“B-but.” How can this be? I just saw him. Why would he lie about something like this?
It’s not a lie. It’s the island.
I fall against the nearest wall as Chase keeps talking in my ear. “Do you know how long I waited for something like that from you?”
“Yes—”
“I couldn’t wait anymore. I’m sorry I didn’t meet you. I was going to, so I could tell you face to face, but...” His words end on an exhalation.
“Tell me what?” I ask, the phrase ‘someone walked over my grave’ going through my mind as a burst of cold air—probably air conditioning—tickles the top of my scalp. “Chase? What’s going on?”
“I couldn’t wait for you anymore. I’ve moved on.”
The hand of fate—the fate I’d chosen—squeezes even tighter around my throat. “Moved on?”
“Her name’s Shay.”
Why is it so hard to breathe? “I see,” I barely manage to say.
“I’m sorry.”
I nod, unable to form words as salty tears slide down my cheek and pool in the corner of my lips.
“It’s over, Tess. We both know it is.”
“Is it?” I laugh, not because the words are funny but because it is the exact phrase that Chase has said to me countless times over the past seven years.
He’s silent. Finally, in a gruff voice, he says, “If you’d sent that invitation six months ago, things would have been different.”
“I understand,” I say quickly, swiping the tears from my face.
“I can’t do this anymore. It fucking hurts too much.”
“I know.”
A little girl walks past me, staring up at me with concern etched in her tiny features. She waves, a hesitant, shy gesture that seems to come from some innate sense of empathy. She reminds me of someone and a sense of déjà vu washes over me. My lips quiver into a smile before I turn to walk toward the doors.
“I wish...” My words trail off because I’m not exactly sure what it is I wish. “I only ever wanted you to be happy.”
“Same for you, babe.”
The sunlight blinds me and I’m engulfed in pure, white light. “So, this is it, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
I shut my eyes and when I open them, I can see again.
“Tess?”
“Yes?”
“We need to say goodbye.”
“Okay.” I squint up into the blue, blue sky. “Goodbye, Chase.”
“Be well.”
“You too.”
“Tess... I—”
My hand shakes as I draw the phone away from my ear, staring at it, able to still hear the distant rumble of Chase’s voice but not his words. Slowly and with a terrible sense of finality, I press END.
I can’t move.
But I do. I do move. I put one foot in front of the other until I am outside the airport in the blinding sun, strangely incongruous to the way I’m feeling. It should be foggy, overcast, cold, rainy.
Breath hitches in my throat and I collapse onto a bench, my bags at my feet.
Completely alone.
There is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Ninety-nine point nine, nine, percent of the time I am the former. Today, at this moment, I am the latter.
Did I make a mistake back in Eden? Was this the one wrong choice?
There is no right path, no wrong path, just different paths. You must just be prepared to live with the consequences.
Loneliness wraps me in its suffocating embrace; its cold arms constrict my chest, its cold breath fans my cheeks, its emptiness sucks at my soul. A consequence of my choice?
No.
No!
It’s not loneliness, it’s sadness. Allowing Chase to move on is necessary and it’s the only way for me to move on too. The only way to manage the sadness is to feel it and embrace it right back. Though I must look like a loon, I sit on the bench and open my arms, welcoming sadness in its entirety.
The emotion washes over me, entering all of my orifices, moving through me and cleansing me.
Eventually I open my eyes but continue to just sit and wait. For what? I don’t know. Nothing.
Except when my phone pings, I feel as if the ping is the noise I was waiting for, the noise echoing as if from down a tunnel, resonating from a distance.
I take a deep breath and check the message. It’s from an unknown number.
>Hey pretty lady, why so sad?<
I scan the cars nearby, both those that are parked and those that are inching along, looking for a place to pull over.
A rumbling sounds starts up from the short term parking lot. Fuck. I know that sound. It’s a familiar, delicious rumbling sound of a monster of a motorbike. My frigid heart heats up, beating erratically with the hope that the bike I hear is bearing the weight of one man in particular.
I sit, wrapping my arms around myself, tight. Not willing to get my hopes up until...
Oh God. It’s him.
A monster-of-a-man, straddling a monster-of-a-bike weaves in and out between the vehicles approaching me with maddening slowness.
I know what I said. I said Tessa Savage does not need a man to be happy, which is true. But this man? This man whose face is hidden behind a close-cropped beard and dark wrap-around shades? The one whose darkest desires and vulnerabilities are hidden inside a mammoth body covered in fierce tattoos? This man is the exception to the rule. I am ecstatic, over-the-moon-happy to see this man
Perhaps because when last we met, every moment we spent together was punctuated with extreme emotion, from being lost in passion to being lost in life or death situations. Our time together felt unfinished and we were torn apart, wondering if we would ever see each other again.
As much as I hoped we would meet again, I never had any faith that the day would come. Ever.
