Sweet Valentine

by Aria Cole

  “You wrote me a song?” Tears welled in my eyes.

  He pulled me closer, lips whispering at my ear as we swayed. “I think Neil gets the credit for writing it, but I changed a few of the words to match us.” He placed a kiss in the crook of my neck. “Everything I feel about you is in the song, Valentine. I was so lonely before I had you, walking around like a zombie going to work all day and coming home only to do it all again, but then you came into my life and I had something to get up for in the morning. Some reason to smile. Nothing can hurt me when I’m holding you. Together, we’re indestructible.”

  Tears were surging down my cheeks at his words. The song. His touch. It was all too much.

  “Knox.” I trailed my fingers up to his neck, sliding my lips against this. “I have a secret up my sleeve, too.”

  “Oh yeah?” he muttered, guiding me around the dance floor.

  “Remember when you mentioned having babies someday?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Knox.” He pulled my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss there.

  “Well, someday is here.” I held his eyes, waiting for a reaction. “Like, now.”

  “What?” His lips parted softly, eyes growing huge. “What are you tryin’ to tell me, Valentine?” He paused, stilling us in the middle of the dancefloor as the song went on.

  “Knox…” I ran my palm across the sharp angle of his jawline. “You’ve got super-swimmers.” His hand tightened around mine. “I just found out this morning.” I blinked, no idea how this news would fall on him. He knew darn well what unprotected sex caused, but we’d never really gotten around to discussing how we should prevent it, or if we even wanted to. “Knox, I’m pregnant.”

  He was completely soundless for exactly one point five seconds before he pulled me into his arms, lifting me off my feet and swinging me like a doll he would never let go of.

  “I can’t believe we made a baby.” His lips were against mine, his hands holding my face as he kissed me and murmured sweet nothings.

  “Should we tell them?” I gestured to the dozens of people surrounding us, eyes wide and expectant.

  “You wanna do the honors?” His grin split wide, emotion shimmering in his eyes.

  “Nah, you tell them, Daddy.” His grin split even wider at my endearment.

  God, I loved this man.

  And he loved me.

  The look on his face right now proved it.

  Knox carried so much love inside his giant heart. He’d only been hiding it away all these years, waiting for me to come along and unlock it.

  “Seems Mrs. Knox has been keeping a little secret of her own.” He held me at arm’s length, eyes trailing down my lace and satin-covered form to my stomach. “It seems we’re going to have a little Knox crawling around this time next year.”

  Our friends and family shot to their feet, clapping and hooting and hollering. Knox pulled me into his arms, taking my lips in another breathtaking kiss. “Love you so much, Valentine. Words can’t describe how deep our love runs.”

  “Aren’t you a smooth talker.”

  “Only for you, baby. My heart only beats for you.”

  Second Epilogue

  Knox

  “Caden!” I called to my son, currently running full speed up a dirt pile, toy dump truck in hand.

  “He’s fine. Kids need to run. Burn off some of that sugar your wife is always feeding ’em,” Mario offered at my side, blueprints for the office building my new company, Knox Building and Contracting, was working on.

  “That kid is hell on wheels. I didn’t know they made them with so much energy.”

  Mario laughed at my side. “You’re in trouble, man. Two boys and another one on the way. I wouldn’t want to be you.”

  “Nah.” I waved him off, juggling my other son, seven-month-old Jack, in one arm.

  “Let the kid go, man. He can’t get into any trouble here.”

  “If Valentine catches him with dirt in his mouth again, she’ll kill me.” Jack garbled something in his baby-speak. I’m pretty sure it was, ‘let me go, old man,’ but I’m just guessing.

  “Valentine’s got her hooks into you!” Mario laughed again.

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way. That girl has had my heart since the first minute I saw her.”

  “She had all of our hearts, man. She’s a sweetheart.”

  I arched an eyebrow, that old jealousy over all things Valentine never far away.

