Reciprocity

ReciprocityCopyright © K.I. Lynn This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. This work is copyrighted. All rights are reserved. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the author. Cover design/Interior Graphics by Lori Jackson Designs EditorsMarti LynchChanse LowellN Isabelle Blanco Publication Date: June 9, 2014Genre: FICTION/Romance/EroticaCopyright © 2014 K.I. LynnAll rights reserved

 It was mid-morning when an event popped up in my email. I opened it up to find an all-hands meeting scheduled in thirty minutes. My gaze moved over the piles and piles of work we had, and I sighed. I’d been doing that a lot lately—sighing my way through the day. It was never a good time for a meeting, and it was the usual meet and greet of some new employee to the firm.Begrudgingly, Owen and I moved toward the conference room where everyone was milling around, waiting for the meeting to start. After a few minutes, Jack Holloway—boss and ruler almighty—walked in the back door to the room and asked for everyone to settle down.“Good morning, everyone! I know it’s a busy day, but what day isn’t? I’ll try to make this short,” he began.I felt a buzzing in my pocket and discreetly pulled my phone out, looking down at the message from Nathan.Things went well. Tell you all about it soon. We can celebrate tonight. Oh, yeah, and you’re beautiful as fuck. Can’t stop thinking about

 “You two look like the cat that ate the canary. What’s going on?” Dr. Morgenson asked, looking between us.“We’re getting married in two weeks.” Nathan smiled, but his eyes hardened as he stared at the good doctor, almost as if warning him.Darren blinked, his gaze shifting between us, studying. Then a chuckle slipped from the smile forming on his face. He shook his head and continued to laugh.“What?” Nathan asked. It was obvious he was as confused at Dr. Morgenson’s reaction as I was.“I’m beginning to wonder if you even need me anymore. The rate at which you’re improving is astonishing and has very little to do with me,” he said as he lifted his glasses and wiped away the tears in his eyes.I leaned forward and shook my head. “But we owe you so much.”His eyebrows shot up and he chuckled. “I mediate at best. I get you to open up to each other and communicate. But it’s been months since you’ve needed me in that capacity. I am in no way saying you’re both fine, but I bel

 Meeting with the event coordinator, Marie, went smoothly. She was a petite brunette with a curvy figure, round face, and wide, bright green eyes that stood out against her tanned skin. Her bubbly and open personality set me at ease the moment we met.She’d done a great job asking all the questions in the few short weeks before the wedding and rolling it all together in time. Granted, I wasn’t a bridezilla. I let her fill in a lot of the blanks. In the end, I had a feeling she liked having the freedom to plan a wedding for a bride who wasn’t so specific on every single detail. Especially with the short timeline.Marie snapped her binder closed and stood after going over everything with us. “All right, I’ll see all of you back here in two hours for the dress rehearsal. Hopefully you can round up the men by then.” She snickered and waved as she headed back to her office.I was so happy to have her. She’d made the whole process so much easier and kept me from having a panic atta

Nathan Waking up in paradise was bittersweet. It was the last day of our honeymoon, and we were heading back to Indianapolis in a few short hours. Lila was snuggled into my side, naked, as the sounds of the ocean filled my ears and the warmth of the sun coming through the windows heated my skin.A part of me wanted to stay. If we were two thousand miles away, Marconi would never know what transpired a week ago. Going home meant the possibility, a very good one, of him finding out about Lila. No matter how much I tried to beat back the fear, it still sat in the back of my mind—the beast prowling in his iron cage. He knew and tore at my insides to remind me. My chest tightened at just the thought of it all.I stroked my fingers up and down her arm, staring at the white gold band on my hand, still in awe that I’d done it.“Fuck. Me,” I whispered as I watched the ring on my finger while my hand drifted up her side.She twitched, but otherwise she kept still and was completely