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APPRECIATING HER HUSTLE
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
HER BULLY'S REGRET COME ALONG WITH YOUR PARTNER
“You’re going to have to make a third version,” I decide. “I want half of each.”Her fingers fly across the keyboard as she makes notes to herself.This time there’s not an eye roll in sight.The lunch hour goes faster than I want it to. I’m surprised to realize I like working with Nicole. On the outside she’s all wild hair, fluttering dresses, and an inappropriately expressive face that couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it.But when it comes to her work, she’s sharp, fast, and effective. I almost want her to stick around at coleman Marketing, instead of launching out on her own whenever she’s saved up enough. Except I’m pretty sure that if Nicole stays at Coleman too long, she’ll lose some of her spark.And while her spark is strictly speaking annoying as fuck, I don’t want to be the grumpy asshole that squashes it.On the other hand, the realities of running a business might douse that spark even faster. I learned the hard way you can’t gamble on a wish. You need to be
HER BULLY'S REGRET THE PERFECT MATCH
She’s doing just that when my office door bursts open. It’s Nicole, dressed to kill in this strappy black minidress with retro beads that shimmer and sparkle when she moves.She’s practically vibrating with excitement.There’s something gold and shimmering that makes her eyes even more captivating, and her legs in those heels...A smarter man would tell her to leave, because after weeks of secretly passing notes, striding into my office is the polar opposite of discreet. Even if it is after 7:00 p.m. on a Friday night.But apparently, I’m not a smarter man. Because I hear myself saying, “Mom, I need to go.”I hang up and cross my arms. “What?”“So, I was in the bathroom...No, wait.” Nicole turns around and closes the door behind her so no one will overhear. Then she says, “Arnold Jackman is a board member, right?”“Yes,” I say impatiently. “Although I have no idea how that can possibly relate to you using the bathroom.”“Not using. Changing.” Nicole gestures to her outfit. “Anyway, no
HER BULLY'S REGRET What is he doing here?
And I know exactly where to find her.NICOLE“Oh my God, this place is AMAZING,” eLLIE screams in my ear as she plops happily onto a velvet couch. She read justs her Bride tiara and waves at a waiter for more champagne. “I can’t believe your new boss got us the queen city.”“Me neither.” The Queen city is a glittering three story club filled with chandeliers, mirrors, disco balls, and frosted glass. Floors two and three both feature a balcony that looks down at the dance floor.Nathan got us the whole top floor, which means our group can lounge, drink, and have fun without being bothered. And when we feel like a little more adventure, we can wander down to the first floor to bust some moves and enjoy the admiring glances of strangers.I kick off my heels and join Ellie on the couch, happy. Ellie’s one of those women who has off-the-charts charisma and a million great ideas. In the eight years I’ve known her, she’s been a nanny, an actress, a bartender, a barista, a tutor, a plus-size
HER BULLY'S REGRET MARRY ME
“I need you,” Nathan says, and I know he’s talking about work, it’s obvious he’s talking about work, but his voice mixes with the alcohol in my blood. My body thinks he’s talking about something else.“You need me for graphic design,” I clarify.“I need you for marriage,” he says, and I’m so shocked I drop my drink. My glass shatters on the ground between us.“What?” I ask, heart thudding. “It’s too loud. I thought you said...” I shake my head, unwilling to embarrass myself by saying it out loud.Nathan’s hand moves to the small of my back, and my pulse leaps as he guides us around the broken glass. Then he leans in, so close I can feel his heat near my neck.His lips move close to my ear and he says, “If I marry, my wife gets a seat on the board. If certain board members think I’m about to get married, they’ll switch over to the winning side. So I need a fake fiancée.”He says it slowly. Carefully. Unmistakably.“You’d be perfect,” Nathan says, his voice soft and low in my ear, and s
HER BULLY'S REGRET FAKE ENGAGEMENT
