Who wants love on an island in summer?

 

Summer is the perfect excuse to indulge ourselves in naughty romances! :o)

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Welcome to Alexa Riley Promises. This series is dedicated to old romances. It’s tropes galore, with all of our usual over-the-top alphas and sweet cheesy goodness.

These short books will focus on traditional and classic tropes while sticking to the Alexa Riley code: no cheating and always with an HEA. That’s our Promise to you.

The Billionaire and His Castaway

Kenton Monroe has wanted her for far too long. 

But Madeline Caldwell isn’t giving him the time of day.

Madeline is looking to break out of her innocent shell, but Kenton definitely isn’t the guy to experiment with. She needs a nice guy, not one who makes her lady business glitter like diamonds.

Kenton has been patient for months, but she won’t bend. Getting her alone on a deserted island is the only way. Keeping her stranded and all to himself will make her see reason. Right?

Warning: If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain…then maybe this dirty summer read is just for you. If you like making love at midnight, put this book down and wake your partner up!

MY OPINION

Paradise island, two lovers meant to be and the sweetest romance to drool over. If you need some summer sensuality, Alexa Riley has penned the perfect little story to entice all our senses.

I love it when an alpha male starts plotting in his head all the ways he will claim his future bride before she even realises how committed to the task he is.

Kenton is a strong, powerful man who is rendered weak in the knees when he meets the young sister of four very protective brothers that work for him. As she won't give him the time of day, he devises an ingenious plan to isolate her on his island resort and show her what an attentive, passionate lover he can be. Forever. 

I relished this exciting premise which only improved with the beautiful scenery, lots of lovely feelings, some drama that put their love to the test and a threesome of epilogues that got more and more fun. I absolutely loved this new story that is told with care, hot sweetness and a sense of humor. Could there be more stories about each of the brothers? That would be awesome! :-)

Enjoy an EXCERPT

Madeline

“Is it always this dead around here?” I ask the bartender, glancing at the empty restaurant as I take another sip of my bubbly strawberry drink. Maybe I should’ve gone to the Italian place instead, but this one is supposed to be the best restaurant at the resort. Looking around at all the empty chairs, it makes me think maybe the website lied.

“Just a slow week,” he says, drawing my eyes back to him. Just like everyone else around here he has an incredible tan, making his bright blue eyes seem even brighter in the dimly lit restaurant.

I guess working on an island would give anyone a tan. I had lain by the pool half the day and just turned red, but luckily it faded fast and I wasn’t burnt. I never tan. I go from pale white to cherry red and then back to pale again.

“I noticed the pool was empty, too,” I tell him. In fact, everything has been kind of dead. I’d only got in this morning, but there doesn’t really seem to be anyone around except for people who work here. Maybe that’s why they’re giving out free trips to anyone who would participate in a free survey that had taken me twenty minutes to fill out. It had the silliest and most ridiculous questions, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The resort might be deserted, but it’s beautiful.

“No one to keep you company?” he teases, leaning over the bar and shooting me a crooked smile.

A little pink hits my cheeks when I realize he’s flirting with me.

“Unless you count my book or the poolside server, then no.” I smile back.

I’m not used to being flirted with. I’d gone to an all-girls liberal arts college in New York, graduating only three months ago. Afterwards, my brothers forced me back home. The four of them own a private security firm together, and men aren’t allowed within ten feet of me. Normally it’s not a problem because my brothers look kind of scary unless you know them. All of them have been in some form of service at one time or another. They’re probably losing their shit right now after finding out I’m not tucked away at home. I can’t help but giggle internally as I think about how I gave them the slip. Finally a point for the little sister.

“Well I’m off tomorrow so if you”

“She’s busy,” I hear an all-too-familiar voice say from behind me, making my heart skip a beat. Turning my head slowly, I see the man who stars in my dreams every night. He’s been there for the last three months, since I first met his arrogant handsome self at a fundraiser. It was a charity event one of my brothers had taken me to. They had an extra ticket since their firm was covering the security.

