“A road trip? A road trip is going to the cabin in the mountains. Well, you’re two guys. Shouldn’t you have taken a road trip to a seedy strip club or something?” I said with a laugh.
“You know, we actually discussed that and were very strongly considering it. The thing is, I realized that the two prettiest girls in the world were in Paris so those nasty strippers just weren’t going to do.”
“Oh yeah? Keep going. Tell us more,” Sarabelle said.
“Listen, do you guys care if I borrow Lexi in the morning?” Liam asked Sarabelle and Christian. “I’ve got a little surprise for her.”
“Well, the dress is all picked out. Take her now. I don’t need her anymore,” Sarabelle laughed.
The four of us went to a little cafe where we drank wine and dined on oysters and the best baked bread I’d ever eaten. After we ate, we all walked around for a while. Paris in the evening is a lot different than New York City.
As we walked, I tried getting Liam to tell me what the plans were for the next day but he wasn’t budging. He just kept telling me that I was going to have to wait and see.
That night, I grabbed my bag from our hotel room so Christian and Sarabelle could have some privacy. I went with Liam to the hotel that he had booked. As much as I love my sister, spending the night with my man in Paris was a lot more fun. I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night.
We were in Paris and I still hadn’t had the opportunity to see anything. I had so much I wanted to experience but no idea how I was going to make it happen. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter. I was there with the people I loved and that’s what was important to me.
The next morning, Liam woke me up for breakfast. We enjoyed croissants, toast, and coffee. It was an authentic breakfast and I thought that was very cool.
“So what are we doing today?” I asked as we walked from our hotel towards the Seine river.
“You see that water right there? Well, I know how much you wanted to see all the sites. Since we really don’t have enough time, I figured a sightseeing tour on the river would be perfect.”
It was as if he was reading my mind. I was so excited that I jumped into his arms and kissed him. I nearly ran the rest of the way to the river, eager to get on the boat and start the tour. The ship was gorgeous. It had a little area with tables and glass from the floor to the ceiling so you could sit and see everything. That’s where Liam had a table reserved for us. If I would have called to make the reservations, I would have picked the same setup.
During the tour, we saw nearly everything I was hoping to see. The big landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and The Louvre. It also gave me the opportunity to experience Place de la Concorde, Musee d’Osray, and Hotel de Ville. I was in awe of the city, taking in everything it had to offer. At one point during the trip, Liam slid out of his seat and knelt down on the floor, holding a small box in his hand.
“Lexi Williams, the real reason I brought you out here today was not just to see Paris. The real reason I have you out here is because I love you with all my heart. I never thought in a million years that the two of us would end up together even though that’s what I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember. Now that I have you, I never want to lose you. Would you be my angel and spend the rest of your life by my side? Lexi Williams, will you marry me?”
Holy shit! This was really happening. I could feel my face turning multiple shades of red as I looked around the room and saw everyone staring, waited with bated breath for me to give him my answer. I knew what my answer was. Of course I was going to say yes.
All I had to do was get my brain to communicate with my mouth, which I wasn’t having great success doing. Instead, I excitedly shook my head up and down as tears began to stream down my face. These were happy tears of course.
Liam got up off his knee and hugged me so tight that I thought he was going to squeeze every last bit of air out of my lungs. Everyone on the boat started clapping. I almost expected a band to play like you see in the movies but, of course, that didn’t happen. Still, it was the greatest surprise and an incredible memory that I’m going to have for the rest of my life.
“When did you have time to set all this up,” I asked.
“Believe it or not, it all came together pretty quickly.”
“Wow. I’m glad you did this. It’s amazing. Thank you so much,” I said. “So now that I have this rock on my finger, when are you going to make an honest woman out of me?”
“I figured I’d leave that up to you. Is there any particular day or season you want? I’ll let you have control.”
“Okay. Marry me today.”
“Today? I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”
“No? And why is that?”
“Because there are rules and laws that need to be followed.”
“I see. I heard Sarabelle talking to the dress designer. I bet he could pull some strings and make it happen. I don’t even want a big wedding. Just me and you. Let’s make it official while we’re in Paris.”
“Are you sure? I can give you an incredible wedding. I can give you the wedding of my dreams.”
“The wedding of my dreams is one where you become my husband. That’s all that matters to me.”
