FOREVER BELOVED (Billionaire Love Series) (21 page)

He sighed, running his hand through his short
hair. “All right, Sunshine. I’ll take my coffee with a little bit
of sugar.”

“Any cream?”

“No, I’m good.”

Reeling from his heated arrival, I floated
into the kitchen and prepared some decaf coffee, coming to grips
with Beau being at my house, eager to spend time with me.

Pull it together, Marla.

You can do this.

With that in mind, I brought in a tray of
coffee and cookies and sat down next to him.

“So how did it go with your dad?” I asked,
handing him a hot cup of coffee.

He sighed heavily. “Not good. He denied
everything, but he couldn’t look me in the eye, and he was spitting
mad when I mentioned you.”

“Yeah, he’s never liked me very much,” I
said, grabbing a chocolate chip cookie off the tray.

“He’s gotten even nastier as he’s grown
older. It’s like all the bitterness inside him is eating him
alive.”

“Wow. That’s awful. It can’t be easy to find
all this out about your dad.”

“It’s not.” His jaw tightened as I watched
him struggle with his demons.

“You’ve got a lot on your plate, Beau. Take
it easy on yourself,” I offered gently.

“I don’t even know what that means, Sunshine.
But I’m getting tired of talking about it.”

I glanced at him sympathetically. “I get
that. What can I do to help?”

“I can think of something.” He reached for
me, but I knew I wasn’t ready to go there yet.

I moved back, out of his range, trying to
think of something to distract him. “Can I show you something?”

He shot me a wicked grin as his eyes
flickered up and down my body. “Sure.”

“Just a sec.” I ran to my bedroom and grabbed
the scrapbook full of his newspaper clippings.

I hustled back into the living room. “Here.
Take a look at this.” I handed him the dark-colored album.

He glanced at it with curiosity. “What is
it?”

“Open it up and you’ll see.”

*****

Beau:

“Wow. Look at how young I look,” I said,
glancing at an article about my scoring record with a picture of me
on the ice taking a slapshot.

“Yeah, you scored eighty-five goals that
year.”

“You memorized my stats?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing
red.

“Why?” I pressed.

She turned, giving me her full and lovely
gaze. “You’re important to me. I wanted to celebrate your
achievements.”

“I didn’t know you would keep up with my
hockey career.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know.”

“Yeah, we have a lot of catching up to do.” I
had a sudden urge to ask her about my career ending injury. “Did
you know about my accident?”

She shut her eyes as if she were in pain.
“Yes, it almost killed me.”

“Yeah, me too.”

We share a little laugh at my lame joke.

“I wanted to go up to Toronto so badly, but I
had the kids to take care of,” she explained, apparently still
feeling guilty.

“I wanted you there. I wouldn’t have admitted
it to anyone, but there were many nights I imagined you by my side,
encouraging me to get better. I would’ve given anything to have you
nurse me back to health.” I gazed at her longingly. “You want to
play naughty nurse?” I joked.

She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “Depends on
what you need your naughty nurse to do.”

“Well, it hurts right here.” I touched the
middle of my cheek.

Her gaze turned serious as she leaned over
and kissed my cheek gently. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you were
hurt and in pain.”

Her words rocked through me as she rubbed her
hand against my chest, compelling me to speak from the heart. “I’m
sorry I wasn’t there when Charlie was born.”

She nodded sadly, as I put my hand over hers.
“Me, too.” A shuddery sigh escaped her as her doe eyes flickered in
pain. “I’m sorry you had to believe I didn’t love you anymore.”

Those words reached inside, unlocking a part
of me that hadn’t been touched in a long time.

“Me, too.” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I
didn’t fight for you harder or realize my father made you break-up
with me.”

Her eyes overflowed with tears. “How could
you know, Beau? No one thinks a parent could do something so
awful.”

“Still, I should have done something.”

“Maybe. But we were kids. Your dad had
connections, powerful connections. I wasn’t naive enough to think
he wouldn’t pull in some favors to make either one of us suffer to
get what he wanted.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should’ve known better.
I should’ve known he was an evil bastard.”

