Free Devotion - Billionaire Contemporary Romance Novel by Aria Hawthorne Page B

about him was still so precious.
    Ascending the staircase, she heard her mother’s nasal whistle filtering out of the master bedroom.  Isabel quietly closed her door and silenced her snoring.  She entered into her own bedroom. Kicking off her heels and peeling off the stockings from her legs, she undressed in the darkness  God, how she hated pantyhose .  She replaced her ivory dress with a pair of yoga pants and ragged T-shirt that made her feel like a teenager again.  She glanced over at the bouquet of roses, perched on her dresser, and admired their majestic silhouette.  She closed her eyes and inhaled.  They made her bedroom smell like expensive perfume .  Whoever sent them to her knew exactly what she liked and how much she would enjoy them.  Her gaze lingered on them, indulging in a final moment of fantasy before reaffirming her plan to throw them into the garbage the next morning.
    She slipped out into the hallway and crept into her son’s bedroom.  Aidan stirred under the train pattern of his sheets.  She had bought a double bed for him, knowing that there would be many nights when he would ask her to sleep by his side, and she would be unable to refuse.  Now, on nights when she had been away from him the whole day and night, it was she who often sought to sleep by his side.  She peered down at him, admiring his sweet innocent face, and acknowledging to herself how little time she had spent with him over the course of the past two days.  She slipped next to him with a cuddle, vowing to him—and to herself—that tomorrow would be different.  His shallow breaths whispered against her cheek as her mind replayed a drifting collage of images from the day—the rush to the office, the sound of Gary’s brash voice, Tami’s animated expressions, Giselle’s naïve gaze, the soft shell pink color of the roses, Aidan’s joyful acceptance of his new helicopter, her mother’s disapproving glare, the flashing neon lights of the casino, Eliot Watercross’ tiger green eyes, Marlow’s Snow White red lips… but ultimately, it was the sway of being in Phillip’s confident arms and the melancholy echo of her favorite song that eventually put her fast to sleep.

Chapter Four
     
    Isabel walked off the platform of the “L” train and descended the stairs down to the street level.  She loved not having to rush in the morning.  She was always running late for work, trying to balance her need to spend a few extra minutes with Aidan over getting out the door and catching the train to downtown.  Her mother didn’t understand why she just didn’t drive to the office. 
    “That demanding boss of yours pays you enough to have an expensive car and you never drive it,” Mrs. Alvarez complained every morning. 
    But Isabel hated fighting the morning rush hour, and preferred riding the elevated Brown line train, where she could relax with her coffee and contemplate life and everything around her while winding through the city’s buildings and brownstones.  This morning, she had woken up next to her son, whose green almond-shaped eyes and elfin smile beamed back at her.
                  “Good morning, Mommy.  I love you,” Aidan said with such sincerity that she wished he would stay four-years old forever.
                  “I love you more.”
                  “I stayed up last night for you, but you never came home.”
    “I know, honey.  I had to work.  But now, I’m here the whole morning, and I’m going to make pancakes.”
                  “With syrup?”
                  “Lots and lots.”
                  “Yummy.  Let’s go down stairs together, Mommy…”  He grabbed her hand and led her out of bed in a rush for the kitchen.
    Eating pancakes and spending time with Mommy—such simple joys , she smiled to herself as she strode along the harsh pavement streets and past dozens and dozens of anonymous faces.  She took