Chapter Twenty-Seven – A Ghoulishly
Good Time
Carly
I have the cutest little witch that Las Vegas has ever seen. With her pointy black hat that she’s actually keeping on her head at the moment, black dress, and purple and black striped tights, Natalia is sitting proudly in the stroller as we hit the streets to partake in her first Halloween festival. So what if she really has no clue what’s going on? There’s still a hum of excitement in the air. Maybe it has more to do with the fact that I’m walking down the street to meet Blake for the first time in three very long days. Days that transitioned straight into restless and sleepless nights. Nights that mocked my misery by filling my dreams with green eyes and broad shoulders.
Reaching the designated meeting spot, I scan the crowd for Blake. Costumed children are everywhere with handfuls of cotton candy, caramel apples, and hot apple cider. Vendors are set up as far as the eye can see peddling everything from handmade goods to holiday décor to every food option you can imagine. Games are littered along the blocked streets while kids run from one side to the other. Even half the adults are dressed up, which makes it harder to pick Blake out of the crowd.
I scan the crowd once more, anxiety coursing through my body, when a familiar voice speaks from behind me. “Carly.” Just the sound of my name from his lips is enough to send shivers of delight through my body. Familiarity. Comfort. Love.
Hearing her father’s voice, Natalia flips around, trying with everything she has to see around the stroller and knocking her hat crooked in the process. When she finally catches her first glimpse of Blake, her face lights up in a way that I haven’t seen for days. She has been doing so well lately with sleeping at night. The colic hasn’t been as bad as it was before Blake. In all honesty, I have no idea if Blake is the reason or not, but I’d like to associate him with it. Ever since he stormed into our lives, everything has been different. Everything.
“Hi, baby girl,” Blake says with a matching smile that could be spotted from the space shuttle.
“Da da,” Natalia hollers, reaching upward with gripping fingers and doing everything she can to get free from her seatbelt restraint.
“Have you been a good girl for Mommy?” he asks while squatting in front of the stroller, unbuckling her belt. Before he releases her completely, he looks up, those emerald green eyes finding mine for the first time in three days. The entire world suddenly shifts. Hell, maybe it just finally aligns. My heart rate picks up and my breathing becomes labored. Suddenly, I’m having a hard time remembering why I was so upset with him in the first place.
“Can I?” he asks.
Words seem to evade me as brain function completely goes out the window, so I shake my head in acknowledgement. I watch helplessly as Blake picks Natalia up and places the biggest kiss on her chubby little cheek. Natalia grabs the sides of his scruffy face with wet hands and starts to laugh. The resulting smile from Blake melts every defense I had left. There’s no denying the feelings I have for this man. Hell, I wasn’t denying them before Blake dropped the bomb on me a few days ago. I wasn’t exactly acknowledging them either, but I wasn’t ignoring those feelings. We just weren’t discussing them. Now? Now, I have no clue which way is up and which way is down.
“You are the most beautiful little witch I’ve ever seen,” Blake says before placing another kiss on Natalia’s forehead, dropping her witch’s hat on the seat of her stroller. He runs his large hand up and down her back, hugging her close as if he won’t ever let her go. I’ve longed for so long to have that for my daughter. I want her to have that connection with her father. I want him to worship the ground she walks on. I want him to love her as much as I love her.
And she has that with Blake.
I just have to decide where I fit into this equation.
The realization that I might not fit into the picture the way I want to brings a tsunami of emotions front and center. I have to look down to keep myself from tearing up. I know that Blake said he wanted me, but what if he has changed his mind? What if he has realized that I’m not worth the headache? What if he only wants Natalia and my place will always be just as her mother and nothing more? Blake is everything I’ve ever wanted in a father for Natalia, but that’s not all. He’s all I’ve wanted in a partner, a best friend, and a lover for myself, too. I’ve known it since the moment he drove away three days ago, but I wasn’t ready to completely admit it yet. I needed time to process everything he confessed to me and to really think about his words. I needed to make sure that I was with him for the right reasons as much as I want him with me for the same.
“How have you been?” he asks. He’s going for casual, but I can tell there’s tension in his tone. When I look up, I gasp at the intensity in that green gaze. They’re hypnotizing and enchanting in the most beautiful way.
“G-good,” I stutter. I can’t take my eyes off him. Channing Tatum could streak by me naked right now, and I wouldn’t know it.
Blake takes three steps forward until he’s invading my personal space. Without juggling our daughter, he leans forward until his lips are hovering over my cheek. I let out another audible gasp as my senses are filled with Blake’s unique scent. He smells like soap and leather. I’m about to lean to my side just a little to feel his scruffy cheek against mine when he places those warm lips against my chilled cheek. My entire body ignites into flames as warmth races through my veins. Everything around me fades away as I absorb his scent, his nearness, and the feel of his lips.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispers before he pulls his lips away from my skin.
