The dinger went off, and she dashed to the massive industrial looking gas stove to open the oven door. The aroma of warm vanilla and cinnamon filled the air. She’d made one of Matty’s favorite things, monkey bread, and by the looks of the bubbling confection, had held her own in the modern kitchen.
Wiping her hands on a towel, she grabbed the list on the counter and checked off the monkey bread. Next up—meatball chili, but she had a few hours before getting started.
Laughter rang out from the living room. Happy laughter. She smiled.
Matty’s birthday had been more than memorable. Roman put his personal spin on the occasion and arranged for Sam and Ginny to fly in for the big day. He even put them up in a fancy five-star hotel. For the past several days they’d all been running ragged around the city, taking in every imaginable tourist stop. Roman thought of everything, including an eye-opening, behind-the-scenes private tour of the dinosaur exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. The boys, including Sam, enjoyed the day-long nerd adventure while the ladies tagged along and feigned enthusiasm.
To Kelly, if you’ve seen one stack of dinosaur bones, you’ve seen them all.
A particular highlight found her, Ginny and Rhiann experiencing the deep indulgence of a VIP spa day at the Mandarin Oriental. All in all, she was exhausted and happier than she’d ever been.
Their week together was coming to an end. She’d be sad to see her friends go but she had something extra cool to look forward to.
Roman was taking her on an actual date. For Valentine’s Day! And she had a sexy black lace dress for the occasion, courtesy of Rhiann, plus a pair of shoes she was secretly practicing walking in.
Today, though, they were doing nothing except hanging out, much to Matty’s delight. He’d grown so much in the last few weeks. Ever since that fateful moment when he stepped forward and challenged a big stranger in their midst, her sweet Matty was changing. Right before her excited eyes, he became what she always hoped for. Just a normal kid.
“Need any help?” a deep voice asked from the doorway.
She turned toward the sound with a ready smile. Roman. She sighed. If the man got any sexier, she was going to need an intervention because her one constant thought morning, noon, and night was making love with the man.
They went through an embarrassing number of condoms and talked about other forms of birth control. Because they didn’t limit their sexy times to just the bedroom, that made the condom procedure a challenge at times.
“What did you have in mind?” she purred.
He yanked her flush against him. Exactly what she expected when she turned the flame to simmer with her growls.
“Five minutes in the pantry with the door shut.”
She smirked and wagged her tongue. “Will there be fucking involved?”
“Most definitely. A quickie though. No time for a full course meal.”
She studied his face to see if he was serious. The glittering gleam from his eyes told her that yeah, he was serious.
“What’s everybody doing?”
She couldn’t believe that she was crazy enough to consider his raunchy suggestion, but she was.
“They’ve set up camp in Matty’s room. Candyland followed by Connect Four. It’s a tournament I think. And unless I miss my guess, Sam is headed for a short nap. Bet you’re glad now that we put a recliner in his room.”
She chuckled and smacked his chest. “Best story time equipment ever invented!”
“All right little madam. Stop stalling. Anything need to be turned off in here?” he asked with a sharp glance at the stove.
She was dancing toward the pantry with her hands flapping in the air. “Safety first? We’re good, fancy man. Now you stop stalling and get your sexy ass in there.” She’d stopped, grabbed the pantry’s door knob, and was waving him on.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he snickered as he slid by.
She took one last look around, didn’t see or hear anyone, and quietly pulled the door shut.
When she turned around Roman’s pants were down around his ankles, and he was casually handling his impressively rigid cock.
“My, my,” she purred. “You’re a very big boy, aren’t you?”
“You’ve proven you can handle it,” he drawled.
She tapped a nail on her chin and eyed him up with undisguised hunger. “How do you see this going?”
“Well, it’s your lucky day, kitten. Rhi thought I’d lost my mind for putting a carpet in here. I hate cold wood floors on my delicate feet.”
“Let me guess,” she cooed as she came toward him. “All fours?”
His wicked leer got her engine running. “You know me so well.”
Eager to get his lovely fat cock inside her, she ripped off her stretchy yoga pants, shimmied like a stripper out of a scrap from the naughty lingerie Rhiann loaded her up with, and dropped to the carpet.
“Face down and that sexy ass up. Spread your thighs. A little more,” he growled after a moment.
She heard the sound of a condom wrapper being ripped open. A second later his fingers were exploring her opening. His pleased growl made her pussy quiver. She was ready and becoming wetter and more aroused by the moment. She loved when it was like this. No foreplay. Just animal lust. Pure, nasty, fucking.
