Fighting For You (19 page)

She let out a damn near electrifying smile and nodded. “I won’t, as long as you don’t either.”

I answered with a wide grin and held out my hand to shake on it. “Deal.”

It was from that point after my return, that our friendship took a turn for the better.  She was constantly bringing in new baby magazines and showing me anything baby related.  In return, I set up an online dating site for her and we spent our lunch hour reading dating profiles and scanning through baby theme rooms, looking for the perfect one for my little bean. 

It helped fill the void I had in my heart with Gabby being away.  Although we still talked a lot, it wasn’t as much as it used to be.  Every other day, we’d text and, once a week, we would talk on the phone.  She was pulling extra hours at the magazine and one night she admitted to me that when she’s off work, she goes out to the bar.  Gabby hated being alone and the silence in the apartment was deafening without me there.  It killed me that I couldn’t be there for her, but at the same time, I needed her to find someone else who could be there for her.

So the days I needed her, I tried to depend on someone else.  Between Bailey, Sanders, Alex and Corey’s sisters, I had endless amounts of support.  It didn’t take long to realize that every time I went back to Gabby, I was sucking her back into the world of just us and that was not where she needed to be.  No one would have the best friend title that she had, but our friendship had to be different now.

*~*~*~*~*

The afternoon hours at work were crazy busy with preparing for the weekend of events.  Bailey and I had to tag team the work for the projects. While I called the florist for a wedding party, she finalized the
menu.  When I had to pick out color samples for the Walton’s 50th wedding anniversary, Bailey made sure the cake order was perfect and on time for pick up. 

I completely loved days like these because there was just far too much for my mind to think about anything else.  Besides, in New York I was good at what I did but here, I loved what I did.  Party planning all day, looking after guests, and overseeing events was apparently what I was made to do.  I’m just so relieved Bailey’s time alone didn’t break her because I couldn’t imagine running this place with anyone else. 

The first slow point of the day fell at eight o’clock. By that time, dinner was finished and most guests were either in for the night or already out for their evening plans.  Bailey slumped against the receptionist desk and I joined her.

“I hate that you stay so late, Bails.  You work so hard and now that I’m back, you’re still working that hard.”

Bailey chuckled and shook her head. “Are you kidding? I love this stuff.  It may seem like work, but I have a blast doing it.  Besides, American Idol is a rerun tonight,” she said with a wink.

I laughed and nodded knowingly. “You know, I love it here, too.  But right now, I just want to go home.  Do you want to get some take out and come over to my place and hang out a bit?” 

Bailey lit up and nodded furiously. “I’d love that!  As long as I can kick my shoes off and stretch out.”

I eyed her up and down with a scrutinizing glare. “If you have stinky feet you can stretch out, but the shoes stay on.” 

She dropped her jaw and I couldn’t keep my serious face in place anymore.  I patted her arm as I continued laughing, “Oh, you know I’m kidding!”

“You better be or I’m going to stick my stinky feet right in your food!”  This made me laugh even harder because, apparently, my little bean either made me cry hysterically or crack up at everything.

“I’ll grab my purse and then I’ll be back.” 

I was still chuckling when I went back into the office and gathered my purse and baby info.  My laughing ceased when I heard Bailey gasp from the other room.

“Holy shit! DANI!” She screamed my name and I instantly ran out of the room with everything jostled about in my arms.  I didn’t know what to expect when I got back out to the front, but I never expected what I saw.

Standing in front of me, forming a semi-circle, was Alex, Sanders, and two other guys I recognized from the bar. Every single one of them held two vases of the most stunning red roses I have ever seen.  My jaw dropped to the floor, joining Bailey’s, as the two of us were in awe at the sight in front of us.  The boys had shit eating grins on their faces, but there was one face that wasn’t smiling was Corey’s.  He walked toward me with a heartbroken expression that told me our fight had upset him just as much as it did me. 

The beauty in his expression almost made me overlook the incredibly perfect pink orchid in his hands.  Corey stopped directly in front of me and I wondered if I was still breathing.

“Do you remember what I wrote to you in the note about the orchid?” he asked and I nodded.  That note was the single most beautiful and heart breaking thing I have ever read.

“Of course I do,” I managed to say, while I stared back at him with wide open eyes.

