So I choose a picture from last month, just before I was fired. It’s me with Luca balanced on one arm and Lucie on the other, all three of us grinning at the camera. It’s the only photo I have where both of them looked at the right place at the right time, and my hair even looks decent in it, which is a miracle lately, given the whole I have twin babies thing.As soon as I post the ad, Lucie starts to whine – I can tell it’s her by the unique high-pitch in her voice. I leap up from the computer and dart into the room. She’s just fussing in her sleep, but that of course woke up Luca. Pretty soon both of them are yelling for bottles.It takes me the better part of an hour to feed them and calm them down enough that we can all return to the computer together this time, both of them balanced on my knees.“What do you think?” I ask them as I open up my email. “Will Mommy find a new job today? She’d better, or we’re all in a bit of trouble…” I jiggle Luca a little, bouncing him on my knee.
I’m used to rich guys. I worked for more than a few in my past, and Mark himself, my most recent asshole of a boss, was pretty well off.None of them had anything on this apartment.Cassius is right in the heart of downtown, in one of the brand new skyscraper buildings they’ve been putting up for all the newcomers migrating to the newly cool city of Austin. Even from the outside, I can tell he’s rolling in it. But when I enter the lobby and find a doorwoman inside, who directs me to the penthouse – “Mr. Anderson is expecting you,” – I realize I’m on a whole other level with this guy.“Let me help you,” she offers sweetly, as I’m struggling with the two-seater baby stroller I brought for Luca and Lucie, which was hell to handle on the bus. She helps guide me over to the elevator, hustles me and the twins inside, and pushes the top button for me, swiping a key pad as she does. “Good luck,” she adds just as the doors start to close, and for the first time since I arrived, I feel a spike o
But I can’t really help it. A gaze like that in bed could make a girl go wild… I shiver at the thought of his strong arms around me, wrapping me up, lifting me up from the floor, my body pinned against his as he leans in to claim my mouth…Then I shake myself back to the present.He seems to do the same. “Through here please, Ms. Cross.”I trail after him, a bundle of confusion. He leads me across the open-plan condo – which has warm wood floors and cozily-painted walls, not to mention wood accents everywhere. The office he takes me into even has an exposed brick wall, and an old-fashioned looking desk. Not at all the style I’d expect from a man like Cassius, but I love it. It’s rich but cozy at the same time, fancy and yet you could totally live here. Not like those stark white insane asylum-looking penthouses you see on TV.He draws to a halt, and I’m so busy gazing around the room that I collide with him. For a second, I feel his body heat against mine. He catches my arm, as if wor
I’m in a hot tub. Steam surrounds me, obscuring my view – that is, until I feel warm hands wrap around my waist from behind, and spin me slowly in the water. I turn to find Cassius behind me, his sexy, chiseled abs and chest on full display. I run my hands over his body, exploring every inch, until he cups my chin in his strong hand and pulls my face to his, claiming my mouth in a deep, slow kiss. I can feel his thighs under mine, his hips arcing up to meet mine, and his cock growing hard, pressed against my warm, wet pussy. Fuck, I want him so badly. I want him to tear off the thin swimsuit I’m wearing, thrust up into me and take control of my body.He shakes my shoulder, his hand warm and familiar on my skin. I arch my back, lean into him, moaning slightly, thrusting against him as he shakes me again, harder…“Manila,” he whispers, and I groan faintly.“Manila.”I start awake, jolting upright at the desk. Papers fly everywhere as I sit up, and one sticks to my forehead. I jerk it fre
Cassius’s strange spare room not only has a crib in it, but also a full wardrobe of spare clothes. There are a few women’s clothes mingled in, and I feel a little guilty when I pull out a spare T-shirt and pajama shorts to wear. But it’s either this or put my work dress back on to deal with babies, and frankly, this seems like the lesser of two evils. I’m Cassius’s girlfriend won’t mind me borrowing this shirt as long as I wash it after. It looks pretty worn-out.Not going to lie, though, I feel more than a little jealous at discovering these clothes. I slip on the shorts and shirt, wondering who the lucky woman who snagged a guy like Cassius is. She must be hot as hell – probably some towering European model with millionaire parents or something.Someone the complete opposite of me, sitting here with bags under my eyes and my hair a wild mess, feeding the babies as I blink sleep out of my eyes. Like always, they woke me far earlier than I’d prefer. I love them but damn, how long until
“Shit,” I curse, backing away from the stove. Ouch.Before I can react, Cassius grabs my shoulders and practically picks me up, whirling me around to the sink. He turns on the water, takes my hand and holds it under the tap. His skin is hot on mine, the water freezing, and he’s still got his other arm around my shoulders, holding me in place. But we move so fast that the sink splashes us both, flecks of water scattering across our T-shirts.Fucking hell. I can see through his shirt now, at stomach height, his abs on full display. I swear my whole body clenches in anticipation – especially my pussy. I’m getting wet just standing close to him, the conflicting sensations of the freezing cold water and his hot skin driving me wild.“Th-thanks,” I sputter.“You have to be more careful.” He gazes down at me, his face a mask of concern. “How does it feel?”I flex my fingers and wince. “Not great, but I’ve had worse. It’ll be fine.”We’re face-to-face, barely an inch apart. If I lean toward hi
