Hidden (Broken Man Book 1) Read online

  She slides out of my hands and crouches down, making my abdomen clench with what I know is coming.

  The moment her mouth closes on me, I release a long, slow breath. Tia’s mouth is hot, her lips tight on my cock as she slides it in and out.

  I clutch her hair in one hand, and pump my hips against her, loving the way she makes me feel. My eyes shut as she pleasures me with her mouth. And, as all thoughts drop from my mind, I realize something.

  I’m finally moving on.

  CHAPTER 8

  ___________________

  TIA

  I spend time with Andy almost every day. Between walks around the lake and painting landscapes and portraits of him—in and out of his clothes—we talk about his past. I learn why he was so intent on staying inside his safe little cabin.

  I also realize how short life is and how much can pass me by if I don’t cling to all the good things.

  My last night in Andy’s small town, I sleep at his house. After we share a bottle of wine and a pasta dinner, I lay naked in his bed, trying not to think about tomorrow.

  But he brings it up. “Tia,” he murmurs.

  I turn on my side. “Yes?”

  He traces his finger along my arm, and then on my ribs, making me shiver. “I wish you weren’t leaving tomorrow.”

  “Me too.”

  He breathes quietly in the space between us, but doesn’t say anything more. We’ve spent the better part of a month together, and our feelings have gone far beyond friendship. Or, at least mine have. But Andy is holding back—and so am I. I’m leaving tomorrow, and he’s staying here. In his safe cabin.

  There might not be a future for us.

  Andy scoots closer to kiss me, and we both put ourselves into the moment. No more words.

  We make love in his bed one last time, and fall asleep in each other’s arms.

  ___________________

  The next morning, I kiss Andy lingeringly and let him walk me back to my cabin. I’ve packed up some of my things, but I have to clean up my painting supplies still.

  But I don’t want Andy there while I do it. It hurts to bad knowing I probably won’t see him after this.

  So I hug him hard and tell him good luck, and let him walk out the door.

  He swallows hard, lingers for a minute, and then nods. “Goodbye, Tia.”

  “Goodbye.”

  I don’t watch him open the door. I don’t watch him walk down the front steps. I don’t even go to the window and watch him head down the road, back to his cabin.

  I just sit in the middle of the floor and pull my knees to my chest. I hadn’t expected this. Not to meet someone—let alone Andy.

  And I certainly hadn’t expected the rest.

  Love.

  I rest my cheek on my knees, feeling a sob well up in my throat. Look at me, crying over a man. Maybe my sister is right—we all need a little adventure in our lives. And I certainly got it with Andy.

  But, why does it have to be over?

  And what happened to my outgoing nature? Saying how I feel?

  I stand and wipe the single stray tear from my cheek. I can’t let Andy go—not without telling him how I feel. I can’t leave without him knowing the truth, no matter what happens.

  I dash to the door and yank it open, at the same time shoving the screen. It hits something with a thud and I hear a quite curse.

  “Andy!”

  He’s standing on the other side of the door as if he never left.

  “Why are you still here?” I ask through the screen.

  “I couldn’t leave.”

  My heart clenches. “Why not?”

  “I’d miss you too bad.”

  “And I couldn’t let you go.”

  “Why not?” he asks.

  Here it is. The moment of truth. “Because I love you.”

  He yanks open the screen door and hauls me into his arms, dropping kisses on my mouth and cheeks. “I love you, too, Tia.”

  My heart swells with love for him. “Really?”

  He brushes his thumb on my cheek. “Really. I don’t want to let you go. Not yet.”

  I nod, kissing him again. I don’t want to let him go either. Not after we just found each other.

  “What do we do?” I ask.

  He lowers his head and brushes his lips on mine. “I’m not sure. This is new territory for me. It’s been so long since I left my cabin.”

  “This is new territory for me, too. Love. I’m not sure what to do.”

  He grins. “Me either. But whatever it is, we’ll do it together.”

  I kiss him long and hard. “Deal.”

  EPILOGUE

  SIX MONTHS LATER

  ___________________

  TIA

  “Here it is,” Andy says, taking my hand and helping me out of the car. “The place I want to buy for us.”

  We’re across the lake from his small cabin and the cottage I stayed in last summer. We fell in love in this town, and neither of us wanted to leave.

  “Why not keep your house?” I ask. “It’s big enough for both of us.”

  Andy pulls me into his arms. “It is. And I thought about it. But…it makes sense for me to move on. To show you I’m over the past and ready for a future with you.”

  I kiss him with everything I have. “That means a lot to me. I really love you, you know.”

  “I love you too. There is another reason I wanted to move, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  He grins. “I was hoping our future might involve a bigger family.”

  My stomach jumps. A bigger family?

  Andy opens his palm and I see a diamond ring glittering in the sunshine. “Tia?”

  My breath catches. “Yes?”

  “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes. Absolutely.” He puts the ring on my finger. It fits perfectly. “Andy…”

  “Yes, sweetheart?”

  The endearment does me in. My eyes well with tears—happy tears. I wrap my arms around his neck. “I wasn’t expecting you to come into my life. Now I can’t imagine it without you.”

