Just What She Wants (6 page)
They took hold of her hands.
“My parents died when I was a teenager. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. Spending Christmas with James was a big deal for me. I expected him to arrive at six on Christmas Eve. At seven I had a text to say he didn’t want to see me anymore.”
Why did it still bloody hurt?
“He said he’d won the lottery, wanted to explore the world and other women, and intended to spend Christmas with his parents.” She bit her lip. “I didn’t move until the following morning. I sat and stared at the Christmas tree and wished Santa was real and could make everything right again. Then I put all the presents in a sack to give to charity, threw the tree and everything on it away, ripped down the decorations, cleaned the window, tossed out the stuff in the fridge, and decided I’d never do Christmas again.”
She gulped. “Damn. Didn’t mean to blurt all that out. Sorry. I’m okay now. Over him and everything, but he did spoil Christmas.”
“Bastard,” Kyle spat.
“Fucking bastard,” Marc said.
“Fucking stupid bastard.” Kyle squeezed her fingers.
“Fucking stupid asshole of a bastard.” Marc’s eyes blazed.
“Yep,” she said and couldn’t help chuckling. “He was.”
“We’re not,” they said at the same time.
She smiled. “No, you’re not. You’re just what I want.”
Epilogue
Dear Madam Eve,
Thank you so much for arranging the INS for my friend, Indie. She’s been so unhappy and now I can hear the sunshine back in her voice. You’re the best.
Love Lisa
Dear Madam Eve,
It was you, wasn’t it, who brought Indie into our lives? Thank you. After the accident, you said we had to wait until we were ready for our third and we did. Now life is perfect.
Regards
Marc Cantrell and Kyle Landon
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.
After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.
She writes contemporary and paranormal erotic romance and dark suspense stories.
You can visit Barbara at:
Some crimes can never be forgotten
.
Kate Evans doesn’t take risks. She chose her apartment with care—a safe district with a good neighbor—a place where she can live a quiet, unassuming, under-the-radar existence. Then she makes one mistake and opens her door to accept a delivery of flowers from a secret admirer and her life will never be the same again. A guy she’s never seen before bursts into her apartment and asks her to marry him. Jack Thompson won’t take
no
for an answer and drags Kate on a cross country journey to hell.
Invalided out of the police, Nathan Beranson works as a private investigator in San Antonio, Texas where he spends too much of his time following unfaithful spouses and delivering the bad news to their partners. When his fiancée cheats on him with Jack Thompson, the half-brother Nathan’s only just met, he becomes obsessed with Jack in the same unhealthy way as his revenge-seeking clients. By the time Nathan finally realizes putting the ghosts of the past to rest is a wiser option than settling an old score, it’s too late. He’s already been drawn into his sibling’s latest deadly game and Nathan and Kate find their nightmare is only just beginning.
A 1Night Stand Story
Always driving through life along the straight and narrow, Hollie wants a break from staying within the lines. She hopes a hookup at 1NightStand with a tall fair-haired guy who’s organized and sensible, likes small-breasted brunettes, and can deal with any crisis life throws at him, will jar her from the mundane path she’s been on.
Except what seemed like the perfect plan when she set off, turns into the worst idea ever as the snow falls thickly. Slipping and sliding, her arms numb from clenching the wheel, she becomes frantic to avoid what’s looming in front of her.
Dark-haired Nick is on his way to a party with hopes of connecting with a busty blonde—assuming he’s even on the right road and can dig himself out of a heap of snow before he freezes solid. Too bad he never plans ahead, no coat and no shovel in the car, and soon he won’t even see a road at all, let alone any vehicle barrelling down it.
When two hearts get lost in a snowstorm of what they think they want, can Madame Eve's magic put them back on the right track?
