An Unconditional Love
A love that will remain through the ups and downs
A gripping marriage romance by Shanade White of BWWM Club. Features another free bonus book.
Lauren Witter used to have the job of her dreams, being an adventure writer and getting to explore the world.
But a nasty accident in a cave ended that dream.
And now she’s heading back to her home town, tail between her legs.
Luckily best friend Sadie comes to the rescue, not only getting Lauren a job, but introducing her to the hot boss Cole.
Lauren soon finds herself falling for him, and the feeling’s mutual.
She even thinks she might be getting over her lifelong fear of abandonment, sparked by her father when he walked out on Lauren’s mother because she was sick with MS.
But just when things seem to be going perfectly, she’s rushed to the hospital.
Will Lauren and Cole be able to stick together and build the future she’s always wanted?
Or will all Lauren’s fears about illness and abandonment come true?
Find out in this emotional yet passionate marriage romance by Shanade White of BWWM Club.
Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot, you’ll need a doctor on standby.
Tip: Search BWWM Club on Amazon to see more of our great books.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Free Book – Passion Overseas
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
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Chapter 1
As the plane began it’s decent, Lauren looked out the window at the carpet of green that covered the ground. She’d always loved the Pacific North West in the summer, the almost constant precipitation resulted in a lush landscape full of growing things that were not only a feast for the eye, but gave the air a fresh scent. She’d spent a great deal of her youth exploring the woods around her home town, learning all she could about the environment around her while slogging through the mud and much that was a part of life in this part of the country.
Those times in the woods had been the only thing that had kept her sane as she’d tried to care for her ailing mother. She reflected about that most difficult time in her life. No child should have to watch their parent die, and Lauren had been forced to do just that. She’d spent her adolescence watching her mother’s health deteriorate day by day in a swift decline that turned her world upside down.
It might have been easier if her dad had stuck around but he’d been unable to cope with the demands her mother’s disease had place on him. She’d woken one morning to discover that he’d packed a suitcase and disappeared over night. He’d left a note explaining his decision but Lauren had been shocked.
Her parents had always seemed to have the perfect relationship, supporting one another in all that they did. But that morning she’d been forced to face the fact that what she’d seen on the surface was far from the truth. When things had gotten rough, her father had abandoned them to face her mother’s disease alone.
Of course at only thirteen she’d been unable to cope on her own, but one of the benefits of living in a small town was that everyone knew their situation and was happy to help in any way they could. But as much as she’d appreciated the help, it had also been extremely embarrassing to have their personal business become public knowledge.
She’d been forced to smile and take whatever help was offered, but had never been happy about it. Keeping her embarrassment and anger under control would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for her best friend and her family. Sadie and her mother had been there when she’d needed them, providing the emotional support she so needed during those years.
Smiling at the memory, she continued to look out the window, watching the landscape come into focus the closer they got to the ground. She wasn’t exactly thrilled to be coming home, but she was excited to see her friend whom she hadn’t seen in almost five years.
If not for Sadie and her mother, she probably would have never come back to Prospect Falls, but when life had gone seriously wrong last month, Sadie had insisted that she come stay with her for a while. At the time it had seemed like a good idea, but as the plane touched down in Seattle, she was beginning to doubt the decision.
The memories of that terrible time of her life seemed to be surfacing at an alarming rate, clear proof that she’d never completely left the pain of those days behind. Those memories coupled with the disillusion she was feeling after being told by her boss that she’d lost her edge, was creating a lump in her throat and a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
The only thing that kept her from simply turning around and heading back to New York was the knowledge that this was only a temporary situation. She’d find a job and make some money to fund her next adventure and then she’d be gone again. Six months at the most and she’d be ready to take on the biggest adventure of her life.
At only 29, she had seen more of the world than most people could hope to in their entire lifetime. She knew that she should have been thankful for all the experiences she’d had, but found it difficult to dredge up those feelings when everything she knew had once again been ripped from her. It just didn’t seem fair that once again her life had been turned upside down, the one thing that was most important to her abruptly removed from her life.
Mentally redirecting her thoughts, she prepared herself to face all the questions that she knew would be coming her way. Although she had plenty to boast about, coming home jobless had never been in her plans, had she been able to afford it, she would have stayed in New York where she was just another face in the crowd. She had no hope of that kind of anonymity in Prospect Falls, where everyone knew everyone else and there were no secrets.
