Saint Or A Sinner
المؤلف
Jade Wolf
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138K
الفصول
22
Rosabelle never thought he’d actually come back—let alone to collect on a promise she made years ago in jest. But when her charming childhood best friend, now a billionaire with a wicked smile and unfinished business, shows up ready to claim her heart, old feelings ignite fast. He’s all confidence and temptation; she’s all nerves and caution. Once burned, Rosabelle knows how costly love can be. Yet this time, walking away might hurt even more. Between laughter, longing, and a love that refuses to fade, she must decide if risking her heart again is madness… or the only thing that could make her whole.
Chapter 1: Three Months, Fourteen Days
ROSABELLE
AGE 29
The caller ID on my cell phone gave me pause… Leo. Lionel Jordan Saint. It’d been months since I’d last spoken to him…three months and fourteen days, to be exact. Not that I’m counting.
Three months and fourteen days ago, I’d had the worst breakdown ever since my fiancé, Alee, died. I’d been crippled by depression and loneliness, and I was fed up with being lonely. So, in my emotional, needy state, I’d called the only person I knew could handle me at my lowest—Lionel.
And he came, just like I knew and trusted that he would…leaving behind whatever he’d been doing at a moment’s notice. Even though I later realized how dependent on him I’d become, at the time, nothing mattered more than having someone with me who could understand my loss.
After that night, we got busy with our own lives, and I tried to distance myself from Leo because I didn’t want to burden him with my loss any more than I already had.
And because I’d realized that, in all those small moments where he left everything for me, maybe my feelings for my best friend had become a little more than platonic, and that scared the shit out of me.
I’d cared for someone before…loved with all my heart, and lost it all in a moment. I was cursed to lose the ones I loved, and I just couldn’t lose Leo. Not ever.
So, I pretended to be busy with my job and avoided him until he left for one of his photography sprees in the wild. And Lionel was enjoying the perks of being a billionaire businessman and wildlife photographer by traveling to places with no cell phone service or any amenities of modern human life…to photograph the wildlife.
According to him, it took months of patience to get the perfect shots. This was, by far, his longest trip. And it looked like he was back in the world of homo sapiens.
During my walk down memory lane, the ringing of my cell ended…and started again immediately. This time, I picked it up, and as soon as I brought it to my ear, Leo’s cheery voice greeted me. “Happy twenty-ninth, Peanut.”
And that’s how I remembered that my birthday had just started. How sad is that? Leo was always the first one to wish me a happy birthday. He always remembered.
The bestest best friend anyone could ever wish for, and I was the lucky one to have him.
“So, you remembered, huh?” I teased.
“Of course, I remembered, Peanut. How can I forget? It’s not every day your best friend turns older.” He laughed at his own lame joke. “So, tell me, hag, what are you doing on your birthday? Turning another prince into a toad?”
“Ha ha, Lionel. Your sense of humor is just getting worse with age. You had a whole year, and you came up with that? Pathetic,” I mocked. “I’m worried for you, really. You’re losing your game.”
“At least I have a sense of humor…unlike someone else I know. You’re just getting crankier with age. And anyway, how would you know about my game? I’ve never turned my charms on you.”
“Oh boy, am I glad for that,” I muttered, rolling my eyes, knowing full well that if Lionel Saint decided to turn his charms on me, I’d be in deep trouble. Of course, I had a secret crush on my best friend.
If you had a best friend as panty-meltingly hot as Lionel, you would be cheering me on instead of judging me right now.
“Ah, Peanut, is that a challenge?” he mocked.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dare,” I teased right back, fully knowing that I wouldn’t dare challenge him, ever. It was survival one-oh-one.
“Chicken shit.” Leo laughed. And something in his tone told me that he knew exactly how big of a chicken I was. He knew me better than anyone.
“So, correctly assuming you are not doing anything special tomorrow, you’ll be coming over to my place. I’m throwing a small party in your honor at a bar near my place.” And before I could even think of a protest, he added hurriedly, “It’s more of a friends’ get-together, nothing too raunchy, I promise.”
