CHERISHED (By the Alpha Billionaire #3) Read online

  This week, the card said, “Le cœur a sesraisons.” The heart has its reasons.

  The scent of garlic and tomato sauce wafted from the kitchen, and I rounded the corner to see her mindlessly dancing to some funky little song that blared from her iPad on the counter as she stirred a pot of sauce.

  “Send the chef home tonight, did we?” I asked, coming up from behind her and slipping my hands around her waist. My fingers tugged the hem of her shirt up until the waistband of her jeans was exposed. I couldn’t wait to get her out of those jeans and into the sheets of my bed later that night.

  My days without her were long, and my nights with her entirely too short. I couldn’t get enough of her. The way she smelled. The way she tasted. The way her face lit up as I showed her a whole new world.

  “Thought it’d be nice if it was just us tonight,” she said, running her free hand over mine. “Plus you work your staff to the bone. Thought they could use a night off.”

  She laughed. She knew my employees were well cared for, but coming from a middle-class background, she knew how important the little things were. And they all loved her. My housekeeper, Rosia, even said she liked Maisie just as much as Alexandria, which meant a lot because Rosia usually didn’t like anyone.

  She spun around to face me as a slow smile enveloped her lips. “Here. Taste.” She lifted a wooden slatted spoon with a hint of red sauce on it to my lips.

  “Amazing. As always.”

  “You sure? You don’t think it needs more oregano?” she asked, a single eyebrow arched high.

  The glint of the late afternoon sun caught the antique diamond sparkler on her left ring finger I’d placed there months ago when I’d whisked her off to Paris for a surprise getaway.

  I couldn’t let her go, and I’d been cherishing her since the day she moved to Manhattan to start a new life. With me.

  “The sauce is perfect,” I assured her, before claiming her full pout; the one I couldn’t live without as long as I lived. “Just like you.”

  THE END

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Rossi St. James is a twenty-something young woman with a passion for Oreos, crazy, twisted stories, and hiking trails with her two yellow labs, Sunny and Cloudy. When she’s not writing, you can probably find her scouring Pinterest for inspiration for her next book. (That’s pretty much all she uses Pinterest for anyway, as Rossi St. James cannot cook, sew, or craft).

  Email me anytime at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!

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  LETTER / THANK YOU FROM THE AUTHOR

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks so much for reading my book!

  If you enjoyed this story and have a moment, I’d love if you would write a review on Amazon!

  Love,

  Rossi