Connor held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not sure what you think was going on, but we were just talking.”
Aidan narrowed his eyes. “I think from the way she was crying and begging you to stop touching her, it was a lot more than talking.” He started to ask Emma if she was all right, but she blew past him and escaped into the restroom. He glared at Connor.
“Look man, you’ve got it all wrong. I—”
“What’s not to get? You obviously can’t let your ex-girlfriend or ex-wife or whatever she is go, even though she can’t stand for you to touch her.”
Nervous laughter erupted from Connor. He silenced it the minute Aidan cocked his eyebrows at him and took a step forward. “Trust me, you’re so very, very wrong. Emma’s not my ex.”
“Then what’s the deal?”
Connor cleared his throat. “Fine, you want the truth? Here it is. I’m gay, and Emma’s been my best friend since middle school.”
Aidan’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“Huh…then I stand corrected. Sorry about that.”
Connor shrugged. “It’s okay. I probably would’ve done the same thing if I thought some asshole was hassling a woman. Well, I probably wouldn’t if he was twice my size like you.” He glanced past Aidan to the bathroom and grimaced. “Dammit, I hate when she’s mad at me. I don’t think she’s ever been so angry or so hurt. I just don’t know what to do to make it right, ya know?”
Aidan shifted on his feet, sensing the conversation was headed into emotional territory, which was something he tried to avoid at all costs. He held one hand up. “Hey man, it’s really none of my business.” But the moment the words left his lips, he was sure they had fallen on deaf ears. The anguished expression on Connor’s face told him he wouldn’t be getting away without hearing the full, dramatic story unless he literally tried to outrun him.
With a sigh, Connor ran his hand through his dark hair. In a low voice, he said, “She’s crazy about kids, and her biological clock has been all in a snit to have a baby for like the last two years. Loving her the way I do, I’d promised her I’d be the father and donate to the cause.”
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the story Aidan had expected. “Don’t tell me—you chickened out when it came down to doing the deed?”
Connor scowled at him. “Ha, ha, asshole, real funny. For your information, it was going to be done in a clinic.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Aidan mused with a sly smile.
“Dude, gay, remember?”
“Sorry.” For reasons he couldn’t possibly fathom, Aidan was so intrigued by the story he felt the need to prompt Connor to continue. “So what happened?”
“My partner isn’t ready to have children. I promised him Emma didn’t necessarily want me involved, but he won’t budge. It’s been hell choosing between the man I love and my best friend.”
“Why can’t she just go to a sperm bank or something?”
Connor chuckled. “Emma has it in her mind there will be this horrible mix-up where her choice of a prime donor’s sample is swapped with some serial killer’s.”
Aidan grinned. “I guess I can see her point.”
A buzz went off in Connor’s pocket. He dug it out and then groaned at the ID. “Shit, it’s Jeff. He’ll have my ass for coming here and trying to talk to Emma. I really, really have to go.” His gaze once again went to the bathroom. “I hate to leave her though…”
“You go on. I’ll see she gets to her car okay.”
“Really? That would be awesome.” He thrust out his hand. “It was nice meeting you…”
“Aidan. Aidan Fitzgerald.”
“Connor Montgomery.” After they shook hands, Connor smiled. “Thanks for all your help and for totally misreading the entire situation.”
Aidan laughed. “It was a pleasure almost kicking your ass.”
“Hey now,” Connor replied. When his phone rang, he winced and gave a short wave before bringing it to his ear. “Babe, yeah, sorry I missed your texts. I’m on my way home now.” He pushed through the glass doors and disappeared into the night.
With a shake of his head, Aidan started across the lobby to the bathroom. He rapped on the door. In a shrill voice, Emma shouted, “Go away, Connor. I have nothing else to say to you. Not to mention you just embarrassed the hell out of me in front of one of the biggest assholes in the company!”
“Biggest asshole, huh?” he murmured under his breath. Not exactly a title he was proud of, especially coming from a woman. He was used to hearing much more flattering descriptions of himself from them—well, at least in the beginning before he walked away. After that, things usually took a nasty turn.
“I’m not leaving this bathroom until I know you’re gone.”
Aidan sighed. She was a determined one, that was for sure, not to mention stubborn as hell. His mind flashed back to how beautiful and sexy she’d looked at the Christmas party, how the slinky green dress she’d worn had flowed over her curves, making her irresistible. When he’d seen her across the room with some girlfriends, he had been determined to spend the night with her. Her shy smiles and glances up at him through her eyelashes had spurned him on to close the small space between them. Of course, by the time he’d arrived at her side, her interfering friends had already informed her of his dubious reputation as a heartbreaker and serial womanizer.
“Women,” he muttered under his breath as he pushed through the bathroom door. Emma was sprawled out on the tapestry settee with a wet paper towel over her eyes. On one side, her skirt was jacked up halfway to her hip, giving him a fabulous view of her legs and thighs. At the sound of footsteps, she gave a frustrated grunt. She stabbed the air in front of her with her index finger. “I swear if you don’t leave me alone, I’m going to kick you so hard in the balls there will no longer be any question about whether you can father my children!”
