Spoiled

by Elizabeth Michaels

Genres: Erotic & Steamy Romance

Synopsis

Eleanor Merrill had it all. Or did she? Having been raised in privilege as the child of Hollywood royalty, she grew up in a world of flashbulbs, international travel, and gorgeous people. She was sent to the best schools, dined at the best restaurants, and lived in the most beautiful places in the world. With the stunning physical assets of a supermodel, she found the doors of the world opened easily for her. When she married the young attractive surgeon from Beverly Hills, Eleanor's world appeared as though it couldn't get any better. But as with most things in life, there was ugliness percolating under the bright, shiny surface. Happily, the clouds in her life dissipated the moment she met Dean. Not only did Dean's chequebook make her husband's wallet seem like pocket-change, but he was also the most gorgeous man in the world. Dean's body was immaculate, chiselled, and could make any woman cream at the mere sight of his bare chest. But when Dean revealed that magical appendage of his to Eleanor and covered her over and over with his creamy seed, she knew she had found paradise at last.

Release date: July 2, 2016

Publisher: Accent Press

Print pages: 232

Sample

The dawn mist evaporated into the glow of a new morning as the heat from the rising sun turned the dew on the sultry streets into steam. As her car screeched into the parking lot, Eleanor Merrill checked her watch and sighed at the reality of the hour. She quickly turned off the engine, then reluctantly headed inside to meet her best friend, Darla Robbins. Dressed in her best form-complimenting, designer workout clothes, Eleanor was still sweaty from finishing her five a.m. training run with her group for the Leukaemia Society. She really wasn’t in the mood for her usual weekly routine of Monday-morning coffee with her best friend ... Actually, she wasn’t in the mood to do much of anything, these days. But she did her best to put on a believable smile – a skill she had honed in her days as an actress – and headed toward the door of the cosy little coffee shop.

‘Damn, girl! You’re looking good!’ Darla squealed from the vestibule, surveying her friend’s figure as she held the door open for Eleanor. As the two women entered the quaint little establishment, the volume of Darla’s greeting made every other head in the place turn towards Eleanor, creating instant embarrassment as she inadvertently became the focus of the room.

‘Thanks, but I have a few more pounds to go.’ The two women showed a little more consideration for the others in line at the counter as they continued their private conversation at a volume of more modest capacity. Darla had already ordered her usual almond cappuccino and was sipping the frothy concoction as the disgruntled clerk stared blankly at Eleanor, clearly expecting her to order without any sort of prompting from him. Eleanor turned to the clerk and ordered a white chocolate mocha, but quickly reconsidered her selection. ‘You know what; just make it a tall drip instead.’

‘Wow, you are taking this health thing seriously, aren’t you?’ Darla commented in response to Eleanor’s abrupt order change, as well as to her obvious dedication to running in the wee hours of the morning.

‘Well, yeah. Besides, I’m not just doing it to lose weight. I’m also doing it to help Amy, my sponsored cancer patient. It would be nice to get back to the body I had growing up in LA, though. Living here in the Midwest for the last nine years has certainly had an impact on my waistline.’

‘I bet Wayne likes the results of your new hobby, huh?’ Darla’s eyes twinkled with a teasing jealousy of Eleanor’s sex life.

‘Yeah, right ... like he even looks in my direction any more!’ Eleanor blurted as she waited impatiently for her coffee, again checking her watch in frustration.

‘Trouble in paradise?’ asked Darla, probing for a juicy tidbit of gossip.

Considering her friend was being rather obtrusive, Eleanor just responded with a smile, as politely as she could. ‘I really don’t want to get into it right now. Sorry.’

As a table across the room opened up, the ladies took their conversation to a quieter location while waiting on Eleanor’s order. ‘OK, talk to me. What’s up? You’re obviously a troubled little hottie. Spill!’ Darla prompted.

‘No, Darla, it’s nothing. Really. I don’t want to talk about it. How is the commercial real estate biz?’ Eleanor asked, trying her best to take a subtle conversational detour.

Ignoring Eleanor’s question, Darla offered her own unsolicited input. ‘Well, OK. I won’t push. But you should know I am here whenever you need to vent. I know marriage can be a bitch sometimes. Mine sure was a mess! Glad that’s over now, though. I guess I’m lucky in many ways.’

‘Lucky? How can you say you were lucky? Your marriage ended horribly!’ Eleanor was surprised at her friend’s comment. The breakup of her marriage was obviously still such a bitter pill that Darla had to continue to mask it with denial.

‘Yeah, it did,’ answered Darla. ‘But I was so miserable in it. Hell, we both were. I should have known it wouldn’t work ... we were just kids when we got married. High school sweethearts never seem to make it in the real world.’

After what seemed like an eternity for a simple cup of coffee, the barista finally shouted, ‘Eleanor, tall drip.’

Eleanor briskly retrieved her drink and returned to the table. Sniffing, but not sipping, her brew, she jumped right back into the conversation with Darla.

‘How is a breakup lucky?’ Eleanor asked.

