Epilogue

Tessa

 

 

I was having a struggle fighting my nerves, after working towards this moment for four long years. There had been many hurdles and more than one occasion when I thought I couldn’t do it, but here I was—ready to graduate in front of my family, friends, and fiancé.

I sat on the stage, looking out at the audience. I couldn’t make out Ian’s face, but I knew he was out there somewhere. I was sweating like a pig in the horrible gown, but it was fine with me. I had chosen a little black dress to wear under my graduation gown, which made it a little cooler, but I was still hot. Whose bright idea was it to have a May graduation outside in southern Florida?

My heart raced as the announcer said a last name that started with an L. My turn was coming. I was about a minute away from getting the bachelor’s degree I had worked so hard for. Only a few short months ago I had thought it would never happen. Thankfully, Jake had saved the day, and I was about to make my mom very proud.

“Tessa McShane!”

I could hear my mom’s voice cut through all the rest. I knew I was beaming. Dean Scribbs was standing on the other side of stage, forced to shake my hand as I received my diploma. I grinned and winked at her. She fumed, and it was the most satisfying moment of my life. My fellow students cheered for me just as I had cheered for them. None of them cared about the scandal. In fact, more than one of my friends from school congratulated me on my engagement and wished me well. Ian was a very good-looking man, and I was only slightly jealous that so many girls were hot for him.

As I reached for the diploma, the beautiful sapphire in my engagement ring caught the light. My mind flashed back to the moment he proposed. It was Christmas morning. I assumed I was getting jewelry, but never imagined it would be an engagement ring. I walked across the stage feeling as if I were floating. My life had come full circle, with Ian at the center of my world. Our marriage would happen in the fall, one year from the time we met.

Once the ceremony was over, I made my way over to the area where Ian and my mom would be waiting. When I saw his head, higher than the rest, I quickly made a beeline for him, anxious to be near him.

“You did it, babe!” Ian said, scooping me up in his arms and spinning me around.

I laughed. “Yes, I did. Did you see the dean’s face?” I giggled.

He nodded. “I did. I am so proud of you.”

“Me too,” my mom chimed in. “I would still like to give that woman a piece of my mind. How dare she try to insinuate my little girl was anything but a fine young lady? She probably needs to get laid,” she muttered.

“Mom!” I said, shocked by her crass words. It was very unlike my mother to talk in such a way, but the past six months had changed her as well. She was currently dating a man who seemed to make her very happy. I had yet to meet him, but I had Googled the hell out of him, and he appeared to be on the up and up.

When I had to tell my mom what had happened with my expulsion, I thought for sure she would have grounded me or forbid me to see Ian again. I figured if he was standing in front of her, she would remember her manners and be nice. Ian and I had flown out for Thanksgiving and told her the sordid story. She wasn’t happy and threatened to call the dean and give her a piece of her mind. As far as Ian and I were concerned, my mom had already suspected we were more than teacher and assistant. I should have known I could never fool her.

I took Ian to visit Talia’s grave. I had been hesitant, but once we got to the cemetery, it felt right. I was happy to share that part of my life with him and be able to lean on him.

In the weeks after the scandal broke, Jennie’s role in the whole thing had been further explained. It was far worse than simply seeing us in the window. While we both suspected she had a crush on Ian, neither of us was prepared to hear she had been stalking him. Jake had demanded a copy of the report that had been filed with the dean. When it was revealed that Jennie had seen us through Ian’s living room window when we were holed up during the hurricane, all hell broke loose. Jake threatened to sue the school for withholding the information on Ian’s behalf, citing a whole slew of laws that were broken.

The police were called, and now Ian and I both had a restraining order against the young woman. She had been expelled from the school once the extent of her stalking had been revealed. The girl was not quite right and apparently had a history of stalking boys at her high school. It still gave me goosebumps to know she had watched us have sex on the couch that night. From the moment we learned about her peeping, we always made sure the blinds were closed and the doors were locked. Even then, I could never fully shake the feeling we were being watched.

“Let’s go,” Ian said, taking my hand. “Maria and Jake are waiting for us.”

“I’m so ready to party the night away. I can’t believe this is all actually happening!” I squealed.

