ROMANCE: Military: SEALED BY APACHE (Military Soldier Navy SEAL Romance) (Alpha Male Billionaire Bad Boy Romance Short Stories) (145 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Vanessa had two days in which to prepare her presentation to the board, and the only designer that had been assigned to her presentation had called in sick that morning with some kind of flu that she suspected was mostly cider-based. 

She struggled with ordering the content, then edited and re-edited the slides, realizing how lacking in cohesion her notes really were when she tried to collate and summarise the critical takeaway messages from the conference. 

Worse still, she was bored shitless, as Patrick would say.  If she couldn’t justify to herself why she’d gone to conference -- beyond just having sex with an improper stranger -- what hope did she have of convincing her superiors? 

She took a break to check her email inbox, flicking quickly between the priority messages and spam.  She stopped suddenly when the name “Patrick O’Connell” appeared as the sender of an email. 

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the devastating disappointment that would swell up inside her when she discovered that it wasn’t
her
Patrick.  She clicked the email open and could barely contain the smile on her face as she skimmed, then scanned, then read, and then re-read the email. 

‘Hello Vanessa,

I’ve just finished working on my feature for the magazine, but had all these extra notes just sitting around, not doing anything...  You mentioned something about a presentation the last time we spoke, so I thought these might be of some use to you? 

I’ve attached them along with a few bits and pieces from the interviews I conducted that I thought might be helpful to you, as well. 

Are you attending the NRC’s National Conference on Data Reporting in Oxford again in September?  I’ll be there.  It would be great to see you again, so we could pick up where we left off with our... conversation.”

He’d signed off with his official work signature and title.  The words were innocuous enough, and seeing as it was meant to be a simple communication between two professionals on a network that was frequently monitored, she understood, and commended, his subtlety and discretion. 

As she mooned over his words and mouthed the sound of his surname for the first time, a second email from him appeared in her inbox.  She clicked it open and couldn’t control the burst of laughter that suddenly shattered the silence in her office. 

P.S.

By ‘conversation’, of course I mean, ‘shagging’. 

She deleted the second email, and ignored the sudden interest from her co-workers, focusing instead on sending a few emails of her own. 

One email was to thank Patrick for his assistance with her presentation, and one more to make sure Sheena booked her into The Castle Hotel for the NCR conference in September.

She knew it would be an interesting time.   

THE END

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LUCKY BOY

A Stepbrother Romance

By

Aubrey James

CHAPTER ONE

“You’re late,” Adam Preston said without looking up.

Sarah McLeish quietly made her way to her seat, apologizing to the people whose legs she had either stepped on or kicked, slumping down in the seat beside her stepbrother as he watched the children on the stage dancing around. 

She was in no mood to be lectured, already angry at having had to stay late at work to finish someone else’s job while they pretended to be sick at home.

“What did I miss?” she asked.

Adam gave her a frown and put a finger to his mouth, shushing her.  He didn’t look like much of an authority figure.  Clad in his usual Black Sabbath shirt and faded jeans, hair ruffled in a style she had never understood, he still managed a smile that made him look almost childlike as he turned his attention back to the stage.

Sarah smirked, trying to make out her niece Kelly amidst the other vegetables singing about healthy food.  She spotted her in her big red tomato suit, clapping and stepping along with the others, everyone out of sync as their music teacher desperately tried to get them to sing louder.  Sarah smiled, watching the six-year-old concentrating on what was most certainly a very difficult task for her.

“I can’t believe they make them wear this stuff,” Sarah whispered.  “When I was her age I was a flying monkey in the Wizard of Oz.  Now
that
was a performance.”

“At least she’s got a major role,” Adam replied with a smile.  “You were an extra in a make-believe story.  She’s an important vegetable that you should never forget to eat.”

Sarah bit her lip in an attempt to hold back her laughter, her shoulders shaking slightly.  When the number was over, both of them stood up and clapped their hearts out, Adam rewarding his daughter’s performance with a high-pitched whistle as the kids bowed awkwardly and exited off stage. 

“She gets the talent from my side of the family,” Sarah teased.

“I’m really not sure that’s something you should brag about,” he said with a grin.  “Come on, let’s wait for her outside.”

*  *  *

They waited for Kelly just outside of the auditorium, the little girl running into her father’s arm as soon as she saw him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he twirled her around.

“You were incredible!” he said, all smiles.  “Even Aunt Sarah thought so.”

“You did?” the little girl asked excitedly, moving from her father to Sarah as she hung around her aunt’s neck and hugged her. 

“Just the best tomato ever!” Sarah exclaimed, giving her niece the tightest hug she could muster despite the long day she had had.

Kelly wriggled out of Sarah’s arms and ran towards her friends, immediately disappearing in the midst of parents and children.

“Can you take her home?” Adam asked.

Sarah nodded.  She wanted to say something, but didn’t.

“She’ll probably fall asleep in the car anyway,” he said, making an excuse that didn’t hold much weight with Sarah.