As the plane taxied down the runway to the gate, she took a deep breath and pushed the negative thoughts aside, a trick she’d perfected as a teenager when her mother’s illness had been too much to cope with. Sadie would be waiting for her when she got off the plane, full of plans like she always was. At times it had been an annoying personality trait, but her best friend had always had her best interests at heart and it was no different now.
When she’d called Sadie last month, practically sobbing, her friend had immediately began making plans. Taking the burden of deciding what her next move wo
uld be out of her hands. At the time she’d been happy to let Sadie lead her, but now she wasn’t so sure that moving back home was such a good idea, even if it was only for a short time.
Some of her reservations disappeared the minute she saw Sadie patiently waiting for her at baggage claim. As soon as she was close enough, Sadie enveloped her in a big hug and said, “It’s so good to see you.”
Lauren hugged her back, relishing in the feeling of comfort being with Sadie always brought her. “It’s good to see you too. Thank you for picking me up.”
“Like I would let you find your own way to Prospect Falls, if I did that you might never show up.” Sadie said, looping her arm through Lauren's as they headed to the parking lot.
“How do you always seem to know what I’m feeling?” Lauren asked, surprised once again to realize that her friend had been reading her mind.
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why you’ve only been home once in the last ten years. But I think you’ll find that our little town has changed a lot since you’ve been gone.”
“I’m sure it’s changed but my history hasn’t. I’m dreading those looks I always get, you know the ones I’m talking about. The look people get when they remember my sad story. It was hard enough when I was growing up, but now that I’m an adult it would be nice if they could see me for what I am now and not that little girl with the sick mother and a father who couldn’t cope.”
“I can’t say that people don’t remember those days, but most people will be more interested in what you’ve done with your life since then, after all you were the first African American writer to receive the Mansard Award. Use that to your advantage. The people in town are proud of you, you just have to give them a chance.” Sadie said.
Lauren was silent for a long time, thinking about the last time she’d been home. There had been some of those looks, but most people had wanted to hear about her travels. “I suppose you’re right. But what am I going to tell them about my job? That was the one thing I had that I could be proud of.”
“Just because your boss told you to take some time off doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Tell them the truth. That you’ve taken some time off to prepare for your next adventure. They don’t need to know that you basically lost your job to a younger writer.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“Well, it is simple if you let it be. Adventure Magazine isn’t the only publication out there, I’m sure once word gets out that you’re a freelancer there will be plenty of offers.”
“Sadie, it’s been almost a month and there’s been nothing. I’ve lost my place in that world which is why it’s so important for me to climb Mt. Everest.”
This time Sadie was quiet for a long time, trying to carefully frame her words. “Lauren I’ve known you for a long time so I’m going to be honest with you. First let me say that I’ll always support you no matter what you do, but I don’t know if climbing Mt. Everest is a good idea.”
“Not you too. There’s no reason I can’t safely make the climb as long as I’m careful. It will take longer for me, but that doesn’t mean I should give up on my dream. Besides it’s not like I’ll be going tomorrow. It will take months to raise the money I’ll need on my own, by then my leg will be totally healed.”
Sadie just gave her a sideways look, not daring to take her eyes off the winding road that led to the little mountain town of Pleasant Falls. “I thought they said that you’d always have some weakness in that leg?”
“They did, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t continue to do what I’ve always done.” Lauren said, her voice taking on a stubborn edge.
“Okay, sorry. I just worry about you.” Sadie said.
Lauren knew that her friend only had her best interests at heart, but she refused to believe that her days of traveling around the world were over. She couldn’t even begin to imagine a life lived in one place, the daily drudgery of a regular job just wasn’t for her. She needed excitement and adventure, the thrill of conquering another mountain or going someplace where few had been.
She’d always wanted to climb Mt. Everest but had never been able to convince the magazine to fund her climb. There were too many other climbers willing to sell them their story for a great deal less than it would take to send her, so it had remained an unfulfilled dream.
But now that she’d been cut loose from the magazine, supposedly healing from her accident in Peru, it had become her one goal. Her publisher had tried to make her believe that it was only a temporary situation, but she knew that she’d been all but fired. No one at the magazine had wanted her to make the trip to Peru, they’d said that it was too dangerous. The caves she’d planned to explore were unstable resulting in plenty of injuries and even a few deaths.