The event’s honorary guest was none other than Kenton Monroe, one of the richest men in New York. No, scratch that, one of the richest men in the world. I’d only known that because of my brothers. I don’t pay much attention to people of wealth or the society pages in New York. It isn’t my scene, but in all fairness, I don’t really have a scene. And now that I’ve graduated, I feel even more adrift.

It didn’t take much to realize how powerful he was.

Everyone in the room seemed to notice him. Then his eyes had trained on me with a look of distaste and his jaw had hardened. His eyes narrowed exactly like the look he’s giving me right now. Only this time, his eyes are on the bartender.

“Mr. Monroe. I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know she was one of yours.”

One of his? How many does the man have? Probably a lot with how many women fell all over him the night of the fundraiser. Those women looked nothing like me. They actually looked like they belonged there and hadn’t pulled a discount dress out of the back of their closet. Worse, they didn’t get the look that I’d gotten.

“I’m not his,” I finally protest, catching my bearings. I’m so far from his. I would never be his, no matter what my body wants, regardless of that fact that my brain keeps pulling him to the surface every time I close my eyes.

“Keep telling yourself that, sweets,” Kenton says smoothly as he finally pulls his dark blue eyes to mine. I freeze as he leans in and kisses my bare shoulder. I move away slightly, pretending I don’t like it, even though my body wants to lean into the soft touch.

“Stop calling me that,” I grit out as he slides onto the bar stool next to mine, casually throwing one of his arms along the back of my seat. His other arm rests on the bar in front of me. It’s as if he’s trying to cage me in. If anyone walked into this area of the restaurant, I don’t think they’d even be able to see me. His size and his position block me from view.

“I’ll eat whatever she’s having, and I’ll take my normal drink,” he tells the bartender, ignoring what I just said.

I hate that stupid name. It makes me feel young, and that’s not why I came here. I came to have a little adventure and to maybe finally lose my virginity. I don’t want to be sweet. I want to be sexy. Maybe even sinful. Or any other “S” word that makes me feel more like a woman. Not just the Caldwell brothers’ sweet little sister.

“What are you doing here? Did my brothers send you? What did they say?” I fire off the questions in agitation. They can’t make me leave. “I can’t believe them. I’m 22-years old, for God’s sake. Oh, just wait until I get back. I’m getting my own place. See how much they like that,” I huff out.

A slow smile starts to spread across Kenton’s face, making him look even more stupidly handsome. A man should not get to look that good, and look good he does. From his short black hair, dark blue eyes, and his large, muscular frame, he looks like Adonis come to life. Isn’t he supposed to be, like, sitting behind a desk, not lifting weights or whatever men do to look like that? Oh God, I bet he doesn’t even have to try. He’s just built like that.

“I actually own the place,” he says with a little laugh, as if he finds my little tantrum funny.

I roll my eyes at that. Or course he owns the place. I would be surprised, but he’s so rich, it’s easy to believe he owns just about everything he touches. He leans in a little more, and I try to pretend I don’t notice his closeness. I pick up my drink and take a few big gulps. The bubbles burn the back of my throat.

“Of course you do.” I try to look anywhere but at him as I put my glass back down on the bar with a hard click.

“I knew that wouldn’t impress you. Not even in the least.” His words are lazy, and I can tell he’s saying them with a smile, but I keep my eyes on the bartender as he makes his way back over with Kenton’s drink. He sets it down and tells us our food will be out shortly.

“Stop looking at him,” he growls next to my ear, making me jump. I finally pull my eyes to his, and I can’t read his expression.

“Do they know?” I ask, wanting to know if my brothers sent him here to check on me because he’s close to them. I wonder if they want to make sure, once again, that a man isn’t within ten feet of me. But Kenton is. He’s so close I can feel the heat of his body. Smell the sun on his skin.

“I’m sure it’s only a matter of time, but no, I didn’t tell them, if that’s what you’re are asking.”

I relax a little at that. I’d left them a note telling them I was going away for a few days and not to worry. But nothing I could’ve done would make them not worry. I’m their little sister by a good ten years, a whoops my parents had late in life.

Their overprotectiveness was cute when I was younger, but it took on a whole new form when our parents died. I was fifteen and had been left in their care. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t sometimes like it. It’s sweet, and I know they’re only trying to protect me, but it has been starting to wear me down since I left school.

