by Claire Adams
“Speaking of happiness, how’s the foundation event coming along?” I took a moment to taste the tangy chicken she’d bought for lunch as her face lit up.
“All is on track, and I’m meeting with the auction house later this afternoon. I should have everything in place by then, and a few of the doctors at the hospital have even offered to donate.” I met her eyes, and she was already shaking her head. “I’m not turning down his contribution.”
“I’m not asking you to.” I caressed her cheek with my thumb and fed her another piece of pie.
“You’re not angry?” Her brow cocked high, and she seemed to study me as if gauging my reaction. She knew I didn’t like the fact that she’d went on a date with the guy, but in her defense, I’d told her to never come back. I had promised myself not to hold it against her, but I would forever keep my eye on the good doctor.
“No, I’m sure it’s a generous offer and every bit helps.”
“He’s giving twenty-thousand dollars.” My jaw dropped, and she smiled. I hadn’t expected that generous of a donation, and I turned away and glared down at the food, which I suddenly didn’t feel like eating.
“He’s still in love with you.” I stuck out my tongue and made a face, but Lexa laughed.
“Now you’re being ridiculous. He was never in love with me. Sure, he had a crush, probably a few fantasies. Naked ones, even.” She whispered close to my ear.
“Who wouldn’t? But see, that proves my point, and you admitted it.” I feigned disgust turned my head away, but she took my face in her hands, a gesture that we now used tenderly, never again in the hard way I’d used it against her, and she stared deep into my eyes.
“You know better.”
“I do, and I’m proud of you. You’ve done an amazing thing with the event planning, and it’s going to be special. Allison would have loved you and me together.” I had started speaking more of my family with her, and she’d opened up more about Shawn too.
“Would she? I think Shawn would have been a little uneasy about his sister dating a rich playboy type?” She took my fork and fed me a piece of the still warm pie.
“Playboy?” I scoffed at the word and shook my head. “Hardly. You’re the one with a bunch of horny doctors paying you thousands of dollars.” She nudged me, and I rocked us back only to turn the chair over with us both in it.
We crashed to the floor, and I broke her fall. The commotion, the chair crashing down as well as Lexa’s scream, which thankfully drowned out my own, caused Layne to react.
I heard his footsteps as he ran across his room. “Are you okay?” he called through the door.
“Are we?” I asked Lexa who broke into a fit of giggles. “Yeah, we’re good.” I started to move to get up, but she pinned me down and raked her hand through my hair. Her soft lips pressed gently against mine, and her other hand snaked down and rubbed me through my pants.
“You’re a bad girl,” I muttered against her mouth. But she held a finger to my lips and slid her hand down my pants as she ground her hips against my leg.
“I’m thinking we better make the most of this office while we can.” She flashed me a wink, but I reached up and raked my finger through the pie, collecting the filling on the end of my finger, which I brought to her mouth, smearing it across her bottom lip. She gripped my wrist and sucked my finger clean and then licked her lips before sliding down on me.
“Have I told you lately how much I love you?” Her soft giggle sounded against me and quickly turned into a moan. The last day in my office turned out to be a memorable one.
Epilogue
Lexa
Aiden had a habit of watching me sleep, and I sometimes wondered if that was how he spent his nights. I opened my eyes to find him at it again, and I buried my face against his chest and fought the urge to wake.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.” He kissed my hand and then rolled me off of him, only to rest on his elbows above me.
As I looked up into his eyes, I couldn’t believe it had been almost a year since we’d met. Things were going better than ever between us, but I was still holding my breath for a proposal and turning blue. Bre assured me it would happen, and I had to wonder if he’d talked to her about it. I’d tried to pry it out of her more than once, but she denied any involvement in such conversations.
He stared down at me with his own sleepy eyes, and I couldn’t imagine waking up to anyone else. He was my perfect match, and he’d made my life so much better that I sometimes needed to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
His phone made a buzzing, and he reached across to the nightstand and let out a curse. “Fucking Layne. He wants me to come up and get the rest of my father’s things. Seems he had a storage closet there. Who knew?”
“Do you ever regret giving him the business?” I stroked his cheek and closed my eyes.
“Not one bit. I’ve got everything right here in this house, everything that I’ll ever need. Including you.”
“So, we don’t have to go out to dinner tonight with my parents?” I’d been trying to talk him out of that little dinner date since he broke the news to me. I’d wanted the two of us to have a nice romantic dinner for two to celebrate our year together, but since it was also the anniversary of our families reuniting, as well as the official conception of the foundation, he wanted to celebrate by taking us all out to dinner.
“We do. We can’t back out on them now. Besides, your mother said she had some exciting news.” He shrugged his shoulders, and I narrowed my eyes. That didn’t make any sense.
