Episode 329
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ria walked into the on call room ready to put her grueling day of work behind
her. It wasn’t bad enough that she’d had to be stuck dealing with
Zack and his nonsense in the morning, but it continued to get even more irritating
especially considering that he found a way to keep hunting her down throughout
the day. Opening up her locker, she thought about the plans she had for her
and Kevin. It was those plans that had her thankful that the shift was finally
coming to an end. She walked over to her locker ready to call it quits when
she heard a voice from behind her.
“Don’t even think about leaving because you’re not finished
here,” Zack warned causing Ria to turn around and glare at him.
“Excuse me,” she blinked back at him. “What did you just say?”
“I said that you’re far from being finished here, so I wouldn’t
grab my jacket just yet if I were you,” Zack warned taking a small step
towards her. “We’re short staffed and that means you have to stay.”
“But I’ve already signed out and…” Ria frowned over at
him.
“Well I guess that’s your problem because the medical world doesn’t
wait around for you to sign back in,” Zack snapped at her, shaking his
head disgustedly, “I realize that you think you’re above everything
at this hospital Ria, but I have news for you. Your career can easily be made
or broken if you aren’t careful.”
“Is that a threat?” she questioned glaring up at him unable to repress
the raw hatred she felt for him. She glared over at him finding herself immediately
wanting to slap that smug expression off of his face.
“No sweetheart, that’s just the reality of the situation you’re
in,” Zack took a threatening step towards her. “While you think
you’re hot stuff, the harsh truth is that you’re still only a resident
Ria and when it gets down to it you’ll want to be nice to your higher
ups if you want to get ahead here.”
“And you consider that as an invitation to harass me?” she folded
her arms in front of her chest less than impressed with him.
“I don’t consider it harassment. I think of it more so as keeping
the hospital running smoothly,” Zack grinned back at her arrogantly,
his eyes fixing in on hers, “After all I will be the Chief of Staff soon
enough and if you aren’t careful, then you might find that I won’t
let you have anymore opportunities to get on my good side.”
“I don’t think you have a good side,” she frowned shaking her
head, “No I take that back. I know you don’t have one.”
“Regardless of what you think of me, I’ve scheduled you to work
a few more hours tonight, so you may as well get used to the idea,” Zack
wrinkled his nose at her before flashing her a small smile. “Face it
Ria even though you think you’ve got something special here, you can
be easily replaced and you will be if you aren’t careful.”
Ria watched him leave and let out a long groan realizing that her problems
were just beginning as long as Zack was at the hospital. Thinking about the
impending race for Chief of Staff, she just hoped that when it came down to
it, Zack wouldn’t be the one calling the shots around the hospital. If
he was, then she may wind up giving up the one thing that was important to
her in Coral Valley other than Kevin. Come to think of it, if Don was going
to lose this Chief of Staff race, she may as well start working on trying
to get work elsewhere before Zack smeared her career like he was implying
he would.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I can’t believe the nerve of that man,” Diane huffed getting
out of the car and slamming her door shut behind her as Ben followed her out
of the car quickly. “He just walks around like he doesn’t think
anything is going to happen and the only thing he wants to do is try and ruin
people’s lives. I’m tired of the world and I am tired of him.”
“Honey, you know,” Ben took in a deep breath, catching up to her
and placing his hands on her back so she stopped walking. Turning her towards
him he could see the anger behind her dark eyes and he reached up to caress
her cheek gently before smiling widely. “Seriously, you might want to
calm down before you overwork yourself.”
“I’m not going to get too worked up,” she blurted out throwing
her hands up in the air and pacing back and forth in the driveway, watching
as Ben watched her every move. “The only thing that is going to drive
me crazy is Andy. I can’t stand him. I’m serious, I don’t know
what it is about him that just makes me want to strangle him. Wrap my fingers
around his neck and…,”
“Honey, if you think about that,” Ben stepped forward lacing his
fingers with hers and gently moving them down to their sides as a small smile
spread out over his features. “You might try and take everything out
on someone else and I may be that person you are trying to strangle and that
might not be a good thing. It would probably be a little hard to explain to
the police when they came here to find me strangled to death and you said
you did it on accident.”
“Ben, come on,” Diane chuckled bringing her right hand up and hitting
him gently in the center of his right shoulder seeing him step back and laugh
gently. “You know I wouldn’t try and kill you. You would be the
last one on my list. Well, one of the last ones.”
“Hey, that makes me feel worse now,” he declared holding his hands
up in the air before shrugging his shoulders and placing his right hand over
his chest. “I don’t know how many people are on the list of who
you want to kill and it hurts me to even think I am on that list.”
“Wait no,” she shook her head trying to explain it to him as she
saw his blue eyes look away from her and he held his hand up in the air telling
her that it didn’t matter. “That’s not what I meant Ben, you
are so far from being on my list that…”
“Honey, I’m just playing with you,” Ben chuckled seeing her
eyes widen in anger as he stepped forward to hug her, only to have her back
away from him slowly. “Come on, it was just a tiny joke. You know I would
never be mad at you.”
“That was so not nice,” Diane replied taking a step forward and
placing her hands in the center of his chest and giving him a firm push only
to watch him stumble backwards, grabbing her in his arms as she fell on top
of him. Underneath her, Ben let out a small laugh as they hit the grass and
she slightly rose from his chest. “Next time you fall, promise you won’t
take me down with you.”
“I’m sorry, but you were the one that pushed me,” Ben held
his hands up in the air defensively before letting out a small laugh. The
thoughts of Andy filled his mind again as he reached up to push a piece of
her long, dark hair behind her ear and moved forward to kiss her gently. “In
all honesty, what did you ever see in Andy?”
“Honestly,” Diane took in a deep breath getting up slowly and seeing
Ben do the same thing. Thinking for a long moment all she could do is shrug
her shoulders because she came up with nothing. “I really don’t
know.”
“If I were you, I would have decked him years ago,” Ben nodded over
towards the house and reached out for her hand to walk her over towards the
house. “Lets get inside before it gets too cold out here. We can talk
inside or something.”
“Okay, sounds great,” Diane agreed squeezing Ben’s hand in
hers tighter knowing that when they got back to talking they would be talking
more about Andy and right now, she really didn’t want to at the moment
even think about him. The only problem was that Andy had this way where he
could get to people easily and unfortunately she was one of the people that
were falling for that one thing Andy could do perfectly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I don’t know what the hell he was thinking when he came over here,”
Deidra grumbled sitting down on the couch and grabbing the pillow next to
her and squeezing it in her arms tightly. “After this long he can’t
come back here acting like he owns me. No one owns me and I not about to allow
him to think he does.”
“I don’t think anyone thinks you are going to be doing that honey,”
Dean kneeled down in front of her, reaching out to grab the pillow between
her arms and setting it down on the couch next to her. Moving forward, he
slid his hand in over the side of her neck feeling her fingers curve in over
his shoulders. “Andy isn’t worth getting this worked up over.”
“Dean, you can’t say that when you have never really known him,”
she replied in a tight breath seeing his dark eyes stare up into hers as she
shrugged her shoulders. “I’m being serious here Dean, I know I have
told you a lot about him, but he is a total asshole. You don’t even have
to see his face to be affected by him.”
“So basically, he’s a nightmare,” Dean pointed out seeing her
nod slowly as he moved forward to press a small kiss against her lips, a small
smile appearing over the corners of his lips as he looked into her dark eyes.
“Trust me, I think I had to deal with people like that in my life and
if I could let them go and not let them bother me, I’m sure you can do
that too.”
“You’re stronger than me Dean,” she stated with a deep sigh
seeing him stand up from the couch and sit down next to her, wrapping his
arm around her shoulders. Feeling him pull her in closer, she let out a deep
breath resting her head against his chest. “I can’t do the things
you have, I’m sometimes blind when it comes to some things.”
“Trust me Dee,” he took in a sharp breath thinking about his past
and everything he had done over the years. Sure, he had some good times in
his life that were real highs, but there were some times in his life where
he had some real low moments. There were things she would never know about
him and he was thankful for that considering she didn’t need to know
some of the mistakes he had made. “I have made some big mistakes before
and really made a fool of myself. You are a stronger person than I could ever
be and you need to realize that.”
“I wish I could believe you,” Deidra looked into Dean’s eyes
and knew that he was just trying to tell her something to make her feel better,
but she knew that he was stronger hearted than her. There were mistakes she
made in her life, even doing what she did to him was horrible. “I mean,
what I did to you was probably the worst thing I have ever done in my life,
especially when you were the only person that has ever really truthfully loved
me.”
“Dee, I would love you no matter what you did to me,” Dean whispered
pressing a small kiss against the temple of her forehead and giving her another
small squeeze. Her hand pressed in over the center of his chest as she looked
up at him with her dark eyes. “In all honesty, if I was in your position
and I kept what I did away from you I would have probably done the same. You
didn’t know the truth when you rightfully deserved it and for that I
am sorry. You should have known who I was and what I was doing. You did nothing
wrong in that situation because it was all me there. Not you, that was a mistake
on my part it was never your fault.”