“Let’s not focus on that, right now. Your dad
has taken enough from us. Let’s talk about something positive. I
want you to know I’ve never wanted anything but the best for
you.”

“Really? It’s so weird to hear you say
that.”

“Why?”

“I always thought you hated me. You were so
cold and determined when you broke up with me.”

“I had to be. Would you have left if I’d
asked nicely?”

“Hell, no. I loved you too much.”

“I know. I never doubted that. You were the
best fiancé a girl could ask for.”

My glance grew soulful. “You were the only
woman I ever wanted to marry.”

She touched my cheek again, rubbing her thumb
along my cheekbone as her soft gaze filled with regret. “I’m sorry
I ruined relationships for you.”

“You didn’t ruin them. I just never found
anyone I loved like you.”

“Me neither.”

We had been so damn good together.

But that had been stolen from us when my
father got involved.

The sharp pain of finding that out, rose in
my chest again as I shook my head. “I can’t believe I didn’t know.
I can’t believe my dad would do that to you. To me. All those years
we lost. All the years we could have been together.”

“I know. We’ve lost a lot.”

“You really didn’t want to break-up with me?”
I asked, still unsure.

“No, of course not.”

“So, all this time we could have been
together, but you were blackmailed by my father to never see me
again?”

“Yep, pretty much.”

“That fucker. I knew he was a hard ass, but I
didn’t think he would go that far. I should’ve known better.”

“I don’t know, Beau. What would you have
done?”

“Stood up to him. Made him leave you alone.
God, I can’t stand that I didn’t know. JESUS!” I stood up, pacing
the length of the couch. “I hate him, Marla. I hate him. He always
wanted things his way, but I had no idea he would take our lives
and twist them apart for his own gain.” I sat back down, agitated.
“You should have told me.”

“So you could hate your father?” She shook
her head in denial. “No, I couldn’t do that to you.”

“But you let us break-up?”

“Your dad wasn’t very reasonable about all
this, Beau. I have a feeling he would have just caused more
trouble. He was so determined. For just a minute, imagine what it
was like for me facing your powerful dad, who would stop at nothing
to get his son where he wanted. Now, imagine me finding out I’m
pregnant with your baby.” Her doe eyes filled with pain. “I was
terrified, Beau, that he would come after Charlie. I couldn’t risk
it...I just couldn’t. So yes, it was an epic failure on my part not
to stand up to your wicked father or tell you about your son. But I
thought it was more important to protect my children than it was
for us to be together.”

Another punch in the gut. “All that makes
sense. I get it, but I hate it.”

“I know. It sucks. I’ll be honest. It’s been
a hard road to forgive your dad. He’s taken so much from us. So
many times, I wished you were with me; when I needed your strength
or your ability to make me laugh. You wouldn’t believe Charlie as a
teenager. He put you to shame. We barely hung on by the skin of our
teeth, but somehow we made it through.”

I laughed bitterly. “Fuck, Marla. That kills
me.”

She tried to make it better. “But it’s not
all bad. Do you know your grandfather made sure we had a roof over
our heads and food in our bellies?”

“Yeah, he mentioned he helped you out.”

“You have a wonderful grandfather, Beau. He
took care of us; made sure we had everything we needed. He did
right by you, even though it may not feel like it. When I was
pregnant, he made sure our baby was safely delivered in the best
hospital in Baltimore. He even paid for Charlie’s schooling and
helped get Casa Oschun off the ground.”

“He did all that?”

“Yeah, he did. He also made sure your dad
never came after me. I know it wasn’t easy for him to keep Charlie
a secret, but he did it for us.”

I smiled. “Pops is the best. I’m glad he was
there for you and Charlie. But I still want to kill my dad for
taking you away from me.”

She ran her hand along my arm. “You have
plenty of time to think about how you would like to handle this
situation with your dad.” Her glance pooled with tenderness. “But
for now, let’s focus on the fact that we found each other
again.”

