by Lana Love
Claiming Her Curves: A BBW Second-Chance Romance
His Curvy Beauty, Book 2
Lana Love
Love Heart Books
Copyright © 2019 by Lana Love
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Also by Lana Love
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For a full listing of my books, please visit my Amazon author page at:
https://www.amazon.com/Lana-Love/e/B078KKRB1T/
Created with Vellum
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Leah
Sure, Jake. I’ll be over as soon as I finish up at work.” I whisper into the phone, hoping my boss Mr. Whipple doesn’t hear me. It’s not like I can’t talk and type at the same time, but he uses any excuse to get close to me and make me uncomfortable.
“Can’t you leave early? There’s a lot to do.”
I glance toward Mr. Whipple’s office, but cut my eyes away before he sees me. There isn’t a question that I could finish my work early, but asking for a favor is asking for trouble. Even if I left now, it’s not like these contracts and rental agreements couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning.
“I wish. More than anything, I wish I could. I’ll come over immediately after I get off, okay?”
We end our call and I go back to my work, focusing on it even more than usual. While it’s okay if some of the work carries over until tomorrow, Mr. Whipple has less fuel for getting on my case if I can finish everything by the end of the day.
“Did I just hear you making a personal phone call, on the company phone, Leah?”
The sound of Mr. Whipple’s voice makes the hair on my neck prickle and my blood pressure rise. I compose my face carefully before turning around to face him.
“I apologize. It was just a quick call from my cousin. You remember that my parents died recently,” I add, blatantly and shamelessly playing the victim card. “He’s helping me clear my parent’s house and he was asking if I could leave work early. I said I had a lot of work and couldn’t.”
Mr. Whipple’s eyes narrow at me. I know he knows about my parents, because this town isn’t that small and he’s not quite that narcissistic. I also know that despite not saying anything, he’s more than a little resentful that I’m using a different real estate agent to sell my parent’s house.
“Well,” he says, his voice changing to a chilling drawl, “if you’d like to leave early, you could come in on the weekend and help me on a special project.”
“No!” I blurt out, then instantly regret it. “I mean, thanks, but no. It’s going to take us a while to go through everything and Jake would kill me if I didn’t help all weekend. He’s taken a week off work to come help me. Besides, I want to make sure all these contracts are finished today. I know this property deal is important and I want you to be prepared for your meeting.”
His face is a mask and it bothers me when I can’t read his emotions. More than once, he won’t say anything about a situation, only to use it as fuel for manipulating me at a later date. He’s a terrible boss, but there aren’t that many jobs in town that don’t involve working at the paper mill or the grocery store out by the interstate. I know I want to do more with my life than work here forever, but this will look better on my resume and I won’t get sawdust in my lungs.
“Of course. I appreciate your diligence and commitment to the firm.”
I plaster a smile on my face, then turn back to my computer and lose myself in ensuring all the details are entered correctly.
One day, I’ll be married with kids and I won’t have to deal with a creepy boss ever again. But until then, I have to figure a way out of this office and into a better life.
I just have to survive working for Mr. Whipple, first.
“I come bearing beer!” I call out as I carefully walk between the boxes quickly rising up in the entryway.
My parent’s house isn’t big, but it was modest enough and my mom kept it nicely decorated and orderly. It’s about the smallest three-bedroom house you’ve ever seen. I’d love to move into this house, but I need the money from the sale to pay off their medical bills and funeral expenses. No one ever tells you how expensive getting old will be.
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
“Ben? When did you get back?” My eyes blink rapidly as he takes the six-pack of beer out of my hands. He’s several years older than I am, but I saw him occasionally when he was hanging out with my Jake, who lived with my parents and me for a few years when he was in high school.
The moments I got to see Ben were the moments I lived for. He was my first crush and, if I’m honest, I’ve never quite gotten over him.
“Jake asked me to come over and help. I’m just living about an hour away and could use the change of scenery.”
I smile and nod my head, my eyes zooming in on his finger and how he’s not wearing a ring anymore. Ben laughs when he sees me looking at his hand.
“Yeah, Marlene and I broke up.” His laugh dies quickly and a pained look shadows his eyes. I feel terrible that I’m happy his marriage ended.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“It…” Ben walks over to the dining table and puts the beer on it. He opens a bottle and drains it in one long drink, then wipes the back of his hand across his mouth as he reaches for a fresh bottle. “It was a mistake. But, that’s in the past. What about you? Your ring finger looks bare.”
