TrentI bounced my pencil up and down on the blank paper in front of me. I liked being old school. I liked jotting things down. My iPad was on the table as well, but my big, meaty fingers made it difficult to push the ridiculously small buttons. I jotted things down, and my secretary took care of making it into a document.I reached my hand up, tugging at the tie choking me. It wasn’t anything I would ever get used to. I liked the look, but damn, I hated the feeling. “Will you stop?” my friend and right-hand man, Richie, growled.I looked up at him and grinned. “Was I bugging you?”“You know you are,” he said. “Why in the hell do you insist on writing stuff down? Welcome to the twenty-first century. Grab that damn tablet and put it to use.”“Technically, I haven’t written anything down,” I retorted.“We need to get this figured out,” he said in a serious tone. “Shit is about to get real. If we beat last year’s occupancy levels like we’ve predicted, we need to be ready. We can’t affo
TrentI walked through the grand lobby of my hotel, smiling and nodding at the guests. The doorman opened the door for me, and my car was waiting. I got into the backseat, still smiling and looking like the well put together man I was supposed to be.“Home, sir?” Bentley asked from the driver’s seat.“Yes, please,” I murmured, rubbing my right knee. The damn thing had been acting up again. I hated letting anyone know I was in pain.“Doing those exercises?” Bentley asked, his eyes meeting mine in the mirror.I considered lying but knew he would know better. “No.”He shook his head. “Man, you know you need to do the exercises.”“I know. I will. It’s just been kind of a busy few weeks.”I hated complaining to someone like Bentley. I rubbed the knee again before leaning back against the headrest. I looked out the window, watching the tourists roll their luggage, wrangle kids, and take pictures, all at the same time. I liked living in a town where people loved to visit. It made me feel luc
SadeI walked across the wide expanse of floor between the front door and the reception desk of the hotel. It seemed like a ridiculous waste of space. It was all very grand and remarkably affordable. Expensive, but affordable. We’d been saving all year with this trip in mind. Now that it was finally happening, I couldn’t believe it.“Sade, come on,” Julia said, turning to look back at me.“I can’t help it,” I said with total amazement. “Look at this place.”“I know. It’s gorgeous, but we’re here to see the lake, not the lobby. Come on.” Julia stomped her foot, her sandals clicking against the hard floor.I picked up the pace, joining Julia and Khloe at the counter. I stared at the receptionist, smiling brightly until Julia elbowed me.“Oh, uh, we—I mean I—I have the suite reserved under Sade Jones,” I said, remembering Julia had used my name with only me on the reservation.The woman leaned forward. “We don’t charge extra for people in the suite,” she said in a low voice, winking and
Sade“Who’s coming?” Julia asked.“Him,” I whispered, glancing up to see if he’d changed course.He hadn’t. He was weaving around tables and shaking hands with guests as he made his way toward our table. I noticed he had a slight limp but didn’t get the chance to think much more about it. He stopped behind Julia and Khloe, a hand on the backs of each of their chairs and his eyes on me.I was melting. I was absolutely melting into a mushy pile of goo under the gaze of the prettiest eyes I had ever seen. He smiled, and the perfectly straight white teeth practically blinded me, looking whiter against his tanned skin.“Good afternoon, ladies,” he said in a voice as smooth as honey.Yep. Died. Melted and died.I couldn’t speak. I could only stare. I felt so ridiculous, but my brain and mouth had a total disconnect, and words failed me.“Hi,” Julia said in her typical upbeat voice. She really worked the blonde thing and was almost always perky.“Hello,” he said, his eyes still on mine.“Hi,
TrentI hadn’t been able to stop smiling since I’d first laid eyes on the beautiful young woman who’d been unable to stop staring at me. I had the same problem, except I had a little more self-awareness and realized I was openly staring at her, so I pulled my eyes away. Briefly, but away all the same.She was stunning. There was something about her that drew me in. It was like a magnetic pull that I was helpless to ignore.I found myself standing at her table, openly gazing at her before I remembered who I was and where I was. I couldn’t remember ever seeing a woman that I was that attracted to. Her friends were pretty in the traditional sense, but the woman who’d caught my eye was my kind of pretty.She had a natural beauty to her that matched the natural curves. She was radiant and glowing, and I wished like hell I could have seen her standing up. I was imagining round hips to go with the round breasts. I imagined she’d have the classic hourglass figure that men drooled over back in
TrentI held up my hand, stopping Richie’s boasting about his bedroom habits before he could get started. “Linens. Are they ordered?”“Yes.”“Good. Are we set for the happy hour tomorrow?”He nodded again. “Yes. We have extra servers on hand and a shitload of champagne. I hope this extra expense is worth it. You’ll see the invoice for the champagne in that stack. I suggest you be sitting down when you look at it.”“It’s okay,” I said. “You have to spend money to make money. I want people to feel like they are getting luxury treatment. I want them to feel like their hard-earned money is appreciated and we’re not only a reasonably priced hotel, but we also have all the little extras that the five-star places offer.”He didn’t look convinced. “We’re not exactly running a dive here. We’re right up there with the five-star places.”“Yes, but we’re not there. My goal is to be at the top. I want people waiting to get into this place. I want them settling for the others. Right now, we’re prob
