by Lucy Eden
“All right,” he muttered and gave me his parent’s names. I recognized his dad’s name as a corporate attorney based in London who my company had dealings with a few years ago, making his mother the former model that he left his first wife for. I was connected and handed the phone off when it rang.
“Hi, Mummy,” he said. “Yes, I’m all right. I’m playing football with a friend.” He looked up at me. “I’m at the pitch.” He heaved a deep sigh. “Okay. I love you too, Mummy.”
I smirked at his perfect little prince act. Where was the foul-mouthed little runt who interrupted me on my balcony?
The field we were on couldn’t really be called a soccer pitch. It was too small, and there were other guests having picnics, sunbathing and flying kites.
So this is what people do on Saturdays, I thought to myself.
I found myself staring at a man about my age as he tossed a toddler in the air. A woman, who might have been his wife, watched them while smoothing a hand over a round, pregnant belly. I felt a tug on my shirt.
“Thank you.” Philip handed me my phone.
“Everything okay, little man?”
He nodded and kicked the grass. “She’s coming to get me when she’s done getting her massage.”
“Okay, well until then,” I said trying to lighten the mood. “Whatcha got, superstar?”
His face brightened, his eyes narrowed, and he kicked the ball to me.
We passed that ball back and forth for a few minutes when I noticed we had an audience.
A beautiful woman with long dark curly hair was standing about twenty feet away watching our soccer match with interest. She was engaged in conversation with an older woman, but she kept glancing over at us. Whenever her eyes met mine she looked away. I felt my heart tug.
“Hey, John.” Philip’s words registered in my brain a split second before the ball hit me in the stomach catching me off guard and eliciting a loud grunt. Philip burst out laughing. I glanced at our observer who was no longer looking at us but was suppressing a smile. She’d seen everything.
“You should kiss her,” he teased.
“That’s not how it works, kid. You don’t just go around kissing people you don’t know.” I passed the ball to him. “And you’re going to be sorry for that.” I laughed before he stuck his tongue out at me.
We resumed our game, and I tried to refrain from sneaking glances at her, with little success. Philip noticed, shot me one of his mischievous grins and before I could stop him, he kicked the ball in her direction as hard as he could.
“You little…” I narrowed my eyes at him before turning to jog to her to retrieve the ball. Before I could reach her, she pointed her toe at the oncoming sphere, let it roll up her shin and into the air. She dribbled it from one knee to the other a few times before letting it hit the ground where she kicked it back to Philip with precision. The kid and I froze with our mouths hanging open. She shot Philip a grin and winked at him before resuming her conversation. I never thought I’d find myself jealous of an eight-year-old but there I was wishing she’d aimed that smile at me.
“Pip, darling. There you are.” I turned around to see a woman with long sleek brown hair, wearing giant sunglasses, wrapping her arms around Philip.
“Pip?” I mouthed at him giving him a skeptical look. He narrowed his eyes at me and, out of his mother’s line of sight, flashed me what would be a peace symbol in New York, but I knew meant something very different in London. I huffed out a silent chuckle.
I glanced at our admirer who again had caught the entire exchange and was wearing an amused look.
Pip’s mother straightened up and turned to face me. Her eyes roamed my body before she removed her sunglasses, stood straighter, pushed her shoulders back and tossed her hair over her shoulder, making me wonder if Philip was the only person his dad was neglecting on this vacation.
“Pip, darling.” Her voice was higher, and every sentence was punctuated with a giggle. “Is this the friend you were playing football with?”
“Yes, Mummy,” he replied in a bored tone. “This is John.”
“Well, John. Thank you so much for looking after my little Pip for me. We fly back to London tomorrow, but you must allow me to take you to dinner tonight to show my appreciation.” Philip’s mother lowered her chin and gazed up at me through her lashes. The offer would have been tempting if the kid wasn’t standing six feet away, and if I could stop thinking about the woman standing twenty feet away. I chanced a glance at her. Our eyes met for a brief second, and she turned away, her lips forming a tight line. I took a step back. It was suddenly very important to me that she didn’t get the wrong idea about this situation.
“Will your husband and son be joining us?” I had no intention of having dinner with her, but I wanted her to understand that I knew exactly how she intended to show her appreciation and that I wasn’t interested.
“No.” Her expression darkened for a moment but she recovered quickly and took a step forward, placing one of her hands on my bicep. “My husband will be working, and Philip has an early bedtime because he doesn’t do well on planes.” She ignored her son’s groan of embarrassment. “So I’ll be dining alone.”
She tilted her chin up and looked into my eyes. All of her coyness was gone and pretenses dropped. I pushed her hand away.
