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Chapter Twelve
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That Night Chapter Thirteen
There was a strange feeling in the air when I woke up shortly before we arrived deep in the heart of downtown Chicago. Almost as if there was an invisible wall that had been erected between us, dividing the car in two. It hadn’t been there before, and its appearance now was a foreshadowing that made my heart ache.“Why don’t you go take a nap,” Richard said after we walked in.“I just woke up.”He nodded. “What sounds good for dinner?”I brushed my hair behind my ear, my brow furrowing. I didn’t like the distance in his gaze but what scared me was the physical distance that he placed between us. This wasn’t the same man who dropped in to my office hours ago. What had happened when I was asleep?“Pasta. Does that work?”He nodded and walked into the kitchen and the drawer where he stored menu copies. “There’s an Italian restaurant that’s good.”I watched as he flipped through them, his concentration focused until he found what he was looking for. He handed me the menu bef
Last Updated : 2024-10-29That Night Chapter Fourteen
AprilI bit at my nail as I stared at the clock.He was late.Dinner was a big deal—meet-the-parents kind of big deal. Oh, and telling my parents about my pregnancy and hoping they didn’t ask “how did this happen?” Because I didn’t want to tell them how we met. The safe explanation was that we met through work.I took one last look at my appearance to make sure I didn’t look too pregnant. My stomach was definitely sticking out more every day, but thankfully the empire waist of the dress my mother bought me for Christmas managed to flare out enough that it wasn’t noticeable. However, if I twisted and the fabric got caught, it was “hello, bump.”I had reminded Richard of our dinner plans during our nightly call, but I hadn’t heard from him all afternoon.With him getting wrapped up in work last weekend, I was seriously beginning to wonder if he was coming.Friday traffic can be a bitch, I reminded myself.I needed him to be there, beside me. Otherwise I didn’t kno
Last Updated : 2024-10-29That Night Chapter Fifteen
For the past week Natasha helped me to smooth out and perfect the budget analysis, and I was quite impressed with her work. She had it more streamlined than I’d been able accomplish on my own in the past.We both had stayed up late, talking on the phone, emailing back and forth in the final week, until everything was just right. I knew it took a toll on her, and I was ready to free her for an early weekend, to pamper her a little.And to share the excitement of a job well done.The walls built to protect myself from Natasha did nothing to stifle the deep-seated desire I had for her. Natasha had worked her way into my bloodstream and had become a drug my body needed regular doses of to survive.Meeting her family only highlighted how dysfunctional my family was. Susie and I weren’t close like that because she was a girl and I was a boy. Girls cooked and cleaned and sewed and played with dolls, while boys did hard chores outside, played sports, and made money.I had a paper
Last Updated : 2024-10-29That Night Chapter Sixteen
When Richard asked if there was anything I wanted to do over the weekend, there was one thing I desperately needed to do. Between work and baby naps, I’d been able to accomplish zilch in the shopping department, and didn’t have many clothes that could fit anymore. Baby Bump Bennett was getting bigger every week, and I was down to dresses and yoga pants.“This store is the devil,” I said to Richard as we walked through the automatic doors.“Why is that?” he asked, his brow furrowed. “They’re one of the largest retailers in the country.”“Because you go in for one five-dollar item and come out with nearly two hundred dollars’ worth of stuff.”He shook his head. “That’s called a lack of self-control.”“Uh-huh, just watch.”I grabbed a cart and perused the dollar bin section as we walked past. There were a few things I needed, and I made a straight line for the undergarments section. Richard’s eyes popped wide when I stopped in an aisle full of bras.“Let me buy you lingerie
Last Updated : 2024-10-29That Night Chapter Seventeen
Early MayIt was becoming a thing. An indecent, attention-seeking whore of a thing. As needy as a drug addict searching for their next hit.And when it struck it destroyed all the happiness in my heart, especially when Richard was already a day late. I’d expected him on Friday night, like usual, but work had its hooks in him, unrelenting.I no longer felt comfortable telling him everything that was going on because he stopped being as open in conversation.“Shit blew up, and I’m sitting here volleying emails with my bag sitting next to me trying not to break my laptop,” Richard said. The edge in his voice told me how pissed he was without the matching words.“Well, crap.” I rubbed at the space between my eyes in an attempt to ward off the headache that was coming on, mostly due to the agitation of work taking over again.Work was the one thing that demanded his attention, that snapped its non-existent fingers and made him jump. I couldn’t even get him to come with
Last Updated : 2024-10-29That Night Chapter Eighteen
