by Jade White
All was well with the world. Jasmine called from time to time to spar but she hasn’t caused any forest fires (at least to my knowledge). Missy worked her way up to owning the hunting store. Kathleen worked with Rachel at her dress shop consulting and giving advice to first time buyers. Auntie called and visited often and always brought present for Michael and Luna.
Rachel and I were happy. We had everything that we have ever wanted and more. We have each other. We have a loving family. We have friends and relatives we can rely on. We have a smart son and a creative daughter. We have a roof to sleep under and a couple secrets to keep.
Every time I looked at Rachel I reveled in how lucky I am. How lucky it was we met that one night seventeen years ago. How lucky it was that her birth control didn’t work that one fateful night. How lucky it was that Rachel chose to still have Michael despite the fact that he would end her career for an unprecedented amount of time. How lucky it was that Jasmine forced me to run away in a surprise attack.
How lucky it was that I went to check the dragon sighting. How lucky it was that our son turned out to be a dragon shifter as well! How lucky it was that Rachel came with me to Sub-Dublin to keep Michael safe. How lucky it was that we were able to rescue Missy from my old boss and not give up Michael in the process.
How lucky it was that Jasmine bombed the underground city and there were minimum deaths. How lucky it was that Rachel found me on the street when she did. How lucky it was that Jasmine found us again and I was able to turn her to our side. How lucky it was that all these things happened; happy accidents are what they call them but so many have formed my world and what I have come to know as family. It was luck that built my world to what it is now.
I am so happy with where I am. I am not glad that all these things happened, but I’m happy with the outcome. I’m happy with where it brought all of us, and yes people might have gotten hurt on the way but I think the ending was worth the challenges we faced. It was a hard road for Rachel and I but in the end I think it was worth the ride. It was a challenge worth facing, a foe worth fighting, and a life worth living.
I don’t know about the future, but I do know that right now I love Rachel and she loves me, and sometimes that’s enough. We have everything we will ever need within each other. I am not the type to lie about these sorts of things. It’s the truth.
Our story is one of challenges and making most of what you have. It’s about believing in the impossible and doing your absolute best no matter what problems you face.
THE END
About This Author:
If you liked this and want to check out all her amazing books (including all her other DRAGON books) then just visit her Amazon.com Author page at the link below.
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BOOK SEVEN
A BILLIONAIRE
BEAR'S BABY
AMY STAR
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Dating Billionaire Gus Anderson was great while it lasted for Tiffany Beau. When she discovered she was pregnant she was shocked to find that the billionaire wanted to marry her. Life could not get better, a handsome man, a dream home endless amounts of money and a baby on the way. However, Tiffany was unaware of Gus's secret life as a WereBear but soon she would find out in the most shocking way possible...
Chapter One:
Without a doubt, Tiffany was one of those girls who always had the respect and admiration of everyone around her, even if they didn’t like her. It was hard for anyone not to like Tiffany, because she was one of those people who genuinely put others first. Those people were rare in everyone’s life, especially the older she got.
At the age of twenty-seven, Tiffany found that kindness and respect got her a long way, at least farther than anger and bitterness. It was one of the reasons why, when people knew Tiffany, they knew her for life. She was one of those people that you cherished and treasured, forever.
It was because smiles and laughter followed Tiffany everywhere she went. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single moment in Tiffany’s life where people around her wondered what was wrong with her. She voiced her concerns and thoughts honestly and genuinely.
People always wanted to be with her because she made them feel better about themselves. She was one of those people who could see the goodness in everyone and could connect with them so that they could show the world the light inside of them. It was a power she had, and was one of the reasons why Gus was in love with her. Of course, she hoped that there were a lot of reasons why Gus was in love with her.
“When is he going to pop the question?” her friend Caitlin asked, never too shy to ask the questions everybody else kept in their mind, locked away.
That was one of the good things about having Caitlin around. She was one of those women that always voiced her opinions without difficulty.
Everyone that Tiffany knew wanted the best for her, especially what they thought was the best. That was the downside of having such a great personality. Everyone sort of marked her as their own. She smiled at Caitlin and shook her head.
“We’ve only been dating for a few months,” she clarified.
Caitlin’s current boyfriend, Joey, nodded with a certain understanding. He got it. Besides, this conversation about popping the question must have been torture for him.
“I’m not expecting a full commitment at this point.”
Ultimately, the question came down to why not? Tiffany was a beautiful girl with a golden personality. She had the problem of putting other people in front of her, and always seeing the best in people when sometimes that wasn’t the case. But, ultimately, she took care of herself and she made sure that her personality was as beautiful as she was.
