Happily Ever After: A Contemporary Romance Boxed Set

by Piper Rayne

  * * *

  A car was following me. I didn’t want to stop to see who it was, but by the time I turned the corner, it was already by my side. The window pulled down, and a man with a scar and greasy black hair leered at me. “How much?” he asked.

  * * *

  “I’m not for sale,” I said. “Try someone else.”

  * * *

  “Dressed that way, you must be,” he sneered.

  * * *

  “No, I’m not,” I said, walking as fast as I can. I had walked down the wrong street. No open stores. No one else was on this street except for me and the creep in the car.

  I reached for my phone and texted Mr. Slade again with a “help!”

  * * *

  I swear when I earn enough money, I was going to buy a car. Out here in Los Angeles, if you didn’t have a car of your own, it would be difficult to get anywhere. I wasn’t in New York anymore. And I wasn’t in college anymore.

  * * *

  The creep in the car was still following me. I couldn’t get rid of him. Maybe if I quickly turn around so I could get onto another street, I could outrun him. Lose him.

  I stopped, took off my stilettos, and held them like a weapon, sharp pointy heels like stakes while I turned around pointed them at the creep and shouted as loud as I can so everyone who might be in a building could hear me, “Stop following me you creep! Help! Fire! Fire! Call the cops! Fire!”

  Windows opened up in the buildings around me, and people were looking down. They saw the car, me holding my heels in front of me, and me screaming bloody fire. A few people ran downstairs to where I was standing. I pointed at the car and the creep and said, “Get him!”

  * * *

  He took one look at the crowd gathering around me and turned his car around. I took a photo of his license plate and uploaded it to Trish. “This car followed me for blocks. Check out his license plate?”

  * * *

  Trish texted me back. “Sure. Are you alright?”

  Me: Shaken, but I got him to back off.

  * * *

  Trish: Where are you now?

  Me: Sitting down to dinner with a nice family from one of the buildings.

  * * *

  Trish: Thank God. You should never have been in that situation. What was Skar thinking?”

  * * *

  Me: Skar? Who is Skar?

  Trish: Slade. Skar is his first name.

  * * *

  Me: Skar Slade. It fits him. He still hasn’t shown up.

  Trish: Sorry Lily. He had to go to an emergency. I just found out myself.

  * * *

  Me: So I’ll just see him tomorrow. My purse and keys to my apartment is in his car.

  * * *

  Trish: So you can’t get into your apartment. I’m getting off work right now. I can swing by to pick you up if you can give me your address.

  * * *

  I asked the nice family who invited me to have dinner with them what their address was and texted Trish back.

  “Thank you for dinner,” I said. “I couldn’t tell you how much your kindness means to me.”

  * * *

  “No need to thank us,” the woman said. She was around my mother’s age, and her son, Antonio, was about a year or two younger than me. He had on a USC hoodie. “We are just thankful to the Lord that bad man didn’t harm you.”

  * * *

  “Yes,” Antonio perked up. “That was quick thinking, calling ‘Fire’ and waking everyone.”

  * * *

  “I figure no one responds to ‘Help’ so ‘Fire’ will get people to respond,” I said.

  * * *

  “How did you end up walking down this street?” the mother asked.

  * * *

  “Believe it or not, my boss, at Slade PR, had me dress up like this to walk up and down the street at first. It’s the first day of my new job as an intern there, and he said I have to do this to keep my job.”

  * * *

  “Sounds like he just wanted to see you in that outfit,” the mother said, raising an eyebrow.

  * * *

  Antonio, who had been trying to avoid looking at me, looked over and his mouth opened slightly. He was cute in a dark brown hair and brown eyes boyish way.

  * * *

  “Antonio!” the mother said. “Stop drooling and finish your dinner. You have to study for your exams.”

  * * *

  “Exams?” I asked. “Didn’t school just ended for the year?” I asked.

  * * *

  “Yes,” Antonio said. “It has, but now I have to study to take the bar.”

  * * *

  “Aren’t you an undergrad?” I asked. “Oh, sorry, you just looked younger. You mean you’re taking the Law bar?”

  “Yes. I just finished law school at USC,” Antonio said. “We’re not too far away from USC. That’s why we still live here… my mother and me.”

  * * *

  “Thank God for that,” I said.

  * * *

  “And you’re staying at Hollywoodland Apartments?” Antonio asked.

