Something Forever (29 page)
Authors: M. Clarke
My Serenity
(Stand-Alone Spin-off to My Clarity)
Prologue
Seth
“I’m on my way,” I said through the Bluetooth, knowing who it was.
“You have the directions?”
“Of course I have the directions. I told you I was on my way.” I huffed a little. Elijah was like a brother to me, but sometimes he drove me nuts.
“Just checking, ’cause last time you told me you were on your way you lost the directions.”
He was right; the last time we were supposed to meet, I had forgotten the directions at home. I had been helping my mom at the restaurant and didn’t want to drive back to get it. “I called you then,” I reminded. “I didn’t call you now. You called me. Stop being a nag and let me get to you. I’m hanging up.”
“How far are you?”
I was going to be about twenty minutes late, which was my fault because I hadn’t calculated the traffic in the time of destination. “Okay...so I forgot about the traffic.”
“Seth?” His pitch rose. He was not happy with me. “I have to get to work soon. How far are you?”
“You’re just showing me one of the potential spots you’re thinking of proposing to Alex.”
He didn’t answer me, but persisted with the previous question. “How far?”
“About ten.” It was somewhat of the truth. I hoped traffic would be on my side for the next several miles. If so, I would definitely make it in ten minutes.
“Okay, I can do that. Drive carefully.”
“I will, but would you relax? You’re not proposing today.”
“I am relaxed. I’m always relaxed, but not when you’re late.” Elijah was joking, but he tried not to sound like that in his tone.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. The traffic is better now. See you soon.”
“Thanks. Bye.”
“I love you, too,” I mumbled under my breath even though I knew he couldn’t hear; it wasn’t meant to be heard. I was just a little annoyed that the first week I came back from Berkley for a summer vacation, my mom’s employees quit. Not just one, but several of them, so I had to fill in for their shifts. I told her many times to hire more responsible people that needed a job, not just these college students that needed to leave to go home during the summer.
Regardless, I was ecstatic for Elijah. He’d been through so much, but at the end, he finally found his happiness
...Alex. And I couldn’t believe he was going to propose to her. They had lived together for almost two years now at the same condo where they fell in love. The proposing date would be exactly two years they had been together. Leave it to Elijah to be the romantic type. Even though he was known as the player, he knew how to treat girls. I respected him for that, and for many other reasons. He also knew how to swoon them, too. I wasn’t very good at that department, though.
How fast time flew. I couldn’t believe I’d just finished my second year in Business Graduate School at Berkeley. I should be doing my internship with a promising business company, but I decided to come home and help my mom take care of both the restaurant and the body shop, since my dad passed away from heart attack about six months ago. That was the hardest time of my life. Jimmy, Lexy, Elijah, and Alex, and even Emma were there for me. I don’t know what I would have done without them.
Suddenly, the sound of the horn snapped me out of my thoughts. I had to press my brakes really hard and pray that I didn’t hit the car in front of me. Asshole! He almost made me crash into him when he sharply cut in in front of me. He freakin’ cut me off! Not having a great day, I felt confrontational, so I purposely tailgated this person. It was immature, but I couldn’t help the anger that coursed through me like a blazing fire. I’m not the angry type, but I was today...especially when he purposely slowed again even though he had a clear path to pick up speed.
Being blocked on both lanes, I couldn’t swerve to either direction to pass this car. I was just about to change lanes, when he shifted to the left. That bastard slowed down. This was the perfect opportunity to give him the finger. Elijah had mentioned before that that God created our middle fingers for moments like this, and I was going to use it.
When our cars were side by side, I turned my head to get a good look at the asshole...Holy shit! It was a female. She was ‘take my breath away’ gorgeous. My heart did a funny flip inside of my chest and my stomach. And for some reason, my anger subsided. I hated to admit it, but pretty girls could do that to a man.
My finger never lifted as I stared for a brief second, then turned back to see the road ahead of me. Getting into an accident while gawking at a beautiful girl was not a good idea. When her passenger’s side window started to roll down, I turned to her again. The wind tousled her long, brunette hair. Her eyes grew wide, while she bit her bottom lip. Maybe she thought I was cute? Maybe she wanted to get my number? Excited, I rolled down mine, too. Before I could wave to apologize or give her my charming smile, she gave me the bird and shouted, “Asshole!”
