Passionate Proposals

“There’s not much I can tell you. I’m sorry. I was so drug addicted by then that they took the babies from me right after each of them was born. They were both adopted, so I don’t know their names or where they ended up. I might have been messed up, but by then I knew giving up my rights would allow them to have a real family and not end up in the foster system like you. I should’ve done the same for you, but they told me it was harder to place an older child. By then you were five or six. I’ve got a lot of sins to pay for,” Misty said.

Georgia’s knees grew weak beneath her, and she slipped down into the nearby armchair before she fell. She’d known she would learn a lot about her mother and her early years with her, but somehow she hadn’t anticipated this.

“I’m sorry for that, Peaches. I’m sorry for all of this. That’s why I wanted to come here, to see you. To tell you how bad I feel about everything that happened in your life. It’s a part of my recovery, one step at a time. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I needed to come anyway.”

“I think we’ve got a lot of talking to do while you’re here,” Georgia managed.

“That we do.” Turning away, Misty patted the cushions of the couch. “I think this will be comfortable enough. It’s a really nice couch. It’s got to be better than the cot at the shelter.”

Georgia felt a pang of guilt for putting her mother on the couch. She got to sleep in a nice bed every night; she should let her mother do it while she was here. “You know what, Mom? Why don’t you take my bed upstairs? It’s a nice memory foam bed, so you’ll be comfortable. I can sleep down here.”

“Oh no,” Misty argued. “I didn’t tell you all that to make you feel bad.”

“Really. It’s not a problem. Let’s take your things upstairs and I can show you around.”

Her mother followed her upstairs to the loft bedroom that overlooked the living room. The large bed took up the center of the space with a luxurious en suite bath. Georgia set her bag down on the foot of the bed. “Hopefully you’ll be comfortable up here.”

Misty looked around and slipped out of her sweater. That exposed even more scars, blended in with a swirl of tattoos that disappeared beneath her short-sleeved shirt. “They’re track marks,” she said, noticing Georgia looking. “Well, not all of them. Some of them are leftover from my cutting phase.”

Georgia knew her mother had a heroin problem, but she hadn’t heard about the cutting. “You cut yourself?”

She nodded. “Yes. That was from my younger years. I was a messed-up kid. Cutting myself made me feel better. It was my only release. At least until I found drugs and sex.” She shook her head and ran her palms over her bare arms. “I should’ve stuck with the cutting. I didn’t hurt anyone but myself.”

Georgia couldn’t help giving her mother another hug. She was the parent, the one who should be comforting her daughter, but in reality, Misty was just a lost child. Georgia wasn’t sure she wanted to know about what set her down this path of self-destruction, but she knew she wanted to help her make a different life for herself.

“You’re turning things around,” she said. “You’ve got plenty of time to live a different life.”

“Do you think so?” Misty asked. Her gray eyes, exactly like Georgia’s, were red and brimming with tears.

“I know so.”

Nine

“The results are back.”

Carson had opened the front door of his loft expecting to see Georgia, but instead he found Graham and Brooks standing there. Graham was holding a large envelope. All thoughts of his dinner plans with her evaporated when he realized what it was. He had been awaiting and dreading this moment all week.

“Have you looked at the results yet?”

“No,” Graham said. “I practiced an amazing amount of restraint because I thought it was best that we all look at it together.”

“With alcohol,” Brooks added, holding up an expensive bottle of tequila in one hand and a bag of limes in the other.

“That’s probably wise,” Carson noted.

Stepping back, he let his brothers in. He expected them to want to rush to the results, considering how hard they’d worked to uncover the truth and how long they’d waited. But they took their time. Graham poured shots while Brooks sliced up a few limes. Carson just watched anxiously, tapping his fingers on the quartz countertops while he waited.