“Now I know you are just trying to make me feel better,” Deidra
rolled her eyes hearing him laugh as she pulled away from him and stood up
from the couch. “I stabbed you Dean, I was an idiot. I should have trusted
you and I didn’t. I was in the wrong, all you ever were was great to
me and I betrayed you. It was my fault and every time Andy has been in my
life I have always done something wrong. He makes me do bad things with my
life when I don’t even want to. It’s horrible and…,”
“I’m not going to let him do that to you again sweetheart,”
Dean hushed standing up from the couch and moving in closer to her, reaching
out to her. Pulling her into his arms tightly, he pressed his hand in over
the small of her back and shook his head slowly. “You didn’t have
me back then and now you do. I’m not going to let him do things he did
to you back then, I’m here and he isn’t getting anywhere near you.”
“I appreciate that honey,” Deidra wrapped her arms around his torso
tightly, listening to his heartbeat as she pressed her head against the center
of his chest. “It still ticks me off about him though and I shouldn’t
be bothered by it, but I still am.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Look before you leap over this desk and attack me, I think there’s
something you should know first,” Russ raised his hands up in the air
defensively hoping to fend off an attack from Kevin. “Whatever it is
you think I did to or with Angela, you’re wrong. I’ve been dedicated
to Avery since I returned home and that’s where my priorities are. I’m
not chasing out after Angie or anything like that. I haven’t even seen
her since I left the island and…”
Kevin stopped himself taking a long, puzzled look at Russ, who looked like
he was ready to leap out of his own skin. He raised his hand in the air, then
stopped to scratch his head before speaking.
“I’m not here for you,” Kevin admitted with a small chuckle
seeing how Russell’s face turned a pale white color. “Unless of
course you’ve changed your name to Chris Foley.”
“Chris Foley,” Russ repeated giving Kevin a strange look, “Why
are you looking for Chris Foley?”
“Because it seems the man has a way with words and I’d like to give
him a few of my own considering the wonderful piece I read by him earlier,”
Kevin mouthed with a snarl thinking about Chris had crossed one too many lines
in printing such an outright lie about him and Brant in the name of lashing
out when things didn’t go as Chris had hoped for. “Know where I
can find him?”
“Take a number,” Russ frowned looking around the small office. “I
don’t have the first clue where to find him, but I’d like a few
words with him myself. I‘m not too thrilled with him for what he printed
in the paper.”
“Hmm, well I can’t promise I’ll give you first shot at killing
him, but I’ll think about it,” Kevin took a seat on the sofa at
the far end of Chris’s office. “So tell me Russ, why are you ready
to kill Chris for the slanderous report there?”
“Because this is my newspaper and I’m about to fire him,” Russ
admitted with a groan, “I’ve tried to keep this paper out of scandal
and out of the ranks of trash, but it seems that while I was on the island
Avery decided to let Chris in and take over for a while.”
“Ouch,” Kevin cringed at the thought, “although it doesn’t
surprise me that he moved in on Avery and preyed on her generosity.”
“Why would you say that?” Russ questioned giving him a look.
“Because Chris was sleeping with Angie for a while,” Kevin shrugged
his shoulders thinking about his heavy dislike for the man who he’d come
over to kill. “It only makes sense that he’d go after Avery since
she looks well…you know..”
“Yeah I know,” Russ frowned remembering his time on the island,
“but I don’t think it was like that. My father and Avery said they
checked out his journalistic background and that Chris was more than qualified
to do the job needed…”
“Oh he’s more than qualified,” Kevin scoffed, “to run
a line of bullshit wherever he’s at.”
“Yeah so I see,” Russ nodded rubbing his hands together before looking
over at what Chris had on his desk about Brant. “Well when Chris comes
in I’m going to fire him, so you know this won’t be happening again
anytime soon.”
“Hmm, yeah well he has this way about him. He likes to worm his way into
situations and when they don’t work out like he’s hoping,”
Kevin added tightly thinking about Chris and his troublemaking.
“So Brant’s really the father of Angela’s babies then, isn’t
he?” Russ noted catching the surprised expression on Kevin’s face.
“She told me the man’s name was Brant, but it took me a little while
to piece it together since obviously I wasn’t in my right mind.”
“Yeah,” Kevin nodded clearing his throat uneasily, “and let’s
just say Chris isn’t too happy about it.”
“Truth be told I probably wouldn’t be too happy about it for Angela’s
sake either,” Russ revealed with a heavy sigh, “That jackass has
been giving me problems for months trying to steal Avery away from me and
apparently when the world thought I was dead, he did. He even tried to steal
my daughter from me too.”
“How so?” Kevin couldn’t help but ask.
“Well, when Brant realized he was out in the cold so to speak, he tried
to convince Avery that he’d slept with her and that Erin was his daughter,
not mine,” Russ divulged to Kevin, surprising himself at how candidly
he was speaking to his one time rival. “He even tried to get his pals
to change a paternity test to say that he was Erin’s father, but that’s
when the joke was on all of us there. I found out that not only can I not
stand that man, but we share a family bond if you will. He’s my half-brother.”
“Whoa,” Kevin’s eyes widened at what he was hearing. “Okay
no offense, but that kind of explains a lot between Angie and Avery. Given
that they both are…”
“Yes, but the difference is that I didn’t know what was going on.
I had amnesia, but Brant knew full well what he was doing when he got involved
with both Avery and Angela. He’s a manipulator and…” Russ started
to rant on Brant when his cell phone started to ring. Sighing he reached into
his pocket seeing it was Avery. “Hello.”
“Russ, hey it’s Jenna,” Jenna began into the phone as Russ
heard Avery’s voice in a panic in the background, “Look I’m
calling because…”
“What is it? What’s going on?” Russ questioned worriedly. “Jenna,
where are you?”
“I’m at the house, but Avery,” Jenna hesitated not knowing
how to tell him what was going on. “She got a delivery from Brooke and
it’s upset her. Brooke sent flowers and something for Erin and…”
“I’ll be right there,” Russ mouthed into the phone hanging
up.
“Something wrong?” Kevin questioned seeing the worry that swept
over Russell’s features.
“Yeah, my wife is having a breakdown…” Russ paused feeling
a tiny shudder race over him. “You see not only has she had to deal with
Brant trying to keep us apart, but she’s had to deal with Bruce Mathis
stalking her, losing her job and…”
“Wait, she lost her job,” Kevin’s eyes widened. “How did
that happen?”
“She worked for Brant,” Russ mouthed with an icy glare, “And
apparently now that he can’t sleep with her anymore, he’s got no
need for her in the office.”
“That doesn’t seem right,” Kevin frowned back at him.
“Even so, she’s upset and her mother just pulled a stunt,”
Russ reached for his jacket he’d taken off earlier. “I have to go
talk to her.”
“I’ll come with you,” Kevin decided thinking it over for a
long moment, “Maybe I can help.”
“Kevin, I don’t really think that now is a good time considering
that,” Russ shunned the thought fearing what could happen if he brought
Kevin back home with him.
“I’m not going to tell her about Angie if that’s what you’re
worried about,” Kevin piped in quickly, “I would really just like
to see Erin and if Avery’s upset, maybe you could use another set of
hands to help out with Erin. Come on.”
“I can’t believe I’m even thinking about agreeing to this,”
Russ mouthed with a heavy sigh.
“Trust me. I can help,” Kevin added quickly offering up a small
smile, “Plus it beats my having to call for a cab to pick me up. Plus
you’d keep me out of jail since I won’t obviously be committing
homicide in your offices.”
“Good point,” Russ finally decided with a nod. “Okay come on.
I don’t want to keep her waiting when she’s this upset.”
“No problem,” Kevin replied getting up and following Russ out of
the office in the hopes of helping him deal with whatever situation was waiting
for him back home with Avery.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“What’s really going on Brant? What aren’t you and Kevin telling
me?” Angela continued to prod the issue with him further knowing full
well there was more to the story than they’d given her.
“It’s nothing,” Brant shook his head dismissively. “I’ve
just been having these problems with work lately and someone decided to exploit
that. That’s all.”
“No there has to be more to it,” she shook her head adamantly, “Kevin
wouldn’t just get worked up over you having work problems. That’s
not like him.”
“Maybe he’s just trying to be a friend since you two are best friends
and we’re together,” Brant suggested reaching out to her and pulling
her into his arms. “Did that thought ever cross your mind?”
“Well no, but…” she tipped her head up to gaze into his dark
eyes, “You never told me what it was that you two talked about with one
another that night at the hotel.”
“And I’m not going to either,” Brant mused with a small smile
tipping down to kiss her quickly, “It’s not worth getting into.”
“Yes, I think it is,” she locked her arms around his waist keeping
him from moving away from her. “I want to know what you two said to one
another because in all honesty it isn’t like Kevin to take to one of
my boyfriends.”
“Is that what you really think about things?” Brant arched a curious
brow.
“That Kevin took to you?” she nodded quickly, “Yeah he did
and really fast too, which is why I’ve been wondering if…”
“No not about that,” he shook his head again lowering his lips towards
hers once more, “I’m talking about that part about my being your
boyfriend.”