“Is there something you need? Or can I eat in peace?” I cock my head towards him.

I still can’t get a feel for him. The first few times I’d met him, he made me feel out of place, like he didn’t want me around. Then he’d started trying to talk to me. I just gave him the same icy coldness he’d given me, and I actually think that might have blown up in my face. Now he acts like he wants a piece of me. Boys want what they can’t have, and the saying rang loud in my head. It’s ringing now, and for some reason, I want to hold on to it, because Kenton is cocky. He looked at me like I didn’t belong, but I wouldn’t give him the time of day, and now he’s interested. This feels like a small piece of revenge, and I’m probably enjoying it a little too much.

“Can’t I enjoy the company of a beautiful woman?” He gives me that half smirk again.

“I’m sure there are plenty of beautiful women to keep you company, Mr. Monroe, but I’m not among them.” I run my eyes over him. “And you’re not my type,” I lie, and I feel his body stiffen around me.

I don’t even know what my type is, regardless of what my late-night dreams tell me.

The bartender comes back, placing our plates in front of us. “Can I get a to-go box, please?” I ask him. He nods and heads towards the back once again. I’m not up for a verbal sparring match with a man like Kenton.

“Don’t go.” His tone is different now. It’s soft and sweet and almost sounds like a plea.

I push my stool back and stand, and he makes no move to get up himself. His arm is still on the bar in front of me, but the other’s fallen off the back of my chair.

“I don’t know what’s going on here. One minute you’re kind of a jerk and dismiss me, then the next you're doing this weird flirt-with-me thing,” I say, shaking my head. At least, I think it’s flirting. My experience with men is almost zero, after all. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. It’s not happening. This,” I motion between us, “would never work. I mean, think about the first night we met. You could barely stand the sight of me.”

“That’s not true. I”

I hold my hand up, cutting him off.

“Let me just be frank so we can stop this. My brothers work for you, and we keep running into each other. I don’t want it to be weird, and I don’t want them to lose your business, but you and I can’t happen. You’d break my heart.” I grip the edge of the bar, my nails digging into the wood. “When I fall in love, it’s going to be with a sweet man who doesn't scare the bejesus out of me.”

I stress love instead of sex, because for some reason I don't want him to know I’m a virgin. I want to lose my virginity to someone who isn’t going to break my heart in the process. Thankfully, the bartender comes back at the end of my little speech and starts packing up my food. Kenton just stares at me while I just watch the bartender box up the food and grab the bag.

“I got it,” Kenton says, grabbing the check from the bar top.

“Thank you.” I give him a tight smile, like a part of me isn’t aching from shutting down what could’ve been. That I hadn’t thought for a minute that maybe, just maybe, I could spend a few sexy nights with this man in paradise. But the aftermath would be too painful. I’m just like he said, sweet. I have no idea how to begin to be sexy.

I’d have to see him again in New York. And what would it be like if, after all that, I’d have to see him with another woman? Heck, I’d been jealous that night at the charity event and we’d said maybe two words to each other.

“It’s always a pleasure,” he says, standing and moving his own chair out a little so I can easily get by.

“Goodnight, Mr. Monroe.”

ABOUT THE MASTERMIND

Alexa Riley is two sassy friends who got together and wrote some dirty books. They are both married moms of two who love football, donuts, and obsessed book heroes.

They specialize in insta-love, over-the-top, sweet, and cheesy love stories that don’t take all year to read. If you want something SAFE, short, and always with a happily ever after, then Alexa Riley is for you!

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I hope you have an phenomenal Summer!! ;o)

When blackmailing is the right path for love with Alexa Riley

Are you ready for your Alexa Riley dose? I always am!!! :-D

Welcome to Alexa Riley Promises. This series is dedicated to old romances. It’s tropes galore, with all of our usual over-the-top alphas and sweet cheesy goodness.

These short books will focus on traditional and classic tropes while sticking to the Alexa Riley code: no cheating and always with an HEA. That’s our Promise to you.

