Love & Happiness (Sexy Secrets Book 3) Read online

  Love & Happiness

  By Nycole S. Bailey

  Text copyright © 2017 Nycole S. Bailey

  All Rights Reserved

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 - Life is Good

  Chapter 2 – Married Life

  Chapter 3 – Life Sucks

  Chapter 4 – Old Flames

  Chapter 5- Scenes from a Marriage

  Chapter 6 – Good News?

  Chapter 7 - Lost and Found

  Chapter 8 - Back to Basics

  Chapter 9 - Secrets

  Chapter 10 - Fathers - Part I

  Chapter 11 - Fathers - Part II

  Chapter 12 - Time

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Zoe Sloane (née Rossi)

  My first vivid memory of Charlie Sloane was when I was seven and he was ten. I remember his long, pale, scrawny legs with knobby-skinned knees and his dark hair that had a wicked cowlick sticking up at the top of his head.

  I remember the color of his eyes.

  They would be green one day then hazel the next.

  I remember the small smile on my face as he played near the edge of the lake with my older twin brothers, Isaac and Judah, while I sat on my blanket in the grass behind them coloring.

  I remember thinking that he was cute.

  I also remember him throwing a small green grass snake at me.

  It hit me on the side of my face; I cried and ran all the way home.

  To this day, I am deathly afraid of snakes.

  I blame Charlie.

  ********

  When I was ten and Charlie was thirteen, I remember that he and my brothers seemed to be inseparable. They were always together and usually if I was around, they teased me. I remember how his voice went from sounding normal to screechy, then to deep, like my dad’s voice.

  I remember him growing tall, with much longer, pale, scrawny legs and his knees were still knobby and skinned. I remember his hair being very short, almost a buzz cut - no more cowlicks. I remember the smirk that graced his mouth right before he tripped me and ran off laughing.

  To this day, I have a faint but still noticeable two-inch scar on my knee from the incident.

  I blame Charlie.

  ********

  When I was thirteen and Charlie was sixteen, I remember asking my mom if he lived with us, since he was always at our house; hanging out with my brothers, eating our food and ignoring me.

  I remember thinking that he looked much older than sixteen. He was as tall as my dad and his legs were now muscled with dark hair. I remember watching him and my brothers’ swim in the pool and my tummy tingling whenever I got a glimpse of his bare chest.

  I also remember him calling my budding breasts ‘bee stings’ when he saw me in my favorite green bikini, making me self-conscious. From that point on, he stopped calling me Zoe and called me ‘Buzz’. To this day, I am still self-conscious about my boobs being too small, even though I am a decent C cup.

  I blame Charlie.

  ********

  When I was fifteen and Charlie was eighteen, I remember showing up at a high school party with my friends. The party consisted mostly of seniors. My friends and I seemed to be the only sophomores in attendance. Charlie and my brothers also attended.

  When my brothers spotted me, they yelled at me and ordered me home, stating that I was too young to attend a senior party. That was when Charlie swooped in and told my brothers that he would keep an eye on me. I remember the butterflies fluttering in my stomach as he led me around the party, holding my hand as he talked to people. I remember how many girls gave me the stink eye too – my own friends included.

  As the party was winding down, Charlie and I spent time on the back porch talking. The butterflies were still fluttering around in my stomach as we talked. I remember the look in his eyes as he leaned down to give me my first kiss.

  Well, what would have been my first kiss as that kiss never happened; my brother, Judah, yanked him by the collar and pulled him inside. I heard Judah threatening to kick his ass if he tried to kiss me again.

  After that party, I didn’t see Charlie for a while – almost a year. He started college – summer school – a few months later. He didn’t bother to come home for Thanksgiving – claiming he had a big project to complete. At least that is what I overheard his mom tell my mom when she was over for brunch the Sunday before Thanksgiving. For Christmas, he and my brothers decided to go skiing over the break.

  It didn’t matter that none of them had ever skied a day in their lives.

