Mid Life Love: At Last

by Whitney Gracia Williams

  “I’m not making anything difficult. I’m fulfilling my ‘I must frustrate the shit out of Jonathan’ quota for the day.”

  He laughed and carried me upstairs to our bedroom. Then he tossed me onto the bed. “I’m going to give you one last chance to answer my question, Claire.”

  “And what question was that? I think I forgot.”

  He lips curved into a wry smile and he covered his body with mine. “Trust me...By the time I get done with you, I’m sure you’ll remember...”

  The End

  Twisted Love Excerpt

  Prologue:

  Hayley

  For as long as I can remember, my older brother has been my protector. My guardian. My only friend.

  Ever since I was three years old, he took care of me and shielded me from the ugliness of the world—even though he was just a child himself. Whenever the neighborhood boys called me “white trash,” “fugly hick” and “meth baby,” he would walk me to school the next day and beat them to a pulp. And whenever I cried about not being able to dress like “the other girls,” he would find a way to get me new clothes...

  He did his best to raise me on his own—teaching me how to read, how to know right from wrong, how to survive.

  I always prayed that he would turn eighteen overnight, so he could take me away from our despicable parents—from the people who didn’t care whether we lived or died. But he was only twelve when my hopes were permanently shattered...

  We were separated and put in different foster homes—with parents who were even worse than what we had before. While he was “lucky” enough to remain with the same family, I was moved in and out of four different homes and they all treated me like I was nothing.

  While I could still call my brother and cry to him about how terrible my life was, that wasn’t enough. All of his “You’re so smart and pretty, Hayley. Remember that,” “I love you, Hayley,” and “I’ll come get you as soon as I turn eighteen” promises fell flat in the face of the horrors I was dealing with...

  By the time he turned eighteen, he did come and get me, but it was too late.

  I was damaged. Broken. And after everything I’d been through, there was little he could do or say to put me back together again.

  I was perpetually screwed. Hopelessly twisted.

  Chapter 1

  Corey

  I need to fuck someone...Tonight...

  I take a long swig of my beer and survey the party again.

  It’s one of those art deco events that bring out the city’s elite. Everyone here is either rich, filthy rich, or a gold-digger looking to land another victim.

  I’ve slept with more than half of the women here and none of them were memorable. Still, it’s been a week since I’ve had sex and that’s the longest I’ve been abstinent in the past six years.

  Out the corner of my eye I see an unfamiliar woman—a woman dressed in a skintight purple dress with her hair in a high blond bun. I’m not sure if we’ve met, but before I can make my way over and see if I have a chance for tonight she slowly turns around.

  Hayley?

  It is Hayley. As in my best friend’s little sister Hayley.

  I shake my head as I look her over again and again, because it’s been years since I’ve seen her. She’s always been beautiful, but tonight she’s a fucking vision.

  Her bright blue eyes are sparkling against the night, her deep red lips are full and plump, and the way that long sleeved dress clings to her body is lethal.

  I watch as she charms the circle of people around her, as the men eye her up and down and slip their business cards into her hand.

  “Hey, Corey.” She walks over to me and smiles.

  “Hello, Hayley.”

  She doesn’t say anything back. Instead, she stands a little too close to me and starts to rub my shoulder in a non-friend way—unless I’ve had one too many beers and am just imagining this.

  “What are you doing here?” I clear my throat. “Where’s Jonathan?”

  “He decided to take Claire to the Virgin Islands for the weekend, so I’m here to put in bids for him...I don’t know why he even bothers bidding. They always let him see the work days before and let him buy whatever he wants.”

  “Very true.” I laugh. “Where are your girlfriends?”

  She gives me a faint smile. “You and I both know I don’t have any of those...”

  I do know that and I feel like shit for even asking her. I stick to the safe questions—asking her about her Scrabble tournaments, her new position at Statham Industries, and fail to mention the fact that she’s still rubbing my shoulder in a very inappropriate way.

