Exposed - Part Three (The Exposed Series, #3) (7 page)

"She'll steal him away from me if I don't marry her." His eyes darken. "She wanted me since we were teenagers. Once Cory was born and I reached out to help, she knew she had me right where she wanted me."

"Where's that?" I ask.

"In the palm of his tiny, perfect little hand."

"D
addy, it's been five now." Cory is back, as if on cue. He bounces onto Hunter's lap as I stare at his face, wishing we had just a few more minutes to talk in private.

"Princess Sadie was just talking to me." He pushes the unruly strands of hair back from Cory's face. I stare at the genuine tenderness that runs between them. How can he not be this little boy's father? He calls him daddy. He loves Hunter so much. I can see that.

"We can play trains together." He jumps back to his feet as he reaches for my hand.

"I'll play." I smile before standing.

"This way." He pulls me down the hallway in a rush. I gasp as we enter his room. His name is spelled out in large letters on the wall. A small bed covered with blue linens and an assortment of stuffed animals is across the room. A massive toy train set sits in the middle of all the chaos.

He falls to his knees and I follow suit. I stare at his small hands and feet. He's giddy with excitement. He's everything that Hunter needs. He loves this little person so much even though he's not his father. He would trade his own happiness away to care for him. How could I not love a man who would do that?

"Do you want the red train, Princess Sadie?" He touches his hand to my cheek pulling me from my thoughts.

"What's that?" I reach to cradle my hand over his.

"You're crying. I like the blue train but if it makes you sad, you can have it." He proudly holds a small train engine in his hand.

"No. I like red." I smile through my tears. "I'll use the red one."

He throws both arms around my neck in a quick embrace. "Thank you for coming to play."

I suck in a deep breath as I place the little red engine on the track.

***

"I
told Clive it wasn't going to work."

My eyes dart up. "Did you even go out with him?"

"No." She sighs as she sinks down into the couch in my new apartment. "It was destined to be over before it began."

"How do you figure that?" I laugh. I reach to fan out the magazines on my coffee table.

"I was too young for him," she smirks.

"As opposed to him being too old for you?" I raise a brow with the question. "He never called you back, did he?"

"No," she pouts. "I texted him twelve times and not one response."

"Twelve is eleven too many," I counter. "That's almost as much as a stalker."

"No, it's not." She sounds unconvinced by her own words. "I guess he didn't want any of this." She gestures to her body, which is hidden beneath a sweater and jeans.

"I guess." I shrug my shoulders. "Dylan is coming home next week so you can try and tap that again."

"You're kidding, right?" She asks expectantly. I can't remember a time when she didn't chase my brother.

"Yes." I laugh. "He's engaged,"

"To what?" she spits the question out along with her chewing gum.

"A woman I think," I tease. "He's been away a long time though so it could be a guy, I don't know. He didn't tell me the details. He just said he'd be back in Boston at the end of next week."

"Well, fuck that." She pulls her knees up to her chest. "Now, who am I going to fuck?"

"One of the thousands of boys at school?" I offer. "I can think of at least five who would probably do you tonight.

"I've done those." She purses her lips. "Maybe I need to go to Europe to find a fiancée." She says the last word with the playful lilt of a French accent.

"That's a great idea. You should do it."

"I was kidding." She pulls herself lazily to her feet. "I'll be stuck here forever."

"No. You won't." I stand up to pull her into a tight embrace. "There are always teaching jobs in Europe. Think about it. After graduation you could go there and start a brand new adventure."

"I could." A smile pulls at the corner of her lips. "I totally could."

"Start saving." I hold her hand tightly in mine as we walk towards the door.

"Enjoy your first night in your brand new place, Sadie." She kisses me on the cheek. "You deserve this and you're going to find your happiness too."

"Y
ou're not enrolled in classes here, are you?" I tap the top of Hunter's head as I take a seat next to him on the concrete steps outside the library.

"Hardly." He reaches to pull my hand to his lips.

