Good morning! Sorry my time for posting has shifted so much. I’m sleeping in a little more to make up for the late hours of writing. I hope you’re enjoying Episode 9!
Charisse backed out the door, terrified that she’d brought on another heart attack. Continue reading
Inside the hospital, the lights were too bright like they were trying to cover up all the sickness inside. A family stood at the information desk with worried expressions while a toddler zoomed around oblivious to concerns. Other people slumped in chairs in the expansive lobby.
She clicked on the texts from Marie and found the room number. As she rode the elevator up, she put lip gloss on and scrunched her hair, more out of habit than a last ditch attempt to impress her mother. Maybe Gianna wouldn’t be there.
The doors opened on Daddy’s floor, and she asked a nurse which way to the room.
“I’m so glad you made it,” said the nurse, who was short and round with happy crinkles at the corners of her eyes. “He’s been asking for you.” She showed her to the room.
Charisse took a deep breath and stepped inside. No Gianna. No Marie. Just Daddy with an IV in his arm. He looked like he’d aged ten years.
“Princess,” he said, lighting up.
“Daddy,” she said, rushing to his bedside and giving him a hug.
“I was so worried you wouldn’t come. I’m sorry about everything: the salon, the investigator, everything. Becca called and told me she didn’t really believe Conor killed his wife. She was just angry and blaming him for the loss of her sister. I was only trying to protect you.”
Charisse had never heard her father gush out an apology. She pulled away but held his hand. “The salon is all mine, so I’d like to put that behind us. I don’t need your protection anymore. I need you to be honest with me. Do you have any idea how devastated I was knowing I couldn’t trust you anymore?”
“It was all to keep you safe, but I know. I’ll be different from now on. I promise.”
Charisse had her doubts, but he seemed genuine in trying to make amends. “And Conor’s my boyfriend, so you’ll have to be nice to him.”
Daddy started to bluster and then saw her arm. “Be nice to him? Did he do that to you?” He pointed a fat finger at the bruises and scratches.
Charisse released his hand and held her arm to cover it up. “Josh did that.” Her pregnancy hormones were trying to get the better of her by making tears spring to her eyes. It suddenly all felt overwhelming. Just yesterday she saw Josh, and now her dad was in the hospital and her mom was back. And Conor was on his way to China.
“Josh? What the hell is he doing here?”
The machine monitoring his pulse started to beep like crazy.
“Daddy, calm down. It’s over. I’m fine.” She was so stupid. She hadn’t even thought about covering up her arm to see him.
The machine kept beeping faster, and a couple of nurses rushed in.
“What happened?” asked the one who’d greeted her.
“It’s my fault. I said something to upset him.”
“Why don’t you go out for a minute?”
Charisse had kicked her black sneakers off long ago and had her knees pulled up to her chest. She’d spent the drive talking to Raul about moving in with Conor instead of about Gianna as she’d planned. Moving arrangements were a far easier discussion to have than her long lost mother giving her dad a heart attack by returning unannounced. Continue reading
Hello! I hope everyone in the states is having a good Memorial Day. I hope the rest of the world is having a good Monday. Secretly, Monday is my favorite day of the week, but I haven’t found many people who agree with me.
Good News! All Romance is having a Flash sale today for Memorial Day! The Beautician and the Billionaire is only $2.50 today! That is a STEAL because soon it will be up to regular price of $9.99.
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And now, on with Episode 9:
Charisse dropped to the bed. Conor had a pleading look in his eyes like he’d done something wrong.
“What do you mean?” she asked. Continue reading
Hello! I hope you’re having a great weekend. I sent all the personalized copies of Nails for a Billionaire to all of the winners in my voting contest. If you won, and you haven’t received an email from me, please contact me at evelynaster@aol.com.
I have exciting news for the rest of you: Nails for a Billionaire is FREE for a limited time at All Romance! You can download it for Kindle, Nook, any epub reader or pdf. Honestly I like the pdf file the best on my laptop because I can see the details of the nails the most.
Summary:
This is a glimpse into the Beautician and the Billionaire series with over 70 nail designs you’ll want to show to your manicurist. This is NOT a DIY guide. If you want to snag a billionaire, you have to spend the bucks!
There’s a running monologue throughout with a bit of a story that I hope you enjoy in addition to the nail designs. Thanks for being my readers! Please enjoy my gift to you!
Good News!!! With a lot of hard work and a lot of coffee, I’ll be sending out all of the personalized copies of Nails for a Billionaire today and releasing it for sale! I’ll post here when it’s available, so come back this afternoon.
