Happily Ever After: 6 Marriage Romances In 1 (BWWM Romance) Read online

  “Somewhere quiet,” she suggested. “I don’t want people seeing us and making a big deal out of it.”

  “I know just the place,” he told her quickly. “And you don’t have to dress up much. What time should I pick you up?”

  “Julian it’s not like it’s a date,” she warned him. “I just need to get out of the house for a little bit. I think I am beginning to catch the color of the paint. We are friends right?”

  “Yes, we are,” he agreed, quietly warning himself that he had to be patient. He was up for the challenge so this should not be very hard. “I will pick you up at eight.”

  *****

  “What’s going on with you?” Sheeree McAllister was a well renowned model who had traveled all over the world on different shoots and had been on again off again girlfriend of Julian’s for the past year and a half. They had an understanding that when she was in town they would be exclusive but now she had arrived this morning from Trinidad where she had been for the last three weeks doing a swimsuit shoot only to have Julian tell her that it was over. She had come straight from the airport to his office and had been sent in by his secretary. She was a coolly beautiful brunette with hazel eyes and sharp cheekbones that had earned her many covers on the most prestigious magazines. He had often wondered why he had never fallen in love with her.

  “I need something more Sheeree,” he had stood up and come from around the desk to greet her, kissing her cheeks lightly and breathing in her subtle expensive scent. She was wrapped from head to toe in black that looked startling against her very white skin.

  She moved away from him and went and sat on one of the sofas in the room. “Someone I know?” she asked mildly amused, knowing that he was going to be running back to her eventually, he always did.

  “That does not matter right now,” he told her stiffly, hating her condescending manner. “The point is I want this to work and I am willing to give up whatever it takes to make it work.”

  “Darling are you listening to yourself?” she crossed her long legs in confidence. “You have never been able to stay with one woman for more than a week, I am the only constant relationship you have and even so, ours is not what people would call normal. What are you trying to prove?”

  “I care about this girl Sheeree and I would like a chance to see it work,” he said a little grimly knowing what she said was what she knew him to be. Most of it was true but he aimed to prove her and others wrong about him not being able to change.

  “Okay darling, you know I am available when you come to your senses. I will be in town for a week so call me.” She stood up gracefully and came towards him. “I like what we have and it works so I want to hang on to it.” She kissed him lightly on the mouth and usually that would have been the catalyst that would have him pulling her into his arms but this time he just stepped back not feeling anything.

  “I am not going to call Sheeree, this is serious and I am going to allow anyone to mess with it.”

  *****

  “What do you know of me?” They were at the restaurant and were eating the meal of curried lobster and white rice that had been brought to them. The place was small and intimate and there were very few people sitting down to have a meal.

  “I know you are quite the businessman,” Kymonia said lightly trying to gauge his mood. He had picked her up and apart from asking how she was he had been very quiet. “I was reading in the papers how you made that hotel downtown into quite a showpiece and the restaurant that opened a month ago is quite successful.”

  “You sound like the P.R. firm we have on staff,” he told her dryly.

  “What’s going on Julian?” she asked him. He looked at her for a moment, noticing not for the first time how the red silk shirt she had on looked good against her skin and her black hair had been caught up in a ponytail that made her look like a teenager.

  “I have never been friends with someone I am interested in before.” He told her bluntly, his green gaze meeting her dark brown ones. “I never invested in a relationship because I never had to and I find it strange. I am attracted to you and it is more than that.” He paused and took one of her hands in his. “Someone I used to see told me that I will never change, what do you think?”

  “I don’t know you well enough to say whether or not you will,” she told him honestly, feeling the frisson of desire going through her at his touch. She would have probably let him make love to her but he had not mentioned it to her and she was not modern enough to bring it up herself.

  “I spent my adult years and even when I was a teenager, I had women throwing themselves at me so it became easy,” he smiled grimly. “This is a first for me and I don’t know how to behave around you sometime. I don’t know if I try to kiss you if I would be stepping over the boundaries there are between us.”

  “Kissing is allowed,” she told him softly. “I am not ready for a relationship yet Julian so I really appreciate your friendship. I am totally wrapped up in my writing and sometimes as you know, I forget to eat. That would not be fair to another person so that is one reason why I have stayed away from relationships until now.”

  “What are you saying to me Kym?” he asked her, their meals forgotten.

  “I am saying that I am not saying yes and I am not saying no. I am simply saying that we should see where this is going if you can put up with the way I am.”

  “I am willing to put up with anything from you as long as I get to be with you,” he told her softly. He pulled his hand away from her and Kymonia stared at him in surprise. “Our meals are getting cold.”

  They talked about everything and he told her about his trips abroad and the time he went to Jamaica for a week.

  “I have never been there and I was planning to base one of books on a Caribbean island but have not decided which one yet.” She told him sipping the white wine he had ordered with the meal.

  “I spent time in Montego Bay and one day I hope I will be able to take you there.”

  “I would like that very much.” She told him.

