I Love My Healed Heart: 4 Book Box Set/Omnibus (Erotic Romance) (18 page)

Chris
pulls a small green leaf from a hanging tree as we pass wordlessly by, and
hands it to me. I turn it around in my fingers a few times, appreciating the
simplicity of it. It took no effort to grow into what it is. It was meant to
be, and so it was.

Oh! I
remember I have one last thing I must take care of. “Chris?”

“Yes?”

“I have
to answer an email. I’m sorry. I know that’s rude, but I have to.”

He
doesn’t mind and let’s go of my hand to let me step away for privacy, without
my having to ask for it. I open up my email and find Mark’s name. I click on
it, hit reply and type, “Mark, It was really amazing meeting you. You don’t
know it, but you helped me through a difficult time. I hope I wasn’t too much
of a spaz. I’m sorry, but I can’t go out with you on Friday. I met someone. But
thanks for being wonderful. Truly. – Jessica.”

I put my
phone in my bag again and look up.

“You
ready?” Chris asks.

I walk to
him, take his hand and say, “I’m ready. Are you?”

The glow
of his smile lights up his eyes, and my heart. “I am.”

Chris and
I waited a whole three weeks to make love for the first time. It wasn’t me who
wanted to wait, though I didn’t mind. It was only six months later that we
moved in together in a place in the West Village. He said it feels more like a
neighborhood over there, and I think he’s right. Sometimes I have a hard time
not worrying, when he works late. The effects of David’s actions still give me
the heebie-jeebies, but I try to ride out the feelings and not action them.
Working them out with my girls always helps. I try to bring the problems to
them and the solutions to him. It doesn’t always work that way. But hey, I’m
only human.

Working
for The Bitch hasn’t gotten that much easier. She still scares the shit out of
me, but now that I know what I want, I feel differently about going in to work.
Like my Prada shades, I care about it, and I’m doing a better job.

James and
she are back together, so my hunch was right. He and I don’t talk much, but
sometimes he throws a look my way that makes me smile. No hard feelings. We had
a really amazing little adventure, and I don’t regret it in the slightest.

I might
not have been outside, eating my lunch at exactly that moment if Brittany
hadn’t seen us and voiced her evil-twat intentions. And then the timing of the
subway ride, too.
 
A moment before,
a moment after… and Chris and I would have been on different trains, and
different paths.

I get
choked up just thinking about it.

Chris wanted to add his side to this story, add
the little bit that I didn’t know, until he shared it with me, after we moved
in together. Turn the page if you’d like to hear…

Jess
calls me Mr. Natural, but I wasn’t into yoga until I met her. She assumed since
I was one of the few men in the class, that I was probably vegan, burned
incense, and went on retreats in Bali. No. I like a good steak, with the best
of them, and I’m not a fan of incense. I do care about the earth, though. Who
wouldn’t?

I started
going to class because getting used to New York was taking some doing. It’s an
intense place to live, and I also wanted to prove my worth at the firm, so
stress was high. They’d liked my designs, and I’d successfully won over a few new
clients since arriving, but the stress was starting to wear on me really bad.
Someone at my office suggested I try yoga. I resisted it, initially. I’d done
soccer and basketball in school, and still played basketball on the weekends
for fun, but this was a whole new thing. I felt it might be a little too girly.

Then,
despite my reticence, I found myself walking into the class one evening after
work. I wasn’t prepared, and I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t even have
my own mat, so I had to rent one. This pretty redhead with intelligent brown
eyes and the nicest smile saw me floundering, so she showed me blocks and the
strap.

“You’ll
definitely need these. It’s going to be intense. Are you ready?” she said, and
rolled her eyes. As I looked at her, I had the overwhelming feeling that I knew
her. I felt like she was asking if I was ready for her.

I thanked
her and she walked away. During that first class, and every other one she was
in, my mind kept drifting to the hot little redhead. If she hadn’t been there,
I wouldn’t have come back to the class. Week after week, I came back because of
her. I credit her with calming me down. She laughs when I say that.

Sometimes
I’d see her, sometimes I wouldn’t. It would always be after work during the
week, although I went on one Saturday because I had some free time, and there
she was. I
almost
asked her out that
day, too, but Michelle asked me a question, and by the time I extricated
myself, Jessica had left. I found out later – that was the day before she
and her ex broke up.