“Me?” I stammer and blush, totally flustered. What do you do when your first crush starts asking about your personal life? “No one special for me. One day, I suppose.”
“You suppose?” Ben’s eyes go wide, like I’ve just told him I’ve taken up particle physics as a hobby. “You’re gorgeous and sweet and smart. How have you not be snapped up yet?”
Because I’m fat? I bite my tongue to keep from saying that aloud. The guys in town always go after the skinny girls and I’ve always felt like the girl that only gets attention when all the pretty girls are taken. Being single in a small town is a problem, but it’s not a problem I’ve figured out how to solve.
“Uh, I guess I just haven’t met the right guy.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Listen to you.” Ben shakes his head. “I never imagined you were still single.”
“What?” Ben thinks about me? I can barely wrap my mind around that.
“Hey hey. Look who finally showed up! Y’all can help me bring up boxes from the basement.”
“Hey man,�
�� Ben says to Jake, before going over and handing him a beer. “How is it you’re the one doing all the work?”
“Man, you remember that Leah’s family took me in. They were more family to me than my own. She’s like my sister – you know that.”
Ben takes a long look at me, a smile still on his lips. “Yeah, I remember.”
Chapter 2
Ben
So, where do you need me to start?” I smile as I look at Leah. It’s been a hard week, but being in the same room as her makes my life better. It’s unimaginable to think that she’s still single.
“It’s good of you to help, Ben. I really appreciate it. Helping Jake in the basement would be great. I’m scared of all the spiders down there.”
“You got it.” I follow Jake back downstairs, though what I really want is to be around Leah.
When Jake first asked me for help, I said no. I hate helping people move. But then I couldn’t say no when he said it was to help Leah.
Leah’s parents took Jake in when things got bad with his parents and living at home was dangerous. Her parents didn’t even think twice – just cleared out the extra bedroom and welcomed him into their home and family like he’d always lived there. After we were out of high school, Jake said that if it wasn’t for Leah’s parents, he probably would have ended up like his dad – drunk and jobless, and a menace.
Even though she was a few years younger than me, I always found her attractive and appealing. But as a hormone-driven horndog while I was in high school, I knew that I couldn’t settle down with one girl and a girl like Leah was definitely not the kind of girl that you fuck and dump. So as much as I wanted her, I stayed away. Leah has always been the type of woman that you want to settle down and build a family with.
By the time I was ready to settle down, I was living in the next city over and I met Marlene. Fuck. Just the memory of Marlene makes my blood boil. Marrying her was the absolute worst mistake of my life. Seeing Leah makes me realize just how badly I fucked up. I can already tell that she’s the same person that she was in high school – smart, caring, and she has a figure that I want to spend my life touching.
Charlie and I make quick work of the basement, gathering all of the boxes and then taking them upstairs and out to the back porch.
“So, what’s the story with Leah? I thought she would’ve left this town and be married with kids by now.”
Jake wipes his brow as he looks at me, and then laughs.
“You still carrying a torch for her? I remember you crushing on her in high school.”
“Seeing her definitely brings back memories.” I stack boxes up, then go back downstairs to help Charlie tidy up the basement. “Man, they sure had a lot of stuff down here.”
“They lived in this house for decades. You should’ve seen how was at the beginning. Leah would never say so, but she’s been a saint dealing with everything with her parents and now this house.”
“What you mean dealing with her parents?”
“Look. It’s not really my story to tell. But I can say that Leah had plans to go to leave town and go to the University over in Fairview, but her parents started getting sick, so she stuck around to help look after them. Her college fund went to taking care of her parents. She wanted to leave just like you and everybody else did, but she didn’t get the opportunity to.”
“Man, she sure got the short stick. But it’s respectable that she stayed to help her parents. They were such good people and I was truly sorry to hear when they passed.”
It’s frustrating to learn that Leah didn’t get to pursue her dreams. The sacrifice she made is so much more than a lot of people would do, and I admire her even more. It means something when people put their family first, especially their parents.
“There are definitely going to be missed. I don’t know what Leah is going to do, though. She might stay here or she might leave, but she hasn’t said either way. I imagine she wants to finish up dealing with the house, and then figure things out. But I’ve said more than I should. You’ll have to talk to her if you want to know the details.”
“Got it. It’s natural to be curious.”
Charlie laughs and punches me on the shoulder, hard enough that I grimace.
