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  “You know, the room service is atrocious and I wish they offered breakfast in bed. But what can I say, you get what you pay for,” Erica replied and we both laughed at that. She was looking at me intently and I nearly blushed under her scrutinizing gaze. There was something about this woman that intimidated me.

  “Am I spoiling your usual evening plans?” she asked.

  I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “By staying at your house. So you can’t bring your dates home,” she explained.

  I looked away from her and shook my head. “You think I’ve been going on dates since you’ve been living with me?” I asked and she shrugged. She was smiling still.

  “Why not? I wouldn’t want to disrupt your life,” she said and I breathed in.

  “Well, I, for one, wouldn’t want the media to catch me on a date with someone else and think that I was cheating on you. That would be a whole new disaster,” I suggested.

  “Well, it might give us a good reason to split up,” she said.

  We remained silent as the wine was poured for us and the appetizers were brought in.

  I took a sip of my wine, but she pushed the glass away. “I don’t think I’ll be drinking tonight,” she said.

  I looked at her quizzically. “Why not?”

  “I’m just not in the mood, I suppose.”

  “Not in the mood to have a drink?” I was confused.

  “Is that a problem?” she asked.

  I looked back at her. “Are you afraid that I’m going to get you drunk and seduce you again?” I asked her, and she stared back at me while biting down on her lower lip.

  “Yes,” she said matter of factly, taking me aback. She seemed to be serious about that statement.

  “It’s just a glass of wine. Don’t worry, I have no plans of getting you drunk. I don’t need alcohol to get you to sleep with me,” I stated, leaning on the table towards her. We were holding each other’s gaze. I was thinking about her, naked.

  “You’re a very confident man, Kyle Murphy,” she said, picking up a rice croquette and biting into it.

  “Why shouldn’t I be?” I asked and sipped some more of my wine. I couldn’t help thinking about how beautiful she looked.

  “Because one day you’re not going to win,” she said, and I raised my eyebrows.

  “I can assure you, I always win,” I stated, hardening my voice. Nobody had ever said that to me before.

  Erica smiled and looked away from me like she was unconvinced. “I bet your parents are very proud of you,” she stated rather than asked. Still looking out of the window, away from me.

  I didn’t reply to that and polished off the rest of the croquettes on the plate instead.

  Then she turned to me. Her eyes were narrowed, and she reached for my hand which had been lying on the table.

  I felt goosebumps on my flesh when she touched me. Her fingers intertwined with mine and she stroked my palm. When I met her eyes she was smiling at me, a sparkle in her eye. I felt my dick move in my pants. I couldn’t believe she had that kind of power over me.

  “It’s for the cameras, Kyle. Don’t worry, this isn’t a date,” she said.

  Chapter Thirteen - Erica

  I was watching him walk ahead of me when we walked into the building toward the elevator that would lead us up to his penthouse. I had been staring at Kyle the whole night. I had just shared an intimate dinner with the sexiest man in the country. And boy did this man know how to polish himself up off the field.

  He was in a steel gray suit and a black tie. His clothes were tailor-made and clung to his body, revealing all the toned muscles underneath. His hands were large, which I noticed again as he adjusted his tie. His face was rugged and clean. His eyes were a brilliant green. His lips were now stained slightly from the wine he had been drinking by himself the whole night. Whatever cologne he had picked for the night still remained. When we got into the elevator quietly, it filled with the musky masculine scent of him and I almost felt dizzy.

  “That went smoothly,” he said after he pressed the button for the penthouse.

  “Enough photographs to keep the media happy,” I said, recalling the flash of cameras that had blinded me for a few seconds as we left the restaurant earlier.

  We were silent for the rest of the elevator ride till the metallic doors opened inside his apartment. We both stepped towards it together. We bumped into each other, and, as my foot slipped, he caught me by my waist. My body swung but he held me safe, and my hands automatically flew to his arms for support.

  “That was silly of us,” I said, but my attention wavered. He was looking at me, our faces were only a few inches apart. I could see what he was thinking, and I was thinking the same thing.

  “Kyle.” I said his name softly. We were still in the elevator and the doors were closing. But neither of us had made a move to get out. It was like we were frozen at the spot.

  “Erica.” He said my name and that was enough. Just to hear my name escape his lips was enough. And he saw it in my eyes.

  His mouth was on my neck and he pulled me close to him. His teeth dragged across my skin and I flung my head back. I could feel the wetness of his tongue on my flesh as he trailed down the length of my neck to the top of my cleavage. My nails dug into his arm.

  He was holding me at my waist still as I arched myself backward. The elevator was going down again, but I had forgotten about the motion.

  His tongue had reached the crevice of my breasts, held tightly together by the neck of my dress. His tongue flicked between them and I bit down on my lip.

  I heard the doors of the elevator slide open and Kyle pulled me closer to him. With my head bent backward, I opened my eyes and caught sight of the lobby. There were three people standing on the other side, watching us. Shocked and silent. Kyle’s face remained on my breasts. He hadn’t even looked up at them.

