Authors: Michelle Love
JUDE
Fighting the urge to follow her out of the parking lot and back to her place, I watch Mercy drive away from me. She’s got a lot on her shoulders and isn’t willing to tell me a thing about it.
I think I’m going to have to light a fire under that girl to get her to trust me. She seems set on taking things way too slow for me.
My chest feels heavy for some reason. I guess it’s because this is the first time I’ve ever really felt disappointed in my thirty years. That’s a little hard to even wrap my head around.
In thirty years I have always managed to get my way and this little lady shuts me down pretty damn easily. What’s happened to me?
I’m not the guy who takes no for an answer!
Yet, she’s made me do something I almost never do. She’s made me think about her and her feelings. She’s made me think that she’s got some things going on in her life that are pretty complex and hard to understand.
I should probably just walk away from this thing. It would most likely be the smartest thing to do. Walk away and let her have all the space she wants. I know I should do that.
Driving through the city to get out to the ranch, I notice the difference in the temperature. The streets keep the city hot and when you go down a little two lane road with thick, green grass on each side of the road and tall trees to give shade all day, it gets cooler.
The nights out at the ranch are amazing. You can see more stars than you can in the city. You can smell cleaner air that invigorates you. I wanted to bring her out here so badly.
I wanted to show her off to my family. I wanted them to see that I had brought home a real woman. Not a version of a woman made up of Botox and plastic surgeries. A real, flesh and blood, completely natural beauty.
Instead, I’m coming home empty handed. I hate coming home with no prize!
After parking my car, I go inside and find no one around. Though not unusual, it brings home the fact that I’ll most likely spend the entire evening alone, in my suite. I don’t like to be alone.
Going to the kitchen, I find it void of anyone and I guess my parents gave the cooking staff the night off. Then I go back out to the garage and see everyone has left.
So I pull out my phone and call my mother. She answers the phone with a laugh, “Jude, where are you? Did you forget?”
I slap my forehead as I recall the date. It’s Mom and Dad’s anniversary party. “I did. Damn it! I’ll get dressed and be there as soon as I can. I’m sorry, Mom.”
“Okay, sweetheart. We’ll be here all night. Bring a date if you want to,” she says then hangs up.
Bring a date! I wonder if she’ll do that for me.
Making another call, I hurry up the stairs to shower and change. My heart skips a beat when she answers, “Jude?”
“Yes, it’s me, again. Look, I know you said you were swamped and all that but I have only one more choice if you turn me down and I sure don’t want to have to take her.”
“What?” she asks. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s my parents’ anniversary party tonight. I forgot all about it because I got myself all wrapped up in thinking about you and only you. Do you miss me?” I ask as I get to my bathroom and get out of my clothes then start the shower.
“Jude, you’re silly,” she says with a laugh.
In the background, I can hear someone saying something to her and she asks me to hold on a second. I listen hard to see if I can make out any of either of their words. The only thing I figure out for sure is she’s talking to another woman.
Good, no man!
“I’m back. So, your parents are having an anniversary then. That’s nice,” she says.
“It’s a big thing downtown. I need a date. I know it’s short notice and I know you said you can’t do anything else tonight. If you can’t go with me, I’ll be forced to take Ariel. You wouldn’t subject me to that torture, would you?” I cross my fingers some type of jealousy will make her accept my invitation.
“Hold on,” she says then I hear her mumbling and the other woman’s mumbles are added to hers then she’s back. “I can’t leave until after nine and I’ll need to be back before dawn. And I’ll take a cab there and back home.”
“You sure have a lot of stipulations, Mercy. But I’ll take them. I’ll text you the address and leave here when you tell me you're calling the cab. I’ll meet you out in front of the hotel. Thank you.”
She sighs a deep sigh. “No, thank you. I’m glad you asked me and gave me the chance to go instead of just taking that vile woman. I’ll leave here at nine, okay?”
“Okay, I can’t wait to see you again. Get all dolled up. I can’t wait to see you like that. Dress sexy,” I end the call with a growl and put the phone down then step into the hot shower.
