Remember to email me about your free compilation of The Beautician and the Billionaire. It’s the last day!
Charisse took another step back up the staircase. Did Conor know Josh was here in his house? Of course he knew, but surely he didn’t know this was her Josh. Continue reading
Charisse’s mind was in the zone as she brushed dye on Tanya’s roots. Tanya’s daughter had thrown a party while Tanya was out of town with her husband, and the cops had been called. Charisse was always surprised when customers told her these stories because she always kept her life to herself. She didn’t want people knowing the dirty details of contracts and billionaires. She hadn’t even been able to tell her lady luvs yet that she’d be gone all next week or tell Letti she’d be in charge. But Tanya seemed to revel in complaining about the disaster. Continue reading
Good news! Episode 6 will be released next week to buy! Episode 5 is drawing to a close soon on the blog. To thank all of you loyal readers, I’ll be reducing the price of Episode 5 to FREE for a limited time. Which means you’ll be able to read the moment Charisse and Conor seal their new deal without cost to you!
And if you’re new to my blog, The Beautician and the Billionaire Episode 1: The Deal is available for free on my blog and at these locations: All Romance, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Smashwords.
Today we’re going back in time a little at the salon to see what’s been going on while Conor’s been morose in his office. It’s not looking good for Charisse. Josh has found her.
Charisse brushed purple polish over the nails she’d just filed into curved tips. The customer chatted about her date plans, but Charisse was busy wondering when Mei would get through to Conor. His assistant had turned her away once already. Maybe they were on the no call list or something, but that didn’t really make sense. Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving!
There’s a Starbucks in my Hotel, but it does not have free wi-fi 😦 So I’m going to hopefully pipe this post through the hotspot on my phone. I really didn’t want to skip today because:
So if this actually works (my connection is very slow) and if you read this Thanksgiving Day post and leave a comment below, I will put the names of the commentors in a hat and draw one out to receive a $5 Amazon Gift Card. The Flash Giveaway will last until November 27 at noon Pacific Standard time. That’s a little less than 24 hours. Please comment on the story and Good Luck!
Charisse spent the next few days as a hollow husk. Outwardly she kept up appearances at work, speaking nothing of Conor owning the salon. She wore designer jeans with her favorite Manolo Blahnik pumps and sheer blouses with cami’s underneath. Her make-up was perfect and her curly hair pulled up. But inside she felt nothing but the chill of abandonment. Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! To Everyone: I’ll be traveling and don’t know the state of my wi-fi. I’d pre-schedule the next few posts, but I’ve been struggling with the smoothness of this episode. Many important things happen, and I don’t want to short-change any of the events. When I’m driving, I usually get good insights into the stories I’m writing. So there may be posts Thursday and Friday, and there may not 🙂
Remember to buy Thankful Hearts! It’s on sale for $1.00 at All Romance until the day after Thanksgiving!
Conor stomped back to his office and slammed his door. Roy started blustering about showing Charisse the contract, but Conor yelled, “Shut up and sit down.”
Roy yanked the chair away from the desk and sat. Continue reading
Charisse stood up and stared at her father. She should’ve never pulled her hair back so tightly because she thought she might faint from the headache that took over. How could he use Marie to smooth his business deals over? How could she have never realized it before?
“Charisse, what are you doing here?” Daddy asked. His head was red and he breathed as if he’d run several blocks to shout out the news about the ship. Continue reading
This is the last week for Episode 1! I’ll be posting the last two scenes on Wednesday and Friday. Thanks so much for reading!
Conor’s cheek stung. “I’m sorry.”
Marie rolled off his lap and slid all the way over to the door. “Take me home.”
He turned and stared at her, sobering only slightly. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Fuck you.”
He pressed the intercom and told his driver to take them to Marie’s apartment. The memory of Charisse standing surprised when he’d entered the apartment filled his mind. He wanted to see her again, but there was no way that was happening tonight. Besides, he’d had a good time with Marie.
He tried to placate her again. “I really did have a great time with you at the party. You’re an artist in a crowd.”
“Why didn’t you just ask Charisse out?”
“She called me a rat bastard, and you didn’t.”
Marie gazed out the window. “Maybe she was right.”
Conor drew in a long breath and let it out. His dick felt like it had whiplash—she wanted him, she didn’t, she wanted him, she slapped him. Anger began to push back at his feelings of regret. She’d been good at the party, but he didn’t need to keep social connections that much. He could let them all go and still be richer than a fucking third world country. He must’ve had ten drinks, what did she expect? He could’ve said any name; he could’ve called her Elise.
God dammit. Why hadn’t he called out Elise?
After a long silence while Conor roiled, Marie asked, “So what are you doing about the building?”
The muscles on his face tightened, and he resumed his business mask. He sat up, adjusted his clothes some and turned to face Marie. “Usually I’d take it over, refurbish it and hike up the rent–”
“You can’t do that to Charisse.”
Drunk and with a frustrated dick, Conor snapped back. “What the hell is with you guys protecting her? From what I’ve seen, Charisse can hold her own.”
“What do you mean? How was Daddy protecting her?”
He was too drunk to play this game. He’d been trying to spare Marie’s feelings, but that was only making things worse. “Before your dad offered me the building, he wanted me to take you out on a date. He showed me pictures of you, and I saw one of your sister too. When I asked about her, he tried to make me forget about her.”
“That asshole. I knew it. So this is really why you asked me out?”
“No! I didn’t want anything to do with you–”
Marie punched his arm. “What the hell is so wrong with me?”
“No, I didn’t mean it that way. I meant I wasn’t about to take you out in trade for lost money. Even I have scruples.”
“But you would’ve taken Charisse.”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“I think it’s exactly like that, but she will never ever be yours. Daddy would never allow that, and she hates anyone in a suit.”
“Even her dad?”
“If she’d ever grow up and see him for what he is, she would.”
Sobered somewhat by the argument, he tried to figure Marie out. “Why do you put up with it?”
He felt the car slow and pull over to the curb.
She grabbed his tie and pointed her finger in his face. “You get this straight. I have never done anything I didn’t want to do. More than one of his arranged ‘dates’ has wound up with a black eye. He calls it matchmaking, and I think he really believes I might marry one of these guys. So don’t judge us. And stay the fuck away from Charisse.”
She opened her door into traffic, and a driver honked at her. After she slammed the door, the privacy glass rolled down. Raul, his driver, handed a Scotch on the rocks across to him.
Conor took it and said, “Thanks,” before slamming it down.
Roy still owed him for the lost ships. A painting or two would be letting him off easy after all the shit he’d had to put up with today. Roy and Marie wanted him to stay away from Charisse, so she was exactly what he’d go after. Tomorrow he’d call Roy’s bluff on the building and see exactly what the silent partnership deal was.
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Evelyn Aster 