Pretty Bitches (21 page)

He smiled wide. “You are the first and only woman to ever share my bed.”

That did strange things to me. I felt extremely proud to have that honor. To know that I am the only woman he has ever loved is humbling. And to be able to honestly say the feeling is mutual, well, there’s no greater gift than that.

“Well good because I would hate for them to know that they failed miserably at measuring up to our levels of making each other scream.” I smirked.

He buried his face in my hair and laughed. “So fucking true, Gemma. So fucking true. There’s not a woman on this earth that’ll ever hold a candle to you, love. You have ruined me.”

“Hmm, I feel honored to carry that title.”

“Well, you should, love. It’s almost the best that I can give.”

I turned to meet his eyes. “Oh really, and what is the best, huh?”

His eyes turned serious and gentle. “When I call you the mother of my children. That will top anything in the world for me.” He traced his finger across my cheek.

I was frozen.

Shocked-fucking-still. I’d never thought about children and honestly I couldn’t think about something using me for an incubator while it racked my body. Children are loud and rude and annoying. Any that I have ever been around had me gritting my teeth within five minutes and after ten I have a twitch.

Marianne brought her two rugrats into the office for a birthday party last year and they basically trashed the break-room. We had to have new carpets installed in the editing room because they thought it was funny to spread correction ink all over the floor and walls.

Yea, the thought of children makes me recoil.

He sensed my apprehension and read me like a fucking book.

“Our children will be different, Gemma. Take a minute to breathe and get that mind back out of the despair you’ve created. We have time to enjoy life together before we have to make that transition. Ok? So, breathe and relax.”

“All children are monsters, Cailen. I’m not equipped to be a mother. I’m pretty sure that stringing them up and leaving them in closets for days at a time is illegal.” I stared at the ceiling raking my hands through my hair. “Seriously, I don’t think that is something I will ever be prepared for.”

He pulled one hand down and rested it in his between our bodies. “I can wait, love. Just don’t shut me out because you are afraid. Ok?”

I looked over. “I’ll never shut you out, Cailen, not again. But I just don’t want you to miss out on anything because of me. I’m a fucked up nugget and have a track record of destruction in my wake. I just never want to hurt you.”

He cupped my face. “Well, then stop talking. I can handle you, Gemma. I know how you work and I know you to the core. Just trust me, love.”

I took a deep breath and leaned in to kiss him. He smiled wide, at ease. “Are you hungry?”

I nodded. “God yes!”

He threw the covers back and I realized I was laying in my bra and panties. I looked over and raised an eyebrow.

He snickered. “Ah yes, well I only wanted you to be more comfortable, sweetheart.”

I shook my head and slid out of the bed reaching for my shirt. “Oh no. No clothes. House rule.”

I snorted. He is such a guy.

We walked through the door and I began taking in the surroundings. I immediately recognized Alick’s art covering every wall.

The furniture was a mixture of modern and antique. Truly stunning. The walls were painted a pale gray and I noticed the heavy intricate crown molding flowing throughout the rooms.

The windows were floor-to-ceiling and draped in an ivory silk fabric. There were endless bookshelves lining the walls with thousands of leather-bound books stacked in between. I smiled because I am an avid reader and these all appeared to be classic literature, which is my favorite.

I made a beeline for the largest shelf and ran my finger over the supple leather taking in the scent of old parchment.

He stared at me, smiling. “Are you a reader?”

“God yes. I love to read. Matter of fact I just bought a television last year and I only did that because we were getting more technologically advanced at work and I needed a bigger screen to interact.”

His smile got wider. “I love that we like the same things. I’ve never had anyone I could share so much with.” He mused.

“Ditto.” I lilted.

He pulled me through the rest of the house, which I found to be enormous. I counted eight bedrooms on this wing alone. Then we reached the kitchen and I was frozen still.

It was extraordinary.

The cabinets were a weathered white wash and the counters a beautiful shade of ivory marble.

The appliances were streamlined and functional but it was the view that had my mouth dropping. The entire facing wall was nothing but one large window exposing the crystal blue lake sprawling ahead.

I walked closer and saw the beautiful landscape and my eyes followed the stone path that led to a long wooden pier with a boat docked and a bench facing the water.

It blew every lake house I’d ever been to out of the water—no pun intended.

He was clearly enjoying my reaction because I could feel his wide smile and burning gaze on my face.

I turned to face him. “It is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen.” I turned my head to stare at the beautiful water again.

“I’m glad you like it because you’re going to be spending a lot of time here, if that’s ok?”

“That sounds about perfect to me.” I said sincerely.