Sarah stole a quick glance at her stepbrother.  She had always wondered how he could pull off looking the exact opposite of a caring father; his attire warranting scornful looks from most parents, even those who overlooked the tattoos running up and down his arms. 

He had a talent for dressing like a bum, a rock star wannabe look that did wonders for him at the bar where he worked, but greatly damaged his image in front of Kelly’s teachers. 

If she had a penny for every time she was asked in for a parent conference instead of him, she would have been on her own yacht right about now, cruising up and down the East Coast with Kelly in tow.

Sometimes, she wished Adam would dress and act in a way that revealed the real man behind all the silly clothes and hair.  Then again, he had always cut his own path, ever since the moment his family had moved in next door and they had decided to be best friends. 

Sarah remembered family barbecues, a tree house with access from both sides of the fence, and frog hunting in the creek behind their houses.  Their childhood together had been rich, changing suddenly when his mother died of cancer.

He had transformed drastically then.  He became an Emo with a knack for trouble that always had his father sitting in the principal’s office. 

Despite feeling that the world had robbed him of the most precious person in his life, Adam had always found a way to make sure she still had her friend.  Even when her father decided that he didn’t want a family anymore and walked out on her and her mother, he had been the constant shoulder she had cried on.  She had loved him for it, and still did.

She had a crush on him back then and even entertained thoughts of moving their relationship from friendship to courtship.  Those thoughts disappeared when their parents decided to marry.  It brought a blow to her emotions.  She was happy her mom was happy, but she knew her relationship with Adam would never go beyond stepbrother and stepsister.

Not that she had been willing to do anything about it, not really.  She had always been a shy girl, quick to avoid confrontation, easily embarrassed by the silliest of things. 

There were the popular kids, the nerds and geeks that always got picked on, and the ones nobody ever really noticed.  That had been her, and in a way, Adam had gone through enough misery for the both of them.

Still, when the nights were long and Kelly was sleeping in the room she had made especially for her in her apartment, she would think back to those days and contemplate what could have been. 

CHAPTER TWO

“When are you going to be back?” she asked, knowing well enough that she would probably be dropping Kelly off at school the next morning no matter what he told her now.

“I’m hoping in time for breakfast,” Adam answered, scratching his head as he contemplated the long night awaiting him.  “I’m actually thinking of quitting.”

Sarah frowned at him.  “Don’t you dare,” she said, pointing a finger in his face.  “I’m not carrying the both of you again.  It’s enough that I already act like Kelly’s mother.”

“You’re doing a better job than her real mother did,” Adam said seriously.

“Don’t change subjects,” Sarah scowled.  “You can’t keep job hopping like this.  People don’t hire thirty year-olds whose only education after SAT’s is how to mix a drink and carry drunken girls into cabs.”

Adam smiled, raising his hands in mock surrender.  “Fine, ok, Jesus, take it easy.”

Sarah stared at him hard and long, then turned back to look for her niece in the crowd.  They were both silent as they waited for Kelly to say her goodbyes to her teacher and friends.

“You really think I’m doing a better job than her mom?” Sarah leaned in and asked, smiling slightly.

“Much better,” Adam laughed.  He put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her to him.  “She’s lucky to have you around.”

Sarah watched the little girl gather her things and wave to her friends, thinking that it was actually the other way around.

*  *  *

Adam hated live performances.

There was something about the massive crowd that followed their favorite underground band that turned him off from the job. 

Forget the massive number of drunken people bumping into each other and spilling drinks everywhere. 

Forget about ten people shouting orders at him and the other bar tenders simultaneously as if they were working with ten arms instead of two. 

He definitely had no problems with what the tip box had to offer by the end of the night.

It had to do with the crowd itself.

He had come to learn that there was a pompous air about people who came to watch the bands, a self-image of superiority that surpassed being pretentious, a step away from wearing an ‘I’m-with-the-band’ t-shirt that meant something to them. 

He wondered if they knew that they were watching a group of musicians that never made it further up the ladder than the front doors of the bars and pubs they played in. 

In the midst of it all, he felt like they were lost in the idea that this was ‘their world’, and anyone outside of it didn’t deserve their time.

“I’ve been standing here for almost ten minutes!”

Adam turned to the blonde yelling at him, squeezed in between two other people as she tried to get her attention.

“Sorry,” Adam said, “we’re a little understaffed today.”

“How is that my problem?”

Adam ignored the question.  “What can I get you?”

“You know, this is supposed to be your job, and it’s not really rocket science,” the blonde went on.

“You’re holding up the line, blondie,” Adam said, irritated. 

“You can’t talk to me like that!”

Adam sighed and pointed to a sign behind him.  “See that, the whole reserving the right not to serve thing? You’re pushing your luck.”

“That’s not even legal,” the blonde scowled.

“Hey, can I get a scotch?” another customer interrupted after seeing that this was going to take a little longer than he’d like.