“Shit,” I hissed as I looked at the clock.When I last glanced to the lower right of the screen, the morning sun was bouncing off the window from the other tower, but now the sun was streaming in the window. My blood went cold. I was supposed to put out the fires, then head to Natasha’s, but at almost five in the afternoon, I began to wonder if I would still be welcome.After a half second of thought, I picked up my phone and my heart dropped at the two text messages I’d missed.Are you on your way?—NatashaPlease call me. I just want to know you’re okay.—NatashaThe second one was an hour old.Work had once again taken me from Natasha, and I knew someday she wouldn’t be as understanding. In fact, I was pretty certain if I wanted her to open the door, because calling or texting was not an option at that point, groveling would be involved.Immediately I shut down my laptop, but left it where it was. If I showed up with it, I knew I’d be a dead man. As I gathered my bag an
Last Updated : 2024-10-29That Night Chapter Nineteen
The previous weekend was a shit show. He slept on the couch that night while I cried myself to sleep. All I wanted was him. All I needed was him. To be present, to be mentally with me, to support me, but he’d checked out. The once-doting boyfriend was gone and in his stead was the VP.In the morning he ordered breakfast and I was moved when he handed me a hot chocolate. It was a nice gesture, and I tried to find an even ground. Still, it was hard to let go of how emotional I’d become about it all.I made him turn his phone off, and for a few hours it was just the two of us again.However, as the days rolled on, that bitch had her claws in him again. He arrived the night before near ten, having not left until five local time. I wasn’t feeling well, so we opted for a stay-in day, and I curled up on the couch while we binged a show on Annex.I could accept the occasional bleed of work into our weekends, but the bleed was nearly all the damn time. Half of the time he was still
Last Updated : 2024-10-29That Night Chapter Twenty
June 5thTwo weeks. That was how long it had been since I’d seen Richard. Two horribly long and gut-wrenching weeks.Two weeks of thinking about where I stood. I had my answer, but I didn’t want to admit it. We were in two different places, literally, and he was never going to let work go.I stared at the clock on the wall of the doctor’s office watching as the seconds ticked by. They turned into minutes, and still no Richard.He promised.He promised me that he would be here. This, of all appointments, this was the one for him to make an effort to attend, to show me that he was in this with me. With each second that ticked by, the more I realized that he wasn’t coming.I’d barely heard from him in days, and it had been two weeks since I’d seen him, as work had kept him busy the prior weekend.After a few minutes, my phone buzzed. My stomach sank, and I knew my fears were true without even looking. Tears filled my eyes, and I blinked them away just in time to hea
Last Updated : 2024-10-29
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That Night More books from K.I. Lynn!
That NightI got pregnant on New Year’s Eve.That night was hands down the best night of my life. A magical night with the man of my dreams.The aftermath changed everything.After weeks of silence from him and a positive pregnancy test, it was safe to say I was in full out panic mode.Until I walked into a conference room only to find Mr. Man-of-my-dreams-father-of-my-unborn-child at the head of the table.Turns out the VP of finance isn’t an old boring guy with white hair.Two different cities.A baby on the way.An intense attraction.And he’s technically my boss.Life just got even more complicated.Find out more hereAbductedThe mafia never lets you go.I thought I was safe, free, but I never expected to find myself locked in a cage.I’m in his territory. His prison.The beast.A fate worse than death awaits me if I can’t get away, so when the opportunity of salvation presents itself I grab it, even if I’m unsure i
That Night About the Author
K.I. Lynn is the USA Today Bestselling Author from The Bend Anthology and the Amazon Bestsellers, Breach and Becoming Mrs Lockwood. She spent her life in the arts, everything from music to painting and ceramics, then to writing. Characters have always run around in her head, acting out their stories, but it wasn’t until later in life she would put them to pen. It would turn out to be the one thing she was really passionate about.Since she began posting stories online, she’s garnered acclaim for her diverse stories and hard hitting writing style. Two stories and characters are never the same, her brain moving through different ideas faster than she can write them down as it also plots its quest for world domination…or cheese. Whichever is easier to obtain… Usually it’s cheese.WebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagramGet my Newsletter
That Night After all the words and all the things…
When I began working on my piece for the Wild in the Windy City Anthology I was struggling. I wasn’t connecting to ideas, and while talking to a friend she said to me “Why don’t you do an office romance? You love those.”And she was right. I do love those.I immediately connected to this idea and a story blossomed and a connection so powerful that I knew it had to continue past that night.I hope you enjoyed Richard and Natasha’s story. If by chance it wasn’t for you, I hope you will still give me a chance to become one of your favorite authors.
