Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1)

Free Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1) by Maddie Bennett

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Authors: Maddie Bennett
Chapter 1
     
    How the hell did I get here?
     
    The bullet burst through my windshield and buried itself into the
back seat. The sound echoed in my ears. The blood drained from my face. I
turned to look at Mathis, his blue eyes staring back at me widened in shock.
For a moment I couldn’t hear anything. My vision blurred as my eyes fell to his
lips mouthing words I couldn’t hear. What? What was he saying?
     
    Slowly, my hearing started to come back. “Ama… Aman… Amanda!” My
eyes that were dazed, now focused on his blue eyes again registering his voice.
     
    “Drive!”
     
    TWO WEEKS AGO
     
     I sighed with discomfort as I leant back in my chair, stretching
my back as far as it would go to ease the dull ache which was developing after
four straight hours sat at my deck. I was sitting in my bland, grey cubicle,
the monitor in front of me glaring its offensively bright glare and the
fluorescent lighting above me doing absolutely nothing for my fair complexion
or the general cheeriness of the room. Of all the places to work, this little
accounting firm had to be one of the most soulless.
     
    To delay the inevitable moment when my tired eyes would have to
refocus on the painfully boring excel sheet in front of me, I untied my thick,
glossy brown hair, combing the dark strands with my fingers and retying it in
its customary braid, putting the wayward strands in their rightful places.
Unfortunately, my practiced hands took only a few seconds to perform this task.
I looked at the excel sheet again. The sullen little rectangle of tiny black
figures looked back defiantly. If you don’t concentrate on me, Amanda,
you’ll lose your job, and then where will you be? Great, I was imagining my
excel sheet talking to me.
     
    Desperate for a distraction, I looked around my cubicle again.
Dull and grey and lifeless. The only point of color or interest was my tiny
little Christmas tree, still cheerily embodying the spirit of a festival which
had passed more than three months ago. Still, even in March, the Christmas tree
seemed to perk the place up a bit, its little lights glowing loyally and its
ornaments managing to turn the florescent glare into something approaching a twinkle.
Slightly cheered, I went back to my skulking excel sheet, determined to knock
that insolent attitude right out of it.
     
    The gentle tapping of keys filled my little cubicle as I got to
work again. See, this was fine. This was a nice, sensible job to have. It paid
the bills, kept me in clothes and almond vanilla body scrub, and even allowed
me to grab a sandwich from my favorite deli once in a while. Excel sheets were
great. Much greater than out-of-date Christmas trees with no presents
underneath them and irritatingly upbeat ornaments.
     
    I looked up from my work again as the mailman came into the room,
eager to see if he would be heading my way. This wasn’t just another pathetic
attempt at getting out of my work. I’d already finished reconciling myself to
the fact that I would be making spreadsheets until the world ended or my
fingers were too withered to type anymore. I was expecting a letter any day,
and now was as good a time as any.
     
    It had been three weeks now since my Uncle Andy’s passing. He
wasn’t really my uncle – he was my great uncle, my grandmother’s brother.
Still, we’d been very close, and I already knew that he would include me in his
will. It was unthinkable that he wouldn’t leave his favorite great-niece
without a little something to remember him by. I wasn’t asking for money –
Uncle Andy had always been very serious on the subject of everybody having to
work to earn their bread. I just wanted to know that he had remembered me in
some little way. So here I was, ears pricked, waiting for the mailman to bring
me a letter.
     
    Except he didn’t bring me a letter. He brought me a package.
     
    “Miss Amanda Taylor?” he confirmed with me, his eyes twinkling (he
knew I’d been on high alert for mail for

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