Toronto Collection Volume 2 (Toronto Series #6-9)

by Heather Wardell

  We laughed and went back to eating, but the hunger I felt for Nicholas couldn't be sated by chocolate no matter how delicious it was, and after ten minutes or so I said, "I think I've had enough."

  Nicholas tightened his arm around me. "Me too. Ready to go back?"

  I nodded and got to my feet. "Bye, guys."

  Wendy smiled at me. "Bye." Her smile turned devilish. "Sleep well."

  "Shut up," I said, grinning at her.

  Nicholas and I made it to his room in record time. On the door hung a small plastic bag. Nicholas looked inside and blushed. I took the bag from him so he could open the door, and once we were inside I pulled out a note and a box of condoms. I set the box on the bedside table and we read the note together.

  Dear Mel,

  Just saw you and Nicky being inappropriate in the dining room. I approve. Hope these help.

  Austin

  We laughed and Nicholas shook his head. "Only Austin."

  "Yup." It was sweeter, though, than he knew, since I hadn't yet had time to tell him of Austin's concern for my romantic future the night before, and it touched me.

  Nicholas took me in his arms. "I love you. Please, don't think I expect you to--"

  I kissed him to shut him up, then kissed him again and again because it felt too good not to. It was the morning of the last day of the cruise and the first day of our lives together. A new day, and all I wanted was to make love with him.

  We spent ages kissing and caressing each other, relearning how we loved to be touched, and then I ripped open the box on the bedside table and in moments our naked bodies were entwined and Nicholas said, "I love you," and slid deep inside me.

  "I love you too," I gasped against his lips as pleasure flooded me, and we proved our feelings to each other with every kiss and every movement. Nothing had ever felt so good.

  We reached our peak together and tumbled over into pure ecstasy, clinging to each other and panting with delight, then he kissed me with even more sweetness and tenderness than before and said, "Melissa, will you marry me?"

  Breathless all over again, I said, "Yes. Oh, yes," without even thinking about it. No doubt in my mind and only joy and love in my heart.

  "I don't have a ring," he said, "obviously. But I'll--"

  I kissed him, though it was tough because I couldn't stop grinning. "I don't care." I laughed. "You bought me that shawl, that's enough."

  He laughed too. "'With this shawl, I thee wed?' Oh, wait, how about, 'With this hatchet, I thee wed'?"

  I giggled. "Where are you putting this hatchet exactly?"

  He tapped the top of my head, and we laughed again, then he said, "No, but maybe on the wall? How would you feel about a horror-themed wedding?"

  I leaned back to see his face. "The wedding of my nightmares? I love it."

  He kissed me, his mouth lingering on mine like he couldn't bear to stop, then sat up to get rid of the condom. That done, he pulled me back into his arms and said, "I thought you would."

  "Let's do it at Halloween, with the horror club. I'd like the ceremony itself to be normal, since that's the important part, but let's have the reception all costumed."

  "Who will we dress up as?"

  I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Whoever you are, you'll be my favorite monster."

  He laughed. "You'll be my favorite monster too. You're my cute little Hatchet Monster."

  "But Hatchet Monster is huge. And hideous."

  He patted my cheek, his eyes wide with mock seriousness. "Aw, honey, you're not huge."

  I laughed. "But I am hideous?"

  "I didn't say that. I was very careful not to say that. But you are my monster."

  "And you're mine. Forever."

  Our kiss then was better than any kiss I'd ever seen in a movie, or read about, or even imagined was possible. I'd never thought I could be so in love.

  He touched my cheek gently. Our eyes met, but we didn't speak. We didn't have to. We understood each other without words.

  Then we snuggled up together and quoted Hatchet Monster lines at each other until we fell asleep.

  Acknowledgments

  The cover photo of a running path in downtown Toronto, on which I can almost see Megan and Andrew, was taken by depositphotos.com/user-1015060/elenathewise.html and turned into a cover by me.

