Rose (19 page)

“And you were the serious one,” Rose says softly.

I draw lazy circles on her hip as I nod my head. “I was indeed. When you meet my parents, you’ll understand where I get that. My father is a lawyer and my mother is a tenured professor. There wasn’t much in the way of laughing or being silly in the Decker household growing up. I know they loved me, but they’re two people who take everything in life seriously, so I was pretty much the same way. I was facing four years of college and then more years of law school so a girlfriend wasn’t anywhere in the cards for me. After that morning, we seemed to run into each other everywhere. We became friends and almost without me noticing, it was more.”

Rose traces a finger down my cheek, seeming to understand how hard this story is for me. “You can finish another time if you need to,” she offers.

I turn my head to her hand and place a kiss in the palm. “I’m fine, sweetheart. I want you to know everything.” I blow out a small breath and continue. “Melly and I were together for all four years of college. When I was accepted into Stanford Law School, I asked her to move to California with me and she agreed. She’d gotten her degree in elementary education and easily found a position as a student teacher at a school there. Everything was arranged and the night before we were to leave, I took her out for a nice dinner and proposed to her—and she said yes.” I pause, looking down at Rose to gauge her reaction to my revelation.

“Please don’t worry about me. This is a part of your life, and it helped shape you into who you are. Let me shoulder some of your pain as you’ve done for me.”

I hug her to me tightly for a moment before relaxing my grip. “On our way back to the apartment we’d shared for the last year, we were hit while sitting at a traffic light by a group of teenagers who’d been to a party. The driver’s blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal amount allowed. There were four of them in the car and two of us. Out of the six of us, only Melly was hurt badly. I had no idea at the time, but later, they discovered she hadn’t been wearing a seat belt. I’d never known her not to be buckled up so that in itself was strange. She was thrown through the windshield and onto the hood of the car. I was disoriented after the impact and must have lost consciousness for a while. By the time I was able to get free of my airbag, emergency vehicles were arriving. Melly’s airbag had deployed as well, but not in time to keep her from being ejected from the car. Rose, seeing her laying there in that blood, with shards of glass surrounding her, terrified me. When I got to her and found a pulse …” I pause, trying to shake that horrific scene from my mind. “After that, things were a blur for a while. We were all taken to the hospital where police were waiting to question us. Melly went into surgery immediately because she had so many injuries along with probable internal bleeding.”

“That’s how you met Matt, isn’t it?” she guesses astutely.

Inclining my head, I say, “Yes, he was the attending physician that night. He went beyond the call of duty for us and it forged a friendship that I treasure. He did everything in his power to save Melly. She lived for almost four weeks after the accident. Each time we thought she’d turned a corner, something else happened. I don’t think she would have had that extra time to say good-bye to everyone without Matt. She was in a coma for the first few weeks, but then she came out of it and we thought that was a good sign. But her internal injuries were so severe that her organs just started shutting down and they couldn’t stop it. She was on a ventilator for the last week, and her parents had to make the decision to remove it when her brain activity ceased.”

Rose is openly crying against me and I realize with a start that I am as well. “I was so broken after Melanie’s death that I never really grieved her. I locked my heart away and jumped into law school, where I pushed myself to the point of exhaustion. I’d been grateful that my school was so far away from home because it gave me the perfect excuse to leave everyone behind. I didn’t have to face Melly’s parents, who were devastated by her passing, and I didn’t have to pretend that my own parents weren’t staring at me as if waiting for me to crack. There was a certain kind of comfort in being completely anonymous and I embraced it. I never once came home the entire time I was at Stanford. After the first two years, my parents stopped asking me and accepted that I needed the distance.”

“Thank you for taking a chance and loving me,” Rose surprises me by saying. “Just risking your heart again under normal circumstances must have been hard. But then having to deal with my … problems … has to be so terrifying for you.” She pulls away and moves to sit next to me. “I love you, Max, but please don’t let me put you through more hell than you can handle. How can you not be worried that despite my best efforts, you won’t lose someone else you care about?”

Her words hit me hard, as they are the same ones I’ve thought dozens of times since I picked her up on the street that night. I’m scared out of my fucking mind that history will repeat itself in some horrifying way, but that doesn’t stop me from loving her. I get to my knees and put my hands on her hips. Looking into her beautiful eyes, I say honestly, “Not loving you isn’t an option, baby. You’re going to get through this, and I’m going to support you in any way that I can. You’re one of the bravest people I know, and if there’s a time when you feel weak, I’ll carry you until your strength returns.” I drop a kiss onto her upturned lips before resting my forehead against hers. “It’s you and me, Rose. No one or nothing else matters.” The weeks ahead would put those words to the test. But tonight, we would make love as if tomorrow would never come.

