I couldn’t imagine not writing books. It was my life—it had always been my life. My love for reading turned into my passion for writing. I’d published forty books in the last ten years, and living vicariously through my characters was what I did best. It was why I owned several properties around the world. I needed the inspiration they evoked, and this view never failed me.
I decided to take a shower to try to loosen the tension continuously building in the forefront of my mind. In my en suite bathroom, I turned on the shower before taking off my leggings and sports bra. Grabbing my cream silk robe from the closet, I hung it on the hook by the shower and then stepped inside.
Welcoming the heat against my tensed frame, I pressed my hands against the shower wall and leaned my forehead against the cool stoned tile. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t shake the anxiety I was feeling.
It was more than Benjamin. I just felt off. My mind ran wild as I stayed in the shower until the water ran cold over my skin. When suddenly, my doorbell rang after I turned off the water.
I smiled, knowing it was Bradley.
He was in town on business, and since Ben was with his friend who lived in Seattle for the day, I told him to stop by. My boy never met any guy I’d dated over the years. It just didn’t feel right with any of them, and I refused to push something that didn’t feel perfect. I was an overprotective mom, a trait I’d received from my own mother. My life consisted of writing and Ben. I desired it that way.
Throwing on my robe, I wrapped the ties around my waist and knotted it off in a bow. Smiling from ear to ear, I walked to the door and opened it. Revealing a very handsome Bradley wearing a three-piece suit and an addicting grin.
“Hey, there.”
“Hey, gorgeous.”
He didn’t hesitate in gripping onto my ass and carrying me up onto his body, wrapping my legs around his waist.
Kissing my lips, he rasped, “I missed you,” against them.
Bradley worked in the stock market, and he lived in New York. We met a few months ago while I was there for a meeting with my publisher to discuss my next book. He was just a hook-up. Even though we were long distance, it worked for us.
Ben was my priority, and Bradley being a workaholic worked in my favor.
“You’re all wet,” he rasped in between kissing me. “Here I thought I was going to be the one to do it.”
I giggled, sliding my tongue into his mouth.
My kitchen was next to the front door, and in two steps he was sitting me on the edge of the island. Getting right down to it, he started to undo the sash on my robe.
Making me practically moan in his mouth, “I don’t think I shut the door.”
“You didn’t.”
In less than a second, my world as I knew it was suddenly crashing down on me. Causing all the blood to drain from my face as I sat there frozen.
Immobile.
Shocked and nervous.
His familiar, once comforting, deep throaty tone filled the room like he was talking into a microphone. I swear it echoed off the walls and vibrated intensely through my bones. My stunned gaze immediately flew to the direction of his voice, and we locked eyes for the first time in seven years.
There in the doorway of my home stood the only man who’d ever hurt me in more ways than one.
Jax fucking Colton.
Was unexpectedly back in my life.
* * *
—Jax—
* * *
I. Was. Livid.
“Oh my God!” Sophie exclaimed, moving the motherfucker who’d just had his hands all over her away. “What are you doing here?”