Hush (Just This Once 1)

I clear my throat, desperate for a drink of anything to chase away what I’m feeling. “He talked about his marriage and how there was something missing. He said he needed more and his wife couldn’t give it to him.”

“So you told him to leave me?” Her voice is quiet. “Did you tell him that’s what he should do?”

I can’t bear that I’m the guy who made the worst day of her life that much harder. The end of her marriage to Chris was inevitable. He didn’t want to be with her anymore and my words may have spurred him to cut all ties that night but even if I hadn’t crossed his path, I have every belief that Chloe and I would be together now. Their marriage was inching toward its death.

“I told him that life is short and if he wasn’t getting what he needed that he should move on.” I exhale roughly. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I’m sorry that I pushed him to leave you that night but I’m damn sure not sorry that he did.”

“He left the hospital before I did.” Her hands knead together in her lap. “By the time I made it back to the apartment, most of my things were boxed up and sitting in the foyer.”

“What a fucking bastard. I didn’t know that he’d take my advice and end things that night. It’s a heartless move to dump someone the night their mother dies.”

“I was in shock.” She slides closer to me. “I took what I needed and went to be with my dad. He needed me that night and even though I loved Chris at the time, I was too numb to care that he had thrown me out.”

Her words bite through me. I don’t want to know that she loved him at one time, although it’s obvious given the fact that they were together for ten years.

“After my mom’s funeral, I arranged to have all of my things brought to my dad’s place and then eventually I started building a life of my own.” Her voice quivers. “It hasn’t been easy but I’ve done it without a cent from Chris. I used my inheritance to start my own firm and I put a down payment on this place with the rest of the money my mom left me.”

“You’re a strong person.” I turn to look into her face. “You went through hell that night and you came out the other side in one piece.”

“I did it because I had to.” Our eyes meet and she smiles. “I knew that there was happiness waiting for me at some point. I just kept trying to find it.”

“Tell me that you don’t hate me, Chloe.” I move a piece of hair from her cheek. “Tell me that I didn’t fuck up everything before we even met.”

She reaches to grab my hand so she can press it against her cheek. “You tried to save my mom’s life and you saved me from a marriage that wasn’t right for me. How could I hate you?”

Relief washes over me like a wave. I feel the tension in my shoulders instantly release. “I haven’t slept since I realized I changed your life that night.”

Her arms move to circle my neck as she gazes into my eyes. “If my marriage wouldn’t have ended, we wouldn’t be having a baby.”

“And I wouldn’t be crazy in love with you.”

Her eyes drop to my mouth. “Did you just say you love me, Evan?”

I kiss her softy, dipping my tongue between her soft pink lips for a taste. “I love you, Chloe.”

“I love you, too,” she whispers back before she kisses me back with a tenderness that tells me the three of us are going to be just fine.

Chapter 47

Chloe

I breath him in, relishing in the fact that the man that I love is in my bed, in the middle of the day making me feel like the world doesn’t exist beyond these walls.

I reach up and brush the pad of my thumb over his bottom lip. It’s swollen from when we kissed in the living room. It was slow and gentle before his hands found the buttons of my dress and everything changed into a desire so consuming that we were clawing at each other’s clothing, each desperate to get the other one naked.

He carried me into my bedroom with my legs wrapped around his waist while I rained kisses over his neck.

He wanted to taste me but the need to feel him inside of me was too much, so I pulled him on top and told him to take me.

He did with powerful strokes that drove me into an intense orgasm almost immediately. Now, we’re together with me on my back and him hovering over me while he juts his cock into me in long, easy thrusts.

“Will you always fuck me like this?” I ask breathlessly, knowing that I’ll come again if he changes the pace at all.

“Always.”

My hands move over his thighs and he growls his approval. “I love touching you, Evan. You’re only the second man…”