I don’t know how I just managed that but I’m damned glad I did. Singing as I wash my hair, I’ve never felt more on top of the world. Then the bathroom door opens. Through the glass shower wall, I see Ariel. Her red hair is all up and seems to have been professionally done. Her green dress is sparkly and skin tight and she’s looking at me through narrowed eyes.
“Where in the hell have you been all damn day, Jude Hurst?”
“Do you mind, getting the fuck out of my bathroom, Ariel,” I ask her in a calm tone so as not to escalate her sour mood.
“Yes, I do mind. You’ve had your fucking phone off all fucking day. I need you to hurry up. I’m starving and bored. Everyone else left over an hour ago and I was all alone here, waiting for you.”
Oh hell!
“Why is that?” I ask as I finish the shower and grab a towel and wrap it around my lower half that seems to keep catching her attention.
“I’m going to the party with you. I didn’t want you to have to go alone,” she says as she starts fanning the room with the door to let the steam out.
I know how to get her out of here now. “The steam is making your hair fall and your makeup run.”
“No!” She hauls ass out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Now to figure out how the hell I can get her not to go to the party. And with a glance at my phone as a text shows up, I have it all figured out. I hope!
Making sure my towel is secured, I walk out and find her snooping through the top drawer of my dresser. She picks up a row of condoms and wiggles them. “Think you might be wanting to take any of these with us tonight, stud?”
Not for her, no.
“I’m not going to the anniversary party. It’s a bore and I’ve already set something up with some friends of mine. They’ll be by here in ten minutes to get you. Since I’m running late, I’ll join you guys once I get dressed,” I tell her and watch her face droop.
“Do I know any of these people you’re about to put me in a car with?” she asks.
“You know Shelly, and I think you know Lyle too. They’re partiers like you are. And there’s food in the limo so you can eat.”
“And you’ll come as soon as you get ready?” she asks with a little shine in her eyes. “Okay.”
She’s all perked up and I’m free. “Okay, go wait for them at the front and I’ll see you in a little while,” I tell her and watch her walk away.
As long as she has something to do, she’s fine. I hope she’ll stay the hell out of my way for the rest of the night. Tomorrow, I’m jetting her ass back to New York!
MERCY
I can’t believe I’m going out after all. But when he said he would have to take someone else and that someone else would be that horrible woman, I simply had no choice.
At least that’s what I’m telling myself!
Becky is able to stay and I’ll put the kids to bed before I go so I do feel a little bit better about that. They didn’t seem upset that I was gone all day and that was a plus. Another plus was that Becky taught Carter how to tie his shoes.
He was so proud as he showed me his new accomplishment. And Becky had a very good idea about Mia’s middle of the night bathroom visits. It’s so simple I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before. Simply end the drinks with dinner. No drinks after that.
If Mia can sleep through the night, then that means I can too. What an accomplishment that will be!
I have to be honest with the kids this time about my going out. I’m all dressed up in a dress that was my sister’s. It’s tight, black, and the sexiest thing I’ve ever worn. Along with some sky-high black pumps, I’m kind of kick ass looking.
Becky helped me with my hair. I have it piled on top with little tendrils dropping out of the pile every now and then. We found some pretty hairpins with little diamond looking stones in them that she placed randomly in the pile on top of my head.
Going in to tuck Carter into bed, I sit on the side of the bed and ask, “Do you think I’ll get laughed out of the fancy party, Carter?”
His little fingers move over my dangling diamond earrings which were also his mother’s. “Nope, you look like a princess, Aunt Mercy. The most beautiful one ever.”
I kiss his forehead and think he may be biased but I’ll take the compliment. “Thank you, Carter. You’re the sweetest little boy ever. Now you have some sweet dreams and I will see you in the morning.”
With a smile, he nods and closes his eyes as he snuggles down and I tuck the blanket around him nice and tight the way he likes it. “I love you, Aunt Mercy. Have fun and dance a lot with the prince tonight.”
I smile as I walk to the bedroom door. “I will. I love you too, good night.”
Closing the door only half-way, I go to help Mia into her pajamas. She likes to try to put them on all by herself but never gets it quite right. With a knock on her closed door, I ask, “Can I come in?”
“Yes, Aunt Mercy,” she says with a little sniffle.
