Chapter Twenty

Blake

Once I managed to get my laughter under control, Hadley made a move to get up.

“Not yet,” I said, pulling her tightly to my chest. Was it wrong that I wanted to keep her like this for a bit longer? We had no problem connecting without our clothes on, so why was it so damn hard to do when dressed?

“I can’t believe that just happened,” she murmured against my neck.

“Did you really make me dinner?” I asked.

She pulled her head back and leveled her big brown eyes on me—eyes that were no longer filled with laughter, but concern. “About that. Ashe offered to carry the table in...and then he stayed. I kept trying to get rid of him, but he just wouldn’t take a hint and go.”

“Hey, I’m not angry...with you, that is. I’m just really fucking hungry.” It was clear that I needed to get Ashe straightened out but that would have to wait.

“Well, Mr. Moreno, you just happen to be in the right place. Let me feed you,” Hadley offered with a smile. I gave her one last kiss before lifting her up and pushing us both from the floor.

We quickly got dressed and while Hadley finished cooking, I told her about what happened with Hunter and how I’d been lured back into working at Whisky’s again.

“It sounds like a pretty lucrative situation,” she commented. She wasn’t wrong, but all the money in the world couldn’t stop me from wanting to be here at Sazerac’s with her. Of all times for Hunter to fuck up, why now?

At my suggestion, we ate our meal at the bar. It was there that Hadley addressed what happened this morning.

“I’m sorry about this morning. On the way to the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and kind of freaked out. In my head, I know I’m pregnant, but knowing it and seeing it are two very different things. And then, when I couldn’t fit in any of my clothes, I just lost it,” she explained between bites of steak.

Setting down my fork, I pulled her to my side and kissed her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it worse. Once you move in, I promise to fill the closet with whatever clothes you need.” I felt her body stiffen. “What?” I questioned, pulling far enough back to see her face.

“About moving in...don’t you think we’re going a little fast?” Her hesitant tone immediately put me on edge. I thought we’d already decided this.

“You’re carrying my baby, Hadley,” I pointed out.

“No, really?” she sarcastically shot back at me. I arched a brow, and she sighed. “Look, I know I agreed to move in, but I want to make sure it’s for the right reasons.” I was pretty damn sure that her carrying my child was reason enough, but apparently, she disagreed. “And I have some concerns about us living together.”

“And those would be?” I snapped, feeling as if she was about to pull a bait and switch on me. Her nose scrunched and I knew I wasn’t going to like her answer.

She held five fingers up, and one by one, began ticking off her concerns. “Well, for one, I don’t share very well. Second, I need time to prepare. Third, I’ve never lived with a man before. Fourth, you have a lot of lady friends, and fifth, did I mention I don’t share very well?”

After a moment of contemplation, I decided to address the first and the last issue. “I’m going to need you to define the word share.” This time when her face scrunched, I wanted to kiss it.

“You know... share,” she muttered on a shrug. I knew exactly what she was getting at but wanted to hear her say it.

“No, I don’t know. Are we talking food, living space, or something entirely different?” When she failed to answer, I smiled. “If you’ll recall, an hour or so ago, I walked in on Ashe eating my salad.” Her eyes lifted to mine and flashed with anger.

“Yes, but I didn’t sleep with Ashe, Blake.”

“And I haven’t been with another woman since you moved to Charlotte, Hadley,” I carefully pointed out.

“But they all want you.”

“And I want you.”

“Blaaaaake,” she whined with an exaggerated eye roll, and I knew I had her.

“I want you and only you,” I repeated, this time with my mouth inches from hers. When her sweet lips opened in invitation, I pulled back. “Tell me you’ll move in,” I ordered.

“We’ll be exclusive, right?” she asked, the hope in her voice searing through me.

“Just you and me, baby,” I confirmed before kissing her silly.

A moment passed before she broke the kiss. “Okay, but I need time to tell my family and to get my things in order.”

“How much time?” I asked.

“How about next month?” she answered, trying not to smile.

“Nice try. You’ve got two weeks,” I countered. She sighed and I sealed the deal with another kiss. Then we ate dessert.