“Well, I have other plans but no need to thank me. Pip,“ I shot Philip a glance, and he narrowed his eyes again, “is a great kid.”
She pasted on a smile, bristling at my rejection.
“Come along, Pip.” She patted Philip on the shoulder. “We’re meeting Daddy for lunch, and we don’t want to be late.”
Philip grabbed his ball and followed his mother across the field before calling over his shoulder.
“Bye, John.”
I waved at Philip and looked over to find the mystery woman, but she was gone.
Thank you for reading this bonus chapter of Cherishing the Goddess. For purchase information please visit geni.us/LECTG
An Angel for Daddy
novella
Ruby Hayes is intelligent, beautiful, great at her job and loves her students. She's not too fond of me because despite moving to this small coastal California town only a month ago, I've managed to get on her bad side by consistently arriving late to pick up my daughter, Nina. It's probably for the best. Between my job and adjusting to raising a little girl by myself, adding romance to the equation isn't something I have time for.
Spencer Jones is successful, handsome, a doting father and terrible at reading a clock. His daughter, Nina also happens to be my favorite student. Getting involved with the parent of a student is bad idea, no matter how witty and charming they might be. It's probably for the best. Between my job, taking care of my dad and climbing out debt, a new relationship is the last thing I need.
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Spencer and Ruby have plenty of reasons to stay apart, but can a little divine intervention and an assist from a pint-sized cupid teach them a lesson that will last a lifetime?
For purchase information please visit geni.us/AAFD
Resolutions
novella
Mike is my best friend.
My tall, gorgeous, and bearded best friend.
We both share a love for music, Monty Python, dirty jokes and my grandmother’s homemade cookies.
I also have a giant crush on Mike.
And he has no idea.
I tried to tell him at a New Year’s Eve party last year, but I lost my nerve, and he ended up with someone else.
Armed with a broken heart and a massive hangover, I wrote a list of New Year’s resolutions intent on turning myself into New and Improved Jane who doesn’t let life pass her by.
With resolutions to check off the list and limited time to finish, I accepted Mike’s offer to help.
But spending all this time with Mike is bringing up feelings that I’d spent a better part of a year keeping under control. Mike has a girlfriend and I can’t risk losing my best frie
nd, but sometimes the way he looks at me makes me think, maybe, he feels them too?
I’m probably just daydreaming, as usual…
This novella has NO cheating and is a standalone, friends-to-lovers romantic comedy full of alphas, steam, sarcasm and Monty Python references
For purchase information please visit geni.us/LERES
Bear with Me
novella
Hi, I’m Celestine Woods, most people call me Chellie. If you are one of my 850K followers, you might know me as the super successful Instagram influencer, but more than likely you probably know me as the woman who got dumped by her former rockstar boyfriend, who then publicly professed his love for his new girlfriend in a song on Spotify before getting engaged a week later.
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While I think I had a perfectly rational response to this news, my sponsors didn’t agree. Apparently no one wants to buy expensive skin cream from the woman who had an alcohol-fueled meltdown at the biggest New Year’s Eve party in the world.
Now, I’m at Black Bear Mountain Lodges, a cabin resort in the Catskill Mountains, to relax, recharge, and rehab my image... and toss in a couple of sponsored posts, 'cause a girls gotta eat. The only hitch in my plan for R&R is the sexy, yet grumpy, lumberjack who runs the resort. His people skills leave a lot to be desired and it’s no wonder that I’m the only guest at this place.
I know nothing about living in the mountains and he knows nothing about marketing and publicity. His resort and my image could both use a little TLC, so we formed a truce and teamed up to help each other.
Between my social media know-how, my smartphone, a gorgeous grumpy mountain man and a strangely friendly bear that keeps coming to my window every night, we can get this all turned around... right?
Who’s ready for project #ChellieInTheWoods?
A disgraced Instagram influencer uses a mountain retreat in an attempt to rehab her image with the help of a grumpy lumberjack, who is more than he appears to be.
This novelette has NO cheating and is a standalone, contemporary shifter romantic comedy full of alphas, steam, and sarcasm.
For purchase information please visit geni.us/BearWithMe
About the Author
Lucy Eden is the nom de plume of a romance obsessed author who writes the kind of romance she loves to read. She’s a sucker for alphas with a soft gooey center, over the top romantic gestures, strong & smart MCs, humor, love at first sight (or pretty damn close), happily ever afters & of course, steamy love scenes.
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When Lucy isn’t writing, she’s busy reading—or listening to—every book she can get her hands on— romance or otherwise.
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She lives in New York with her husband, two children, a turtle & a Yorkshire Terrier.
