I can't stay here.I fight off a fresh wave of tears as I stuff my clothes inside my suitcase, the same one I just unpacked a week ago.I had a feeling Shawn wouldn't be happy with my decision not to sign that stupid contract, but I didn't think he was going to be such a jerk about it.It's selfish enough that all he sees me as is a baby maker. Then he goes on and says that the contract is in my best interest, that he's going to keep everything a secret for my sake when he's the one with a reputation to uphold. How dare he say I deserve to be happy while making sure I won't be.Then I find out he read my journal. He fucking read my journal, my most private possession.Don't they teach you in third grade not to go through other people's things?Yes, I was careless to leave it there. Yes, he owns the desk I left it on. Even so, he didn't have to read it. But he did. He read every page, I think. Every secret. Every wish. Every fantasy. And because of that, nothing feels real anymore.It'
The fog greets me as soon as I come out of the airport in New York. I smile because it feels like a hug from the city, welcoming me back.I drop my things at a hotel and grab a cup of coffee. I sip it as I reminisce inside the cab headed to the house where my parents and I used to live.So many memories.Even more of them come flooding back once I'm standing in front of the two-story house I know so well. It looks the same as when I left it. Dark blue roof. Pale blue walls. White door. White windows. White porch. The sign on the front says it's still for sale, so I guess no one has lived in it since I last did.I walk up to the front door. It's locked, of course. I peek through the window. All I see are pieces of furniture covered in white cloth, which in turn is covered in dust. Even hidden, I can recognize some of them, and I smile.I go around the house to the backyard. I see the patch of soil where my mother's garden used to be. Only weeds grow in it now.I also see her box of gar
"What on earth?"Ryker steps between Asher and me. He pushes me away and glances at Asher's nose."What the hell are the two of you doing?""Having our own party," Asher answers as he wipes his nose.I wipe the blood trickling from the corner of my mouth and swallow the rest. I draw a deep breath.Gradually, my temper subsides. As it does, my mind clears. I realize the stupidity of what I've just done and I slap my forehead."Fuck.""Fuck is right," Ryker says. Then he sighs. "Seriously, what are the two of you doing?""I just came up to check on him and found him drinking alone." Asher points to the bottle of Scotch.Ryker gives me a look of dismay. "What?""Then I told him he should just go after Felicity because we all know she's the reason why he's acting like this, and well... you saw what happened next. Or part of it."I sit on the couch and let out a sigh of my own."I can't go after Felicity."Enough with the denial and the drinking. It's not making anything better. Maybe talk
"That will be fifty-eight dollars and forty-nine cents," the pharmacist behind the counter tells me.My eyes grow wide. Nearly sixty bucks for a bottle of pain relievers, a tiny tube of pimple cream and a few bottles of water?I only have a fifty-dollar bill in my hand, so I quickly search my purse for a ten. I know I have one somewhere. Where is it again?I was hoping my headaches and dizzy spells would just go away. I thought that time I nearly fainted on the front porch of my old house would be the last episode. The person who helped me — she lived across the street — was a nurse who just told me to take iron supplements. I did, and for a day, I was fine. But last night, I felt dizzy again, nauseous even. This morning, I woke up with a headache. It's not that painful but it's literally at the back of my head, nagging at me.Also, I had no appetite this morning, and to make matters worse, when I looked in the mirror, I realized I had a pimple on my forehead. What the hell?The pharm
Cocky bastard."How do you intend on doing that?" I ask him."I'll do whatever it takes."He takes another step forward.I take another back but find the door behind me. I'm cornered. Shawn looks into my eyes. "I've missed you, Felicity."His words and his gaze send my pulse pounding, but I suppress my excitement. And my hopes. I promised myself I'd be smarter, stronger. Besides, he hasn't said the words I want to hear the most.I hold my chin high. "You just miss having sex with me, don't you? Isn't that why you wanted to have a baby with me? Just so you could have sex with me?""I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the sex, but that's not why I want to be with you."I ignore him. "Or maybe you just don't want another man to have me?""Of course not," Shawn admits. "Is that so bad?""You just want to keep me on the bench.""Bench?""You're greedy. And you're selfish. And you're..."I stop talking because he's so close to me now, So close I can smell his cologne. I can't breathe."Why
Two months later..."I take it everything is going well?" Ryker asks me as we stand outside my office."Of course it is," Asher answers for me. "Look at Felicity. She's glowing."I watch her as she talks to Dana, the woman she's been training to be my next assistant for the past two weeks.She does look radiant in the yellow dress she's wearing, which is just tight enough to show off the curve of her belly.Even though some people have started nasty rumors about her, she has no intention of hiding it, which I find admirable. And attractive.I still don't know how I found such an amazing woman. Or how I didn't realize I had one right next to me until I lost her. But I'm sure of one thing — I'm never letting her go.And I'm making that clear tonight."What about you?" I ask Asher."How are things going with Violet?"He makes a face."Not good, huh?" Ryker asks."She still hasn't forgiven me for leaving her at that party years ago," Asher says.He did tell me about that. I thought there
She's a strict, little airhead who desperately needs a job. He's a big, bad billionaire boss with a rotten reputation that needs saving.The result of such a combination? A few hot sex and an ‘unwanted’ pregnancy.When Twenty-two-year-old Georgina Felton gets a job as Billionaire bad boy Richard Platton's PR assistant to help manage his reputation, she's to abide by three, vital rules only.1) Never let Richard's words get to her. 2) Never allow herself fall for his charm. He's an expert in sleeping with and firing his assistants afterwards.3) Richard gets bored easily. A good first impression is needed if she must survive her stay.When a pandemic strikes, Georgina ends up breaking not only all three rules, but also getting pregnant with triplets for him.And she's well-aware that Richard is anything but a family man.Disappointed with herself, Georgina runs away and goes through the pregnancy alone.What happens when Richard finds out? Will he be able to prove to Georgina and his
I wait in the parlor, a sunken space surrounded by open windows. Salted wind blows in freely, smelling wild and precious. Music plays somewhere, or maybe a wind chime. A figure tends a natural pool down below on the hillside. I can't make out his face."Well, well, well. If it isn't Georgina Felton."I whirl gracelessly, only to stop dead even more gracelessly.Before me stands the most impossibly beautiful man I have ever seen. Tall, golden, sleekly muscular-his thick chestnut curls are dragged back, his sculpted jaw dusted with the chic beginnings of a beard. He wears all linen clothing, showing off golden calves and powerful arms.His eyes, set in a chiseled face, are thick-lashed and the exact color of the wild jungle."Flight was OK, I take it?" He doesn't seem to register my blank awe. Maybe he's used to it. He crosses the room, brushing past me to a bamboo drink cabinet by the windows. He smells of pine and sandalwood and man."What's your poison?""Oh. I. Um."Get it together!