Nice! I’d just got burned. I didn’t know why I was so pissed off again, beside the fact that it was her fault in the first place, but I gave her one right back. Her level of beauty went right down with her dirty mouth, not to mention her bad temper. It was too bad. At least it would be the last time I’d ever see her again. I was sure of it when she cut in front of me and sped away.
Read how it all started with My Clarity
My Clarity (Stand-Alone)
A Teaser from
The Bondage Club
By Alexandrea Weis
http://amzn.to/1pNST7z
The veil of evening was reaching across his office window when Hunter’s cell phone on the side of his desk rang. Checking the caller ID, he frowned when he saw that the number was blocked.
“This is Hunter Donovan,” he barked into the phone.
“Do you always answer the phone in such a cheerful manner?” a seductive female voice reprimanded.
“That depends on who this is.”
“Cary told me of your little meeting today, and your interest in my next book. You don’t waste any time do you?”
Hunter’s heart skipped a beat. “Well, well, Ms. Slut. Nice to hear your voice again. I hope your time at the Book Expo was worthwhile.”
“You were the highlight of my trip, Mr. Donovan.”
Hunter smiled as he sat back in his creaky desk chair. “I’m so glad. I was beginning to think you didn’t like me.”
“Have you ever met a woman who didn’t like you?”
The question made Hunter chuckle. “Which answer will get me your next book, Ms. Slut?”
A high-pitched tinkling laugh came through the speaker of his iPhone, making Hunter’s stomach flutter ever so lightly. “I like a man who doesn’t waste time with sweet talk. Check your email. I just sent you the manuscript. It’s called
The Bondage Club
, and if you’re interested, e-mail me a contract, and I will look it over.”
“Can I ask what it’s about? I mean, with a title like that I can guess, but….” His voice faded as his curiosity rose.
“There are many different kinds of bondage, Mr. Donovan, that don’t involve ropes, chains, or even handcuffs.”
Hunter gaped at his cell phone. “I don’t get it.”
“Love can be a form of bondage,” she explained. “We can get tied to someone just as easily as we can be tied up by someone. The book is about bondage in all of its forms.”
“Then I look forward to reading it.” He paused as he thought of an idea. “But why not come to my office? We can discuss the details of the contract over lunch,” he pursued with a hint of insistence in his voice.
“I don’t think so. Lunch with you would be dangerous.”
Hunter coyly smiled. “For which one of us, Ms. Slut?”
“I’m not your type, Mr. Donovan.”
Hunter’s body rippled with the hint of a challenge. “You never know; if Donovan Books handles your novel, we may grow on each other.”
“I hope not. Getting involved with the man who publishes my book would complicate matters. I’m also a very demanding author. I might get on your nerves after a time.”
“I have a lot of demanding authors. You would fit right in.”
“Do you usually try and date your authors, or will I be the first?”
He fingered a corner of the manuscript open on the desk before him as his imagination began to wander. “You would be the first. I never date clients.”
“I heard a nasty little rumor to the contrary, about your brother and Monique Delome. They were engaged and then she up and married some Texas oil man. Lucky girl.”
“Lucky to be rid of my brother,” Hunter returned, pushing the manuscript in front of him to the side.
“Oh, do I detect a note of sibling rivalry, Mr. Donovan?”
He leaned back in his chair and turned his eyes to his arched window. “Rivalry, nah. More like deep-seated hatred. And if I’m going to bare my soul to you, you should start calling me, Hunter.”
“Let me guess, Hunter.” Her voice was throaty and delicious, spurring on his desire. “He stole your Legos when you were six and you have never forgiven him.”
Hunter ran his hand over his face, feeling the conversation was getting a little too personal. “Never mind my brother. Let’s talk about you.”
“I make it a practice never to talk about myself. The less people know about me, the better.”
“I don’t agree, Ms. Sl….” Hunter crinkled his brow. “What else can I call you? Ms. Slut is too—”
“Call me Smuttie, if you like.”
“Smuttie…don’t you have a real name?”
“Smuttie is all you need to know.” The sound of voices in the background broke in. “Let me know what you think of my manuscript, Hunter. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Then the line went dead.
