Desire_A Romance Collection

by Mia Ford

I toss my head back in a laugh as Zane drags me with everyone not far behind. This night is the night of our anniversary, the night that we finally told one another that we’re in love last year, and now it’s going to be the most important date in our calendars. Our wedding anniversary.

  Once inside the chapel, my heart swells as I look around at the white décor and flowers everywhere. It isn’t the most glamorous place in the world to get married, but that hardly matters. In my knee length white halter neck dress, standing next to Zane who’s in his bike leathers, it feels perfect for me. This is just so us.

  While we wait for the place to be ready for us, everyone whispers their congratulations to us. Even our parents are finally happy that we’re together, and I have to admit that while it was awesome to have an ‘us against the world’ mentality, it’s better with the support of the most important people in our lives. It makes us feel like a much more genuine couple.

  “Are you ready for this?” Zane murmurs while resting his head against mine. “Ready to finally commit to me?”

  “Oh, I’m ready.” I pinch his side playfully. “I can’t wait to be Mrs. Morris.”

  He groans in pleasure. “Ooh, I can’t wait for that either. That sounds so good.” He rubs his hand over my belly. “And then we can start looking to the future, and extending our family.”

  What he doesn’t know yet, and what I don’t intend to tell him until after the wedding ceremony because I want it to be an awesome surprise, is that I found out yesterday that we already have a child on the way. There’s a baby growing inside of me that’s half of us both. That news has made me so damn happy, and I know it will him too. Zane hasn’t exactly made a secret of the fact that he can’t wait to be a father, so I know that he’ll love it.

  I keep picturing him with a little boy and then a little girl. Of course, I don’t know what we’re having yet, but I know he’ll be perfect with either. He’s going to be an incredible dad. He’s as a bit of a better place with his own now, but it hasn’t always been that way. I know for a fact that he won’t make the mistakes of his father. He’ll be kind, compassionate, and caring.

  “Okay, everyone,” the lady at the reception desk calls out. “It’s time to get hitched.”

  “If you’re going to back out, now’s the time,” Zane teases me. “Once inside there’s no mistake.”

  “Oh, you don’t need to worry about me. I know what I’m doing thank you very much.”

  “I love you.” He leans down and kisses me before we go inside. “So damn much.”

  “And I love you too.”

  As we walk into the chapel, my excitement grows even more. This is the first step into my next adventure. First Europe – which luckily, we’re travelling to on a cruise ship anyway – then more writing, then my baby will be born. All with Zane Morris, the guy who I had a teenage crush on who then became ‘the one who got away’. Now, he’s the love of my life, the most important man to me, about to be my husband. He’s the one.

  This new adventure is one I can’t wait to dive head first into. I cannot wait to see where it takes me next.

  Book 3: Saving HER

  Blurb

  I just don’t want to SAVE her…I want to stand by her FOREVER!

  The last time I saw her, she was in High School

  I always saw her as my best friend’s little sister

  And now I see her after years…

  The fear in her eyes worries me

  And I didn’t realize that she is gonna be that important to me

  After all, I was a guy who shied away from a relationship…or at least a real one!

  I had made Fire Station my home and the people serving there my family.

  And I was okay with growing old there and dying there alone

  But, Andrea made me reconsider that

  And I know I can and I will…I am so ready for our future together!

  The only question is if she also see’s in my eyes - THE LOVE, THE SUPPORT & THE CARE?

  Chapter 1: Andrea

  Please don’t be positive.

  The bathroom stall felt like a coffin. I sat with my knees pressed against each other, my head hanging low and my hair hiding the tears that were running down my cheeks. I rocked back and forth on the toilet seat, praying to God no one would decide to come in and hear my uncontrolled sobs. I didn’t want anyone knocking on the stall door, asking if I was okay.

  I wasn’t okay. Obviously.

  Not positive. Not positive.