  My mom was pissed and my dad played the peacemaker. He talked to my brothers and they agreed to spend two days at home before leaving for the ski trip. We celebrated Christmas early that year. I was hoping to see Charlie too, but he didn’t bother coming home.

  It was the following summer when I saw him again. I was working in my dad’s office at R&R Construction (the family business) – helping his office manager. It was my first job and it was also the summer that my brothers and Charlie worked for R&R. They didn’t work in the office like me, but on one of the construction crews. I hardly saw him during the week, but the weekends were a different story. Me, my friends, my brothers, Charlie and a few of their friends were at our pool from sun up well into the night.

  I frequently hid my eyes behind dark sunglasses so I could steal glances at Charlie. By that time, my little crush on Charlie had all but passed. He was still nice to look at though.

  When I graduated high school, Charlie came to the ceremony – with a girl. Apparently, Charlie had a girlfriend. He had never brought a girl around before. I knew he dated, but he never had a steady girlfriend. She looked like a porn star and not necessarily in a bad way; more like in an ‘I know I have a banging body and I am going to flaunt it’ way. She had on a respectable enough dress that hugged every curve – specifically her ass and tits.

  I saw Mom thump my dad’s arm when he stared a beat too long as Charlie’s date walked around my graduation party. During the party, it became quite obvious to me that Charlie was an ass man as his hand seemed to be glued to his girlfriend’s ass – never straying away from it for more than a second or two.

  Even though I was over my crush on Charlie – I didn’t like her. She was nice to me, even gave me a graduation gift. To this day, I can’t tell you the specific reason why I didn’t like her – I just didn’t.

  The year I turned nineteen was the year I completed my freshman year in college and it was the year my brothers and Charlie graduated from college. I remember sitting in the stands with my parents, Charlie’s mom and two of my friends as my brothers and Charlie walked across the stage to get their diplomas. I remember the hug I gave him when we all went to a restaurant to celebrate. A hug that made those long dead butterflies briefly resurrect in my stomach.

  I also remember that was the last time I saw Charlie for a long time.

  ********

  The next time I saw Charlie was at my thirtieth birthday party. It was held at my parents’ house with just my two closest girlfriends and my family. He had shown up looking all kinds of hot and tempting. When I last saw Charlie, he was twenty-two and had looked like a man, but at thirty-three, he was all man – a fully-grown man who I wanted to fuck.

  Charlie had always been cute to me, but over the years, his cuteness had turned into pure goddamn hotness. His eyes were more green than hazel now and seem to be up to no good and that damn smirk; yeah, I am willing to bet that smirk had made many women lose their panties.

  It was at my thirtieth birthday party that I learned that Charlie would be interviewing for a position at R&R Construction. I worked for my
dad’s company putting my degree in Civil Engineering to good use. I knew Charlie would be a good fit for the company with his degree in architecture.

  Throughout the party, Charlie and I subtly flirted with each other. It had been exciting; I remember thinking that my crush on him was awakening from a long deep sleep.

  A few minutes to midnight on my thirtieth birthday, Charlie gave me a great gift. He fucked me until my limbs were like jelly, my voice was hoarse and I barely knew my name.

  He interviewed with R&R and of course, he was hired. After that, things moved quickly. Within three weeks of my thirtieth birthday, Charlie had moved to Richmond and within six weeks of my thirtieth birthday, we were married.

  Yeah – that was definitely not in the plans, - the marriage that is - but it happened.

  We somehow managed to keep our nuptials a secret for about two months because we were not sure how to tell everyone.

  Wait. That’s a lie.

  We didn’t’ tell anyone because I was afraid to tell my parents and of their reaction.

  My brothers were the ones to find out first and it wasn’t on purpose. They had shown up on the doorstep of our new home (which they thought was just Charlie’s) trying to entice him to a night out on the town.

