Dirty Christmas (The Dirty Suburbs Book 9) Read online

  Wesley turns his attention to me and presses a kiss to my lips. It feels strange. Something’s about to happen. My heart sinks.

  He’s breaking up with me.

  He slips his arm around my back, guiding my wobbly steps. “Can we go somewhere to talk?”

  My mind is screaming at me to run away. To hide. But I stand strong. Because that’s who I am. I am strong.

  “Yes—let’s go somewhere and talk.”

  We wander down the hall and find ourselves in a conference room in a secluded part of the building. I sink into a chair and he sits right next to me.

  Before I can say a word, he shoves his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and pulls up a folded up brochure. He slides it across the table to me.

  My brow creases as I open it. “What is this?”

  “Read it,” he nudges.

  My eyes wander down the paper. “I don’t understand.”

  He laughs through his nose. “It’s a brochure for University of San Francisco’s Law School…”

  My stomach tightens. “I-I see that…but what does it mean?”

  His smile is warm, hopeful. “I’m asking you to come to San Francisco. To be with me. For real, Sanaya. I love you. I want you with me.”

  My breath sputters. “Wesley, I—”

  “Don’t say you can’t. There’s no reason why you can’t. All the damn stars are aligned. I just scored the funding I need for my startup. You’re about to be out of a job. I’m insane about you. It’s perfect.” He drops in front of me and gathers my hands in his. “This is our chance, baby.”

  Oh god…

  I’ve always wanted to finish law school. I always sort of felt like I’d sold myself short by not doing that. And now, I’m losing my job since Prescott is moving on to bigger and better things. I’m so damn tempted to say yes, but…

  “I already packed up my life and dropped everything to follow one man. I can’t do that to myself again, Wesley.” I’m begging him to understand.

  “This is different,” he says confidently. “I’m not asking you to throw your dream away. I’m trying to give you what you’ve always wanted. I want to see you live your dream, Sanaya. You’ve given me so much over the past year. Let me give this to you…”

  ‘Yes’ is right on the tip of my tongue…right there…

  A smirk comes to Wesley’s lips. “Come with me, Sanaya…Say yes. I know you want to.”

  Fuck it. Fuck it.

  This guy is it for me. And I’m it for him. We’re in love.

  “Yes! Yes!”

  He leaps from his seat, gathering me up in his arms. “Yes?” He spins me around.

  “Yes,” I nod with tears on my cheeks.

  He kisses me and kisses me and kisses me. And I kiss him back.

  When we pull away, he’s wearing the biggest smile as he looks at me.

  “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  “I’m happy,” he tells me. “So happy.” He kisses me some more. “Also, I'm picturing you naked and I've gotta say, it's downright delightful.”

  I toss my head back and laugh. He always knows how to make me laugh.

  Batting my eyes playfully, I pull on the strap of my halter dress and it comes undone. A little shimmy of my hips and it’s pooled at my feet. “Well would you look at that—my clothes are gone.”

  Wesley is all up on me, gently pushing me down onto the surface of the conference table. “Your clothes are gone,” he says, pretending to consider the situation thoughtfully. “Call it a Christmas miracle.”

  THE END.

  Looking for more Dirty Suburbs Christmas fun?

  Check out Dirty Player. I’ve included a sample.

  Faith Monroe

  I’ve been catfished.

  My fairytale Internet romance has quickly turned into a nightmare. Now, I’m stranded 2000 miles from home with no ID, no money and nowhere to lay my head on this hellish California night…

  He was supposed to be my valiant white knight, a friend-of-a-friend sent to save me from my poor life choices. But, Maxwell Masters likes to play dirty…he wants something in return. (No, not THAT. Get your mind out of the gutter).

  Maxwell Masters

  I’m the ultimate pro football bad boy. And after a string of bar brawls, a bit of bad behavior on social media and a drunken game of naked truth-or-dare on a public beach, my career is on the line. My only hope of saving my very lucrative contract is to prove to the team's management that I’m a changed man in a committed relationship and that my player moves are now reserved exclusively for the football field.

  So, when the gorgeous friend-of-a-friend happens to stumble into my life, desperate vulnerable and in need of rescuing, I see the perfect opportunity. Faith Monroe will be my fake fiancée. Unless she'd rather hitchhike her fine ass all the way back to Reyfield, Illinois.

  "Dirty Player" is book two in the "Dirty Suburbs", a series of full-length, stand-alone romantic comedies about the residents of small town Illinois.

  Read it now!

  Preview of Dirty Player

  Chapter 1

  Faith

  Disappointed tears tickle the corners of my eyes as I press my fingers to the glass pane and watch the plane taxiing down the runway.

  I should be on that plane.

  I should be headed to Hawaii for Christmas. To sip on pineapple mojitos and do a tipsy beachside rendition of the hula under the moonlight.