“Well we’ve certainly gone beyond platonic with one another, so
I would think that we’ve stepped into that kind of area with one another,”
she replied giving him a strange look. “Unless of course you don’t
see it that way.”
“Actually no I don’t,” he confessed his dark eyes fixed in
over hers seeing the warmth of their chocolate color beneath him. “I
actually had something else in mind for us considering that, well we’re
about to have two children here.”
“And just what would that be?” she couldn’t help but ask arching
a curious brow. “Screw buddies isn’t exactly the most romantic of
titles there.”
“Actually I was thinking more along the lines of asking you how you’d
feel about our taking things to the next level,” he spoke up in a low,
suggestive tone. His nose nuzzled the side of her neck before he mouthed his
words in a low whisper, “I mean how would you feel about the two of us
making this situation a bit more permanent.”
“If you’re thinking about something that involves our living with
one another, well…” she couldn’t help but blurt out seeing
something strange behind his eyes. She bit on her lower lip nervously. “Okay,
that’s obviously not what you were thinking.”
“Not exactly,” he admitted with a tiny laugh amused by the worry
that spread over her features. Touching her cheek gently, he couldn’t
help but smile at her, “I mean we’ve never been conventional about
anything. We kind of did things backwards so I don’t see why we should
stop the trend now. What do you say to your spending more time around here
at the mansion with me? Maybe you could not only stay here and enjoy anything
that this place has to offer, but maybe you’d also be interested in taking
something else of mine with you.”
“And just what might that be?” Angela questioned curiously watching
the way his eyes seemed to light up at the thought running through his mind.
“How would you feel about taking my last name as well,” he whispered
heatedly dipping down to kiss her with a fire behind his touch.
“Your last name,” she gulped tearing her lips away from his to search
his eyes, “Brant, was that a marriage proposal?”
“That all depends,” he teased with a small wink.
“On what?” she couldn’t help but ask feeling her heart hammering
in her chest at the nearness of him.
“On whether or not you’d say yes,” he slid his fingers down
over her spine, crushing her in against him. “So what do you say? Do
you think you’d be tempted to say yes? Is the inclination there?”
“Well for starters you’re still married,” she frowned up at
him, “and secondly if that was a marriage proposal that had to be one
of the most half-assed, pathetic excuses of a marriage proposal I have ever
heard in my life. Here I thought that you’d be capable of romance and
yet…”
He cut her off with an abrupt kiss. His arms crushed her to him and as his
lips drank of hers, she felt a fire stir up inside of her. He picked her up
off of the ground and kept her close to him as they parted.
“I didn’t say that was my marriage proposal. I was just merely asking
if you might be interested,” he corrected with a wink, his dark gaze
causing her to melt in his arms.
“I might be interested sooner or later,” she answered cryptically
giving him enough to be satisfied for the moment building between them.
“Then I’ll have you know when the time is right, I’ll show
you the most romantic, most incredible proposal you’ve ever seen. I’ll
sweep you off of your feet and make you feel like the most beautiful woman
alive,” Brant promised in a warm, assuring tone, “I promise you
that when that moment arrives it’ll be nothing short of perfect for us.”
“It had better be,” she warned feeling him set her back down on
the ground again, “because I’ll have you know I won’t accept
anything less from you. Of course before I give you a yes, I‘ll have
to be certain that you can satisfy me in every way imaginable.”
“In that case, how about you and I go back upstairs and I'll show you
that I’m more than up for any challenge you’ve presented me with,”
he wiggled his brow at her scooping her up fully into his arms.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she giggled leaning into his powerful
chest and feeling the warmth of him around her as they made their way upstairs.
Of course what Brant didn’t know was even if he would’ve been asking
her right then and there to marry him, she would have already said yes. There
wasn’t a doubt in her mind that here she was with the man she wanted
to spend the rest of her life with--she’d just have to make him work
for it a bit she supposed. Of course she was fully certain she’d enjoy
all the perks and benefits of him trying to ‘convince’ her along
the way.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kyle’s lips beckoned Heather’s in kiss after tender kiss once he’d
moved in over her. Her legs were wrapped snugly around his thighs, bringing
forth so many sensations he’d repressed for so many years, yet now longed
to recall and discover in ways he was certain he shouldn’t be doing at
this point in time. Her green eyes tipped up to gaze into the warmth of the
deep, darkness of his and in that moment he felt himself alive for the first
time in so very long. All he had to do was hold her and he found himself wanting
more of this feeling, more of what it was she did to him again and again.
“Kyle, I…” Heather started choked up on her own emotions wanting
more than anything to be close to him, to keep this moment from ending between
them.
“I know,” he whispered dropping down to kiss her once again, feeling
the tenderness of her fingertips pressing in over his spine, dropping down
to touch his heated flesh. “I feel it too.”
“We’re not making a mistake,” she couldn’t help but ask
not wanting to bring reality into the moment between them. “Are we?”
“No,” Kyle shook his head reaching out to skim the palm of his hand
against her cheek before pressing in to kiss her. Her lips set him on fire,
body arched up against his left him longing for more and as his kisses tapered
off over her side, he felt the anticipation pouring out over them. His palm
dropped down to her hip, caressing the soft curve before his fingers fanned
out over her thigh, creeping down over her bottom and squeezing gently with
a small upward movement bringing her closer to his growing ache.
“Kyle,” she whimpered his name feeling his kisses over her skin,
the way he was touching her, making her want to experience this moment over
and over again and they hadn’t even made love yet. She felt his kisses
taper off over her skin, drinking up every inch of her.
His lips pressed in over her breast devoting his attention to her and her
body’s responses to him, while his hand pressed in between her thighs,
easing in underneath the thin panties seeking out a more intimate response
from her. Here Heather had worked to get him out of his clothes, yet he’d
taken his time in undressing her, leaving her painfully longing for more.
She was now held captive, a prisoner to the passion he’d invoked in her
and all she could do was lay back and revel in what it was he was offering
her--in what he could give to her now that they were lost in a moment with
one another. She could feel the raw, heat of him over her, tempting her with
everything she’d always dreamt about from him, yet he was taking great
lengths to make sure that she was feeling what he was. At first contact of
his touch, she arched up into him longing for his skilled caress. He massaged
her gently from within taking his time in caressing her secret warmth and
leaving her longing for more from him--for the completion he‘d denied
her up until now. Her fingers pressed into his hair guiding his mouth to hers
in a kiss, one that left no doubts about where she’d hoped that this
experience would end up for them.
“I want you,” Kyle confessed caressing her again and again watching
the way that her face grew flushed with desire. Her lips parted, a breath
escaping from her lips and Kyle knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back
any longer. He withdrew his hand from her soft femininity, reached for her
underwear tearing it from her body with one lightening quick movement that
caused her to gasp.
“Kyle,” her eyes widened as he held up the flimsy material between
his fingers offering up a sly grin of his own.
“I told you I’d like these much better once I got them onto the
floor,” Kyle offered up with a hint of mischief burning behind his eyes
that was topped off by the hunger growing inside of him. He tossed the tattered
fragment to the floor before moving in over her once again, “Of course
I’d also said that I wanted something else from you.”
“I believe it was something a little like this,” Heather played
along with his flirting, bringing her legs around his waist, feeling the weight
of him over her, the way his body etched over her entrance teasing her with
thoughts of completion. She kept her eyes on his, seeing so many things happening
behind his responses and she leaned up to kiss him. “I want you to know
this isn’t because I’m trying to play any games Kyle. This is because
I want you--because I’ve always wanted you.”
“I’ve always wanted you too,” Kyle revealed bending down to
kiss her while sinking into her with one smooth, fluid movement. He heard
her cry out upon completion, nails sinking into his shoulders as their mouths
parted, both fighting to gain control of the situation.
Heather’s green eyes searched his again and she spoke up in a short,
tight whisper, “You promised me a wild ride Houston. Don‘t flake
out on me now,” she mouthed feeling him ease himself further inside of
her.
“It’s only the beginning,” he assured her in a strained voice
reaching out to squeeze her hip gently. He urged her thigh in closer to him,
feeling her wrap her long legs around his back drawing him further into her
and he let out a small groan. It was too much, too powerful and yet everything
he’d hoped for between them since he’d been old enough to realize
how beautiful Heather truly was. She leaned forward drinking a kiss from his
lips, tempting him with everything that they’d been headed towards with
one another for the last few weeks. Oh who was he kidding? He’d waited
for this for years and now as he slowly began to press further inside of her,
he knew this was really happening. They were stepping into dangerous territory
with one another, but it was a trip he was longing to take with her.
“You’re so special to me Heather,” Kyle whispered easing his
palm against her face, feeling her burning beneath him. He felt her arch up
to him again and again urging him towards the promise of thrust after desperate
thrust. It was almost too hard to believe that they were doing this, that
they were together at long last and yet…
“Heather babes don’t fret your cappuccino is here!” Kellen
announced prancing into the room with a coffee mug in hand. “I had a
hell of a time with the machine earlier, but after a little pep talk it was
finally putting out the kind of foam that you like oh so very well and…”
“Kellen,” Heather yelped seeing her best friend standing in her
office a few feet away from her and Kyle.