“Nooooo,” she protests, drawing it out. “Not exactly. More like, offer an alternative option for the clients who are too small for you to bother with.” “Fair,” I acknowledge. It’s not a bad angle. Companies reach out to us all the time who then realize they can’t afford our services. Normally when that happens, I recommend they reach out to one of the smaller firms I know. The smaller marketing firms appreciate the favor, and the client will feel good about us if they end up needing a bigger marketing firm in the future. “Tell you what,” I say. “I will give your business my personal recommendation and offer an introduction to anyone you want.” Nicole leans in. “How much is that recommendation worth after we ‘break up’ though? They’ll think you’re recommending me out of pity because you dumped me.” “They’ll think you’re so good, I’m recommending youeven afteryou broke my heart.” She snorts. “No one’s going to believe I broke your heart.” “I have a heart,” I say, indignant. I love
HER BULLY'S REGRET SPEAK FOR YOURSELF
Just like before, she smells like oranges and sunshine. I wonder if that’s perfume, or soap, or just what she smells like.“At first the idea of starting my own company was just because I wanted more control over where I worked,” Nicole admits. “But the more I plan for it, the more excited I get.” She wets her lips. “I can do this.”She says it like it’s an idea she’s still trying out. Like she’s expecting me to contradict her.“You can absolutely do this,” I agree. “And you can do it a lot faster with my help.”She hesitates.“Come on, Nicole,” I coax. “What’s really holding you back?”Nathan will also support Amelia in connecting with potential clients for up to eight years after the dissolution of the engagement.Nicole frowns over my shoulder. “You didn’t say there was a limit on helping me with connections.”“Sixty percent of businesses fail within the first eight years,” I say. “If you make it past eight years, you’re fine.”“That’s ... not necessarily encouraging.”“You’ll be f
HER BULLY'S REGRET MEETING KIERA
Nicole slips on her heels and grabs her purse. Then she takes our napkin contract and carefully places it in her purse.I resist the urge to tell her to take a cab instead of the subway. She’s a grown woman. She knows how to take care of herself at night in the city. It’s none of my business.Except maybe, for the next six months, it is.She stands and turns to go. “Nicole,” I order. “Take a cab home. It’s late.”She smiles, soft and tired. “You’re cute when you’re bossy.”Then she’s gone, and leaving me to wonder if I’ve just made the best or worst decision of my life.NICOLEIn the dream, I’m in Nathan’s office. I hand him something boring and work related, and then he’s kissing me, guiding me back onto his desk.I need you to focus on your work, Nathan says, kissing my neck, sliding his hand up my skirt.I can give you everything you want, if you just focus on your work.I twist and gasp, but it feels so good, and it’s Nathan, and he’s making me helpless.You seem distracted, Nathan
HER BULLY'S REGRET SHOW ME AROUND
I’m not quite ready to face Nathan, so I keep my attention on Kiera. “How long have you liked dinosaurs?”“Since last month,” a woman’s voice says.I turn to see a woman with the same soft face and freckles as Kiera. Only she’s got gorgeous red hair, and no hot chocolate on her designer clothes.It only takes me a second to recognize her from the social media images I saw. This is Nathan’s ex-wife.“Nathan spoils her,” she says with exasperated fondness. “I’m Bridget.”“Nicole,” I say.“I’m going to be a paleon-tho-lol-ogist,” Kiera contributes.“Paleontologist,” Bridget corrects. She looks me up and down. “Kiera, go get your coat and say goodbye to your dad.”Kiera hands me one of her stuffed dinosaurs and runs off, presumably in the direction of Cole’s office.Bridget waits until Kiera’s footsteps have disappeared into the vast apartment. “So. You’re the woman who agreed to fake an engagement with Nathan.”I blink. “He told you?”“Of course he did. You’ll be spending time with our d
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HER BULLY'S REGRET THE END
"I don't know what to think anymore Nathan. This is all just like a nightmare. I may never see her again, or my child. The thought scares me more than anything.""Don't lose hope my friend. I am certain that we will find Nicole eventually. Nothing bad has happened to her. Nicole is a strong lady; she can survive anything. I have a very good feeling that she's doing well. We will find her soon."NICOLE"Ash! Are you leaving already?" Claudia asked, coming into the house. She carried a bag with her, containing some items. Claudia is my close friend from college."Yes Claudia, my presentation at work starts in an hour." I was packing my bags, ensuring that I'm not missing anything. I checked to make sure that my health insurance card and phone are in the bag. I was going to visit the hospital right after work for my prenatal care. The hospital was just a few miles away from where I work.Four months have passed since I had met Claudia at the O’Hare airport as soon as I got into the city.