There was something final about reading the lab report, like the end of an era. For their whole lives, their father had been a mystery to them. Carson was certain that each of them had entertained private fantasies about what their father was really like and what he would say to them if they ever came face-to-face. It was possible that this envelope could shatter those fantasies once and for all. If the test results came back positive, the mystery was over and they were left with the cold, hard reality of Sutton Winchester being their father.

If the results were negative, they had to start back at square one. This time with no leads to follow. The only evidence they’d found pointed to Sutton. If he wasn’t the answer, Carson was at a loss for where to look next.

As he looked down at the envelope, their mother’s words echoed through his mind. You’re better off without your father in your life, she’d said. What if she was right? This was their last chance to change their minds.

“Are you guys sure you want to do this?” Carson asked.

“Are you serious?” Graham asked.

“Yes, I’m serious.” Carson picked up the envelope and held it up. “Once we open this thing, there’s no going back. Mom kept our father out of our lives for a reason. Maybe it was the right decision.”

“Maybe, but we’ve come too far to turn back now,” Brooks argued. “Besides, Sutton will have the results, too. It’s too late to change our minds. We’re going to find out one way or another.”

“You’re right,” Carson admitted and tossed the envelope back onto the counter. And it was true. They were past the point of no return.

Graham handed a shot out to each of them. “Let’s do one to take the edge off before we open the results. What shall we drink to?”

“The truth,” Carson offered. Good or bad, at least they’d finally have that.

“The truth,” his brothers repeated in unison. Together they all drank their shots of smooth tequila, not even needing the limes when they were through. They sat their shot glasses down and one by one, their gazes returned to the unopened envelope.

“Hurry up and open it,” Brooks said at last. “The suspense is killing me.”

“Who wants to read it aloud?” Graham asked as he slid his finger beneath the seal and opened the envelope.

“You do it,” Carson said. “You’re the one who made this happen.”

Graham pulled out two sheets of paper, one with Carson’s results and one with the twins’ results. “Okay. Let’s start with Carson.” His gaze danced back and forth across the paper for a moment, making Carson’s stomach tangle into knots as he waited. Not even the tequila could tame it.

“The alleged father, Sutton Winchester, cannot be excluded as the biological father of the child, Carson Newport, since they share genetic markers. Using the above systems, the probability of paternity is 99.99%, as compared to an untested, unrelated man of the Caucasian population.”

“We were right,” Brooks said.

Carson didn’t know how to react to the news. He’d braced himself for this moment, part of him hoping Sutton wasn’t his father and part of him hoping he was, just so he’d have the answer at last. Well, now he had it. He was that old bastard’s son. He’d known in his heart that he was, but having the official confirmation just sealed it in his mind.

The man he’d been looking for his whole life, the one his mother warned him about, had been right under his nose the whole time. Sutton had always treated him like a nuisance. The Newport Corporation and its owners were just an annoying fly buzzing around the King of Chicago’s crown. He’d never once treated them like anything else, certainly not like his own children. It was one thing not to be able to publicly acknowledge your illegitimate sons, but to deliberately handle them like pebbles in his shoe their whole lives...

“Carson, are you okay?” Brooks asked.

He realized that he’d been holding his breath and let it out in one big burst. “Yes.” He reached for the tequila bottle and did another shot without them. “Let’s read yours and get this over with.”

Graham shuffled the papers in his hands until he could read the second report. “The alleged father, Sutton Winchester, cannot be excluded or confirmed as the biological father of the children, Graham and Brooks Newport. The children’s samples were tainted or mishandled, containing foreign contaminants, and must be recollected and retested for final results.”

“Mishandled?” Brooks exclaimed. “Are you kidding me? After all this?” Now it was his turn to reach for the bottle and take a shot.

Graham just shook his head. “I guess we need to go back tomorrow and get swabbed again.”

“And while we wait for those results, we can plan how we want to move forward,” Carson said, trying to distract his brothers from their disappointment. “We know at the very least that I’m his son, so we can do some contingency planning.”