  “How have you been?” She slides her hand around my neck and I picture her doing that as I wrap her legs around my waist, as I make her scream my name.

  Shit...

  “Fine.” I move her hand away. “I’ve been doing fine. I’ll um—it was nice seeing you again, Hayley.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Yeah. I need to get—” The hell away from you... “I need to get back home.”

  “Oh.” She looks disappointed, but she forces a smile. “Well, I’ll see you around? Maybe in your office? Tomorrow?”

  Okay, I’ve got to be tipsy...There’s no way she’s flirting with me right now...

  “Sure.” I slowly walk away and decide that I need to find a way to fuck her out of my mind. Forever.

  I walk around the pool and charm up a few of the women I’ve had before, feeding them the same bullshit that’s worked in the past. Low key billionaire. Minimalist. Biker.

  That’s it.

  That’s all it takes.

  I slip my business card into a few of their purses and tell them to call me whenever they’re ready to leave. I’ll open my bed up to whoever calls me first. No preference.

  Before I leave, I pull out my tablet and hack into the auctioneer’s database. The picture I meant to bid on has already been sold, but I re-route that money back to bidder and place my name into the slot instead.

  I’ll send him my regards...

  An hour later, I crash into my bed and hear my phone buzzing. A text. “Hey Corey. Hannah. I’m downtown right now. Be there in thirty.”

  Ugh...

  I don’t want Hannah to come, but I can’t say no because she’s the first one to hit me up.

  I turn my phone off to ignore any other texts that may come later, and go into the kitchen to uncork her favorite wine—Moscato.

  I always keep my cellar stuffed with all my regulars’ favorites. They think it’s because I care—because I “remember”, but it’s really because I don’t want to have to leave to go get it. The quicker we can get to the sex, the better.

  Thirty minutes pass by and she still hasn’t arrived—her normal M.O. She always takes two hours, no matter how close she claims to be.

  I re-program my surveillance system to keep an eye out for her arrival, letting it know that it can unlock the gate for the next car and say “The door is unlocked” once she pulls into the carport.

  Frustrated, I fall back onto my mattress and shut my eyes—waiting for the much needed release. I grab my remote and hit the lights, knowing that she’ll wake me up with a mean blow job the second she gets here.

  Hurry up...

  I shut my eyes and sigh.

  I’m slowly drifting into sleep when I feel her finally crawling on top of me.

  “Did you get lost?” I feel her kissing my lips.

  “Not at all.”

  “Do you know what thirty minutes means?”

  She laughs and straddles me. “Is that all you have left in you tonight?”

  “Funny.” I run my fingers through her hair. “Do you want the lights on?”

  “I’m fine.”

  I slip my hands down to the hem of her dress and pull it over her head. Before she can lean down and kiss me, I unsnap her bra and palm her breasts in my hands.

  “Did you get a boob job?” I ask.

  “Seriously? Is th
is your idea of sex talk?”

  “You had C-cups last month...These are clearly Ds...”

  She gasps as I take one of her nipples into my mouth and softly bite it. She isn’t normally so responsive to my touch, so I figure she’s drunk.

  I guess I need to take this slow...

  I pull her head down to mine and press my lips against hers, raising my eyebrow when she seems hesitant, when she barely opens her mouth to let me kiss her.

  Maybe we should sleep first...Ugh...

  “Do you want to finish this in the morning?” I caress her breasts again. “I think you’re a little too drunk...”

  “I’m not drunk.” She leans back, unzips my pants, and pulls out my hardened dick.

  “Whatever you say, sweetheart.” I pull her back towards me, trying to kiss her again.

  Once again, she’s hesitant—nervous, so I run my hands against her arms to reassure her—stopping once I feel the abrasive lines.

  Hannah doesn’t have any cuts and she damn sure didn’t have any scars when I saw her a few hours ago.

  The woman on top of me stiffens and I push her off of me and jump out of the bed. Stumbling, I hit the lights to find out who the fuck this woman is.

  “Hayley?!” My jaw drops. “What the hell are you doing? And how did you—Why would you....Why the hell are you here?”

