Becky stepped into the kitchen and took in the man who sat at the counter with his head in his hands. It had been a harrowing afternoon and she’d learned a lot about the man sitting there. He was an impatient bully who swore like a sailor, but when he looked at Abby, she could see the beginning cracks in his armor. She couldn’t imagine waking up one day to find out you had a child you knew nothing about and her heart went out to him. “Is she asleep?” he asked without looking up at her. “Yes,” she said taking the stool next to his. They had spent hours putting together Abby’s bedroom set and Barry had lost his temper numerous times. In the end, Becky had ordered him out of the room and she had taken over. The assembly had gone a lot quicker and smoother without his ham-fisted approach. Barry was the type of person who thought force was the answer when things weren’t going his way, which wasn't exactly conducive to building Ikea furniture. “Thank you,” he said, surprising her.
A shower sounded like bliss right about now. She peeked into Abby’s room to check on her before slipping back into her room and into the ensuite. Both her room and Abby’s had attached bathrooms, and she assumed Barry did as well. Leaving her door cracked in case Abby woke and came looking for her, Becky stripped out of the suit she had been wearing all day. It was the only ‘professional’ outfit she owned and now it was ruined with a coffee stain and wrinkled from her crawling around on the floor building Abby’s furniture. With a grateful sigh, she stepped under the steaming water hoping to wash away the tension of the day. She closed her eyes and groaned as the water pounded on her sore muscles. She would be grateful to never have another day like the one she’d lived through today. Her mind drifted to Barry as she soaped up her body, the strawberry smell swirling around her. He was a danger to her sanity. He was so tall and wide and he seemed to occupy every inch of space whenever h
Before he knew what was happening, he had moved across the room and was standing near the ensuite. He looked through the open door and saw the shower reflected in the foggy mirror. He could see the nebulous outline of Becky’s very naked form through the obscured glass of the shower screen and blood rushed south, engorging his cock to almost painful proportions. Seeing her blurred like that and knowing she was naked and wet was probably the sexiest thing he had ever seen. There was something to be said for a tantalizing hint of skin rather than full exposure, his imagination was more than happy to fill in the blanks. Fuck, she was hot and he wanted her. He wanted to bury himself balls deep in her and hear that sexy little moan as she came apart in his arms. He wanted to feel her wet, soft skin up against him, he wanted to fit his hardness into her softness and get lost in the scent of her. He wanted to see her naked breasts and feel the weight of them in his palms as he sucked a hard
She closed her eyes and shivered again. Bloody hell, she wanted to taste him, she wanted to run her tongue over his salty skin and suck him into her mouth. She wanted to feel the firm give of his muscles as she sank her teeth into him and marked him as hers. She had never had such a visceral reaction to a man before and the images her brain was throwing at her like flash cards shocked her. She wasn’t a prude by any stretch, but she’d never had her brain turn to mush and her body betray her as it did around that man. Her boss. Oh God, he was her boss. Would he fire her for this? She had to do something to ensure that didn’t happen, she couldn’t be separated from Abby, and it would break her heart to have to leave the little girl. No, she had to make this right, whatever it took. Becky slipped out of the room and went in search of her boss. She found him in the kitchen, a bottle of scotch open with a third of it gone. “Barry,” she said and then cleared her throat. “Mr. Benson,” sh
He raised his head and gave Patricia a bark.She entered the office with a casual demeanor, saying, "Someone's in a mood." She then proceeded to drop a stack of paperwork on his desk."Remind me once more why your sarcastic remarks and flagrant disrespect for my authority don't get me fired. Leaning back in his chair and maintaining a steady stare on his P.A., he remarked."Because I am aware of the locations of all the graves."With a forced smile, he said, "Right." With an eyebrow lifted, he peered down at the stack of papers she had placed on his desk. This—what is it?"She answered, "These are housekeeper resumes." "I've marked the ones I believe would be appropriate, but before making a choice, I thought you might like to look through all of them.""Who is the leading candidate?"She gave the résumé a quick tap with her red, manicured nail. "That one. A grandmotherly type with a golden heart who won't take any shit.Hire her, he said, "perfect."You'd prefer not to interview?"He
Abby played quietly with her dolls while Becky finished organizing her room and unpacking. After her restless sleep in Barry' bed—between his scorching kiss in the kitchen and being surrounded by his scent all night by his sheets and pillows—Becky thought she was halfway to crazy town. Her body hummed with arousal that she just couldn't shake and combined with her lack of sleep, she wasn't fit for polite society.Becky's mother had been so desperate to get rid of her and Abby that she'd only allowed them to take what they could carry and donated the rest of their stuff to charity. The furniture had been sold along with the house and Becky and Abby had been left with little more than airline tickets and what they'd managed to fit into their suitcases. Finally, Becky zipped up her suitcase and stowed it in the enormous closet. It was an embarrassing sight to see her half a dozen outfits hanging in the space that was nearly as big as her bedroom had been at Heather's house.Not that Heat
