by Stella Rhys
Thanks to the publicity from that incident, I got listed in an article titled “The Badass Women Behind Your Favorite Brands” and from there it was history. Regular orders, custom orders – they were all pouring in so fast that I’d been forced to double my staff within the first year. And when our lease at the hotel ended just as we knew it would, Tess informed me that she noticed the coffee shop across from her apartment was moving.
Everything just fell together.
“Hey, look who’s here!” Tess said once we finished looking at the pictures of Barcelona. I turned around to find Sara making the rare midday appearance. She was still as swamped as ever at work, but she’d come by today because she knew I had an announcement. And when I told her, she – for the first time in the six years I’d known her – burst into tears.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she bawled, looking to Tess for confirmation that this was true and not at all a joke. “Wait, you told Tess first?” she demanded, her voice still shaking and her mouth still agape as sobs choked from her throat. I tried not to laugh because she seemed to be on the verge of drowning in her own tears.
“In all fairness, Lia didn’t tell me, my brother told me. He couldn’t hold it in, I guess,” Tess giggled. “Never thought the day would come where he’d call me and say that but guess things change when you find the person you love.”
I beamed because it was true.
I had been stagnant for my first twenty-five years, shut myself off to the world for the next two-and-a-half, and then I met Lukas.
The day I found him in my hallway, my life changed. And since then it hadn’t stopped.
And while I’d achieved so much on my own, exactly the way I’d wanted to, I knew I couldn’t have done it without Lukas being my rock. My husband, my best friend, my everything. He was every important role in my life.
And pretty soon, he was going to assume yet another – a new one that he’d never dreamed of before meeting me. But like Tess said, love sparked change.
LUKAS
She wasn’t quite showing yet, but there was something going on – maybe a glow.
“You’re just happy my tits are bigger,” Lia snorted as we sat on the couch at night, watching TV as usual, with her legs in my lap and my hands wandering all over her body.
“I won’t lie, that’s definitely an added bonus,” I grinned, sucking her nipple into my mouth.
“Damn it, Lukas, this is where we paused the movie yesterday, too,” Lia pretended to whine but she couldn’t contain her breathy moan as I let my erection rub against her thighs. “Fuck it,” she muttered, turning the TV off as she reached down between us, sliding her hands into my pants and wrapping her fingers around my hot, hard cock. “No teasing, Lukas. You need to fuck me right now.”
That was another thing about her pregnancy – a complete lack of patience to feel me inside her. I took no issue with it whatsoever.
Filling my mouth and my hands with her breasts, I moved inside Lia, still in awe of how unbelievably wet she got for me. She was so damned easy to worship, to get hooked on. I still couldn’t get enough and thank God, I didn’t have to.
She was my wife now – my best friend, my partner in crime and most importantly, the mother of my son. We were a good five months away from meeting him but we already knew his name – Nicholas Wyatt Hendricks. Nicholas after Lia’s mother, Nicole, and Wyatt after my brother who would have been the best uncle – who I knew was proud of me, wherever he was. It took Lia’s help to get me to that belief and whenever I wavered, she was there to hold me steady again. Because like I was hers, she was my anchor. She was the woman who changed me and my life for the better, and every day, I tried to find a different way to let her know.
Of course, for the next fifty-two days, I had a new method. Using the deck of cards Lia had bought at the airport in Spain, just so we could pass time till our flight, I’d worked on a little project for her between my breaks working on the nursery.
With a black Sharpie, I’d written one thing I loved about her on every card.
21. I love the little sound you make when you stretch in the morning.
22. I love every time you introduce me as your husband to new people we meet.
23. I love carrying you to bed because you fall asleep on me every night on the couch.
24. I love when you kiss the back of my hand. I love the times you do it without even realizing.
It had been like this since I’d met her, but there were a million things Lia unknowingly did that made me stop for a moment and thank God with everything inside me that she was mine. Most of the time, it was nothing – a look exchanged in public, a random memory she’d tell me with excitement. On the outside, it looked like just another moment. But that made it even better.
25. I love the mundane moments I fall deeper in love with you and you have no idea.
There were so many of those moments, and I couldn’t wait to collect more as we made the journey hand in hand, from couple to family.
I couldn’t do it without Lia, and I couldn’t live without her
She was my happy place.
And I wouldn’t give her up for the world.
The End
The Irresistible Series
Thank you for reading Sweet Spot! If you enjoyed Lukas and Lia’s story, don’t miss out on a preview of Julian and Sara’s story, Bad Boss, at the end of this book!
And be sure to check out the rest of the Irresistible Series on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!
Contact Stella
Facebook: stellarhysbooks
Twitter: @stellarhys
Amazon
Newsletter
Also Available By Stella Rhys
BAD BOSS (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 2)
DIRTY DEEDS (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 3)
HOTHEAD (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 4)
NOW OR NEVER (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 5)
RECKLESS (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 6)
IN TOO DEEP
TOO FAR GONE (IN TOO DEEP #2)
HAVOC
DAMAGE (HAVOC #2)
DARE ME
WRONG
EX GAMES
Turn the page for a preview of BAD BOSS!
