Seized by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 1): Blue Ryder by Melissa Foster Page A

the shows, the longer viewers watched, and the longer they watched, the more money she earned. Oh, the joys of monetizing videos . Not to mention that her website was also completely monetized. There were months when she raked in more than ten grand, making up for slower months, when she made just a few thousand dollars. Of course, being the good girl Lizzie was, she reported the income to the IRS and paid her taxes diligently. She wasn’t about to be caught with her pants down, so to speak.
    With offers ranging from the greatest sex she could imagine to a guy who was willing to lick whipped cream from between her toes— ew —she made it through with one golden nugget. [email protected] requested a cake in the shape of handcuffs. That, she could do!
    She checked her website stats next. Views were up, as was length of viewing time. She must have done something right in the last show. She noted the stats in the ledger where she kept track of these types of things. She’d watch that video again tomorrow and compare it to the others that did well and the ones that didn’t, noting the differences. Lizzie was always trying to figure out what the viewers liked best. It seemed to be a moving target.
    That thought brought images to her mind of potbellied guys jerking off to her videos, which she tried not to think about, but sometimes it was impossible to push those images away.
    Her phone rang, startling her. Mom . She closed the laptop and headed upstairs as she answered her mother’s call. She wasn’t even comfortable talking to her mother in the same room where she made the videos.
    “Hi, Mom.”
    “Hi, Busy Lizzie. How are you?”
    She smiled at the endearment. “Fine. Sorry I haven’t called lately. Things have been crazy.”
    “That’s okay, sweetheart. I know how busy you are with the flower shop. We were just wondering if you were still planning to pick up Madison this weekend or if you needed Daddy to do it.”
    “I can do it. I’m picking her up Friday night and coming straight there for dinner. She wants to stay with me and then she’ll take my car to see you Saturday.” Lizzie closed her eyes as silence filled the airwaves. This was a recurring theme. Madison liked to stay with Lizzie. Who wouldn’t prefer staying with a sibling rather than eagle-eyed parents whose idea of a wild night was watching CNN and discussing current events?
    “Oh.” Disappointment rang in her mother’s tone.
    “Mom?” Lizzie went into the bedroom and checked her outfit one last time. She had on her favorite crushed-cotton skirt and a long-sleeved V-neck shirt that was soft as butter. Since she’d decided to give herself one more day with Blue, she hoped he’d find her irresistible and want to keep her close—even if she wasn’t going to sleep with him. She’d drawn that line in her head, and now, as she looked in the mirror, she wondered if it was fair to want him to find her irresistible. No, she reasoned. It was one thing to enjoy another day together before cutting ties, but a whole other thing to become even more intimate and then try to go back to real life. She ran her fingers through her hair, remembering the exquisite sting on her scalp when Blue had tangled his fingers in her hair. She flushed with the memory.
    “That’s fine,” her mother finally said, bringing Lizzie’s mind back to their conversation. “We’ll enjoy our time together when you get here. We love you, honey.”
    Familiar guilt settled around her as she ended the call. Not guilt over her sister staying with her, but the feeling that she was hiding part of herself from her own family. She wished she could talk about the show, and Blue, and that her parents would be supportive and understanding. Maybe even thankful that she was helping Maddy financially and thankful that she’d done such a miraculous job of helping herself. But knowing what their reaction would be, that wasn’t an option, which was why she hadn’t even told Maddy or