‘Two ways, for me. One, I didn’t wake up one morning in my fifties, next to a fat, balding man I had no love for, and realise I was bound to a sexless marriage for the remainder of my days. And two, I’m lucky the bastard only brought home crabs to me, and not something more serious!’

Darla’s answer almost seemed rehearsed. She had obviously considered the reasons in her head many times before.

‘I’m so sorry, Darla. I can’t imagine the pain that must have caused for you.’ Eleanor carefully sipped her coffee while gazing into the eyes of her friend. She could see Darla was holding back tears, though her words tried to convey otherwise.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Darla said. ‘He did me a favour, really. I’m loving life now. I still have a great body in my forties, I’m happily single, and I’m ready to party, baby!’ Darla’s conversation seemed to suddenly gain speed without pausing for a breath. She was excited, like a child at Christmastime. ‘I showed a client a retail property the other day by the high school, and some studly student on the football field shouted and called me a smokin’ MILF! I’ll take that any day! I plan to get my fun in this world as much as I can before it’s too late.’

‘I can’t imagine Wayne ever cheating on me. I’d be crushed,’ Eleanor said, directing her words more to her own thoughts than to her friend’s situation.

‘Hey, I’m not wishing any ill-will to you or anything, but don’t think it can’t happen. Listen, you and Wayne seem solid to me, but that shit happens all the time, these days.’ Darla’s words stung. Eleanor tried to diminish Darla’s assumptions in her mind. Just because Darla’s man had treated her like crap didn’t mean all men were the same. Especially not Wayne!

‘Wayne wouldn’t do that to me. We trust each other completely,’ Eleanor rebutted.

‘I trusted Robert, too. But apparently his dick wasn’t listening when we took our vows,’ Darla added, rather callously. Sensing Eleanor’s growing aggravation, she changed the subject. ‘So when do you go to Alaska? Mayor’s midnight run thing?’

‘June – if I manage to raise enough funds through sponsors,’ Eleanor answered mechanically, her thoughts still on her own relationship.

‘Wayne is going, too? I thought he hated the cold.’

‘He does. But he said he would be there to support me.’ Eleanor beamed, feeling reassured at recalling her husband’s plans to join her in Alaska. ‘I booked a plane to take us to the top of a glacier after the marathon, and I wanted to take the train from Anchorage to Talkeetna for some sightseeing. I really don’t think he wants to go, though. When I asked him again the other day for about the hundredth time, he just stared at his computer screen as he usually does these days and grumbled a quiet “mm hmm”. I think he’ll open up once we get through the holidays. The stress has been really building lately with planning the party again this year. Over three hundred guests, this time!’

‘That’s right. Your annual party has become a thing of legend,’ Darla confirmed. ‘I can imagine the stress involved. But maybe Wayne just has a patient who is being difficult. I wouldn’t read too much into it.’ Darla’s words were encouraging, but Eleanor still sensed a hint of scepticism in her friend’s voice.

‘Maybe, but he won’t talk to me about that, either,’ said Eleanor. Her eyes glistened as she reminisced about happier times. ‘We used to sit on the couch together after his shift, and we’d have a drink, and talk with each other about our day. Now, we’re lucky if we see each other at all in the same twenty-four hours. He is so quiet when he comes home. He just pours a drink, takes a shower, and heads downstairs to pay bills and work on the computer. He’s so right-brained it’s scary! He has everything all organised on spreadsheets for the party, home maintenance, the pool schedule, etc. He’s really been distant, lately, too. That’s what I mean when I say he probably doesn’t even notice me getting back in shape. We used to be all over each other when we first met. Now I need a flare gun to get him to even make eye contact.’

Darla listened intently to Eleanor’s description. After her own battles with relationships, Eleanor knew she had become naturally suspicious of anything husbands did ... her own or those of others. ‘Computer, huh? You might want to check on who he’s talking to on that thing.’

Eleanor just glared at Darla in disbelief. No way was Wayne doing anything like that! She had to keep reminding herself that Darla had a nasty habit of seeing problems where none existed. This is just another one of those times. It just has to be! No, everything is fine! Eleanor’s voice silently screamed inside her own head.

Picking up on Eleanor’s reluctance to accept her opinion, Darla added an affirmation. ‘Hey, I’m just sayin’ ...’

‘Wayne and I are fine, Darla!’ Eleanor’s abrupt response sat Darla back in her chair. Checking her watch, Eleanor noticed how the morning was racing by. ‘I have to go. I have a client to see this morning and I still need to get home and clean up before I go to the office.’ Grabbing her purse, Eleanor rose to leave.

‘Oh yeah ... your clients. That may be your problem, you know. I don’t think I could listen to other people’s depressing issues all day without being affected by it, too.’ Darla’s teasingly snarky giggle hit an already fragile nerve with Eleanor.

Eleanor sat back down to confront Darla angrily about her comment. ‘My clients have real problems, Darla. I am a licensed therapist and I help them! They need me!’

