TUESDAY: A Double Shot (Hookup Café Book 2) Page 6

  “Delicious!” She was partially covering her mouth with her hand. Then she returned to our conversation. “Never! She was the nicest woman ever. Even once I was old enough to know that my parents were only married in name, separate bedrooms was my first clue. I could see the love between my father and Moreen. My mother couldn’t be bothered—her social life was far more important. I’m not certain if she ever had a special friend of her own. If she did, we never knew about him. The only time that I saw any emotion from her was when she realized that you were my father’s child. You, like me, look just like him. Eyes the same shade of blue but you have the blue flakes like your mother.” I stiffened. “I’m sorry, you’re aunt.”

  I didn’t mind the many slipups she was making about my aunt/mother. She didn’t mean to hurt me, that was obvious by the way she kept reaching out to pat my arm that I had resting on the table while I toyed with my own fork that had yet to touch my own mini-cake. I have no idea why I even brought it, I knew I’d never eat it but it was good to have a choice of flavors for Sharene.

  “I’m just getting used to hearing her referred to as my mother. I never really paid attention to my similarity to Travis when he came around… Hell, I never even knew that Moreen was my biological mother. It wasn’t until recently when Avery, unbeknownst to me, came into my life offering me money for the cottage along with other documents that have been disputed for a few years.”

  “He loves you and he has a right to know about his child. Please don’t repeat history, keeping a much loved child from its father. I have a feeling you love him too.” Another pat to my arm and then she asked if I was going to eat the mini-cake with a happy ladybug on it. Shaking my head, I pushed it toward her, shocked by her comment.

  “How did…”

  She cut me off with a look that told me that my bump was more than obvious to her and I didn’t have the energy to lie about it to her, my half-sister… my sister—another thing that I had to get used to. “…Here.” She slid a key across the table. “You’ll need it for the back gate. Go see what Avery’s created for you.” Then she stood to leave, but stopped before turning away. “Please think about giving us a chance. I’d like to get to know my baby sister and my niece or nephew. Not to mention, I can’t live without your cakes now that I’ve eaten two of them. Then she leaned down, hugged me, kissing my cheek and walked out of the café, leaving behind her phone number written on a napkin.

  Swirling it around, Pansie plopped down on the empty seat. “Your sister?” I nodded. “You okay?” Her hand was over mine, stilling my hand.

  “You know, I am… I am fine. My biological father loved Aunt Moreen and it sounds like he knew I was his but respected her decision to help her sister. Sharene, my sister wants to have a relationship with me and she said so does my other one, Teresa… Raymond not so much since he said I wasn’t blood. Which is true. Travis was a good man to raise another man’s child. And… Sharene also told me to give Avery a chance.

  “How does she know him… because he bought the property?”

  “Somehow, Avery’s father knew Travis and about his death and caught wind that the heirs were going to sell because of a property dispute. Avery wanted a property on the island so he stepped in an offered to buy the existing property—hoping to regain the whole acreage—for an undisclosed price that their mother, Delfina, couldn’t refuse. The problem there goes back to what I had been wondering all along—did he know about me and the history behind my biological parents and still fuck me? He claims he had no idea that I was the love shack baby. I don’t know exactly what he knows.”

  “Only one way to find out, Marzi.”

  Chapter Ten…

  With the key in my pocket, I hopped into Cherry and drove across the scary bridge that I had avoided for weeks and down the street where the house I had grown up loving sat. It was as if time had rewound—the old fence that had been present when my aunt lived in the cottage was back with a newer gate. Parked along the curb, I exited my beloved vehicle that I needed to park in a garage in lieu of the new small sport utility vehicle I had recently purchased for the baby that would be on board soon enough. Then I walked to the entrance and using the key that Sharene had given me, I entered the property. I instantly gasped at the sight of the cottage updated with a new coat of a beachy-gray color and bright white trim around new windows. Even the landscaping had been changed starting with several tropical plants across the back of the house, giving it privacy or color when you looked out the back windows. Stepping forward on three foot square cement pavers surrounded by greenery, I couldn’t wait to see more.

  When I reached the original front to the guesthouse, I was completely blown away by the progress on the main house and rectangular pool with a raised square Jacuzzi inside of it that appeared to act as a waterfall into the pool. The rest of the grounds had more pavers encased in lush green grass, a big patio with a white pergola out the back of the house that matched the one attached to a deck on the front of the cottage… and an outdoor kitchen.

  The bungalow had been transformed into a smaller version of the new house on the property. Avery had done a great job matching the two structures. I imagined that wasn’t in his original plans until he found out about my true identity. Interesting that both of us were someone other than who we thought we were in the beginning.

  Eager to see what he had done to the interior, I stepped up on the deck and walked to the sliding French door, the key unlocked the doors too. Inside, my hand went to my chest. The cottage had once opened into a living room that flowed into a dining room with an opening to the kitchen at the back of the house—all in a row, room after room. That was no longer the case. The living room and dining room were still in their same locations opened to each other, but the small doorway opening to the kitchen was gone. Thankfully the original built-in hutch remained—it would’ve been a terrible thing to lose. The addition of a fireplace in the living space with similar bookcases to the old built-in was a nice touch.

