Chapter 3
Three
CARSON
T he ache in my dick doesn’t stop while leading the staff meeting. Ben has been slacking off for weeks. Despite returning to work, he’s taking an “extended honeymoon” and working from home almost all the time now. Everything has fallen upon my shoulders.
“How’s married life, loser?” I ask him on our video conference call as I answer another client email.
“Amazing. You know this, being married to your own phenomenal woman. And now, I’m going to be a dad.”
My jaw drops as I finally look at my business partner. “Never in my life did I think I’d see Ben Stone excited to be having a baby. Congrats, man. To you and Winter.”
His cheeks beam with pride. “Um… So, are you interested in my shares of the company? I’m retiring.”
A smirk comes across my lips. “Sure! I’m interested. But I may need to hire a new partner. Hopefully, I’ll be joining you in fatherhood soon.”
“ Oh, man! Juliet finally pregnant?! I know you’ve been trying.”
His excitement sort of dampens mine. “No, but we’re looking into alternatives.”
All I can think about is my wife and Valentina. Together and separately. Juliet is always on my mind. No one has ever turned my head from her. Even though we have always had an open relationship, I never felt the need to fraternize with anyone else. Not even when pussy was thrown in my face.
Not until this week, when we met Valentina in the flesh. Juliet did most of the research on this, and I’ve been a cheerleader only to make her happy. It’s more important that my wife be okay with everything. Otherwise, I’m not doing it. I won’t lose her in the pursuit of having a kid, no matter how much I want one, too.
We’ve discussed adoption and alternative methods. But Juliet has a fantasy of adding someone else to our marriage. I have had it, too, but figured it was a pipe dream. We always said if there was another woman who came along that fit with us , we’d welcome her with open arms.
When I slipped my hand in Valentina’s, sparks shot up my arm and down my spine. I haven’t been mesmerized like that since meeting Juliet all those years ago. Now, I can’t stop imagining her in our bed and what I’ll be doing to her as soon as she calls us. My cock throbs, thinking about her ovulating right now. The anticipation of her belly growing with our child…
“Well, I’m excited for you two. Maybe we can go on a double date sometime soon.” Ben runs a hand through his hair and slides back in his office chair.
My smile falters. If things work out with Valentina, I wouldn’t want to go on a date without her, too. What do you call that? A fivesome date? Maybe just “group date”. I shouldn’t be thinking of adding her to us already. We hardly know her.
“Yeah, sounds good. Send me over the figures for your shares and I’ll have Juliet’s firm draw up some paperwork for us to sign. Congratulations on the pregnancy and retirement. Let me know when you want to meet up for racquetball again. I’m itching to play.” We say our goodbyes and end the call.
A peek outside my corner office windows makes me sigh. It’s later than I like, already dark out, but that’s normal for this time of the year. I hate that I’m working so much and missing out on dinner with my wife recently.
That’s going to need to change once I’m a dad, one of the most important roles one can have. I take that seriously. Just like my father did, even though I lost him when I was only eighteen.
Both mine and Juliet’s mothers have been supportive of us having a child through surrogacy, but they’ve expressed concerns. Valentina could end it or walk away any time during pregnancy. We hope she doesn’t, but if so, I’ll be there to catch my wife if she falls.
With a hard dick and brain full of mush, belly empty and needing dinner, I hurry and stuff papers in my briefcase, then snag my winter coat. While walking to the parking garage, I call my wife.
“Hey, babe!” Her voice helps calm some of the days’ irritation from work.
“My Jules. Do you want me to pick up some dinner or cook for you tonight?”
“I thought we could just do pizza, if you’d like.”
“You know me well. Order it and I should be there in about a half hour.” The snow drizzles down around me, coming in white sheets as the wind picks up.
“Be careful! The roads are slick tonight. Love you,” she says.
“Love you, too.”
By the time I edge out onto the main road, visibility has dropped even more. Mixed with the winter is a fog that’s settled near the roads, and my headlights only reflect the brightness of the snowflakes falling around me. Jules is right. The ice is making it difficult to go faster than a few miles per hour, and traffic slows to a crawl as we creep behind a salt truck.
Near the shitty apartment complex on the edge of downtown, a young woman’s figure appears, sans coat, walking along the sidewalk. She stumbles to keep any traction, but catches herself, and when I near, I see it’s Valentina. “Oh, shit!”
