by Tracy Reed
* * *
I thought I saw your smiling face, but it was the sun shining in my eyes, reminding me, I was alone.
* * *
I thought I smelled your parfum, but it was the remnants of the bottle I shattered when I broke your heart, reminding me, I was alone.
* * *
I thought when I went to sleep and woke up the next morning, you’d be there. Instead, when I awoke your side was empty, reminding me, I am alone.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
NO. 17
Those without vision, have no direction.
Those without direction, have no plan.
Those without a plan, have no hope.
Those without hope, have no future.
Those without a future, have no love.
Those without love, have no life.
I hope the vision I planned for my future would direct me to loving you for the rest of my life.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
NO. 18
* * *
One Moment
One Chance
One Opportunity
One Feeling
One Sound
One Look
One Touch
One You
One Me
One Us
One Kiss
One Love
Chapter Seventy
NO. 19
A smile will last as long as the person sharing it
A thought will last as long as the person experiencing it
A glance will last as long as the person is visible
A dream will last as long as the person is sleeping
A glimpse will last as long as the next blink of an eye
A feeling will last as long as the person embraces it
A wish will last until it transforms into something more
A vision will last until every piece is fulfilled
You will last in my memory until I am no more
Chapter Seventy-One
NO. 20
* * *
You are my desire
You are my fantasy
You are my dream
You are my peace
You are my calm
You are my joy
You are my inspiration
You are my air
You are my sunshine
You are my moonlight
You are why I want to be more than I am
Chapter Seventy-Two
NO. 21
Beauty fades
Feelings grow
Time moves on
Change is inevitable
but my love for you
will only get stronger
Chapter Seventy-Three
NO. 22
* * *
I can count on
Spring being filled with cool rain and beautiful flowers.
* * *
I can count on
Summer being filled with warm sunshine and the sounds of children playing.
* * *
I can count on
Fall being filled with colors and scents man will never be able to accurately duplicate.
* * *
I can count on
Winter being filled with cold air, love and memories.
* * *
I can count on
you filling my life with your love, every season.
Chapter Seventy-Four
NO. 23
* * *
I crave you
I desire you
I need you
I want you
I choose you
I ache for you
I yearn for you
I thirst for you
I lust for you
I love you
Chapter Seventy-Five
NO. 24
* * *
If this is the end of us, please let me spend one last night wrapped in your arms basking in the memories of what we were and not how we ended. I want to remember the sweet taste of your skin as I held you tight and memorized the sound of your heart beating as you slowly drifted off to sleep after giving yourself to me. I only want to remember the sweet bliss we shared and not the harsh words of goodbye.
Chapter Seventy-Six
NO. 25
* * *
Should have…
Would have...
Could have...
never loved you more.
* * *
No. 26
Tell me what you want
Tell me what you desire
Tell me what you need
Tell me what you like
Tell me what you crave
Tell me your secret
Tell me I’m the only one
Tell me you belong to me
Tell me you love me
Chapter Seventy-Seven
N0. 26
* * *
Tell me what you want
Tell me what you desire
Tell me what you need
Tell me what you like
Tell me what you crave
Tell me your secret
Tell me I’m the only one
Tell me you belong to me
Tell me you love me
Chapter Seventy-Eight
NO. 27
* * *
Love can’t be forced
Love can’t be coerced
Love can’t be directed
Love can’t be manipulated
Love can’t be controlled
Love can’t be forsaken
Love can’t be instructed
Love can’t be dominated
Love can’t be what you want it to be,
Love just is
Chapter Seventy-Nine
NO. 28
* * *
The real me,
isn’t the face and body I see when I see me.
The real me,
is the me that loves you unconditionally,
The real me,
longs to be in your presence constantly
The real me,
knows you are that piece I’ve been longing for
The real me,
isn’t the me I see, but it’s the me I hope you see
Chapter Eighty
NO. 29
* * *
I can’t shake this feeling that we’re not finished.
* * *
If we were finished,
I wouldn’t see your face in my dreams
* * *
If we were finished,
Every person wouldn’t sound like you
* * *
If we were finished,
I wouldn’t smell you every where I go
* * *
If we were finished,
Your taste wouldn’t be on my tongue
* * *
If we were finished,
I wouldn’t remember how your lips feel pressed against mine
* * *
If we were finished,
You wouldn’t care how much I love you
* * *
If we were finished,
The pain of you not being here wouldn’t hurt this much
* * *
If we were finished,
I could walk away and never look back
* * *
But we’re not finished
Chapter Eighty-One
NO. 30
* * *
I will never,
love anyone else the way I love you
I will never,
desire anyone else, the way I desire you
I will never,
crave anyone else, the way I crave you
I will never,
give myself to anyone else, the way I gave myself to you
I will never,
allow anyone to know me as intimately as I allowed you
I will never
Chapter Eighty-Two
NO. 31
* * *
I wish I could explain,
how I fell in love
* * *
&nbs
p; I wish I knew,
how I fell in love
* * *
I wonder,
how I fell in love
* * *
I don’t know,
how I fell in love
* * *
I think I figured out,
how I fell in love
* * *
I don’t want to know,
how I could live without your love
* * *
Love isn’t a one note emotion...
it’s a symphony with a sweet melody
About the Author
A California native, novelist Tracy Reed pushes the boundaries of her Christian foundation with her sometimes racy and often fiery tales.
After years of living in the Big Apple, this self proclaimed New Yorker draws from the city's imagination, intrigue, and inspiration to cultivate characters and plot lines who breathe life to the words on every page.
Tracy's passion for beautiful fashion and beautiful men direct her vivid creative power towards not only novels, but short stories, poetry, and podcasts. With something for every attention span.
Tracy Reed’s ability to capture an audience is unmatched. Her body of work has been described as a host of stimulating adventures and invigoration expression.