I smile when I realize there's no wedding ring on his left hand. It's been over a month since we said goodbye at his apartment door. Getting a text from him this morning asking me to meet him pushed my mind into all sorts of random places. Most of which involved him proclaiming his undying love and devotion to me.

"I'm moving." His intense blue eyes catch mine. "The day after tomorrow."

"Permanently?" It sounds more like a muted whimper than a word.

"Christina wants us to go to Los Angeles. She says the best pre-school is there. She already enrolled Cory."

"He's three-years-old," I mutter. "It's just pre-school."

"It's not about school." He turns his gaze forward. "I told her I was in love with you."

The wind catches my hair and I reach to pull it back from my face. "Now she's taking you away."

"She's scared." He looks back at me. His index finger pushes a hair away from my cheek. "She'll take him with or without me. She agreed to put the engagement on hold if I moved. At least I don't have to marry her."

I nod. Any joy I should have felt at the news of his broken engagement is muted by the news of him leaving. He has to go. Cory comes first. I've known that now for a month. I felt as though my heart had stalled the past four weeks while I waited to hear anything from him. Although the silence was deafening I secretly hoped it meant that they had worked out an agreement.

"You've taken care of him his entire life, doesn't that count for something?"

"I took care of him because no one else would." He reaches for my hand again. "I'm the only stable person in his life. Christina is constantly running off from this place to that place. If she cuts me off, he'll be left with nannies. I can't do that to him."

"I know." I push closer to him, pulling his arm around my shoulder. "You need to go with him. You have to take care of him. He's your boy."

"You're my angel." His voice cracks. "I don't know how to function without seeing your face."

"You'll remember me." I pull his hand to my cheek.

He pushes a tear across my skin. "Forever."

I lean in to brush my lips against his. "Forever and always."

***

"P
romise you'll call me as soon as you land."

"The second." Alexa's voice is giddy on the other end of the line. "Paris, Sadie. I’m going to Paris."

"I know." I try to temper my voice. As excited as I am for her to be taking this semester off to go explore Paris, I'm also heartbroken. After losing Hunter two months ago and now faced with the prospect of losing her too, my heart is sinking to my toes. My studies and the occasional visits with my mother are all I have left.

"You're going to come visit me, right?"

"I'll be there during Christmas break." I balance the phone on my shoulder as I place three green apples in the shopping basket in my hand.

"I'm boarding. I have to go. I love you." Her voice cracks before the line goes dead.

I stare at the phone before placing it back into my purse. After picking out a few more pieces of fruit and a prepared pasta salad I pay for my purchases.

The air is crisp as autumn settles over the city. I pull my lilac scarf around my face as I rush the few blocks to my building. A quiet evening of studying awaits me.

I fumble with my keys as the lights near the street flicker on. It's only five o'clock in California. I imagine Hunter picking Cory up from pre-school and taking him for an ice cream before they go back to their place to make dinner. Remembering the way they smiled at each other the day I met Cory is the source of my strength these days.

After precariously climbing the three flights of narrow stairs to my walk up apartment I turn the corner, balancing the bag of groceries in my hand while I again search for the key to my door.

I look ahead. The bag drops to the floor. The apples roll around my feet. The plastic container of pasta bursts open. My eyes are locked on the wall near my door. He's sitting there. It's him.

"Hunter?" I whisper into the dimly lit hallway.

"Sunshine." He jumps to his feet. "You're finally home."

I drop my computer bag and my purse and lunge at him full force. He catches me in his arms, pulling me tightly into his chest. "You're not real," I murmur. "It's not really you."

"I
t's me." He tilts my chin up with one finger before his lips brush against mine. "Look at you. You're so beautiful."

"How are you here?" I smile up at his face. "How did you find me?"

"I went to your parent's house. Your mother told me your address." His entire face is beaming. "I thought you'd never get home."

"You should have texted me." I giggle at the idea of him sitting on the floor for hours waiting for me to arrive.

