“At least if you are going to invite anyone, you invited people that we both liked, so I guess I can’t really complain,” he said.
I laughed. “Just thank me for elevating your social life. I think that’s what you really want to do.”
“Missy James, thank you for elevating and improving yet another part of my life. What would I do without you?” he said, indulging me, topping it off with a kiss on my cheek. With the amount of time that we spent together, you would think that I lived here with him, but I didn’t. I was very fond of my townhouse rental, and I liked that it was so close to Eddy and Brenna’s places. That said, however, we hadn’t been spending quite as much time together as we had in the past, the one, possibly only drawback of having a boyfriend. Since all of us were attached, our get-togethers were that much more important. They were already familiar with Easton, but the two of us as a unit was a little newer. Throwing events like this made sure neither of them ever complained that I had forgotten about them since Easton came along.
“You’re welcome,” I said smugly. It wasn’t just his social life that I had elevated, he was right. It was every last thing about him, from his wardrobe to his interior decorating. The loft had been elevated from a trashy bachelor pad to a stylish and comfortable home with plenty of space to entertain. His look, which had been my first challenge had been maintained. He grew his hair out slightly longer, but still polished and professional, and these days I let him get away with a shadow of ten-day scruff.
We brought the plates out to the table. Eddy and Brenna were in attendance with their husbands, Niall and Charles. Toby, Easy’s partner was there too and he had brought a date along, a beautiful brunette who had introduced herself as Alyssa. Maggie was there as well, sans date but still hopefully having a good time. After topping off everyone’s wine glasses, we sat down ourselves to the meal.
“Oh my god, Missy, this salmon is delicious,” Eddy said.
“Thanks, I bought it,” I said. Everyone laughed.
“She can do everything, except cook,” Brenna quipped.
“Who said that I couldn’t cook?” I asked.
“No, you’re right, she can't cook,” Easy said, exposing me. More laughter around the table.
“Well, I paid for the food, that means it’s mine,” I said. The compliments on the food kept coming and I accepted them as if I was the chef. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Alyssa pushing her polenta around her plate instead of eating it.
“Alyssa, is everything okay with the food?” I asked her. She looked up and gave me a small smile.
“Yeah, totally. I just don't really eat carbs,” she said. Why was I not surprised. The moment she had walked in with Toby, I knew exactly the kind of woman she was. I had been close to her type at one point in my life. The scene in New York was full of them. They were the young socialites and models who fed the dating lives of the rich and powerful men, sometimes already married, who had influence and money in the city. There was no way she was older than twenty-five, and that was probably also the number of inches around her waist. She was really pretty, but the last time I had seen Toby, he was with a Vietnamese woman named Vanessa. Same type, model, or influencer, but that sometimes meant sugar baby or escort. The time before that, it had been another girl Lisa, or Laura, something like that. There had been so many that I was losing track.
He wasn't doing anything wrong necessarily, I mean, he was single and he was a powerful and rich man in New York City. That meant he had access to a beautiful woman, several in fact. Optics were a little off and something felt fishy about it. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but it didn't seem right. I made a mental note to ask Easton about it later.
“Well, you're missing out,” Eddy told Alyssa. Alyssa smiled sheepishly and took a small bite of her salmon.
“You have to tell me the name of your caterer,” Brenna said, steering the conversation away from Alyssa. She was the newest one in the group, no need to make her feel uncomfortable, even though this was probably going to be the last time that any of us saw her. Our meal continued. As we ate, I felt Easton’s hand on my thigh, squeezing. I looked over at him.
“Hm?” I asked.
“You okay?” he asked. I nodded. I was fine. He had a habit of doing that though. Whenever we were out together or surrounded by other people, he would make sure to check in with me and be sure that I was doing okay. I loved it. He was so attentive and caring. I knew that if I said I wasn’t, he would stand and kick everyone out of the house, no questions asked. A little over the top but that was his style. It was a little much, but it came from a good place. I didn’t want to change that about him. The final course was creme brulee, likely something else that Alyssa didn’t eat. Easton and I stood in the kitchen again, preparing everyone’s servings.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” I asked quietly.
“Sure, what?” he said.
“Alyssa and Toby?” I said.
Easton shrugged. “This is the first I’m hearing of her. You know the way he is.”
“I know the way he is but why is he like that?” I asked.
“Mostly because he can be, I think. I mean, there’s a bunch of women begging to be associated with him, so he lets them.”
“Is that it?” I asked. That might have been the case, but it still felt a little off. Whenever I had seen him with a new woman, he was completely cold towards her. He would barely engage them in conversation, wasn’t particularly physically affectionate, and didn’t seem to pick up cues when they were uncomfortable, like at the table before.
“Maybe. I think he could be hiding something, but he never wants to talk about it, so I never push him. If he wants to open up, I’m all ears but I know I won't get anywhere trying to force it out of him.” He was right. It was more than just my nosiness getting in the way tonight, but I tamped it down. Tonight was the first night everyone was at Easton’s house for a get-together and I wasn’t going to ruin it.
