by Ted Evans
I sighed and patted her hands. I wasn’t so sure about this soon to be husband of hers. She’d spoken of him a lot, but the times I got to meet him were so few. I had been with her for the past four days already, and I’d only met the guy once and both times very briefly. Also, I didn’t know him well, so I couldn’t say I trusted him, but I definitely trusted Nora.
The attendant came back before I could think too much about it.
“Here you go, ma’am,” the attendant called.
Nora had turned before I did, and her eyes lit up. When I turned and caught sight of the dress…I gasped.
“Nora, this looks so amazing,” I whispered, getting up to go and see the dress. I reached my hand to touch it, but didn’t dare, it looked so amazing and delicate…
“Try it on.”
My head whirled around to face Nora who was still seated calmly, watching me with clear eye. For a moment, I thought I heard her wrong.
“What…did you say?”
She smiled and waved a hand at me. “Try it on already,” she said insistently. “I want to view the dress on you. Brooklyn, not only are you my chief, you also picked out this dress. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t wear something you picked out for me?”
Nora had a scowl on her face, but she was still smiling. Not that she needed to for me to know she was just teasing. But since she put it that way… I rolled my eyes at her.
“Just don’t complain if I look better in this dress,” I said haughtily, then turned to the attendant. “Where can I change?”
“This way, please.”
I was led to the changing rooms, and the attendant followed so she could help me. While getting half naked in front of a stranger and having someone help me get dressed was strange, the dress deserved that kind of attention. Five minutes later, I was walking back to the seating area and on top of the display platform. To the side of where Nora and I had been seated were a set of mirrors, and I took a look at myself.
Amazing…
In the mirror, my blonde hair was falling around my face, my blue eyes were bright and wet. The dress… was simply a masterpiece. It was a mermaid design with the area above the chest, up to the neck, and the sleeves made of lace with some pearls inlaid in a pattern. The dress was slimming and flared out at the knees with a bit of a train.
“The veil that goes with the dress is longer in the back and closer to opaque to cover up the back, if all you want to show off is the front. You also have the option of choosing a shorter veil if this is not your intention. The longer veil usually is used if you want to attach a longer train to the dress. The train can be attached at the small of the back.”
The opaque veil was probably so it wouldn’t ruin the look of the dress, not that I thought it was even possible. I twirled in front of the mirror with a smile on my face, and turned to look at Nora. Her eyes were misted a bit, just like mine.
“You look so beautiful, honey,” she whispered, emotional as she dabbed at her eyes. “Oh, just look at you! Here I am desperate to lose weight and you look so perfect. I’m not sure I’ll even fit into that dress…”
I smiled at Nora, feeling she was too conscious of her body. Sure, she had let herself go a bit since graduation, but she was just a little curvier than me.
“You would look amazing in a dress like this. It might need a few adjustments, but it’s absolutely perfect.”
She nodded her head. “You’re right, it’s really not something I can give up on, is it?” Then she sighed and shook her head. “I bet that bastard would be so regretful if he could see you now.”
The smile on my face grew strained at her words, but a small part of me would love for it to happen, just to see the look on his face. I completely gave up on the idea, though. It had been six years, he could have forgotten me, but then
I just looked up a little so I could blink back the tears that wanted to fall, as I glimpsed him walking inside. I was stunned for a second, doing a double take until I was sure that it was him.
Abe, the man that broke my heart so badly six year painful years ago, that I could only run away from him. He broke my heart.
Before, I could figure out what to do, he looked up and saw me, too. I saw his eyes widen in a look of surprise, and he walked toward us without seeming to think about it.
“Brooklyn?”
My body shivered at the sound of his voice, especially with the way he called my name. It was so fucking familiar, like I’d just been waiting to hear him call my name for the past six years.
I fixed my expression to something distantly polite. I had refined the look at work, and I didn’t think he would see through it easily.
“Abe,” I said indifferently, nearly having to choke it past my throat. “What a surprise to see you here.”
“You as well,” he said.
His lips twitched, and I didn’t know what look he wanted to make. It was such a minute detail that others unfamiliar with him would probably miss, but how could I? Abe Sanchez and I had dated for nearly five years before that incident from graduation. Hell, who was I trying to kid? In the past six years, I had missed him like crazy. Seeing him now was like feeding an old thirst. The only problem was, it also opened the old wounds in my heart that I’d tried so desperately to close up.
Whatever expression Abe intended to make, though, he never did, because he suddenly looked down at what I was wearing. He was stunned a second time, and I looked down at myself, remembering I was in a wedding dress.
Oh. It was clear Abe had misunderstood something.
“Brooklyn…?” he said my name again, with that shocked expression still on his face and his voice sounding confused, hesitant.
It only took a second to make my decision. He’d misunderstood, why bother explaining to him?
