by Ivy Layne
Tears spilled over my cheeks as I nodded, my throat too tight for words. Lucas let out a breath and pulled the ring from the box. He rested his forehead against mine as he slid the ring on my finger. It was a perfect fit. More tears slid down my cheeks.
I'd been wondering, hoping, secretly imagining our future. I'd had no idea Lucas had been doing the same thing.
"I love you, Lucas."
His forehead still against mine, we both looked at the ring on my finger.
"What do you think about a Christmas wedding?" he asked. I gave a watery laugh.
"That's only six weeks away," I said.
"Do you want something big?"
I knew if I said I did, Lucas would agree, though he'd hate the circus of a big wedding. I shook my head, rubbing my forehead against his.
"I really don't," I whispered. "I just want to be married to you."
Jacob and Abigail were planning the wedding to end all weddings, and just the thought of all that work gave me hives. Vance and Maggie's wedding hadn't been huge, and it was beautiful, but it was still more than I wanted. Lucas interrupted my thoughts.
"I want to get married at Winters House," he said. "At Christmas. After Gage is home."
My heart lurched in my chest and I sat back to study his face. "What?"
"I got a call this morning. Aiden will get official word eventually, but my contact told me Gage is in a military hospital. He's injured and not in great shape, but he's going to be okay. And he's coming home. Soon."
I started crying again and launched myself into Lucas's arms, sobbing in relief. I hadn't thought anything could make this moment any better, but Lucas had done it.
Gage was coming home.
Alive.
And in time to watch me marry Lucas Jackson in a Christmas wedding at Winters House.
"I don't think I could be any happier than I am right now," I said into Lucas's neck.
He squeezed me tight before leaning back to wipe my tears with one of the work rags in the box beside me. I took over, trying to keep from smearing mascara all over my cheeks.
I'd never been a crier before I met Lucas. Not since my parents died.
I'd locked my heart away where no one could ever hurt it again. It had taken Lucas to break through. To make me feel again.
Lucas was worth the risk of love.
Lucas was worth everything.
He picked up the crystal decanter of whiskey and twisted off the top. From somewhere in the box, he pulled out a glass from the set I'd stolen the day Aiden had fired me. Cracking the seal on the bottle, he poured a healthy slug in the glass.
"Does Aiden know you have this?" I asked, taking a sip. Amazing. Not as good as the bottle I'd stolen, but nothing was. Lucas shrugged and took the glass, tasting the whiskey.
"Damn, that's good."
"How did you get it?" I asked.
"I went over this afternoon to tell him about Gage and ask for his blessing."
My heart melted. Aiden and Lucas got along better than I'd expected, but I wouldn't have guessed Lucas would talk to Aiden about marrying me.
"You asked Aiden for his blessing and then stole his best bottle of whiskey?" I asked, torn between a laugh and more tears.
"Of course I talked to your brother, Princess. I wanted to do this right."
I looked from the ring on my finger to the bottle of Macallan.
Nothing could be more us, more right, than Lucas proposing over a bottle of stolen whiskey.
Somehow, I thought Aiden would understand.
I took the crystal glass from Lucas and set it on the counter, sliding it and the bottle a few feet away. Then I pulled his mouth down to mine.
The day we met, we'd stopped with a kiss. One kiss, but it had changed my life. Since the moment Lucas's lips met mine, nothing had been the same.
Here we were, six months later, with another bottle of stolen whiskey.
This time, I wasn't drunk.
This time, we were so much more than two lost strangers.
And this time, we weren't stopping with a kiss.
SNEAK PEEK:
THE BILLIONAIRE’S SECRET KISS
Included in the Dark Desires Collection
CHAPTER ONE
ELLA
I was late. I'm never late.
Twenty minutes to get to campus. I had a two o’clock appointment with my thesis advisor. Oliver was trying to see if he could get me put back on our project even though I wasn't currently enrolled in the master’s program.
It was a long shot, and I didn't want to blow it by being late.
I hated to interrupt a meeting, but I’d told my bosses I needed a few hours off this afternoon, and I had to hand over my charge before I left. Cradling baby Rosie against my shoulder, I nudged the door to the office open with my hip, saying, "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but it's one forty and –"
I looked up and my breath froze in my lungs.
Noah Endicott was sitting across the room. He lounged in the chair opposite Vance's desk, his brown eyes wide with surprise and fixed on mine.
"Ella?"
That was all he said. Just Ella.
I wasn't much better. I didn't say anything. I just stared.
It was Noah, but not my Noah. My Noah wore faded T-shirts with geeky engineering jokes. My Noah's dark hair was long enough to fall into his eyes. My Noah had a sweet smile.
My Noah had broken my heart.
The man in front of me may have looked like my first love, but I doubted they had anything in common.
This Noah had short hair and lines around his eyes.
This Noah wore an expensive, designer sweater instead of a T-shirt and hoodie, though the faded jeans and black-and-white Converse high tops were heartbreakingly familiar.
"Ella?" Maggie asked, concern heavy in her voice. "Are you okay? Do you and Noah know each other?"
