9781631054631ChoiceAffairsSalisbury

CHOICE AFFAIRS

Southern Heat book 2

Jamie Salisbury

Erotic Romance

Secret Cravings
Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

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A
Secret Cravings Publishing Book

Erotic Romance

Choice Affairs

Copyright ©
2015
 
Jamie
Salisbury

E-book ISBN: 978-1-63105-463-1

First E-book Publication:
 
January 2015
        

Cover design by Dawné Dominique

Edited by Tabitha Bower

Proofread by Renee Waring

All cover art and logo copyright ©
2015 by Secret Cravings Publishing

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Dedication

A huge debt of gratitude to my
readers.
Thank you.

To: Nicco, thanks for helping me through a most
difficult year. You're in my heart, even when we're thousands of miles apart. Liam,
David, Fred, Mardi, Lisa, Lana, Kim, Mike, C-boy, Anya, Debbie, Stephanie,
Renee, Johnny, Kay, Greg, Donnie, Mike & Ginger, Bill F (the deer came out
of nowhere)
.,
Jeanette B, Amadeus, Shelly...I know I'm
forgetting someone. Thanks everyone! 2015 is shaping up to be the best ever!

CHOICE AFFAIRS

Southern Heat book 2

Jamie Salisbury

Copyright © 2014

Chapter
One

Caitlyn

It had been dubbed the
wedding of the year by the media. Shrouded in secrecy, it had all the talking
heads going. They would interview anyone who might have an
in
of the hushed preparations. Listening
to them, I would have thought they were talking about
the
royal family the way they all carried on.

They weren’t, though.
They were feverishly discussing Apolo’s and my upcoming nuptials. Grabbing any
juicy morsel they could turn into spin. Nothing was off limits. Not even the
fact that it was to be a private
affair. Only
immediate family would be in attendance.

And then, someone
invited my mother onto their radio show.

Eloise, my wedding
planner, was in near hysteria, recounting what had transpired. I was oblivious
to what had happened. Not even Apolo’s media
personnel had gotten a head’s up on my mother’s appearance. For all our
attempts to keep private the biggest day of my life from the feeding frenzy, my
mother ruined it all in ten minutes.

Sitting in the drawing
room of Apolo’s Buckhead mansion, I despera
tely
attempted to make heads or tails of my mother’s reasoning for doing this.
That,
and her blatant disregard for my wishes
that the affair remain private.
That
no details would be released before the event.
The answer was easy—the woman was all
about her
self, and no one would ever change that.

I held my phone in one
hand, the other cradling my head, as I sat there almost in a fetal position,
rocking back and forth on the richly upholstered sofa.

“El, there’s nothing
you could have done. Hell, there’s noth
ing either of
us could have done, short of locking my mother away until the day of the
wedding.”

“I don’t know where
she’s getting her information, Caitlyn. Every vendor involved in your wedding
has—”

“She has her ways. I’m
beginning to think my mother was
a reporter in a
former life, or a clairvoyant. Please, El, don’t worry about it. There’s
nothing we can do now.”

Interrupted from my
thoughts for a second, I glanced toward the doorway.
Apolo.
My savior, my
sanity, my safe haven from all this madness.
He
stood
dressed in pressed jeans and a T-shirt. The look on his face was as usual, his
poker face.

“Eloise, I need to go.
Please, don’t worry yourself. This wasn’t your doing. I’ll take care of the
offending party. You just continue with the preparations.”

“
I’m okay, Caitlyn. I just wasn’t expecting your mother to
undo all our hard work.”

“Well, she hasn’t.
I’ll let you go and will see you day after tomorrow. You know how to reach me.”

I pressed a button on
my phone. Apolo was now seated next to me, rubbing m
y
back. He knew me well enough to know that something was amiss.

“Problems?” he asked,
never stopping his hands’ magical dance. His touch intoxicated me.

I ceased with my
rocking and slowly sat up to look at him, clutching a bolt of pale pink ribbon
that I
was contemplating using with my bouquet.
“My mother.”

He chuckled. Apolo had
many a sparring match with my mother, but he always came out on top. I quietly
wondered how he was going to handle her this time. “What has she done now?”

“Oh, nothing much,
othe
r than
appear
on the biggest radio show around, spilling all the details
about our wedding.”

His eyes darkened and
a muscle in his cheek began to twitch. “She did what?” he roared. Standing up,
he began to pace the room with urgency. “What does she not und
erstand about the word ‘private’?” His hand disappeared
into the pocket of his jeans, retrieving his cell. He peered down at it,
scrolling through his contacts. He was pissed off, and with good reason.

“Apolo, who are you
calling?” I inquired, as though I
didn’t know.

“Your
mother!
I’ve been more than patient with the woman. I’ve overlooked things she has said
or done that ordinarily I wouldn’t. She was the entire reason we waited to
start preparations. So that she would be safely
back
in Ireland. Now, less than a week out, she decides to
ignore everything we implored upon her not to do. She’s selfish, Caitlyn. The
woman thinks of no one but herself, and it stops now.”

I bit my lip, trying
desperately not to smile. That wouldn’t be a go
od
thing to do right now. Apolo Choice did not tolerate anyone, not even family,
doing as my mother just had.

He caught my amusement
anyway. “What?” he
bellowed,
his eyes dark and menacing.

“Are you done
ranting?”

