by lanie love
Haunted by Him
Temptation
Other books in the Shattered Lives Series:
Haunted by You: Obsession. Book 1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FVC4NP9/
Haunted by Her: Seduction. Book 3
https://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Her-Seduction-Shattered-Lives-ebook/dp/B07P6N4GJ9/
Copyright © 2019 by Lanie Love
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2019
© lanielove.com: lose yourself in love
This book is Dedicated
To my wonderful family that without their support this book would not have been as fun or fulfilling to write.
Special Acknowledgment
To Jean T, KC Caron, Lizzie Zamora, Ruby Aran Houg, and to so many of you who have been supportive of me through the writing of this book.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty- Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty- Seven
Chapter Twenty- Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter One
Manhattan, New York City
Sage Turner’s Apartment
Allison Moore
“You can’t ignore him forever, you know,” Sage says, hanging up with Aaron.
She’s been running interference between us. I haven’t spoken to him since the day I left his apartment. To tell the truth, I haven't spoken to anyone since the day I got on a plane to come here. I avoid having any type of real conversation with mom. As pissed as I am at her, I’ll just end up saying things to hurt her. I don’t know what to say to Brooke, or even if she wants to hear anything from me. She hasn’t called, so that pretty much answers that question for me. I’m too ashamed to reach out to Kathleen. I can’t think of anything to say and I’m sure she doesn't want to hear it anyway. I think I’m the last person she wants to hear from, besides mom.
Sage tosses my cell phone on the couch next to me before sitting down beside it. She’s still in the black yoga pants and sports bra she put on over two hours ago, boasting about a class she signed up for. She hates yoga, but she loves the pants and she’ll find any excuse to fill her closet up with them. I sit with my legs tucked under me, remote control in hand, flipping through channels. I whiz on by Sex and the City. It reminds me too much of when Aaron and I used to watch it. I watched it; he would put up with it as long as I was naked next to him.
“I know,” I say. I settle on some documentary about Rob Zombie and his remake of the movie Halloween.
“Really,” she groans at the TV. She hates documentaries on scary movies more than she hates scary movies. “I’m bored. Let’s go shopping?”
“For what? You don’t need anything,” I say. She slouches down on the couch at being denied. I shake my head, half amused at her theatrics. If only Laura could see her now. She’d call her out for being spoiled rotten.
I’ve been staying with Sage for the past week, under the guise of doing research for the Tyler Lockhart project. He wanted me to incorporate some of his band’s Manhattan haunts into his game. Of course, I had to come in person to get a feel for things. I could have easily Google mapped the locations, but I needed the reprieve. Things had become too intense at home. Mom was still suffering from morning sickness and as worried as Jay seemed to be about her, he at least had the decency not to come around when I was there. That didn't stop him from calling non-stop. He even went so far as to hire a daily maid service for her.
“The ex-maid now has a maid,” I told her. “That’s just pathetic. Way to move up there, mom.”
“Allison, you will not talk to me like that.” She tried to sound stern, but the break in her voice told me she was close to tears.
That was the last thing I said to her before I left and I still feel like shit about it. I have yet to leave the apartment. My ass is molded to this spot on Sage’s couch. I only get up to binge on what she’s dubbed “break up food.” It’s really just loads of ice cream and pizza. We throw in the occasional salad to ease our guilt and she goes to what she says is yoga class, but I know damn well when she leaves here, it’s not to go meditate in the damn gym. She’s seeing someone, but she’s keeping hush-hush about it. “Pot, meet Kettle,” is all she’ll say when I call her on it. Like me keeping Aaron and me a secret for the millisecond it took her to figure it out is remotely the same thing. She glances over at me when she hears my pathetic sigh at the thought of his name.
“He’s going to come here after you. You know that, right,” she asks. My head whips in her direction and she motions at my phone to emphasize her point.
“Did he say that?” I jump from the couch, ready to take off the pajamas I’m still wearing at two in the afternoon like he’s just down the block and not on the other side of the country.
“No, but if all that lovesickness I’m hearing in his voice is any indication,” she says, pausing to check the nonexistent watch that’s supposed to be on her wrists for the make-believe time. “I’d say you have two days— four at the most.”
I plop back down on the couch rolling my eyes at her. She really should have gone into acting.
“He’s not coming to get me,” I say, reaching for another slice of pizza from the box I swore I was done with twenty minutes ago.
“Riiight. Well, have fun in the Land of De Nile. But I suggest, starting tomorrow, you put on some clothes.” She looks me up and down with a shake of her head. “Forget it. He won’t even care that you look like road kill.”
“Hey.” I feign insult.
“But take a shower. I love you, but you smell, “she says, grabbing her sports bag. “Off to yoga. Don’t wait up.”
“Don’t wait up? It’s early afternoon. How long is this yoga class going to last?”
“It gets pretty intense. It could go on all night.”