I work until late afternoon, when I hear the elevator open again. I’ve made good headway – refiled everything he showed me yesterday, got his calendar transferred, and even started sorting out some spare drawers I found in the office, other papers, older ones, that seem like they could use re-organization.But when the elevator sounds, I push back from the desk, give the babies a quick pat – they’ve been so well-behaved and calm all day – and head into the hallway.“Cassius?”“Good afternoon.” He’s still got his formal face on, suit and all. He meets me in the hall, not quite willing to meet my eye. “How have you been getting along?”“Fine. I finished the filing. But I need to catch the bus home in a half an hour, so –”“No need to inconvenience yourself. I’ll have my driver take you whenever and wherever you need to go.”I blink. “I take the bus every day, it’s not a problem. I just need to pack up the twins.”“Public transit with children cannot be easy,” he counters.My face flushe
I get back a few hours later—it took me a while to find all of the twins’ supplies for a few nights, since I figure if Cassius was this weird about letting me leave tonight, he’ll probably want me to stay the rest of the week. But finally, I have everything together, including some semi- appropriate professional clothes for myself. Judging by Cassius’s suit this morning, he’ll appreciate if I put in an effort and wear a skirt and a nice jacket, even if I am just commuting from his spare room to his spare office.The whole drive back to his place, I can’t stop wondering about my new mystery boss. His changeable moods, the way he seems too happy and content to have me and the twins around one moment, and the next he seems annoyed that I haven’t done enough at work, or sometimes he seems almost angry with me.Plus, I cannot stop thinking about our one, searing, unforgettable kiss… The feeling of his hard body against mine, his strong arms around my waist… and of course, his thick cock di
I held the door for her to get into the car. My dad picked up Makayla so she could give Deira one last hug while I walked around to get into the driver's side. We waved at everyone, and I drove away. As we wove through the grounds of the estate, I kept looking over, stealing glances at Deira as the dappled sunlight flitted over her, turning her hair gold and making her skin glow. I could feel heat pooling in my groin and a desperate need coursing through my veins. I thought again at how long it would be until we got to the hotel that night, and decided it was simply too long.Instead of turning toward the main road, I looped us around toward the back of the estate. I remembered a particularly secluded spot that was perfect for what I had in mind. A few minutes later, I pulled the car to a stop."Is something wrong?" Deira asked, looking over at me curiously."Nothing's wrong," I replied with a wicked grin. "I just don't want to wait until we get to Hawaii." When she realized what I me
CASSIUSThree Months LaterDeira made a beautiful bride.Watching her walk down the aisle toward me, with all our family and friends present, I knew that I had made the right choice in asking her to marry me. In fact, I knew that every choice I had made since that moment I decided to step into that steam room, despite it unexpectedly being occupied, had been the right choice.It was a simple ceremony, because once I'd proposed and she'd accepted, we both wanted things to move quickly. Neither of us saw a reason to wait. So, our whole wedding party was just three people. Scott was my one groomsman, and Dani was her one bridesmaid, and Makayla was the flower girl. In fact, Makayla was something of a flower empress, having demanded to be put in charge of all the floral decisions for the wedding. When that happened, Deira just laughed and looked at me."She gets this from you, you know," she had said, smirking.For my part, I thought she had made great decisions. The flowers looked beauti
A few days later,I was standing outside a hospital room, fidgeting with my dress. Cassius took my hand, pulling it away from the floral garment."You look great," he whispered. "Don't worry." We were about to go into his mother's hospital room, where his parents were waiting to meet Makayla and I for the first time. Makayla was bopping excitedly beside me. She had been on cloud nine ever since Cassius and I had explained that she had grandparents, and they were waiting to meet her. I, on the other hand, was very nervous."Ready?" Cassius asked. I took a deep breath, and nodded.It turned out that I didn't have anything to be nervous about. Cassius's father immediately stood up and gave me a warm hug, and his mother insisted I come sit by her so she could hold my hand and talk to me. They both were very kind to me and, more importantly, to Makayla. Just as she'd been with Cassius, Makayla seemed instantly at ease with them. It didn't take long before she was chatting away to them, talk
