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Her smile grew, and she set her sexual attraction for her new husband aside. “She loved to bake. Every Saturday morning I would wake up to delicious smells. She worked a regular job Monday to Friday, so she called Saturday her baking day, and she called her kitchen her playhouse.”
“Why didn’t your mother open up a bakery?”
“That’s what I asked her... probably a million times.”
“What did she say?”
Chloe shrugged. “There was always an excuse. Money was tight. Running a bakery would take too much time. She didn’t know anything about business. The town was too small for a bakery. She had kids to feed.”
Nik nodded. “Good thing we didn’t get married and have kids then. You wouldn’t have the bakery now.”
And just like that he had given her the perfect opening to tell him about Mia. She hated it that her daughter didn’t have a father. It wasn’t easy to see your friends with their dads when you’d never even met yours. She knew that from personal experience. If Nik didn’t want kids, he wouldn’t want to take hers away. Maybe her fears were unfounded.
“Do you want kids?” she asked.
His jaw tightened. “I used to want them.”
Meaning he had wanted kids six years ago when they’d been in love, but thanks to his mother’s dirty scheme, he didn’t want them anymore. Of course, he thought it was her that broke his heart. He still had no idea what his mother had done. The words danced on her tongue, waiting to fly out of her mouth.
What would be the point? It would just hurt him. If she told him everything, he might completely turn against his mother, maybe his whole family. He would be alone in the world. The thought was depressing, so she decided to keep her mouth shut. For now.
“Can we forget the past for one night?” she asked. Before he could answer, she came around the table to sit on his lap. “Can we just enjoy being with each other?”
He blinked at her in obvious surprise. “Are you saying you want me to make love to you?”
In a breathless voice, she said, “Oh, yes. But just this once. One last time.”
Chapter Eight
Standing next to his enormous bed, they gazed deeply into each other’s eyes. Chloe couldn’t remember a time when she’d wanted him more. All doubt was gone at the moment, replaced by an insatiable need. Desire in its deepest, rawest form refused to be denied. She hoped he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Another flash of memory came roaring to the front of her mind. She remembered gambling in his casino. After Kristina and her friends walked away, the dealer kept the game to just her. He shooed away other gamblers that tried to sit next to her at the table. So drunk, she hadn’t realized what he was doing until now. Nik fixed it so she was gambling alone... until he joined her.
Nik sat next to her. “Been a long time, Chloe.”
She almost fell off the stool in her haste to hug him. “Nicky! Look! It’s my Nicky.”
“You lost all your money and they won’t let you gamble anymore.”
She pouted. “But I want to keep playing.”
“Sign this then.” He put papers beneath her hand and gave her a pen. “If you sign your name here.” He pointed to a line at the bottom. “You can keep playing.”
“Okie dokie.”
“Three hundred-thousand for your bakery. If you win, I will give you that half a million dollars you wanted so desperately, the money you tried to take from my mother. If you lose, I’m your new boss.”
She eagerly signed and bet it all on one hand.
She lost.
“Come to bed with me,” he said. “Let’s do what we do best.”
She shook her head firmly. “Can’t do it, Nicky. I want to have sex with you, but I’m not going to do it unless we’re married. If you like it, you have to put a ring on it.”
She giggled so hard that she almost fell off the stool.
Shame burned her cheeks at the memory. What was wrong with her? How could she allow herself to get drunk enough to propose to her ex? He had been telling the truth about her wanting to marry him. It was all her fault. Her idea. She couldn’t blame him, and she wanted him to know that.
