CHOICE AFFAIRS
Southern Heat book 2
Jamie Salisbury
Erotic Romance
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com
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A Secret Cravings Publishing Book
Erotic Romance
Choice Affairs
Copyright © 2015 Jamie Salisbury
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63105-463-1
First E-book Publication: January 2015
Cover design by Dawné Dominique
Edited by Tabitha Bower
Proofread by Renee Waring
All cover art and logo copyright © 2015 by Secret Cravings Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com
Dedication
A huge debt of gratitude to my readers. Thank you.
To: Nicco, thanks for helping me through a most difficult year. You're in my heart, even when we're thousands of miles apart. Liam, David, Fred, Mardi, Lisa, Lana, Kim, Mike, C-boy, Anya, Debbie, Stephanie, Renee, Johnny, Kay, Greg, Donnie, Mike & Ginger, Bill F (the deer came out of nowhere)., Jeanette B, Amadeus, Shelly...I know I'm forgetting someone. Thanks everyone! 2015 is shaping up to be the best ever!
CHOICE AFFAIRS
Southern Heat book 2
Jamie Salisbury
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
Caitlyn
It had been dubbed the wedding of the year by the media. Shrouded in secrecy, it had all the talking heads going. They would interview anyone who might have an in of the hushed preparations. Listening to them, I would have thought they were talking about the royal family the way they all carried on.
They weren’t, though. They were feverishly discussing Apolo’s and my upcoming nuptials. Grabbing any juicy morsel they could turn into spin. Nothing was off limits. Not even the fact that it was to be a private affair. Only immediate family would be in attendance.
And then, someone invited my mother onto their radio show.
Eloise, my wedding planner, was in near hysteria, recounting what had transpired. I was oblivious to what had happened. Not even Apolo’s media personnel had gotten a head’s up on my mother’s appearance. For all our attempts to keep private the biggest day of my life from the feeding frenzy, my mother ruined it all in ten minutes.
Sitting in the drawing room of Apolo’s Buckhead mansion, I desperately attempted to make heads or tails of my mother’s reasoning for doing this. That, and her blatant disregard for my wishes that the affair remain private. That no details would be released before the event. The answer was easy—the woman was all about herself, and no one would ever change that.
I held my phone in one hand, the other cradling my head, as I sat there almost in a fetal position, rocking back and forth on the richly upholstered sofa.
“El, there’s nothing you could have done. Hell, there’s nothing either of us could have done, short of locking my mother away until the day of the wedding.”
“I don’t know where she’s getting her information, Caitlyn. Every vendor involved in your wedding has—”
“She has her ways. I’m beginning to think my mother was a reporter in a former life, or a clairvoyant. Please, El, don’t worry about it. There’s nothing we can do now.”
Interrupted from my thoughts for a second, I glanced toward the doorway. Apolo. My savior, my sanity, my safe haven from all this madness. He stood dressed in pressed jeans and a T-shirt. The look on his face was as usual, his poker face.
“Eloise, I need to go. Please, don’t worry yourself. This wasn’t your doing. I’ll take care of the offending party. You just continue with the preparations.”
“I’m okay, Caitlyn. I just wasn’t expecting your mother to undo all our hard work.”
“Well, she hasn’t. I’ll let you go and will see you day after tomorrow. You know how to reach me.”
I pressed a button on my phone. Apolo was now seated next to me, rubbing my back. He knew me well enough to know that something was amiss.
“Problems?” he asked, never stopping his hands’ magical dance. His touch intoxicated me.
I ceased with my rocking and slowly sat up to look at him, clutching a bolt of pale pink ribbon that I was contemplating using with my bouquet. “My mother.”
He chuckled. Apolo had many a sparring match with my mother, but he always came out on top. I quietly wondered how he was going to handle her this time. “What has she done now?”
“Oh, nothing much, other than appear on the biggest radio show around, spilling all the details about our wedding.”
His eyes darkened and a muscle in his cheek began to twitch. “She did what?” he roared. Standing up, he began to pace the room with urgency. “What does she not understand about the word ‘private’?” His hand disappeared into the pocket of his jeans, retrieving his cell. He peered down at it, scrolling through his contacts. He was pissed off, and with good reason.
“Apolo, who are you calling?” I inquired, as though I didn’t know.
“Your mother! I’ve been more than patient with the woman. I’ve overlooked things she has said or done that ordinarily I wouldn’t. She was the entire reason we waited to start preparations. So that she would be safely back in Ireland. Now, less than a week out, she decides to ignore everything we implored upon her not to do. She’s selfish, Caitlyn. The woman thinks of no one but herself, and it stops now.”
