by Lexy Timms
“No. Really, we can’t.”
“What’s with you? Do you know how many men would love to be in your shoes right now? I chose you, Justin Harlow, and I will let you have me,” she says confidently.
“Believe me, it’s not that I don’t want you.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come now, you can do better than that. What is it, do you have a girlfriend? I don’t care if you do,” she says.
“Not exactly.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know,” I say again.
I stand and tuck myself back into my pants and buckle up.
“You’re serious?” she asks woundedly.
“I’m afraid so. I have a pressing matter I need to attend to.”
After I get Alexis out of my office, I drive straight over to Sloane’s apartment.
I pull up in front of her building and I can see her bedroom light is on.
Is 10:30 too late to make a social call?
Too bad, I know she’s still up and I need to see her.
I need to talk to her.
I knock on the door.
“Who is it?” she asks.
“It’s me, Justin.”
“Hey Justin, what brings you over at this hour?” she says, opening the door.
“I needed to see you, I need to talk to you,” I say, stepping into her apartment.
“I’m studying with Bryce right now.”
“Where is he, I don’t see him?”
“He’s in my room.”
“You’re studying in your bedroom?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”
Fuck, I don’t like the sound of that one bit.
“I need to talk to you privately,” I say, just as Bryce comes walking out of her bedroom like he belongs there.
I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me.
“Go ahead, talk,” Sloane says.
“Never mind.”
I turn and walk out the front door and head to my car.
“Hey, Justin.” I hear behind me.
I turn around and see that it’s Bryce.
“I planned on being around to pick up the pieces after you dumped Sloane. We both knew it was just a matter of time before you moved on. I knew, you knew and so did she. You were just playing with her. She was your flavor of the month. It was just a conquest thing for you. That’s how guys like you operate. She was heartbroken like I suspected would happen all along. Why did you even touch her? I’m sure there are countless women, more experienced women, more your type out there. So why did you have to go and mess with her, mess with her heart? She’s my friend and I care about her. More than you ever will. Don’t come around here anymore,” Bryce tells me in no uncertain terms.
He doesn’t give me a chance to answer. He just turns and walks back into Sloane’s apartment, and maybe into her heart.
I stand there feeling so small, like such an asshole.
Everything Bryce said is true.
Why didn’t I stop myself?
I’ve made a mess of everything.
Hurt the girl I’m beginning to realize I care about, really care about.
Do I try and make it up to her or should I just move on?
Alexis is a beautiful woman and we do have so much in common.
Then why don’t I want her like I want Sloane?
My dear precious, Sloane.
I blew it.
I should leave her alone.
Let her find a better man, not a chump like me.
Bryce is eager to fill my shoes. He made that loud and clear.
To say my first night without Sloane was a disaster would be an understatement.
~To Be Continued~
About C.C. Cartwright
My passions lie in writing and reading sexy contemporary romance novels.
Personal experiences are often the inspiration for my sexy romances, so there’s a little bit of me in every story I pen. I will leave you to figure out which parts are true and which parts are fiction! I believe in writing about heroines who are strong, smart, sassy, sexy and have a sense of humor.
Listening to my favorite music while writing inspires me to create my characters and
makes their love stories come alive.
When I’m taking a break from writing, I enjoy spending time with my family.
As a hopeless romantic, I believe in happily-ever-after’s and that each day is for living, loving and laughing.
I love to hear from my readers!
Live, Love, Laugh, C.C. Cartwright.
View C.C. Cartwright’s Amazon Author Page to check out all of my books and find Just Love Me Book 2.
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Website: cccartwrightnovels.com
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INDECENT DESIRES
By
KYLIE WALKER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 2016 by KYLIE WALKER
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. KYLIE WALKER holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
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Chapter 1
“Crystal, do you want another one?” Ryan’s voice brought Crystal out of her thoughts and back to reality. She looked at the drink in her hand. It was nothing but ice. Normally she would have said no but tonight she felt like she needed the escape, or the strength. She looked at Ryan with his plain brown hair and dull brown eyes and she said, “Alright, I’ll have one more.”