“Okay then, I’ll make the call.”
We enjoyed the rest of our cruise even though I didn’t pay very much attention to the things around me. I spent most of the entire journey staring down at my ring and thinking to myself that I couldn’t believe I was engaged. I figured I’d always be the girl who had a lot of guys around but never a boyfriend, let alone a husband.
As promised, as soon as we got off the boat, Liam was on the phone with the wedding designer. There was going to be some things we’d have to do in order to get married legally. The first thing we needed to do was get in touch with the American Embassy for a marriage license that would be recognized in the United States. Normally, we would have to live in France for 40 consecutive days before we could get married there but Liam was able to contact some people and pull some strings.
By that evening, the two of us had exchanged vows and were officially husband and wife. The ceremony was small and quaint. It took place right outside a little cafe and we had someone snapping some pictures for us. We’ve decided to hold off on telling anyone. Liam still wants to give me a big wedding in the states and I’m excited about that. Even if this little ceremony was all we had, I’d still be a happy woman for the rest of my life.
EPILOGUE
Lexi
Sarabelle and Christian are the only ones who know that Liam and I got married in Paris last year. Some people suspect it, especially since I refuse to take the huge rock off my finger, but we keep promising that a wedding is coming. I’m sure it will at some point but he seems to want it more than I do. I’m happy just having him. He thinks I need all of these amazing things like a big wedding with beautiful gowns and lots of food but all I need is him and one day he’ll see that.
Watching my sister walk down the aisle on her wedding day was the second happiest day of my life. It’s always been her dream to find the perfect man to settle down with. I have to admit that I was a little surprised when she told me she was dating Christian Wilde.
Okay, I was more than a little surprised. I was stunned. He’s always been the playboy who collected women like it was a hobby. I asked her all the time if she was sure that he was what she wanted. He was the bad boy and the bad boys can never change. At least, that’s what I used to think.
Being with Liam has taught me that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. I always assumed Liam was just an all-around nice guy. A little geeky, sure, but nice. Never in a million years would I have dreamed that he had such a dark side to him.
I love that he can turn it off and on whenever he wants. There are some nights when I love that side of him and I want him to punish me and make me his little bad girl. Other nights, I want to lay beneath him while he kisses me and makes love to me slowly. Whichever mood I
’m in, he has no problem giving me what I want.
There is no better example of someone being able to change than me. I was always the bad girl and didn’t have any intention of changing. I didn’t care what anyone thought of me and I was going to do whatever I wanted, regardless of who I had to step on to do it. Liam coming along changed something in me. He showed me that my bad girl persona was not who I really was.
I was hiding my true self underneath layers because I was scared to get hurt. He came along and showed me that not only could someone love me, but that I deserved to be loved. I owe him a lot of gratitude for putting the good girl back into me. I’ll love him forever for that.
At Sarabelle’s wedding reception, my sister came up to me with Christian by her side to whisper in my ear that she was pregnant. She was going to be making an announcement near the end of the reception but she wanted to make sure that I was the first person who knew.
She’d only found out about two weeks prior and wasn’t showing yet. I gave her a hug and cried, something that I would have never done in public before. I was going to be an aunt and I was very excited.
“There’s one other thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Sarabelle said. “We’re not going to go on our honeymoon to Christian’s villa.”
“What? Why not? It’s so beautiful in the Alps!”
“I know, but we’re both so tired from all this wedding stuff. I don’t feel like flying anywhere and would rather spend some quality time with him at home. I also don’t want the tickets to go to waste and know that you and Liam haven’t gotten a honeymoon. We’d like to give you our tickets so you guys can get away and enjoy yourself.”
“Are you serious?” I asked as she handed to tickets over to me. “You’re the best. I love you so much!” I said, hugging her once again. “Come on, you guys had your first dance. Now you get to dance with your sister.”
The rest of the night was spent partying and celebrating with my sister. For so long, we’d been two entirely different people. We had our own sets of friends and rarely did we ever do anything together.
