Page 1 of Over Time Advantage

PROLOGUE

FALLON

Itake one final glance in the mirror. A small smile finds my red-painted lips. I look good tonight. Considering the fact that I’m usually either in scrubs from work or in sweatpants while running around after my daughter, I’d say I clean up well.

My daughter, Harper, is eight years old and the light of my life. She’s staying at my ex-husband’s house tonight, which is why I said yes to this party. Fancy black-tie fundraisers aren’t really my thing. I prefer more casual evenings. Unfortunately, when my daughter isn’t around, most of my evenings are spent alone.

There’s nothing casual about me right now though. Tonight I'm in a long, spaghetti-strap formal dress in a gorgeous turquoise shade the saleslady said matches my eyes. The fitted satin bodice flatters my slim figure and makes me feel like a million bucks.

My blonde hair is blown out into wavy perfection, and I spent more than five minutes on my makeup, a rarity for me these days.

My doorbell rings right on time, and I open the door to find one of the planet’s most attractive billionaires, Beckett Windsor. Beckett is in his fifties, yet he maintains a youthful look with his styled, dirty-blond hair, fit physique, and dazzling smile. His daughter, Andie, has been Harper’s best friend since preschool. His wife tragically died in childbirth. I didn’t know him then, and for a few years I only knew him from an occasional wave at school. He kept to himself and always looked so sad, though he was the one to drop Andie off at school and pick her up every day. Never a nanny. It always struck me as sweet that, despite his tragic story and what I assumed was a demanding job, his daughter was his priority.

A few years ago, he met a talented artist, Amanda Tremaine, and it completely transformed him. It was like the zombie was awakened from a years-long slumber.

She’s a few years his junior and has an adult daughter from a previous relationship. They’ve since gotten married and had twin sons of their own. Amanda adopted Andie, and an outsider would never know she wasn’t Andie’s biological mother. She is Andie’s mother in all the ways that matter.

He smiles when he sees me. “You look stunning.”

“Thank you.” I take in his tuxedo-clad appearance that would put James Bond to shame. “You don’t look so bad yourself. Very debonair.”

He playfully wiggles his eyebrows up and down as he offers me his arm. “Shall we? The ladies are already a bottle in. I think they’re letting loose tonight. You’ll have to play catch-up.”

I look toward the sleek, black limo waiting in my driveway and can hear the cackling of Amanda and Reggie. Reggie is Amanda’s lifetime best friend. She’s also a nurse at the hospital I work at, so I’ve known her for years. She’s become my work bestie.

“Oh boy, it’s going to be a long night,” I offer.

He sighs. “It sure is. The little ones are out of control. I think Amanda is happy to have a night out away from them, and she plans to take full advantage of it.”

Their toddler boys are a bit of a nightmare. The little rascals are always getting into trouble.

Like the gentleman Beckett is, he escorts me to the limo, and I climb inside, happy to see my close friends. Amanda looks like a vision in red. With or without fancy clothes and makeup, she’s a gorgeous woman. Like me, she’s petite with a generous bust, though she has a darker complexion with brown hair and eyes, unlike my lighter complexion with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Reggie looks great too, all dolled up in a black gown. I’m not used to seeing her in anything but scrubs, but she’s glowing tonight. She’s a bigger, curvier woman and constantly cracks jokes at her own expense, but she’s beautiful, both inside and out. She’s been married to her husband, Sam, for over twenty years, and they have five kids ranging from ten years old through adulthood. Reggie has dark, curly hair, porcelain skin, and a few adorable freckles spread over her nose.

She fans her face as I get in. “Hurry up and close that door from this humidity. I’m going through cougar puberty, and the heat is getting to me.”

I giggle. “Is that what we’re calling perimenopause these days?”

They’re both a bit older than me, in their upper forties, and are experiencing the early signs of menopause. I’ll be forty next year, and it’s weighing heavily on me. Harper is the air I breathe, but I never expected her to be an only child. With her nearing nine and me approaching forty, I’m fearful it will never happen for me.

When I got divorced six years ago, I had the wherewithal to freeze my eggs just in case. I’ll use them if I need to, but I’m still holding out hope that I’ll meet the one and we’ll be able to conceive naturally. I know the clock is ticking though.

She nods at my perimenopause question. “Yes. Calling it cougar puberty makes me feel younger. Dropping Ben off at college yesterday was horrible. It was so damn hot in that dorm room, I thought I was going to pass out. My sweat stains were shining through. It was made worse by the fact that when I made his bed for him, I knew right then and there those sheets would probably never be washed again.”

I giggle. “Well, you clean up nicely. You look amazing tonight. No evidence of sweat stains.”

She smiles as she straightens her shoulders. “I might not be a ten at the beach, but I’m confident that I’m a solid eight at Walmart.”

Amanda and I start laughing, as we often do at Reggie’s humor. Sam throws his arm around her shoulders and says, “Baby, you’re a one hundred out of ten everywhere,” as he kisses her temple.

They’re the sweetest couple ever. I adore them.

“Maybe I’m a hundred in pesos,” she replies, “but that’s a legitimate currency.”

He smiles at her sense of humor as he always does. “I’m glad you spoiled yourself tonight and bought a new dress.”

She nods. “Me too. My kids have $400 bats and $300 baseball gloves, but I sit every day in the same bra and panties I’ve had for four presidencies and a pandemic. I deserved a new gown and, thanks to Amanda and Beckett buying us a table, I have somewhere to wear it.”