Perfect Stranger

by Sofia Grey

  “Mmm.” I felt lazy and sleepy, and not very talkative.

  “Is your morning sickness gone by now?”

  I glanced at her and smiled. “Yes, thank goodness. Though why it’s called morning sickness is beyond me. I was sick morning, noon, and night.”

  “I was too, with Ted,” said Louisa.

  I calculated in my head. “I haven’t been sick for two weeks, so I hope that was the last of it.”

  “Your friend Jenny is having a baby too, right? When is she due?”

  “Oh, ages. She’s only twelve weeks along.” Jenny planned to get married to Cade the minute her divorce was final, and I was thrilled for them both. “I was talking to her on the phone yesterday and she had some interesting news. Do you remember me telling you about Adam? The creep who made a pass at anything in a skirt?” I asked.

  Louisa nodded.

  “Well, Jenny heard he was boasting about a big promotion. Heading up a new team in London. He resigned from ComCo and put his apartment on the market, and even put down a deposit on a new sports car. But this is where it gets fun. They withdrew the job offer. He was fuming, as you can imagine. Apparently, they’re super focused on political correctness, and they got wind of certain allegations against him. Allegations, by his employees, of sexual harassment.”

  “Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.”

  “He was awful to work for. I’m glad he finally got what he deserved.” I giggled when I thought about it. “Even better, it was his ex-fiancée who was behind it. She rounded up all the girls he’d harassed and convinced them to make formal complaints. He tried to get his ComCo job back, but they wouldn’t take him. Last I heard, he worked in a friend’s nightclub, while he tried to find another job.”

  “This is the same guy you dumped your drink on?”

  I sighed, happy at the memories. “Two drinks. It’s poetic justice that he now works behind a bar.”

  We sat until baby Ted finished his lunch, and I got him to burp, by patting his back. “This is good practice. You’ll have to come to stay more often.”

  “Oh, you’ll soon have your hands full. Believe me. One baby is enough.”

  I passed Ted back to his mother and stood. “I’d better check on lunch, before it burns to a crisp.”

  “Would you see what my husband is doing, while you’re there?” Louisa called to me softly, and I nodded. She seemed such a natural mother, and Ted was a happy, easy baby.

  I patted my bulging belly, hoping for such a sunny child of my own.

  As I checked on the chicken roasting in the oven, I heard a step behind me and turned to see Marcus.

  “Anything I can help with?” he asked.

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him. “It’s all under control. I just need to make the salad, and it can be served up.”

  He moved to stand beside me and gathered the cutlery and napkins I’d selected. “Do you want these in the dining room?”

  “Please. And can you take the salt and pepper as well?” He disappeared, and I stretched and rubbed my lower back, which ached sometimes these days. As I stood there, a warm pair of hands took over the massage, and I looked over my shoulder and saw Jordan.

  “Hello, my beautiful wife. Are you okay? Do you wanna sit down?”

  “I’m fine, and you’re doing a great job. I’ll have to hire you out.” I enjoyed the gentle pressure of his hands and how it made the ache disappear. I turned to kiss him, slipping my arms around his neck and pressing my bump against him.

  He smiled at me, and then whispered in my ear, “Have I told you today that I love you, Kate Merrill?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I love you.” He nibbled my earlobe, and I felt a knot of desire forming in my stomach.

  “And I love you.”

  We held each other, indulging in a passionate kiss, when the doorbell rang. Jordan sighed. “Someone else coming to lunch?”

  “I don’t think so. Could you get the door, while I take the bread through?”

  Jordan appeared in the dining-room doorway a few moments later. A teasing grin played across his face. “You’d better set some more places. We’ve got a couple of visitors.”

  To my delight, when he stepped aside, in came Jenny and Cade.

  They were having a day out and decided to drop by. I hadn’t seen Jenny since she announced her pregnancy, and she looked good, glowing with health. Cade smiled like all his Christmases had come at once.

  Jordan set two extra places, and we sat down for lunch.

  I’d never dared to hope it would all turn out like this, with Jordan running his own freelance design company from here at Rhosneigr, and with me getting pregnant again.

  He still had a scar on the side of his head, and his hair grew unevenly there, but to me, he never looked better. He glanced at me from across the table and tossed me a smile, while chatting to Marcus and Cade. Louisa cuddled Ted, and Jenny cooed over him.

  Jordan had been so lucky to have escaped more serious damage. The police suggested that Rob’s baseball bat had lost some of its momentum when it hit the doorframe. If it hadn’t, Jordan would be dead now.

  Rob got my address from Adam and used the family meal as his alibi. God only knew what he’d have done to Jenny if he had the chance.

  Cade had subdued Rob and restrained him until the police arrived. As far as I knew, the bastard was still locked up and wouldn’t be released for another four years.

