by Aimee Duffy
‘What’s changed?’ he asked, the question laced with contempt.
Felicity put a hand on her hip. ‘Are you going to tell me where she is?’
‘Maybe, when I’m sure you’re not going to treat her like the bane of your existence.’
Her eyes grew sad, and her shoulders slumped. ‘I… things were tough when Shey was born.’ Glancing around at the people rushing past, she murmured, ‘Can we do this somewhere more private?’
Shaking his head, he glared at her. ‘Always worried about what other people think. Tell me why the sudden turnaround and I’ll decide whether to listen or leave right now.’
Calvin listened as she explained, wondering whether she was playing him or if she was serious. Deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt, he escorted her to a coffee house down the street so he could find out more. After all, if Felicity meant what she was saying, he had another idea to make everything up to Shey.
Chapter Ten
Everything considered, the week was shaping up great. Shey tossed the keys on the breakfast bar and headed for the fridge. This early in the day, a celebratory orange juice was all that was reasonable, though champagne wouldn’t go amiss. Her first interview with an up-and-coming magazine had gone better than she’d hoped. Glamorous wasn’t as high class as Storm but it was on its way, with nationwide distribution and fantastic sales.
And the job they’d offered her at the end of the presentation had been more than she could get her head around. Creative Director. Her. And it was all thanks to LB for making it possible. Apparently Jude had gone out of his way to contact all the magazines in New York, recommending her to everyone who would listen. Maybe he did have a heart after all.
The urge to tell everyone she loved was strong, but Georgia and Eloisa were still at work. And Calvin… no, she wasn’t going there. Keeping her mind off him had been harder than she’d thought, and it still made her heart ache. Today was a day for celebrating, not drowning in misery.
The phone rang and she darted into the sitting room, lifting the whole thing off the side table. She couldn’t wait to tell the girls. ‘Hello?’
‘Shey? I’m glad I caught you.’
Ugh, Marco. She wasn’t glad, not at all.
‘I don’t have anything to say to you.’
Well, that wasn’t true, but what she wanted to say wasn’t polite.
‘I want to apologize for the way I treated you. It was callous, and I want you to come back. On a higher salary than before, obviously.’
Shey was about to tell him to shove it when a thought hit her. ‘What changed your mind?’
He laughed, but it sounded more nervous than amused. ‘Your boyfriend drives a hard bargain.’
Shocked speechless, she could only stare at her flabbergasted expression in the mirror on the wall. Calvin had done this, when she’d asked him to leave it alone? But there was the more pressing question of why. Was it guilt or something else driving him?
‘Shey? Will you come back?’ Marco asked impatiently.
‘No Marco, I have another job. Thanks for your offer.’ She hung up, not giving her old boss another thought.
Before she could chicken out Shey pulled out her cell, scrolled to Calvin’s number, and hit call. Someone who wanted casual sex didn’t care whether the person they were fucking, or no longer fucking, had a job. Especially since she’d been the one to end things between them. There was more going on, and she had to find out what or she’d drive herself mad.
‘Shey? Is everything all right?’ he answered.
Did she imagine the grit in his voice, the panic? ‘Marco called. What did you do?’
‘Can we meet? I don’t want to do this over the phone.’
The fact he asked instead of demanded didn’t sit right with her. Calvin never asked, not in a way that made ‘no’ an option anyway. ‘Okay. I’m free tonight.’
Was that an exhale of relief?
‘I’ll pick you up at seven and take you to dinner.’
‘Um… I’d rather not if you don’t mind.’ If she was going to break down when they said goodbye, she wanted to do it in private.
‘Georgia and Eloisa won’t be home until after six if you want to come here.’
There was a pause, and then, ‘I’ll be there soon, but Shey, don’t make plans tonight. I need you to come somewhere with me.’
‘Calvin—’
‘I’ll explain later, I’m on my way.’
The line cut off and she could only stare at the phone in her hand.
By the time the buzzer sounded, she was no closer to figuring out what he wanted from her. More sex was out of the question. She loved him too much and wouldn’t survive the break-up. But the second she opened the door, saw him standing there in an immaculate suit, dark circles under his eyes and an unshaven jaw, she melted.
Agony burned in his eyes, like losing her had cost him so much. She never dreamed he had fallen too, even though they connected in every way. He took her face in his palms and looked down at her with longing, pride and… love?
Shey swallowed. It couldn’t be love, and so what if it was? Didn’t change anything, not really.
‘Shey, I’ve missed you.’ His lips brushed against her forehead, his stubble tickling her skin.
Fighting her yearning, she tried to call up anger at what he’d done. ‘I told you not to visit Marco.’
His hands dropped from her face. ‘You failed to mention he wanted you to make me lower the rent, or that you told him to shove his job.’
Was he pissed? His expression had hardened, but if anyone should be angry it was her. ‘It was that or be fired.’
His eyes softened. ‘I know. Shey, you should have come to me. I would have helped you.’
