by Tina Martin
Her Premarital Ex
(The Alexanders, Book 3)
By Tina Martin
Copyright 2014 @ Tina Martin
SMASHWORDS EDITION
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, photocopying and recording, without prior written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses and products are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events is entirely coincidental.
Her Premarital Ex
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Padma’s Food House
: : : Menu : : :
Our Vision: To serve five-star quality food to people of all walks of life. All food is free of charge. All we ask for is a small donation.
: : : Appetizers : : :
Ms. Bea’s Clam Chowder
Crab Dip
Mozzarella Sticks
Hot Wings
House Salad
Caesar Salad
: : : Entrees : : :
(All entrees served with hush puppies and a choice of two side items.)
Stuffed Flounder
Crab Cakes
Fried Shrimp
Fish Tacos (Two Tacos served with rice pilaf)
Rotisserie Chicken
: : : Sides : : :
Fresh, steamed veggies
Macaroni & Cheese
Coleslaw
Rice Pilaf
Baked Potato
Steak Fries
: : : Desserts : : :
(All desserts by famous pastry chef, Tyson Alexander)
Ask your server about the pastry of the day.
: : : Drinks : : :
Carolina Sweet Tea
Lemonade
Coke
Diet Coke
Dr. Pepper
Sprite
Hi-C Orange
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Chapter 1
~ * ~
Gabrielle lay comfortable early in the morning, drowning in a mess of white sheets, her legs intertwined and locked with Tyson’s. She closed her eyes and pulled in a long, relaxing breath, releasing it as a soft yawn. From an opened window, she could hear the pleasant tussles from the Roanoke Sound. The beach morning breeze and trickling water made her want to stay in bed. Even the salty smell of ocean water that seeped in brought a smile to her face. But nothing made her happier than the man lying beside her, Tyson Alexander, her amazing husband.
Four months into marriage was nothing to brag about – like people who’ve been married for thirty plus years do – but they were just starting out, beginning their journey together. That was just fine with them. And they’d started out on a good note. They hadn’t argued over a thing. They both made concessions to satisfy the other person before any disagreements could morph into arguments. On top of that, Tyson was good at giving her any and everything she wanted, completely spoiling his lady with a new car, flowers, candy, romantic dinners on the beach and surprise vacations.
Gabrielle stared at her husband in complete awe. She’d put him on a pedestal a long time ago. Her king. Not only was his sun-kissed brown skin evenly toned, but so was every muscle in his athletic body. He kept in shape, had an aristocratic face that was sculpted to perfection. His nose was stately, his mustache and thick eyebrows added texture to his smooth, handsome face.
How did I get so lucky, she thought.
Gabrielle glanced at the clock. The time displayed 3:56 a.m. She secretly celebrated the four additional minutes she had to gaze upon Tyson’s face without him knowing she was doing so. She wanted to reach out and run the tip of her index finger across his lips, but she didn’t want to disturb his last few minutes of sleep before their morning jog. Instead, she moved closer to him – so close that their noses almost touched. She smelled a light, musky cologne on his skin, listened to him breathe and watched his chest rise and fall. Looking at his well-formed, alluring lips made her smile. She was close to stealing a kiss when she watched his lips form into a smile.
He chuckled softly. “This is the third time this week I wake up to you staring at me.”
A look of surprise and embarrassment swept over Gabrielle’s face. “Tyson! I thought you were sleeping.”
“You know my internal clock is already programmed to wake up a few minutes before four. I’ve been doing it for years, sweet lips.” He took a kiss from her soft lips, then closed his eyes again with a look of satisfaction on his face.
Gabrielle gently traced her fingertips down the side of his face and played with his ear lobe. “Yes, I know that,” she whispered.
“Then why do you seem so surprised?”
Goodness. Those eyes. His relaxed coffee brown eyes in the morning made him incredibly irresistible. Well, he was already irresistible, but it was something about his placid demeanor in the mornings that made Gabrielle want to stay in bed instead of going for a jog.
Then it dawned on her – she knew what it was about mornings – he was calm and not on his laptop ordering food and supplies for his restaurants. He wasn’t running off to Padma’s charity restaurants to make pastries or in the kitchen cooking – things he enjoyed doing, but activities that also took up a lot of his time and energy. He was just calm, and she had all of his attention.
“Bri, did you hear me?”
“Yeah. I heard you.” She left a few pecks on his cheeks. His chin. His neck.
Beep, beep, BEEP!
The alarm clock interrupted her advances, but it hadn’t stopped her.
“It’s time to go.”
“No,” Gabrielle said, continuing to place little kisses on him. “We can run later.”