  I looked around the room and took in the smiling faces. “We’re lucky.” I spoke slowly. “We’ve all had our share of good times and bad, and we’re still here.”

  I was lucky and so very much in love. My perfect stranger was now my perfect husband. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  THE END

  ~*~

  Although Perfect Stranger is a standalone novel, if you enjoyed meeting Kate and Jordan, you can also find them in Pole Position. Her best friend or her lover. How can she choose?

  ~

  They also appear as cameos in an upcoming series from Sofia Grey. Look out for the Event Horizon books, coming late 2016.

  ~*~

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  Please help this author’s career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.

  Playlist

  Music is interwoven so tightly into my writing that I can’t untangle the two. Either I’m listening to a playlist on my iPod, have music seeping from my laptop speakers, or there’s a song playing in my head – sometimes on auto-repeat.

  If Perfect Stranger had a soundtrack, this would be the playlist:

  Foo Fighters: Aurora

  Filter: Where Do We Go From Here?

  Kings of Leon: Sex on Fire

  Foo Fighters: Headwires

  Oasis: The Masterplan

  Oasis: Talk Tonight

  Stereophonics: Dakota

  Natalie Imbruglia: Torn

  Jennifer Lopez: If You Had My Love

  Seether: Words As Weapons

  Kings of Leon: Knocked Up

  Coldplay: In My Place

  Maroon5: Sunday Morning

  Staind: It’s Been Awhile

  Listen along to these—and more—with my Spotify playlist: Spotify

  ****

  Check out the images that inspired Perfect Stranger: Pinterest

  ****

  For advance copies, exclusive previews, and a lively group to hang out with, join Sofia’s Fan Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/225805550957721/

  More by Sofia Grey

  If you enjoyed Perfect Stranger by Sofia Grey, why not try some of her other books, including:

  Pole Position

  Jon's glamorous life as a racecar driver is poles apart from Anita's job in a bookshop, and he's drawn to her in a way he never imagined. After one unfaithful, soon-to-be-ex-wife, and a revolving door of models and actresses, Jon finds Anita's innocence and vul
nerability a breath of fresh air.

  Anita's abusive ex-boyfriend left her running scared of any kind of relationship. Picking up the pieces of her life is hard, but her best friend since childhood, Danny Webster, is only too willing to help. And then she meets Jon. He completes her in a way Danny never could.

  She doesn't expect the men to hate each other on sight. Losing Anita isn't an option for Jon or Danny, but only one man can take pole position for her heart.

  Obsession (Talisman #1)

  Josh Delaney is the ideal honey trap. His charm and model good looks would be enough for most women, but coupled with his psychic ability to read their thoughts, he’s impossible to resist. Suspicious husbands employ him to test their wives, to see if they can be tempted to stray.

  High profile couple Suki and Gabe Bridgewater have the perfect marriage, or at least, that’s the image they portray to the world. Behind closed doors, Gabe’s dominance in the marriage is unravelling and he decides to test Suki, using Josh as bait.

  For Josh it should be just another easy job, but two things go horribly wrong.

  One, Josh falls in love with Suki.

  And two, Gabe refuses to let her go.

  Seeing the Love

  Lucas Wade is losing his sight. As the darkness threatens to swamp him, the one bright spot in his day comes in the form of Natalie Fontaine. She works in the sales office, hundreds of miles away, and she alone treats him like a regular guy. She has no idea about his disability, and he doesn’t plan on telling her about it.

  But if Lucas can’t be honest with her, Natalie may never see the love he has to offer.

  His Temporary Fix (a Love at the Beach novella)

  One night is all it takes...

  Holly Jacobs loses her heart a little too easily. Never again. But when she meets the sexy soldier on the beach, Holly knows she’s in big trouble. Zack Winter is gorgeous and in pain, and when he kisses Holly, all of her resolve melts away...

  Zack is on short-term leave to attend a funeral, and he’s walking a fine line. The loss is unbearable...and he’ll do whatever it takes to distract himself from it. Especially if it means a night of searingly-hot sex with Holly Jacobs. Only his brilliant idea isn’t exactly going according to plan.

  One night isn’t nearly enough. But if it goes much longer it might end in broken hearts…

  Acknowledgements

  Perfect Stranger is set in a city I love, and an industry I know way too much about.

  About Sofia Grey

  Romance author Sofia Grey spends her days managing projects in the corporate world and her nights hanging out with wolf shifters and alpha males. She devours pretty much anything in the fiction line, but she prefers her romances to be hot, and her heroes to have hidden depths. When writing, she enjoys peeling back the layers to expose her characters’ flaws and always makes them work hard for their happy endings.

  Find Sofia Grey Online:

  Website: www.SofiaGrey.com

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sofia.Grey.Romance.Author

  Twitter: @SofiaGreyAuthor