by J. L. Perry
I also managed to organise with the hotel staff to have a large, decorated Christmas tree placed in our room. What would Christmas be without a tree? Indi bought some Christmas stockings for the kids yesterday, and she’s hung them on the mantelpiece. It was a nice touch. All we needed now was the fucking snow.
“I’m sorry there’s no snow,” I say, drawing her in closer to me. I feel like such a prick for letting her down. They’re expecting snow the day we’re due to fly out. Fat lot of good that will do us, Christmas will be over by then.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. You’ve given me and the kids such a wonderful gift. Snow or no snow, I’ll never forget this vacation.” Shifting her body so she’s facing me, her lips meet mine. “You’re an amazing husband and father for doing this. I love how you’d go to any length to make us happy.”
Her words bring a lump to my throat. Leaning forward, I push her backwards and lay over the top of her. “I love you.” She always knows the right things to say to make me feel better.
The second my mouth covers hers and my hand slides underneath her sweater, there’s a damn knock on the door. Fuck, nothing’s going right for me today. After placing a kiss on her nose, I instruct her not to move, while I get rid of whoever is at the door.
“I have the boxes you requested to be brought to your room this evening, sir,” the porter says when I open the door. Shit, the presents. I was so consumed by the no snow factor, that the kids’ gifts totally slipped my mind.
After helping him unload the trolley, I hand him a tip. I’m still getting used to this whole tipping thing. We don’t do this back home. The only person I haven’t tipped since coming here was the damn driver that picked us up at the airport.
Well, actually, I did give him a tip, but not a monetary one. Once our bags were unloaded from the car, he stood in front of me with his hand extended. Raising an eyebrow, I gave him a quizzical look. “You need to tip him,” Indi said, nudging me.
I had the perfect one for him. “You want a tip? Get some fucking driving lessons, dickhead.” Indi gasped beside me as soon as the words were out of my mouth, but I heard Ross chuckling in the background. Somebody needed to say it. He’s gonna kill someone one day if he keeps driving like that. The kids were already standing inside the lobby out of the cold, with my mother. I’d never swear like that in front of them.
“What’s in all the boxes?” Indi asks coming up behind me and sliding her arms around my waist.
“Open them and see.”
As soon as she removes the tape and pulls back the flaps of the first box, she gasps as her hands cover her mouth. “Oh. My. God. Carter these are all the kids’ presents from home.”
“I know. I had them shipped over here a few weeks ago.”
“Far out,” she mumbles, the shock apparent on her face. “You really went above and beyond.”
After all the gifts are unpacked and under the tree, I pull her into my arms. “Let’s go to bed and finish what we started before we were rudely interrupted.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Getting up on the tip of her toes, she lightly brushes her lips against mine. While I turn off the fake fire, she heads over to close the curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Carter, look. Holy crap, it’s snowing,” she squeals.
Walking up behind her, I see her smile reflected in the glass and the small white flakes floating down from the heavens.
Thank fuck for that.
•
By some small miracle, it’s still snowing when we wake the next morning. The whole city is covered in a blanket of white. It looks majestic. I’m not sure if the kids are more excited about their presents or the snow. Seeing the pure joy on my family’s faces is the greatest gift anyone could give me.
“This is for you,” I say to my beautiful wife, as I hand her a small box. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” she replies, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me tight.
“Open it.” I watch as she tears the wrapping off excitedly.
“Carter,” she breathes. There are tears pooling in her eyes when they meet mine. I brought her a pair of diamond encrusted snowflake earrings.
“Something to remind you of your first white Christmas,” I tell her.
“This is the best Christmas ever. I’ll never ever forget it.”
“Even better than our first Christmas?” I say when she throws her arms around me.
“No. Nothing could top that day. It’s the day I married the man of my dreams.”
I can’t fight the smile that forms on my face. I love that she thinks I’m the man of her dreams.
“Open the envelope,” I instruct next.
“Tickets to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb,” she squeals. “Oh. My. God. Did you find my list?”
“What list?” I chuckle.
•
After we eat a big Christmas breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant with our parents, I ask Indi to take the kids back to the room and rug them up. I needed to slip out and get a few things before we headed out for the day.
It took me over a damn hour to find what I needed, but I was so grateful I did. I know it took that long, because I’m wearing the gold watch Indiana bought me for Christmas. She had ‘Forever My Man’ engraved on the back. I fucking love it … love her.
“What’s in the bag?” Indi asks when I arrived back at the room.
Passing it to her, she looks inside. “A carrot, a scarf and black buttons?” Her face screws up when she looks at me.
“We’re going to the park to build a snowman,” I say smiling, just as she launches herself into my arms.
“Will the surprises ever stop coming?”
“Nope,” I say with a chuckle.
“You give me so much.”