“Oh my,” Kellen’s blue eyes widened as he took in the situation
before him realizing what was happening. “Oh dear I should’ve knocked.”
“You’re damn right you should have,” Kyle growled embarrassment
pouring out over him now that Kellen had caught them not once, but twice in
an intimate act. He felt Heather stiffen beneath him and he was suddenly aware
of just how naked he was in front of Kellen. Quickly reaching out to the floor,
Kyle grabbed his pants and attempted to wrap them over his body while moving
off of Heather. “Do you mind?”
“No not at all,” Kellen waved his hand dismissively, his gaze lingering
to the part of Kyle that Heather no doubt had been enjoying right before he’d
walked in. “I just um…”
“Kellen, why don’t you give us some time,” Heather pleaded
with her best friend. “Please…”
“Um, yeah um okay. Sure. I’ll just be out in the…” Kellen
dropped the mug he’d been carrying in all of the confusion. “I’ll
just be out in the hall looking for something to clean this up.”
“Take your time,” Kyle muttered under his breath feeling Heather
move out from underneath him on the couch. Kellen did as instructed and Kyle
felt a breath of relief rush over him at Kellen’s quick exit. He let
his head fall back on the sofa before letting out a groan, “He has horrible
timing. I hope you realize that.”
“Yes and no,” Heather mouthed getting up off of the couch and searching
for her shirt. She found it discarded over by her desk and quickly slipped
into it. Refusing to look back at Kyle she fought to contain what she was
feeling inside of her. Seconds earlier, she’d been so close to sharing
her dream with Kyle in having the first taste of what it would be like to
be lost in one another, making love to each other until the end of time. Only
it wasn’t the end of time and their making love wasn’t supposed
to be. “I’m glad he came in here. It’s what we both needed.”
“Um Heather, I really don’t think we needed a witness to what was
going on here,” Kyle watched her move across her office looking for her
pants. “Hey, what are you doing?”
“I’m getting dressed and I’m sending you on your way,”
Heather looked up at him once again, a pained expression on her face. “Kyle,
we can’t do this.”
“Isn’t it a little late for that now,” he tried to keep the
mood light and teasing between them, but he could see something in her eyes
that indicated it just wasn’t going to stay that way. Sighing heavily
he started to move off of the couch to stand up.
“Don’t,” Heather pleaded placing her hand out in the air to
shield herself from seeing him naked, from looking at his perfect body and
longing to feel him inside of her again, moving in over her and wanting her
in the ways that she still wanted him. “Please Kyle…”
“I don’t understand,” Kyle watched her with a pained expression.
“I know you don’t,” she sighed heavily hating to admit what
she knew to be true in her heart, “but I do. Kyle I realize that you
think your making love to me would be something you’re doing for all
the right reasons, but it’s not because you want me--not because you
think of me in some special way. I know better.”
“No you don’t,” Kyle argued standing up off of the couch despite
her protests. He felt her turn away from him and he let out a small sigh,
“Heather you’re wrong.”
“Not about this,” she shook her head adamantly. “Kyle I know
what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. You’ve spent your
whole life in love with Sarah and she’s hurt you time and time again.
You’re just wanting to feel like you can even the playing field and as
I said before if you were anyone else, I could do this. Hell, I wanted to
do this--I still do, but when it gets down to it, I care about you too much
to be one last shag before you go off into wedded bliss.”
“I hardly see that being the plan now that,” Kyle frowned watching
her turn around to face him again. He saw the pained expression on her face,
the way that her sad eyes pressed in over him and in that moment all he wanted
to do was take her into his arms and hold her.
“Kyle, I want you. I want you so bad that it hurts not to reach out and
touch you right now,” Heather admitted tears threatening to overtake
her, “but I can’t be second fiddle to Sarah. I can’t be the
woman you choose to be with because it didn’t work out with your dream
girl.”
“But Heather it’s not…” Kyle tried to reach out to her
again only to watch her take a small movement backwards.
“Don’t you get it Kyle? I can’t just live with being a one
night stand. I don’t want to be some fling because when it gets down
to it, I know once I have you I’m not going to stop wanting you. For
the few seconds that we…” Heather stopped herself clenching her
fists at her sides, “Damn it Kyle. I can’t do this. Not now, not
ever.”
“Heather wait,” he watched her rush over to her office door leaving
him in a whirlwind of confusion. Quickly he stepped into his pants before
moving out of the room in the hopes of catching up with her, but before he
could get out of the door, he was stopped by Kellen.
“Listen jackass I don’t know what your problem is but Heather’s
not just a booty call,” Kellen warned him sharply shoving him in the
chest, “I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but
I’m not going to let you hurt her anymore than you’ve already done.
I thought that you were special--that you were someone she could fall in love
with, but with the way you’re hurting her…”
“Kellen get out of my way,” Kyle spotted Heather out of the corner
of his eye, “I have to talk to her.”
“Tell me something Kyle. Are you still engaged to Sarah?” Kellen
questioned bluntly, “Did you tell Sarah you’re not going to marry
her because you’re in love with Heather?”
“Kellen, this really isn’t any of your business,” Kyle tried
to push past him once again.
“Yeah that’s what I thought. In other words you didn’t tell
Sarah because you don’t want to tell Sarah. You’d rather screw around
with Heather and hurt her like every other man in her life. Well I’ve
got news for you Houston it’s not going to happen. I’m not going
to let you break what little hope she has been holding onto for all these
years,” Kellen warned him sharply, his eyes narrowing at Kyle.
“Kellen get out of my way. I need to talk to Heather and…”
Kyle attempted to push Kellen out of the way.
“Save it Kyle. I think you said more than enough,” Kellen shoved
him again.
“Kellen, get out of my way!” Kyle snarled at him making another
move forward only to feel Kellen’s fist connect with his jaw. Kyle attempted
to move out of the blow only to realize that Kellen’s fist flew into
his nose sending him down to the ground.
“You’re not going anywhere near her until you get your priorities
straight,” Kellen snapped at him with a long, disapproving scowl, “If
you care about Heather, then you do the right thing and end it with Sarah.
Otherwise I don’t want to see you bothering her or making her believe
that there’s some kind of future between the two of you if you aren’t
man enough to give her what she needs.”
“Kellen I…” Kyle brought his hand up to his face feeling blood
coming out from his nose.
“I’m sorry about hitting you,” Kellen’s eyes lingered
over Kyle’s bare chest imagining what it must’ve felt like for Heather
to be touching Kyle, to have him over her, making love to her, yet knowing
how Heather felt about Kyle, Kellen realized that his friend couldn’t
be satisfied with just a sexual encounter. She’d made that painfully
clear earlier when she was confessing her true feelings to Kellen. She was
in love with Kyle and if Kyle was really the man for her, then he was going
to have to prove it by moving beyond his fears and doing the right thing.
“Kyle if you love Heather, which I’m sure somewhere inside of you,
you do. You’ll do what’s best for the both of you and make things
right. You’ll stop playing around and you’ll do what you should’ve
done years ago.”
“But…” Kyle watched Kellen leave as he sat in the middle of
Heather’s office thinking about how their time with one another went
from being so completely perfect, to a total disaster. Remembering the way
that she looked at him right before she ran off Kyle felt an ache building
up inside of him. Kellen was right. He’d been unfair to Heather--he’d
done things so very wrong, but now was about making things right. He had to
take care of the past before he could even think about having any kind of
future. As he sat in the middle of Heather’s office nursing what felt
like a broken nose, he realized that right now that last thing he should be
doing is trying to seduce Heather when it was clear that there was a much
more important action that needed to be taken before he could be man enough
to admit what it was that he wanted from life. Kellen was right. It was time
to turn things to where they always should’ve been starting now.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So Trisha,” Joseph sat down on the chair across from Chase and
Trisha, seeing the two sitting on two separate sides of the couch with a big
gap between the two of them, telling him that something was definitely going
on between the two. An idea popped into his head as he figured a way to brighten
the mood a bit when he stood up from the chair. “You want to see some
pictures from when Chase was younger?”
“Sure, I’d love to,” Trisha smiled up at Joseph looking over
to Chase, seeing his blue eyes widen as he shook his head over and over again.
A laugh spilled from her lips when Chase looked over at her with tensed eyebrows
when Joseph sat down between the two of them. “I bet he was adorable.”
“You know dad,” Chase took in a deep breath pressing his palm in
over the center of the photo book seeing Joseph look up at him with a small
frown. “I don’t think Trisha really wants to see these. We don’t
want to see these right now Trisha, right?”
“Are you kidding me?” Trisha moved Chase’s hand away from the
book seeing Joseph smile widely before opening up to the front page. “I
would love to see what you were like when you were younger.”
“Well, we start off with his baby photo,” Joseph moved the book
in closer to Trisha so she could hold half of it to get a better look at all
of the pictures before her. “His mother loved taking pictures of him
when he was a baby.”
“Oh my, you were so cute,” Trisha chuckled letting out a small laugh
when she came to a picture where had his diaper on his head and he was smiling
widely for the picture. “Chase, I thought the diapers were supposed to
go on your bottom.”