  My head swimming with my irresistible desire for him, I closed my eyes again. He must have pressed the button for his penthouse again because the doors slid shut and the elevator started moving up. Nobody had made a move to enter the elevator.

  I could feel Kyle’s fingers sliding the zip at the back of my dress down. My shoulders were bare already, and the chiffon material of the dress slid down smoothly. I hadn’t been wearing a bra, and my breasts were revealed. Kyle grabbed them with his hands.

  The elevator doors opened again and this time, he pulled me into his apartment. One of his hands was still on my right breast. Not even a second had passed since we stepped out of the elevator when he licked my right nipple. I moaned loudly with delight.

  “Kyle!” I screamed his name again, as he licked again, this time, the left one. I could feel myself growing wet. I was nearly naked, save for my panties, in his arms. He was fully clothed.

  I started struggling to get his jacket off. He finally pulled his lips away from my nipples and took off his jacket. His shirt came off next, and then his pants. I stood in front of him, watching with desperation.

  As soon as his clothes were off, I lunged at him and he caught me, lifting me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist. His chest was strong and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I could feel his throbbing dick against my moist center. He hadn’t entered me yet and I was desperate for him to do it.

  But Kyle kissed me. Gently, with his tongue slowly massaging my lips and then sucking on my lower lip. I parted my mouth, enjoying the slow sensual buildup of our desire. I was pressed against him, hanging from his body, while he kissed me.

  I felt his hands in my hair as he moved his face to kiss me more. Our kiss was lasting longer than the foreplay had, and I almost laughed. I hadn’t pegged Kyle Murphy for a long kisser.

  “Erica,” he said gruffly when he finally pulled away to breathe.

  He knocked his forehead against mine, as he said my name. I could hear my heart beating. We were naked, our bodies squashed against each other, my breasts pressed against his chest.

  “I want you to sleep in
my bed tonight,” he said, completely out of the blue. I didn’t even know what that meant. In the middle of the hottest moment I had ever experienced, Kyle Murphy told me he wanted me to sleep in his bed. I stared at him, my eyebrows crossed.

  Chapter Fourteen - Kyle

  I don’t know why I said it. I don’t know what came over me to pick that moment to say it either. She was in my arms, naked, kissing me, blowing my brains out with her luscious body. And I told her I wanted her to sleep in my bed with me.

  She was looking at me aghast like she was shocked by those words.

  We were both silent for a few seconds and then she moved in my arms. Our highly charged sexual moment was over.

  I gently let go of her waist so that her feet lightly hit the floor. She was still naked, her face still flushed, her hair messy, but she looked confused.

  “What’s wrong?” I dared to ask as she turned from me, looking for her discarded dress by the elevator door.

  “I don’t know what you meant by that,” she said as she walked over to it and picked it up. I felt my dick move again. I had caught her bending, her tight round ass on display for my eyes only.

  “I meant that you should sleep in my bed tonight,” I explained, suddenly aware that I was naked as well.

  “Why? I have my own room,” she said, slipping into the dress.

  “Because…I don’t know…I don’t know why I said that.” I was fumbling with my words. It was the truth, though, I didn’t know why I said it. I had never said it to anyone before, and I hadn’t thought this through either.

  “This is only a pretend relationship,” she said, zipping up her dress. She was avoiding my eyes.

  “I know. Forget I ever said that. It’s probably the wine talking.” I ran my fingers through my hair. I needed to distract myself. I needed to go for a run. I was still aroused by her, but I was also surprised, embarrassed a little, angry too. This was not the reaction I had imagined.

  “Because this was a mistake to begin with,” she went on while I picked my clothes off the floor.

  “Yes, it was,” I agreed with her. I wanted her to stop talking.

  “And we probably shouldn’t make it worse,” she added.

  “I get it, Erica. I admitted I made a mistake. It was the heat of the moment.” I pulled up my pants and started zipping up.

  “Because my life has been severely affected by this,” she continued, and this is when I snapped. I jerked my head up to look at her, with my eyes narrowed. I could feel the back of my neck reddening with rage.

  “You’ll get your fucking job back, Jesus. It’s affected my life as much as yours. I’ll give you some money if that’s what you want.” I knew I was yelling as I tucked my shirt back into my pants.

  She was standing still by the elevator. She was back in her dress now, but it was full of creases. Her hair was still a wavy mess, and she was staring at me.

  “I don’t want your money,” she said quietly.

  “What do you want then?” I asked, breathing loudly. I was annoyed with her, with myself, with our situation.

  “I just want my life back,” she said.

  “I said you'll get your job back. They’ll take you back or someone else will offer one to you. I’ll look into it.” I swung my jacket over my shoulders. I needed to go for a walk, to clear my head.

  “My life will never be the same again,” she replied, just as quiet.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “My life will never be the same,” she repeated and turned around, pressing the button on the elevator.

  I took a few long strides towards her. I wanted her to explain herself to me, to tell me clearly what she was trying to say. How had her life changed forever?

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I growled. I grabbed her arm and swung her around. She jerked her arm away from me, I saw the anger in her eyes.

  “I’m pregnant, Kyle. I got pregnant that day in the shower. And I’m keeping the baby,” she screamed at me just as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside.

