Dangerous Curves 2: The Good Girl (A Billionaire and BBW erotica romance) (9 page)

“I’m not going to run away. If there’s one thing you should know about me, Violet, it’s that I don’t scare easily.

I lean into Nick, willing this moment to last forever.

“Yes,” I answer, my voice barely above a whisper.

It is a simple word, but it is the truth.

I am his. All his. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“You’re so lucky,” Katie sighed. “I’d give anything to take a trip to Europe. I’ve only been out of the country once, and that was just a 4-day cruise. Considering how seasick I got, it wasn’t even that much fun.”

It was
later that night and Katie was helping me throw together a few items to take on my journey to The Maldives. I had promised Nick I wouldn’t tell anyone where we were going, and it was a promise I was going to keep.

Katie had vowed to keep watch over my apartment while I was gone. And Nick had told me he’d handle Mariah, making sure I got an extension on my Darlean Donovan article.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d be gone – as he’d said, maybe a few weeks, maybe more – but I didn’t have the time or suitcase room to pack many things.

“We can buy whatever you need once we get there,” Nick had said. “It’s just important that we leave town immediately.

Davis was picking me up to go to Teterboro in fifteen minutes. The plane was waiting, and Nick had promised to meet me there. He still had a few loose ends to tie up before we left, but they shouldn’t take too long.

“I have a security firm here in New York, and I need to check in with them, make sure everything is in order before we go.”

As it turned out, Nick’s security firm had been watching me for weeks. The man I’d thought to be paparazzi – both at Colette’s and outside Katie’s apartment that morning – was a member of his team. Unbeknownst to me, Nick had taken great pains to ensure my safety – as well as the safety of my friends and co-workers.

I didn’t know much about what was going on, about why Nick was in danger, but
it gave me great comfort nonetheless to know he’d been looking out for me all this time.

“I want your life,” Katie
said, as we packed the last few of the items I’d be taking to “Europe.”

I laughed lightly. What a thing to say! The fact that a gorgeous, successful girl like Katie would want to trade places with me, Violet Lewis, would have been laughable. If I didn’t agree with her myself.

I loved my life, more than I ever knew was possible.

And it wasn’t just Nick.

I was brimming with confidence, basking in the glow of the lead article that I would write on Darlean Donovan (Nick had arranged for me to e-mail it to Mariah at the beginning of the following week; I’d be working on it while we were in the Maldives).

“I can’t b
elieve Nick cleared it with Mariah for you to get an entire two weeks off from work!” Katie said, as we finished putting my stuff into suitcases. “I’m going to miss you so much.” She leaned forward and hugged me, tightly.

“I’m going to miss you, too.”

I was so happy things were good between us again.

“I’m still worried for you,” Katie had said. “But mostly, I’m just happy for you. Even if this doesn’t work out how you’re hoping, you will have still had an incredible experience, the kind most people only dream about. And you’re taking chances. I admire you for that.”

I hugged her back tightly. “I’ll miss you, too,” I said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything while you’re gone,” she promised, with a nod toward my persnickety old cat.

“Thanks,” I told her. “You’re the best.”

Katie smiled. “You’d better get going.” She peered out the window. “Your driver just arrived.”

# # #

I was to wait for Nick in his private lounge at Teterboro airport. He had champagne, white wine, and an assortment of fruits and cheeses waiting for me when I got there.

“I’ll just be a few minutes late. Make yourself at home until I get there.”

I had done just that, feasting on strawberries and cheese and sipping champagne while I waited.

And waited.

And waited….

Where was he?

As the minutes ticked down, my last conversation with Nick ran through my mind.

He had promised to run to me, not from me.

“I don’t scare easily.”

His words played through my mind as I stared out the window of the executive lounge, waiting for his private plane
to touch down, waiting to see him step out off the staircase and race across the tarmac toward me, waiting, I feared, for a moment that would never come.

I have never been much of a clock-watcher, but I stood there in those agonizing minutes – all one hundred and twenty of them – staring as the second hand made its way around the clockface again and again.

Two hours passed, before I finally gave up and caught a taxi cab back home.

All that anticipation, all those soft words of love, and in the end he was still the same old Nick. The same playboy I’d always thought him to be.

The playboy who made you a promise, and then never showed.

# # #

“I guess he went without me,” I sobbed, after having the cab driver deposit me at Katie’s apartment. She hadn’t expected me to show up, and as such, had been having a diet coke (an odd choice, considering she usually ordered cocktails) in the bar on the first floor of her complex while she waited for her date to show up.

