by Anne Oliver
‘You know, Brooke, if you talked to me instead of projecting all this anger we might be able to work things out. I still care about you, you know.’
The spots of anger were back in front of Brooke’s eyes. Her breathing was shallow. She sucked in a breath and chewed the remains of her bread.
‘If your sisters butt out, that is.’
Brooke put her hands to her eyes and rubbed. She knew what she was about to do and she couldn’t stop herself. She’d had enough.
Brooke stood up and banged her hands on the table. ‘Ladies, this is enough. We’ve gone through enough. We don’t have to sit here with these...men. These people who didn’t understand us, didn’t care about us. We are the authors of our own stories—not these sad excuses for men here at the table.’
‘You’re right, Brooke. I don’t want to eat with you, Grant. I don’t even want to look at you. I don’t like you. I don’t think I ever did.’
‘And I won’t sit across from you, knowing how many times you cheated on me. How many times you lied to me, Patrick.’
Alisssa’s voice rang out across the table. ‘And you know what, Matthew? I did cheat on you. You want to know why? Because you’re bad in bed!’
Another woman stood and said her piece, then another, and another. Then it was Brooke’s turn.
‘You listen to me, Mitch, you little weasel. My sisters knew what a lying, cheating arse you are. They tried to warn me but I didn’t listen to them. I believed you. And you betrayed me. You took everything I gave you, sucked up all my goodness, and then you walked away. You humiliated me and you treated me like I meant nothing. You are low, Mitch. Lower than low. But you’re not my demon. You’re nothing to me now. I don’t even think about you, except to think how lucky I was to get away from you. I don’t like you, I don’t love you, and I’ve realised I never did. You were what I needed at that time in my life. But I don’t need you any more. I don’t need any man. I deserve to be treated with respect. I deserve a man who isn’t afraid to love me madly and deeply. And I am way too good for you. I won’t sit with you, Mitch. You don’t deserve my time.’
By now she knew all the cameras were on her and she didn’t care. Mitch needed to know that she wouldn’t be treated like this. He needed to know that she was angry and that she was done. Done with bad men and bad relationships. And right now she needed to tell another man that too, because she was angry and she was worth it and she was calling the shots around here.
FIFTEEN
Jack grabbed his bag and headed for the door. The taxi was here. He had waited as long as he could. He knew they were still taping the last scene. He’d tried to tell himself to stay away but he couldn’t. He couldn’t stand the thought of Brooke being there—without him. The need to protect her was too strong. He couldn’t just leave it.
He’d just called his father and informed him that he would not be screening the last two scenes and the show was finished. All he wanted to do now was go and see Brooke and tell her how he felt—even though he knew she probably hated him. Even though he knew she wouldn’t want anything to do with him. He wanted to be there after she’d faced that dirt-bag of an ex of hers.
The buzzer went again. The taxi driver was impatient and so was he. With a click of the door, Jack left. He took the stairs two at a time. His stomach was still lodged in his throat, but it dropped quickly when he saw who was at the door.
Brooke.
Standing next to four tall blondes. Somehow, even among that bevy of beautiful Amazonian women, Brooke stood out. To him she always did. Her eyes. Her dimples. Her body. It all made sense to him. It was as if someone had reached into the depths of his mind and pulled out everything he’d ever wanted in a woman and now she was here.
She looked calm. His heart leapt into his throat. Brooke didn’t do calm. Something was really up.
The tall blonde standing next to Brooke spoke up. ‘Are you Jack Douglas?’
He turned to her and nodded. He didn’t want to talk to her—he wanted to talk to Brooke. He wanted to calm her down. Had she seen her ex yet?
‘Then I have something to say to you.’
‘Maddy, wait...’
Jack turned eagerly towards Brooke’s voice. It was quiet and soft and so unlike her that he wanted to step forward and take her in his arms. He wanted her to be his. But he had no idea what she was feeling. Calm Brooke was not someone he’d experienced.
He gripped the strap of his bag hard. ‘Brooke. Are you all right?’
‘No, she’s not all right. How could she be all right after what you did?’
‘Melissa, stop.’
There it was. Tough Brooke. His Brooke.
‘I can handle this. Go and wait in the car.’
‘We’re not leaving you.’
‘Go.’
Her voice had become louder. He saw her spark again. His body went tense in anticipation. She was going to tell him off. He hadn’t realised till now how much he missed that.
The tall blondes each threw him a look of disdain but they stalked off one by one—the last one putting her fingers to her eyes and then pointing to his before finally leaving him alone with Brooke.
