The Beauty Series Bundle (46 page)

He opens my door and I’m a little dumbfounded because I don’t know what’s on his mind. He pulls my panties down my legs and over my shoes. “Out. Now.”

“What are you… ,” I say before trailing off when he touches his finger to my lips.

“Shh… no talking.”

He grabs my hands and helps me out before leading me to the back of the car. He puts his hands around my waist and hoists me up onto the trunk. He slips my sandals off and places my feet on the bumper before he pushes my knees apart. “I want to fuck on the bonnet, but it might be a little warm for that bum of yours.” He pops his button and unzips. “So I’m gonna fuck you on the boot and save the bonnet for another time.” Will I ever get used to these Aussie phrases?

Good thing he’s tall and this car is low or this wouldn’t work out at all.

“You still think we’re good since you’re supposed to start soon?”

“Yeah, we should be.” I feel him at my entrance one moment and then inside me the next. I put my hands on the trunk and scoot my bottom closer to him while I lean back so he can go in deeper. He wraps his hands around my hips and holds me firm as he slams into me over and over.

“I’d hate to know we conceived a baby on the trunk of the Sunset.”

“That’s what’s on your mind right now? Let me give you something else to think about.” He moves his hand from my hip to between my legs and begins to rub his thumb just above our union. “What are you thinking about now?”

My mind quickly shifts to other thoughts. “How good that feels and how you always make sure I get mine too.”

“I always want to make you feel good.”

He’s circling my clit slowly with the perfect amount of pressure and the tingling waves of pleasure grow in my pelvis. “I can feel it starting.” My legs are trembling and I lie back against the car as he does his thing. “I’m right there.”

“Me too, babe.”

And then I squeeze my eyes shut as my body does its own magical thing. I have no control over it and it’s sensational when I feel those rhythmic contractions deep inside. “I’m coming.”

As if my words trigger him, I know the moment he joins me and his body synchronizes with mine. “I love you, L.”

L.? That’s a new one but I like it. “You sort of have to love a girl who would let you do this to her on the side of the road.”

“I’d still love you if you didn’t, but I admit your ability to match me in the kink department is the icing on my cake.” He pulls out and then slips my sandals back onto my feet before helping me down from the trunk. When we walk to the passenger side of the car, he takes my panties from where he tossed them on the seat and holds them out for me to step into. “Do you remember the first time I did this?”

“How could I forget? You had just spread me out on a banquet table and had your own little buffet.”

He pats my bottom when he finishes as he always does. “That was a very good day.”

It was the beginning of us—not at all a traditional start—and what an unexpected surprise it has been to fall in love with this man. He will forever be my heart, my love, my life.

How lucky am I?

L
aurelyn is wedding
dress shopping with Mum, Emma, and Chloe, so I have the day to myself—or so I thought. Evan blames me for getting stuck taking care of the kids all day while Em is shopping for my wedding and insists I come over to help him. Little prick.

Yeah, I guess I am the reason behind it, but they’re his kids, not mine. I don’t mind hanging out with them, though. It might be good practice and I’m sure it’s better to experiment on someone else’s kids before ruining your own.

I walk into Evan’s and Aidan is throwing one hell of a fit. “Bro, what did you do to your kid to make him scream like that?”

He gives me that look that says he’d kill me if he could. “You did this.”

Oh, hell no, I didn’t. “What did I do to make him scream like that? All I did was walk through the door.”

“He’s mad as hell because he wants Em’s tits. He doesn’t want to take a bottle.”

He’s a McLachlan—enough said. “I don’t blame him.”

“Shut up. I can’t wait until this shit happens to you. Won’t be quite so funny then, buddy.”

“Sorry. Anything I can do to help?”

He holds a screaming Aidan out for me. “Take him and see if you can do anything with him while I get the girls some lunch. And me too. I’m starving.”

I take my screaming nephew from Evan and I have no idea what to do with him, so I sit in the recliner and begin to rock. I try his bottle again and Evan is right. He does not want an impostor. “Little man, you’re gonna get really hungry if you don’t wise up and take this bottle. I’m betting your buffet won’t be back until late.”

I continue trying his bottle and he eventually gives in, but I’m pretty sure he’s pissed off about it. “I get it, Aidan. You like the real thing. We all do, but you gotta cut your mum some slack.”

He finishes off the whole bottle and is asleep before I can burp him, but I prop him over my shoulder and pat his back anyway. Doesn’t bother him—he’s out cold and never budges.

Evan’s both pleased and shocked when he returns from feeding Celia and Mila. “How the hell did you do that?”

