The day went by lightning fast. Way faster than I remembered high school going when I had been there. But, before I knew it, my first day was over. I had over a hundred and fifty names to remember that had completely flitted out of my brain. But I’d survived.
There was Jensen, waiting for me, when I left. Of course, he was in the flashy Corvette. Bright red and low to the ground with the top down. I shook my head and laughed as I approached the car that all the students were staring at.
“Miss me?” he asked with a grin.
“Every moment.”
“Good.” He popped open the passenger door, and I dropped inside. “So, where do you want to go to celebrate your birthday?”
I dropped my head into my hands and groaned. “Oh my God, how did you find out?”
“Heidi.” He sat down in the driver’s seat and then obnoxiously revved the engine.
“Bitch.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t know. Let’s stay in and work on those fantasies.”
He grinned. “Thought you’d say that.”
The drive back to his house was unbelievably short in his new car. It blew my hair all around my face, but it was exhilarating. I could see why he loved the thing, and he was already talking about getting something sleek and distinctly European. He was addicted.
He parked in the garage and took my hand as I stepped out of the car.
“I am so not a birthday person,” I informed him with a sigh. “I do like cake though.”
“I was made aware of this. But I don’t care. You’ll celebrate with me if I want you to.”
“Just be warned, I will retaliate!”
He laughed and drew me in for a kiss. “I’ll take all the punishment you’re willing to offer.”
We stepped in through the garage and straight into the kitchen.
Jensen flipped the lights, and suddenly, a whole group of people jumped up and screamed, “Surprise!”
I put my hand over my mouth. “Oh my God!”
There were party streamers all over his kitchen and out through the foyer. A giant party cake that read Happy Birthday, Emery with a bunch of lit candles sat in the middle of the island. And all around it were my friends and family and Jensen’s family.
My heart expanded enough to hold them all. I might not have been a birthday person before, but today changed that. I’d never had good birthdays growing up. They’d always been filled with disappointment—kids missing parties, no one showing up, and all that. But right here was exactly what I’d always wanted.
Heidi was jumping up and down next to Landon. They both looked ecstatic that they had been able to surprise me. Austin was across the room from Julia but kept glancing her way. She was making a point not to look at him so much that it was clear she wanted to look over. Instead, she beamed extra hard at me. Morgan was leaning into Patrick, and Sutton was holding her new baby boy, Jason, in her arms. Maverick was at her side, indulging her. Then, there was Kimber, Noah, Lilyanne, and Bethany all standing to one side with my mother, of all people.
But it was the one other little face who nudged Lilyanne and smiled back at me that surprised me the most. Jensen must have gone to great lengths for this entire thing because Colton was even here.
Jensen wrapped an arm around me as Heidi pushed me toward the cake.
“Make a wish,” Jensen said.
I stared down at the cake and realized that I already had everything I wanted.
What I had always been searching for.
Home.
I took a mental snapshot of the beauty before me, at my new reality, and then I leaned forward and made my wish.
The End
LOOK FOR THE NEW STAND-ALONE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
FROM USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR K.A. LINDE…
The
Wright
Boss
HEIDI SWORE SHE’D NEVER DATE HER COWORKERS, LET ALONE HER BEST FRIEND’S EX-BOYFRIEND. BUT WHEN LANDON WRIGHT SHOWS UP AT WRIGHT CONSTRUCTION AS HER SEXY NEW BOSS, THE OFFICE GETS HEATED. AND THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO COOL IT DOWN.
COMING MAY 16TH!
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CHAPTER ONE!
The Wright Boss
K.A. Linde
One
Landon
Fuck, my wife was ruining my life.
In fact, Miranda had ruined my life the day we met. I didn’t know it at the time. I wouldn’t find out until much later. But now, the fact was undeniable. Miranda was a cancerous cell eating away at my body. If I didn’t get away, she would destroy me.
I glanced down at my phone, and Miranda’s name popped up on the screen.
For the hundredth fucking time.
“Fuck,” I groaned and then ended the call.
She had been calling me nonstop since I’d walked out of the door without her. But I had just landed into Lubbock on the last plane of the day, and frankly, I didn’t want to talk to her. Not after what she’d done. Not after what she had been doing to me for years.
Of course, I didn’t blame her for freaking out, when I was on my way to my ten year high school reunion without her.
I cringed at the thought. I’d wanted to come back for the reunion at the top of my game. I’d spent the last six years working as a professional golfer out of Tampa with a few PGA victories under my belt, but I’d wanted to return having won the Masters with my sexy wife on my arm, living the dream. I’d wanted to make my name as someone other than a Wright.
As proud as I was of my family and Wright Construction, the largest construction company in the nation, I wanted my own life. Now, I was returning at twenty-eight years old without my wife and with my golf dreams in ashes.
I shrugged off those depressing thoughts and exited the plane. The Lubbock airport was compact, to say the least. I’d only brought a carry on, so I bypassed baggage claim and exited the sliding glass doors out to my hot and dusty home. After Florida summers, it felt like going from drinking the air to breathing sandpaper.
A shiny red Alfa Romeo zoomed up to the spot in front of me, and my brother Austin rolled down the window. He honked the horn and flipped me a bird. He was two years older than me, but frequently acted as if he were the younger brother.
“Hey, get in!” Austin yelled. He popped the button for the trunk.
“Nice to see you too,” I said sarcastically.
“Where’s your other half?” Austin asked.