Bittersweet Chocolate by Emily Wade-Reid Page B

put his fingers to her lips. “I’m sorry. That’s not the way I intended that to come out.” He hugged her to him. “Marry me.”
    “Whoa.” She pulled from his embrace, placed her hands against his chest, and held him at arm’s-length. “You’re kidding, right.” For her, their relationship wasn’t about love, but she knew that sentiment should be at least one prerequisite for marriage. “You know what you’re asking?”
    “I know exactly what I’m asking.”
    “Don’t get me wrong, I like you,” she stated. “But not too long ago, I believed I loved Joel. I don’t think I should take such a drastic step so soon.”
    He pulled her close and kissed her. Marissa returned the kiss with total abandon, forgetting about Joel until he appeared in the doorway. She stiffened and tried to pull away, but Graham wouldn’t release her. Joel and Graham glared at each other for a few seconds before Joel stalked into the master bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
    “How long do you think he was standing there?” she asked.
    “Who cares?”
    “Gray, I don’t trust Joel anymore.”
    “Forget him. I’m sure as hell not afraid of Joel, and from what I know about you, you’re not afraid of him either.” He kissed her forehead. “Honey, this is about us. I’m happy about the baby. Don’t let Joel ruin it.”
    “I won’t, but you don’t have to marry me. I can handle this on my own.”
    “Why the hell should you? It wasn’t an Immaculate Conception. I’m going to help you, and be a part of his life whether you marry me or not.”
    “Oh, his life...you’ve decided it’s a boy, huh?” She hugged Graham, but prompted him to leave, remembering Joel had returned.
    “Marissa...”
    “No, Gray. After tomorrow, we’ll have plenty of time to talk and plan. Don’t want any hassles with Joel at this late date. I’ll be all right.”
    “Okay, if you’re sure.” He kissed her again and left.
    Marissa went into the spare bedroom, undressed, and washed up, pondering how long Joel had been watching her and Graham, and what he might have overheard. Shrugging, her thoughts moved on to the next day. Saturday, she could sleep late.
    Exhausted, she fell asleep moments after her head touched the pillow.
     
    She woke with a start.
    Frowning, she turned to look at the clock, blinked a few times to clear her blurred vision, then noted the time and realized she’d only been asleep about an hour. Exhausted as she’d been, uh, why—what woke her. Puzzled, she sat up, listening, straining to hear. She looked around and in the shadows, she saw the indistinct, shifting outline of someone standing in the doorway. She switched on the table lamp.
    Joel stood just beyond the arc of light, and he wasn’t alone. Except for Graham, the fellas from next door were present.
    “What do you want?”
    Joel approached and she started to inch toward the side of the bed, but he reached her before she could make it. Shoving her back, he held her down as she struggled to pull from his grasp.
    “Take your hands off me,” she said without caution or fear. “Where’s Graham?”
    Joel ignored her questions. “Well, guys, here she is. Thought she was so fuckin’ untouchable,” he sneered. “Now the bitch is pregnant.” He grabbed her chin and forced her face up. “And it’s not even my baby. Oh no, two damn years wasted. That bastard Gray ruined my plans for little miss untouchable. Why stop there? If Gray can enjoy her abundant charms, all of us should.”
    Fear kicked in. “No,” she screamed and he hastily covered her mouth with his hand. While struggling to wrench her face from his grasp, the others grabbed her arms and legs. It was at that moment she remembered why Graham and Rick had looked familiar to her when they met. They were at the party she’d attended when she was sixteen, where she’d met Joel. They were from Camac and Diamond, didn’t just live in the vicinity. With that realization, jumbled thoughts raced