SadeI rolled over in the bed that I swore was made from clouds, and I looked into the sleeping face of Julia. She and I had agreed to take the room with the two queen beds, giving Khloe the master bedroom in the suite.I didn’t feel like we had settled at all. The beds were comfortable and inviting. It kind of felt like a sleepover with my best gal pal. Julia and I had been friends since we were in third grade. Friends from a distance—a very long distance sometimes, with my family bouncing all over the world.She’d gone to a different school, but we had kept in touch. We had managed to make plenty of time to hang out on the weekends, and the three of us had all become the best of friends. They were my family. They were my real support system, and I didn’t think I could have ever made it through the grueling years without them pushing me and encouraging me to keep moving forward.“I don’t want to get out of bed,” Julia moaned.“Me either, but I think that would completely ruin the pur
SadeI rolled my eyes. “Easier said than done. I’m a dork. I sound like a dork, and I look like a dork. That man is way out of my league. He was only being nice. He probably dates Victoria’s Secret models.”“I don’t know,” Khloe commented. “He looked like he wanted to eat you for dinner. It was kind of awkward. The tension was thick.”“Stop. It was not. You guys are completely exaggerating.” I felt my cheeks flush.“Oh, she’s blushing!” Julia squealed.“Stop, I am not,” I argued, knowing I was.“I think we need to see if we can find him,” Khloe suggested. “He could be your summer fling.” I gasped in horror. “No! You’re crazy. I’m not going to have a fling.”“I think you should,” Julia said. “You need to let your hair down and get wild. You’ve been buttoned up for too long. Take a walk on the wild side.” I shook my head. “My wild side is buying a movie I haven’t seen.”Khloe nodded. “This is true.”“There’s something to be said for being a good girl,” I said, lifting my chin.“Yes, i
TrentKhloe approached us. “Too much?” she asked.Sade wiped a tear from her eye. “I love you. You are amazing. Thank you.”I nodded. “Yes, thank you. This is absolutely stunning. I could have never imagined it could look like this. Truly, thank you.”“The photographer was in earlier,” she said. “The one for the brochure.” “Perfect, thanks,” I said still in disbelief.“I think you two are supposed to be heading to the front for your little introduction,” she said, shooing us away.We spent the next two hours dancing and mingling with our guests. Justin approached me at one point and asked to talk with me in private. I was immediately on guard.“What’s going on?” I asked him in the hall outside the ballroom.“I wasn’t thrilled that the two of you ran off and got married without a word to anyone,” he started.“I’m really sorry about that.”“I know you are. I want to thank you for taking such good care of my little girl. I couldn’t have asked for a better son-in-law. Welcome to the fami
TrentI wasn’t the least bit nervous. I chalked it up to being an experienced groom. If other couples knew how much easier and how less stressful it was to have the wedding a couple of months after being married, everyone would do it. I didn’t have any wedding day jitters, and I wasn’t worried the family would hate me or the bride would be a wreck.It was easy-peasy. Sade and I had opted to stay apart last night just to make the day a little more special. Her mother had insisted on it, and I was happy to go along with the plan.I had yet to see Sade’s dress. She refused to give me any details about it and often teased it was a red dress. I told her to wear whatever she wanted, but I was secretly hoping for something traditional.I walked into position in front of the archway, which was actually a pergola covered in lush green ferns at the English Garden in Wolf Lakes Park. Sade and I had searched for the perfect place to hold the ceremony. It had taken Khloe’s very impressive negotiat
SadeI didn’t have to ask where he wanted me to go. My body responded just as he demanded. I moaned, loud and low in my throat as the orgasm flooded my body. I jerked and spasmed against him, my hips grinding against his hand as he held me close.He stepped back and gently turned me to face the bed. The damn thing was so high, it hit me about mid-thigh. I moved to lift my leg to climb on the bed when he stopped me.“Lie across the bed,” he ordered, his voice thick with desire.I did as he said, lying face down on the bed, my feet on the floor, my ass exposed. His hands caressed over both cheeks before he slid one hand between my thighs. I felt the finger part my swollen folds and held my breath, waiting for that first penetration.When his finger slid inside me, I moaned with pleasure. He pulled the finger out and replaced it with his swollen cock. He slid in slowly, one hand on my back and the other holding my hip. I didn’t want to move. Everything felt so good.I could feel the hair
