Tempted

by Brenda Ford

  All the color drains from Rose’s face and she takes a step back from me. “You killed them?”

  I almost laugh at the sheer horror in her voice, but I can tell that this isn’t funny to her. She needs to be assured that I am not some kind of asshole mass murderer. “No, nothing like that. I got them arrested instead.” She clearly isn’t sure what I’m saying here. “I wore a police wire and got enough of a confession out of Butch for them to storm the building.” Just in time for me, not that I need to scare her with details. “Then they found all kinds of evidence about what’s happening within the gang, so everyone involved with the crime is being locked up.”

  “And… what about you? How much were you involved with all of it?”

  “Not enough. Only petty crimes. Plus, I’m the one who took them down, which gives me immunity.”

  “So… wait… you are trying to tell me that it’s over? That you are free from the gang?”

  “There is no more gang,” I tell her happily. “The rival gang is done as well. Butch incriminated a lot of people with what he said to me and the police were finally able to make the arrests that they have been desperate to make for years. Now, they are hoping that some of the other guys who weren’t involved with too much will turn on the ones in charge for the court cases and this will all be sewn up tight and over with.”

  “And you aren’t worried?” Rose runs her eyes up and down me. “That they will come for you?”

  “No one knows that I am the one who did anything. That was my one stipulation. As far as Butch knows, I was arrested along with him. I was just let off because I didn’t do anything noteworthy.”

  Rose is silent for a few moments too long. “I just don’t know what to think about this. It’s nuts. I thought that I had lost you forever and now you are telling me that you destroyed everything and you’re back.”

  “I did it for you,” I tell her honestly. “For me as well because I wanted to be out of that life. But for you. Because you coming back in to my life is the best thing that could have happened to me. I already lost you once and I never want to do it again… if you still want me, that is?” She nods, thank God, but she’s all too silent as she allows this to sink in. “I love you, Rose, and I will do anything to be with you.”

  She takes a step closer to me and rests her hand on my chest, restarting my heart all over again. I didn’t know that it was possible to survive so long with my heart dead but thank goodness I don’t have to do it any longer.

  “I… I want to be with you as well,” she gushes. But there is an ease to her tone. “But it feels like you aren’t here to tell me that we are going to run off in to the sun set to live a happy life together. Why not?”

  “I do want to be with you, but I can’t do it yet.” It feels shitty saying this aloud, but I have thought about it long and hard and I know that it’s the right thing to do. “I don’t want you to be stuck with me while I am trying to get my life in order. That doesn’t feel right. I need to be the best version of myself for you and that’s something I need to do on my own. I hope that doesn’t piss you off, but I want things to be perfect between us. I don’t want us to start on un even footing with me scrabbling around, trying to get organized.”

  “What do you mean? What are you going to do? Will you be gone for a long time?”

  I shake my head no. I will get my life sorted as quickly as I can for her. “No, not at all. Just long enough to get some sponsor ship to go to business school, which I have already talked to my brothers about…” Something which wasn’t easy since I have kept a bit of a distance between me and my family since Lee died, but that I am happy to start repairing now. “And I need a place and a part time job as well.” God, it feels so good to talk to about my plans and to know that they are going to happen as well, to know that I have worked towards the life that I was always supposed to have. “Once that is all in place, I will be back for sure. For you.”

  As I take Rose’s hands at long last, I can almost feel Lee smiling down on me, proud of me at long last. I have always wanted to sense his approval ever since he passed away, but now I finally feel like I am working towards it and that I deserve it as well. Finally, I have done what is needed of me. This is a life that I could see him living alongside me had he not been so cruelly taken from the world, so I am pleased.

  “But for now, I need to go.” I rest my fore head against Rose’s. “I wanted to let you know that I am out and safe and that you don’t need to look over your shoulders either, but I have to get my life in order for you.”

  “I don’t want you to go again,” she whispers sadly. “I could help you sort things out.”

  “I know you could, but it isn’t your place to.” God it’s hard to even consider walking away from her now that I have her back in my arms, but it’s necessary. “I just want you to know that I am coming back. Plus, I don’t think that your friend would let me steal you away from her right now. I can feel the daggers…”

  “She is just worried, that’s all. She doesn’t want me to get hurt.”

  “Of course not. But it will probably take you some time to reassure her of that anyway, so this space might be good for the both of us.” I am trying to make it sound less painful than we both know that it’s going to be, but Rose is too smart for that. She can see right through me. “It won’t be long in the long term.”

  Rose squeezes my hands tight before loosening her grip on me, letting me go, if only for the time being. “Okay, if that is what you need to do then so be it. I don’t blame you. It’s just good to know that you are out of that situation and no longer in danger. I found that very scary to comprehend.”

  “Well, you can relax now knowing that me and you are both fine. That we will live and that soon enough we can be together at long last. After all, there has to be a reason that we keep finding one another again.”

  “Lee,” Rose whispers softly, kindly. “He is working to make us both happy at last. He always liked us together, didn’t he? I’m sure that he wants you to finally find peace in your life.”

