After The One (The One Series Duet) Read online

  He stared at me for a second as he let the words sink in. “I will never get tired of hearing you say that.”

  “I’ll never get tired of saying it.”

  He planted a too-swift kiss on my lips and then pulled away before I could turn it into more.

  “I wasn’t done yet.” I took his hand from my cheek and placed it over my right breast. My hardened nipple could easily be felt through the satin material.

  He groaned, palming my heavy breast in his hand and allowing his thumb to caress my nipple.

  “No,” he growled as his hand moved to my left breast contradicting his statement. “Andre will be here any minute now to drop off the food I ordered for dinner.”

  I dropped my eyes, noticing that he was tenting his pants. “How long would you say we have before your intern arrives?” I asked slowly, letting my hand play at the waistband of his jogging pants before brushing against his cock.

  He sucked in a sharp breath. “We don’t have enough time for everything I want to do to you.” His voice had become raspy and both of his hands found their way under my shirt. “Do you know how bad I want you?”

  “Show me,” I whispered, my body burning for him. “I didn’t go back to the office because I couldn’t wait to get back here to you.” I slid my hand into his pants and wrapped my hands around his girth. “And this.”

  He grunted before crashing his lips against mine hungrily. I moaned into his mouth as I tried to push his pants down. Pulling out of the kiss briefly, Julian grabbed at my fitted pencil skirt, becoming frustrated when it wouldn’t come up over my round ass.

  “Turn around,” he commanded, his voice low and gravely. “And spread your legs.”

  My body shook in anticipation as I followed his orders.

  He grabbed my hands and placed them against the cool marble countertop. Sliding his hands down my back until he reached my hips, he ground his hard dick against my soft ass and I pushed back against him. Not wasting any more time, Julian unzipped my skirt so forcefully I heard the expensive garment rip.

  He pulled the material up, bunching it at my waist, and then he stopped. With my ass covered in the barely-there lace panties he’d sent me as a gift on the first leg of his tour, I heard a sharp intake of breath. I could almost feel it as he eyed the scant material on me for the first time.

  “You like?” I purred, rotating my hips in a slow circle.

  His hand grazed the lace. “I love.” His finger crept over the material before moving on to the damp spot between my legs. I gasped as his finger came in contact with the most sensitive part of me. “You like?”

  “I—“

  The doorbell rang.

  “Fuck,” Julian swore as he scrambled to pull down my skirt and zip it.

  “Julian?” Andre called out as he used a key to enter.

  I was fully covered up, but I had to fold my arms over my chest to distract from my erect nipples.

  Speaking of erect…

  I eyed the still shirtless Julian and although Andre’s intrusion had deflated his erection a little, the imprint of his thickness was obvious in his thin pants.

  When I looked up at him, Julian’s eyebrows came together in confusion and then flew up once he followed my line of sight. His eyes seemed to bulge as he noticed.

  His head was on a swivel and I was sure he was considering hiding out in the garage.

  I bit my lip and looked around the room.

  “Julian? I’m going to come in and drop this stuff off in the kitchen!” Andre called out again.

  Knowing we didn’t have much time, I spotted the aprons we never really used hanging on the wall. Racing over, I grabbed them both and threw one to Julian. We had just tied them around our waists when Andre walked in and stopped short. With his big brown eyes and even bigger high top fade, the twenty-two year old college senior appeared surprised and amused at the same time.

  “Hey…?” He said slowly, stretching the word out as he eyed us both. “Everything okay?”

  “Hi Andre,” I greeted him, hoping to cover up the sexual tension that lingered in the room with my chipper attitude. “Good to see you!”

  Julian followed my lead. “Thanks for picking up the food for us!”

  “No problem. Here’s your change.” He put the change and the receipt on the counter. Finding a candle-free corner, he put the food down. “I don’t know what I interrupted, but you two are making this awkward for me.”

  “What do you mean?” Amusement laced Julian’s words.

  I looked away from them both and held my breath to keep from laughing.

  “Well first, I called your name when I came in and you didn’t say anything. I know for a fact you can hear me in here. Second, let’s say you were really cooking. Let’s say I believed that. Julian, why do you have on an apron and no shirt? That has to be a health code violation!”

  My body shook from holding in the laugh that was burning my throat.

  Andre added. “Then you have on the wrong aprons.”

  I looked down and then looked at Julian. I hadn’t noticed my name emblazoned on the front of the apron he was wearing since we were rushing when we put them on. When Julian and I caught each other’s eye, we both snickered.

  Andre, always the comedian, continued. “And finally, you’re in the kitchen with your aprons on as if you’re going to cook dinner.” He pointed to the food he’d just brought in. “But it’s already cooked.” He looked between us. “It looks to me like the only thing you two were trying to put in the oven was a bun.”

  We had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.

  “No, no, no,” I giggled. “No buns in ovens. Not yet.”

  “Yeah, marriage first. Kids after that,” Julian agreed, looking over at me with a wink. “Way after that.”

  “Way, way after that.” I wrapped my arms around Julian’s middle and grinned up at him.