Aidan chuckled. Her deep auburn hair foretold her fiery personality—one she’d shown him at the Christmas party. All her bashfulness had evaporated in an instant when she’d told him in no uncertain terms that she had no desire to be one of his conquests or one-night stands.
“Actually, it isn’t Connor.”
At the sound of a stranger’s voice, Emma snatched the towel away from her eyes. Horror washed over her face at the sight of Aidan standing before her. She quickly jerked her skirt down and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. “I didn’t expect to see you, Mr. Fitzgerald,” she said meekly.
A grin slunk across his face. “No, I imagine you were expecting to get to castrate Connor.”
Emma’s cheeks and neck flushed the color of her hair. “I’m sorry you had to hear that, and I’m so sorry you had to get in the middle of our argument. As embarrassing as it was—is—I appreciate what you tried to do.”
He shrugged. “I was happy to help.”
“Well, I am grateful, and I’m sorry for ruining your evening.”
Never one to forgo an opportunity, Aidan grinned. “You haven’t ruined my evening. In fact, the night is still young, so why don’t you let me buy you a drink?”
She twisted the paper towel in her hands before tossing it into the trashcan. “Um, that’s nice of you to offer, but it’s been a long day. I should probably get home.”
“We could walk right across the street to O’Malley’s.” At her continued hesitation, he laughed. “I promise it’s not an offer to try to ply you with alcohol in your weakened emotional state to get you to come home with me.” Secretly, he hoped a drink or two might be able to thaw her icy veneer and give him a chance to move in for the kill.
He wasn’t too surprised when shock flooded Emma’s face. “Really?”
He crossed his fingers over his heart. “Scout’s honor,” he lied.
The corners of her lips quirked up like she was fighting a smile. “Okay then. After the day I’ve had, I could sure use one.” She glanced back at the mirror. “Oh, I’m a mess. Could you give me a few minutes to freshe
n up?”
“Of course. I’ll be right outside.”
Thank you for reading THE PROPOSITION!
Aidan and Emma’s story continues in The Proposal…
In the weeks following Aidan’s betrayal, Emma has tried her best to move on. Ignoring his countless texts, voice mails, and flowers, she isn’t sure she wants to be won back by him. But Aidan isn’t going down without a fight—especially not until Emma lets him reveal the secret of his past that caused him to be so commitment phobic.
But fate intervenes when premature labor forces Emma on strict bed rest for two weeks. Aidan steps forward with a shocking proposal. To prove his love and commitment for her and their unborn son, he will take a leave of absence from work to care for her around the clock. Vowing to guard her heart, Emma reluctantly agrees.
While she is touched by Aidan’s attentiveness and tender loving care, Emma is thrown for a loop by the amorous attentions of ER doctor, Alpesh “Pesh” Nadeen. Pesh is everything Emma could ever want—successful, stable, and ready to settle down and be a husband and father. Pesh wants nothing more than to win Emma’s heart, but she is not sure she’s able to give it.
Her heart may still belong to the very man who broke it—the one who is so desperately trying to win her back.
ONE CLICK THE PROPOSAL >
The Playboy
J. S. COOPER
The Playboy
J. S. COOPER
What would you do if a handsome alpha male actor wanted to spend the night with you?
* * *
A-list actor and former rock star Oracle Lion also known as Zach Houston needs no introductions. He’s the handsome playboy of Hollywood and women around the world want to be with him. Every woman it seems, except for Piper Meadows. Piper wants nothing to do with a man like Oracle. And that’s why she pretends she has no idea who he is when she first meets him. She didn’t know that would make Oracle see her as a challenge. She didn’t know that her lack of interest would lead to an offer of friendship that she would find hard to refuse.
* * *
Piper Meadows thought she knew what a man like Oracle Lion wanted. She thought she knew what a real playboy was like, but Oracle confounded all of those ideas. For, while Oracle is a playboy; he’s so much more than that. As their friendship grows more confusing, neither one of them is prepared for what happens next. As they get to know each other, they find themselves caught up in a web of hot passion, lies, and love. Then comes an explosion of secrets that are going to rock both of their worlds. They have no idea that both of their lives are about to be turned upside down.
Prologue
You know a man will be good in bed if he can dance. There’s something about the way a man can move back and forth while holding the small of your back that alerts you to the fact that he can multitask. When a man knows how to both turn you on and move you effortlessly across the room, you know you have a winner.
That’s just my theory, of course. I’m not exactly an expert at men. I’m still single. Still bouncing around between emotionally unavailable men, cocky bastards, and cheap asses who like to make you think you’re lucky to be spending your money on them. Yeah, no thanks. I’ll keep my hundred dollars to myself and have some fun at Sephora, shopping for overpriced makeup to make myself look beautiful for the next man who’s going to attempt to show me a good time.
I’m not jaded. I do believe he exists, somewhere out there, stuck between Mars and an ever-expanding Venus. I should have known, though, that the man who’d finally sweep me off of my feet wasn’t going to be the regular sort of Prince Charming.