She knew she wasn’t being fair to him. He’s really not a bad looking guy. It was just her mood, and the fact that he was in fact, dull. She scanned the dance floor and saw Debbie dancing with a tall well-built dark headed guy with a lot of tattoos. She looked like she was enjoying herself. Debbie has a knack for doing that no matter what else is going on in her life. Crystal used to be able to do that…but something about the monotony of being with Ryan had brought her down to a place she’d never been. In the past she would have spent all day thinking about dancing in the club to the deafening loud music with her friends after a long, grueling week at school. She’d be laughing and joking and the beat of the music and the lights and the smiles on her friend’s faces would make her feel really alive. They would dance until last call and then they’d leave arm in arm, giggling and talking about the men they’d met and danced with as they hailed a cab, but not tonight….or any night lately. Lately she comes with Ryan because her friends beg her to and they sit at a table as far away from the “incessant noise” as possible. Clubs aren’t Ryan’s “thing.” He doesn’t care for the noise or all of the people. He goes anyways because Crystal wants to…for which she gives him credit. But while they’re there, they don’t dance and there’s no laughing and silliness…it’s like drinks with one of her legal professors…just fucking dull. Tonight her mind is filled with all of the scenarios related to what she knew she had to do. She’s been thinking of breaking up with Ryan and tonight she was past thinking about it. She was in the planning stages, and as much as she hated the idea of hurting him…she knew that she had to do it sooner rather than later.
Ryan left to get the drinks and she continued watching the fun-loving people on the dance floor. Heather, a good friend of she and Debbie, was dancing with her boyfriend Craig. Crystal envied their relationship. They have been together since high school and they seem so in love still. Heather and Craig were only in New York for the weekend. They live in Jerse
y where Crystal and Debbie grew up. Craig works for Crystal’s dad in his contracting business. She watched them kiss and thought: I felt love like that once, the kind that seizes not just your heart but your breath and everything inside of you. It consumes you…and then one day out of nowhere, he decides that it’s over and you never saw it coming. Just like Ryan…the poor thing. Crystal truly hoped that breaking up with him wouldn’t leave him as devastated as she was then. Ryan has a lot going for him. She hoped that maybe he’ll be like her and just find a distraction to get him through it. After her break-up, she put everything she had into focusing on her dreams. She poured herself into her studies and set about soaking up every crumb of knowledge she could grasp in law school.
Crystal met Ryan about a year ago and even while she was adamantly against getting into another relationship, he’d wedged his way into her life anyways. He’s just so blasé. There’s no impulsiveness in his DNA at all. If Crystal woke up and wanted to go sky diving tomorrow, she would do it. Ryan on the other hand, would list all of the reasons that it was silly and dangerous and end with how they should save their time and money for important things, things like getting married and starting a family. Those were things he talked about a lot, and things that Crystal wasn’t sure that she even wanted. She absolutely knew that she didn’t want them right now. She’s only twenty-three. She has plenty of time for that later in life.
“Here you go.” Ryan sat the drink down in front of her, “You’re not going to dance with Debbie?”
Crystal smiled. Debbie tried to drag her out there before the last song started. It wasn’t because Debbie needed her, but because she knew that Ryan wasn’t about to dance with her. Debbie felt bad for Crystal…and once Crystal let her in on what she was going to do tonight, she’d been relieved. Debbie didn’t have anything against Ryan…nobody did, really. He was actually one of those guys who barely left an impression at all. Debbie thought Crystal deserved more than that out of life.
“She looks like she’s doing fine,” She thought that it would be nice to at least have a good time before she broke his heart so in a last ditch effort she said, “We could dance you know.”
“You know I have two left feet,” was once again, his reply. That was always his reply as if that excused him from trying, or learning how…or just plain making a fool of himself like half the other people out there were doing. She sighed and sipped her drink. He tried to grab her hand and she brushed it off. Pulling her phone out of her purse she looked at the time. It was just after twelve-thirty. The others would probably still be going strong an hour from now. Crystal wasn’t up for another hour of this.
“Ryan I’m just about ready to leave,”
“What’s that?” he said, indicating he couldn’t hear.
“I said, let’s finish these and go!”
“Sure!” As he yelled that out, the music stopped. He furrowed his brows and said, “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, why?”
“I don’t know. You seem different tonight. You seem distant.”
“I guess I do need to talk,” she said, “But this isn’t really the place. There is too much music and background noise.”
He nodded his head in agreement and tossed back the rest of his beer. “Let’s go then”
Crystal motioned to Debbie and Heather, pointed at the exit and waved. She got up then and followed Ryan outside to get a cab.
“My place or yours?” he asked as they climbed in the back of the cab.
“Both.” she answered.
She wasn’t remotely interested in a sleepover tonight. She thought about Ryan’s soft delicate hands and how she wished for them to be strong and manly so many nights. She listened with annoyance as he gave the cab driver her address only and then he turned to her and said, “What’s going on, Crystal?” He wasn’t an expert in the love department, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew something wasn’t right.
She took a deep breath and twisting a piece of her long red hair around her fingers she said, “Ryan, I just want to be alone tonight.” Realizing she was about to chicken out again she quickly added, “Maybe not just tonight. I don’t think I feel the same. I’m sorry.” The look on his face went from confused to hurt and she hated it. She could actually relate to how he was feeling. She’d been in his place before…thinking everything was going well and that they had a future…but this just wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t any fairer to him than it was to her. While he was wasting his time on a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere, he could be building one that would last a lifetime…with someone else.
