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2025-03-31 16:29:15
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The Fated Fake Marriage 16
“Organza,” Eliza purrs.My eyebrows rise. “Oh.” Jeez.“These are the tops our dancers wear with these bottoms.” She pulls out the bottom drawer and it is filled with coffee-colored, short, leather hot pants.I hate to admit it, but with the cream and caramel color palettes mixed with the leather and lace, it really gives off an expensive, sexy feel.“They don’t wear the skirts?” I frown.“No, it’s hard to straddle a seated man, lap dance in a tight leather skirt, and still maintain your dignity.”Not the answer I was expecting, but okay. She leads me through into another room where there is a beauty salon and two European male hairdressers.“Franco and Merrin, meet Vivienne.”They both look me up and down and smile.I nervously pull my woolen dress down. This is all just so… weird.“You get all of your beauty and hair needs looked after free of charge when you work here.” Eliza’s eyes flicker to me. “And the laser hair removal is on the house.”Shit. Well, blow me down. That’s a servi
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31The Fated Fake Marriage 17
I wake to feel small warm arms around my ribs from behind. My bed partner has stuck to his usual routine. Every night, Owen crawls into bed with me. I never know exactly how or when he comes in. I just know that some time between night and morning I will feel his little arms cuddling my back and he stays there until I wake.He kisses my back through my pajamas and I smile with my eyes still closed. “Morning, Owie,” I whisper sleepily.“Hi, Mom,” his husky little voice replies.I roll onto my back and put my arm underneath his head, my eyes are still closed. “I thought we were going to try and sleep in your bed all night. Remember, we were going to buy you a new truck if you did?” I murmur. I’ve stooped to bribery, but at this point I will do whatever it takes.“I just don’t like it in there,” he announces.“Hmm.” I sigh with my eyes still closed. I lean and kiss his forehead. “What’s on today, buddy?”“Cornflakes?”“Yeah. Okay.” I doze for a moment. “Momma’s tired today?”“Rise and sh
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31The Fated Fake Marriage 18
“Hello, I’m here to start today,” I say nervously through the glass window.The receptionist looks at me over the top of her glasses. “What are you here for, dear?”I try to calm the nerves in my stomach. “I have an internship that starts today.” I’m nervous as all hell. God, I hope I get a nice doctor.“What doctor are you with, dear” She smiles kindly.I shuffle around in my bag and pull out the printed email I have. I quickly scan the document for a name. Oh, there it is. “A Dr. Stanton.”“Oh, yes, Dr Stanton is on level three in the cardiology west wing. His PA will be there, along with the other interns.”I smile. “Thank you.”I stuff the email back into my bag and head to the elevators. My heart is somersaulting in my chest as I ride up to level three and make my way down to the cardiology wing. Eventually, down the track I would love to be a cardiologist, and that’s why I applied with Dr. Stanton.Hearts fascinate me.They’re the center of our very existence. Very few cardiolog
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31The Fated Fake Marriage 19
Why should it matter if I’m a married or single mother?Anyway, I lied and said that I don’t have kids. They will never know and I can work without the whole ‘you go first, I know your kid is waiting’ vibe.“You guys ready?” Marci smiles.We all stand and follow her out into the corridor where we loiter around the reception as we wait. This really is exciting.“Oh my God, there he is,” Amber whispers.I turn to look up the corridor and see a male in a navy suit talking to a nurse. His back is to us, and I do have to admit from where I am standing, he does look pretty good. He throws his head back and laughs out loud at something she has said.Jeez.“Holy shit,” she whispers as she grabs my hand in excitement.I bite my bottom lip and drop my head to hide my smirk. This Dr. Barbie chick is kind of funny. I can see us being friends.I glance back up as he turns and my face drops.What?Holy fuck.No… it can’t be.That cheeky smile. I would know it anywhere.Vegas guy.I frown as the flo
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31The Fated Fake Marriage 20
