It was love that made Amy glow.
Too bad Lauren could barely remember the sensation.
Mark was making short work of the roast beef dinner and not troubling with conversation at all. Uncle Lionel was seated on Lauren’s other side, but he was talking to Aunt Maureen.
Lauren had noticed that Amy spent a lot of time with her phone while the pictures were being taken, and had thought she was just one of those people who treat a cell phone like another appendage.
But now she guessed that something was being orchestrated.
If Ty and Amy were as perfect for each other as she suspected they were, something was in the works.
She wanted to know what it was.
Not for the first time, Amy paused in her tapping and cast a sidelong glance at Ty. Ty started, then reached for the interior pocket of his tux, the one where his phone was. He pulled it out of the pocket just enough to read the screen, then glanced at Amy, his look hot enough to singe her panties.
He smiled a secretive smile, then quickly tapped a reply and dropped the phone back into his pocket.
Lauren heard Amy’s phone chirp. Amy had it under the table and then she smiled a similarly mysterious smile. She bit her lip, flicked a glance at Ty, and nodded minutely.
Ty looked satisfied.
What were they up to?
Lauren wouldn’t know until ten that night, when the dancing was well underway and the happy couple had departed for their honeymoon. The band was playing Love is All Around and Amy and Ty were dancing together, laughing at some private joke. That just made Lauren feel more lonely. She was still watching them and having yet another glass of wine. Mark had disappeared somewhere, possibly down the hall to the bar where the game was playing.
Amy and Ty both pulled out their phones, as if on cue. They both tapped once, then put their phones away.
And the music was interrupted by the chirping, ringing, beeping and music emitted by at least a hundred cell phones receiving a message simultaneously. Ty and Amy grinned at each other in triumph and kept dancing, maybe a little closer than before.
Lauren pulled out her phone, and knew she shouldn’t have been surprised that it was a wedding invitation, from Tyler. He and Amy were tying the knot on September 16, apparently, and the arrangements had been made. The hotel and the church were listed, as well as a date to RSVP.
This was what Amy had been doing.
Evidently, the two of them had planned it out in advance. Lauren saw her mother’s joy, then her disappointment that she wouldn’t be organizing the festivities. She watched Ty and Amy dance, so delighted with each other that it made her heart ache.
Her brother had taken his time, but he’d found his perfect partner.
As glad as she was to see Ty so happy, Lauren wished she could have said the same thing for herself.
About
Her Dark Prince
In the lost realm of Euphoria, royalty command all to serve their pleasure, but passion is the greatest power of all.
Can Beauty tame this Beast?
A defiant beauty is claimed for the annual village tithe to the ruling family of Euphoria, whose crown prince desires only the satisfaction of his own dark desires. He gets far more from his captive lover, whose talent for unveiling his secrets leaves them both wondering who is master and who is slave.
Her Dark Prince is the first book in the Euphoria series of fairy tale romances by Ella Ardent. (The excerpts in Simply Irresistible are used with Ella’s permission.) You can find out more about her books on her website.
Ready for more of the Flatiron Five?
Read on for an excerpt from
Addicted to Love
Kyle wants it all…
Kyle Stuyvesant doesn’t believe in love and romance. His parents taught him that there’s no such thing as forever, and he took the lesson to heart. After all, there’s only one woman who ever tempted him to more than a single hot night together. Fortunately for his convictions, she’s married to another guy. Problem solved—until Lauren’s marriage collapses and Kyle isn’t just the bearer of bad news, but the man she turns to for comfort.
Lauren demands it all…
When Lauren’s marriage implodes, she wants to lose herself in pleasure and sensation. Who knows that territory better than Kyle, the eternal playboy, who seduced her so deliciously years before? It was a night Lauren never forgot, and now that she wants to forget everything, Kyle is the only man she wants. Will she be able to accept his terms of no love or romance? Or will Lauren convince Kyle to take a chance on wanting more?
Prologue
Lauren came out of the back of her shop, drying her hands. Her feet were killing her. Fridays were just brutal. She was looking forward to having Saturday off for once and to trying to talk to Mark.
Maybe they’d finally get all their crossed signals sorted out.
It seemed like a long shot, but Lauren was nothing if not optimistic.
And stubborn. Marriage was supposed to be for keeps. No one worth anything just walked away when there was a patch of rough ground to be covered.
Even if it was more than a patch.
She stopped cold at the sight of a familiar man flipping through the magazines in the waiting area. As so often happened, Kyle seemed to sense her presence and looked up right away. As had always happened, one look from her brother’s college friend and Lauren felt unsteady on her feet.
Kyle was way too good looking.
He was way too sure of himself.
But damn, he was easy on the eyes.
Just how long had it been since she and Mark had had sex? A hundred years?
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Lauren said in the casual tone she always used with Kyle. The way she saw it, he didn’t need anyone building up his ego. It was already sky high.