“I told you that the orchid is special; it is the flower of magnificence, representing beauty and strength, wisdom and, most importantly, love.  In that note, I explained that, to me, that is you and how much I need you.  Nothing about that has changed, except that am more in awe of you every single day.  You are the single greatest thing in my life and I would be absolutely destroyed if I lost you.  I never want to leave the way I left this morning.  It broke me and I knew I had to make it right and apologize.  Because, Dani, if I can’t have this family with you and our child then I have no reason to live.  Everything I have ever done to make my life bet
ter will have been for nothing … if I can’t share it with the one person I love.  Please, forgive me, Danielle.”

Tears flowed down my cheeks and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bailey crying, her hand over her mouth.  Even in the distance, I couldn’t help but notice the way Sanders and Alex’s eyes were becoming a little damp.

“I forgive you,” I whispered.  He smiled and held the flower out to me. “I love you so much, Corey.  I will never want anyone else and I couldn’t imagine a life without you.” 

With that, his face broke into the widest grin I have ever seen and, in a second, his arms were latched around my waist as he lifted me into the air.  I wrapped my arms and legs around his body and couldn’t help but notice the guys’ setting down the vases before bursting into applause. 

Corey pulled back and sealed his lips over mine, igniting the passion between us and I lost myself at the feel and taste of him.  It felt like we hadn’t kissed in years, not mere hours.  I heard the clapping around us, but it sounded like a dull whisper because the only thing filling my ears was the sound of my heart and Corey’s, beating as one. 

He set me to my feet. “You know this a little excessive.” I said with a laugh.

Corey smiled and shook his head. “You’re worth it.”

He stole another kiss and once we parted, I looked around at the bar men once more. “Who’s watching the bar?”

“I closed it for the night.  The bar can wait. My family can’t.  I’ll always put you before work, Danielle.  You and our child will always mean more.”

My heart was soaring, my cheeks were hurting from smiling so much, and I wanted nothing more than to stay in Corey’s arms all night. 

“I’m going to head home, Dani.  We’ll do a rain check on dinner,” Bailey said.

I stopped and looked at her, feeling awful as I remembered the way her face lit up about hanging out. “Are you sure, Bailey?”

“Of course.”

“You’re welcome to come to the bar with us, Sweets.  Let’s leave these love birds alone,” Sanders teased and Bailey laughed.

“I think I’ll take you up on that.  Goodnight, you two,” Bailey said, starting a whole string of crude goodbyes from the boys. But I didn’t care because I was right where I belonged—wrapped up in Corey.

24 Weeks

A couple weeks had gone by since Corey showed up at the Inn, surrounded by bouquets of flowers. Since then, things had been better than ever.  In the back of my mind, I knew he was keeping something from me, but whatever had been holding his attention seemed to have disappeared.  After that horrible fight we had, I hoped Corey did what he had to in order to get our lives back together.  Each and every day, I had a reminder about that one captivating and breathtaking moment at the Inn.  On my bedside table, there stood a new clear vase containing one pink orchid and one red rose.  If they began to wilt, Corey replaced them with new ones, never letting their beauty fade for a single day.  Every morning when I woke up and rolled over, they were the first things I saw and, apart from seeing Corey’s face, they were my favorite thing. 

Honestly, I didn’t
think things could be better … and then we started officially baby shopping!  One day, we sat down and meticulously flipped through every catalog, looking at our circled favorites. 

There were some arguments and debates and, quite frankly, I
loved
it!  Hearing Corey’s opinion and knowing he was so willing to be involved every step of the way kept my smile permanently blooming.  We would be picking up stuff from a nearby town that offered a better selection, although the price was a little steeper.  I would have been fine with simplicity, but Corey was adamant that our little bean would have the
very
best.  We ‘fought’ about it but, in the end, I gave in. 

Watching Corey shine at the thought of being a daddy made me happier than anything.  This is why I gave in when he asked me to pack a bag and stay at his house for a few days so he could decorate the baby’s room.  I wanted nothing more than to be there and dictate the slightest movement of everything in that room, especially since I still had not seen any of the final furniture pieces that were selected.  I bugged Corey about going to pick things up every day, but he kept putting it off. 

One day, he threw his hands up in the air with frustration. “I already bought everything!  Damn it, woman! Can’t you ever just let me surprise you!” We had been in the middle of grocery shopping when he dropped that bomb.

I had stopped pushing the cart and stared at him. “You bought…everything?” I asked, needing some clarification.

“Yes, I did.”

“But, how?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared me down. “I went to the store and bought it.”

“When? We hadn’t even completely decided on everything!  We don’t even have a theme, Corey!”  His lips curled up at the corner of his mouth in amusement.