He moved into position and spread her ass apart as his hard shaft began to penetrate her. Almost immediately she started to pant. Just thinking about him inside her was enough to make the juices flow and her body respond to the promise of an orgasm.
The sensation as he stretched her and his fat cock pushed deeper was amazing. They both groaned at the same time when he was fully seated.
He shifted and pushed her one knee out. A gush of arousal greeted the head of his beautiful cock as the slight change in angle sent him just that much deeper. Sweet tingles crawled slowly along her nerves.
“Give me your hands,” he demanded in a harsh, guttural growl.
Right away she started melting down. He knew she got an extra thrill out of having her hands restrained.
Crossing her wrists low on her back, he grabbed them and held tight. His grip and the control it gave him served as an anchor as he got serious about the fucking.
With her face on the carpet, she bucked into him and rolled her ass. The circular movement made his cock feel enormous. Holding tight to her wrists, he pulled back and almost out of her and then slammed home with a violent thrust. She came immediately.
Her leg shook. She shoved a fist in her mouth as the climax took her under. She was barely finished when he bent down and bit her shoulder. “Count it down, kitten. A dozen should do it.”
Oh god. He was killing her. And she loved it.
“Twelve,” she grunted.
“Hard or easy, baby?”
“Hard. Please, Roman.”
His chuckle had a dirty vibe. “Yes, Ma’am.”
He pounded into her as she counted down with each mind-emptying stroke. By the count of eight, she was almost incoherent. He slapped her ass. “Count kitten. I want you to know when I come.”
Three quick, brutal thrusts sent her spiraling.
She was gasping for air as Roman paused, caressed her ass with one hand and squeezed her wrists with the other.
“How many left?”
Unf. She struggled to answer. “F-four.”
He grunted. Two hypnotically slow strokes followed. She whimpered when his cock swelled, and he yanked on her wrists. She arched as much as possible and went with him as he came.
When he pulled out a minute or so later, he bent and kissed her ass. She loved this part too. Roman enjoyed this position. So did she. He said he liked watching her ass when he fucked her. There wasn’t a lot of doubt in Kelly’s mind that one day he’d be claiming a different sort of virginity.
He dealt with the condom and helped her up. She got quite a thrill when he knelt in front of her to help put on the ridiculously skimpy panties.
“Let me say again how much I like this.” He leaned in and dropped a wet kiss real low and breathed her in.
During their spa adventure, she let Rhiann persuade her to give waxing a try. Ginny thought the whole thing hilarious. She would have done it too except she declared that her downstairs situation was currently in tiptop shape.
Refusing even to consider one of those Brazilian numbers where every hair was ripped out, she opted for something called a sweetheart trim. When it was over her out-of-control garden was a delightfully neat and pretty hedge with the suggestion of some heart shaped lady-scaping clearly visible. Roman lost his shit the first time he saw it. Since then he’d taken to licking her pussy every chance he got.
With a cheeky smirk, she answered. “Well, once you explained how much careful trimming and man-mowing goes into your uh, presentation,” she silkily teased, “it seemed the least I could do.”
She quickly pulled on her stretch pants and suggested he hurry the hell up and do the same. When they cracked the door a minute later and peeked their heads out, she breathed a sigh of relief to find they’d pulled off some pantry hanky panky while there were people around.
Dashing into the kitchen, she washed her hands and made a small production out of consulting her list. Roman went straight to the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of that disgusting Yoohoo shit he loved so much and guzzled the whole container.
That’s what they were still doing a good minute later when Matty came busting in.
“Hey!” he hollered. Boyish excitement was bouncing off him. “Can we have a puppy? Gigi says we need a dog.”
“Oh she does, does she?” Kelly drawled at the exact second Ginny appeared.
“I’m so sorry, you two,” she half-apologized, and half laughed. “I wasn’t paying attention. You know how it is.”
Everyone but Matty nodded in agreement.
“He mentioned a puppy, said Roman was on board, and before I could think it through I said it was a great idea.”
“What’s a great idea?” a new voice asked.
She turned toward the other end of the kitchen in time to see Rhiann and a casually dressed Liam striding toward them.
She didn’t say it out loud, but her expression certainly revealed her thoughts. This place is like Grand Central Station.
Roman chuckled, kissed her forehead and went to welcome the rest of the family. For someone who spent her whole life in solitary confinement, this near-constant ebb and flow of person-to-person contact proved a challenge. She was getting better at it though, and had even softened a bit toward Liam.