  If my best friend keeps bringing this woman back to me then I am utterly grateful to him. Now, I just need to fully prove myself to the pair of them. I need them to know that I can be worthwhile if I try.

  “I better go now.” I bring my lips to Rose’s and kiss her softly. “But just know that I will be back soon, okay? I am not going for good, just until I am worthy of you. Because you, Rose Smith, deserve the absolute best.”

  We kiss some more before I force myself to walk away. Rose watches me go most of the way before she hurries back to her friend to try and reassure her that I am the good guy that she has been telling her. It will take Nikki a while to trust me, but I will make her see that I am okay. One day she will be happy for us, I’m sure. I will just need to prove myself to the people in Rose’s life as well as Rose. That’s okay, I understand that, and when I can finally win people like Nikki around, I will know that I have made it, that I am worth the love of my life at long last. I won’t relax until then because it’s going to be a long road ahead of me.

  Rose is worth it though. She is worth every moment that it’s hard. I know that she will make everything feel good in the end...

  Chapter 20 – Rose

  One Month Later…

  “This weekend was so much fun!” Nikki squeals as she links my arm to leave the office with me. “Honestly, we need to make those girl’s night out a regular thing. I have never laughed so much.”

  “True,” I giggle along with her. “But I think that next time you and Mark hang out like that, it should be on an actual date rather than hanging out at a club with me as an awkward third wheel.”

  “You really aren’t mad about that?” she asks me cautiously while sending me a side eyed glance. “I know that he asked you out first and you were considering it, but we just had this connection…”

  “I wasn’t really considering it,” I admit. “I just said that so you wouldn’t get mad at me for still being in l
ove with Artie… but you can’t be mad at me now. Especially if he comes back and his life is in shape.”

  Nikki still doesn’t seem totally convinced but she also isn’t kicking my ass about him anymore which I am going to take as a win. She might not trust him yet but I’m sure that one day she will. Once she has seen what a good person that Artie is deep down, she will thaw out and start to come around.

  “Anyway, we should maybe go out next weekend… or the weekend after if I have a date…”

  I am just about to make a comment about how happy I am for Nikki and Mark because I honestly think that they will make a much better couple than me and him ever could, when something grabs my focus and makes me stop in my tracks. I blink a few times, wondering if I am dreaming once more, inventing him because I want to see him so much, but nope… there he is for real, staring at me like he wants to envelop me in a hug.

  “I think it’s time for me to go,” Nikki declares as she peels away. “See you soon, okay?”

  “Yeah, bye,” I reply distractedly. I can hardly notice her now; I’m focused entirely on him. “Artie?”

  He steps closer to me, closing the gap in seconds, and it isn’t long before his arms are around me and I can feel the coldness of flowers pressed against my back. Red roses to wash love over me.

  “I’m so glad to see you, Rose. I have missed you so much. You have no idea.”

  I pull back to stare at him, letting my heart swell with love once more. I have missed him too, missed every part of his presence surrounding me. I have hardly coped without him. The only thing that has kept me going is the knowledge that this day was coming. That he would be back for me soon enough. Of course, in the dead of night when my worst fears come flooding to the surface, I can’t help but panic that the gang has somehow swallowed him up again… but it seems that I have been worried for nothing. He’s here.

  “How are you doing?” I run my fingers through his hair. “You look so good, what have you been up to?”

  “Getting my life in order of course.” He tosses his head back and laughs loudly. “Getting in to business school, getting an apartment nearby, getting myself a part time job at an office just around the corner…”

  “You did all that?” I know that’s what he said he was going to do, but knowing that he has achieved everything, turning his whole life around in such a short time, well it’s incredible. “Wow, that’s impressive.”

  “I told you that I was going to do it for you.” He shrugs his shoulders in a blasé manner. “And I have. You deserve the absolute best version of me and that’s what you are going to get. Now, I feel like I could actually deserve someone as incredible as you… or at least I am on the way to being someone worthy…”

  I immediately plant a big kiss on his lips. I would have been happy to have him in whatever state his life was in. I just want Artie Wilson to become mine, but it’s good to know that he’s comfortable with who he is as well. I wouldn’t want him to feel like things were un even. That’s the only reason I let him go.

  “I love you, Artie,” I gush as we pull apart. “Are you going to finally show me your apartment now?”

  “Of course.” He slips his hand in to mine. “This is one that I actually want you to see. Nothing like the shit hole I had beforehand. And I love you too, just so you know. I love you very much, Rose.”

  I want to skip with joy as we go. It takes every scrap of self-control that I have no to. This is real this time around, it seems that some people do get a third chance at love after all. I never thought that it was possible, but here we are. No longer teenagers just struggling through life or trying to make it long distance in hotel rooms with a constant threat hanging over our head. Now, we are grown-ups really together. This is a brand-new phase for us, and I am so excited to see how it’s going to work. I bet it’s amazing.

