“Nothing,” I sniffed. “Ugh.” I shook my head, frustrated that I couldn’t just knock this shit off.“Here,” she said, pouring me a glass of wine, “this usually gets the tears flowing faster. Then, once it’s out of your system, you’re freed up to handle shit again.”I grinned at her, grabbed the glass, and took a sip. “Don’t they call that self-medicating?”She laughed and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, her blue eyes so piercing and beautiful, “I run a women’s home that deals with those types of things, and I can tell you that this isn’t self-medicating. Turning to booze to make the troubles disappear is where we draw the line.”“Ladies?” Ash called, bouncing into the kitchen with the usual pep she always seemed to have in her step. “The kids are settled in, and it’s time we relax.”“I didn’t realize the children went to bed so early,” I spoke. “It’s only seven.”“I was referring to the gentlemen,” she teased. “Seriously, though, half the time, the kids are babysitting them and not
These galas were something else to begin with, but in all the ones I’d attended when I’d dated Cam, I’d never seen such a thing. However, we’d attended those events at Cam’s father’s behest, and when Henry Brandt was in attendance, no one dared to fuck around.“So, while she’s singing to Jim like she’s Marilyn Monroe on the President’s birthday, Cameron ditches all decorum and proceeds to pull her off the table,” Ash added. “Mind you, even Jake and Collin were stunned into silence, and they’re the biggest pranksters of all.”“I could imagine how mortified Jim must’ve been,” I answered. “A stunt like that could’ve cost him hisreputation in a room full of influential people like that.”“Cam was horrified,” Avery continued, “and it took Collin and Jacob to calm his ass down and get him to show his face around us the next day. Poor guy couldn’t apologize enough for something he didn’t do.”“His dad would’ve kicked his ass for embarrassing the family like that,” I said.Ash laughed. “Thos
“Are you concerned about Jackson and the surgery?” Collin questioned, knowing that on the rare occasion I wasn’t in a light-hearted mood, it was because of a patient.I wanted to lie and say yes.“Nah, man,” I said, then forced a fake smile. “I just slept like shit last night.”“Well, you flew that chopper like the dreamboat pilot you are,” Jake said, always acting like a dipshit to lighten the mood.”“Totally dreamy,” Collin said, with the same dipshit humor as Jake’s.“Why don’t you two idiots make sure the ladies and kids are settled while I help Cam finish up?” Jim said, casting them a knowing glance.I remembered the days when I was as much of a fuck-off as these two, but those days seemed to slip away as soon as I saw Jessa again. Since then, I’d been struggling with the guilt of leaving her and beating myself up over letting her go.I was dealing with all that fallout, and I hated it. I wanted to get the fuck off this vacation, walk back into my hospital, and bury myself in wor
“All good?” Jim questioned as he walked out, making his way to the bar across from me and ordering a drink. “Bourbon. Neat.”“Much better.” I wiped off my hands and walked to the bar where Jim stood. “I’ll take a bourbon too.”He sipped the amber liquid from his glass. “Since we’re technically on some form of vacation, it’s perfectly acceptable to have a drink at noon, right?”I glanced at my watch, “Eleven-thirty, but I won’t say a word to the rest if you won’t.”Jim chuckled, and we walked to a table that overlooked the back of the yacht. “I can’t understand my brother and that damn bar,” he said. “The idiot hires staff for table service and still has a bartender.” He glanced over his shoulder and waved off the young waitress approaching from out of nowhere, then he turned back and shook his head. “See what I mean? What the fuck? Why the bartender and bar if everyone is going to follow you around to wait on you hand and foot?”“Ah, probably gives him a hard-on to have all the luxuri
“Shit.” My heart sank. I was acting like a little bitch. There was no way I could waltz back into Jessa’s life, thinking this second chance was owed to me. I was going about this wrong, and it all made more sense now.“I heard a therapist once say that hurt people hurt people,” I said, staring down at my bourbon. “She’s going to hurt me, or I’m going to hurt her.”“As I said, stop fucking thinking. If you think about all the ways to go about this, you’ll miss this door while it’s open. Appreciate the opportunity to be in each other’s lives again. Let the past stay where it fucking belongs, in the past. Move from there, and you’ll be fine. Be the boy’s doctor; until she permits you to be more to her, be her friend. Don’t be the ex, and don’t you dare try to make a cheap move and be her man.”“Cheap move?”“Yes, it’s cheap because you’re asking her to trust you the way we entitled assholes think we deserve. Getting another shot isn’t owed to you because you were careless the first time.