For more information
www.readtracyreed.com
[email protected]
Also by Tracy Reed
Generational Curse
Intentional Curse
The Alex Chronicles: Girlfriends & Secrets
The Alex Chronicles: What My Friends Don’t Know
The Alex Chronicles: What My Friends Need To Know
The Good Girl Part One
The Good Girl Part Deux
Love Notes…Words For Lovers
The Fix Up
The Fling
Tease
Miss Match
The Night I Fell In Love
A Southern Gentleman
First Encounters of Love
God’s Bombshell
Unexpected Love
For a complete listing of Tracy Reed books, visit
www.readtracyreed.com
Thank You
Thank you for reading LOVING HER! I hope you enjoyed spending a time with Alex and her friends. This is a series filled with twists and turns.
If you’re still jonesing for more sweet and sexy romance, check out A SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN.
Alabama native Jeremiah went to New York on business and found love. However, a vow he made prior to arriving is affecting his chance at love.
"A woman walks into a crowded bar and meets a nice southern gentleman." That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. Or is it the beginning of a fun love story?
On the surface, Avery Marshall and Jeremiah Logan, have nothing in common. He's from Alabama and she's a native New Yorker. He loves steak and potatoes and she's trying to loose ten pounds. But there's one thing they discover, they both like truffle fries and have meddling mothers.
Read A SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN now!
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Join my Facebook group, Tracy’s Reeders for exclusive giveaways and sneak peeks of future books. And you can read the beginning of Desperate Desire next…
Avery walked into the River Grill and knew as she approached the hostess station it was pointless to ask if any of her party were here. Since she and her girlfriends started having these catch up dinners, they’d played with a variety of times to accommodate her friends’ schedule, they were always late. Secretly she hoped just once one of them would surprise her and be on time, or even beat her, getting to the restaurant.
"I'm here for the Marshall party,” she said to the hostess.
The hostess scanned her iPad, and then cast her eyes back at Avery with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, but you seem to be the first one here."
"Of course I am," Avery said under her breath.
"Excuse me?"
“Nothing."
"Unfortunately, our policy is not to seat you until at least half of your party are present."
"I understand."
"You are more than welcome to have a seat in..."
"The bar." Avery said sarcastically under her breath.
"Excuse me?"
"I'll just wait in the bar. Thank you.” Avery smiled.
"I'll let the rest of your party know where to find you.” The hostess smiled.
"Thank you."
Avery turned around on her very expensive heels and headed to the bar. She stopped at the bar entrance, looked around and exhaled. She hated sitting in a bar alone. She told herself that any woman sitting in the bar of a luxury hotel full of men at this time of day was probably a hooker, looking to score a wealthy John for the evening, or possibly as a steady gig. She suspected most of the men at the bar thought she was either a new call girl or an old one hoping to catch her last big John.
Avery looked around the bar and categorized all the men she saw. There were the young guns, looking like they should be ordering milk instead of martinis or scotch. Then there were the ones that thought they were good looking and too good for her. That was fine by her. Her last boyfriend was in the latter class…a pretentious player who believed his overly hyped, professionally written biography. And then there were the silver foxes. Loaded with money and little blue pills, searching for a sweet young, thin thing looking for a sugar daddy…or a very discrete call girl. And she was neither.
Avery stood up straight, careened her neck around the line of suits, and spotted an empty seat at the other end of the bar. She took a deep breath and walked towards the empty seat. As she headed towards the bar stool, she began to regret her fashion selection for the evening. She had treated herself to a new dress. A beautiful royal blue Zac Posen fitted cocktail dress, with a deep scoop neckline. She was confident in her decision to buy it. However, if she’d known the only available bar seat meant she had to walk the gauntlet of men to get to it, she would have worn basic black, so she could blend into the crowd.
She exhaled and cursed her girlfriends for putting her through this. She held her head high and started towards the only seat with a partial view of the hostess station. As she walked, her feet began to voice their dislike for the distance she was forcing them to go in five inch Christian Louboutin So Kate heels. The leopard print satin stiletto pumps were beautiful, but definitely not designed to go distance. Not that the distance from the hostess station to the last available seat was that far. But right now to her feet, it felt like she was asking them to run a half marathon in stilettos.
Horrified she might fall, she focused all her attention on walking a straight line. Unfortunately for Avery, that meant not concentrating on her hips. Her mother constantly told her it wasn’t appropriate for a woman of her size to sway her hips. It’s not like she should be working as the fat lady for the circus. She was only a size eight on her slim days, and a ten on most others. But she was very curvy. And when she wore heels, she seemed to bring more attention to her voluptuous figure. Avery wasn’t ashamed of her body, but she wasn’t quite comfortable with it either. Thanks in part to her mother constantly comparing her to her cousins who were all thin…and married.
Avery figured if she concentrated on the bar stool it would prevent her from toppling over in her heels. Wiggling hips be damned, she was determined to get that seat.
She looked up and noticed a well-dressed gentleman enter the bar from the hotel entrance. He was headed towards her seat. “Crap. If it wouldn't slow me down, I’d take these heels off and run over and plop my butt on that empty stool.”
She tried walking a little faster, keeping her eyes focused on the gentleman she was sure was headed towards the last empty stool. Suddenly he stopped mid stride, reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out his phone, and started talking. She sighed and continued on her destination.
She didn’t dare slow down in case there was another unseen
contender for her seat. She turned the corner of the bar and focused on the stool. When she made it to the stool, she felt victorious. Not only had she managed not to fall down, she’d won the seat. She turned the back of the stool around and “What the Crap!” There was a coat on the seat of the stool. She looked around and there wasn’t another empty seat at the bar. Her shoes were definitely not meant for distance walking, and her feet were killing her.