I
wake
to the now familiar feeling of a warm body at my back and a hard cock pressing into the crack of my ass. I have grown to love these early morning moments when I’m snuggled in my warm bubble and not yet hit with the worries of the day. I refuse to consider how I nearly failed him last night.
How I nearly failed me.
Max and I usually make love in the mornings—and at night. For a straight-laced lawyer, he continues to surprise me with his kinky side. The man does love his dirty talk, and I have to admit, I could almost come from his words alone.

He’s still snoring softly, and it’s so adorable. I ease away, careful not to wake him. He gives me so much of himself that this morning I want to return the favor. Since neither of us bothered with clothes last night, it makes this much easier than it would be if he were wearing his boxer briefs. Almost as if he knows my intention, he rolls onto his back and flings a well-muscled arm over his head. I’m temporarily derailed as I pause to admire his masculine beauty. Broad, muscular shoulders, strong, slightly hairy chest, tightly toned abs, a glorious happy trail … and then his cock. My man is smoking hot and hung like a horse. I giggle to myself as I imagine torturing Lia with those very lines in a few hours at the office. The nice part is I don’t even have to exaggerate. Max is all that I claim and more. I knew he had a banging body, his suits showed that much. But I hadn’t been expecting the six—no eight pack—and that great big, gorgeous penis. Truthfully, I’d never enjoyed oral sex with Jake, but I’d been dreaming of having Max, from start to finish. He seemed to love going down on me, and I was more than ready to return the favor.

So with my plan of action in mind, I crawl between his thighs and put a hand on either side of his waist. A bead of pre-cum glistens at the top of his staff, and I watch it in fascination for a moment before lowering my head to lick it off. The musky, salty flavor explodes on my tongue and I am ready to go back for more. His hips shift just a fraction, but otherwise, he remains still. I lean over again and dip my tongue into the tiny hole that is quickly filling with liquid again, and this time, a moan escapes his mouth, but a quick glance shows his eyes are still closed. I grip his base and marvel at the fact that my fingers don’t touch. I feel like woman of the year for being able to take this hefty bad boy.
Do they give awards for conquering Mt. Cock? Maybe a T-shirt saying I scaled Mt. Cockmore?
I begin laughing at that thought, before biting my tongue and attempting to stay quiet.

I pump my hand up and down his length before taking him in my mouth. There’s still a lot of him left over, and he’s already hitting the back of my throat. I read a lot of smutty romance, so I know there’s supposedly an art to taking one all the way down without choking on it, but I’ve never tried it. And it wasn’t a big issue with my one and only other sexual partner as his dick wasn’t even in the same zip code as the one I’m currently enjoying.

I lick and suck with pure enjoyment and am surprised to find I’m so wet just from bringing Max pleasure. I’m not rushing through it as I did with Jake. I bob my head up and down on his shaft, then squeak when I feel hands thread through my hair and a voice groans my name. He’s such a dominant lover that I’m never in control for very long, which suits us both. But at this moment, I own his pleasure and the heady sense of power I feel from it is indescribable.

His hips begin pumping upward, but he never goes farther than I can handle. “Mmm,” I moan around his width. The vibrations drive him wild, and his cock swells impossibly bigger. I drop one of my hands to rub my clit as we both race toward completion.

“I’m going to come, baby,” he rasps, and then attempts to pull out. But I’m not having it. I want all of him and, this time, I’ll have it. “Ah fuck,” he hisses, just as jets of thick liquid hit the back of my throat. I swallow frantically until I’ve taken it all then I leisurely lick every last trace from his cock before releasing him with a popping sound. He looks down to where I’m still working myself and quirks a brow. “Looks like you need some help, sweetheart. Bring that dripping pussy over here and sit on my face. I want to eat you for breakfast.”

I should be embarrassed at his words and at my eagerness as I all but leap up his body and lower my cunt onto him. I hold the headboard as he braces my thighs before taking one, long lick. “Oh, my God,” I moan as my sex quivers in delight. The man has a magic tongue and he knows how to use it. He sucks my clit into his mouth, and I almost jump from the bed. Only his hand holding my thighs keeps me in place. He alternates licking, sucking, and penetrating me with his tongue and fingers. “I’m … coming!” I shout as my body convulses.