“Why do I not believe you?” Lionel and raunchy parties were a match made in heaven, so I was really finding it hard to believe him.
“Rosa, shut up and just get your ass here tomorrow as soon as you wake up. Wear something comfortable. It’s our day out.”
“What about the party?”
“You’ll have plenty of time to get ready for it. Just do as I say.” With that, he was gone.
He probably didn’t want to give me time to think up an excuse and cancel the plan, which I mostly did after Alee died. As I said, he knew me too well.
Sighing, I got up from bed and ventured to my closet. I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else now that I knew I was going to a party with Lionel.
***
When we were younger, we would hang out in his basement almost daily. Sometimes there’d be other friends, and sometimes it’d be just us.
We were a constant in each other’s lives pretty much from the day we met. Leo and I became friends in third grade when, one day, he beat the shit out of a boy who had pushed me to the ground, and, as a result, my knees got bruised.
That day, Leo became my knight in shining armor and then my self-appointed best friend for life.
I didn’t always have a crush on him. No, I used to even go over to his house in my pajamas on weekends without even combing my hair.
It wasn’t until we were in high school and I saw girls throwing themselves at his feet that I started to really “see” Leo. I saw him like those girls saw him.
He had always been handsome…the cutest kid in our grade. But in high school, it was like he had a growth spurt, and suddenly he was this tall, broad Adonis with chocolate-brown hair and beautiful sea-foam-green eyes.
Then he started playing soccer… I know, right? How unfair for poor girls.
The girls who couldn’t even spell soccer would go to team practices and wait for the moment Leo would pull the hem of his shirt up to wipe sweat from his face. They’d be a swooning and giggling mess by the end of it, and I would laugh at poor Leo trying to extricate himself from the horde of horny, hungry hyenas to get to the locker room.
And so, it wasn’t really a surprise that he’d have a different girl on his arm every month.
It’s not like I didn’t have guys asking me out, but I was nowhere near Leo’s level of popularity. I was actually relieved by this small favor because, as much as I loved hanging out with Leo, I wasn’t much of a people person.
I wasn’t a total hermit back then the way I was now, but in hindsight, that was probably because Leo would drag me out kicking and flailing if I spent even two days indoors. He had that constant need to move, like he’d turn to stone if he stayed in one place for long.
He always had that flair for dramatics.
Dragging myself out of the glorious past once again, I started perusing my wardrobe to select something for tomorrow’s outing and party. That’s when I realized how boring my wardrobe had become.
“Leo would be so disappointed in me, Spikes,” I said to my cat, who was sitting on my bed, judging me for my lameness.
After dumping almost my entire wardrobe on the floor near my feet, I settled on faded jean shorts and a white button-down top to wear to his house tomorrow morning. I was now left with just finding a dress for the party…yeah, no biggie…I have so many crappy options that whatever I choose will make me look like a “hag,” as Leo so lovingly calls me.
Bingo! There, at the back of my wardrobe, in the discarded mess I hadn’t deemed worthy in forever, lay my saving grace—yup, you guessed it—an LBD.
Phew! What a tiring task it is to select proper clothing.
The one thing I do love to hoard is shoes. So, after hunting down my most beautiful pair of golden heels for the party and white Spartan sandals for tomorrow’s outing, I finally fell on my bed face-first and knocked on the doors of dreamland almost immediately.
Yeah, not even Lionel Jordan Saint can keep me from sleep.
***
There was something hard poking my lower back, which is why I thought I must be dreaming, because in my sad waking existence, it just wasn’t happening. So, I decided to keep my eyes shut a moment longer and enjoy what came next.
A hot tongue licked my cheek and then did it again…but when I still didn’t open my eyes, the owner of the hot tongue tried to take matters further and sat on my face…and mewed.
It was Spikes—of course it was Spikes. I sighed, pushed my cat aside, and rubbed my blurry eyes.
Feeling behind me with a hand, I caught the culprit that had been poking me in the back—the beer bottle I had indulged in last night.