Yet, in the end, we were closer than we had ever been before. The good girl and the bad girl, more alike than anyone ever dreamed we could be. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Good Girls Do It Well
Good Girls Do It Well
By Aubrey Michelle
Copyright 2016 Aubrey Michelle
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real people, places, or events is strictly coincidental. This book may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without the expressed written permission of the author. Exception is made in the case of brief quotations used in published reviews.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
PROLOGUE
Sarabelle
Everyone always tells me that I need to put myself out there more. I feel like every other day, someone is telling me that I’m never going to find a man by keeping myself holed up at home all the time. Regardless of how many times I insist that I’m not even actively looking, I get the same responses. I’m always told that the best man will come along when you’re not looking for love. That’s a term I’ve heard thrown around at least a hundred times but it never really sits well with me. What if I’m not actively looking because I’m really not interested in finding love? I’ve had too many bad experiences with men that have promised me the world only to leave when they find out that I’m not the social butterfly everyone expects me to be.
Lexi is my sister and, although we are identical twins, she is pretty much the opposite of everything that I am. While people are often referring to me as shy and sweet, I frequently hear people call my sister the black sheep of the family. She is confident and outspoken. If she has something to say to you, she’s going to say it regardless of how her words make you feel. If you’ve ever seen the movie Mean Girls starring Lindsay Lohan, Lexi is exactly like the Regina George character that’s played by Rachel McAdams. I’ve often speculated whether or not the movie was actually based on my sister’s life.
My friends always ask me why I put up with her. They love to tell me that, as an adult, I don’t have to deal with the things she says to me. A lot of people have said that they wouldn’t blame me if I stopped talking to her and completely cut her out of my life. Although putting a stop to all of her nonsense once and for all by completely ceasing contact sound nice sometimes, I could never do it. The two of us have been through way too much together. There were times when she was the only person there for me and vice-versa. We helped each other through the darkest times in our lives. She wasn’t always the person she is now.
When we were thirteen years old, my sister and I went off to teen travel camp. We’d attended summer camps ever since we were in kindergarten but being able to go to travel camp was a big deal. It meant that you were one of the big kids and you got to do a lot more exciting things. Instead of doing normal camping stuff, we had a summer full of trips and experiences. That year, we were able to go deep sea fishing, speed boating, and tubing on the Delaware. On top of that, we were taken to a New York Yankees game, a New York Liberty WNBA game and Camel Beach water park. I never wanted it to end and neither did Lexi. It was stacking up to be the greatest summer of our lives but that changed in the blink of an eye.
There was only about a week of camp left and we had just woken up. We were getting dressed when we got called into the counselor’s office. When we walked in, we were greeted by two police officers and a woman who worked for Westchester County social services. Overnight, our home had burned to the ground and neither my mother nor father were able to make it out. We went from enjoying a fun summer surrounded by our friends to being orphans in a matter of seconds.
We were turned over to social services immediately and placed in a temporary home. That home became the first of many that we would land in as we were shuffled around in the system. Many times, the state of New York tried to separate Lexi and me but we fought hard to prevent it. We were fed plenty of excuses about how the only places the state had available didn’t have room for both of us. Each time we heard those words, we fought with all we had to make sure we had each other. We kept telling ourselves that we only had to make it through until our 18th birthday. Our parents had been successful entrepreneurs and had left us both hefty inheritances. As soon as we were legal adults, we would be able to claim the money and start new lives for ourselves. I tried to make the best of a terrible situation and kept a positive outlook no matter what. Lexi found that much harder to do. The experience changed her and I wondered if she would ever be the same.
CHAPTER 1
Sarabelle
Out of the system for five years, I was determined to make sure that everything my parents built continued to grow to match their visio
n. After their deaths, a consulting group that had worked closely with them stepped in and made sure the business ran smoothly. Again, the business had been left to my sister and I but neither of us knew anything about the business world. My parents kept home life and business life separate and we were too young at the time to learn anything from them anyway. I was amazed to see that the consulting group was able to not only keep the company afloat, but they made it thrive in ways that my parents would have loved. Once I was of legal age, I attended business meetings to see if I could get a handle on what was going on. Instead, all I saw was a group of young professionals that loved the business just as much as my mom and dad did. In the end, we worked out a deal that would allow them to license the name LexiBelle Ventures, which my parents chose because it was a combination of me and my sister’s names. On top of the licensing agreement, my sister and I would both retain a total of 25% of the company but would not be active in the day to day business. This ensured we would always have income and could focus on what we were going to do with our lives next.
Bad Girls Do It Better (Bad Boy Billionaire Romance) Page 12