“That’s right, baby, come all over my tongue. You taste so fucking sweet,” Max continues with his dirty talk. Each word seems to extend my orgasm until I’m just a puddle of mush. He lets me collapse against the pillows and smirks as if he knows damn well how good he is. Amazingly, his cock is bobbing around and eager for more attention. I’m debating seating myself on it when Max looks over at the clock and winces. “You have no idea how much I’d love to fuck you, sweetheart, but I have a meeting in less than an hour.”

I look at his cock then back to his face. He looks surprised when I leap from the bed and run toward the bathroom. I stop in the doorway and throw over my shoulder, “Get your ass in here. If we multitask, we can save water and time.”

“I love you,” he says reverently before sprinting toward me. His penis is thumping against his stomach, and my nipples harden in anticipation.

“I know.” I giggle as he grabs my arm and pulls me into the shower with him. In the end, we both ended up being a few minutes late for work with slightly wrinkled skin. On the plus size, though, Max made sure I was thoroughly clean after he did his best to dirty me.

Had I ever known life to be fun? Carefree? It was all Max. He’s given me that. I knew that he worried about me having a relapse and cutting, but he never hovered. With him, I felt like a normal woman in love. I know I haven’t heard the last from my father after our altercation the previous night, but what else can he do? I’m over the age of consent and have friends whom I can depend on. Despite my newfound confidence, I still feel uneasy when I think of the people who gave me life. It’s obvious that I’m a burden to them, but why do they try so hard then to keep me under their thumb? It makes no sense to me. I feel uneasy as if I’m missing a huge piece to the puzzle. One thing I know for certain, though: I won’t let them ruin this new life I’m making for myself. I’m stronger now, and if my father wants to go head to head with me, then I will. I’ve always caved to his wishes, but that’s over. He’ll see that the old Rose is slowly fading away and the new one is ready to fight for what she needs.

“
H
ey
, sugar,” our local bartender, Misty, yells out in greeting as I walk in the door of Lucian’s neighborhood pub. I have no idea why we keep coming here. Misty is loud, perverted, and a little scary, but she always manages to find us a table in the busy establishment.

“Evening, Misty,” I call out over the noise. “Have you seen Lucian yet? I’m supposed to meet him here.”

“Yeah, he’s at the table in the back corner that you guys like. He’s having a cheeseburger and a beer. You want the same thing?”

I nod my head and begin walking through the crowd. “Sounds good. Thanks.” I see Lucian a few tables ahead. His fingers are flying across the surface of his phone and the sappy grin on his face tells me he’s texting his wife. I’ve got little room to talk, though. I was a few minutes late coming in because I was talking to Rose from the car. It’s been a few weeks since her father’s visit, and I hope the bastard never shows his face again. She is gaining confidence—strategies—each day, but I don’t want it tested by ugliness any sooner than we have to. She’s also seeing her therapist Joanna twice a week, and I think she actually looks forward to the sessions now. For all intents and purposes, Rose is blossoming like a child who’d been denied attention all her life. She takes such pleasure over the smallest compliments. I am almost positive that her parents never praised her for anything, which is just fucking sad.

Lucian spots me as I reach the table and waves me to a seat. “Don should be here any time. I’ve got Misty on the lookout for him.”

I wince. “Poor man, you know how she gets around fresh meat. Especially since she and the boyfriend broke up. Although, I don’t really understand that. If you’re in an open relationship where you both screw other people, what is there to fight about?”

“Hell if I know.” Lucian shrugs. “Maybe he didn’t take out the trash or do the dishes. It’s the little shit that’ll get you every time.”

I always hate asking him this next question because I know it hurts, but I’m too curious not to. “Heard any more from Aidan? Did he answer the email you sent about his mom?” Aidan’s mother had been having some health concerns and had undergone a battery of tests. Lucian had used the emergency email address that Aidan had left, but as of a few days ago, there had been no reply.

Lucian shreds a napkin in his hand as he admits, “He hasn’t emailed me, but his father called me this afternoon and said that Aidan had been in contact with them. Apparently, he’s not coming back as of right now, but he told his father that he would stay in touch and wanted to be updated after his mother received her test results.”

“Fuck.” I sigh as I run a hand through my hair. “I hate that Aidan has something else to worry about, especially since he’s not here. That must be hard for him, being an only child and all.”

“Well then, why the fuck doesn’t he come home?” Lucian snaps, sounding furious. He raps his knuckles on the table before taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I know I’m supposed to be okay with all of this, and maybe it’s selfish, but I miss the hell out of him. I can’t stand the thought of him out there somewhere by himself and hurting when he could be here with the people who love him.”

I take the risk of being punched when I ask, “You’re pissed because he contacted his parents instead of you?”

