by Bennett, Liv
He frowns and squares his shoulders, looking angry and impatient. “No.”
“I don’t think I should talk about it if she didn’t want you to know about her appointment.” Dropping the fork on my plate, I bow my head to avoid his questioning eyes that’re boring into me with demands of an answer.
“I have a right to know about her wellbeing,” he insists.
I don’t move and keep my lips tightly pursed. The harder I make it for him, the more likely he’ll believe me when I spill the beans.
“I’m your boss. I’m the one paying your salary. You report to me, not to her.”
“She might fire me.” I break my silence and glance up at him with fearful eyes.
“I won’t allow it.” He tries to sound reassuring, but if I was truly about to give away sensitive information, I wouldn’t buy into his empty promises at this point.
I shake my head and start to get up.
He shoves his hand in front of me on the kitchen island to stop me. “I promise I’ll not tell her I found it out from you.”
I swallow, making sure to look hesitant when I say, “She started bleeding after we dropped off the kids at the daycare. I overheard her gynecologist confirming her miscarriage.”
His wide eyes fill with sadness at the sound of the evil word. “Miscarriage?”
His shoulders slump, his naked torso leans against the kitchen island as if emptied of its energy resources. His eyes fall on his hand while “Miscarriage” rolls out of his lips again.
“I’m sorry.” I really am. It hurts to me inflict pain on someone’s heart. I’m not made for manipulating people because I feel their pain penetrating my own soul. The defeated look this mighty and strong man has makes my stomach churn and I instantly forget about the delicious food before me.
“I had no idea she was pregnant,” he mumbles to himself.
“Eight weeks,” I blurt out, although I have no idea why.
He frowns as suspicion replaces the sadness on his face. I curse at myself mentally. Why didn’t I hold my tongue? How could I be so silly to make such a comment without having the slightest idea about their sex schedules? Their youngest son is an infant. Perhaps they hadn’t had sex until very recently. Oh, god! I’ll make him suspect Loraine of infidelity.
Without commenting on my utter-bullshit lie, he jumps to his feet and strides out of the kitchen. Fear strikes my heart. Hell, instead of helping her get out of her marriage as a wealthy woman, I might have just caused Loraine to have a divorce without getting a penny out of it.
CH 11
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What did I do? I labeled a possibly innocent woman as a cheating whore. How could I be so stupid?
I pace in my bedroom for hours until the dawn of the next day, biting my nails for fear of what was coming. Loraine will fire me on the spot as soon as she finds out about my beyond-belief foolishness. My thickness goes to show a stupid friend is worse than the smartest of enemies. I’ve ruined her marriage before she could get her affairs in order.
Throughout the night, I didn’t hear a single sound of a fight, but that could mean several things. Perhaps, Loraine was asleep when Kenneth went to talk with her. Or, worse, he might skip the talk altogether and go straight to a divorce lawyer.
At five-thirty, I can’t take it anymore. I slip into a black tank-top and blue jeans and leave my room, keeping my ears open for any slight noise. Just when I arrive at the kitchen, I hear a car driving out of the garage and look out the window to see it’s Kenneth’s car rolling into the street. My fears are coming true. He’s leaving so early in the morning to talk to his lawyers.
I have to let Loraine know about my mistake to give her a chance to prepare herself. It’s the least I can do even though she might cut my tongue out in anger. Rushing up the stairs, I stop before her bedroom door, my chest heaving up and down with my irregular breathing.
My chest tightens with sadness at the thought of having to leave this paradise so soon. Shaking my head to push away the disturbing thoughts, I knock on the door.
Loraine opens the door in her black nightgown, yawning.
“Good morning, Loraine,” I say apologetically. “I need to talk to you about something urgent.”
Frowning, she grabs a matching silk robe and walks out of her bedroom. I follow her into a study and keep quiet until she closes the door and stands before me.
“First of all, I’m very sorry. I never meant to do it. It was just a lip of tongue.”
She lifts her hand to silence me. “What are you talking about?”
“Last night, I told Kenneth that you’d had a miscarriage.” I bite my bottom lip and tilt my head down in shame. “I also told him you were eight weeks along with your pregnancy.”
“And?”
I glance up at her in curiosity. There might be a light at the end of the tunnel. “He left abruptly, so I thought, maybe I might have given away too much information and put you in a difficult situation.”