“Well, he loved to take them off all the time,” Joseph explained
looking over at Chase who was looking down towards the ground with his hands
placed on the back of his head as Joseph laughed. “We would be thinking
he was down for a nap until we saw his little naked butt running down the
hallways.”
“That’s cute,” Trisha chuckled turning the page in the book
seeing a picture of a baby in a rabbit costume and she couldn’t help
but gasp at how cute it was. “Is this him on Halloween. Oh my, is he
so cute.”
“My wife made that for him,” Joseph smiled brightly seeing her place
her hand over her mouth as she looked at the pictures of Chase slowly. “He
loved that costume. He loved rabbits when he was younger. In fact we had gotten
him a rabbit as you can see in that picture, he named him Pookey. It was really
adorable because there was one point in time where he thought that Pookey
couldn’t sleep alone so he would put Pookey’s cage on the floor
and he would sleep with him on the floor.”
“Aw, Pookey is so cute,” she laughed looking over at Chase and saw
the smile that developed over his features when he looked at the picture of
his rabbit. “I think you look cute here Chase, you were such a cute kid.”
“His teenage years,” Joseph turned a couple more pages before stopping
around the age of twelve with Chase, showing a picture of Chase covered in
paint and Trisha couldn’t help but laugh and Joseph knew that she would
want an explanation to the picture. “Chase and his friends were playing
football in the house and forgot I was painting that day so he ran right into
the ladder and the paint can dropped on him. Showing you right there what
happened afterward.”
“You turned red,” Trisha smirked looking at a couple of pictures
of him when he was in high school. “You were on the baseball and the
hockey team?”
“Yep,” Chase nodded slowly pointing to the side that was the hockey
part, “I loved hockey a lot more than baseball, but sadly my first year
I couldn’t skate worth anything. I had one hell of a shot, but my first
game I had. I got a goal within the first five minutes, but had no idea how
to stop the skates and ran right into the glass. I can tell you, that was
my first goal and it happened to be my last because later that night I was
having a cat scan after knocking myself unconscious.”
“It scared me half to death,” Joseph placed his hand over his chest
before handing the book over to Trisha, pointing back towards the kitchen.
“I think I will go make us some drinks or something. I’ll be right
back.”
“What’s the end of this?” Trish turned to the back of the book
seeing a picture of a more recent Chase, feeling him scoot over to the middle
of the couch next to her. Looking at him smiling with his arms wrapped around
an older woman she couldn’t help but wonder about the picture. “Is
this your mother.”
“Yeah, that was the last picture I ever had with her,” Chase answered
with a small nod clearing his throat uneasily. “I left a few months before
she died to try and become a rock star. She’s the one that made this
book and it ends here because she’s no longer with me. I can’t help
but wish sometimes that I didn’t hope for that stupid dream because if
I hadn’t have left, I might have had a couple more pages added to this.
The sad thing is that because of some stupid dream, I never got to say goodbye
and I’ll regret that the rest of my life.”
“Chase,” Trisha frowned setting the picture book down before reaching
out to wrap her arms around him tightly feeling him rest his chin on her shoulder.
She caressed the center of his back gently hearing his breaths in her ear
as she tried to calm him down. “She’s proud of you for trying to
follow your dream, trust me. Even if she isn’t here, she will always
be in your heart.”
As Trisha held Chase in her arms she knew that the whole time she spent mad
at him wasn’t worth it because deep down she knew there was a reason
her and Chase were together. They needed each other more than anything right
now, even now this moment proved that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“You getting off?” Ria turned to face Barbara once Barbara placed
her things inside her locker and nodded slowly. “I think I’m ready
for a break, you want to go down to the lounge to get a coffee or something?
Everything has been kind of slow today.”
“Tell me about it,” Barbara folded her arms out in front of her
chest realizing that today was probably one of the slowest days they had ever
had at the hospital. “Sure though, I could probably use a coffee because
I’m not going to go straight home.”
“Alright,” Ria followed Barbara down the hallway before stopping
in the lounge and reaching inside her pocket to grab some money, feeling Barbara
stop her before she took it out. “What’s wrong?”
“Trust me, I think I can buy this round,” Barbara assured her nodding
over towards the table, motioning Ria to walk over there as she smiled brightly.
“Just go and take a seat, I will be back in a minute.”
“Alright, if you insist,” Ria shrugged her shoulders taking a seat
at the table in the corner, resting her arms against the table as she looked
around the room before her. “Today was so quiet and usually this place
was always busy. It was weird that of all days it would be like this, she
would much rather be at home right now with Kevin instead of being here.
Even having to leave Kevin bothered her because she realized that she had
to go to work, but still she couldn’t help thinking what it would have
been like if she stayed at home with Kevin today. A small laugh escaped her
lips as she thought back to what she did to him in the car and with that on
Kevin’s mind, she already knew what would have happened if they did go
home.
“Good things on your mind?” Barbara set down Ria’s coffee seeing
Ria straighten up and push back her long hair as Barbara shook her head slowly.
“Trust me, at least some of us think brightly sometimes. Go ahead.”
“I was just thinking about Kevin,” Ria answered truthfully, nodding
to Barbara in thanks before taking a sip of her coffee and setting it down.
“That’s all.”
“Hey, if I had him,” Barbara chuckled shrugging her shoulders and
taking a small sip of her coffee before setting it back down. “I would
be thinking about him twenty-four seven too. You have a man with a very cute
smile and he does have a very nice butt too. Not many men can pull that off.”
“Oh, I know,” Ria laughed lightly thinking back to a moment when
she once told Kevin that and she placed her hands on the table gently. “I
told him that, but he didn’t believe me. Some men just don’t have
it and…,”
“What are you doing down here?” a voice erupted through their ears
as a pair of hands slammed down on the table before them. Ria’s dark
eyes looked up to see Zack before her as a small scowl appeared over her lips.
“You should be working right now Ria, not screwing around.”
“Speaking of the men that can’t pull it off,” Ria looked over
at Barbara before rising up from her seat slowly, facing Zack as he glared
down at her. “What is your problem Zack? I’m taking a break, you
are down here too which means you are taking a break. I sure as hell know
you are half the doctor I am, so I deserve to take a break.”
“You deserve nothing,” Zack spat right back his eyes widening as
he saw her glaring up at him and he heard Barbara get up from the table behind
him. “You know Ria, I think I am going to write you up for not doing
your job right because you haven’t been doing anything right every time
I have come around.”
“You know Ria, I think I should get going now,” Barbara looked down
at her watch before looking at Zack and scowling over in his direction. “Are
you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be just fine,” Ria assured her with a small nod before
moving forward and stepping in closer to Zack, seeing his eyes never leaving
hers. “You need to get over yourself Zack because I am not going to do
anything an asshole tells me to do.”
“You know Ria,” Zack grasped onto Ria’s wrist roughly as she
went to walk away and he pulled her back tightly. “I think we should
have a little talk about your attitude. That’s another thing that I probably
would write you up for too, I don’t like it at all.”
“Whatever Zack,” Ria pulled her wrist back before shaking her head
and holding her hands up in the air. “Do what you want because personally,
I don’t care at all what you think.”
“You know, I might be willing to forget about all these instances if
you are willing to do me a favor,” he spoke up seeing her stop in her
tracks and turn to face him, her eyebrows tensed together in curiosity of
what he was going to ask her. “Perhaps maybe if you could have a word
with your buddy Seth there. Maybe convince him to mend fences his with his
wife. Just try and help me out and I won’t put your job on the line.
What do you think?”
“You want to know what I think?” Ria laughed lightly seeing him
nod slowly as she bit down on her bottom lip and looked away from him for
a moment. Ria stepped forward and moved quickly bringing her knee into Zack’s
groin hearing him let out a small groan before placing his hand over himself.
“Please Zack, I know that doesn’t hurt as much as you are playing
it off to be. Now you have a reason to write me up.”
Ria reached over to her coffee before dumping it upside down and dropping
it over the front of his slacks hearing him yelp out and move away from the
liquid as she gasped and placed her hand over her mouth.
“Oops, I guess you have another thing to write me up for now too,”
Ria dropped the empty cup on him before walking away from him slowly. “You
threatened me, now I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m going to
the Chief of Staff to tell him what an asshole you really are. Have a nice
day Zack.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Avery it’s going to be okay,” Jenna tried to console her
friend hoping to keep Avery from going into another fit after it seemed she’d
started to calm down a little bit. She’d fed each and every flower that
Brooke had given her into the garbage disposal until it seemed that the disposal
had stopped working. It started sputtering and sparking and now that there
were a few red and white buds peeking out from over the top of the kitchen
sink.
“No it’s not going to be okay. That woman doesn’t know when
to quit!” Avery snapped in response, “She’s not going to be
happy until she takes me under completely.”
“Avery, I’m sure that…” Jenna started hearing a sound
from behind here alerting her that Russ was home. She turned around to see
him with someone else behind him as she held Erin in her arms. “Avery’s
in the kitchen.”
