“What? No! I thought we could go get pizza or go back to my place and watch a movie together or something,” Devon said and Belle jumped off the desk to rush to him and kiss him again.
Chapter 21
Belle
Devon dropped Belle to her apartment building the next day in his Mercedes and when Belle stepped out of the car, she looked up to their studio apartment on the third floor. The window was shut and Jesse didn’t seem to be at it, nevertheless, she didn’t care. She stood at the car door till Devon turned to her with a smile.
“I’ll see you tonight?” he asked and she nodded, before leaning in towards him and planting a kiss on his lips. They smiled at each other and she turned to walk into the building. At the door she looked at the car again, and Devon was still there. He hadn’t asked his chauffeur to drive off yet.
Belle was beaming as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. The situation needed to be dealt with calmly, she knew that, but all she really wanted to do was go in and tell Jesse everything and ask him to leave. She wasn’t quite sure what to expect, she had stormed out of the apartment the previous night, leaving him fuming after her.
Belle jiggled the key in the lock and finally pushed the door open. It was eight in the morning, which meant that he was probably still sleeping. Besides, it was a Saturday and Jesse never woke up before eleven on the weekends.
When she stepped inside, she was surprised to find that all their things had been turned over. It was like a tornado had hit their apartment. Jesse was standing on top of the mattress, still in the same clothes as the previous days and his eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he was about to scream.
“Where the Hell have you been?” he thundered.
Belle slammed the door behind her and slipped the keys into her purse.
“What happened here? Did you do this?” she asked, in an equally high pitched voice.
“Tell me where you were last night. I tried calling you like a million times,” he said and stepped off the mattress.
Belle remained standing where she was and glared at him, her own fury rising.
“I spent the night at a friend’s house because I didn’t want to see your face,” she said. The words came tumbling out of her. She had decided to be calm and gentle with Jesse when she broke the news, but she couldn’t control herself.
She had spent the night in Devon’s luxurious penthouse apartment on the forty-fifth floor of a Manhattan sky rise. But she wasn’t going to tell Jesse that.
“Which friend? You don’t have any friends in New York,” he spat out, taking long strides towards her. Belle straightened her back and glared at him. Jesse was studying her, like he was looking for clues about where she had been. Belle’s makeup was off, her hair wasn’t tied in a plait any more and she was starkly aware of not wearing a bra. She had taken a shower in Devon’s place though, so at least she looked somewhat presentable.
“How do you know if I have any friends here or not? You don’t know anything about my life, Jesse,” she said and she folded her arms over her breasts. He had come up very close to her and now he was breathing down on her face, but she only glared back at him. She wasn’t afraid of him. She wasn’t even guilty any more.
“You were with some guy, weren’t you?” he snarled and Belle arched her eyebrows.
“So what if I was?” she said and Jesse grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently.
“You cheated on me!” he yelled and the door behind her slammed open. She hadn’t locked it but neither did she expect it to swing open either. They both turned their heads to look in surprise.
Devon walked in, more calmly than he had pushed the door open but his eyes were narrowed and the features on his face had darkened to a stormy hue. His blue eyes were piercing Jesse.
“Step away from her,” he said in a controlled voice.
“Who the Hell are you?” Jesse yelled, but he dropped his hands from Belle’s shoulders.
“That is none of your concern,” Devon said and Jesse looked sharply at Belle.
“Who the Hell is he?” he repeated himself. The last thing he was probably expecting was a man in his forties in crisp tailored clothes to barge in through the door.
“Jesse, I need you to leave my apartment,” Belle said, mimicking Devon’s calm voice. Jesse was still in shock.
“Do you understand what she’s saying?” Devon said and Jesse’s jaw dropped open.
“She’s my girlfriend. Who is she to you?” he asked, in a high pitched voice.
“I am not your girlfriend any more, Jesse. You have till the end of the day to pack your bags and leave,” Belle said and stepped in Devon’s direction. A knowing look came over Jesse’s eyes.
“So, this is the friend you spent last night with? Are you his girlfriend now?” he said, forcing a laugh in his voice.
“Go back home, Jesse. New York isn’t for you. You need to get a job or move in with your folks if you can’t find one. I’m not going to waste another penny on you,” Belle said and she walked over to Devon who wrapped an arm around her.
Jesse continued to stare at them for a few more seconds in silence, before Devon cleared his throat.
“You have till this evening. Six. I’ll be here with Belle to make sure that you’re nowhere in sight and then we’re getting the locks changed,” he said and gently, he tugged Belle away.
She didn’t look back as they walked with their arms around each other. She shut the door behind her and only then realized that she was shaking slightly.
“Why didn’t you leave?” she asked him, as they took the stairs down together.