I bit my lip, trying desperately not to smile. That wouldn’t be a good thing to do right now. Apolo Choice did not tolerate anyone, not even family, doing as my mother just had.
He caught my amusement anyway. “What?” he bellowed, his eyes dark and menacing.
“Are you done ranting?”
“No! I’m just getting started. She has to be taught a lesson, and I know the perfect way to get her attention. While I’m doing that, I want you to get Izzie and Eloise on the line. The four of us have some meddling-mother-of-the-bride counter attacks to plan out.”
“What are you up to, Apolo?” I gazed warily at him as he found my mother’s number and let the games begin.
“You’ll see.�
�
That’s what I was afraid of—Apolo Choice and my mother, Susan Pickett White, having a blow up mere days before our wedding. I sat, grimacing, waiting for her to pick up. Or would she? As savvy as my mother was, she was probably screening her calls, anticipating Apolo’s response.
“Susan,” he bellowed into the phone. “What in the name of hell were you thinking this morning? Going on some gossip show and telling the world every detail of our wedding. How dare you! Now, I’ve called to tell you that the ceremony is off. Thanks to you, the one day we asked for privacy has been ruined.”
He stood, facing me, listening to my mother pleading. He was obviously having great fun toying with her.
“No, you may not speak to Caitlyn. Your daughter is too distraught by your selfishness to talk to anyone at the moment. I merely thought I’d let you know first-hand that the wedding has been cancelled. But you know, come to think of it, perhaps I should have gone on one of those shows you seem to relish and announced it to the entire world. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
He hung up on my mother. Not many live to tell about doing that. “Have you gotten in touch with Izzie and Eloise?” he inquired, obviously smug with himself and his handling of my mother the meddler. “I didn’t think so. Do it now, Caitlyn, please. I’m going to get with Jacob, so that he can turn your mother around should she decide to come here to plead her case.”
Which she would. We both knew she would. What could I say? The man rocked my world and would move heaven and Earth to make me happy. Though, now I wondered, since the wedding was called off as far as my mother knew, just what he had up his sleeve.
* * * *
“He did what?” Izzie asked, the look on her face priceless.
“He called off the wedding?” Eloise squeaked.
“Trust me, ladies, Apolo did not cancel the wedding. He was merely trying to get a point across to my meddling mother. Apolo will join us momentarily with his plan.”
“You should have just eloped, come back, and had this huge reception of the century.”
I know, Izzie, but I can’t do that to my father, or Apolo’s parents. I can’t punish everyone else because of her.”
“And you won’t, sweet,” a commanding male voice said from the edge of the room. “The wedding will go on as planned. We’ll hold the ceremony here. I’ll have Jacob look into adding more security.”
“Um, what about Susan?” Izzie asked.
“Oh, she’ll be here. She just won’t know it until she finds herself standing with the rest of the wedding party.”
“I’m afraid to ask what exactly you’ve gone and done,” I moaned, shaking my head. Izzie and Eloise stared at each other then Apolo and me.
“Nothing. I’m simply giving your mother a taste of her own medicine. Once this day is over, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about her putting her nose where it doesn’t belong anymore.”
“You don’t know Susan Pickett White then, Apolo,” Izzie blurted. At this very moment, while we’re sitting here brainstorming, Susan is out there plotting, scheming, and just trying to find anyone who will tell her what’s going on.”
He smiled devilishly, glancing down at the watch on his wrist. “No, I don’t think we have to worry about her now. Not until the wedding.”
“Apolo?”
“What? I’m sending your mother to an elite resort where she’ll be pampered and spoiled until the day of the wedding. At that time, she’ll be returned to Atlanta, but kept under constant monitoring.”
“So, you’re basically kidnapping her?” Izzie inquired, a huge grin on her face. She turned to me. “The more I’m around this guy, the more I like him, Cait. He has a devious mind, and you have to when dealing with your mother.”
“Constant monitoring, Apolo?” I asked, skeptically. “Unless you’re going to have a dozen people guarding her twenty-four hours a day, I don’t see how you’ll contain her. Or, are you sending her to some remote island?”
“Laugh if you want, Caitlyn. While your mother is being pampered at this spa, she’ll be wearing an ankle bracelet. And please, before you go there, if she tries to cut if off or anything else, it will sound an alarm, as well as notify the monitoring station.”
“Wow!” Izzie blurted. “That’s pretty James Bond-ish, Apolo. I think Susan’s met her match.”
“Does that put your minds at ease, ladies?”
We all nodded our heads. Without mother and her meddling, things would go a lot smoother. And she would be in heaven at the spa, regardless of an ankle bracelet. Mother loved being pampered and having people fawn over her. Thus, my nick name for her—Queen of Sheba.