I didn’t really do anything. He caved. “He wasn’t the least bit happy about it, but he’s a man. His stomach eventually won out over his anger issues.”

“Thank God. I didn’t want to listen to that all day. I was ready to send him home with you.” Evan plops on the couch across from me. Mila crawls onto his lap. “Is it nappy time for you now, little girl?”

She begins to twirl a lock of hair around her finger and I recognize that as her ritual for when she’s sleepy. “She has the hair-twirling thing going on. It shouldn’t be long until she’s knocked out. If you can get Celia down, you might have a chance at getting a break.”

“Celia’s good to go. She’s watching a movie in her bedroom, so she’ll be asleep in three minutes.”

Evan has this down pat. “I don’t guess I’ve ever told you, but you’re a great dad.”

“Well, I never thought I could see you with kids, but I gotta admit, you look like a natural over there holding my boy.”

I like the way holding this baby makes me feel. “If I’m not a natural, I hope I’m a fast learner. Laurelyn wants babies. At least two or three. Maybe more. I’ll be thirty-one in a couple of months and I don’t want to still be having kids when I’m forty, so I figure we won’t wait long before we start trying.”

Mila is already out cold but Evan continues holding her instead of putting her down on the couch. “My brother, the rich playboy, is getting married and talking about having kids. You did it, bro. You got your cake and you get to eat it too. I’m happy for you. Laurelyn’s a special girl and she’ll make you really happy.”

This is the first serious moment I’ve shared with my brother since the day he came over and told me about Aidan coming. They’re few and far between because that’s not the kind of brotherhood we have, but now feels like the right time to ask him what’s been on my mind. “I need a best man. You think you’re up for the job?”

“You think I can’t keep up with a ring and make a toast?”

“I think you have the capability to do both, or I wouldn’t have asked.”

“Does this mean I’m your best friend?”

He’s provoking me. “No.”

“Yeah, it does. Say it.”

I should’ve known he’d pull some kind of shit like this. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Say it, or I won’t do it,” he threatens. Even at twenty-eight years old, he’s such a little prick.

“I have plenty of friends I could ask.”

“But you didn’t. You asked me, so admit it. I’m your best friend.”

“Yeah, you’re my best friend. Happy?” I feel defeated.

“Yeah, BFF,” he laughs.

“Damn. Your kids are more mature than you are.”

And that’s how my day is spent while the girls are out shopping for the wedding. My brother gets me up to speed on marriage and fatherhood. I would’ve once thought such a conversation would be boring as hell, but not today. I’m excited about it and can’t wait to experience it for myself.

I
’m
on the floor with Aidan when Laurelyn and Emma come in. The minute he sees Emma, he is no longer content with me and begins throwing another one of his screaming tantrums. I pick him up from the floor and pass him off to his mother. “Here, take your titty baby.”

“Jack Henry! I can’t believe you said that.”

“It’s true, Laurelyn,” Emma agrees. “Aidan is a boob man.” She goes to the couch with him and pulls a blanket up over her chest for coverage and begins nursing him. It’s her third kid and she quit going into another room after Mila was born. It seriously freaked me out the first few times she did it in front of me, but I guess I’m used to it now because it doesn’t bother me anymore. “I hated to leave him all day, but I needed to have a selfish moment and get away for a while. He wasn’t terrible, was he?”

“We had a man-to-man chat and I talked him down from the ledge.”

Emma gives me an apologetic look. “That bad, huh?”

Yeah, it was pretty bad for a while but I hate to tell her how her kid showed his arse. “Maybe for a little at first, but he got over it.”

“Let me guess. Evan dumped him on you?” She knows her husband well.

“Nah. He was busy with the girls so Aidan and I did some male bonding. I haven’t gotten to see him much since he’s been born. After he got over his little pissed-off spell, he was fine until he saw your boobs. Then he was done with Uncle Jack.”

Laurelyn is shaking her head and I suspect I’ll be in trouble about the titty baby and boob comments when she gets me alone later, so I make an attempt to smooth it over. “Did my beautiful bride find a dress?”

She immediately begins beaming and I’m certain that’s a good sign. “I did.”

I know she won’t tell me, but I ask anyway. “What does it look like?”

“A beautiful white dress for a bride.”

That’s exactly the response I expected. “You’re not gonna tell me anything about it?”

“Not a chance.” Shocker. “You’ll find out when you see me on our wedding day.”

“Telling me about it isn’t the equivalent of seeing you in it before the wedding.”