“A theme?”

I matched his posture and stared right back. “Yes, it is common for baby’s rooms to have themes.  Our child
will
have a themed room.”

He took a challenging step toward me as he tried to bite back the apparent laughter bubbling up inside him. “Oh, it
will
, will it?”

I had taken another step towards him, so our crossed arms were the only thing between us.

“Well, okay, but I’m going to pick the theme.”

“There’s no way! No. Way! I want to pick something if you got to pick out
all
of the furniture!  You have to let me at least pick the damn theme for our bean’s room.”

“Bean?” he asked, ignoring everything else I had said.

“Yes, Bean. It’s what I’ve been calling the baby.” His arms loosened from across his chest and reached down to my waist.  Very slowly, he slipped one hand under my shirt and on to my hips, pulling us as close together as we could get with my growing belly between us.

“I like it,” I smiled and tried to keep my head on straight, which wasn’t an easy task with his lips lightly brushing against the length of my neck.

“You’re dodging my questions.” My voice shook and I damn near shuddered when the vibrations from his laugh rubbed against the sensitive skin at the base of my throat.

“Yes, but don’t you trust me, Danielle Hamilton?” He had lowered his lips so close to mine that I could have almost tasted him, but he remained just far enough away to tease me.

“Well, of course I do, but …” His mouth had crushed against mine to silence anything else that had been about to come out.

When he broke away he smiled and pressed a kiss to my nose.

“Then prove it.”

*~*~*~*~*

After that grocery outing, I did as he asked—I proved it.  We didn’t talk about the baby room plans again until he asked me to stay at his house for the long weekend.  On Saturday night, Corey moved us from his place to the Inn.  He refused to answer
why
we were doing that, but I had to admit, it was nice to have a night out.  We had dinner brought to us in our rooms, turned on the fireplace (even though it wasn’t needed), and laid around together. 

Later that night, Corey filled the whirlpool tub and we crawled in together.  My back rested against his chest, while his hands reached around to hold our bean.  These days, Bean’s kicks had been much more noticeable and because they made an appearance during our bath, Corey and I sat in awe of our creation. 

“This is so weird and incredible all at the same time,” Corey breathed in a whisper into my ear.  My eyes slid closed as I laid my head against his chest.

“It’s beautiful,” I replied. 

Corey twisted his lips to brush against my temple and breathed a sigh of peace.

“It’s these moments with you, Danielle.” I wanted to ask what he meant, but the huskiness of his voice was so sexy, I just wanted it to envelope me. 

“These are the ones I remembered.  They are the ones I missed the most when I didn’t have you.  I love every second that we are together, but it is here, when it is just you and I, that I feel right.”

He pressed another kiss to my temple.  To demonstrate that I was listening during this beautiful speech, I raised my hands and wrapped them around the back of his neck, keeping him close to me.

“I know you have never felt like you had a place to call home; I’ve never felt that way.  But when you left me to go back to New York and when you kicked me out of your house after our fight—I felt lost.  I wanted to go home, but that was when I realized that, for the first time in my life, it wasn’t where I thought it was.  The bar, my friends, my sisters - they are pieces of my life that I love, but
you
are home to me, Danielle.”

My eyes opened and I turned around to see him staring back; our eyes locked and
I felt the moment change.  The sweet and romantic moment we had just shared was quickly heating up.  We stared into the other’s eyes, feeling the surge of passion building between us.  Without ever losing eye contact, Corey’s lips descended onto mine.  Finally, the connection between us was just too much and my eyes slid closed and I gave in to my emotions.  Our lips moved in a soft, passionate kiss.  It was heated, yet still innocent, with Corey’s hands slowly moving up my stomach, gently cupping my breast in his palm.

The moment Corey’s tongue slipped into my mouth and explored, I was a goner.  My hands grabbed hold of his hair and forced his lips and tongue to work harder against me.  I felt his arms maneuver around me and flip me around so I was facing him.  He didn’t need to give me any instruction as I crawled back over his lap and his growing erection.  My fingers curled into the hair at the back of his head as my lips, mouth and tongue took control.  He cinched his hands onto my hips and tried guiding me down over him. 

I didn’t give in that easily, as I swirled my hips the best way I could over his tip.  Teasing him wasn’t a complete success; my body was already shaking with anticipation at him being so close to diving deep inside me.  Every few seconds, his breath caught in his throat in the absolute sexiest way, making me need him even more.  When I could no longer handle the feeling, I plunged down, taking him to the hilt.  I let out a stifled scream as his mouth latched back over mine.  I knew this wasn’t going to be drawn out and romantic but, right now, my body was craving a rough, carnal screw. 