  Moving forward, I noticed the doorway to the bedrooms, off the dining room, was in the same place and went to discover more. The hallway that once ran in two directions only went toward the back of the house, right into a bedroom with glass doors out to a deck that held a double-wide chaise lounge and small table alongside of it. Attached to the bedroom was a wide opening to a spa-like bathroom with an over-sized, claw-footed tub in front of a large multi-paned window—to the right—that looked out to the tropical plants I had seen when entering through the gate. Straight ahead was a double-sink vanity and to its left was a large walk-in glass shower. Turning back around, realizing that I was standing in what had originally been the kitchen, I noticed louvered closet doors as I went in search of the kitchen I had obviously walked right passed.

  How could I have missed it? The kitchen was stunningly beautiful, a dream. Pale gray walls held dove-gray cabinetry and below it white subway tile that stop on Carrera marble counters that were empty except for a white professional mixer and a square, cylindrical jar that had the word Cookies on it. The room was so inviting brightly lit by natural light streaming in through glass doors that opened out to the front deck, facing the main house. Other features that captured my attention; a large farm sink with an industrial-pro-kitchen fixture, a six burner stove with two ovens, a slide out cabinet for spices near the stove, a sub-zero refrigerator, and a pantry filled with baking items.

  Seeing that the pantry was stocked, I imagined the rest of the kitchen was as well. I began opening drawers and finding; whisks, rubber spatulas, wooden and metal spoons, ladles… everything imaginable. Lower cabinets held mixing bowls, cookie sheets, and muffin tins in different sizes. My head was swimming and then I opened a cabinet in the island and saw a colorful display of sprinkles with different shapes and sizes. The kitchen was a baker’s paradise! I thought as I turned and placed my hands on the butcher block island that had stools pulled up to it on the opposite side.

  Looking out to the living space, I noticed that the
whole cottage was perfectly decorated in soft shades of gray, white and sea-glass. The only color that jumped out at me was a bowl of bright green limes sitting on the kitchen island. It was then that I noticed a tiny box with a snap on top of the limes. Picking it up, I unsnapped the box and the two sides fell open to reveal a square cut center diamond surrounded by tiny smaller diamonds set in platinum attached to a sterling silver chain that had a little puffed heart on it.

  “That’s so you are never without your ring. You can wear it around your neck when you bake.” Avery’s voice was a sweet sound to my ears and tears immediately slid down my cheeks. Sharene had told me that he had created something amazing for me and she was one hundred percent right.

  “Do you like the cottage?” I nodded and wondered how he knew to find me. I hadn’t told anyone where I was going. I didn’t exit or do anything different than I normally did every day. I even walked home so no one knew that I had gotten in my car. Couldn’t be that Pansie and I were so in tuned to each other that she knew I was headed home… I mean to the cottage… to see what had become of the love shack.

  Stepping around the counter, I felt Avery’s breath graze my cheek as he spoke softly against my ear. “Shall we christen the kitchen?” His voice was sexy.

  I smiled. “I like the idea of the comfy bed I saw in the bedroom.”

  Lifted at once into his arms, I noticed black letters that spelled out the word delivery cascading down the wall above a large metal milk-can—something you would see on a dairy farm. Everywhere I looked as he walked me through each room, there was such charm and love that all of a sudden I felt a rush of warmth. More tears streamed down my face thinking that my Aunt Moreen… my mother… my father… they were looking down upon me—happy for me.

  When we reached the bed and Avery laid me down, I waved my arms around.

  “Are you okay? Are you trying to hit me?” He looked confused and I had to laugh at the words I was about to speak.

  “I was feeling my parents… biological parents’ presence and… and before you strip me naked and fuck me… I wanted to make sure they knew to go away.”

  He roared with laughter and then he stopped and looked at me more seriously as he began to disrobe before my wide eyes that had missed the sight of his muscular body. “Do they approve?”

  I nodded and joined in his activity until both of us were nude and entwined in the middle of downy bedding that smelled fresh and clean.

  His mouth over mine, explored and we both moaned, missing the connection. That was evident by the need to hold him tight and his words sliding over my skin at every stop he made on a downward movement. “I missed you.” With each breath my body tingled, my heart raced, and my cookie got more and more ready for him. His kisses, nibbles, licks and sucking all brought sheer pleasure that I had been fantasizing about, but it was him entering me that was what I really wanted. Moving as one perfectly, connected, we slipped and slid across the sheets, panting as we strove for an ultimate release. Within reach, his mouth captured mine and my fingers flew into his thick hair holding him—I didn’t even care that I could barely breathe as our tongues matched our drive. I couldn’t get enough of him as we began to move more frantically as the waves began to roll around him, pulling him in deeper, right before his own release met mine.

  “I’ve missed that… you… us,” I said breathlessly, trying to get air.

  “Me too.” He rolled off of me onto his back and pulled me in close to his body so that my head was on his shoulder and my leg was thrown over his. It felt so good to be in his arms again. I never wanted to leave them. He had other ideas.

  “I want to take you over to the house. It’s not finished but I want you to see what I did for us.” Us sounded so good coming from his lips.

