The One and Only: A Single Mom Second Chance Romance (Heart of Hope) Read online

  The One and Only

  A Single Mom Second Chance Romance

  Ajme Williams

  Copyright © 2021 by Ajme Williams

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers only.

  All characters are 18+ years of age and all sexual acts are consensual.

  Contents

  Also by Ajme Williams

  Description

  Prologue: Laura

  1. Cade

  2. Laura

  3. Cade

  4. Laura

  5. Cade

  6. Laura

  7. Cade

  8. Laura

  9. Cade

  10. Laura

  11. Cade

  12. Laura

  13. Cade

  14. Laura

  15. Cade

  16. Laura

  17. Cade

  18. Laura

  19. Cade

  20. Laura

  21. Cade

  22. Laura

  23. Cade

  24. Laura

  25. Cade

  26. Laura

  27. Cade

  28. Laura

  29. Cade

  30. Laura

  31. Cade

  32. Laura

  33. Cade

  Epilogue: Laura

  Best Friend’s Brother (Excerpt)

  Want more Ajme Williams?

  Also by Ajme Williams

  All books are FREE in Kindle Unlimited and can be read as standalone romances.

  Heart of Hope Series (this series)

  Our Last Chance | An Irish Affair | So Wrong | Imperfect Love | Eight Long Years | Friends to Lovers | The One and Only | Best Friend’s Brother

  Fake Marriage Series

  Accidental Love | Accidental Baby | Accidental Affair | Accidental Meeting

  Irresistible Billionaires

  Admit You Miss Me | Admit You Love Me | Admit You Want Me | Admit You Need Me

  Strong Brothers

  Say Yes to Love | Giving In to Love | Wrong to Love You | Hate to Love You

  Check out Ajme’s full Amazon catalogue here.

  Join her VIP NL here.

  Description

  The man of my dreams abandoned me almost a decade ago.

  Now he’s back… and I’m planning his wedding.

  Seriously, could life get any more brutal?

  I’m thinking about what I did to deserve this.

  To watch Cade’s ring on someone else’s finger.

  But here’s the thing.

  I’m the one who got the best gift from him.

  His child.

  And the crazy part?

  Cade doesn’t even know that he gave me that gift.

  He absolutely cannot find out.

  Neither him nor the goddamn press.

  His family is toxic.

  His dad is a powerful politician and it’s his career that’s on the line.

  Hence, this sham wedding.

  I just need to keep my head straight.

  Plan the wedding.

  Show up to the wedding.

  Go home, cry, eat some ice cream and then move on… again.

  But what if… during all of this, Cade discovers the one secret that makes us family?

  Prologue: Laura

  This was going to be the best summer of my life. The summer when all my dreams would come true.

  I was wearing my old two-piece, bathing suit, which had cartoon watermelons all over it, and lying on a towel out on the deck of the Kirkpatrick lake house, drying myself under the summer sun. Owned by Cade’s parents, the lake house was a gorgeous building, a grand structure with several bedrooms—which his parents called a ‘quaint cabin.’ But for me, it was a stunning and massive house than any I had ever seen before. From the main road, it looked like a simple log cabin, but once you reached the driveway, the house dwarfed you with its height and expanse. Inside, it was even more amazing! There were multiple fireplaces, plush cushions, expensive artwork and sculptures as well as dark rich wood paneling from floor to ceiling. It made you feel so warm and welcomed.

  Not that I’d had too much time to observe the décor. I’d been busy. Both of us had been way too busy.

  I still couldn’t believe that Cade Kirkpatrick, the most popular guy in high school, would be interested in me. He was handsome, rich, friends with everyone, smart and ambitious—everything that you could ever want in a boyfriend. The first time I saw him in the school hallways, I was mesmerized by his dark green eyes. They seemed to suck you into his mysterious and effervescent persona, made it seem like your world was turning upside down.

  I knew that there was no chance in hell a guy like that would ever go out with a girl like me. Our worlds were poles apart—after all, he was the son of a senator and I was a slightly chubby, white trash girl from the trailer park. While Cade was the most popular guy in school, I was the tree in the background for all drama club musicals.

  But destiny works in its own weird ways and you never know when your whole life can completely change.

  I still clearly remember the day when Cade and I were made lab partners in Mr. Kovacs’ chemistry class and—the irony wasn’t lost on me—sparks had flown. Having Cade sit so close to me, being able to smell his strong cologne, looking into his eyes, seeing his smile that made his eyes twinkle…I was mesmerized! I spent the whole day in a daze, wondering whether we had had a genuine connection.

  Was he really flirting with me? Did he really say that he was so happy to know me more and that he wanted to go out with me?