Blackmailing the Virgin

When Calder Cox sees Felicity for the first time, he has to have her. There’s nothing that will hold him back…until he finds out she’s his business partner’s daughter.
Felicity Chandler is graduating college soon but has no idea what she wants to do. While playing her violin one night, she sees Calder and feels instantly drawn to him. But when he tries to keep his distance, she doesn’t know what to do with all of her feelings.
Calder can’t be held off much longer, and when his control snaps, there are consequences. Felicity might be trying to run, but he’ll make sure she stays…even if he has to blackmail her to do it.
Warning: This is an Alexa Riley Promise, so it’s over the top, contains no cheating, and will always come with an HEA. It’s ridiculous baby-making drama that’s packed full of heat.

MY OPINION

How can this be so sweet and steamy? I loved every little thing about it. From the sudden passion to the glaring drama and the cheeky ending, the story was full of Alexa Riley's brand of perfect fun. The narrative style keeps getting better and touches all the warm, fuzzy places we hide in our hearts.

Smut romance can't get any better than this. The characters are so cute. Felicity is a very shy violin player (loved that!) that gets bolder in the presence of the gruff, hot man who awakens her desires for the first time. It was utterly daring the way they get together intimately, but all the angst and intimacy that followed was really entertaining!

I liked Calder's caveman tactics to make her stay by his side when she was convinced he didn't want her for real. Blackmail really served a sweet purpose in the name of love.

This is another example of satisfying, over-the-top instalove with strong reactions, love for music and a family bond that lifts the heart. I just hope this Promise series lasts for a really long time. It's fantastic! 

READ A HOT EXCERPT!

The past weeks have made me crazy with want, and I’ve done all I can to stay away. So many years my life has felt hollow, but since I found her on the balcony, something has changed. She crept into those empty spaces, and I need more. I crave her like oxygen.

Now, with her being this close, I can’t control it anymore. She’s too beautiful, the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen, and I feel so many things I’ve never felt before. Didn’t even know existed. It’s as if she’s brought something inside me to life. Felicity has turned me into a new man, woken me back up, and this new part of me must own her. In every way possible.

I strip out of my suit and throw it to the floor, and then stand there in my boxer briefs. I hesitate for only a second and then push them down as well. I know what I want, and I know she wants it, too. I’ve felt it between us, and I saw it in her eyes tonight.

I gently pull back her blanket, careful not to wake her yet. Looking down, I see she’s wearing a small T-shirt with her college crest on it and pale blue cotton panties. I’m a little surprised at her innocent underwear given how her dad had mentioned she was just like her mother. Then again, she didn’t expect me to come sneaking into her room tonight, so maybe that’s why she didn’t wear anything sexier. I like the look of these panties, though. They’re innocent and sweet, as if she’s untouched.

When I push away the blanket completely, I crawl into the bed on top of her.

Her eyes pop open, and she looks alarmed for just a moment before they focus and recognize it’s me. There’s a moment when she takes in a breath as if she’s going to scream, but then just lets it out slowly. She’s still as she looks into my eyes, the questions starting to mount. In the moonlight, I can see the blush deepen across her cheeks.

“Felicity,” I breathe the second before my lips land on hers.

I’ve held off as long as I could, but I have to taste her again. I have to claim her mouth as mine, because God knows who she’s given it to since we’ve been apart. I growl at the thought before pushing it away and sweeping my tongue inside her mouth.

She lets out a little whimper, but her hands go to the back of my head, holding me to her. Pressing the full weight of my body on top of her, I give into my urges and hold her tightly to me. My hands go to her sides and push the small shirt above her curvy waist, needing her skin against mine. My mouth moves to her neck, and I hear her say my name again, this time with a question on the end of it.

“What are you doing here?” she gasps, but her legs spread under me, allowing my steel-hard c*ck to press against her hot, panty-covered p*ssy.

“I’m giving us both what we need, sweetheart. I can’t stay away from you any longer. I’ve tried, but seeing you tonight was my undoing. Please, Felicity. Please don’t turn me away.”

Even I can hear the desperate plea in my voice as I beg her not to kick me out. I would pull away and leave her here alone if she asked me to. I would do anything she asked of me, but it would tear my soul into pieces if she did.

“Let me have you, Felicity.”