“Sorry, I didn’t expect to see you here. I came to look at wedding gowns. Don’t tell me you’re also getting married?” I said the words deliberately.
Sure enough, his eyes seemed to go impossibly wider, and his mouth parted, but he didn’t immediately speak.
Even with the pain still wracking through me, I felt some triumph in my chest at making Abe speechless in that moment.
“Were you in the middle of something?” I asked, looking around deliberately. “Please, don’t let us distract you. We’ll be here a while yet so we can see each other after you’re finished with your business. I only just tried on my first dress.”
No matter how much I still loved him, seeing him in here made me want to fall down on my knees.
Tell him that if he liked what he saw that I could be his bride.
I would wear this down the aisle and meet him and we could be happy, real happy. Maybe he had time and thought about it.
But then again, six years was a long time ago.
Yet, I still missed him as if it was only yesterday.
I knew that like six years ago, it would never be my reality with him and the only thing I could do was pretend that I was happy now and going to get married, even if it was all fake.
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About From Stepbrother to Daddy…
Liam was the moody, bad boy of our town.
I should have kept my distance.
But I couldn’t.
Even though he made my life hell.
I wanted to get out of our small town and the only way to do that was to get good grades.
I knew that it was wrong.
I knew that he would get up to no good.
My mind said no, but my body kept saying yes.
One night changed everything!
It got worse when I found out that he was going to be my stepbrother and the father of my baby…
Author’s Note:
It’s the whole series in one box-set with bonus scenes at the end of the book.
Have no fear, there’s no cheating in the book!
Chapter One
Chapter One
I hated her so much. Chanel had dragged m
e to one of those parties that the popular girls and boys went to on the last Friday of every month. It was some kind of crazy ritual that every kid in school dreamed about being invited to.
Not me.
I had a dream, and it was to get an education and get out of town. Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with the town of Small Borne, but there’s more to life than one place and I want to experience it.
And that’s why my body, mind, and soul were focused on college.
Not like Chanel; she only had her body, mind and soul focused on Dwayne, the all-star quarterback that was going places. Just like me.
“Adele, can you walk faster? We’re late!” Chanel half-whispered and half-screeched at me.
“I would if I didn’t have this stupid skirt on, and make-up that’s a second skin on my face.”
Okay, so it was a bit of an exaggeration. The make-up wasn’t stopping me from seeing, but I was only keeping her company and I didn’t want to be anywhere near Dwayne’s best friend, Liam.
“Oh, don’t be silly. If we get there too late then they may hook up with some other girls.”
She’d said the wrong thing. But we’d had already taken our bikes and were already almost at the secret spot. I never understood why they called it that, when everyone knew how to get there. Then we changed out of our jeans into skirts and she touched up our make-up in the dark, using our cell cells as lights.
I didn’t even want to know what I really looked like.
I doubt I looked sexy. More scary. But I did it just to make her happy.
“Isn’t hanging around your dad’s barber shop and waiting for Dwayne to come in every week enough for you?”
I put my hands on my hips thinking that maybe she’d get the message and just stick to her usual routine of trying to get the guys’ attention.
“No!”
She sighed, that long exaggerated thing that she did whenever she wanted to make a point. One that I didn’t want to hear.
“You know that it’s nearly Prom don’t you?”
I couldn’t see her, but the sarcasm in her voice was enough to put me off going any further.
“Besides you don’t want to stay at home and listen to Henry and your mom making out do you?”
I shook my head, “No way. Why did she have to date him, out of all the men in town?”
“And we know that ever though since your dad died, you’ve still not got over it. I’m sure your mom dating has been hard on you.”
“It was at first, but it’s been five years. I know that Mom has to move on eventually. She had to work for the first time in her life since he died and she’s managed to pick herself up. It’s just why she had to date him. Henry’s fine. It’s his son, Liam, that has issues. Big issues. I don’t even understand why any girl would even hook up with him. The guy’s a mental case.”
I didn’t know if I was trying to convince her or myself.
“Is that why whenever he walks in the room, you go bright red and you can’t get keep your eyes off him?” She took my hand, “I told you, your secret’s safe with me. I know you have a crush on him.”
“Now, you make me sound about five. I don’t have a crush. The guy’s a jerk.”
“I know he took your homework, handed it in and said you copied him.”
“Like that was likely? As if I would ever copy him.”
“And then Liam turned up at your date saying that you asked him to come and save you from Pete.”
“And I really liked Pete. I couldn’t even explain to him that Liam’s a jerk and how could I ask two men out at the same time?”
“I don’t even know why you asked Pete out in the first place?”
