Page 58 of Creed

I tilted my head. “What did you eat growing up then?” I asked.

He dipped his roast beef in the mashed potatoes and gravy then took a bite. His eyes closed and he savored it before he looked at me. “Damn, this is good. You’re a great cook.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“We always had a full staff that included a chef. He made a lot of ethnic foods, mostly whatever language I was learning at the time. If I had a French teacher he made French foods, when I took Chinese he made Chinese foods. Never really anything down home. I went to private school so most of my friends were raised the same.”

“I’m sure learning all those languages were helpful in your career. How many do you know?” I asked.

He chuckled. “They say you lose what you don’t use. I can remember a little Spanish and French and could get by if needed. The rest was lost along the way, I guess.” He took a drink of his tea. “Wow, that’s good too.”

“Did you have a nanny and have a pampered childhood?” I couldn’t help being curious.

He nodded. “Yes, didn’t you? You were in Hollywood starting at a young age.”

I shook my head. “No, my parents wanted me to have a childhood that was as normal as possible. My mom and dad banked every dime I made, and I had no access to it. Mom always stayed with me when we were shooting in the summers. Jake’s parents also only made him available in the summer and during breaks. We were both given two weeks of our summer breaks to be normal kids. We flew home every single weekend, me to Indiana and Jake to Tennessee. We shot the soap opera in Chicago, so my childhood wasn’t spent in Hollywood. During the school year when I was a little older, I worked at the Arby’s in Clarity and bought my first car with what I earned there, so I guess you could say I had a pretty normal childhood. I was even in 4H, and my parents would always make sure I was scheduled off from shooting the week of the 4H fair.”

He laughed a little. “You worked at Arby's? The fast food restaurant?”

I nodded as I chewed my food then took a sip of my wine. “Yeah, until the show became popular, and the manager had to let me go. People were coming into the restaurant taking photos and asking for autographs. My parents wanted me to have a normal childhood and a regular job most teenagers had was a part of it. What about you? You never had a job as a kid?”

He set his tea down after taking a drink. “I did, but only for a few weeks in the summer working for my dad. We had a summer home in St. Michael’s. Dad took his work with him and we spent the entire summers out there. We made the best memories, and I made quite a few friends whose parents worked there in the summers.”

“Do you still own it?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, the only home I own now is this one. I don’t really vacation unless I decide to take off on my bike for a few days.

And All The Walls Fell Down

Creed

While Morgan was getting ready, I reached out to a contact to get some help for Addie. I didn’t know for sure that she understood her mother died, and after doing some reading, it seemed it would be best for Addie to be given a choice to attend the funeral. It would give her the opportunity to gain some insight on all the people that were ready to support her. She could also say goodbye on her own terms. Morgan should have been allowed to see Addie right away, but due to the circumstances of her parents deaths, they hadn’t let anyone near her, not even her grandmother. I had a state level contact in the Department of Child Services in Indianapolis that might have been able to pull some strings. Her husband served under me before Delta Force, and we stayed in touch. I did get through to her and she agreed it should have been Morgan to talk to Addie. She said it was likely that Addie was seen by a child therapist right away and every choice was based on what was best for the child. I really didn’t get anywhere and there wasn’t much I could do for Addie until she was released into Morgan’s care.

Soon after that call, I walked into the kitchen, following a damn tempting aroma, and caught one hell of a vision. Morgan was wearing very short leather shorts and was bent over to pullour dinner from the oven. Not long before that I saw the girl next door in her, and suddenly I was looking at a seductive goddess. I leaned against the wall and bit my lip as I imagined all the things I could have done to that perfect as hell body.

Earlier that day, I checked on her from the cameras and saw her crying as she baked. It tore my heart out. I knew she was trying her hardest to seem fine when I was around, but grief was always obvious.