She decided to go upstairs to change. It was a conversation for normal clothes and not lacy negligees. She heard him say hello as she reached the stairs. To her surprise he said, “Marie? Yeah, she’s right here.”
With a curious expression in his eyes, he held the phone out to Charisse. She took it and said, “Marie?”
“There you are. I’ve been freaking out calling you all morning. Daddy’s had a heart attack.”
“A heart attack?” Charisse went numb. “Where is hee
“We’re at Mount Sinai hospital. Can you get over here?” Marie sounded on the verge of tears.
Conor placed an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She should be emotional like Marie, but at the moment she felt nothing. “I’m in the Hamptons, but I’ll leave right now.”
“There’s something else you should know,” said Marie, sounding calmer—almost detached.
“What else?” Charisse heard panic in her own voice. At least she didn’t sound like a robot anymore.
“Mother’s here. She showed up at Daddy’s favorite breakfast place. And then he had the heart attack.”
Charisse swayed. Conor tightened his grip on her. She didn’t know how long she stood there without speaking.
Marie said, “Are you still there? Did you hear me?”
“What is Mother doing there?”
Conor’s body tensed against hers.
Marie said, “I don’t know. Mother’s either in the room with us like she’s a worried wife, or she’s out getting coffee. She hasn’t really spoken to me. I need you here.”
Charisse took a deep breath. Anger and fear started to battle inside her. Maybe it’d be better to stay in shock. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Hang in there.”
“Okay. Mother’s coming back. Maybe she’ll talk to me this time.”
The line went dead.
Charisse stared up at Conor, dropping the hand holding the phone to her side.
He cupped her face. “Are you okay? Did Roy have a heart attack?”
She nodded. “I, I have to go.” She turned away from him and headed up the stairs.
He followed her and said, “I’ll have Raul bring the car around. Do you want me to go with you?”
She stood in the doorway of his room, unable to think where her clothes were. “You have to go to China.”
He slipped the phone out of her hand. “I can send my lawyers ahead and stay with you until you see Roy’s going to be okay.”
She recalled all her clothes had been unpacked and put into drawers. She headed over to the dresser, opened a drawer and pulled out underwear, jeans and a top. Her mother was back without warning or explanation.
She tossed the clothes on the bed, sat down on it and started unbuckling her sandals.
“Did you hear me, Charisse?”
She dropped a sandal to the floor. It hit with a thud against the hardwood.
“My mother’s here,” she said.
Conor ran his fingers through his hair and sat on the edge of the bed, appearing nervous.
When he didn’t say anything, she went back to changing her clothes. “She won’t even talk to Marie. Why did she suddenly show up if she’s not going to talk to us?” She yanked her jeans on and shoved her arms into a black t-shirt.
“It might not be as sudden as you think,” said Conor slowly.
Sorry I’m late posting today. I’m still exhausted. I’m gearing up to produce all the custom copies of Nails for a Billionaire and then uploading it on vendor sites. So I might be late posting for awhile.
In the scene that you missed, Conor asked Charisse to move in with him and her phone has been ringing on and off while they made love. You can read the missing scene here!
Charisse didn’t know what had happened to her when Conor asked her to move in with him. It was as if all her love for him had drowned out her ability to speak. She’d never experienced love so intense. She imagined it was because he’d asked her to move in before he even knew about the baby. She hadn’t really thought he’d do anything out of a sense of duty, but the desire to live together had meant more to her than she would’ve ever guessed. Continue reading
Good morning! The sex scene comes fast in this episode, so to speak. I’ll be skipping over it tomorrow, but you can read it here:
Charisse woke to find Conor gone. Glad for a moment to collect her thoughts, she slipped her hand to her belly. To tell or not to tell. He’d be gone to China soon. Though it would be a joyous way to part, she wanted to be able to spend time planning and basking in the happiness together. Continue reading
I’m more confident that Nails for a Billionaire will be released this month. All of the pictures have been edited and approved. It’s down to the text editing.
It’s not exactly a story. It’s more of a running monologue done by the manicurist at Ma Charisse who’s introduced at the end of Episode 9. But be sure to read it because there’s a fun twist at the end! Continue reading
Good morning! Sorry for being MIA. Uploading all the books took it out of me as well as a super busy personal schedule. I’ve still got my fingers crossed for a May release of Nails for a Billionaire, but it might be the last day of May.
Please enjoy Episode 9:
Conor woke up to diffuse light on either side of the blue drapes in his cottage bedroom. Charisse faced away from him on her side with her brown curls spread out behind her almost close enough to tickle his cheek. His cock was hard and ready for her, but he had something to do before she woke up. Plus, he wasn’t sure if she’d be up for lovemaking.
