by J. O Mantel
“Oh, I wanted to give you and Sienna your presents. Dick and I have some more shopping to do today and then we are heading out for dinner. It’s our first Christmas together, so he wants it to be special.”
“I’m just making a coffee, did you want one?
“No thank you, I can’t stay long.”
“So, what are your plans for tomorrow?” Jake asked.
“Just lunch with Mom and Dad and then dinner with his parents, I’m officially meeting them for the first time.”
“Wow! That’s exciting.”
Ivy handed Jake his present, “Now you can’t open it until tomorrow, okay?”
“Promise. Thank you, Ivy,” he said, hugging and kissing her.
“Sienna’s in her room.”
“Thanks.”
Ivy headed over to Sienna’s bedroom and walked inside.
“Hey, you!”
“Oh my god! Ivy.” Sienna stood up and walked over to Ivy, she threw her arms around her, hugging her tight and kissing her on the cheek.
“Merry Christmas,” Ivy said, giving her the present she had bought for her.
“Thank you. Sorry, I haven’t even had a chance to wrap yours yet. I’ve been busy packing.”
“Packing? Going somewhere?”
“Yep! Lukas picked me up from work last night and the two of us went to dinner. He asked me if I had any plans for Christmas and when I told him that I didn’t, he asked me if I wanted to spend Christmas with him.”
“But I thought you said he spends Christmas with his family?”
“That’s what I thought too. But he told me that I was a part of his family and he wanted to spend it with me.”
“That’s so romantic it almost makes me puke,” Ivy laughed.
“So, where is he taking you?”
“That’s just it, I have no idea. He won’t tell me. He just said to pack my passport and something summery.”
“Maybe he’s-”
“Before you say it, Jake already beat you to it, I doubt he’s taking me to Australia.”
“I was actually going to say, Bali.”
Sienna stopped packing for a moment, it never occurred to her that Lukas may be taking her to Bali.
“I never even considered that.”
Sienna walked over to her closet and grabbed Ivy’s present. It was a silver bracelet with matching earrings, almost identical to the pair she was wearing last night.
“Like I said, I didn’t have a chance to wrap it, I’ve been busy.”
“Sienna, Hun, these are beautiful. Thank you,” she threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. “Look, I really have to get going, I’m meeting Dick at the mall in half an hour.”
“Merry Christmas,” Sienna said, hugging her one last time.
“Merry Christmas and have a wonderful trip. I want to hear all about it when you get back.” She walked out of the room and over to the kitchen where Jake had just finished eating his breakfast.
“See ya, Jake! Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said as he too embraced her with a hug and kiss.
By the time Sienna had finished packing and finalizing everything, it was late in the afternoon. She and Jake had barely had a chance to spend time together, much less speak to each other.
“Sienna?” Jake called from the living room suddenly.
“Yeah?”
“Are you sure this is really what you want?”
“What?”
Jake walked into her bedroom, she was still putting some last minute things into her evening bag and she was half dressed. Jake’s eyes couldn’t help but wander to her black lace G-string that had ridden up her ass.
“This trip with Lukas, are you sure it’s what you really want? Or is it what he wants?”
Sienna stopped and turned around, she looked at Jake with confusion in her eyes.
“I’m not sure I know what you're getting at, Jake?”
“Sienna. Ever since you and Lukas have started dating, you’ve been…different.”
“Different? What do you mean?”
“I mean, you haven’t been yourself. You're not the Sienna that I knew eight months ago.”
“Well, Jake. That kind of happens when you meet someone, I’m sure the same thing will happen to you when you eventually meet that special someone in your life.”
“That’s what I’m trying to say.”
“I don’t understand,” Sienna replied, more confused.
“Sienna, I don’t want you to go on this trip with Lukas.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
“Because why, Jake?”
“Just because. I can’t really explain it, but please, I don’t want you to go.”
“Well, Jake. I’m sorry but, it’s already been all arranged. Lukas is picking me up in an hour.” She looked at her clock, “Jake, I really need to get ready, can we please talk about this when I get back?” She turned and walked back over to her closet.
“Lukas isn’t the right guy for you,” Jake suddenly blurted out.
“Jake! It’s Christmas Eve, are we really going to go through all this again? I thought you were over all that shit.”
“I mean it, Sienna. Lukas isn’t the right guy for you.”
Sienna stopped sorting through her clothes, she turned and looked at Jake.
“Look, Jake. I appreciate your concern and your opinion, but as I’ve told you before, you're my roommate, not my father. I don’t need your approval on who I can and can’t date. Now, please, I really have to go, so can we just drop it?”
“No! Sienna we can’t.”
“Well, I’m sorry Jake, but I really don’t have time to listen to this right now.”
“You deserve better, Sienna.”
“Better? Better than what?”
“Better than Lukas. I know there’s someone better out there for you.”
“Really? Well, that’s nice. But I’m happy with Lukas, and nothing you or anyone else can say will change that, okay? Now can we please drop this, I’m going to be late.”