  “Your friends hate you a little bit, don’t they?” Andre joked, unable to stop his own chuckles, triggering ours.

  A couple minutes later when we had gathered ourselves and stopped laughing, Julian pulled out a list of things he needed Andre to take care of over the next few days in exchange for studio time.

  I smiled giddily as I heard him tell his intern that we weren’t to be disturbed all weekend. Grabbing the bag of food, I relocated to the dining room table, giving them privacy.

  A few minutes later, Andre poked his head in the dining room and waved. “See you later, Zoe.”

  “Bye, Andre! Thanks for bringing the food over.”

  “You know I have to do the grunt work sometimes in order to work with the genius. Just picking up food for the greatest artist, songwriter and producer triple threat since Kanye has made me a better DJ.”

  Spying Julian walking up behind Andre, I teased, “Don’t let him hear you say that. It’ll go to his head! You know—”

  “I heard that!” Julian protested, cutting me off as he slipped a shirt over his head. “And I’m going to let you finish, but Andre had the best compliment of all time.”

  I let my head fall back as my laugh echoed through the room. “I’m just kidding, baby. You know I think you are unbelievably talented and I’m your biggest fan,” I insisted. And even though I couldn’t stop giggling, I honestly meant every single word.

  Julian grinned. “That’s more like it.”

  Andre rolled his eyes. “And that’s my cue! Enjoy your vacation. I promise you won’t see me for the rest of the month—especially since you two were being crazy inappropriate in the kitchen.”

  We both chuckled hard as we waved goodbye.

  A few minutes later, Julian and I were seated and about to dig in to the authentic Italian feast.

  “This smells delicious,” Julian pointed out. “I’m convinced a better baked ziti doesn’t exist outside of this place, except maybe in Italy.”

  I inhaled deeply, expecting the usual garlic and cheese mixture to make me salivate. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.


  I sat up straight and put my hand to my mouth.

  I feel sick.

  “What’s wrong?” Julian asked, putting his fork back down and peering at me with concern.

  I shook my head as the wave of nausea passed. “Nothing, I just felt a little sick for a second. I think it’s what I’ve been eating and the times I’ve been eating while working on the case. Long hours mean I’m eating at random times during the day.”

  “When I talked to you the other night, you said you had a convenience store burrito. You hate burritos. Your stomach is probably mad about that.”

  I giggled. “In my defense, it was two o’clock in the morning on a week night. Nothing was open near the office!”

  He smiled. Then as suddenly as it appeared, it went away. “Zoe, are you sure you’re okay?”

  I must’ve looked sick before I felt the wave of nausea hit me again. Springing to my feet, I bolted to the closest bathroom. I made it just in time to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

  After making sure everything was out of me, I washed my hands and rinsed my mouth out with water. I opened the door to find Julian standing there.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I think I just maybe ate too much earlier and the smell of the food triggered something.”

  Julian quietly assessed me, his hands on my face and then shoulders. “Have you been taking care of yourself?”

  “Um...well.” I lifted my shoulders as he scowled at me. “You saw the way things were before you left to go on tour. It only got worse once you were gone. You were my reason to get out of the office at least by ten o’clock. Without you here, I worked until three in the morning and then turned around and got started again around seven, seven-thirty. I wasn’t sleeping and was eating weird food at weird hours.”

  “Zoe…” He sighed. “That’s not good. You have to take care of yourself.”

  “I know. My mom already lectured me. She said it’s pretty normal on the first big case, but for me to learn from it and not do it again. It’s hard on the body. And now that the adrenaline of the case is over, I know I’m going to crash from exhaustion soon.”

  “But have you been throwing up like this?”

  I thought about it. “Not really…”

  It’s only happened a few times.

  And then it hit me.

  I gave him a sheepish look. “Don’t judge me… I think maybe after the convenience store dinners.”

  “Well, no more convenience store crap for my woman.”

  I gave him a small smile. “Yes sir.”

  With his hands cupping my face, Julian looked at me long and hard again. “Instead of the baked ziti, let me make you some soup or something light. If your stomach hurts, you shouldn’t eat anything heavy.”

  Taking me by the hand, Julian guided me upstairs to the master bedroom. He stripped me until I was just in my panties and then pulled one of his t-shirts over my body. Once I was safely in bed, he left to put the food away, blow out the candles, and make me soup.

  I felt like if I moved, I would get sick again, so I hardly moved. I thumbed through the journal Julian filled with thoughts, lyrics, and poems while he was on the road. When my stomach felt settled enough, I got up to go brush my teeth. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the floss anywhere.

  When was the last time I had it? I wondered as I opened drawers I never used. I racked my brain, but I was drawing a blank. I remembered flossing each and every time. I didn’t use it all. Did I?

  “Ah ha!” I said out loud as I found a new container of floss tucked behind a pink box in a bottom drawer.

  Pregnancy test? When did he get this? Why did he get this?

  Something in me stirred and my stomach fluttered. It wasn’t a huge movement, but it was enough for me to look at the box again.

  I grabbed it.

  “Do you want chicken noodle or—” Julian stopped in his tracks. His eyes bounced from me to the box in my hand. “I can explain.”

