Sweet Little Memories (Sweet #3)(31)

Crap. He’d seen me. I was going to be thought of as the crazy girlfriend.

“Oh, I’m fine. No tears I had just drank a lot of water and was in a hurry to get to the bathroom,” I lied easily enough. It was a little scary how good I was at it.

Stone didn’t respond right away. Maybe I wasn’t as good at it as I thought.

“I’ll be home in the morning,” he said his tone still serious. “Or do you need me tonight? Is Heidi okay? Has Jasper contacted you?”

He hadn’t bought the needing to pee thing. Well at least I sucked as a liar.

“I’m fine. Really.”

“Call me if you need me. I love you,” he said the last three words fiercely. As if he needed me to remember that.

“I love you too,” I replied. And I did. But I wasn’t sure our love was ready for what lay ahead.





Stone

BEFORE I LEFT TODAY, I had been planning to confront my mother about my father. I wanted her to explain why we shared no DNA. After talking to Mack and hearing the uncertainty and emotion Beulah was trying so hard to hide on the phone last night, I knew I had to return home. There was no time to track down my mother. She’d lie to me anyway. Giving up the heir to the Richardson empire wasn’t something she’d do without a fight.

The only way I could get home to Beulah before she woke up this morning was hire a private plane. Which I did. She was upset and I couldn’t shake off feeling I was about to lose her. Even when I knew she wasn’t the kind to run over something family issues. The bad feeling was still there in my gut. She was slipping away and I had to find a way to hold on to her.

Spending more time with her would be a start. I didn’t know how I would manage that with what I was about to sail into. The steps to fight for custody of Wills were now in place. I had to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. I had to be fully prepared for my father’s fury and his counterattack.

Frustrated with my limited options, I unlocked the apartment door and went inside. It was three hours before Beulah had to get up. I didn’t want to be the cause of her losing sleeping, but I also needed the reassurance of being beside her in bed holding her.

I locked the door behind me, dropped my keys on the table by the door and headed down the hallway. The bedroom that had been hers was dark and empty. That was reassuring. She hadn’t slept in there since the other night when I wasn’t here. She wasn’t trying to distance herself from me. I wanted her in my bed when I wasn’t there. I liked knowing she was near my things.

My bedroom door was closed. I opened it slowly and stepped inside. It was dark and it took me a moment for my eyes to adjust and see her sleeping in my bed. She was curled up on the side where I normally slept. She definitely wasn’t trying to get away from me. She was getting as close to me while I was gone as she could.

I removed my shoes, stepped out of my jeans and took my shirt off. As quietly as I could I moved to the bed and eased in behind her. She’d wake up in a few hours and probably scream when she realized she wasn’t alone. In her sleep, she sank back into my arms and made a pleased sound.

Inhaling, I let her sweet scent comfort me. She was here. In my home. With my things. She wasn’t leaving me. My worries were probably caused from the stress I was under with getting custody of Wills. I’d never had someone that I was scared of losing. Now I had two. Beulah and Wills. When you live most of your life having loved only two people, it is hard to adjust to loving others. Not just loving them, but loving them more fiercely than you’ve ever loved anyone else.

It’s fucking terrifying and makes you vulnerable. I didn’t like feeling vulnerable, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Without the vulnerability, there was no Beulah. There was no Wills. I would take the weakness. Gladly.

“Is the baby okay?” she mumbled.

Frowning, I raised up on my elbow and looked down at her. She wasn’t awake. Her eyes were still closed. What baby? Wills? He wasn’t a baby anymore. I guess to her he was. They’d meet soon. Wills would love her.

“Yes, he’s fine,” I assured her although I was positive she was sleeping.

“Mmm,” She snuggled closer to me.

I pressed a kiss to her temple and closed my eyes. I hadn’t been tired on my way here. Now that I had her in my arms and knew that she was safe, sleep began to take me.

The dreams came quickly. I was working but living back at the house I had shared with my friends during college. They were there along with others I hadn’t seen since graduation. It was a normal scene with drinking and gambling. I was standing back watching and saw Hilda walk inside with Wills beside her. That was out of place. She never came around and I hadn’t seen Wills since Christmas. Frowning, I started walking toward her when Beulah walked in behind her. Her face was streaked with tears and her were eyes swollen and red. She had been crying.

Panic gripped me as a startled cry jerked me from my sleep and my eyes snapped back open.

Beulah was sitting up looking down at me with her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scream. I just woke up and someone was behind me. It scared me. Go back to sleep,” she whispered after dropping her hand from her mouth.

I reached up and pulled her down to me with the hand she wasn’t currently sitting on. She came down over me willingly. Her lips met mine softly and the dream was forgotten. I no longer remembered the exact specifics or where I had been in the dream. It wasn’t important. This was.