“Good. Then proceed as planned. All deliveries will be stopped at the gate before being allowed to proceed. An awning is going up this afternoon to allow further privacy. Have I missed anything?”
The three of us looked at each other and then at Apolo. The man wasn’t a business genius for nothing. He was cool as a cucumber, as usual.
“No, I think you’ve got it all covered,” Eloise replied. “Thank you for doing that. It’ll make things so much easier, not having to worry about who’s watching or where.”
“I’ll need a list of all the vendors, Eloise. Jacob will address the breach to each of them, as well as reiterate the importance of maintaining privacy.”
“I have it with me, if you want to make a copy.” She opened her briefcase. She must have anticipated him wanting the information, because it was right on top. Picking it up, she passed the sheets to him.
“Thank you. I’ll fax it over to Jacob right now. While I’m doing that, I believe my cook has prepared lunch for you. Caitlyn, would you mind checking?” He turned and walked out of the room, papers in hand. A man with a mission.
I stood watching him until he was out of sight. “Looks like you’re having lunch with me, ladies. Anyone care for a glass of wine?”
“God, yes, please!” Eloise answered.
“Me, too, girlfriend,” Izzie chimed in. “Apolo Choice—ten, Susan Pickett-White—zero.” She pretended to add the scores to an imaginary chalkboard, grinning.
“Pop’s going to get such a charge out of this when he hears about it. Poor man has never been able to control her. She simply walks all over people, like she’s the most important person in the world.”
“Well, she’s going to be quite a bit toned down at the wedding, thanks to Apolo. At least until it comes time for pictures and the reception,” Izzie replied.
“Once the pictures are taken, and the ceremony over, I don’t care how she acts. There are going to be so many people here, she’s going to be in her element. Rich, powerful people.”
“And a handsome, influential, and powerful son-in-law.”
“Let’s not forget the bride,” Eloise put in. “The most beautiful and important person of the day.”
“Izzie, there’s some red wine and a cork screw over in the corner. If either of you prefer white, I’ll go grab a bottle while I’m checking on our lunch.”
* * * *
Apolo
Susan Pickett White, my soon to be mother-in-law. The woman is also a self-centered, narcissistic bitch. I would say she’s self-absorbed, or perhaps even egotistical, but for Susan, that’s lightweight. She’s is incredible. It’s all “me, me, me” with her.
Upon hearing the quandary Susan had left everyone in, I immediately went in search of Jacob to begin damage control. As usual, the man had a sixth sense about what I needed, and he was in my office before I knew it.
“Jacob? Do you know what Caitlyn’s mother went and did this morning?”
“Yeah, I just happened to catch the show. I’m already on it. I just need a vendor list. Everything else is covered.”
He sat in front of me munching on those disgusting curly fries from his favorite fast food vendor. They always tasted like old, burnt grease to me. I shook my head, realizing I was hungry. “Good man. The woman has no scruples, Jacob. I’m afraid what she’s done is going to mean the need for fu
rther security before and during the wedding.”
“I’m on it. Plus, I’m going to have someone at the gate to check in every vehicle that arrives. I’ve ordered an awning to go over the delivery area in case more than one vendor arrives at the same time. Anything else?”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, there is. I want you to pick up Mrs. Pickett-White, kicking and screaming, if necessary. I’ve made arrangements for her to stay at that quaint, little spa my mother loves. You know the one, Jacob. She’s to have a detail on her twenty-four-seven and an ankle bracelet attached.”
Jacob chuckled. He knew I had been pushed to my limits. “Any other requests?”
“She’s to have absolutely no connection with the outside world. Get her cell phone. I’ve already instructed the spa that she’s to have no access whatsoever to any sort of communication devices. No television, no radio, no internet. She’s going cold turkey until you have her delivered to my house the morning of the wedding.”
“She’s certainly pushed your buttons, Apolo. Don’t worry. Consider it done.”
“I’m tired of this woman thinking of no one but herself. Instead of sharing her daughter’s joy, she’s hawking every, sordid detail to the highest bidder. It stops now. I’m clipping her wings.”
“You don’t think she got paid today, do you?”
“Of course, she did. The woman’s no fool. That, and she loves nothing better than to be in the spotlight.”
“I’ve got someone in route to pick her up. Don’t worry about any of this—not Mrs. Pickett- White, not the details. I’ve got it covered.”
“I knew you would. Call me if anything arises or you need anything. Thank you.”
Even my telephone conversation with Susan had been brutal. The second she’d realized she’d been caught, she back peddled, lying about everything in an effort to save herself. If she’d been anyone else, I’d have reminded her of the confidentiality agreement Caitlyn and I had everyone involved in the preparation of the wedding sign.
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