ONE WITH YOU - Opening Scene of Chapter 2 . Some are difficult, fighting with me all the way through. It wanted to be rewritten, and rewritten again. And while that process is often frustrating, it’s also one of the reasons I so love being a writer.

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Remember the Valentine’s Treat excerpt? If so, the scene below will feel familiar to you. I’m posting it as a thank you to my readers, who mean so much to me, and because the scene altered as I wrote yet another draft. I love both versions, for different reasons. I can’t pick a favorite. Can you? Chapter 2“More flowers?” Arash Madani drawled as he strolled into my office through the open glass double doors. My lead attorney walked over to where Eva’s white roses decorated the main seating area.

I’d had them placed on the coffee table in my direct line of sight. There, they had been successfully drawing my attention away from the stock tickers streaming on the wall of flat screens behind them.

Alphabetical Listing of All USA Commercial DVDs and Blu-ray Discs with Audio Description. Xnxnn 2015 videos . Some books come so easily, they feel as if they write themselves. Some are difficult, fighting with me all the way through. One with You refused to be simply written.

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The card that accompanied the flowers sat on the smoked glass of my desk and I fingered it, rereading the words for the hundredth time. Arash pulled a rose out and lifted it to his nose. Until his arrival, the brightly colored carafes and Eva’s red vase had been the only spots of color in the monochromatic expanse of my office. Do you have something for me?”Approaching my desk, he grinned in a way that told me he loved his job, although I never doubted it. His prey drive was nearly as highly developed as my own.“The Morgan deal is coming together nicely.” Adjusting his tailored slacks, he settled into one of the two chairs facing my desk. His style was slightly flashier than mine but couldn’t be faulted. Still finessing some clauses, but we should be ready to proceed by next week.”“Good.”“You are a man of few words.” Casually, he asked, “You up for getting together this weekend?”I shook my head.

If so, I’ll try to talk her out of it.”Arash laughed. I never expected to share my life with anyone. I’d never denied that my past shadowed my present, but I saw no need to share that past with anyone before Eva. It couldn’t be changed, so why rehash it?

Standing, I walked to one of the two floor- to- ceiling walls of windows framing my office and took in the city that sprawled in urban splendor beyond the glass. I hadn’t known Eva was out there, had been afraid to even dream of finding the one person in the world who would accept and love every facet of me. How was it possible that I’d found her here, in Manhattan, at the very building I’d had built against sound advice and at great risk? Too expensive, they’d said, and unnecessary.

But I’d needed the Cross name to be memorable and mentioned in a different way. My father had dragged our name through the mud; I’d lifted it to the heights of the most relevant city in the world.“You showed no sign at all you were leaning that way,” Arash said behind me. Breaking in the new beach house?”“An excellent idea.” Taking my wife back to the Outer Banks was my goal. Having her all to myself had been heaven. I was happiest when I was alone with her. She revitalized me, made me anticipate living in a way I never had before.

I’d built my empire with the past in mind. Now, thanks to her, I would continue to build it for our future. My desk phone flashed. It was Scott, on line one. I pressed the button, and his voice came through the speaker. She says she needs just a few minutes to drop off something for you.

Because it’s private, she wants to give it to you personally.”“Of course she does,” Arash chimed in. Ouch.”“She wants to talk, she can talk to my attorney.”He pushed to his feet and headed out.

Quarter to five. Cross.”Through the glass wall separating my office from the rest of the floor, I watched Arash round the corner on his way to reception, and then I mentally brushed the whole thing aside. Eva would be with me shortly, the very thing I’d been waiting for since the workday started. But of course, it couldn’t be that easy. A flash of crimson in the corner of my eye just a few moments later had me looking back out at the work floor and seeing Corinne marching toward my office with Arash hot on her heels. Her chin lifted when our eyes met. Her tight smile widened, transforming her from a beautiful woman to a stunning one.

I could admire her the way I would admire anything except Eva—objectively, dispassionately. Now happily married, I could fully grasp what a horrible mistake it would have been to marry Corinne. It was unfortunate for all of us that she refused to see it. I stood and rounded my desk. The look I swept over both Arash and Scott called them off from any further action.

If Corinne wanted to deal with me directly, I’d give her one last opportunity to do the right thing. She glided into my office on red stilettos. The strapless dress she wore was the same hue as the shoes and showed off both her long legs and pale skin. She wore her hair down, the black strands sliding around her bare shoulders. She was the polar opposite of my wife and a mirror image of every other woman who’d passed through my life.“Gideon. Surely you can spare a few minutes for an old friend?”Leaning back into my desk, I crossed my arms.

Make it quick, Corinne.”She smiled, but her eyes, the color of aquamarines, were sad. She had a small red box tucked under her arm. When she reached me, Corinne pulled it out and offered it to me.“What is this?” I asked, without reaching for it.“These are the photos that will appear in the book.”My brow arched.

I found myself unfolding and accepting the box, driven by curiosity. It hadn’t been too long ago that we’d been together, but I scarcely remembered the details. What I had were impressions, big moments, and regret.

I’d been so young, with a dangerous lack of self- awareness. Corinne set her purse down on my desk, moving in a way that brushed her arm against mine. Wary, I reached over and hit the button that controlled the opacity of the glass wall. If she wanted to put on a show, I’d make sure she didn’t have an audience.

Taking the lid off the box, I was confronted with a photo of Corinne and me entangled in front of a bonfire. Her head was nestled in the crook of my shoulder, her face tilted up to me so I could press a kiss to her lips. The memory assailed me immediately. We’d taken a day trip to a friend’s house in the Hamptons.

The weather had been cool, fall giving way to winter. In the picture we looked happy and in love, and in a way, I suppose we were. But I’d refused the invitation to spend the night, despite Corinne’s obvious disappointment. With my nightmares, I couldn’t sleep beside her. And I couldn’t fuck her, though I knew that was what she wanted, because the hotel room I reserved for that purpose was miles away.

So many hangups. So many lies and evasions. I took a deep breath and let the past go. Then she reached into the box, flipping through the top few photos to pull out one of us at the beach. I was standing waist deep in the surf. Corinne was twined around me from the front, her legs wrapped around my waist, her arms draped over my shoulders and her hands in my hair.

Her head was tossed back on a laugh, her joy radiating from the image. I gripped her fiercely, my face upturned to watch her. There was gratitude there and wonder. Strangers would see it and think it was love. Which was Corinne’s goal. I denied that I ever loved anyone before Eva, which was no less than the truth.

Corinne was determined to prove me wrong in the most public way possible. Leaning over, she looked at the picture, then at me. Her expectation was tangible, as if some monumental epiphany was supposed to strike me.

She toyed with her necklace and I realized it was one I’d given her, a small gold heart on a simple chain. For fuck’s sake. I didn’t even remember who took the damn photo or where we were at the time, and it didn’t matter.“What do you expect these photos to prove, Corinne? You married, and now I have. There’s nothing left.”“Then why are you getting so upset? You’re not indifferent, Gideon.”“No, I’m irritated.