Page 29 of Only for Tonight (Only For #1)

twenty-three

Ariella

T he phone rings from the side table and I pick it up. “Hello,” I say as my eyes stay on the ocean in front of me.

“Don’t you hello me,” Lexi hisses out. “You’ve been MIA for about a week now and nothing.” I look over at Jaxon and smile.

I’m sitting in the corner of the couch outside on the balcony that’s off his bedroom. My legs are draped over his lap as we just watched the sun rise. “It has not been a week,” I tell her. “I texted you two days ago.”

“You texted me the letter K. Not even the whole word. I said I need to talk to you and all you said was a K.” I roll my lips and look over at Jaxon, thinking about when she sent the text.

I was in the kitchen, leaning over the counter.

I was wearing one of his T-shirts that just covered my ass, barely.

Well, he then got on his knees behind me and feasted on me at the exact time I was answering her text.

Needless to say, I forgot all about it when he then picked me up, set me on the counter, and fucked me silly.

“Sorry about that,” I say, looking over at Jaxon as I sip my now lukewarm tea. “I got distracted and then forgot.”

“You got distracted?” She laughs. “That means you were in the middle of having sex.”

“I wasn’t in the middle.” I smile. “It was just the beginning.” Jaxon chuckles to himself, grabbing my legs in his hands and pulling them up so he can slip out from under me.

“I’m going to shower,” he says softly, bending and kissing my lips. “Come join me if you want.”

I put the phone on mute. “I want to, but I haven’t talked to Lexi in a week,” I tell him and he smiles.

“Fine, I’ll cash in my IOU tonight when I get home from the game.”

I laugh as I press the unmute button. “Well, as you can hear from me answering your call, I’m fine. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Nothing fun ever happens in my life anyway,” she pouts. “How are you feeling? Are you still in LA?”

“I am.” I take a deep breath and fill her in with everything that happened, even the hospital visit.

“You should have called me. I would have?—”

“There was nothing anyone could have done.” I get up from the couch. “Besides, I had Jaxon.”

“So you two are going to be living with each other.” She snickers. “When are you going to break the news to your father?”

“Soon. I’ve also been avoiding his phone calls, as well as my mother’s. It’s just a matter of time before one of them just snaps and finds out where I am, and then shows up at the front door.”

“I mean, it’s too late now, the damage is done.”

“This is true,” I agree. “So what’s new with you?”

“Sadly, nothing,” she sighs. “I did volunteer to help with the hospital foundation and it’s going to be a bachelor auction that is happening this summer.”

“You love doing that,” I point out.

“I love doing anything that keeps me busy. But Trent is travelling a lot these days, and I’m lucky enough that I get to go with him occasionally.”

“That sounds like fun,” I tell her. “Are you going to be in my neck of the woods anytime soon?”

“I don’t think so, but if I am, you know I’ll be the one banging on your door.

” Her voice then goes soft. “I have to go, call you later.” She disconnects and head inside to the bathroom.

My eyes going over to his bedside table where he put the picture of the sonogram in a frame.

I smile when I look over at it, putting my hand on top of my belly.

He put one picture on the fridge, one in the living room, one in my office, one in the bathroom, and it’s now the screen saver of his phone.

Every single time I turn around I find that he’s put it someplace else.

The shower turns off, just as I step inside. “Am I too late?” I ask him as he steps out of the shower and reaches for his towel.

“You are,” he confirms, wrapping the towel around his waist and covering one of my favorite parts of him. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Is that why you covered your dick, so I can unwrap it?” I walk over to him and kiss the middle of his chest that still has droplets of water. “Because I’ve seen that surprise many, many times before.”

He laughs. “That’ s not the surprise. It’s something else.”

“Ohh,” I reply, intrigued by this, “what is it?”

“I’ll tell you, but you have to be ready in an hour.” I step back.

“In an hour, but where are we going?”

“Palm Springs. I won the auction at the event, and I have the next two days off. So I thought it would be nice if we went away together.” He taps my nose. “Now, you have an hour.” He smiles. “Make it count.” He walks out of the bathroom and all I can do is stare at him. “Get to packing, Ari.”

I’m about to head to the shower when my phone rings. “One hour!” he yells from the bedroom and I look down and see it’s my father.

“Dad,” I answer the phone and then rush to the walk-in closet with my eyes big, pointing to the phone and showing him it’s my dad. “Hey,” I say, trying not to sound like I’m hiding in a closet with Jaxon and he caught me.