“No! I’m just getting
started. She has to
be taught a lesson, and I know
the perfect way to get her attention. While I’m doing that, I want you to get
Izzie and Eloise on the line. The four of us have some
meddling-mother-of-the-bride counter attacks to plan out.”

“What are you up to,
Apolo?” I ga
zed warily at him as he found my mother’s
number and let the games begin.

“You’ll see.”

That’s what I was
afraid of—Apolo Choice and my mother, Susan Pickett White, having a blow up
mere days before our wedding. I sat, grimacing, waiting for her to pick up
. Or would she? As savvy as my mother was, she was probably
screening her calls, anticipating Apolo’s response.

“Susan,” he bellowed
into the phone. “What in the name of hell were you thinking this morning? Going
on some gossip show and telling the world e
very
detail of our wedding. How dare you! Now, I’ve called to tell you that the
ceremony is off. Thanks to you, the one day we asked for privacy has been
ruined.”

He stood, facing me,
listening to my mother pleading. He was obviously having great fun
toying with her.

“No, you may not speak
to Caitlyn. Your daughter is too distraught by your selfishness to talk to
anyone at the moment. I merely thought I’d let you know first-hand that the
wedding has been cancelled. But you know, come to think of it, pe
rhaps I should have gone on one of those shows you seem to
relish and announced it to the entire world. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

He hung up on my
mother. Not many live to tell about doing that. “Have you gotten in touch with
Izzie and Eloise?” he inquire
d, obviously smug with
himself and his handling of my mother the meddler. “I didn’t think so. Do it
now, Caitlyn, please. I’m going to get with Jacob, so that he can turn your
mother around should she decide to come here to plead her case.”

Which
she would
.
We both knew she would. What could I
say? The man rocked my world and would move heaven and Earth to make me happy.
Though, now I wondered, since the wedding was called off as far as my mother
knew, just what he had up his sleeve.

* * * *

“He did what?
” Izzie
asked,
the look on her face priceless.

“He called off the
wedding?” Eloise squeaked.

“Trust me,
ladies,
Apolo did not cancel the wedding. He
was merely trying to get a point across to my meddling mother. Apolo will join
us momentarily with his plan
.”

“You should have just
eloped, come back, and had this huge reception of the century.”

I know, Izzie, but I
can’t do that to my father, or Apolo’s parents. I can’t punish everyone else
because of her.”

“And you won’t,
sweet,” a commanding male voice said
from the edge of
the room. “The wedding will go on as planned. We’ll hold the ceremony here.
I’ll have Jacob look into adding more security.”

“Um,
what about Susan?”
Izzie asked.

“Oh, she’ll be here.
She just won’t know it until she finds herself standing
with the rest of the wedding party.”

“I’m afraid to ask
what exactly you’ve gone and done,” I moaned, shaking my head. Izzie and Eloise
stared at each other then Apolo and me.

“Nothing.
I’m simply giving your mother a taste
of her own medicine. Once this
day is over, I don’t
think we’ll have to worry about her putting her nose where it doesn’t belong
anymore.”

“You don’t know Susan
Pickett White then, Apolo,” Izzie blurted. At this very moment, while we’re
sitting here brainstorming, Susan is out there plo
tting,
scheming, and just trying to find anyone who will tell her what’s going on.”

He smiled devilishly,
glancing down at the watch on his wrist. “No, I don’t think we have to worry
about her now. Not until the wedding.”

“Apolo?”

“What? I’m sending
your
mother to an elite resort where she’ll be
pampered and spoiled until the day of the wedding. At that time, she’ll be
returned to Atlanta, but kept under constant monitoring.”

“So, you’re basically
kidnapping her?” Izzie
inquired,
a huge grin on her face. S
he turned to me. “The more I’m around this
guy,
the more I like him, Cait. He has a
devious mind, and you have to when dealing with your mother.”

“Constant
monitoring, Apolo?”
I asked, skeptically. “Unless you’re going to have a dozen
people guarding her t
wenty-four hours a day, I don’t
see how you’ll contain her. Or, are you sending her to some remote island?”

“Laugh if you want,
Caitlyn. While your mother is being pampered at this spa, she’ll be wearing an
ankle bracelet. And please, before you go there,
if
she tries to cut if off or anything else, it will sound an alarm, as well as
notify the monitoring station.”

“Wow!” Izzie blurted.
“That’s pretty James Bond-ish, Apolo. I think Susan’s met her match.”

“Does that put your
minds at ease, ladies?”

We all n
odded our heads. Without mother and her meddling, things
would go a lot smoother. And she would be in heaven at the spa, regardless of
an ankle bracelet. Mother loved being pampered and having people fawn over her.
Thus, my nick name for her—Queen of Sheba
.

“Good. Then proceed as
planned. All deliveries will be stopped at the gate before being allowed to
proceed. An awning is going up this afternoon to allow further privacy. Have I
missed anything?”

The three of us looked
at each other and then at Apolo. Th
e man wasn’t a
business genius for nothing. He was cool as a cucumber, as usual.

“No, I think you’ve
got it all covered,” Eloise replied. “Thank you for doing that. It’ll make
things so much easier, not having to worry about who’s watching or where.”

“I’ll
need a list of all the vendors, Eloise. Jacob will address
the breach to each of them, as well as reiterate the importance of maintaining
privacy.”

“I have it with me, if
you want to make a copy.” She opened her briefcase. She must have anticipated
him wa
nting the information, because it was right on
top. Picking it up, she passed the sheets to him.