Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series
Page 36
She let the tears fall, the tears that she’d kept at bay since she’d opened the door and saw him standing there. Defeated but determined. She felt safe when his arms tightened around her and he placed soft kisses on her cheek. She lay there for a few more moments before pulling herself together.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to cry all over you.”
“I don’t care. I have to ask you something.”
“What?”
A slow sexy smile broke out of his face. “You love me?”
She traced his face, her fingertips lightly touching the scratches and band-aids covering the deeper cuts. He’d never looked more handsome to her than at that moment. Perhaps it was the love that she could see blazing in the blue depths of his eyes. Her heart clenched. She couldn’t deny him. She couldn’t deny herself. “Yes, Andrew, I do love you.”
“Thank God,” he breathed as he captured her lips in a kiss so powerful she almost fell backwards. She answered every call and thrust of his tongue. Every emotion she felt for him she poured into the kiss. In return, she accepted every emotion he sent her way.
They broke away from each other, breathing heavily. Dawn laid her forehead against his. “I’ve loved you since the day I saw you across the hallway in high school. You owned a piece of me even when I was married to Tom. I was lucky to have him.”
Andrew rubbed his hand along her back in a comforting motion. “I’ve never stopped loving you too, Dawn. Tom was a remarkable man; I know that he will be happy that you found happiness again.”
“I hope so, but Andrew, I have to ask you, will I be enough? Or will the need to chase another adventure take you from me?”
“I only need you to fulfill my life, Dawn, and that’s the truth. I love you more than anything in this world. If I never sail again I will be happy. So long as I have you in my arms I don’t need anything else.”
He said the words with such conviction that Dawn knew he spoke the truth. That all he needed now was her. “I believe you.”
He kissed her again and she lost herself in his touch. She moved her legs and a groan erupted from his mouth. She’d connected with his broken leg. Between their confessions of love she’d forgotten about his injury.
“I’m so sorry.”
Andrew laughed and hugged her tighter. “A little pain is worth it if I have you to kiss it better.”
“I think I can manage that.” She went in to kiss him again, but he pulled back. He looked deep into her eyes. She held her breath, wondering what was about to happen.
“Dawn, I love you with my whole heart. I cannot imagine a day with you not in it. I want to wake up beside you every day. I want a future with you. Will you marry me?”
She exhaled slowly, in shock with Andrew’s proposal. But joy filled her. She wanted the same. “Yes, Andrew, yes, I will marry you. I want everything you want too.”
“Including children?” he asked.
Her heart stopped at the request. She looked deep inside herself. Could she put herself through a pregnancy again or would the fear of losing the child be too great for her? She switched her gaze to the man who held her. He gave her the strength to start living again. He completed her and she knew that no matter what, he would always be there for her. She looked at the picture of Tom and Brody and knew they were smiling down at her, telling her to take this second chance and live the life she was meant to.
“Yes, Andrew. Yes, including children.”
“No matter what happens, Dawn, we’ll do it together.”
“I like the sound of that,” she said. “Together. I never thought I could feel again. I never thought I’d be warm again. I have you to thank for that. You’ve brought me back to life.”
“No, we brought each other back to life. I never realized I was only half living until I walked into that emergency room and saw you standing there, Dawn. I knew then that I needed you. It just took me a while to realize it.”
They were quiet for a few minutes as they gave into the need to re-affirm the love they had declared.
“So when do we get married?” she asked.
“When I can carry you across the threshold,” he said on a laugh before taking her lips in a kiss that cemented their future together.
About the Author
On her very first school report her teacher said “Nicole likes to tell her own stories.”
It wasn’t until after the birth of her first child and after having fun on a romance community forum that she finally decided to take the plunge and write a book.
The stories she writes are contemporary romances with either a medical setting or in the boardrooms of high powered businesses. She enjoys taking two characters and creating unique situations for them.
Apart from writing Nicole is busy looking after her very own hero – her wonderfully supportive husband, and two fabulous kids. She also enjoys watching sports and, of course, reading.
You can visit Nicole at her website www.nicoleflockton.com or follow her on twitter at https://twitter.com/NicoleFlockton and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NicoleFlockton?ref=hl
Seducing Phoebe
Nicole Flockton
Avon, Massachusetts
This edition published by
Crimson Romance
an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
10151 Carver Road, Suite 200
Blue Ash, Ohio 45242
www.crimsonromance.com
Copyright © 2013 by Nicole Anne Flockton
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 10: 1-4405-6982-7
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-6982-1
eISBN 10: 1-4405-6983-5
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-6983-8
Cover art © 123rf.com
For Fiona Marsden — thanks for being my friend, Twitter pal, and beta reader for this story.
Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
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
CHAPTER 15
EPILOGUE
Acknowledgments
This is the final story in a linked series from my first release Masquerade. I never thought, when I wrote Masquerade, that I would get another two stories out of it. Yet here we are with Phoebe’s story. It will be a little sad to say goodbye to all these characters but at least I know they all have their happily ever after. In the story I mention a phone “app” that Marco uses. It’s a real app, I have it on my phone.
Kati R. from Romancing Rakes, thanks for working your magic and coming up with the title for this book. If it weren’t for you it could still be called “Phoebe’s Story.”
As always a big thank you to my Ninja girls for their unending support and the fun we have. Thanks, Ninjas.
To Selena and Debra, thanks for always being at the end of an email when I’ve needed to be pulled back from the edge. I’m very lucky and happy to have you both in my corner.
To all my new readers, thanks for supporting me and enjoying my books. I love getting tweets, emails, and Facebook messages from you all.
A big thank you to my editor, Jess Verdi, for helping me strengthen this story. We make a great team, Jess!
Finally, to my wonderful husband Jason and beautif
ul kids, thanks for letting me follow my dreams, even when it means I have to do edits when we’re on holidays. Your excitement and smiles when I achieve something new on this journey thrill me — Thank You!
CHAPTER 1
Phoebe Fitzgerald turned and looked at herself in the mirror of the bridal store fitting room, and butterflies multiplied by the dozen in her belly. Her dress fit perfectly. She looked like a queen. It was everything she had thought it would be and more.
“Oh, Phoebe,” her best friend Sophie gushed when the curtain was thrust open by the alterations lady.
Before Phoebe could say anything, her phone beeped, signaling a text message had arrived. She should’ve turned it to vibrate before she’d entered the changing room. The butterflies stopped fluttering and a football-sized feeling of dread replaced them. Somehow she knew who was texting her. The same person who’d been calling and texting her constantly for the last two days: John Allen. After their first conversation two weeks ago, she’d stopped answering his calls and texts. But he hadn’t given up.
Two weeks ago everything had been clear in her mind. She was going to get married to a man who had come to mean a lot to her. It wasn’t a fairy tale love match, but at the time of Marco’s proposal she’d been caught up in the haze of some of the most amazing lovemaking she’d ever experienced — so when he had blurted out they should get married, she’d readily agreed. She’d thought he’d been joking, but the next night, when he’d gotten down on bended knee and presented her with a ring, she had said yes again. She cared deeply for Marco. She knew she could count on him when she needed him. She knew he would never disappoint her or let her down.
After loving and losing and being disappointed by the people in her life more than once, she had no desire to travel down that bumpy road again. A nice, no complications relationship had seemed the perfect solution.
Now a ghost from her past had returned and it was like a fog had crept into her mind. She had no visibility of what was right or wrong. She was so confused.
Why did Marco have to cancel their lunch date two weeks ago? Things would’ve been so much easier if he hadn’t had to stay at that meeting.
Standing in her wedding dress, looking like a queen, she let her mind wander back to the day when her world turned upside down.
“You look like you’ve lost fifty dollars and found five instead.”
Phoebe whipped her head around and couldn’t believe it when she clapped eyes on her former lover — John Allen.
“John, what are you doing here?”
“I’m back in town; my stint overseas is over.” He sent her a look that she could only describe as suggestive. With his hair falling over his forehead, he had an air of carefree fun about him. “I’m hoping we can catch up.”
It had been months since she’d last seen John, since he’d announced very casually over dinner that he was planning on joining an overseas medical organization, and he was leaving the next day. She’d been heartbroken. She’d thought they’d had something special. But, once again, it seemed the people she loved never loved her as much as she loved them. It was like she wasn’t worthy of their full affection.
“I don’t think so.”
When he reached out and touched her hand, her skin tingled. “Phoebs, I’m sorry about the way I left but while I was away I realized what a fool I’d been. I’d left the best girl I’ve ever known behind. I constantly thought about all the fun times we had. How whenever we were together we seemed untouchable. I think I’m in love with you, Phoebe.
She couldn’t deny the way her heart fluttered at his declaration. It was what she’d hoped would happen after he’d left, but it never had. Now she had Marco in her life. She could count on Marco not to let her down. Marco was solid, dependable, trustworthy. He would never leave her alone like so many others had done before. They may not laugh as much as her and John had done, and they may not have ever said those three little words to each other, but they did have a good relationship. Marco was her chance to finally have someone permanent in her life. Someone who put her first.
“I think it’s a little late for that, John.” Phoebe held up her left hand and waved her fingers. “I’m engaged now.”
“Nothing’s final until you say ‘I do’. Engagements aren’t set in stone.”