SadeI said my goodbyes to Khloe and Holly and went in search of Trent. I checked the back patio where I had seen him last. He wasn’t there. I drifted down the hall and spotted him in his office, sitting at his desk. He looked a little tired, but I hoped he wasn’t too tired. I had plans for him and his body.“Hey, husband of mine,” I said, startling him.He looked up from the laptop and smiled. “Hey, wife of mine.”“So, the house is empty. We’re alone, like really alone, for the first time in our new house with that big ol’ bed. Why aren’t we naked?”He grinned and closed the laptop. He got up from his chair and made his way toward me. His limp was noticeable as he moved. I imagined the strain of the day was catching up to him. I didn’t dare offer to wait until he was feeling better or comment on the knee at all. He didn’t need me reminding him of his injury.He reached for me, yanking my hips against his lower body, and kissed me soundly. I kissed him back, giving him all I had. My t
TrentI burst into laughter. “No!”Khloe nodded. “Yes. Me and the saleswoman had to talk him out of it.”“It wasn’t a real bear,” I protested.“All the same, it was ugly and just looked scary,” Khloe said.“I’m glad you opted for the other one,” Sade said.“Me too,” I agreed.Leia came bounding in through the doggy door I had put in for her. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth, and she had a huge smile on her face. She loved the backyard. I gave her a piece of pizza crust, which she eagerly chomped down and waited for more. After we had stuffed our faces with as much pizza as we could take, I went outside with Leia to check out the new deck furniture.The ladies joined me, marveling at the view and the massive backyard.“When did this get here?” Sade asked, looking at the furniture and the table set.I grimaced. “Yesterday.”She burst into laughter. “You’re dangerous with a credit card and a computer.”I held up a hand. “Technically, this was on Khloe.”Sade spun around. “What? You did
TrentI was humming with energy. I had never been so damn excited in all my life. In my eyes, it was the first day of the rest of my life. Sure, I had plenty of those first days, but now it was really the first day. It was going to be the first day in our new house with all of our new things and our new marriage. It was like I had been waiting my entire life for this one day to happen.Now that it was finally here, I could hardly contain my excitement. I had kept poor Sade up until two o’clock packing. We’d called in reinforcements. Holly and Khloe were both carrying boxes to load into the three waiting cars.“Are you sure I can’t hire a rental truck?” I complained.“No, I don’t have anything that big,” Sade said again. “It’s just boxes. It will be faster to load everything in the cars and make one trip.”I wanted to whine and complain that it wasn’t going fast enough. Unfortunately, my leg had been acting up, and walking up and down the stairs proved to be too much.“I can hire mover
Sade“Thank you for worrying about me, but I promise I’m going to be okay,” I assured Trent.He leaned down and kissed my forehead. Khloe came out of the bedroom dressed in an outfit that showcased all of her assets. Her makeup was heavy, and she looked like she was ready to have a good time.“I’m outta here!” she said. “You kids behave yourselves, and don’t have sex on that couch. If that couch is staying here with me, I don’t want to be sitting where you guys have done it.”I grinned, giving her a sweet angelic smile. “How do you know we haven’t already done it on this couch?”Trent nearly choked.She wrinkled up her nose. “Gross.”“Bye!” I said, waving at her as she walked out the door.We waited a few minutes, making sure she wasn’t going to come back in. Trent nearly threw me off his lap as he got to his feet. He was hauling me to the bedroom with such haste, I nearly tripped over my own feet.It was a frantic joining, both of us tearing off our clothes and falling onto the bed.
SadeI went to work a little earlier than usual to try and catch up on the latest about what had happened the day before. It was a bit of a madhouse. Reps from various agencies were present, as well as bigwigs from the head of the company I worked for. Everyone wanted to know what happened. Everything and everyone were under scrutiny.I knew I wasn’t in trouble, but I still felt like there were a lot of eyes focused on the new girl. I kept my head down and concentrated on my work, doublechecking everything I did to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes. Holly was quiet as well. We were both doing what we could not to draw any attention to ourselves.All I could think about was getting home to Trent. I felt like I had nearly blown it with my little freak out over money. It was hard to accept so much from him. My dad was fiercely independent, never accepting a handout from anyone and making damn sure he expected the same from me.We’d always had what we needed, and I didn’t think I had e
TrentI kept my thoughts to myself and finished making dinner. We sat down to eat, the tension thick in the room. It reminded me of the hours and minutes before a big thunderstorm hit. You could feel it in the air. You knew it was coming, but you didn’t know when that first boom of thunder would ring out.“I’m going to lay down,” Khloe said, clearing away her plate and quickly making her escape.She obviously sensed it as well. I knew our first fight was coming. I just wasn’t sure how big the fight was going to be or what it was going to be about. I couldn’t think of anything that had happened that would result in a fight. We’d had a minor disagreement about who was going to pay for what, but I was confident it had been settled.“I’m tired as well,” Sade announced and stood up.She quickly cleared away everything except my plate in front of me. I was definitely in hot water. I dreaded hearing it, but I needed to know what was going on. I didn’t like the tension between us. I finished