“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Some loser sent them to me. I’ll throw them away tomorrow. Just like I did with all the others.” Alex’s face hardened, the muscle above his jaw flexing as he pressed his teeth together. “Others? Is some guy harassing you?” Ben asked, looking angry, but he relaxed
ALEXANDER “I need a favor!” Ben exclaimed, storming into my office with a smiling Brinley in tow. She had purple paint all over her face in the shape of a butterfly, and her hair looked like she had been attacked by a second-grade classroom with unlimited access to colorful ponytails and clips.
I hadn’t even realized he had been invited. His parents would normally be there, but Caleb hadn’t made his name big enough on its own yet to be included in most of the functions I attended. “Really?” I leaned back further, instinctively twisting my chair a few inches each way to rock Brinley as s
BAILEE “Bye, Bailee!” Lila, one of my employees, yelled as she jogged out of the shop. She was a good employee, but I refused to let her job come before her school and told her I would close for her so she could get ready for her school dance. “Have fun!” I shouted as I adjusted my bun. Ben h
I was sick of being treated poorly. These girls probably didn’t deserve my threats, but even if I wasn’t going to press charges, I wanted to at least scare them into being semi-decent people one day. Caleb, on the other hand, deserved nothing but pain and misery. “Don’t be such a Karen!” The se
BAILEE EIGHT YEARS AGO (Sixteen years old) I couldn’t help but stare longingly at the party on the beach. I wanted to be there for Ben’s birthday, but I had work to finish, and until I was done, there would be no fun for me. My parents owned a resort on the lake where Ben and I worked after s
“No!” I said suddenly, placing my hands on his chest. “No. I wasn’t saying that YOU stink. You smell incredible. You always do. You just have Amber’s perfume all over you. It's bad enough having to sit back and watch as you let her rub herself on you like a damn cat, but now I have to smell her on y
ALEXANDER The Tale-Tell Heart. I had thought that story was ridiculous when I was in school. The heart under the floor, beating, driving the madman insane… How could a dead heart beat? I got it now, though, because in my desk sat a file, one I could practically hear beating away, mocking me
EPILOGUE “If you get on one knee without a ring in your hands, one more time, I am going to kill you.” I hissed, narrowing my eyes at Alex. We had already been on the cover of hundreds of magazines. They seemed to get as much of a kick out of this as he did. Each time, there was one page with him
BAILEE Alex was extraordinarily happy that night and the following day. He didn’t stop smiling until we reached Ben’s house to say goodbye. Only then did his good mood fade. As soon as I saw Ben was already by his car, about to put his suitcase in, I jumped out of ours and rushed to unbuckle Br
BAILEE Alex was surprisingly calm for a man who potentially left an engagement ring in the jacket he just asked me to search. Hell, he was even whistling as he got into the shower that night, and I immediately pulled out my phone and dialed Lacey while he was busy, breathing a sigh of relief when
BAILEE My body stilled as my hand closed around the small velvet box in his pocket. Everything in me was telling me to take it out. I needed to confirm that it was what I suspected, but I was also terrified that I would be wrong. What if I was just getting my hopes up, and it was just a pair of
ALEXANDER My knee bounced as I stared at the garage door, waiting for her to open it and enter the kitchen. I didn’t like that she was supposed to be on bed rest, yet she was still going to work and driving around. At the very least, I wanted my driver to take her wherever she wanted to go, but s
Ben stilled, looking down at what he had just packed for a long moment before realizing I was being sarcastic. “Very funny. Look, I leave tomorrow, and I don’t want to forget anything or run out. If the press catches me leaving the facility and running to the store for anything, they will spin it an
BAILEE “I don’t think those are considered fan pages, then,” I mumbled instinctively, and Ben held my stare for a long moment before the corner of his mouth turned up, and he chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” “I’m really sorry you are having to go through that,” I said, walking forward an
BAILEE I didn’t know the girl, but all day, I felt like I needed to call Vivian and apologize again for blowing her up like that, even though we had cleared the air back at the house. My careless accusation had caused her to get dumped and to fear for the security of her job within seconds of ea
ALEXANDER “I told you she would break him,” Bash said, his voice coming through the speakerphone as I sat staring at Mason in my visitor’s chair. “She didn’t break me.” Mason snapped back, sounding appalled by the accusation. “You want her. You’ve never wanted anyone before, not for more than a