The Best of June
A Totally Bound Publication
The Best of June
ISBN #
978-1-78430-547-5
©Copyright Tierney O’Malley 2015
Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright April 2015
Edited by Faith Bicknell-Brown
Totally Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorized or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2015 by Totally Bound Publishing,
Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN
Totally Bound Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Totally Sizzling
and a
Sexometer
of
3.
The Blue-Eyed Four
THE BEST OF JUNE
Tierney O’Malley
Book two in The Blue-Eyed Four series
Only one woman can change the course of Henry’s life.
The beauty behind the lies…
Juniper Ivy Greenwald is beautiful, charming and desperate. She needs to get pregnant before going into cancer treatment. Employing her best friend’s help, she pretends to be a gift to the very handsome Captain Henry Colchester and sleeps with him. After three wonderful nights and days together, her plan to get pregnant comes to fruition. All she has to do is keep the truth from him. But there is one problem—her parents.
The handsome, blue-eyed man will unveil her…
Maritime Captain Henry Colchester is bent on building his empire before settling down. But before he even mounts his new certificate on the wall, news that he has impregnated June—the woman he spent three nights with and whom he can’t forget—reaches him. Surprised, he can’t believe June isn’t what he thought her to be—a call girl. Worse, June’s parents threaten his family’s name if he refuses to marry her. With his reputation on the line, Henry’s parents promise to give him half of his inheritance if he marries June then he’ll get the other half after the baby is born and he divorces her. He agrees. But a few months into their marriage, he finds himself in love with his wife. And the reason behind her lies shocks him to the core.
Dedication
I love you always.
You and Me.
Forever…
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Motel 6: G6 Hospitality IP, LLC
GPS: The United States Government
Slurpee: 7-Eleven, Inc.
7-Eleven: 7-Eleven, Inc.
Cheerfulness Taught by Reasons
: Robert Browning, public domain
Meeting at Night
: Robert Browning, public domain
Ralph Lauren: The Polo/Lauren Company, L.P.
Home Depot: Homer TLC, Inc.
Twilight Zone
: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
Cinderella: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Mascarpone: Colomer and Moreno, S.C.
Popsicle: Conopco, Inc.
Fifty Shades of Grey
: Fifty Shades, Limited
In Between Love
: BMG Rights Management US, LLC
Ziploc: S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc.
Google: Google, Inc.
Wikipedia: Wikipedia Foundation, Inc.
Winnie the Pooh: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Monster: Monster
JobSource: Kraferd
Mean Girls
: Paramount Pictures Corporation
Tinkerbell: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Yves Saint Laurent: Yves Saint Laurent
Washington Mutual: JPMorgan Chase and Co.
Nieman Marcus: NM Nevada Trust
Baby and Co: Baby and Co.
Mario’s: Internacional Olivarera, S.A.
Canopy Blue: Canopy Blue
Walmart: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Downton Abbey
: Carnival Film and Television, Limited
Facebook: Facebook, Inc.
Urbanspoon: Zomato USA, LLC
Coke: The Coca-Cola Company
James Bond/007: Ian Fleming/Eon Productions
Prologue
“Maybe we should sit down, June. You’re walking like a zombie.”
“I feel like one.” June let out a deep sigh. Thankful for having her best friend with her, she sat on the wood bench outside the Pink Door restaurant. “Tired,” she whispered. She dug her nails into her palms. It hurt, but she couldn’t open her hands to relax.
“Well, it’s good that we stopped here then. Bus stop is another block away.” Vivienne sat beside June then looked behind them. “Want to go inside? We’ve walked by here many times but never tried this restaurant.”
“Expensive.”
“I heard this restaurant’s owner is hot. Should we take a look?”
“Don’t feel like eating, Vi. Besides, it looks closed.” She knew Vivienne was trying to cheer her up. Right now, though, cracking a smile was impossible.
“I don’t see a closed sign. Come on. Let’s go in. We can talk over a cup of coffee. Maybe if the waiter is hot then the topic about your condition won’t be that bad.”
June smiled at her friend she couldn’t live without. “Doctor Sanders just dropped a bomb on me. I have ovarian cancer. I think even if the waiter serves us food naked, he wouldn’t be able to make any talk about cancer easy.”
“Yeah. But at least we’ll get to see his dick.”
June couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Oh, Vi. What am I going to do with you?”
“Feed me with your awesome cooking. That’s all I ask.”
“Next time, Vi, we’ll go inside. For now, I just want to sit here. It’s sunny.”
Vivienne sat beside her then let out a loud sigh. “All right.”
Two years ago, June had been drugged and raped. She hadn’t thought she’d recover from it. But her friends, Vivienne and Craig, had helped her shove that painful past deep in the bowels of her memory. Now, this. “Another dark cloud to block my sunshine.”
“Another…if you’re talking about what happened two years ago, forget it. Remember, we made a promise to not talk about it. How’s your back?”
“I’m fine.”
“So what do you think about Doctor Sanders’ advice?”
June pointed her gaze on the pet store across the street. “He said ovarian cancer cells aren’t easy to remove and quickly spread into the abdomen where the nasty cells could hide. Chemotherapy could shrink the tumor, which would make the removal easier. Surgery and chemo sounded so scary but thinking about cancer cells growing inside me is even scarier. Doctor Sanders said it over and over that whichever treatment I decide on, there would be a downside to it—infertility.”
Vivienne sighed. “I don’t like that word. Sounds like there is something wrong with a woman’s body.”
“Vi, there
is
something wrong with me.”
“I know. So what about his suggestion of freezing your eggs? He could refer you to an affordable fertility clinic. It would be the best way to start.”
“You know my financial situation. Affordable to some is expensive for me. I don’t even have health insurance.”
“We can talk to Craig.”
“No.”
“No?”
June looked at her friend then slowly shook her head. “I’m thinking of a different solution.” All her life, she’d been an obedient daughter, had done only what other normal kids tried because of immaturity and peer pressure, like eating marijuana-laced brownies in high school. But she’d gotten sick and suffered from a panic attack so she’d never tried it again. Her parents had known about it. She’d never kept a secret from them—except about the alcohol and drug facilitated sexual assault. They hadn’t needed to know that. Now it seemed she’d add another secret to her list. Her nose began to sting. June closed her eyes to stop the tears from flowing, but there was no stopping them. As soon as the first tear fell, a sob escaped her.
“June? Talk to me.”
June wiped her cheeks with the pads of her fingers. “I want to have a baby someday. A little boy or girl who’ll run around the house, giving Mom and Dad something to laugh about.”
“June. You’re making me cry.” Vivienne sniffed.
“Vi, there is no guarantee that my eggs would survive if I freeze them. Besides, even with the inexpensive agency, I would still have to spend thousands of dollars.”
“What are you saying?”
“Vi.”
“Yeah?”
“I want to get pregnant.”
Chapter One
Two weeks later
Henry Colchester held a glass in his hand. He gently spun the fragile stem between his thumb and index finger. He’d been smiling to everyone until his fucking lips felt about to crack. Damn, he hated parties. He’d rather be out sailing. He spotted his business partner, John Stevenson, making a beeline toward him.
“Hey there, partner. Some party, eh?” John waggled his eyebrows. “Lots of hot legs.”
Like him, John loved women, but he wasn’t crazy enough to settle down. “I know. What’s new, John?”
“Talked to the owners. They want our answers before the bidding. They’re interested in selling their ships to us, Henry, instead of going through the bidding—which is big. They trust us.”