I was on the brink of turning thirty the first time I thought of Cyrus. the first time I knew I loved him, like really loved him, the way you would someone who you wanted to spend forever with. All he had to do was say my name, Rachel. I'd probably just melt. His warm, melting brown eyes staring back at me. Forever, if we could have forever. We'd be married with one kid or two or three kids. It wouldn't matter how many ch...

Chapter 15 Nora Nora leaned back on her elbows as she sat with her legs draped over the edge of Olivia’s bed. She had lost her underwear somewhere between climbing the stairs to the loft and being pushed down to the impossibly comfortable mattress. She squeezed her thighs together to quell the aching between them as she watched Olivia pull the leather straps up her long legs and secure the buckles around her hips. When Ol...

Chapter 11 Nora “Hi baby!” Nora squealed in a pitch at least an octave higher than her natural register as she walked through her front door on Tuesday evening, arms full of bags and keys dangling precariously from her fingers. Being the mother of a cat was so often a test, not only in patience, but in balance as well. Tony weaved through Nora’s legs in bouncing figure-eights as he meowed so loud she was positive her elde...

I let out an enormous yawn and stretched my arms high into the air. Azrael briefly looked up from his book, frowning at my sudden movement, but then returned to his reading. I paid no attention to him as I rubbed my face in frustration with my elbows leaning on the desk. "I can't do it anymore. I'll deal with it tomorrow!" I sighed, got up from my chair, and walked to the fridge. Azrael looked so comfy, nestled into a cor...

Nora Nora woke Saturday morning to the sound of an ambulance whizzing by on the street outside. She squinted her eyes as the early morning sunlight streamed in through the windows, directly onto her face. At some point during the night, she and Olivia had untangled from each other. Next to Nora, Olivia now slept soundly on her stomach, the bedsheet only covering her from the waist down, revealing the pale, flawless skin o...

Chapter 7 Nora For the second time tonight, Nora found herself unable to wrap her mind around what was happening. This evening was unfolding like a rollercoaster that Nora was riding while blindfolded. At no point was she able to anticipate what was coming next. But it was that thrill that kept her wanting more. A few hours ago, she was amazed that she had been sitting in a bar, having drinks with Olivia Andersen. And now...

Chapter 6 Nora What a wild night this was turning out to be! First Nora had been stood up by her date. That alone would have been enough to shake her confidence for a good while had the night not taken an incredibly unexpected turn. The last thing in the world she would have expected was to run into Olivia Andersen out in the wild. And at a cheap bar like this, no less. And now, nearly three hours and as many drinks later...

Chapter 4 Nora Finally it was Friday! Nora’s work week had dragged along at a snail's pace, as usual. She worked on a few projects, attended a handful of meetings, and familiarized herself with Indigo Lights, the new account she would be working on starting next week. That was something she had been looking forward to. Aside from getting to work so closely with Olivia, the company seemed really interesting. And how fun wo...

Ahh, Sunday evening at the Road House. They had a reggae/soca band that played from about six pm to nine for regular folks, and then a DJ would come in after that for the kids and the tourists. Zukia, the owner, knew me pretty well and would hold a seat at the bar for me if I called him in the afternoon. I finished my dinner and relaxed in the balmy breezes of Antigua island. My boat, the thirty-seven meter Sierra Gold, w...

Chapter 2 Olivia “Knock knock!” Olivia looked up from her laptop to find her best friend and business partner, Whitney Lexington entering her office, a bag of food and two drinks filling both of her hands. “Ah, it’s about time!” Olivia exclaimed. “I’m starving! Gimme!” She got up and rounded her desk to meet her friend on the other side of her office, settling in at the small conference table situated in front of the indu...