Until Series: Box set (22 page)

“Did you love your ex-wife?” I blurt out, feeling his body stiffen under me. “Never mind, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that.” I try to escape off his lap.

His eyes narrow and he takes a deep breath. “You can always ask me anything,” he says, pulling me deeper into him and pressing my head into his warm chest. “I never loved her. I thought I was doing the right thing. We had been sleeping together for about a year and I knew that I didn’t want anything serious with her. She always hinted at more, but I knew she wasn’t the one. I did care about her, but I wasn’t in love with her.

“I had been gone for a month and when I got back, she was waiting for me outside my apartment. She told me she was pregnant and that it was mine. I knew I had to do the right thing. I never wanted my kid to grow up in a house where I didn’t have access to him or her twenty-four seven, so I did what I thought was right at the time. I told her that it would work out and we would get married. That way, she would have insurance for all the medical bills, and I would have full access to my child. I thought maybe I would grow to love her. She claimed to be around three months along.

“When I was leaving to go out with my squad, I was gone for two weeks, give or take. We had been married for a month and she moved in right away. When I came back from an assignment, a friend of mine stopped me before I could go home. He told me that she had slept with him and that he was sorry. I went home and confronted her about what she had done. She didn’t deny it. She said she was trying to get me jealous to make me realize that I loved her. It didn’t work. I kicked her out and told her that my lawyer would be in touch.

“A couple days later, she came by and told me that she had lost the baby. I asked for proof and she never showed me any. To this day, she tries to contact me every once in a while. I don’t take her calls, but she has been known to show up out of the blue. Kenton knows about her because after she claimed to have lost the baby, he did some digging for me. He found out that she never went to the doctor for any kind of treatment during the time she claimed to be pregnant. I guess she thought I would knock her up after we got married and I would never be the wiser. She didn’t count on me staying wrapped up even after she claimed to be pregnant and I had a ring on her finger. But, something in the back of my head didn’t feel right. I never fucked her without protection and I’m thankful to this day that I listened to my gut.”

I couldn’t believe that someone would do that. Claiming to be pregnant just to manipulate someone else was disgusting. “I’m sorry she did that to you,” I whisper, running my fingers along the underside of his jaw.

“I am too.”

“So, what does she want when she tracks you down?”

“Don’t know. I don’t give a fuck and I don’t take her calls. I want nothing to do with her. I have Kenton keep track of her and what she’s up to. Some people are unstable and she’s one of them. Plus, a few years ago, she showed up in town and started talking shit. I lost a good friend because of her.” Well, I am no longer worried about how he feels about his ex. I hate her and what she did to him, and if I ever see her, I might beat the crap out of her.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”

“Even shit like that can teach you the best lessons.”

“What lesson did you learn?”

“Let’s just say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

I smile at him. “Good lesson?” My head comes up when my phone starts ringing from the bedroom. “I should get that. It might be Tia.” I kiss him and climb off his lap to answer it. Being Christmas, I know that I can expect a few phone calls from my friends in New York. When I finally get to my phone, it has stopped ringing so I flip it open to see who the call is from. It is a New York number that I don’t recognize but the person left a voice mail. I put my phone to my ear to listen and have to fight the urge to throw it across the room when I hear my ex-fiancé’s voice.

“Hey, I…um, just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas. I know it’s been awhile, but I wanted to tell you that I love you and miss you, November. I know I messed up.” There is a long pause and I think he’s hung up, then I hear a deep breath. “I hope you can forgive me. I miss you. Please call me back.” My face must say it all. Next thing I know, my phone is out of my hand and Asher has it to his ear. He takes it away and looks at it, and then presses a button and puts it back to his ear. I know he is listening to the voice mail I just heard. I watch in fascination as his jaw clenches and I hear my phone cracking in his hand.

“Easy with my phone, Hulk.” He looks down at me and I smile. He ignores my grin, takes the phone away from his ear and then throws it onto the bed. He uses his other hand to pull out my hair tie and throw that behind him, and then wraps my hair around his fist.

“You are not calling that piece of shit back.”

