Stuck-Up Suit(66)

“I’m just tired.”

“So it has nothing to do with spending time with my f*cking bitch of an ex or having newly discovered I have a four-year-old daughter or the possibility you could be pregnant. Am I missing anything?”

She chuckled quietly and then sighed. “You’re missing breakfast with Avery. That ought to be a blast.”

“Ah. Yes. Nothing like a double bitch fest for breakfast.”

Soraya went quiet again after that. I hated to go to sleep without the air clear, but it had been a long day, and she needed her rest. After about ten minutes, her breathing became slow and steady, and I knew she had fallen asleep. Staring into the dark while I held her tight in my arms, I realized we didn’t really need to rehash the day. Sometimes the words that are left unspoken are the ones that most needed to be said.

“I love you, Soraya,” I whispered to my sleeping beauty. “I f*cking love you.”

***

“WHAT TIME IS IT?” SHE STRETCHED her arms over her head, and the sheet that was covering her body slipped down revealing her nipples protruding through her white ribbed tank top. I had been quietly sitting at the desk on the other side of the room working since five but stalked to the bed unable to resist putting my lips on some of that exposed skin.

I lowered the sheet more and pushed up her tank top, dropping a line of kisses on her stomach. “It’s almost eight-thirty. You were really out.” Venturing higher, I licked the underswell of one of her breasts.

“Mmmm…” The sound she made shot straight to my dick. “What time is breakfast again?”

“I’m about to have my morning meal right now.” Lifting her tank fully over her breasts, I sucked in a nipple. Hard. Her fingers threaded through my hair.

“Graham…”

“Hmmm…” I moved to the other nipple and swirled my tongue, looking up at her. “What can I do for you, gorgeous? Would you prefer I eat you, or we play hide and seek with my cock?”

Her eyes fluttered closed as I bit down on her nipple. When a throaty moan fell from her lips, I thought I might have a teenage boy moment. Get ahold of yourself, Graham.

Crawling further up her body, I spoke with my lips against her mouth. “What’s it going to be? Part of me needs to be inside of you now, Soraya. Decide if it’s my tongue or my dick.” I kissed my way from her mouth to her ear and back again before concluding if she wasn’t going to respond, I would just start below the waist and work my way up until I was done. Making my decision, I pulled my head back to tell her and what I found was a kick in the gut. Tears were rolling down her face.

“Soraya? What the…”

“I got my period.”

“Oh, sweetheart…” Closing my eyes, I leaned my forehead against hers.

“It’s okay. I…I…really didn’t want to be pregnant anyway.” She wiped her cheeks. “I just got caught up in the moment of it all. Seeing you with your daughter, realizing what a good father you are going to be, I guess I just wanted to be part of that.”

“There’s nothing I would like more. It may not be today or tomorrow. But we’re going to have that someday.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“When it comes to you, I have no doubts.”

“God, Graham. Why does it hurt so much? I feel like I’ve lost something even though I never had it to lose.” She cried for a long time while I held her. Once the floodgates opened, everything came pouring out. The ache in my chest seeing her distraught was almost more than I could bear. I had to choke back my own tears more than once. When she finally calmed, I wanted so much to tell her I loved her, but I was afraid she would think I only said it because she was upset.

“Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll swing by to have breakfast with Chloe and then come back. The last thing you need is Genevieve right now.”

“But I want to say goodbye to Chloe.”

“Well, then how about this? It’s only a few miles to the house. I’ll take a cab over this morning and have breakfast, so you can spend a few hours in bed. Then when you’re feeling up to it, you can come by and get me, and say goodbye to Chloe.”

She nodded. “I’d like that. I don’t think I can handle Avery and Genevieve for too long.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” I tilted her chin to force her eyes back to mine. “We’re going to get through all of this. I promise. Okay?”

I had no idea at the time, but some promises just couldn’t be kept.





CHAPTER 25


SORAYA



THE HOTEL ROOM WAS TOO QUIET after Graham left. Alone with my thoughts, I picked up the phone and put it down, at least a dozen times. Who would I even call? There was no one I could really count on for an unbiased opinion. My situation was too close to home for my mom or my sister. There was always Delia. But she’d been with Tig since she was fourteen and truly believed in fairytale endings. Her reality didn’t involve a small child, a cunning ex, or growing up with a father who forgot her and a mother who was too sad to leave the house for years.

Faced with slim pickens for genuine guidance on my situation, I did something I never thought I would do—I fired up my laptop.



Dear Ida,

I’ve been dating a man for almost two months who I’ve fallen deeply in love with. A few weeks ago, he found out he has a child with his ex-girlfriend. It’s a sordid tale, but essentially she cheated on him, lied about who the father was, and kept him from knowing his child for years.