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 Mr and Mrs (An Alexa Riley Promise #1) by Alexa Riley

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ABOUT THE MASTERMINDS

Alexa Riley is two sassy friends who got together and wrote some dirty books. They are both married moms of two who love football, donuts, and obsessed book heroes.

They specialize in insta-love, over-the-top, sweet, and cheesy love stories that don’t take all year to read. If you want something SAFE, short, and always with a happily ever after, then Alexa Riley is for you!

Author Links

Twitter  Facebook Website  Goodreads  Amazon Page  Instagram

Have you read any of Alexa Riley's sweet and steamy romances? Which one is your favourite? Share with me, book buddies :o)

Mr and Mrs are alive and so sweet!

Welcome to Alexa Riley Promises.
This series is dedicated to old romances.
It’s tropes galore, with all of our usual over-the-top alphas and sweet cheesy goodness.

These short books will focus on traditional and classic tropes while sticking to the Alexa Riley code: no cheating and always with an HEA. That’s our Promise to you.

Mr and Mrs

Phillip has been married to Molly for a year. He’s beyond obsessed with his new wife, to the point that he has to hold his true feelings back. If she knew how crazy he is for her, she might push him away.

Molly is feeling distance growing between them, and she’s worried she’s not enough. One night she walks in on Phillip, and it changes everything.

When Phillip discovers Molly was in an accident and now has amnesia, he’s going to do all he can to make her fall in love with him again. Holding nothing back this time.

Warning: 

It’s just as crazy as it sounds and just as over-the-top ridiculous. If you want to get silly with us and spend a little time away from reality, grab this one up!

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EXCERPT:

Chapter 1 *Molly*

“Molly, just give it more time. I’m sure you’ll conceive.”

I look up from the tasteless salad I’m just pushing around on my plate, not feeling even the least bit hungry. But a dinner out seemed like a lot more fun than sitting in the penthouse condo alone all night for the fourth time this week. Phillip’s working late. Again. Something that’s becoming a little too normal for my liking.

It’s his place, even though the condo is ‘ours’. I still find it odd calling it home, though we’ve been married and living in it for a year. But I don’t think anything has ever felt like a real home before. Not like the ones I’ve dreamed of, anyway. It still feels like it’s his more than it’s mine. We still haven’t gotten around to finding a house. The house that will be the home I’ve always wanted. Longed for and dreamed about for most of my life. Phillip seems excited about it, but it keeps getting put on the back burner, and I’m starting to think I am, too.

Cindy places her hand on my arm, giving it a comforting squeeze. Everyone knows we’ve been trying to have a baby from the moment we said “I do.” I wasn’t great about hiding how excited I was about starting a family, and Phillip had encouraged me to be more vocal about it, to see it as a reality. He’d started to make these little dreams I had in my head come alive. It was all a part of the fairy-tale dream I’d fallen into the moment I’d met Phillip.

Young girl falls madly in love with her father’s new business partner, and he sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind marriage. The press ate the story up. Millionaire Phillip Tanner finally tying the knot. Not only that, but with his new business partner Charles Moore’s daughter. Their partnership brought together two of the biggest hedge fund firms in the country, and it was believed they would be unstoppable together. They have been.

I smile at Cindy, giving her a reassuring look. “I know. When I’m supposed to get pregnant, I will.” I’m not even sure if having a baby right now is something I want anymore, which feels odd because having a family is all I’ve ever wanted.

I wanted all of it. The whole white picket fence, two-point-five kids, and a husband who adored me. I had the adoring husband—when he was around, anyway. I could deal with not being the center of his attention, but I didn’t want that for our children. I’d been a child with a father like that, and I wouldn’t do that to my children. I’d never bring them into a home that never really felt like a home at all.

I can deal with it. I love my husband, and I know he loves me, but it’s been crazy lately, and I worry that maybe it isn’t just work that’s keeping him away. Maybe it’s me. What if I don’t hold the same appeal I once did? What if the novelty has worn off in the same way it seemed to with my own parents? I grit my teeth, trying to push that insecurity back.

But that just doesn’t add up, not with the way Phillip touches me. He makes love to me every night when he crawls into bed, even after a long day at work. He can’t go to sleep without having me first.