She had long golden hair, bright green eyes, and a smile that was contagious. She took care of herself, going to the gym as often as possible. She found the people took her more seriously when she was physically fit. Truthfully, Tiffany wanted to be beautiful. Tiffany wanted men to look at her and think that they might want to date her. That might be vanity, but she didn’t really know, not that she actually cared. Tiffany believed that she was doing her best with what she had and there was nothing wrong with that.
Most of the men she had dated had screwed up, lied to her or done something else that had ruined any chance they had with her. All of them came crawling back, begging for another chance. They would all say she was the most beautiful woman they had ever dated. That was something that resonated with her. She liked that feeling. If there is one thing that she wanted, it was to be the best person she could be. After all, she only had one life to live.
“Well, he better soon,” Caitlin said with a fierce loyalty to her friend. “If he’s not sticking around, you can move on to greener pastures.”
Caitlin was one of her oldest friends, which meant she had a fierce stake in Tiffany’s life. She had emotional investment. That counted for a lot, because Caitlin had been there through thick and thin. She had been with Tiffany through college, crushing breakups, occupational ups and downs, and even into the lives that they were currently living. Caitlin was one of the best friends that Tiffany could ever ask for.
Next to her, was Joey. Joey was the flavor of the week for Caitlin. He was the newest member of a list of long men who had never done the right things for Caitlin’s love and affection to last longer than a few months. So far, Joey was here for month number two, which boded well for him.
Tiffany liked Joey. He was the kind of guy that treated Caitlin well, put her before his needs and sincerely and deeply loved her. Caitlin was one of those women who was like a wildfire, consuming and intimidating. Joey had a way of dealing with that. If the two of them could actually stick it together, their lives might become one functioning soul.
On the other side of the table, at their booth, tucked in the corner of the restaurant, sat Mark.
Mark was also one of their oldest friends, but Mark was a man who saw things infinitely different than Tiffany did. Mark saw the worst in people, and he had a way of fulfilling every prophecy he made. Mark saw people as the evil, dark creatures that they were, and refused to forgive them of that. The only exception was Gus. He liked Gus. But everybody liked Gus, so that wasn’t saying much.
“Speak of the devil, here he comes,” Mark said, finally looking up from his bourbon. His eyes stared, illuminated at the site of Gus.
Everyone turned and looked at Gus, the man of the hour. It was hard not to celebrate Gus every time you saw him. He was the kind of man who lit up the room when he walked into it. Gus was an alarmingly attractive man and he was built that way from the freedom he was given with the vast fortune that he commanded.
The man was a billionaire, a living, breathing billionaire, they had come to know. No one wanted to know a billionaire in real life, because it was terrifying. He had the best physique, the greatest hairstyle, and the face of a man who belongs in an action movie. His eyes were like really expensive sapphires, and he was easily the most handsome person she had ever seen. Never before had she dated somebody who was so intimidating.
When he approached the table, Tiffany stood up and hugged him, still feeling like the whole thing was strangely out of place. How could she, just a normal girl, have a billionaire as a boyfriend? No matter what good fortune it was, she was enjoying it. But, this was one of those relationships where she didn’t think it would last. Something inside of her told her, this was inevitably going to fail, but it would be a fun ride until then.
“Hey gang, sorry I’m late,” Gus said, with a smile on his face that was so charming and handsome, all she wanted do is kiss him. “It was kind of crazy at the office tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Mark said with a dazzled expression on his face, like he was just as in love with Gus as Tiffany was. Gus offered him a friendly smile; Tiffany knew that Gus was well aware of his celebrity status in Mark’s eyes.
They ordered dinner and started to have a lively conversation about everything from each other’s jobs, what was going on in the world, and what their plans for the immediate future were.
Gus was a great man when it came to conversations. He had a way of connecting with people and making them feel like they were interesting and needed. The sort of spell he had translated best to Mark. Sometimes, Tiffany felt like Mark was the one who won the dating game.
While out to dinner, Gus encouraged them to order whatever they wanted. Whenever they were with Gus, everything was on him. It was this kind of generosity that made Tiffany wish there was hope for this relationship. Two months was a long time to invest in somebody.
Only when eating at restaurants suggested by Gus did Tiffany find amazing Michelin star quality food paired with a dance floor and a live band. She loved that he knew the city inside and out. If there was a small corner of the city where fun things were happening, Gus would know about it.
He was a man who wanted to experience everything. So, when they were done with dinner and taking the time to ponder desserts, he’s suggest they take the party to the dance floor. Unfortunately, without having a date, Mark was left to hold the booth. Mark was okay with it, so long as he had a chance to show Tiffany’s billionaire boyfriend how capable he could be with minor tasks. Tiffany was fairly certain that if Gus told Mark to go climb a mountain, Mark would.
