My parents had been hopping mad when I announced that I was dropping out of college. I had not left anything unsaid when I had gone home for Christmas. They were enraged and had been on the verge of telling me that I would have to get a job. I told them that they didn’t need to worry, as I would not be moving back home either. I would be moving in with my boyfriend (who had been one of my professors) and helping to build his business. They had no idea what a social media app was, nor could they understand the intricacies involved in creating or managing one. When the New Year had come and gone, I had hightailed it back to Portmore. I had not waited for the committee to get to me with their decision. I had instead emailed the chief of the disciplinary committee and outlined to him several reasons why Professor Buckley should be retained. I guess I was convincing enough. A few days later, the decision had been made official: Professor Buckley would be kept on strict probation for the rest of the academic year, and I would be asked to withdraw.
That same evening B.B. had turned up on my step. He had not cared that Carey was present. He had taken me into his arms and kissed me until I was breathless. When he had at last released me, tears had been coursing down his cheeks. He had buried his face in my neck. At last, he had looked up at me with a watery smile.
“I know what you did, Ari. And I know why. I love you so much.”
Then it had been my turn burst into tears. The words I had longed to hear. B.B. had finally said them.
Carey had discreetly gone to her room while B.B. and I retired to mine. We had spent most of the night making love, and it was well into the next day before either of us emerged.
Carey had greeted me with a notice advertising for a new roommate. She had smiled gently with damp eyes.
“I’m so glad you’re happy, Ari. You deserve to be.”
“Now hold on a minute. Who said I’m moving? I just told my parents to get them off my back.”
“Do you think that man in there is going to spend any time away from you? You’re as good as moved.”
“She’s right, Ari.” I had turned to find B.B. lounging in the doorway. “I almost lost you once because of my folly. I don’t intend to again. So, tell me when you want to move, and I’ll be here to help you pack up.”
I had been shocked speechless. The next weekend I had moved my belongings into B.B.’s mansion. The weekend after that I had taken him home to meet my parents, and also to pick out what I wanted to take with me. We had taken the truck and rented a U-Haul for that weekend. This week would be my first complete week where I was not still moving in odds and ends. It felt strange living with a man, but it was growing on me.
As for B.B., right after New Year’s, he had introduced me to his best friend and business partner, Ollivander Ignus, and announced to Ollie that I would be working along with him to learn the business. We had both looked at him in shock.
B.B. had shrugged. He had said, “If you’re going to be in my life, you’re going to have to be in all my life, baby. There will be no corner of my existence in which you don’t have a say. So, are you in or are you moving back in with Carey?”
I had pretended to give it some thought. B.B.’s eyes had widened dramatically.
“Seriously? It shouldn’t take you that long to come up with an answer, you know. Oh jeez, Ari! You’re killing me here!”
Ollie had smirked. “I think you’ve finally met your match, B.B.” He had extended his hand to me. “I’m extremely pleased to make your acquaintance. Anyone who can make this fellow stutter the way you have is someone I like. He’s always been a bit of a chatty know-it-all. He needs to be taken down a peg or two, and I think you’re just the person to do it. I guess I’ll see you bright and early on Monday morning.” He had shaken my hand and smiled over his glasses. That was the last time he had smiled at me. After that, he had taken on the role of a drill sergeant.
I felt B.B. stroke my cheek.
“Penny for them?”
I leaned into his palm and smiled, then reached across and stroked an errant lock that had flopped over his brow.
“I think that I’m the luckiest girl in the world. It was my lucky day when those two cups of bubble tea spilled on me. How else would I have found my heartbeat?”
He smiled. “You’re wrong, my love.”
I frowned slightly. “How so?”
He stroked my cheek again. “You’re wrong because I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have a girl like you love me the way you do.”
“Well, I guess we’re both lucky then.”
“I guess we are.”
I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively. “Want to get luckier?” I bobbed my head in the direction of the stairs. “Last one up is the slave.”
We both dashed towards the stairs, laughing. B.B. caught up with me on the landing and swung me up into his arms. Moments later, we were both naked and clinging to each other under the spray of the hot shower. We spent the rest of the evening reveling in expressing our love for each other. When at last we were spent, it was way into the night. Doing the dishes would have to wait until tomorrow. There had been more pressing matters to which we had to attend.
Epilogue
Ariana
Several pairs of eyes watched the screens intently. Not one blip went unnoticed or unrecorded. We held a collective breath as we waited. When the signal bar turned green and filled up the space to one hundred percent capacity, a rousing cheer went up.
“We did it! I can’t believe we did it!” I turned to Ollivander and hugged him tightly. The gruff man blushed to the roots of his blond hair as I embraced him. He was not one for shows of emotion, but I was one of the rare persons who was allowed in his space in this manner. Not even B.B. got this reaction from his best friend.