“I know, but I want it to be a complete surprise.”

I shrug. “Whatever you want, love.”

She slips off one of her shoes and rubs her foot. “Right now I just want to go back to the apartment and rest. These McLachlan women put a hurting on me with this shopping thing. I couldn’t keep up with them.”

“It’s a genetic thing for Mum and Chloe.” They will not be stopped. “Emma had to be trained and you will be too.”

“We’ll see.” Probably won’t happen. Shopping isn’t really Laurelyn’s thing.

She isn’t making a move to sit and I take that as a sign for us to head out. “I think I need to get my bride-to-be home and run her a warm bath and then massage her feet.”

She slips her shoe back on. “You have no idea how perfect that sounds.”

Emma looks at Evan. “You could take lessons from your brother.”

I can tell that pisses him off. Good. “Okay. Send these three kids home with them and I’ll be happy to run you a bath and massage your feet if that’s all I have to do—more than glad.”

“You don’t have to be so cranky about it.”

“I’m tired. These kids have done me in today.”

“So now you get what it’s like for me all day, except you didn’t have a human vacuum using you as a dummy.”

Laurelyn and I look at one another and begin easing toward the door. I’m pretty sure neither of them notices our escape. We get in the car and begin laughing simultaneously when we look at each other because we know we’ll be the same way, even if neither of us says it. And I can’t wait.

T
he week has flown
because I’ve been so busy making wedding plans. I can’t believe how helpful Margaret, Chloe, and Emma have been. There’s no way I could’ve pulled this together without their help. I will be forever grateful.

We’re in a formal restaurant for our engagement dinner party. Margaret said it was going to be a few friends and family. Yeah, right. There are at least thirty guests present and that doesn’t include the immediate McLachlan family.

I’ve met too many people to keep them straight and I’ve explained more times than I’d like about my career. I excuse myself to the bathroom, but it’s because I need a quiet minute away from the chaos.

I’m leaning forward over the sole bathroom sink, applying a fresh coat of lipstick, when I see the reflection of a woman standing behind me. Our eyes meet in the mirror—and it’s an awkward moment—but I allow her to win the stare-down when I avert my eyes. “I’m just finishing up here.”

“I debated if I should follow you in here or not.”

What a strange thing to say. “Excuse me?”

“I couldn’t in good conscience not warn you about the man you’re sitting with at dinner tonight.”

She’s an attractive blond, probably in her late thirties. He told me he’s always dated older women and I can only assume she’s one of his former companions. I’ve often wondered what this might feel like—running into one of the other twelve before me. I thought it might be a little easier after the whole Audrey thing, but it isn’t. As I stare back into the blue eyes in the mirror, I could be sick at any moment. “What number are you?”

“He keeps count?”

Her tone is bitter. What if she’s a freak like Audrey? It might be best to nip this in the bud so she doesn’t get any crazy ideas. “I know all about his history, but he doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore. We’re engaged to be married.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you, honey. It hasn’t been that long since he propositioned me in a hotel bar and took me upstairs.”

I wonder what she’s calling not long ago. “When?”

“It was March twentieth. I remember the date because it was my birthday.”

I feel my heart and stomach swap places as my nausea increases. “I don’t want to hear anymore.”

“I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but I’d want someone to warn me if the situation were reversed. Even if he is gorgeous, you don’t want to be with a creep like that.”

Why does the room suddenly feel so warm? How can I feel so hot yet break into a cold sweat? Oh, everything is spinning. I reach up and begin to fan myself with my hand. “I need to sit down.”

She helps me to the settee against the wall. “I think they say you should put your head between your knees if you feel like you’re going to pass out.”

I wasn’t just feeling like I was going to faint. I was feeling like I was going to die from the pain of learning that the man I loved had been with this woman after I left and then lied to me about it. “You don’t look so well. Can I get someone for you?”

It’s too bad Addison wasn’t feeling well tonight. I wish she were here. “Would you please go to my table and tell the woman in the purple dress that I need her without alarming everyone else that I’m not feeling well?”

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

I begin to feel worse after she leaves, so I lower myself to the floor. I’m afraid I’m about to black out so I’ll end up down there anyway, and it’s better to be there by choice than by force.

I think I must’ve been unconscious for a brief moment because when I open my eyes and look up, Emma and Jack Henry are standing over me. Emma is on her knees beside me and she’s holding my head in her lap while she blots my face with wet paper towels. “Calm down, Jack. She’s starting to come around now. Honey, are you okay?” I blink several times but my blurry vision only slightly improves.