  “You know I love your wife, man! She keeps my belly fed!” He rubbed his belly then, acting like an idiot. No matter how much trouble I may give him, I liked Mario, and I was glad as hell he’d followed me to Knox Building and Contracting. He had a great sense of family, so he didn’t mind when the kids tagged along to the jobsite with me some afternoons or weekends.

  I’d never bring them if I was actually busy, but I often dropped by with them in tow when Valentine was working at the bakery. She’d cut back some of her hours since the boys had come along, and I was always on her to cut more. Not because I didn’t want her working—she loved her job, and it was important for her to follow her passion—but I didn’t like the thought of her working more than four hours a day when she was pregnant. Call it a lot to ask for, but that damn job kept her on her feet too much.

  “Speaking of the queen of hearts,” Mario teased as the crunch of Valentine’s car pulled into the parking lot.

  “Mama!” Caden ran at full speed down the mountain of dirt, the toy truck long forgotten at the top of the pile. I knew who’d be going up there to retrieve that—me and only me. It was a damn good thing I loved them, those sweet little faces. They had Valentine’s expressive eyes and her inherent warmth. They were just like her, and while I hadn’t imagined there would ever be room in my heart for anything other than Valentine, I was dead wrong.

  Those little boys shoved and rooted their way in, just like they did everything.

  “How you feelin’, Mama?” I called as Valentine walked up.

  She was wearing a skirt and one of those ultra-flattering pregnancy tops. She was only four months along, just a small bump to show off, but boy, had her tits grown, her curves accentuated by the life we’d created growing inside her.

  Call me a sap, but I’d come to find out that I loved Valentine pregnant.

  The way her body changed, the way her skin glowed, the way her personality softened, became more vulnerable.

  It felt like I was seeing the true heart of her, and then when I’d seen her birth my boys, I’d nearly fucking come undone.

  Nothing changes a man like seeing a woman breathe life into the world.

  This woman was a miracle.

  “I’m good.” She smiled, passing a box to Mario and then pressing a kiss to my lips. “I brought cupcakes.”

  “Cupcakes! Mama, I want cupcakes! With sprinkles! And Superman swirls!”

  Valentine laughed, patting our son on the head. “Not ’til after dinner, little man.”

  “Thanks for the cupcakes, V. They’ll have a good home,” Mario called, already sneaking a bite out of one of them.

  “I know they will, Mario. Let me know if the cherry is too much, though. I’m working on a new recipe.”

  “Will do!” He winked at my wife.

  The bastard winked.

  I shot him a dark glare.

  He shrugged, taking another bite of the cupcake and turning away.

  “Want me to take the boys and meet you at home?” Valentine asked, turning her attention back to me. Just where I liked it.

  Hey, I was a selfish bastard when it came to Valentine’s love. I won’t bother denying it.

  “I’ll follow you home.” I slid my hands around her waist, cupping the cheeks of her ass under that little skirt and pressing against her. “Missed you like hell today.”

  “You say that every day.” Her hands wove into my hair, calming me instantly. The days were harder without her, the nights impossible. I couldn’t imagine doing anything in life without Valentine by my side—that’s no life I’d
care to be living.

  “I love you a little more every day.”

  Her smile tipped up, lighting a fire in my heart. I lived for her. “Let’s go home and make a baby,” I mumbled against her lips.

  “We already did that,” she giggled. “A few times.”

  “Let’s do it again. And again.”

  “Want to fill the cabin with kids?”

  “Hell yeah, I do.” I sank my tongue into her mouth, cutting off any reply she may have.

  I had Valentine, she was claimed, she had my name, raised my babies, kissed my lips, and made love to me often. I didn’t know heaven could exist right here on earth until Valentine came into my life. I didn’t know one person could complete me quite like she did. I didn’t know I needed her so damn much until the thought of living without her became unbearable.

  I’d found my sweet Valentine.

  I’d found forever.

  THE END.

