Hating Him Wanting Him : A Contemporary Romance Collection Read online

  Copyright © 2020 by Summer Brooks

  It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental.

  Hating Him Wanting Him

  A Contemporary Romance Collection

  Summer Brooks

  Contents

  Boss Enemy

  1. Mia

  2. Evan

  3. Mia

  4. Evan

  5. Mia

  6. Evan

  7. Mia

  8. Evan

  9. Mia

  10. Evan

  11. Mia

  12. Evan

  13. Mia

  14. Evan

  15. Mia

  16. Evan

  17. Mia

  18. Mia

  19. Evan

  20. Mia

  21. Evan

  22. Mia

  23. Evan

  24. Mia

  Epilogue: Mia

  Perfectly Wrong

  1. Mia

  2. Bryant

  3. Mia

  4. Bryant

  5. Mia

  6. Bryant

  7. Mia

  8. Bryant

  9. Mia

  10. Bryant

  11. Mia

  12. Bryant

  13. Mia

  14. Bryant

  15. Mia

  16. Bryant

  17. Mia

  18. Bryant

  19. Mia

  20. Bryant

  21. Mia

  22. Bryant

  23. Mia

  24. Bryant

  Epilogue: Mia

  PREQUEL to ‘Perfectly Wrong’

  Forbidden Mistake

  About the Author

  Boss Enemy

  Blurb

  My sworn enemy is now my boss!

  He doesn’t know that I’m the woman whose family he burned to the ground.

  Not even when circumstances put us together in one apartment… as roommates.

  He can’t know my secret.

  And he definitely can’t know that I lust for him.

  After all, my boss enemy doesn’t deserve to be my first…

  Or does he?

  1

  Mia

  The crowds were wild outside of the University. But at the same time, so was the happiness, cheer, and good tidings. This was, after all, the last time most of us would feel that freedom of not having to slave away at a job, have a summer vacation, and pretty much be allowed to live off of cheese fries and beer. It was my Graduate School Graduation from Cornell University. This was technically my third degree, my undergraduate being in Technology and Production, and my Master’s being a duel in both Systems Engineering and Cognitive Science.

  I know. It sounds insane, and most likely, after the work I’ve put in, I could be considered insane, but I wanted to have the best chance to step out on my own. Of course, my wild and crazy bestie, Lily, really didn’t understand that.

  “Why do I feel like I’m going to be paying for this amazing education forever? Seriously, I want to calculate out how much I would have made as a waitress with no student loans, versus whatever I become with a debt of a hundred grand. I bet it’s freaking close.” She was smiling for photos with me, speaking like a ventriloquist so no one but me could hear her.

  I smiled for another picture, and turned to Lily, poking her in the shoulder. “Just because my father has money…”

  “And a billion dollar company,” Lily cut in. “Who happened to offer to give it to you one day if you wanted to work for him…”

  I puckered my lips. “Which I don’t. Who cares about investment and real estate? I want to create the technology of the future. Build big things, and not buildings.”

  Lily sighed, putting her arm over my shoulder and pointing at her mother who was trying to take another picture. “While I’m over here with a Master’s degree in music about to, ‘waste my education and existence while having to flip burgers.’ Or so my father says.”

  A giggle escaped my lips. “You already have a spot in the Chicago Orchestra. And if that doesn’t last forever, you can teach at any University in the world.”

  Lily flung her long brown hair over her shoulder, her tan skin perfectly contrasting her light pink, pouty lips. “And look damn good doing it.”

  We both laughed loudly, thankful that the parents had begun to congregate together. It gave us some much needed moments to ourselves. Lily and I wandered over to the benches on the edge of the student lawn. I turned and looked over my shoulder. “I spent so much time out there on that lawn, just trying to get some Vitamin D instead of being cooped up inside of the dorms.”

  Lily snorted. “That’s not the only type of Vitamin D you needed.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s fine, you got more than enough for the both of us.”

  She smiled, stretching her arms up over her head. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I do what I can. You can live vicariously through me. Though, I think you’d learn to loosen up a lot more if you just got laid.”

  My virginity was the last thing I wanted to think about, especially with everything we had to do that day. There was the flight back to Chicago, getting settled in, getting ready for work. The whole nine. My life got no break after college. That was the point, though, right? To jump into life headfirst?

  Our parents were standing on the sidewalk far enough away for us not to be able to hear what they were saying. I watched my mother attempting to console Lily’s mother, who looked absolutely miserable.

  Instantly, my eyebrow popped up and I tilted my head toward Lily. “So, your mom is still completely destroyed that you’re moving to Chicago, isn’t she?”

