Synopsis:
At eleven years old, Macie James was certain she
saw her prince standing in her kitchen with his rosy cheeks and cute smile. She
was going to marry that boy, she had no doubt about it. As she became a
teenager, it was that boy who taught her how to become a confident and sure
woman. As the years went by and they grew up, he taught her how to love and to
be loved.
Greyden Michaels was surprised when he fell for
his best friend’s little sister. He wasn’t opposed to it and, even more
surprising, neither was his best friend. When he was in college and her just in
high school, he realized they were too young to be committed, he opted for
friendship with her and together they decided their love was for the future.
When you hesitate, life happens. When life
happens, your plans change. Macie wanted her fairy tale and Greyden was
prepared to give it to her when unfortunate events changed his whole life,
including his future with the UFC and, most devastatingly, with her. Macie made
the decision to live her life, to move on without Greyden, especially once she
met the man who wanted to marry her and give her the life he couldn’t.
The problem with that was that Greyden had always
seen her as his. Could he give her up completely for her supposed happiness or
could he somehow manage to get his life in order to try and win her back, heart
and soul?
Excerpt:
December 28th was my
engagement party. Seventeen short days after he slipped his grandmother’s ring
on my finger, his mother converted their annual New Year’s party to our
engagement party. She did ask for my guest list this time, which was awfully
kind.
The evening was beautiful and I had a
great evening with my friends, but Mitch was hardly around. It had been a while
since I spent an evening out with my girlfriends or the guys, so to have them
all in one place was amazing and made the night perfect. I excused myself to
the ladies’ room after dinner, wandering down a long corridor that shared the
entrance to the lobby in search of it. Just as I was on my way back, I ran into
Greyden and his date.
She was stunning.
She was a redhead, of all things; I had
never seen him with a redhead before and it took me by surprise. She had on a
navy blue, floor-length silk gown with silver patent peep toe shoes. I always
thought redheads wore emerald, wasn’t it their “thing” or something? That was my second thought after seeing
her and noting that she was stunning. She had her arm looped through Grey’s,
who wore a black tuxedo and looked absolutely delicious. They had their heads
turned in to one another; she spoke and he listened. I stood there like a
statue with mixed feelings. I was devastated earlier because he hadn’t shown
up, then convinced myself it was for the best that he hadn’t come after all.
Then there he was.
When he lifted his head and made eye
contact, his step faltered just a bit and I continued to stand there. When he
reached me, with his date sizing me up, I finally snapped out of it and
plastered on my “I’m greeting all of my guests even if I don’t know or like
them” smile. “Grey! It’s so nice of you to finally join us.” I shouldn’t have
said that and I knew it before the words came out, but I couldn’t help myself.
Besides being the love of my life, he had been my best friend for so long and
he couldn’t even be bothered to show up on time?
The redhead leaned in on Grey a little
more before speaking directly to me in a tone I would never be able to master.
It was all sex and seductress laced with a little cotton candy for added
sweetness. “Sorry about that, darling, Grey here needed a blowie. It was going
to be quick, but then he wanted to return the favor and who the hell am I to
deny the man such a thing? Then one thing led to another and I needed to get
ready all over again so I didn’t show up here looking a disaster. I do hope you
understand.”
I’m certain my face was as white as
snow. The only thing I focused on was keeping my jaw from slamming down to the
ground, which I achieved. Once she was finished blowing my mind, Greyden
chuckled a deep sexy chuckle, blowing my mind even further. I had no idea what
was going on. My Greyden would never let anyone speak to me like that, not
ever, under any circumstance, broken up or not.
Her name was Claudia, and he suggested
she go freshen up while he caught up with me before we all went in to the
ballroom.
“You haven’t made a big fan out of
Claudia,” he teased. “She’s my assistant, Mace, and that was just a bunch a
shit she made up right now.”
“You have an assistant now?” That threw
me.
He nodded his head and his face went
serious. “Yeah, I’ve got a lot going on and it’s not going anywhere. I’m never
going to be able to have a life outside work if I don’t get a handle on it.
