capable of."

I could see that within him back then. He had a wall that mirrored my own around his heart. He was protecting it and hiding so closely behind it that no one could get in. "I didn't know that I could care about anyone this much either."

"You're it for me, Lilly Randall."

"I'm it for you?" I try to suppress the flood of tears that I know are about to spill out.

"I’m falling in love with you." He brushes his lips over mine. "No, that's not right."

My hand leaps to his cheek. "You can't take it back like that. You can't say it and then take it back."

He scoops my hand into his, sliding it over his beard to rest on his lips. "I'm not taking it back."

"You just said that it wasn't right."

"I'm not falling in love with you." He leans forward until his lips hover just over mine. "I love you."

I look into his eyes and I see all the truth that is within the words, in his eyes. "I love you too, Mr. Parker. I love you too."

One year later.

"Sooner or later, you're going to have to quit your job there and come back to work for me."
              "Clive." I tap my hand over his. "I'm the director of new operations at Hughes. I'm not leaving my job."

"I can give you a fancy title and more money," he teases. "All you need to do is tell Alec that it's over and you're going to work for your husband."

I love hearing him say that. It's been only two months since we got married, but the knowledge that we are committed to one another forever still makes my heart skip a beat. 

Our wedding had been intimate and beautiful. All the important people, in Clive's and now my life had been there with us. We married in Central Park at dusk. Cory had been the best man and Olivia had been my maid of honor. Technically, Sadie and Hunter had stood up for us. I'd taken a moment to hug Ben and toast to our mutual happiness. We've both come so far since we first met in the grief support group. Our lives crossing over in the most meaningful ways as our friendship has grown and blossomed to include our partners and friends.

"Do you want me to go get you some pickles and ice cream?"

I turn to look at my husband. The smile on his face radiates throughout every part of him. "I'm not craving anything tonight."

"Not even me?" He scoots his chair closer to where I'm sitting at the table.

I've spent every night this past month, organizing the old pictures that we brought to our condo from the storage facility. They are pictures of the family that I lost. I'm sorting through them, cataloguing them by date and event and placing the most special ones in albums.

"I'll show you how much I crave you later." I reach to cup his cheek in my palm. "I need you to help me with this for now."

"I'll do anything for my two beautiful girls." His hand settles on my swollen belly.

It's only another three months until our beautiful daughter, Haven, arrives. We've set up the nursery, bought more diapers than we'll ever need and picked out an outfit that we can bring her home from the hospital in.

She's named after my mother. Her name is a reflection of the woman who taught me about courage and grace.

"I can't wait until she gets here, Clive." I place my hand over his. "I can't wait to see if she has your beautiful eyes."

He nods slowly. "I want her to be just like you, Lilly."

"She'll be just like both of us."

"The world isn't ready for that yet." He chuckles.

"The world may not be." I lean towards him to graze my lips over his. "But I can't wait for the next chapter in our fairy tale to begin."

"There's a word for men like you." I try to sound as civilized as I can.

"Handsome?"

I look to the left to avoid eye contact with him. The man is devastatingly handsome. I can't say I'm surprised he realizes it. "No."

"Charming?"

I look at his face. He's smirking at me. He's actually standing in front of me, smirking. "No."

"Well-hung?" His gaze drops down to the front of the hospital gown he's wearing.

In instances like this I need to be professional. I'm a nurse. I'm a trained professional. If my eyes follow the path of his, there's no telling what I'm going to see. "No."

"You didn't even look," he teases. "Your eyes haven't left my face even though I'm here because I have a pain in my ass."

It's too easy. He's handing it right to me on a silver platter but I'm on duty so I can't react at all.

"Mr. Ryan." I glance down at the chart in my hand. "I get that you can't sit on the exam table because of the pain in your derriere, but you need to stay within this cubicle. Dr. Foster is going to be here shortly and if you're not here, it's just going to prolong the process."

"It's Garrett." His eyes settle on my nametag. “Vanessa, I'm in a lot of pain here."

"What exactly happened to you?" I already know the answer to this question. He crashed his bike and knocked himself out cold. It's worth hearing how he'll put a spin on it though. According to his chart he's a lawyer. Every lawyer I've ever known blurs the line between fact and fiction effortlessly.

"I was riding my bike in Central Park this morning." He shifts on his feet slightly. "I like to do that every morning to keep in shape."

"It's important to exercise." I don't look up from his chart.

"I was riding along and turned a corner and that's when I saw them." He shakes slightly.

If he falls over on my watch, I'm going to need to write up a report and I hate writing up reports. "Maybe you should lean against the stretcher."

He nods as he pushes his hand against it. "I was just riding along and I saw them, and after that everything went black."

"The paramedics that brought you in said you hit a tree." I wince at the image of that. "They said you were lucky you were wearing a helmet."

