Undone: A New Adult College Bad Boy Romance (Mature Young Adult Fun Contemporary Romance) (16 page)

Chapter Four

“So you’ve finally decided to come home.”

Auggie screamed and dropped her small bag of groceries. “Goddammit you scared the hell out of me! What are you doing in my house?”

“You’ve ignored me for ten days Auggie, what did you think I would do?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t ignore you. I sent you a text.” She knew it was cowardly but she was in protection mode so she was allowed to take the coward’s way out.

Jake scoffed, loudly. “I got your text Augusta. I chose to ignore it.”

She picked up her bag of groceries and walked to the kitchen. “I gave you exactly what you wanted Jake so there’s no reason to pretend with me. We used to be friends.”

Ouch
. It hurt that she was being so cold and emotionless but he knew he deserved it. “We still
are
friends.”

“Are we?” She turned to look at him on her sofa. “Because I’m pretty sure friends don’t disrespect each other and imply things they shouldn’t.”

He stood. “God Auggie I’m so sorry. I should have never said that to you, it was stupid. I was stupid.” Her arms were crossed, to protect herself he realized. Her green gaze stared at him, offering no indication of how or what she was feeling. “I didn’t mean it. You have to know that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” She nodded and he screamed. “Are you ever going to forgive me Auggie?”

She sat in the chair across from the sofa. “Is that what you need Jake, forgiveness? Fine I forgive you for thinking I’m a cheating whore who was dumb enough to get herself pregnant.” It hurt to say aloud, but it was what he careless words implied so she may as well get used to saying it.

He winced at her words. “I didn’t mean it Auggie. I was in shock.”

“Yeah Jake, so was I.”

God how could a woman look so beautiful in anger? Her green eyes were practically gold right now and he knew he had a lot work to do. “I thought you were coming to the diner to break up with me.”

Her eyes widened. “Why would you think of something so stupid?”

He smiled at her words. Auggie was never one to mince her words. “Because you were being so weird and you were avoiding me.”

She nodded because she had been. “I was trying to wrap my head around being pregnant. By my best friend who also happens to be my boyfriend of two months. It was a lot to take in.”

“And I made it worse.” He got on his knees and buried his head in her lap. “Auggie I’m so sorry I messed up.” He kissed her hands and then her palms. “I can’t lose you or the baby, I love you too much to let you go!”

That stopped her heart. Those were the words she wanted to hear last week. This week she was skeptical. “You don’t have to love me to have access to the baby Jake. If you don’t want to sign the papers I won’t force it.”

He grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. “Dammit I’m not saying this because you’re pregnant. I was going to tell you at the diner until you dropped that bomb on me.”

“For real?”

Jake looked into those wide eyes full of surprise and love for him and he was lost. Forever. “Yes for real dammit. I love you August Walker. I think I’ve always loved you, definitely over the past year. I. Fucking. Love you, girl.” She laughed and tears streamed down her eyes. “I can’t wait to show you the depths of my love you for you as my best friend, the love of my life and,” he smiled and squeezed her into a hug, planting a kiss on her forehead, “the mother of my child.”

“Oh Jake, I love you too. So damn much.” “I want you in my life and I want you by my side, Jake. Forever.”

“I’m there Auggie. Whatever you need and whenever you need it. I’ll be right by your side to hold you up when you need my support, to lift you up when you need a cheerleader and to love you every damn day just because I can.” He kissed her, hard and fast. “Augusta Walker, I want you to marry me. Be my wife, please?”

She nodded happily, wiping tears from her eyes. “Yes Jake, I’ll marry you.”

He laughed and lifted her up for a kiss so sweet and so hot it scorched her inside and out. “Thank goodness.”

“Now for the important stuff.” He looked at her in confusion and she smiled.

“Who’s going to tell our parents?

The End

Chapter 1

Carolyn McGregor had been friends with Charles and Miranda Lippincott for as long as she could remember. Before they had passed away her parents had been fast friends with the wealthy investment brokers and though they had never aspired to the wealth or status the Lippincott’s enjoyed they felt very rich indeed by simply having their friendship. And so it was no surprise to Carolyn then that when she had gotten out of the 9 year relationship with her boyfriend Richard, that one of the first calls of condolence she had received had been from the calm and friendly voice of Miranda, who insisted that they take her out for lunch.

This, of course, was not the first romantic wake she had attended. Carolyn had dissected the break up countless times over Cosmo’s and pasta with her varying collection of girlfriends and colleagues. She attributed the biggest cause of it to the rapid weight gain she’d experienced in the past few years. Where once she was lithe and athletic, over the course of the relationship her love affair with food had grown ever more passionate and it was a compulsion she became steadily unwilling to deny herself. For her this was not a problem. Her parents had always raised her to believe that beauty could be found in any place, beneath any skin, and before her mother had passed two years before she would assure Carolyn that she was not ballooning but instead blossoming and enjoying the fruits of God’s bounty.

Now, as she sat at an appropriately swanky uptown restaurant across from the Lippincott’s, enjoying a deconstructed Chicken Parmigiana, she related the details of the break up to her oldest compatriots, managing to hold the tears at bay by virtue of the fact that she had now told the story so many times.