He grinned. “You have such a way with words. I knew you missed me.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Seriously. What are you doing here?”
He lifted a hand to his tousled blond hair. “So hard to believe I need my highlights touched up?”
“You’ve never come here before.”
“Maybe I wanted to spread the joy around.”
She laughed despite herself. “You really should package that confidence and sell it. I’m sure you have more than enough to spare.”
“Maybe,” he said and sobered unexpectedly.
“We don’t actually have any openings left today,” she said, flipping through the massive appointment book. “No lies. It’s been one nutty Friday, but thank God we close in half an hour.”
Kyle looked up, impaling her on the spot with those baby blues. “I didn’t come for an appointment, Lor,” he said, calling her by the nickname only he ever used. His serious attitude gave her palpitations, but not as much as what he said next. “I need to talk to you.”
“Sounds dire.”
“You might think it is.” He leaned back, watching her with an intensity more typical of her big brother, Tyler, than the happy-go-lucky Kyle she thought she knew.
“What is it?” she asked with new concern. “Is something wrong with Ty?”
“No, not that.” Kyle shook his head, his gaze flicking to Marie at the back of the shop, who was finishing up with a client and probably was eavesdropping. “Not here.” He stood up, then peered through the window at the little wine bar across the street. “That place any good?”
“Quiet until eight or so.”
“Perfect. You said you close soon. When are you done?”
“In ten. I just have to clean up a couple of things.”
“Then I’ll meet you there in ten.” Kyle cocked a finger at her, making her heart leap. “Don’t stand me up. Remember that I know where you live.” He winked, his reckless self again, blew a kiss to Marie, then left the shop.
Lauren watched his tight butt all the way across the street. He was fine. And she wasn’t going to remember that one night…
No. Some things should be left perfect and tha
t memory was one of them.
“Who’s the delicious one?” Marie asked as her client came to the desk to pay.
“Friend of my brother’s,” Lauren said with an indifferent shrug that was just about the opposite of how she was feeling.
“The one who’s getting married?”
Lauren nodded, coming up with a plausible explanation on the spot. “He’s probably planning Ty’s stag. I’ll guess he wants help surprising him.”
Marie rolled her eyes. “Men and their stag parties. You’d think they’re afraid that once they got married, they’ll never have sex again.”
Lauren refrained from commenting on that. She cleaned up quickly and when she saw that Marie was done, too, locked up early. She made it across the street to the wine bar in eight and a half minutes. She’d always had a little bit of precognition and she had a bad feeling about Kyle’s impromptu visit.
* * *
“Want a drink?” Kyle asked, feeling as if his usual charm had deserted him.
Lauren sat down, as gorgeous and as skeptical as ever. She was almost as tall as Ty, with the same chestnut hair and green eyes. Hers were thickly lashed, though, and her lips were full. Her hair was long and it bounced, like she should star in a shampoo commercial. She was slim in all the right places and curvy where it counted. There had always been something about Lauren that made Kyle’s mouth go dry.
Even before their one night in paradise.
She fixed him with a look. “You’re not going to just tell me, are you?”
He winced. “I think I have to work up to it.”
“I’ll have a coffee, please,” she said to the hovering waitress. “Black.”
“Double Scotch,” Kyle said. “No ice.”
“Bad news, then,” Lauren said after the waitress left.
“I guess it depends on your perspective. Not happy news, that’s for sure, but probably better to know sooner than later.”
“You’re not doing much to reassure me.”
“I’m not sure I should.” Kyle decided that a picture was worth a thousand words. He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a brown envelope. The waitress brought their drinks then and he held on to it, the silence charging by the second.
“Thank you,” Lauren said with a thin smile for the waitress. Then they were alone and there was no avoiding the inevitable.
Kyle put the envelope on the table between them, keeping his fingers on it. “I really recommend the drink first,” he said.
Lauren scoffed and pulled the envelope from beneath his fingers. She opened it, clearly having some idea of its contents, but whatever her expectation had been, she was shocked. She flipped through the pictures in rapid succession, then again more slowly, her face becoming whiter and her lips getting tighter every second.
“Who took these?”
“Security cameras.”
“How did you get them?”
“Seriously? That’s F5.”
Her eyes widened, and she put one of the images on the table. It was the bar shot, the one of Mark practically feeling up a hot young blonde. “Bad choice on his part to go there,” she said quietly.
To Kyle’s dismay, she wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t sure whether that made things better or worse.
Lauren’s hands shook a little as she jammed the pictures back in the envelope. She took a gulp of her coffee and winced. “I know he collects porn. I know he goes out with his buddies. I know they visit strip clubs, too. None of that’s a crime.”
“No, it’s not.” Kyle took a sip of his own drink, then leaned across the table. “But there’s more.”
She exhaled and looked taut. “Why are you telling me this?”