‘Hey, take it easy. I meant no offence,’ Darla said apologetically. ‘I simply meant that if you listen to people complain long enough, before you know it, that’s all you can think about. You need some more positive in your life, hon. Maybe you should cruise by the high school with me sometime.’ Darla laughed at her own suggestion, trying to lighten the mood. ‘Besides, you’re a doctor’s wife. I don’t know why you work, anyway. You should be lying by the pool all day, being fed grapes by a hot twenty-year-old stud in a Speedo.’

Almost breathless at the effort it was taking to explain things to Darla, Eleanor responded quietly, ‘Did it ever occur to you that I just may want my life to have a purpose?’

‘I would have a wonderful purpose for that pool boy!’ her friend answered. Obviously, Darla missed the point ... again.

Feeling as if she had been wasting her breath, Eleanor again started to leave, disgusted by the direction of the conversation. But, before she could go, Darla grabbed her hand and held her firmly beside their table. ‘Eleanor, honey, please sit.’ Eleanor reluctantly obliged. In a low, whispering voice, Darla continued, ‘Look, you’re my best friend. Seriously, I mean no harm, but it looks to me like you have a great life. You’re married to a doctor who makes over a million a year, you grew up in Hollywood ... your playground was a sound stage, for Christ’s sake! You’ve lived in five different countries. You were an actress and a model ... your parents sent you to the best schools in the world, and you are one gorgeous redhead! Your life looks pretty damn good to me. If I had what you have, it would take an awful lot to make me as miserable as you seem to be. How you ended up in this little town is still a mystery to me. I mean, I know Wayne took the transfer from Cedars Sinai to come here for the money, but c’mon ... L.A. to Missouri? That’s just bizarre. Then I run into you and we instantly become best friends. Talk about your chance encounters! I grew up in a trailer in the Midwest and never went to college. Hell, I’ve never even been to California! But I know I am a good friend, and I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to know you. Now, if something is bothering you, please talk to me about it. I think I can help. What’s on your mind?’

‘Now look who wants to be a therapist!’ Eleanor joked. ‘Seriously, I don’t want to talk about it. Not right now. I just don’t know what I think right now.’

Eleanor headed for the door without a goodbye. Mulling over Darla’s comments was only upsetting her even more. The realisation that her friend was simply trying to help came to her mind and calmed her down just before the powder keg could explode. Calmly, she turned and went back to the table to explain things to Darla. ‘Darla, look, really I appreciate it. You are my friend and I love you, too. But please remember, no matter how great it may seem on the outside, nobody gets a free ride. I just am not ready to talk about anything right now, OK? Now, I really have to go, I’m already running late.’ Eleanor abruptly left, as if she were a woman on a mission.

Shouting in Eleanor’s direction, Darla sought to confirm plans for their next outing. ‘OK. Lunch, Wednesday, right? Pachelli’s?’

Eleanor gave a half-hearted backward wave in acknowledgement as she exited the coffee shop, fumbling with her purse and simultaneously juggling a nearly full cup of unwanted java.

As Darla observed Eleanor through the coffee shop window, it became obvious that her friend was unusually rattled by something. She fumbled with her keys, dropped them to the ground, then flung her car door open in a rush. Watching in sympathetic amusement, Darla thought, that girl had better get laid soon or there won’t be enough batteries left in this town to power a penlight.

*               *               *

In her haste, Eleanor flung the door to the coffee shop open a bit harder than she needed to. Pausing, she thought about how Darla was just trying to help. After all, when Wayne and Eleanor moved here from California, nine years ago, they didn’t know a soul in town. Darla was bold enough to be friendly to them and had instantly become a great friend. If it hadn’t been for the luck of being seated next to her in a restaurant that fateful day, they might never have met. Eleanor had opened the door only a few inches when she decided to turn around again and apologise to Darla for being so irritable.

As a sudden gust of wind grabbed the door, it took off out of Eleanor’s hand like a sail in a hurricane. Slamming against the metal trash receptacle strategically placed on the sidewalk, the door made such a noise that every head in the shop turned to see what had happened. Eleanor was too embarrassed by the scene she had just created to go back in now. Besides, a quick glance at her watch revealed how late she was, already. The Darla apology would just have to wait.

Today was quickly turning into another one of those days. She had almost missed joining her teammates on her five a.m. training run because she couldn’t find her keys. As she hurried to the usual meeting place, a train that almost never went along the tracks at the entrance to her neighbourhood had decided to take a leisurely, lumbering stroll down the line on its way to God knows where, and in no particular hurry whatsoever. If she hadn’t gunned it to speed through that last yellow light on the other side of town, she would have been greeted by an empty parking lot rather than the familiar faces of the charity runners she always met with to train. Now, once again, she was in a rush. The regular Monday morning coffee chat with Darla was something she really didn’t need today, but she also hadn’t wanted to cancel on her best friend again ... something that was becoming a regular event. A slight sense of guilt was the only thing that had made her keep her promise this morning. The coffee she ordered but didn’t really want was still absent-mindedly clutched in her hand as Eleanor fumbled for her keys in the depths of her purse. When her keys hit the pavement, the coffee followed suit and splashed hot, dark, stain-inducing liquid all over Eleanor’s ne. . .