Domino Effect (Effect 2)

“I had a nightmare. A horrible dream. I don’t want you to think I don’t trust you. I do. I don’t know why I dreamed it.” My voice was choked up, barely understandable.

Brandt’s arms were soothingly rubbing my back and he let out a big sigh of relief. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. It was a dream. I know you trust me.”

I pulled back, my lip trembling. “But, but, I dreamed you were using again.”

He flipped on the lamp. Brandt’s blue eyes looked at me seriously as he pulled a cream-colored throw from the end of the bed and draped it over me. “I told you why I like you to sleep with me every night regardless of where you’re at.”

I nodded. “To know I’m really there and haven’t left you again.”

He continued, “I know you’re not actually leaving me, but I like to have the reassurance. We know what it’s like to lose each other. It’s only natural to be scared of losing that love. Time will lessen the nightmares. It has with mine.”

I held him closer as I breathed his scent, comforted by it. Brandt laid us back on the bed and discarded the throw before pulling up our green duvet to cover our bodies. His arms pulled me closer. I needed his touch and the comfort of his embrace.

“Do you think I’ll have that dream again?”

Brandt kissed the top of my head. “You could. Or you might not. When I told you about mine, they lessened. I’ve only had two since then.”

I hoped I never had that dream again. The gut-wrenching pain the dream caused me is something I hoped to never feel again. “I keep thinking something is going to take our happily ever after away.”

“Nothing is going to do that. If anything tried, I’d kick its ass.”

That caused a small giggle out of me as I took a few long deep, soothing breaths. “Thanks for not getting upset or thinking I didn’t trust you.”

Brandt positioned me in a way that we could look at each other, inches apart. “You married me. If you didn’t trust me, you wouldn’t have said yes, despite how much you loved me.”

A couple more tears came down my face. His thumb brushed them away.

“I do love you. So much it scares me sometimes.”

“Same here, baby. Same here.”

I bit my lip. “Will you make love to me?”

Brandt rolled me under him. “There’s no place I’d rather be than inside you.”

He sealed his words with a kiss.

My head pounded as the phone vibrated on the nightstand. I heard pots and pans in the kitchen—Brandt had cooked breakfast. From the sound of it, he was putting things away. I loved breakfast with Brandt. Gavin’s name flashed across the screen.

I cleared my throat before answering. “This is Nikola.”

“Nikola? Gavin. I hear congratulations are in order if what Ainsley said is true.”

“It’s true. I got married.” I looked down at my ring and wiggled my fingers.

A scooting noise sounded. “That was fast. I didn’t know you were serious.”

I was silent as I didn’t know how to respond. Gavin and I had never had a personal conversation before. It had all been top line with no specifics. He finally spoke.

“I’m sorry. That was rude of me. My girlfriend is pressuring me to tie the knot, and I’m not sure what I want to do. Please, accept my apologies.”

“Apology accepted. Marriage is a big step. My only piece of advice is to follow your heart.”

Papers shuffled. “I think that’s good advice. I’ll probably reflect on that for a bit. I wanted to let you know all the boards with the graphs you made are printed and the Executive Summaries have been bound. A meeting is scheduled for next week. Thanks for all your hard work. The third wire should come to you today. If the board accepts the proposal, I’ll get the fourth wire sent to you immediately.”

“Thanks. I appreciate the update. Let me know if there’s anything else you need.”

“I will. Have a good day.”

“You, too.”

He hung up. I was glad commitment was not an issue Brandt and I had. When I’d been talking to Gavin, I hadn’t wanted to say anything, but some questions he seemed to have were clear indicators that he wasn’t ready for that next step. I wasn’t his friend, so I’d kept my mouth shut.

As I was about to lay the phone back on the nightstand, it vibrated. Ainsley’s name flashed across the screen. I opened the text.

Ainsley: Hey, Adam told me Brandt was coming to Club Envy this morning to talk. Are you up for Nora and me coming over for some girl time?

Me: I’d love that. Come on over whenever.

Ainsley: Okay, we’ll be there in a bit.

Me: Sounds good.

I placed the phone back on the nightstand, stood, and grabbed my robe from the end of the bed. The stress from the nightmare started to ebb. Brandt had taken it well and believed me that I still trusted him. The panic and loss I’d felt still resonated in me. It was going to be good to have some girl time. Most of my girlfriends had left me as Brandt and I got closer. As I buried myself in work, I drifted away from the rest of my friends. All they wanted to do was hook me up with someone which was the farthest thing I had wanted. In the end, I was better off not having fake friends. For the first time in a while, I felt I’d found a true friend in Ainsley, and I was getting to know Nora better.

I headed into the kitchen in my robe. On the table sat a plate of pancakes and a bowl of fruit. The aroma of cooked batter filled the air. Only one place was set.

I looked at Brandt. “You aren’t joining me?”

Brandt was in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. “Adam asked if I could come in early before the other employees got here for training. I was going to come in the bedroom and tell you but didn’t want to wake you.”

I puckered my lips, and Brandt walked over to kiss me. I pulled back and smiled against his lips. “Have a good day at work, honey. Ainsley and Nora are going to stop by for some girl time.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Have fun with the girls. Don’t get into too much trouble. Enjoy breakfast.”

He kissed me quickly then started toward the door.

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.”

The door opened, closed, and then I was left alone. Hopefully, Brandt and Adam could come to an agreement. I put some butter on my pancakes and drizzled the syrup over them. The first bite was heavenly. I kept thinking about the big decision ahead of the guys and wondered if they would end up selling Club Envy. Before Brandt had mentioned it in the car yesterday, I had never imagined them selling.

Ainsley, Nora, and I were all on the couch with our legs tucked under us. Nora’s black hair had bright pink pieces sprinkled throughout. She wore torn jeans with a shirt that fell off one shoulder. Ainsley had on jeans and a fitted, pale purple sweater. Spring was tempting to shake these cooler temperatures but hadn’t succeeded yet.

We were reading an article about the top ten ways a guy should seduce his girl. Every time we read a tip, we’d end up in a fit of laughter. My sides were hurting.

Nora grabbed the article from me as we were coming down from our last laugh. “Okay, I have to read the last one. I don’t know where these people got their facts, but I can sure as hell say if a guy ever gave me a kitty growl, I’d turn and leave immediately.”

That was number two in the top ten. We giggled, and Nora continued reading.

“The number one way to seduce your girl is, every chance you get, thrust your hips out to remind the woman there’s machinery in those pants. The movement will draw attention and make the girl think of sex. That third leg is there for a reason. Use it, boys.”

Nora was barely able to finish as we became hysterical again. “Tears, I have tears.” I was barely able to get that out. Nora stood and started trying to imitate what had been described. It only made us laugh more.

Ainsley was laid back, and she sputtered, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

This f

elt good. A few moments later, we were finally becoming coherent again. Ainsley asked Nora, “So, Jude never pulled any of those moves on you?”

“Oh, hell no, he didn’t. They should have definitely used him as a source on what to do to seduce a girl.” Nora sobered for a second. “Jude took me to dinner last night and told me he’s got to head home for a bit to Australia.”

Ainsley sat up. “Oh no, Nora. How are you doing?”

Nora shrugged. “We’ll see. He says he’s coming back for me, but I don’t know. There’s no way I could leave my mom and sister. I told him that.”