  “Me either.” He brushes one hand down my hair. “I think maybe the whole time I was hiding in that cabin, I was waiting for you.”

  “And then you found me.”

  He nods, his stubble catching on my hair. I hear the happiness in his voice when he responds. “And then I found you.”

  Turn the page for a sneak peek at my first full-length romance novel, Fiancée for Sale.

  Summary

  I wasn’t supposed to be dumped weeks before my wedding day. Not only have I lost my dream come true, but I’m also massively in debt because of all my wedding purchases. So what’s a girl to do?

  Easy. Sell the wedding on the internet. I put my dress, the venue, even the damned centerpieces up for sale. How was I to know the man who’d come to possibly purchase them was also looking for a bride?

  But I need the money, and maybe…maybe I need a little adventure in my life, too. Instead of playing it safe, maybe this billionaire is the key to turning my life around.

  I thought I was getting a fiancé and enough money to get me back on my feet, but I didn’t realize I might also be falling in love.

  Fiancée for Sale is a standalone, full-length novel. No cliffhanger or cheating, and a Happily Ever After is Guaranteed. Bonus content is also included.

  CHAPTER ONE

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Brianna

  “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” I say, glaring at my friend.

  Deb only smiles gently. “It’s getting your mind off of Chet, right?”

  She’s right. It is getting my mind off of Chet. Maybe not entirely mending my heart, but it’s a start. After all, Chet’s an asshole, so anything I can do to move on and to get my money back, will help.

  At least I hope so.

  “All right.” I hold my fingers over the keyboard. “What am I supposed to write?”

  Deb checks her list. “Everythin
g on here. Everything you can sell—even the venue.”

  “The venue? Seriously?”

  She nods. “Seriously. If you can find someone who’s been waiting for this place forever, maybe you can make a deal. Maybe they’ll want to push their wedding up. It’s a long shot, I know, but they’re not going to refund your deposit on the place.”

  No, they aren’t. The wedding is supposed to be in three weeks, and we were nearing the end of plan-making. Meaning, we had already booked the venue a long time ago, hired the caterer, paid for the flowers and on and on. Oh, and the dress…

  That had been the best part. My dream dress.

  And now, I don’t even want to wear it. It reminds me too much of Chet. Chet the liar. Chet the cheater. Chet the asshole who had made me fall in love with him even though my friends had warned me he was just a player.

  How was I supposed to see that when I was drowning in love?

  Had he even given any indication of these things? I’m afraid to ask Deb. She’ll probably say yes. She’ll probably say there were signs, signs, and more signs. And then I’ll feel like a complete fool—worse than I already do.

  Deb is just too kind to say, I told you so.

  “What about the engagement ring?” I ask.

  Deb runs a hand through her hair. “What do you think?”

  “Pawn it.”

  Deb laughs. “That’s the spirit. Get Chet out of your life completely. I know it’s hard and he’s a total dick for doing this to you, but the faster you get all memory of him out of your life, the less he can hurt you.”

  She’s right again. My heart will take time to mend, but it’ll be easier when I don’t have reminders of him everywhere. And when I figure out how in the world I’m going to get back on my feet financially.

  That alone makes sadness turn into anger. Fuck Chet. He was supposed to pay for half the wedding when he got his first bonus at work. He was supposed to help pay for rent, too. To make up for all the money I’d lost the last several months trying to secure our future.

  My fingers start moving, and I list all the items written on Deb’s notebook. I set up the rest of the ad and blow out a breath before pressing SUBMIT.

  “Now what?” I ask.

  “Now, we print out flyers and put them up everywhere we can think of,” she says, gesturing to the computer. “Trust me. Someone’s bound to see them. And if that gets you even $100 back then that’s helpful, right?”

  “Right,” I grumble, though I’m sick of her being right.

  Rent is due in two weeks and I’m barely getting any hours at work. It’s my fault. I told them I needed to cut down on hours to help plan the wedding, and they compensated by hiring new employees who are now getting all the hours I used to have.

  Deb wraps an arm around my shoulders. “I promise after the flyers we’ll take a break. I’ll buy you a drink.”

  I sniffle a little, though mostly I’m just playing it up to get her sympathy. Mostly. “Two drinks.”

  She laughs and nods. “Two drinks. Big ones. And we’ll eyeball all the hotties in the bar just to make ourselves feel better.”

  “I feel better already.”

  I’m only partly lying. I do feel better. I’d let myself wallow for a few days, but now I’m over it. I need to be productive, and this is the best way to do it.

  So I get back to work and try to think of this as business and nothing more.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  W e cover all our favorite spots, and spots we know get a lot of traffic. At the last place, a little dive bar we frequent because it’s just around the corner from my apartment, I point to the back of the building. “Last one.”

  “I’ll grab a table,” Deb says.

  I spot a few guys at the bar, watching me, and sway my hips a little just because I can. I’m not attached anymore, and though I don’t particularly want to pick up a guy in a bar—let alone one a week after being dumped by my fiancé—I’m single and I’m allowed to flaunt it.

