Chapter 36: Forgot To Tell You Something: Chapter 36

“Coming,” I call out, my heart sinking when I open the condo door.

Charlotte stands in the vestibule, looking coolly glamorous as always in yet another designer suit. Meanwhile, I’m the definition of anti-chic in a tank top and sweats.

Thank God Owen loves me just as I am.

“What can I do for you, Charlotte?” I inquire, leaning against the door as I gaze up the length of her willowy frame.

“I have some paperwork for Owen. I thought he would want to familiarize himself with it before the trip.”

What a load of garbage. “Nah, you would have stopped by his office, considering you were just there today. You want to speak to me. Am I right?”

“Are you always this direct?”

“Yes. I find bullshit pleasantries tiresome.” I open the door, allowing her entrance. “What do you want?”

Charlotte gazes around the condo before setting her purse down on an end table. “Interesting decor.”

“I prefer homey to institutional. But let’s cut the crap. You’re not here to discuss my interior design choices.”

“Will you be submitting the paternity test before or after the birth?”

I don’t know why I’m surprised by Charlotte’s question, but it rams me like a punch in the gut. I huff out a breath, shocked at her direct inquiry. “How is that any of your business?”

“Owen is my business. Mine and my father’s. We like to keep tabs on our commodities.”

I throw up my hands, my eyes blazing in disbelief. “Do you hear yourself? You just referred to the man I love as a commodity.”

“Will you answer the question, please? I’ll gladly pay for the testing.”

“Owen never mentioned me having a paternity test. He knows he’s the father.”

Her dark green eyes bore into me, making me feel like a caged rat. So much for false bravado. “He knows no such thing, which is why I’m here to deliver the paperwork for the test. You don’t think Owen wants to give his last name to a child who may or may not be his, Tallulah. You’re smarter than that.”

I snatch the document from her fingers, tossing it on the table. “Is there anything else?”

“There is one thing. You don’t really believe he’s going to marry you, do you?”

“It hadn’t occurred to me,” I lie, praying Charlotte can’t see through my falsehood.

“Yes, it has. You’ve thought about it constantly, especially now that you’re in the family way. He would be quite the catch, especially with this second center opening. You could claim a seat at the head table, regardless of your upbringing.”

That’s it. She can insult me, but when she throws shade at my deceased parents, I see red. “Don’t you ever mention my parents again. They were two of the most wonderful people to grace this planet and you,” I hiss, coming right under her nose, “aren’t fit to shine their shoes. Now ” I pull open the door, slamming it hard enough that the lamp shakes on the foyer table.

Leaning against the wall, I slow my breathing and will my heart rate down. I need to stay calm for Nugget, even if that bitch shredded my last bits of sanity.

I know she’s jealous and vindictive, but her statement isn’t totally off base. Owen and I aren’t married. He told me that Charlotte was unfaithful during their relationship. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he would want a paternity test.

It’s a fair and logical request. But that isn’t what bothers me the most.

’

Charlotte’s pointed barb zips through my head like a dart, poisoning every thought. I rub my brow, the headache fast becoming a pounding disaster. The events of the last few weeks have taken their toll. I need some downtime.

I find Hecate curled up on the guest bed, and I lay beside her, stroking her fur as her noisy purrs calm my rattled nerves. I swear, this cat is the best form of therapy.

“Owen loves us, Hecate. I know he does. He’s told me so many times, assured me I’m more than just his baby mama. I’m being stupid, right? Letting Charlotte get inside my head again.”

Hecate continues her therapeutic purring, but a small, niggling voice breaks through any surface calm. What if Owen’s declarations of love and devotion are as false as the other lines he spouted throughout our relationship?

What if he is only staying because of the baby? Hell, then I’ve trapped him in the same manner as Charlotte. The details may be different, but it’s the same concept.

Owen is very good at telling me what I want to hear, omitting things as he sees fit. His profession and former fiancée are proof of that fact.

