Wrecking the Homewrecker (BOOK 2) EDITING

7

Adora

I got out of my car and brushed my hair away from my face, shoving my hands in the pockets of my coat as I hurried inside the bookstore.

I closed the door behind me and shivered, smiling over at the lady at the desk.

"Let me know if I can help you find anything," she said, smiling.

"I will, thank you," I said, shooting her a warm smile. I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it on the coat rack beside the door.

I slowly walked around, examining the huge bookstore. I looked around at all the classics, all the new books I hadn't gotten around to reading yet.

I slid my fingers along the spines of the books, smiling at the feeling. While Derek was gone and at meetings, I spent my time reading. I'd grown an even deeper regard for literature than I already had.

I rounded the corner, revealing a whole new isle with new books. I looked closely at all of them, seeing if any looked interesting.

I frowned at the book in front of me.

Fifty Shades of Grey

I picked it up and furrowed my brows, turning it over as if I didn't know what it was about already.

A hot businessman who was on the freaky side, a young woman that he'd found an interest in.

Sounded far too familiar.

I turned around when I heard footsteps coming my way, and furrowed my brows together at the two little boys that walked by me without a word.

Two very familiar little boys, that weren't even little anymore.

"Sorry!" One of them leaned down to pick up the book they'd knocked off, and it landed on my foot.

I just looked slightly down at them. They were almost my height now, only a few inches off.

He smiled up at me and placed the book back on the shelf, but the other furrowed his brows over at me.

"You don't remember me, do you?" I asked.

The boys that I couldn't tell apart just shot me blank expressions.

"I'm Addy," I said, "niñera."

Their eyes lit up in a split second and they both ran to me.

"I knew I had a crush on you!" Josiah yelled, wrapping his arms around my middle.

I just giggled and leaned down, pressing kisses to their heads. "You two have grown up!"

"Yep!" Fred yelled, "we're eleven now! And five feet tall!"

"Wow," I said, "that's amazing, guys!"

"It's been so long since I've seen you," Jo said, "but how could I forget that beautiful of a face?"

I giggled. "Your game has gotten even better than it was when you were five, Jo."

He smiled and picked my hand up, pressing a kiss to the back of it.

"Dad!" They yelled in unison, making my eyes dilate.

"Really, I have to g-"

My words seemed to completely slur when Santiago King rounded the corner.

I felt my lips part, my eyebrows slightly raise at the sight of him. He didn't know how to age.

He looked up from his book, a blank expression on his face when our eyes met.

"H-hi," I greeted, clearing my throat.

His eyes darted down to the book in my hands and I quickly shoved it behind me, pursing my lips together.

"Hi," he greeted, furrowed brows.

The boys' eyes toggled between us.

I couldn't help myself as I walked towards him, wrapping an arm around his neck.

He never made any move, just slightly touched my back.

I pulled away from him and gulped, looking up at him.

"I met your fiancé," he said.

I slowly nodded. "Yeah, he's stoked about you investing."

He nodded. "Yeah, I am, too."

I couldn't help the smile pulling at my lips.

"Congratulations," he said, pushing his glasses further up his nose, "on the engagement, moving back."

I just nodded. "Yeah, we're excited to be back."

He flexed his prominent jaw muscle, nodding. "That's good."

"How have things been?" I asked, and we began slowly making our way down the isles.

"Good," he said, "with you?"

I shrugged. "I can't complain."

He looked over at me. "You're grown."

"Oh shut up," I said, "you're old."

"That's actually not a lie," he said, chuckling.

His famous chuckle made my eyes dart over to him, and he seemed to notice. He just looked over at me with a small grin.

"I can't wait for dinner tonight," he said.

"Oh, that's tonight?" I asked.

"It sure is," he said, "and you," he said, raking his eyes down me, "are most definitely expected to be there."

He shot me a smile before walking away from me, making me finally let out the breath I'd been holding in since I saw him.

This was going to be hard, and I could already tell.

~*~

Santiago

"She's hot."