"I could have been luckier."

"How so?" I turn towards the curtain. Dr. Foster should have been in here by now. I'm going to need to find him.

"If I would have caught what I was chasing when I crashed, I would have been the luckiest guy in Manhattan."

"What were you chasing when you crashed?" I lean in waiting to hear the part of the story everyone in admitting has been dying to know. How does a grown man veer so far off the assigned bicycle path that he hits a huge tree head-on?

"I was chasing the most perfect pair of tits I've seen in a long time."

"Are you serious?" I lean closer to have a look at his eyes.

"I'm dead serious." His hands bolt to the air in front of him. "They were round and plump. She was jogging on the path and I saw them bounce and then they bounced again."

"That's just…" my voice trails because anything I want to say may result in my being suspended. Offending a patient is a definite no-no and I've already had two warnings. I only have one more before I'm out the door for good.

"I'm going to get Dr. Foster." The sooner we get this guy out of here the better.
              "Her tits can't compare to your ass, Vanessa. It's seriously the best looking ass I've ever seen."

I can't resist. I know that there's a chance I'm going to regret this but I do it anyway. "No, I'd disagree with that."

"You can't." He shakes his head slightly even though it's the worst possible thing for him to do after slamming it into a tree. "I'm an ass man and your ass is the best looking one I've ever come across."

"Actually." I take a step closer to him. "You're the best looking ass I've ever come across. No, wait. That came out wrong."

He starts to turn to reveal his naked ass beneath the hospital gown he's been wearing since he arrived.

"I meant to say that you're an asshole,” I spit out through clenched teeth.

"Nurse Meyer?"

I don't need to turn to recognize that voice. It's Dr. Foster. That one and only chance I had left just disappeared into thin air.

"Have you fucked anyone in the chorus?"

This is when I wish like hell I'd brought my ear buds with me. Listening to this guy try to pick up Claudia isn't my idea of the way to spend an elevator ride early on a Monday morning. You'd think that landing a part in a Broadway play would mean work, work, and more work. It wouldn't mean the incessant sexual undertones that drive through every rehearsal and meeting day-after-day.

"No," she replies calmly.

"I wasn't talking to you," he snaps. "You. I'm talking to you."

Considering there are only three of us riding this slow ass elevator to the fourteenth floor I guess I need to address this. "Me?" I turn to face him and I feel an instant need to find my balance. I rest my hand against the chrome bar that stretches along the walls of the lift. He's hot. Like smoking hot as hell hot. Why didn't I notice him when I got on?

"What's your name?"

"Libby." This is one of those moments when I wish my parents would have given more thought to what I'd feel like being a twenty-two-year-old woman carrying around the name of a four-year-old. Libby? I've hated the name since I was in grade school. It screams sweetness and light.

"Libby?" he repeats it back. "I like it."

"What's your name?" I try to sound somewhat invested in this. I know his type. I've met dozens of guys just like this since I've moved to Manhattan. He's looking for a quick fuck. He's wearing an incredibly expensive three-piece suit and cuff links that cost more than my first, and only, car. I wouldn't be surprised if most women fall to their knees in his presence and give him and his dick exactly what they want. It can't hurt that he's got the most intense green eyes I've ever seen and jet black hair that is tousled enough to make him look that much more irresistible.

"You didn't answer my question." He takes a heavy step towards me as more people enter the elevator on the third floor.

I push back into the chrome bar, the coolness of it seeping through my thin t-shirt. I almost wish I would have worn something nicer to the rehearsal hall. Who knew I'd end up face-to-face with this? "What question?"

"Have you fucked anyone in the chorus, Libby?" His voice is deep and intimate. It's too intimate for such a small, crowded place.

"That's none of your business." I inhale the scent of his cologne. It's luxurious, subtle and intoxicating.

His hand darts to my waist as more people join the most interesting elevator ride I've ever encountered. "It's more my business than you know."

I roll my hips away from him. I can't want this man. I can't let any man tear my attention away from my work. "I doubt that," I whisper. "I really doubt that."

"Don't doubt me, Libby." He pushes his body closer to mine, the unmistakable firm outline of his cock pressing against my stomach.

I breathe a heavy sigh of relief as the elevator finally chimes its arrival on the fourteenth floor. "This is my stop." I try to push past him, but his hand holds firm to my waist.

"It's mine too." His right hand jumps to the wall behind me, trapping me in place. "Allow me to formally introduce myself before you run off."

My eyes dart over his shoulder to where Claudia is throwing me a confused look as she exits the lift. "I need to go," I say. "I can't be late."

"Don't worry about being late. I'm Alec Hughes."

"You're Alec Hughes?" I feel my breath catch. "You're the investor. You own my play."

"Correction, Libby." He leans in closer until his lips are almost touching mine. "I own the play. You work for me."

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