And that’s what I’m here to preach to the world. (Don’t worry, I’m not going to jump onto a pulpit and quote verses from the Bible; I’d be laughed out of church or banished. Somehow, I don’t think the reverend would be happy to hear me talk about my tongue test … but I digress). I’m here to say that sometimes the man who sweeps you off your feet is not the man you think he’s going to be. Sometimes the man who turns your world upside down can also turn it right side up—though why he’s turning it upside down in the first place is anyone’s guess.
Now, this next one might shock you, but sometimes the man you hate with a passion is the man that you will love with a passion. Trust me, I never believed it either.
Until it happened.
Look, I’ve always wanted to be in love. I’ve always dreamed of the moment the man of my dreams would sweep me up into his arms and never let me go. I just had no idea that the man that was to take my breath away would be him.
1
Oracle
“I’ll have a red velvet … no, wait, a lemon drop … no wait—a mint chocolate cupcake.” The woman in front of me giggled slightly as she threw her hands up in the air. “You know what, I’ll take all three of them, sorry.” She turned around slightly and gave me a sweet smile. “Sorry about that, I’m having a horrible time deciding what I want today.” There was an earnest expression in her brown eyes.
I shrugged as she played around with her hair. “No worries,” I said, my voice deeper than usual. I felt like a bit of an idiot in my LA Dodgers baseball cap and huge dark aviators. I also had a fake mustache on my face, and I was wearing an old red and white plaid shirt. I knew looked like some sort of hillbilly just come to town from North Dakota, but I didn’t care. It was better than being recognized and accosted by every wannabe actor in town.
And seeing as I lived in Los Angeles, that meant I was avoiding a tremendous amount of people.
“Let me buy your cupcakes.” The lady turned back to me again with an impish smile. “I was reading an article yesterday about this Starbucks in Seattle that has had the pay-it-forward coffee movement going for two weeks straight.” She kept babbling on while I just stared at her without a word. I had no idea what she was talking about. “So, what do you want?”
“What do I want?” I repeated her words and looked her over. She was pretty, in that fresh-from-the-farm sort of way. She had no makeup on, but her face was fresh and clean, with naturally glowing pink cheeks. Her lips looked like they had a touch of lip gloss and her unruly black hair cascaded down her back. She stood in front of me in a pair of tight blue jeans and a plain white T-shirt that clung delightfully to her curves. If I’d been a different guy, I might have tried to chat her up, but I wasn’t.
“Yeah, what sort of cupcake do you want? Or do you want multiple cupcakes? It’s so hard to choose, isn’t it?”
“I’m getting a dozen, so I think I’ll pay for myself, but thanks.” I nodded to let her know that the conversation was over, but she didn’t seem to get the hint.
“Wow, a dozen. Lucky ducky! Are you having a party?” She looked at me again and I could see her taking in my full appearance. I wondered what she thought as she stared at me. There was no way she knew she was standing in front of Oracle Lion. No way she knew she was chatting with Hollywood royalty.
“No party. I’m going to eat them all myself,” I lied, and she just looked at me with wide eyes, processing what I’d said. “I live on cupcakes, you see, I don’t eat anything else.”
“You what?” Her jaw dropped, and I started laughing at her expression.
“You shouldn’t be so gullible, lady.” I started to take my sunglasses off so that we could make actual eye contact, but then I remembered I had on a disguise. “Of course, I don’t just eat cupcakes.”
“Funny.” She grinned, not seeming to be annoyed that I’d called her gullible. I liked that she didn’t take herself too seriously. It was refreshing to meet a woman who didn’t overreact to every comment I made. “Are you a comedian?”
“Yeah, I’m Chris Rock. I just changed skin colors in the bathroom, you know how it goes.”
“Changed skin colors?” She just shook her head as she smiled. “Really?”
“Well, he’s black and I’m white, so you would have thought something was off if I hadn’t mentioned it.”
“Yeah, but I think the biggest thing that’s off is that he
’s funny and you’re not.” She laughed. “Oh, LA,” she said to herself and I didn’t have to ask her what she meant. Los Angeles was full of weirdos, otherwise known as unique personalities, and she most probably had me lumped into that group.
“I’m not a racist, by the way. I know you may think that because of my bad joke.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t think you’re a racist. I don’t think you’re funny either, but still not a racist.”
“What’s your name?” I asked her curiously. She had a nice smile and, well, the longer I stared at her body, the more I realized that she was a sexy bombshell as well.
“Piper. You?”
“Uh, Jimbo,” I said the first name that came to mind. “Jimbo Clampett.” I held my hand out. “Nice to make your acquaintance, ma’am.”
“Jimbo Clampett?” She didn’t sound convinced, but she didn’t question me. “So, are you sure I can’t buy you a cupcake, Jimbo?”
“Jethro,” I said what I was thinking out loud and I saw her small smile turn to a frown for a second.
“Sorry, what?” It was her turn to be confused.
“Jimbo Jethro.” I nearly drawled the name but knew that would be too much. I was playing a role now, and while I didn’t know this woman from Adam, I was drawn to our weird conversation. “I’m Jimbo Jethro, and I’m from North Dakota.”
“Really, now?” Her mouth curled up at the side, and I watched as she shook her head slightly. “Jimbo Jethro Clampett from North Dakota, huh?” She grinned. “Do you live in Beverly Hills as well?”
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