*Dove*When I step into the penthouse, the aroma of spices hits my sinuses. I smile when I hear Miles curse from the kitchen. I shake my head and drop my handbag by the front door. What is this man up to?I pad along the floorboards until I reach the kitchen where I find Miles hovering over the stovetop with his back to me. Deciding I want to enjoy this moment of my husband cooking me dinner, I lean against the wall and fold my arms over my chest. He’s still wearing a black button-down from work but he has the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing the thick veins lining his forearms.God, I hope he has a few buttons undone. It drives me crazy when he wears his shirt like that.His hair is a mess atop his head, likely from the stress of trying to cook dinner before I got home. Talking to Dylan downstairs just now gave him some extra time to finish up, but it seems something is going wrong if he’s cursing loud enough for me to hear across the penthouse. “Is everything
*Dove*It’s been a week since the night Dylan apologized for the way he treated me after my assault and the things he has done since. True to his word, he has changed his ways. He is no longer belittling me or making me complete stupid tasks at work. He has treated me like every other employee and that’s all I could have ever asked for. I don’t want him to give me special treatment now that he’s admitted to his wrongs—I just want him to treat me like everyone else.Miles and I have grown closer this past week—if that’s even possible as a married couple. It just feels like everything is falling into place with us now. We have our routine that we do each day—we eat dinner together, have a drink, and then watch a movie if we’re not trying to rip each other’s clothes off. I know we’re still in our honeymoon phase, but God I hope this feeling of excitement whenever he’s around and the need to be near him at all times never fades. I’m so in love with this man and I couldn’t be luck
*Dove*“She is dying.”Three words that had altered my brain chemistry for what would likely be the rest of my life. I had stood at the end of the bed of my unconscious mother as the doctor told me that she was most likely not going to make it.For weeks I had been telling her to get checked. I had told her that she needed to be seen but she had told me she was fine. I should’ve pushed her further. I should’ve done—“Okay, Miss Andrews,” the personal banker came back into the office with a file in her hand, interrupting my thoughts. “We have looked at your application but it seems we cannot in good conscience allow you to take out this loan.”I blinked at her, my hand gripped the handle of the coffee mug they had given me tighter. My knuckles turned white, my heart clambering hard in my chest as the weight of her words settle over me.“I’m sorry?” I had heard her but I just could not believe what she was telling me.The lady cleared her throat, shifting in her leather chair un
I stared at the man like he was out of his damn mind because surely he had not just said what I thought he had.“I’m sorry,” I laughed, “did you just ask me to marry you?”I expected him to break out into a fit of laughter but his face stayed serious. He just stared at me with those eyes that seemed far too brilliant to be real.“Yes, I did.” He just sat there casually like he was talking about the weather.“You…you…I can’t marry you. I don’t even know you.”“My name is Miles. There, now you know me.”I rolled my eyes, “I think I would need a little more than just your name in order for me to marry you. And you don’t even know me.”“Well, that’s not all the way true.” He leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees. “You seem to be kind and sweet soul, possibly too kind and set for this calloused world. And if I’m being quite frank those kinds of people are far from murderers and con artists. Besides, you have this nervous look in your eyes that makes me believe that you are
No one is staring at you. You are fine. I had to keep reassuring myself that I was fine and no one was staring.I was a married woman. Yesterday I had been drowning in my sorrow and now I was married to a rich man whom I knew nothing about except that he was rich and my mother was going to get the surgery she needed.I closed my car door and rolled the tension out of my shoulders.Today was just another normal day at work. There was no black card in the inner pocket of my bag that was burning a hole through the fake leather. There was no ring on my finger that had a fat jewel that could be seen from Mars.The ring I had bought was modest. Nothing too extravagant and flashy. But the moissanite ring felt like it weighed two tonnes on my finger. I had it in the pocket of my pantsuit the entire time as I walked from my car to the building.Working at Walvern Media was like a dream for me. It wasn’t the best network out there but it was a great starting point for me.As I huddled into
I just stood there staring at my husband.His eyes bored into mine the way they had at the bank that day.He was not supposed to be here. According to him, he was out of the country today. He was meant to be out of the country for the next week. But there he was sitting behind a large glass desk that had the New York skyline as its backdrop. The entire wall behind him was made of only windows. The office was incredibly spacious and luxurious.White leather furniture in the middle of the room. A large and expansive library to the side. I was even sure he had some rare first editions there. The man looked like he liked to read and not the little smutty romance books I had tucked away in my studio apartment.The room smelt like money.Was that even possible? Well, I guess it was considering my husband smelt like this.“Please come in, ladies.” His voice reached my ears, causing a slow shudder to travel down my spine. “I have been looking forward to this interview.”There was someth
*Miles*There were very few things that I enjoyed in life. But getting under my wife’s skin had to be one of my new favorites. I liked watching her get flustered. Her cheeks turned the most adorable pink as she bit down on her lip nervously.“Sorry?” Her voice went up about an octave higher.“Are you single, Dove?” I pressed, loving just how flustered she got.“I…um…” she responded, lifting her left hand to show me the ring that I was dying to get a closer look at. “Married…me…I have husband—man. I mean, I have a husband. Yep, that I do. A whole husband is what I have.”She turned to her friend for help but her friend was far too busy trying to work out what the hell was going on.Poor Dove.“He’s a lucky man.”“Oh yeah.” She laughed awkwardly. “So about going deeper—I mean the questions going deeper. Oh, my God, my foot is in my mouth today. Tell us about your upbringing?”Hmm, I knew this one would come up and I still didn’t want to talk about it. My past was exactly that—my
*Dove*He gave me the key to his house. I stared at the thing for I don’t even know how long. Amy was looking between me and Miles with wide eyes, unable to form words.Finally, she had pieced it all together.“You…and he…what?” There were very few times when Amy was stunned into silence and this was one of them. Her eyes darted between us rapidly and she looked like she was ready to faint. She could not believe her eyes at all.“Yes, Miss Howard. Your lovely friend is married to me.”“She…I…oh, my God.” She turned her head slowly to meet my gaze. “You bitch! You married up.”Of course, leave it to Amy to be so…Amy. She wasn’t shy about speaking her mind and her mouth had no filter.“I’m sorry, I meant… You know what? No, I meant what I just said. You married a billionaire? When? How? Why? And do you have a friend, Mr. Scott?”Miles laughed lightly, the raspy chuckle tickling my core.Well damn, that was a place that had been dormant for quite some time. Who knew all it took w