Kade Page 9

  Reinventing myself had taken grit and determination.

  The people of Miles Private Jets hadn't looked at me on day one like they did now. That gleam of respect in their eyes had taken years and consistent, aggressive application of myself. I needed them to see me the way I wanted to be seen. Smart. Driven. Good for the company.

  And finally, one day, it happened. No fucking way I could watch that crumble when they found out that I was pregnant with Kade's baby. It was worth it. I'd leave on a high note and find a job somewhere else. Kade would understand. He would have to.

  "Skylar." Ron's voice stopped me as I reached the door to leave the building.

  "Hey." I turned and offered a weak smile. "Look, I know you don't understand —"

  "Let's grab lunch. You know, sharing an hour with an old man?" He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and turned me, walking us out of the building.

  "Yeah, but I'm not much company right now." I sniffled and wiped at my nose with the back of my hand.

  "You're always great company, kiddo." He squeezed my shoulders before releasing me. "You know, when I was your age, I would have died for the opportunity Kade is giving you, but I understand the specifics around it that upset you."

  "No, you don't." I pointed to a café across the street that Ron, Geo and I would have lunch at from time to time. "Want to share a pastrami and rye?"

  He shivered and offered me his forearm. "I'd love to. Come on, let's get across the street without busting our asses. I forgot my coat, and it's freezing out here."

  "I like it. It's calming." I glanced up at the clear sky as snow started to fall. My heart ached in my chest, my life torn in two very different directions.

  "That it is." He opened the door to the restaurant and walked in behind me. He waited until the hostess had shown us to a table near the street to speak up again. "Kade told me that you two are dating. I think that's wonderful, by the way."

  I nodded. "I'm totally in love with him." I smiled. "It's funny. I think Geo would have been happy to hear that we are together. Maybe that's silly."

  "Not at all. I know he loved you like family, Skylar. What he wouldn't have been happy about is you turning down this job."

  "Ron." I gave him a look. "You know how quickly I would accept this job if I could."

  "And you can." He picked up his menu and ordered several of our favorite dishes like somehow he knew I was feeding two people, or maybe he was just nervous.

  My phone buzzed, and I checked it to see Kade calling. I ignored it and turned back to Ron. I'd talk to Kade in private later that night. I was choosing our relationship and our baby over my career. It hurt like a bitch, but I'd get over it. They were worth the sacrifice.

  "There's more to the story than you think."

  "So tell me then. You know I'm on your side. I can help you think through anything." He reached across the table and squeezed my hand softly as his bright blue eyes filled with concern. "This is the chance you've been waiting for. It's what Geo planned for you the first week you were in the office with us. You swept us off our feet, and every day since, you've been a blessing to the company and us. You know this."

  I nodded and tried to hold back tears. Fucking hormones. "This is bigger than that."

  "Tell me."

  "You know I can't stand the thought of everyone looking at me like I got the job because Kade and I are dating."

  "I know that, and no one will." He leaned back and sighed. "And look, I'm never a negative ninny, but what if things don't work out with you and Kade? Then you've given up a dream of yours for nothing. What if this awesome love affair is short-term? I'm not saying it is, but what if —"

  "I'm pregnant," I blurted out. "There. I told someone. I'm fucking pregnant. If it's a short-term love affair, then I have bigger problems than passing up a great promotion."

  His eyes widened, but only for a moment. The softness in his voice spoke volumes to his character.

  "Oh, kiddo. That is great." He sniffled and shook his head. "Kade is going to be such a great father, and you... you're going to be a wonderful mother. No wonder he kept going on and on about wanting you up at the office with him all the time. You're carrying his little one."

  "He doesn't know." I reached back and pulled my hair into a knot. "I was going to tell him today, but he offered me your job, and I didn't know what to do. Quitting is the best way to ensure that our relationship stays intact. That's more important than anything else right now."

  "Why would your taking this job jeopardize your relationship?"

  "What you, Kade and I know is your role as COO is already stressful. Add in my emotional trauma when people look at me like grubby money hungry slut that's pregnant with the CEO's child. Out of wedlock." I pressed my hands against my face. "Kill me now."

  "Stop that. No one is going to say anything like that. Look, talk to him. Let him know what's going on. You guys will figure this out, but as someone who cares about you like family, kiddo, don't pass this up. Love and success can thrive under the same roof. You just have to be willing to make it happen."

  I took in his words and shot up a prayer. I hoped like hell he was right.

  My job was such a big part of me, but I'd lay it all down for Kade and our little one. Some part of me worried that he wouldn't see it that way.

  Only one way to find out. I had to talk to him.

  19

  Kade

  I walked through my next two meetings like a fucking zombie. I hadn't heard anything from Ron or Sky an hour later and decided that was it. Fuck the rest of the day. Something was wrong with my woman.

  "Rach. Cancel the rest of the day. I don't care what it is. I'll deal with it later this week."

  "Not a problem, boss. You need me to do anything? You okay?"