  Lily looked over at her mother, tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyeliner smudged, and her father looking more than irritated by the whole debacle. She let out a deep groan. “Yes. The woman has had a year to get it together. I think she was living in denial. Thinking at any moment I was going to call and be like, oh hey mom, I got this place across the street from you in Brooklyn. We can be neighbors and besties.”

  With a smirk, I chuckled. “That just means she loves you. She’ll get used to it, and before you know it, she’ll be doing all kinds of non-mom stuff, telling you that you can skip your Christmas visit because your father and her are going to Boca Raton for the holidays.”

  Lily snorted, covering her mouth. “I just pictured my parents in shorts, t-shirts, and those plastic visors driving around in golf carts.”

  I shrugged. “It’s the future for us all.”

  “God, I hope not,” Lily gaffed. “I do not look good in calf high socks and I can’t get over the whole sandal sock trend.”

  My nose wrinkled. “I don’t think that was a trend. I think that was just the unknowing of the world uniting in defiance. Not that I’m the expert on fashion, but there is a line.”

  Lily patted me on the shoulder. “I am proud of you. Now if I can only get you to toss that Minnie Mouse, over-sized, t-shirt nightmare away before we head to Chicago, I will be on top of my game.”

  I ignored her seven thousandth jab at my Minnie Mouse shirt. “We got everything from the room, right?”

  Lily nodded. “Yeah. And I saw your dad’s people picking it up earlier to take it to the plane. But speaking
of, do we need anything for our new gloriously fabulous condo in Chicago?”

  My shoulders shrugged. “I don’t think so. Most likely my father hired someone to take care of everything, down to the toilet paper and sheets. Oh, and by the way, if you ever decide you want to leave our bachelorette pad, he said all of your bedroom furniture is a gift to you.”

  She grabbed my arm, trying to hold back a squeal. “Oh my God. That is so awesome. But seriously, you are never getting rid of me. And if you one day marry some tech geek, he will have to understand I come with the house.”

  “Like a pet? Or a toaster?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “More like radiant granite countertops.”

  I laughed. “From the 1960’s. You know, that wild pea green that went through the style scene back then. That’s you.”

  She sighed. “It’s disheartening how you think of your dear best friend. I guess I’ll have to upgrade when I get to Chicago.”

  I sat up on the bench, not at all excited to see my father walking toward us. However, before he could get here, one of the professors he knew called his name. I slunk back down, crossing my legs.

  Lily looked over at me and shook her head. “You are so weird. Seriously, your father is one of the most brilliant businessmen in the world. He has one of those old man stories about starting his company with twenty bucks and an old hammer, and you cringe when he comes near you. We did an entire study on him in one of my elective business classes.”

  “I know,” I replied dryly. “I had to sit through six months of listening to you talk about my father every day. Not to mention the girls in your group that have some weird attraction to him.”

  Lily giggled. “I don’t like old dudes, but for someone wrinkled, he’s pretty hot. Not like Sean Connery was in his fifties, but still. The money makes up for it.”

  My body shivered. “You have problems.”

  She put on a fake smile and waved, talking under her breath again. “I do, and that’s why you love me. Don’t look now but the whole clan is coming to see us.”

  I forced a smile as well. “Oh boy, maybe my father can get in an epic decade-long battle with one of them and we can become enemies brought together by sisterhood.”

  Lily stood up. “Not likely. You can’t pull that one off twice in one lifetime.”

  I stood up with her. “Have you met my father?”

  My mother wrapped her arms around me, the smell of her expensive perfume wafting into my nostrils. It was like a shot of adrenaline. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Me too,” my father added, rubbing my shoulder.

  As usual my mother shot him a nasty look. The two had been divorced since I was a little girl, and although I did love my dad, my mom had insisted I take her name to keep the pressure off of me growing up. I had to admit, it was a good idea. My father owned Cuthbert Investments, the flagship of many multi-million dollar companies. My last name was Crosswell, which was fine by me. I never wanted to be linked to him in a business sense. I wanted to forge my own path.

  Lily’s mom walked over sniffling. “So, what are your plans when you get back to Chicago?”

  I took a deep breath. “I got a job at Innovations Technical, it’s a technology firm.”

  “A huge one,” my father chuckled. “Though I haven’t done any business with them before, they are relatively new. Grew really fast and then kept the momentum.”

  “What about you, Lily?” my mother asked.

  She stood tall and proud. “I got a chair with the Chicago Orchestra. I will start performing with them by winter as long as I get through all the material in a quick manner. I also have a part time instructor position at one of the local private music companies. I’ll be teaching the cello there.”