  I should be relishing the company of the strapping, hazel-eyed veterinary surgeon I met online three months ago. Drinking in his rugged beauty and listening absentmindedly to his tales of performing life-saving surgeries on the feral creatures inhabiting Vancouver’s mountainous terrain as he hand-feeds me succulent, raw fruit.

  Instead I just got manhandled by two brawny air marshals and hauled off my flight minutes before take off.

  Yup – I was ushered off the jetway, past the judgy gate attendant and the thick crowd of passengers still waiting to board and unceremoniously dropped in the middle of the bustling concourse.

  Is this really my life?

  I trudge along the busy corridor dragging my carryon and my damaged pride behind me, each step weighed down by my disgruntlement. Why do I always find myself in these situations?

  All I’d wanted was a getaway. Some time away from the monotony of the day-to-day grind. A romantic adventure that I could dig up in the future while I sit alone in my cold apartment on those dreary Reyfield winter nights. Instead, I got more drama than I could handle.

  Now, I’m embarrassed, emotionally drained and my feet are starting to kill me. I need a minute to sit down, catch my breath and regroup. And some caffeine wouldn’t hurt at this point.

  Stomping up to a Starbucks concession stand, I pull off my wide-brimmed straw fedora and order a tall iced vanilla-caramel mochaccino with skimmed milk and half the sugar. The barista gets to work on my beverage as I move to the other end of the counter to pay.

  Of course, that's when I realize that my wallet is missing. Great!

  I drop to my knees and dig through the depths of the seemingly bottomless outer pockets of my carryon. I come up empty-handed. I drag the zipper around the suitcase and throw the top open right there in front of the Starbucks counter. I rummage through my belongings until my once neatly-packed suitcase is now a disheveled mess of colorful bikinis and tank tops and sundresses spilling onto the floor.

  No sign of the wallet.

  I think back to the last time I saw it. It had been on the plane. I’d just settled into my seat and was carefully reapplying my winged eyeliner when ‘Wilson’ had approached my seat and introduced himself with a very pronounced stutter and a nervous eye twitch. I remember pulling my picture of him out of my wallet. My gaze had bounced from the tanned, chiseled face smiling up from the picture in my hands to the bloated mug of the pale, balding man hovering over me in the aisle with anxious sweat beading on his forehead.

  This was not the person I was expecting, not the man I’d spent the last th
ree months speaking with daily on CheekyChat.

  I had dropped my wallet to the fold-out tray in front of me and peered around frantically, a nervous laugh spilling past my lips. The MTV cameras had to be hiding around here somewhere. Right? This was all a huge prank…Right?

  But I was the only one laughing. And none of it was funny.

  I’d been catfished!

  Don’t you dare call me melodramatic or superficial. I have nothing against eye twitches or stutters or even sweaty, pale, bloated foreheads, for that matter. But, I guarantee that you would have freaked out too if you’d realized that you invested three months of your life into a scam relationship. You too would have lost your shit if you only realized you’d been scammed after you were already strapped to your plane seat for your romantic Christmas getaway together in Honolulu.

  This man had lied to me. He had used someone else’s pictures to ensnare me in his web of deceit and lure me all the way across the country. And I spent a fortune on these damn plane tickets!

  So, my reaction was perfectly rational given the circumstances.

  Okay. Maybe I didn’t need to swing at him with my sandal and maybe I’d taken it a bit too far when I’d spritzed him in the eyes with my travel-sized body mist. Gosh, on second thought, maybe I did deserve to get hauled off the plane by those air marshals.

  One thing is clear to me now – agreeing to meet up with a total stranger for the first time on a flight from to Hawaii? That was the irrational part.

  So anyway, that’s what happened to my wallet.

  “Hey lady, you gonna pay or what?” I snap back to the present, tossing a glance at the asshole in the Yankees cap with the thick New York accent at the back of the line.

  I mutter an embarrassed string of apologies as the reality sets in. I'm stranded 2000 miles from home with no ID, no money, not even a Starbucks loyalty card to my name. And my ride is now 30 000 feet in the sky on its way to Honolulu without me.

  Tucking my head in shame and despair, I apologize again to the server and to the long line of irritated, caffeine-deficient patrons behind me as I tromp away from the counter, not quite sure of my next move. You really screwed yourself over this time, huh Faith?

  I did something incredibly stupid. I’m woman enough to admit that. Leaving my home just days before Christmas to fly across the country to meet a man, sight unseen, is incredibly stupid. The fact that I lied to my sister, telling her that I was going to spend the Holidays with old college friends in New York only magnifies how ill-advised my decision had been. What if something terrible had happened to me?

  Yes – I’d started to feel like the walls of my life were closing in on me lately. Yes – I was in need of an escape. But what I did was damn reckless. Now, I have to face the consequences.

  Things could be worse, I guess. I just thank my lucky stars that, for whatever reason, I wasn’t taken into custody by those air marshals and thrown behind bars because, wherever ‘Wilson’ is right now, he’s got a busted lip and probably a nasty headache to go along with it. Still, that isn’t much of a consolation.

