AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Xavier, you can’t be serious.” She studied his features. “Are you?”
“Absolutely serious. Look me in the eye. Tell me you don’t want to be with me and I’ll have Roland take you wherever you like.”
“I can’t do that,” she said. “It would be a lie. But Xavier, I don’t fit in your world.”
“Stay with me,” he said, taking her hands. “We’ll make a new world together. I can’t imagine my life without you. I finally found the one person I truly connect with. I’m not letting you go.”
Aimee relinquished all doubt. She never felt like it could be real, that he could really want her. After what he’d done for her, and now begging her to stay with him, she had no more excuses. She tried to talk herself out of it to convince herself this wasn’t real, but that voice was gone.
All that remained was Xavier, and the way he looked at her now. She knew that she didn’t want anyone else to look at her the way he did. He was everything for her, just as she was to him.
“All right,” she said. “I’ll stay.”
It was the first step in a long and happy life together.
THE END
Bachelor For Hire
“You have to ask him. Go right up to him and say, you’re absolutely gorgeous and I want to take your picture. Shirtless. It’s perfect!”
Ava laughed at her friend’s exuberance. “Sophie you’re crazy. If I say that I’ll sound more like a horny stalker than a photographer.”
Sophie shook her short brown curls. “That’s where you’re wrong. It’s because you’re a photographer that you can say things like that. Call it a…professional observation,” her hands flourished to make her point.
Ava shook her head at Sophie. She could really use the help of someone like Kade Steele to get her revamped photo studio, Bow & Arrow, off the ground. She’d been open for three months and all she’d done were portrait studios for anniversaries, first birthdays, headshots and the like. Ava loved being a photographer but an actual photographer not a human tripod. Her grandmother loved studio portraits because she loved the controlled environment and documenting special occasions. She spent two years traveling the globe capturing the most spectacular images of poverty in Africa, war in the Middle East, natural disasters everywhere and all the beauty the world had to offer. Those two years revitalized her and fostered her love of photography and she was on her way to becoming a great photojournalist. Then grandma got sick and she had to return to Rainbow Springs. “I don’t think that will work Soph.”
She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’s worth a shot. What else are you going to do?”
Wasn’t that the million dollar question? She had a few ideas swirling around in her head but she had to pick one and figure out how to make it work. “As soon as I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know. I promise.”
“You better figure it out soon girlie, you can’t afford another three months without making a profit.”
Ava groaned. That was the problem. She knew she could come up with a good idea and make it work. Eventually. She needed a great idea that would work almost immediately and only one man in Rainbow Springs could do that. Kade Steele. “I guess I better go see Mr. Steele.”
Three days later Ava was dressed in her best outfit to meet the billionaire who could save her business. She’d worn all white because it complemented her cocoa brown skin, a fitted white tank dress with a trendy white half jacket. Her stilettos were a vibrant sexy red, the only nod to color. I look good, she thought as she twirled in the mirror to make sure she looked like a respectable businesswoman. Her brown waves were still sun kissed a dark gold color from the years spent in warm climates and she let them hang free. “Okay we’re ready to go.”
She was nervous about her meeting with Kade. Not only was he more handsome than any man ought to be, he was as rich as an oil sheik and as ruthless as any psychopath. She’d never met anyone like him, ever. In her travels she’d come across dignitaries and celebrities but out in the field the job was to focus on those who needed you, needed resources, so they were all equal. Actresses wore ponytails and khaki pants, and slathered their skin in sunscreen, they didn’t worry about makeup and designer clothes.
Ava needed this to work. She needed to keep some form of her grandma’s studio thriving to maintain a connection to her and to this town that had taken in a young distraught and instantly orphaned Ava and welcomed her. She couldn’t fail.
She wouldn’t.
“Dammit! Violet get in here, now.” When he didn’t hear the familiar shuffle of her nude colored pumps, Kade added an annoyed, “please.”
Two seconds later the grey haired dynamo who was the keeper of his secrets, his life, his business and his schedule scurried in with an amused glint in her eye. “Yes, Mr. Steele?”
He tried to fight it but the smile at her impertinence broke free but his smile quickly faded. “Bruce Henderson is considering selling Cakes A-shakin’ to Jax Barrington, can you believe that? All because Jax has a pretty little fiancé and they’re planning a big society wedding.” He scoffed, “There’s no society in Rainbow Springs.” He wanted to buy the chain of bakeries because they’d shown tremendous promise in the last few years, and with a growing customer base the opportunity to franchise was right there waiting.
“One could argue having five billionaires in a town this small is high society.”
Kade rolled his eyes at her comment. He hated those over the top, ostentatious displays of money. He wore tailored designer suits to work and his clothes were expensive but after work he wore jeans, t-shirts and board shorts. He didn’t wear a tie when he didn’t have to and he had no plans to settle down with some gold digger just to please an old fashioned dinosaur. But if he wanted Bruce to at least consider him, he needed to look like he wasn’t a playboy. Then he would sell Henderson on his skill and personality to the old man. “Do we know anyone appropriate to play the doting girlfriend?”
Violet’s laugh was melodic as it carried on longer than it should have. “I’m sure any girl in town would love a chance to be on your arm Mr. Steele.”
“True but my usual dates won’t satisfy Henderson. I need someone sweet and wholesome, a girlfriend who looks like the settling down type, without stars in her eyes about actually settling down with me.”
She stood and straightened her grey wool suit, patted her bun to ensure not a hair broke free. “Maybe you ought to consider taking time to get a real relationship.”