But he wouldn’t lie about the baby, would he?

“Darlin, wake up. You’re having a bad dream.” Owen’s voice jerks me from my nightmare, and I gasp as I jolt into reality, my body trembling and covered with sweat.

His arms encircle me, pulling me against his chest.

I glance out the window, noting the street lamps illuminating the beach. How long have I been asleep? “I was drowning…”

“Shh, I’m here, Tally. You’re safe.” He traces my spine with his hand, his lips pressing against my hair.

“Did I wake you?”

Owen shakes his head, planting kisses across my face. “I only got in a little while ago. I had some last-minute things to take care of before the trip tomorrow.”

The trip. With Charlotte.

My earlier conversation with his ex-fiancée roars back into focus, along with my insecurities. I sit up, putting some space between us. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

“You didn’t disturb me. You scared me.” Owen glances around the room. “Why are you back here?”

“I fell asleep with Hecate earlier.” I stretch, rolling my neck to relieve the kinks. “I feel better now. I should be able to fall asleep again.” I tug at the blanket wedged under Owen. “Can I have my blanket back?”

Owen scoops me into his arms, carrying me into the master bedroom. “

is your room now. I don’t care if you want nap on the counter, but at night, you sleep with me. Besides, I’m not going to see you for a few days. I want to hold you tonight.” He places me on the bed, sliding in beside me.

He’s fresh from the shower, his skin tinged with the scent of our citrus soap. He always smells so good. He pulls me against his chest, glancing in my direction when I resist. “Everything okay?”

My head doesn’t want to get into it. My heart has had enough.

“She stopped by here earlier,” I mumble.

“Who?”

“Charlotte,” I huff.

His grip tightens around me. “What the hell did she want?”

“She gave me paperwork for a paternity test.”

That did it. The bedside lamp flicks on and I squint up into his handsome face. His perturbed, handsome face. “She did what?”

I wave a hand, trying to dispel the tension. “I told her you hadn’t asked for one, but I have no issue with it. She claimed that you wouldn’t want your name on the birth certificate until you were certain the baby was yours.”

Even in this low light, I see Owen’s anger raging. Those gray eyes are now a thundering storm. “That bitch. I hope you told her where she could shove her paternity test.”

“Owen, I wanted to tell her she was wrong, that you loved me—”

“Damn straight.”

I wipe my tears with the heel of my hand. I didn’t realize I was crying. “Then she insulted my parents and said I was foolish to believe that you’d marry me.”

“That’s it, I’m canceling the whole damn deal. I’m not playing this game with her anymore.” He bolts upright and I grab his arm.

“Stop. I know you’re mad. I’m mad, too.”

“I’m beyond mad, Tally. I’m fucking livid.” He shakes his head, his lips a thin line. “I should have known after my chat with Charlotte today that she would pull something like this.”

“Your chat?”

“She made a last-ditch attempt at reconciliation.”

“Trying to convince you to leave me, right?”

He grabs my upper arms, forcing me to look at him. “Don’t you believe a word she says. Promise me.”

“That’s just it. I don’t know what place I hold in your life.” There, I said it. Finally. “I can’t be certain you’re not just with me out of some sense of obligation.”

Owen rolls me onto my back, his hulking frame positioned on top of me. “Little lady, we need to get a few things straight. Charlotte is my past, and no amount of finagling on her part is going to change that.” His long fingers lift the edge of my shirt, exposing my baby bump. “You are my present, Tally.”

His hands stroke along the sides of my abdomen, cupping my stomach. “God, you’re beautiful. Just look at you, carrying our baby. This baby is my future. You and Nugget are my future, Tally. Not Charlotte. Never Charlotte.”

My fingers caress his scalp as he presses kisses to my belly. “I needed to hear that, but I will grant you a paternity test. Ouch!” I snap as his teeth sink into my breast.

“I don’t need a paternity test. What I need is to put a ring on this finger and lock you down for life.”