I didn’t
see her again for weeks. I almost stopped looking, but then one day, she walked
in, looking happy. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her that day. And when she
caught me checking her out when she was in Happy Baby pose, I didn’t expect to
send her laughing like that. It made me want to ask her out even more, but I
figured she’d think I was a pervert. I decided to wait a week.

You women
don’t know how much thought we put into this stuff.

I wanted
to kick myself for not making a move when she didn’t come back the following
week! Every time the door opened, and it wasn’t her, I got more angry at
myself.

 
When she didn’t come back the week after
that, I went to the front desk and asked the girl working there to look up her
last name. She didn’t want to do it, for obvious reasons. So I told her the
story, and luckily she thought it was romantic.

I googled
Jess, found her on the magazine’s website, and asked a woman at work what I
should do. I had gone overboard and needed advice! She told me I’d probably
find Jess in Bryant Part because Fashion Week was going on. I’d never heard of
Fashion Week. I’m a guy.

I had a
meeting near there the next day, which was such a strong coincidence, I thought
maybe I’m supposed to find her. I went early to the meeting so I could walk
around Bryant Park, thinking there was
no
way
I’d find her, but hoping anyway. As I walked through the courtyard, I
scanned all the faces and there she was sitting under a tree. I couldn’t
believe I’d found her.

She loves
it when I tell her this part:

When I
met James, I knew there was something going on, but I didn’t give a shit. I
decided then and there that I would win her. She got tense when he was around.
I figured it wouldn’t be hard. I didn’t care, even if it was. I didn’t like his
pretty-boy face. We guys like to win, when we want something. That’s why you
will always know when we’re
in
.

But the
miracle of the day was the train. I didn’t plan that. When I got on the train
and saw my little Jess sitting by herself, staring forward and looking tired, I
thought,
she’s mine. This proves it
.
I think I fell in love with her then.

I wasn’t
looking for this when I went to yoga. I was looking for peace. And I got it,
but not from that class. Jess makes my life better. She’s funny, she’s crazy,
she’s sexy, and I’m the luckiest guy on the planet.

The End of Jessica’s Journey.

By Sabrina Lacey

Jessica’s Romance

I Love My Breakup
 
(part 1),
I Love My Office Fling
(part 2),
I Love My Freak Out
(part
3),
I Love My Destiny
(part 4),
and all together in
I Love My Healed Heart
(4 book Bundle/Omnibus)

Amber and Josh’s Romance

(there are only two parts to Amber’s romance, told from Amber’s and
Josh’s POV)

 
I Love My
Walk Out
(part 1
),
I Love My Man
Cave
(part 2),
and both
together in
I Love My
Side of The Story
(2 book Bundle/Omnibus
- 258 pages and 50,000
word count.)

Nicole’s
as-yet-untitled story is next. The best friend’s stories are intertwined; three
very different girls who’ve found themselves in three very different romantic
unravelings, that changed their lives
for the better.

Join
the mailing list
HERE
to be the first to know when the next book comes out, and check the other
titles on the next page to see what’s already available!

Like the
~
Facebook Page
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for UPDATES, GIVEAWAYS and FUN QUOTES and PICS. First
GIVEAWAY this Friday Nov. 8
^th
, 2013! Miss that one? Like the page,
because there will be lots more.
J

Official website: http://www.
sabrinalacey
.com

If you enjoyed this story,
please review it and recommend it to your girlfriends over a tasty glass of
wine. If you found any crazy typos we missed and you want to help fix them,
please email me at
[email protected]
.
We do our best, but some slippery little suckers get by. When I found typos in
the Game of Thrones trilogy, I exhaled and realized, nobody’s perfect
.
 
But, like Amber, I can sure try to be.
Your help is so very much appreciated.
And
thank you to all who have sent me sweet fan emails. You make my day with each
and every one.
xx – S.L.

Sabrina Lacey lives in
Los Angeles, CA.
Her "I Love
My..." erotic romance books were inspired by the
I Love New York
slogan, thanks to her years working in the city,
shooting fashion. Now she stays mostly on the west coast with her dog Pippin.
He wouldn’t comment for her bio. He’s an enigma. A tiny, fluffy, enigma who
captured her heart and wouldn’t let go… the little rake.