ALEXANDER “Uncle knows best.” Ben sang in a taunt as he walked past me with three glasses of what looked like apple juice. Knowing Brinley was up there, I assumed she was the reason for his selection unless he was just extremely constipated. He had been over the moon to find out that he had been
BAILEE The sound of Brinley’s laughter woke me from my slumber, and I smiled as I rolled over in bed to see my adorable little girl where Alex had been sleeping. “Mommy, it’s good morning time!” She exclaimed, and I nodded and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Yes, baby. Good morning!” I said, sm
BALIEE “Morning, baby,” Alex greeted me, and I instantly started to relax until I saw Vivian clicking and typing into the things I had on the calendar that she had hacked into. “Morning,” I responded half-heartedly. “Did you ask Vivian to help me over the next few months? “Of course, I did. It
ALEXANDER “Mr. Kingston, can I have a minute?” Vivian asked from my doorway as I placed my laptop back on my desk. It had been a hectic morning, and getting Justin McCabe back with the company had been a massive deal for us. I lost him to Caleb’s company around the time I discovered that Caleb wa
BAILEE “I don’t understand,” Lacey said as she leaned back against my desk. “Our meeting with Sasha was at eight. What happened?” “My new assistant rescheduled,” I grumbled, knowing it was probably for the best. We had been in the hospital for hours last night, and I needed my sleep. However, it
BAILEE “What in the twilight zone is going on right now?” Lacey muttered as sweat beaded on my skin from the wave of heat that crashed over me. “No. There’s no way.” “Excuse me?” I whispered, and Sasha clapped her hands together as she celebrated. Her oversized rings clanged together as she bou
BAILEE “Get out,” I said, wiping my tears on the back of my hand. “Excuse me?” Sasha gasped in shock and possible outrage. “Get out of my store! Your sister is not marrying my boyfriend, and even if the pits of Hell had frozen over and they were getting married, I will not be designing your dres
BAILEE The ride up the elevator at Elite was quiet, except for the repetitive jazz music coming out through the speaker. It was nice and calming, yet it did nothing to shake the feeling inside me. I felt sick and shaky. The new hollowness in my chest seemed to be fighting with the butterflies in
HAVEN “Mommy,” Siri said, pulling her headphones off and letting them and her tablet fall to the floor as she looked around the room at all the strange faces. Her arms wrapped tighter around Ben, and I looked around the room, too, seeing how she could be scared. “This is not a conversation that
HAVEN “I worked for Ben for years, but in reality, I worked for your entire team,” I said, and Coach Dawson’s face tightened. “I did everything ever asked of me, regardless of who asked from your team, the cost, or the time it would take. Your wife’s bake sale, when over half of the team wives and
HAVEN “That was years ago, and it wasn’t like I was being reckless and having a fling with some random employee!” Ben yelled, and my breathing became faster. “I loved her! I was planning on marrying her as soon as she agreed! People wouldn’t care about us sleeping together if we had gotten married
BEN Coach Dawson’s unwavering glare made me uneasy as I sat across from him in his polished, oversized office. His desk was far larger than needed for a man who spends most of his time in a conference room with the other coaches discussing strategy, in the film room, the gym, or by the rink. He
BEN Seeing Siri and Haven sitting in my kitchen, eating the food I made for them, filled me with so much happiness that I would remember this exact moment forever. We then spent the next few hours building Siri’s furniture together. I hadn’t expected Siri to want to be involved, but she sat in my
BEN “How long will you be staying?” Bailee asked as she sat at the dining room table, her feet on the chair next to her. It was nice to see Ben fussing over her, refilling her water, and putting a pillow behind her back, but it also made me sad that I never got that with Ben. Max had been incred
HAVEN I was nervous about seeing Bailee again after so many years. I had hated her when I worked for Ben because she had always blown him off. Now that I knew it was because her abusive ex-husband had been isolating her, I felt guilty that I had hated her so much, but I didn’t know how to interac
HAVEN I was nervous about seeing Bailee again after so many years. I had hated her when I worked for Ben because she had always blown him off. Now that I knew it was because her abusive ex-husband had been isolating her, I felt guilty that I had hated her so much, but I didn’t know how to interac
BEN There was a knock on the front door the next morning, and I quickly pulled up the security cameras to see Bailee there with her hand on her stomach and a pained look on her face. It didn’t take me more than two seconds to cross the house from the kitchen to the front door, wiping my hands on