  I am beyond lucky to have such supportive people around me. Thanks so much to:

  * Holly MacLeod, for reading multiple drafts of every book and never once being anything but helpful and encouraging

  * Beth MacLeod, Tanya Sweeney, and Jess Wilkinson, for reading at least one draft of at least one of these books and providing great feedback

  * Lidiya Aliyeva, Kathy Amarasinghe, Melissa Sinkewicz Buescher, Kimberly Perskin, and Alicia Yorkey, five of my amazing Facebook fans, for going beyond the typical reader/writer relationship and helping me catch final things that needed to be fixed. (If any mistakes still got through, they're my fault not yours!)

  * my husband, without whom I doubt I'd have finished one book never mind ten.

  Thank you for reading.

  I so appreciate your reading this collection of my "Toronto Series" books and I hope you enjoyed it. Book reviews are crucial, both for me as an author and for your fellow readers, so if you can spare a moment to leave a review that would be wonderful.

  Once a month I send out a newsletter that includes a free short story by me plus a book recommendation and prizes and other great information, and you're welcome to sign up for your free subscription.

  If you're on Facebook, why not join my other wonderful readers there? You can have your say on covers and titles for my future books and also chat with me about what you think of what I've written so far!

  Read on to see a preview of my next book. Thanks again, and happy reading!

  Also by Heather Wardell

  Toronto Collection

  Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo (free download!)

  Go Small or Go Home

  Planning to Live

  Stir Until Thoroughly Confused

  A Life That Fits

  Live Out Loud

  Blank Slate Kate

  Finding My Happy Pace

  All at Sea

  Good to Myself (turn the page for an excerpt!)

  Pink is a Four-Letter Word

  Everybody's Got a Story

  Fifty Million Reasons

  Plan Overboard

  Toronto Collection Volume One (contains "Go Small or Go Home", "Planning to Live", "Stir Until Thoroughly Confused", and "A Life That Fits" at one extra-low price!)

  Toronto Collection Volume Two (contains "Live Out Loud", "Blank Slate Kate", "Finding My Happy Pace", and "All at Sea" at one extra-low price!)

  Stand-Alone Books

  Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many

  Good to Myself – Book Description

  Internet columnist Lydia Grange is on the brink of the promotion she's wanted for two years. As lead columnist of the Toronto Times' women's issue site, she'll have the fame she longs for, the money to fuel her shopping obsession, and all the free shoes she can wear. Only one obstacle remains: beating her coworkers (Sasha the perfect mother and Patricia the bargain-obsessed senior) in a competition. All three must be 'good to themselves' for four weeks and teach their readers to do the same, and at the end of the time their sexy boss Felix will pick the winner.

  Lydia's certain she will be that winner, and not just because she knows Felix wants her on an unprofessional level. She's never anything but good to herself, so how could she not win? Fancy drinks with extra whipped cream, the cheesecake she adores, the exquisite but pricey purse she's been craving? With the help of her nice-guy buddy and coworker Percy, she'll just indulge herself even more and make sure her fans do the same. In a month both the job and her long-desired fling with Felix will be hers.

  It'll be the easiest four weeks of her life.

  Unless it turns out there's more to self-care than sex and shopping and sugar.

  Chapter One<
br />
  Like most people I generally found staff meetings boring at best, but the tension between me and my boss at the first meeting after Valentine's Day made me wish for the usual dullness. Every time I looked at him I relived the feel of his skillful mouth on mine, his hands on my back urging me closer, the hunger he sent through me... and the way I pulled away from him.

  Felix clearly remembered that part too, since his sexy dark eyes skimmed past mine whenever his gaze swept the meeting. He'd clearly been shocked when I ended our kiss without immediately suggesting we turn the tiny conference room next to his office into a sex den, and I'd been shocked too. I'd wanted him for months, since last summer when we'd all gone swimming at Patricia's house and the sight of him dripping wet and nearly naked had done frightening things to me, but when I'd finally had the chance I hadn't gone after him. Maybe it was just too hard to get a relationship going in February in Canada. Nobody looks hot in a parka.