I immediately softened. “Ah, Sunshine. You’re
right.”

We stared at one another in wonder as her
eyes pooled with tears.

I gently cupped the sides of her lovely face.
“Hey, Sunshine, what’s going on?”

She wiped furiously at the tears that
wouldn’t quit. “I’m just happy you know the truth,” she wailed, as
huge sobs erupted from her big soft gaze.

“Come here.” She snuggled into me with her
head against my chest. “I got you...I got you,” I soothed against
her ear.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Beau:

My father was an asshole of the lowest
order.

I was done with him.

I wasn’t about to let him steal another
moment from us as I sat in Marla’s house. I was only concerned with
her.

We talked long into the night, catching up on
everything. It was almost as if we hadn’t been separated by the
bitterness of our break-up. My perspective was so different than it
was twenty-four hours ago; shifting with the staggering evidence
that she’d loved me all these years.

Knowing the truth was like finally being able
to breathe freely as the weight of her betrayal was lifted from my
soul. Marla exuded sweet goodness, without an ounce of deceit in
her body. How could I have been so blind?

I cringed, thinking of the way I treated
her.

But she didn’t hold anything against me.
She’d welcomed me in warmly, pouring her sweet grace over my
battered soul as we had spoken words of forgiveness.

But underneath that layer of grace, we still
had the same attraction and connection to one another. It didn’t
take a rocket scientist to realize we were waiting to explode in a
wave of passion so thick, we wouldn’t surface for three days.

But I played it cool, banking my desire as
she opened up about the past. Curled up next to me, Marla told me
about opening her salon and her excitement about owning her own
business, while I shared stories from my hockey days and how great
it was to see my business become such a success.

We kept playing with each other’s hands as we
spoke of those lost years. It was as if we couldn’t help but hold a
physical connection. My body hummed with an awareness of her;
waiting for the smallest sign she was ready to become more
intimate.

She smiled and chatted, but kept me at bay
all night. I wasn’t even upset. It felt too good to be with
her.

It got late, so she invited me to stay over
in the guest room. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I knew it
was only a matter of time before we got physical. I told myself I
was a patient man, but it was a miserable night as I ached for her
sweet body.

The next morning, I wandered down the stairs
into the kitchen as Marla prepared breakfast. She stood in front of
the fridge, rummaging through the shelves.

I hadn’t really experienced this kind of
morning routine since we’d shared her little apartment after high
school. The sight of her brought back so many memories. Mostly of
her climbing out of bed after we made love to fix us something for
breakfast.

A primal need gripped me as I thought about
those happy days. Marla was my woman, standing by the kitchen
island in her dark sweats, making pancakes.

Mine.

She turned then and casually put down the
milk as our eyes locked. The sun glinted off her hair as she drew
me in with her sweet brown eyes and sinfully curvy body.

I couldn’t deny my need for her anymore.

I needed to be with her.

Right. This. Minute.

*****

Marla:

I tried to pretend Beau wasn’t staying at my
house as I fought the temptation to join him in the guest room all
night. My hormones were rampant, begging me to ease the ache only
Beau could satisfy. He was a fever I would never be rid of.

Too excited to sleep, I got up early the
following morning and fixed Charlie eggs and toast before he took
off for work. I didn’t have clients until the afternoon, so I was
taking it easy. Plus, I wanted to make Beau breakfast as well.

Ten minutes later, I heard him come down the
stairs as I busied myself with whipping up a batch of pancakes. I
was a little nervous about seeing him; I wasn’t sure he would still
be as open as he was the night before.

But as I turned away from the fridge, he
stood in the doorway, so sexy, I could hear my ovaries screaming at
me to attack him.

Our eyes locked as hunger blazed in his blue
eyes.

I couldn’t deny him anymore.

I couldn’t hold back.

As if the hand of fate was pushing us
forward, we moved at the same time, rushing each other. I threw
myself at him, wrapping my legs around his waist as he caught me.
His large hands molded to my bottom as we collided in one big,
colossal kiss.