ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13)

by Jane Keeler

  This time there was a tenderness between them too, a fondness born of six months of waiting and wishing. Six months of deciding that this, here and now, was what they really wanted. Six months of praying that they would be given the chance to see each other again, and knowing with incontrovertible proof that all it took to destroy that dream was one solitary bullet.

  Shelley’s bra was lost on the landing, and then they were in the bedroom, where West could explore her body again. Like discovering a land that was at once familiar and new, he ran his hands over every inch of her, feeling the pertness of her breasts and the curve of her waist.

  Shelley kissed her way from his mouth to his neck to his chest, then down until she could grasp his underwear in both hands and pull it out of the way. He returned the favor and pushed her to the bed, gently, letting her sit and then pushing her legs apart.

  She was almost about to ask him what he was doing, but when he kneeled in front of her and put his head between her legs it became clear all on its own. He moved his tongue skillfully, a technique he’d been taught by one of his old brief flings in-between deployments. He knew it was good when Shelley grabbed hold of his shoulders and then his head, as if she could hold him there forever.

  She writhed underneath him as he licked, flicked, and slowly traced arcs with his tongue, taking his time to understand what she enjoyed the most. Finally, she was reaching a fever pitch, unable to stand it any longer, and she pulled him up to the bed with her.

  “I need you,” she half-whispered, breathy from the pleasure and desperate for more.

  He grinned, and kissed her as he carefully moved above her, sliding in-between her legs again and positioning himself to start. He hesitated then, teasing her; only when she whimpered in protest did he give in to what he wanted just as much, guiding himself with one hand to hit his mark the first time.

  He was slow and gentle as he eased into her, but he could have thrown caution to the wind; she was ready for him, wet and open. It felt like heaven to the both of them, something that had been so long in coming. He started to thrust, fast, the friction between their bodies building up to almost unbearable pleasure. She cried out on every stroke, unable to stop herself, the sound pushed out of her through the intensity of the sensations that run over her whole body. He put his hands on her breasts and leaned down to kiss her, their tongues dancing in time with their hips.

  He lifted her legs, placing each of her ankles on his shoulders, and carried on, holding tight to her thighs as he used all of his strength to move faster and harder. Her cries grew louder, more intense, and her hands curled into fists on the duvet. Handfuls of fabric tethered her to the world, and he pumped into and out of her until he could barely see straight. The sound of her voice and the joy in it was almost more than he could handle, and she too was just on the tip of falling over the edge, trying to make it last longer. At last they were both ready, and as she came she called out his name. That and the sensation of her body’s delight were enough to push him over the edge, too, the feeling taking over everything until his vision cleared again. He hardly wanted to move; being inside her felt like the place where he was always meant to be. At last he pulled out, earning another groan from her still sensitive flesh, and flopped down on the bed to lay beside her.

  They lay awake, resting after their exertion but still aware of each other, arms wrapped lazily together. West counted the leaves on the floral-patterned shade on the ceiling light, and Shelley traced a figure of eight on the back of his hand with her fingertips.

  “Yes,” West said, after a while had passed in silence. “I think this is what John would have wanted, in the end.”

  “We’ll give it a try,” Shelley said, lifting her hand so that she could see her wedding ring and testing to see how loose it was.

  “Because the two people who loved him most deserve to be able to love each other too,” West said, half to himself, feeling something inside of him shift and become whole again.

  *** THE END ***

  Back to Contents

  Book Nine

  Back to Contents

  POWER & PASSION

  By Jane Keeler

  Chapter 1

  Alex was a passionate man. He both loved and hated with passion. It was particularly cold that night when he went out to jog. There was something about the dark, empty streets at night that gave him a sense of peace. This was the time when he gathered himself, thought about the events of the day and strategized for the next day. He was the Mayor of San Francisco and therefore, could not avoid being surrounded by guards all the time. So whenever he went jogging, he was followed by at least two security officers who had to be in perfect shape to make sure they did not lose when he went on his jogs. Alex’s favorite was Timothy, or Tim, as Alex liked to call him.

  “It’s quite chilly outside tonight boys. You think you are up for it?” Alex asked playfully to the security officers that were getting ready to go out with him tonight.

  “Yes, Sir!” said all the guards in unison. “We were trained for this.”

  “Alright then, let’s do this!” Alex exclaimed.

  They were well into the rhythm of the jog when Alex’s phone rang. Tim ran up to him and showed him the phone indicating that it was ringing and that Alex needed to get the earphones out of his ears and attend the call.

  “Who is it?” asked Alex as he removed his earphones.

  “It reads “Emma” on the phone.” Tim said.

  “Oh shoot. Give me the phone!” Alex said nervously.

  “Hello Emma! I’m out for a jog right now. I’ll take a rain check for tonight. Can I get back to you with a different time later on?” Alex asked the caller on the other side of the phone.

  Tim did not hear what the caller said after that, but Alex hung up, put on his earphones and went right back to his job. For Tim, this was not uncommon. Alex had a lot of admirers and a lot of people had vested interests in him. After all, he was one of the youngest Mayor of SF and a lot was expected from him in the future.