  He did look hot now, though, with his dark hair as always perfectly professional but somehow still a little edgy and that tall sleek body dressed in a dark green dress shirt and black pants that hugged him like they'd loved him all their life.

  I half-listened to him discussing our web site statistics for the previous week, studied his gorgeous body, and wondered what was wrong with me. A seriously sexy guy, certainly the sexiest who'd kissed me since Damien got married, had wanted me and I'd pushed him away. Was I getting the flu or something?

  Felix finished his recital of how many times our pages had been viewed then flicked a fleeting glance at me before clearing his throat and saying, "We can do better, and I think I know how we will. It's time to replace Cassandra." His eyes moved three times, landing first on Patricia then Sasha then me, and without looking away from me he said, "For the next month, you three will be in competition with each other. The winner will take Cassandra's place as lead columnist."

  He paused as if to let that sink in, but he didn't need to since we were all fully aware of what it meant. If I replaced Cassandra I'd have a daily column with featured placement on the home page of the whole Toronto Times newspaper's web site, not just our little women's issues section, plus syndication to newspapers world-wide. We all received the same pittance of a salary then were given bonuses based on our site traffic, and being lead columnist would increase my following enough that I'd earn thousands, maybe tens of thousands, more. The extra visibility would also open lots of other doors, including the possibility of doing as Cassandra had done last month and leaving to become a TV talk-show host.

  Not to mention, I'd have first choice of the freebies sent to us for review. Felix had locked them all away when Cassandra left, and the thought of the mounds of clothes and makeup and shoes just out of my reach caused me physical pain.

  But they wouldn't stay out of reach for long. I'd wanted Cassandra's job since the day I was hired two years ago, and it was finally about to happen. I wouldn't let anything get in my way. I cleared my throat. "How does the competition work?"

  "Well, Carrie," Felix said, then waited with an evil glint in his eyes. A few months back one of our reporters had dubbed me "Canada's Carrie Bradshaw", and Felix brought it up every chance he got.

  I'd never told him I saw myself as more of a Samantha.

  I stifled a sigh, knowing what was coming, and Patricia didn't disappoint him or surprise me. "I keep telling you she's not even close to Carrie." She glanced under the table at my feet, then gave me a sweet smile with a whole grove of sour lemons behind it. "Doesn't have the shoes, for one thing."

  I smiled at Patricia, not wanting her to know her dig at my shoes had hit home. True, they had a weird texture, looking rather like they'd been covered with feathers and spray-painted black, but they had the four-inch heels I needed and at only eight bucks at the thrift shop I hadn't been able to turn them down. "I'll get all the shoes I need for free when I have Cassandra's job."

  Cassandra had bragged about not buying a single pair of shoes for herself in the four years she'd been lead columnist, and since we both had size eight feet that had stung me even more. After years of collecting fancy shoes for nothing, she could have been nice when I joined the site and let me have a pair or two. Or four.

  "If, you mean."

  I let my smile widen, knowing Patricia would hate my confidence. "Whatever you say."

  Felix shook his head. "Patricia, Lydia, quit it. Honestly, I'm going to have to spank you."

  His eyes met mine and a shiver ran through me at the thought. So sexy. So annoying but so sexy.

  Sasha said, "Don't make me sick. So, what do we have to do?"

  Felix held my gaze for another split second, while my body replayed the effects of his kiss even though I didn't want it to because I knew he wanted it to, then he looked toward Patricia and said, "You three have four weeks to be good to yourself."

  Sasha jumped in her seat but he didn't pause long enough for her to speak if she'd been planning on it. "And, more importantly, to teach your readers how to do the same. Of course, you'll all approach this differently because you have different audiences."