“How do you think I’m doing tonight?” Gus asked her out on the dance floor.
They stood close, arms wrapped around each other as they swayed with the slow, soft music the band was playing. She loved this place. She wanted to come to this place more often. She smiled at him, wishing that he would lean his head in and give her a kiss. She wished for a
lot more to happen between the two of them. The fact that it didn’t made her nervous.
“They like you a lot,” she said with a smile.
“Good,” he said, his lips mirroring hers. “You’re very beautiful tonight.”
“Thank you,” Tiffany said, feeling the blush spreading across her cheeks.
Sometimes he could be so sweet, so wonderful. But, there was so many times where she wondered why she was dating him. Why had a billionaire wanted to spend two months of his life dating a receptionist? Part of her was angry and told herself not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the more vocal side of her mind couldn’t help it. There was something fishy about all this.
“You look very handsome tonight.”
“Yeah, I had to work really hard for this,” he said with a wry smile. “You however, make it look so easy. Every time I see you, I think that you look like the most beautiful woman in the world. How is that?”
“You have low expectations,” Tiffany teased.
No, if he only knew how much work went into making her look this good. Here he couldn’t see the hours at the gym, the two hours of doing makeup and her hair, or the fact that she was obsessed with reading style and fashion blogs. No, this was not easy by any means.
“What are your plans tonight?” he asked her with a genuinely serious voice.
It was the kind of voice that suggested he had something up his sleeve, that there was something he wanted to do. If there was one thing that could be said about Gus, it was that he was a very mysterious man. He played his whole life close to the chest. It took forever for her to find out that he even had a family. He was such a quiet man when it came to personal details. He had lots of opinions about things, but very little to say about himself.
“Nothing really,” she said with a shrug.
It was a Friday night and she was expecting to spend most of it with him. So far, they had only slept together a few times. She thought that maybe it was bold to hope that there might be another time tonight. As she looked at him, that hope began to grow.
“I think we should spend some time together,” he said without there being any true meaning to those words. “I never showed you my apartment. I think you’d really like it.”
“You haven’t shown it to me before,” she said with a shrug. “I started to think that maybe you lived in a homeless shelter, or that you had a secret family you were hiding from me, or that you just didn't want me around.”
“I’m careful about who I open myself up to,” he said with a shrug. “I wanted to make sure this was more than just a fling for you. Lots of women just want to date me for my money. I have to be careful.”
“I don’t need your money,” she said with all honesty.
She had a job that she loved, he should know, he owned it after all.
“Then, I’d love to show you my place,” he said with a grin.
The valet brought around Gus’s Mercedes, which cost more than any other car that Tiffany had ever seen. It was definitely more expensive than the car she had at home and when she was a teenager living in the Midwest combined. It was one of those cars with the kind of custom quality seats that made everything else feel like she was sitting on a rock. He took the keys from the valet, climbing into the car only after he had held the door open for Tiffany. He was a true gentleman. These things came naturally to him. His mother would be so proud. Tiffany was for sure.
Tiffany like dating Gus, but there was something off about all of it. There was something he wasn’t telling her, lingering in the back of her mind, definitely eating away at her. She wished that he would just tell her. If he would tell her, then there would never be any reason for them to really have that awkward conversation where everything came crashing down.
She knew it was on the horizon. It was just a matter of time before she was going to have to talk to him. She really hoped tonight wasn’t the night.
They talked a little, joking and laughing about the events of the night, but about nothing serious. It seemed like they were in a position where serious conversations were something they normally didn’t have. It was like both of them were saving it until they were absolutely certain about what they had together. Tiffany s
upposed it was one of the safeguards of their relationship. Why waste your best conversations with someone you weren’t going to have later on down the road?
She went over to Gus, studying his face and thinking about how handsome he was. She wished there was more to this. She wished that they would have something significant together. She doubted very much they would, but she wanted to. He had the smile of a hero, eyes like stars, and a personality that seemed truly great. If only she could see more of it. Instead, they talked about movies that were coming out or popular musicians, things of no significance.
Gus lived in a building owned by his father, a real estate mogul who believed in designing top-of-the-line apartments and homes for the rich and famous. It was one of his little side projects. It was a very wealthy side project, lucrative to boot, but Gus hadn’t shown much interest in it. She was certain his father was slightly disappointed in their lack of sharing a mutual hobby, not that they ever talked about it. That was one of those deep things that they were waiting to see if it was going to pan out first. She did hope that maybe one day she would have that conversation, but that wasn’t looking like the case anymore.