“I’m not calling him back,” I repeat. I never planned on it. Actually, I want to know how he got my number and why he is calling me at all. The only thing I can think of is that he called my mom and she gave him my number.

“Why the fuck is he calling you?”

“That’s a good question,” I say, looking over his shoulder and wondering the exact same thing. He tugs my hair and I look back at him. “I have no idea. I haven’t even talked to him in two years. After I found out what he did, I changed my number and avoided him like the Ebola virus.” I watch his eyes go soft and his lips twitch.

“Why didn’t you avoid your mom?”

I take a breath and tell the truth. “I wanted to forgive her. I wanted a mom who loved me. I felt like if I forgave her for what she had done, maybe she could forgive me for whatever it was that I had done to make her hate me so much.”

“You didn’t do anything to her. She was selfish and doesn’t deserve to have a daughter that is as kind and forgiving as you.”

“I don’t know,” I whisper. “She has always hated me. I was never good enough. I don’t know why she is the way she is but it doesn’t mean that I don’t crave her attention or love. It’s not easy growing up with your only comfort provided by people who are paid to take care of you. All I wanted my whole life was to feel wanted. Until I met my dad when I turned eighteen, I never felt like I belonged to anyone.”

“You belong now. Not only do you belong to your dad and his family, you belong to me and mine. And one day, you will belong to our kids.”

“Kids?” I ask, I don’t disguise the shock of my words.

“Kids. I told you, I’m going slowly for you. But you’re going to be my wife, and as soon as we sign the marriage license, I’m working on getting you knocked up.”

I roll my eyes at him. “You have this all planned, huh?”

“Fuck, yeah,” he, smiles. I smile back. His happiness is contagious. “I can’t wait to see you waddling around, knowing that I got you that way.” My eyes narrow. He smiles. “That you are my life, and that you’re carrying a life that we created inside of you.” I feel faint. Even though he said I would waddle, and no woman wants to ever hear that they waddle or are going to waddle, it is still the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me.

“How many kids do you have in mind?” I ask softly, wrapping my arms around his neck. His hands slide to my waist and under my shirt. His thumbs rub along my sides, causing goose bumps to break out.

“Two boys and three girls. The boys need to come first so they can protect their sisters, especially if they look like you.”

“What happens if we have a girl first?”

“Then I’m going to buy a few more guns.”

I start giggling. “You do know how hot you are, right? I mean, if we have boys, I’m going to have to buy stock in Trojan just to make sure they are always protected. Either that, or invest my money into a medical company so they can invent men’s birth control.” He starts shaking his head, chuckling.

“I like that you keep saying
we
,” he says softly, his eyes warm. “Now I know you see a future with me.” He smiles his cocky smile and I laugh.

“You know, you’re very bossy and completely cocky.” His lips twitch, but what he doesn’t do is disagree with me. I have to admit, it is a total turn on that he is so sure about us. It puts my mind at ease. I don’t worry that I am thinking things are more serious than he thinks they are. He softly kisses my nose then my lips.

“I’m going to see if Ma needs help. I’ll make sure everyone is ready to go to your dad’s soon.”

“Thanks.” I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him quickly then walk into the bathroom and shut the door. I listen to Asher leave the bedroom. Once I know the coast is clear, I pull a towel down from the shelf, shove my face into it, and scream at the top of my lungs while jumping up and down. I can’t believe I am getting everything that I have ever wanted. I have a man that loves me, a great job, and a giant family. I know that I am lucky.

I remember spending Christmas in New York, watching the Macy’s parade then going to Tia’s house for the day. If they weren’t around, I would make dinner for myself and camp out in bed with a good book while my mom was with her friends or whatever guy she was seeing at the time. Now I have friends and family who will always be around to spend holidays with.

T
he doorbell ringing
and Beast’s barking wakes me suddenly. I roll to the clock and see that it’s just after ten in the morning. I can’t think of anyone who would be here this early, unless it’s the postman and he’s dropping off a package.