Dr. Stanton turns and smiles in acknowledgment to her before she disappears up the hallway with her screaming kids, then he turns back to his friend. “This is why condoms were the greatest ever invention,” he casually whispers.“Deserves a Nobel prize,” the other doctor replies.What? I frown.Is he kidding? Who the hell does this twat think he is?Condoms are the best thing ever invented. Well, he obviously hates kids.I begin to hear my heart beat in my ears. And to think… I thought he was actually hot. He’s an arrogant fucking asshole.“I’m going to the bathroom,” I whisper to Amber.“Sure thing.”I turn and walk up the hallway.“Ashley?”I turn to see Cameron behind me. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”I swallow my nerves. “Okay.”“In here?” He opens a door into an office.I follow him into the small space and he closes the door behind me.His eyes soften and he appears nervous. “I came looking for you.”I frown.“I came to New York looking for you. I lost my phone with your numb
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31The Fated Fake Marriage 21
My brother Joshua—Stan as we call him—walks into the gym dressed to train after finishing work. We are in his office building gym, and it’s 5pm in the afternoon. We come here most days, and although he is only in LA a few days a week, Murph and I are here daily. This is the only reliable place where we get to see each other. Obviously, Stan and Murph work together, but with my crazy work schedule and all of us busy on weekends, this sixty minutes a day with my two best friends is sacred. When they are not annoying the fuck out of me, that is.Stan frowns as he sees me and walks over to the treadmill to watch me for a moment. Murph joins him and they stand in front of me, both smirking.“Fuck… off,” I pant. “I’m not in the mood for your fucking shit today.”“Did someone die?” He frowns. Usually I only get like this if I lose a patient. Thankfully, that’s not my reasoning today.“Nobody died,” I grunt, exasperated.“Then what’s up your ass?” Stan asks.“Nothing. I’ve had a prick of a da
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31The Fated Fake Marriage 22
Owen smiles a proud of himself smile.I put my arm around his shoulders and kiss the top of his head. “I know. My little prince.” I begin to press kisses all over his face until he swats me away, laughing.“Stop it, Mom,” he squeals. “Stop it.”Jenna pushes my plate over to me and I look down at the casserole and mashed potatoes she has made.“Thank you.” I grab her hand over the table as emotion overcomes me. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you do all you do.”She smiles warmly. “I know.”Her eyes glance to Owen as he sits beside me, and then she pours me a glass of wine. “I can’t wait to hear all about your day and your new boss.” She widens her eyes in jest. I shovel the first fork full of food into my mouth. “My new boss is nice.” I gesture to the food. “This is delicious.”“And?”I smirk around my mouthful, not wanting to elaborate in front of Owie. “And I will tell you later when I have drunk this bottle of wine.”Two hours later I am trying my hardest to explain
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31The Fated Fake Marriage 23
Leave your car, walk down the stairs, and up the other end is an office.“I’m… I’m going to be late for work,” I stammer in a panic.“Seems so,” he replies sarcastically.Shit!I hang up, lock my car, and half run to the stairs, taking them two at a time. I get to level two, take my heels off, and bolt to the other end of the parking lot with my heels in my hand, with only my stockings hitting the bare ground. I arrive panting and a skinny guy who couldn’t care less looks up at me.“Oh, are you the lady whose parking ticket isn’t working?”“That… would… be me,” I pant. Oh, man, I’m out of shape.I give him the ticket. He scans it and then opens the gate with a button. I watch on his security camera as it rises.“You couldn’t do this for me when I was up there?” I snap. Honestly… some people.“No. I don’t want to get into trouble.” He smiles sarcastically as he hands over my card.I snatch it from him and turn to run back to the stairs and up to my level, and then over to my car. I’m o
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-31
Bab terbaru
The Fated Fake Marriage 170
