Table of Contents
Sign up for my newsletter!
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Note from the Author
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Thank you for reading!
Excerpt of All Because I Met You
Other Books by Theresa
Become a Townie
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Grab your FREE book today
by signing up for my newsletter here!
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.
Published by TMP Books Inc.
Copyright April 2020
Edited by CookieLynn Publishing Services
Cover Design by Amanda Walker PA and Design Services
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.
Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Dedicated to Dad
For still calling me to check that I locked the door
and for being the dad who wears monster slippers.
Dear Reader,
As with all my small towns, Morgan’s Bay is fictional, however I placed this town on Long Island, a place where I was born, raised and still reside. While Morgan’s Bay may not be real, I’ve taken all of my favorite parts of the east end of Long Island and used them to create this small town.
Each book I infuse a little bit of myself and this book has many personal Easter eggs. The name Morgan’s Bay came from the marina my parents kept their boat docked and where I spent many summers. Olivia’s parents Yorkshire Terrier, is based on my own parents Yorkie, Frank, and who I refer to as my little brother.
And like all my other books, there will also be Easter eggs that will tie all of my small towns into one world. Keep an eye open for them while reading.
I am pleased to welcome you to Morgan’s Bay.
Theresa
Chapter 1
The lights were dimmed in her New York City penthouse, the champagne chilling in the ice bucket, and Olivia Green was stripped down to her newest red lace lingerie set. Her boyfriend, Daniel James III, was just selected to be included in Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and she was ready to celebrate.
She’d had plans to head home to her small town on the eastern end of Long Island to pay her parents a monthly visit, but they understood why she couldn’t make it this month. At least that’s what she convinced herself. The disappointment in Mom’s tone wasn’t exactly coinciding with her words, but Olivia had her own life now, and her parents needed to accept that.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the setting sun casted an orange glow throughout the bedroom. Olivia sprawled out on the California king, and the thousand thread Egyptian cotton rubbed softly against the exposed skin of her curves. She got into different poses and tried to find the sexiest one that showed off just enough of the red lace while still leaving a little to the imagination.
After flopping around like a fish, she finally settled on her side, elbow bent and propping her head up. She draped one leg over the other and angled her body toward the door. According to the alarm clock on her side of the bed, Daniel would be home in five minutes. The man ran on a very calculated schedule that she knew like the back of her hand.
He would come home in five minutes after having drinks with clients, change out of his suit and tie, and head into the home office to go through the emails he didn’t manage to get to during the day. A little shake up in his routine was exactly what he needed. He was bestowed one of the greatest honors as an entrepreneur, and he deserved a night to celebrate.
The sun dipped lower into the horizon, and Daniel still hadn’t come home. Maybe his clients bought him an extra drink. It’s not like he knew she’d be home waiting for him. She thought about texting him, but her phone was in the other room, and it took her so long to get this pose down. Even if the crook of her elbow ached from being stuck in the same position, and her neck stiffened. Beauty was pain… and so was sex appeal, apparently.
They’d both been busy with work that their sex life had fizzled in the last year. It was a far cry from the days when he would take her on his desk after hours at the office when they both would stay later than necessary. She wanted that thrill again, back when she was his intern and before she became his live-in girlfriend, and tonight was the night.
If he’d ever get home…
Finally, twenty minutes later—the ice melting, the pretty sun glow gone—the door clicked open, and she perfected her pose. Anticipation swirled in her stomach, and excitement raced through her veins as she waited for him to discover his red laced vixen.
The sound of his keys dropping in the dish by the door echoed through the apartment, followed by a loud thump. Did he walk into something? She resisted the urge to call out and ruin the surprise. She’d spent far too long planning to let it all go up in smoke because he might’ve banged his knee. She would make it all better as soon as he got in here.
Another thump sounded outside the bedroom, and her body shifted in curiosity. Maybe he was drunk, though, that only happened on very rare occasions. Making Forbes 30 Under 30 was a rare occasion. If he was drunk, would he even remember the picture she spent hours trying to create? She would have to make it as memorable as possible.
She lifted, allowing her nipple to peek out over the lace, and shifted forward so her breasts displayed their full potential. The door flew open, and Olivia fixed a smile on her face, but it quickly slipped to a gasp. Daniel’s lips left the topless redhead in his arms whose bare legs were wrapped securely around his waist. Her skirt was pushed up over her thighs.
“Olivia!” His eyes widened, and he dropped the woman to the floor. She hit with a loud and resounding thud.
Shock and anger wagered war in Olivia’s head, and she wasn’t going to sit around and wait for her emotions to work it out. She jumped from the bed, grabbing the comforter and wrapping it around her practically naked body.