Except last night. I don’t know when he got home, and that was a first. I fell asleep before he got home and woke with him kissing me goodbye early this morning. He said he had a big meeting to prep for and that he’d tell me about everything this weekend.

“Is there something else? You don’t seem your normal self.” Cindy releases the hand she had on my arm to study me. She’s very good at reading people. In fact, she told me the first time we met that we’d be good friends, and we have been.

And she’s right. There is something else. The very thing that’s started to plant little seeds of doubt in my mind. The thing that has me thinking a lot more about all those long work hours over the past month.

“He got a new secretary,” I finally spit out, knowing Cindy would get it out of me, so there was no use hiding it.

“Oh, I heard Debra retired.”

I nod. Yep, Debra left over a month ago and moved to Florida to enjoy her retirement with her husband. I loved that woman. She was always so sweet, and whenever I called or stopped by, she made it seem like the most important thing was my seeing my husband, no matter what he was doing. Everything else would be put on hold and meetings would be interrupted.

The new one, not so much.

“Don’t even say it.” Cindy leans back in her chair, her auburn hair swaying around her face.

I can’t even say it. It’s so cliché, I can’t let the words pass my lips. She looks the cliché, too. Tall, thin, big blue eyes, and blonde hair that always seems to be utterly perfect. Just like everything about her. Every hair always in place, and she walks around in five-inch heels all day long. I’d break my neck. It’s like she doesn’t even have to try.

“In fact, I’m not even going to let you say it. I mean, this is Phillip, for Christ’s sake.” She laughs like I’ve lost my mind. “The man is in love with you. I know you don’t know the pre-Molly Phillip, but I do.”

Cindy is one of my only friends in New York, and I’d met her through Phillip. It’s really how I met everyone here. I went from living in a boarding school, straight to college and right into Phillip’s condo. All my family and friends were thousands of miles away in Seattle.

“He was boring…well, he still kind of is.” She smirks like she just gave him a jab that he could really hear. “All work and no play. Until you. Why do you think the press went so wild? They’ve been trying to catch him with a woman for years, then he’s running all over town with one. Trust me, he’s not boinking the secretary. I’ve known him since college, and I’d never even seen him date until he met you.”

I know that’s true. I’d done my shameful Google search the first time I’d met him. It had come up with nothing. Never in a million years did I think he’d show interest in me. He is ten years older than me. I was barely twenty at the time we met. Some said he only did it to make his partnership with my father more solid. I never once thought that. He’d made me feel special, something no one had ever made me feel before. To be the center of someone's world was so foreign to me. I ate it up. Now that some of that center had shifted back to his work, things started to feel a little bit lonely again. Loneliness was a feeling he’d taken away from me the moment I’d met him. I don’t like it creeping back into the edges of my life again.

We’d dated for two months in secret, until my twenty-first birthday, then we’d come out as a couple and married one month later. He even made us wait until our wedding night before he took me fully. From the very start we both talked about wanting a family, and he said he never wanted anything between us, so we’d wait.

Well, we’d waited to go all the way at least. Phillip spent many nights with his mouth on me. Telling me all the things he’d do when I’d finally say “I do.” I can’t count how many nights he’d sneak into my room at my father’s house after they’d gotten done with some late-night meeting in my father's office. I’d go to bed alone and wake up to Phillip’s face between my legs. Some nights he’d go at me like he was starving. Other nights he’d make me promise over and over I was going to marry him before he’d finally give me what I need. He’d never let me return the favor. The closest I’d gotten to his c*ck before our wedding night was dry-humping, and his pants never came off or undone.

But do men really go months without sex? I push the thoughts away.

“I know. I’m being silly. I know he loves me. She’s just so freaking rude when I call or show up. I swear every time I see her she’s thrusting her giant boobs in his face or doing that stupid high-pitched laugh. Every time I call, she has some reason Phillip can’t take it. Every. Time.” I know all this, together with him working so much and me feeling alone in this giant city has morphed into this giant insecurity I’ve been feeling for the past few months.

“Say something,” Cindy snaps, leaning forward, her blue eyes narrowing like they always do when she’s squaring up for a fight. It’s what she often does in the courtroom.

