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Back First Comes Love Save as PDF
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

On impulse, I walk toward the luggage rack, open my suitcase and fish inside for the list. The sorry sheet of paper has never been more crumpled. I lay it out on the desk, trying to flatten the edges with my palms. Pen in hand, I sit at the room’s desk and scan the list. After crossing out never make exceptions and never skinny dip, I search for something that will give me an excuse to ignore Richard’s ‘do not disturb’ sign.

There. Never make the first move. If ever there was a time to ignore that rule, tonight is it.

I kiss the list and get up, trying to smooth the wrinkles in my skirt. Should I change into something less dramatic? A mental vision of Richard undoing my zipper flashes through my head. His hand slowly pulling it down as he stands behind me, his breath hot on my neck. I can almost feel Richard’s hands pulling down the straps of the dress over my shoulders and this once-in-a-lifetime gown falling to the floor, pooling at my feet in silky waves. The dress stays.

Mirror check: makeup still good, but the hair would be sexier loose. I remove all the clips and fluff it, letting the locks cascade down my back. The bobby pins have left it wavy and voluminous and the curls add a bit of wildness to my look. I give myself a wink in the mirror, and go.

Richard’s room is only three doors down from mine. Standing here, I suddenly don’t feel so brave. The gold metal plate with the number 354 engraved in black seems to get bigger as I stare at it. This was stupid. Blair, go back to your room. I take a step back; then stop. No, I’m not going back.

Inhale, exhale, and knock.

With a pounding heart, I wait for the door to open.

Thirteen

Never Lie

It takes me a few seconds to focus on the person standing in front of me. A tall woman who’s looking back into the room, showing me only a mane of black hair. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s room service,” she says, then turns to face me. Her mouth forms an “O” of surprise before her lips spread in a vicious smile.

“Blair, what an unexpected visit,” Aurora Vanderbilt says.

Not her.

Everything within me breaks. I blink back tears of rage and frustration, but there’s no fighting the angry blush that spreads across my face. The shock and misery must show along with the rash because Aurora’s smile widens.

“Did you need something?” she asks in a honeyed tone.

“N-no… just work stuff… n-nothing important…”

I’m still blabbing nonsense when Richard appears on the threshold. Jacket off. Bow tie gone. Shirt invitingly open at the neck. Sexy as hell. Our eyes meet and a bolt of shame strikes me.

“Blair!” His eyebrows raise. “What are you doing here?”