"And miss seeing that expression on your face?" His strong hand cups my cheek. "I'd wait a million years to see that."

"How long can you stay?" I push the key into the door. I desperately need to get him inside. I need to be close to him. I need him to hold me.

"Forever." His hand covers mine as he turns the lock. "I'm back."

My heart feels as though it's dropped into my chest. "Cory," I whisper. "You left him."

"No chance." He pushes the door open with his foot. "He's back at my place here fast asleep. My mother is there watching him."

"How? I thought Christina wouldn't let you take him away?"

We both turn as one of my neighbors steps out of her apartment. I giggle as I realize my groceries and school bag are littering the hallway.

"You go inside. I'll get that." He smiles as he scoops up all of my things from the floor.

I step inside my apartment and cover my mouth with my hand. This is my dream come true. This is what I've waited for.

I spend the next fifteen minutes watching in silence as he sorts through the groceries, tossing the garbage in the bin in my kitchen. He carefully washes the fruit and wipes the remnants of the spilled pasta salad from my bag.

"Hunter?" I say his name. The name I love so much.

He turns and cocks a brow in response.

"Why did she let you take him?" I need to know. I don't want this to be about us. I don't want to fall even deeper in love with him to discover he has to race back to her when she decides she wants him back.

"I'm adopting him," he says it stoically. "She agreed to let me become his father legally."

"In exchange for what?" I know it's a heated question but based on what I've learned about Christina this past summer I know that nothing comes without a price in her world.

"My apartment in New York. A lot of money. Visitation with him once a month."

"You paid her to get him?" The words roll off my tongue before I realize the full impact of them.

"Sadie." He moves so he's standing directly in front of me. "Cory likes to talk. He talks a lot."

I furrow my brow in confusion. "Yes, but what does that –"

"He talks about Princess Sadie non-stop. Probably because I talk about Princess Sadie non-stop." He tilts his head to the left.

I smile at the mention of Cory's name for me. "Yes, but still. Why would that suddenly matter to her?"

"It was only a contributing factor." He reaches to grab both my hands in his. "She found her element in Los Angeles. She was suddenly someone. It wasn't about being Coral's little sister or Cory's mother. She went out every night and met a lot of different guys."

"You took care of Cory?" I ask even though the answer is crystal clear.

"She asked me for the money. She wanted to give him up." He shudders as he says the words. "She realized that I'd never really give her what she wanted."

"So you get full custody and she gets visitation?" it seems too good to be true. It means that he can have Cory and I can have him.

"I get my dream." His lips brush against mine. "I get my Cory and my sunshine."

I melt into his arms as he scoops me up and carries me down the hallway. I point towards my bedroom and he lowers me gently onto the bed.

"I've waited so long to have you." He pulls at my clothes, baring my body in just a few seconds. "There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't imagine your taste, the smell of your skin, or the feeling of being inside you."

I pull at his shirt but he's too eager. He pushes me onto the bed, spreading my legs wide. "This is beauty," he whispers into my folds.

I whimper at the first touch of his lips on my cleft. I feel as though I'm floating as he pulls my clit between his teeth, gently biting it before sucking it gently into his mouth.

"Hunter," I whimper through clenched teeth. "That's so good."

"It's perfect," he pauses. "You're so perfect."

He laps at me greedily while I pull on his hair. I can't stand the intensity. He's so bold and brazen with my body. I've missed this so much. I've missed everything about him.

I push my heels into the bed, raising my hips to meet his tongue. He pushes a finger inside me. I gasp at the sensation. I'm already so close to the edge. He knows how to push me to the brink and hold me there.

"I want to come," I murmur under my breath.

"Now. Please, yes." He breathes into me.

I fall over the edge as I grip his head, pushing his mouth onto me, wanting him to suck me inside of him.

"I have to fuck you, sunshine." He pulls his clothes off quickly. "I've been so hard for so long."

I stare down at his erection. It's so large, so full and so hard. I crave the feeling of it within me. I need to feel it now.