When we got home to Ian’s house—our house—we discovered Jake had gone all out on the decorating. There were signs all over the once bleak lawn. Maria had raced home after the graduation to help Jake. The two were complete opposites of Ian and me. They acted like a couple of teenagers, completely carefree and wild. Ian and I were more likely to be at home on a Friday night, while those two went out to the clubs.

“Wow. Maria wasn’t kidding when she said she was going to make sure everyone knew I graduated!” I laughed.

We went in, and the two screamed before spraying me with silly string.

The five of us spent the night drinking and eating the food my mom had ordered.

“When do you leave?” my mom asked.

“On Sunday. We’ll fly to Hawaii and spend about a month there before we head to Australia.”

“I’m so jealous,” Maria chimed in, “but so happy for the two of you.”

Jake raised his beer. “To a bright future for my big brother, who finally found the woman of his dreams. It took you long enough.”

We all laughed. “He had to wait until I was legal,” I said, with a wink.

My mom nearly spit her wine all over. “Tessa, really.”

Ian shrugged. “I don’t even want to do the numbers. Seriously, you were in kindergarten when I started my first year of college.”

“Stop it!” I said, wrinkling my nose. “When you put it like that it sounds terrible.”

“It took me that extra twelve years to get my sh—” He stopped and glanced at my mom. “To grow up so I can be the fine husband you deserve.”

My mom smiled. “I am very happy for you both.”

“And I will be the best maid of honor, ever, but I swear if you try and put me in some poufy, pink taffeta dress, I will not show up,” Maria said, in a voice that revealed she was serious.

“When we go shopping for my dress tomorrow, I’m going to make it a point to look for the ugliest dress I can find.” I winked at her.

“You have a very busy couple of months ahead of you, Tessa; are you sure you can do it all?” my mom asked with concern.

I smiled. “With Maria taking care of things I can’t do online, and you handling the other details, it will all be fine. But honestly, I don’t care if we get married at the courthouse.”

“No,” Ian chimed in. “I want a real wedding. I want you in the white dress and the whole nine yards. We aren’t skimping on this.”

We all laughed. He had turned into a bit of a Groomzilla.

“Yes, sir. You will have your dream wedding,” I teased.

Maria and Jake stood. “We’re going to head out.”

My mom stood as well. “Me too. So we’ll meet here at nine tomorrow, right?”

I nodded. “Yes, I made the appointment with the first bridal shop at ten. Hopefully, I can find the dress there. I don’t want to waste my last day in Florida searching for a dress.”

“And I’ll be here to help you close up the house,” Jake said to Ian.

“Sounds good, thanks,” Ian said, clapping his brother on the back.

With everyone gone, Ian and I both collapsed on the couch. It had been a long day. We were both exhausted.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes. I’m excited. I get to use my shiny new degree to do a job I love, and I get to do it with you while traveling the world. How could I not want to do it?”

“I want to make sure. We’ll be gone for five months.”

“Yep, and we’ll get to do our part to save a little tiny bit of the world. I’m excited to keep learning from you as your assistant.”

He leaned over, kissed me. “You’re more than my assistant. You’re my everything, and I could never do this without you. Thank you for showing me how to live and be happy again. I truly never thought it would be possible.”

I crawled on top of him, straddling him. “You showed me how to live. Together, we are going to be so happy that all the other couples in the world will be jealous.”

He laughed. “We’ll see about that. For now, can we discuss this little black dress you have on?”

I leaned in close to his ear and nibbled the lobe before whispering, “Okay, but you should know that it’s all I have on.”

He groaned, jumped up and carried me to our bedroom.

“I love you,” I told him, as he carefully unzipped the dress.

“I’m going to show you how much I love you,” he said, in a husky voice.

I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

That’s the end of the Expelled. Below I included 4 of my previous books to read as a free bonus.

 

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BILLIONAIRE’S VEGAS NIGHT

By Claire Adams

 

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

 

Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams

 

 

Chapter One

Luna

 

Inside my head, there was a mess of confusion, jumbled-up dreams, and incoherent chaos. My legs twisted in the tangled sheets as I battled the urge to open my eyes. With the smell of alcohol still permeating from my pores, I took a deep breath and instantly regretted it.

Don’t move. It wouldn’t get any better if I did and as nausea washed over me in a wave, breaking a sweat on my upper lip, I dared not test the theory.

So this is a hangover.

“Luna? It’s about time you were up. It’s almost ten a.m. and…” The voice continued, saying something I missed while trying to understand what my ears were hearing.