“Just went, poof, like a magic trick or something, one day he was there, the next, he was gone.” The Lippincott’s looked at her sadly as she helped herself to another mouthful of chicken, her chestnut brown hair bobbing in thick curls down the side of her face.

“He didn’t even try to talk with you?” Miranda expressed in her thick New York drawl.

“Please, I have more chance of talking to the lamp seriously than that man.” Carolyn voiced as she took a sip of wine.

“Well it sounds like you’re better off without him,” Piped in Charles, jovially trying to reframe their outlook, “I mean, guy doesn’t love a girl as beautiful as you, he gotta be crazy. Believe me, if Mims here weren’t hanging around I’d take a stab at you myself.”

Carolyn smiled heartily at his jest as Miranda playfully tapped his shoulder.

“Stop,” Miranda said before turning to Carolyn, “although, I think he’s right. He talks about you to me more than his job and that is saying something.”

“What would I want with that old thing?” Carolyn teased, coaxing a throaty laugh out of the old couple.

The Lippincott’s may have been advanced in years but their manner and style was timeless. They were slim and attractive, their hair a colour of silver that could only be achieved by fine grooming. Their clothes were fine but not ostentatious, her dress was elegant and attractive whilst his tailored suit was both modern and classic.

The Lippincott’s were the ideal American representation of wealth and power but still managed to appeal to the common man. Their generosity and joviality was something Carolyn greatly admired in them.

“Hey,” Charles retorted, “I still got a few years in me yet. But anyway, enough about me, and enough about that stiff who was stupid enough to let you go. We didn’t just ask you here for a post mortem on your love life Carolyn, we’ve got a proposal for you.”

Carolyn held her fork in mid-air, a wedge of chicken perched precariously on its prongs, as she regarded the couple suspiciously, “What?”

“Well,” Miranda took over from her husband, “we were thinking, your parents were always too proud to accept any money from us, which is an attribute they instilled in you, which I respect. But…”

“But,” Charles interjected, “we just booked a cruise and, being such wonderful members of the nautical society that we are, they offered us a third place for free. We can’t think of anybody better to take than you.”

“Are you serious?” Carolyn asked gleefully, dropping her fork to the plate.

“You bet kiddo,” he smiled, “pack your bags, you’re going to the med.”

Carolyn squealed and hugged them both tightly before continuing the conversation, and her meal.

~

Dwight Alexander stood under the metallic spider web of the Brooklyn Bridge’s suspension, gazing out onto the East River below. The river danced in discreet, frothy waves as boats swam lazily across its surface. His eyes drank in the sight of the water, drawing him back to a time he had called it his home. His days of being a Navy Seal were over and he missed the wild call of the sirens, their rocky home beckoning him forward. He loved the water, and he loved living on it, but he loved his daughters more, and for them, it was crucial he not have a job where his life was in peril every second.

Dwight had seen the girls earlier that day, where he had begged his ex-wife to permit him increased visitation, as well as a reconciliation of their relationship. She had revealed the death blow to him then though, and not even the clear blue skies or excited waters of the river could un-cloud the feelings of his heart. His ex-wife was in a relationship, she had told him, and that she would only consider more visitation if he got a job in the city, that he stayed put.

He had hoped that taking a post which wasn’t as dangerous would quell her fears but he had been wrong. The revelation that he had accepted a position as security on a cruise ship was met only with derision as she had angrily admonished him in the very public view of everyone else in the park. He had said goodbye to his little girls, 8 and 10, that day, more morose than usual. He should have known she wouldn’t go for the security gig, he thought to himself, because whilst he wasn’t the most inflated dinghy of the bunch, he weren’t no dummy neither.

After the miserable experience in the park he’d bought an ice cream off a street vendor and come to stand here. It was his favourite place in the city, and it brought him peace. Whilst the water no doubt recalled a time in his life which was violent and turbulent it was also a period where he had been content, where he found that he was whole and that he knew what he was doing. The only feeling that brought him that now was his daughters, and them he hardly got to see. The thought of the girls sent a sharp stab of pain to his heart. He finished the ice cream cone, dropped the paper towel in the bin and left the bridge, heading home so he could strategically pack his suitcase for the forthcoming voyage.  Regretting the decision to take the job, thinking only of his daughter’s faces his entire walk home.

~

The day of the cruise arrived in a whirl of excitement and frustration for Carolyn. Her wardrobe had become steadily more unusable over the years and it had taken her some time to assemble a collection of outfits which she felt complimented her luscious, curvy frame. 

As the morning of the day emerged she had thrown together an ensemble she was happy with but then she had to pack all her toiletries and anything else she might need. It was 10 o'clock by the time she was ready and her departure was at 12. After a frantic phone call with Miranda she grabbed her belongings and rushed out onto the curb in front of her apartment building. She hailed a cab, which took some 10 minutes.

The journey to the pier seemed to be going well but then a bout of heavy traffic stopped her in her tracks. By 11:45 she was still in traffic and two blocks away from the pier. She paid the driver, grabbed her suitcase from the trunk and hiked down the traffic congested highway.

