Forgive Me (Callaway Book 2) (26 page)

She adored Lucy like she was her own daughter, and watching her blossom into a happy little girl had been a privilege. But as the days went by, her time with Drew had become shorter and shorter until they barely saw each other. She felt like they were miles apart, yet they were under the same roof. It wasn't all on him, though. When things had gotten bad between them, she could have fought harder, but when she didn't see him fight at all, she couldn't convince herself to put the effort in.

The day the lawyer had dropped by to tell them Lucy's mom was giving up her parental rights, she'd hoped they would celebrate as a family, but they hadn't. Drew had gone to the ranch, and she had stayed home with Lucy, baking and painting their nails. She had no idea what had happened for him to start acting differently, but one day, they were barely speaking to each other and the next, he was up before the sun, making breakfast, dropping little notes in her purse and stopping by the diner for unannounced visits.

Then the night before, after three long weeks of having him sleep on the couch, he'd crawled into bed, and she hadn't been able to stay away from him. She had been craving intimacy for weeks and having him that close to her felt too good to push him away. When she woke up that morning, the last thing she had expected was for Drew to whisk her away for a romantic weekend. Once they were on the road, she didn't know what to feel. All she could think was what if they discovered they'd grown too much apart lately? What if he didn't love her as much as he used to? What would happen then?

The same headache she got every time she thought about where they were heading started at the base of her skull. Before she knew what was happening, Drew stopped the truck on the side of the road, unbuckled her seat belt, pushed his seat back as far as it could go and hauled her on top of him. "I can hear you thinking. It fucking kills me that you won't talk to me about what's making you this tense, but I get it. I lost the right to your thoughts when I started taking you for granted, but you have to know I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life. I know I messed up, but I
will
make things right, because my life without you is not something I will ever accept again." When his hands caressed on her face, she tilted her head to the side, loving the connection of his skin on hers.

"I'm scared that this is the end for us, and I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you." Having finally let the words spill, she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders.

She avoided his eyes, but he wasn't having any of it. He used his fingers to tilt her head back until they were eye to eye. "That is never going to happen. Yeah, we're going through a rough patch right now, but this doesn't define who we are. This does." He closed the distance between them, and his hands slipped under her dress and squeezed her ass hard enough to bruise. She moaned into his kiss and he took her lower lip between his teeth, soothing the sting of the bite with his tongue. She was done for.

Her hands went to his hair, pulling and tugging, desperate to feel him, craving more. She kissed him like he was the air she needed to breathe, because in that moment, he was. When his hand travelled up to her breast and pull down the fabric down, she dropped her head back with his name on her lips. He used the hand on her ass to help her find the right rhythm when she started rocking back and forth against his erection. He pinched her nipple between his fingers as he sucked and licked the skin at the base of her neck, and her orgasm built hard and fast.

"Let me have it. Let me feel what I do to you." As he spoke, she rocked into him one more time and her orgasm took over her body, making her scream as the release claimed her.

When she felt like she could move again, she looked up at him, his face radiating with lust and need for her. That was all she needed to know they would be okay. She leaned in to his body, her face buried in his neck and he wrapped his hands around her, holding tight against his chest. She felt like she was home again.

"We're going to be okay, Amanda," he whispered in her ear, and she believed him with every fiber of her being.

"Yes, we are," she told him before kissing his neck. God, she had missed this connection with him. She loved Lucy but she missed her man, and she planned on making the most out of their little escape.

When they pulled up the driveway that led to a beautiful bed and breakfast, their sexual need created a heavy fog around them. Amanda barely registered any of what the woman at the check-in counter said; all she wanted was to get Drew alone and naked. She ached for him in a way she had never known possible. Drew must have felt her surge of need because he pulled her to his side, his hand squeezing hard on her hip as he checked them in.

When he handed the clerk a twenty dollar bill, she didn't know what he was doing, but the next thing she knew, he was lifting her off the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist and she moaned when she felt his hard length press against her stomach. He took the stairs two at a time, kissing her neck and driving her out of mind.

When they reached their room, he pushed her against the wall beside the door and unlocked it. She didn't even look around the room; all she could see was him. He shut the door closed with his foot and she kissed him hard. Her lips couldn't get enough of him, and she needed more. Her hands were pulling at his hair, her hips were rolling into his cock, and she wanted it.

"Fuck! So good," Drew murmured before diving in for another kiss hard enough to bruise her lips, but she didn't care. She untangled her hands from his hair and tugged at his shirt, desperate to touch him, to feel his skin.

"I need you." She barely recognized her voice as she spoke, heavy with need. He backed them to the bed, and he slowly lowered her onto her back.

When he started to remove his clothes, Amanda sat up and pulled her dress over her head, feeling intoxicated when she heard him groan. His eyes were on her as she lowered her panties down her legs, and when he shed his jeans and underwear off in one kick, she licked his chest.

"Amanda…," he begged her, for what she didn't know. She licked the outline of his abs, loving how he contracted under her tongue. When she reached his nipples and her teeth nipped one, he lost it. He pushed her on her back and spread her legs wide. He climbed into the bed with her, and when he kissed the inside of her thigh, her whole body shook with a desperate need.

"Drew, no teasing. I need you too much. It's been too long." He looked at her as she spoke, and she saw something break inside of him. He climbed up her body, kissing every inch of her, torturing her into a state of bliss.