“Violet,” she said, when I walked in. She looked stricken, stunned, a
lmost as if she’d seen a ghost.

“I’m sorry, Katie, I should have called first,” I sobbed, stumbling over to her table.

“No! It’s not that! It’s just, I – I’ve been trying to call you for thirty minutes!”

“I turned my phone off,” I said miserably. It was true. After finally giving up on ever hearing from
Nick, I had switched my iPhone off so that, if he did call, he’d get stuck with voicemail.

“You tried to warn me
about him,” I said, sitting down at the high-top table. “You tried to tell me the truth.”

“Violet,”
Katie grabbed hold of my shoulders and shook them. “Will you listen to me?!”

There was something in her tone that stopped me in my tracks. “What is it?”

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for thirty minutes. I’ve called your mom, I’ve called everyone. I’m not down here in the bar waiting on a date. I’m here waiting on the police!”

“What?” I asked, startled.

“Nicholas Colby didn’t leave town without you. He didn’t hop on his plane and go behind your back. In fact, he never even made it to the airport.”

She pointed towards the row of
TVs lining the wall over the bar, where a breaking news report was dominating the screens.

Nick’s picture was splashed across the closest one, with a stream of words running by down below.

I tried to read the screen, but
words began to swim together. I felt myself going weak in the knees and I fell sideways, bracing myself against the top of the table for support.

It
couldn’t be…it wasn’t possible…..

But there it was, blaring out from every major news
outlet on every TV, were the words:

Billionaire Nicholas Colby is missing and presumed dead.

.

DANGEROUS CURVES 3

COMING SOON!

Special sneak preview

Chapter
Two

“Violet Lewis?” The voice on the other end of the phone was unrecognizable.

“Yes,” I replied.

“I have an urgent phone call for you. Are you free to talk?”

I stepped out of the room and shut the door. “I am.”

A moment later, a familiar voice came on the line.

It was Nick!
So the telegram wasn’t a fake! Nick was alive and well…in hiding. That didn’t change the fact that he had left me to believe he was dead for more than twenty-four hours.

“How could you do this?” I exploded. “You promised you would run to me, not away from me! I thought that you were dead!” I cried, the sobs racking my body as I clutched the phone tightly.

“Violet, I didn’t know. I couldn’t have imagined that would happen. I know it’s asking a lot, but please, forgive me.”

This time, it was Nick who interjected before I could answer.

“I need to see you.” His voice was desperate, urgent. “Please.”

I wanted, more than anything in this world, to be with him right then, to feel his powerful body pressed tightly on top of mine, his soft, firm lips hungrily ravishing my skin.

But after everything that ha
d happened, could I ever trust him again?

I want to start by thanking you for picking up this book.

I also want to thank you for your patience. When I started the
Dangerous Curves
series last year, I fully intended to have the sequel out in the summer, with volume three soon to follow.

As I quickly learned, and as I suspect many of you know all too well, life has a way of messing with our carefully laid plans.

Last July, at approximately 4 a.m. in the morning, I received the phone call that we all hope to never get. My husband’s brother had passed away unexpectedly. I have no words to explain how terrible this was, other than to say he was a wonderful man and he was dearly loved.

In the weeks following his death, life as we knew it greatly changed. Much time was spent traveling to be with family and attend to their needs. It has now been more than six months since he died, but not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. 

It took a very, very long time to get back on track with my writing. I missed a lot of deadlines. I promised to deliver the book on numerous occasions, and then turned around and asked for an extension.

I want to thank those readers who have stood by me and patiently, kindly waited for this installment.

Violet is a very special character to me (and, all right, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that she was slightly based on me – er, the version of me and my life I kinda wish existed).

I promise not to take so long with the third b
ook. I’m happy to announce that book three will be a
full-length
romantic adventure featuring Violet and Nicholas. Look for it this summer.

Happy reading and best wishes!

~Mel

Thank you so much for reading the long-awaited second installment of the
Dangerous Curves
trilogy!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the book! In case you’re curious, here’s a bit of info about me:

Like Violet, I am plus-sized, and have been since I was a young girl, so she is a character who is very close to my heart.

I love hearing from my readers! Drop me a line at
[email protected]
or visit me online at
www.melodybanks.com
. You can also like my Facebook page where you’ll find information about upcoming releases, special book giveaways, reader contests and more!

www.facebook.com/melodybanksbooks

Happy reading!

Hugs,

Melody

Look for the third installment of
Dangerous Curves
out this summer!