  "I'm good. Just some family stuff. I'll call later and check in with you. I'm headed to the house." I dropped the call, grabbed my shit and walked to the elevator. Nausea rolled through me in thick waves. I'd been in a handful of relationships over the years, and I'd always been the one to dish up the goodbye. The pathetic, "it's me, not you." My turn had obviously come around, and Sky was going to let me down hard.

  "Fuck," I mumbled and rubbed my chest. My heart hurt, and I felt like I might throw up everywhere. The door opened, and I forced a stupid smile on my face, nodding and speaking to people until I was out of the building. The cold air filled my lungs and calmed me. I called Sky, but her voicemail picked up. I didn't leave a message on the first few calls.

  She picked up on the third. "Hey. I'm sorry. I was having lunch with Ron."

  "Skylar. What's going on?" I walked to the car and opened it, getting in and holding my breath.

  "We need to talk."

  It was over. The best love affair of my life and it was over. How the fuck had this happened? How had I not seen it coming? It felt so good next to her. We'd made love the night before until my thighs burned from rocking into her.

  I'd missed something important. My pride kicked in, and I swallowed and nodded. Talk. Right.

  "Yeah, sure. Meet me at my place."

  "The office or the house?" She sounded unsure of everything, including me.

  "My house. I'm going to take the rest of the afternoon off. Not feeling so well."

  "What's wrong?" A softness entered her voice that shoved needles into my heart.

  "Nothing. See you there shortly. Be safe." I dropped the call and sped like a bat out of hell toward the house. Lars and Ron called as I drove, but I let their messages go to voicemail. I had nothing to say to anyone until I figured out what was happening with Skylar.

  Numbness settled over me, and I accepted the loss. My father died too young and left me with the heavy burden of his beautiful company, and I'd do well there. I could force myself into working fourteen-hour days and get lost in the years. Eventually, my heart would heal, and I'd find someone else.

  My throat closed up at the thought, and I held back the need to cry like a baby. I hadn't shed a tear since M
omma died, but I might do it now.

  "Stop it. Fuck." I got out of the car at the house and walked toward the building. Unlike I'd done at the office, I ignored all of the nice gestures offered by the bellman and security guards. I didn't have to uphold pretenses at my own damn home.

  After riding the elevator to the top, I walked in to find Sky there already. Her back was to me, her shoulders rolled in as she stared out the window at the city.

  "Hey." I set my keys down and tried not to let her know that I was beyond terrified. I'd lost a few times in my life, but nothing felt quite as fucked up as this time.

  "Kade." She turned and let out a soft sob as she crossed the room and plowed into me.

  I wrapped my arms around her without hesitation. Tears blurred my vision as I breathed in the scent of her air. I didn't want to let my plea out, but it slipped out anyway.

  "Don't leave me. Please." It wasn't wimpy or begging. It was the cry of an emotionally strangled man who was too far in love to let go.

  "What?" She looked up, tears running down her beautiful face. "Baby. No. I'm not going anywhere."

  It took a minute for her words to sink in. My heart thumped hard in my chest and time seemed to stop.

  She wasn't leaving?

  I pulled her close and leaned down, consuming her in a fiery kiss. I needed her to know how much I loved her. How the fuck I'd fallen in love over three months to the intensity I had, I'd never know, but I'd convinced myself that she was my soul mate. Shit, I still felt that way.

  She pulled back, confusion on her face. "Why in the world would you think that I would leave you? I love you."

  "I love you too." I brushed her hair back with both of my hands and kissed her a few more times in a desperate manner. "When you quit today, it felt like you were leaving me too. What the hell is going on?"

  "I'm pregnant, Kade. I didn't want to put the company in jeopardy, and you giving me that raise would do just that. Where people might accept it, maybe, it would look so bad." She sniffled and pressed her chest against mine.

  Her words ripped through me.

  "Pregnant?" Fuck me. I was going to get emotional pneumonia.

  "Yes." Her eyes lowered as if she were upset. "I'm sorry. I don't know how —"

  "Baby. This is great news!" I laughed through my heavy emotion. "You're not only not leaving, but we're having a baby together?"

  She glanced up giving me an odd look. "Are you okay? You are really being weird right now."

  "I thought you were leaving me. I couldn't breathe or think. The minute you walked out of the office, it felt like my world was crumbling around me." I leaned forward and brushed my nose by hers. "A baby. I love it."

  "You do?" Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

  "Fuck yeah, I do. And you're taking that job, Sky. You're going to be my wife before we know it, and our kids will own this company one day. There is no one else I would accept to run this damn monster with me, but you."

  "What will everyone say, Kade?" She wrapped her arms around me. The firm press of her body against mine was enough to set the world back right-side up.

  "I don't give a fuck what they say, woman. This is my company, and I'll run it however the hell I please."

  "Oh no. Not this guy again." She laughed and lifted up to kiss me. "We'll make it work?"

  "As long as you're beside me, Sky, I'll make anything work for us, baby." I kissed her and ran my hands down her back. "I called in for the rest of the day. Will sex hurt the baby?"