DEIRALeave it to Cassius to make a dramatic entrance, I reflected as I stared at him from afar. Whether it was barging into my steam room or crashing into my car or running through the airport yelling my name, he never did anything subtly. I looked at him, standing there breathing heavily. Had he run through the airport looking for me?I glanced back at Dani, and she raised an eyebrow. She didn't have to say anything more for me to understand the question she was asking. That raised eyebrow said, well, what are you going to do? It might as well have said, well, Deira, what do you want? I hadn't expected to have to answer that question at the airport, right before we went through security, but apparently, that's what was happening. Now I had two choices.I could turn my back on Cassius, take Makayla's hand, and walk through the security gate toward a totally new life, or I could go over to Cassius and ask him why he was here. I could give him one last chance to be part of my life. It
CASSIUSThough my mother was doing well, I still spent the next week or so in the hospital. Now that I'd reconciled with my parents, I wanted them to know that I was there for them. But also, I knew that once I returned to my real life, I would need to talk to Deira, and I wasn't ready. Not because I wasn't sure what to say—in fact, the opposite. I knew that I wanted Makayla and Deira to be part of my life now, and forever. But we'd had such a rocky path, I was a little scared of how Deira would respond to me.So, I put it off for days, until my mom finally prodded me to leave the hospital."You've been here forever," she said. "Go home, get a shower, and get a good night's sleep. And then, once you're refreshed, maybe talk to your girlfriend about us meeting our granddaughter." She winked at me."She's not my girlfriend, Mom," I protested, feeling like a teenager."But you like her, right?" my mother asked, and all I could do was grin in response. "See," she continued. "You have to g
The next morning, Dani took Makayla to school on her way to work, letting me sleep in. I laid around her apartment all morning in my pajamas, then went for a quick run before getting myself some lunch. I was very consciously not thinking about work, or Cassius, or anything else. I had half-expected him to call me at some point, but he didn't, and I couldn't help but be relieved. I didn't think I could talk to him until I decided what to do about Mr. White.In the afternoon, I picked up Makayla from school and took her to the park to play. That night, the three of us made pasta and played board games. It was nice to have some time to just have fun, without thinking about all of the stress of the past few months. The next day, after dropping off Makayla at school, I found myself thinking about my blog. I hadn't thought about it in months. I went to the home page and started looking over some of my past entries. Before long, I found myself writing down ideas for new posts. It had been ye
DEIRA I had hurried inside after getting out of Cassius's car, but I didn't want to go back to Dani's apartment when I was so upset. I waited until I saw Cassius drive away, and then I went back out to take a walk around the neighborhood. I had meant to calm down, but I found myself reliving our conversation and soon I was crying. Cassius not believing me about Mr. White hurt even more than I had let on. I'd let out all my anger on him, but beneath the anger was a deep pain and a sense of betrayal. Why did he think I would make something like that up? What did I have to gain from that? And did our relationship mean so little to him that the word of an employee he barely knew was better than my word? That last part stung more than I wanted to admit. For all the ups and downs of our relationship, it had never felt meaningless to me, but it seemed for Cassius this always came second to his job. He believed Mr. White over me, just like he had taken a business call instead of watching
After I got my dad calmed down, I went to find the doctor. I wanted a clear understanding of the accident and my mother's injuries. The doctor confirmed that the coma appeared to be because her body had been through a trauma, and that there was nothing worrying on the scans. All her other injuries were minor, especially considering the severity of the accident, but we wouldn't know her true status until she woke up. I made sure he understood that I was the point person now, and that my mom was to want for nothing. He nodded and reiterated that there was nothing to be done but wait. The waiting was excruciating.I found myself wanting to call Deira, but remembering the look on her face as she'd slammed the car door, I didn't think that was a good idea. I called Scott instead. He offered to come to the hospital, but I asked him to take care of the business instead. That way, I could concentrate on taking care of my parents."Of course, man. Whatever you need. Anything else I can do?" he
The address wasn't far, and I made it there in twenty minutes. Deira was just taking Makayla inside when I pulled up. I waited in the car and a few minutes later she emerged. I was going to get out and meet her, but she walked right to the car and got into the passenger seat."I can't talk long," she said. "But I realized storming off like that earlier wasn't helpful, so I wanted to try to explain." She fidgeted, like she was nervous."I did talk to Mr. White," I said, wondering if what he said was true, and now she was nervous because she regretted her actions. At his name, she glanced over at me sharply."Did he admit what happened?" she asked, seeming surprised."He told me his side of things. Why don't you tell me yours?" At the phrasehis side of things, her face fell. She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. Finally, she spoke."He accused me of sleeping with you to get my job," she said quietly."What?!" I hadn't been expecting that at all, and I was so shocked I fel