She squints her eyes at me, looking baffled, clearly not understanding my point.
I open my mouth to explain myself, but quickly close it back to keep myself from insulting her with my baseless speculations about her falling pregnant from an affair outside her marriage.
“Did he show any physical interest in you?” she asks, throwing me off balance with her question.
I glance around the room while thinking through Kenneth’s responses last night. He was anything but physically interested in me, despite both of us being semi-naked.
“Did you flirt with him?” She crosses her arms across her chest and taps her foot on the floor with a hint of impatience and intolerance at my failure.
“I tried.”
“You tried?” She lets out a loud breath of frustration, rolling her eyes in cynicism. “You don’t try with a man like Kenneth. You throw yourself at him. You pull down his boxers and grab his penis at the first opportunity. Because that’s what other women will do the minute they sense his weakness,” she yells, making me startle with the anger lashing out of her lips.
“Weakness?” I mumble when I should have just kept my mouth shut. God! What’s up with my uncontrollable mouth?
“Yes, weakness.” She widens her eyes pointedly as she continues with a sarcastic tone. “I stopped having sex with him a week ago because I have a plan to accomplish. I wanted to give you a chance to divert his sexual energy to you. He’s a very sexual man. A week is too long for him to go without any intimacy. He’ll start looking elsewhere soon.” She pauses to take a break to breathe out her anger. “Do you know what Trish or Wendy will do once they smell his need on him? They’ll attack him in a heartbeat. They won’t spare a single second before they offer to give him the release he needs. And he won’t hesitate to take it because the little slut I hired to seduce my husband is suddenly not a slut anymore.”
Jeez. I’ve never been called a slut before, and I must say, it hurts. I take a step back because I fear she’ll run her long, pointy nails down my face. “I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Just up your game. Be slutty. Be girly. Show him some real, obvious attention. You’ve got me on your side. You can ask me anything you want regarding his sexual preferences. You can buy any type of clothing that you think will get his knees weak. For Christ’s sake, walk around the house completely naked if you must. Just make sure my husband won’t fuck those real sluts.” Her lips are trembling in rage, and I realize her anger isn’t exactly directed at me, although I’m the one who started it.
My hand itches to reach for her to give her a quick squeeze on her shoulder to show my support. As strange as it may sound, I can feel exactly what she must be worried about. If my own jealousy-filled reaction to Trish’s attempts at touching Kenneth is a sign of something, then to Loraine it represents the terror of losing her husband to those undeserving, opportunist sluts. Not that I’m any more deserving. Women in love do all sorts of irrational things. Hiring me to seduce her husband must be Loraine’s way of protecting h
er heart and having a say in circumstances otherwise beyond her control.
“I’ll do it. I promise I’ll seduce your husband,” I say softly and hopefully convincingly.
“Listen. Forget about the contract and the five months.” She lets her arms go free on either side of her body and heads toward the door. “You have exactly one week to finish your task. If you can’t tempt him enough to have sex with you by Tuesday of next week, our deal will be over. Your contract will be null automatically and you won’t get a single penny out of the deal.”
“But—”
“No but’s. You either deliver your part of the deal or just get out so I can find someone else who can.”
One week? Seducing the un-seducible man in just one week? Maybe if I were a professional whore who knew how to play with men like a toy. I can hardly look Kenneth in the eye for longer than a minute. How am I supposed to get him to desire me? I’d have a better chance at getting a position as an astronomer for NASA’s next project to Mars than getting Kenneth to break the vows he made to his wife. Why did I get myself into this mess when I knew my limitations regarding flirting with men?
“Deal?” Loraine yells, urging me out of my internal dilemma with a startle.
I have no other option but to take her offer. She’s the one with money and I’m dirt poor. “Deal,” I say softly, already feeling defeated.
“Fine. If you can actually complete the task, I’ll pay you your part in full. You’ll not have to wait five months to get your $200.000.” She yanks open the door and stalks out of the room. Just when I start to let my muscles loosen, she takes a step back and looks at me. “Get ready. You’ll drive me to the clinic today.”
“Is Scott not around?”
She draws in a long breath and gives me a “what the fuck is wrong with you” smile. I cover my mouth in embarrassment. Seriously, I’m asking the same question to myself.