Ollivander pulled back and wiped his cheek.
“There’s no we here. This success was all yours, Ari. You did it.”
It was my turn to blush. I looked around the room and realized that I was not only the youngest person present, but also one of the few women. My life had taken a whirlwind spin when I had met B.B. a little over a year ago. If anyone had told me that I would end up working with the minds that operated the lucrative “B-Squared” app, I would have said they were lying. But I had done that, and also been instrumental in helping to create and launch the partner app, “B-Cubed.”. What we had just witnessed was a successful test of an upgrade to a critical program needed to run “B-Cubed.” Many would call my life “charmed.” I called it “favored.”
I smiled and nodded as I accepted congratulations from everyone. As the room emptied, I stood looking at the screen. The green bar remained full and steady. I took a deep breath and smiled before going back to my office and packing up my desk. I was going to be off for the next two weeks, and the break was well-deserved. My cell phone rang, and I smiled when I saw my best friend’s name pop up.
“Hey, Carey! What’s up?”
“Don’t ‘what’s up’ me. Well? I’m waiting.”
I glanced at the clock. It showed a minute past four.
“You were in class, dear. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“That’s such a load of excrement from the male of the bovine species. Now spill.”
“It worked.”
I held the phone away from my ear as Carey screamed.
“I’m so proud of you, hun! Congratulations! I can’t wait to get my upgrade and then brag that my best friend created it. All those years that you were trying to find yourself, who would have thought you were waiting for yourself behind a computer?”
“Not me, that’s for sure. But it’s a good feeling to know I’m right where I belong.”
We chatted for a few minutes more, then hung up. I quickly made my way to the parking lot, jumped into my jeep and headed home. There was a quick stop at Wayling’s. It had become a tradition for us every Friday evening. I breathed a sigh of relief when at last I turned into the gate. I had been putting in some late nights over the past few weeks, and now that it was all over, I c
ould relax. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed the bubble teas. I entered the house through the garage.
“Honey! I’m home,” I called out. “Come get your bubble tea.”
The first thing I heard was the soft click of nails on the ceramic tile. I felt a nudge by my knee and turned to stroke the big furry head of Lila, our German Shepherd puppy.
“Hey, sweetie. Where’s your papa?” The dog looked up into my face, panting happily. I heard a soft giggle and turned. There, coming through the nook, were my two men. My husband and child. I quickly washed and dried my hands before reaching to take our son. Benjamin Brian Buckley, or B-Cubed for short, was a perfect combination of us. He had my blonde hair and his father’s green eyes.
“Hi, honey. The baby just woke up, so he might be a bit hungry.” B.B. kissed me before reaching for the bubble tea I had left on the counter. He took a long sip and smacked his lips.
“I hear we have a good reason for celebration today. The program worked.”
“Ollie told you! I wanted to tell you!”
“My love, when you create a communication app and use it, it’s a little hard to be left out of the loop. I may not be in the office every day, but I still know what’s going on.” He walked over and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m extremely proud of you.” His eyes met mine over our son’s head.
“Thank you, my love. And just in the nick of time, too. There’s no way I was going to spend my first anniversary in front of a computer. I’m looking forward to this trip.” I rocked our little boy back and forth as he squirmed in my grasp.
“You know you only work because you want to. You’re the only woman I can think of who is sitting on a small fortune and still chooses to work. B-Cubed is still pretty new, but the predictions show that it will surpass B-Squared in the same assessment period. You can stay at home.”
I smiled. “I know. It just feels good to be somewhere doing something useful. That’s all. Especially something with direction and purpose. I spent so long not knowing what I wanted to do. And now I do.”
B.B. looked down at me and Benjamin, and he smiled.
“Whatever makes you happy, my love. Whatever makes you happy. Because as long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“Thank you, darling. Did you get all your classes covered for the two weeks we’ll be away?”
“Yup. We’ve set the flight schedule and gassed up the jet. Maria packed for us today. All we need to do is show up.”
Benjamin began to fuss, and I cooed at him. I wandered to the living room and took a seat on the couch. B.B. followed with a bottle retrieved from the bottle warmer. Lila brought up the rear. As our little family convened on the sofa, we knew we had not only what we wanted, but also just what we needed – each other.
Special Thanks
This is my first book and it is very special to me. I hope you enjoyed reading it!
You can check my upcoming releases on my website maevewilliams.com
Or sign up to my readers club maevewilliams.com/club to receive updates, giveaways and book previews earlier than anyone else.
Stay in touch. I love to hear from readers!
Table of Contents
Forbidden Encounter
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Special Thanks
Forbidden Encounter Page 9