Kimberly Kaye Terry Design of a Lifetime (EC)

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for that morning, before her phone call put an end to his amorous intent. He turned off
the shower, and stepped out the stall. After swiping the towel through his short hair, he
quickly dried the rest of his body before leaving the shower.
Karina should be off the phone with her friend by now. He walked back to the
bedroom and was in the process of opening the door, when he heard the sounds of
tears, and his heart leapt from his chest. He quickly opened the door and rushed inside.
Karina? Baby, what s wrong? He felt each pounding beat of his heart as he took
in the sight of Karina, looking dejected, sad, and if the tips of her ears were any
indication& embarrassed.
* * * * *
All right, Karina. Let me get this straight. And if I miss something along the way,
let me know, okay? Liza asked. Karina already felt the queasy feeling of dread pool in
her gut. The kind she used to get when Big Momma would call her by her full name.
Karina Marie Woodson& you d better explain yourself young lady! Karina could hear the
echo of Big Momma s voice in the recesses of her mind.
Go ahead, Liza.
You re late for work and a man holds the elevator door open for you, thus helping
you not be late for work. Then you and this man have a five-minute conversation before
you clock in. You go and put your things away, and he s left a mountainous amount of
gifts to be wrapped when you return. These gifts range from perfume, sweaters,
lingerie& am I on point so far?
Karina didn t say a word.
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Kimberly Kaye Terry
Where was I? Liza asked before plunging on. Oh yes. This man comes back,
you ve wrapped his gifts, and he tells you they re for his mama and sisters. Something
about him gets to you and you kiss him. You two are going at it like a couple of horny
teenagers, when you re interrupted. Instead of seeing this as a sign from the good Lord
to stop, your grown ass sees it as a sign to go full out and you let him screw you in the
employee lounge.
Liza s voice was so shrill at this point that Karina had to move the phone away
from her ear to prevent permanent damage to her eardrums. She knew the audiologist
visit was definitely going to be needed by the time she hung up the phone.
Then you let this man, who you don t know from Adam, take you home? And
sleep with him again. And again. Damn Kari. What in the world were you thinking?
Karina nearly cried with the disappointment she heard in Liza s voice. Listen, I
don t need to hear all this right now. I don t need to hear you beat up on me either,
Liza. I thought you were best friend, Karina couldn t stop the tears that flowed and
neither did she try and check her anger.
Karina, I don t really give a damn what you want to hear, Liza all but yelled in
her ear. I love you and I don t want to see you hurt. Not mentally or physically. I heard
what you said. You think this is some kind of love at first sight, don t you?
I don t know, Liza. He s special. That s all I know, Karina whispered into the
phone.
Honey, I m not trying to burst your bubble, but you have to think. And while
you re doing this thinking& what about protection Kari? All this time you ve been
telling me how good it was, how this man is the best since Wonder Bread, and not one
darn time do I hear the words, we used a condom come out of your mouth. So Karina
Marie Woodson, please tell me you weren t so caught up in the rapture that you
neglected to protect yourself, girlfriend. Please tell me you were more responsible than
that.
There was a long pause of pure, unadulterated silence.
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Design of a Lifetime
I ve got to go, Liza. I ll call you later& Karina removed the phone from her ear,
and as she replaced it on the receiver she could hear Liza yelling at her to pick the
phone back up. Karina don t you hang up this pho& Click.
After she hung up the phone, she turned the ringer off, and put her face in her
hands and cried. She cried and cried as she called herself every foul, what the hell is
wrong with me, I must be smoking crack, name she could come up with.
Was she that desperate?
Liza s words came crashing down on her head like a tsunami, devastating and
complete. What had she been thinking? As her tears fell, she was so absorbed in her own
little world that she was unaware that Cooper had entered the room until she felt his
arms around her, and without thinking she returned his embrace.
What in the world have we done? I m on the pill, but it s a low estrogen pill
because I get sick with the more powerful one, and you didn t use a damn condom!
She cried and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
She withdrew from him. The look of horror that crossed his handsome face had her
wanting to scratch his damn eyes out. The bastard. Karina promptly burst into
frustrated tears.
Okay. Okay, calm down Karina, everything s going to be fine baby, let s just think
this out, Cooper tried to reassure her, when he himself felt as though he d gotten
punched in the gut. What the hell had he been thinking? He d had the one moment of
clarity, after he d entered her, when he d asked if she was on protection, and truth be
told he would have probably kept on even if she d said no. He d never forgotten to use a
condom, no matter if the woman was on the pill or not.
Not one damn time.
He rubbed the top of her head, trying to reassure her, and saw the way his hand
slightly shook. The ramifications of what they d done weren t lost on him. Not only had
they risked pregnancy, they didn t know each other and she probably thought he did
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Kimberly Kaye Terry
this kind of thing all the time. That he was some kind of irresponsible player. There was
no way in hell she d easily believe otherwise.
And don t call me baby. I m not your baby, she raised her head from where it was
nestled on his chest to utter the retort, and laid her head back down.
He knew she was upset so he resisted the urge to say that wasn t what she was
saying last night. In fact, if memory served right, baby wasn t the only thing she cried
out.
And don t even think about reminding me what names we called each other last
night. This time she didn t even bother to lift her head.
I don t know if this will reassure you or not, but this isn t something I do either,
Karina. I haven t been sexually involved with a woman for a while, and I m not
indiscriminate in my sexual partners. And I always use protection. Without fail.
You expect me to believe I m your first& one-night stand? The embarrassment in
her voice slammed him head on.
I believe I m your first, he said, after the pause.
Karina lifted her head and drew slightly away. How do you know that? she
asked.
I can t answer that Karina. I just know this isn t something you do.
She said nothing in the quiet, just allowed him to rub a caressing hand through her
locs.
I ll go to my doctor on Monday and get a health certificate and bring it to you.
Would that help ease some of your worries, sweetheart? he asked and felt her nod her
head.
Do you want me to go to the doctor with you when it s time to find out, if&
If I m pregnant? she finished the thought.
Yes.
He felt her take a deep, shaky breath against his chest. And if I am? What then?
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Design of a Lifetime
What then? There was no going back in time, even if he wanted to. The fact that he
didn t regret what happened scared him more than the fact that he d engaged in risky [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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