Finally he said, “What?” Like maybe he thought he’d heard her wrong. Then in a hurt voice that tugged at her heart he said, “So that’s it huh? You’re breaking up with me?”
“I’m sorry Ryan…but you know you knew from the beginning that the last thing I wanted was to get into a serious relationship. I’ve tried to be honest. I’ve tried to tell you that I’m just not ready for marriage…and most certainly not for kids.”
The cab pulled up to her apartment building as he sat stoically staring ahead. She reached for the door and the driver said, “$26.50.”
“Hang on,” Ryan said, “I’ll need you to take me to 233 Madison.” He looked back at Crystal like he was going to say something else, but then quickly looked away. She climbed out and stood on the sidewalk and watched him go. She supposed that breaking up in the back of a cab wasn’t the best place she could have done it. The club would have been even more impersonal. But, letting him come up would have been too risky. In private he would have gone out of his way to change her mind. She wasn’t going to change her mind, but she didn’t want to drag things out any longer than she already had.
With a sigh that was a mixture of sadness and relief, she headed up to her little apartment. She and Debbie had lived there since right out of high school. They felt fortunate to have found it. It was a small one bedroom, but it had an office that they’d decorated together and converted into a room for Debbie. Crystal paid the majority of the rent since she’d been left a hefty inheritance when her mother died a few years prior but Debbie’s portion definitely helped her money last now that she was in law school. She and Debbie got along great too and although most of their friends changed roommates like underwear, she was sure that she and Debbie would make it until one or the other of them decided to move on with their life.
Crystal let herself in and sank into the couch. She tried to shake off the residual bad feelings she had from hurting Ryan. She focused instead on the upcoming year. It’s her last year of law school and nearly time for her to begin her internship. She knew how fortunate she was to have a parent who knew so many people in the D.A.’s office. She knew the internship was given to her partly because of her late mother Susan’s, friendship with the Executive Assistant D.A. John Kramer. Crystal’s mother was a criminal psychologist that worked closely with the D.A.’s office and her opinions and testimony had been respected, valued and sought after right up until the time of her death. She was killed in a car accident two years ago and in spite of the fact that Crystal had spent the last several years of her life being angry with her over causing the break-up of her marriage to Crystal’s father…she missed her. She also appreciated the fact that her mother had provided for her education. Her father wasn’t exactly poor but law school would have definitely been a stretch on a contractor’s salary.
She thought about John Kramer again and she hoped that someone that high up and important in the city’s justice system wouldn’t have chosen her based only on who she was. She had worked hard in school and she had the grades to prove it. She’d like to believe that even without John’s relationship with her mother, she would have been chosen on her own merits. Whatever the case was, she was excited about it and she planned on making her own name as respected as her mother’s someday.
Chapter 2
Crystal sat in the lobby of the Manhattan DA’s office along with nine of her fellow law students awaiting the
ir assignments for their internships. It wasn’t the first time she’d been here. She’d stopped by more than once to see her mother when she was alive. They’d recently redecorated it and Crystal was trying to decide if she liked it or not. It was definitely warmer. They’d changed the floors from the old white linoleum to a dark brown that shone like glass and set off the beige color of the walls and the burnt orange of the drapes. The drapes were the only real “human” touch. The decorations on the walls were photos of the D.A. and A.D.A.’s as well as certificates and plaques for one award or another. She supposed that in the chaotic world we lived in and the chaos this office sees daily, too much “fluff” might just be another distraction.
Crystal looked at the photos of Eric Steel and his A.D.A.’s. His photo didn’t do him justice…not that she’d ever seen him in person. But what she had seen of him on television belied a face and body that could have graced the covers of magazines like men’s health and even Playgirl. He’s that good-looking…and it was obvious in the way he spoke and carried himself that he knew it. The picture here in the lobby looked as if they’d tried hard to focus on his strong features rather than his good-looks. Without a paper sack over his head though, they’d be hard to hide. All of the students had already been made aware by their instructor that only male interns would be assigned to him and Crystal was almost certain she’d be assigned to John Kramer anyways. John was the most senior ADA and as such Eric had promoted him as soon as he was elected into office. He had given him the title of: Executive Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Trial Division. He is the one that prosecutes the most serious violent crimes in the office. John could have run for D.A. himself, but her mother always said he had no political aspirations.
Their instructor hadn’t given them any specifics about why Eric could only have male interns, but Eric’s reputation preceded him. They all knew that he was the youngest district attorney that Manhattan had ever seen. That was due to his brilliance and tenacity in the court room. They also knew that he was one of the most sought after bachelors in Manhattan due to the fact that even at forty-one years old he was drop-dead gorgeous with the added bonus of being the son of an oil-tycoon and filthy rich.