“Bri, time to go, baby.”
“Noooo, Tyson,” she pouted.
He took a kiss from her lips. “Yes. Let’s go.”
“Oh, Tyson...don’t do this to me,” she drawled out.
Tyson stood up from the bed, stretching his arms up in the air. “Come on, little lady. Up. Time to get that adrenaline pumping.”
“Ugh…okay,” she said, taking a deep breath and sitting up. Finally.
* * *
They ran along the shoreline together, listening to seagulls squawking, seeing a few other runners out as early as they were. Over the months, Gabrielle learned to keep up with Tyson, running alongside of him instead of lagging behind.
Today, however, she stayed behind him a little so she could see the sheer power in his thick, muscular legs as his size fourteen Nike’s struck sand. He always had strict determination with whatever he did and that’s something Gabrielle admired about him. He selflessly gave everything his all, from helping the less fortunate to making her feel loved in every way he could think of.
As they ran back towards home, she watched sweat dampen the gray tank top he was wearing.
“Bri...you okay?” he asked, when she began falling behind a little too much.
“Mmm hmm,” she replied.
“Are you getting tired?”
“No.”
“What’s wrong then?” he asked, turning around to face her, jogging backwards now. “You’re usually good about keeping up with me.”
“Nothing’s wrong, Tyson.” She wouldn’t tell him that her concupiscent feelings for him is what slowed her down, but somehow, she had a feeling he already knew that.
“Come on...get on my back. I’ll take you the rest of the way...just like old times.”
“I’ll make it, Tyson.”
“No, get on my back,” he said, stopping, then leaning over so she could hop on.
“All right...if you insist.
”
He walked swiftly with the weight of her like it didn’t faze him.
Gabrielle closed her eyes and rested her head against his back, just below his neck, rubbing her face in his sweat. This was love. True love. The kind of love most people dream about. The kind of love she used to dream about when she was in an abusive relationship with her ex. The love she thought she’d never find. The world could totally fall apart and nothing would matter, as long as she had Tyson.
A tear escaped her eye and she smiled.
“Bri?”
“Yes?”
“Are you drooling on me?” Tyson asked with a smirk on his face.
Gabrielle sniffled. “No,” she whimpered.
“Hey,” Tyson said, lowering her from his back so that he could look her in the eyes. “Why are you crying?” Tyson wiped her tears away with his thumbs.
“It’s nothing,” she said.
“Gabrielle, why are you crying?”
She shook her head. “It’s silly. I shouldn’t even be crying right now.”
“Gabrielle,” Tyson said, placing his hands against her face, wiping her tears away again. “Why are you crying?”
“Because I love you.”
“You’re crying because you love me?” he asked, confused.
“Yes,” she sniffled. “Told you it was silly.”
Tyson smiled. So did she.
Chapter 2
~ * ~
Dilvan sat at his large, twelve-chair dining room table alone, feeling the emptiness of his home along with the incompleteness of himself. His family thought he was some sort of a psychopath and he couldn’t understand why. He’d never done anything to harm them, never inflicted harm upon them – not his brothers, his father or mother. He wouldn’t think of doing such a thing, but somehow, since the family moved from Sri Lanka and became grounded in North Carolina, he’d become the outcast, the one who was looked down upon because he had no interest in being a part of the family business. He wanted to be his own man, make his own success story without living in his parent’s shadows. Most parents raised their children to do this – to grow up and follow their dreams, be their own man and pursue and fulfill their goals in life.
His parents, however, took it personal that, instead of sitting in an office all day, he decided to travel the world and become a model. It’s not like he was bad at it. He’d made millions pursuing his dreams. He had major companies coming at him all the time to model clothes and do shoots, but lately, he found himself turning most of them down in order to free up some time to do what his parents wanted – what they expected of him. With the rest of the time, he was busy thinking up ways to get Gabrielle back.
“Here you go, Suh...scrambled eggs, pittu and fried plantains. You already have some coconut milk, don’t you?”
“Yep. I’m good on that.” He took a sip of it.
“Alright...well, enjoy,” Beatrice said, heading back for the kitchen.
“Hey, have you eaten?” Dilvan asked, before she could leave the room.
“No, Suh...wanted to make sure you were taken care of first.”
“Bring your food in here and eat with me, please.”
Beatrice frowned and didn’t move an inch or attempt to take another step. She couldn’t have heard him correctly...sounded as if he asked her to eat with him.