  I kept repeating the words in my mind like a mantra, as if just thinking it would make it true. What was it that they said about positive thinking? Wish it, and it will be? Some bullshit like that. If it were true, I wouldn’t even be in this situation, locked in a bathroom with a pregnancy test that smelled like urine clutched tightly in my hands while I waited for the damned thing to tell me whether my life would turn into something worse than it already was.

  I was late, two weeks actually, and the only reason I had waited so long to check was because I was scared of what the result might be. Seeing that pink positive sign would kill me. It would be like a hand reaching into my chest cavity, grabbing my heart and squeezing until the blood burst out.

  There was something almost pathetic about it all. I didn’t need a mirror to tell me that my mascara had run wild, making me look like I had war paint on my face. I had shaken my hair so many times, it probably looked like a whirlwind of brunette strands. My eyes burned, my nose was running, and the left sleeve of my blouse was a mix of make-up and tears, a Van Gogh of my anxiety and inevitable misery.

  Just don’t be positive. For fuck’s sake, don’t be positive!

  I had lost track of time, of how long I had been sitting there waiting for the result. The box had instructed me to wait for ten minutes, and I was sure those had gone by already. I just couldn’t bring myself to look at the stick. I would lose it completely if it told me I was pregnant.

  Dennis would be thrilled.

  On second thought, no, Dennis wouldn’t. He’d probably turn into a hurricane of emotions, scream at me for being a ‘dumb cunt’ who couldn’t keep track of her contraception. He’d go on and on about how we couldn’t afford a child, how I was a conniving bitch that had planned to get knocked up just to make his life miserable. I’d probably react in some stupid way, like laugh at the fact that we actually could afford a child if he spent less money on booze and hookers.

  Then the beating would begin. And the screaming.

  Mostly my screaming.

  I sighed, coughed as I felt the breath I took break into staccatos of inhales threatening to suffocate me, and hugged my knees tight. I rocked faster, whispering a prayer I knew would definitely go unanswered. Look at the damn stick and get it over with, the voice of reason screamed in my head. But I didn’t want to. There was only one result I wanted to see, and I had a feeling that the world wasn’t done slapping me across the face just yet. It would be positive, and I’d be screwed.

  I ran a hand through my hair and shook it for the hundredth time since I had sat down. Jeremy would probably be looking for me by now, scouring the offices, ready to drop a shitload of paperwork my way. It was one thing to deal with Dennis’s wrath at home; Jeremy Karp was a completely different story. It wasn’t easy being the secretary for the CEO of KarpTech. People kept telling me that I was lucky to have the job.

  I wanted to slam a fist in those same people’s faces and dare them to walk in my shoes.

  Getting fired is only going to make it worse.

  Dennis would kill me for it. He already had his hands on half my salary, and that was only because he didn’t know just how much I earned. Otherwise, my entire paycheck would be used to fund his nighttime sex-capades and barhopping. The money he got from working at Ford was never enough, or at least that was what he claimed. Then again, I believed him. How much could a good-for-nothing mechanic make anyway, even at Ford?

  I shifted in my place, and the plastic pregnancy stick tapped against the toilet porc
elain, reminding me that there were bigger problems looming. Being married to a drunk and cheat was one thing, but there was nothing worse than constantly fearing, I could get beaten up because the chicken was too dry. Telling Dennis I was pregnant would get me a one-way ticket to the emergency room, and that was if I was lucky.

  You’re going to have to get a break sooner or later. Maybe this is it. Check the fucking stick!

  I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and brought the stick up. I opened my eyes slowly, my vision blurred by the tears already forming, my body shaking with the anticipation of what it meant to see a positive sign.

  It was negative.

  The stick fell from my hand and clattered across the floor, and my sigh of relief was quickly followed by a rush of tears. I cried freely, having had dodged a bullet, and I fought to stay seated as my legs turned to jelly.

  It took me half an hour before I could finally get up and wash my face.

  ***

  “Where the hell were you?”