“Do you even realise what you’ve given me over the years, Indiana? And I’m not just talking about our three beautiful children. Right from the very beginning, you saw the good in me when nobody else did. You loved the bastard nobody else could. And the moment you stopped fighting me and finally agreed to marry me, you made me the happiest man in the world. I’ll never be able to repay you for any of that.”
“I’ll never stop loving you,” she says, tenderly placing her lips on mine.
“And I’ll never stop loving you either.” When she finally lets me go, she steps back before raising her hand to pinch my side.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
“You so found my list, Carter,” she says narrowing her eyes.
I burst out laughing, pulling her back into my arms. “Oh that list?” I reply as I place a kiss on the top of her head. “Yeah I found your list, babe.”
Keep reading for a sneak peek of Hooker …
J. L. Perry’s new novel
Hooker
coming soon!
Hooker
Jade
Jade’s young life was tough. After her mother died during childbirth and her father could no longer look after her, she was placed in foster care where she stayed for the next ten years. She grew up feeling unloved and unwanted as she was passed around from one screwed up home to the next.
Things began to look up for her when she was adopted by a wealthy socialite at the age of eleven. Sometimes, though, things aren’t always what they seem. Jade didn’t know it at the time, but her new adoptive mother had big plans for her, and spent the next seven years grooming Jade for that role.
Jade learnt early in life that she couldn’t rely on anyone but herself. Instead of letting her circumstances beat her, she took all the negatives she’d been dealt, and used them to her advantage. She grew up to be a strong, successful, determined and independent woman. She was a loner by choice.
The only thing lacking in her life was companionship and love. She’d never experienced it, so she didn’t know what she was missing
, until she had a one-night-stand with a handsome stranger. One night, that would change everything.
•
Brock
Brock grew up privileged. He had everything going for him. Money, looks, charm, success and an endless array of beautiful women. He wasn’t interested in commitment. To him women were easy. They practically threw themselves at his feet. All they wanted was to do something nobody had ever managed before. Snare the hot, rich bachelor.
Then he met Jade. She was like a breath of fresh air. A challenge. Nothing like the women he was used to. Their one night together ignited something within him. A burning desire to own her, possess her, but Jade had other plans. Nobody says no to Brock Weston, nobody.
He’s left wondering about a woman he knows he can never have. But, when fate brings them together again, will he get what he wants? Will he be able to claim the unattainable? Or will her secrets crush him, and destroy any chance they have of being together?
Prologue
The Past …
Jade
I’m cursed. Or so I thought.
Today is the day my life changes for the better. Well in my heart that’s what I’m hoping for anyway. I think things are finally looking up for me. I can’t believe after all this time, I’ve finally been adopted. I’m going to have everything I’ve ever wished for.
A real home.
A real family.
As we pull up to the front gates of where I’ll now be living, I’m sure my jade green eyes are bugging out of my head. I pinch myself on the arm just to make sure I’m not dreaming. This place is huge. Like a mansion. It’s nothing like where I’ve come from. For the past eleven years of my life, I’ve been shifted from one shitty foster home to the next.
My adversity started the moment I came into this world. My mother haemorrhaged and died giving birth to me. That alone can come with catastrophic consequences for a child, but that was only the beginning of what was in store for me. Her death started a chain of events that would lead me into the most horrific childhood imaginable.
Losing his wife and being left to care for a newborn turned out to be too much for my father, I guess. A few months after I was born he gave me up. That’s how I became a ward of the state.
Over the years I’ve been severely mistreated. I’ve been inappropriately touched, mentally and physically abused, and almost sent to the brink of starvation with one incredibly cruel family I was unlucky enough to be placed with.
Sure not all foster homes are bad. I did, on many occasions, get placed into nice families. The trouble with foster care is, it’s only temporary. Those nicer homes never lasted and I found myself being thrown into other incredibly disturbing situations more than I care to admit. Even at my young age it didn’t take long to distinguish between families who fostered because they cared, and those who did it solely for the money.
The things I’ve been through in my short life would’ve broken even the strongest of characters, but not me. As the years passed and I realised nothing or no one could change my situation, that no one was going to ride in on a beautiful white stallion and save me from the miserable predicament I was in, I began to use my life experiences to my advantage. With every hardship, it only served to strengthen my will to survive.
I have a strong feeling in my stomach all that’s about to change. Well, a hopeful feeling anyway. If my life has taught me anything, it’s that things aren’t always as they seem.
My gaze follows the large M. M. initials that are moulded on the black wrought iron security gates, as they slowly part, allowing us access.
I wonder what M. M. stands for?
My eyes dart everywhere as we travel down the long driveway towards the large white house. This place looks like something you’d see in the movies. Is this really going to be my new home? I can’t contain the excitement that courses through my body as I bounce up and down on my seat.
I’ve been told that jade is supposed to be a symbol of luck. It’s even been said to guard against accidents and misfortune. I never believed that. Look at the life I’ve led up to now.
Maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe it’s actually true.
Maybe it really is lucky.