Grayson ‘Sonny’ Holt is probably the only man who could get me out of my current funk. And here he is, stopped by the curb in front of me, the biggest, baddest, sexiest fucking biker you’ve ever seen, wearing a seductive half-smile on his handsome, bearded face.
I jump to my feet. My heavy heart is instantly buoyant. A sense of rightness replaces all the wrongness of the last few days.
“Need a ride?”
“Fuck yeah.”
“Good. Get on.”
Okay, it may seem as if I’ve just traded in two men for one. But Gray and I have history. Huge history, and he is one man I was not ready to let walk out of my life.
Now, here he is...when I need him most.
That must mean something. How he happens to be here, how he knew I needed him? I don’t know and I don’t care. Whether it’s the universe, that fucking island or my own needs and desires manifesting shit into existence, I don’t know.
All I know is I do not hesitate to climb onto the back of the bike. I wrap my arms around Gray’s trim waist, rest my cheek against his massive back and revel in the way the warm wind whips my hair into a frenzy.
Do I believe that everything happens for a reason?
Shit, I don’t know.
Maybe.
Maybe there is more to all that new-age, cosmic crap than I understand. Maybe there are energies tied to each of us, watching out for us, not judging, just guiding us—if we’ll listen. Or...maybe Gray’s been watching me, stalking me, waiting to appear when the time was right.
Either way, I don’t care. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.
“Where to?” Gray calls over his shoulder, at a red light.
“Wherever you’re going.”
“How does South America sound?”
“Perfect.”
The light turns green. He revs the engine and we’re off.
I lean back, lift my face to the sun and smile. I know people judge me because I choose to live my life differently. I choose to stay moving, to avoid commitment, to live as a nomad, experiencing as much as possible and loving as many as possible. It may not work for
most, but it sure as hell works for me.
It’s not perfect—nothing is—but it’s my life and I love it.
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose...
Janice Joplin’s gravelly voice fills my head. That’s me. Free. I’ve closed the book on two chapters of my life. Christophe is on his own path and we may meet again, and probably it’ll be good, but I’m not ready for him. Chase has moved on, like he probably should have years ago. I’m not going to lie, it hurts to think about Chase with another woman, but it’s a hurt that is completely necessary because Chase deserves to be happy.
So do I.
What that means for me is that there is always, always another chapter to live. Hell, not just another chapter, another book—fuck—a library of books to live. There’s always another adventure to embrace. Another person to love.
Always.
And though the hurt makes it difficult to go on at times, it also means that I’ve loved and that’s the most important lesson of all.
God, I love my life.
~The End~
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Thanks for reading HOW TO TEMPT A TYCOON, I hope you enjoyed it!
If you’d like Tessa to have a happily ever after with one of the heroes in this book, go to my website and vote in the poll here!
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Check out other exciting titles by Daire St. Denis...
How to Choose a Cowboy – A Savage Interactive
How to Break a Cowboy – A Savage Tale
How to Train a Lover – A Savage Interactive
How to Debauch a Biker – A Savage Tale
How to Free a Biker – A Savage Tale ~ coming in 2015
How to Marry a Cowboy – A Savage Interactive ~ coming in 2015
Mustang Sassy
Sex, Spies and Photographs – A Wicked Way Interactive
Reckless for Cowboy – Stampede Sizzlers
Party of Three
Check out the other INVITATION TO EDEN – December Releases
Delicious and Deadly by C.C. MacKenzie (Ludlow Hall, Book 8)
Emma Ludlow's temperature is rising and it's not because of the sweltering Florida sun. Her lucrative business is slaughter and bloodshed. All she wants is peace and quiet in Eden to plot her latest murder. However, a much-adored celebrity chef is in Eden, too. The man is insufferable with an overblown ego she's dying to... kill. His slow smile may be Delicious, but she won't taste it, not again.
Being famous and wealthy isn't everything it's cracked up to be. Oscar Zamani learned that life lesson the hard way when he let the seductive Emma slip through his fingers. Now an Invitation To Eden has given him another chance to show her that this time he can be trusted.
But little does Oscar know that Emma has a dark secret. A secret that might be Deadly to his heart.
Pleasure Games by Jessica Clare (A Games Novel)
Glass artisan Juno Ashmore’s bank account has hit the skids lately. When she’s invited to mysterious Eden to film the reality TV show Pleasures of Eden, she’s not interested. Swanky island location? Billionaire bachelor? No thanks. But when she hears the contestant payment fee of fifty thousand dollars — just for showing up, Pleasures of Eden suddenly sounds more interesting. Screw the billionaire bachelor! Juno will take the contestant fee and have herself a nice beach vacation.
But the billionaire bachelor is none other than Heathcliff Forester, the sexy, arrogant man who broke her heart in college. And Heathcliff’s made it clear that he’s not interested in any girl but Juno. In fact, it’s looking more and more like he’s rigged the entire show just to bring her into his arms again. It should make Juno furious, but all she can think about is what it’d be like to spend her nights in Eden in his bed...
