She cupped my cheek, her hands rough from the years she’d spent working our small farm. “I didn’t want to mess up your life. Your daddy would tell me about all the wonderful places you were going and the places you’d been. I didn’t want to tie you down. You were always such a free spirit and I kept you from that for so long…I didn’t want to keep you from what you loved.”
“You could have asked me to come home! I would have come home!”
Her smile was sad and she nodded slowly. “I know you would have. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I tried to crush that adventurous spirit of yours because I never wanted you to leave me and it took you leaving to show me that I was wrong.”
“Mama…”
“I’m sorry, Lena. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for all the fighting and I’m sorry I…”
I knew she was trying to apologize for the night she’d hit me, but she didn’t need to say anything. I’d already anything. I’d already forgiven her. I threw my arms around her and held her tight. “You don’t have to apologize, mama. I’m…I’m ready to put it behind us.”
We parted and she wiped tears from her eyes, laughing softly. Once she’d dabbed the tears from her eyes, she glanced towards Jami and cleared her throat. “Well, aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?”
I cleared my throat and took a step back, motioning towards Jami. That wasn’t good enough for him. He wrapped a strong arm around me and pulled me close, grinning. “The name is Jamison!”
“Jamison. A good strong name!” Papa said, reaching out to shake his hand.
I looked on as my boyfriend greeted each of my parents with a smile and my heart fluttered in my chest. Was this what contentedness felt like? I’d spent so much of my life being angry and bitter that I’d forgotten what it truly felt like to be happy. All that time I thought I was traveling the world and all I was doing was running away from things I didn’t want to face.
It had taken a playboy millionaire to make me happy and repair what I thought was an unfixable situation. I couldn’t have ever imagined myself being here, laughing with my parents and the man I loved. Nothing in the world could have convinced me that this was how this story would end, but I didn’t care.
This was my happily ever after.
BOOK 3: STEAL ME (PART 1)
Blueprints of Lust
Amanda Cochran had always been attracted to older men, but this was a secret that she was going to take to her grave. She’s never been one to fish in the company pond, but that becomes difficult when she meets August Rivers. Her designs have impressed him enough to offer her a ground floor opportunity. He wants to see what she can come up with to design a new building. It can’t be cookie cutter and has to showcase certain traits of the owner. They will have to work side by side after hours. Amanda will have to find a way to rebuff his advances without fallen victim to her own overanxious libido. August will see her as a challenge. He has never had any problem getting a woman and her disinterest will only fuel his desire even more.
Chapter one
I stood in front of my mirror looking at my curves. I knew that there were guys that would beg on bended knee to be with me. I was not immune to the lingering glances in my direction and I had on occasion purposely bent over to give them a thrill. I liked the attention and I wore clothing that was constricting and hard to breathe in. I wanted them to crave that one last look before disappearing from their lives forever. I didn’t consider myself a tease, but I suppose from their point of view it would appear that way.
“I would say that if you’re trying to make a good first impression that dress will do it. I just hope that you don’t need the Jaws of Life to get out of it at the end of the day. The heels are a nice touch. I’ve never been able to wear those. I feel like I’m going to fall over, but you handle it with grace.” Tina was that friend that always had something to say on everything. I could always count on her to be completely honest without sugar-coating anything. It was refreshing to know that she would not just tell me what I wanted to hear.
“I figure that it’s best to take advantage of what I have been blessed with. I used to think that it was a curse to have a little bit of extra coming and going. I see the advantages. I sometimes find that I want to run over to those skinny bitches and tell them to eat something. I eat right, but I will always have more than average. I am quite pleased that most of that extra weight landed on my breasts and my ass.” Tina was a slacker. She didn’t believe in a 9 to 5 job and always depended on those guys that were willing to pay her bills. She never promised them anything in return, but it was always an unwritten understanding.
I was 5’9, 170 pounds with a mixture of black and red in my hair. I made my own clothes. I’d always been a creative personality and that led to me sending in a couple of my building designs to a well-known architect.
August Rivers had actually taken an interest in me. To have him personally invite me to his office was unheard of. I had heard the rumors of the way that he treated the female staff under his watch. I didn’t think that I had much to worry about. Those photos of him out and about were with those girls that were airbrushed into the perfect specimens.
“If his tongue doesn’t fall to the floor, then he has to be gay. There are certain things that men have a hard time looking away from. You guarantee that you’ll have a line around the block to talk to you.” My type was an acquired taste but was becoming acceptable in this day and age. I only wished that this was the case in high school and college, but for the most part, I was that wallflower hanging back and looking in from the outside.
“I appreciate the effort to butter me up
and make me feel more confident, but I’m already nervous as it is.” I grabbed my purple leather jacket and covered the black slinky dress with the accompanying white belt.
“I would wish you luck, but I don’t think that you need it.” Tina had her blond curls into pigtails giving her that innocent look. Those that knew her well enough would know that there was nothing innocent about her. She was my roommate, but she was always with a different man every week. I just couldn’t bring myself to being with a man for the fleeting chance of 5 minutes of pleasure.
“From your lips to god’s ears.” My mother had always told me that I was never going to amount to much and that really did do something to my self-esteem. It was bad enough that I was struggling with weight issues, but to have her constantly berate me made it necessary to leave her in the dust after graduation.
I hadn’t been home in over two years. My older sister Carol keeps trying to lure me back to the homestead for the holidays. I always come up with some lame excuse to get out of it. She was always that golden child that I couldn’t measure up to. There was no way that she knew how our mother treated me. I got the feeling from my mother’s disapproval that my pregnancy somehow ruined her life.
I got into my old grey and dismal Toyota and prayed that it would turn over. I waited and then I turned the ignition and heard the rumble of the engine come to life underneath me. I could smell the exhaust fumes coming through the floor. My inspection was coming up soon and I had a feeling that I was going to need a lot more than I had in my bank account to get this thing road worthy.
I put it into gear and it backfired making a young man in front of me crossing the street almost wet himself in fear that it was a drive by. Chicago did have its fair share of crime. There was no way that anybody could leave their doors open unless of course, you wanted your stuff to be pawned. I had a baseball bat by my bed and I knew had to swing for the fences.
I drove down the street at 9:00 AM on a Monday morning and I saw these people moving along like sheep and I realized that I was one of them. Bumper to bumper traffic was not uncommon for this time of day. I had to give Tina credit for being able to lounge in her pyjamas. I needed that security and I had been pounding the pavement to find my dream job for the past five years. It meant that I had to take on temporary jobs. I think that I let my mother’s words distract me and make me feel that I wasn’t worthy of anything good in my life.