HER BULLY'S REGRET I LOVE YOU SO MUCH
"He left? Where did he go to? Did he say where he was going?" I asked frantically."No, sir. He didn't mention where he was going. He only packed up his stuff and started leaving in a hurry, he was trying to call someone on the phone as he left"."Are you Ok, sir?" One of the employees asked. I ignored her and thought of what I could do next.It had been 3 months since Nicole disappeared with no trace and I hadn’t been able to get hold of Justin, either. He also left IM Corp after taking a few days off after that day.I received Justin’s contact information and tried to have face to face conversations with him several times, but there was no response from him. Eventually, I hired a private investigator to help me find them. One day, they informed me that they had found Justin working at another tech company, Sinews and living in a new apartment in the city.I cancelled my meetings for the rest of the day and hurried over to see Justin at Sinew with Nathan."Welcome to Sinews. How may
HER BULLY'S REGRET I LOVE YOU
"How official!" He mocked, shielding his body from another violent hit from me."You're just crazy. Please don't forget to get me the plane ticket. I'll be all packed up and waiting for you to return this evening"."Alright. I'll be leaving now. I made you breakfast. Try not to throw up, please. It took me an hour to make those waffles.""An hour? Just to make waffles? Did you use sunlight to cook them?" I rolled my eyes at him. "All for some tasteless waffles."“Hey, if they were tasteless maybe you should save some for me. I didn’t want all that effort to go to waste.” He left the room while I laughed. I was certainly going to miss Justin. That is for sure!NATHAN"What happened? I heard Nicole resigned.” Nathan stormed into my office. I was totally in shock."What are you talking about? You informed me she was feeling unwell yesterday and asked for a sick leave. Isn't that why she still didn't turn up for work today? I checked her office today, but she wasn't there"."Yeah, yeah. I
HER BULLY'S REGRET PERFECTION
“You are the most amazing man in the world. Do you know that? Wait. Don’t answer. I already know what you’re going to say.” A smile fell upon her lips.“Damn right, I am.” I kissed her.Our wedding was a blast. Between the alcohol, great conversations, and all the dancing everyone did, we all had a great time.I was talking with my brothers and cousins when Henry and Aunt Barb walked over.“Boys. I’m happy you’re all together. There’s something I need to tell you.”“What’s up, Mom?” Stefan asked.“Henry asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted his proposal.” She held out her hand.“WHAT?” Simon spit out his drink.My brothers and I looked at each other and didn’t say a word.“Mom, are you serious?” Sam asked.“Very serious. Do you not see the diamond on my finger, Samuel?”“You haven’t known each other that long,” Sebastian said.“It doesn’t matter if we knew each other for a week. When you know you’re meant to be with someone, you know. Isn't that right, darling?" She kissed his chee
HER BULLY'S REGRET WEDDING RECEPTION
“Good. Then I’ll be connecting your credit card to my Amazon account.”“Now, now, Nicole. Let’s not get all crazy.”She laughed as I pulled her into me.“Shall we go greet our guests and thank them for coming to our wedding?” she asked.“Yeah. Let’s go.” I grabbed her hand. “I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone.” I smirked.“Very funny.”NICOLEAfter the DJ announced us, we stepped into the ballroom while all of our guests shouted and clapped.“I’m going to grab a drink. Do you want a water or something?” Nathan asked.“Water would be great.”“I’ll be right back.” His lips met mine.“In case I haven’t told you. You look gorgeous.” Jackson smiled as he kissed my cheek.“Thank you, brother-in-law.” I grinned.“Hey, bro.” Conner walked over and handed me my drink.“This place looks as beautiful as it did when Georgia and I got married,” Jackson said.“Thanks. I did a good job, didn’t I?” A grin crossed Conner’s lips.“Excuse me?” I laughed.“What?” He cocked his head. “You were stil
