Page 30 of Love Me Now: Baltimore & Madelyn

“Oh… Well,” I mumbled. My throat threatened to close on me. If he was off being a team owner, then that meant he had to leave me. That meant he had to leave Genesis who clung to him like Baltimore was his own father.

Shit.And there the crazy thoughts emerged. Baltimore was not Genesis’s father, and his real father was the reason I was starting over anyway. I hated to feel like another rug was being snatched from underneath me. I hated to feel like everything was crumbling down around me and we hadn’t even started—

“So, how do you feel about being a team owner?” Baltimore asked me, slicing through the darkness of my mind. I looked at him like he’d just leapt out of the water with a tail for legs.

“What did you say?”

“I said… How do you feel about—”

“I heard you,” I interjected. “What I mean is, what the hell are you talking about?”

His devilishly handsome face softened under the high sun. He pulled me close, leaned down, and kissed my lips. “I’m talkin’ about us, Maddie. These past few months of not being able to wear my emotions on my sleeve for you was hard as shit. I want us to walk into any room and own that muhfucka. It’s past time for you to use ya finance degree—”

Shocked, I asked, “You know about that?”

“I knoweverythingabout you.” He chuckled again. “You ready to use that degree, or…”

At my age, there were plenty of people starting brand new lives. Here I was having lost a child, a brand new mother, a widow…and now in another relationship. Earlier in the year, things started off rocky for me, and I was full of uncertainty. Today, Baltimore stood in front of me offering me everything back with interest.

“I know next to shit about baseball,” I uttered as a tear rushed down my cheek. Baltimore wiped it away.

“Then it’s a good thing the other owner knows everything about baseball,” he stated, then smiled. “I told you that this was just the beginning. You don’t know what the world looks like, Maddie. I’ma give it to you.”

As Baltimore took my hand and led us back toward the mansion, I absently wondered if I was stuck in a dream that my heart wrote with droplets of healed blood. In this dream, there wasn’t any fear of starting over. There was only hope and excitement for what was to come.

“Thank you for bringing Genesis,” I said. “He hasn’t made a peep the entire time you’ve had him.”

Baltimore snuggled Genesis’s cheeks, causing Genesis to giggle. His chubby cheeks were tinged with red, and his eyes glistened in the sparkling sun.

“The both of you will soon share my name,” he stated.

“You’re so comfortable with him,” I mentioned, recalling Mrs. Cooley’s statements regarding my ability to procreate. Gulping as a shiver seized me, it scared the daylights out of me to think that I could carry another child. My body agreed. However, I wouldn’t be totally against it. If it was meant for me to give Baltimore an heir to his fortune, I would do it without even blinking.

“My relationship with Genesis is different.” The heaviness in Baltimore’s tone brought me out of my thoughts. “I was there…”

“You found them?”

“I did. Genika was already gone, but she hadn’t delivered Genesis yet. There was blood everywhere. I called for help and waited ‘til the sirens sounded like they were a block away.”

“You saved his life not knowing that one day he’d be in your life.”

“Crazy how shit works, right?”

“It is.”

This was definitely a dream. Only in a dream could life be this perfect.

After enjoying lunch on the shore, Baltimore gave me a tour of Cooley Island. The vast land was teeming with vegetation and other homes where more of Cooley’s family lived. Other properties were rented out to vacationers and some even lived here year-round. Black luxury was something I adored, and this place was the epitome of that. The island had its own markets, doctor’s office, and shops. It was a tiny town, but a stunning one, nonetheless.

From the balcony of one such shop, I divided my attention between a rack of dresses and Florida’s coastline. A short ferry ride carried residents to and from the mainland. Inwardly, I giggled. This was some shit straight out of a fairytale.

The fact that Baltimore had all of this and chose to work for my family spoke to what type of man he was. He believed in love so much that walking away from anything didn’t matter to him. It was a type of love I knew all too well. Baltimore and I were alike in that sense. We believed in love. And now, we were sharing it.

Later that evening, we had dinner in front of the television and fireplace. The movie we watched wasn’t as interesting as the way Baltimore’s naked chest held my attention. He sat right next to me and anytime he moved, the flex of his muscles made my middle run with want. I was too easy. Unable to stop myself, I reached my hand over and ran it down his taut chest. His muscles contracted, and his eyes darkened as he glanced at me. I kept eating and smirked when he placed his fork down.

“What?” I asked. “I couldn’t help myself.”

Baltimore’s eyes darkened even more as he took my fork and placed it next to his.