Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,143
dark hair fell over his face and her cleavage threatened to leave the low-cut bodice of her rust orange dress and visit Walker’s face.
I scowled at them both. “Really? Out of the all times you could have picked, finally, you choose now?”
I left them, closing the door behind me.
I didn’t have time to think of their tryst much more that night. Not with Nick slow dancing with me on the dance floor, his eyes full of everything he felt for me. Nan and I held each other and choked back sobs when Nick and my mother slow-danced to “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole. Both he and my mother had wet cheeks when the song ended.
By the time the vintage Rolls Royce pulled up to take us home, I almost wanted to stay and celebrate with our friends.
Almost.
But not quite, not after that moment when we stood with fireworks over our heads and rice in our hair, and Nick framed my face in his hands. “Forever,” he said, and I saw my life, my future in his eyes.
And I pulled him to the car that would take us to our home.
To start forever.
About the Author
Hope Ellis is a health outcomes researcher by day and writes romances featuring sexy nerds by night. She hopes to one day conquer her habit of compulsively binge-watching The Office.
1. A sneak peek of The Treble with Men, book #2 in the Scorned Women Society by Piper Sheldon
2. Smartypants Romance’s booklist
Sneak Peek: The Treble With Men Book #2 in the Scorned Women’s Society by Piper Sheldon
Coming April 7, 2020!
Your vibrato is atrocious. Vibrate the string; don’t wring its neck like it’s a chicken.
KIM
A man’s voice stopped me halfway down the stairs.
“Kim . . .” His rich voice spoke my real name, though the rest of his words were too muffled to make out.
A chill shuddered down my spine. I smoothed the goosebumps from my arms and tiptoed down the plush carpeted stairs. When the doorbell rang a few minutes ago I had assumed it was one of my parents’ endless stream of guests. The only reason I had left my practicing was to get a snack. Snacks were typically my main motivation to move.
The guest was talking to my parents about me?
No matter how I tried to fight my innate curiosity, it always won out. The door to the drawing room was left open so I tucked behind it, hiding from the occupants of the room. The familiar shame at being a guest in my parent’s home pinkened my cheeks. Because that’s how it felt to me being almost thirty and living in my old bedroom. I wasn’t still living at home; I was a guest.
“She should be here for this conversation.” It was that new voice, deep and rumbling. Gentle, yet forceful.
“She’s practicing. She takes her schedule very seriously,” my dad stated.
That was like saying the Pope was pretty religious. Control over my schedule gave me peace of mind. I pressed my face into the crack between the door. The slice revealed my dad on the couch, his back to me. Across from him, I saw biker boots and worn jeans where I had expected dress pants and loafers.
A familiar thrill shot through my memory: the open air tugging through my hair on the back of the bike and the deep rattling of an engine vibrating through my bones. I clamped down my wayward thoughts.
“We’ll postpone this conversation until Kim is available,” the man responded.
“Christine,” my father corrected.
There was shuffling and then a pause. “What?”
“She goes by Christine Day now. As you know.”
The silence in response filled the room more powerfully than anything else could have. Christine Day had been my stage name for over five years now. The change made it easier to distinguish my former self from my present one. Most of Green Valley thought Kim Dae got caught up with Jethro Winston and the Iron Wraiths only to go MIA. It was better to be known as the girl who’d disappeared than the woman who was going nowhere.
This man’s voice was so familiar and yet completely out of place here. It was intriguing enough to have me reaching for the door. My hand dropped just as four heavy steps shook the floor so hard the china cabinet across the hall rattled. I pressed myself back against the wall as the door was thrown open. Thankfully, my foot stopped me