Page 45 of Only for Tonight (Only For #1)

I head over to my drawer full of lounge wear that my aunt had shipped to me the week before I gave birth.

I pull on a pair of light gray lounge pants before slipping on one of my white nursing tanks, then grabbing the matching short light robe with wide sleeves.

I walk out of the closet at the same time as Jaxon walks into the bedroom.

“There she is,” he announces to our son, who is now sounding like a squawking bird. “I told you she was coming.”

“I’m going to go and nurse him downstairs,” I tell him as I take him from his father.

“I’m going to jump into the shower.” He kisses me on the lips and his hand goes to my ass where he squeezes it and then groans. “Love you,” he mumbles to me and then kisses Jagger’s head. “You too, buddy.”

I walk down the steps with Jagger squirming in my arms. “It’s coming,” I tell him as he goes from zero to a hundred in three seconds.

He also has his father’s temper and expects things to happen right away.

I head over to the kitchen, filling my water bottle with ice and water.

His voice is going higher and higher, as if we have been starving him for the past five days.

The front door opens and I hear two sets of footsteps. “Why is the baby howling like that?” I hear my father before I see him as I get comfy on the couch.

“Hey.” He walks in with Manning behind him, both of them dressed to go and play golf.

“We were going to play golf,” my father states, “and thought we would bring you guys some breakfast.” He holds up the brown bag. “Why is he crying?”

“Because my nipple isn’t in his mouth,” I tell my father, who comes over and kisses me on the head and then kisses Jagger, who is now moving his arms and legs.

“Do you want to eat and do that?” He points to the baby and then my chest.

“What did you get me?” I ask him and he opens the bag.

“A bagel with eggs, sausage, and cheese. Cup of fruit.”

“I’ll take the cup of fruit now,” I tell him, grabbing my nursing pillow, “and then eat the bagel when I hand him off.”

“He’s got a set of lungs on him, like his dad.” Manning smirks. “He was the worst, and he had zero patience.”

“He never grew out of it,” I mumble as I rub my hand up and down my son’s cheek.

“It’s coming,” I tell him, placing his stomach toward my breast and pulling the top down before grabbing a blanket to cover myself.

The room goes instantly quiet and he latches on and gulps down.

“There you go.” I look under the blanket at him nursing with his hand in a fist lying on my breast. “You survived.”

“Here you go,” my father offers, handing me the fruit bowl and then sitting in front of me. “You doing okay?”

“I slept for three hours straight,” I tell him.

“Why don’t we come back later this afternoon and take him, so you can get some rest?”

“Dad”—I try not to laugh—“you don’t have to make excuses to come over. We told you guys this.”

“I told him this also,” Manning interjects from the kitchen, sitting on a stool eating his bagel. “Man has not listened to me at all in his whole life.” My father looks over and glares at him.

“You guys need alone time.”

“You’ll be gone in a week,” I remind him, “when you leave to go back home.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to leave him,” he admits and then corrects himself. “You. I don’t know how I’m going to leave you.”

“Mmm,” I say, grabbing a piece of strawberry and popping it into my mouth, “nice save.”

“What are you two doing here?” Jaxon asks, walking into the kitchen, wearing shorts and a white T-shirt. “I told you guys to come in the afternoon when I’m not here, so she has help.”

Manning looks up at him mid-bite. “Would you relax? We brought breakfast,” he tells his son.

“We’ll be here when you go train.” Even though he is on summer break, he still has to keep his training up.

He hates it and has now taken to doing his off-ice training at home in the gym he created in the pool house, but he can’t build ice in our backyard, so he has to go.

“You look like shit,” Manning tells him.

“The rule is you sleep when the baby sleeps.”

“I would if I would be able to spend time with my son when he was awake, but I can’t,” he retorts, walking over to the bag and grabbing a sandwich. “Baby, did you eat?”

“I’m having fruit,” I toss over my shoulder. “I’ll eat when you burp him.”

I look at my father in front of me. “You happy, baby girl?”

All I can do is smile at him and look down at my son in my arms. “More than I can put into words,” I assure him and then I look back over at Jaxon, who is now sitting beside his father. “I got really lucky,” I tell him and he shakes his head.

“No, he got really lucky,” my father counters.

“What’s that?” Jaxon asks.

“I said, you got lucky with my daughter,” he states, his voice going higher.

I look over at Jaxon, who just smirks and my stomach flutters with that look. It’s the look that he gave me that night. It’s the look he gives me often. It’s the look I plan on spending the rest of my life getting. “You got that right,” he agrees, winking at me. “Love you.”

ONE MONTH LATER

“He’s down”—I collapse in the bed beside Jaxon—“and my nipples are raw.”

“He’s going through a growth spurt,” Jaxon mumbles and I have enough energy to open my eyes and glare at him. “I’m just repeating what the doctor said.”

“Thanks,” I retort as the phone on my nightstand rings, “it’s like I wasn’t even there.” I look at it and see Lexi is calling me.

I answer it right away and I hear her soft voice. “Ariella,” she whispers and I sit up in bed.

“What’s the matter?” I ask her, my body going on alert as she sniffles.

“I just left him,” she says, her voice sounding defeated in a way. “I left Trent.”

“Oh my God.” I look at Jaxon, who is now sitting in the bed and waiting for me to tell him something.

“Where are you?” I ask her, getting out of the bed. “Do you need me to come to you?”

“No,” she answers, “I’m with my parents but…” Her voice goes even lower. “Can I come and stay with you?”

“You don’t even have to ask,” I tell her. “Come now.”

“Thank you,” she says and disconnects, and I look over at Jaxon.

“That was Lexi, she left her husband.” His eyes go big. “She’s coming to stay with us.”

Lexi

He told me he loved me after a day.

I should have seen the red flags, but I didn’t.

If you would have told me I would fall for a man who would

Slowly take me away from everything I loved

I would have told you that you didn’t know me.

He was what nightmares were made of.

I just didn’t know I was living in the nightmare

Until my eyes were opened and I made my escape.

I was ready to find myself again.

Kirby

First time I met her I was struck by how beautiful she was.

Then I saw the fear in her eyes.

Fear I’ve seen before but wasn’t sure it was my place.

One chance encounter turned into two.

I didn’t want anything from her, except to get her the help she needed.

What I didn’t expect was that I would lose my heart to her.