  She looks stunned. Hurt. “I...”

  “Yes?”

  “I wanted my first time to be with someone I actually knew.”

  “Your first time?”

  She nods and covers her breasts with her hands.

  Holy shit... “Okay, babe. This is what’s going to happen: You’re going to put your fucking clothes back on, I’m going to drive you home, and the two of us are going to act like this shit never happened. Got it?”

  She doesn’t answer.

  “Got it?”

  “Don’t bother. I can drive myself home.”

  “Nice try, but I would never let you drive home alone this late at night. Put your goddamn clothes on. Now.”

  She looks away from me and pulls her dress over her head.

  I sigh and soften my tone. “You know I would never sleep with you, Hayley...”

  “Because of Jonathan?”

  “Because of a lot of things.”

  She blinks and veers her eyes towards my pants. “You were clearly aroused...”

  “I was aroused because I thought you were a slut who wanted to get fucked, but I—I don’t have to explain myself to you. Let’s go.”

  **End of excerpt**

  Dear Reader,

  Get ready for a new type of New Adult :-)

  I love you,

  Whit’

  Acknowledgments

  Where do I even begin with this one?

  Up until this past summer I had no idea what ARCs, blog tours, and cover reveals were. I didn’t even have an author Facebook page. Seriously. But some type of way, readers found me without them and then I discovered what all those strange things were and gained more readers than I could ever imagine. (I also realized that book bloggers run the world! :-) )

  Tamisha Draper and Tiffany Neal, can we PLEASE pretend that I didn’t drive you batshit crazy about this book? Pretty please? No? Is it because I’m already driving you crazy with the next three? Yeah...I am, huh? LOL

  Tamisha, thank you for reading this time and time again (print out after print out) and for putting up with the craziness that comes with beta-reading for me: Phone calls, never ending email threads, chapters I decide to change minutes after you’ve read them, having to literally force me to sit down and write a sex scene because I’m “too nervous” to write it LOL, etc. etc...It’s definitely not for the faint of heart and I truly treasure your beautiful friendship and support.

  Tiffany, once again thank you for being the mediator between the overly dramatic (me) and the secretly dramatic but she won’t admit it (Tamisha). I can’t thank you enough for reading this countless times, hanging up in my face when I asked too many questions (LOL), and suggesting changes that made this story a whole lot better. You and Tamisha are amazing and I love you.

  I know the rest of this year and 2014 is going to be CRAZY with the release line-up that’s planned, and I truly hope you’ll continue to be there with me every step of the way. (Yes Tiff, Beyleigh has to be there too!)

  Bobbie Jo Malone Kirby and Kim Kimball (Two Crazy Girls with a Passion for Books)... So, this is going to sound like a HUGE hour-long gush-fest, but it must be said: I love you two SO MUCH! You are the first bloggers who reached out to me and I owe much of Mid Life Love's success to you! Ever since you spotlighted me on your blog (Spotlight Week! YESSS!), I have fallen head over heels in love with your craziness, your obsession with hot guys who have *cough cough* interesting things LOL, and amazing books! (I’m pretty sure most of the newest books on my kindle are from your recommendations)

  I honestly don't think At Last would have been possible without the two of you (Well, it wouldn't have existed at all because you MADE me write it...Like, I still can’t believe you convinced me to write this book!), and I really can't thank you enough for being my shoulder to cry on when the editing got rough and for telling me to follow my heart :-)

  Thank you Bobbie Jo for the fucking amazing title and for the much needed phone call that changed "the accident" for the better. When are we meeting up in the mountains? No wait...Nashville :-)

  Thank you Kim for the unwavering support, for reading this more than once, and for your endless Gandy pics that always make me smile.

  I loveeee you both!!! Now, if only we could meet up somewhere and toss back the much needed shots...Costa Rica, anyone?