Lucian appears angry for a moment before a sheepish look crosses his face. “That makes me sound like a real asshole.” He shakes his head. “I know it’s some grade school shit, but yeah, it kind of hurt my feelings that I was the one to email him yet he completely ignored me.”

“He doesn’t blame you, Luc,” I say quietly, knowing what’s going through my friend’s head. “It was an impossible situation, and Aidan made the only choice he could. He did the right thing, and he knows that. But he wouldn’t be the man he’s always been if he wasn’t devastated over losing Cassie. He built his entire life on someone who never really existed. Hell, even he knew that in the end, but old habits die hard. He wanted to believe that Cassie could change and be the woman he needed her to be. But that didn’t happen and he’s making a difficult adjustment. I’m sure he was afraid that if he talked to you, it would be too hard for him to handle. You’d ask him to come home and he would say no. Cutting contact has kept him insulated from those feelings. He loves you like a brother and you two haven’t been apart for this long since the day you met. Trust me, I’m sure it’s killing him. But he needs this time to plot a new direction.”

Lucian takes a long drink of his beer before answering. “You should have been a shrink,” he says dryly. “You’d have a load of business just off our circle of friends.”

“No thanks.” I laugh just as Misty walks up with my food.

“Here ya go, sugar.” She pulls her T-shirt down until her tits are in danger of popping loose before perching on the edge of the table. “Where’s Aidan been hiding? I thought we made a real connection, but I haven’t seen him since.”

“He’s out of town,” Lucian mutters while staring down into his drink.

Undeterred, Misty looks from me to him. “So what about you two?”

Lucian sticks his hand up so fast to show his wedding band, he almost knocks his half-eaten cheeseburger on the floor. “Sorry, I’m married and have a baby now.” He picks up a French fry and points it in my direction. “But Max is single. Maybe you should give your number to him. He really needs a good woman like you, Misty.”

Holy fuck. She looks at me as if she’s just spotted a water fountain in the middle of a desert. I kick Lucian under the table and enjoy his pain-filled yelp as I connect with his shin. “I’m seeing someone—actually living with her,” I quickly add. When she continues to stare at me, I find myself rambling on. “We’re in love with each other. You know, we sleep together and have sex. Actually, we have a lot of that. And—”

A hand drops onto my shoulder and Lucian gives me an amused look. “Man, I think we get it, no need to draw a picture.”

Misty gets to her feet and shrugs her shoulders. “Well, if anything changes or your women want to include a third party, then you know where to find me.”

“Um, yeah, got it.” Lucian nods. “Thanks for the er … offer.”

Misty points a finger in Lucian’s direction and cocks it like a gun. “Sure thing, sugar. I’ve always gotcha covered.” She walks off with an exaggerated shake of her hips that I admire despite myself.

“You know,” Lucian muses as he stares after Misty as well, “she’s about ten kinds of crazy and wears way too much hairspray, but I bet she could suck rusted lug nuts off a passing car.”

I strangle on my beer, gasping for breath. We’re both still laughing when Don shows up. He looks over his shoulder a few times as if in a daze but finally takes a seat. Apparently, he’s trying to process Misty as well. “Just don’t go there,” I advise. A wry smile tells me I was right in my assumption.

“So you’ve got something for us,” Lucian prompts.

He hadn’t bothered to bring his briefcase this time, which strangely disappoints me. The likelihood of him knowing much seems slim now. Don props an elbow on the table and gives his best poker face. “I’ve located and spoken to Daisy Wheeten.”

Well hell, apparently I was wrong. “And?” I question as he pauses. Why in the hell do investigators do that? Can’t they just blurt their findings out instead of being prodded?

“There’s definitely something,” he says. “She looked like a ghost when I told her why I was there. Then she began questioning me about Rose, and at one point, she called her Poppy before quickly correcting herself. After that, though, she clamped down and asked me who I was working for.” Don gives Lucian an uneasy look before admitting, “I finally had to tell her. That’s not usually how I operate, but she was paranoid I’d been hired by the Maddens.”

“I don’t have a problem with her knowing as long as she doesn’t tell them about it,” Lucian interjects. “Like you, I’d really like for them to remain in the dark for as long as possible.”

“I can almost assure you that she isn’t going to be in contact with them,” Don says. “But the hitch here is that she wants to talk to you.”

“Me?” Lucian asks sounding surprised.

Don waves his hand between us, adding, “Actually to both of you. I wouldn’t answer a lot of her questions, so she’s requested a meeting with the people who hired me. And trust me, guys, I know a stubborn woman when I see one, and she’s not going to budge.”