  I was in shock. I was rendered speechless and I wasn’t able to follow her in. The elevator doors shut and I remained standing there.

  I had been foolish enough to never expect something like this to happen. I had been careless with Erica, and I hadn’t considered the possibility. I remembered how good it felt when I came inside her, exploding, holding her close to me as I emptied myself. She had moaned, screamed my name, then sighed. We had forgotten ourselves in that moment.

  She was right. Our lives would never be the same again.

  I didn’t know if I wished that she had told me sooner. I didn’t know if we would have done anything differently.

  I snapped out of my thoughts suddenly when I realized that she had left. She was the mother of my child and I shouldn’t have let her leave the house.

  I rummaged in my pocket for my phone and I called her number. “We need to talk, Erica. Come back,” I said when she answered the phone. I hadn’t expected her to even answer the call.

  “You just want me to come back so that your image is saved,” she hissed.

  “Just come back here. We need to work this out.” I ignored what she had said. I could hear it in her voice – she was not thinking straight.

  “I need some time away from you,” she said, her voice quiet. I didn’t add anything to that. She hung up the phone.

  I had been so consumed by my desire to have her, to have her body, that I had missed all the signs. She had been running to the toilet, she didn’t drink… She was pregnant with my child and, all the while, I didn’t have a clue.

  Chapter Fifteen - Erica

  It didn’t help, it didn’t help to be alone. But I told myself that it was better this way. I was living a lie. Of course, it had all been a lie anyway, our whole relationship had been fake, just for the sake of the cameras. But I was lying to him too.

  I was back in my apartment, alone. I had spent the night crying, hoping that I might be able to be a good mother to my child. Hoping that I hadn’t ruined my life, or my child’s.

  Yet, the next morning, the papers brought new gossip for its readership. This time I was sure that it would be irreparable. They had caught me. The cameras had followed us to his house. They had staked out the building and caught me on camera when I ran out of the building, a mess, and hailed a cab.

  The new gossip was that Kyle Murphy had thrown me out of his house in the middle of the night. That our short-lived relationship had lasted for only a few weeks, that Kyle Murphy could never commit. A new wave of embarrassment washed over me. The photograph in the papers now was one of me, in a crumpled black dress, my hair a mess, my makeup running. I looked like I was in shambles – like I had been crying. It was easy to see why people might believe that he had thrown me out.

  I clutched the edge of the kitchen counter in my apartment, and I tried to breathe in, to calm my nerves. I had to keep it together for the sake of my baby. I was angry with the world, and I was angry with Kyle. But I decided to take it out on someone else.

  “Hi, dad,” I said when he answered the phone.

  “Erica,” he replied as coldly as ever.

  “I trust you’ve seen the latest again.”

  “He threw you out,” he stated it like he had always seen it coming. “So your relationship is over, then?”

  “Are you happy?” I asked him.

  “No, I’m embarrassed,” he said.

  “You shouldn’t be. Because I’ve achieved more in my life than you ever have, or your make belief son ever could.” I was screaming into the phone.

  “A son would not have gotten himself into this kind of trouble,” my dad said quietly. I was surprised that he wasn’t yelling at me.

  “You don’t know that because you don’t have a son. You have me. So you can’t assume what kind of trouble your son would or would not have gotten into,” I raged on. My dad remained silent for a while as I breathed heavily into the phone.

  “Of course
I can’t. You brought it up, I didn’t. I wasn’t comparing you to anybody,” he said. It was my turn to remain silent.

  “Erica, I want to help you,” he said.

  “Why? You’re embarrassed of me. You think I’m in trouble and you’ll never be able to show your face again,” I snapped.

  “Yes, I am embarrassed, because it is such a public affair. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you.” He was speaking quietly.

  “I don’t understand. I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me.” I was mumbling now, at a loss for words.

  “I was angry when I found out. Of course I was. You’re my daughter. My only child.” I could hear the strain in his voice. He was upset, but not angry.

  “I thought you didn’t want me around, dad,” I whispered.

  “I know I pushed you, even as a child, I pushed you. But I’ve always been proud of you. I’ve treated you as both a son and a daughter. It may have been wrong, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t love you.” I could hear the shake in his voice again. I had never imagined my dad could ever break down.

  “Have you ever been proud of me, dad?” I asked him.

  “Of course I have. I always have. You didn’t need to publish an interview with Kyle Murphy to make me proud. You’ve achieved more than I ever have. More than I wanted you to.” My dad was crying on the phone now, and I bit down on my lip.

  “Thanks, dad, that’s all I needed to hear,” I said, hoping that was enough, even though I knew it wasn’t. How could I ever make up for ten years of pushing him away? I realized then that I had never given him a chance. I had blamed him for everything.

  “Erica, you come to me if you need something. I’m angry with the media and with that guy, Kyle Murphy. But I will always be here to support you if you need it,” he said.

  I thanked him again and I hung up the phone.

  Even though I felt like my life was a complete mess, my reputation was ruined, and I might never get a decent journalistic job ever again in my life, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.