He braced his arms on each side of her head. "This."
Kiss
. "Is."
Kiss
. "Everything."
Kiss
. With the last kiss, he entered her with one full thrust. She automatically wrapped her legs around his waist, her heels digging into his ass.

"Drew…." She kissed him, her fingers digging into his back and his ass as he filled her with long, hard thrusts, hitting her G-spot every time. He dropped his body onto hers and fucked her with fast and erratic movements, and she knew this was what they needed.

"I can't hold it. Tell me you're close." He lifted his head so she could see his face.

When he pinched her nipple, she came apart in his arms. She screamed out his name then writhed under him, and he was right there with her.

He swelled inside of her and when she kissed his shoulder, he came. "Fuckk…Amanda!" He buried his face in her shoulder as he came and she caressed his back, cherishing the feel of him on top of her.

When he pulled out, she instantly missed their connection and when he groaned, she knew he was feeling it, too. Drew dropped to his back beside her and pulled her to him. She rested her face on his chest and said, "We're going to be okay." And for the first time in weeks, she had no doubt they would. She fell asleep in his arms, and that was exactly how they spent the rest of the weekend—making love, eating and sleeping.

The weekend away had been exactly what they needed and as Drew loaded the truck with their luggage, he knew they would be just fine. Spending time away, just the two of them, wasn't a miracle pill that would fix everything, but as he kissed Amanda before she climbed into the truck, he knew that if they could get through this rough patch, they could get through anything.

"This was perfect. I missed you so damn much," she told him as he started the truck.

"I think we should do this more often. Find a time every month or two to just get away. Just me and you. I neglected us before, and I don't want to let it get that bad again." He grabbed her hand, running circles over the knuckles with his thumb.

"I'm all for that. We need to nourish
us
," she spoke, teasing him with the promise of more wild sex. God, they had so much sex this past weekend, he didn't know how he was even able to function. Following that first night in the bed, they'd had sex in the hot tub, in the shower, on the sofa, on the lounge chair on the balcony, against the wall. They had been insatiable. Not that he was complaining.

Not five minutes down the road, Amanda fell asleep with her head on his shoulders, and he was thankful for the time to get his bearings under control before going back home. He loved being a father, but he also knew he wanted to be a husband, and having both would require work.

"Baby, wake up. We're almost home." he told her as they drove closer to the ranch to pick up Lucy.

She stirred a little before opening those big eyes of hers, filled with love and contentment. "Are we going to get Lucy?" she asked him, half-asleep.

"Yeah, we are." He smiled when she kissed his cheek before pulling away from him to her side of the truck.

Her hand out of the window, letting the wind fly though her fingers, she looked over at him with a bright smile. "Let's get our girl and go home. I missed her. She's become a part of me."

His heart swelled at her choice of words. She called Lucy theirs, and that meant more to him than she could ever know. He squeezed her hand, feeling fulfilled and happy. For the first time in his life, he knew he was feeling the kind of love his father had always talked about, the forever kind. "I love you, forever."

Epilogue

Two months later

Drew had no
idea why he was so nervous. This was everything he'd ever wanted, everything he ever could dream about having one day. He looked at the stretched-out blanket on the side of their home, smiling when Lucy spun around and around, singing at the top of her lungs. A month before, Drew had come home with adoption papers for Lucy, and Amanda's face when she saw them would forever be engraved in his mind. She had cried when Lucy walked up to her and said, "If you sign this, you'll be my mom and I'll be your daughter."

At that moment, he was waiting for Amanda to come home from one of her catering contracts, holding a box he had found months back while working on the house. At the time, he had no idea why he had been the one to find her mother's old wedding band, but since he was getting ready to ask her to marry him, it all made sense.

When he heard her truck come down the driveway, he glanced over at Lucy. She stopped spinning and looked at him with a big smile and two thumbs up, and his nerves disappeared. He walked over to the truck and when Amanda jumped out and ran to him, he opened his arms and lifted her off the ground, spinning her around. The last two months hadn't always been easy. There were still times where the balance they were working toward wasn't quite right, but they had stuck with it and made it work.

"I missed you today," she told him when he put her down.

"We missed you, too." He took her hand and walked to the blanket. When she saw Lucy, she let go of his hands and ran toward their daughter. Amanda picked her up and kissed her, making Lucy laugh and giggle.

When she put Lucy down, she glanced around then looked at him. "What's all this for?"

He walked to where she was and sat down, tugging her down with him. "Our first date was on this blanket. I was so nervous that night. I didn't know what to do. I was so afraid of messing things up. That first night, I knew you were it for me. I fell in love with you on this blanket, looking at the stars, so it's only fitting that I ask you to marry me on this blanket." He smiled when he heard Lucy giggle and start clapping her hands as he pulled out the box. He knew Amanda recognized it the second she saw it.

She covered her mouth with her hands as he spoke. "You have shown me what it means to truly love someone, and to truly be loved by someone. I know I'm not perfect, but I promise to spend the rest of my life being the man who makes you happy. You have helped me create a family, and I love you more every day. Will you marry me, baby?" He opened the box. "I found it when I was clearing up the attic before we started the renovations."

"Yes, Yes, I'll marry you." She jumped in his lap and kissed him, knocking down some plastic containers in the process, not that he cared. "I can't believe you found my mom's ring," she exclaimed when he slipped the ring on her finger.