  Emma was the Managing Director of Bywater and Company – a PR firm. Alex had hit a roadblock with the opening of a new Children’s Park in the downtown area. There was an area near the mall which was lying vacant for a number of years. The mall had come up at a place where a Children’s Park used to exist and Alex planned on using the vacant area near the mall to re-open the park. Alex needed good PR to make this project seem like a political message for the betterment of the society. Emma had promised him a younger new person to replace the PR executive that was working with Alex earlier, who had suddenly started taking uncalled leaves, coming late and leaving early.

  Alex came back home after the jog to have a light dinner of soup and salad and go to sleep early tonight. He liked eating alone and had grown so accustomed to it that he hated having to eat in front of other people. Once dinner was over, he watched football on the TV for a while before calling it a night. He had to wake up early tomorrow and there was a lot of work to be done.

  It was a bright Monday morning when Eva walked into the Bywater office. Eva was a bright management graduate who had just joined Bywater, to pursue a career in PR. Emma had asked her to come in early so that she could speak to her about company policies and complete all the formalities. Emma had already made up her mind to assign Eva to Alex’s team as a replacement and she wanted Eva to meet up with Alex today itself. Emma’s phone rang and she saw that it was her Secretary dialing in.

  “Ma’am, the new joinee Eva is here to meet you. Shall I send her in?” asked Trudy, Emma’s secretary.

  “Send her in, Trudy.” said Emma hurriedly and hung up.

  “May I come in?” said a voice knocking on Emma’s door.

  “Come in please, Eva!” Emma said enthusiastically.

  “Good morning Emma. It’s so nice to meet you again. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work for this firm.” Eva greeted her, impressed with the facilities and infrastructure of the office.

  “It’s great
seeing you again too Eva! So, what are your first impressions?” asked Emma.

  “It’s such a lovely office. And the view from your office is just spectacular. It must be empowering for you to head one of the biggest PR firms of the world. You really are an inspiration Emma!” said Eva beaming with wonder.

  “That’s very kind of you to say Eva but believe me when I say that the road that leads here is not the smoothest one. I have been through some of the worst experiences in my life to reach here. And I have had to make some terrible calls. Do you think you are up for the challenge?” Emma had a smile on her face while saying this but she looked at Eva right in the eye to try to decipher what Eva could be thinking.

  “Yes. I know what this business entails. I have read all about all the campaigns and projects that you have handled. I do think that I have the ability to think on my feet and have patience – which I think are the biggest tools for working as a PR executive.” said Eva with confidence.

  “OK Eva, please head on to the HR department where you will asked to fill in some formal documents and come back here to my office in about an hour. I will have you first assignment ready by then!” said Emma pleased with Eva’s confidence.

  Eva had worked really hard to reach here and she was so excited that she had finally made it to one of the biggest PR firms in the world! She was ready to take on the world!

  Chapter 2

  Eva came back to Emma’s office after she had filled up all the documents and completed all the formalities in HR. She was curious about her first assignment and was hoping she would be able to impress Emma by seeing it through successfully.

  “Take a seat Eva. I’ll be with you in a minute.” Said Emma waving to the seat in front of her, engrossed in the conversation that she was having with someone on the other end of phone she was speaking into.

  “Well, that was Alex Riley, the Mayor of San Francisco. You must have heard the name?” asked Emma jokingly.

  “Of course, I have. Has that got something to do with me?” asked Eva, curious how Alex fit into all this.

  “That’s your first assignment! Alex was having trouble with the guy who was doing PR in his team earlier. He wanted a change of personnel and I cannot think of anyone else who can fit the profile.” said Emma.

  “OK then! When do I start?” Eva said excited at the prospect of working on her first project.

  “You will need to head over to Alex’s office right away.” Emma said.

  “Alright.” said Eva nodding her head.

  Eva drove down to Alex’s office and found the place buzzing with activity. She was taken aback by the change in environments in the two offices that she had been in today. While Bywater was a more formal office, Alex’s office was more informal.

  “So this is what a political office looks like.” She told herself.

  She was wondering who she should speak to here to meet Alex when a guy walked up to her.

  “Excuse me Ma’am. How can I help you today?”

  “Hi! My name is Eva Brown and I work for Bywater and Company. I am here to meet Mr. Alex Riley. He’s expecting me.” Eva replied.

  “Hi Eva! My name is Mike and I am an intern here. Mr. Riley is not in the best of moods today. Please wait here for a minute while I go speak to him.” said Mike trying his best not get distracted by Eva’s beauty.

  Mike came back after a few minutes as promised and asked Eva to follow him to Alex’s office. Mike knocked on the door before a “Come in!” from the inside gave them the signal to push the door open.

  Alex was seated on his chair in front of his desk, talking to his secretary.

  “Hello there! Eva, that’s your name, isn’t it?” asked.

  “Yes, I am. Pleased to make your acquaintance Mr. Riley.” replied Eva.

  “Please call me Alex.” said Alex with a smile on his face.

  “Alright Mr. Riley. I mean Alex, sorry!” said a slightly embarrassed Eva.