  Karen Briggs pulled me into the conference room just before I could make it to my desk. A fiery redhead with the body of a Greek goddess, she was Jeremy’s right hand woman and the only person in the company who kept him from firing everyone left and right. Of course, there was the added benefit that she actually liked me, which made my job just bearable, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew that if push came to shove, she’d throw me under the bus.

  Karen closed the conference door and turned down the blinds, turning to me with a frown that made me cringe.

  “I had an emergency,” I said. “That time of the month, wasn’t prepared for it.”

  “He’s been asking for you for the past hour, Andrea,” Karen shot.

  “I’m sorry, I really am,” I said, hating how small my voice sounded. Don’t look down. Don’t you dare!

  I lowered my eyes and mentally slapped myself about it. If there was one thing Karen hated, it was lack of confidence, and unfortunately, I had a bucket load of that. Thank you, Dennis.

  “Hey,” Karen cut through my thoughts, finger under my chin and tilting my head back up. She looked at me for a few seconds, and for a moment there, I could feel the tears threatening to come again. The problem was, I knew she could read me like an open book, and if she didn’t say anything, it was only to save herself the agony of listening to my excuses.

  Karen sighed. “Fix your make-up, you look like a whore on a walk of shame,” she said. “Then get back to your desk. I told him that I sent you out on a photocopying errand, so find some memo and make enough copies to validate the lie.”

  Karen opened the conference door, stepped out, then stopped and turned back to me. “And for fuck’s sake, stop crying.”

  She disappeared, and I quickly wiped at my face. I took a few deep breaths, adjusted my clothes, and raced out towards the copying room.

  KarpTech was a bustling beehive of employees, and I tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. I knew quite a few of the people who worked here and stopping for some friendly chit-chat would only make my situation worse. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a lot lighter than when I had first signed in this morning.

  I’m not pregnant. That’s all that really matters. For now, I’m going to be okay.

  The copy room was on the other side of the floor, tucked in between the break room and the ‘deck’, a row of cubicles devoted to the constant turn-over of interns and newly hires. The rule was, if you could survive three months on the ‘deck’, then you could withstand the stress and hard work that came with a full-time position at KarpTech. I avoided the deck like a plague, mainly because I couldn’t stand to see the pale faces and bloodshot eyes of newly hires who were in over their heads. But also, Kyle Hannigan ran the deck, and for every woman in the company, yours truly included, he was a starting player for the majority of our wet fantasies.

  Of course, none of us actually did anything about it, although the rumor was, Karen enjoyed a little Kyle every now and then after hours. I never asked her to confirm it, and she never brought it up. But I couldn’t ignore the sexual tension when the two of them were in a room together, as if they were mentally undressing each other, yearning for everyone to sign out and go home so they could go at it like bunnies.

  You just had a pregnancy scare. The last thing you should be thinking about right now is sex.

  I shook my head in frustration, pushed into the copy room, and grabbed the first memo lying discarded on the table by the machines. I scanned the contents quickly, making sure that it could pass for something Karen would want photocopied, and went about solidifying my alibi.

  “Mission impossible?”

  I almost jumped at the sound of Kyle Hannigan’s voice behind me and turned around to find him smiling at me from the doorway. I immediately felt self-conscious, wondering why I hadn’t gone to the bathroom first to recheck my make-up.

  “Mr. Hannigan, hello,” I said, attempting to flash a smile that would at least partially hide my discomfort.

  “It’s Kyle,” he said, making his way to the pigeon holes on the opposite wall where copied material was stacked by interns, awaiting to be picked up by managers or their secretaries. “I think we’ve been through this before, Andrea. I hate being called mister.”

  “Sorry, Mr. Hannigan,” I replied, cringing when I heard the words escape my mouth.

  Kyle smiled and shook his head at me. “And the apologies, too,” he said. “Stop it.”

  I nodded.

  “So, Karen’s got you making copies again, huh?”