The next morning, I woke before Hadley. As she was almost always up before me, I’d never had the chance to watch her sleep. She was on her side facing me, her dark hair strewn across the pillow, her expression so peaceful. As I watched her sleep, I thought back to last night’s conversation and how I’d gotten her to agree to move in with me in two weeks’ time. I wanted her here today. I wonder if she’d notice if I started moving her things in? As if sensing me staring at her, Hadley’s eyes slowly opened. The moment she focused in on me, her face split into a breathtaking smile. Jesus, this woman had me wrapped around her little finger. How she couldn’t see this, was beyond me.

“What has you up so early?” she questioned in a sexy, sleepy voice. My cock immediately jerked to attention.

I thought about lying to her, but quickly changed my mind. If we were going to do this, I might as well start it off on the right foot. “I want you to move in today.” Surprise fluttered across her face, before turning into exasperation.

“Two weeks,” she stated in a very matter-of-fact tone.

“Today,” I repeated more emphatically. With a huff, she flipped the covers back, but before she could escape, I had her pinned to the bed.

“Two weeks,” she said, and I could tell by the breathy way in which the words were delivered that I was beginning to gain a little ground.

Staring deep into her eyes, I rubbed my hard cock against her panty-clad pussy, and asked, “Why not today?”

Hadley spread her legs a little wider for me, and panted, “God, Blake. Is this how you plan on getting your way with everything?”

“That depends, is it working?” Because it sure as shit was working for me.

“Please,” she whispered.

“Is that a yes?” I growled.

She thrashed her head against the pillow. Then, in a frustrated growl, suggested, “I need to tell my dad. I still have to talk to Cat. How about we move me in slowly over the next week?”

“Deal,” I said as I yanked up her shirt and jerked it over her head. Her perfect tits spilled out and bounced against her chest.

She gasped my name as I sucked a hard, little nipple into my mouth. As she writhed beneath me, I felt her fingers in my hair. Switching nipples, I stripped off her panties. Murmuring incoherent words, she gave my hair a sharp yank, causing me to growl in response. I was on fire and the only way I would find relief was inside this woman. Shucking off my boxers, I grabbed my throbbing cock, lined it up to her entrance, and plunged inside.

“Fuck!” I shouted. I couldn’t get enough of her...this...us. She fit me. I fit her. I’d never had better. We were perfect together. Like a lightning bolt, it struck. I was in love with Hadley Jacobs.

It wasn’t until she shouted, “Don’t stop now!” that I realized I’d even done so. Flipping onto my back, I lifted her above me and we both groaned as she slid down my cock. With her tits on full display, she pressed her palms to my pecs and slowly lifted her pelvis. The warmth of her pussy squeezed my shaft as she let go and throttled back down.

“Fuck!” I barked.

“God, that feels good,” she panted before repeating the motion a second time. By round three, we were both out of breath and I was ready to explode.

“You better get there quickly, baby,” I warned.

“I’m there,” she gasped right before letting go. Down she plunged. The orgasm hit like a freight train and we both shouted as it bowled us over.

I took Hadley for an early lunch before dropping her back at her place to get ready for work. On the drive there, Zane called and informed me that Hunter hadn’t shown for work. Yesterday was his day off, so I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t hear from him. I’d suspected that he was home nursing his bruised ego, but to not show up for a scheduled shift was unlike him.

“Who’s manning the bar?” I asked. Hadley shot me a concerned look, and I mouthed, “Hunter.”

“Lena’s there but she’s worried. I hate to say it, but so am I,” Zane admitted.

“Want us to stop by and check on him?” I arched my brow at Hadley and she nodded her head in return.

“Yeah. Try not to kick his ass too hard, okay?”

“That depends on what we find. I’ll give you a call back once I know what we’re dealing with. Later,” I said, and hung up.

“I take it Hunter didn’t show for work?” Hadley asked.

“Nope. What I don’t get is why now? Lena kicked him to the curb over a year ago.”

“Hunter was with Lena?” she asked. Shit! Me and my fucking big mouth.

“About that—” I started to say.

“I won’t say anything. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Lena’s so...put together. Hunter seems like a wild card.”

“I’m not sure what happened between them. One minute they were inseparable and the next she was dating the guy she’s with now. Hunter played it off as no big deal—”

“But you think it was,” Hadley finished for me.