I began bouncing on top of him while the water splashed all around us.  It didn’t stop either of us, as the friction drove both of us closer to the edge. 

“Hold me,” Corey commanded, in a husky growl.  I complied by wrapping my arms around his shoulders and buried my face into his neck.  The next thing I knew, he was thrusting deep into me as hard and fast as he could.  I moaned and screamed out against his neck as I felt his cock harden and, seconds later, both of us found our release.  The growl that left the back of his throat had pushed me over the edge and the pulsing of him deep inside me prolonged the feeling of ecstasy. 

Corey pressed a kiss against my neck as we both calmed down.  “I’m never going to get over that,” he breathed.

“Good. Because I’m not going to, either.”

*~*~*~*~*

On Sunday morning, Corey and I walked to the lobby of the Inn where I was surprised to see Karly standing with a wide smirk on her face.

“You’re coming with me today, darling.”

That was the most either of them would say before Corey gave me a kiss and left to do his own thing.  As it turned out, Corey had booked Karly and I a day at the spa.  We were loaded with an afternoon of mommy massages, facials and pedicures.  It was pure bliss, but I never stopped wondering where Corey had ran off to.

*~*~*~*~*

Corey

I was excited as hell to see my plan to surprise Dani was going just as I hoped.  Karly would keep her out of the house the rest of the afternoon, so I could help put the finishing touches on the baby’s room.  I had to hand it to not only my boys, but my sisters, as well. They were dedicated and beyond excited to help with anything that concerned me or Dani.  A few different times, I popped in and made sure everything was going smoothly and each time I was more impressed. 

None of them asked me to come back today to help out, but I promised I’d be there.  As much as I wanted to be a large part of preparing the room where my little boy or girl would sleep—I needed a chance to be alone for a few minutes.

My phone was either always on silent or turned off these days, but that was the only way I could keep Dani from worrying about Jazmin.  For a week or so the calls stopped.  I didn’t hear from her and the manager of the Lion’s Den even told me they hadn’t seen Jaz coming or going for a few days.  Just when I thought I was in the clear, I realized that it was too easy.  The calls started up again but, this time, they were far more desperate. I knew if I didn’t talk to Jazmin soon, she would come to find me.  Some
thing had changed in her life—that I was sure of. 

There was a different feel in every message I got from her and I had a gut feeling she had started using again.  I drove my car about twenty miles in the opposite direction of the spa where Dani was before dialing Jazmin’s number.

The phone rang once before she picked it up. “Corey!” Her voice was hysterical and I knew this was going to be hell.

“What the fuck is going on, Jaz?  I can’t deal with this shit!” 

“Corey, I need you!  Please, come back!  I can’t be alone here! I’m scared and I know someone’s after me!  Please! Corey!”  Her voice was pathetic and terrified.  I had to move the phone inches from my ear so she didn’t blow my eardrums.

“I can’t keep coming up there, Jazmin!”

“PLEASE!” I could practically see the desperation and panic in her. “They’re coming for me!” she cried out. 

My head banged against the steering wheel before I made the decision - I
had
to go to her.  It was the last thing I wanted but, right now, I had no other choice but to drive to her crazy ass. 

“I’m on my way.  Stay there and stay calm.”

“Please hurry, Corey!”

I hung up the phone and threw my car into gear to drive back into the Lion’s Den.  My foot pressed the pedal to the floor as I dialed Alex’s number.  I knew he would be at Dani’s house helping Sanders, Abby and Lainey getting the room finished.  He was the only one there that I could count on to lie to everyone
for me.  Sanders would never be able to keep a secret about my whereabouts from Dani, but there was no way my sisters could find out either. 

“Hey, man! What’s up?” Alex asked, when he answered the phone.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“At Dani’s. Just waiting for you to get here so you can help me put this damn crib together.  Fuck, man! I was reading the instructions on this shit. Did you honestly have to pick the most complicated fucking one to assemble?”

I sighed. I’d give anything right now to be on my way to her house to set up everything with them.  This was supposed to be my way of making it up to my family for hiding some very crucial secrets.  Now here I was, diving head first back into those same secrets I was finally making good on.

“Hey, can you go outside?  Away from everyone? And please, don’t make it sound like something’s wrong.” I used the lowest tone I could in case anyone was standing next to him.