“You were supposed to be at your parents,” Daniel choked out, like that would make this okay.
“And you weren’t supposed to be tongue deep into another woman!” She pointed a furious finger at the redhead on the floor.
Tears pricked Olivia’s eyes, and she wished she was strong enough to hold them back, act as if her heart wasn’t breaking into a million pieces, but she was never the strong one. Tears flowed down her cheeks, dripping onto the rounded mounds of her breasts.
“How could you?” she asked.
Daniel scrubbed a hand over his face and the redhead stood, covering herself with her arm. “I’m just going to go.” She hurried to the door and stopped. “Call me,” she said to Daniel, and Olivia stumbled back at the audacity. By the time the shock wore off, the
girl was gone.
Olivia stormed to the walk-in closet and reached for an article of clothing from one of the hundreds of hangers. There was no way she was going to have a conversation with her cheating boyfriend in nothing more than a few well-placed pieces of lace. She grabbed a dress and dropped the comforter.
On the other hand. She wanted him to see what he was missing. Six months with a highly sought-after personal trainer had paid off in the way of a sculpted legs and a tight ass. Now he wouldn’t get to enjoy his investment. She stepped out of the closet with the dress in hand. His eyes roamed over the ensemble, and he stepped toward her. Her hand flung up. “Don’t you even think about it.” Did he honestly think that she’d just forget he’d stumbled into their bedroom with another woman?
“I loved you,” she said. “I wanted to marry you.” She foolishly thought that a Tiffany engagement ring was in their near future.
Daniel straightened his sleeves and smirked before meeting her eyes. “Did you honestly think I would marry you?”
His words were a heavy blow to her gut, knocking her back a step. “Yes,” she said and hated the pathetic lilt in her tone.
“You were my intern.”
Her hands landed on her hips, brushing against the expensive lace of her lingerie. “And now I’m your social media marketing specialist.”
“Only because I couldn’t let word get out that I was messing around with an intern. Do you know how bad that would’ve been for my company? For my reputation?”
“So what? You promoted me, so you could continue screwing me?”
He shrugged. “We were having fun, and I wasn’t ready for it to end.”
“Fun?” she exclaimed. “That’s what’s you’re calling the last two years of our relationship?”
“Look, I know you’re upset.” He reached out to her, and she snatched her arm back. She didn’t want his cheating hands anywhere near her. In fact, she’d given enough of herself, let him see more than his fair share. She yanked the designer dress over her head and let it slip into place.
“CEOs simply can’t date interns. It’s bad for business.”
“But it wasn’t just the job. You let me move in. You publicly called me your girlfriend and told me you loved me. I was your plus one at galas and charity events. I went to your father’s funeral!”
“When it came out that we were together, I needed people to think it was a love match. Why else would I violate my own code of conduct? Making people believe you were the one created less scandal.”
She shook her head. This wasn’t happening. She’d been a pawn in his game the entire time, and she’d foolishly gone along with it? She helped him keep his squeaky-clean reputation while he used her, made her believe in true love and fairytales, all through lies and deception.
He used her. And worst of all, she’d let him.
She was too dumb to look beyond the penthouse apartment, designer clothes, unlimited pool of wealth and five-star accommodations. Oh god, did this make her a prostitute?
Her heart hammered her ribcage, her throat growing impossibly tight as she searched for words to throw in his face. She wanted to hurt him as badly as he hurt her, but words wouldn’t hurt him. Rocks and a beating by a professional MMA fighter maybe, but words he’d wipe off. He was a cutthroat businessman who did what he had to do in order to get the job done. The only way to hurt him was to put a scuff in that clean reputation.
She didn’t say anything as she pushed past him to grab her suitcase. He didn’t try to stop her, not that she was surprised at this point. He’d gotten what he needed out of her already. She grabbed handfuls of clothes and shoes; she didn’t care if he’d bought them for her. She looked at it as her consolation prize. Besides, half the items were worth more than what she had in her bank account right now.
She grabbed her Twist MM Louis Vuitton bag—her most prized possession; she’d bought it herself—and slung it on her arm. She closed her suitcase and zipped it shut.
“I’ll send someone by to get the rest of my stuff,” she said and slipped into her Louboutin heels.
“Where are you going? It’s late.”
“I guess I’m going home after all.”
“At least take the car service.”
Car service. Oh how she’d miss never having to wave a cab down again, especially in the freezing cold winters, but she’d manage. Then again, who knew where she’d be come winter...
She didn’t want another thing from him. “I’ll manage. And I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be at work on Monday. Consider this my resignation. Not that it matters, since the position was only created to cover up the fact that you were sleeping with your intern.”