He squeezed my hand and I turned more fully to him. “After the wedding I do need to go back and tie up my loose ends. Ok? I owe a lot of people my best departure and that may require me to be there for a little while. Are you ok with that?”

“I don’t want you to feel you have to give up your career for me, Emberly. That is not my intent, love.”

“I’m not giving up anything besides my single life and trust me, I’ll be happy to leave that behind me.”

He smiled and pulled me into his chest. “Damn right you’re leaving that behind. I’m not fucking sharing you. No way.”

Snorting I replied, “I guess you should have some sort of national public announcement stating that you are off the market. I wouldn’t want to leave any stragglers behind hoping they can slip in while I’m not looking.”

“Consider it done. There won’t be any slipping going on unless it is by me and it’s directly pointed at you.”

That had me belly laughing and pulling his silly ass closer so I could plant a kiss. Once I thoroughly worked his lips I asked, “So, are you going to feed me?”

He ran his hands over my ass. “You have no fucking idea, Gemma. But yes, for right now, I will “feed” you breakfast.”

I watched him walk over to the fridge and pull out various ingredients and begin his assault. When all was said and done he had plated a delicious looking eggs benedict and fresh grapefruit.

I devoured my portion and licked my fingers as I turned to him and said, “
You
have spoiled me, bagpipe.”

He grinned and stood to take my plate. “Do we have a gym around here? I need to stretch these over worked muscles.” I complained.

“Downstairs, gorgeous. Equipped with anything you need.”

I hummed. “Just a matt and some Jazz and I am all set.”

“Yoga junkie?”

“Bikram. It’s one of the only forms of exercise I can tolerate.” I held up my hand when I saw his eyebrows shoot up. “Aside from our form of exercise, I might add.”

That brought a smile. “I was getting ready to show you my form of exercise is really all you need.”

“What’s stopping you, then?”

He had me swept up and out of the room before I could offer a word. We spent the rest of the afternoon naked and sweaty.

My phone rang just as we finished a rather active session situated on the window seal. I giggled and crossed the room to fish it out of my bag. When I saw her number I smiled.

“Hey bitch.”

She laughed. “Fuck you. You don’t call you don’t write and I have to hear about your fucking engagement from a stranger. Cunt.”

I just hung my head laughing. “You’re right, I’m sorry. But you know now and you’re here! Where are you?”

“At the back of this wretched commercial plane waiting to exit. You owe me, big time. I had to sit in coach next to a screaming kid and a sweaty porn star.”

My laugh morphed into a snort. “What do you mean coach?”

“First class was booked. I even tried to bribe them with my black American Express. Fuckers.”

I was shaking my head laughing as I replied, “Well, listen Kincaid should already be there waiting for you and he is bringing you here,” I looked at Cailen and winked, “to our house.”

It was silent then she shrieked. “Please don’t fucking tell me you have utterly lost you mind and moved to fucking Scotland?”

I snickered. “Well, sort of, yes. But you are going to love it.”

She huffed. “Yea, whatever.”

“Anyway, Kincaid is waiting and trust me, you can’t miss him. I’ll see you in a couple of hours. Love ya!”

I swiped my finger across the screen and tossed it back into my bag.

Cailen looked at me with a questioning eyebrow and I just shook my head and walked to the bathroom. He followed me and adjusted the water in the shower while I unpacked a few of my things into the drawer.

He walked up behind me and kissed my shoulder. “I love that you are putting your things in the drawers. It makes it official.”

I smiled. “Well, you aren’t going to be singing that happy tune too long because I have a lot of fucking stuff and you may find yourself losing a lot of yours.”

“Small price to pay. I’ll just buy more cabinets, love.”

We laughed as we stepped into the shower and fondled more than we washed. Finally I shut the water and smacked him on the ass as I stepped out and took the only towel hanging, smiling wickedly.

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you dare leave me standing here dripping with no towel.”

I laughed as I ran it over my hair and walked to the bedroom. I heard him swear and a big rustling noise from the far linen cabinet signaled his find.

I walked back in to finish my lotioning ritual. He walked up behind me and brushed his cock against my lower back.

I smiled wide.

“You’ll be lucky to make it out of here without being violated.” He said licking my neck below my ear.

“I could say the same.” I teased.

He gave me his best hopeful expression and I laughed loud.

I pulled out my Gucci wrap dress and paired it with my gold stilettos. I let my hair hang long and natural and dusted my lids with a neutral brown and coated some mascara.

Cailen was in the kitchen preparing a plate of snacks and pulling out the drinks when I walked in.

I stifled a laugh. “My, we have friends with quite the palate. Fine whisky and pretzels. Yum.”

He laughed. “Wiseass.”

“You could learn a little something.”