I chuckle, even as a wave of heat courses through my body. “I already told you I’m not expecting anything.”

“Well, how about I give you everything and shock the hell out of you?” He nuzzles my neck, smiling when I release a soft squeal. “I have the ring. You want to see it?”

I push at his chest, my eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and anticipation. “You do not.”

“I do. I’ll go get it.” He pushes off me, but I wrap my arms around his neck, giggling as I pull his mouth to mine.

“That’s the worst proposal ever.”

“True. But I could show you the ring and then plan a kick-ass proposal. Does that work?”

“No deal. I want kick-ass, or you get no ass.”

“Is that a fact?” His eyes darken as his hand slides down my back, delivering a firm smack across one cheek. “I’d like to negotiate the terms.”

“Hmm,” I purr, grinding my hips against him. “I suppose I can hear your side.”

Owen’s hands slip under my ass, lifting my hips against him as he teases my opening.

I whine, desperate for the feel of him inside me, but once again, the man gets off on hearing me beg.

“What do you want?”

My eyes narrow as a seductive smile flits across my mouth. Two can play his game. “You. On your back. Now.”

I straddle Owen, easing myself down his length, my body stretching around him. I ride him with deep strokes, my nails ripping down his chest as I grind against him. His hands grip my ass so tightly that I know he’ll leave bruises, but I need this. We need this.

Owen flips me over, hammering into my body, driving deeper with every thrust. I lock my legs around his waist, arching my hips up to meet him, my body tightening around him.

“Tally—”

I cut him off, seizing his mouth and tangling my tongue with his. His body jerks hard, every muscle tightening as he comes inside me.

“Woman, what you do to me,” Owen groans, rolling onto his back and pulling me tight against him.

“You need another shower,” I giggle, tracing the sheen of perspiration on his chest. “We both do.”

“Later,” he murmurs, his hand tangling in my hair. “Right now, I need you here. I don’t want you any further than that.”

I manage a sleepy, satiated goodbye to Owen at some ungodly hour the next morning, before he flies across the country in a jet owned by his ex-fiancée. The woman who wants him back.

But for the first time in this whole situation, I feel like I have the upper hand.

Tough titties, Charlotte. That man is mine.

“I miss you.”

I bite back a smile at Owen’s words. “It’s only been a few hours. You haven’t had time to miss me.”

“Want to make a bet?”

“Is Charlotte behaving?”

“She claims to be sorry for her tirade yesterday. I claim that she’s full of shit. I warned her to stay away from you. Otherwise, she’ll have to deal with me.”

“I think that’s what she wants, Owen.”

“What I want is you naked, that sexy ass riding the hell out of my cock. Maybe we can engage in a little phone sex later. It’s sure as hell not the same as you sitting on my face, but it’ll have to do for now.”

My man and his dirty talk. Hot damn, but he’d make a whore blush. I can’t say that I don’t love it, though. Besides, with my pregnancy hormones raging, it’s all systems go, all the time. “Too bad you’re across the country. I guess BOB will have to fill in until you return.”

“Don’t you dare. You save yourself, and I’ll do the same. That way I can ravage you the second I walk in the door.”

I hear voices in the background, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

Charlotte. I yearn for the day when we are finally rid of her, but a small sliver of me wonders if that day will ever come. “You need to go?”

“Stupid welcome party. Have to mingle and pretend to have fun.”

“My dancing circus bear.” I chew my lip, pondering if I should broach the next topic. “Promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“This is it with Charlotte. After the training center opens, no more, right?”

“Absolutely no more. Thank you for sticking by me throughout all of this.”

“Eh, I guess you’re worth it,” I chuckle.

“I’ll be thinking about you.”

“You better. Hey Owen, I forgot to tell you something. Me and Nugget love you, with a love that’s bigger than love.”

His deep chuckle resonates through the line. “I’ll see you soon, Darlin. Call me if you need anything, and I mean ”