  And now, months had passed since that fateful day in class. When school got over, we came to Cade’s lake house and were making out on every available surface. The days just passed by in a daze, as the both of us were completely lost in the pleasure of making love, of discovering each other’s bodies, and of living in our own sweet world.

  I was in love! Before Cade, I had never even kissed anyone! And here I was having sex with him day and night! Cade didn’t care that I was chubby—he couldn’t stop staring at me, and he would always tell me that I was stunning, that I took his breath away. It made me so happy to hear him say all these things because being a chubby girl and not being “conventionally pretty,” I had been teased a lot as a kid. But Cade took away all my insecurities. Every time he would compliment my body, my heart skipped a beat. He made me feel like I was on top of the world. I had never felt so loved before.

  The only issue was that our relationship was a secret, which I was fine with. When we started dating in secret, we had discussed that we would keep it hidden from everyone until graduation. Cade was especially particular about saving me from the hurtful gossip of the rich, popular girls and guys, who would have made endless fun of my weight, looks, and my white trash status. That was the way it was in our school—the rich folks were constantly picking on the kids from the poorer side of the district, that is, kids from the “wrong side of the tracks,” like me. You couldn’t escape the daily reminder of your social status because the school was
located right in the middle of two districts—between Grosse Point Park, the rich suburb in Detroit, and X, the industrial part of town where most people were either unemployed and on food coupons. Half the students were from either side of the divide, and the two halves rarely mingled.

  Which is why I trusted Cade and his promise that he would do anything in his power to protect me from the rich clique. A few days after meeting in Chemistry class, we had kissed for the first time, under the bleachers after school had ended. That day, Cade swore that he would protect me from the gossip circle because he cared deeply for me. He promised that after graduation, we would be free to openly go out together and date. No one could hurt us then. No one would say anything mean to me because Cade would be there to protect me. My knight in shining armor.

  And at last, we had graduated high school. School would start in the fall, sooner than I would like, only because I wanted the magical, beautiful summer with Cade at the lake house to last forever. With no neighbors nearby, it felt like we were the only two people in the world. Every day, he would do or say something cute that I would fall deeper and deeper into the romance of our relationship. I was hooked on to him! I couldn’t imagine that there was a life before this when Cade was not in my life. That past seemed so bleak and distant. I never wanted to go back to that. I wanted to stay here, at the lake house, with Cade forever.

  Last night, the way he’d held me in his arms…I knew that he loved me just as much as I loved him. He hadn’t said it yet though—something that the small, insecure voice in the back of my head kept taunting me about—but it was fine. Cade was very charming around everyone, an alpha male that commanded everyone’s attention immediately, but when we were alone, he was really quiet and thoughtful. I loved both these sides of him. I knew that he was shy despite his outgoing personality and that was why he hadn’t said those three little words yet. I hadn’t said them either, to be fair, even though I felt them so strongly in my heart. And all over my body.

  And on the last few days of the summer, as I lay on the dock slowly drying off, I marveled at how the cool lake was a perfect contrast to the hot weather. I loved how the sun was seeping deep into my skin, warming up my body, after I had enjoyed the chilly waters of the lake. My eyes were closed, but I could hear Cade splashing in the water. Swimming was his preferred workout and he had been swimming so much over the year that his body was incredibly muscular, like, ripped. His clothes stretched tight across his chest and arms now, not that we were wearing any clothes for more than a couple of hours anyway, this past week. He had also had a growth spurt, which gave me a glimpse of the man he would become in a few months, and I loved what I was seeing! I couldn’t wait for us to grow together, to become adults together. I knew that we were a great pair.

  And now, we’re going off to college, I said to myself, smiling. Nothing in the world could banish this smile. My hopes for a life with Cade were coming true at last.

  Though my eyes were closed, I could hear Cade haul himself up out of the water and onto the dock, and my smile grew further. The soft thump of his feet reverberated on the dock as he walked towards me. Then suddenly, heavy drops of cold water dripped all over me!

  I sat up, squealing in surprise. “Cade!”

  He was standing above me and shaking his head vigorously, so that the water from his wet blond hair fell on me.

  “Cade, I was trying to dry off,” I laughed and put my hands up to protect myself.

  “Oh, is that so?” Cade dropped down to his knees and straddled me. He bent down further and tried to wipe his wet body all over mine.

  “Ah!” I squealed and squirmed, feeling the cold of his body and invariably shivering, but also knowing that I couldn’t resist him or his body. The hard muscles, the firmness of his touch on me, and how his body was heating up while he was still wet was like a siren song to me. Any resistance was futile. So, I gave up and wrapped my arms around his neck.

  “Mm, that’s my girl,” Cade murmured, and bent down to kiss me.

