Cookie ran out into the hallway, looking for an empty room where she could hide away from Jamie and every other person that might have seen her. All she wanted was to be alone with her feelings. With the tears blurring her vision, she ran farther into the hallway, testing the handles of all the doors until she finally found one that was open. Quickly, she pulled it open and got in but the moment she tried shutting it, a hand grabbed onto the edge of the door, forcing her to keep it open. A gasp flew out of her lips as the door was shoved open, and she saw Jamie standing there with a remorseful expression etched on his face.Her glossy pink lips paused into a mean line, as her glassy eyes met with his soft ocean blues. But that was her mistake. She shouldn’t have stared into his eyes. They made her weak in the knees and she suddenly felt her legs weakening as though she would crash to the floor the next minute but she struggled to remain on her feet, as she shut her eyes just so she co
“Please, doll,” Jamie pleaded in a broken rasp, his words barely audible but Cookie heard them, even with her back to him. Tears welled up in her eyes and she felt the moment a sob tried escaping her lips but she sniffed and shut her lips tightly to hold it back, while slightly shaking her head because she just couldn’t forget how badly he’d treated her in the presence of her best friend.“I can’t, Jamie. You don’t want me and it’s obvious. I’m only a toy to satisfy your sexual fantasies, and I can’t be that anymore,”She expected those words to be the final straw that would push him away but instead, she felt a large palm wrap around her knee and his fingers lightly caressed the joint there, making her gasp as electricity shot up to her core and she turned around to see him on his knees, looking up to her with his soft ocean blue orbs filled with remorse and regret.“I don’t want her anymore, doll. I never wanted her and I can’t lose what I have with you. You make me feel complete an
Jamie’s eyes scanned the opened document on his desk, his eyes going through the notes and the figures but he couldn’t seem to make them out or even comprehend the message they were passing. The words and figures kept blurring together and all he kept seeing was Cookie’s teary eyes and the raw pain in her expression from how badly he’d hurt her by pretending he didn’t know her in the presence of Amelia, her best friend, and his ex-lover.If he’d had the slightest idea that the two women were friends he wouldn’t have gone to the wedding. But he had no idea and seeing Cookie there had come as such a huge shock to him that in an attempt to not cause any issues, he’d gone to create a bigger one, by hurting her so badly that he wasn’t sure how to fix it.He sighed deeply as he finally closed the document and settled into the plush leather seat, his head hitting the headrest with his arms resting on the armrest. He closed his eyes for a moment and another heavy sigh slipped from his lips, h
Two months later“Oh my God, you’re glowing so much!” Cookie exclaimed, smiling brightly as she sipped from her hot coffee.She was seated at the breakfast bar with her laptop in front of her and Amelia’s face filling the screen. Amelia had just returned from her honeymoon with her husband, Ryan, and she’d called Cookie that morning to check on her.“I can see that Ryan really took good care of you,” Cookie flashed her brows, making a peal of laughter erupt from Amelia’s lips.“Oh, you can say that again,” Ryan chimed in the background, making the two women laugh.“Okay, enough about me. I didn’t call for you to note my glow, I just wanted to check on you. I feel like a terrible friend, for losing communication with you for two whole months, but in my defense, it was Ryan’s fault,” Amelia explained when her laughter died down. She shuffled around until she was seated at a desk, and her face properly came into view, showing off the luxurious living room of their million-dollar Brooklyn
The smell of antiseptic wafted into Cookie’s nostrils as she gradually began to regain her consciousness, but this was followed by a head-splitting headache that made her wince in an inaudible voice as she slowly opened her eyes. The bright rays of light streamed into her eyes, causing temporary color blindness and making her squirm as she quickly shut them in a bid to get used to the light. But then gradually, she opened them again, the intensity of the light reducing as she began to get used to the brightness.The first thing that met her gaze was the plain white ceiling. But then, she slowly began to register the feeling of being weak. It was as though she was strapped to a flat board and she couldn’t summon the strength to lift her limbs. The only part of her body that was in sync with her brain was her head and neck that she could turn from side to side and she did just that, but the resulting pain had her wincing out loud and within a twinkle of an eye, she felt the heat of a bo
Jamie spent almost half an hour discussing possible ways to solve Cookie’s new health issues with the doctor but no solution was found. Dejectedly, he returned to her hospital room to see a nurse leaving. It appeared she’d been there to give Cookie her medication and to affirm his thoughts, he walked in to see her sleeping peacefully, but even in her sleep, her lips were twisted in a way that spoke of her pain and it only worsened his heartache.He used to stay awake to watch that same pretty face most nights and it was always so peaceful and angelic to look at that it calmed him but now it displayed the pain she was feeling inwardly. Although she still looked angelic, he just couldn’t look past the hurtful expression that had been etched on her face when the doctor had brought the news of her miscarriage.Thoughts of Cookie’s belly being round with his baby had his guts twisting painfully as the reality that he would have actually loved dawned on him. It would have been a means to fi
As Jamie drove home that night, he couldn’t stop seething from what Gretchen had told him. He gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were beginning to turn white. He was deeply lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize how hard he was doing it until his phone rang and he had to take one of his hands off to answer the call and connect it to the car’s Bluetooth.At first, he’d been annoyed that someone was calling him to disrupt his thoughts but it also made him realize his focus hadn’t been on the road but thankfully, it was a freeway. He’d answered the call without checking who the caller was but as soon as he heard his younger brother’s voice, he swallowed the urge to visibly groan in distress.He wasn’t in the best of moods to speak with Robert but as he’d answered the call, there was nothing he could do but calm his nerves enough to have a sane conversation with the younger man.“Jamie? Are you still there? Can you hear me?” Robert rambled on, trying to get his att
Over the next week, Jamie used his influence to tighten the hospital’s security until Cookie was finally discharged. Even after she was discharged home, he also tightened the security in her apartment block, making everyone entering and leaving the building pass through a security checkpoint and also have a means of identification before being allowed in and out.Just as Gretchen had advised, he did his best to stay away from Cookie even though it was slowly killing him on the inside. But knowing she was discharged to her home already, he couldn’t stay away any longer. He had to see her. Thus, on the second day after her discharge from the hospital, he went to her home, intending to see her. He had no doubt Gretchen would be there and in his head, he’d carefully planned a speech to win her over and convince the older woman to let him see her daughter but surprisingly, it went smoothly.As soon as he got there, he stood by the door and drew in a deep breath. He still vividly recalled t