  “That’s a bad part of the town,” his mother said.

  “And you don’t have anything with you?” Antonio asked.

  “Had my luggage stolen from me,” I said.

  * * *

  Antonio took off his hoodie and handed it to me. “You can wear my sweatshirt for now. You must be so cold.” His eyes swept my body, landing at my nipples high-beaming their way through the crochet bikini top. My face was be so red from embarrassment.

  * * *

  I pulled his sweatshirt over me and was enveloped in the scent of musk and lavender. “Umm,” I said. “This sweatshirt smells so nice.”

  * * *

  Antonio smiled. “It’s my favorite but you can have it.”

  “No, I couldn’t take your favorite sweatshirt,” I said. “I appreciate you loaning me it, but I’ll give it back as soon as I can.”

  * * *

  Antonio patted my hand. “No, I like you wearing something of mine.”

  * * *

  Was he flirting with me? His warm brown eyes looked deeply into mine. “Thank you, then,” I said smiling up at him.

  * * *

  “After all you’ve been through, poor thing,” his mother said, bringing me a plate full of spaghetti with marinara sauce, the exact comfort food I was craving., “wear the sweatshirt. You shouldn’t go around wearing only that around here. You’d get all kinds of creeps following you.”

  * * *

  Antonio got up to get a plate of his own. Then he went to get me a glass of wine. “Mama loves having guests over,” he said. “Especially a young lady like yourself.”

  * * *

  “Antonio spends all his time studying hard to become a lawyer, he doesn’t get to meet people around his age and make friends with other people.”

  * * *

  “What Mama is saying is that she wish I can meet girls my age so she can eventually…”

  * * *

  “Have grandchildren,” his mother said. “I’m not getting any younger.”

  * * *

  “Oh,” I said, surprised. “Yes, Antonio will need to meet some girl for you to have grandchildren one day.”

  * * *

  “At the rate he’s meeting anyone, I’d be 100 before becoming a grandmother.”

  * * *

  “Mama,” Antonio said. “These things take time.”

  * * *

  “Oh just have sex and knock up some girl already,” his mother said.

  * * *

  I choke and nearly coughed out some spaghetti.

  * * *

  “She’s kidding,” Antonio said. “Mama is just anxious, but she means well.” He turned to his mother and said, “I’ll have beautiful babies one day, Mama, when I meet the right woman.” His gaze fell on me and my breasts.

  * * *

  I was finishing up my meal when there was a knock on the door.

  * * *

  Trish?


  5

  Lily

  “Probably the police coming to get a statement from you about that creep,” Antonio said as he went to answer the door.

  * * *

  “Is Lily Talbot here?” a clipped British voice asked.

  * * *

  Electricity shot through my entire body at the sound of his sexy voice. I turned around from the table to see Mr. Slade standing at the front door.

  * * *

  Our eyes met, and it was as if we had shocked ourselves with the heat between us. “There you are,” he said moving into the room and stopping close to me.

  “Who are you?” Antonio asked.

  Mr. Slade turned around to face Antonio. “I’m Skar Slade… Lily’s boss. I’m here to take her home.”

  * * *

  Antonio’s mother walked over, a frown on her face. “Lily’s boss? You aren’t touching her or taking her home after the way you had treated her today. What are you…a pimp?”

  * * *

  Mr. Slade stood up straight and fixed his suit. “I run a PR Agency.”

  * * *

  “Why did you leave the poor girl late on the streets like that?” Antonio’s mother asked.

  * * *

  Mr. Slade sighed, looking a little guilty. “I didn’t mean to. I had an emergency I had to take care of, and someone else was supposed to pick her up, but she had an emergency…so I had to swing back to pick up Lily.”

  * * *

  I got up. I didn’t want Antonio and his mother to get stressed out over me and Mr. Slade. “I’m ready to go,” I said. I went over to hug the mother, “Thank you for your hospitality.”

  “Call me Mama,” she said, looking over at Antonio. “Maybe someday you can call me that for real.”

  * * *

  “Mama!” Antonio said.

  * * *

  When I turned to shake Antonio’s hand, he pulled me in for a tight hug, whispering, “If your boss ever give you a tough time, call me.”

  * * *

  “I will,” I whispered back.

  * * *

  Antonio took my phone and typed in his phone number. “Call me anytime, Lily,” he said.

