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"Uh, Riley doesn't work for anyone," I blurted out.

Kristian's eyelids lowered and he spoke huskily. "Riley, huh?
Very
nice. The name suits

you. You're English too. That's even better. I'm Kristian Maxwell, by the way."

He pulled out his wallet and handed Riley his business card. Riley took it from him and

turned the card over in his hands as if it was a foreign object.

"I want you to model for us. Call me so we can arrange a meeting. We have to have you

for our fall/winter campaign." His voice rose with excitement. "Our clothes will love you. The Copyright © 2011 April Bostic

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cameras will love you. I can see you becoming an international success! Your face should be on

a
Burberry
billboard!" Without touching him, he framed Riley's face with his hands. Then he finally looked at me for more than five seconds. "Will you get me someone to replace Isabel? I

trust you won't give me one of those self-absorbed, unmanageable little twits."

I nodded. "Yes, I'll get you someone more professional right away."

Kristian gave me a genuine smile. "Thank you, Paige. I knew I could count on you."

Then he turned on his heel and walked out...but not before glancing back at Riley. I

watched him walk down the hallway with a bounce in his step. He was probably happy about

meeting Riley and not about me getting him a replacement model.

I averted my eyes and focused on Riley. He stood motionless and stared at me. I think

this experience left him stunned. With someone like Kristian---who
'
s renown in the fashion

industry---'discovering' him, I predicted Riley to become
Burberry's
top-earning male model.

"Well, I guess you have a job." Riley's lips slowly spread into a smile. "Have you ever heard of
Burberry
?"

"No, but it sounds interesting."

"You're going to need a strict clause in your contract about no long distance traveling.

You're going to have to work locally."

"Why?"

"What if they want you to fly overseas? You can't fall asleep on the plane. If you have to

share a hotel room with another model, how would you sleep?"

"Don't worry, I can travel overseas without sleeping on the plane. If I don't get my own

hotel room, I can slip away somewhere private and sleep. I can stay awake longer than you

think."

"How was your flight here?"

"The flight wasn't that long. It was nonstop to New York. I'm a little knackered though."

My face scrunched in confusion. "What's
knackered
?"

He grinned. "It means
tired
."

I put a hand on my hip. "Oh. You know I don't speak British."

He laughed. Then he lowered his voice. "I haven't slept since you left because I've been

too upset."

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I caressed his cheek and he leaned into my touch. "I'm sorry." Suddenly, my mind shifted

gears. "I found out why my father left me the cabin. After he returned home from Black River,

he got an email from Xavier. He found out my father was there cleaning the cabin and thought he

would sell it. Xavier suggested to him instead of selling it, he should give it to me. My father

wanted to discuss it with me because he sent me an email a few hours before he died." My brows

knit in confusion. "But how did Xavier send him an email? I thought he died years ago."

"He
did
die.
I'm
the one who sent him the email."

Eyes wide, I gasped in shock. "What?"

Riley looked me in the eye and continued his confession. "I hacked into the computer at

the station and got the password to Xavier's email account. I remembered he used to contact your

father through email." He cupped my face and spoke softly. "Please don't be angry, Paige. I only pretended to be Xavier because I thought I'd never see you again if your father sold the cabin. I

needed to give you a reason to come back to Black River. You have no idea how much I missed

you."

I moved my head to kiss his hand. Riley smiled. "I'm not angry. The truth is...I missed

you too." He released me, only to pull me into another loving embrace. "Hey, I was going to

lunch. Do you want to come with me?"

"I'd love to. Besides, I'm completely lost here. This is a different world for me."

I smiled. "I know."

"Now I know how you felt in Black River. I guess I'll just have to adapt." He shrugged,

but followed with a wink.

I grabbed my teal
Prada
purse from my desk drawer. That's when I noticed my damaged

brown
Fendi
purse and pointed to it. "Did you send that to me?"

Riley flashed a sly smile. "Yes. I mailed it a few days ago."

I pecked his lips. "Thank you." Then I locked my brown purse in my desk.

"You're welcome, love."

I linked my arm through his and we walked out of my office. "After lunch, I'll take you to

my apartment...your new home." He smiled brilliantly. "You can take a nap there, and I'll come back to work."

"That sounds good to me."

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I leaned into him. It felt good not having to hide my relationship in the workplace. Once

again, Riley made me feel free.

"Don't worry, I'll show you the ropes and tell you everything you need to know about

surviving in the city," I said.

I saw Travis approaching in the opposite direction. He stopped us in the hall wearing an

expression of utter shock. "I was just coming by your office to say welcome back."

"Thank you, Travis."

At that moment, Riley yanked our linked arms toward his body, pressing me closer to

him. I smiled at his possessiveness and the fact I could flaunt him in front of my ex-boyfriend.

Travis smiled back. Then his eyes darted to Riley. "Who's this?" His voice sounded tight.

I unhooked my arm from Riley's and touched his wavy blond hair. "This is Riley," I

purred, my gaze still resting on Travis.

Travis' eyes narrowed as he watched me glide my hand down Riley's neck and shoulder.

He was probably seething on the inside. Then I wrapped my arm around his waist and held him

close. Riley's arm immediately went around my shoulder.

Travis didn't extend his hand to Riley, and they didn't exchange pleasantries. They just

sized each other up. Travis was taller than Riley was, but I knew Riley could easily take him.

Not to mention, he wasn't in the same league as Riley in the looks department. He probably knew

it too, and loathed him more because of it. He tried to mask his jealousy, but it was blatant by his

hard stare. Riley held his gaze until Travis couldn't handle it. Then he shifted his eyes to me with

a curious expression.

"Where did you go and what happened to you?"

This time I decided to stop playing high school games. I moved away from Riley and

stepped closer to Travis.

"What happened to me?" I paused and searched his eyes that were still familiar to me. I

had six memorable months with Travis, but he needed to grow up and I didn't have the patience

to wait for him. "I found love, Travis.
Real
love. The kind you couldn't give me. That's what happened."

His eyes narrowed again, and the muscle in his jaw twitched. I stepped back and molded

myself to the man who showed me the true meaning of love.

"Oh, and I got married," I said proudly.

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Eyes wide, he shouted, "You got married?"

I laughed lightly. "Yep. Riley is my husband."

Without another word, my husband and I walked away leaving Travis stunned.

Riley spoke quietly. "I guess we're going to have to make it legal, aye? I'm going to have

to get you a wedding ring."

I replied in a hushed tone. "We can get rings and then head over to the Justice of the

Peace. It'll be quicker that way."

"You don't want a wedding?" He sounded surprised. "I thought human women liked

weddings."

"We don't have time for that. I just told Travis we're married and he'll probably tell

Heather who will tell
everyone
. We should get married as soon as possible before people start

checking my finger for a ring."

His next words flew from his mouth. "The Justice of the Peace it is." Then he kissed the

top of my head. We reached the elevators and his voice lowered again. "Before you leave me at

your flat, do you think you'd have time to…?" He whispered the rest of his sentence in my ear.

I gasped at his naughty request, my face flushing with heat. An excited giggle followed

when I looked into the green eyes of my beautiful wolf. "Oh baby, I can't wait."

Copyright © 2011 April Bostic