“No,” Brooks says. “We can’t wait. We need to jump on these results, especially if he’s as sick as Georgia makes him sound. Sutton has gone long enough without receiving his comeuppance. He needs to pay for abandoning us. He needs to pay for using and tossing our mother aside. He may be our father, but this is war. It’s best to attack while the opposing side isn’t expecting it.”

Graham gave a curt nod in agreement, making Carson’s stomach start to ache again. “Let’s set up a meeting with the Winchesters for tomorrow.”

* * *

Georgia was surprised to brush past the Newport twins as they got off the elevator in Carson’s building and she was getting on. They gave her a polite wave but didn’t stop to say hello. They both had a cold, calculating look in their eyes that worried her. What had happened? She got the feeling her date with Carson would be different from what they’d planned.

She waited patiently after ringing the doorbell. When Carson finally answered, the expression on his face worried her even more than his brothers’ scheming scowls. He looked heartbroken. His mouth was drawn down into an uncharacteristic frown and his face was flushed. His eyes looked a little red and his brow was furrowed in thought.

“Hey, Georgia,” he said in a flat tone. “I have to apologize in advance. I’m not going to be very good company tonight. Do you mind if we don’t go out?”

“We can stay in,” Georgia said and pushed past him into his apartment. She got the feeling he wanted to turn her away, and she wouldn’t let him. He needed someone to talk to, and she was going to be the one whether he liked it or not.

She set her purse down on the counter beside a half-empty bottle of tequila and three shot glasses. That explained the flushed face and red eyes. Then her gaze ran across the paperwork and the lab logo across the top. He’d gotten the results of the paternity test.

Georgia didn’t need to read the papers. She could tell by the look on Carson’s face that Sutton was the father he’d never wanted. Turning to face him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into his green eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Eventually. I just have to forget about everything I know to be true and adjust to a world where a man like Sutton could produce a man like me.”

“Sutton didn’t produce a man like you, Carson. If he had been in your life, you’d be a completely different person and likely one I wouldn’t date. He might be your genetic contributor, but you were produced by the loving environment your mother raised you in. That’s what’s important. You’re nothing like him.”

“Oh really?” He pulled away and wandered into the living room, where he dropped down onto the couch. “I’m more of a cutthroat bastard than you might think. We’re going to destroy him, you know.”

Georgia’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“Graham and Brooks want to go after his estate. No holds barred. They think we’re owed something after years of neglect and now is their chance to make Sutton pay the piper.”

Georgia sat down on the couch beside him and rested her hand on his knee. “You don’t agree with their plans?”

“I do and I don’t. I mean, I want him to suffer. I want him to spend the rest of his life regretting what he did to my mother and to us. But at the same time, I guess I just don’t have the killer instinct. That’s the one thing I wish I had inherited from him.”

“Don’t wish that. It’s your conscientiousness that I’m drawn to.”

Carson looked at her with some of his previous sparkle in his eyes. “You mean it’s not my dashing good looks and rock-hard abs?”

Georgia smiled wide. She was happy to see a glimmer of her Carson beneath the gloom. “Those certainly don’t hurt.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and Georgia snuggled in against his chest. “I’m glad you came over tonight. If I was alone, I’d probably stew all evening and finish off that bottle of tequila.”

“You’d regret it tomorrow.”

“I usually do. But enough of my parental drama. I don’t want to waste our night together talking about that. But I do have to ask how it’s going with your mom. Hopefully better news than on my end.”

“Good. Better than I ever could’ve expected or hoped,” Georgia said. She knew that Carson was feeling down, but she was filled with more optimism than she’d felt in years. Maybe even her whole life. The last few days had been amazing. She’d gotten answers to questions she’d never even thought to ask. “We’ve spent hours talking. I’ve learned so much about her and my family that I’ve never met. Did you know I have a brother and sister somewhere?”

“Really?” He chuckled and slowly shook his head. “That seems to be going around lately. I’ve suddenly got more siblings than I know what to do with.”

