 by Natasha Madison.jpg)
Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
When your best friend asks you for the biggest favor of her life.
EVA
Things were finally looking up for me.
I was my own boss; I owned my own house—
and I recently was contacted by an older sister I didn’t know I had.
Everything was perfect…until tragedy struck.
All the things that had come into my life were suddenly gone—except for one thing: my niece.
LEVI
I was a confirmed bachelor.
I was married to my work and committed to nothing more.
No woman was going to change that.
Eva is my best friend and needed a life-changing favor:
Marry her so she could gain custody of her niece.
A marriage of convenience that would only last a year, tops.
But there were stipulations we hadn’t planned on.
Things got blurry—lines got crossed.
I would honor my commitment…I just hope I can walk away.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
Dearest Love,
Spring is in the air, which means wedding season is rapidly approaching us.
Brides and grooms preparing to take the leap and walk down the aisle.
Or.
A woman asking her best friend for a huge favor.
Just for a year.
A fake wedding.
Except.
What happens when they have to live with each other?
What happens when they have to share a bed?
What happens when everything starts to get blurry?
Will the vows they said to each other be real?
Will they honor those promises?
Time will tell!
XOXO
NM
Chapter One
Eva
I step out of the bathroom in my office, tucking the white T-shirt into the blue jeans I just slid on. The crash of the waves hitting the rocks fills my room, giving you a nice Zen feeling. If it isn’t waves playing in the background, it is the lull of the soft instruments. I make my way over to my desk at the same time my phone beeps on top of it. Looking down at my phone, I see I have a text from Levi.
Levi: Running a touch late, max five to ten minutes. Order me a beer.
I shake my head and roll my eyes at the same time, not surprised at all by this text. “Shocking,” I mumble to myself before picking the phone up as I slide one foot into my nude, sky-high shoes, then the other, until my feet pinch from being in the shoes.
Me: When am I ever not waiting for you?
I press send before tossing the phone into the purse that is on my chair. Levi and I have been friends for the past ten years, I met him through my cousin, who I had no idea I even had, also ten years ago. Needless to say, Levi and I, we just clicked. We had the same humor and found each other annoying, but not so annoyed we didn’t always text the other person. Either way, our friendship just grew and grew. He is one of, if not, my very best friend. There is nothing I can’t say and vice versa. Trust me, nothing is off-limits between us. The two of us get together at least once a week, if he’s not traveling for work, or every two weeks just to catch up. It was something we started after we went a whole month without seeing each other and we spent four hours catching up, and that was only for one week.
I walk over to one of the pink cushioned chairs facing my desk, picking up my long, black sweater. I slide my arms into it and push the sleeves up to my elbows. Turning toward the mirror that hangs by the door, I take one long look at myself before I head out to meet him.
My tight, light-blue jeans mold my legs with a white V-neck T-shirt. Simple, casual, and with the red-bottom shoes, a little bit classy and very, very sassy. Very different from how I walked into the salon this morning, wearing the black-pants-and-top uniform everyone wears in my business, with the name of the salon stitched on the right side. I tuck the right side of my brown hair behind my ear and see the wave I did this morning quickly after I walked in, is still holding up. “It pays to own your place.” I smile to myself. Leaning forward, I see that the makeup is still lasting, even after eight hours of being at work. “The tricks you learn from your trade.” I smirk as I take a big inhale before I grab my bag off the chair and head out of my office, closing the door behind me. The door to my left is open and some of the washers are going in the laundry room. I stick my head in to see if anyone is there, but it’s empty.
To my right, the lights in the hallway to the men’s and women’s bathrooms are dim, and music plays softly in the background.
As I walk down the hallway to the front of the salon, the music gets louder and is very different from the back. It’s today’s hits and it’s upbeat. Even the lights are different from the spa area, where it’s dimly lit in the back. Here in the front, it’s like the more lights the better.
My shoes clicking on the tile floor fill the empty room as I look around to see all six hairdressing seats empty, my reflection following with me as I walk through the room. I hear voices coming from the color area and stop to stick my head in when I see Keira and Chloe are both in there, cleaning up after the day. “See you two tomorrow.” I smile at them as I wave with the tips of my fingers. I pass by the men’s hair station, seeing Saverio and Isabelle both sweeping their stations. Black leather barber chairs face full-length mirrors. “Night, guys,” I say and they both look up and smile.