Dilvan watched her in a thoroughly confused state. He knew his request would come as somewhat of a surprise to her. He’d never asked her to join him for breakfast before, which is probably the reason why she looked like she was dumbfounded, but he hadn’t expected her to completely freeze, stand still in time and grimace. In this moment, Dilvan realized that he hadn’t known Ms. Beatrice as well as he should have, especially considering she’d been his housekeeper for five years. He wasn’t so sure if she even liked him, let alone being his housekeeper.
Maybe she only stays because I pay her well. Other than that, she probably thinks I’m a jerk like the rest of the family does.
Obliging to his request and coming out of a disconcerted stupor, Beatrice said, “Okay, Suh, let me grab my plate and I’ll be right back.”
He waited a few beats...hadn’t even touched his food. Once Beatrice was sitting in front of him, he began his meal.
“Ah, see you’re trying the pittu,” he told her.
“Yeah...never thought I’d be eating Sri Lankan cuisine, but I figure it took me two years to learn how to cook it...might as well eat it.”
He smirked. “How do you like it?”
“It’s pretty good, Suh.”
Why does she keep calling me, Sir, he pondered. The way she said it sounded more like ‘Suh’ but still, he wanted to know why she kept on saying it. At any rate, he laid his fork in his plate and took a sip of coconut milk, thinking about the last time he sat at this table with Gabrielle. He had told her to never make eye contact with him. Now, that’s all he wanted. Eye contact, to see her big, beautiful eyes would make his day.
“Is something the matter, Suh? You look upset.”
Dilvan blinked out of his trance and gave Beatrice his full attention. “Why do you call me, Sir? Is it just what you do, or—”
Beatrice grinned.
“What?”
“You don’t remember, Suh?
“No. Enlighten me.”
“When I applied for this position, almost five years ‘go, you told me to address you as Suh...not Mr. Alexander, not Dilvan...but Suh.”
He frowned. “I did?”
“Yes, Suh. You sho nuff did. I just figured it was your thing to do, especially after you made Mrs. Gabrielle call you ‘My Lord’.”
Dilvan scooped up some eggs, tasted them and said, “Well, from now on, I want you to call me Dilvan.”
“Come again, Suh,” Beatrice asked with raised brows.
“I said, from this point forward, I want you to call me Dilvan. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Suh...I mean, yes, Dilvan,” Beatrice grinned. “It sho gon’ sound mighty funny me calling you by your first name and all...gon’ take Ms. Bea a while to get used to that.”
“Okay, well just keep it at the front of your mind. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes, Dilvan. I can do that. See, it’s working already, now ain’t it?”
“Yeah. It is.” Dilvan dropped his fork again. He hadn’t known Beatrice that well. He didn’t even know if she had a family. He’d never seen anyone come by to visit her. She lived in one of the downstairs bedrooms in his home. Out of curiosity, he asked, “Beatrice, do you have children?”
“No,” she replied downcast. “Ms. Bea never had no chilrens. Doctor once told me I couldn’t have youngins.”
“Oh. What about family? You have any family in North Carolina?”
“No. I do have a brother that lives in Newport News, Virginia. A younger brother.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why has he never come to visit you?”
“’Cause you told me I could not have any visitors.”
“I did no such thing,” Dilvan responded facetiously, thinking she was joking.
“Oh yes you did.”
“I did?” he asked with a frown.
“Yes, you did.”
“Well, why don’t you visit him?”
Beatrice scratched her head. Something was wrong with Dilvan, well other than the obvious. He couldn’t remember a thing this morning. “You told me I couldn’t have any time off work.”
“I did what?”
“You told me I could never take any time off of work...said I needed to be available any time you needed me.”
Dilvan buried his face in his hands, frustrated and exhausted. He couldn’t believe how selfish he’d been to the people around him. That’s why he didn’t have Gabrielle any longer. He shook his head. There were so many things he would do differently if given the opportunity. He would love Gabrielle like she deserved to be loved, tell her how beautiful she was and make love to her. Since Tyson stole her from him, h
e hadn’t had the opportunity to make recompense for his past actions, didn’t even have an opportunity to win her back.
At any rate, he couldn’t dwell on the past. He could only start rebuilding his character one small step at a time. So looking at Beatrice, he said, “Okay, so I am a jerk. I can’t believe you haven’t had a vacation in five years, so here’s what I’m going to do. You tell me when you want to take a vacation and it’s yours. And if you want to visit your brother, I will personally make the arrangements as well as pay all of your expenses.”
“Really, Suh?”
“Dilvan,” he said, correcting her and refreshing her memory on what she should be calling him now.
“Yes...sorry, Dilvan...told you it was gon’ take Ms. Bea a while to get used to calling you by your first name.”
“And yes, I am serious...let me know when you want to see your brother, and I’ll pay all of your expenses.”