“She’s clearly not okay because she passed out.” I hear the fear in his voice. “What would’ve caused that?”

“Could she be pregnant?” Emma asks.

Jack Henry hesitates before answering. “Of course, there’s a possibility but I don’t think she is.”

I hear the blond explain, “I’m afraid it’s my fault because I told her what you did to me at the Langford Hotel several months ago.”

“What is she talking about, Jack?” I hear the confusion in Emma’s voice.

“What the fuck did you tell her that caused her to end up like this?” He’s angry.

The door creaks open and then I hear Margaret’s voice. “Good Lord, what happened?”

“She passed out,” Emma and Jack Henry say in unison.

“Should we call an ambulance?”

I blink some more and my vision improves, so I try again to find my voice. When I do, it’s weak. “No. Ambulance.” I strain and see I can’t sit up on my own. “Help me sit up, Em.”

“I’ll help her,” Jack Henry says as he reaches for me.

“No. I don’t want you to touch me,” I say when I feel his hand on my arm.

“What’s going on here?” I hear the confusion in Margaret’s voice. “Why would she say that?”

“It’s nothing—just a little misunderstanding.” I wish that were the case.

The blond is still there and offering unwanted help. “Maybe she needs something to drink.” I could certainly use something dark, straight, and stronger than me.

“No, thanks.” He walks over to the door and holds it open. “I think you’ve helped quite enough. Your assistance will no longer be needed here.”

I shouldn’t be but I can’t stop myself from being angry with the blond woman—for being with him then, for being here now.

“Go away.” She takes one look at my face and it registers that there’s no place for her here, so she walks out.

Em attempts to help me to my feet, but I’m still a wee bit wobbly.

“I’ll be the one to take care of her.” As much as I want to, I don’t argue. Instead, I allow him to help me from the floor because I don’t want to cause a scene in front of Emma and Margaret. Although I’m incredibly hurt and furious with him right now, I’d never want them to find out about the things he’s done with other women, including the one he apparently fucked only a few days after I left. Keeping them in the dark has nothing to do with protecting him; I’m keeping his secret to myself to protect them from seeing him the way I do right now.

When I’m standing with my feet firmly planted, I straighten my shoulders and look him in the face. I see something in his eyes for the first time. I think it’s fear and it most definitely has a basis for being there. He should be afraid because all I can see is red.

“Get me out of here.” I owe Margaret some kind of apology. “I’m so sorry for ruining dinner, but I need to go home and lie down. Please tell everyone I apologize for the drama. I hope I haven’t ruined the night for them.”

She places her hands on my face and searches my eyes. I’m certain she’s confused about what’s just happened. “You haven’t ruined anything, sweetheart. You just go with Jack Henry and feel better soon.”

Fat chance of that happening.

She hugs me tightly. “Thank you, Margaret. It was a lovely dinner.”

She releases me. “I’ll call in the morning to check on you. If you need anything—I mean anything at all—don’t hesitate to call.”

“I will. Promise.”

I allow Jack Henry to support me by my upper arm as we walk out of the restaurant. He might take my tolerance as a sign of concession, but it’s anything but. This is far from over. Once we’re in the parking lot out of the family’s sight, I jerk my arm from his grasp. “Take your fucking hands off of me.”

“Baby… “

“Don’t you dare baby me. You don’t get to baby me after fucking that woman and then lying to me about it.”

“Please, let me… “

I cut him off. “Explain? No. I don’t want to hear your account of what happened. I heard hers and right now I have a whole lot more faith in her ability to tell the truth.”

“It didn’t happen the way you think.”

My finger is in his face. “Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth. I don’t want to hear a word out of you.” I stand there debating if I’ll get in the car with him, but who am I kidding? I don’t have much of a choice since I have nowhere else to go. “Take me to the apartment.”

We remain silent as he drives. I stare out the window watching the streetlights zoom by. I’m grateful he doesn’t make another attempt to explain his actions away because I can’t take talking or thinking about him being with another woman right now.

I feel the slight throb of a migraine beginning at the base of my head. It’s been months since I had one, but I’m not shocked to feel it coming on after what just happened. I know this process well and it’s going to get worse until it becomes so painful, I have no choice but to get sick. Perfect. It’s exactly what I need on top of this shit.

The flashing of the streetlights is making it worse, so I close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat. By the time we pull into the garage, I’m in a massive amount of pain and highly nauseated. I reach for the handle and get out of the car so I don’t spew in the Sunset. That would be a total shame.