She sneezes as I come in and my heart stops. “Do you feel okay, Mia?”
Oh, Lord, don’t let her get sick right now!
She runs the back of her hand under her nose. “No. I’m just cold from the bath and my clothes won’t go on.”
Hurrying to get her dressed, I notice she has little goosebumps. “Oh my goodness. Let’s hurry up and get you warmed up, Mia.”
Once she’s dressed, I pick her up and put her in her little bed and tuck her in tight then sit next to her and run my hands over the blankets to make some friction and in no time her cheeks are pink and she’s smiling.
“I’m warm now,” she says.
Her eyes are already heavy as she wiggles her head to make it more comfortable. “Do you need a story tonight?”
“No,” she says. “I’m really sleepy. We did a lot of fun stuff today. I like Miss Becky. She’s fun and funny. She always has bubbles in her apron pocket. That’s fun.”
“I see.” I kiss her forehead and find her already breathing slow paced breaths, meaning she’s well on her way to sleep.
While very glad they had fun with Becky, it does point out to me that she knows what she’s doing and I do not. Carter has made it all the way to four and a half without me teaching him to tie his shoes.
To be honest, it didn’t even occur to me to try to teach him. The only reason I knew how to potty-train Mia was because I was around when my sister, Hope, was training Carter. They died before he was fully trained so I got my practice in with him.
Thinking even for a fraction of a second about their deaths has me feeling a little sad and melancholy. I shake it off and go get my phone to call the cab service.
If I didn’t have the kids, I’d just let Jude come get me. But I do and I don’t want him to know where I live yet. Maybe never. Most likely, never!
After making the call, I text Jude that I’ll be leaving soon and my phone rings as he calls me. “Hey,” he says.
His deep, smooth voice is so nice to hear even if he did just say one word. “Hey,” I say back as I play with the diamond necklace, also my sister’s.
“Can you call me instead of texting me?” he asks. “I like to hear your voice when I’m talking to you.”
I giggle and feel a warmth move all through me. “I suppose I could do that. I just didn’t want to bother you is the reason why I texted.”
“You will never be bothering me, Mercy. I mean that. So I’ll take off and meet you in about thirty minutes. You know I’m going to hold you in my arms all night, right?”
The warm feeling turns to heat and I know I’m flushing. “You promise.”
He makes a little moaning sound. “I do. You know it’s at a hotel. My parents booked a lot of rooms there. I’m staying in one and I’d love it if you stayed with me.”
I freeze. Stay the night with him. After only one date. Well, this technically makes it two dates. Wait! If you count the breakfast as one, the boat as two, and this party as three then that’s three dates. That’s the rule, isn’t it? Three dates have to go by before sex happens?
I shake my head and laugh. “You’re too bad. I’ll see you there.”
He groans a little then says, “Fine, I had to try. See you there.”
Making my way down the hall, I check in on both kids and find them both making little snores. They’re fast asleep and won’t even miss me while they sleep. Everything seems okay.
I find Becky in the living room reading a book as she sits on the sofa. “You can stay in my bedroom, Becky. I’ll sleep on the couch when I get home.”
“No, I’ll take the couch,” she says. “It’s not a problem.”
“No, you will take my bed. After all you’ve done for me today, you’re taking the bed,” I say with that stern tone I use for work.
She smiles and nods, “Okay, boss.”
“And thanks for this. I promise I won’t be slamming you with babysitting requests the way I’ve done today.”
“I love hanging out with them. Please ask me anytime you want to. I still live at home with Mom and my four brothers. This is like a vacation for me, to be honest with you.”
I laugh and look around. “Where’s your puppy?”
“I left him in the back yard. I’m not about to bring him inside of your home.”
“Nonsense,” I say with a wave of my hand. “Do you keep him inside of your home?”
She nods. “I do. But this isn’t my place so he can stay outside. It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. Bring him inside. I insist.” The cab honks outside. “I have to go now. You can leave in the morning. I don’t want you driving home late. Have breakfast in the morning with us, please.”
She smiles and nods then goes back to her reading as I leave. For the first time since I took the kids over, I feel a little normalcy is back in my life. Thanks to the competent young woman.