For a brief moment, the world made no sense. That was Gabe’s voice. His smooth, naturally sensual tones were unmistakable, especially considering he was my boss. But why would I be hearing his voice? Surely I wasn’t in bed with him and this was all a crazy dream.

Without opening my eyes, I trailed my hand up to my chest to assure myself I was not naked. Thankfully, my clothes were on. I sighed with relief as I forced my eyes to welcome the light and focus on the room around me.

I had partied with him the night before. We’d celebrated and obviously drank quite a bit – p  though quite a bit for me wasn’t much at all.

A black lacquered dresser with a large mirror came into focus and I glanced down at myself once again to be certain I’d felt my blouse and not the silk from the red sheets I lay sprawled upon.

Gabe was still talking. “We should eat. It might be best to get something on that stomach of yours.”

Holy crap. I’d spent the night. “I’m afraid to move because I don’t feel so well.” I glanced at him as he stripped off his robe, revealing his bare ass. Why was he naked? I realized his hair was wet. He’d recently showered. I had been out like a light, or like Lottie’s eye, as my father used to say. I wasn’t sure who the heck Lottie was or what happened to her eye, but it must have been terrible.

As Gabe pulled on his pants, I forced myself up and went to the bathroom where the steam still clung to the mirror and the smell of his aftershave lingered. I shut myself inside and leaned back against the door.

Gabe’s voice was muffled on the other side. “Take it slow. We’re in no hurry.”

Thank God for that. I made my way across the room to the granite sink and turned on the faucet. I wiped the steam from the mirror to see if I looked as awful as I felt, and what do you know, I did.

The red veins in my eyes made the blue of my irises stand out, and they were further accentuated by darkened circles and puffiness. My honey-blonde hair was as messy as usual, considering its fine texture always misbehaved during the night.

Misbehaved. I sat and evaluated myself, assuring myself that everything was intact and there were no signs of tenderness in my private regions other than the usual morning beckoning of my bladder. I should be able to tell if anything happened. Being a virgin, I’d know, right? There would be tenderness or pain and blood. I glanced down at myself as my brain went crazy searching for symptoms.

I couldn’t believe I’d ended up in his suite after respectable business hours – and worse, in his bed.

I didn’t understand how it had happened. The last thing I remembered was him offering me a taste of champagne. We had been celebrating the success of his speech and the new client he’d landed because of it.

Working as his assistant, I’d assumed a trip to Vegas would be exciting, but I had no intentions of winding up drunk. It wasn’t my style or a usual habit, and in the two years I’d worked for Gabriel Grant, I hadn’t known him to have such a reputation for alcohol, either. I tried to focus on what else had happened, but the pain in my temples throbbed away any concentration. I couldn’t remember anything.

He probably thinks I’m a fool. I wondered if I still had a job. Would I even still want to work for him? I had to get this sorted out. I finished up and hesitated as I approached the door. How could I face him? With a deep breath to steady myself, I went back out to gather my things. I needed to get the hell out of there.

I glanced around the room for my purse as a wave of pain shot through my temple. The sunlight through the window was too bright for my eyes and I winced, feeling the rolling nausea in my gut. I had to get back to my room downstairs. Being here was a mistake.

I tried to remember what had happened the night before as I joined him in the front room of his suite. He was lounged on the soft black leather of the sofa and sipping a drink.

“There’s coffee, too, if you like. I figured another dose of doom couldn’t hurt.” He lifted his drink and the ice clinked as he swirled it. The sound ricocheted into my temples, and I felt it as much as I heard it.

I poured a cup of coffee, hoping it would cure me, and stood across the room as still as a stone and tried to fight the waves of sickness enough to drink it. “What happened?”

His brows rose and he took a long pull from his drink. Well, that didn’t help me think nothing crazy had happened. “Don’t sweat it, Luna. You were amazing.” He winked. “I haven’t had so much fun in months, and we deserved a good time, you and I. The speech went well, and I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“It was amazing. Thanks.” I nodded to agree and the world seemed to tilt on its axis again; I lowered myself to sit across from him. I prayed I wouldn’t embarrass myself further by falling on my face before I left, but I didn’t want to rush out like some silly girl running scared. Besides, maybe he’d give me a clue about what had transpired before we ended up passed out in his bed, and perhaps the in between before I woke.