He made his presence known as soon as he learned that the crisis had been averted and Abby was back to her cheerful self.Abby greeted him with a smile from her floor seat, "Hello Mr. Barry." His heart softened a bit more as he saw her joyful expression, which embodied innocence.He greeted Miss Abby while assiduously avoiding eye contact with Becky. He was aware that they would have to discuss their kiss from last night, but not just now, not in front of small ears. "What have the two of you been doing today? In order to save her from having to glance up too far, he knelt alongside her.Abby told him, "Becky had to build her bed, and I was super-ising.""Overseeing?""Yes, super-ising is what I said,"He looked about the space a little. "She appears to have done a commendable job," he remarked, glancing at Becky. "Did she move every big item by herself?"Abby said, "I helped.""You must be really strong, wow."She gave him a smile.Becky said, "You're home early," into the silence.H
Are you doing?” Barry asked as he walked into the kitchen where Becky was feeding Abby. “What does it look like I’m doing?” “We’re going out for dinner,” he said. “If you feed Abby now, she won’t be hungry then.” “She won’t be awake then,” Becky said with a roll of her eyes. They had spent a good couple of hours buying toys and then unpacking them and setting them up in Abby’s room. She had never had so many and she was a little hyperactive as her small brain tried to take it all in. It also meant she would crash pretty readily, but Barry probably had no clue about that. “What?” “Barry,” Becky said patiently, cutting him some slack because he was trying really hard with all this Insta-daddy stuff. “Becky’s bedtime is usually 7:30. I feed her at 6:00 and then she has her bath and we have story time and she is usually well and truly sacked out by 7:45 at the latest. By the time we get to your friend's house and have pre-dinner drinks and nibbles, Abby will be way past her be
Six Months Later…Everyone he loved was in the room. They were celebrating. Barry and Becky had finally set a date. Lisa and Mason wouldn’t be far behind. Brian and Cassie kept sneaking glances at one another that they thought nobody else noticed. He thought he knew what was going on but he didn’t want to ruin the surprise. It was their news to share and he was happy to wait for them to be ready to share it. Liam and Loretta were here too. He’d been slowly getting to know them. There was a lot of hurt to work through, but they were getting there. Jonathon quite enjoyed having a younger brother even if it was only in small doses at the moment. Devi and Kirra were also there. Kirra was graduating in a couple of weeks and then she would be hopefully attending one of the universities close to home. She wouldn’t know if she got accepted until the new year, but Jonathan was quietly confident that she would get into her top pick. And then there was Emma. Every day with her was
“I know it’s too soon,” he said, cupping her cheek. “But I want you to know that I am in this for good. I want to spend my life with you Emma. I want us to be a family. You, me, Kirra, Devi, Liam, and Loretta—” “Loretta?” “My mum. I want one big, messy family with you and me at the heart of it. Tell me you want that too.” She pressed against him and brushed a kiss on his lips. “I do,” she said before putting the remaining half of the chocolate in her mouth and grinning. The wheel came to a stop and he drew Emma to her feet, moving them both over to the window. The entire city of Melbourne was spread out below them, but it dimmed in comparison to the woman in his arms. “I love you, Emma,” he whispered before kissing her while they stood on top of the world.He took her home. He couldn’t not. They had stuff to work out and a relationship to manage. He had a family to get to know and she had her mother’s illness to navigate and her sister’s final year of sch
He stepped into the pod and waited for the door to close before holding the final box out to her, his mouth dry. She reached for it but he snatched it away, lifting it beyond her reach. “Before I give this to you, I need to explain.” She looked from the box to his face and nodded. “Okay.” The wheel started to move and Jonathon moved them over to sit on a bench. He exhaled roughly. “Okay, so I don’t know how much of this you already know, but how about I just start at the beginning?” She nodded again. “My mother left when I was two. I always believed she left us for a man with money. I’ve recently found out that wasn’t true.” He took a deep breath and her hand rested gently on his chest as she moved closer to him. He took strength from her closeness. “Someone was impersonating me—” “Liam?” He nodded. “Right. Liam. It turns out Liam is my brother. He was trying to draw me out and get me to notice him. He ultimately wanted to meet his father. He didn’t