Not long after their arrival in the city, Adam Ward finally died. It was a non-event. She didn’t feel a thing, and if Liam did, he kept it to himself.
While their interactions were politely pleasant and at times oddly close, they were still dancing around each other. Matty, on the other hand, got sucked right into having men around. The one and only time things got obviously weird was when Liam presented Matty with a small gift bag containing two DVDs.
She’d been so proud of his big boy reaction. Politely accepting the gift with the appropriate thanks, he then handed the bag off to her and informed Liam that, “Kiki doesn’t let me watch TV without…um.”
“Permission,” she explained.
Liam looked horrified by his gaffe. Roman quickly explained that they were determined to raise the boy without an overdose of technology. Especially mindless TV watching.
Since then, Liam went out of his way to interact with her on what she’d come to think of as the parenting portion of the program. He was genuinely curious to learn how she’d managed when Matty was a baby and asked smart, open-minded questions about her parenting philosophy.
She assumed this was because he and Rhiann wanted to start a family. The whole clueless husband-to-be thing was adorable and cute.
A long time later after a family style meal of meatball chili, Roman’s favorite homemade cornbread and a big salad, they were lounging around the living room when out of the damn blue Ginny said, “Are you two planning on raising the boy here in the city?”
“We’re exploring other options,” Roman told her.
“Tell Gigi about the house,” Matty insisted with an emphasizing karate chop.
It was Liam who did the explaining. Kelly looked at Rhiann whose face was positively beaming as he laid it out.
“My lovely bride and I are looking for a family house that we can move into after the wedding. There are a few new developments we’re looking at. One is outside the city, and the other is in Connecticut.”
Roman offered his opinion. “I like the Connecticut house. The development is secure, and it’s in a great school district.”
“That sounds to me like you’re in the market too,” Ginny observed.
Sam chimed in. “What are we talking about here? Big family houses?”
“Oh no,” Rhiann was quick to say. “Not at all. The development Roman refers to has about forty homes. It’s gated and is just four blocks from a huge park. The houses aren’t cookie cutter. There are sprawling colonials and single story ranch style.”
“We sound like a realtor brochure,” Liam said with a chuckle. “Do I hear the sounds of my future wife making a decision? Can it be?”
“Maybe we should both buy in the same community.”
Kelly’s head whipped around at Roman’s comment.
“Now, hold on,” Sam interjected. “Me and the missus might want to get in on this too.”
“What?” she stammered. Were they in an alternate reality? What was going on?
Ginny rubbed her husband’s shoulder. “Providence isn’t the same without you,” she said with a warm smile.
Matty launched into her arms. “I love my Gigi.”
“You know we think of Kelly and Matty as family,” Sam said. “I’ve been thinking about giving Bobby a chance to take over the butcher shop. And asking Jimmy to manage my stuff if we leave. Bet he’d be happy to be your property manager too, hon.”
She was stunned. They had it all figured out. She jumped up and ran to Sam, folding him in a hearty hug. Ginny joined in. Matty too.
Then Roman squeezed in and before long so did Liam and Rhiann. They were group hugging and laughing at the same time.
Her whole being filled with light.
This is what love is, she thought.
Sam and Ginny. She loved them as the grandparents she never had.
Matty was more son than brother and her devotion to him was without question.
Rhiann’s welcoming inclusion left her feeling like one of the Baron-Wilde sisters. It was an amazing and special thing.
Even Liam. She loved him. How could she not? He was practically her twin in manner and temperament. Heaven help all of them if they ever truly tangled. His arrogance and her take-no-shit personality were a recipe for disaster.
And then there was Roman. The love she felt for him was different. It scared her a little because of how fast and completely she fell for him. But he’d been the most amazing gentleman despite their raunchy proclivities, and not ever for a single moment in all of this had she wondered if he was for real or if he truly did have her back.
He was, simply put, the best man on the planet. No competition. None. End stop as far as she was concerned. She loved him with her full heart and intended to follow him to the ends of the Earth if she had to. And surprise, surprise. She didn’t care one little bit if they were married or not.
“So I guess this means we’re all moving to Connecticut.” Sam was having a good hearty laugh that quickly caught on.
“And I’m getting a puppy!”
Everyone stopped, looked at Matty as he did some herky-jerky touchdown dance, and then cracked up laughing even harder.
“I think this calls for champagne,” her sexy lover declared before dashing into the kitchen.
There must be a committee meeting, she thought when Liam and Sam followed.