“You mean it’s natural to be curious about the girl who got away. I know how you felt about her in high school. Everyone did.”
“She was definitely the one who got away.”
“Leah, did you really only buy a single six-pack of beer?” Jake smiles and shakes his head as he looks at Leah, and then grabs his keys. “I’ll be back in ten. I’ll go pick up a proper supply.”
Leah and I both laugh, and the awkwardness I felt talking to her earlier begins to evaporate. She pulls her legs underneath her, while sitting at one end of the couch in the living room.
“I was really sorry to hear about your parents, Leah. What they did for Jake…that was something. Your parents were good people. I didn’t hear what happened until after the funeral right definitely would’ve been there. I’m sorry about that.”
“Thanks, Ben.” She sighs deeply and pulls at the hem of her skirt and squeezes it tightly with her fingers.
“What’s next for you? Are you going to move in here?”
Leah’s laugh is fast and sharp. She looks at me, her eyes blazing with fury. The change in her expression is startling.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t see anything wrong. You just don’t know what happened.” She takes the kind of breath you take when you have to count to ten so that you can calm your emotions. Obviously, this isn’t going to be a happy story. “Their insurance crapped out on them, when they both got sick. I’d love to be able to keep this house, but there’s no way in hell that I can afford to. I barely make enough to get by now, and there aren’t any other good jobs here in town. I’d love to leave town, but I can’t even afford to do that.”
“That really sucks. Is there anything I can do to help?”
There is sadness and resignation in the smile Leah gives me.
“Not really, no. I mean, if you have a winning lottery ticket, I wouldn’t say no to that. I’d give almost anything to be able to quit my job and to not have to work at the wood mill or the grocery store.”
“What’s wrong with your job?” The tone of her voice sounds alarm bells in my head. Aside from her losing this house, there’s obviously a bigger problem in her life.
“It’s… It’s fine. It’s a job and I have a bad boss. There’s nothing that can really be done about it.” Leah says this with a sad finality.
I take a closer look at Leah and see her hand trembling as she pushes her dark curls back from her face. Seeing her in distress like this makes me want to do anything and everything I can to help her. I can’t bear to see her hurting like this, because she is such a good person. She deserves more than having her parents die, losing the house, and then having a shitty job on top of that.
“You’re taking care of yourself, right? It’s sounds like you got a lot going on, but you shouldn’t forget to take care of yourself, too.”
Leah takes a deep breath and looks away from me, the hurt written all over her face. It’s frustrating see her so upset and not being able to do anything about it. I’d do anything to fix what’s broken in her life.
“I do my best, Ben. But it’s hard.”
The silence stretches between us and before I can figure out something, anything, to do to help, my phone rings.
“Hey, Jake. You can be much longer?”
“Ben, man. I’m sorry. I just got called into work and I can’t bail on them. Can you step in and help Leah the rest of today and with the dump run tomorrow?”
“Of course. Whatever she needs, I’ve got it covered.”
We finish our call and I hang up. I know I shouldn’t be happy that Jake is tied up with work, but I am. It means I get to spend one-on-one time with Leah, and that makes me happier than I’ve felt in a long time. Being around her feels like somethi
ng is right in the world.
I explain to Leah about Jake and do my best not to grin at the prospect of spending time with her, alone.
“Well I guess it’s just you and me, then.”
The smile on her plump lips makes my heart pound and my cock spasm with desire. I haven’t felt this happy in a long time.
Chapter 3
Leah
This is been the longest day of my life. Ever since my alarm went off this morning, I’ve been giddy with anticipation to see Ben. Mr. Whipple senses something, because he’s been more attentive than usual.
As I stand next to the copy machine, humming along to the radio as I wait for these reports to print, my body freezes when I hear the familiar breathing and smell the scent of Mr. Whipple’s nasty cologne behind me. Please let him walk away. Please let him walk away.
“Leah. I was looking for you. I’m so happy that I found you.”
I hold my breath and count to ten, to try and calm myself down. Mr. Whipple’s the last thing I need right now. I’ve been in such a great mood and I brace myself for whatever bomb he’s going to throw my way.
My printing finishes and I take as much time as I can gathering the bundles before holding him tightly against my chest. Mr. Whipple is standing closer to me than I would like when I turn around, and he’s blocking the doorway to the main office. I don’t know how much more of this job and him I can take, and I start considering quitting this job without a backup plan. Maybe working in the wood mill wouldn’t be so bad.