  “Yes, please do.” I tossed the box to him and started flossing as best I could with him watching me like a hawk.

  “My mom brought it over here as a joke after our Thanksgiving in Maryland last year. Remember when they were all drunk off baby fever and wedding planning? She came by with it as a joke to apologize when we got back in town. I threw it in that drawer and didn’t think about it again.”

  “Ah.” I nodded in understanding. “I get it.”

  I brushed my teeth, but kept glancing at him as he stared at the back of the box.

  I wonder if his mom taped a note to it like she did that book she gave me. She’s so funny. I hope she’s not getting any ideas though. She—

  “Have you been tired a lot?” Julian asked.

  I spit the toothpaste out to answer. “Yes, but I’ve been working my ass off.”

  “Have you been urinating more frequently?”

  The uptick of my heart rate made me nervous. “Yeah, but I’ve been drinking more to stay hydrated.”

  “Have you… When was the last time you were on your period?”

  My hand shook as I put my toothbrush away. Our eyes met before I rinsed my mouth out and turned around to face him.

  Shit, when was my last cycle?

  “I think it…” My voice trailed off as I struggled to remember the last time I’d had my period. “Um, it was a couple of weeks before you left for tour. But I’ve been stressed and working a lot lately and stress messes with your cycle.”

  “You uh—you think you should take the test?”

  Shit!

  “Um, I mean, I can. Stress can prevent your period from coming,” I informed him again as he handed me the box. I gave him a reassuring smile.

  He smiled back as he crossed his arms over his chest, nervously waiting for me to take the test.

  I made a face. “I need some privacy for this one.”

  “Well after you pee on the stick, I’m coming back in here to wait with you.”

  “Deal.”

  Julian closed the door behind him and my smile fell. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as my shaky hand opened the box. I couldn’t remember being on my period since before Julian left. I was so busy with work that I just didn’t think about it. I was too busy to think about anything except the case and the fact that I missed Julian like crazy.

  We’ve had a scare before and it turned out fine.

  The stress of the California State Bar Exam made me ten days late. Not just because of its reputation as the most difficult bar exam in the U.S., but because I’d freaked out the first time I’d attempted to take it. I was so stressed and felt like I had a lot riding on how I performed. I felt the same sort of pressure with the case.

  Stress was high and my sleep pattern was off and my eating was unhealthy. That’s all it is. I know my body. Sure this isn’t ten days late, but this is only—oh no no no.

  I let my head fall back and I pressed my eyes shut, trying to will my memory to remember something I knew in my heart didn’t happen.

  If mid-September was the last time, I’m almost ten weeks late. How did I not notice I haven’t had my period for the last couple months?

  I followed all of the directions on the back of the pink box and after washing my hands, I opened the door for Julian to come wait in the bathroom with me.

  Longest three minutes of my fucking life.

  Chapter 2

  I stared at the ceiling, realizing I’d never truly appreciated how the grey paint combined with the soft lighting created a glow.

  I cannot be pregnant. I can’t. Julian has been home once in two months and before then, we’ve always been relatively careful. I mean, as careful as two people who don’t use condoms can be. Oh my God…what were we thinking? We’ve been playing Russian roulette with my body since the day that we met and now… This is not me. This is not at all how we planned it. We were going to get married and then have children…later. I closed my eyes. If this test is correct, my mom is going to kill me and then J
ulian’s grandma is going to resurrect me, only so Julian’s mom can kill me again.

  “What are you thinking?” Julian asked, his head perched in his hand as he lay beside me. With me on my back and him on his side, I was sure he had a clear view of all my thoughts as they played out on my face. “Talk to me.”

  “Was that second line even there?” I asked, squeezing my eyes shut even tighter.

  “Barely!”

  I felt the corner of my lip pulling upward at the absurdity in his tone of voice as he humored me.

  “And even if that was a second line, people get false positives all the time, right? The test is more than a year old. I just want to go to the doctor and get answers,” I told him as my eyes fluttered open. I cast my gaze across the room, taking everything in.

  From the chrome fixtures to the black appliances, the bedroom was sleek with clean lines like the rest of the house. Although his home had a warm feel to it, it was decidedly sparse with masculine and monochromatic features. He said he wanted me to add my touch to it, but I thought it was stunning as it was.

  “We can go to urgent care first thing in the morning. Or do you want to wait until Monday to see your own doctor?”

  I shifted my head and locked eyes with him. “Hi, my name is Zoe Elise Jordan. Have we met?”

  “Tomorrow it is,” he returned with a smirk.

  I watched him scan my body and zero in on my belly. The hand holding his head above our pillows was steady, but as his free hand made contact with my belly, I felt a slight tremble. Tears pricked the back of my eyes and I covered his hand with my own. His eyes found mine and even though they weren’t wet with tears, I could feel so much emotion spilling out of them.

  “I love you,” he whispered, giving me chills.

  “I love you, too.”

  “Whatever happens, we’ll roll with it.”

  “It’s not how we planned it.”

  “Nothing ever is.”

  I closed my eyes. “I’m...”

  A little scared, I finished the thought in my head.