Turn the page to read an excerpt of PLEASURE GAMES...
Excerpt from PLEASURE GAMES by Jessica Clare
Leona gestured at me from the back row and made a motion to the front of her dress.
"Hmm?" I called out, leaning forward as if that would help me hear Leona better.
Her gestures grew more frantic, and she kept waving a hand at her front. She was clearly trying to tell me something, but my head was so muddy with champagne that I couldn't tell what she wanted. I just waved instead. "Hi, Leona! I see you!"
"Shhh," Canary Yellow Viper hissed at me.
I made a face at her and straightened.
"All right, everyone remain in place," a voice called over the intercom. "If you are chosen, our billionaire bachelor will give you a flower showing that he claims you. If you are claimed, an assistant will walk you to the side of the room. Those not claimed, please remain in place. Does anyone have any questions?"
"Um," someone said, and raised their hand like they were in class.
Lawrence gave her a stern look. Light blue, didn't remember her name. "What is it?"
She looked over at me, concerned. "I just want to point out that Juno's boob is hanging out."
I looked down. Sure enough, my name badge had tugged down one of the filmy shoulder caps that doubled as sleeves and my boob was hanging out for all the world to see.
"She's drunk," someone else hissed. "She started drinking after she met him."
"It's because he doesn't like her," another said. "She's just trying to get attention."
I snorted at that. Him not like me? Please. I knew everything that floated that man's boat. As for trying to get his attention, that was the last thing I wanted. I looked back up at the front of the room, where Heathcliff stood watching us, a blank expression on his face. As haughtily as I could, I stuffed my boob back into my dress and looked back at the other women. "Please," I drawled. "It's not like he hasn't seen my breasts before."
That brought a heated murmur of whispers, and I straightened my dress and looked over at Heathcliff. He had an eyebrow quirked at me, but he was smiling.
Take that, I thought.
A COMPLETE LIST OF THE INVITATION TO EDEN BOOKS
Like what you just read? Make sure to check out the rest of Invitation to Eden series. Sign up for our mailing list to receive new release alerts!
For more information about the island of Eden, check out our website!
Master of the Island by Lauren Hawkeye- FREE PREQUEL (The Island, Prequel)
Yours Truly, Taddy by Avery Aster (The Undergrad Years, Book 2)
Random Acts of Fantasy by Julia Kent (The Random Series, Book 3).
Escape From Reality by Adriana Hunter
Hydrotherapy by Suzanne Rock (Ecstasy Spa, Book 7)
Fight For Me by Sharon Page (Yardley College Chronicles, Book 3)
Kindle
Breaking Free by Cathryn Fox
Kindle
Hold Me Close by Eliza Gayle (Purgatory Club, Book 6)
Kindle
Queen’s Knight by Sara Fawkes
Kindle
Dare To Surrender by Carly Phillips (Dare to Love Series, Book 3)
Kindle
Ivy in Bloom by Vivi Anna writing as Tawny Stokes (Hothouse series, Book 3)
Kindle
Second Glances by Elena Aitken (The Springs)
Kindle
Rough Draft by Mari Carr (Big Easy, Book 4)
Kindle
Blurring the Lines by Roni Loren
Kindle
Return to Sender by Steena Holmes (Return to Sender trilogy, Book 1)
Kindle
Pleasure Point by Eden Bradley (San Francisco Doms, Book 3)
Kindle
Wild Ride by Opal Carew (Ready to Ride)
Kindle
The Capture by Erika Wilde
Kindle
Elusive Hero by Joey W. Hill (a Vampire Queen story)
Kindle
Kindle
Falling or Flying by R.G. Alexander
Kindle
Pleasure Games by Jessica Clare
Delicious and Deadly – A Ludlow Story by CC MacKenzie
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
One word describes Daire’s stories...HOT! Check out what satisfied Amazon customers had to say about HOW TO BREAK A COWBOY - A Savage Tale
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“Holy hotness! Quick, dirty, and tasty ménage. - This book is short and hot and manages to incorporate a good storyline too.”
“Best one I've read in a while! - Hot cowboys who know just how to treat a woman & a man!!”
“Holy Hell!! - I don't even know where to start other than saying this was just freaking HOT!”
“HOT - I am not sure what category this book is listed in but FYI it is HOT.”
“HOT, HOT, HOT - Do NOT read it in a public place or with friends and family around. It is definitely 5 alarm hot.”
Daire St. Denis is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She’s an adventure seeker, an ancient history addict, a seasonal hermit and a wine lover. She writes smoking hot, contemporary romance where the pages are steeped in sensuality and there’s always a dash of the unexpected. The best way to spice things up is to check out her new series of interactive tales, WICKED WAY INTERACTIVES, a fun new format in sexy storytelling.
Find out more about Daire at www.dairestdenis.com
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[Invitation to Eden 24.0] How to Tempt a Tycoon Page 23