  How the hell am I supposed to get out of this situation?

  I plop myself down in defeat on a bench lining the wide, chaotic hallway and that's when I realize that there’s a big, hard object in my pants.

  I bounce to my feet, groping wildly at my ass in anticipation.

  Is it?...Can it be?...Yes! It's my phone. In the commotion, I’d forgotten all about it. But here it is. My trusty, little lifeline.

  I swipe across the screen and pull up my contact list, trying to figure out who to call. I moved to Reyfield just about a year ago and my circle of friends is small so I don’t have many options.

  Gracie should be the first person I contact. But I just can’t. My sister has always been the responsible one having to clean up after impulsive little Faith. For all of my 24 years, she’s had to look out for me. I’m tired of disappointing her. If I call her now, my latest bad decision will just get added to the long list of Shit Gracie Has Had To Save Faith From. Not that she wouldn’t. My sister loves me. But she was six months pregnant when she’d come out to New York to haul me out of the mess I’d gotten into with Dustin and I’d promised us both then and there that I was done getting into trouble.

  I’m not calling her now.

  I briefly consider calling Daniel. He’s like a big brother to me and I know that I can always count on him to have my back. But things have been so tense between him and Gracie lately. The last thing I want to do is put more pressure on their marriage by asking him to keep my latest irresponsible antics a secret from his wife.

  I could call Isla but she tends to get woo-woo spiritual at the most inopportune times. I’m not in the mood to get dragged into a conversation about the karmic significance of my current situation. I need practical solutions right now.

  I keep scrolling through my contacts until I come across Sammie’s name. Yes, Sammie - that's who I'll call. Sammie’s smart, resourceful and much more level-headed than I am. She’ll know what to do.

  I tap on her name and listen impatiently as the call connects. She answers just before the phone goes to voice mail.

  "Hey Faith,” she pants breathlessly, her voice coming out in heavy spurts. “I’m with Keeland. You're on speakerphone."

  Her new husband’s gravelly baritone travels through the receiver. “Hi Faith.”

  Ah shit. I just interrupted them in middle of sex, didn’t I? Can this day get any more awkward?

  "Hey. Did I catch you at a bad time?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.

  Keeland clears his throat and Sammie giggles coyly. "Uh, Keeland and I are just, uh, hanging out…in bed. Y’know, honeymoon phase."

  Yup, I can add cock-blocking to my list of epic fails for the day. "God, I'm so sorry," I say feeling utterly mortified.

  “Don't worry,” she chirps. “Poor, old Keeland could use a little break to build his strength back up. ‘Cause I’m just a love machine today! A machine, I tell you!”

  He grumbles a muffled protest in the background and Sammie shrieks for him to stop tickling her. Those two are nauseatingly in love. That’s cool...usually. But right now, it’s starting to tick me off.

  Give me a break. I just fucking got catfished, for chrissakes.

  “So, what's up? How’s New York?" Sammie asks as she tries to regain her composure.

  I take a long breath. "Uh, I’m not exactly in New York."

  There’s a heavy pause. “Okay?" She already sounds suspicious.

  Shrouded in mortification, I explain that I came out to Los Angeles to meet this guy I met on CheekyChat and that it wasn’t until I was ready to fly off to Hawaii with him that I realized that he wasn’t at all who he had portrayed himself to be. I almost die of shame when I admit that I lost my wallet in the whole debacle.

  I really need to start thinking things through before jumping headfirst into them. Maybe that’ll be my New Year’s resolution.

  "Ohmygod, Faith. What the fuck?” she shrieks. “That is so reckless of you. Going out there to meet a total stranger."

  I groan, tugging on the ends of my hair in frustration. "Not the time for a lecture, Sammie. I need help."

  "Of course,” she says without hesitation. “Let me transfer some money to you."

  "Can't. I lost my bankcards in my wallet."

  “Shit…” she sighs. “Okay, I'll buy you a plane ticket to get back home."

  “Can't do that either. I have no ID to board a flight.” I say as I bury my face in my hands. “…And I'm pretty sure I just got added to the No Fly List," I add bitterly.

  "What?!” Keeland pipes in.

  “Oh, Faith…” Sammie sighs again.

  No. Pity isn’t what I need. I need solutions. Fast. The sun is setting and I’m exhausted and I just need to figure out my next move.

  Thankfully, Keeland speaks up. “Y’know what? My brother Maxwell lives in L.A. I'll text him and see if he can come pick you up."

  "I feel awful ab
out inconveniencing a total stranger," I say as my stomach twists with trepidation. I fiddle with the rim of the hat in my lap to abate my nerves.

  "Don't worry about it," Keeland assures me. "Maxwell’s cool. Just give me a second to text him." A few tense minutes later, Keeland says. "He's gonna pick you up from the arrivals gate in about an hour.”

  “Hun, we’ll text him a picture of you so he can identify you,” Sammie tells me. “Hope you don't mind."