A Dangerous Widow (A Dangerous Series) (27 page)

“Tonight, in front of all our friends, I’m
asking you to marry me.
 
Because I
can’t imagine living life without you by my side.
 
I can’t imagine not having you as my partner.
 
I love you more than you’ll ever
know.
 
So, please say yes.
 
Because more than anything, I want to be
your husband.”

I covered my hand over my mouth as my eyes
filled with tears.

“Oh, Ben,” I said.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

I was a trembling wreck when I reached out
to take his face in my hands so I could lean in and kiss him.

“Of course I will.
 
Because I’m just as in love with
you.
 
And I want to spend the rest
of my life with you.”

Rhoda lifted her glass higher and smiled as
she took a sip.

“You already knew, didn’t you?” I asked her.

“Oh, toots, I so knew.
 
And cheers to both of you!”

When she said that, the whole room erupted
into applause.
 
In a haze, I watched
Ben pluck the ring out of the box and place it on my ring finger.
 
It was just as dazzling and as
breathtaking as this moment was.
 
While I held out my hand so the women at the table could swoon over it,
Ben’s lips met mine, and we kissed deeply.
 
We told each other that we loved one another—and I knew at that
moment that my life hadn’t just changed forever, but that it also had changed
for the better.

#
 
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Thank you for reading
A Dangerous Widow
.
 
I hope you enjoyed it and will read more
in the series as it continues with new books.
 

If you’d like to read more about Jennifer,
Alex, and Blackwell, follow their story in the
Annihilate
Me
series, which has sold 1.5 million copies in six different
languages worldwide and has over 1,000 5-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Below are the first three chapters—at
the end of which is a link that will allow you to download the first volume onto
your preferred reading device for
FREE
.
 
Get ready for more romantic suspense,
because that’s what the
Annihilate Me
series is
all about!
 

Here’s the book’s description:

The business of love is dangerous.

For Jennifer Kent, a recent MBA graduate who
has been searching for work in Manhattan for four long months, time and money
are running out. If she doesn’t find work soon, she’ll need to return to her
native Maine, where the job situation is even bleaker.

And where her abusive parents lie in wait.

But when an unorthodox arrangement is
proposed, Jennifer decides to take it. She agrees to be the “girlfriend” of
Alexander Wenn, the reluctant, billionaire CEO of Wenn Enterprises, who is so
devastatingly good looking, he needs a beautiful woman like Jennifer on his arm
to “keep the wolves at bay.”

In this case, the wolves are other women who
vie for his attention so aggressively, they keep him from focusing on business
at the exclusive social events he must attend.
 
Damaged by a past loss, the only thing
Alex wants to do is focus on work.
 

And also forget the past.

But can Jennifer deny their white-hot
chemistry?
 
As she’s swept into this
glittering otherworld of society and big business, she finds herself struggling
to keep from falling for Alex, an almost impossible challenge she nevertheless
must meet.

Armed with her MBA, Jennifer Kent knows
about business.
 
But what she
doesn’t know about is what could destroy her—the business of protecting
her heart.

And maybe her life.

ANNIHILATE
ME, VOL. 1

BOOK ONE

CHAPTER ONE

New York City

August

In my suffocating,
one-bedroom, prison camp of an East Village apartment, I stood in front of the
narrow mirror attached to my broken closet door and saw an older, messier
version of myself staring back at me.
 
I wondered who the hell was she—a distant relative, a long lost
sibling, my ugly stepsister?
 
All of
the above?
 
But then I was too
distracted by the sweat coming through my white blouse to be sure or to even
care.

What am I thinking?
 
I look ridiculous.
 
Not even ice in a freezer could keep
cool in this heat.
 
Call and cancel.
 
Tell them there has been a death in the
family—my hair.
 

“This isn’t going to work,”
I called out.
 
“My makeup is running
down my face, my hair looks like a hot mess because of the humidity, and my
clothes are starting to make the Hudson look dry.
 
Why couldn’t I have found a job in May
or June?
 
Or even July?
 
I could be in a comfortable,
air-conditioned office right now, doing my work, making light chit-chat with my
elegant co-workers, laugh, laugh, laughing with them over the water cooler, and
getting something I’ll apparently never see in this city—a paycheck.
 
But, oh no!
 
For whatever reason, no one wants to
hire me.
 
So, today, I’ll go and sit
in front of some other prickly HR professional who will judge me to be unworthy
and send me on my way.”

I waited for a response,
but none came.

I grabbed a magazine off my
bed and started to fan myself with it.
 
I walked to the doorway that entered into the living room, and found my
best friend and roommate, Lisa Ward, typing at a quick clip on her MacBook Pro.
 
She was nearing the end of her second
novel, which she’d upload to Amazon in a few weeks.
 
Given the success she enjoyed with her
first book, which was an overall Top 100 best seller, I knew my time with Lisa
might be brief if this book also took off.
 
And I hoped it would, if only for her.
 
Lisa had worked hard and she deserved
it.
 
At least one of us could enjoy
our lives.

“You’re awfully quiet,” I
said.

“That’s because while you
were in a full-on rant, I was taking notes.
 
I’m going to use that mother of a
tantrum for a scene in the new book.
 
You were brilliant.”

“You’re putting me in your
book?”