Adam smiled at the man.  “Sure thing, bro,” he said, ignoring the blonde’s outrage as she started to scream at him.  Luckily, the music was too loud for him to hear half of what she was saying, and by the time he was pouring the other man’s drink, her voice had been drowned out completely.

Adam hated live performances.

*  *  *

Sarah groaned as she blindly tried to find the clock on her night stand.  When she finally reached it, face still buried in her pillow, she quickly pressed on the snooze button and rolled over in bed.

She was usually a morning person, someone who loved to get up an hour or two before work, do a little exercise and enjoy a proper breakfast.  Last night, though, she had stayed up late, working on one report after another as she fought the insomnia that was making her life a living hell. 

In the past two weeks, with the extra workload that had the gears in her head turning non-stop, she was finding it harder and harder to fall asleep. 

She would usually walk into the office with a cup of coffee, and by the time her official break hour, there would be three other mugs lined up next to her computer.

I’m turning into a workaholic, she thought.

The alarm buzzed again, and this time she didn’t bother trying to snooze it.  She simply reached out, grabbed the clock and threw it on the floor, hoping to shut it up. 

When that didn’t work, she groaned and rolled out of bed, kicking the thing with one foot and immediately regretting it as the pain soared from her toes up her leg.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Kelly said from the doorway.

Sarah turned to her niece and smiled as the girl walked to the bed and pulled herself up next to her.  Sarah ruffled her hair, immediately melting as Kelly smiled at her and giggled.  She wondered if she could convince Adam to leave her here forever.

“How did you sleep?” she asked the yawning little girl.

“Fine,” Kelly answered, folding her hands in her lap as she gave her aunt a sweet smile.  Sarah responded with the same, and then carried her niece as she giggled and kicked to the bathroom. 

“Face, hands and teeth, and then breakfast,” Sarah said.  “We need to get you to school.”

“I thought daddy was taking me,” Kelly said.

“Well, we still have an hour to go,” Sarah said, looking at the time.  “Maybe he’ll be here before we leave.”

Sarah left her niece to her business as she pulled on a shirt and made her way to the kitchen to get breakfast ready.  She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Adam, pulling out pans and plates as she waited for him to pick up.  When he didn’t pickup, she wasn’t too surprised.  Still, she cursed under her breath and concentrated on the task at hand.

She wished that Adam took certain aspects of his daughter’s life more seriously.  He never missed a play, was always around for every recital, and she couldn’t remember the last time he had not taken Kelly out when he had a day off. 

To Sarah, he did more than any other parent she had ever known.  Still, being around when his daughter went to sleep and woke up seemed, at least to her, a very important part of Kelly’s life.  And he was missing it.

When her cellphone rang, she knew it was Adam before she saw his name on the caller ID. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll drive her to school,” she said right away, stopping him from groveling.

Adam chuckled, but she could hear how tired he was even in his laugh.  “No need,” he said.  “I can get Heather to pick her up from your place.”

“I’d rather cut off my right arm than send Kelly to school with that woman,” Sarah said.

“Come on, Sarah,” Adam said.  “She isn’t that bad.”

Sarah started scrambling the eggs, chopping at them as if she were chopping at Adam’s girlfriend’s neck.  “Date whoever you want, but when it comes to Kelly, I have as much a say as anyone else.  Do not send your
girlfriend
over here to pick her up.”

Adam laughed again.  “You know, sometimes I think I give you too much power over my child.”

“Maybe that’s because I’m raising you both,” Sarah said with a smile.

“Touché,” Adam said, laughing.  She could hear from his voice how tired he was.  “Is she close by?”

Kelly pranced in right on cue, already dressed as she pulled herself up on a stool and sat ready for breakfast.  Sarah put Adam on speaker.

“Say good morning to daddy, honey,” Sarah smiled.

“Hi daddy honey!” Kelly bellowed with a laugh. 

“Hi, baby!  Listen, would you rather have your aunt Sarah drive you to school, or should I call Heather to pick you up?”

Kelly cringed at the sound of the other woman’s name and shook her head quickly.

“You can’t see her, Adam,” Sarah smiled widely, “but she looks the way I feel.  I think we’re both going to throw up.”

“You’re turning my daughter against me,” Adam said, only half joking.

“If you’re not careful, I’ll start fighting you for custody,” Sarah replied.  There was no humor in her voice.  She hoped Adam took it like she said it.

“Fine, it’s two against one, have it your way.”

“We’re late!  Say goodbye, daddy,” Sarah said, picking up the phone and holding it out to Kelly. 

“GOODBYE DADDY!”

“OK, call me later,” she said.  She hung up without waiting for an answer.  She didn’t have time to play Adam’s games.  She grabbed the pan and emptied its contents onto a plate that she placed in front of her niece. 

“We don’t like Heather, do we?” Kelly asked, wiggling her nose at Sarah.

“Eat your breakfast,” Sarah said, biting her tongue.  Regardless of what she really thought, it wasn’t  her place to talk about Adam’s personal life with his six year old daughter.

As she went through the door, however, she said to herself, “No, ma’am, we don’t like Heather at all.”