I stared in disbelief at the letter from my college.
They didn’t have a spare place for me in the subject I needed to repeat.
This fucked with my life plan.
What fucking life plan?
You threw that out the window.
“Fuck!” I threw the letter down on the table. “Now what the hell am I going to do?” I yelled.
Havoc entered the kitchen. Frowning, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
I snapped my head up to look at him. “I didn’t get into the class I needed. My plan is ruined!” Panic began to set in. What the hell was I going to do?
He closed the distance between us. “I know you’ve had your heart set on this for a long time, but just because you didn’t get in this time doesn’t mean you won’t get in next time. You can reapply, right?”
I nodded. But he didn’t understand. “It’s not as simple as that. This had to happen so the next step in the plan could happen.”
He took hold of my shoulders. “I get it, babe, trust me, I get it. I had a plan once, too. And I worked that fucking plan like it was the only thing that mattered in life. In the end, none of it mattered.”
“Do you mean with your business?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened there? You never told me how you lost the business.”
His jaw clenched as he let go of me. “My best friend did my books for the business. He fudged my tax returns for years without me knowing and pocketed the cash that should have been paid in taxes. When the tax office clued on, I got hit with a huge tax bill which wiped me out.”
“God, what a shitty friend.” The magnitude of what he’d been through during that time in his life hit me, and suddenly, my fucked-up life plan didn’t seem so bad.
“Yeah. Needless to say, we’re not friends any longer.”
I slid my arms around his waist. “Thank you for that. It was what I needed to hear.”
“What? That my best friend fucked me over?” His hands moved over my ass as he hit me with his sarcasm.
“No. I needed to be reminded that in the scheme of things, my setback is minor. I’ve still got those I love close. I can still pay my bills and I still have opportunities. Screw my plan. I’m getting a new one.”
“Or you could fly by the seat of your pants for awhile and see where that takes you.”
God, the thought freaked me the fuck out. “I’m not sure I could do that.”
“I don’t mean have no plans, but you could try having loose ones that allow for flexibility.”
“I’ll think about it.” I wasn’t sure how that would go, but I could try.
“And besides, you’ve got a job doing what you love, without needing that piece of paper to say you know your shit.”
“I know but I wanted that piece of paper. It’s what I’ve been working towards for so long. And education is what we’re told we need to succeed these days. I just have to change my thinking a little, that’s all.”
“We make our success in life by our own hand, darlin’. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. You can kick ass however you choose. Now, talking of plans, what do you have on today? Are you working?”
I’d been spending most days working on dress designs, but I was taking the day off. “Nope, not working today. You wanna do something?”
Heat flared in his gaze. “I was thinking we could take care of this.” He guided my hand to his erection.
It had been two weeks since the doctor had told him we could have sex if he felt up to it. Of course, Havoc always felt up to it. The doctor had been strict in his instructions—I had to do most of the work and Havoc was definitely not to lift or hold me up. My man liked to push himself, though. He wasn’t good with being told what to do.
“Have you been getting yourself ready or something?” I asked as I moved my hand over his jeans.
His hand moved to the button of my shorts and undid it. “What do you think?”
I grinned.
He was always ready.
“Let’s move this to the bedroom so your dad isn’t subjected to us again.”
He chuckled. His dad had walked in on us in the lounge room once. I’d been horrified, but they’d just carried on like it was an everyday occurrence.
“Okay, angel, start walking then,” he ordered as he turned me to face in the direction I had to move.
We’d almost reached our destination when his phone rang. He groaned as he reached into his jeans for it. I listened to his conversation and realised we wouldn’t be taking care of his erection anytime soon.
“Fuck,” he muttered as he ended the call. “That was Yvette. She needs my help with some stuff.”
I frowned. “You can’t really do anything while you’re recovering.”
“It’s not physical stuff. She’s going through Dad’s shares and tax stuff and needs some help with it. Today’s the only day she has to do it. She’s on her way over here now, so we’ll need to take a raincheck.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Who was I kidding, though? Havoc was not the kind of man who needed to be reminded of promises of sex.
* * *