  He had politely declined, stating that he was just going to chill. That was when I walked out looking freshly fucked (and I was) in one of Charlie’s button-down shirts and nothing else. That night, Charlie and my brothers came to blows. To say that my brothers were pissed was an understatement. It was a few weeks before they were cool with each other again.

  My parents took the news somewhat better. Their first question was if I was pregnant – which I wasn’t. Then Charlie and I endured about an hour of my angry dad and my disappointed mother. They could not understand why we married so quickly and then kept it a secret.

  Charlie’s mom took it fairly well too, although she had lamented about being a young grandmother. She was surprised that I wasn’t pregnant.

  My close friends, Ivy and Maddie, were surprised yet happy for me. They went on and on about how they were going to be great Aunts – they thought I was pregnant too; apparently, marrying so quickly because we were in love (and not knocked-up) was unusual.

  Our first two years or so of marriage were a blur of getting to know the adult versions of each other. And then there was sex. Lots and lots of sex. My husband has an insatiable appetite for sex and is down to always try new things. And I am always surprising him with my almost no limit sexual trick bag – which I learned from dating an older man when I was in college. I know he wonders how I know some of things I do and I am sure that one day I will have to come clean about my period of sexual exploration that started when I was in college. However, until then, I am happy to rock my husband’s world with my sexual bag of tricks.

  Chapter 1 - Life is Good

  Zoe - Early August

  I move around my brother’s (Isaac) kitchen, assisting Maddie and Ivy as we cook dinner. My sister-in-law, Olivia or Livy as we call her, just left the kitchen to go see about a commotion she heard coming from upstairs. We are having dinner tonight at their new house. Isaac and Livy have been married for almost five months and have been in their new house for three.

  My brother has a thing for old houses and I guess Livy does too since they both fell in love with their new home when they first saw it; it is a Federal style plantation house that was built in 1823. The previous owner had restored it with a few modern luxuries – one being a state-of-the-art media room, which made Isaac giddy as hell.

  Ivy plops down four bell peppers and two onions for me to chop. She is making her famous deep-dish lasagna – two pans actually since the guys can eat an entire pan by themselves.

  Just as I sink my knife into the crunchy green vegetable, I hear Livy.

  “Loki!” she yells just before a blue-black gangly dog comes running into the kitchen. He skids on the hardwood floor as he rounds the center island, his backend banging into it. He quickly rights himself and heads for the kitchen door with the XXL dog door at the bottom.

  Just as his tail disappears through the door, Livy comes into the kitchen, red-cheeked and out of breath. She has a mangled pink Converse sneaker in her hand – well half of one.

  We all stop what we are doing and look at her.

  “Where did he go?” she asks - out of breath.

  We all point to the dog door, just as Isaac opens the kitchen door and his eyes seek out his wife.

  “What did Loki do?” he asks her, coming fully into the kitchen, closing the door behind him. He wipes his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. I can tell he wants to laugh – I can hear it in his voice. Their Great Dane puppy, Loki, is a handful and is very mischievous.

  Livy just holds up the shoe – well half of the shoe.

  “Where is the rest of it?” my brother asks incredulously.

  “He ate it.” She says calmly. “I am sure he will be shitting pink canvas and rubber soon.”

  I am no longer able to hold my laughter. I start to laugh and soon Maddie and Ivy join me. Livy looks over her shoulder and sticks out her tongue at us. Through my laughs, I watch my brother wrap his sweaty arms around Livy. He dips his head and whispers something to her before kissing her sweetly. Livy responds in kind by latching onto him and he wastes no time palming her ass before picking her up – she wrapping her legs around him. We all watch him carry his wife out the kitchen, still joined at the lips.

  Maddie, Ivy and I all look at each other and say ‘newlyweds’ at the same time and we dissolve into laughter again.

  We go back to our cooking tasks and a while later the back door opens again and in walk the rest of the guys. They are all shirtless and sweaty. They have been working in the backyard building a patio area similar to the one at Judah’s (my other brother and Isaac’s twin) house.