That left the ladies and a still bouncing Matty alone in the living room.
“Can anyone tell me what just happened here?” she asked.
Rhiann, dear sweet Rhiann, put one arm around Ginny and the other around Kelly.
“I’ll tell you what happened. The past just got put to rest. You, Ms. James, have gained one hell of a guy and a brother who thinks you’re the tits and the balls.”
Ginny boomed with laughter.
“And the love of my life and undisputed all around good guy not only gained a sister and a brother, he seems to have picked up a set of grandparents along the way.”
“Truth,” Ginny sweetly declared.
“We cooked up a goddamn family ladies! I’d say that makes us the shit. And if our men want to buy us pretty shiny things, and by that I mean custom houses, why resist?”
She wasn’t sure what to say or how to react. Everything was too perfect.
“And one more thing,” Rhiann happily chirped. “You,” she said to her with a wink. “Bridesmaid. You and Charlie. My big sister Brynn is doing Matron of Honor duties. And Matty can be the ring bearer. Is that okay Kelly? Will you both please be in our wedding?”
“Oh my god, Rhiann,” she cried. “Are you kidding? Matty!” she cried. “Did you hear that? We’re gonna be in a wedding!”
“Yay!” Matty yelled. “Liam’s getting married!”
“And Ginny,” Rhiann said. “I want you and Sam there too. On Liam’s side. As his family. Is that okay?”
That’s when the flood of tears started. Lots of them. The tissues were being passed around when the men came back into the room carrying the champagne and glasses.
“Kelly?” Roman’s concern touched her heart. He was just so damn sweet.
“Relax, Bishop,” Rhiann quipped. “Happy tears, every one.”
Liam took care of popping the champagne and handing out the glasses while Roman cracked open a ginger ale and poured some into a smaller glass for Matty.
The most unexpected and unique family she ever could have imagined gathered in the living room of her new home and raised their glasses.
Sam made a simple toast that with a few choice words covered a world of emotions.
“To family. The one that stands the test of time. Salud, children!”
“Salud,” they all cheered.
“I want to say something,” Kelly said after a sip or two.
Everyone looked at her and the emotion clogged up her throat.
“I’m grateful that you cared enough to stick around,” she told Sam and Ginny.
“I’m glad you went digging,” she told Liam and Rhiann.
To Roman, she said, “Thank you.”
“Why?” he asked in a gentle voice.
“I love you.”
“Me too,” Matty boasted. “Me and Kiki love you Roman. Can we get married too?”
“What?” Roman stammered.
“Matty,” Kelly murmured. “Not now.”
“No, wait,” Roman said. “He’s right. This is perfect!” He high-fived Matty and said, “Thanks, little dude. I owe you a big one.”
Then he slugged back the rest of his champagne and took the flute from her unfeeling grip and put the two aside. When he got on one knee she mumbled, “What’s happening?”
“Kelly,” he began. “Things you need to know. I fucking adore you.”
Matty put a hand to his mouth and side-muttered a snarky and very comical, “Penny jar.”
“And I hate those damn Uggs.”
She giggled and gave him her hand when he asked for it.
“Will you marry me and make me nucking futz for the rest of my sorry life?”
“Well, I don’t know,” she teased. “Does this proposal come with a ring?”
There was no way she expected him to whip some bling out of his pocket but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a fast and creative thinker.
“Who’s got a pen? Find me a pen!”
Everyone scrambled.
“Found one!” Rhiann yelled.
“Me too,” Sam said.
He took the blue pen because it was her color and made a silly production out of drawing a diamond ring on her finger.
“How’s that? Good?”
His cheeky grin sealed her fate.
“I want you to wear a wedding band.”
“Is that the Kelly James way of saying yes?”
The sneaky devil.
She looked at Matty. His face was full of rapturous joy.
“Because you asked this time instead of issuing a demand, then yes. Yes. I will marry you and drive you as crazy as I can. For all the days of our lives.”
He leaped to his feet and kissed her with such passion and emotion that she started to cry. Tears flowed like rain down her cheeks.
What started as an unwelcome incursion into her life had turned into the greatest joy imaginable. She wasn’t the forgotten invisible girl anymore, and she and Matty were surrounded by an embarrassment of love and support.
Not only were all her hopes and dreams for the future assured, but she also found the love of a lifetime in the deal.
It was the happiest happily ever after of all time.
THE END
Meet Kelly's brother Liam in the , now FREE with Kindle Unlimited