“And, when did my mother say that?” It seemed she would have told me before telling Aiden, though I do think she had started to like him best. I tapped my finger on his chest as I waited for his answer, but he kissed me instead, pressing himself hard against me. I pushed him back and rolled over. “I’m waiting for your answer.”
“Don’t be difficult tonight, okay? We’re going to a nice dinner, and that’s all you need to worry about.” That was his polite way of saying that’s all I needed to know. He wasn’t going to fool me. He had something up his sleeve. The last thing I wanted was a surprise of any kind, but more than that, I didn’t want to ruin anything Aiden had planned. He loved to do things for me, and I had learned to let him.
It was his way of taking care of me, and while I wasn’t about to get into another argument with him about how independent I was, I’d learned to pick my battles and let him feel in charge.
It’s funny how when you love someone so much, you learn to let them have their way. The truth was I had learned to love it. I wouldn’t take that kind of shit from anyone else, of course, but Aiden was mine and I was his. I loved being his.
“Yes, sir,” I rolled my eyes and giggled.
“I’ll give you something to giggle about.” He tickled my sides, and I went into a fit of laughter so hard I had to warn him off.
“You can’t tickle a person first thing in the morning.” I nudged him away and sat up.
He rose up behind me and planted a kiss on my shoulder. “Mattie’s making breakfast for us this morning, so we better get ready and go down.”
I knew better than to argue about Mattie waiting on me. She’d been part of the package deal, and I had to respect the lady’s livelihood. Besides, it was nice having the extra hand around the house. It wasn’t like I could handle it alone with all those rooms, half of which I’d only been to the door of during my tour.
I’d turned one of them into a sitting room where I could work on the foundation in peace, far away from anyone else, but Aiden had learned that I was a pushover when it came to his ability to distract me from my work.
“Then I’m going to hurry up in the shower, so yours doesn’t get cold on you.” I jumped up and raced him to the shower, but he met me in there and slowly washed me from head to toe. He worked me up to such a thick lather I had to remind him that we were in a hurry and our food was getting cold.
Minutes later, we were dried off and dressed and headed
off to the kitchen where Mattie was finishing up our meal. She’d baked a breakfast casserole that had become one of my favorites.
“Pete Jr. is going to be making a trip to the nursery next week and wanted to know if there are any special requests. He’s going to rework the flower beds out front and replace a few of the plants that aren’t thriving. He should be around to talk to later.” Mattie stepped over to the small table by the window that overlooked the oaks, and that’s when I realized she was talking to me. “He said he’ll get anything you want.”
“Oh, thanks, but I’m not really sure I have anything special to request.” I hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed, but I had never really known much about flowers.
“You’re the lady of the house now. He remembers when he was a kid, and Mrs. Walker would ask for the most particular flowers. You could always request some petunias or maybe some lilies.” She went back to her stove and shut the oven off, then she went off to the private quarters where she spent her downtime during the day.
I waited until she was well out of earshot and muttered, “Lady of the house?”
“You are and not just any lady, but a special one.” His smile widened to meet his eyes. “I’d like you to start having more to do with the place, Lexa. I think it would be nice to share the place and you’ve been here almost a year and haven’t replaced anything or moved anything other than taking over that guest bedroom. It’s your home, so feel free to do with it what you like. I want you to feel at home.”
“You saw my apartment, Aiden. I never did anything special to the place. It was clean and tidy, and that’s how I liked it. I love the house the way it is.”
“Suit yourself.” He didn’t seem irritated, but I decided I’d try and have a little more say in things like gardening and my preferences of food, which Mattie had been trying to get out of me for months.
After lunch, I made a few requests with Pete and had him show me some options on my cell phone. I chose several flowers in mixed colors and hoped that Mrs. Walker would approve. I liked to honor her memory as often as I could because I knew she was still alive to Aiden when it came to Olde House.
I glanced down at the time and panicked as I realized I’d be in a mad rush to get ready for dinner with my parents. I was holding Aiden to the dessert he promised. When we got home, I wanted to be spread out like a feast for him to devour.
I ran upstairs and jumped in the shower wondering where he was, but knowing it didn’t take him half as long as it did me. I spent the rest of my hour alone getting dressed to impress, then Aiden came waltzing in and stood behind me in the mirror.
“I saw you with Pete. Did he get the flowers you wanted?”
“I had a little help choosing, but I’m certain they’ll be lovely.”
He undressed behind me and stepped into the shower. I watched his reflection, the perfect, thick cord of his muscular torso and his strong jawline, the one I loved to kiss and bite. And there were other things there I wanted to bite as well, and I heated up thinking about the pleasure he got from such teeth scraping actions.
We finished getting ready, and before long, we were in the car. He made small talk about my parents and how far along in their relationship we’d grown as he drove out toward the restaurant. The whole way there he went on and on about my parents, so much that I was sick of the both of them by the time we made it there.