  Valentine For Hire

  For Bryn Stafford, the prospect of going home for her sister’s extravagant Valentine’s Day wedding—hopelessly single…again—sounds like hell on earth. She’s always dreaded introducing anyone to the hot mess that is her over-the-top, obnoxiously wealthy and well-bred family, but desperate times call for desperate measures. So after seeing an ad for the city’s premier escort service, Elite Fling, Bryn finds herself making an appointment to hire one very handsome, very expensive fake date for the big day.

  When the woman of Brodie Merrick’s dreams walks into Elite Fling, his brother's slightly immoral but incredibly successful “dating” service, Brodie has two thoughts: a) what the hell is a girl like her doing in a place like this? and b) what would those sparkly red stilettos feel like wrapped around his neck? He begs his brother to give him the job, even though he’s just the computer guy and most definitely not an escort, but because Brodie is a lucky motherf#cker, he soon finds himself with one very sexy fake Valentine.

  When they meet on the day of the wedding, Bryn assumes he’s the escort she’s hired to be her date, but Brodie has other plans, plans that involve him and her and a very long and lucky orgasmic future together. Can he win his feisty fake Valentine’s heart? Or will their chemistry fade faster than the syrupy sweet sugar high?

  Warning: Forget candy hearts and frilly flowers. Brodie is a man’s man—he sees what he wants, he takes what he needs, and he lays claim to what’s his. He’s all alpha all the time and determined to give Bryn blissful orgasms, beautiful babies, and his last name. Hold onto your panties, Valentine For Hire is a saucy romp with a sexy, alpha stranger on Valentine’s Day!

  Chapter 1

  Bryn

  I tapped the fancy scalloped-edge invitation on the counter, feeling the familiar pit of dread burn in my stomach.

  The wedding.

  Would it be wrong to bail on the wedding of my only sister? My perfectly poised, irritatingly beautiful and elegant only sister.

  I groaned, tossing the invite on the counter then picking up my phone.

  I hadn’t seen my sister in months on purpose. She’d turned into the mother of all bridezillas. Thankfully she’d chosen her best girlfriend as her maid of honor so I didn’t have to cater to her every whim. Because she had a lot of them. Thankfully, I would be allowed to watch the spectacle from the audience, my sister standing with her five favorite sorority sisters from college. Yeah, she was that girl.

  Brittany may have been my big sister, but she’d been the pain in my ass since the day I was born. Life was a competition, and if you weren’t competing in her relentless race to keep up with the Joneses, then you were a loser.

  Enter me. The black sheep. The daughter who cared more for social injustice than social cotillions. I dreaded the idea of attending her stuffy wedding, cringed even more at the prospect of going alone.

  I picked up my phone, desperate for a distraction and scrolling through my newsfeed absentmindedly. Cooking videos, movie trailers, ads, ads, ads, and more ads.

  Until one caught my eye.

  A man and a woman dressed up in elegant attire, going at it in a dark stairwell.

  Life is short. Have a fling.

  Despite my better judgement--or maybe out of some twisted sense of desperation--I clicked on it.

  The Elite Fling website was clean, simple, and very elegant.

  That surprised me.

  The elegance of it.

  Weren’t escort services catering to filthy, perverted wealthy people who liked getting their rocks off with strangers? The website looked so professional and modern, clearly aimed at a younger professional, that it actually had me rethinking my view on the entire industry.

  Maybe Elite Fling catered to people like me.

  People who needed a date to impress their stodgy, pretentious family. To keep the judgemental glances at bay as I walked in—single, post-grad career woman, and alone again.

  My family much preferred things like heirs and lineage to discussions about independent woman who were driven by careers and wanted to change the world. A woman who spent her days studying instead of ordering the staff for important dinners was not worth a damn. Needless to say I stick out like a sore thumb during the holidays, so instead of being seen I try to disappear into the furniture so that no one even notices me. Last Christmas had been so horrendous, in fact, that I’d snuck out early and hadn’t been back. In eight months.