“Avery honey,” Russ started watching Avery rush out of the kitchen
and into his arms. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Brooke. She sent over flowers and a teddy bear for Erin,”
she motioned to the bear on the couch. “She had the nerve to send those
things after all she’s done and that can only mean that she’s going
to keep trying to hurt us. She’s got to be up to something and…”
“It’s okay,” Russ pulled her into his arms feeling her fall
to pieces. He threw an apologetic look over at Jenna who still kept Erin close
to her. “She’s not going to get a chance to hurt any of us again.”
“Russ you don’t know her like I do. She’s manipulative and
hurtful and she tried to kill me. You should’ve seen the look on her
face when she tried to drug me,” Avery insisted ready to say something
more when she spotted Kevin out of the corner of her eye. She let out a small
gasp before standing up straighter, “Kevin, what are you doing here?”
“Russ was with me when he got the call you were upset,” Kevin admitted
taking a small step towards her, “He’s very worried about you and
wants to help.”
“I know, but my mother is just evil,” Avery confessed with an exaggerated
sigh, “She won’t quit until she drives me out of my mind which is
closer each day.”
“Now do you really think that Russ is going to let that one happen to
you?” Kevin questioned giving her a curious look. “We both know
that this man moved heaven and earth to get back to you. Do you honestly believe
that he’s going to let anyone hurt you again?”
“Well no, but…” she turned her eyes towards Russ, “I just
know she’s wanting to try something again.”
“Her mother isn’t a typical mother,” Russ offered up looking
to Kevin once more.
“She tried to kill Erin because she wanted me to be with Brant--to have
Brant’s baby--an Ashford baby so that she could have the money that the
Ashford baby would get. She struck up a deal with Nicholas Ashford and…”
Avery spoke up, her voice raising with worry. She looked to her daughter.
“Russ, we can’t let anything happen to Erin.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to Erin,” he promised her cupping
her face in his hands. “We’re here with her and neither Brooke nor
Nicholas is going to get what they want.”
“But she’s not giving up. She had to have sent those flowers over
because she must know that you’re an Ashford and…” Avery started
breathlessly.
“Avery, she’s not getting her hands on Erin or the money she thinks
she’s entitled to,” Russ assured her point blank, “Augustus
assured me that it’s locked away from them until we want to take control
of it. They won’t get near it and…”
“Or maybe she’s trying to kiss up now that you’re an Ashford.
Maybe now she’s trying to worm her way in and…” Avery rambled
on worriedly.
“May I?” Kevin questioned looking to Jenna. He motioned to Erin
who was now watching him with a renewed interest.
“Oh of course,” Jenna nodded in a small whisper, “I think my
back could use a little break anyways.”
“Pregnancy will do that to you,” Kevin noted accepting Erin from
her arms.
“How did you…?” Jenna gave him a strange look.
“A woman just has a certain glow about her when she’s pregnant,”
Kevin confessed in a low whisper hearing Avery’s worries mounting. “You
have it and I must say it suits you.”
“Well thank you,” Jenna smiled at him before pausing.
“Kevin,” he finished winking down at her.
“It’s nice to meet you Kevin,” Jenna offered up in response
seeing the way that Erin seemed to melt in his arms completely. She watched
Erin reach for his nose and giggle. “I’m Jenna.”
“I know,” Kevin glanced over at her with a warm, welcoming grin,
“I mean I heard a lot of wonderful things about you on the way over.
It‘s nice to finally meet you and put a face to the words. Of course
I had no idea that the face was as beautiful as yours is.”
“Likewise,” Jenna nodded watching him for a moment before she realized
what she’d said. “I mean it’s nice meeting you.”
“I know,” Kevin laughed lightly before looking over to Erin, “What
do you say we try to cheer your mom up here?”
Erin just watched him intently, her eyes never straying from him while he
moved over to join Russ and Avery.
“I think someone here would like to say something pretty important to
her mommy,” Kevin interrupted seeing the way that Avery turned to look
at him. She saw the way that Erin seemed to melt into his embrace and she
couldn’t help but smile. Kevin dropped his head down to whisper in Erin’s
ear a bit, “That’s right keep charming her.”
“Oh Erin,” Avery rushed over to her daughter sweeping her out of
Kevin’s arms and into her own. “Honey I’m so sorry I’m
acting like a lunatic lately. It’s just that woman…”
“Right now the only woman she’s worried about is you mommy,”
Kevin added watching the way Erin reached out to her mother, tugging on a
strand of her long hair.
“That’s right Avery,” Russ stepped in behind her sliding his
arm around her waist, “We both love you so very much and we’re not
going to let anything take what we have away from us.”
“I know that Russ, but it’s just that sometimes I’m so afraid,”
she sighed heavily feeling Russ press a kiss onto the side of her forehead.
“Everything’s going to be okay now. I swear to you that it’s
only going to get better for us,” Russ tried to assure her while exchanging
glances with Kevin and hoping that his words rang true where their future
was concerned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Okay, so what do you think is really going on?” Ben sat down on
the couch handing over a warm mug to Diane after making her some tea. “I
mean really, what do you think Andy is trying to pull with everyone. I know
he is obviously here for Deidra or you, but what do you think he is doing?”
“I have no idea, the man is crazy,” Diane explained taking in a
deep sigh before leaning forward to take small sips from the warm drink. “All
I can tell you is that I never know what is going through that man’s
mind. He’s a closed book and a tinted window, you never see what’s
coming.”
“Right honey, but…,” Ben went to say something more before
hearing his cell phone go off and he let out a long sigh getting up from the
couch and walking over towards the top of the television where he had set
his phone down. Reaching out to pick it up, Ben shot Diane a apologetic expression
before answering the phone. “Hello?”
“Great,” Diane muttered to herself seeing the look that spread out
over his features telling her that he was obviously getting called into work
again. Ben hung up the phone and slid it back into his pocket as she frowned
and stood up to meet him in the middle of the room. “Where do you have
to go now?”
“That was work,” Ben answered seeing her dark eyes look away from
him as he reached his index finger in underneath her chin and urged her to
look back up at him. “I know this hard on you because it is just as hard
on me. I want you to know that I will be back soon though, I promise.”
“I know, but still,” Diane muttered softly feeling his hand slide
in over the curve of her cheek as she let out a small sigh. “I just don’t
like you leaving when things like this are going on.”
“I’m telling you now, I’m going to be back when this is going
on,” Ben promised reaching down with his left hand to grab her hand in
his tightly before nodding. “You have to trust me when I tell you that.
I’ve also decided something and it’s really big. I’m going
to give the job with working with the DA up. I’m going to hand in my
letter of resignation today. I can’t stand it anymore.”
“You can’t be serious,” she looked up at him confused seeing
him shake his head slowly before he squeezed her hand in his tighter, seeing
her brown eyes staring into his. “Are you really?”
“After today, I’m just going to be a BBK man,” Ben whispered
leaning to press a small kiss in against her lips before moving his lips in
over to the side of her cheek. “You have to trust me honey, I’m
all yours now.”
“That’s great news,” Diane blurted out grabbing his face in
her hands and pulling him in for another kiss. “You should probably get
going right now. We don’t want to wait for you to hand in that letter.
Let’s make it quick.”
“Alright honey, I will see you later,” Ben promised giving her another
small kiss before walking over towards the couch and grabbing his coat. He
pulled it on before walking over towards the door and holding his hand up
to say goodbye. “I’ll see you later.”
“Okay,” Diane nodded slowly blowing him a kiss and seeing him smile
before walking out the front door. Diane heard his car pull away and she went
to sit down before hearing the doorbell ring. Swearing she heard his car pull
away she walked over towards the door and opened it seeing Andy before her
as she let out a small hiss. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh gosh Diane,” Andy smiled proudly seeing Diane holding onto her
door tightly as he stepped in closer to her and reached out to touch her arm
softly. “You don’t look happy to see me. I was kind of hoping you
might be happy to see me.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I understand that he still pisses you off,” Dean chuckled moving
away from Deidra and placing his hand over his chest. “You see with me,
I would feel the same exact way. There have been people in this world that
have actually made me feel the same way so I really don’t blame you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think you have ever,” Deidra paused thinking
about Dean’s job before shaking her head slowly. There were tons of people
he probably felt the way she felt about Andy towards. “Never mind, it’s
just really hard to get him out of my mind right now. That’s all.”
“I understand honey,” Dean hushed her stepping back towards the
kitchen and motioning her to wait for a moment as she eyed him over slowly.
“Just go and sit down, I will be right back.”
“Wait, where are you going?” she questioned seeing him disappear
into the hallway that led towards the kitchen as she let out a deep breath.
“Or you can just no answer me, that works too.”
As she sat back down on the couch she couldn’t help but let her thoughts
of Andy return to her when she thought back to when she was younger and how
she had always thought she loved Andy with everything that she was. Now looking
back on the days she spent with him she knew that was so far from the truth.
Andy was nothing but trouble for her and she knew it. In all honesty, he would
always play an act with her. Probably an act that he had played with all the
women in his life and she was probably just the unlucky one that got to marry
the jerk. That would probably be considered one of the stupidest moves she
had ever made in her life now as she thought back on all the things she had
done. She was so hard up to have someone love her and want to be with her
that she fell for the first man that gave her the time of day. The first man
that made her believe she was his only one and when she meant only one, that
meant there was no one else. Andy was just someone she wanted to believe in
and now as she sat here in the present she realized the only thing she wanted
from him now was for him to be gone from her life forever.
