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Evan Reese was tall and leanly built, though not scrawny. Rangy, that was the word. He had the look of a man who spent his life outdoors. A well-to-do man, though not born to money. He had met his wife, Christina when she used to own a food truck, and after two failed attempts, had finally found the guts to ask her out on a date.Christina had accepted to go out with him because she liked him. She liked his sense of humor and the way he looked too. A strong-featured face, the deep-set gray-blue eyes crinkled at the corners, framed by dark lashes. His hair was black, cut far too short to be fashionable. A practical style. What on earth did a man like him see in a woman like her? Christina had wondered. If any other stranger had tried to strike up a conversation with her and ask her out on any other day, she’d have spurned him. Maybe the fates had indeed intervened to bring two kindred spirits together, in which case it would be unwise of her not to follow their lead, so she had accepte
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"Are you hungry?" he asked, trying to change the topic. "I noticed we didn't have anything to warm up in the fridge and we're out of a lot of things. I wanted to go shopping but I got stuck at work. I can do that tomorrow, but what matters is now. Do you want to go out and grab something to eat? I know it's a bit late but maybe if we look around we might find a place that's still open""No" came Christina's curt reply.Evan nodded his head. "Okay," he said, dragging the word. "Should I go get something for the both of us then? I can be fast so we can have dinner together before we go to bed""I said no!" Christina said, this time her voice was harsh. "I just told you no. What part of 'no' do you not understand? If you wanna go out, then please just do so and go away. I want to be alone"She pushed the clothes on her lap onto the bed and stood up, murmuring some words he couldn't understand. She brushed past him towards her wardrobe, withdrew a suitcase which she took back to the bed,
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Her phone vibrated across the surface of her nightstand, and a groan slipped out of Chloe's mouth. She ran her hand over her head, mussing her long dark hair.The phone continued to vibrate, drawing her attention back to it and another groan from her throat. She knew that he would want to talk about their previous discussion and she wasn't ready for it. She liked him all right, and he didn't live too far away from her, so she wouldn't even have to worry about distance being a problem in their relationship. She wasn't dating or involved with anyone, so why the hell was she hesitating? She groaned again into the phone as she finally picked it up and swiped her hand across the screen.“Are you okay?” Matthew asked her, his voice gruff with concern.Chloe instantly felt guilty. “Yeah, I'm fine,” she said.“But you’re groaning,” he said. “And you don't sound fine. Is something bothering you?”Chloe almost said 'the only thing bothering me is someone interrupting my sleep', but that would b
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“Are you guys going to the season opener?” she asked.“Wouldn’t miss it,” Peter said.“I have a favor to ask then.”Both brothers looked curiously at her.“I’m bringing a client and I’d like to keep my relationship with Bryce on the down low.”Curiosity gleamed in their eyes. She knew they wanted to ask, but when she didn’t volunteer her reasons why, they didn’t pursue the matter.“Okay. Not a problem,” Peter finally said. "Anything for you"“Are you three going to stand out there all day or are you coming in to eat?”Their father’s voice boomed from the front porch, and they all turned to see him leaning against the doorframe, impatience evident in his stance.Chloe grinned. “We better go in before your dad starts muttering threats,”she said playfully.Peter ruffled her hair then tucked his arm over her neck so he had her in a headlock. He started toward the house, dragging her with him.When they got to the porch, she laughingly stumbled from Peter's hold and gave their father a qui
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No one seemed surprised by that announcement. Edward was a ladies man and almost always had a date to go too... Sometimes with different women."Of course you do," Bryce murmured and everyone laughed. "Hey, this isn't just any date okay?" Edward retorted. "I like this girl…" "You say that about all of them" said Bryce. “I’ll walk you guys out. I need to run, too since I have work stuff to prepare for.” said Chloe.Darrell grimaced, and she steeled herself for another gruff lecture about how she worked too hard. An interesting statement since Peter worked harder than all of them, and no one ever lectured him.To her surprise, he remained silent. She regarded him with a raised eyebrow and wondered if he’d burst at the seams, but his lips remained in a firm line. He rose from the couch to hug her and then gruffly reminded her to be sure and get enough rest.They all walked out together, and Darrell reminded them all of lunch next Sunday, and told Chloe that he wanted her to come too.