“Don’t.” I pull from his grip. “And don’t tell me you like it rough, either,” I add. “That is way too much information which I do not need to know.”Abbie grabs Ben’s forearm. “Bridget needs to be punished. You need to take her home right now,” she says seriously. Of all the things she could have said. “In fact, give her one for me,” she adds.“Abbie!” I snap. “Shut the hell up.”Tash puts her hand over her mouth and bursts out laughing.Adrian’s and my eyes widen in horror.Ben nods. “That’s a good idea, Abs.”He grabs my arm and pulls me toward the door, and I snatch my arm from his hold.“Don’t touch me.”“Cut out the dramatics,” he says as he pushes me forward.“Dramatics?” I repeat as I storm toward the door. “You’ve lost the fucking plot.” I exit up the stairs, out onto the water’s edge on the cobblestone pavers.He falls into stride beside me and the ocean breeze whips through my hair.We walk in silence for a while and I glance over at him, seemingly deep in thought.“What are
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Your neck looks edible.I could sink my teeth into it.What?I frown and lift my eyes to his. He holds his beer up in a cheers symbol and takes a drink as his mischievous eyes hold mine. He’s sitting back in his seat, legs wide, and his huge shoulders show off all his power. Unable to help themselves, my eyes roam down to his strong muscular forearms and I swallow the lump in my throat. Honestly… why the hell is he so freaking hot?The conversation carries on around us as my heart rate picks up.Okay, what the actual fuck is going on here? I’m not imagining this.That was a definite flirty text.But what do I write back?Fuck off, asshole. That’s what I need to write. I text back:Vampires aren’t really my thing.He reads his text and smirks. I pick up my drink and sip it as I make eye contact with Adrian, who frowns subtly in question. My phone beeps again.Have you thought about me?I swallow the lump in my throat and immediately text back.Never.A reply bounces back.Liar.I feel
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The table erupts into giggles and I choke on my drink. That is such a Cameron thing to say. Cameron is Joshua’s younger brother, and someone very dear to us all. He’s never serious for a moment, and it’s hard to believe he’s a doctor in L.A. He’s cheeky as all hell and keeps us amused with his wicked one-liners and sense of humor. He has every woman he meets eating out of his hand.“Cameron!” Abbie snaps, feigning shock. “For your information, I do not bang like a barn door.”He smiles into his beer. “I beg to differ.” His eyes dance with delight as he teases.“You wish you knew if I banged like a barn door, Cam,” she replies flatly.He raises his glass with a grin.Joshua frowns. “I think you might need a new phone, Didge.” He narrows his eyes as he concentrates. “The engage seems to be disabled.”I roll my eyes. “Will you speak English? What does that even mean?” He looks up at me and raises a brow. “It means it’s fucked.” He hands it back over the table to Natasha, who hands it to
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“Bring him to me?” I repeat with a raised brow. Is he kidding me? “What are you, Henry VIII now?” Unable to help it, I smirk. “What are you going to do, Ben? Behead him?”His eyes hold mine for an extended moment. “Possibly.” He must realize how ridiculous he just sounded because he smiles sexily. “It’s tempting.”Our eyes lock and a ripple of electricity zaps in the air between us.Cut it out.Silence hangs, but he finally breaks it. “It’s good to see you, Didge. I’ve thought of you often.”My eyes search his. I get a lump of regret in my throat and I just want to shake him for putting me through hell.I force a smile. “You, too.”I don’t mean it. Seeing him only makes it hurt that little bit more, knowing we didn’t work out. Unfortunately, I wasn’t imagining the chemistry we had. I always had hoped that maybe it had been a dream. I thought that if we ever saw each other again it would be like seeing an old friend in the street—I would feel nothing and be happy that I had moved on an
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“He’s not that bad.” I laugh. “And yes, he’s a cop… and he’s smoking hot, so he’s got a lot to love. Keep your opinions to yourself, Abs. Please remember you’re dating a gorilla on steroids. You can’t exactly judge.”Natasha and Abbey laugh, and I glance up and see Max smirking in the rearview mirror.“Yeah, well, that gorilla is an animal. I’m so down with gorillas.”Tash and I smirk because Abbey is a slut—a bona fide, self-confessed, slut. She loves men and sex, and she’s enjoying every perk of being a super attractive single woman. Her hair is long and golden, and she has a kicking body that she shows off unashamedly.She has every man she meets eating out of her hand.Her mantra is no boyfriends, no strings… just fun.And, boy, does she have the fun. I don’t know how she has the energy, to be honest. It seems like a lot of work.The car comes to a slow crawl before it stops, and we climb out to make our way to the bar where we’re all meeting.Joshua, Cameron, Scott, and Adrian ar