“Me too,” I mumble, unable to keep the single tear from running down my cheek. With only the slightest adjustment of the little girl he’s carrying, Blake reaches forward and wipes the lone tear away. The feel of his thumb against my skin causes more tears to follow in its wake.
“Please don’t cry, baby,” he says before pulling me into his big, strong embrace. Everything shifts into place like giant puzzle pieces. Everything is right. Perfect.
I could stay right here forever, wrapped in Blake’s arms. I cling to him so tight, I’m afraid I’ve cut off circulation to half of my body. We stand like that for a few seconds–or a few minutes–I don’t really know. When I finally start to pull away, it’s because Natalia has a handful of my hair and she’s trying to ingest it.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Blake states with serious eyes. “But first, we have a festival to enjoy,” he adds with that warm smile that I love. The one I’ve missed more than anything.
I grab the stroller and start to walk next to Blake. He has yet to put Natalia in her seat, and I figure he’s just taking the opportunity to hold her. It has been three long days for her as well, and I feel a tinge of guilt at keeping him from her these past few days. It’s not like he called and wanted to see her and I told him no, but I didn’t reach out to him either and I probably should have.
The first place we stop is to a booth selling homemade fudge and candy. I’ve never told Blake this, but fudge is my all-time favorite treat. I try to avoid it if at all possible, because I’m the type that can’t stop with just one little taste. I want the whole thing, and I’m not going to share it either. Fudge isn’t exactly hips-friendly, so when Blake walks over with Nat and purchases a pound of French silk fudge and a pound of chocolate peanut butter marble fudge, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. Without saying a word, Blake walks over and drops the little white box of deliciousness onto the seat of the stroller. With a wink of his uber-sexy eye, he turns and walks towards the next booth.
When we reach the booth containing balloon animals, Blake helps Natalia pick out a balloon crown and a balloon monkey. The monkey goes straight to her mouth as the sounds of her little teeth and gums squeaking against the rubber fill the air. Blake attempts to pull the defenseless balloon animal from her mouth, but she won’t have it. The war cry she releases is enough to scare off even the hardest of criminals.
“So, I guess we’ll just let her gnaw on it until she pops it,” Blake says matter-of-factly.
“Just watch her so she doesn’t swallow the plastic,” I tell him.
“I think we just need a new distraction,” Blake says as he walks to the next booth containing a ball toss game. It reminds me of the old Bozo game show I watched reruns of when I was younger.
Blake tosses a few bills at the young girls running the game and positions Natalia in front of the buckets. With precision and expertise, he extracts the balloon from her mouth and hands it to me. Then, I watch as they toss three balls into the buckets. Blake helped Natalia make it to the second to last bucket, earning our daughter a new pink teddy bear. Natalia latches onto it before Blake completely lets go, and it’s in her mouth a second later.
“Like a charm,” Blake says with a broad smile as he joins me on the sidewalk. His smile is genuine and open. He appears stress-free, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. It’s as if he’s finally able to enjoy himself. Even though I’ve caught him looking over his shoulder more than once, I can tell that he’s enjoying himself and the time with our daughter.
An hour later, we’ve covered most of the festival. Natalia is sitting back in her stroller again; alternating between chewing on her new teddy bear and the Teddy Graham cookies I carry in her diaper bag. Blake and I walk side-by-side, drinking cups of warm apple cider. A few times his arm brushed against mine. Those little grazes send heat spiraling downward towards my center. My face flushes warm with each touch. Add in the memories of his hands on my body and I’m basically a walking hot flash.
“I’m going to take her inside and change her diaper,” I tell him as we reach an Internet café on the street corner. We’re at the far end of the festival as traffic moves along the busy street next to the building and festival-goers drive their vehicles around trying to find any available parking spot.
“Okay. I’ll hang out here with the stroller,” Blake says as he moves to the side to stay out of the walkway.
After unbuckling Natalia from the stroller, we step inside and find the restroom in the back of the café. I talk animatedly to my daughter as I change her diaper and make sure she’s cleaned up. She doesn’t even seem to mind having her diaper changed as long as she has her new teddy bear to chew on.
I slip out of the bathroom, chatting with Natalia about taking a nap, when a gentleman stops me in the hallway. “Excuse me, do you have the time? I’m supposed to meet someone here, but I think she’s running late,” he says, his smile seemingly tight and forced. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as a wave of recognition starts to set in. I know this guy, but where?
“Umm, sure,” I start to say, adjusting Natalia to my other hip so that I can catch a glimpse at my watch. “It’s almost three o’clock,” I add.
Before I can glance back up, the man wraps his strong hand around my upper arm and pulls me into his side. “Scream and I’ll kill your daughter.”
I have no time to think. No time to react. No time to speak.
It happens so fast I have no time to summon the man I love for help. I’m led very quickly towards a waiting van at the back of the café. All I can think about is protecting Natalia. I don’t know if this man is serious about hurting my daughter, but I can’t risk it. I will never put her in jeopardy or risk her life.
I just hope that Blake can figure out what in the hell is going on here before it’s too late.