There was another knock at the door and Peyton sighed as she went to open it. “Sign here,” a delivery man said as he shoved an electronic do-hickey at her. She scribbled her name with the electronic pen and took the large flat box from the man. She took it into the bedroom and opened it. Inside were layers of tissue paper and a card on top. From Dale, of course. Wear this tonight. I picked it for you. “Oh hell no,” Peyton said as she unwrapped the tissue paper to find a silky red dress complete with sheer red underwear and a pair of red stilettos. “Damn that man has good taste,” Mia said. “I’m not wearing this,” Peyton said. “How dare he even…” She couldn’t finish the sentence she was so mad. How many times had he done this to her? She had always thought it sweet but now she saw it for what it was - a power play. “Hand me the damn skirt and blouse,” she said to Mia. “Let’s go with an unsexy business associate.”Dale stood when Peyton approached his t
“You know I can give you those things, Peyton,” Dale said. “And I do love you, even if you don’t think I do.” Peyton shrugged. “I think you believe you love me and you probably do in your own way, but it’s not enough for me anymore. I want what Brian and Cassie have. I want fireworks and passion and a love that makes your heart beat faster and your breath stall in your chest.” Dale scoffed. “That doesn’t exist Peyton. Nobody has that kind of love.” Peyton knew differently. Peyton had experienced it, as much of a fool as it made her to admit it. Finn had made her feel all those things. Finn had shown her that it was possible to feel that way about someone, even if the feelings weren’t returned. Now that she’d had a taste, she wanted the real thing and she wouldn’t be getting that from Dale. “Yeah, it does,” she said, smiling wistfully. “Oh my God! You’re here!” Peyton looked up at the woman standing by their table, her phone in her hand. Peyton tried to ke
“She said she had to see him face-to-face to make him back off,” Mia said. “I couldn’t get her to even read the blog post so how do we know that she has seen the video?” God. He was such an idiot! Why had he left this all to chance? He should have just gone to her apartment and begged her to let him in so he could explain himself and tell her how he felt. Now his whole extravagant grand gesture would be for nothing. It had seemed like an ideal way to profess his love for her. This whole thing had started because of a video where she had humiliated herself. He thought it only fair that he humiliated himself as a way of showing her that she meant more to him than his reputation or his stupid blog. But by the look of things, it was going to be an entirely empty gesture and she probably wouldn’t even know about it until after the fact. Probably not until she woke up the next morning and his humiliation would be made complete by a special spot on Wake Up, Australia. He could just
A hush fell over the crowd as Peyton stood and looked at Finn. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening. She was willingly putting herself in the spotlight for this man even after her recent brush with fame had been so disastrous. People were looking at them, smartphones raised capturing every single moment. She should be running in the opposite direction, but she wasn’t. She was here, ready to face him. Ready to accept what he was offering, regardless of the people standing around and watching. On the cab ride over she had pulled up the blog he had written and read every single word. He had laid himself bare before her and she recognised the man she had fallen in love with in his words. Then she rewatched the video of him appealing to her to meet him in Federation Square. Her heart yearned to be with him. It felt like a physical pull inside her and she had barely restrained herself from urging the cab driver to go faster. But it hadn’t been the words he wrote in the
He kissed her then and everything else just faded away. It didn’t matter that several hundred people were filming the very private moment on their smartphones. It didn’t matter that it would be all over social media within minutes. It didn’t matter that there was a near-deafening roar of the crowd cheering for them. She didn’t even care about the probable media fallout and being stalked by the paparazzi again. None of it mattered because Finn was holding her in his arms and kissing her and her world finally felt like it had been righted and was now spinning on its correct axis.Finn lifted his head to hear the cheers and applause of the gathered crowd. He had completely forgotten that they had an audience and he held Peyton just a little bit closer to try and protect her from the scrutiny of the hundreds of people who had gathered. Maybe doing this in such a public way hadn’t been the smartest idea, especially when all he wanted to do right now was bury himself inside Peyton and
“I booked us a room at The Mayfield,” he replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. It was really just an excuse to touch her. She smiled. “Confident much?” He grinned but shook his head. “Not at all,” he said. “If you had turned me down flat, I intended to lock myself away and drink myself into oblivion. On the slim chance that you would actually give me another chance, I had some food and drinks ordered so we could celebrate with our friends before I whisked you away to have my way with you.” “You mean let me have my way with you.” “Yes. That. Definitely that,” he said and then kissed her quickly. “Peyton,” he said when he lifted his head, his tone serious. “You do know that I meant every word.” She searched his eyes for a moment before she nodded. “I can feel them,” she said, tapping her chest. “Here. I can feel them here. I could feel the truth of them as you spoke. I’m still mad that you used me for your blog series, but I know you had good intenti
He groaned with satisfaction as she tangled her fingers in his hair to hold him in place. He was on his knees in front of her. He had stripped away her blouse and bra and had slipped off her shoes and skirt. She stood there in just her panties and he could hardly believe that this incredible woman wanted him as much as he wanted her. He let her nipple slip from his lips with a soft pop and then moved to lavish some attention on the other one. His arms were around her waist, his hands splayed against her lower back. Her soft, rounded bottom was cradled in his elbows and he couldn’t think of a better position for him to show his appreciation for her wonderful body. “Finn,” she breathed, her voice raspy and needy as he bit down just slightly on the hard bud in his mouth. He could spend all night just worshiping her, but he needed to be closer to her. He was still dressed and his clothes chafed at him. He needed to feel her skin against his. He pulled away from her and
“Okay, I’ll admit that I was wrong,” Peyton said as she looked at Finn who sat beside her, staring at her like she hung the moon. “You can fall in love in a month.” Liam rolled his eyes and turned his back on the television screen. Finn and Peyton had gone back to Wake Up, Australia in the hopes of calming the media storm that had blown up around them after Finn’s grand and very public declaration of his feelings for her. Since that night, the press had been camped out on both Finn’s and Peyton’s doorsteps - which was a very bad thing for Liam. Love was the last thing on his mind. He was happy for Finn, but Liam had other more pressing matters on his mind. Namely, the super-secret project that he had been working on and the added pressure of the press’s attention was not at all what he needed if he wanted to continue going undetected at his current place of employment. And if he wanted to find out the truth, then he needed desperately to stay under the radar. Going unde