“About six months ago, Hunter and I went out. He got hammered and admitted that he was in love with her,” I confessed.

“Poor Hunter,” Hadley murmured.

I turned into the parking lot of the apartment complex Hunter lived in and immediately spotted his Porsche.

“You boys and your fast cars,” Hadley teased as I pulled into a nearby empty parking space. “That reminds me. What are you going to do when the baby arrives?” she asked.

Smiling, I replied, “That’s easy. I’ll buy us the safest SUV on the market.” I’d already done some preliminary research and had narrowed it down to three models.

“SUV’s are expensive, Blake.” I found her concerned tone rather endearing. She would be in for quite a surprise when she eventually learned that I actually had a pretty substantial net worth.

Clasping my hand on her neck, I pulled her across the center console and gave her a long, hard, and very appreciative kiss. When the kiss finally broke, I teased, “Just so you know, you’re the worst gold digger ever.”

“Oh, Blaze, you say the nicest things,” she replied on a laugh.

“I’m going to take care of you, baby, so you’d best get used to it,” I informed, before laying another one on her. Then we went to see about Hunter.

When dickhead failed to answer his door, I told Hadley to stay. As I made my way around to his back patio where he kept a spare key, I cursed his stupid ass.

“Maybe he’s not here,” Hadley noted on my return with the key. He was here alright. I just didn’t know what kind of shape he was going to be in.

The first thing we noticed on entry, was the smell.

“Oh, God! What’s that smell?” Hadley asked. The place was so dark I couldn’t see a damn thing. Leaving the front door open, I reached over and flipped open the blinds to the window that spanned the living room. As light poured into the room I heard Hadley squeak. My eyes shifted over to where she was standing and that’s when I saw him.

“Fucking hell, Hunter!” I shouted. He was lying on the sofa, flat on his back, with one arm over his face, the other on his stomach, and not a stitch of clothing on. Empty bottles of beer, liquor, and...Zima were strewn about the place. The smell was where he’d vomited. From the looks of it, more than one time.

“God, Blake,” Hadley whispered. Shit, this was bad. For a moment, I stood frozen in my tracks. I’d never seen Hunter like this. What the hell was I supposed to do?

“Hunter!” Hadley called out. He responded by loudly smacking his lips.

“It’s Blake and Hadley!” she shouted. “We came to check in on you!” Hunter flinched. So did I, for that matter.

“I’m pretty sure he’s drunk and not deaf, babe.” I told her, and chuckled when she shot me a dirty look. Hunter groaned and we both glanced over at him

“Cover him,” she ordered, nodding at the little square pillow at his feet.

Following her eyes to his groin, I snarled, “How about you stop staring at his junk.” We both froze when Hunter flipped onto his side. Great, now she had a perfect view of his nuts. Why didn’t I drop her off before coming here? “Close your eyes,” I ordered. Of course, she didn’t.

“Hunter, man. We need to get you up,” I said, tapping his foot. When he responded with a loud fart, Hadley broke into giggles. I wasn’t in the least bit amused. In fact, I was really starting to get pretty fucking irritated.

Half an hour later, Hunter was freshly showered and the place was cleaned up. He was, however, still drunk. I knew this because he kept trying to touch Hadley’s belly and wouldn’t stop commenting about how he wished he was her baby daddy.

“There’s no way he can work tonight,” I admitted on an irritated sigh.

“What are you thinking?” Hadley asked. As much as I didn’t want to, I knew that I needed to take care of my friend.

“I’m going to drop you at your place, work dickhead here’s shift, and then head back over here after work to make sure he doesn’t try to pull off anymore boneheaded stunts.”

“You’re shtupid,” Hunter slurred. Hadley snorted and I shook my head at my dumb ass friend.

“Not as stupid as you, dumb ass. I can’t wait to tell everyone you got hammered on Zima,” I teased with a laugh.

“That shit burns on the way back out,” he informed us.

Forty minutes later, we left Hunter somewhat sobered up and drinking a cup of coffee. On the drive to Hadley’s place all I could think was that if I’d known how bad he had it for Lena, I never would have encouraged Zane to hire her. Some friend I was...