A Tragic Wreck (42 page)

Slowly, he moved in and out, kissing her body all over.

“God, Olivia, you feel so good. I love you so much.”

A tear ran down her cheek, the love she saw in Alexander’s eyes overwhelming. She was so deliriously happy at that moment. She always enjoyed sex, and sex with Alexander was always incredible, but there was something about that moment, with him moving inside of her, that was so much bigger than anything she had ever experienced. She felt full and complete.

Alexander continued his slow movement, wanting to savor every feeling that he had. He brought his mouth back to Olivia’s, brushing her lips with his tongue. She threw her head back, moaning, as she felt the familiar clenching sensation in her stomach. Alexander felt her tighten around him as he began to move quicker.

“Are you going to come again?” he asked, his eyebrows raised. He was still surprised that he could make Olivia feel that good.

“Yes, Alexander,” she exhaled, closing her eyes.

He picked up the pace, maintaining a gentle but fast rhythm, his breathing becoming labored. “I want you to say it, Olivia. Say what I want to hear when you come.”

Olivia opened her eyes, staring at him, her orgasm imminent.

Leaning down, Alexander brushed his lips against her neck. “Please, Olivia. I need to hear it.”

He moved inside her and almost immediately Alexander felt her tense up around him.

“I love you, Alex!” Olivia shouted as she came undone again, her eyes wide as she stared into Alexander’s eyes, her declaration of love sending him over the edge.

“I love you, too, Olivia!” he exclaimed, nuzzling her neck, nipping gently as he emptied inside her.

“Holy crap,” she said as Alexander lay on top of her, their breathing ragged.

“You can say that again, love,” he smirked.

“That was amazing.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, Miss Adler.”

Olivia looked at Alexander, their eyes meeting. “I’m pretty sure you enjoyed yourself there, too, dear.”

“You have no idea,” he growled, kissing her neck, rolling her onto her side. They lay in bed, staring into each other’s eyes.

“I love you, Olivia.”

Her heart swelled. “I love you, Alexander.”

He pulled her closer, her head nestled in his chest as she toyed with the little bit of chest hair that he had.

“You make me so happy,” she exhaled, enjoying the feeling of being in Alexander’s arms again.

She shot up. “Holy crap! I have to plan a wedding!”

Alexander pulled her back down. “That can wait. We don’t have to do anything big. Whatever you want.” He held her in his arms, listening to her breathing normalize as she drifted off to sleep.

He knew he was in deep now. She agreed to marry him. Would she ever forgive him if she found out who he really was? Could he really keep that from her? He wasn’t sure.