Lucian gives me a questioning look, and I nod in response. He turns back to Don and says, “Set it up then. Wherever she feels the most comfortable.”

“What do you know about her?” I ask, curious as to this woman who may have given birth to Rose.

Don laughs before taking a drink of the beer that thankfully someone other than Misty had dropped earlier. “Her name is Daisy Wheeten Myers now. She married Joel Myers almost fifteen years ago. She began working for him as a receptionist when she was twenty. He paid for her to attend dental school then hired her on as his partner. He was fifty when they married and died a couple of years ago of a heart attack. He left the practice and all of his assets to her. Neither of them have ever had any children—at least not officially.

Lucian begins laughing abruptly and both Don and I turn to stare at him. “Myers Dental Center. That’s Lia’s dentist. They’re just a few blocks from our condo. I tried to get her to use my dentist who is near my office, but she saw the Myers office when we were walking around downtown one evening and liked that it was so close to home. Fucking small world,” he muses as he rubs his chin.

“No kidding.” Don smiles, seeming to appreciate the irony as well. “She wants to meet as soon as possible. Tomorrow work?”

“Absolutely,” I say quickly and am relieved to hear Lucian agree.

“I’ll call her now.” Don gets to his feet and walks away, leaving Lucian and me to absorb the additional information he’s given us.

“So we’re not really that surprised by what he had to say, right?” Lucian asks as he pushes away his probably cold burger.

I lean back in my chair and cross my feet at the ankles. “The fact that Rose may be Daisy’s daughter? Not really. I think we both guessed that was a possibility. What I’m most curious about though are the details surrounding it. Why did she give her daughter to the Maddens? And the even bigger question of why wasn’t it handled as a legal adoption if both parties were in agreement? I mean obviously Daisy knows where her daughter has been all of these years, and she hasn’t done anything about it, so I believe we can forget a stolen baby scenario.”

“I’m baffled by that as well,” Lucian admits. “As much as some things make sense about this, others do not. I’m looking forward to getting some insight from Daisy. I just hope she doesn’t shoot us a load of shit.”

“Maybe you should ask Lia what she thinks of her tonight?” I suggest, only half joking.

“Oh, don’t worry, I intend to do just that.” He laughs. “She’s probably gonna find it a bit strange though that suddenly I’m obsessed with her dentist.”

“You can’t tell her anything,” I blurt out. I know that people in love have a hard time not sharing everything, but I feel guilty enough about doing this behind Rose’s back without including her best friend as well.

Lucian holds up a hand and shakes his head. “I won’t. I don’t like keeping secrets, but Rose needs to know what we find out first. Lia might not like it, but she’ll understand. Well, after she kicks my ass a little. She hasn’t quite gotten over that whole withholding the identity of her father from her.”

Before I can comment, Don is back. “Her office is closed on Wednesday. She’s asked that you meet her there around eleven in the morning. I accepted on your behalf.”

Lucian gets to his feet and tosses some bills onto the table. “Works for me.” He claps first me, and then Don on the shoulder. “Max, I’ll see you tomorrow, and Don, good work. We’ll be in touch after our meeting with Daisy to decide where we go next.” He rushes toward the door, and I smile as I see him glance warily at the bar to make sure Misty is otherwise occupied.

I get to my feet to follow after him. “You leaving now?” I ask the other man.

He remains where he is and picks up his beer. “Nah, I think I’ll hang here for a while.”

Uh-oh.
Like Lucian, he looks toward the bar. Misty may have gotten someone else on the line, after all. “Good luck,” I say dryly and smile when he attempts to play dumb before finally giving up.

“Yeah, thanks.” He sighs and motions me on.

I reach my car uninterrupted and sit there for a moment. I’m normally in a hurry to see Rose, but tonight, I’m bogged down by guilt. Lucian’s right; we’re doing almost the same thing we did to Lia. It seems as if finding long-lost parents has become our specialty. No matter how much I try to justify it, it still feels wrong. I decide then and there that no matter what comes of our meeting with Daisy tomorrow, I’ll come clean with the woman I love. I’m concerned about what it’ll do to her mental state, but she is so much stronger now. This is too important to keep from her. Her world is possibly about to irrevocably change.

Am I doing the right thing? Could this be the last night with the woman who has become my world? This may be costly, but it is the right thing. The right thing for Rose.

It’s with a heavy heart that I start my car and make my way slowly to enjoy what could very well be the last night with the woman who has become my whole world. At that moment, I wonder if doing what I know is the right thing, could very well be the costliest decision I’ve ever made.