Surprised by Love: A Contemporary Romance (The Armstrongs Book 4) by Jessica Gray Page B
Authors: Jessica Gray
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self-pity, she dragged herself up to the pool. She loaded a good romance book onto her Kindle and took it up to the rooftop with her. Nothing better than crying about someone else’s story to expel the thoughts about her own misery.
The book got her thinking about happily ever after, and what that might look like for her. It won’t happen to me. I’m destined to become an old and bitter spinster. It for sure wasn’t going to happen with Douglas. Ever.
Her life was too busy, constantly travelling, working eighty-hour weeks. He was the kind of guy who needed to be rooted somewhere, and she had no idea how to do that. She hadn’t been in the same place for more than six months since she was twenty-three.
As she was already bawling, she didn’t have any strength left to control her thoughts. After years of denial, her grief about the death of her parents surfaced. Oh my gosh! She could now see with clarity how stupid she had behaved. She hadn’t wanted to accept the reality and clung to her brother, pretending they were still a family. He’d become her best friend, her supporter, and her source of life. But then he’d kicked her out.
It still hurt to think about that time of her life. Looking back on it, she acknowledged he’d only been trying to help her, but hadn’t known how.
He’d told her she needed to get on with her life, but after her parent’s death, she had come to rely on him for everything. It had made her weak and allowed her to avoid confronting her grief. To avoid growing up. She saw all of that now.
What she had done to him hadn’t been fair. He was just one year older than she was and they had comforted each other and been super-close until her denial to deal with the grief had driven him away.
She hadn’t spoken to him since that day, and she decided that first thing in the morning, she would call him. It was time. She’d find a way to make amends, but not right now. All of this thinking had given her a tremendous headache.
Closing her eyes, she relaxed and tried to still her busy mind. She’d done enough soul-searching for one day. Now, she just needed to get her mind to turn off.
Chapter 19
Douglas reached Kuala Lumpur, and after a brief stop to buy flowers, he went straight to her apartment, but she wasn’t there. Where can she be? He had driven four hours to tell her he loved her, but now he couldn’t find her. Again.
Letting his shoulders sag in defeat, he stepped into the elevator and rode up to the rooftop pool. He needed a quiet place with fresh air to sit down and think. Perhaps then the debilitating ache inside his chest would go away.
When he stepped off the elevator, still holding the bouquet of roses in his hand, he peeked through the glass door into the open pool area. His heart did a little flip and his pulse started racing. She’s here! Toni was lying on one of the loungers in a very small bikini. She had a semi-transparent sarong loosely draped over her body, but it did nothing to conceal her from his view.
It was already dark outside and her body shone brighter than the sparkling skyline with the Petronas Towers in the background. His mouth dried up and he clasped his hands around the beautiful roses he was holding. He approached her on silent feet and softly whispered to her, “I have missed you, beautiful.”
She was startled by his voice, so much so that she dropped her book when she jerked around to see him. Her eyes brightened when she saw him and he held the roses out to her. “For the most beautiful woman in the world.”
He saw the joy in her eyes, but within moments, worry overshadowed the joy. Douglas hesitated for a moment when she put the roses away. The urge to pull her into his chest was strong, but he didn’t want to scare her.
It was a very awkward situation, both of them eyeing the other, unsure about their next step. When he finally took heart and moved to pull her into his arms, she quickly ducked beneath his arms, tossing her sarong to
The book got her thinking about happily ever after, and what that might look like for her. It won’t happen to me. I’m destined to become an old and bitter spinster. It for sure wasn’t going to happen with Douglas. Ever.
Her life was too busy, constantly travelling, working eighty-hour weeks. He was the kind of guy who needed to be rooted somewhere, and she had no idea how to do that. She hadn’t been in the same place for more than six months since she was twenty-three.
As she was already bawling, she didn’t have any strength left to control her thoughts. After years of denial, her grief about the death of her parents surfaced. Oh my gosh! She could now see with clarity how stupid she had behaved. She hadn’t wanted to accept the reality and clung to her brother, pretending they were still a family. He’d become her best friend, her supporter, and her source of life. But then he’d kicked her out.
It still hurt to think about that time of her life. Looking back on it, she acknowledged he’d only been trying to help her, but hadn’t known how.
He’d told her she needed to get on with her life, but after her parent’s death, she had come to rely on him for everything. It had made her weak and allowed her to avoid confronting her grief. To avoid growing up. She saw all of that now.
What she had done to him hadn’t been fair. He was just one year older than she was and they had comforted each other and been super-close until her denial to deal with the grief had driven him away.
She hadn’t spoken to him since that day, and she decided that first thing in the morning, she would call him. It was time. She’d find a way to make amends, but not right now. All of this thinking had given her a tremendous headache.
Closing her eyes, she relaxed and tried to still her busy mind. She’d done enough soul-searching for one day. Now, she just needed to get her mind to turn off.
Chapter 19
Douglas reached Kuala Lumpur, and after a brief stop to buy flowers, he went straight to her apartment, but she wasn’t there. Where can she be? He had driven four hours to tell her he loved her, but now he couldn’t find her. Again.
Letting his shoulders sag in defeat, he stepped into the elevator and rode up to the rooftop pool. He needed a quiet place with fresh air to sit down and think. Perhaps then the debilitating ache inside his chest would go away.
When he stepped off the elevator, still holding the bouquet of roses in his hand, he peeked through the glass door into the open pool area. His heart did a little flip and his pulse started racing. She’s here! Toni was lying on one of the loungers in a very small bikini. She had a semi-transparent sarong loosely draped over her body, but it did nothing to conceal her from his view.
It was already dark outside and her body shone brighter than the sparkling skyline with the Petronas Towers in the background. His mouth dried up and he clasped his hands around the beautiful roses he was holding. He approached her on silent feet and softly whispered to her, “I have missed you, beautiful.”
She was startled by his voice, so much so that she dropped her book when she jerked around to see him. Her eyes brightened when she saw him and he held the roses out to her. “For the most beautiful woman in the world.”
He saw the joy in her eyes, but within moments, worry overshadowed the joy. Douglas hesitated for a moment when she put the roses away. The urge to pull her into his chest was strong, but he didn’t want to scare her.
It was a very awkward situation, both of them eyeing the other, unsure about their next step. When he finally took heart and moved to pull her into his arms, she quickly ducked beneath his arms, tossing her sarong to
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