  Agreeing to walk with him over to the house that looked absolutely nothing like the original two-story regency style. In its place a one-story layout that looked like my aunt’s bungalow had grown up—an adult version—painted in the same way. Entering a family room, according to my tour guide, through glass doors that stacked when fully opened, I imagined watching movies with a fireplace roaring. Opposite that room was a great kitchen, three times the size of the other one, containing a nook with a built-in seat for eating. Drawing further into the house, there was a formal living room with an adjoining dining room. It was beautiful, but what was so unique about it were the cabinets and bookcases on either side of the fireplace.

  “I decided to combine an office… I thought a desk in front of the front window would be nice… living room and library all in one.” I loved his idea—a quiet room that a whole family could enjoy. Speaking of family, after showing me a powder room in a hallway, our next stop was what he called the children’s wing; two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a playroom.

  “What if we have more than two children?” I asked standing with my hands on my hips, sticking my baby bump out. Looking at him, waiting for him to maybe mention that he knew that I was pregnant or suspected it after seeing me naked. He didn’t.

  “They will have to learn to share,” was his simple answer, before taking me down the hallway in the opposite direction. “I will be sharing this with you.”

  We entered the master bedroom and my mouth fell open. Starting with a massive walk-in closet that had me thinking of Mr. Big proposing to Carrie. I would maybe need to call back those fancy designers that worked with a stylist to fill it up. I would have to tell him about all of the phone calls I had received at a later time. We had plenty of time to talk about trivial things like his wealth and celebrity status… or not. Finally tearing me away from my thoughts and daydreams, I saw that the bathroom was very similar to the one in the bungalow, just twice its size. But it was the bedroom with a sitting area with glass doors that looked out to the back garden landscape with a view of the love shack that struck me with such awe.

  “I love the view from our bedroom doors. We could sneak out to skinny dip.”

  “Or I could fuck you up against the glass. I had them made strong and we’re on ground level. No plunging several stories.” I shook my head with a grin on my face as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. Yummy! It was one of many delicious moments that I looked forward to in our home.

  “I need to go over an invoice with you,” his sexy voice said.

  “Seriously?” My voice was much higher than his calm one.

  “Yes, there are a few items I need to clear up.” I sensed humor in his words.

  “Okay?” I raised an eyebrow as he turned me in his arms and looked down into my eyes with his intensely dark ones that had a bit of a twinkle in them.

  “One, marry me immediately. Vegas, the backyard, City Hall… I don’t care where, big or small, just immediately.” He pulled out the chain from his pocket and took the ring off of it. Then put the necklace around my neck and slipped the ring onto my finger without an answer.

  “Two, if our child is a girl, we agree to name her Tuesday.” I wasn’t sure if he was serious about that one, but it wasn’t a terrible name, but Tuesday said sex, conception. I had wondered if he was going to mention the baby—I got my answer.

  “I see your wheels turning. Three, you move into the main house with me, I think you approved of everything on the tour. And… four, the most important one of all—you promise to love me forever.”

  “Yes, City Hall. I thought maybe to the name at first, but rethought, definitely no, that is our day—I can’t share that with anyone but you. Yes, I’ll move in to our house when it’s finished. However, I would like to move into the guesthouse immediately. And yes, I love you now and I’m certain that I will forever, Avery.”

  “I can live with those. I love you, Marzipan Rose.”

  THE END…

  Well, not really… find out what Evie is doing at Cafélicious…

  Wednesday: With Lots of Cream (Hookup Café, book 3)

  Novella – Standalone – 6-Book Series

  Welcome to Open-mic Wednesday I announced as a gorge
ous man close to the stage sporting sexy arm tats blurted out With Lots of Cream and had me so baffled that I forgot to introduce the first performer and belted out my own song staring straight into his clear blue eyes… meet Nate!

  Wednesday: With Lots of Cream

  April 19th release – pre-order available

  Excerpt from

  Wednesday: With Lots of Cream

  (Hookup Cafe, book 3)

  Chapter One…

  Walking several blocks from my loft on a crystal blue, sunny day, I made my way across town. Stopping at a cute café called Cafélicious that had big glass, storefront windows framed by a brick facade with a black and white striped awning where I hoped to find work. Inside, I walked to the counter and ordered a sea salt caramel latte—something different—and asked if I could speak with the owner. Lo and behold, the jet black haired woman with bright blue eyes with darker blue flecks standing behind the barista happened to be the person I was looking for. Introducing herself as Pansie, she asked what she could do for me and I told her that I wanted to apply for a job.

  Asking me to follow her to a nearby table after she slid open a bakery case and removed what looked like scones. Seated, she pushed a scone on a napkin toward me indicated that it was freshly baked and made with apricots. Thanking her, I handed over my qualifications along with a referral from my current manager before taking a bite.

  “What brought you to the San Diego area? Says here you’re from Illinois.” Pansie asked, looking over my resume.

  “I went to college in the area and just settled into the groove after graduation. The vibe in the Gaslamp Quarter pulled me in… I love music.”

  “We’re going to be putting together an open mic night on Wednesdays.”