ALEXANDER “Oh, Alex!” My foster mother, Kaylee, exclaimed, and I tensed in surprise as she rounded the table to wrap her arms around me. It felt like a trap. It was a cold, cruel trap. “Love, let’s sit down and let him get his bearings. It’s been a long past few days, I’m sure.” My foster fathe
ALEXANDER “We are sorry, son. So sorry.” Nial said, and had I not gone through the training I did for the army, I would have cracked as he called me son. Instead, I just nodded. There was nothing more I could ask of them besides regret and an apology. Anything else seemed unreasonable. “How ca
BAILEE My lips pulled up into a smile as I was roused from my sleep to the feeling of gentle kisses being peppered along my shoulder blade. The rough scruff of Alex's beard slid against my skin so delicately that I shivered from the pleasure it sent through me. That had always been my weak spot,
BAILEE “Are you mad at me?” I asked, and Ben looked at me briefly before returning to Brinley. “No, why?” He asked, and my molars ground together at the two-word answer. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you won’t look at me, and every time you talk to or text me, it’s like pulling teeth to
BAILEE “What’s going on?” Alex said, his smile falling as I marched toward him, but I saw his chest rise more with his next breath. It had been too long for us. Too long since we touched. Too long since we connected. “There’s just too much going on right now,” I admitted, not knowing how to exp
BAILEE The sounds he made were primal, encouraging…delicious. “Alex,” I cried as I rocked back and forth carefully, not fully trusting his chair but needing a release that only he could provide. I should have had him take over the desk, but after the past few months, something about being on
BAILEE I left Alex’s office, unable to hide the smile on my face as he smacked my ass on the way out. It had felt good, incredible even, to get close to him again, and now that we were official and were moving in together, I knew that was just the beginning. When we were teenagers, we were inse
ALEXANDER I thought nothing could bring me down after Bailee surprised me this morning by coming into my office, but I was wrong. As soon as she left, my personal cell phone started ringing. There was a brief moment of annoyance as I wondered if the unknown number was someone from the press or
EPILOGUE “Go, go, go!” Sebastian screamed from next to me, standing and leaning over the person in front of him as if Ben could hear him over the crowd and the glass. Then again, with how loud the man was, he just might. I had only known Bash in passing from when I worked for Ben as his assista
HAVEN ONE MONTH LATER My eyes kept moving from the woman before me to the clock on the wall behind her. I wanted to be here, but I had more important places to be. She had run over with her last client, which made us run over and caused me to be late for an important game. Ben had been stressin
BEN Haven was empty for the next few weeks as she flew back and forth, cleaning out the house her ex-husband had left her. It had been Cynthia’s home, too, and Haven had been taking extra care and devotion to ensuring things were handled and gone through properly. I had gone with her a few times,
HAVEN Her hand was cold, and I adjusted her blanket to cover her arm. The lawyers had come in and refused to admit any fault of the hospital, even though Cynthia had her ID on her and even knew one of the paramedics who brought her in for them to have given the hospital her name. They should ha
HAVEN Sitting in the airport in the middle of the night with a toddler who got angry each time the loudspeaker called for another flight and disturbed her sleep was not what I had been prepared for. My mind was a foggy mess. All I could picture was Cynthia falling down the stairs. How long had sh
BEN Being excited about an ex getting involved in my life might not have been the best thing when things were already tense, but fuck did it feel good to know I did indeed have friends in high places and they were watching my back. Was I still expecting them to hold it over me and try to get me t
BEN It was odd pulling up to the house and finding there wasn’t a single paparazzi in sight. After today’s news, I expected them to be ready to break down my gate for a story, but no one was there. Instead, a blacked-out SUV sat across the street, and my stomach twisted when I realized it was pro
HAVEN I needed to get out of the house. Staying inside was driving me crazy, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My last job interview was a week ago, and while I keep applying, no one wants to hire the woman all over the tabloids with a sex tape. Our PR team managed to get it taken down, but it stil
BEN “Rangers player Benjamin Evans is today’s hot topic. Now fans were petitioning for him to be traded for his performance last season. Even I wanted him gone, and I’ve followed his career since he was being scouted.” The reporters around him laughed, and I gritted my jaw. “I know. I remember hi