#Babymachine (Baby Crazy 1)

Nothing without my sweet Beth, librarian extraordinaire.

Being CEO was so stupid compared to what had slipped through my fingers. The rough waters of Costa Rica were needed to scrub my guilt and pain away. Without Beth, all the cash and influence I had didn’t mean shit. I could make a billion more dollars, but what was I gonna do with it? Buy another plane? Another apartment? More girls? All that was fucking disgusting, bile rising in my throat.

I grabbed my wallet and checked one more time to make sure everything was set. Costa Rican currency for the taxi. My ATM card.

It was go time.

God damn. Because leaving was so hard.

Beth was still in this city, somewhere.

But she didn’t want to see me.

Fuck my life. Resolutely, I grabbed my keys, one hand already outstretched for the door.

But then it swung open by itself, hinges silent.

What? What was going on? The air in the apartment changed suddenly because she was here.

I could feel it.

It was her.

My beautiful woman.

The girl who owned my soul.

“Beth,” came my low growl, eyes devouring that sweet female form as it stepped forwards. “Beth, what are you doing?”

She looked down, biting her lip.

“Hi Mason,” were her soft words. “Long time no see.”

I growled again. A long time? Fucking eons by my book, but there was no sense in behaving like a maniac.

“Come in,” were my rough words. “Can I get you something?”

Slowly but tentatively, she made her way to the couch, perching on the white leather seat. Oh god, no one’s ever looked this good. Her breasts were bountiful, lushly displayed in a v-neck sweater. And fuck, but that ass sank heavily into the cushion, soft and huge as always.

“Water?” I managed in a strangled voice.

Her eyes meeting mine were mild, giving nothing away.

“Yes please.”

I strode to the kitchen, banging the cupboard while retrieving a glass. Fuck fuck fuck! She was here! Fuck, I better not fuck this up.

“So this is unexpected,” came my low growl. “What gives, sweetheart?”

She was tentative, biting at those rosy lips.

“Well,” she began. “I wanted to talk about that last night.”

Oh shit, the night in the woods, when we ran through Central Park. When I rescued her from Jonas, loser extraordinaire. After that incident, I shut down his business. Yeah, we were interconnected through a couple shell companies, and I put that motherfucker into bankruptcy. That’s what you get for attacking my girl. It’s lucky he wasn’t in Rikers, serving time with a bunch of burly thugs who’d make him scream.

But I didn’t say any of that.

“I apologize,” came my rough words. “What happened is because of me.”

She held up one small hand.

“It is, but I wanted to work out some details. The police did an investigation after the assault. They pulled the tapes from your boys’ club meeting. Did you know that?”

I was stunned. Shit, those meetings were taped? What the hell?

“Are you shitting me?” I asked on a low growl.

Beth nodded slowly.

“Yeah, your friends aren’t really friends. They taped everything, probably all the way back to your first meeting. But what’s important is that I saw the recording of your most recent one. I saw how you talked about me.”

My voice deserted me for a moment.

“How did I talk about you?” I rasped, heart in my throat.

She was quiet for a second too.

“Like you love me,” Beth said slowly. “You spoke about me like you were in love, and never showed the pictures we took.”

My heart pounded. Holy shit, I thought I’d never have a chance with my girl again. I was so sure that the fuck book thing completely ruined my relationship with her. But with these tapes in the mix? Maybe I’d been given a second chance.

“So now that you’ve seen the video, what next?” I asked roughly, chest tight from lack of air. “It should have been clear how I feel about you. Will you forgive me?”

Her thick hair fell around her face as she dipped her head and looked away for a moment. But taking a deep breath, those caramel eyes met mine then.

“I don’t know because what you did was really messed up. The whole fuck book thing is a messed-up concept. But,” she said, taking another deep breath, “I saw how you spoke about me on that tape, so we’ll look for a way forwards.”

And I was on my knees next to her in a second, cradling that beautiful face with big palms.

“Everything you saw on that tape is true,” I growled, overcome with emotion. I couldn’t believe my luck. My sweet girl was forgiving me for my sins, the incredible series of horrific mistakes. “I spoke like that because I love you, Beth White.”

Tears of happiness fell down her cheeks and over my fingers like cleansing rain.

“I love you too, Mason Carlton. I love you so much.”