“I’m putting that rant in
the book.”

“Tell me I’ll receive a
royalty of some kind.”

“How about dinner out?
 
Like at a hot dog stand?
 
We can afford that.”

“Works for me.
 
I’m Raman-noodled out.”

Lisa pulled her blonde hair
away from her face, wrapped it into a ponytail, and turned to look at me.
 
Her skin was shiny from the heat, but
even from where I stood, it appeared poreless.
 
Lisa was one of those beautiful young
women who could go without makeup and still look chic.
 
She often said the same about me, though
I never believed it.
 
I’d never seen
what others saw in me.
 
I only
wished I had Lisa’s confidence.

“So, where is this
interview?”

“At Wenn Enterprises.”

“Never heard of it, but I’m
not the business type.
 
What’s the
job?”

“Oh, you’ll love this.”

“What?”

“I may have my master’s
degree in business—you know, the one that has sucker-punched me with
forty thousand dollars’ worth of debt—but because I’m essentially broke,
I’m now going for a secretarial job.”

“Jennifer—”

“It’s fine.
 
Wenn Enterprises is a successful
conglomerate.
 
Here’s what I’m
thinking.
 
If I can get my foot in
the door as a secretary, someone might see something in me, and in a few
months, I’ll have the job I’ve been seeking.”

“I told you I’d give you money.
 
The book is doing well, and this one is
better than the first one, so maybe it’ll do better.”

“I appreciate that,
Lisa.
 
But I need to get out of this
mess on my own.
 
I still have a
little left in savings.
 
Enough to pay
for next month’s rent, but then I don’t know what I’ll do.
 
If I don’t get a job, I might have to go
home.”

“Why would you ever leave
New York for Bangor, Maine?
 
Why
would you ever go back to your toxic parents?
 
They just bring you down.”

“The reality is that there
is a bomb attached to my bank account, and it’s about ready to explode.
 
I’ve been frugal ever since we came here
in May—no bars, no boys, no eating out, no new clothes, not even a
latte—and it turns out I did the right thing.
 
Otherwise, I would have been out of here
at the end of June.”

“You know,” she said,
“maybe you should consider a waitressing job at one of the city’s better
restaurants.
 
You could clean up
there at night, and then you could look for a job during the day.
 
It wouldn’t be easy, but if there’s one
thing I know about you, Jennifer, it’s that you’re tireless.
 
The servers at some of the best
restaurants make serious money.
 
Six
figures a year isn’t uncommon here—and not many of them look as good as
you do.
 
Stop underestimating your
looks.
 
I think you’re not getting a
job because you intimidate the women who are interviewing you.”

I overlooked the
comment.
 
I just didn’t see in the
mirror what others saw in me.
 
Never
had, never would.
 
“I’ve actually thought
about waitressing.
 
And I do have
experience, though hardly at a high-end restaurant.
 
Essentially, I shucked pizzas and beers
to get through college.”

Lisa held out her
hands.
 
“What you got at Pat’s is
experience.
 
Whoever hires you will
likely train you to serve their customers in the manner they expect
anyway.
 
Think about it.
 
It would give you the money you need,
and allow you to look for a job during the day.
 
If this interview doesn’t work out, that
might be the magic bullet.”

She was right.
 
“Sorry I freaked out earlier.”

“I’m not.
 
That shit was good.”
 
Her face softened, and she looked at me
with concern.
 
“I just wish you
weren’t going through this.
 
I know
it’s been difficult.
 
I’ve seen how
hard you’ve worked to find something.
 
It’ll happen at some point, but I’m as frustrated as you are that it
hasn’t happened yet.
 
You deserve a
good job.”

“We’re a team,” I
said.
 
“Always have been.”

“Since fifth grade.”

“How’s the book coming?”

“I’m actually digging
it.
 
The zombies are ferocious in
this one.
 
I think I might have the
first draft done by the end of this week, and then it’s all about the editing,
which is good, because editing is the best part.
 
You just slice and dice the words,
reassemble them, read and re-read, get the book into its best possible shape,
and put it out there.”

“When can I read it?”

“The day it’s
finished.
 
You’re a great
proofreader.”
 
Her eyes
widened.
 
“Hello.
 
This town is filled with
publishers.
 
Have you considered
that avenue?”

“I’m a business grad.
 
They want English majors from Harvard.”

“I wouldn’t rule it out.
 
You can do anything.
 
I’ve always told you that.”

“You’re the best.
 
I love you.”

“I love you, too.
 
It’ll get better.”

“I hope so.
 
It’s only the first week of August, and
this is my seventh interview this month.”

“Lucky seven.
 
Now, go and take the hairdryer to
yourself.
 
Put it on cool, blot your
face with a clean towel, and air yourself off.
 
I’m giving you money for a cab, and I
won’t take no for an answer.
 
Seriously.
 
Don’t even start
with me.
 
You need air
conditioning.
 
If this new book
takes off, I’ll buy us one for the apartment.”

If this new book takes off,
I’m afraid I’ll lose you, which is another reason I have to find a job.

“OK,” I said.
 
“But you need to let me pay you back for
the cab when I get a job.”

“Fine.
 
Whatever.
 
Now, scoot.
 
Your appointment is in ninety
minutes.
 
Traffic might be tight.”