‘Jack. We need to talk. Not because I want you back. Don’t think that’s what I’m here for.’
Jack’s heart sank and he had to suck in a few deep breaths. She didn’t want him. Now he knew.
‘I’m here to ask why? Why you did it?’
‘Why I did what?’
She made a sniffing noise and looked away, folding her arms across her chest. When she looked back there were tears in her eyes. She was sad. Angry he could do—but not sad.
Jack stepped forward.
* * *
Brooke stepped back. She tried to harden her heart, to keep her emotions in check. It had been easier with her sisters standing beside her, but here alone with him she felt herself waver.
‘No. Don’t touch me. Don’t think you can touch me and make this OK. I want to know why you used what I said against me. Why you lied to me. Why you made me feel like we had something and then threw it all away. For ratings? Or was it for fun? Why would you do that? Why would you make me feel like that?’
‘Brooke, I did the wrong thing. I thought I was protecting you. I thought that by staying in the background and preventing my father from doing even worse things I was helping you.’
‘How did they find out about Mitch? Did you tell them?’
This was the question she wanted to know the answer to the most. Had he used the information she’d given to him when she was upset against her? She wanted to hear him say no. She wanted to believe he was good deep down inside.
‘Yes, I did.’
Brooke’s heart shattered and she stumbled, her act of bravery forgotten for a few seconds.
‘But if I hadn’t they would have found out some other way. It was going to be worse, Brooke—a lot worse. My father came up with a scheme to trick you all into revealing your feelings about your exes before having them appear. You have no idea how much I fought him on that.’
‘You should have fought harder.’
She understood now that he had been trying to help her, but it wasn’t enough. He’d let her fall.
‘I know I should have. But I realised that too late.’
The tears that threatened Brooke’s eyes leapt to the surface. She’d wanted him to fix this. She’d wanted him to be the one. But he wasn’t.
‘I realise now I’m on my own, Jack. There’s no prince coming to rescue me. There’s no perfect match for me. I’m going to have to save myself.’
‘We all have to save ourselves, Brooke.’
The first teardrop fell. That wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear. As much as she knew that she was in this on her own, and that there wasn’t a perfect match out ther
e for her, she hadn’t wanted it to be true. But it was.
‘But that doesn’t mean you have to do it on your own.’
Sobs threatened Brooke’s chest. She didn’t want to listen to him any more. She just wanted to be back with her sisters and hear their comforting words.
‘Sometimes you have to be taken out of your comfort zone and be thrown into a completely new situation to see if you sink or swim. And you, Brooke—you’re a swimmer. You fought the whole way. For yourself, for the other girls—for women everywhere. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that you are the bravest, toughest woman in Australia right now.’
She was brave—he was right. She was tough. But she was still sad that she was alone.
‘But no one will ever know how tough you are because I’m not letting the last two episodes go to air. I’ve cancelled the show. It’s over. Everything beyond the football match will never be seen.’
‘What?’
Brooke stared at him. What was he saying?
‘I told my father to stick it. He can sue me, but those episodes will never see the light of day.’
Brooke’s heart leaped. That rollercoaster rocked into view. ‘You did that? For me?’
‘Of course. I’d do anything for you, Brooke. Because—well, quite frankly, I’d be too frightened of what you’d do to me if I didn’t.’
His smile was shy and quiet and genuine. She felt his arms around her, his lips landing on her forehead, her eyelids and her mouth.
‘And because...’
Jack stepped forward, but Brooke stepped back again, into the gutter on the street. She was now even tinier. He moved swiftly and grabbed her arms. He wasn’t letting her go—not until he’d told her how he felt. She had to know. Everything he’d done was because of her. Because he wanted to protect her. And maybe he was an idiot, and maybe he’d gone about it the wrong way, like he had with his mother, but he wasn’t making the mistake of not letting her know how he felt. Not this time.
‘I love you.’
Brooke didn’t want to cry but she couldn’t stop. She was confused and frightened and angry. And Jack was here, telling her what she wanted to hear, and it seemed too good to be true.
‘Brooke—listen to me.’
His hands were hot on her arms. He was so close she could smell his scent and it was making her weak. She wanted to fall against him, have him tell her everything was OK, but she wasn’t sure. Was this real? Was he telling her that he actually loved her?
‘You don’t love me, Jack. If you did you wouldn’t have let me go so easily.’