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I know he’s strong. I know he’s not a talker. But those nights in his arms were filled with tenderness and love.Where is that man?Because I want him back.I lie in the darkness at 1:00 a.m. The sound of the ocean drifts through the room and the soft breeze rolls over my body. As usual, I’m torturing myself with thoughts of Ben Statham and his beautiful body. Where is he now? Is he asleep?The last time we were together I told him I loved him. I never meant to, but I couldn’t help it. I was all soft and emotional from my orgasm-high, and the words just slipped out.Is that why he ran?I blow out a deep breath and stare at the ceiling as I go over that last night we spent together for the ten-thousandth time.If I knew it was to be our last night together I would have done more, said more,done anything to make him stay.The door opens, and I roll over. My heart catches in my chest.“Ben,” I whisper.He walks in and closes the door behind him, his hands clenching at his sides. He seem
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Cameron looks up and spots me watching him through the window, and he smiles sexily and makes his way across the garden. Before I know it he wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses me.“Permet de se faufiler au lit.” (Translation: Let’s sneak off to bed.) He nibbles on my neck and I smile as I try to wriggle away from him.“No.” I turn, and he takes me in his arms. I look up at him and he kisses me softly. “You know, you’re kind of all right for a farm boy.” My hands drop to his behind and I give it a squeeze. Everything is still gorgeous about my man; he’s only gotten better with age.He smiles sexily down at me. “I’ll show you what a farm boy can really do.”“Dad!” Juliet calls.He rolls his eyes.“Dad!” Zander yells. “Where did you go?”He puffs air in his cheeks and looks out the window, and then smiles broadly as an idea comes to him. He ducks down and crawls through the kitchen and back through the house.“What are you doing?” I ask as he crawls up the hall, towards the
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I nod and scrunch my eyes shut as another contraction comes. My doctor walks into the room. “The doctor is here.”“Put him on,” Cameron asks.I hand the phone to the doctor. “It’s Cameron.”He frowns and takes the phone. “Hello?” He listens for a moment. “Why? Where are you?” he asks. “Just a minute. “He puts the phone down and gives me an internal and then gets back on the phone. “She’s nearly ready to push. I’ll do my best. It’s progressing very fast.” He hands the phone back to me.“Hey, Bloss. I’m coming, babe.”I nod as tears start to roll down my face. He’s not going to make it. I know he’s not.“I love you,” I whisper.“I love you, too. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hangs up.I start to cry, blubbering-mess-crying, and I just want Cameron here. Why, oh, why today of all days?My eyes widen, and then I scrunch them shut.“What is it?” Adrian frowns.“I need to push.”CameronI tear off my gloves and run out of the operating room. I bang the elevator button three times.“Co
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“Get on a plane. I’ll hire you a private plane,” I stammer.“It will take that long getting into one airport and out of the other…it’s quicker if I drive.”Shit.“All right.” I pause for a moment. “Can you leave immediately?”“Yes.” He sighs. “On my way.”I blow out a breath and the nurse wipes the perspiration from my brow. The room falls silent and everyone is edgy. I inhale deeply as I try to calm myself down. “Hanna,” I call.“Yes, Doctor.”“Can you keep in contact with Ashley by phone, please, and let me know if there’s any change, other than that I need to concentrate here.”“Yes, of course.” She pauses for a moment. “Calling her now.”I inhale again as I try to slow my heart to a regular beat.It’s okay, I’m going get there… fate couldn’t be so cruel as to let me miss another birth.Hold on, Bloss... hold on.Ashley“Ahhhhh!” I call as I sit slumped over in the car.Adrian’s eyes are nearly popping from the sockets and he’s driving like a maniac. We’ve been stuck in traffic for