Puffing and panting, her face red as a beetroot, Carolyn finally made it to the border of the pier. She could see the huge vessel awaiting her and a pair of nervous Lippincott’s beckoning her forward. As she lunged across the wooden jetty it began to rain, and the slats got increasingly slippery beneath her feet. She had nearly reached the ramp which would release her from all worries and transport her onto the ship when her feet suddenly disappeared entirely from under her and she went sprawling onto the floor. The suitcase catapulted through the air, spinning like a boomerang which was sure to meet a miserably aquatic end when a large, well-seasoned hand reached into the atmosphere and plucked the suitcase from peril.

The smiling face of Dwight Alexander looked down at Maria, who marvelled at his piercing blue eyes and close cut brown hair. He offered her his free hand, which she gladly accepted. His grip was full of trust, and strength. He pulled her up to standing, and it was clear to Carolyn that this man had lifted things far heavier than her in his life, making her feel dainty, and light as air. She looked, swooning, into his eyes and breathed, “Thank you.”

He smiled, “You’re welcome. That was quite a fall, you okay?”

She nodded admiringly as the Lippincott’s skidded over to her.

“Oh Carolyn!” Miranda exclaimed as Charles simultaneously asked “You alright sugar?”

Carolyn nodded in affirmation as she continued to stare at the man towering over her. His jaw was chiseled and stubbly, his skin faintly dark, like slightly burnt toast, and his biceps swelled against the fabric of his security uniform. He handed her suitcase back to her.

“Thank you so much sir.” Miranda gushed at Dwight.

“Not a problem ma’am,” he assured them, tipping his head, “just doin’ my job. You take care now.”

He took one last smouldering look at Carolyn before turning and going on his way. After ensuring that she was all fine the Lippincott’s ushered Carolyn up the ramp and onto the deck of the Mary Elizabeth so that the captain could take the boat out to sea.

~

The first two days of the cruise were bliss for Carolyn. After recovering from the traumatic events which led to her arrival on the boat, and casting aside the debris of her general life so far, she began to enjoy herself in earnest.

She dined on three delicious meals a day, drank the finest wines whilst enjoying uproarious conversation with the Lippincott’s and lounging endlessly by the pool, her body lying without reservation in a bathing suit which generously hugged her curvaceous figure. She dozed when she wanted, read when she wanted and ate when she wanted. She felt in control in a way she hadn’t for quite some time, especially now that she had no nagging boyfriend around trying to regulate her diet.

The only thing which seemed to be beyond her powers though was the wandering of her imagination. Try as she might she could not get the image of the mysterious stranger who had helped her on the pier out of her head. His strong arms and striking eyes had created such a wave of sensation through her that she was unsure she would ever be able to recover. She looked for him every time she descended into the interior of the boat but to no avail. It was as if he was some shimmering mirage, a perfect image of love offered by the desert of desire but never to be clasped, for if you tried to catch him in your grip he would slip away, like a pool of shimmering water.

On the third evening of the cruise there was a grand dinner in the ballroom of the ship. Carolyn and the Lippincott’s marvelled in awe as they made their way through the great dining room. From the walls hung long banners which barred the hallmark of the ship in lush gold and blue colours. Everywhere you looked there was a window outside of which you could see the ocean, shimmering in waves beneath the glow of the ship's lights. The tables were adorned with an assortment of fine china dinnerware and polished silver cutlery whilst in the middle of the tables were centrepieces of rare and beautiful flowers, coloured blue and gold to match the artistry of the ships aesthetics.

Carolyn and the Lippincott’s took a seat at their table which they were sharing with a group of four other guests. Seated at the head of the dining room, on a slightly raised Dais, was the captain. Sitting regally, almost royally, the Captain looked out at the crowd with silvery eyes which were caught beneath a shock of swan white hair. He smiled at the huge collection of strangers who had come to share in this voyage. He wanted to thank them, for helping him make his livelihood, and he soon would. First though, he would let them eat, and enjoy the bounty of the many wonderful chefs the cruise liner employed.

Carolyn scanned the room. A number of men in the same uniform as her mysterious saviour stood, posted at all exits, talking to the communication devices attached to their wrists, but he was not among them. Her heart sank in disappointment as a starter of truffle seared prawns was laid down on the table before her. She greedily ate the food, the delicious cuisine a soothing balm to her aching soul. This dish was followed by a goose liver pate, which was followed by roasted quail. Whilst the food was artisanal the portions were not modest and by the time the desserts came around they were all full to bursting. After she had scooped the last spoonful of ice cream into her mouth Carolyn excused herself and ducked from the grandeur of the hall so she could visit the ladies room.

As Carolyn left the room a strange looking group of men appeared. They wore the same security uniforms as Dwight had but they were not well kept like him. Stubble grew ruggedly on their chins as long hair fell down their backs. The most curious thing about the men though was that each of them was holding a semi-automatic machine gun. They closed the doors behind them as they came into the room and before the security guards had any time to react they simultaneously opened fire on or pistol whipped the unknowing service men.