“I know I should. I’ll speak to him about it. Just sometimes I feel a little out of place. I’m so much younger than everyone, and I know he’s running a company and I don’t want to be the needy, clingy wife who’s insecure.” I sometimes feel a little lost in his world, and it would be a lie if I didn’t think back to times I’d interrupted some of my father’s meetings, only to get snapped at and made to feel unimportant. I have a degree in art history, and I’m proud of that, but sometimes I felt a little lacking. But I know that’s my own doing. Phillip has never talked down to me or tried to exclude me from anything, but old insecurities run deep sometimes.

“F*ck that,” she tosses back, making me smile. One of the reasons I’ve gotten so close to Cindy is she isn’t like a lot of the other women I’ve met in New York. Nor is she like the wives of some of Phillip’s business associates. She always says what she’s thinking, and I want that to rub off on me.

“That man will be pissed if he finds out that his secretary is treating you like shit. In fact, I bet he’d can her ass on the spot if he even got a hint she was doing something like that.”

I know what she’s saying is true. I once told Phillip in passing I didn't think the doorman at the building we lived at liked me very much. Anytime I’d try and ask him a question about something, he’d get short with me and tell me that I shouldn’t be out without my husband. He would make constant digs about my age, like I didn’t belong in this world. He’d amped up the disrespect when he hit on me one morning after Phillip had left early for the office. I’d shot him down quickly. Needless to say, after I told Phillip what had happened, I never saw the man again.

“You’re right. I’m making this all out to be bigger than it is and I just keep throwing dirt on it.” I grab my purse from the chair, making Cindy smile. “You mind?” I ask. We hadn’t even gotten our main entrée yet.

“Hell no.”

I stand and lean down to kiss her on the cheek.

“Call me. I want to know all the details.”

With that, I head out of the restaurant and onto the busy New York sidewalk. Glancing down at my watch, I see it’s already eight. I make my way down to his building, which is only four blocks away.

Red, the security guard, swipes me right in as I make my way into the practically empty building. I hit the elevator button for the top floor and tap my foot as it moves up. When I exit, the hallway is completely clear. I walk to his office, bypassing the empty secretary desk, and pull open the heavy door.

The sight that greets me almost brings me to my knees, and it would have if I hadn’t had my hand still on the door to brace me.

There, in the middle of Phillip’s office, completely naked, is Cary. The secretary. Phillip is on the sofa, his face turned away, but I can see his tie is undone and his shoes are off. His suit looks worn and wrinkled. Cary just stares at me in shock.

“You can have him.” I’m not even sure how I get the words out. I turn, fleeing the office. I hit the elevator button and luckily it slides open immediately. I take it all the way down in a trance, trying to hold myself together. You will not break like this. I suck in a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

“Mrs. Tanner,” Red calls after me, seeing the tears running down my face. I grab the first taxi I see and head straight for our condo. I don’t stop to think about what I’m doing. It feels like I’m in shock.

I pack a bag in record time, scribble a note, and shoot a quick text to Cindy before I drop my phone and ring on the kitchen counter.

Maybe Cindy doesn’t know Phillip as well as she thinks. Maybe everyone thinks he’s boring because he’s good at hiding his true nature. My father’s good at hiding his dirty little secrets, too, but like most things, you just need to look a little closer. That’s when everything becomes clear. “God, you’re so naïve,” I whisper to myself.

I take the subway to the train station, where I buy a ticket on my credit card, then pull out as much cash as my cards will allow. I then grab a cab to the bus station. I want to get away for a little while and get my head on straight before I face him. I know he’ll track me down and find me if I don’t cover my tracks well enough.

I look up at the list of destinations and pick a place I hope he’ll never think of.

ABOUT THE MASTERMIND

Alexa Riley is two sassy friends who got together and wrote some dirty books. They are both married moms of two who love football, donuts, and obsessed book heroes.

They specialize in insta-love, over-the-top, sweet, and cheesy love stories that don’t take all year to read. If you want something SAFE, short, and always with a happily ever after, then Alexa Riley is for you!

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Next week, I'm participating in the review tour and I'll let you know all about my crazy feelings ;o)