We plated up the dessert and everyone tucked in. As everyone's plates slowly emptied, I noticed Easton stirring beside me.
“Can I have your attention please?” Easton asked, tapping his fork on the side of his glass.
“Oh, wow, are we about to get a speech?” Toby asked.
“Yes, you are, so listen up.” He stood up. “I want to propose a toast. First of all, thank you everyone for coming. It means a lot to have everyone who is closest to us in one place together. I have something important to say since you are all our guests of honor, I want you to hear it. Everything fun and delicious tonight, you can thank Missy for. When she came into my life, she basically told me that I looked like shit and that I had to change. I didn’t appreciate it, but I do now. Fashion wasn’t the only thing that she taught me. She made me learn how to love a woman as difficult and stubborn as she was.” Everyone laughed and there was some scattered applause.
“She fought me hard, but I won in the end. I don’t think then that it would be out of line if I took this opportunity to ask her to continue being here for me.” There were screams and cheers from our guests because they saw the ring before I did. When I turned to look at Easton, he wasn’t there anymore, he was kneeling on the ground with a jewelry box in his hands, open, displaying a gorgeous white teardrop diamond ring.
I was rendered completely speechless. Of course, after making everything official, and dating for a while, Easton and I had talked about the possibility of marriage. At first, it had been more of a thought exercise, more of a joke. Just like, what if we were married? At some point however, it had stopped being a joke but by that time he had already asked me what my dream engagement ring was and that was the ring looking up at me from the box. I hadn’t thought that he was actually paying attention and taking notes. I knew what a ring of that size and brilliance had to have cost him.
“Oh my God, Easton.”
“Missy, I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
I wanted to say yes. Of course, I was going to say yes
, but I was crying, and my throat had closed up. I never thought that I’d see the day that something like this happened for me.
“Say yes,” Brenna yelled. Everyone laughed. Still unable to talk, I nodded.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” I whispered. Everyone cheered as he slipped the ring onto my finger and then stood up.
“Oh my God, is that why you brought us here? To make us all jealous?” Maggie asked, joking.
“No, I knew that if I did with the audience, there was less of a chance of her saying no,” Easton said. Everyone laughed again. Easton grabbed me and kissed me in a dramatic dip. In reality, I had never really thought about what my dream proposal looked like. I was so unlucky in love that I couldn’t imagine anyone proposing to me. Easton had turned out to be my dream come true, even if all appearances had been to the contrary. Of course, I would’ve said yes to him no matter how his proposal had been. He was incredible; kind, loving, hard-working, funny, and generous. With all of the women he had at his disposal in New York City, he picked me. He had loved me and been patient with me and forgiven me even when I probably didn’t deserve it. I loved him. It had taken meeting him, but I was finally my own success story.
I loved writing Easy and Missy’s story, and hope you loved them both.
Missy’s friend, Maggie, gets her own unexpected romance with none other than Easy’s friend, Toby.
This one is going to be a surprise pregnancy romance you won’t want to miss.
Great news, you can snag the pre order for just 99cents. All my books are eventually raised to the full price of $4.99+ so to guarantee you get the bargain, you can preorder this next book HERE.
Read on for an excerpt from ‘Admit You Need Me’ - Maggie and Toby’s Story.
Excerpt: Admit You Need Me
Description
I live by a million rules.
But this one is the most important:
Never do relationships.
Maggie’s sweet face demanded me to kiss it.
Her red, fiery hair asked for me to run my fingers through it.
But that was supposed to be it.
Just one night.
As a former military man and the owner of a billion-dollar business, I’ve got a tough life.
I’ve got enough complications of my own.
But Maggie left a mark on me that I couldn’t get rid of.
She made me want to help her out.
Rescue her from her abusive ex.
Now all I think about is her gorgeous curves.
I crave another taste of her.
I know that she hates relationships as much as I do.
But if I can change my mind and give this a shot, can she do it too?
Especially if she’s carrying a part of me inside her belly?
Prologue
Maggie
And then there was one, I thought. I picked up my glass of wine and drained it. Everybody else was doing the same so I didn’t look out of place. Easton, Missy’s boyfriend had just proposed to her. It looked like she was genuinely surprised and honestly, so was I. Easton hadn’t said anything to us when the two of them had invited us to their dinner party so I had no reason to suspect anything.
Kind of weird though. I mean who came up with the whole public proposal thing anyway? Wasn’t it embarrassing? It was an inconvenience to the people who had to watch it and what if she said no?
Careful, Mags, you sound mighty single right about now and not the fun, flirty kind.
That was the natural progression of things anyway. First came love, then came marriage, and then the baby in the baby carriage. I rolled my eyes and turned away, looking for more wine. I was happy for then, seriously, I was. Missy was my boss and I had started to feel safe calling her my friend as well, but out of the four of us I the friend group; her, my old colleague and friend, Brenna, and their friend, Eddy, I was the only single one.
I knew it didn’t really make sense, but when Missy wasn’t engaged, it didn’t feel as lonely over here at the metaphorical singles table. I topped up my glass with wine and so I didn’t look like I was drowning my sorrows, offered to top up other peoples as well.