When the car finally comes to a stop at the entrance to the house, I’m suddenly frozen with fear. I’ve noticed this always happens when I arrive somewhere new. It’s probably because I never know what lies behind those doors. Some of the terrible places I lived in flash through my mind.
Please let this be one of the good ones.
“Are you ready to go inside?” Cheryl, my social worker asks, pulling me from my inner turmoil. She must see the uncertainty in my eyes when I look her way because she reaches across the seat, taking my tiny hand in hers. “It’s okay to be frightened, Jade,” she says in a reassuring voice. “I understand that this’ll be hard for you, but Melody handpicked you out of all the other children in the orphanage. Like me, she can see how special you are.” I feel a smile tug at my lips. Cheryl has always been kind to me.
When she lets go of my hand and exits the car, I do the same. After opening the trunk, she passes me my worn brown suitcase. The handle is broken so I tuck it under my arm. That and the few clothes inside it are my only possessions in this world. I treasure them.
After we climb the front steps and stop at the large wooden door, I notice the same initials that were on the front gate, carved into the rich wood. When Cheryl raises her hand to knock, I inhale a large breath, squaring my shoulders.
I’m a big girl now, I can do this.
An elderly man answers the door a minute later. He’s dressed in a suit. His eyes rake over Cheryl before landing on me.
“My name is Cheryl, and this is Jade. I’m with the Department of Community Services.” He looks down at her outstretched hand, but doesn’t take hold.
“M is expecting you,” is all he says, stepping aside so we can enter. He seems a little mean. It brings all my worries back.
“Wow,” I breathe when we enter the grand foyer of the house. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I still can’t believe this is going to be my new home.
“This way please,” the mean man says. We both follow him into a large room off to the side of the main entrance. My eyes are darting everywhere. “The child is here.”
“Welcome, my dear,” Melody says rising from her desk and coming to stand in front of me. She has a pleasant smile on her face which makes me feel better. She was really nice to me the first time I met her in Cheryl’s office. I think I’m going to like it here.
“Thank you,” I whisper in a shy voice as I bow my head.
When Cheryl prepares to leave a little while later and says her goodbyes, my stomach churns as the butterflies return. I’m going to miss seeing her. I’m suddenly feeling unsure again about being left on my own in this big house.
Melody asks me to follow her upstairs, so she can show me my new room. Picking up my bag and tucking it under my arm again, I trail behind her. I count the white marble steps in my head as I go.
She leads me down the long hallway until we come to stop outside one of the doors. I can’t believe my eyes when she opens it. “Wow. Is this really my room? Like forever?” I ask in disbelief, because I really can’t believe it.
“Yes,” she replies, clearing her throat.
It’s so beautiful. Too beautiful for words. I’m so excited, I have to try really hard to hold in my squeal. My bed is so big. It has a pretty pink cover and white lace canopy over the top. I have my very own princess bed. My eyes take everything in as I slowly spin around in a circle. I’m a princess, and my new home is my castle.
I can’t believe I’m rich.
Boy I’d love to rub this in Ruby’s face if I could. She’s one of the mean girls from the orphanage. She was always horrible to me. She used to tip water on my mattress and then tell everyone that I p
eed the bed.
I gently place my suitcase on top of the covers when I approach my new bed. “Get that filthy thing off there,” Melody screeches, making me jump with fright.
Quickly picking it back up, I clutch it to my chest before turning to face her. “I’m sorry, Melody.”
“Come with me,” she snaps in a harsh tone as she walks towards the white door on the other side of the room. My heart starts to race. I hope she’s not going to lock me in the cupboard. At one of the foster homes I stayed at a few years ago, I’d get locked in a cupboard for hours sometimes. It was so dark and scary.
I release the nervous breath I’m holding when she opens the door that leads to a large white bathroom. “Give me that bag and take off your clothes,” she orders.
“Sorry?” I’m confused.
“Take off your clothes, Jade.” Her voice is stern so I do as I’m told. My hands are shaking as I undo the buttons on my favourite pink dress. “Everything,” she adds when I’m down to my underwear. Once I remove my panties, I use both my hands to cover my private parts. Bending down, she screws up her face and picks my clothes off the floor with two fingers, like I have jimmy germs or something. “I want you take a bath and get dressed in your new clothes. When you’re done, come downstairs for lunch. You’ll find everything you need in the chest of drawers next to your bed.”
“Where are you taking my clothes?” I ask in a quiet voice.
“These rags? There going in the rubbish bin, where they belong. You won’t be needing them anymore. I’m sure you’ll be happy with the purchases I’ve made for you.”
Noooo. Not my most treasured possessions.
With that she turns, leaving me all alone. I successfully manage to fight back the tears that threaten to fall. Over the years I’ve become a master at it. I quickly learnt that crying only seemed to get me in more trouble.
•
As upset as I was at the time, my measly possessions where soon forgotten as the weeks passed. I now had a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes, and shoes. There was even pretty bows for me to wear in my hair. Life here was good.