  *****

  “When are we going to meet her?” his mother came inside his bedroom after a discreet knock on the door. He had taken Kymonia home half an hour ago and given her a chaste kiss on the lips and drove away but not before making sure that she was safely inside the house. He knew she had been expecting him to do much more but he had restrained himself, barely and now he was suffering for it. He had come straight up to his suite and had changed out of his clothes and pulled on loose pajama bottoms and was in bed reading the book she had autographed, he was at the love scene and he was getting hard reading and thinking about her.

  “Who?” Julian put aside the book and gave his mother his full attention. She was a very beautiful woman with dark brown hair tinted with red and green eyes that he had inherited from her and she defined the word elegant.

  “Don’t play dense with me Jules,” she reprimanded him gently, sitting on the side of his king sized bed and folding her hands on her lap. He had never introduced any of the women he slept with to either his mother or his father preferring to be sure that that woman would be around for longer than a month. “You have been seeing one of my favorite authors for some time now and I have yet to meet her.”

  “I am taking it slow mother,” he told her with an ironic smile. “I know it’s unlike me but I think she might be the one.”

  “You think or you know?”

  “I have never felt this way before and it is frustrating me to no end knowing that I am going to have to play by the rules,” he said with a slow smile.

  “Anything worth having is worth fighting for,” she told him gently. She had been secretly waiting for this moment and now that it was here she was glad she was around to see it. “Why don’t you invite her to dinner here?”

  “I want to but I do not want to put any pressure on her. We talk a lot over the phone everyday but I still have to be cautious how I approach her with certain things.” He put his hands behind his head and stared at t
he ceiling for a minute. “She is special and beautiful and sometimes she would stop in the middle of a conversation and grab a napkin and scribble something down as if inspiration had just struck and she would forget that I was there for a minute.”

  “It must be something new for you,” she teased.

  “It certainly is,” he said with a slow smile. “She is something else and the funny thing about it is I am not interested in anyone else. Do you think it is the fun of the chase?”

  “Are you doing any chasing?” his mother countered, one eyebrow raised.

  “I am not,” he admitted looking at her quizzically. “I am content to be what she wants now, is that weird?”

  “No, you are taking a new direction or rather your heart is and your body is going along with it.”

  “That’s one way to put it.” He said with a smile.

  “Get some sleep darling and don’t worry about it.” She leaned over to squeeze his hand gently before climbing off the bed. She stood there looking at the handsome lean muscular man she had borne inside her for nine months twenty-seven years ago and left the room hoping that he had finally found true love; it was about time for him.

  Chapter 4

  “How about a picnic?” she called him one day while he was in the middle of putting together some reports for his dad and the board. They had had their first court date just yesterday and it was going well.

  “In the middle of October with all this rain?” he teased her. She was big on impulse and when she resurfaced from her writing she would suggest the craziest things. He had taken her out to dinner two more times and had not even gone inside her house but left her at the steps with a peck on the forehead.

  “We could have it indoors,” she said. “Come on it will be fun.”

  “When?”

  “How about now?” she suggested.

  “Kym it’s not quite three o’clock and I have a board meeting in a few minutes.”

  “Oh,” she sounded very disappointed. “Okay, how about later when you are off work?”

  “I will leave straight from here and come,” he told her wishing he could ditch the meeting and go to her but he did not want to seem to be too eager. “Want me to bring anything?”

  “Just your fine self,” she told him teasingly. “I have ordered a few things from the store in town and they do delivery so I am all set.”

  “Okay I will see you later.”

  *****

  Kymonia peeked outside to see if Mrs. Willows was anywhere around. The woman had offered to make some cucumber sandwiches and some broccoli salad dip for her. It had stopped raining and the sun had come out but the chill was still there. She put on a sweater over her thin cotton blouse and headed over to her neighbor’s house. “Mrs. Willows?” she pushed open the picket fence which had been slightly ajar and went on up to the cobbled steps. “Mrs. Willows?” she used the circular knocker.

  “I am in the kitchen dear,” the woman called out. Inside the house was so different from hers. There were colorful throw pillows all around and ever since she had retired she had started painting still life and the paintings were all around the cozy living room and the smell of baking permeated the room.

  “Something smells wonderful,” she said sniffing the air.

  “I am making a pecan pie to go with the other things I am giving you,” she said with a beaming smile. She had an apron around her narrow waist and a chef’s hat on her white hair.

  “You did not have to do that,” Kymonia protested taking a seat on one of the stools around the counter.

  “No problem my dear, I enjoy cooking for others.” She said with a smile. “I want you to impress that young man of yours.”

  “It’s not really like that,” Kymonia told her reaching for a freshly baked cookie and tasting it; loving the texture and the lightness of it. “We are just friends for now.”

  “Oh pish posh,” she snorted. “That young man is clearly taken with you and if you would only get your head out of that book of yours for a few minutes you would realize that I am telling you the truth.”

  “Even so I am not ready for that kind of commitment yet.” She said firmly.

