Chapter 005 She’s Back

~Rosemary~

I woke up to find an unfamiliar ceiling above me. 

It took me a good minute to realize that I was no longer in Max's house.  I touched my belly which was once warm with life. 

But now, it was just cold and flat. 

I choked on a sob, missing all the mornings I spent checking out my baby bump in the mirror.

Although the last thing I wanted to do was to face Max and Amani, I knew that my mother wouldn’t have invited me in the first place if there wasn’t something important. 

I had to go to find out what it was.

I went into the bathroom after dragging myself out of Gerald’s bed. Yes, I slept in his bedroom while he volunteered to spend the nights on his living room sofa. 

We were occupied by my luggages these days, sorting them and placing them well. It was tiring but better than attending the shitty party I was going to later today. 

Everything’s hard, but luckily, I had Gerald to be with me. 

I didn’t even know how to thank him.

I scrubbed my body hard in hopes it would wash all my pain away. 

However, it was not that easy. 

I kept thinking about all the sacrifices I made for Max. 

Marrying him at just nineteen, getting pregnant even though I wasn’t ready, and even abandoning my career after barely finishing college. 

All that for what? To get dumped like trash.

"Men are overrated. I won't fall for any man again!" I hissed, turning off the shower and stepping out.

Just as I reached for the white towel on the washstand, the door of the bathroom swung open. 

Gerald somehow walked in, yawning and running his fingers through his tousled black hair. 

I stopped breathing. 

I wrapped myself in the towel, trying to pull the towel to cover my bosom and lower part when my mouth dropped open. 

I just noticed he had only briefs on.

Several muscles and toned abs were evenly spread from his broad shoulders, to his chest, down to his belly. It was as if they had been carved into his flawless skin with a chisel.

I was barely over the deep v-shaped line on his torso when my eyes fell on something protruding from his briefs.

Holy…

How many inches is that? Is that even human?

He walked over to the toilet bowl with his eyes still slit, but finally, he found me, “Wow!”

"What are you doing here?" I screamed, wrapping myself in the towel even tighter.

His eyes flew open, while almost frozen, "Y-you are still here? I thought you went out. I knocked, but you didn't answer."

“Oh..” I  stammered, “I was just thinking things.”

I felt my nipples hardened at his stare.

I had just swallowed hard when Gerald suddenly took a step forward. My heart leaped.

"Hey, this…" he said, and before I could process that, he reached out his hand, and stroked my wet hair. "This part of your hair, it hasn't been fully wet, did you notice that, Rosemary?"

There was something about the way he said my name. So breathy and sexy...that it sent my heart rate rising. Again. 

I bit my quivering lower lip. But that didn't stop me from inhaling his cool but intoxicating scent.

“Oh, I didn’t notice. I, well, thank you.”

My pussy throbbed even as I pressed my thighs together. Oh, God! What was he doing to me?

Gerald cocked a brow at me. "Rosemary..."

When his hot breath sprayed on my face again, a warm moisture slipped between my thighs. I swallowed hard and looked up at him. For the first time, I noticed that his lashes were long, thick, and jet-black. His blue eyes pulled me in like a magnet.

I didn't know when I raised my hand and touched his hard chest lightly.

Gerald's skin instantly tensed up, and I could've sworn that I heard him groan lightly. Just when I reached out to touch him with my other hand, he stepped away and scratched the back of his head. "Uhm...Carry on with what you were doing."

Then, he disappeared through the door.

“You look nice, ready to go now?”

I staggered back in my 4-inch heel when I heard that voice as soon as I walked out of the room an hour later. 

Looking to the side, I saw Gerald stand up from the sofa, buttoning up the jacket of his charcoal-gray suit. 

Wow. I didn’t expect him to look so dashing and stunning but considering what I saw earlier this morning… 

For a moment, I thought about the incredible abs I had seen earlier. I shook my head. “Yeah, I am.”

“May I drive?”

“You have a car?”

Gerald smiled again. “No, but I can call a friend of mine for one."

When I saw him whip out his phone, I couldn't help laughing. "You don't even have a car, yet you hesitated to accept my marriage proposal?"

He looked at me, then shrugged.

I took out my car key before spinning it with my fingers. "You don't have to borrow a car. It's fine. We can both use mine from now on. I'll also pay you handsomely as long as you play your role as my husband well."

Gerald did a salute. "Aye, aye, captain! I promise to be the best husband in the whole world!"

"What! You are so hilarious!" I laughed again, walking out of the apartment.

"I like the sound of that. But as your husband, you have to let me drive even though it's your car," he added, as we walked into the elevator. "Be the passenger princess."

When we got downstairs and he opened the door for me, I couldn't help staring at him in a daze. I didn't even know him well, yet he was already making me smile.

What a man!

Thirty minutes later, I walked into the grand ballroom of the hotel alone while Gerald went to park the car. It was as if I had just entered into a whole new world. I saw huge balls of white clouds hanging down the high ceiling, the pillars were wrapped with shimmering crystals.

The guests were dressed in expensive clothes and accessories.

I saw a few celebrities and top businessmen in New York.  Even some politicians were here with beautiful women on their arms.

I frowned, feeling a pit in my stomach. “If the engagement party was this lavish, what would the wedding be like?”

“Eww! What’s that smell?”

Suddenly, I heard a disgusted voice. My heart leaped to my throat. I turned to the side, only to see a gorgeous couple heading my way.

“It’s you! You are stinking up the whole place!” Amani Beckett, my twin sister, scrunched up her nose as she looked at me.

My cheeks heated up with embarrassment when a few guests stopped chatting to look at me. I cupped my hand over the side of my face. “Hey, sis. You are back—“

“Like I never left,” she retorted, holding Max’s arm tighter. “I came back to take what’s rightfully mine. Now, all is right in the world.”

In the blink of an eye, she grabbed Max’s tie and pulled him to her level. Their lips crushed into a kiss. As their tongues twirled around each other, I saw Amani look at me and smile.

I gasped, covering my mouth.