HER BULLY'S REGRET PRETTY PENNY
“Thank you.”“Gabriel. Grayson.” She walked over and hugged them. “It’s good to see you both again.”“Good to see you too, Barb.” Grayson smiled.“So, Mom.” Simon walked over and hooked his arm around her. “We’re going to have a little chat once the wedding is over.”“A chat about what, Simon?”“About you and what’s going on.”“Nothing is going on, darling. Put your detective instincts away.” She patted his chest. “I’ll see you boys in the Gardens.”“Your bowtie is crooked.” Nathan walked over and straightened it. “Are you ready?” He gripped my shoulders."Are you? Your day will be here before you know it.”“Speaking of,” Jackson spoke. “Have you and Sofia set a date yet?”“No. Not yet. We’re discussing it.” He smiled.“It’s time,” Christian said as he glanced at his watch. “Let’s go get you married.” He patted my back.* * *I stood there with my brothers and cousins and wasn’t nervous. This day almost didn’t happen for two reasons. One was because we weren’t sure if Nicole was going
HER BULLY'S REGRET WALKING DOWN THE AISLE
I think about it for a moment and realize that I really should focus on building my relationship with my Fiancee and baby daddy. We can do all of that later but now we should focus on knowing each other.Even though we should think of focusing on our upcoming project. He cocks his head slightly. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?I love you and I want to be with you and who knows? I could die before you.”Nathan glares at me. “Don’t talk about dying,” he replies angrily.“But it’s the truth, anything can happen so the age difference doesn’t bother me.”Nathan exhales. “What about your parents then? We should meet them again ?”Laughing, I shake my head. For what?. But I stopped letting them tell me how to live my life a long time ago. They are just going to have to accept you and love you like I do.” I smile at him and lean forward to kiss him.The kiss grows deeper, but Nathan pulls away before it can turn into something more. “If you weren’t so sore right now, I would take you right h
HER BULLY'S REGRET SPENDING TIMES TOGETHER
Her back bows,body quivering and thighs clenching as our bodies grow slick with heat and sweat. Soon enough, she stiffens and shatters in my arms, reaching that desired peak for the second time in minutes.I watch her with adoration,marveling at how extraordinary she looks right now as she rides her pleasure. Groaning loudly now, with her name on my lips, I follow her swiftly, thrusting with careless abandon until we are both riding that high.Later that night,after whipping up something for us to eat, I feed it to Nicole with one hand while grazing her hip with my other hand.After chewing and swallowing,she clears her throat and stares at me curiously. “What made you change your mind?” She asks.“What do you mean?”I reply, handing her another bite which she takes in her mouth.“Well,maybe you cast you spell on me, I am not doing al of this because of the baby alone but because I believe you will be the best daughter to Kiera and our unborn and I love you so much.”I drop the plate o
HER BULLY'S REGRET HIGH PEACHED
Slowly,my hands trail her upper body and settle on her breasts. Gently I squeeze both just as my mouth peppers kisses along her neck. She quivers, moaning loudly as my mouth descends on her nipple. Never before have I felt this way with any woman, not even Bridget whom I once loved.Although everything is happening so fast,I make sure to remain gentle with her and I take my time caressing her body, learning every inch of it. I am just as eager to pleasure her as much as I am pleasured, if not more.Suddenly,I pick her up and rise from the couch with her thighs wrapped around me. I carry her towards the bedroom she slept in the last time we were here. Once we’re in there, I place her feet gently on the floor and drop a kiss on her forehead before proceeding to pull off my own clothes and underwear.I guideher to the perfectly made bed and help her lie on it before going to lie beside her. “You are an enigma, Nicole, so beautiful,” I whisper into her ear as I begin to trail my mouth acr