BAD BOSS
He was supposed to be my first and only one-night stand.
He was definitely never supposed to become my boss.
I had always been the good girl - the workaholic with every second of her life mapped out to a tee.
Then I got trapped in an elevator with Julian Hoult.
He was... irresistible. Sophisticated sex in a crisp white shirt. His voice alone dropped me straight to my knees. What was I supposed to do?
Well....
I can tell you what I was definitely not supposed to do.
I was not supposed to run into him ever again. I was not supposed to be desperately unemployed, and I was definitely not supposed to accept his dirty little job offer.
But I couldn't resist.
As CEO of the Hoult Media empire, Julian will stop at nothing to get what he wants. So for his next venture with Manhattan's most lecherous billionaires, he's hired me to play the role of bait. And while my official title is that of Executive Assistant, my actual job requires low tops, tight skirts and flaunting everything I've got till his clients are easy to bend - till they can barely think for themselves anymore.
It's sleazy and wrong. Against everything I've worked for. But with Julian as my audience, I can't help but enjoy every second. Thanks to him, I'm embracing the bad, and I swear...
I've never in my life felt this damned good.
CHAPTER ONE
SARA
Holy shit.
I panted in the backseat of the cab, still running on the adrenaline of tonight’s potentially disastrous decision-making. It could be the biggest mistake of my life but fuck it, I’d done it.
I’d finally walked out.
I was supposed to be Stable Sara with Excel sheets for everything from her taxes to her groceries to her budget for next year’s C
hristmas gifts, but tonight I had officially reached my limit and quit the dream job I’d given my entire adult life to despite everyone imploring me to stay. But the company’s so famous, so iconic. You’ve put in so much time already. Why not stick around? Shouldn’t you consider yourself lucky to be there in the first place?”
I scrunched up my face as I freed myself from my blazer.
Yeah, no. Not so much.
If lucky meant nine years of chasing nonexistent promotions, being tricked into working thousands of overtime hours without the pay, getting thrown under the bus for anything the higher-ups did wrong, and spending the past three months on a piece that my editor had no intention of crediting me for – a fun fact I’d discovered just today – then sure, I was lucky. So lucky that I wound up permanently deleting all history of my research, contacts and writing, leaving the office in a blaze of glory that set my bosses back three months of hard work.
So… bridges?
All burned.
There was definitely no going back. And while it was exhilarating now, I knew that by morning, once reality set in, I’d be horrified. I’d worked with the company since I was eighteen. My office-centric life was all I knew. Being overworked was all I knew. In fact, I had no clue what to do with my time if I wasn’t strapped to a desk, and around 8AM tomorrow, I’d probably remember all that and have a very thorough meltdown.
So for now, I was going to ride the high.
"You said Lower East Side, miss?” the cabbie called back to confirm.
“Yes, Ludlow Street, right below Houston.”
Also known as the corner of Drink My Ass Off and Dance Till Four, I declared silently, yanking out my hair tie and shaking out my topknot.
I was in a rare mood.
I was feeling bold… liberated. Practically drunk off the thrill of having no responsibilities tomorrow. For the first time in my adult life, I had no one to report to, not a soul to be on call for, and I felt good about it, which was something I knew wouldn’t last, so… why not take advantage of tonight and do something crazy?
Well.
I bit my lip. I had answers for that.
A bevy of them that had to do with spur-of-the-moment decisions having deep and lasting consequences, and how I should really, really know that better than anyone else. But before I could get into that buzzkill with myself, a storm of texts pinged in my phone.
Perfect timing. I reached into my pocket, knowing without looking that the messages were all from my best friend.
LIA: Helloooo why must you text me and then disappear??
LIA: Wait so I don’t get it are you really going to make it tonight? How did you get out of work??
LIA: Did you finally duct tape your boss to her chair like I told you to
ME: Hi. I did… in a way. I’ll tell you when I get there. It’s a long story that you’re not going to believe and I’m going to require a drink first. Maybe three.
LIA: Yessssss story time so excited
LIA: Also Lukas knows the owners here so… open bar : )
ME: YESS. I’m 5 min away. Rooftop at the Victorian Hotel?
LIA: Yep rooftop terrace! Just give them Lukas’s name at the door. Should I have a drink ready for you?
ME: No but if you can find a hot guy who looks like he’d be killer in bed please grab him and tell him all about me
I was half-kidding but that didn’t stop the flurry of shocked emojis before Lia’s next message came in.
LIA: Whaaaaaaaaaat?
I snorted as I watched the ellipsis repeatedly drop off and return as my best friend tried to decide which of her many questions to ask first. I knew what she was thinking – when did I get the balls to have a one-night stand? Wasn’t I the chick who kept the same mild-mannered, borderline vanilla friend with benefits over the course of the past five years?