  A wave of pleasure washed over me as Cade kissed me slowly, his hot breath on my face. His kisses could be hot and possessive or soft and sweet—and this one was sultry. Seductive. I could feel him hardening against my hip, and let out a gasp. At that moment, Cade slid his tongue inside my mouth and sucked on my lips.

  He kissed me deeply, breathlessly, stopping only to take a deep breath before diving right back in to kiss me harder. Every hair on my body stood up at ends, the desire and tension building inside my body, and my muscles tightening with each stroke of his tongue inside me. I whimpered and spread my legs out underneath him, my body helpless to his seduction and instinctively following his body movements.

  “You’re so hot, Laura,” he murmured. He moved down to kiss me on the neck now, slow, deliberate kisses on my skin. “I’m going to spend the rest of the day tasting every inch of you!”

  I could hardly breath now, the desire for his body raging inside me like a fire. Yes, please. I answered in my mind, though only a whimper escaped from my mouth. I wanted him to kiss me everywhere and make me go mad with blind passion.

  But I wasn’t going to let him get what he wanted that easily.

  Cade stopped kissing me and got to his feet, holding out his hand to haul me up and pointing his head in the direction of the bedroom. I took his hand and he pulled me up effortlessly. He was so strong that all my body weight was nothing to him.

  Now that I was on my feet, though, I let go of his hand and gave him a sly look.

  “You want me, Mr. Kirkpatrick? You’re going to have to catch me first.”

  I relished the surprise on Cade’s face for a wild second and took off at a dead run up the dock, heading for the house.

  I could run pretty fast, light on my feet in a way that surprised most people, but Cade was the fastest swimmer in the school. He had strong, lean muscles and towered over me, which gave him a huge advantage. I could hear him catching up to me almost immediately.

  Aiming to throw him off, I banked right, heading not for the back door of the lake house but for the gazebo that was a little way down, off a garden path from the back porch.

  The detour didn’t deter Cade in the slightest. Even though he halted for a split second to change course, a second later, he was grabbing my arm and halting my run, yanking me around and spinning me around. Now, we were facing each other, and he was holding me tightly in his arms.

  “Well, well, well,” Cade said, stepping into the gazebo and dragging me along. I couldn’t move against his tight grip, so I tried to snap my teeth at him in mock play. He laughed but pulled me in closer to his embrace. “Whatever am I going to do with you?”

  “I think you said something about tasting every inch of me?” I replied, breathless—not just from the run. Cade’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

  “That does sound like me,” he said. He cupped my face in his hand and kissed me again.

  I let my arms drop to the side and melted into his kiss. There was no resisting his kisses because when he kissed you, the world stopped to exist and time itself stopped. He was like a Greek god and I was the helpless nymph. I dared anyone to resist his touch!

  Not that anyone else would get to do that. I was his and he was mine, and we would be together forever.

  Cade walked me backwards and pinned me against one of the gazebo pillars, and I moaned as the kiss got more urgent, sexier. I sucked on his tongue as his thigh slid between my legs and pressed upwards, tugging at my bathing suit. I could feel myself starting to get wet, anticipation thrumming in me, my nipples becoming erect against his ripped chest.

  “Cade,” I moaned, spreading my legs apart, digging my fingers into his shoulders as he kissed my neck.

  He knew my body so well, knew what made me moan, knew which spots I liked to be kissed on. He kissed me all over my face, down my neck, licking at my collarbones and playing with his tongue against my skin. Cade was always looking after me and my needs when we made love, which allowed me to fully enjoy the
passion between us. His attention is what made me fall for him deeper and deeper. Would anyone else even begin to compare? Not from what I’d heard from other girls. They would talk about how high school boys were immature and impatient, how the sex was disappointing and unsatisfactory. But Cade was nothing like the other loser boys around us. I knew that I’d hit the jackpot with him.

  His mouth tenderly tasted my skin. My fingers slid into his thick, curly hair, holding on tightly as he moved down to my breasts, pulling the bathing suit off my chest to lick my nipples. I pulled the suit down further to completely reveal my naked torso, and Cade pressed his hands on my hips, the touch warming me and causing tingles to erupt where he touched. I whimpered his name, my head falling back against the wood pillar and eyes rolling to the back of my head. I was fully aroused now and couldn’t wait for Cade to make the next move.

  The summer air seemed to shimmer with heat as my legs started to buckle underneath me, my bathing suit now wet from something entirely different than the lake water. I worried how long my knees could stay up as Cade continued to caress my heavy breasts with his lips and hands, squeezing them hard but also kissing them tenderly. He had a weakness for my breasts, which were full and rounded, pimpled with light brown nipples that stood up erect at the mere sight of him. And I thoroughly basked in this attention—sometimes, he could almost make me cum just by playing with my breasts.