"Hey," I said, looking at the boys through the rear view mirror, "we're respectful to women, got it?"

"I wasn't ever disrespectful," Josiah said, "I'm just saying, she's hot."

I rolled my eyes.

Though she was, she was also engaged.

"Well I'm sure she'd love to hear that."

"Well I'm sure you've already told her," Fred said, looking over at me.

I just looked over at him and he laughed.

"You've been spending too much time with uncle A and Toni."

"Hey! Toni talks about her, too. He said something about her ass the other day!"

"Language!" I yelled, "we don't talk about asses."

"Don't be so tightly wound, dad," Fred said, "you know, the word ass is used in school all the time."

"Well I guarantee you, Toni isn't talking about a donkey when he says ass."

"I didn't know that's what ass meant," Josiah said, leaning up towards Fred, "did you know that's what ass means?"

"Say it again, I dare you."

He just looked at me and sighed, leaning back in his seat.

"Well if it's such a bad word, why is it used in the Bible?" Josiah asked, cocking an eyebrow up at me.

I flexed my jaw muscle and looked back at him.

"Since when do you read the Bible?"

"That's what uncle A told me."

I shook my head. "Please, get off of the ass topic."

"Okay, okay," Josiah said.

A few peaceful minutes passed before Josiah piped back up. "Has anyone ever told you you have a nice ass?"

"I'll make you walk home Josiah."

"That's child abuse, but okay," he mumbled, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Am I going to have to talk to your mom about this?"

"No, she'll freak out on us. You're the cool parent."

"Well I don't want to come across as the cool parent or your friend," I said, "my job is to be your dad first and then your friend."

"That was really deep," Fred said.

"I second that."

I rolled my eyes at them. "Are you two starting to hit puberty or something?"

"I think so. Does that mean my di-"

"Yep, exactly what you think," I said.

"Come on, dad! Our friends have already gotten the talk and everything."

"Good thing you're not your friends." I smiled over at them and earned an eye roll from them, making me smile.

"Ah, come on! Don't you want to be young for forever?" I rubbed the top of Fred's head, earning a scowl from him.

"I'm ready to grow up."

"Me too!" Josiah yelled.

But was I ready for them to grow up?

~*~

Adora

Derek looked over at me, his teeth tugging at his bottom lip.

"You good?" He asked, slipping his hand over to my thigh.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He smiled over at me. "We don't have to go if you don't want to. I'll tell him you got sick, or something."

I shook my head rapidly. "No, no, babe. It's absolutely fine."

In fact, a small part of me was looking forward to seeing him but the majority of me wasn't.

"Okay. It's about time for our reservation. Let's head on inside?"

I nodded and he opened his door, making me open my own and step out of the car. I let out a sigh, closing my eyes.

"Hey, let me get something out of the back. You can go on inside if you'd like."

He just nodded and I shot him a smile, watching as he walked towards the doors of the fancy restaurant only Santiago King would suggest eating at.

I leaned against the car and took a few deep breaths. I wasn't sure if I was ready to be at the table with two of the men that I held such a deep regard for.

Suck it up.

I quickly regained the composure I'd lost, clearing my throat as I brushed my hair back with my fingers. I sashayed towards the doors, stopping at them for a split second before opening them.

I felt eyes on me as I walked through the waiting area, making my lips purse together.

I spotted Derek, who was standing by Santiago, laughing about something.

My stomach began to hurt just at the sight.

Derek's eyes slowly made their way over to me, a grin on his face as I walked as awkwardly as possible over to them.

I watched Santiago's eyes drag down me, his fingers slightly grazing the growth on his jawline.

I smiled up at Derek, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

My eyes eventually darted over to Santiago. He just smiled and stuck his hand out, making me grab it. His large hand pretty much swallowed my tiny one whole.

"Our party is here now," Santiago said, holding a finger up to the hostess.

"Right this way, Mr. King."

I folded my arms over my chest and followed Santiago through the crowded restaurant with Derek following behind me closely.