“The hardest part, though, is hearing about her life. I mean, I thought I had it rough growing up in the foster care system, but it’s nothing compared to what she went through. I’m not surprised she turned to drugs. I don’t even know how she gets out of bed every morning.”

“Where is she now? We could’ve rescheduled tonight until after she went back to Michigan.”

“No, that’s okay. It actually worked out perfectly. I helped her find a local Alcoholics Anonymous support group that meets tonight. It’s just a few blocks from my place in a church, so I gave her enough money to get herself some authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza from a place across the street from it. That will keep her busy for a few hours.”

“Are you okay leaving her alone in your apartment?”

This again. “She’s been alone all day while I’ve been at the office and there hasn’t been a problem. I appreciate your concern, Carson, but I think it will be okay. If I was worried, I wouldn’t be here with you.”

“Okay. You can smack me for being overcautious. I know I’m being selfish, but I’d much rather you be here with me, anyway. I just wish I was better company.” Carson gave her a weak smile. “I figured I wouldn’t get to see you after work hours until Misty had left.”

Georgia didn’t want to wait that long to spend time with Carson. At the office, it just wasn’t the same. They kept things distant and professional, the way they should have. Their conversations were about business—planning the charity gala for the hospital was the big task of the moment. She didn’t get to snuggle against his chest and feel his arms around her the way she wanted them to be.

“Well, I miss you,” she said. Georgia didn’t like the way it felt to admit vulnerability like that, but it was true. Whether or not this fling of theirs lasted through the month, she’d found herself getting increasingly attached to Carson. She wanted to tell him about how things were going with her mom. She wanted to be there to soothe him when he got bad news. “And I’m glad I came over. I wouldn’t want you to be home alone tonight.”

“You make me not want to be home alone any night.”

Leaning into her, he pressed his lips against hers. The soft touch rapidly intensified as the taste of tequila and emotion mixed together on her tongue. She drank in his sadness, doing whatever she could to make him feel better tonight. She would use her body like a bandage to cover the wounds his father left without ever realizing it.

Pulling away from Carson’s mouth, she smiled coyly at him. “I know what will make you feel better.”

He lifted a curious eyebrow but didn’t question her. Instead he waited for her to reveal her answer. Without speaking, she slipped off the couch onto the floor in front of him. On her knees, she eased between his legs. Her gaze stayed fixed on his as she slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

Carson didn’t argue. He just took a deep breath and let her do as she pleased. Georgia tugged the shirt out of his waistband, unbuttoning the last of the buttons and opening it to expose his chest. Leaning in, she planted a line of kisses starting at his collarbone and moving down. She noticed how the hair on his belly thickened as she traveled lower, planting one last kiss above his belt and drawing in the warm scent of his skin before she sat back to unbuckle it. Her fingers moved deftly to unbutton his pants and zip his fly open. She could feel the heat of his desire pressing against her hand through the cotton of his underwear.

Georgia let her palm glide over it ever so slowly before she gathered the waistbands and tugged both his pants and underwear down his thighs. With nothing left in her way, she curled her fingers around the length of him and gave a little squeeze until he hissed and squirmed on the sofa. She let her hot breath blow across his skin before she bent her head and took him into her mouth.

Her tongue glided along his smooth skin as her lips pressed farther and farther down. Carson’s whole body tensed the lower she moved. He didn’t even breathe until she eased back.

“Oh, Georgia,” he groaned, threading his fingers through her blond waves and holding tight. His grip didn’t hurt, but the intensity urged her on. “Damn, you feel good, baby.”

She worked into a slow, tortuous rhythm between her mouth and her hands. Carson’s fingertips massaged her scalp, never forcing her movements, but going along with them. She could feel every muscle in his body tighten as she sped up, then slowed down to tease him.

“I don’t think I can take much more of this,” he managed through gritted teeth.

“I’m just getting started.”