  “Wow.” Inside Artie’s home I have to admit that I’m impressed. For someone who has spent his whole adult life in a gang probably living in almost squalor according to what he has said to me, this is incredible. It’s so clean and crisp, so exciting. I could imagine myself here a lot and I hope I will be. “It’s nice.”

  “I’m glad that you like it because I obviously want you to move in one day… or I could move in to yours. Or we could get somewhere together, I don’t know.” I can practically hear the thrilled tone rolling off his tongue and it makes me so hot with pleasure. To know that he is as excited as me is just wonderful. “Anyway, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Let me just show you around first. Sorry if I’m being crazy.”

  I laugh and smile at him, loving all of this. “You aren’t, I’m having fun. But I do want to see the rest of the place.” I take his hand in mine and push up on to my tip toes to kiss him. “You going to show me everything?”

  We take a look about the place and soon get to the main room that I am interested in… the bedroom, and once we are inside my heart skips about ten beats. I can’t believe what I am seeing. Rose petals, all over the bed, all over the floor as well, but it’s the bed sheets that gets my attention. The rose petals are shaped in a heart around a little box with a ring box in the middle. A diamond ring glinting in the light.

  “What is going on?” I gasp with my hands pressed to my chest. “That’s really sweet…”

  By the time I look at Artie again, I see him on the floor, on one knee, with his eyes shining lovingly at me. He looks so devastatingly handsome down there, so gorgeous. It takes me a moment to work out what’s going on.

  “Rose Smith, I love you,” he declares once more, not that I will ever tire of hearing those words coming from him. “I have spent my whole life loving you, and despite the fact that I have nearly messed things up twice, you love me too. That’s special to me, it’s incredible, and I honestly want this third chance at love to be our final one. I want us to be together forever from here on out. I have lived life without you, and I hate it. I don’t want it to ever be an issue again. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, making you feel special, showing you that I can be the best man that I can be, because that’s what you do for me. You make me the best version of myself. I want to be the man who I was always meant to be and that’s your husband.”

  I’m sobbing now but weeping with joy. I never thought that I would be lucky enough to get to be Artie’s girlfriend again and now it seems like I might get to be his wife. What a turn around. And since we have already been through some horrific things together and survived, if not a little scratched up, I know that we can get through anything. We can face hard times and come out of it stronger. Just like we have right now. Just look at us, still here, even though our lives were threatened and we both almost died.

  “So, what do you say, Rose. Will you be my wife? Will you let me make you the happiest woman alive?”

  I nod and push up on to my tip toes, ready to kiss him with everything that I have inside of me. “Yes,” I gush against his lips. “Yes, yes, yes. I would love nothing more than to be your wife.”

  As he takes the ring off the bed and he slips it on to my finger, I realize that everything I have been through has been worth it. Everything to finally be with the man that I love forever more. Now, I know that we will make it to our happy ever after and I can’t wait for it. I just know that it’s going to be incredible.

  “I am so happy.” He holds me tight to his chest. “You make me feel so happy. I can’t even explain it. When Lee died, I didn’t think that I would ever be happy again, that I didn’t deserve it, but you have shown me that I can have a life. I want to have the best life with you.”

  We kiss some more, the love blooming in my chest all over again. I hate that Artie has lost so many years in sadness, in thinking that he didn’t deserve joy, but now I can make sure that the rest of his life is wonderful. We can make up for lost time in the best way possible, starting on the rose petal bed sheets…

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  FAKE FIANCE TO MY BEST FRIEND.

  Who said it is love?


  Nothing compares meeting up with your best friend after so many years,

  But our meeting was ruined by his ex.

  Ben was trapped.

  His ex was serious trouble.

  So, I offered to help.

  A fake fiancé arrangement didn’t seem too bad.

  But soon, the boundaries start to get blurred and the feelings that were supposed to be fake…become real.

  The way he looked at me…

  The way he inhaled me…

  The way he touched me…

  It was the kinda love I’d always wanted.

  And when I thought our life was getting in order…

  His ex is back again.

  Claiming to be pregnant with his child!

  Oh God, what I’ve gotten myself into?

  Extract

  Chapter 1

  Bang, bang, bang.

  “Urgh,” I murmur as my head falls in to my hands. That noise. That damn noise. Why am I still here listening to the same knocking that has been going on forever? Why doesn’t Alicia get the hint? Obviously, I don’t want to talk to her, or I would have done so already. She knows for sure that I’m in so why isn’t she getting the hint? “Go away, Alicia. Give it up.”

  Bang, bang, bang, bang.

  “Ben, let me in, will you?” she whines, returning to talking in between the knocking. “Just talk to me. We need to talk. There is so much that we left unsaid and you know it.”

  “No,” I whisper, because I want to answer her, but I don’t want to engage. That’s the worst thing that I can do right now. “No, we said it all when we broke up nearly four months ago and you know it. You know this, so why are you still here? Leave it alone, will you?”

  “Come on, Ben. I know that you’re in there. Just talk to me. Just let me have my say. You can’t just turn your back on eighteen months and never look back again. You aren’t really that cold hearted, are you? That’s not the Ben Wilson I knew for all that time.”