"Thank you," Santiago said, shooting the hostess a warm smile.

Derek pulled my chair out for me and I sat down, shrugging out of my jacket. I pulled my dress further down my legs, earning a glance from Santiago.

"I'm surprised," I said, looking down at the menu, earning yet another look from Santiago.

"And why is that?"

"I really thought you would've done something completely out of proportion," I said, still examining the menu in front of me, "like, rented out the whole place, or something."

I finally looked up at him, his cocked up eyebrow and slight grin tugging at his lips.

"I guess I'm full of surprises." He shot me a tight smile, making Derek chuckle.

"We really do appreciate this, Santiago. Thank you."

Santiago nodded. "So, when's the wedding?"

I raised my eyebrows at his intrusive question.

"Well," Derek said, "we don't really have a specific date yet. We're just kind of waiting on us to get settled in and get everything sorted out with the business."

He nodded. "Smart."

"Soon," I butted in, "soon, that's all that matters."

I watched Santiago's eyebrow shoot up.

Derek cleared his throat. "So, how long did you babysit for him?"

I looked over at him, pursing my lips together. "A few months."

Santiago nodded. "She's great with kids. My boys still are absolutely smitten over her."

He shot me a smile as he took a sip of his wine that had been sneakily placed on the table while we'd been conversing.

"I loved the boys," I said, "they're grown now, though. It's amazing what five years can do."

Santiago slowly nodded. "That it is."

My eyes pierced into his. The tension between us could've been cut with a knife, but Derek just couldn't seem to sense it.

"Okay," Derek said, "there's an elephant in the room."

"Pardon?" I asked, looking over at him with furrowed brows.

"You two must've butted heads at some point," Derek said.

"You could put it that way," Santiago muttered, tipping back his wine glass.

I cut my eyes at him, my lips parting. "Actually, Santiago and I got along pretty nicely. Don't you recall?" I asked, shooting him a smile.

He just slowly nodded. "Like I said, she's quite the charmer."

Derek just smiled, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Yeah, I got pretty lucky in the soon-to-be wife department."

I just smiled a tight smile as he pressed a kiss to my cheek.

Santiago's eyes made their way down to my hips, his jaw muscle flexing.

"So Adora only brought up babysitting?" Santiago asked.

Derek just furrowed his brows at me, a smile on his face.

I couldn't help the look that was plastered on my face. I could feel it, the disgust and the anger rushing over me.

"I thought that was the only thing to bring up," Derek said.

"It is," I said.

"You helped me out with work sometimes," Santiago said, "don't let her fool you, she's great at... helping."

Derek just grinned, making me clear my throat.

I could barely stand being in Santiago's presence. He was making me uncomfortable but something about me wanted to stay around him.

But I knew if I did, something would happen.

I lightly nudged Derek's arm.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, I'm not feeling so hot right now," I said, pursing my lips together.

"What's wrong?" He asked, eyebrows furrowed over at me.

"I just really feel sick, Derek. Can we please go home," I asked, clearing my throat as I grabbed my purse.

"Yeah, yeah of course."

He stood up and pulled my chair out for me, helping me up.

"I'm so sorry, Santiago," Derek apologized, "she's not feeling well."

Santiago just jutted his bottom lip out, shaking his head. "No problem at all. Feel better, Adora."

I just looked down at him and nodded, grabbing my jacket as Derek and I walked away from Santiago King.

~*~

To be continued...

:)

Haha. The beginning section of next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter so just hang tight guys!

I hope you enjoyed, bc I sure as hell enjoyed writing this😵😵

It's so nice having Papi back around.

idk why but I'm like, even as the writer, growing less and less fond of Derek as Santiago comes in :( I guess I just miss my Papi.

but he's back and he's not going anywhere!! Stay tuned for updates bc I'm on my writing kick.

ok. I love you guys so much!!❤️❤️ also, happy eve of New Year's Eve! Make 2018 a good one.

ahaha. ok, for now, goodbye!