Opposites Attract: The complete box set

by Higginson, Rachel

  We held each other for a long time, wrapped naked together beneath my heavy comforter, whispering sweet nothings and declarations of love and making this the most beautiful memory I had of sex.

  He was everything my past was not. He was trustworthy and loyal and beautiful. He was funny and sweet and kind. And he was mine.

  “I’m going to be so late for work,” I groaned, after talking myself into checking the clock. “And I just got them to get there on time.”

  He smiled and kissed my shoulder. “I think we should call in.”

  I blinked at him, surprised he’d even suggested the idea. “What?”

  “Why not?” he asked, a wicked smile lifting his lips. “We’re the bosses after all.”

  That was true. We were the bosses. And we were damn good ones too.

  So that’s what we did. We both called in and left our businesses to the staff we’d worked so hard to train. And then we stayed in bed for the rest of the day, talking about our future, talking through our pasts and falling more and more in love.

  Vann Delane had been the most surprising thing to ever happen to me. And the best thing. He’d saved me when I didn’t know I needed saving. He’d led me to healing I didn’t know was possible. And now he would be the future I never expected.

  I loved this man that was so good at helping me fix all that was broken in my life. This man that had reached inside of me and helped mend the broken pieces of me too.

  Twenty-Three

  “Did you see?”

  I looked up from my paperwork to find Blaze grinning. The sight was so startling I didn’t know what to say. Or do. So I just blinked at him and waited for more words.

  “Chef, did you see?” he asked slower, enunciating every word carefully.

  “See what?” I shook my head. “Why are you smiling?”

  He shook the newspaper at me. I hadn’t noticed he was holding it. Seeing him happy was too distracting. And slightly disturbing.

  “Check out the living section,” he ordered.

  Not understanding where any of this was going, I took the paper from him and noticed it was only the living section.

  Then I noticed a picture of Bianca front and center.

  “What is this?” I gasped, standing up and jumping to the balls of my feet.

  Blaze’s smile disappeared, tired with my confusion. “Just read it.”

  The headline read, New Chef in Town and I realized slowly, painfully slowly, that the article, by Durham’s premier food critic, was about me. Oh, my god!

  “Dillon Baptiste might have family connections but her innovative ideas are all her own,” I read aloud. I looked up at Blaze with the widest eyes ever. “Is she serious?”

  “Keep reading,” he encouraged.

  This time I listened to him. Reading as quickly as possible, I picked out the parts I couldn’t believe were actually there. “She might be young, but she’s proving to be a force to be reckoned with… Her makeover ideas were the facelift the struggling restaurant needed… now known for its mouth-watering brunch and trendy décor, Bianca is quickly becoming a must for this city’s foodie culture… I visited three separate times and was only more impressed with each visit… Looks like little sister has a few things to teach her restaurateur brother.” I gasped and then laughed and then read the article all over again. “Ezra is going to kill me!” I screamed. “Blaze!”

  He smiled again, an ear-to-ear grin. “I know.”

  “This is us!”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  “We made the paper!”

  He laughed at me. “I know.”

  I launched myself around the desk and threw my arms around his neck. “Thank you for sticking with me,” I sniffled against him. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

  He hugged me back. “I know.”

  I couldn’t stop smiling. And now I had to tell Vann. And Ezra. Plus, there were so many chefs to gloat to.

  Good thing they were all out in my dining room.

  We were celebrating again. Kaya and Wyatt’s engagement this time. He’d asked her last night, surprising her by showing up at Sarita and sending one of her dishes back to the kitchen. She’d been so upset at the arrogant customer that thought he knew more than she did, she nearly threw the plate in the garbage without looking at it. He’d shouted at her from the doorway where he’d snuck in to watch her open the ring box.

  They’d had a magical moment. She’d said yes of course.

  Vann and I were now officially still on the outside of our couple friends. Only dating. Not married or engaged.

  Yet.

  I smiled to myself, because I knew it was coming. Not today. Probably not this year. But this man was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. This was the man I wanted saving me from myself forever and ever amen.

  Congratulating staff members along the way, I left them to prep for the day and burst from the kitchen to my waiting friends. I’d offered to host a celebratory lunch for my bestie and her new fiancé at Bianca. I had just been finishing up in my office and was getting ready to come out here when Blaze walked in with the paper.

  “My first review!” I shouted at them forgetting about the happy reason they were here.

  “What?” was the collective response from them.

  I held the paper up so they could see. “I’m a force to be reckoned with!”

  Throwing myself into Vann’s arms, I felt lucky he was ready to catch me. He took the paper from me and quickly read the article. “New chef in town indeed,” he laughed, squeezing me in a tight hug.

  He passed the paper on to his sister, who had to read it over the sweetest, tiniest, most adorable newborn swaddled in her arms. Cecily Violet, or Cece for short, was the most precious baby that had ever been. We were all in love and taking turns doting on her.