“He’s around. But this is a private matter. Can I trust your discretion?”
Apparently, it hasn’t yet dawned on her I become too loose-lipped to trust when I get nervous. I nod anyway, internally promising myself I’ll guard her secret with my life.
After getting the kids to eat breakfast and dropping them off at their schools, I drive the car to the address Loraine gave me. I pull up in front of a luxurious one-story building that has Women’s Choice Health Clinic written in small letters.
Without giving much thought to the label, I pull the key from the ignition and extend it to Loraine. Absentmindedly, she slips the keys in her handbag but remains still in her place.
I stay with her in the car, unsure if I should give her a minute of privacy. It’s impossible not to notice the sadness in her eyes, when her hand slowly reaches for her belly and her fingers tenderly caress the small but visible bump.
My eyes turn and look up at the sign by the door again and then open wide when I land them back on Loraine’s stomach.
She didn’t have a miscarriage. She’s having an abortion.
THE END
~
SEDUCED (Forget Me Not - Vol 2) is scheduled to be published May 2015. Sign up for my newsletter to get alerts about my upcoming releases: eepurl.com/F_nqD
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Important note: If you liked Deceived, please consider leaving a review. If you email me the link to your review at [email protected], I’ll happily gift you a digital copy of Seduced.
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Pleasure Extraordinaire
by Liv Bennett
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Michael Hawkins is mature, rich, and drop-dead sexy. He is also gay. And, for some strange reason, he wants me to be his pretend girlfriend in exchange for a big sum of money.
He has one condition, though: I cannot get close to a man, or be seen with one during the one year I’m contracted with him. I thought it’d be a piece of cake, until I meet his two grown-up, gloriously handsome sons, who won’t take no for an answer, including from me.
I’ll not fall for their cheap tricks even if it means I have to close my eyes each time I see them. And each time I close my eyes, I imagine their naked bodies doing sinful acts on mine. God help me before my physical urges get the best of me, and the contract blows up in my face.
Download your free copy of Pleasure Extraordinaire 1 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I9NSFDO
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Zane by Liv Bennett
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Zane Hawkins, the new CEO of Hawkins Media Group, is officially dating to marry. After two years of on-again-off-again romance with the actress Penelope Davis, Zane is now ready to settle down.
Multiple sources confirm that it’s the recent death of his father causing him to rethink his bachelor lifestyle and consider starting a family of his own.
Who will be the lucky bride to tie down California’s most eligible bachelor? A wildly famous Hollywood actress? An activist and visionary lawyer? A humble and media-shy nurse?
If the persisting rumors are true, there’s a secret list of the most suitable candidates drawn up singlehandedly by Zane’s very capable assistant, Julie Connor. Even so, Zane has never been one to follow rules and directions.
Whoever is going to be the lucky winner, she deserves special kudos, as the road to Zane’s heart is known to go through several hoops and hurdles.
Zane 1 is now available on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WVOSY92
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Blinding Love 1 (Menage Erotic Romance)
by Liv Bennett
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He loves me and hurts me. The more intense his possessiveness becomes, the deeper the scars he leaves. And, I take in everything; the good and the bad, the love and the jealousy…until I can’t do anymore.
~~~
Our love is blinding, tainted, intense.
Our love is punishing, broken, not meant to last.
It is beautiful, deep and adorned with can’t live without you’s, don’t leave me’s.
And sorrows and imperfections.
Yet if I had to start all over again, I’d choose you…always you.
Download your free copy on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L48ZXN6
About the Author
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Liv Bennett lives in California with her husband and daughter. Reading and writing erotic romance are her favorite forms of relaxation, in addition to long walks and yoga. She’s a social drinker of coffee, but a serious tea addict.
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[email protected]
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Books by Liv Bennett
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An Illicit Pursuit (Pat & Zachary)
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Pursuit Series (Taylor & Adam)
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Pleasure Extraordinaire Series (Lindsay)
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Blinding Love Series
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Fatal Seduction Series
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Pleasure Extraordinaire Series (Zane)
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Forget Me Not Series
Prologue
CH 1
CH 2
CH 3
CH 4
CH 5
CH 6
CH 7
CH 8
CH 9
CH 10
CH 11
Pleasure Extraordinaire
Zane
Blinding Love 1 (Menage Erotic Romance)
About the Author
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