“Are you looking for this?” the security guy asked, holding out an old-fashioned paper ticket. Emma laughed as she snatched it from him, waving it over her shoulder as she jogged toward the front doors of the building. She slid into the car and Brian looked at her expectantly. “Um…” Emma looked between Brian and Cassie. “I want to say Luna Park, but I don’t think that’s right.” “Why Luna Park?” Cassie asked. Emma held up the ticket in her hand. “We went to a fête in Merveille and rode the Ferris wheel.” “The Melbourne Star,” Brian said, his voice gruff. “Of course!” Cassie cried excitedly, leaning over to give Brian a smacking kiss. “You’re brilliant.” Emma could barely keep still as Brian drove them across town toward the Docklands and the giant observation wheel. As much as she was enjoying herself, she wanted to see him. She had already forgiven him for his lie and now she desperately wanted to ask his forgiveness for her stupid, fearful, erratic
She walked around the corner expecting to see Jonathon outside the patisserie, but there was no one there. She stepped inside breathed in the sweet scent of pastries and chocolate and looked around, hoping to spot him, but he wasn’t there. “Are you Emma?” a lady asked. “Yeah,” Emma said, turning to the woman who sat at a small table with a familiar little box in front of her. “This is for you,” the woman said, standing and walking away. Emma sat and took the box, pulling at the bow and opening it to see another chocolate truffle, this time it had an ’S’ written on top of it in dark chocolate. She didn’t need the little ‘Eat Me’ note to know what to do. She put the truffle on her tongue and closed her eyes. The chocolate coating melted away to leave behind a cake center with the sweet tang of apricot jam. “Sachertorte,” she mumbled to herself as she sighed and opened her eyes. Emma picked up the note that had nestled beside the truffle in the box.The first time we made lov
Dear Emma,The first time we met I wanted to kiss you. I knew I couldn’t. I knew it was stepping across a line both personally and professionally, but still, I couldn’t deny the attraction I felt.Our relationship has had an unconventional start, a bit of a rocky middle, and an absolutely appalling ending, but there were some real high points along the way. Let me remind you of how good it was between us and how good it could be again.Do you remember our first kiss? I don’t think I will ever forget it. I thought I knew what I was getting myself in for when I leaned down to brush my lips across yours, but I was a fool. You were so much more than I ever thought I would ever experience. You took my breath away and I lost a little bit of my heart to you at that moment.If it meant as much to you as it did to me, meet me there at the place where we first kissed.Jonathon.Emma could feel the wetness on her cheeks and she sniffed as she wiped at the tears. “Well?” Cassie asked, rocking o
It was the first Saturday morning Emma could ever remember that had the three of them sitting around the kitchen table eating pancakes and laughing. What would have been a simple, family Saturday morning ritual for some was something out of a fairy tale for Emma. She knew they were a long way from being a happy family, there was still a lot of hurt to navigate and broken trust to overcome, but it was a start and for once in her life, she was willing to just go with it. On this day, Devi was back to the woman she vaguely remembered from before Tom died and Emma wanted to soak it up and memorize it. From pancakes, they’d gone to gardening. Emma shared her plans with Devi and Kirra. She would let the lease go on her flat and move back in here permanently. It meant she would be on hand if Devi needed her and hopefully give some stability for Kirra’s final year of school. After she graduated and went off to uni, Emma could look at what would happen next. They all agreed that if they were
Emma wanted to believe her, but it was tempting to turn away and close her heart off so she couldn’t be hurt again. Except it would hurt anyway. If there was one thing she learned through this whole saga with Jonathon it was that closing your heart off to others was a mistake. You ended up hurting everyone that way, not least of all yourself. She put her arm around Devi and hugged her. “Good for you mum,” she said.Jonathon worked all night and most of the day. He tried calling Emma but when she didn’t pick up or reply to his texts after the first twenty or so, he gave up. What he had to say needed to be said in person anyway. Inspired by the woman he had fallen irrevocably in love with, he had spent the night holed up in his test kitchen creating the perfect set of truffles. Anybody could buy a box of chocolates or a bunch of flowers but only he could create an entire set of truffles that spelled out just how much he loved her and how much she had impacted his life. He had words
Kirra said when Emma finally made it home. Emma had been wandering around the city trying to come to terms with what all this meant for her life going forward. She had made some hard decisions, but she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It hadn’t helped with the pain in her chest where her heart was currently crumbling away to dust, but at least she knew that she wasn’t going to end up like her mother just because she had fallen in love. Life was always going to throw her curve balls and she just learned something about herself. Despite her previous belief, she was actually strong enough to withstand them, even swing the bat at them, and make the best out of a bad situation. “Hey, yourself,” she said, sitting at the table opposite Kirra. “Where’s Zoë?” “She had to go and run some errands.” “Where’s mum?” Kirra bit her lip and her eyes teared up. “I don’t know.” “She’s not here?” Emma asked, sitting up straighter and leaning forward. “When I got home, Z