“I was such an idiot for loving him and hoping things would turn out,”
Deidra mumbled underneath her breath not even wanting to think about Andy
right now considering she was home with Dean and now that they were together,
Andy really meant nothing to her. Hearing Dean’s footsteps, she looked
up with her dark eyes to see him entering the room with two bowls in his hands
and she couldn’t help but smile. “What is that?”
“Ice-cream,” he answered with a bright smile taking a seat on the
couch next to her before handing her a bowl and keeping one for himself. “You
should know that ice-cream cures everything, I learned that a long time ago
and I figured it was about time that I taught you the same thing. No matter
what kind of mood you are in, ice-cream makes it better.”
“It makes it better?” Deidra questioned seeing him nod slowly before
smiling widely and taking a bite of his own bowl of ice-cream. “I’m
glad you think that because I think that too.”
“Oh really? You think so?” Dean muttered seeing her nod slowly before
he smiled and stood up from the couch, stepping in front of her before dumping
his bowl in over her head hearing her gasp out at the coolness. “I heard
that makes a person feel better too.”
“You are so dead,” Deidra got up from the couch with her bowl in
hand chasing him out into the hallway as they ran into the dining room. “I’m
going to get you someway--somehow. Payback is bound to happen.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kellen walked down the hallway after Kyle had left wondering where Heather
had disappeared to. He’d been searching for her all over, but found that
she was no where in sight. He’d tried the studio and was about to go
back up to her office when he passed by a broom closet. He heard a sound from
within and it caused him to stop where he stood. He listened for a second
before moving to the door and opening it to find Heather inside draped in
one of the robes that had been laying around the building. She was seated
on the floor with her face buried in her hands, her knees up to her chest
and Kellen already could feel her upset.
“Hey,” Kellen called out to her watching her tip her head up just
enough to look at him before she hugged her legs closer to her body.
“Leave me alone Kellen,” she grumbled back at him keeping her gaze
fixed on her knees. “I don’t want to talk right now.”
“Well I do, so why don’t you come out here,” Kellen suggested
seeing her shake her head stubbornly.
“No, I don’t want to. Just close the door and leave me be,”
she snapped in response refusing to give up on the mood she was in.
“Fine, have it your way,” Kellen stepped into the broom closet and
closed the door behind him to create a darkness from within. He took a small
step forward before hitting one of the shelves with his knee. “Damn is
it dark in here.”
“Kellen I said I wanted you to leave me alone,” she snapped at him,
her voice vibrating with anger as Kellen threw caution to the wind and took
a seat on the floor. He felt her toes just in front of him and he started
to tug on one gently.
“Nope, not going to do it. Not when my best friend is sitting in the
midst of cleaning supplies and crying her eyes out,” Kellen paused a
thought occurring to him, “Come to think of it, why are you sitting in
the middle of cleaning supplies here?”
“I was hoping no one would find me,” she mouthed with an ironic
laugh, “but of course once again I can’t seem to have what I want,
now can I?”
“You don’t really want to be alone,” Kellen followed the sound
of her voice enough to scoot in beside her. He placed his hand on her knee
feeling his eyes adjust to the darkness before speaking up again, “So
what happened back there with you and Kyle?”
“Nothing,” she sighed letting out a shivering exhale, “everything.
I don’t know.”
“Well that is rather vague, isn’t it?” he couldn’t help
but shake his head. “Seriously Heather.”
“I don’t know,” she confessed feeling him wrap his arm around
her shoulders. She sank her head in against his chest and let out a breath
of her own, “One minute I’m telling myself that I’m not going
to let anything happen between us again and then the next we’re making
love.”
“Yeah, um I kind of saw, which by the way I’m really sorry about
walking in on you like I did. Well, not entirely sorry because Kyle is one
fine specimen of man, but…” Kellen felt her jab him in the ribs.
“I’m just saying.”
“Yeah, well you didn’t miss much. In fact I’m glad you walked
in when you did because I’m certain if we’d followed through on
making love then I’d never have the strength to do what I have to do,”
Heather announced wiping at her face again.
“And just what would that be Heather Babes?” Kellen questioned pushing
her hair from her face.
“I have to let him go. I have to stop thinking about him and stop trying
to make something out of nothing between us. He’s just upset because
he thinks that Sarah is cheating on him. He thinks that she’s sleeping
with Diego and that’s why he’s here,” she blurted out in a
tiny sob.
“I knew it,” Kellen gasped before frowning, “well not about
that part about Kyle, but with Sarah. I could tell that she and Diego had
something going on.”
“Yeah, well I don’t know what to think about that one, but it’s
obvious Kyle is hurting and my sister is just stupid enough to break his heart
time and time again. It’s the one thing that she’s good at, but
this time I can’t get my heart broken in the process,” she insisted
with a pained expression, “I won’t do it.”
“Who says that’s what’s going to happen this time?” Kellen
questioned wiping at her tears and curling his finger underneath her chin.
“Heather, whose to say that you will get your heart broken in all of
this?”
“Because I know Kyle. He’s loved Sarah for as long as I can remember
and I’ve always been the backup plan,” she explained painfully.
“When we were kids she was always letting him down and I tried repeatedly
to get him to see he could do better. I tried to make him see that I could
be what he wanted and what he needed, but now…well, now I’d only
be fooling myself into believing that he could find even half of what he needed
with someone like me.”
“Now Heather Babes, why would you say that?” Kellen frowned at her.
“Because Kellen look at me. I’m completely damaged goods. You of
all people should know that,” she explained in frustration, “I’m
not nearly half of what Kyle needs and I’m okay with that. I’ve
been okay to accept what life has given me. I mean I’ve come far from
the days when I was living on the streets shooting those films to make ends
meet.”
“Yes you have,” Kellen nodded back at her, “You’ve come
a long way and if you can’t see that, then you need to reevaluate things
until you see just how incredible you are.”
“Spoken from a man who used to hate me,” she let out an ironic laugh,
“How did we move from that to this?”
“Well it could be because you happen to be the best straight sex I ever
had in my life,” Kellen offered up catching her look.
“I’m the only straight sex you’ve ever had in your life,”
she retorted with a shake of her head.
“Okay, so you’ve got me there but still,” Kellen paused for
a long moment. “That could still be it or maybe it’s because your
boyfriend is so hot he makes me melt all over.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Heather reminded him again, “and
besides he’s never going to be at this point. He couldn’t love me
because his heart is already Sarah’s.”
“He only thinks Sarah has his heart,” he thought it over, “and
besides, from what I saw I don’t think that’s the case anymore.
After what I just walked in on…”
“Kellen people have sex all the time without any attachment. Kyle’s
just trying to hurt Sarah like she hurt him…” she argued with him
further.
“Do you really believe that? I mean did he say that?” he questioned
gently.
“No, but…”
“But what Heather? I think that you’re taking a pretty bold leap
there in assuming that you know what Kyle is thinking. I know you’re
good, but girlfriend you aren’t that good. Surely you have to cut the
guy a little slack. He looked a bit wounded after you ran out on him,”
he wiggled his brow at her, “So maybe your signals aren’t as on
as you think.”
“He’s got too much going on with Sarah. They are going to get married
and…” she argued with a huff. “I told myself a long time ago
that I would never, ever fall for Kyle Houston again, yet here I am starting
a self-defeating cycle all over again.”
“I don’t think it’s self-defeating especially since I think
that it’s safe to say Kyle feels the same way about you,” he offered
up in a reassuring tone. “You didn’t hear him the night at the party
when you passed out. He said so many romantic, wonderful, dreamy things to
you and I’m convinced it wasn’t because he was thinking about Sarah
in any way, shape or form.”
“But I know how this will end Kellen,” she groaned inwardly, “He
will get close to me only to have Sarah find a way to make things better--to
make everything aright and I’ll be forgotten just like I was when I left
town. I swore to myself that I’d never look back, yet…”
“You can’t deny your heart Heather,” Kellen offered up supportively,
“If you want my advice Heather the best thing I can tell you is to stop
hiding from what’s inside your heart. The fact to the matter is that
you’ve got it bad for Kyle and that’s something that isn’t
going to just fade away over night. You and Kyle have something there.”
“Yeah it’s called chaos,” she groaned again tipping her head
up to look at him.
“No, it’s called chemistry and you both need to grab a hold of it
and seize the moment or in your case the lifetime. I’m telling you I’m
not wrong about things when I see two people who are meant to be together,”
he smoothed her hair back behind her ear, “and Heather babes you and
Kyle belong together. I’m sure of it.”
“Yeah well your being sure isn’t going to make it happen for us
Kellen. We both know that,” she insisted stubbornly.
“It won’t happen if you don’t make it happen, but if you see
what you want and you go for it,” Kellen paused contemplating his words,
“Think about Kipp and I. You know how impossible that one seemed from
the start…”
“Not that impossible,” Heather mouthed giving him a pointed look,
“Kipp isn’t as straight laced as he lead the world to believe.”