I looked at my bosses and tried to get my head back in gear. Vance and Magnolia were both staring at me with concern. I needed to get myself together before they decided I was losing it. Vance and Maggie had hired me as Rosie's nanny a few months before, and thanks to them I might be able to save up enough money to go back to school.
That was my plan. Work for Vance and Magnolia. Save every penny. Go back to school.
Noah had no part in any of that.
"I'm so sorry, Maggie. I thought Rosie would fall asleep on her walk, but she’s still up and I have to go –"
Maggie stood and scooped the baby out of my arms. "I lost track of time, Ella, or I would have come to get her. Don’t worry about it. We’re good. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off after your meeting?”
"Thanks so much," I said, half over my shoulder, as I escaped the room without another word. Behind me I heard Noah say, "Ella! Ella, wait!"
No way. I'd spent enough of my life waiting for Noah Endicott. I'd learned my lesson.
As fast as I could without running, I walked out of the office to get my purse and keys from the kitchen. A few more seconds and I'd be in my car on the way to school.
My purse was not on the counter where I left it. Dammit. I didn't have time for this.
My heart thundering in my chest, I scanned every flat surface in the kitchen for my red purse and silver key ring.
I wasn't sure if I was rushing to my appointment, or desperate to escape Noah.
Noah.
How was Noah at Vance and Magnolia’s? He was in California. As far as I knew he hadn't been back to Georgia since three months before we’d broken up.
Why was he here now?
Vance was an artist, but he was also an angel tech investor on the side. He'd met Magnolia when he hired her as his assistant, and they'd gotten married a few months before. Vance and Maggie met with a lot of guys like Noah, but there were angel investors in California. Silicon Valley was filled with them. Why was he here?
Maybe after what had happened, no one would talk to him out there.
It didn't matter. Noah was the past. My future
depended on doing my job, and staying in Oliver's good graces so I could get back into my program when I could afford to pay for it.
Focus, Ella. Where the hell did I leave my purse?
An image of the built in bench beside the front door flashed in my mind. Yes! Rosie had been crying when I’d shown up that morning, and I dropped my purse and keys on the bench to get to her so Maggie could finish making breakfast without a screaming baby in her arms.
I whirled for the front hall and bumped smack into Noah. His hands came up to my shoulders, holding me in place. Up close, he looked tired and older. He smelled the same. Clean. Like the ocean and fresh cut grass.
Scent memory is a killer. Just like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies always brought me right back to my mom's kitchen, that unique combination of salty sea and green grass meant Noah. My brain and heart stuttered, remembered love flooding through me.
No.
No.
I stepped back, jerking my shoulders out from under his grip.
"I have to go," I said.
Noah's hand shot out and closed over my wrist. "Ella, wait. We have to talk."
"No, we don't. There's nothing to say. I have to go, I'm going to be late."
Noah shifted to block my path to the door. "Please, Ella. If you can't talk now, have dinner with me."
Was he crazy? I didn't want to be in the same room with Noah Endicott, much less have dinner with him.
"No! Noah, I don't know why you're here, and I don't care. We don't have anything to say to each other anymore. Please just leave me alone."
"I can't do that," Noah said, shifting again to block my exit. "I know you're mad. You probably hate me. But I need to talk to you. There are things I need to explain –"
“There's no point," I said, no longer confused as to whether I was rushing to my appointment, or running from Noah. I was definitely running from Noah. Just being this close to him had my emotions in turmoil, my stomach tight and chest hollow with remembered pain.
I'd loved him so much. I couldn't do this. I didn't want to be anywhere near him. Especially not now.
"There’s every point," Noah insisted. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't still have feelings for me, and I’ll walk away. I swear."
I raised my eyes to his, trying not to flinch at the heat and longing in his bittersweet chocolate gaze. I'd always loved his eyes.
"I don't have any feelings for you, Noah," I said.
"Liar."
Noah raised his hands to cup my face, sliding one hand back to bury his fingers in my hair, cradling my skull and tilting my face up to his. His touch was gentle. Light enough that I easily could have stepped away.
I didn't. A part of me wanted to. Wanted to run as fast as I could and never see Noah again. But the second he touched me, I froze, just like I had when I'd seen him sitting in Vance's office.
His touch was so familiar. The way he held my face, the stroke of his thumb over my cheek. I had plenty of time to dodge his kiss. I don't know why I didn't do it.
"Ella," he whispered, his lips so close they stroked mine as they moved. His breath smelled like lemon and mint. He’d always loved chewing those lemon mint candies. My body swayed into his, drawn by history and a love I'd never quite been able to kill.
When his tongue grazed my bottom lip, I opened to him out of reflex. Two years. It had been two years since I'd seen Noah, but my body had forgotten nothing. And apparently, it hadn't learned any lessons from Noah's desertion.
One touch and all I wanted was him.
His mouth moved over mine, sucking on my bottom lip, then my top, before he tilted my head back and dove into the kiss. One arm went around my waist, pulling me tight to his body. Without thinking about it, my hand rose to curl around the back of his neck, holding him close.