  I’d accomplished a lot in those eight months, began a new research project, worked until my eyes were bleary on a few proposals based on new figures that’d come in. I loved it with my entire heart, but that hadn’t left me with much else.

  Like, at all.

  I hovered over the Special Requests button and found a local number pop-up.

  Elite Fling was based right here in the city.

  Prickles of fear seared my palms as I hovered over the call button, sucking a deep breath and doing it quickly before I could think any more.

  I had an elite wedding to attend.

  I could use an escort to accompany me.

  Elite Fling felt like the perfect solution. I could get a date for a few hours, avoid the pity of my parents, second cousins and great aunts, and maybe even feel wanted, actually attractive for a while.

  “Elite Fling, what’s your pleasure?” a saccharin sweet, incredibly young-sounding woman’s voice chirped.

  “Uh…hi.” I fumbled. “I guess…well, I have a special request.”

  “Yes, this is the special request line, honey,” she said.

  “Right.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I have a wedding this weekend—”

  “Not a problem at all, honey. Just let me check the schedule…” She paused, and I heard her fingers tapping on the keyboard. “Oh, usually we’re booked out a few weeks, but looks like we have some time tomorrow night. Can you be here around six?”

  Anxiety shuttled through me as I thought about going to wherever here was to meet with an escort. “W-where?”

  “Just off Monroe.” She paused. “In the financial district…” She stopped again, as if she was trying to work up the courage to ask me something. “We cater to a very high-end professional clientele…” Her voice softened a notch, like a best friend whispering conspiratorially, before she continued. “Do you know our hourly rate, hon?”

  I swallowed, the thought of actually paying for a date to my sister’s wedding suddenly not sitting so well with me after all.

  But the thought of going to that damn wedding at all made me sick to my stomach.

  At least this way I’d possibly have some fun, meet someone new…a professional casanova.

  The idea sounded too intriguing to pass up.

  “It’s not a problem. I have savings I haven’t touched in years… This is the first time I’ll be spending money on myself….ever.” The last word fell flat, my sad existence sounding a little more miserable as I said the words out loud.

  “Honey, we all deserve a little fun every now and again. I’ve got you down for six.

  I
nodded, clutching the phone in my hand before realizing she couldn't actually see me. “Thank you.”

  “Happy to help, dear. We’re only too happy to help.” The phone line went dead.

  What in the hell had I gotten myself into?

  Continue Reading

  Chasing Charlie

  Charlie de Rossi has spent every summer of her life tending her dad's bar. Raised to be one of the boys, she pulls no punches and takes no shit from any man. She's had to learn the hard way that life isn't about wine or roses, but when the new bartender turns out to be a handsome Irish import, everything she thought she knew about life and love is challenged in a single heartbeat.

  Far from the only life he's ever known, Liam Fitzpatrick knows he should ignore the wild, intoxicating need that pulses through his veins whenever the boss's daughter is near, but the moment Liam first caught sight of Charlie, he knew her sassy mouth and sexy curves were made to be wrapped around his body. After just one night of tending bar together, the magnetism proves too much for either of them to bear, and in an uncharacteristic moment of weakness, Charlie breaks every rule she has and finds her legs locked around Liam's waist, his lips coaxing her into mouth-watering submission.

  Scared to lose her heart again, the next morning Charlie tries to avoid the sexy, stubborn Irishman who has hijacked her thoughts, but Liam makes himself damn hard to ignore. One taste of her won't ever be enough to satisfy the hunger she's awakened, and he is determined to show her what she's been missing. She's holding the key to his forever, and he won't ever give up on chasing Charlie.

  Warning: If a panty-melting alpha male with an irresistible accent and an overwhelming desire to protect the woman he's hellbent on having isn't for you, keep on clicking! Like your book boyfriends devilishly charming with a side of dirty talk? Me too! Grab the batteries, turn off the lights, and enjoy Chasing Charlie! xo