Happy Monday! Sorry I’ve been MIA. I had a small house disaster. It’s under control now, but the house is still in disarray.
Episode 5 is available to purchase in ebook format! Once again, there’s a sex scene at the end that I won’t be posting to the blog. So if you want the Full Monty, you’d better buy it 😉
Click here to purchase on Amazon!
Click here to purchase on All Romance! (On Sale for $1 until 11:59pm CST!)
Click here to purchase at Smashwords!
Barnes and Noble and ITunes coming soon!
Episode Six (I actually just typed Episode Sex) has a high density of sex scenes. You’ll probably want to purchase that one for sure, because it might be pretty choppy on the blog. I’d love to get it out by Valentine’s day, but that might be pushing it. It’ll be out this month for sure!
Charisse had a melt down at the end of Episode 4, and Conor is taking care of her. But Charisse can’t seem to let go of work or the pursuit of owning the salon herself. Conflict soon arises….
Charisse swallowed the last bite of her hamburger. The fancy cheese and sauce on it would’ve been delicious under different circumstances, but that night it only made it easier for Charisse to force herself to eat. The credits of a rom-com she’d barely paid attention to rolled by. Conor held her hand across the small cafe table in the back of his darkened theater room. She knew he was staring at her, but she couldn’t meet his gaze. She didn’t deserve him.
Her emotions whirled in her mind like a dust devil. She should’ve taken another Valium, but she also wanted to deal with her problems without medication. As long as she didn’t imagine Conor was Josh again, she’d be okay…at least that’s what she told herself.
“I’m glad to see you eating,” said Conor. “That’s always a good sign.”
Still staring at her plate, she said, “It was good. Thanks for dinner, and– and for putting up with me this morning.”
“Don’t worry about this morning. Are you tired? Should I have Raul ready a bed for you?”
A bed. Not necessarily his. Did he realize she didn’t want to have sex tonight? Or was that his way of saying they were no longer a couple? Her heart beat faster, and she tried to be rational. She couldn’t stay at the penthouse with him anyway. She needed to get to work in the morning, and he lived much further away than she did.
Her cheeks flared in embarrassment over the real reason she didn’t want to stay: he knew she’d remained with Josh, even after he started hitting her. She’d never wanted anyone to know about that. She had to be the weakest woman ever, at least in his eyes.
She cleared her throat and summoned up the courage to answer him. “As much as I’d like to stay, I need to get back to my apartment tonight.”
“What?”
The tone of shock finally made her look up at him. His eyes echoed the surprise in his voice. Though it momentarily relieved her fear that he wanted to break things off, she remained determined to go home.
She said, “You live really far away from my salon…”
“You’re not planning on going to work are you? You need to take another day off. Stay here and relax. Let me pamper you.”
Images of snuggling in bed with Conor fluttered through her mind, but she pressed on. “Work is how I deal with my problems.”
“Work is how you ignore your problems. You’re staying here.” His eyes switched from surprise to sternness.
“No, all of my lady luvs sent me worried texts. I need to show them I’m okay. I need to make some appointments to secure the loan I’m trying to get.”
“To hell with the loan.” He shoved his chair back and stood up, looking angrier than he had when he’d woken up in her salon chair the first day they’d met. “Right now you should focus on finding a therapist and talking through your problems. You should sleep tonight and in the morning research the list of names Dr. Mandala gave you. That should be your only plan tomorrow. You were abused, and you had a miscarriage. The pain of that is not going to fix itself. No wonder your father controls your life; you refuse to take care of yourself.”
Charisse drew back as if he’d struck her. Regret passed through Conor’s eyes, but he didn’t apologize. What an odd thing to separate him from Josh. Josh would’ve been begging her forgiveness.
“I want to go home. I can call a cab.”
Conor threw his hands in the air. “Fine. Go home. Call me if Josh decides to pay you a visit.” Conor stormed down the half dozen stairs to the bottom of the theatre and out the door.
The mention of Josh slid down her spine like a sharp fingernail and made her shake. She hadn’t considered Josh actually being in New York. She’d heard he moved to Chicago. But why else would he have called her?
She swept strands of curly locks out of her eyes and took her phone out of her pocket, half expecting to see a text from Josh. Instead, there was a text from her father asking her to call him. She ignored it and found the number for her usual cab company. Tomorrow she’d sort everything out, including her relationship with Conor. She didn’t want it to end after it just began.
Evelyn Aster 