“Because I wanted to make sure you were safe. From the stuff you told me about him, I was expecting him to act out,” Devon told her and Belle placed her head on his shoulder.
“I feel bad for uprooting him like this, but he’s depended on me for too long. And I don’t love him,” she said softly, as they walked back out on the street again.
“I understand, Belle. You’re doing what is best for you. Let’s spend the day together and after that we’re going to find you a new place to live,” Devon said as he opened the car door for her.
Chapter 22
Belle
Eight months later
Belle was sitting at her desk with her legs crossed with a pen stuck behind her ear, as she typed away at her computer. She was engrossed in her work, and hadn’t even taken a lunch break today. When she looked at the clock on her screen, she noticed that it was seven already. The office floor was entirely empty and a lot of the lights had been dimmed down. Never before in her life, had she felt this fulfilled with a task. The Brooklyn office had a good effect on her work life balance, and she was grateful to Devon for pushing her towards it.
She suddenly remembered that she had to meet Devon at six thirty!
Belle tried to finish typing the last sentence as quickly as she could and when she was done, she sighed. Blowing a lock of her bronze hair away from her nose.
“Hello, there,” she heard Devon’s deep smooth voice and she turned in her chair to find him standing at the end of her cubicle. He looked handsome, in his black suit and crisp cream shirt. His blue tie matched his eyes, and a smile spread over Belle’s face.
“I’m so sorry, I lost track of time,” she said and got up from her chair to hurry over to him.
Devon took her into his arms and they kissed deeply. She pulled away from him when she remembered where they were. Nobody in either of the offices knew that they had been in a relationship for the past eight months.
“Don’t worry about it. I checked, nobody’s here,” he said and drew her in again, so he could bite her bottom lip playfully.
“So, this is your desk,” Devon said, looking around. In order to maintain secrecy, he had never visited the office and didn’t maintain any contact with her, through any official channels. Belle still lived in Brooklyn because that was the only place she could afford, and she was strict about not accepting any special favors from Devon
.
“My little nook,” Belle said and bit down on her lip. Even though Devon owned everything here, and he was still her boss, to Belle it felt like her boyfriend was visiting her workplace for the same time. She had started feeling giddy with excitement.
“Susan sent me an email today to say that Jasmine has offered you a permanent position here?” Devon asked, smiling at her. Belle was gushing, she couldn’t keep her cheeks from burning up. She knew Devon was proud of her, she was proud of herself. And she had done it without any of Devon’s help. She had worked hard in the past months to impress Jasmine. Make herself indispensable. And Devon had kept himself out of it.
“And I’ve accepted it,” Belle said and Devon took in a deep breath and nodded.
“Congratulations, my love,” he said and swept her into his arms again. He kissed her cheeks gently and when she pulled away, he was staring deep into her eyes.
“I’m happy for you, and I only wish the best but I was also hoping that maybe we could be less secretive about our relationship now?” he said and Belle arched her eyebrows.
“How do you mean?” she asked and Devon took his time with his answer. Belle couldn’t help but smile at how nervous he was. This was evidently a big step for him. This was the longest relationship he had ever been in and they couldn’t be happier.
“I wanted to ask you to move in with me. I know you had a bad experience with your ex boyfriend, but I was thinking that maybe we’ve spent enough time together to know what to expect now,” he said and let go of her. She could see the anxiety in his eyes. To him this was as good as asking her to marry him. Baby steps.
Belle burst into a laugh, and when he looked wounded, she leaned over to kiss him again.
“You don’t have to look so afraid, Devon. Of course I want to move in with you. My living experience with Jesse…my whole relationship with him was nothing like what we have,” she said. Devon looked pleasantly surprised. For some reason, he hadn’t been expecting her to say yes.
“So you’ll move in with me?” he asked and Belle nodded her head.
“And I want to be a little more open about our relationship too, without letting it affect my work here,” she said and Devon kissed her forehead.
“Yes, I agree. We shouldn’t let it affect your work. Maybe we can think about that, and for now just work on getting you settled into my place,” he said and started leading her away from her desk.
They were walking in and arm towards the elevators on the floor. Belle was still blushing and Devon was still beaming like a teenager. It had been eight months since they first started seeing each other, and Belle knew that it was the best decision she had ever made.
“Where are we going?” she asked him, as the elevator doors pinged open and he led her in.
“Wherever you want to go, my love,” Devon told her. Belle pressed the button for the ground floor and turned to place her hands on his broad chest.
“How about we go to my new home?” she said and they were kissing again.
BOOK 2: HIRED BY THE BILLIONAIRE
BLURB
Lena has always been a free-spirited woman. She’s traveled to every corner of the globe, searching for happiness. She managed to find it within her career as a world-renowned chef, but she’s still missing one very important thing. She’s missing love.