Immediately, I put on my blinker and pull over to the curb. When I roll down the window, she tries to look straight ahead, but I yell to gain her attention. “Valentina! It’s me, Carson!”
When she faces me, the blare of oncoming headlights catches her ruddy face, which is streaked with tears. She’s shivering and has one bag tossed over her shoulder. I throw the car in park and hurry out to her, ripping off my coat and tossing it over her back. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Are you hurt?”
“He-he kicked me out. It’s not safe…”
Opening the passenger door, I wave my hand to see if she wants to get in, and she doesn’t hesitate. I grab the bag from her and throw it in the trunk before returning to my seat. I reach into the glove box between her long legs and snag some napkins for her as she huffs out tiny sobs. My entire instinct is to wrap my arms around her, but I don’t want to scare her.
“I’m so sorry. You didn’t have to—” Her voice shakes as she wipes her face.
“Of course I did.” Trying to maintain some level of composure, I say through gritted teeth, “Who the fuck hurt you?”
“My ex-boyfriend, Malik. I broke up with him a long time ago, but he won’t accept it. And I’ve been trying to get money for a new place, but he steals whatever I make so I can’t leave. I finally told him I didn’t care if I was homeless. I walked out with what I could take.”
Fury rises in my belly at the thought of some fucking punk hurting her. “Where is he?”
Her long fingers wrap around my arm as she peeks up at me with her big eyes and pleads, “Please, no. I just want to put that behind me and move forward.” She shifts her gaze to outside the windows and says almost to herself, “Only, I don’t know where to go.”
Shaking my head, I make a firm decision that I know Jules will agree with. “Then you’re coming to live with us.”
Her plush lips part as she gasps. “Oh, no, no. Carson, I couldn’t impose like that?—”
“Absolute nonsense. You’ll stay with us until you figure out where you want to go. If it works out, great. If not, you’ll have time there to devise your next move without any hurry to leave. My only warning is neither of us cooks or cleans, and we’re both pretty messy. Sorry.”
A tiny smile crosses her face. “Well, I can do both.”
The change in her makes my hand lift involuntarily, and I brush her cheek with my thumb. Those bolts of electricity shoot down my spine at the sensation of her flushed skin underneath mine. Her body shivers at my touch. “Only if you want to. No expectations, okay?” She presses her cheek into my palm and closes her eyes a moment, as if savoring the affection.
“Shouldn’t we ask Juliet first?”
“Yep. And I’ll bet you a million percent she’ll tell me I better not let you leave.”
She grows shy and turns in her seat to face the front. “Well, if she says no, I can go to… a hotel or something.”
“Nonsense.” Planting my hand on her coated thigh, I say, “Let’s go home.” Her delicate fingers slide over mine and she nods in reply.
When we arrive, I grab the bag from the trunk and open the passenger door for Valentina, but she stays put. “Maybe I should stay here until you speak with her.”
Juliet tosses the door to the garage open and sees us there and hurries over. “Oh my god. What happened?”
“Her asshole of an ex tossed her on the street tonight. I found her walking on the sidewalk.”
Juliet grabs Val’s hand and pulls her out of the car. “Well, it’s a good thing I ordered an extra large pizza. Hope you like mushrooms, Valentina. You’re staying with us.”
Val’s eyes meet mine for a moment and I raise my eyebrows. “Told you.”
My wife is a complete charmer. She says I am, but I only try to keep up with her. So, I follow behind the two women as Jules gives her a tour of our house, explaining where everything is.
“And you’re not a guest here. You’re home . We expect you to treat it as such. Sorry, but we’re slobs.”
“I warned her,” I say, setting her bag down in one of the guest rooms.
Jules smiles and helps her out of my coat. “And you have your own room, bathroom, everything. No hurry to leave, unless we annoy you, but both of us are gone most of the day at work, so we won’t bother you.”
Tossing my arm over Jules’ shoulders, she leans into me while still holding Valentina’s hand. I say, “Just tell me whatever groceries or food you want to order and I’ll cover it. Hell, I’ll just give you a spending card tomorrow.”
Valentina’s chocolate brown eyes mist over. “I don’t know how to thank you. This is beyond anything I expected.” Looking at the carpet, she grabs both of our hands in hers and squirms. “Um, I wanted to tell you both something tonight…”
Jules tilts her head and asks, “What is it?”
Val’s lashes flutter as she looks at my wife, then me, with a dazzling gaze. “I’m ovulating.”