I crawl out of bed and find Asher’s shirt that he took off last night. I slip it over my head and find my sleep shorts lying on the floor. I pull them up quickly, noticing that they’re getting a lot tighter. I’m still half asleep because I got home late yesterday.

I had been out on another all day shopping adventure with Susan. This trip was much better than the last, only because I needed to get stuff for an Easter egg hunt that I was putting on at the nursing home. Hearing kids laughing and having a good time makes me happy, so I want parents to bring their kids and let them go into the patients’ rooms and get an egg and some candy.

With Asher gone on jobsites more often, I am starting to feel bored. I work for my dad and Liz, plus I took on a few other small clients in town. But even with the extra work I am doing, I still have plenty of free time.

First, I started going to the gym. I was working out so much that I had definition where I never thought I would and I was losing tons of weight. Then, one day Asher looked at me and actually complained.

“Babe, I loved your body. I loved having something to grab onto. I loved how soft you were. I know that you want to be healthy, but I miss the softness.”

His voice was soft and the look in his eyes said that he loved me no matter what, but he missed the way I looked. And I don’t know any woman who would not want their man to tell him that they shouldn’t lose weight. I really didn’t care. I wasn’t working out to lose weight. I was doing it out of boredom, but I was happy to hear that he liked my body the way it was.

That night, I may have gone a wee bit overboard. I hadn’t been on a diet, but I had been watching what I was eating. So, that night, I made homemade chicken Alfredo with garlic bread and asparagus. For dessert, I made apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream. There were more than three days’ worth of calories in that meal, but it was so worth it. In the middle of eating, Asher started laughing at me.

“What?”

“You sound like you’re really enjoying your food,” he said, watching me take a bite of apple cobbler.

“It’s yummy.”

“Yeah,” he said, leaning over to give me a very sweet vanilla apple kiss.

After dinner, I was sprawled out on top of Asher with him still inside me and his hands running along my back. Our breathing returned to normal and I broached the subject of money. “Since I’m living here now, we should talk about how we’re going to divide the bills for the house.”

“You’re mine. I take care of you. You use your money to buy clothes or groceries for the house, unless I’m with you. Then, I’ll pay. Also, you’re going to need a new ride soon. That thing you call a car is not safe. There are too many deer around here. If one runs in front of you, your car will be totaled. If I’m lucky, I will just be visiting you in the hospital. If I’m not, I’ll be visiting you at the cemetery. I don’t want that shit, so we need to go to the dealer that I got my jeep from and we can pick out something for you.”

I lifted my head from his chest, looking down at him. There were a few things that pissed me off, so I was deciding what pissed me off the most before I opened my mouth. I was sated, I had three orgasms and I was in a chill mood, so I was trying really hard not to flip out.

I watched his eyes roam over my face. “This is non-negotiable.”

My eyes narrowed at his words and my temper flared. “Really? So how I spend money and what car I drive is non-negotiable?” I asked, just to make sure that we were on the same page.

“Yep, we might as well get all this shit out of the way,” he said, rolling so I was under him. I felt him slide out of me and I couldn’t help the mewl sound that I made at the loss of him. He kissed my nose and bit my bottom lip. The kiss started to get good when I pulled away.

“What shit?” I asked before he had a chance to put me in an Asher fog, where I unknowingly agree to everything he says.

“You don’t need the money that your grandparents left you. When we have kids, you can put it in a college account for them, but I make enough money to take care of you, me, and any kids we have.”

I took a deep breath, calming myself before I started to yell at the top of my lungs. “I love you, but you are not paying my way. I have taken care of myself for a long time. We need to come to an agreement that we can both live with,” I said in a tone that was a lot calmer than I felt.

“We’re starting a life together. If you never got that money, we would still be living the same way we do now. I’m not selling my land or building a new house somewhere else. This was my dream. I knew when I built this house that the woman who I fell in love with would live here with me, and my kids would grow up here on this property. I don’t need more. I have a good car, toys in my garage, and money in the bank. I was planning for you before I even knew who you were. I never wanted to be a millionaire. Money does shit to people’s heads. I like your head the way it is. We don’t need it.”