*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
“How is she today?” I was standing outside my mother’s hospital room. “Have you started her on the new meds?”Dr. Harrison placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. “Your mother’s condition has improved and the meds are working. I’m more than sure that after the surgery she will be in much better shape. You don’t need to worry.”“But there is a 30% chance of survival with this kind of procedure and I just…I’m worried. She is the only real family that I have. I don’t have anyone else and if I lose her then—I just need her to be saved.”Dr. Harrison frowned slightly. “I cannot promise you that everything will run smoothly with her operation but I do know that Dr. Carter is the best neurosurgeon in the world. Your mother’s condition is rare but not to Dr. Carter. He has dealt with many of these cases in his career. You are in safe hands here.”I knew he was just trying to comfort me but all it did was just raise my anxiety to new heights. But instead of con
“Just go out there and get dressed,” I muttered, trying to hype myself up.The steam had all gone from the room and I was now beginning to get cold.“Okay.” I stared myself down in the mirror. “Just get out there, get your pajamas, and then get dressed.”Simple. The plan was easy. A simple three-step process that I could easily accomplish if he just wasn’t there. I just needed him to be far away from this place.I rolled my shoulders trying to ready myself for what was to come.I walked to the door and opened it ever so slowly.He wasn’t there.I breathed a sigh of heavy relief and raced to the bed to retrieve the pajamas that had been laid out for me and then raced back to the bathroom and changed. When I was done brushing through my hair, I walked out ready to tuck myself into bed but stopped short when I saw a freshly changed Miles in his chair beside the bed.“Bed time?” he said with a small smile on his face.“Umm, yes—for me. Should you not be in your own room?”“I am i