After nearly a decade abroad, something has called her back to the city where she first put down her roots. Now that she’s back in New York she’s ready to settle down for a little while and accepts a job at a brand new restaurant owned by a man named Jamison.
Jamison has a reputation as a playboy, but Lena is sure she can handle his swagger and charm. What she doesn’t expect, however, is the bond that builds between them and his genuine interest in her. She is the first woman to ever resist him and it only makes him want her more.
And she certainly never expected that this man, this womanizer turned gentleman, might actually come to love her and help her face the things she’s been trying so desperately to run from.
Chapter One: Lena
One hundred and twenty-two. What does that number mean? Well, it’s the number of countries I have visited in my lifetime and it is what I have chosen to introduce myself with. My name is Lena Patterson and I don’t think there’s a better way to impress upon people what kind of person I am than the number of countries I’ve visited. It doesn’t tell you how much I make in a year or what political party I belong to, but what it does say is that I have a deep desire to learn, explore and live life to the fullest. This wasn’t always the case, however.
I grew up in a small town in Alabama called Bellefontaine. It was the type of town where everyone knows everyone else’s business and people whisper cruel things behind their neighbors backs but smile at them on the streets. People who’ve never lived in a small town in America think of it as wholesome and some even want to raise their children in places like Bellefontaine. I understand the appeal to an outsider, but to me it was a cage.
People in Bellefontaine were born there and most of them died there. No one went college, people distrusted the ‘big cities’ and change was unwelcomed. I remember my mother talking about New York City like it was a stain that needed to be erased. It was a place to be avoided where children’s minds were corrupted. It was the Devil’s City and my mother would do anything in her power to keep me away from the sins and temptations of the world.
That’s why we never travelled. Anything outside my parent’s little bubble was terrifying to them. They didn’t want to be away from the church and the people that they’d grown up with. They wanted everything to stay the way it was when they were kids, even if that wasn’t the best thing.
I was happy to listen to them when I was young. I didn’t really have a choice. Our TV didn’t have cable and my access to the internet didn’t really begin until I was already a teenager and even then, it was limited. I knew very little of the world outside Bellefontaine.
When we were forced to go to Birmingham, my mother kept me close, keeping me from anyone who might want to compromise my morals. Birmingham is relatively small as far cities go, but to me it was a shining metropolis that was full of hope and promise. I wanted to live in a city like that. I wanted to get out of Bellefontaine.
I spent my teenage years rebelling against my parents like most teenagers. I would get rides with my friends and we would go to the city and stay with relatives or people we barely knew. It wasn’t the safest way to live, but it made us happy.
As the internet became more prevalent and smartphones put the power of information into people’s hands, I started to get more and more curious. I wanted to know more about the world and I was determined to find answers to my questions.
My mother was appalled when I was accepted to New York University. She pointed a bony finger in my face and told me that if I moved to New York, neither her nor my father would visit me. I accepted it and moved away to begin the best years of my life.
While I went to school I took full advantage of what the city had to offer. I explored every nook and cranny of the city, spending my weekends and days off crashing in people’s apartments, enjoying parties and all the things I’d missed out on growing up.
My first year was wild, and if I have to be honest, I don’t really remember much of it, but that doesn’t matter. I enjoyed being away from home, but soon realized that a college education wasn’t for me. I bounced around in several majors, but never really found my niche until I joined a study abroad program.
I spent a semester in France where I shacked up with a boyfriend who showed me my love of cooking. We would spend hours in the kitchen together, showing each other family recipes. The relationship didn’t last, but my love of cooking did.
I never went back to NYU and instead applied for a visa and started culinary school. I learned from some of the best chefs in the world and when I was done, I travelled world, taking various jobs to hone my craft. After my first three years working, I started ge
tting recruited by five star restaurants all over the globe. I made a name for myself in the culinary world and soon everyone knew who I was. Magazines interviews me and some of the most powerful people in the world were hiring me to cater their events. I traveled the globe doing what I loved, feeding my wander lust and feeding people.
New York called me back, however. I missed the city lights and the bustle of the streets. I was ready to settle down for a while and continue my career in a more stable environment. I loved traveling, but I wanted to stay put for at least a little while.
That’s how I found myself in the apartment of my best friend, Miguel. He was from Bellefontaine as well and had moved to New York when I did, though he opted to stay in school and become a lawyer. Now he had a fancy pent house in the city and a handsome husband.
We stepped through the door and I toed my shoes off. It was a habit I’d picked up while traveling through Asia. “Thanks for picking me up at the airport.”
Miguel chuckled and nodded towards his black, patent leather couch. “Not a problem. I’m honestly just glad to see you face to face. It’s been years since we saw each other in person.”
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