Moments passed in silence, and I sipped at my coffee for something to do. The warmth washed through me, easing me for the moment. I’d started drinking black coffee in college and until that night, it was the harshest thing I’d put in my gut.

Right as I was about to ask what happened, his phone rang and he leaned up to retrieve it from the coffee table where his feet were propped. Jesus, even his bare feet are sexy. I’d always known the man was handsome, but sitting across from me in his slacks with his shirt only closed by a few buttons as his hair continued to dry, he was a god. And there I sat, looking like a boozed-up college girl doing her walk of shame from a frat party.

He stared at the phone as if pondering if he really needed to talk to the person on the other end. Suddenly, I felt as if I’d worn out my welcome. I gathered enough strength to get to the edge of my chair and made it no further. “I’ll leave so you can call them back.”

He waved his hand. “Don’t bother. It’s only my sister-in-law Sandra. She can wait. I’m in no hurry to ruin my morning just yet.” He took another long pull off the drink.

“Still, I should go. I-”

Laughter rumbled from across the expanse. “You were so funny last night.” I smiled, but then fear overwhelmed me as my heart sank to my gut like a stone. I wasn’t known for my humor and I couldn’t imagine what I’d done.

As if he could read my face, he held up his hand as if to reassure. “No, seriously, Luna. You were fucking amazing, okay. I had no idea you could do those things with your mouth.”

My heart stopped, and before I could tell if it had started beating again, I was halfway to the bathroom. The coffee was about to make its reappearance and luckily, I made it in time. As I stayed on my knees, I realized I’d forgotten all about oral sex.

There wouldn’t necessarily be any signs or symptoms from such an act, and though I’d experimented briefly with that in college, it wasn’t something I did often – and definitely not with my boss. It had been at least three years since the second time in my life and the time before during my freshman year of college didn’t count.

Had I really done it? I couldn’t deny that I found him attractive. I’d always thought he was amazing, but definitely out of my league. Something had happened. It had to have or why else would I have ended up in his bed? God, no!

His knock sounded at the door. “Luna? Are you okay in there? Did the coffee get to you? You need some food in your stomach. Let me call you something up.”

“No, please, I’ll be fine.” I wiped my watery eyes and slumped against the bowl.

“Nonsense. And as your boss, I won’t have any back talk. I’ll call you up some food, and in the meantime, you get yourself a nice hot shower.” His footsteps faded away as I dragged myself up to my feet.

He was right about the shower. Now that the coffee had evacuated, I felt grimy. I turned on the hot water, setting the temperature before stripping off my clothes. I took another look in the mirror to assure I was unmarked.

I didn’t understand how he could think I’d be okay with any of this. He knew I wasn’t a drinker. I’d told him that when I accepted the champagne. One tiny tickle of the nose, and that bubbly stuff had done all this damage? Surely not. I must have drunk much more.

No, this was my fault, but he wasn’t innocent by far. Even though he seemed to care that I wasn’t well.

Could he have taken advantage of me? His reputation with women was not exactly scandalous, but it was no secret he had made his way through quite a number of them. That was nothing for a man of his fortune. He was a billionaire, after all, though the status had only officially been reached one week after I’d come along. He’d even called me his lucky charm.

Lucky charm. The memory of him and I dancing flashed before my eyes. We were at the casino, and he’d won. I remembered blowing his dice, and his arm was around me. After he’d won, and the celebratory dancing stopped, he’d pulled me in close.

“You’re my little lucky charm,” he’d said, and then he’d kissed me. My hand flew to my mouth landing upon my lips. His mouth was on mine. I’d kissed my boss.

How on earth could I have let this happen? How could he? As amused by my oral abilities as he was, there was no way things could ever go back to how they’d been. I was his assistant, for heaven’s sake. Our relationship was supposed to be strictly professional.

As hard as I tried to remember anything else between us, I couldn’t. We’d obviously gotten close enough to come back here and do what? Kiss? Make out? Perform oral sex on each other, or I on him? What a fool that I couldn’t remember.

I hated what I was going to have to do, but I’d never know otherwise. I was going to have to ask him. After that, the only thing I could do would be to resign and move on to something else. One night in Vegas, and I’d completely ruined my life. I took my time in the shower, not yet ready to go out and face the music.