  * * *

  “You can come over anytime,” his mother said. “Such a nice girl. If you want…you can stay over here with us until you find a new place.”

  * * *

  “I…that’s so generous,” I said.

  * * *

  “No need,” Mr. Slade said. “Lily’s staying with me.”

  My head swung so fast to look at Mr. Slade’s face, that I almost had whiplash. “What?”

  * * *

  “Lily’s staying with me,” Mr. Slade said.

  Antonio took my hand. “Is that what you want, Lily?”

  Mr. Slade took my hand out of Antonio’s and pulled me towards him to the door. “Lily and I still have a lot of work to do tonight. We have to get going.”

  * * *

  “Yes,” I said. “I have to go. I will see you again soon, though. I love your cooking, Mama,” I said. “It reminds me of home.”

  * * *

  “Aww,” Mama said. “Such a sweet girl.” She turned to Antonio. “Woo her, Antonio. Win her heart over because I want her for a daughter.”

  * * *

  Antonio’s eyes burned into mine. He was clearly interested in more than a growing friendship with me. “Mama…”

  * * *

  “We’re running late,” Mr. Slade said. “Thanks for taking care of Lily for us. I’ll reimburse you for her dinner…”

  * * *

  “No need,” Mama said. “Dinner is given from our hearts. We love Lily here as our guest. Her presence is payment enough.”

  * * *

  Mr. Slade cleared his throat and said. “Well, thank you.” He took my wrist and pulled me out the apartment and down to his car. He opened the door, and pushed me in.

  * * *

  He was clearly angry.

  * * *

  “What is your problem?” I asked when he sat down beside me in the car.

  * * *

  He turned to me, his face as cold as stone. “You.”

  * * *

  “What did I do?” I asked.

  * * *

  “Everything,” he said. “You didn’t follow directions and just took off doing what you wanted to do. Which almost got you killed, stupid girl. Again, don’t you know anything?”

  * * *

  “What did I do wrong?” I asked.

  * * *

  “First, don’t ever get into a stranger’s car.”

  * * *

  “I thought I was supposed to go into the lady john’s car,” I said.

  * * *

  “No, I never told you to. But you did it, and it could have gone badly. All I wanted was to have you get her out of the limo so we can get a picture of her with you…a compromising photo of her soliciting services from a prostitute.”

  * * *

  My face burned hearing him refer to me as just a prostitute.

  * * *

  “And?” I asked.

  * * *

  “I don’t know what went on between you two, but I hope we don’t have to worry about prostitution charges if anything ever surfaces,” Mr. Slade said.

  “I swear we didn’t do anything,” I said.

  * * *

  “No sex?” he asked.

  * * *

  “She tried to at first, but I stopped her when I asked for her to show me she was cleaned. That she had been tested and was cleaned.”

  * * *

  Mr. Slade didn’t say anything for a while, but his tight grip on the steering wheel seemed to loosen.

  * * *

  “You’re still angry at me,” I said. “Why?”

  * * *

  “You didn’t stay where you were supposed to for the cab to pick you up. They went to pick you up, but you weren’t there so you ended up at the wrong street with the wrong type of crowd, and almost got abducted by some creep because you did something really stupid.”

  * * *

  “I was only looking for a place to hang out until the cab came by.”

  * * *

  “Close enough where you can still see the cab when it arrives to pick you up, not blocks away and on a dark, almost vacant street. Don’t you watch enough horror movies to know those are the streets to avoid?”

  * * *

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I almost paid for that lesson with my life. You can be angry all you want, but ultimately I’m the one who suffered the most from it.”

  * * *

  “And you staying over with people you just met? She seems nice, but she could be some psycho like in Psycho. And that young man…he could barely keep his hands off you. Can you honestly think you can stay over at their apartment without…”

  * * *

  “What about me staying with you, Mr. Slade,” I asked. “I barely know who you are, and for all I know, you could be some perv…”

  * * *

  “I…I am not like that young man,” Mr. Slade blurted out. “I am old enough not to live with my mama. I’m not a mama’s boy, and besides,” he almost sneered. “When I want something, I don’t pussyfoot around it. I go for it. And I go after it hard until I get it. If I want you, you would know it.”

  * * *

  “Really?” I asked. “Because I don’t think you would know it yourself.”

  6

  Lily

  Mr. Slade drove me to the Regency Crown Hotel instead of his house.

  “I thought we were going to your place,” I said.