The giant humpback whale was the most majestic creature I’d ever seen. I stood there, gaping in wonder, before I walked to the ledge, held onto the railing, and watched it glide through the water, dangerously close to us. It wouldn’t have taken much for the whale to breach the hull of this boat, but as I watched it move by, everything seemed so peaceful.I smiled when I turned and looked at Jacks, standing next to Addy between Jake and Collin. Everyone was silenced by the magnificent creature swimming gracefully below our boat.“That was the most insane feeling in the world,” Jacks said.“No shit,” Collin said. “I swear, my balls are in my throat right now.”“In your throat?” Jake laughed. “I’m not sure if I even have my balls anymore.”Jacks laughed, and I just rolled my eyes.“If you all look to the port side, you can see that the whales are starting to hunt for food,” the young man named Ryan said. “Over there.” He pointed to a sudden disturbance in the water. “They’re doing what w
“Jake and I have a beach home there, and we rarely use it.” She pursed her lips and looked at Jake, who was nodding along with her, “You’re most welcome to it if that helps ease the burden of everything that’s going on.”“I couldn’t,” I said. “I can’t thank you enough for the kind offer, but I really couldn’t.”“Why the hell not?” Jake asked, sitting back and sipping a beer after inhaling his lunch. “We’ve got no use for the place. We always rent it out during fall and winter; what’s one month early? The place is yours for as long as you need it. No strings attached, of course. Use it before the cobwebs take over.”“And don’t say no because you think it’s rude to say yes,” Ash insisted. “We wouldn’t offer if we didn’t want to help make your life easier. You aren’t putting anybody out or anything.”I felt tears pool in my eyes at their generosity, and the relief that washed over me was bigger than I expected. “Okay, yes. I really can’t thank you enough,” I said. I laughed and smiled at
He was so unbelievably handsome, and I knew what I was about to do.Skydiving in this weather would’ve probably been safer than trusting this man with my heart again, but here I stood. I felt years of heartache and grief fall off me like scales when I allowed myself to open my heart again to the tall, dark, and handsome man resting against this boat’s rail.Everything inside of me told me this was a good thing. This is why fate brought this man back into my life. I needed him more than I would’ve ever allowed myself to admit.And, somehow, I wasn’t scared.Chapter Twenty-NineCamI loved the rain; it reminded me of the trips my parents and I took to Europe. My father always had the most exciting plans for us when we arrived, and then it seemed to rain the entire time we were there.Not even money could ensure that my father’s plans didn’t fall through, and he had more money than he or generations to come could spend in their lifetimes. Even so, the rain forced a change in our plans ev
“So, I texted her,” Cam said, shrugging at Collin and Elena. “I should’ve been pissed, I know.” He shook his head, “But I wasn’t. She was just so beautiful, laying there, naked polished body—”“Skip the details that would make us sinners blush,” Collin said. “You texted?”“Anyway, with profound love, I texted her, Marry me?” Cam said, acting emotional.All eyes were on me for my portion of the proposal lie.“Well, I was about to locate Jacks on the GPS tracker, but I saw Cam’s text come through, and I checked it first.”“Good damn thing because he might have smacked your bare ass while lying by you on the bed,” Elena said.“Right,” I smiled, “I read the text and knew in my heart the answer was yes, but I wanted to verify Jacks was with you guys and didn’t drive off looking for a party like teens do. So, I just hit the thumbs-up emoji, and that was it. We’re engaged.”“Oh, for the love of all fucks, hot and sweet. That is the biggest load of shit I’ve ever allowed anyone to go on about
He shook his head. “You finally had me serious in conversation, and now, we’re going to make fake laws about a damn emoji,” he said with a laugh, pulling up to Elena and Collin’s estate in the Hollywood Hills.“Okay,” I chuckled and laughed, “let’s let Collin, Elena, and Jacks decide whether we keep or ditch that emoji.”“What are you planning? God, do not tell Collin that that is how I ended things with you.”I smiled at him as we pulled up to the side of the house next to a bright orange Lamborghini. “Relax,” I said, getting out of the Bronco.“Relax,” he huffed, opening his door and walking over to me.“Damn,” Collin said, walking out of the front door as soon as we approached. “I trust everything is kosher between you two? I’m presumably looking at two flames reunited in the fiery combustion of love?”“Yeah, Dad,” Cameron mocked. “All is fair in love and war.”“I see it is,” he said.“Where’s Elena and Jacks?” Cam asked.“In the kitchen making pizza,” Collin said, turning to walk
Chapter Fifty-OneJessaCameron and I spent that weekend wrapped in each other’s arms until we couldn’t resist picking up Jacks and telling him that his parents would be getting married and we were going to become a family.“How do you think Jacks will take the news? I’m thinking he’ll at least dig settling down out here—you know, to finally pull off from this online schooling bullshit and start gaining friends at a new school,” Cam said.“Yes,” I answered with a smile, “I know he’ll be happy to learn he’s no longer going to need to do school remotely, now that his mom has made a decision to live in Southern California.”I was thankful that the school issue could at least be resolved. Since Jackson’s surgery, I wouldn’t settle down and force Jacks into a new school—especially with him going through rehab, and with me not too certain where I truly wanted to live.Even though the school system in New York worked well with us for him attending remotely like he’d been, I knew it was somet