  To the BBE group. Oh god, how your edits can bring someone to their knees! Repeatedly! Nonetheless, thank you so much for "editing the shit" out of this and never allowing me to publish a story that is anything short of amazing! PS—I would like to take this time to remind you that I received the only A (A plus actually lol) in our summer writing course years ago LOLOL :-) I had to! Long live the amazing anonymous duo! Love y’all to pieces!

  Jacqueline Russell (Jacqueline’s Reads)... First of all, thank you for taking a chance on Mid Life Love and sticking with me through all the crazy release date changes for At Last! (I know you say I’m not difficult, but I know I am, so THANK YOU for putting up with me anyway!) I appreciate you so much for giving me your no-holds-barred opinion on earlier drafts and helping me with the pacing. I'm honored that you're hosting the blog tour for this book and even more honored that you read the unedited AND edited versions.(**You are one brave soul for that because with your mile-long TBR list? Yeah...Not many would even dare read an unedited piece—more than once. LOL) I will definitely take your advice and "kink it up" in the next book and, no wait—I'll just...Just—No, but I—See what I did there? *Laughing* (Don’t forget to tell your husband I said thank you for pointing out the DVD/VHS thing...Honestly, who else would've noticed something like that? :-) )

  Stephanie Locke at Rude Girl Book Blog thank you for all the wonderful advice you’ve given me along the way! I really really appreciate it and will probably be asking you for more soon! Lisa Kane at Three Chicks and Their Books, thank you for sharing my books and reading them (at the speed of light)! Kristine and Kristy at Book Addict Mumma, Jennifer Mitchell at Two Sassy Chicks, Nicole Blanchard at Miss Construed Reviews, Debra at the Book-Enthusiast, and all the ladies at The Dirty Hoes Book Blog—THANK YOU!!! I’m effin honored to be on your radar and even more honored for the support you’ve given me.

  To every. single. book. blogger. who has ever read my work (whether you loved it or hated it)—THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I am forever indebted to you and I'm thinking of a grand way to pay you all back! (Seriously. Something must be done.)

  Jennifer Williams. You’re still the best sister in the world and always will be. I thank you for believing in everything I write. [“How many times do we have to have this conversation?!” :-)]

  Jay William
s and William Ray Edwards II—Thank you for respecting “my zone” again and randomly interrupting it with your impressions of Bane from The Dark Knight Rises.

  To my parents. LaFrancine and William Edwards...Thank you once again for believing in me! It means more than you’ll ever know!

  To my friends that I admire from afar: Alonna Grigsby, Nadira Williams, Aster Teclay, Ashley Warren, Tanisha Hill, Sherbrina Shepherd, Christina Royster, Courtney Johnson, Angelica Harris, Vince Cunningham, and Karleic Ellison.

  To fellow Memphian Justin Timberlake. Once again The 20/20 Experience helped me write this book! You’re amazing!

  To Colleen Hoover, Jamie McGuire, Abbi Glines, Arianne Richmonde, Theresa Ragan, Mimi Strong, Shanora Williams, Abria Mattina, Alice Tribue, Laura Babcock Dunaway, and many more indie authors whom I admire and look up to. I stalk you all religiously and learn more and more from you every day...Yes, I’m borderline creepy, but whatevs :-)

  Last and NEVER least, THANK YOU to all the incredible readers who are reading this book to the very end! I hope you enjoyed the rest of Claire and Jonathan's story and that they'll continue to hold a very special place in your heart.

  You are the best readers a girl could ever ask for!

  Love,

  Whit

  PS—I dare you to ask me about a trilogy...I dare you. LOL

  Dear Incredible Reader,

  Thank you so much for taking time out of your life to read this book! I hope you were thoroughly entertained and enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  If you have any extra time, PLEASE leave a review on amazon.com, B&N.com, goodreads.com, OR send me an email (whitgracia@gmail.com) so I can personally thank you :-) If you hated it, well....keep that shit to yourself! LOL (Just kidding. Feel free to let me know how I can improve next time!)

  I’m forever grateful for you and your time, and I hope to be re-invited to your bookshelf with my next release.