Claudia was the receptionist for my dad’s office and I just promoted her. She
kicks ass. She’s done so much for me already—it’s unbelievable. Tonight, we
actually had a business meeting that I cut out early on to get here in time.
I’m sorry I’m late, I just had to show up there. It was pretty important.”
“That’s okay. I’m happy you came.” And
right then I really was happy that he had come and probably because she wasn’t
Allison and she didn’t seem to be salivating over him, I was happy he had
Claudia. He needed a friend to confide in and it sounded like he had that with
her. Even if he did make me sound like a total bitch to her. “So she hates me?”
Giving me a guilty smile, he said,
“Hate’s a strong word. Plus, she’s only heard my side of the story.”
“And that’s the only side she’ll get, so
I’ll have to live with that. I hope she’s good for you, Grey, you need that in
your life. No more drama, you just need…happy.”
Greyden laughed, then hugged me quickly
before backing away again and shoving his hands in his pants pockets, causing
his jacket to separate beneath the button, showing off his white shirt tucked
into his pants. I don’t know why but that has always been so sexy to me.
“Don’t go getting all romantic on me,
Mace. She’s a friend, yes, but she’s my assistant. There’s nothing more there,
no crazy ideas.”
“Grey, how’d she know who I was?”
He rubbed his fingers across his lips as
he thought about it, his gaze unwavering. “We still not lying to each other?”
I shook my head and whispered, “Never.
Honesty is always best.”
“I still have pictures of us up in my
office. She’s seen them and asked who you were. She sees them every day, so she
recognized you right away.”
He didn’t have an actual office when we
were together, that came after we broke up or stopped seeing each other or
whatever last year. I tried to make sense of that and everything else he had me
thinking about, like what exactly he had told Claudia for her to dislike me so
much, when he spoke up again.
“You look breathtaking, Butterfly. There
aren’t words, really.”
He took my breath away with his words; I
couldn’t even thank him.
His face lit up like he just saw
something funny. “You’re wearing my ring.”
It was true. I happened to be wearing it
the day Mitch proposed and I couldn’t bring myself to take it off. I debated
long and hard whether or not to remove it for the engagement party—the ring
won. Mitch didn’t know the history of it and never bothered to ask. Of course,
my family knew, and I had received a few questioning looks when they noticed
it, but I just shrugged them off. I wasn’t going to delve into it with him,
either.
“Do you hate me, Greyden?” I had to ask.
I needed to know. He must have a pretty strong opinion if his assistant feels
so strongly towards me.
His eyebrows lowered so deeply that it caused
his eyes to almost close. He smirked, his mouth quirking up on one side. “Never.”
“Are you happy for me?”
He blew air out, making his cheeks puff,
shooting his eyebrows in the opposite direction. “If I thought you were
actually getting the life you always wanted, then yeah, I would be happy for
you, but I still don’t believe that’s the case. I think you’re making a huge
fucking mistake and you’re making it fast, which only proves my point further.”
That wasn’t where I wanted the
conversation to go, so I changed it. Although what I changed it to wasn’t at
all what I had intended on, the words fell out of my mouth without consulting
my brain. “I always imagined you by my side at this party. It’s pretty surreal
to be the lady of the evening without you as the man.”
Greyden stepped forward and rubbed his
hand on my bare shoulder, letting his thumb make little trails of heat on my skin.
“Whenever I’ve thought of marriage, it has only been you walking towards me in
that white gown, Mace. Watching you walk past me to go to him just might kill
me, but I won’t miss it. I’m here for you, always.” His eyes were so sincere,
his voice low and just above a whisper. He looked so deep into my eyes I swear
he was uncovering everything I was keeping hidden.
I
struggled to keep the tears at bay as I stood there, trying to remind myself
that I was making the right decision. Just before he let go, I wrapped my arms
around him, squeezing. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. We heard
the click of Claudia’s heels against the tiled floor and turned. Mitch had
chosen that moment to realize I hadn’t been around and came looking for me as
well.
Book and Author Links:
Without Boundaries (book 1):
Without doubt (book 2):
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