True North
Book 1 Finding Home
Livie and Jake
By
Allie Juliette Mousseau
Available Now
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True North Book 1 Finding Home Livie and Jake
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True North Original Songs:
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***
If I could be brave enough to let myself fall apart just this once, would I someday find the courage to put myself back together again when he was gone?
What mattered most now, above everything else, was that I lived in this moment, because just like I’d come to life when he kissed me—I was so alive now simply by being with him.
I had never been pulled to anyone’s presence like I was to Jake.
We drove an hour north on 85 towards the Canadian border. Eventually, Jake turned us into the Lake Zahl Wildlife Refuge. The roads were empty and it felt like we were the only people in the world.
Jake brought us to the edge of the lake. The sun glinted off the water’s surface like magic. He shut down the engine and dropped the side stand.
“Don’t move.” He carefully got off the bike, while My Darkest Days still played on. Slowly, he turned around and settled himself back on the bike, only this time he was facing me.
I felt like a magnet, and he was steel.
He drew his body over mine and I held my breath in anticipation. He leaned himself across me to reach into his saddlebags. I was completely and utterly undone by the press of him against me. I nearly died.
He came back up with two bottles of local Black Shox Porter from Laughing Sun Brewery. They were dripping with condensation and I realized he’d had them on ice. Securing one of the bottles between his thighs, he popped the top off the other. He met my eyes as he lifted the bottle to his lips for a long pull. I watched, mesmerized by the movement of his throat and the dip of his Adam’s apple.
Jake brought the bottle back down and held it out to me. The electricity in his eyes stirred my butterflies. In the exchange, I wrapped my fingers around the bottle and his hand, sending sparks clear down my arm. I tasted his mouth on the bottle’s edge like a kiss and was immediately aroused.
I had to close my eyes against these feelings and him and the intensity of the music before I shattered into a million pieces.
He was quiet, and when I finally opened my eyes, he was watching me. Neither of us said anything. I felt like we were trying to stitch the wound of the last three years that we’d lost so that we could come to this moment. Was that possible?
His gaze was too intense, and I looked out over the lake. Wild Canada Geese were flying overhead—my favorite birds.
“Are you going to fly away, Liv?” His voice was deep and thick again.
When I brought my eyes back to him, he was looking at the geese too.
I offered him back the brew. “No.”
He thoughtfully ran his thumb over the lip of the bottle, and I wondered desperately what he was thinking about.
“Are you?” I tried.
“I’m tired of flying,” he said flatly.
I thought for a minute. “Well, this is a good place to land.”
“Thanks for forgiving me for last night. You really kicked my ass. I wasn’t expecting it,” he confessed. “Not an excuse for me being an asshole. I’m not sure exactly what came over me, really.”
I nodded and watched him drain the bottle.
He switched the empty with the full and continued, “That’s not entirely true.” He popped the top and offered it to me first. I took it in my hand and listened intently so I didn’t miss a word. “They were all looking at you like you were good enough to eat, and I wanted to kill the lot of them. I’m not accustomed to jealousy, and it hit me hard.”
Jealousy’s good, right???
I guessed that sometimes it could mean being possessive in a bad way...but I was pretty sure that wasn’t Jake.
Since we’d gotten on the bike the darkness had left him, but now I was seeing those shadows descend over him again and tried to divert the conversation.
“This was a beautiful place to come. I haven’t been here in a while,” I said.
“I have a lot of amends to make, Olivia, but I don’t know how to do it. Or if it can even be done.”
I didn’t know what to say. I wondered what he needed from me most. What the boys said back at the house was haunting—did Jake have a deep wound we couldn’t see? If I stayed open and listened, would that be the right thing? Could I put my own hurt feelings from the past three years aside?
He gently pulled the bottle from my hand and drank and then stared at it. “You don’t owe me anything, Liv, and I definitely don’t deserve any favors from you …” His expression became pained, but he recovered quickly and masked it. “I want to ask you for one anyway.”
“You want a favor...from me?” I had no idea what I could possibly have to give or what I could do for him. “I can do that.”
He looked up into my face with limited hope. “Pretend I never left.”