Kyle went with the abbreviated version, leaving Ty out of it. “Because I offered to be the bearer of bad news when we saw the images of him at F5.”
“Why?”
“I thought it might be better to hear from a friend.”
“Is that what we are?”
“We can be.”
“You seriously didn’t bring me this in order to hit on me, did you?”
Her voice was sharp but Kyle knew her well enough to realize her anger wasn’t really directed at him. “No. I thought you might want to talk about it, maybe in a way you can’t talk to Ty. I knew you wouldn’t want to talk to Cassie. I figured I was your best shot.”
She bit her lip, considering this. “You can’t prove anything…”
“I can, Lor,” Kyle said interrupting her. “So, you can either trust me that I wouldn’t shit you on something this important, or you can sign a confidentiality agreement and see it for yourself.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why do I have to sign anything?”
“Because there are other people in the film from the security cameras.” He removed a second envelope from his messenger bag, a smaller one, and let his tone soften. “It’s a loaded flash drive. You don’t have to watch it.”
Lauren’s gaze lingered on the envelope. “Innocent until proven guilty,” she said quietly.
“I thought you’d say that.”
“Does Ty know?”
Kyle nodded. “I wanted to check that it was Mark.”
“And?”
“I don’t think he was any more surprised than you are.”
Lauren took a shaking breath, then another gulp of coffee. “Do you have a laptop with you?”
“A tablet. You can watch it here if you want.” At her nod of agreement, Kyle treated himself to another hit of Scotch.
She leaned across the table. “Does this happen on Friday nights? Like, every Friday night?”
“The F5 Club is only open Friday and Saturday nights.”
Lauren faltered for only a moment, then she moved decisively. She pulled out the confidentiality agreement, read it twice, signed it in triplicate, and offered them to him.
“I already signed.”
She took one copy, folded it, and put it into her purse. She took a large sip of his Scotch. “Bring it,” she said, beckoning impatiently with her fingers. “I need to know.”
Kyle booted up his tablet, slid the drive into the port and opened the file. He turned the tablet so she could watch her husband bang a blonde in the washroom at F5, then sat back to watch her.
“She needs her roots done,” Lauren said softly.
“Ty said you’d say that.”
She didn’t reply, but then, Kyle knew that the video got rapidly worse. His Scotch tasted sour, only because of the way Lauren paled and her lips almost disappeared. She watched it all, though. No flinching from a McKay. But she looked drained when she was done, as if all the life in her was gone.
No. All the hope in her was gone.
The sight nearly killed Kyle.
“He took off his wedding ring,” she said with no emotion at all.
“Yeah.” Kyle wished he hadn’t been the one to bring her the news, but on the other hand, he hadn’t wanted anyone else to do it. “I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be,” she said, her eyes flashing briefly. She sat straighter and met his gaze as she handed back the tablet. “Not many people would have had the balls to tell me, let alone to take such a risk. My issue is with Mark and no one else.”
Kyle had known she’d say that, but it relieved him to hear it. “And what are you going to do?”
“I’m long past getting mad,” she said. “I think I’ll try getting even.”
“You need any help, just let me know.”
She eyed him warily. “Filled with the milk of human kindness tonight?” she said, the first hint of her usual spark returning to her tone.
“He’s an idiot,” Kyle said and meant it.
A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “You’re just saying that.”
It would have been nice to reply that he never just said anything, but he did and Lor knew it. “Nope. Not this time.” He shook a finger at her. “You weren’t surprised.”
“Not really. It’s been shit for a while.”
�
��You’ve only been married for a while.”
“There is that.” She met his gaze squarely, and he admired how direct she was. “You probably don’t think I’m going to thank you, but I will. Thanks for telling me, Kyle.”
“Like I said, anything I can do…”
“No, you’ve done plenty.”
“That sounds like an accusation,” he teased and to his delight, she smiled briefly.
She almost stood up, but then she sat down again. “You probably don’t know this, but that night we had?”
That night. Kyle nodded, his throat tight.
“It’s been a touchstone for me of how good things could be for two people. It’s given me strength and hope in some dark times. So, thanks for that, too.”
“‘A thing of beauty is a joy for ever,’” Kyle said, nodding in understanding.
“That sounds like a poem.”
“John Keats,” Kyle agreed. “‘A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; but still will keep a bower quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.’ Etc. Etc.” He grinned at her obvious astonishment. “You think I’m uncultured?”
She considered him. “No, but I never associated you with poetry. Wait a minute. When did Keats live?”
“1795 to 1821.”
She wagged a finger at him. “Nineteenth-Century English Lit. Ty took that course in his freshman year, supposedly as a breadth course but really to meet women.”
“Where did you think I met him? He was a finance major. I was in athletics.” He leaned across the table, determined to make her laugh. “We were the only two straight guys in that whole lecture hall. We owned that class, and we killed in our final presentation.”
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