  The one that holds my attention is the white guy with the tanned skin and the red backwards ball cap covering his dark hair – Charlie Sloane – my husband. He grabs a bottle of water from the refrigerator before he walks towards me. He is shirtless and wearing a pair of cargo shorts. I appreciate the way his cargo shorts sit low on his hips with the barest hint of his boxer briefs showing.

  He sits down beside me and scoots his chair as close as he can to me until his chin is resting on my shoulder. He is sweaty, but I don’t care.

  “Hey,” he says softy in my ear before kissing my bare shoulder next to my tank top strap.

  “Hey,” I say back turning my head to get a proper kiss. He doesn’t disappoint as he expertly plunders my mouth.

  I reluctantly end the kiss and go back to chopping green peppers and onions. Charlie is content to keep his chin on my shoulder as he snakes his arm around my waist, letting his thumb graze lazily just under the hem of my tank top. I think back to how Charlie came back into my life after so many years.

  ********

  Flashback – Zoe’s 30th Birthday (Almost Four Years Ag0)

  Today is my 30th birthday and I am at my parent’s house. They are hosting a small party for me - nothing big or fancy, just my family and my two closest girlfriends. For a change, the August evening is pleasant, the sun is starting to set and the humidity is very low – it is perfect for the small gathering currently happening on the back deck. I wander into the kitchen to grab a couple more bottles of white wine from the fridge. I am in the middle of opening one bottle when the doorbell rings. I continue to struggle with opening the bottle as I walk to open the front door, finally popping the cork before I open the door.

  Opening the door brings me face to face with a gorgeous white guy. He’s tall – at least the height of my brothers – which is 6’3”. He has short dark hair that is spiky in the front with product. He has green, not quite hazel eyes that speak of mischief. He has nice lips too - pussy-eating lips.

  I do a quick and discreet scan of his body and I like what I see. He is lean but with muscles. His shoulders are broad under the army green t-shirt he is wearing
. I can see blue veins traversing his muscular forearms and biceps and for some reason I want to trace every single vein with my tongue. He has a trim waist leading to narrow hips and long powerful looking legs.

  I look back to his face and he has a smirk on those pretty pussy-eating lips that lets me know he knows that I just checked him out.

  That smirk is familiar somehow.

  Wait a minute; I think I know this guy.

  “Charlie?” I ask softly.

  “Hey Buzz,” he says in a voice that makes me want to hear it in my ear as he fucks me.

  I have not seen Charlie Sloane since I was nineteen and he was twenty-two. At twenty-two, I thought he looked like a man – how wrong I was. At thirty-three (and if I remembered correctly, soon to be thirty-four), he is all man - a grown ass man. I watch as he blatantly eye-fucks me, lingering a little bit longer over my boobs.

  “I guess I can’t call you Buzz anymore, huh?”

  So, this is where I am supposed to reply back with something witty and flirty that will wipe that sexy smirk off his face. Instead, I revert back to that flat-chested, somewhat shy, self-conscious thirteen-year-old where I try to hide my chest by crossing my arms over said chest. Only this time I have a bottle of wine – an open bottle of wine and I manage to spill at least half the bottle on me.

  “Shit!” I say as I quickly right the bottle and hold it away from me as the cold wine soaks through my shirt. “What are you doing here?” I am getting pissed because I can see the mirth in his eyes, as he looks at me in my spilled wine glory.

  “Hi Zoe, it’s nice to see you too.” He responds in an awful falsetto voice as he chuckles and continues his conversation with himself. “Oh, I am fine, thanks for asking.”

  I roll my eyes and motion for him to come in.

  He is still a smart ass.

  I close the door.

  I really want to grab him up and hug him with all my might, but I don’t – that may seem weird. So I revert to sarcasm.

  “Sorry. Please forgive me and my terrible manners, but seriously, what are you doing here?”