“Olivia,” Daniel said, but she kept walking, dragging her suitcase behind her. He grabbed her elbow, and she yanked it from his grasp. He held his hands up and met her eyes. The soft blue had once set her world on fire, and now it was like ice reaching into her chest and freezing her heart. “Have coffee with me tomorrow.”
Maybe he wanted to work things out. Maybe this was what he needed to realize that he did love her. That the last two years hadn’t been a complete waste of her time.
“We can talk now,” she said. Why put off till tomorrow what they could get out of the way right this second?
“I need time to discuss with my team how we should go about releasing this to the public.”
Her eyes snapped open, and her mouth practically hit the floor. “Excuse me?”
“We need to go about this diligently. Maybe even spin it to our benefit.”
“Spin it?”
Her heart wasn’t a damn business transaction of fodder for his reputation.
“Screw you!” Olivia stormed toward the elevator, ignoring Daniel’s pleas. She tossed her suitcase inside and spun to him, pointing a perfectly manicured nail at his face. “I helped you keep your reputation under false pretenses, and maybe if I didn’t love you, I would have seen the truth all along. But now I do. There is no way in hell I’ll ever help you again. You want to keep your reputation intact? You should have thought about that before you had your hands up someone else’s skirt.”
She got on the elevator, and as soon as the doors closed, the feisty vengeful woman she’d transformed into seconds ago, collapsed into a pathetic, heartbroken fool.
***
Shane Sanchez McConnell got on the train at Jamaica station, heading to Morgan’s Bay. He’d never been to the small town before, even though his father’s side of the family owned the majority of the businesses, houses, and land. At least that’s what his mother had told him before she died.
He didn’t know his father, much less his family. It had always been just him and his mom, the dynamic duo, and that was all Shane had ever needed. He didn’t need siblings; Mom had enough on her plate with him, and he didn’t need a dad because Mom had kept the memory of the man who helped create him alive. Shane had never met his father, but he felt as if he knew his father.
And now he would get to know his father’s family—a family he never expected and wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted. Family created ties and bonds, and he didn’t want to burden anybody with his life. He’d already done that to Mom. Every day she was gone was a reminder of that.
The memory of her was swift and painful. He bit back the bitter regret of his life and walked down the aisle of the train. People filled the seats, but after a day of travel from car, to plane to train, he was exhausted and would settle for sitting on someone’s lap at this point.
He continued down the aisle and sighed in relief when he spotted an open seat—other than the suitcase taking up the space. “Excuse me,” he said to the woman who was staring out the window.
She turned, her black makeup smearing down her cheeks in sad lines. Her brown eyes were puffy and red. Her lip quivered, and she sucked in a ragged breath. He understood now why no one attempted to claim this seat as their own.
He offered her a smile, hoping it would bring some light into the gloomy nigh
t she was having. “Is this seat taken?”
“Sorry,” she offered through a hiccup. “My bag is too big.”
“That’s no problem.” He tossed his bag on the rack above them and reached for hers. “I can toss it up with mine.”
Her eyes filled with horror as if he suggested tossing her luggage out the back of the train and tying it to the wheel. “You don’t understand; it’s all I have left.” She hugged the luggage to her chest, and he eyed her with curiosity.
“I can promise it’s not going anywhere. I will be its personal security guard to make sure of it.”
Her eyes drifted to the hot pink suitcase, her brown hair falling in her face. With a deep breath, she caught his eyes, and her lips curved into a smile. “If you promise.”
He made an x motion over his heart, and she reluctantly let go of the suitcase. She nodded, and he gently placed the suitcase beside his before dropping into the seat. The LIRR didn’t have the most comfortable seats in the world, but he was so tired that it didn’t matter. A park bench would be a godsend after all his hours of travel.
His seatmate turned to the window, her shoulders shaking as a muffled sob escaped her. Shane hated to see people sad. Life was too short to let sorrow win.
“You okay?” he asked. Maybe the girl just needed someone to talk to, maybe occupy her mind for a little while.
She shifted in her seat, her brown eyes taking him in as a perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched. “You’re not from the city, are you?”
His brows drew together. Even though he was born and raised in California, he didn’t think he had a strong accent. “How’d you guess?”
“You’re getting involved. People from here don’t get in involved. We keep to ourselves.”
Ignoring a stranger wasn’t how he was raised. “That’s a little rude.”
“No, it’s called respecting someone’s privacy.”
He glanced around the train before settling his gaze back on his seat mate. “It’s kind of hard to be private when you’re in the middle of a crowded train car, sobbing your eyes out.”
All Because of You (Morgan's Bay Book 1) Page 1