  She laughed. "No, but don't you want to talk about this?"

  "No. I want to make love to my woman without a condom." I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, ready to show her what we'd both been missing.

  Life with each other was just starting, and I for one couldn't wait to see where it might lead.

  Epilogue

  Skylar

  A Year Later

  I groaned and turned over, the night having been especially long. Dylan hadn't been sleeping through the night at all, but Kade and I took turns taking care of the little chubby bundle of joy.

  We worked at the firm on different shifts so that we could help get our little one through his first few months of life with comfort and the familiarity of his parents around him, at least one of us.

  Of course, with Krissy showing up every spare second, she had off to hold him, he was likely to think he had three parents.

  "Come here," Kade whispered, his voice gravely in the barely lit room. The sun had just started to make its ascent into the sky.

  I rolled over and crawled on top of him as he pulled at my t-shirt. I was naked outside of that, and he always slept naked with a pair of shorts on the floor next to the bed in case the baby needed us.

  "God, you feel good." I ran my hands down his chest, closing my eyes and taking in the way his muscles twitched under my light touch. I would never get tired of the feeling of making love to him.

  "Good. Fuck me, Sky." He lifted my hips and shifted his before pulling me back down slowly.

  We moaned in tandem as his thick shaft slid deep inside of me. I dug my nails into his flesh and rolled my hips the minute I hit home. Nothing felt better.

  "That's it, bad girl. Fuck that cock." He palmed my breasts and lifted his ass off the bed to meet me stroke for stroke. Heat blossomed in my core, and I cried out as I came long and hard. "There you go. Work me, baby."

  His words were crude, but the sensual, gritty way he spoke them left me wetter than I should have been. I wanted him all over me, inside of me, surrounding me. Always and forever.

  I came down off my high and rolled my hips as I opened my eyes. He watched me with a hooded gaze, his bottom lip tucked in between his teeth.

  "I love you," I whispered softly and lifted up to squeeze the head of his dick with my body.

  His eyes rolled back, and he held me up, letting me fuck just a few inches of his cock.

  "I love you more." He pulled me off of him and got to his knees. "Bend over for me. I want in deep."

  "Mmmm." I moaned and slid my hands out over our silky, chilled sheets. Leaving my ass in the air would drive me crazy, which was always my goal.

  "Fuck, kitten." He ran his hands over my back to my ass, squeezing and pulling my cheeks apart as he slid himself inside of me.

  My head lifted as I cried out. "So deep. Be careful."

  "Always." He ran a strong hand up my back and slipped it into my hair before gripping a thick handful and pulling back a little. "Fuck yourself for me, Sky. I want you to enjoy how deep you're willing to let me go."

  "Yeah." I moaned and pressed my hands into the bed, my fingers pulling the sheet in as I rolled my hips and pulled forward.

  His other hand gripped my hip tightly as he pulled me back hard. We groaned together as my ass bounced on his stomach.

  "Just nice and slow. Let me feel every bit of you. I'm going to massage that tight pussy with this huge dick. Tell me how much you like it." He bumped against me hard, and the world faded. Pleasure welled inside of me again.

  "I love it." I pulled at his cock with my body and arched my back.

  He tugged on my hair harder and lifted his hips, fucking me faster. The warmth of his mouth on the side of my neck combined with his chest against my back was enough to do me in.

  "Kade," I cried out and came again, wetting him and the bed below.

  "Fuck. I'm going to come." He bit down on the top of my shoulder softly and lost his load inside of me.

  The warmth of it was delicious, but him whispering how he wanted to fuck me all over again when we finished was my life.

  I'd found my one and only.

  I dropped down on the bed and lifted my ring to my face as he dropped beside me and pulled me in tight.

  "I love this. It's Calvin Klein like your undies, right?" I'd been teasing him for eight months, ever since the night we ran off to the Justice of the Peace to seal the deal and get married.

  "That's right." He smiled and let out a contented sigh.
"My affair with the brand started years ago with this sexy girl in a white bikini. I jacked off to that commercial for years."

  "Ewww..." I popped him in the chest and rolled out of bed. "Something tells me you still do."

  "You know it, baby." He rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head.

  It was my day at the firm. The COO took Tuesday and Thursday, and the CEO had Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We were a great team at work, and at home, but word on the street was that the employees loved days that started with T.

  Somehow, I figured they might. I'd been there for Geo and Ron, and I would be there for Kade for as long as he needed me to be.

  Dear Reader,

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  Larissa Ladd

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  About the Author

  Larissa Ladd is a dreamer with insights fresh as the frost newly formed on the twig whose snap echoes through the moonlit forest. Since as a child she discovered the storybook world of ghouls and goblins, she's been a devotee of the eerie, the supernatural, and all that raises the hairs on the back of the neck. Her spine still shivers with delight when she huddles fearfully in a darkling corner, enthralled in suspenseful tales from her favorite authors Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and John Saul. Feast your eyes on the scintillating flashes of garish color dabbed forth from her pen.

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