She’d convinced them to let her go and it had ended in disaster, almost taking her life. Only days after the accident, while she’d been recovering, her editor had told her that the magazine wouldn’t be funding any more of her extreme adventures.
“I don’t know exactly how to say this Lauren, but your readers are getting older just like you and they want different adventures now.” He’d said, patting her hand.
“I’m not that old.” She’d exclaimed. “I’m only 29.”
“In the world of extreme adventure you’re one of the oldest writers out there. It’s just time for you to change your approach.”
The discussion had gone downhill from there. Lauren had insisted that she was still quite capable of extreme adventuring no matter her age, while her editor had once again tried to explain that her readers just weren’t there anymore. In the end no agreement had been reached and less than a month later she’d been put on permanent leave from the magazine. They hadn’t called it a firing but that’s more or less what it was.
They were silent the rest of the trip to Prospect Falls, each lost in their own thoughts. Sadie had big plans for Lauren which was nothing new, while Lauren was mentally calculating how long it would take her to raise the money she’d need to make her climb.
As they drove through town on the way to Sadie’s little house, Lauren remembered what it had been like growing up in this small town tucked into the Cascade Mountains. Very little had changed since the last time she’d been home, but she hadn’t really expected it too.
But when they made the turn onto Main Street, Lauren noticed that it looked different. The stores looked like they had all just gotten a makeover, their awnings looked bright and clean and every building was occupied. The planters that divided the street were full of bright blooms, a sight she’d never seen before.
Sadie saw the look on Lauren’s face and began to explain. “There’s a bit more money around here since DeYoung Enterprises took over the old saw mill.”
Lauren remembered Sadie telling her about the software company that had located its headquarters in town, but hadn’t realized how much it had done for the town. At the time it had been of little importance to her except that Sadie had been given one of the prime positions in the owner’s personal office. A job that had allowed Sadie to buy her little house and guaranteed her a comfortable living, which was a big deal in a small town like Prospect.
“How’s the job? I’ve been so wrapped up in my own problems I haven’t even asked about your life.”
“It’s wonderful. I really like my boss, he’s a billionaire but he doesn’t act like it. I’m thinking we might be able to find you a job with the company.”
“Me? What would I do at a software company?” Lauren asked, thinking that Sadie had lost her mind.
“I’m sure there’s something you could do. After all you’re an award winning journalist, maybe you could work in the PR department. You could write about software instead of travel.”
“I don’t know, I can’t imagine they would hire me with no experience.” Lauren said, doubt clear in her voice.
“Well, that's the thing about Cole, he likes to bring people in who have a fresh approach.
He always says that it’s important to keep an open mind.” Sadie said, a little bit of hero worship in her voice.
Lauren knew her friend well and it was clear that she had a bit of a crush on her boss, which surprised her. “Do I detect a bit of a crush going on here?”
Sadie just laughed, “I suppose I do have a bit of a crush on Cole, but he’s way out of my league. You should see some of the women he dates. They’re always rich and always very beautiful. Long legged blondes with perfect bodies and the money to dress like they just walked off the runway.”
“Typical if he has as much money as you told me he does.” Lauren said, remembering a conversation they’d had right after Sadie had gotten the job.
“Yeah, billionaires tend to stick with their own kind. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy looking at him. There’s just something about all the that curly black hair and those green eyes that makes my heart beat a little faster when he walks into the office. It doesn’t help that he’s so nice, so down to earth.” Sadie said.
“He sounds too good to be true.” Lauren said, smiling at her friends crush. Sadie was notorious for her attraction to men who were less than desirable. They seemed to find her and she was always more than willing to overlook their bad side in favor of their good.
“Well you can decide for yourself at the barbeque this weekend.”
“What barbeque?” Lauren said, already suspicious. “I don’t know if I’m going to be up to socializing already.”
Sadie was saved from answering as they pulled up to her house. Lauren had never been there before and was charmed by the cute little bungalow. There were a multitude of blooms everywhere she looked and an adorable bench set under the big tree in the front yard. She’d almost forgotten how the constant rain of the area could result in such a parade of color and texture.
“Oh, your house is wonderful. It looks just like you.” Lauren said, getting out of the car.
“I love my little house, it’s just perfect for me.” Sadie said, leading the way up the walk.
An Unconditional Love (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 1