  Alex had never met a girl as beautiful as Eva. He kept staring at her since she had come in and he wasn’t even sure what he was talking about. It was as if he had gone into an auto-mode. He was unsure of how he should stand up in front of her. He first tried to stand with his arms crossed over his chest, but that felt too defensive. So he tried to act cool by placing his right hand on his hip and the left on the table and cross the right leg over the left, slightly leaning in towards the table. He had never felt so uncomfortable with his body before.

  “Maybe I should lose some weight” Alex thought to himself.

  Eva could feel Alex stare at her. She tried to look away, but as soon as she looked back at him, she again found him staring. It was as if Alex had an X-Ray machine fitted inside his eyes which look inside Eva’s clothes. Eva checked the top of her shirt to see if it was buttoned properly. She blushed, as she checked herself to see if she was proper. It wasn’t unnatural for Eva to find a man ogling her. But to see the Mayor of San Francisco doing so was a first time for her. She did find him to be much younger than she had initially suspected. She had read that he was one of the youngest Mayors of San Francisco, but she could not comprehend he would be this young. He would barely be 30-32 years old.

  After a few minutes, Alex regained his senses.

  “Eva you are here at the right time. We were just discussing about the issue that is bugging us the most right now.” Alex said trying to calm himself and take his eyes off Eva. “Mike will explain everything that you need to know about the project.”

  “Emma explained it to me a little bit. I will discuss with Mike about the steps that you may have taken towards ensuring that the project gets going and take it from there.” Eva said.

  “Sounds good to me! Let’s discuss your point of view in some time then. I will finish up with Jess here and we can sit and discuss what your plan of action would be.” Alex said, trying very hard not to stare at her amazing body.

  Eva left the room to Alex and Jess – his secretary, and went out to learn more about the project from Mike.

  “Have you seen the site where we are proposing that the Park come up?” Mike asked Eva.

  “No I haven’t. It is near the mall, isn’t it?” Eva replied.

  “That is correct. Since the mall was built, that whole area is in a bad shape. We have had numerous cases of purse snatching and other petty criminal activities happening there very frequently. The main reason for this is that there is a huge vacant area besides the mall which is unutilized. The area remains poorly lit and breeds crimes and criminals. And more often than not these crimes are committed by kids from the nearby neighbourhood – which is not the most affluent part of San Francisco, as you might already be aware. Placing a park there will help us in two ways. One is that it will keep the children off the streets. We are planning to put up a basketball court there as well. And second, a park will mean more lighted streets.”

  Eva nodded in agreement quite impressed by the novelty of the idea and said “That is a brilliant use of a vacant space.”

  She spent a few more hours going through the plans for the park architecture and other documents. Having got a clear idea about the plan for the Park, she headed over to Alex’s office and knocked on his door. Alex arranged his desk and moved the calendar a little to the side before yelling out “Come in!” as if to show that he was busy with work.

  Without even looking at her he asked her “What are your plans for tonight?”

  Eva was quite surprised by the question. “Excuse me?” she said.

  “Well, you do eat, right?” asked Alex again.

  “Of course I do.” Eva responded.

  “Well, it is 8 now. And I’m hungry. Want to have dinner together?” asked Alex wryly.

  “Is that how you ask girls out around here Mr. Riley?” Eva asked Alex sarcastically.

  “Don’t flatter yourself Ms. Brown. I was just wondering if you would like to eat together.” said Alex as he tried to mask his affection towards Eva.

  “This is not a date then?” asked Eva. />
  “It certainly is not.” said Alex.

  Chapter 3

  The office was empty by the time they decided to leave.

  “So, where are we going Alex?” asked Eva.

  Alex was trying really hard to think of a good place to take Eva.

  “You must have the steak from this joint that I frequent. It’s the best in the world. And for me, they make a special sauce!” said Alex excitedly.

  “Lead the way Mayor!” said Eva with enthusiasm.

  “We’re going to Bill’s, Ravi.” Alex said to his driver while getting into his car.

  Eva loved going to places she had never been to before. She was always open to experimenting with food and it had been a while since she had a good steak. And now that Alex had mentioned it, she craved it even more. Eva admired Alex in the little time that they had spent together. When you meet someone new, the first impressions and the vibe that you get from the person turns out to be correct almost every time. And Eva got positive vibes from Alex. The way he talked, she knew that Alex probably was not the most innocent person in the world. But there was an innocence about him that caught her fancy.

  “But in today’s world, isn’t innocence a negative quality? Especially for someone who has a political career.” she asked herself.

  To make it successful as a politician one needs to have sharp instincts and a very cunning mind and the one thing that gets Eva to even remotely think about a guy was his intelligence. After what seemed like half an hour, they arrived at a dainty little locale with small houses. Nestled among these houses was one particular house which had a pretty big garage. There were very few people around this place. She peered out of the window to see a couple of guys lazing around a kitchen wearing aprons. “These guys must be the Chef’s” she thought. She got out of the car and followed Alex into the garage. There were just two tables in the joint and not even one customer around.