Stay(87)

“Yum!” Elaine caught my arm and leaned into my ear, speaking in a low voice. “Wouldn’t it be lovely to add him to our treatment schedule?”

“Hmm… I think my schedule’s full,” I said, taking a seat at our table.

I cautiously glanced behind me after giving my drink order, but I still didn’t see any sign of him. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t having lunch here.

“Maybe this Alexander guy is equally hot,” she said with a wink.

I shrugged, sipping my iced tea. “Wouldn’t matter.”

The corner of her mouth curled up. “We’ll see tonight. This might be the additional option you need.”

Her words provoked a little laugh from me. She had no idea what additional option I’d already had, and I doubted this Alexander person would be able to top it. That flash of memory caused me to inspect the restaurant once more. Not seeing him, my stomach unclenched enough for me to eat our non-cleansing lunch of cheeseburgers and fries.





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Make Me Yours





Special Sneak Peek





He’s a billionaire single dad who needs help.

She’s a sassy single gal who needs work.

Live-in nanny? What could go wrong?





Remington Key: I left the Navy, scored a billion in tech, got married, and had a baby. I did everything by the book. Happily ever after, right?

Fast-forward four years, and I’m alone, raising my daughter, caring for my mother-in-law, and trying to keep my stuff together. How did this happen?

I was clearly drunk the night I offered a gorgeous girl in a bar $500 a day to be my live-in nanny. Or maybe it was my dick talking.

So what if I’ve been alone since forever? I’m focused on launching my new business, not bedding the sexy siren who sleeps down the hall.

At least that’s what I keep reminding myself…

Ruby Banks: Remington Key is distant, brooding, and ridiculously sexy. And when he scoops up his adorable four-year-old daughter Lillie and blows raspberries on her tummy while she squeals with delight, my ovaries literally explode.

Bumping into him at our local pub that night slightly drunk and overly frustrated was a total accident. He needed help, and it was the Christian thing to help a man in need. Right?

Only, Remington Key does not make me feel very Christ-like… No matter how committed I am to being a responsible employee.

(A small-town STAND-ALONE CONTEMPORARY Romantic Comedy. No cheating; No cliffhangers.)





Prologue





Ruby


Fifth grade





It’s a truth universally acknowledged that little girls know by fifth grade whether they’re bitches or not.

Okay, I just made that up based on the intro to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. I don’t really know if it’s a universal truth or not, but in Oakville, our tiny bedroom community of Charleston, it was real clear the day Serena Whitehead emerged as queen bitch of our fifth-grade class.

A lot of families had migrated to Oakville from Charleston for the small-town schools and the perception of safety, so we were meeting a lot of new girls. Still, we’d known Serena since Kindergarten…

“My mother says your dad was voted Most Handsome in high school.” Her voice comes from behind my left shoulder. “Too bad you look nothing like him.”

She’s right.

My father, prominent Charleston neurosurgeon Kenneth Banks, is tall, with light brown hair and flinty blue eyes.

Stepping back, I smooth my finger along the fair brow framing his round eyes, thinking how they look disappointed even in charcoal. “My mom was voted most beautiful in her graduating class.”

“Where was that? Suzy Wong Manicurist Academy?” Serena laughs, and I turn to face her.

Bitches don’t scare me.

“Clemson Magnet. Her degree was in accounting.”

I leave out how she then met my dad and gave it all up to stay home and raise her family, also known as me.

“You are so good at portraits.” My best friend Drew’s voice is a sweet interruption, and the fist in my chest relaxes.

“I’m too literal.” Leaning my shoulder against hers, I speak quietly. “Your technique is good—”

“They just never look like the person I’m drawing.”

Serena isn’t done. “What a pair,” she quips. “The fallen princess and the daughter of a geisha.”

My jaw tightens, and I turn quickly, stepping right into her face. “You’d better watch your mouth, Serena Whitehead.”

“Why, banana brains?” Her eyes flash, but I don’t flinch.

“My family are Bak Mei kung fu masters. Since the age of seven, I’ve perfected the Five Finger Heart Exploding technique.”