“I think you’ll enjoy dinner very much.” He pulled into a parking spot and shut off the engine. We’d taken his sister’s mustang, and even though I loved the Shelby, his sister’s car was more comfortable.
“I hope so.” He came around to get me out of the car, and I took his hand when he opened the door taking a deep breath to try not to pout.
As we approached the restaurant, something felt a little off. It was the way he held my hand as if he wasn’t ever going to let it go.
We walked inside, and a small crowd of my friends and family all shouted surprise. I tried to grab hold of Aiden’s arm as I looked around and saw all the happy faces, including my parents and Bre, who’d dragged Daniel along. My smile was beaming, and I was so embarrassed, but then a hush fell over them, and I could see eyes fixed on the space behind me. I turned around to see Aiden with a tiny black box in hand.
I covered my cheeks and gasped as he dropped down to one knee. I reached for Bre’s hand as if doing so would keep me on my feet. She’d always been my support and my rock, and I knew with her there, I couldn’t fail.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes a moment, but then he gazed up into my eyes with such sincerity that tears pooled in mine. “Alexandra Marie Patterson, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” The crowd hushed even more as I prepared myself to answer.
Our entire past year flashed before my eyes. The night we met, who had known when I cut his clothes off and scrubbed his wounds that he would be kneeling before me at that moment asking me to be his wife. It had been a hard road, one made rockier from my lie, but here he was, and he still wanted me. That was true love. Unconditional, forgiving everything else that had happened to make the journey seem like an impossible dream.
“Yes, of course, I will, yes.” There was a collective aww that lifted up in the room as he slid the ring on my finger. Like us, it was the perfect fit.
He rose up from his knee and scooped me up into his arms, and we spun so fast that our friends and family became a blur. Then he put me down on my feet and kissed me as everyone cheered.
Even though I was drunk with emotion, I felt safe and content knowing we were meant to be. And at that moment, I could feel Shawn’s eyes on us, as well as Ally’s and her parents. I knew that somewhere, somehow, they were looking down at us and giving us their blessing.
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ROCK STAR BILLIONAIRE
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
Chapter One
Owen
I hadn’t felt that energized in a long time. Nothing compared to the feeling of pouring my heart and soul into a microphone with my band. And tonight, I was feeling adrenaline I hadn’t felt since the early days when we were still unknown teenagers playing dive bars and practicing in the garage. Why? Because something was about to happen that hadn’t happened in over five years. Something I had missed terribly, but hadn’t realized just how much until the very moment I was standing there with the mic in hand and the guys playing behind me.
“I can’t believe we are actually doing this, Owen! Bleeding Heart, finally back together.” My younger brother, Talon, beamed at me, pushing his blond hair out of his face. He twirled one of his drumsticks with stylish flair as he sat behind his old drum set.
“And, we actually don’t sound half bad for being so out of practice,” Jeremiah, my best friend and lead guitarist, added. “I’m just shocked we got you out of the office,” he added, looking directly at me. “You've been wearing a suit and tie for so long now, I was wondering if you even knew how to slip into those ripped-up jeans anymore.”
I laughed and shook my head. “What can I say, man? The record company has been keeping me pretty damned busy. You know how crazy this business is, and when you get to the top, you really start to understand just how hard you have to work to stay there.”
“Right, right,” Jeremiah piped in. “We get it, but we’ve been talking about coming out of hibernation for the last three years, and it's only happening now. I
'm not trying to bitch about it, but, hell, aside from Talon, most of us have barely even seen you. Still, it's great, dude, it's really great to have you back where you belong. You might be a billionaire record mogul now, but being on stage in front of that mic is where you truly belong. It's where you've always belonged, and you know it.” Jeremiah slapped a heavy hand on my shoulder as the other guys nodded in agreement.
It was true. I did tend to get lost in my work, but I couldn’t help it. Especially when my record company Young Productions had still been in its infancy. My dedication had paid off, though, because I’d managed to bring the company from a small, indie label to a billion-dollar up-and-coming monster of a label that was constantly churning out hot new talent and Billboard Top 40 hits.
Still, telling my band mates that didn’t make a difference when I had continuously promised that I’d get back behind the mic—a promise I’d made a long while ago and had taken years to fulfill. All they wanted was for me to keep my word so we could get back in the studio and on the road. I’d heard from each of them over the years, including our other guitarist, Jay, and our bassist, Nate, but ultimately, it had been Talon that had convinced me to make good on my promise.
“So, we going to play the new song you sent out or what? Give it a whirl?” Talon waggled an eager eyebrow at me as he continued twirling his sticks impatiently.
When I'd finally made the decision that we should get together, I’d sent out a new song I'd written to each of them. After being inspired by my brother’s struggle with drugs, I wrote the music and lyrics in just a couple of days, then attached it to an email and sent it out to everyone along with the note telling them it was time we got the band back together. Naturally, everyone was pumped to try the new song since they’d all been waiting on me for years.