Jack Henry unlocks the door and walks in first. Home is the only place he enters ahead of me. It’s his routine and he does it to protect me in case we were to walk in on a burglary.

He tosses the keys onto the kitchen counter and then turns to me. “We have to talk about this.”

I run past him toward our bathroom. I slam the door and barely make it to the toilet before I vomit. I see the door open in my peripheral vision and he comes in without an invitation. “Go away,” I order, although I know it’s in vain. He’s never gone away before and I know he won’t now.

I hear him turn on the faucet and seconds later, I feel him twist my hair up and off my neck so he can place a cool, wet washcloth against my skin. “Maybe this will help.”

“There isn’t help for what I’m feeling.”

“Laurelyn, please let me tell you what happened.”

“Seriously?” I scream and it makes my head pound even harder. “My head is hanging over the toilet because I’m puking up my guts, and you want to talk about being with another woman.”

He says nothing and walks out of the bathroom. He returns a few minutes later with one of his T-shirts thrown over his shoulder. “I’m going to help you change and you’re going to let me because you need my help.”

I give him a look that warns him he better not try anything. “I don’t want to die tonight, Laurelyn. I only want to help you change your clothes.”

I’m still on my knees when I feel my zipper slide down my back to my hips. He helps me stand and my black sheath dress puddles at my feet around my black Italian open-toed pumps that cost a ridiculous sum. I hold his shoulder as I step out of my dress and he moves it from where it fell on the floor.

I see his eyes studying my black lace bra, matching panties, and garter belt as I stand in my five-inch heels. I know Jack Henry well, and it pleases me to no end to know seeing me like this is probably giving him a raging hard-on with no relief from me in the near future.

I reach behind my back to unfasten my bra and let it fall to the floor. I unhook my nylons and remove them before I slide the belt down my legs. I’m standing in my panties and he studies my near-naked body briefly before taking the shirt from his shoulder and pulling it over my head. “I’ll have your side of the bed turned back for you when you’re finished in here.”

When I come out of the bathroom, the lights are off with the exception of the bedside lamp. There’s a glass of water and a pill I recognize as my migraine medication on the nightstand. Jack Henry isn’t anywhere in sight, so I take the small white tablet and crawl into bed.

Lying in bed without him could never feel lonelier, but he’s wise to give me my space. I’m like an unstable explosive threatening to detonate at any moment.

The clock tells me it’s been an hour since I took my medication, so I know sleep will claim me soon. I’m already feeling the drug-induced drowsiness it always brings and I welcome it. I need an escape from this cruel reality.

I
t’s still
dark when I open my eyes, so I know I didn’t sleep long. The clock glows 3:39 in the blackness around me and I reach over to find Jack Henry’s side of the bed empty. Smart man.

I shouldn’t care where he’s bedded down for the night—but I do—so I slide out of bed and go in search. I don’t find him in the guest bedrooms, so I go to the living room and he’s sleeping in a sitting position on the couch with a glass of dark amber liquid in his hand. There’s fresh ice in his drink, so I know he hasn’t been asleep for long.

It isn’t often that I’m able to study his figure while he sleeps, but I come to the same conclusion every time: he’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. And I love him so much it hurts.

He stirs in his sleep and his drink tilts to the side, causing some of it to spill down his leg. I reach to take it from his hand and he startles awake. I unwrap his fingers from it. “You can let go. I’ve got it.”

He stares at me with hazy eyes and I realize he’s shitfaced when he reaches out to grab me a little too hard around the waist. He leans forward and presses his head to my stomach, causing me to stagger backward to maintain my balance. “I love you, Laurelyn. Please, don’t leave me. I’ll fucking die if you do.”

I love him and I don’t want to leave, but how can I stay with a man who would lie to my face the way he did? I asked him if he’d been with another woman and he told me he hadn’t been inside another one since me. I gave him the perfect opportunity to come clean. It would’ve hurt but I’d have eventually gotten over it. At least it would’ve been the truth. He knows how much I hate lies.

I run my fingers through his dark hair. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow when you’re not hammered.”

He’s still holding me around the waist but he fists the T-shirt I’m wearing and pushes it up to bare my stomach. “I can just see you with a baby on the way.”

Oh, God. Why does he have to say things like that right now? “You’re drunk and you need to sleep it off.”

He pokes me with his finger below my navel. “I want to marry the shit out of you and then I want to put a baby inside you as soon as you’ll let me.” He puts his finger under my piercing and flicks it up. “But I don’t know what will happen to this little jewel when your belly grows.”