“I’ll take some, thank you,” Toby, Easton’s colleague said when I offered him some wine. He smiled and we made brief eye contact. His date, what was her name? Alana? She didn’t want any. Good call. She had barely eaten any of the delicious food that Easy and Missy had catered tonight and she was about the size of a twig so more booze would bowl her over. I watched her sit there a little awkwardly. She was the only true stranger at this get-together, knowing neither Easton nor Missy… nor did she seem to know Toby all that well if we were being honest, but that was none of my business.
Toby and I were the only ones invited who weren’t in a couple and while he had brought a date, I had not. I didn’t have anyone on the roster, not because I couldn’t find anyone but because I didn’t want anyone filling that role. When I made that decision, I hadn’t anticipated feeling this sorry for myself about being unattached.
Being seemingly surrounded by loving couples on every side, you would think that I caught the bug and wanted to join in, but at this point in my life, I was over it.
Now, those might have sounded like the sentiments of a fifty-year-old woman who had finally divorced her philandering husband after a thirty-year marriage, but they weren’t. They were mine. At the grand old age of twenty-seven, I had had enough. Maybe I didn’t have as much reason to be so over love and relationships as someone who had had it worse, but I was.
Since the meal was over, everyone was kind of dispersing around Easton’s loft, mingling, and having some more wine before they made their way home. Eddy and Brenna were admiring the brand, spanking new ring on Missy’s finger but I didn’t want to approach. I didn’t want my negativity ruining what was a happy night for them.
There was a terrace attached to the loft, completely private which we hadn’t used because it had rained earlier today and it was all wet. The weather had turned though, and the doors were open, letting in a nice cool breeze. I noticed Toby and his date walking out together. As everyone kind of paired off with their dates or spouses, I felt myself becoming the third wheel. It was time to go home.
I picked up my wine glass and went over to Missy and Easton so that I could bid them good night.
“You’re leaving already?” Missy asked.
“Yup, early morning for work tomorrow,” I said with a smirk. She knew I was lying about that part. I worked for her and early mornings were completely unheard of. I was fully expecting her to tell me to take tomorrow and probably a couple more days off so that she and Easton could celebrate their engagement.
“No really?” Missy asked. She looked at me quizzically, but she didn’t push me to stay or ask any questions. She got it. I had gotten to watch the not so rosy parts of her relationship with Easton leading up to this beautiful union so I knew she was empathetic.
“Feel free to grab a bottle of wine if you want,” Easton said as I hugged him good night. He was a good guy, I was happy for Missy but tonight, my emotions were a mess. I was going from that, to jealous, to happy, to sentimental and everything all over again every time that I blinked.
I thanked him and went around the room telling everyone else good night. Last on the list was Toby and his date and I had seen them walk out onto the balcony. Toby was a very new acquaintance for me, plus having only really spoken about work matters, and I had no idea who his date was. Still, it was only polite. I walked out onto the terrace and spotted the two of them locked in an embrace. I stopped because I didn’t want to walk into anything. I haven’t noticed me yet. They were talking.
“Next week, what do you say?” the woman was saying, playing with the lapels on Toby’s jacket.
“Next week?” he asked her.
“Yeah, just a short little getaway. A long weekend at the beach.”
He chuckled softly. “Yeah, and which beach were you thinking? The Hamptons?”<
br />
“Hmm, I was thinking something more tropical?”
“Like where? Miami?” she laughed.
“Maybe Tulum? Or somewhere in the Caribbean?”
“That sounds great. If you end up going, I hope you have a good time.” Her hands dropped from his lapels.
“If I was going, I would want to go with you.”
“That sounds a little bit too much like a romantic getaway and I thought we had an understanding.” My eyes widened. I had a vague idea that Toby was sort of a fuckboy but it was still a shocker watching him in action.
Most of what I knew about him had come from Missy and well the term pussy hound had been uttered a few times in reference to him. He had a reputation for being seen with a different beautiful model every other week. Looked like this one had gotten the wrong idea about their relationship. I felt sorry for her and then I felt guilty for eavesdropping on what was probably a really embarrassing moment.
“You can’t be serious about that.”
“Trust me, sweetie, I am. I was just about to go tell everybody bye so I could get out of here. Are you coming with?”
“What do you mean am I coming with? You brought me here, didn’t you?”
“Well, a gentleman never assumes. If you get into a car with me, I am going to assume that you want to come home with me. That means a night of mind-blowing no strings attached sex and a cordial goodbye in the morning. Nothing more. Maybe I’ll pay for your cab tomorrow but that’s it. If that’s not what you’re looking for, then I’ll pay for your cab tonight and this is it.”
Her hand cracked across his face. She slapped him. I staggered backward a little bit; not expecting that.
“I am not fucking whore. You think can take me out and then proposition me like that? Fuck you.” She started stalking away in my direction and I hurried back into the house. She walked past me, barely registering my existence. So much for telling the two of them goodbye. I went ahead and grabbed my coat and got ready to leave.
Admit You Want Me: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Irresistible Billionaires Book 3) Page 21