Jake was getting really frustrated, he could feel his blood boiling and his heart was beating so fast that he was afraid it was going to tear through his shirt.
“Sienna, trust me, you're making a mistake with Lukas, he’s not right for you,” he raised his voice slightly, Sienna had finally lost her patience, she turned and faced Jake.
“You know Jake, I seriously can’t win with you. The last eight months have been the most amazing months of my life. I’ve finally met a guy that I love who doesn’t just want me for sex. I’ve finally found someone who I can respect and who respects me for who I am. Now, I’m sorry that Lukas doesn’t meet up to your expectations, but you know what? I really don’t care. You’ve had this personal vendetta against him since the band formed and I can’t for the life of me work out why.”
“Oh my god, Sienna, haven’t you worked it out by now?”
“Worked what out?” she asked, slightly angry.
Jake took a step forward and walked over to her.
“Haven’t you realized by now?”
“Realized what Jake? What are you talking about?”
“I’m in love with you Sienna.
Before she even had the opportunity to say anything, Jake took another step closer. Leaning forward, he closed his eyes and kissed Sienna on the lips.
PLAYLIST
I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing
Aerosmith
Hold Me Now
Johnny Logan
I Want to Know What Love Is
Foreigner
Every Rose Has It’s Thorn
Poison
Here I Go Again
Whitesnake
Love Me Like You Do
Ellie Goulding
My Heart Will Go On
Celine Dion
Hello
Adele
Livin’ On a Prayer
Bon Jovi
I Wanna Be With You
&nb
sp; Mandy Moore
I Will Always Love You
Whitney Houston
The Power of Love
Celine Dion
Waiting for a girl Like You
Foreigner
We’ve got Tonight
Ronan Keating feat. Lulu
You’re Still the One
Shania Twain
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Wow! Already? Okay, where to start?
My family, for supporting me no matter what. For putting up with me frantically bashing on the keyboard while you're trying to watch something on the television. And for my constant outbursts whenever me, the manuscript and laptop are at war with each other (and yes, there have been many times when I've surrendered). Thank you for your love and ongoing support x.
Louisa Gray, Lucian Bane and Mason Sabre, the wonderful team behind Sabre, Gray & Bane Cover Studios. Thank you so very much for the phenomenal cover work. Not to mention for putting up with my constant texts, emails and messages through all hours to make it the absolute BEST cover. I love, love, love it. Did I mention I love it? Thank you very much x.
Wander Aguiar Photography, thank you for the awesome photography work and to David Wills for being an absolutely gorgeous cover model and a pleasure to work with, I look forward to a long working relationship, Thank you x.
To the team at Give Me Books, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart and soul. Thank you for sharing my work and for introducing fans to the world of Sienna and Jake. Your hard work and efforts are highly appreciated, and its people like you who help us authors break out into the world. I thank you, dearly x.
My work family (yes, I have one of those, I still need other means to make a living). Thank you for allowing me to constantly bounce ideas off you all and for your amazing suggestions. Sheridan, Wow! Thank you so much for your amazing Dark Falkon design, I absolutely love it!
Jodi Perry and Jaye Cox, I can't even begin to show my appreciation for you two. Thank you! Just thank you for basically kicking my ass and being my oxygen and blood whenever I've given up. You've made me breath, be happy and just want to write, write and write. I can't thank you both enough and I am honored that I have met you in person, Jodi. Jaye, I hope we physically cross paths, soon. I can't wait to meet you and just hug the living daylights out of both of you. Thank you x.
Jayne, thank you for all your thoughts, feedback, support and alterations. Everything you have done has been amazing, thank you x.
Thank you to you, the reader. If you're reading this you've obviously read and enjoyed my story so thank you for sticking it out through to the end. Either that, or you've just skipped the entire book and jumped to this section just to see what a wonderful team of people I had on board to help with this project.
Seriously, thank you to all the fans out there. As authors, we do this for you guys, because you are the most important people who keep us in a job. Your thoughts, feedback, your shares and comments, it's all worth it. Putting it all down on paper, that's what makes it art, so to all of you, thank you x.
Aias, Vicky and George, thank you very much for being on this incredible and long journey with me. You guys have been my rock and my #1's right through till the very end. Thank you x.
Finally, and I save the most important to last, Ria Alexander. There are many words to describe this woman and I do mean, many. She has been (and hopefully, will continue to be) the face behind the scenes of this book. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING! Yep, I mean it, this book would not be what it is without you. Your edits, proofreads, pimps, shares, likes and even tears, it's all finally lead to this. I know we have only known each other a short time, but you are more to me than just those that I have mentioned. I am honored to also call you a dear and loyal friend. I treasure your loyalty, respect and commitment to everything you have done for me and this project. Through the good times, the bad times and certainly the ugly times. The texts, phone calls and emails, you've been there 200% of the way and I can never thank you enough for all of that. Thank you ever so much for taking this incredible journey with me, and I hope we can continue working together for many more books (and years) to come. Thank you and I love you x.