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A derisive, strangling sound rose from his throat. He liked his lips as if to rid himself of a really bad taste.“It’s different,” he said.Her lips curled. "It's not to me. Bryce, I love you dearly. You're like a big brother to me... the best brother a girl could ask for. I need you to do this for me.. Please”He huffed, then his expression grew thoughtful again. “I assume you’ve done your research on this man and his company. You know him well?.”Chloe nodded before he’d even finished. On the surface, Bryce looked and acted laissez-faire. He had all the appearances of a golden-boy jock whose only concern might be fast cars and faster women. But beneath that illusion lay a man who had a deep social conscience.His refusal of endorsement deals had gained him a reputation of eccentricity from some. Others regarded him incredulously as a fool to pass on the opportunity to make millions by doing nothing more than lend his name to countless companies willing to part with their dollars for
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Timothy almost groaned out loud, but instead he returned her gaze, "Hi," he replied. A little courtesy wouldn't hurt anyone right?"I'm Mirabel" said the redhead, batting her ridiculously long lashes at him. "Nice to meet you""Timothy" he said simply and she flashed him another smile. Timothy gripped his glass harder, and hoped that the Lady would just get the message that he would rather be alone tonight. But luck was not on his side today, because she made no effort to leave."So what are you doing sitting here all by yourself?" asked Mirabel. "You didn't get stood up by your date now, did you? Of course you didn't. Who would do that to a cutie like you"Timothy shook his head. "No, I didn't get....stood up" he replied, "I mean, kinda. I was supposed to hang out here with a friend but he had to cancel. I figured I'd just have a coupled of drinks before I head home"Mirabel smiled at him again. "I thought so, because who wouldn't want to go out on a date with a man like you. Well I
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"Relax." Chloe said, and flashed a smile at him. "I mean, it's good to know that you care. But I can hold my liquor, thank you very much, and I didn't come with my car for your information. So no, I will not be driving home.""Of course you can hold your liquor," Timothy said sarcastically. "Don't even make me remind you of the time that you got really drunk at Patrick's house party and I literally had to sneak you into your house so you wouldn't get in trouble with your parents."Chloe smiled at the memory. "Yeah, I remember, but my parents would have been mad anyways…Even without the drinking. I snuck out, remember? Those were fun times indeed," But that was then and things weren't the same anymore. In fact a lot of things were different now, she thought. The last time she was here, they had been a couple and she couldn't deny that it was one of the times in her life when she had been genuinely happy. They had talked and made plans for the future... None of those plans were actualiz
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He pressed a finger to her lips. “Shh. I don’t want to hear that word cross your lips. It’s me who is sorry. I was an ass. I said despicable things to you.”Her eyes widened, and she felt the ridiculous urge to cry again, as if she hadn’t done enough of that in the last few days.“First, I want to talk about this,” he said as he drew out the dreaded newspaper clipping from his pocket. She froze, her stomach seizing with dread.“Don’t look like that. I don’t believe a word of it. But it’s obviously an important part of your past. It hurt you and it’s affected a good portion of our relationship. I want you to tell me what really happened.”Her lips trembled and she twisted her hands nervously in her lap. “I got out of college, intending to rule the world. I loved it…I loved my job. I was in a big, busy city, and I was away from home, away from my family. At the time that was important to me. I was stupid.”“I think we all go through the desperate need to get away from our family,” Timot
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It was written in the guise of an article announcing the deal brokered between Packard Enterprises and Golden Gates promotions. It detailed her job history, colorful as it was, to the present and hinted broadly about there being a relationship between her and Timothy. Nothing was left to the imagination. Everything she’d worked so hard to overcome had been splashed in excruciating detail.She should be angry. Furious even. But what she felt was…..resignation.She looked up into the worried eyes of Bryce as the realization hit her. It would always be something. Timothy was right to be angry that she’d placed more importance on what others thought of her than she did what he thought of her. As long as the people she loved knew the truth, it shouldn’t matter what some stranger thought. Evan believed in her and her abilities. She had the backing of her agency. She had people who loved her unconditionally. Timothy evidently didn’t care who knew they were involved, so why should she?For th
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Love was such a messy emotion. It was bound to be inconvenient. You sure couldn’t put it on a schedule and love never played by the rules. He liked rules. And schedules.. Ah, hell, he was absolutely in love with her.It was why he was sitting here in such a terrible mood that his usually easygoing office staff wouldn’t come near him for fear of being decapitated.He looked again at the article, and his chest utterly caved in. Chloe. God, he’d been such an idiot. A complete and utter, madly-in-love moron. He’d reacted just like a petulant child, furious that his favorite toy was being taken away. In this case, Chloe had wanted to put their relationship on hold and all he could see was that she was pushing him away, and sacred that she'd leave him again, he had panicked. He’d been a total ass.She needed him. Needed his support. And he’d told her to take a hike. Worse, he’d arrogantly told her not to bother changing her mind and come crawling back. He winced. Holy hell in a bucket but
