I took deep breaths to calm my nerves while seated in the wide, spacious bathroom that could hold twelve people doing different activities at once without a hitch. My kitchen was a rat's home compared to this.It was almost six o'clock in the morning and I was still trying to recover from the aftershocks of intense pleasuring Max had put me through the previous night. He'd fucked my pussy so good with his tongue — a treat which no other past ex-boyfriend of mine had agreed to — and we had rough, marathon sex till about two in the morning before we eventually fell asleep to recharge and he woke me up by five for one brief quickie.I sighed in contentment as I scanned the luxury bathroom once more, wondering how surreal it would feel to have my bath in it every single day of the week. It was so exotic and everything looked so fancy and expensive. I bet the money used to purchase the oval stone jacuzzi sitting in a corner would be enough to cover my rent for two straight years. There was

Elaine No matter how many times I saw Manhattan at night, it looked more beautiful than the last. When I newly moved to this city from New Zealand where my family was, there was never a night that went by for the next year that I wasn't out strolling and checking out all the fun bars and people. I felt freer than I ever was, but I was still a tad bit uncertain about what the future held because I had no friends and my family was not with me. When I sighted Cora and the girls for the first time sitting across from me in a then trendy new pub downtown, I was intimidated. Everything from their appearance to their manner of speech and the guys that were hanging out with them screamed wealth. They were the sole center of attention and I was left feeling so self-conscious and envious. I thought I didn't belong there. I thought I didn't belong in this town. But then Cora held up her hand and signaled me to come to sit with them. Mortified, I turned down their offer at first, insisting that

Elaine I shut my eyes to drown out the hurt of his words. Shit. I was so thirsty for an answer, and now I'd got it. Well, this meant that I was right after all. He'd never come to accept me and Finn no matter what. I didn't want to burden myself with the truth that his view on single moms would change a lot of things between us. “Elaine?” an unsure voice asked behind me. I whipped my head from Max to the tall, dark-haired perfection that was my ex boyfriend and did a double take. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Of all places to show up. “Alessandro?” I stuttered, trying so hard to keep myself firm and not throw up right here. My eyes flickered back to Max who was standing now, glancing between Alessandro and I with an unreasonable expression. An introduction wouldn't be so bad, I decided. “Um, hi Alessandro. This is, uh, Max Sturm. Max, this is Alessandro Valdez,” I murmured, my palms sweaty and itchy all of a sudden. Alessandro extended a hand from his pocket and Max took it, still staring a

ElaineI sighed in content as Max and I walk down the aisle of the plane to our seats. It was Tuesday already, so we were headed back to New York. Upon my request, Max had worked things out with the plane officials to let me stay close to the window so I could look down as our plane coursed through the white clouds, the cities below looking like little dollhouses. But something told me that Max was up to something, judging by the mischievous glint in his eyes.I was right.Before I could have the chance to sit, I gasped when he carried me, laughing as he plopped down to sit with me on his lap. Butterflies flutter in my stomach and my heart felt as though it was about to burst out from my chest. “What are you doing?” I asked, giggling while glancing around cautiously. First class passengers weren't normally much, so there were some empty seats, but still. “You know we could get into trouble if a flight attendant catches us this way, baby.”“Who made up that rule?” he snorted, tucking a

Elaine My first instinct was to turn and run back the way we came, faster than my legs could carry me. Away from this deeper mess, I was about to put myself into. Away from this disastrous night ahead of me. I was too dazed to even talk. The alarm bells were ringing loud like sirens in my ears, and fucking Lord, I wanted nothing but to heed them. The problems couldn't stop coming. Up until now, Max knew nothing about Finn. Involving his family made me feel even more guilty than ever, and all I could imagine was the worst scenario possible. What if they got all personal and wanted to know more about me; my family, my occupation before I met Max, my life in Manhattan? What if they asked if I'd ever gotten an abortion? If I had a child? Oh, God. Oh, God. I wanted to throw up so bad. There was no way I could lie to them. It wasn't in my DNA to be so deceptive, and I couldn't evade this night since we were here already. This wasn't the way things were supposed to go. This wasn't how I w