“Intense Yoga? Whatever. Tell him I said hi.”
“Whatever,” she says, blowing me a kiss goodbye.
I don’t even let the door close behind her before I’m reaching for my laptop. I may not want to talk to mom or Aaron, but I still want to feel close to them. I go to Edible Moore’s website first because it’s much easier for me to see her. I laugh when her picture pops up, remembering how excited she was to do the photo-shoot. She’d taken it a few weeks before the blow up at the Queen Mary. I think it was the last night I spent with her. I have to force myself to ignore the fact that she was sleeping with Jay even then. She’d kept me up that night trying to decide on the right outfit. She drove me crazy making me watch her try on one after the other.
“Mom, your apron is going to cover most of it, anyway,” I said, at around 2 am. It came out more like a whine by that point. A very half asl
eep and totally exhausted whine.
“But the sleeves are going to show. They have to be perfect,” she said.
I told her she had nothing to worry about and I was right. She looks beautiful. I’m giddy when I see that she’s all booked up until well past the holidays. I thought with Kent pulling Wade Works’ support the way that he did, the business would take a hit, but she’s doing okay for herself. I open messenger when guilt hits me for ignoring her the past week, but after my fingers hover over the keys for a moment, I quickly close it. For the first time in my life, I don't know how to talk to my own mother.
Closing her page, I click on the Wade Construction website and roll my eyes at my pathetic self for grinning like an idiot when Aaron’s profile picture pops up. It’s all about the upcoming ceremony for Strong Studios. He’s standing with Tuck and his crew. I zoom in on him. His gorgeous face has now taken over my screen and his blue eyes are staring into mine. I grab the throw pillow I was just lying on, holding it, wondering what he’s doing now.
It’s still early in LA. I wonder if he’s at work already. I wonder if he’s eating right. I hope he’s not filling up on pop tarts and sugar cereal since I’m not there to cook for him. I wonder if anyone else is there to cook for him? It would serve me right if there was, but that doesn't stop the ache in my chest from the thought of it. I know I’m being ridiculous. Aaron loves me and it’s only been a week. We’ve been apart longer than this.
My heart pumps with relief only to be deflated again when I realize that even though we were apart for the 3 years I was at school, we stayed connected because we were still unfinished. We never officially ended anything, but this time is different. Nothing was left up in the air between us. I made sure when I ended it
“Allie Cat,” Aaron said when I entered his front door. “What happened?”
“When I woke up, mom wasn't home. She's probably with your dad, Air.” He took me in his arms.
“Let's get ready for bed, Baby,” he said, purposely ignoring what I’d just told him. “I need to be with you right now. Let me make love to you. Let me hold you in my arms.” He led me to his bedroom.
“You were truly beautiful tonight,” he told me as he helped me out of my dress. It was supposed to be a wonderful night. It was a wonderful night... until it wasn't. “Talk to me,” Aaron begged when he saw a tear fall down my cheeks.
“I don't want to talk. I just want you to make love to me. I need you.”
He lifted me into his arms and kissed the last of my tears from my cheeks before laying me gently on his bed. I watched as he stripped off his boxers. The tip of my tongue wet my bottom lip when he sprang up hard from wanting me. He got into bed. I could almost feel the warmth of his body on mine. A growl vibrated the back of his throat when he eased himself inside me. I was already so wet.
His mouth was on mine, stifling our moans. He made love to me, slow. I had set the pace as my hips slowly ground into his. My legs were wrapped around him so tight, he could barely move. I was afraid of letting him go, even though I knew I had to. I just wanted us to be as close as possible one last time. His eyes searched mine as he tried to take away the sadness he saw in them. His hands found my legs and I pulled them farther up on his waist, loosening the slack enough so he could move inside of me. He never took his eyes off mine as he moved us closer to the release we so desperately needed.
“I love you so much,” he told me. “I need you so much.”
“I love you,” I whimpered before he kissed my lips to ease the pain he heard in my voice. My hands were interlocked with his. Every inch of us was intertwined. “Aaron,” I called out. My body shuddered under his as I came.
“Shit, Baby,” he moaned, spilling his cum inside me. He stayed limp on top of me, sputtering out the last of his cum. His eyes were still on mine and his hands were at my head with his fingers in my hair, massaging my scalp. I brought my hand up to smooth his furrowed forehead with my fingertips. I wanted to ease his worry, but I couldn’t. “We’re going to be okay, Allie Cat.”
“I know you want to believe that, but I just don't think we are.” I turned my head away from him in an effort to move away. Reluctantly, he eased out of me and rolled over on the bed, allowing me to get up.
“Stay,” he said, when I started searching for my clothes. I shook my head, slipped on my panties and he got off the bed to stand in front of me. “Stop this. Don’t make this about us, Allie.”
“It’s about worse than just us. It’s about your mom, and my mom, and your dad, and—”
“Allie, stop it.”