“Don’t I know it,” Kellen licked his lips thinking about his
lover, “but that’s another story for another time.”
“One that we can just skip over,” she let out another sigh.
“Okay, okay so yeah we could if you insist but that’s not the point.
The point is that I saw something I wanted and I went for it. I followed my
heart and took a chance. It was a big gamble, but it paid off,” Kellen
continued his pep talk.
“Yes, but those were entirely different circumstances,” she reminded
him pointedly.
“But circumstances are what you make of them,” he added with a wiggle
of his brow.
“It’s not that easy Kellen,” she replied with a frown.
“Of course it is Heather Babes,” he pinched her nose in a teasing
motion before letting out a laugh. “You just have to let the sunshine
in instead of the darkness in your life.”
“I happen to like the darkness,” she argued with him further.
“Yeah, well I’m starting to feel like a dust bunny all locked away
inside of here with the cleaning supplies and the brooms,” he started
to go for the door.
“Don’t open it just yet,” she reached for his arm to stop him.
“I don’t want to go out there just yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not ready for the real world,” she sank onto his
lap placing her head on his legs and looking up at him, “When I was little
my mother used to fight with me. It got really horrible and she’d get
me so upset that I wanted to run away, but I didn’t have anywhere do
go, so I would just lock myself in my closet and sit there for hours hoping
that everything would get better.”
“And did it?” he couldn’t help but ask.
She shrugged, “They would just forget about me and leave. Sooner or later
Kyle would show up with a flashlight and a peanut butter sandwich or something
after he crawled into my window.”
“I see,” Kellen wiggled his brow again, “So even then Kyle
would let you play with his flashlight.”
“Kellen stop,” she couldn’t help but laugh swatting at his
chest.
“Hey from what I saw it was a very impressive flashlight,” he teased
further enjoying the smile that replaced her frown.
“Shame on you. How do you think Kipp would feel to hear you talking that
way?” she wrinkled her nose at him.
“Hey, I just looked and didn’t touch,” Kellen pointed out emphatically.
“You shouldn’t have looked,” she shook her head at him.
“How could I not when it was right out there in front of me like that?
Damn you have no idea how much I want to know what it was like to…”
Kellen started to ramble.
“Just stop before you start,” Heather warned him holding a finger
up in the air, “Besides it wasn’t enough for me to really give you
anything to fuel your fantasies there.”
“Seeing him in that state of undress was just enough,” he mused
with a wide grin.
“You’re disgusting. You do realize that, don’t you?” she
couldn’t help but giggle again. “If Kipp had any idea what a whore
you really are…”
“Hey I am not a whore. I just happen to have a very strong appreciation
for the male physique. I enjoy seeing them in all shapes and sizes and especially
enjoy the ones who have amazing sizes…” he felt Heather slap his
arm again. “I’m just saying.”
“Yeah well tone it down or Kipp is going to have issues,” Heather
warned him sharply.
“I’ll have you know Kipp has no reason to have issues there. Granted
he’s no Kyle Houston, but you and I both know that Kipp isn’t at
all lacking in the important areas there. He’s got a very nice butt and
his…” Kellen began in a giddy tone.
“Just stop. I so don’t want to be having this discussion,”
she rolled her eyes before tipping her head up again to look at him. “The
last thing I ever thought I’d be doing is talking about my ex-lovers
with my best friend considering that he’s sleeping with one of them.”
“And loving every minute of it,” Kellen piped in with a bright grin,
“but seriously you really need to work on fixing this situation with
Kyle sweetheart. It’s only going to eat you up inside the longer that
you let it go…”
“I know, but I’m just afraid if I go out on a limb that it’s
just going to be the same old story all over again. If I let myself fall for
Kyle, there’s a chance I’ll just wind up being the odd woman out
so to speak,” she sighed heavily.
“If he’s worth loving, then it’s a risk worth taking, yes?”
he arched a curious brow watching her nod.
“He’s more than worth it. I just have to wonder if he feels that
way about me,” Heather divulged closing her eyes and thinking about Kyle
all the while wondering if he’d felt the same thing for her that she
felt for him. Could it be possible that this time around she wouldn’t
be the odd woman out after all these years? Could Kyle truly love her like
she knew she loved him?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I’ll be right back,” Brant promised dipping down on the bed
to kiss Angela one last time. While he hated to walk away, there was something
about the temptation she brought to the table with the novel idea of their
bringing some chocolate syrup up to the bedroom with them. However that would
mean going back down to get some in the kitchen and…
“Hurry,” she arched up off of the bed to kiss him hungrily, “because
you have no idea what I’m going to do to you when you get back.”
“Oh believe me honey,” his gaze swept over her ravenously noting
the way that the sheet on the bed hugged all of her curves in the most enticing
way, “I have an idea which is why I can promise you I won’t be long.”
“If you are, then I’m going to have to hunt you down and cause a
scene where I find you,” she winked at him watching him reach for a robe
and covering his beautiful body from her eyes.
“Trust me I won’t keep you waiting,” Brant assured her with
a sexy smile, taking one last look at her before racing out of his bedroom.
He rushed down the stairway ready to get the proper ingredients for their
night of naughty fun with one another. Sprinting to the kitchen he opened
up the refrigerator and pulled out the chocolate syrup only to discover the
bottle was nearly empty.
“Damn it!” Brant cursed moving over to the cabinets and searching
for another bottle. He was almost afraid he was going to have to give up when
he spotted one on the top shelf. Reaching out he collected it in his hand.
He was about to close the cabinet door when he spotted a jar of ice-cream
sprinkles on the middle shelf. Smiling he reached for that as well thinking
about how incredible a sexy sundae sounded.
“Hold on baby because I’m coming for you right now,” Brant
announced circling around the kitchen to the doorway only to run right smack
into Kyle. He fell a bit backwards sending the jar of sprinkles up in the
air and flying over the kitchen in a gasp.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Kyle announced seeing
the sprinkles flying over the kitchen as Brant managed to salvage the bottle
of chocolate syrup.
“Actually,” Brant began uneasily clenching the sides of his robe
shut, “I’m a bit busy right now and…”
“This won’t take long,” Kyle gave him a brief once over curious
to see Brant in such a strange frazzled state. He looked around the kitchen
at the rainbow colored sprinkles that were now on the floor and he let out
a tiny laugh, “I am interrupting something, aren’t I?”
“As a matter of fact you are…” Brant started to explain to
him only to be cut off by Kyle’s words.
“Right now I don’t care. I need to ask you something about when
you were faking being catatonic,” Kyle continued to get back to the point.
“I need to know something about when you were scamming Russ and Avery…”
“Look I was wrong. I know it and I made a mistake. I’m not going
down that road again, so if you’ll excuse me and you’ll just let
yourself out whichever way you let yourself in,” Brant tried to breeze
on past him.
“Not so fast Ashford,” Kyle grabbed the collar of Brant’s robe.
“I want answers and right now you’re the only one who can give them
to me.”
“Look Kyle I’d like to be of assistance, but…” Brant offered
up again hearing the sound of footsteps down the hall. His gaze swept past
Kyle to where Angela stood clad only in the sheet she’d wrapped around
herself to walk downstairs.
“I told you I was going to hunt you down,” Angela mouthed in a seductive
purr ready to pounce onto him until she realized there was someone else in
the room. Quickly she wrapped the sheet tighter around her body and looked
up at Kyle, “Oh, I didn’t realize we had company.”
“Yeah you and me both,” Brant stepped in beside her gauging himself
for Kyle’s reaction to what was going on.
“Well, well, well,” Kyle couldn’t help but give Angela a long
once over surprised at what he was seeing before him. It was amazing how much
she looked like Avery. It was an uncanny resemblance from head to toe and…
“Why don’t you just take a picture,” Angela frowned at the
way Kyle was looking at her, “It’ll last longer that way and maybe
then you can drool in the privacy of your own home.”
“Come again,” Kyle blinked back at her realizing that by her words
and the glare she was giving him that she was most certainly not Avery.
“I said take a picture if you must, but stop gawking at me,” Angela
stepped over to Brant wrapping her arms around his waist possessively, “I’m
already taken in case you are too dense to realize what’s going on here.”
“Um, okay…” Kyle cleared his throat fighting to repress the
laugh that built up inside of him. He watched Angela curl her finger around
Brant’s cheek and nudge him in towards her.
“Isn’t that right baby,” she questioned commanding a kiss from
Brant’s lips that could cause anyone to blush, even someone like Kyle.
“Um Angela, sweetheart,” Brant cleared his throat uneasily seeing
the way that Kyle was watching them with a skeptic brow. “Maybe now is
not the time to…”
“Now is precisely the time to get back to what we were doing before your
guest arrived,” she glanced over at Kyle with a look of distain, “I
don’t mean to be rude, but we’re a bit busy so if you could just…”
“This won’t take long,” Kyle assured her in a firm, unyielding
tone, “I just need to ask lover boy a few questions about my girlfriend
and her psychiatrist that I simply cannot wait to have an answer on. So tell
me Brant, what exactly did you see between Sarah and Diego when you were playing
possum? I’d really be curious to know.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
...to be continued...