I hadn’t seen her work out yet, so I was very curious how she kept such an amazing body. As I watched her finish up dinner, I imagined what life would be like to have a relationship with someone worth trusting. I knew that kind of woman existed, Stephanie was a prime example, and I couldn’t deny it was nice to come home and have someone waiting. By that I didn’t mean someone that lived to constantly do kind things like baking, cooking, and cleaning. None of that would have been expected, but it was nice. Especially to have someone that I was so attracted to like I was to Morgan. The more I got to know her, the more she scared me. I couldn’t get my mind to focus all day at work, and I caught myself looking at the clock and counting down the time to when I could go home and see her. I thought maybe I just needed to fuck her to prove she was no different than any other woman, but I knew me, once was never enough. Not to mention it was the last thing she needed, and she already said she didn’t do casual. It wasn’t like I could offer an agreement, I had nothing she couldn’t buy for herself. Every woman I ever knew, besides the wives of my men, always wanted something from me. With Dahlia it was her education. I was nothing but a sugar daddy or a hopeful meal ticket to the women of my past. The only thing I could offer Morgan was what I was already giving her, which was protection, comfort, and a place to hide from the paparazzi. Plus, I realized a woman likeMorgan couldn’t be bought. She knew how to take care of herself and if she wasn’t with me at the time she would have made other arrangements.

When she turned and looked at me, I noticed the makeup she was wearing covered her light bruises. She had one on her head that barely showed near the stitches in her hairline and another one on her cheek. She had a small cut on her bottom lip that I could still see, but nothing could steal her beauty away. Not even grief.

We sat down and talked, and once again she shocked me when I learned she worked at Arby’s. Damn, she was in every teenagers living room on a sitcom at the same time she was making chocolate frosty’s and making roast beef sandwiches. Tanner and Jenny meant it when they said they raised three down to earth children. It was hard to believe she made millions of dollars, and they banked it all away for her future. All the while they were probably scraping by when Jenny took leave from her work to support Morgan’s acting career. My dad was a damn good parent, but he spoiled me. All my discipline was learned through athletics and the military. I finally understood what Josh meant about her being spoiled in some ways, but also down to earth at the same time. She hadn’t argued one time since I brought her home from the hospital.

The meal was so damn good and filling as well. After dinner I helped her save the leftovers and we did the dishes before we left. That was another thing I was surprised to learn. Morgan was a neat freak and didn’t expect others to clean up after her. I could remember my mother screaming at the staff for not always doing everything the way she wanted. She never put things away and it always seemed like she thought someone should follow her around and pick up her messes instantly. Iremembered one fight my parents had, and it was a big one. My dad gave all the staff two weeks off, just to give them a break and force my mother to actually do something for herself. She had a complete meltdown and started throwing things at him. I didn’t understand why that fight happened until years later when I asked my dad. I just remember her throwing and breaking things. She fell to the floor screaming then she packed her things and moved into a hotel suite for two weeks. Dad had to take me to work with him. Dad challenged her and eventually that was one of the reasons she left. He didn’t run after her and gave her all the attention she thought she deserved. She also didn’t get the attention she wanted in the high society of old money. The snobby women had a field day laughing at Nicole. She wasn’t born into money, and she tried way too hard. Marrying a famous movie producer, and moving to Hollywood, gave her different form of high society. Most of the people out there didn’t come from old money.

I led Morgan out to my detached garage. “We’re taking the bike?” She asked.

I opened the garage door, and she gasped. “We’re taking one of the bikes?”

I chuckled. “I promise I will go slow and not mess up your hair.”

I did it to torture myself because I’m a glutton for pain. I must have loved having her body pressed up against mine just to walk around with a painful hard on all night. I started my bike, kicked up the kickstand and lifted my chin to tell her to hop on. I couldn’t see her behind me, but I knew one thing for sure. She looked as hot as hell in all black while riding on my bike. I knew I somehow had to get a look at what most guys would probably kill to see. A carefree and real Morgan Rossi on the back of my bike.

When I saw the commissary that was closed, I slowed and pulled into the parking lot. Not only did I drive by the glass doors to see the reflection, I parked the bike and turned it off. “Wait here, I need to check on something.”

“Can I still sit on it with the kickstand down?” She asked.

Abso fucking lutely. “Yeah, it’ll be fine. It’ll only take me a minute to check something.” I was a creep, an asshole, and stupid as hell, but I let myself into the commissary and went to the window to take a few pictures with my phone.

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