He reached for her, but must have thought better of it because he dropped his arm. She wanted him to touch her, hold her and tell her everything would work out fine. Was that so bad? But life had a balance. She’d scored a great job. It was way too much to ask that Calvin would do a one-eighty on his opinion of commitment.
She hugged herself. ‘I didn’t want to ask you to give up more money. I’m not Jane; I wouldn’t take from you like that.’
‘I know that too.’ He came closer, the scent of him making her long for more than she could have. ‘Though I didn’t realize it until I’d spoken to Marco. I always had the fear that if I made another commitment it would backfire on me. Leave me with nothing other than huge debts.’
She nodded. The reason for his divorce still rested heavily on her chest. Her chin dipped, but of course he tipped it back up. Though his expression shadowed any emotion, he met her gaze with determination.
‘I realize I’ve given you every reason to think the worst of me. I refused to talk openly about the dissolution of my marriage, and for that I’m truly sorry. What Jane did pretty much castrated me, and I never thought I could trust a woman after that.’
Her eyes stung with unshed tears. It was past time she knew, and asking the questions she needed to was the only way she’d find out. ‘What happened?’
‘We drifted apart, later I found out she had met someone else, but if she left on her own she’d have left with nothing.’ Calvin squeezed his eyes shut and she cupped his stubble-covered jaw with her hands. ‘She set up a honey trap for me, and I ended up drugged. Though I wasn’t capable of doing more than being straddled by the woman, half-dressed, she managed to get enough incriminating evidence to prove an affair to the divorce courts. Jane walked away a wealthy woman.’
Shey gasped. Tears welled in her eyes then spilled over. ‘Calvin—’
‘Don’t.’ His finger cut off her words. ‘I’m just trying to explain why it was hard for me to accept what we have. To trust you.’
‘You know, there are ways to avoid that. Pre-nups, for instance.’ Biting her tongue, she wished she’d kept her mouth shut.
But her comment didn’t seem to faze him. He smiled. ‘I don’t need that with you.’
No, because there’d be no
future with them, not after everything he’d been through. Her heart twisted.
Calvin’s arms came around her, but she shoved him away. ‘I can’t—’
‘Shey, did you hear what I said? I won’t ask you for a pre-nup if we ever get married. I trust you, more than anyone.’ His eyes scorched with honesty.
Her head felt fuzzy. ‘What?’
Warm lips hit her jaw for a second and she shuddered.
‘You’re not Jane. I know that now.’
Her eyes widened. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Us. Where we go from here.’ He cupped her face with both hands. ‘I love you, Shey. So much. The last week has been hell.’
Her eyes blurred, but she blinked the tears away. Buried what little hope she had. ‘Why wait a week to tell me, Calvin? If I hadn’t called—’
‘I wanted tonight to be a surprise. Your roommates said you didn’t have plans, so I’ve arranged dinner.’
She remembered he said with someone else and her suspicions grew. ‘Who with?’
He sighed, and that lazy grin appeared but it didn’t reach his eyes. ‘I’ve just told you I love you and you’re giving me a hard time?’
Shit, he was right. She was a class-A bitch. But if she admitted how she felt for him, there was no going back. She’d have to trust in him, believe that he’d always be there, and what if somewhere down the line he left? She’d end up like Felicity, clinging to her youth and cougaring around town with a twink.
‘Stop thinking. What does your heart tell you?’ he asked.
Shey did, and took the risk. ‘That I love you.’
Calvin pulled her back into his arms, and she didn’t fight him this time. She met his mouth with her own, hungry and desperate for him after time apart. He devoured her, making her dizzy and hot all over.
He broke the kiss too soon, gasping. ‘If I take you to bed now, there’s no coming out until tomorrow, and I want you to come with me tonight.’
She shook her head, trying to clear it. ‘I don’t get it. Are you saying you’ve changed your mind, that one day you might want to marry me, after everything she put you through?’
It was hard to believe that cow could do what she did to Calvin. He was the best man she’d known. The woman must be clinically insane.
Calvin nuzzled his nose against her jaw. ‘I know your career is important to you, and that’s your main focus now. I can’t promise you what the future will hold, but I love you so much I’m willing to risk anything for us to have a chance, are you?’
Was she? Shey didn’t know. He wasn’t offering her much other than a real relationship; who knew where they’d go or how long they would last?
He planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. ‘The wait’s killing me.’
She could see that in his eyes. All this was new to him. He’d clearly sworn off any kind of commitment and what he was offering her was much more than she ever thought he could. What had she given him?
‘You come first, Calvin. Not my career. I thought I’d proved that to you.’
‘You have, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me.’
He didn’t have to. It was there in the way he looked at her like she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
‘I got a new job as a creative editor with Glamorous.’ She couldn’t hold back the excitement finally getting to tell him, and wasn’t sure she could accept what he was offering, even though the thought of never seeing him again gave her chills. ‘Things are starting to look up.’
‘I hope they keep getting better.’
Shey didn’t miss the apprehension in his eyes, which only sparked her worry. ‘Second thoughts?’