I couldn’t resist this perfect woman any longer, so I leaned up and captured her breast in my mouth. She moaned as my teeth nipped at her nipple, hardening it even more. I licked underneath her breast, closing my lips around it. I rolled my tongue in circles, pressing against her nipple as Jessa’s hand came up into my hair, gripping and pulling it while her hips moved faster and faster, giving my cock precisely what it wanted.I moaned loudly against her hot flesh, knowing that this woman’s movements would make me come, and there was nothing I could do about that now. I wanted it. I wanted pleasure from my woman riding me hard and fast. Jessa gripped my shoulders, pushing me back so our eyes could meet.“Come,” she ordered, “I want your cum inside me.” She smiled seductively.My balls were tighter than fuck, ready to send my cum directly into her, but I didn’t want this sensation to end. The rippling pleasure from her moving made me numb to everything but her tight pussy and the boili
I needed more.His fingers dipped inside of me and searched greedily for my G-spot. My eyes rolled back in my head while my breath was stolen by gripping and fiery pleasure. I would have fallen to the floor, writhing in desire while the spasm continued to swarm and erupt through my body, but Cam had a steady grip on me.While my lips grew parched from panting through the intense orgasm, Cam turned me to face him. His moist lips captured mine, and his deep kiss swallowed me up effusively.I couldn’t gain my bearings. I couldn’t do anything but relish the sweet flavor of the lips and kiss I’d missed desperately for all these long months.“It’s been too fucking long, baby,” he said, cradling my naked body and returning his lips to mine.My head was spinning from when we walked into this house to when Cam slipped my dress off me and began working me over in ways I’d needed since the last time we were together.I couldn’t even focus on what he was doing to my body because I was so envelope
“So, you’re giving me a third chance?” I said, standing up and walking over to her. “For the first time in my life, I honestly don’t know what to do.”“Tell you what,” she said, pulling the napkin from her lap and placing it on the table, “take me home, and we can figure it out from there.”I helped her from her chair and paid for what we’d hardly nibbled on and drank at this dinner. I couldn’t get her out of here fast enough.I had no intention of ever losing her again, and I planned to prove that the second we walked through the door once we got to my place in Malibu.OceanofPDF.comChapter FiftyJessaWe couldn’t get to Cam’s place fast enough. After coming to the conclusion that he wanted me back through more vampire talk than I expected, I couldn’t wait for us to get out of there. I didn’t care about dinner at that point. I was damn hungry, but not for food.“Jacks is spending the night with Collin and Elena tonight,” I informed Cam as we walked up the steps to his beach house.M
Chapter F ty-NineCamWe walked into Darcy’s, and I was quickly reminded why I’d never taken a woman I was serious about to this place— the ghosts of one-night stands and ex-girlfriends seemed to lurk in every shadow.“Right this way, Dr. Brandt. It’s good to see you again.” The hostess smiled at me, her bronze eyes peering into my soul. She probably remembered me from the last time I was dumb enough to take a woman home from this place.I snatched Jessa’s hand protectively into mine and kept her close. I don’t know why I was feeling nervous. Who gave a shit if an ex showed up? It would suck, but not enough to park that concern in my head when I had this beautiful woman walking by my side.We were seated, and I ordered us a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet, one of the finest wines from Napa Valley. Of course, I had to keep my game smooth, and my woman impressed, so what came out of my mouth after I ordered the wine I never expected.“So, when will you stop acting like Bella from Twi
“You’re letting Laney fuck you with a dildo in my house?” Jim said.“Hell, it seems like marriage can be quite adventurous,” Spence stood, “but not enough to tempt me.” He walked over and patted me on my shoulder. “Hang in there. She’ll come back. They always do,” he chuckled. “I’m out, guys. My driver is here, and I have the Bartholomew project to tidy up first thing tomorrow.”“When do you fly out to London?” Jim asked. “Those bastards at Green Gate are trying to come in hard on that deal, and I want them leveled. You’re the fucker who can get it done.”“I’m not drunk enough to listen to you boss my ass around while I’m not on the clock,” Spence said, and then he looked over at me. “Seriously, let her go for now and focus on your boy. This will work out. It’s refreshing to hear that someone wants to fix themselves for a change. Sex will probably be even better for it, too.”“Sex is always your end game and final thought,” I said. “Yep,” Spence said, disappearing through the side doo
Chapter F ty-SevenCamI walked Jessa out to her car, feeling that all hope for us getting back together was slipping farther away with each step I took. I wasn’t happy with the arrangement, but I had no say in it. I told her I would give her time to get things right for herself, and I truly meant that. Hell, I loved the woman; if I didn’t know that before, I knew that now.Before, I might’ve taken this rejection as a fuck you and walked out of her life forever. But something told me to give her the time and space and allow her to heal. I honestly had no idea what she needed to heal from, but it wasn’t my place to question her feelings.Jessa had always had a good head on her shoulders, so if something didn’t seem right to her, I trusted her instincts.It’s not that I didn’t have the fight in me to win her heart back; it was that I loved the woman so much that I was willing to honor her request and let her go.I just had to hope that whatever journey she was on would lead her back to