“Don’t you hey me, young lady,” he snaps out and Jaxon’s eyes go big, “I haven’t heard your voice in a week.”

“Three days,” I correct him. “You called me three days ago when I was walking on the beach.”

“Yeah, and you said you couldn’t hear me with the crashing of the waves, so you were going to call me back.”

“Oh, yeah.” I walk out of the closet and back to the bathroom to get ready. “I forgot about that.”

“Wow, so you go visit LA and all of a sudden you are too busy for us.”

“It’s not that.” I turn the water on to brush my teeth. “It’s the time difference,” I tell him and even he knows it’s a lame excuse when he groans. “I’m actually headed to Palm Springs today. What can I say, I’m living my best life here.”

“You must be,” he huffs out, “but would it hurt to check in with your parents?” His voice goes soft. “Just like a, ‘hey, guys, I’m alive and well.’”

“Sorry, Dad,” I say, wetting the toothbrush, “I promise to check in more.”

“Thank you. Now, I have to go. Your brother just came into the house and he has his equipment bag open and your mother is yelling at him.”

“Love you,” I say. “Call you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be waiting.” He disconnects and I look at myself in the mirror.

“He’ll be okay with the news.” I try to pep myself up. “It’ll be fine.”

* * *

“Are you packed yet?” Jaxon asks when he walks into the closet as I stare down at my open suitcase.

“What is taking you so long?” he asks me.

“Jaxon, you literally told me an hour ago that you want to take me to Palm Springs for two days since you are off,” I remind him, “and to pack a bathing suit.” I look over at him. “Which, by the way, I don’t have.”

“So we’ll pick one up on the way,” he offers, leaning against the doorjamb . “It’s not that big of a deal, Ari.”

“Isn’t a big deal?” I snap at him and get up from the floor.

“It’s a big deal because it’s the first time we are going away together, and I’m not in swimsuit shape.

” I look up at the ceiling, trying not to cry.

These hormones are no fucking joke. Yesterday, I almost cried when he left home to go to work.

Like he could call in sick and not show up to play a hockey game.

It was dumb, but I spent the night lying in the bed on his side, so I could smell him.

“What the fuck are you talking about? You literally look the same as you did on day one.” He shakes his head.

“Forget that you look even better than you did that first night. The way your body is changing to carry our child,” he groans out, looking at me up and down, as if I’m his next meal.

“I’m going to have to keep knocking you up every single time. ” He grabs his cock.

I gasp and put a hand to my chest, as if he just insulted me. “I most certainly do not.” His eyebrows pinch together. “These”—I point to my tits—“are definitely not the same.”

He smirks, winking. “Those are even better now. They were phenomenal before but now,” he growls, coming into the closet with me, bending and taking them in his hands. “Now they are a work of art.” He squeezes them together. “Do you want me to show you how much I love them?”

“Absolutely,” I start to say and his smile fades.

“You better not fucking say the word not after that.” He makes me laugh and I push him away from me, and he grabs my hand and brings it to his cock. “See how much I love them?”

“That isn’t helping. Look,” I say, turning to the side, “look at this.” I point to my little stomach that I just noticed this morning. “It’s getting?—”

“Baby.” He comes to me, his voice soft. “You’re growing our baby in there.

” He puts his hand on the little bump, that if I’m honest, looks like I’m going to have my period.

Even the scale shows me at the same weight I was three months ago, which is strange since I think I gained ten pounds in each breast.

“That isn’t what you are supposed to say,” I groan. “You are supposed to say that it doesn’t even show.”

“Well, it doesn’t show,” he backpedals, “but even if it did, it’s fucking sexy.”

“I need you to go away,” I tell him and he shakes his head.

“Nope, not going to happen. Now I don’t even care if you pack or not. You can be naked for two days, that would be okay by me.”

I laugh. “Fine, give me five minutes”—I get back on my knees in front of the suitcase—“and I’ll be good to go.”

“Why are your things still in the suitcase?” he asks me and I look up at him, confused by his question.

“Last week you agreed to move in with me,” he reminds me, “and yet you’re still living in your suitcase.”

“Well, I’m technically supposed to go back home next week, so it’ll be silly to unpack and then repack.”

“Why are you repacking?” he asks me and I look at him.

“I don’t?—”

“You go home without a suitcase since that stuff is staying here, and you bring back more stuff,” he explains. “That’s what it means to move in with someone.”