‘About you? Never.’ Calvin shook his head as if to drive home the point. ‘I invited Felicity to dinner.’
Shey had to replay the words in her head. ‘You… what?’
‘Give her a chance, Shey.’
‘A chance? The woman doesn’t even want me as a daughter.’
‘She feels awful about that night at the restaurant, and she does want you, more than you know.’ He frowned at her, like she was the unreasonable one.
‘She must have done a number on you. I thought you couldn’t stand her.’ And there they were, ten minutes into hashing out their new relationship and they were arguing.
‘She wants to make amends, Shey. Won’t you be happier with your mother in your life?’
Shey shook her head, but not in answer to his question. ‘Calvin, we’re never going to work. Look at us, we’re fighting already. This going behind my back is too much. I—’
He cursed. ‘We’ll fight, everyone does, but we can work this out.’ He pulled her close. ‘All I want is you in my life; you’re all I’ve been able to think about since I met you. The idea of never seeing you again because you’re too scared to take a risk on us terrifies me.’
Shey scowled at him. ‘I’m not too scared.’
He cocked a brow, and she had to wonder if he wasn’t right. She wasn’t scared of him, per se. More that she’d invest herself in something she couldn’t control the outcome of. But hadn’t he proven to her time and time again that giving herself up to him completely was better than anything she’d ever experienced?
And Calvin was doing the same, putting his heart on the line when it had been stomped on by that ex-bitch’s designer shoes, shoes that he no doubt paid for.
‘Okay, I’m terrified,’ she admitted. ‘But I’m willing to take the risk on one condition.’
His brows drew together. ‘Go on.’
‘If I ask you not to do something—’
He pressed a finger to her lips and smiled. ‘I bumped into Felicity after I saw Marco, I didn’t go behind your back and technically you didn’t ask me not to speak to her.’
‘And?’ Shey mumbled against his finger.
‘I couldn’t help giving her a piece of my mind for the way she treated you.’
He pulled her closer, and she let him. After all, she didn’t want to fight with him for trying to help. How many guys would see that Felicity hurt her? None had, or cared. Calvin didn’t just see her pain, he was trying to take it away. Trying to make her life complete.
‘I don’t think she realized how much she upset you, and I think she wants to start fresh. Her best friend just lost her daughter in a car accident. I don’t think she realized what she had with you until it was taken away from someone close to her.’ He tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘I’ll be with you. I won’t let her hurt you again—though I don’t think she will. You’re everything to me, Shey.’
Blinking, she tried to figure out what angle her mother was playing, but there was a part of her that wondered, what if she wasn’t? Of course she loved her mother, but life with her hadn’t been easy.
Calvin used his thumb to smooth the line in her forehead and she relaxed the muscles beneath.
‘I want you to be happy, and I know for all you can’t stand your mother, you love her too. I’m sorry if I crossed a line.’
Shey brushed her lips against his. ‘You didn’t. Thank you, for everything. I promise to try to stop picking fights with you, but if I go too far, you’ll need to pull me back.’
‘I won’t let it get out of hand.’ His expression was deadpan serious.
‘Oh, and how are you going to manage that?’
His lips quirked. ‘Nothing a good spanking won’t fix.’
She laughed for the first time in a week, and felt truly free. She had her man, a great job, and maybe even her mother if everything went well. There really was nothing Calvin wouldn’t do for her.
‘Well, Mr. Jones, maybe I like being spanked, ever thought about that?’
Calvin growled. ‘Then I’ll have to punish you by withholding my talents for a week.’
She pressed against him, feeling his erection hard against her stomach. ‘I bet you’d cave in a day.’
‘I’d put money on it,’ he said, then kissed her too briefly. ‘We’re really going to give this a sho
t?’
Shey beamed at him. With no more doubts or hesitation, she said, ‘You’re worth the risk.’
Loved Calvin and Shey’s story? Then look out for more titles in the Indecent Proposals series coming very soon .…
And don’t forget to pick up a copy of Aimée Duffy’s HarperImpulse debut, the 5* reviewed summer hit Sinfully Summer!
Aimée Duffy
All my life I’ve been dreaming up stories. My mum said when I was little I used to make all the My Little Pony figurines talk to each other and even fall in love. Later, it was Barbie and Ken. In my teens, I played matchmaker with my friends at school.
When I wasn’t creating imaginary scenarios, I had my nose stuck in books, reading across genres and there was one thing I loved more than the escapism—the fact a story could touch me so deeply, like I was experiencing everything along with my characters. I knew from early on this was something I wanted to do for others.
Fast forward a few years and the dream almost got lost in real life, but I still couldn’t shake it completely. Now I write sizzling romance with the hope of making my readers’ hearts race as if they are falling in love for the first time.
About HarperImpulse
HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.
Romance readers, come and meet the team at our website www.harperimpulseromance.com, our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HarperImpulse or follow us @HarperImpulse!
Writers, we are simply looking for good stories! So, what are you waiting for? To submit, e-mail us at [email protected].