“Well, regardless of what you think, it means something to me.”
“Does it? I see the way you’re breathing, Phoebs. I see the way your eyes are shining. You still care.” He took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it.
She knew she should pull her hand away, but she couldn’t. Her skin didn’t burn like it did when Marco touched her, but her body was reacting. Her body remembered John and all they’d shared — all the love she’d thought she once felt for him.
Phoebe felt many things for Marco, but “love” had never entered the equation. After being burned so many times in the past by people she loved, she was determined to focus on more practical things now. Easy, uncomplicated companionship. An intense physical connection. A future.
But as she looked at John, sitting there across from her declaring his love, a moment’s doubt filled her mind. All those things she had with Marco were important, but when it came down to it, marriage should be based on love, shouldn’t it? What if she was making a mistake?
Her phone started ringing, jolting her back to the present and the fitting room at the bridal salon, where the alterations lady was still working on her dress. She was tempted to throw the phone against the wall. Ever since that conversation with John two weeks ago, she’d been so confused. And his constant calls and texts weren’t helping. Why couldn’t he leave her alone?
“You want me to get that, Phoebs?” Sophie’s voice penetrated her fog, dissipating a tiny corner.
“No!” The word shot out like a bullet. The last thing she wanted was Sophie picking up her phone and seeing that John was back in town. Ringing her. Texting her. Telling her he’d realized he loved her and had made the biggest mistake of his life by breaking up with her and leaving her behind.
“Can you give us a minute?” Sophie asked the lady adjusting her dress. Phoebe wanted to put her hand on the lady to halt her exit; she didn’t really want to be left alone with Sophie. But if she created a fuss it would only make her look like she was hiding something; which she was. She just didn’t want Sophie to know it yet.
“It looks good, don’t you think?” Phoebe asked, running a hand over the fabric of her dress.
“Yes. Now tell me what’s going on?”
She tried to laugh but it sounded pitiful to her ears. “Well I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on. I’m here for a fitting and you, as my matron of honor, have the job of telling me whether it looks good or not.”
Phoebe knew she was walking a thin line and she could see the frustration and hurt in Sophie’s eyes. Remorse filled her; Soph was her best friend. They’d shared so much; maybe sharing her problems with her friend could be the best thing. Help her to put things in perspective.
She gazed again at her reflection in the mirror. The crystal-encrusted gown was beautiful. It hugged her figure before flaring out with just the right amount of pouf.
“It really is beautiful, Phoebs. You look gorgeous. Marco won’t be able to keep his hands to himself.”
At hearing her fiancé’s name, doubts crowded back in Phoebe’s mind, all clamoring to be heard.
She couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t marry Marco, not when she had so many doubts.
“I can’t do it,” she whispered. “I can’t do it.”
“Can’t do what?” Sophie asked.
“I can’t marry Marco.” She started grabbing at the ties at the back of her dress. Her breath came in short spurts as panic took hold. She didn’t want to rip the dress but she would if she had to. She needed to get out of it.
Her phone started ringing again, making her even more anxious to get out of the dress. The more times John called or sent a text, the more she was tempted to answer. To see him again to see if what they’d had was real. But if it was real, then he wouldn’t have left her to go overseas. He would’ve stayed with her and planned a future together. And what about what she had experienced with Marco? She knew she felt different emotions when she was in Marco’s arms than she had felt when she had been with John. But she couldn’t avoid John forever — maybe it would be best to see him again. She squashed the thought as soon as she’d finished it.
Nothing was clear anymore.
Her hands were grabbed by warm ones, stopping her desperate actions just as her phone stopped ringing.
“Phoebe, stop. Calm down, it’s just pre-wedding jitters.”
“If only it were that easy to blame it on nerves or jitters. It’s more than nerves. It’s … ”
“Stop,” Sophie interrupted. “As much as I want to find out what’s going on, I’m not sure a bridal salon is the best place for it. We can go back to my place.”
“Won’t Alex be there? I can’t talk to you if Marco’s best friend is sitting beside you.” For the first time Phoebe didn’t like the fact that her best friend was married to Marco’s best friend. They were all connected — and not just through Louisa, Alex and Sophie’s daughter, and Phoebe and Marco’s goddaughter. Alex worked at the same hospital where Phoebe was a nurse, so Phoebe had to see him almost every day. She didn’t think she could cope with knowing she’d hurt so many people.
Why had everything become so complicated? She wanted everything to go back to normal. But what was normal?
“Do you seriously think I would have a conversation like this with Alex around?” Sophie scoffed. “I’ll tell him to take Louisa for a walk. Now come on, let’s get you out of this gown and then you can tell me everything.”