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She sighed. “I’m in love with him. And now he hates me.”All four men’s mouths rounded into Os. There was marked silence, and she regretted having blurted out that fact. Love was girly stuff, and none of the men looked like they had a clue what to say or do next.“Look, I appreciate you guys. I love you all to pieces. I don’t know what I would do without you. I don’t expect you to fix this for me. I’m not a little girl anymore. I’ll figure out something. I just needed a place to lick my wounds and regroup.”Peter frowned. “Now, you wait just one damn minute. You’re family, Chloe. I don’t care how old or how big you are.”Even Darell scowled and nodded his agreement. Bryce merely squeezed her hand and told her bluntly to shut up.“You can always come to us when you need us and we'll be here for you,” Darell said in his soft, gravelly voice. “That doesn't and will never change. We love you and we’ll always be here for you to come running to. You got that?”“Yeah, I do.”“Now come here
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"Maybe you did… or maybe not," Chloe replied. "I think I did the same with Timothy, and I understand how you feel. But you and Tina are soul mates. You have been married for years. You have been been through so much together, and I believe that if any couple can pull through this, then the both of you can… just like you did before" "How is that supposed to happen when she won't even let me see her or speak to her? She fucking hates me" "I don't think she does. As a woman, I understand her perfectly. You screwed up, don't pressure her into forgiving you. That will only make her resent you even more. Give her some space. The truth is that you can't make her forgive you, so what you have to do now is stay away… even if it's for a while and let her decide if she wants you back""And if she doesn't?" Evan asked, dreading the reply. "Then you have to live with it. It's hard, but it's the consequences of your actions. That's life…" Evan felt dejected and stared at the closed door for a w
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There was a wary look in his eye that warned her this wouldn’t be easy. But then he didn’t give a damn about what people thought. He wasn’t ruled by the opinions of others. As she had so many times before, she wished she could be like him. Instead of answering him, she rummaged in her bag for the stupid gossip rag and then she thrust it at him as if it was self-explanatory. And it was in a way. He glanced over the paper and then looked back up at her. “So? What’s the problem?” he asked. She knew he’d react that way. Positively knew it, and it drove her crazy. She wanted to scream and rail at him, but she’d come across as some hysterical banshee, and then he’d never take her concerns seriously.“That’s not all,” she said stiffly. “It’s all over the Internet. An advertising community site has it on their blog along with some snotty little line about how I got the account after the announcement of you signing with golden gates.”He looked blankly at her. “I fail to see what the big dea
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With a sigh, she explained the whole sorry tale about her her history with Timothy, their reunion and their trip to the beach house. She left out the mushy details she’d shared with Ann. Evan was, after all, A. her boss and B. a man. He didn’t need to know that she’d stupidly fallen in love with a man she’d be working with for a long time to come. It made things entirely too messy. What if they broke up? Would Evan feel weird about continuing the relationship with Packard enterprises or would he take his business elsewhere?There were a million reasons why she should have never ever gotten involved with Timothy , and yet, she hadn’t heeded any of the warning signs.“I overheard what Ann said about how it shouldn’t matter to me how you got the account. I won’t lie. It doesn’t. Furthermore, it’s none of my business unless you broke the law or did something to damage the reputation of Golden Gates. I don’t think this qualifies. My concern is for you. I know how devastated you were by wha
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Chloe and Timothy returned from their trip as a couple, but he had to go back to his home and so did she. After a Sunday of fielding curious questions from Bryce and his brothers about where she had been the past week, Chloe was relieved to go into work on Monday. She wasn’t ready to admit to them that she and Timothy were anything more than business associates. She loved them for their undying loyalty and their absolute faith in her. But for some reason she was reluctant to confess to a relationship with Timothy.She was late, thanks to a traffic snarl that lasted an entire hour and an already late start from her apartment. By the time she made it off the elevator, it was closing in on noon, and her mood was in the toilet.When she saw Caroline, she knew something was wrong. The usually cheerful receptionist eyed Chloe with something that looked suspiciously like pity, and she refused to hold her gaze for long. Not even wanting to know what that was all about, Chloe bypassed her usua
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Evan Reese opened the front door of his house and headed straight to the kitchen. His wife, Christina stood at a table, frosting a cake. She looked up in surprise to see her husband and dropped the piping bag. "You are back, " she said. "Is something wrong? Did you forget something?" Evan shook his head. "No… I mean… yes." He scratched his head and then buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply, which made Christina even more concerned. She immediately washed her hands in the sink and came towards him, but when she reached out to touch him, he pulled away. "Please don't. Not right now please." said Evan. He was afraid that if he let her touch him, he would change his mind about doing the right thing. He wanted to keep his marriage, but he knew that secrets like this were of no use. They usually ended up coming to light, and he feared that the damage it might cause would be even worse. It was best to rip out the bad aid and face the consequences of his actions. "Tina, there's s