“I love you, Olibia,” he said, kissing her forehead.
 

~~~~~~~~~~

Late Friday night, Simon walked into Donovan’s office after his attorney indicated that it was okay to go in.

“Donovan, hi. Good to see you again,” he said awkwardly, extending his hand to the intimidating man in front of him.

Donovan looked up from an article he was reading on his laptop, ignoring Simon’s hand.

He nervously placed it in his pocket.

“Have a seat, Simon.”

He quickly sat down.

“I’m going to cut to the chase. I was hesitant to agree to your demands, but then I got to thinking that you could be rather useful. You see, Olivia knows you. You attacked her, which wasn’t the smartest thing you could ever have done.”

Simon looked down, embarrassed that he fucked up so bad with one simple job.

“But then you went to prison. We’re going to present you as a reformed prisoner. Someone who has gone through anger management and is now sober. Someone seeking forgiveness.”

Simon looked at Donovan. “I don’t follow.”

“You will be compassionate, begging for Olivia’s forgiveness. Tell her it’s part of your therapy. At a point in the near future, we’ll be driving a wedge between her and Burnham. You see, he was a childhood friend of Olivia’s. He knows who she is and has kept that from her these past eight months. That little piece of information will tear her fucking world apart, allowing you to come back in and help her pick up the pieces of her shattered world. Earn her trust, Simon. Refrain from any sort of sexual relationship. Get the information and then…” He held his hand up imitating a gun. “Bang bang.”

To Be Continued…

Payphone
- Maroon 5

Sad
- Maroon 5

Boston
- Kenny Chesney

Agape
- Bear's Den

Accidental Babies
- Damien Rice

When I Was Your Man
- Bruno Mars

All We Ever Do is Say Good-Bye
- John Mayer

Say Something
- A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera

Gravity
- Sara Bareilles

Eve, the Apple of My Eye
- BellX1

No Other Plans
- Jillian Edwards

What Did I Ever Come Here For
- Brandi Carlile

You To Thank
- Ben Folds Five

Ashes and Wine
- A Fine Frenzy

Laid
- James

A Kiss to Build a Dream On
- Louis Armstrong

Picture
- Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow

Put the Gun Down
- Z.Z. Ward

If I Fell
- The Beatles

Love Somebody
- Maroon 5

If I Loved You
- Delta Rae

I Will
- The Beatles

O
LIVIA
AWOKE
FROM
AN
afternoon nap, gazing at the beautiful man sleeping peacefully next to her. She glanced around the large bedroom, the duvet and several pillows thrown on the floor. A grin spread across her face as she thought about the amazing sex she had with Alexander just a few hours earlier before prying herself out of his arms, going in search of a bathroom.

She grabbed her jeans and sweater and threw them on before quietly walking over to the door, thankful when the old door didn’t creak, waking up Alexander. After finding a bathroom, she decided to go find Alexander’s mother to see if she needed any help getting things ready for that evening.

The house was eerily quiet as she walked down the stairs, searching for Colleen. “They must all be outside,” she said to herself, heading in the direction of the back door when a room off the living room caught her eye. She stopped dead in her tracks, a memory rushing back. Her fifth birthday. Her mama made her a cake in the shape of a Care Bear. Sunshine Bear, if she remembered correctly. And she could have sworn she remembered her mama and the green-eyed boy from the dream sitting beside her in that very room, singing to her as she blew out the candles on that cake.

Turning, she headed toward the ornate dining room, the table and chairs all covered with sheets. Walking around the room, she felt as if she had been there before, but that was impossible. She had only known Alexander for less than a year and this was the first time he invited her home with him. But still, the smell and sounds in that room were strangely familiar to her.

Scrunching her brows, her eyes settled on a large picture frame covered with a white sheet. The other portraits weren’t hidden. Only that one was. Olivia wondered why. Slowly making her way to the center of the room where the enormous portrait hung on the wall, she gingerly began to raise the sheet, wondering what was underneath.

“Olivia, dear! There you are!” Colleen called out, startling her.

She jumped, placing her hand over her chest, feeling guilty that she was caught snooping around her home. “Colleen. I’m sorry. I came downstairs to see if you needed any help. And I guess I got a little sidetracked.” She shrugged her shoulders.

Colleen walked over to Olivia and placed her hands on her shoulders, trying to lead her out of the room and away from the large family portrait with Alexander and Olivia as small children together. “I understand. It happens to the best of us.”

“Colleen,” Olivia said, raising her voice. “Why is that portrait covered up?”

Colleen stopped, turning to look at her. She hated having to lie to the poor girl. Not when her son should have simply told her the truth by now. He swore he would tell her, and she didn’t want to interfere…not yet, anyway. “I’m sorry, Olivia. It’s just, whenever Alexander comes home, I try to rid the house of any memories of…”

“Oh,” Olivia said in understanding. “I should have known.” She turned to head back upstairs.