  My mother swooned. “Oh, I just love the Chicago Orchestra. That is just fantastic. You girls have got a beautiful future ahead of you.”

  She was right, or at least I hoped it. I had worked my rear off to get that job with Innovation. I had done two summer internships with them and gone through 6 months of interviews. It was exactly how I had planned it. I had the proof, it was written down in a journal I’d been keeping since my freshman year of high school. I had managed to reach every goal or milestone I’d set up so far, and now it was time to move on to the next phase; adulthood.

  Whatever that meant.

  “Uh, speaking of your futures, the plane is set to depart the airport in an hour,” my father said, looking down at his watch. “I won’t be flying with you. I am going to hop over to New York and see some clients of mine.”

  I faked disappointment, but I was pretty sure Lily’s pout was sincere. “Sorry, dad. We’ll see you back in Chicago, right?”

  “Of course,” he replied, putting his arms out.

  We said our goodbyes, tearful from Lily’s family. I was pretty sure at one point I heard her father tell her mother to, “Get it together, Louise.” I wish I could say my mother would have been the same way, but I knew better. She loved me, but she was a rich woman who never gave up her life to raise me. She just took me everywhere she went or left me with the nanny. I didn’t mind, though, I wasn’t like the other rich girls. I had always been considered pretty but I didn’t care at all about that kind of thing. Fashion, make-up, style, it was all completely lost on me.

  Lily grabbed my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Get me out of here before she starts sobbing.”

  I smiled and waved to everyone, pulling Lily toward the town car that had just pulled up to the curb. The driver opened the door for us and we climbed in, waving wildly at our families as we pulled off. I was disappointed because my parents would be just one jet behind, while Lily was thrilled to be finding her much wanted freedom. Luckily, I had plans. Plans that were going to take me places, and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way.

  2

  Evan

  The room felt almost stagnant with all the bodies seated around the large mahogany table. Papers were strewn everywhere and my secretary was still trying to figure out why the projection wouldn’t work. Every couple of minutes there was a hissed, undertone, curse word, and a banging on the machine. I leaned my head back and looked over at Lydia.

  “It’s alright,” I mouthed. “I’ll figure out what’s up with it later.”

  She sighed and dropped the remote in my hand, turning and dragging her sweaty head from the room. I swiveled the chair back around, my eyes glancing around at the old wrinkled faces of my Board of Directors. The whole room smelled like expensive cologne with a slight hint of early morning bourbon, most likely from Mr. Horngarden who was known to carry a flask in the pocket of his thousand dollar trousers.

  “What do you think, Evan?” My father’s voice dragged me from my haze.

  I sat up in the chair and cleared my throat. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m not really keen on our name being affiliated with anything political, even if it is a big project like this. Companies, major ones, have crashed and burned for things like that in the past.”

  My father pursed his lips, holding the paper out in front of him with his eyes squinted to look at it. A small grunt came from his throat, the same one he let out every morning when I was a kid and tried to talk to him, but he was too busy reading the paper. Finally, he set the list down on the table and took his glasses off.

  “Here’s the thing,” he said, about to break out the numbers on me. “Your company has grown so fast, almost too fast. And you probably wonder how a business could grow too fast.”

  “Actually I…,” he cut me off before I could respond.

  Waving his glasses at me, he flipped his laptop around so I could see the charts. “You need to sustain your business in order for your long term shareholders to stay. We don’t want this huge spike and then a major fall. That would scare them, and they will sell, jump ship, bye. While I agree with you for the political project, you need to have a big project on your plate, and soon. This momentum is great, but you have to be able to sustain it. My business…”r />
  And there he goes. I had to admit, my father was a business genius, but damn it sucked having him on the Board of Directors of my company. But what was I going to do? He offered to give me the startup for the company as long as I put him on the board. It was that or spend the next ten years saving pennies working for some crappy tech company. I wanted to work for myself, just like him, except not just like him. While I loved my father, he was a bit of a…smooth talker. He wasn’t the most moral man to do business with, or at least he didn’t use to be. After the lawsuit…

  “You see, Evan,” he said louder, noticing my eyes glazing over. “There are just too many ifs to let things stand as they are. So, it’s obviously the recommendation of the board that you make one of these work. We won’t be happy with a slide in the numbers if you don’t.”

  I rubbed my face, leaning forward and grabbing the list from the table. “Well, I would say at least half of these are candidates for sure. I will have to thoroughly look through the research and I’ll start making calls.”