  Vann had turned out to be an incredible uncle that loved to buy her presents and ingeniously passed her off whenever there was a threat of a dirty diaper.

  And Vera and Killian were an inspiration as far as busy parents went. Vera was still on maternity leave from their now busy restaurant. She was exhausted and alone a lot as Killian carried the burden by himself. But they were making it work and still working hard for their dreams. And their marriage.

  They gave me hope that there could be kids in my future as well. Even with a crazy, intense job. Even with Vann working as much as I did.

  He wrapped his arms around me as my friends passed the newspaper around. “Is this the real reason we’re here?” Wyatt asked. “The engagement lunch was just a front, wasn’t it?”

  Laughing, I shook my head. “Blaze just brought me the article. I had no idea.”

  “Uh, I’m not surprised,” Kaya gloated. “I told you, babe.”

  “Congratulations!” Molly squealed when she finally got the paper. “Oh, my gosh, how exciting!”

  “I can’t take all the credit,” I told her. “I do have a pretty kick ass PR squad.”

  She smiled at me. “I can only get them here. It’s your food that makes them stay and write amazing articles about you.”

  “Proud of you, sis,” Ezra announced, one of his rare smiles big on his face as well. “I hate to say I told you so, but…”

  I stuck my tongue out at him.

  “Come on, we were all right,” Killian added. “We all knew you’d flip this place around. I mean, Ezra seriously did his best to run it into the ground, but you handled it like a pro.”

  Ezra’s smile died and he glared at Killian.

  “It feels good, doesn’t it?” Vera asked. “There’s nothing like a good review to solidify your purpose.”

  I nodded. She was right.

  “It’s not the reason we do this,” she added. “But damn, it feels good.”

  “As if there was any question,” Vann whispered in my ear. Then planted a sweet kiss on my cheek.

  “This all feels right,” I said to the group, admiring my friends as they sat with the ones they loved. I�
�d grown up alone and lonely. When Ezra first showed up in my life I could never have anticipated how big my family would become.

  But now, here they were, surrounding me, supporting me, loving me.

  Most of all, this man by my side. He’d saved me countless times. And then the most important time. And he was walking with me as I healed. He’d encouraged me to go to the police and give a statement, which I had. With him by my side of course.

  They had been kind and understanding, but were honest when they said there probably wasn’t anything they could do now. Vann had even reached out to Justin a few weeks back and asked him questions about my attacker.

  It hadn’t gotten us anywhere, but we were working on closure without all the facts and hard truths anyway.

  I was learning to let the past go as my present became more beautiful. And I’d started group therapy with other victims of sexual assault. I hadn’t shared my story yet, but I’d cried with everyone who had each week I’d been.

  My confidence was growing as my heart and soul were healing. I wasn’t ready to share with other people just yet, but I knew one day I would be. And when that day came, I would use my story to help others get through the worst of theirs.

  This world was so ugly, so very broken. And there were victims everywhere. My group was showing me that. Women I would never have suspected. Women in jobs of every kind or stay at home moms. Women of every age and color and income. Women attacked by people they knew and thought they loved, by family members, by total strangers.

  So many stories, all in varying degrees of sick and awful. My heart broke and would always break for women that had to suffer like I did. Women who had to carry their attack with them for the rest of their life.

  But if anything beautiful could come out of such tragedy and devastation, it was the sisterhood I was finding among the victims. We had each other. We were learning to lean on and trust each other. And we would always, always stand up and fight for each other.

  This group of people would do the same for me too. Especially the man at my side.

  He helped me serve lunch while my staff prepared for dinner service. And then we sat down with our closest friends and laughed and toasted to love and life and this beautiful joy we’d found in each other.

  Wyatt and Kaya shared details of the engagement and even though it was the second time I’d heard the story, since Kaya had called me late last night to fill me in, I enjoyed every word all over again.

  I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy. Or this complete. Or this hopeful for the future.

  I didn’t know it was possible to love this much or laugh this much.

  I didn’t know it was possible to heal.

  Vann had come into my life at the perfect time and he’d swept me away in grumpy helpfulness. He was the thing I didn’t know I needed. He was the man I didn’t know existed.

  And he was the love I’d hoped for my entire life.

  When our friends had left and it was just the two of us in the dining room, he wrapped me up in his arms and kissed me until my lips were swollen and my heartbeat thrummed beneath my fragile breastbone.

  “I hate that we have jobs,” he groaned.

  I laughed, because before there was an us, we only had our jobs. “I know,” I sympathized. “I do too.”

  Only we didn’t hate our jobs. We loved our jobs. We’d just recently found something to love more.

  “Come over tonight after?” he asked, his lips trailing sweet kisses along my throat.