“Olivia, dear,” Colleen called out, causing her to turn back around and face her. “He loves you very much. I’ve never seen him so happy in all his life. Even when he was a little boy.” She smiled before retreating back outside, leaving Olivia alone with her thoughts about Alexander and why the dining room in that house brought back memories of her fifth birthday.

Expected Publication - May 5, 2014

W
HERE
DO
I
EVEN
begin with my acknowledgements this time around? It’s amazing how much everything has changed since I hit that little publish button on a sunny, hot day back in August. It was a Tuesday. I remember. Because it was half-price wine day at one of our local bars here in SoCal where the hubs and I call home. I just finished my last review of
A Beautiful Mess
and we decided to go out for lunch and some vino to celebrate. I had already uploaded my manuscript to kindle direct and was really just waiting until the time was right to hit “publish”. After we returned home, I put on my playlist and what song comes on? None other than
A Beautiful Mess
by Jason Mraz. It was a sign. So I hit publish. And nothing has been the same since. People started to overwhelm me with their positive responses. I had people telling me how much they wished they could be Olivia, despite the fact that she’s cray-cray, just so they could date Mr. Burnham (or as we now call him Mr. B.)

And there are so many people I need to thank now. I know I’m going to forget some people and I apologize. First off, my wonderful P.A., Jessica Green from A Girl Amongst Books Blog. She makes my life easier so I can focus more on writing and less on more mundane tasks. And she’s an amazing person and friend. And I’m so happy she stumbled on my page and my book.

I also need to give a big thanks to book bloggers everywhere. Thank you for supporting independent authors. Posting and pimping our books on your Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs is what helps us spread word about what we’ve done. Without the help of these people, who don’t make a dime off what they do, those of us who prefer to remain independent would have a hell of a time with marketing. There’s so many bloggers I want to thank, but first is Terrie Honeyball over at Obsession is a Book Blog. She was one of my very, very first early supporters. She came on board pretty much the same day I put my first book up on Goodreads back in July. And she’s supported me ever since.

Then there’s Stefani Tabakovska from I Read Books. I sent her an ARC of
A Beautiful Mess
and just a few short days later, she contacted me and asked to be on my street team. I had no idea what she was even talking about. I did a little research and figured I’d give a shot. So I decided to form a team of girls to help me promote my book, thinking that maybe ten people would like my book enough to want to join. Little did I know that I’d now be overseeing a team of over fifty amazing women, and there are even more people who contact me on a regular basis asking to join.

This amazing group of women promote my books in their home town and on different social media sites and I would never have experienced the success I have without them. So they get a huge, huge thank you. I don’t know how I can ever repay them, but I hope granting them access to read this book back in September helped. So thanks to all you amazing women! Alexis Brodie, Anna Kesy, Brenda Mcleod, Cecilia Ugas, Cheryl Tuggle, Christine Davison, Chrissy Fletcher, Cindy Gibson, Claire Pengelly, Crystal Casquero, Crystal Swarmer, Danielle Estes, Eann Goodwin-Giddings, Ebony McMillan, Erin Thompson, Estella Robinson, Jamie Kimok, Janie Beaton, Jennifer Goncalves, Jessica Green, Johnnie-Marie Howard, Kathryn Adair, Kathy Arguelles, Kathy Coopmans, Kayla Hines, Karrie Puskas, Keesha Murray, Kimberly Kazawic, Lea James, Lindsey Armstrong, Lori Garside, Lori Moore, Marianna Nichols, Meg Faulkner, Megan Galt, Natasha Rochon, Nicola Horner, Nicole Chronister, Pamela McGuire, Rachel Hill, Shane Zajac, Shannon Baker-Ferguson, Shannon Palmer, Suzie Cairney, Tabitha Strokes, Tiffany Craig, Tracey Williams, Yamara Martinez. Much Love and TEAM CAM! :-)

Also big thanks to my amazing Beta readers who devoured the entire three book series in about a week or two. Lynne Ayling, Karen Emery, Natalie Naranjo, Stacy Stoops thank you so much for reading for me, not knowing what you were getting yourselves into. And thank you for supporting and helping to spread the word about my books. If it wasn’t for your positive words of encouragement, I never would have published at all.

None of this would have been possible without the love and support of my friends and family. My parents, Don and Linda Martin raised me to love to read and express myself creatively. They, alongside my two eccentric sisters, Melissa Morgera and Amy Perras, and my best friend, Kerri Deschaine, gave me inspiration to do whatever I wanted to, whether that was arguing in a court room or writing a romance novel.

Another big thanks to my incredible editor, Kim Young. She was absolutely amazing when going through my manuscript. It was as if she knew exactly what I was trying to say, but couldn't because of the millions of different thoughts filtering through my brain at that moment. So thank you, Kim, for being able to read my mind.