  So true. I had the single women, the "Sex and the City" types who were the reason I'd picked up the Carrie nickname, both the young ones and those who like me were staring forty in the face and not sure they liked what they saw. Sasha, the stereotypically perfect wife of the perfect husband and perfect mother of the perfect little boy and girl, attracted struggling-to-be-perfect 'mommies' like a sexy guy attracted me, and Patricia and her pack of demanding seniors bonded over their expectations that the world would give them every last thing they wanted, preferably at a discount.

  "So how will you judge the results, since we'll all do it differently?"

  Felix smiled at Patricia. "Kelvin and I have it worked out, don't worry."

  The newspaper's big boss was well known to do exactly what Felix told him to do about our site, so basically Felix was saying he'd be picking the winner.

  Surely he'd pick the one he'd kissed on Valentine's Day?

  We'd both been working late, since his ex-wife didn't exactly want to spend the evening with him and I wasn't seeing anyone at the moment. Around eight, he came out of his office and fetched some vending-machine chocolate bars which he used to lure me into his little conference room for a break, where we sat and ate and flirted with increasing intensity until he leaned in and kissed me nearly senseless.

  I pushed the memory away and tried to stay focused as Patricia said, "What exactly do you want us to do?"

  Felix shook his head. "That's up to you. The idea is that you are good to yourself every second of the day and that you share that with your readers, but beyond that I'm not going to give you any guidance. To take Cassandra's place you need to be self-motivated and creative and popular with the readers, so we want to see what you come up with on your own."

  I glanced at the peppermint white chocolate mocha in front of me on the table. I was always good to myself, always giving me exactly what I wanted. This would be a cinch. And then I'd win Cassandra’s spot, and most likely a night with Felix into the bargain.

  The same confusion I'd been feeling all weekend filled me again, but now the 'good to myself' thing complicated it further. I had wanted Felix. I'd wanted him before I kissed him, and wanted him more during and after. He was a startlingly good kisser, filling my body with heat and hunger and the edgy almost-scared sense of excitement, the desire to run and stay at the same time, that I always felt with guys. It had been unusually strong with him, though, and I had no doubt that sex with him would have been incredible.

  And I could have had it. But instead I'd pulled back, panting from his kiss, and told him I wouldn't mess around with my boss. He'd stared at me, stunned, and I'd stared back the same way, then his office phone had rung and I'd made a break for it rather than coming to my senses and stripping him naked.

  Why had I not given myself what I'd wanted for so long and what would have felt so good? Why hadn't I been good to myself?

&n
bsp; I didn't know, but this didn't seem the right time to figure it out since the other two were still peppering Felix with questions and I should be listening so they wouldn't get information I didn't have.

  He didn't give any information, though, despite their best efforts, and while I waited for him to say something useful I noticed an absence.

  Percy wasn't there.

  Today should have been his first day of work as our site designer, and I felt sick at the thought that I might have put myself on the line to recommend my old school friend only to have him bail out of the job. He was brilliant, but scattered, and he'd run away from so many jobs and opportunities before. But he'd promised me via email that he'd be here. Maybe Felix had told him not to bother coming to the staff meeting on his first day.

  "Felix, is Percy coming in later?" I said when Sasha and Patricia momentarily paused.

  He turned to me and shook his head. Disappointment and annoyance filled me, but before they could take root he went on. "Not until Wednesday. He called Friday night," he said, giving me a significant look which told me that had been the phone call I'd used to escape the conference room, "and unfortunately his mother died unexpectedly on Thursday. Heart attack."

  "Oh, dear," Sasha breathed, and I bit my lip. I'd met his mother a few times and she'd been a lovely woman, sweet and kind and thoroughly devoted to her only child without smothering him. Poor Percy, who'd been less than a success with her support, would be lost without her.

  "The funeral was yesterday, apparently, but he has a few arrangements to take care of before he can come in."

  If I'd known I'd have gone to the funeral, but since I hadn't seen Percy for more than five years he'd probably felt weird about inviting me.

  "So how will I revise my web site until then? We haven't had a site designer for three weeks now. This is unacceptable."