  “You’ll be asleep,” I reminded him.

  He sunk his teeth into my collarbone. “Wake me up.”

  I shivered. It was my favorite thing to do. “Okay.”

  Satisfied that we would see each other soon, he took a step back and hit me with those warm, bright gray eyes. “I love you, Dillon Baptiste.”

  I smiled and it felt as though it came from my very soul. “I love you, too, Vann Delane.”

  Thank You

  Thank you so very much for reading The Something about Her! The entire Opposites Attract series has been one of my most favorite things to write ever. I have loved weaving romance and some comedy and all the delicious food with real issues women face every day.

  Dillon and Vann have been a joy to write. They’ve also been extremely difficult as I tackled some heavy issues with Dillon’s past. Even with incredible movements like #metoo, and women gaining more and more courage to speak out against their attackers, I want to acknowledge those women that have not yet found their voice. If you have been attacked and have held it tightly to your chest, unable to find the words to verbalize what happened, I just want to encourage you. What happened to you is horrific and not acceptable. But the guilt is not yours to bear. You are innocent, dear friend. You are the victim.

  But you are also a survivor.

  Seek help if you are ready and speak out when your trauma finds its voice. And please know, that even in your silence, you have support. You have a tribe of women that stand with you and stand up for you. You are seen. And you are loved.

  And to those that read simply to be entertained, thank you for spending your time with Dillon and Vann and all the other foodie couples of Durham! I have adored taking this journey with you.

  Stay tuned for an upcoming series featuring Will English and his adventures at Craft coming this fall! And look out for my next second chance romance, Never Fall in Love with a Rockstar, coming June 25th, 2019!

  Never Fall in Love with a Rockstar blurb

  Never Fall in Love with a Rockstar, 2019!

  My name is Clover Calloway and I’ve lived two separate lives.

  The first, I like to call “my past.” I never talk about it. I try not to think about it. My rockstar days of playing in one of the hottest bands on the planet are over. Along with the most volatile, beautiful, tragic love story of all time.

  Over the past five years, I’ve settled into my second life. My “normal life.” The one where I work a normal job, hang out with normal people and fall in love with a normal, but wonderful guy. The life where I’m admittedly a little bored, but also safe.

  My past wasn’t boring. But my past broke my heart into a million, unfixable pieces. So, I’m determined to keep it where it belongs—behind me.

  And the man responsible for the shattering of me? Malachi Porter, lead singer and mastermind of Bright Tragedy, should stay there too. Far away from me and this idyllic life I’ve carved out for myself.

  But what happens when my two lives collide?

  When Malachi comes crashing into my perfectly normal world, he threatens to destroy it, promises to annihilate everything I’ve replaced him with.

  He upends everything I thought I wanted and forces me to question the reasons I left Bright Tragedy all those years ago.

  But I didn’t walk away five years ago, I ran. As fast as I could go. And while my heart is whispering that it’s different this time—that he’s different—my brain is screaming for me to run again.

  Malachi Porter isn’t a normal guy. And he doesn’t belong in my “normal life.” But, nevertheless, he’s bound and determined to make a place for himself here.

  I just hope my heart can survive him, that we don’t burn into another bright tragedy.

  Keep reading for an excerpt of Never Fall in Love with a Rockstar!

  Preorder HERE

  About the Author

  Rachel Higginson was born and raised in Nebraska but spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days raising their growing family. She is obsessed with reruns of The Office and Cherry Coke.

  Rachel’s next second chance romance, Never Fall in Love with a Rockstar is coming June 25th, 2019!

  Other Books Out Now by Rachel Higginson:

  Love and Decay, Season One

  Volume One

  Volume Two

  Love an
d Decay, Season Two

  Volume Three

  Volume Four

  Volume Five

  Love and Decay, Season Three

  Volume Six

  Volume Seven

  Volume Eight

  Love and Decay: Revolution, Season One

  Volume One

  Volume Two

  The Star-Crossed Series

  Reckless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 1)

  Hopeless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 2)

  Fearless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 3)

  Endless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 4)

  The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 5)

  The Relentless Warrior (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6)

  Breathless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6.5)

  Fateful Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6.75)

  The Redeemable Prince (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 7)

  The Starbright Series

  Heir of Skies (The Starbright Series, Book 1)

  Heir of Darkness (The Starbright Series, Book 2)

  Heir of Secrets (The Starbright Series, Book 3)

  The Siren Series

  The Rush (The Siren Series, Book 1)

  The Fall (The Siren Series, Book 2)

  The Heart (The Siren Series, Book 3)

  Bet on Love Series

  Bet on Us (An NA Contemporary Romance)

  Bet on Me (An NA Contemporary Romance)

  Every Wrong Reason

  The Five Stages of Falling in Love

  Trailer Park Heart