  “Mr. Karp’s a busy man,” I smiled. “He keeps me busy.”

  “Does he?” Kyle asked, winking. “Or is it Karen who has you running around in circles.”

  “Whatever she needs,” I replied.

  Kyle looked at me for a second, then nodded his approval. “Remind me that If I ever decide to get a secretary, I steal you from Jeremy.”

  I flashed him a polite smile, then turned back to the machine before the flush in my cheeks gave me away. I was still shaken up from the pregnancy scare, and it was strange how just talking to Kyle made me almost forget all about it.

  “Well, always great to see you, Andrea,” Kyle said as he walked out. “Don’t be a stranger.”

  “I won’t,” I said, briefly looking at him as he walked out.

  I quickly took him in with all his splendor. The muscles that bulged under his shirt, the blonde hair that was combed to perfection, the soft stubble of his beard that outlined his strong jaw and somehow made his blue eyes sparkle. I could almost see myself pulling him back into the copy room, locking the door, and tearing his clothes off while those strong arms wrapped around me.

  I turned back to the task at hand, letting my mind wander a bit and saving a mental image of Kyle in my head. In about four hours I’d be driving back home to a house that felt like a prison and a volatile husband whose idea of touching me involved his fists.

  Hey, at least it was negative, right?

  I cursed the little voice in my head and finished the rest of the copying without any further interruptions.

  ***

  “Go home.”

  I looked up from my computer, briefly noting the time and that it was an hour past regular working hours. Karen was pulling on her coat, her make-up redone and looking like she was ready for a night out on the town. I felt a pang of jealousy at how in control of her life she was, and how I could never have that. Not anymore.

  “I have to finish transcribing these last few memos,” I said. “It won’t take me long.”

  Karen cocked her head and gave me a sad smile that made me feel sorry for myself. “That can wait until tomorrow,” she said. “Do you really want to be late getting home?”

  I frowned in confusion, and she only shook her head.

  “Listen” she said. “I’ve known you for almost three years now, and I honestly believe that what happens behind the closed doors of someone’s home is their business. So, I’ll keep pretending like everything’s dandy
in your life, but you need to stop acting like I’m an idiot, okay?”

  I opened my mouth to reply, then closed it again. There was nothing I could say.

  “Go home, Andrea,” she said softly. “I don’t want to hear about how you ran into a door when you come in with a black eye tomorrow.”

  She placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezed, then turned and walked off. I watched her leave, my fingers shaking slightly against the keyboard. From where I sat, I could see a few of the other employees at their workstations, finishing off tasks that would probably keep them here all night. Some would even fall asleep at their desks. KarpTech never really closed for the night.

  I looked at the memo I had half-finished, the cursor blinking at me seductively, urging me to keep at it. Karen was right, though, the work wasn’t urgent. In fact, I didn’t even have to hand it in the next day. The truth was, I just didn’t want to go home.

  Yeah, but Dennis will be waiting, and you know what happens when you keep him waiting for too long.

  Walking into the door seemed like as best an excuse as any.

  Sighing, I shut down the computer, grabbed my purse and made my way out of the office. I pondered stopping on the way home for some ice cream, to celebrate the fact that I wasn’t pregnant.

  Then again, I didn’t want to be late.

  Chapter 2: Andy

  “Andy, upstairs!”

  The heat of the surrounding fire was excruciating, and even with the protective gear, I could feel the flames threatening to burn my skin off. The smoke was blinding, and the creaking of the house’s foundations only made the situation worse. I barely heard Bobby yelling at me before a beam crashed down in front of me and sent sparks into the air, forcing me back.

  “I can’t get to the stairs!” I heard Bobby shout from somewhere beyond the wall of fire and smoke.

  I looked around me, panting as I squinted through the fire. I spotted the staircase a few yards away.

  “I got it!” I yelled.

  “Hurry up, man,” Bobby yelled back. “This place isn’t going to hold for very much longer!”