That Night Epilogue
One year later…The last year hadn’t been as picture perfect as I’d hoped, but that didn’t mean we weren’t happy, and that I wasn’t still hopelessly in love with Richard. His insecurities ran deep, but he worked hard to give me the chance…to give us the chance to succeed where he hadn’t with Desiree. And he made sure every single day to show me he loved me.Thanks to Keenan’s glowing endorsements to many of his ex-teammates and friends, along with Wyatt spreading the word, Bennett Sports Advisors grew by leaps and bounds. Within six months he had fifteen employees, and after a year he doubled that. He needed all the help as they had grown to over two hundred clients—a number that continued to increase weekly thanks to word of mouth.“Finally,” I said as the dryer went off.It’d been over a year since Richard bought the brown teddy bear I was pulling out of the dryer, but it was our daughter’s favorite snuggle toy, which she’d spit up on.I walked back to
That Night Chapter Twenty-Six
After my fall and subsequent hospital stay, I was directed to take the rest of the week off. It was torture the first day after Richard left. There was nothing to do but wallow in my grief. No matter what declarations he made or the love I had for him, I had to let him go.That knowledge, that it was for the well-being of me and our baby, didn’t make it any easier. The acknowledgment that he was the biggest stressor in my life and that stress was causing physical problems with my pregnancy was the hardest truth I’d ever had to face.What ifs floated through my mind. Would his avoidance have been the same if I’d lived in Chicago? Would he have gone to appointments, or would work have sucked him in all the same?Jenna came over that night and held me as I sobbed. Just her being there meant the world to me.She also unblocked his number from my phone.On Wednesday I felt steady enough to get up, to get my mind something to think about other than Richard. I continued on with t
That Night Chapter Twenty-Five
I wasn’t entirely sure how I got home. The whole drive back to Chicago I felt numb. My brain didn’t get on board until the next day when I sat at my desk with my view of Lake Michigan. The sun streamed in, and the beach was studded with bodies enjoying the warm weather. They were seemingly carefree, having a day off with no worries.There was nothing but turmoil inside me.I’d lost her.Each minute away from Natasha burned in ways I’d never experienced before. Weighted down with responsibilities, I’d been choosing the wrong ones to focus on.It hadn’t been twenty-four hours since I left her, but I’d never had a black cloud of this magnitude take up residence in my chest. Not even after my divorce, after finding out Desiree had been cheating on me, did I feel the depth of despair that weighed me down now.I was determined to make good on my promise, but my normal problem-solving mind had left for vacation and was unavailable to help me figure out what to do.There was a kn
That Night Chapter Twenty-Four
When I was released the next morning, it was Richard who was there to drive me home.I hated it. I hated the way it made my chest clench to see him there, so attentive to my needs. It was a side of him I’d seen glimpses of in the past, but it had been many weeks since this side of him had been allowed out.The buzzing of his phone in his pocket went unnoticed, and the ringing through the car’s speakers went unanswered.“You aren’t going to get that? It could be important.” The air continued to be filled with static, and it was suffocating.He reached across the center console and covered my hand with his, giving it a squeeze. “Not as important as you.”“Had some epiphany, huh?” I cringed against the light, my eyes overly sensitive thanks to the migraine slamming my head into a table had caused.“I want to talk about this.”“Why?” Give me a reason.“Because this isn’t over, despite what you seem to think. One fight does not end a relationship.”“It is over, and if you t
That Night Chapter Twenty-Three
Work kept me busy over the weekend and all of Monday, but even having all my focus on work could not stop the weight from settling on my chest or the pit that grew in my stomach every day. They weren’t feelings I was familiar with, but I knew they had to do with Natasha.Calling and texting had been futile exercises—she wasn’t answering.We were both angry, and the distance didn’t help.Though I wasn’t sure if it was her I was angry with. It was me. After she hung up on me, I realized why she was so upset. I’d missed a pivotal moment I could never get back in the life of my child. A moment when I should have been holding her hand and kissing her in excitement, and instead I was sitting at a conference table, firmly planting another wall between us.Why I kept doing it, I had no idea. My self-destructive moves were hurting more than just me. The walls were meant to protect me, but they were doing the opposite.I wanted to let her in. I wanted to drown in the feelings that w
That Night Chapter Twenty-Two
It had been two days since I hung up on Richard, and I had yet to leave my bed. I was so upset I blocked his number. Dr. Danvers said to watch my stress, and it was stressing me out more. He was the father of my child, but I needed space.I regretted doing it almost immediately, but I needed to be strong. If he wanted to fix things, he would come to me.When I heard voices coming down the hall, I started, but relaxed back into my blanket fort when I recognized my mother.“You know,” I whined from under the covers. “I didn’t give you that key so you could just walk in whenever.”“All right, young lady, get up,” Mom said from the doorway to my bedroom.“No,” I whined from under the covers. I didn’t want to do anything but wallow in my misery…and pizza. And ice cream, pickles, fried rice, and bacon cheeseburgers.My stomach rumbled at all the food thoughts, the baby demanding everything.Just like when I was a teenager, my mom pulled the covers from me. I cracked an eye and