  In the hallway to the bathrooms, there’s a bulletin board covered with flyers for bands and apartments for rent. I spot an empty bottom corner to put up my sad flyer up with a thumb tack, hoping to lure perspective brides to buy my wedding experience. My dream.

  A man comes out of the bathroom and bumps into me, knocking the paper loose and watching it flutter to the ground.

  “Shit—my bad.” He bends to grab the flyer. “You okay?”

  “Uh…” I blink up at him. He doesn’t look like he belongs here. Nice three-piece suit, shoes shiner and probably more expensive than my entire wedding. I can’t believe he just came out of that bathroom. Maybe he’s lost. “I’m fine.”

  “Good.” He starts to pass over the flyer, then pauses and looks at it. “You’re selling a wedding experience?”

  Yeah, so my wording isn’t the best. I was trying to make it sound enticing.

  I pluck the flyer from his hand and tack it to the board. “Yes.”

  His lips curve in a grin. “That’s one I haven’t seen before.”

  Damn, he’s cute. And cocky. He’s totally laughing at me right now. Well, screw him. Chet’s probably laughing at me too, and I don’t need that in my life. Ever.

  “You should probably get out more,” I say, then turn on my heel and sashay back to the booth.

  The guys at the bar are openly staring now but I ignore them and slide into the booth with Deb. “Men,” I huff.

  “Yeah, I see them ogling.”

  “Not them—the asshole back by the bathrooms.”

  Deb glances in that direction, trying to peer into the hallway. Then her eyes widen. “Holy hell. You mean, Mr. Business Suit—the guy practically oozing money from his pores?”

  I wave off her assessment. “I need a drink.”

  “He’s hot.”

  “The assholes always are,” I say.

  “Ain’t that the truth?”

  Putting Chet and Mr. Money Bags out of my mind, I order a drink and take the night off from worrying.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Michael

  I can’t say I’m not intrigued. A sexy, confident woman tacks an entire wedding to a board in a dive bar and then tries to put me in my place? I want to know more.

  Too bad a bride doesn’t come with the wedding—then she’d probably have some takers. The idea hits me hard. A bride. A wedding already planned. It sounds like a quick answer to my problem.

  I grab the flyer and stuff it in my pocket before walking to the table in the corner. Derek’s already there, looking as out of place as I do in his suit and tie. I can’t help but look for the woman as I walk, and find her at booth on the opposite side of the bar. She doesn’t see me, or maybe she doesn’t care to.

  Derek gestures to the bar when I reach the table. “I ordered your drink. And really…I have no idea why you wanted to meet here. It’s…dirty.”

  I chuckle. “Exactly. No one will find us here.”

  “Who’s looking for you?”

  “Everyone,” I say. “Especially the press.”

  Derek grins. “That was your fuck-up. Now you have to deal with the consequences. Just tell them the truth and get on with your life.”

  The truth? Shit. No one wants the truth. They want a fairy tale. They want to think I have the perfect woman, ready for the perfect wedding, and soon to follow, the perfect babies. And Derek is right, I fucked up. I alluded to a woman—one that doesn’t exist.

  But my partners start in on me every day. They’re like my parents. When are you going to get married? Settle down? Have kids? You need someone to bring to our functions, someone to share this life with.

  They’re all certain they know exactly what I need. And once I’d given the impression that I already had a woman, someone ran with it. Now the papers and magazines are running story after story. Who’s the mystery woman? Who has Michael Parsons been hiding? And the latest—and the worst: Who’s Michael Parsons’ fiancée?

  I’m not su
re how I’d gone from having a potential love interest to having a fiancée, but somehow I had.

  Our drinks arrive and I down half of mine in one gulp.

  “Easy,” Derek says. “Getting drunk isn’t going to solve the problem.”

  “Neither is telling the truth.”

  “Say you broke up. No one will ever know there wasn’t a woman.” Derek lifts his drink in salute. “Then you can go back to being a bachelor.”

  “Even if that’s what I wanted, it wouldn’t fix the problem.”

  Derek shakes his head. “There is no problem. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

  Derek is forever seeing things in black and white. He’s my lawyer—a good friend, but still—I pay him to see things in black and white. But I also pay him to find loopholes and work things to my advantage. Right now, I have an idea about him working something to my advantage, but I’m not sure we’ve had enough to drink yet.

  No…even with five more cocktails Derek is still not going to think this is a good idea.

  Derek gestures to the waitress for another drink.

  I ask her to bring the intriguing woman and her friend a round of whatever they’re having, and Derek lifts his eyebrows. “Who is it?”

  “Tall, honey blonde, and angry,” I say. I point to the booth on the other side of the bar, but doubt he can see much.

  “So much for laying low.”

  “I don’t think she has any idea who I am.” Not in this neighborhood. Not how she was dressed. She didn’t seem like a businesswoman.

  “She looks hot.”

  I nod in agreement. She is. All that wild hair, a flash of temper. I wonder whose wedding she’s trying to sell. Hers? I almost pull the flyer from my pocket, but decide against it. I’m not prone to snap decisions. I have to think about this.

  In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy my evening away from the press, away from prying eyes, and with a good view of a sexy woman.