Checking the time on my phone, I got up and padded across my room to the bathroom with Spikes hot on my tail. I brushed my teeth while he just glared at me, his piercing yellow eyes telling me to “hurry the fuck up and feed him already.”
I swear he believed me to be the worst human being he could ever find, and I was sure he mostly hated my guts but had to bear me so I’d keep feeding him and giving him belly rubs.
Once I was done measuring the little moody beast’s kibble, I dragged myself to the kitchen for my first dose of caffeine. I didn’t bother with breakfast, because Leo would surely have a feast ready for me—something I really loved about my best friend. He knew my love for food, and he was an awesome cook.
Any girl would be lucky to have him as a husband if he could even imagine settling down…which was a far-fetched possibility. I hauled ass to my room to get changed, or he’d start blowing up my phone soon.
I checked myself in the mirror for the second time…or the third…or the hundredth and saw exactly what I’d seen the last ninety-nine times…my waist-length dirty blonde hair styled into beach waves, a white top tied at my waist showing off my belly button ring, and the small tribal tattoo above my shorts.
Then my phone rang, telling me to stop lollygagging and get my ass moving. I stopped on my way to grab donuts from his favorite place, then went to meet my best friend.
***
The door opened as soon as I rang the bell, revealing a sweat-soaked, grinning Lionel, who gave me a low bow as I entered. He must’ve just returned from his miles-long run. The guy ran like a beast.
I wondered what else he could do like a beast. His extra-cheery voice brought me back from my extra-dirty thoughts.
“For a moment I thought you were going to stand me up, but then I thought, ‘Nah, she wouldn’t dare. She must remember the last time she tried pulling that crap,’” he said, still grinning. And he was still mouth-wateringly handsome…bastard.
The time he was referring to was a few days after one of my breakdowns, and I’d told him I had plans with a friend from work. He’d called my bullshit by showing up at my door fifteen minutes later with my favorite takeout and ice cream. We watched movies while I kept sniffling, and he kept rubbing my back soothingly.
Leo could be the perfect girlfriend when I needed him to be. And he could be a total pain in my ass whenever he was mood-stricken, just like now.
“Fuck off, Saint, and feed me. I’m hungry.” I was embarrassed about where his body had forced my mind to go, and that made me grumpy.
His spreading grin told me exactly what he was going to say, and I slashed my hand in front of his face. “Don’t you dare say anything gross. It’s too early for that.”
“All right, all right…geez, you’re a nightmare in the mornings. Breakfast is ready, but give me five minutes. I need to shower,” he said, turning toward his bathroom and pulling off his T-shirt as he went. I spun on my heels before I drooled all over him and started perusing his living room. Despite the size, it was a warm place with a cozy, homey feel.
The off-whites and sepias gave it a rustic look. The wooden beams and ancient-looking brick fire hearth were my favorite touches in this room.
I ventured into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and called out, “It’s been more than five minutes, beauty queen. If you don’t get out here in under a minute, you won’t get any of these donuts.” And the next thing I knew, I was being tackled down onto the carpet, spilling water on my blouse…but not by who you must be thinking. By a goddamned huge dog, who immediately started licking my face.
What is it with me getting tackled and licked by animals today? I managed to extricate myself from beneath the boulder of a dog, only to realize I’d lost the top button of my blouse in the tryst.
The poor thing had literally been hanging by a thread, but it had loyally kept my assets from spilling out because, as it happened, the shirt I chose was as old as the hills.
I should’ve checked my bloody horoscope before waking up today because, to add insult to injury, Leo came out of the bathroom in low-hanging trousers and wet, dripping hair, looking fucking edible, while I was on all fours trying in vain to find the golden button.
Of course, the fucker hadn’t dried his hair or anything above the waist. The errant strand of wet, dark hair falling on his forehead and the droplets sliding down onto his perfect chest…can’t a girl get a fucking break?
Then, like a cheesy chick flick, he stopped dead in front of me as I looked up to find his darkened eyes on my chest, a hand covering his lips. I was almost certain he wasn’t laughing at me…almost. I licked my suddenly dry lips, and his dark gaze followed the movement.