Yes. Yes, I was.
His name was Jeff and he was my copy editor at the magazine I just quit and figuratively set on fire. I chose him because he was already at the office and he was cute enough without being distractingly hot. He was pretty good without being great. He wasn’t strong enough to make me break much of a sweat during sex and show up to my next meeting disheveled – which sounded horrible, yes, but that was the point.
Jeff was just enough to satisfy my libido, but not enough to launch my hormones into crush mode. He got the job done so I could get my job done and finally earn myself a spot on the masthead like every one of my bosses kept promising I would. For that company, I’d adapted myself to an active but deeply mediocre sex life.
And all for nothing.
Those dicks, I scowled as Lia’s text finally came in.
LIA: HOLD ON I’M SO CONFUSED. WTF is happening can you tell me in one sentence please??
ME: FINE
ME: Basically I just snapped and quit June Magazine in a way that might get me blacklisted from publishing entirely so before I launch into disaster control tomorrow, I’m going to make up for all the years of bad sex I had for that company by finding the hottest guy at the bar tonight and having him do EVERYTHING to me.
Once I hit send, I let out a heavy whoosh of a breath. I didn’t realize it till a second after sending the text, but apparently my mind was made.
I was indulging tonight.
In everything.
Fuck it – for just one night, I was going to let myself have whatever I wanted, however I wanted – as hard and fucking sweaty as I wanted.
In ten hours, it would be 8AM, but till then, every one of my rules would cease to exist.
Any fantasy I had, my wish was my own command, because I was both Cinderella and her own fairy godmother at the hotel rooftop ball. Tomorrow, it was back to reality.
But tonight, I was making every second worth it.
CHAPTER TWO
SARA
“Lia, we’re officially in the same building – can’t this wait till I meet you up on the roof?” I pleaded, my phone pressed between my shoulder and my ear as I handed the bouncer my ID. Once I slipped past him, I found myself in the sleek and seductive lobby of the hotel’s quieter side entrance, waiting alone for perhaps the slowest elevator known to man.
“No, Sara, it cannot wait, because you strung me along all night with your cryptic-ass texts and now that I finally know what the heck is going on, I’m drunk and I’m excited and I’m ready to butter up some hotties for you so they’re nice and warm by the time you get up here!”
“Oh, that just sounds… so creepy, Lia.”
“Did it?” She made a sad little sound. “I guess so. Lukas is giving me the weirdest look right now. But whatever, it’s not your night, Lukas – I’m talking to Lukas right now – it’s Sara’s night. Right, Sara? I’m talking to you right now.”
I had to laugh at what an adorable shitshow my best friend turned into after just a few glasses of wine. “Sure, drunkie, it is.”
“Exactly. So listen. I was talking to this guy just now who is a solid nine – don’t look at me like that, Lukas – and he is a total sweetheart. Like, such a nice person.”
“Uh-huh.”
Lia’s voice faded out as I opted to check my reflection in the mirrored doors of the elevator.
All things considered, not bad.
Despite the fact that I’d been ugly crying in the women’s bathroom at work two hours ago, my mascara was still fairly intact, as was the light blush I’d applied early this morning. Tilting my face to the side, I admired the natural sheen on the cheekbones I’d inherited from my mother – sky-high and eager to reflect any shred of light in the room. Lia fondly called them dirty attention whores. My cheekbones and my “ass that won’t quit,” apparently, were the guiltiest parts of my body.
Oh, Lia. I had to interrupt her when she got to the part about this super nice guy’s three rescue cats.
“Lia – listen,” I started carefully. “I appreciate your tip, and I love you very much, but I don’t think a cat dad sweetheart is what I’m looking for tonight.”
“W
hat? Why?”
“Is this a serious question?” I jabbed the elevator button again out of pure restlessness. “And do we really need to be having this conversation right now?”
“Yes, Sara, it’s a serious question, because I’m drunk, and when I’m drunk, I have comprehension issues, which makes every question a serious question,” Lia explained with frustration, simultaneously charming and annoying the shit out of me like only she could do. “Now explain to me why you don’t want the nice guy I picked for you when I already told him all about you, and please tell me why you keep trying to get off the phone with me all night!”
“Because,” I hissed. “For starters, I just spent the past however many years having a bunch of okay sex with a guy I was the bare minimum of attracted to, so tonight I specifically don’t want that kind of sex. I want good, sweaty… kind of mean sex with a man who’ll just pin me down and… fuck me so hard he breaks the headboard. And to answer your second question, I want to get off the phone because I don’t want to talk about the mind-blowing sex I’m going to have tonight, I just want to have it. Thinking about it is turning me on to the point of torture right now and being on the phone with you while I’m this insane level of horny actually feels kind of weird, so will you please just let me get in the elevator, Li?” I asked, exasperated as I dragged my feet inside. “Because it’s here, I’m in, and I – ”