Brooke gasped when she felt Jack’s arms around her. He lifted her up until her face was level with his.
‘Let me tell you something, Brooke. You have no idea how hard it’s been for me to let you go. I thought that was what you wanted. I thought you hated me—that you were too angry with me to ever want to be with me again. I thought you didn’t want me.’
‘I did want you.’
She was looking into his eyes now and she saw something. Hurt. Pain. Loneliness. And she knew that was what he could see in hers.
‘Do you still want me?’
He was unsure. Big, bold confident Jack was unsure. Brooke’s broken little heart started to beat again. Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he did love her.
‘Yes.’ The word came out as a whisper. ‘Yes. I still want you.’
The kiss landed on her lips with a force she hadn’t been expecting, but he held her steady. Strong and steady. He wanted her. It wasn’t over. He hadn’t betrayed her. Brooke kissed him back. Hard and furious. She was angry he’d let it come to this and she needed him to know. His kisses trailed down her neck.
‘I know you’re angry, Brooke. I can feel it.’ His lips moved back up to hers. ‘And I hope to spend my life making you angry so we can constantly enjoy making up.’
Brooke punched his arm with her fist. Then she kissed him again. Hard.
‘Then you need to know one thing, Jack Douglas.’ Brooke drank in his smile, his eyes, and the feel of his arms wrapped around her. ‘I’m calling the shots around here.’
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460344491
Who’s Calling the Shots?
Copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Rae
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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One night at a wedding…!
Workaholic Ivy Molyneux is primed for the biggest promotion of her life—she couldn’t be more ready to take over Australia’s biggest mining operation! Trouble is, after a wildly-out-of-character (and just plain wild) one-night stand at her sister’s wedding, it may have to be delayed…by about nine months.
Ivy thought hooking up with fellow guest Angus Barlow was pretty crazy—until she finds herself telling this gorgeous SAS officer that she’s pregnant. Craziest thing of all? She finds him even more irresistible than ever! Ivy’s hoping it’s just the baby hormones, otherwise the next nine months are going to be even more challenging…!
SNEAK PEEK EXCERPT FROM
Nine Month Countdown
“Ivy, what’s going on?”
She’d been staring unseeing down at her fingers, which she’d been wrapping and unwrapping around the stem of her champagne glass.
She took a breath. The deepest breath she could remember taking.
Then she lifted her gaze and met his.
Even in the moody bar lighting, she now finally had enough light to see the colour of his eyes. Hazel. They were lovely eyes, sexy eyes, but right now they were hard and unyielding.
Yes, he’d worked out that this night wasn’t going to pan out the way he’d planned.
“Angus—I’m pregnant.”
Dear Reader,
I started writing Ivy and Angus’s story just after my daughter turned one. The most amazing—and exhausting—year of my life had come to an end, and I was finally writing again.
So it’s probably no surprise that a baby popped into this story! But Ivy’s story was very different from mine. Ivy certainly hadn’t planned her pregnancy. In fact, Ivy falls pregnant at exactly the worst po
ssible moment in her career. For Ivy, her career is everything, so it’s as if her whole world has collapsed around her. Plus, she also has to deal with a gorgeous, charming soldier who just won’t go away!
I now know firsthand how life-changing children are, in a way I never comprehended before. But what would it be like to share such a life-changing experience with a practical stranger? That question is where Ivy and Angus’s story began, and I just had to keep writing until this unlikely couple made it to their happy-ever-after.
I hope you enjoy Ivy and Angus’s story!
Leah
PS: I’ll let you in on a secret—I often name my heroines using baby names I love that my husband vetoed. I still think Ivy is a beautiful name!
Nine Month
Countdown
Leah Ashton
About Leah Ashton
An unashamed fan of all things happily-ever-after, Leah Ashton has been a lifelong reader of romance. Writing came a little bit later—although in hindsight she’s been dreaming up stories for as long as she can remember. Sadly, the most popular boy in school never did suddenly fall head over heels in love with her…
Now she lives in Perth, Western Australia, with her own real-life hero, two gorgeous dogs and the world’s smartest cat. By day she works in IT-land; by night she considers herself incredibly lucky to be writing the type of books she loves to read and to have the opportunity to share her own characters’ happily-ever-afters with readers.
You can visit Leah at www.leah-ashton.com.
Other Harlequin® KISS™ titles by Leah Ashton:
Beware of the Boss
Why Resist a Rebel?
This and other titles by Leah Ashton are available in ebook format from www.Harlequin.com.