  “Clifton and I were friends for a year before we started going out as a couple,” she smiled as she remembered. She had taken out the delicious smelling pie from the oven and placed it on a cake plate to allow it to cool. “I was not sure we would make it as lovers but he insisted it could work and I ended up falling in love with him. He was my best friend and husband all rolled into one and he was the only man for me. The only regret we had was not being able to have children but we never let that bother us in the least or affect our relationship.”

  “That’s so romantic,” Kymonia mused. “It sounds like something I should be writing about.”

  “Or something you should be living,” the woman told her wisely.

  “It would not be fair to him,” she said with a shrug, dusting off her hands to get rid of the cookie crumbs. “I'm in a cloud most times and sometimes it takes me days to surface. You know that because you have to come over to see if I am still alive.”

  “If you had someone I would not have to,” Mrs. Willows looked at the beautiful girl in front of her curiously.

  “Still would not be fair.” She hopped off the stool. “All ready for me?”

  “Of course my dear. I will just bag up everything and get them ready for you.”

  *****

  He came by after six and what he did not tell her was that he had to put aside some things he had to do in order for him to be there on time. She had showered and put on faded denims and a red sweater and her hair was loose around her face. “I bought a bottle of Chardonnay after all,” he said holding up the bottle. His hair was slightly damp from the rain that had come down suddenly and as soon as she took the wine from him he shrugged out of his jacket to reveal a powder blue shirt and red and blue tie which he pulled immediately. She led the way into the living room where there was a fire blazing in the hearth.”Nice,” he murmured noticing that she had already spread the blanket and there was a picnic basket in the middle.

  “Shoes off please,” she told him with an impish smile and he noticed that she was already barefooted. “I have no culinary skills whatsoever and since we are friends and there is really no need to impress you then I will tell you that the food or most of it is complimentary of my next door neighbor Mrs. Willows.”

  “I need to thank her,” he murmured, trying not to notice her reference to them as only friends.

  She sat and he followed suit while she reached inside the basket and came up with a variety of food. There were crispy fried chicken, two kinds of dip, sandwiches and a pecan pie that smelled heavenly. She shared a plate for him and then herself and they started eating.

  “So what did you do today?” he asked her casually, biting into the chicken with relish.

  “I wrote a little bit then I fell asleep watching a soap opera.” She told him with a laugh. “I don’t watch daytime television but I was a little fed up with writing so I decided to take a break.”

  “You have something on your chin,” he reached over and used a napkin to wipe the piece of chicken from her skin and his eyes caught hers and held. He used the napkin to touch her cheek and ran it over her lips. His green eyes had darkened and his hand lingered against her lips.

  “Julian,” she murmured softly.

  “I want to kiss you,” he told her huskily.

  “I want you to,” she told him.

  He leaned forward and she met him halfway. His mouth captured hers and she sank right into the kiss with a sigh and a whisper. His tongue entered her mouth tentatively as if waiting for some sign that she did not want him to and then ventured further as he realized that she was responding. Her hands lifted to touch his shoulders and his muscles flexed at the touch of her hands on him. His mouth moved over hers and he shuddered as the passion unleashed itself inside them. He broke away with a sigh and had to fight to regain control of his emot
ions. He looked at her and realized that her eyes were still closed as if waiting for him to continue.

  “We are taking it slow remember?” he told her with a shaky laugh. “I don’t want to ruin anything and have you telling me that I am still the same person who you have read about in the papers. I want to prove myself to you before we start another chapter Kym.”

  “And what is this other chapter going to be?” she asked him, trying to tamp down the desire that was racing through her.

  “The chapter where we both want each other equally and everything is mutual.”

  She looked at him for a moment and then nodded, her long lashes shielding her eyes. “I have asked you before why you are doing this and you told me that you want to show me that you have changed. I keep telling myself that I am not interested in a relationship and I don’t think I am but I like this,” she gestured with her hands vaguely. “I like where we are at the moment and I kind of like you Julian.”

  “That’s good to hear,” he told her. “I more than like you.”

  *****

  “Are you crazy?” Gabrielle stared at her friend in shock. “You have been going out with that totally handsome and rich guy and you have no idea what his penis looks like?”

  “I appreciate your bluntness,” Kym told her dryly.

  They were having lunch at a restaurant downtown. It had been a week since the picnic at her house and he had called her every day to make sure she was okay; he was definitely growing on her. The weather had turned wretchedly cold and it almost felt like winter although it was just autumn.

  “I side with Gabby on this one.” Marla was dressed in a bulky green sweater and purple stretch pants and was wearing a black wig with purple strands. “What kind of a strange relationship do you two have going on?”

  “We are friends,” Kym told them defensively.

  “How can you not want to have sex with him? He is every woman’s dream! What’s wrong with you?” Gabrielle asked her.

  “I am taking it slow and he does not mind it one bit,” Kym dug her fork into her fries smothered with ketchup and refused to rise to their bait.