Vengeful Love: A Summer Love Story (contemporary romance) (Sizzling Summer Romance) (6 page)

“It all sounds very vexing, Kate. But I’m sure you’ll survive. Provided, of course, you have a decent-looking co-actor on set.”
 

“Ha! Count on my own sister to know me best. I can’t complain in that department, I suppose. That’s the only thing keeping me warm right now. Talking about warm, that’s why I’m calling you.”
 

I stopped chewing. Kate usually called me only when she needed something. What the heck did she want this time?

“I’d been planning to have a relaxing break after this horrid shoot, so I booked myself a luxury cruise to the Caribbean. But just now my director told me that we’re going to be stuck here for at least another week. And after this, I’ll be flying off to Fiji for my new movie.”
 

“So?”

“So I was thinking that my lovely sister could take a break from her very busy life, and take the cruise instead of me.”

I wrinkled my brow. Did I hear that correctly? Did Kate actually say I
could take the cruise in her place? “When is this cruise? How long is it?”

“It’s a ten-day cruise, and it leaves this Saturday morning. Everything is included: wine, gourmet food, entertainment. You can relax by the pool, have your nails done, or enjoy a whole-body massage, whatever takes your fancy.”

“Coming Saturday? I can’t, Kate, you know that. I have a full-time job. I can’t just take a holiday whenever I feel like it. My supervisor will never approve my leave.”

Kate’s voice turned downright icy. “You’re always worried about your golden call-center career. Just
go
. I’m sure your glamorous job will still be there when you come back.”

“Really, I can’t. I’m not prepared. I wouldn’t even know what to pack.”

“Darling, I’ve got it all figured out. I know what you’re worried about. You think your Walmart get-up won’t cut it on the cruise. And you’re right. So I’m going to courier you some of my old rags. They’re still perfectly fine, just not cutting edge enough for someone like me. You should receive the parcels tomorrow morning.”

“But—but—” I thought I was going to choke on the chunk of apple that had lingered in my mouth, unchewed.

“I’m also sending you a ticket to Florida and the cruise details. You’re going to have such a fabulous time, darling. You may even think twice about staying in dull-town USA.”

Before I could object, she had already hung up the phone.
 

Typical of Kate. She couldn’t care less about other people’s feelings, especially mine. From when we were little, she had been the center of attention. With her pretty face and ultra-charming personality, she always got own her way by winding people around her little finger. It was always about her, and her alone.

In fact, it surprised me that she had given me the cruise. She must have been feeling guilty about forgetting my birthday last month. And she knew I had never been abroad, let alone on a cruise. The farthest I had ever travelled from home was when Kate had taken me on a shopping trip to Chicago.
 

It would simply be insane to pack up and take a tropical holiday. But the thought was also thrilling, exciting—something I hadn’t felt in a long time. I’d been down in the dumps lately, worn out from the daily grind. It was utterly exhausting, answering call after call, day after day. The worst was the unwarranted abuse from rude customers. It had made me throw my headphones against the cubicle wall more than once.
 

A break would do me a world of good; I just needed to get away from it all. The least I could do is try to get my leave approved. But as I had expected, my supervisor was less than thrilled with my request for leave.
 

“Jessica, this is an extremely busy time. Especially now Practal has launched their new beauty line, I need every single one of you. There’s no way in hell I can give you leave right now.”

“It’s only for ten days. I’ll make it up to you when I come back. I’ll even do overtime.”

“It’s up to you, honey, but if you insist, I’m afraid you won’t have a job when you come back.”

I was disappointed, but certainly not surprised, and continued my work for the rest of the day, pushing the ludicrous cruise idea from my mind.
 

Early the next morning, a loud knocking on my door woke me, and my roommate called out, “Jess! A courier delivery arrived for you.”

In the living room, a stack of big parcels awaited me, with a compliments card from my sister. When I unwrapped them, I felt my mouth falling open. The branded labels jumped out at me: Chanel, Armani, Gucci—brands I had only seen in magazines. There were stylish tops, skirts, pants, shoes, and dresses for all occasions, even swim- and sleepwear.
 

I immediately tried on the new outfits, and when I looked in the mirror, I could barely recognize myself. I had transformed from a small-town gal to a hot, stylish babe from the Big Apple. I would fit right in with the luxury-cruise set, just as Kate had predicted.
 

Damn Kate. My sister had always done exactly what she pleased, and led the life she wanted to lead. In contrast, I had always done what was expected of me: get a steady job, with steady income. I’d always been the responsible one. Why couldn’t I, for once, do something fun and crazy? Maybe this was my chance to finally escape from my boring life, and find a way to be happy and fulfilled.

That’s when I decided.
 

Hell, why not?

End of preview.

Artful Love
is now available on Amazon!

(
www.amazon.com/dp/B00DKSIMNG
)

About the Author

Here are three facts about me:

1 - I love being a writer, but first and foremost, I love being a wife and mom, and taking care of our imaginary kittens.

2 - If I’m not in front of my laptop, working on my latest romance, you’ll find me in the kitchen whipping up sweet creations. I have yet to find a way to incorporate these in my stories.

3 - Reading great romance stories is my one of my favorite pastimes, but nothing beats the thrill of creating love on the page. As Benjamin Disraeli once wrote, “We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence and its only end.”

Thank you so much for reading this story; I genuinely hope you enjoyed it. If you did, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review on Amazon.
 

If you would like to be kept posted of my latest ventures, please connect with me:

Website:
http://www.jillianleeson.blogspot.com

Email:
[email protected]

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/jillianleesonbooks

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/jleesonbooks

Love,

Jillian

P.S. Read Book 1 in the Sizzling Summer Romance series:
Artful Love
(
www.amazon.com/dp/B00DKSIMNG
). Book 3,
Fateful Love
, will be out soon!

Vengeful Love

Copyright © Jillian Leeson 2013

http://www.jillianleeson.blogspot.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book. Your support of author’s right is appreciated.

All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover photo: © Maksval
⎜
Fotolia.com