I'd always loved kissing Noah. He knew what I wanted before I did. When to take me deeper. When to back off. How to tease me until I was dying to touch him.
I heard myself moan as he backed me into the kitchen island, pulling his mouth from mine to graze his lips along my chin. He nipped the side of my neck in that spot that always made me shiver. My hand curled into his hair, guiding his mouth down to my collarbone.
Noah was already on his way.
My hips rolled into his, my skin flushed, my body heating from head to toe at the feel of his hard cock pressing into me. I hooked my leg around his hips, dragging his thickness against me, grateful I was wearing a skirt when he gripped the back of my knee with strong fingers before sliding his hand up my bare thigh to close around the swell of my ass.
His teeth closed over the tendon in my neck, a bite of possession that wouldn’t leave a visible mark, but burned through me to my core. When his fingers grazed the edge of my practical cotton panties, I didn’t push him away. I dropped my head back and moaned.
I wasn’t surprised I was wet. One fingertip slid beneath my underwear to trace my pussy, easily gaining entrance to my body. Two years since anyone had touched me there. No other man had come close. No other man was Noah. Raw pleasure spiked through me when he pressed that finger tip into my clit. Just the way I liked it.
His tongue stroked across my collarbone and I shuddered in his arms.
"Ella," he breathed into my skin. "Ella, baby, I missed you so much."
His words were a bucket of ice water, annihilating the cloud of lust messing with my brain.
I jerked away and shoved at the same time, rocking Noah back on his heels just enough to get free. I wiped the back of my hand against my mouth as if I could erase the kiss, pressing my thighs together to quiet the needy hum between my legs.
Noah was everywhere, the imprint of his hands on my skin, his scent in my nose.
Fucking Noah. No. I was not fucking Noah.
He reached out and grabbed my hand. "Ella, please -"
I wrenched my arm out of his grip, threw it back, and punched him as hard as I could.
Noah let out a yowl of pain, his hands going to his nose. He drew one away and looked at it. Bright red blood stained his fingers.
"You hit me!”
"I'm sorry.” I was lying. I wasn't sorry.
As if reading my mind, Noah said, "I had it coming."
"Did I break it?" I couldn't help asking.
"Did you mean to?"
"No! I didn't mean to hit you at all. I didn't mean to kiss you either."
"Now that you did, now that I have to go back into that meeting with a bloody nose, will you at least go to dinner with me?"
“No.” That kiss was proof I couldn’t be anywhere near Noah. I had no willpower where he was concerned. And no reason to trust him.
"I'm not giving up, Ella.”
Exasperated, my heart bleeding, I pushed past him, saying, "I have to go, Noah. I can't be late. Please don't tell Vance and Maggie about this."
Behind me, I heard him say, “Later, Ella. I’ll find you later. This isn’t over.”
But it was. It had been over months before we’d finally broken up. Noah wasn't mine anymore. I'd moved on. I wasn't going back.
I couldn't afford to.
Click Here to Pre-Order Dark Desires, the exclusive source for The Billionaire’s Secret Kiss!
COMING SOON:
THE BILLIONAIRE’S ANGEL
Gage Winters has finally come home, but home has never felt so far away. His brother is freezing him out, he can’t get used to civilian life, and ever since he escaped the terrorist cell that kidnapped him, he hasn’t been able to sleep. Until he meets her.
The first time he sees Sophie, Gage thinks she’s an angel come to earth. Then he spies the full curves hiding beneath her innocent white nightgown and knows Sophie is no angel.
She might just be his salvation, but only if Gage can convince her to let down her guard. Sophie has secrets lurking in her green eyes, secrets that threaten their fragile connection and could claim Sophie’s life.
Home was supposed to be safe, but now Gage is in the fight of his life - to save the woma
n he’s claimed as his own and take back the life that was meant to be his before he loses everything.
Click Here to find out as soon as The Billionaire’s Angel is released!
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ALSO BY IVY LAYNE
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Scandals of the Bad Boy Billionaires
The Billionaire’s Secret Heart (Novella)
The Billionaire’s Secret Love (Novella)
The Billionaire’s Pet
The Billionaire’s Promise
The Rebel Billionaire
The Billionaire’s Angel (Coming May 2017)
Dark Desires Collection: The Billionaire’s Secret Kiss (Novella) (Coming June 2017)
ABOUT IVY LAYNE
Ivy Layne has had her nose stuck in a book since she first learned to decipher the English language. Sometime in her early teens, she stumbled across her first Romance, and the die was cast. Though she pretended to pay attention to her creative writing professors, she dreamed of writing steamy romance instead of literary fiction. These days, she’s neck deep in alpha heroes and the smart, sexy women who love them.
Married to her very own alpha hero (who rubs her back after a long day of typing, but also leaves his socks on the floor). Ivy lives in the mountains of North Carolina where she and her other half are having a blast raising two energetic little boys. Aside from her family, Ivy’s greatest loves are coffee and chocolate, preferably together.
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