He stared at the scarlet scratches against the bruises on her right arm and clenched his jaw with a fresh surge of anger. She’d been attacked in his house by someone he’d invited. A sheet covered her body, but he drew the comforter over her arms and shoulders to ward off the chilly morning. And so he wouldn’t have to see the bruises and scratches. It was over. She’d stood up to Josh and given him back some of his own. But he worried about what would happen while he was gone, especially if Becca broke up with Josh.
He pushed aside his worries by recalling last night. They’d cuddled on the couch and listened to music after dinner. They hadn’t talked much, but it was a comfortable silence with the contact of their bodies being what they needed most. He kissed her cheek gently, glad when she made no indication she was waking up.
Reluctantly he rolled away from her and slid out of bed. He grabbed his jeans and shirt from last night and slipped out to put them on downstairs.
When he was dressed, he located the box that had contained the rose necklace he’d given to Charisse and lined it with damp paper towels. He grabbed the pruning shears from below the sink and went out behind the house where there were still many miniature roses on the branches. A breeze chilled him, but he stood close to the bushes and studied each one carefully, trying to find three perfect roses to be immortalized in gold.
When Raul pulled up he’d managed to find two roses to clip.
Raul got out and walked towards him.
“Good morning, sir.”
Still studying the roses, Conor said, “Good morning. I told Charisse last night that you were staying behind to be her personal assistant. She’s fine with it.” He actually wasn’t sure how fine with it she was. She’d put up a brief protest until he suggested hiring a bodyguard instead.
Raul didn’t answer him. He probably didn’t believe him.
After a moment Raul said, “Did Charisse give you a prescription for me to fill?”
Conor frowned. All the roses seemed too flawed. He stepped to a new section. “No, she said she’d get it in the morning.”
Silence answered him again. He turned and faced Raul, wondering what Raul thought about Charisse claiming she had an ear infection. Raul held the small ice chest he’d requested.
Conor lowered his voice. “I’m worried there’s something she’s not telling me. The whole thing with her ear doesn’t seem right.”
Raul gave a glance towards the side of the house like he was checking to see if she was there. He said, “She had a rough afternoon, but she didn’t sound like herself when she was talking about the doctor’s visit. I was hoping to know better what was going on before you left.”
“Me too.” Conor turned back to the roses. He didn’t want to leave her, not while she was so vulnerable.
The situation in China wasn’t his fault, but he still needed to go. He couldn’t allow the company to crumble—there were too many jobs at stake. He needed to remove the CEO and a few people close to him, but the termination laws in China were a mess. He was taking a team of lawyers with him to make sure he got everything right. More importantly, he needed to choose their replacements.
As he went through possible solutions to his problems, he found a rose with symmetrical petals and no blackened edges. He clipped it and set it in the necklace box with the other two.
“This one’s for the ring,” he said, pointing to the rose he’d just picked, “and the other two are for earrings. They seem to be close to the same size.” He gently closed the lid.
Raul took the box and paused.
“Is there something you have to say?” asked Conor, wary of Raul’s opinion.
“You know I adore Charisse, but a ring so soon after everything she’s been through…”
Conor shook his head. “I know. I plan to hold off for as long as I can, but I know I won’t want to wait until these roses bloom again.”
Raul smiled and shook his head. “Very well. But I know you. You’ll ask as soon as it’s in your pocket.”
Conor had no defense. He gave a grin and shrugged. He always went after what he wanted. “Be sure the earrings are done and to New York by Tuesday. He’s already agreed to do it as a rush job.”
Raul set the ice chest down, opened it and took out two acai bowls wrapped in plastic. He handed the bowls to Conor and took the box, setting it on top of the ice. After he closed the lid, he stood up. “Your private plane will be ready to leave at noon. Darnell and his team confirmed they would be there.”
Conor sighed. “That’s not very much time. How much do you want to bet Charisse won’t want to talk about what’s really going on until I get back?”
“You’re very persuasive, Mr. Grishin.”
Conor shook his head, walking back to the front door carrying the breakfast bowls. He could be persuasive in a business deal, but everything with Charisse seemed too fragile right now. Still, they were a couple. A real couple. She needed to open up to him.
He walked inside, determined to get to the bottom of whatever was wrong with Charisse, but when he stepped towards the kitchen, he nearly dropped the bowls.
Charisse stood with her back to him, fixing a pot of coffee. She’d changed from her knit pajamas into a violet lace camisole with her perfect round ass peeking out at the bottom. Lust surged and took over his thoughts. Round one to Charisse.
Evelyn Aster 