“We can’t stop it. It’s too late to stop. My God, she is pregnant. They are pregnant. I hate them. I hate both of them. I hate them for doing this. Why did they have to do this to us?”
“What did they do to us? Allie, what are you saying, Baby?”
“I’m saying goodbye.”
I bury my head in my pillow to let it soak up my tears and to ease the heat on my face from remembering the feel of his body on mine. I never thought I could miss a person so much. I thought being away at school was hard, but that was heaven compared to this.
Hollywood, California.
Strong Studios Construction Site.
Aaron Wade
“Damn it, Baby,” I say to the picture of Allie I have on my phone.
It’s actually half of a picture. Most of the lens is being covered by her hand, pissed at me for trying to take it. She was in her pajamas in the middle of flipping a French toast for breakfast. Her hair was undone and she didn’t have a drop of makeup on, not that she wears anything more than lipstick, but she swore she looked a mess. She couldn't have been more beautiful.
I push the button for the screen to go black, leaving the phone on my desk while I pace away my frustration. According to Sage, she’s out working, but I know she’s just refusing to talk to me. I’m ready to throw this damn phone at the wall. The only thing saving it is the off chance that she might call. Shit, how pathetic am I? Am I actually sitting around by the phone waiting for my girl to call? I get my answer a second later when it pings and I nearly break my neck stumbling over my chair to grab it.
“Whoa, Dude,” Tuck says, coming into my office in time to watch me nosedive for my phone. “Is that her?”
“No. The twins are stuck in traffic on Wilshire. They’ll be here in twenty,” I tell him of the damn text message I nearly died trying to get.
“She’s not going to call,” he says, catching me glancing at my phone again.
“No shit. I’m working with a goddamn genius.”
“You got that right and being the smart-ass that I am, I must inform you that your girl seems to be just as pig-headed as you are about this sort of thing. Were you not the guy that refused to talk to her for what? Two years?”
“Three and again, no shit,” I tell him, picking up my phone to search for the first flight out. “That’s why I’m taking my pig-headed ass to New York.”
“You can’t be serious? You're just gonna pop up on her?”
“Wouldn't be the first time.” I’ve been popping up on my girl since she left for college.
“And what if she tells you to go fuck yourself?”
“It wouldn't be the first time.” I laugh. In fact, the first time she’d said it, she was standing right about where he is now. “You can cover for a few days, right?”
“Suppose I say no; will it stop you?” Just me looking at him is answer enough. “That’s what I thought,” he says.
“Wish me luck,” I say, getting my shit together to leave.
“The way you’ve been blowing up at all of us the past week, I think it’ll be more useful if I call Allie and beg her to come home.”
I give him the finger as a parting gift before hauling ass to New York.
Chapter Two
Manhattan, New York City.
Sage Turner’s Apartment
Allison Moore
I’m rudely awakened by a loud succession of taps on the door and I hadn't eve
n realized I’d fallen asleep. I look around and the sun is nearly down, but the lights are still off. A sure sign that, true to her word, Sage hasn't been back home yet. The taps turn into full-blown banging.
“I’m coming,” I say to the persistent knocker. “Hold your horses.”
Thinking Sage must have forgotten her key because only she can be this rude, I go to the door ready to tease the crap out of her while she does the walk of shame through the apartment. I’m already laughing at what I’m about to say to her when I fling the door open. Of course, the joke is on me because filling the frame in all his glory is none other than Aaron Wade.
“Hey, Allie Cat,” he says and then has the nerve to make his eyebrows dance at me. Predictably, my mouth falls open and my eyes blink, not believing what I’m seeing.
Immense joy and mortification fight for time on my face as he stands there flashing me that smile that makes me melt. A gray V-neck sweater is stretched over the muscles of his arms and a matching knit cap is pulled down over his ears, covering most of his hair. His black jeans are just perfect and oh man, he looks so yummily delicious that I have to stop myself from leaping into his arms and devouring him.
Mortification finally wins the battle on my face when I cringe at the disaster I know I am. I’m still in my pajamas, my hair is uncombed and I’m sure I have fresh drool on my cheek that goes along real well with my cotton mouth. His smile fades with me standing like an idiot not saying anything.
“Hi,” I say, shaking off my thoughts, stepping aside so he can come in. He brushes past me and I inwardly moan when the smell of him hits my nose. I don’t know how he always looks and smells so damn good. Believe me, he isn’t even trying.
“You’ve been partying?
“Oh,” I say, rushing around him to try and make order of the half-eaten box of pizza and empty soda cans. “You know Sage. She’s a party girl.” I crinkle my nose, hoping it doesn't grow from throwing her under the bus with that whopper of a lie. I finally give up my pathetic attempt at cleaning and just clear a space for him to sit down, but he refuses. He just stands rooted and staring at me. “Um, what are you doing… here?”