“Yeah, well, so am I. Come here,” he said. Reaching out, he took her hand and tugged her up until she was straddling him. He took a moment to slip on a condom, and then pushed the hem of her pencil skirt up to her hips, brushing over the lace tops of her thigh-high hosiery. His hands slipped beneath her legs, feeling at the insignificant scrap of fabric that separated them. His fingers pushed the lace aside, allowing the length of him to seek out her opening.

Georgia took it from there. She slowly lowered her hips, taking in every inch of him until she was fully seated on his lap. He reached for her blouse, unbuttoning the silk fabric and slipping it off her shoulders to the floor. His palms covered the cream lace bra, molding the full globes of her breasts in his hands and pinching at the hardened nipples that strained against the rough material.

Closing her eyes, Georgia rolled her hips, moving him inside her. A low growl sounded from Carson’s throat as she eased up and slid down the length of him again. She bit her bottom lip as the movements started to generate a liquid heat in her belly.

“Why did I wait so long to touch you?” Carson wondered aloud. “You could’ve been in my arms all this time.”

The same thought had crossed Georgia’s mind in the last week. She’d been at the Newport Corporation for over a year now. A year when she’d gone home each night fantasizing about her boss and never believing she could have him. A year of loneliness that could’ve been spent with him if she had thought for a moment that she deserved a man like him.

She still wasn’t entirely sure she was good enough, but she’d savor every moment she could share with him. Georgia had never let herself get truly close to someone, but she felt Carson getting past all her barriers. He was the first man even to try, and the stone walls just tumbled at his slightest touch. Her heart swelled at the thought of him, and her body craved him.

She wasn’t entirely sure she knew what love felt like. She’d read about it in books and seen examples in movies, but she’d never felt it herself. But now, here with Carson, she thought she might finally know for sure. It was more than like, more than just need or desire. He consumed her, body and soul, and she never wanted to let him go.

Georgia was falling in love with him.

The rush of emotions spilled from her heart, and the pleasurable coil inside her grew that much tighter. As the sensations grew more intense, Carson shifted his hands to grip her hips. His fingertips pressed into her flesh. Her thighs started to burn as she moved faster, coaxing the release from deep inside her. Soft cries and whimpers of anticipation escaped her lips as her climax grew nearer and nearer.

“Yeah,” Carson whispered in soft encouragement. “Let go, Georgia.”

She didn’t have any choice in the matter. Her orgasm exploded inside her, the shockwaves radiating through her whole body. He steadied her hips and she braced herself against his shoulders as she writhed and cried out. Her muscles clamped down around him, fluttering and pulsing as the final throbs of pleasure echoed and then finally faded away. When she opened her eyes, she found Carson watching her.

“You are so beautiful,” he said. “And you’re even more amazing when you come undone. I love to watch you let go and just feel.”

Georgia felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “Well, now it’s your turn,” she said, clamping her inner muscles down hard around him.

He groaned as his hands slid up from her hips until they were wrapped around her back. He pulled her torso toward him until she was hunched over him with her face buried in his neck. Keeping a tight grip on her, he started moving beneath her.

Georgia gasped and clung to him as her overstimulated nerves tried to absorb more pleasure. Her lips danced across the salty skin of his neck and shoulder, tasting and nipping at him. As he tensed and his moves became more frantic, she whispered a few provocative and erotic things into his ear.

It wasn’t what she wanted to say. In the moment, overflowing with emotions and sensations, she wanted to whisper that she was falling in love with him, but it wasn’t the right time or place. She’d never said the words before, and when she did, she wanted it to be special. She wanted him to respond in kind. That, she feared, would take more time.

What she did say was just right, however. Carson’s fingers dug into her flesh as he thrust hard and poured into her with a satisfied roar. Georgia rode through the waves, planting a soft kiss on his lips once he stilled beneath her.

“You know what?” he said when he caught his breath.

“What?”

“You were right. I do feel better.”

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