I sighed, because we’d had this conversation so many times. I’d always left out the part when we were in the cafeteria and Liam came up to me and said that we should go to his place and get it out of our systems. He accused me of having a thing for him. I went out of my way to prove that I had nothing for him, by asking Boring Pete out. He was the safe option. Until Liam turned up, I was kind of bored. Everyone is whenever Pete starts to talk, but he’s such a nice guy. It’s just that no one wants to talk about Star Trek all night, apart from Trekkies, and no one wants to look at his collection of monuments via photos or the stash that he keeps in his backpack, again apart from Trekkies. After that night, he went and asked a Trekkie fan out and they’re happy in love and I’m just…
“Anyway, let’s just get it over and done with.”
I picked up my speed thinking about that night with Liam. There was another part I always missed out. Once Pete was out of the way, Liam held me in his arms and kissed me, then he broke away saying, “Pete could never kiss you like that.”
He had a point, but he didn’t even ask for permission; then again I didn’t protest. I watched as he left me like a jilted bride on my doorstep after giving me the kiss of the year. Shit, it was my first kiss and it wasn’t just that it made my panties wet. It just made me want him even more. But, I’ll never confess it to Chanel, and certainly not him…
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About Virtually Bossy…
My virtual assistant is going to find out who’s boss…
When my PA quits, I can’t say I’m sorry. She was as incompetent in the office as she was in the bedroom. I need to stay the hell away from virgins. One f**k and they think that I’m ready to walk them down the aisle!
HR are on my case, and I can’t hire another assistant.
I own the fucking corporation, but I can’t get decent help… …apart from Olivia.
She’s been my backup assistant for years, working remotely in middle of nowhere.
I’ll pay her double, give her days off, anything to meet this deadline.
I just don’t need another distraction.
I’ve never met Olivia, but I have a feeling she’s a middle-aged spinster with a dozen cats. Perfect for keeping me and my cock out of trouble.
Trouble is I got it all wrong. Olivia walks into my office, and she’s an emerald-eyed bombshell.
I may be in charge, but Olivia’s holding all the cards until this deadline is done.
Then I’m going to bend her over my desk and show her what a good boss I can be.
Author's Note:
It's short and steamy with enough sexiness for you to enjoy this novella. It is standalone, and there's no cheating.
Chapter One
Ross
“What do you fucking want?”
I shouldn’t have been so crude and I shouldn’t have shouted at her. But I was tired. Scarlett was my secretary, NOT my fucking wife. I’d made the mistake of fucking her once and I’ve been repeatedly that mistake over the course of the last week.
She was fun.
The kind that got a kick out of fooling around, but she killed the fun the second night when she asked me to hold her until she fell asleep. After I’d already got out of bed and was going to sleep in my real bedroom, not the one that I’d just fucked her in.
The second time, I made sure that I fucked her at her place. Just so that I could leave.
She still didn’t get the hint.
That’s when the fun stopped and I knew that I had to get rid of her.
There was just one problem. I had a deadline and until it was met. She needed to stay working for me as my secretary.
“I just feel as if I’ve been used…” she purred as she got closer to me.
Really?
“Like you just want me for my body and nothing else.”
She started to pout and I could see that she was up to something, because she left the door wide open. We were in my office and she was talking about matters of the heart. Only for me they were matters for my dick and I could tell that she was getting attached. This wasn’t going to go down well, not by a long shot. I knew that she wanted everyone outside to hear. I didn’t need the staff to know that I’d done the same thing
again.
The same fucking stupid thing that I’d been warned about.
I stood up quickly and closed the door. Then I turned to comfort her. Wondering what would happen if she left and stopped working as my secretary. And, even worse, what if she went to tell HR that I really couldn’t keep my dick in my pants? Then I was truly fucked. The employment agency would be on my case and could shut the company down for sexual harassment. The way Scarlett was behaving she would be more than willing to speak to them about my bad behavior.
“You need to think about what this all means.”
I was fucking stalling, thinking of a way to try and get a distraction. I was a fucking CEO. Built-up my company from scratch. Yet, when it came to matters of the heart, I couldn’t think. That’s why I usually fucked and worried about the consequences later.
“What?”
She was right, where was I going with this?
My palms were wet from trying to calm her down. My voice was raspy from running to close the door and back to her. Then to make matters worse, my head was fucking spinning out of control. I had an important meeting in around twenty minutes. When did my life become so fucking complicated and when did I lose control of everything?
“I know you think that I don’t appreciate you,” I stared into her sea-blue eyes.
“But I do. You’re beautiful.”
I stroked her long fair hair, thinking that blondes really do have more fun. Once again, I was distracted, because my hands moved to her breasts. Those big thick melons that could feed me for a fucking month. They were so damn juicy that I found myself opening up her shirt. Not fucking opening it, but ripping it open and popping those buttons as my mouth wanted to suck and my dick wanted to fuck.
“You’re doing it again,” she protested. She never complained before!
“You’re looking at my body and wanting to take me.”
