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  BEG FOR IT

  Angie Daniels

  Copyright © 2015 by Angie Daniels Angie Daniels at Smashwords

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  To Yvette Hines for putting the USA TODAY Bestselling

  12 Alpha 12 Month boxset together. You rock!

  This story is dedicated to my readers for supporting my work and begging for more.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Acknowledgement

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Sneak Peak

  Chapter One

  Books by Author

  About the Author

  1

  Insufficient funds?

  “I don’t think so,” Jayla Parker muttered under her breath as she inserted her debit card into the slot again. Quickly, she removed it then reentered the pin number. Within seconds, she typed in a smaller dollar amount and waited.

  “There are insufficient funds available to process your transaction at this time,” flashed across the screen.

  Her heart was racing as she tossed her debit card back into her purse and peeled away from the ATM machine and around to the front of the bank. It was the lunch hour and the parking lot was ridiculously full, one of the reasons why she had gone to the ATM lane in the first; the other reason was the long lines inside.

  With a groan, Jayla glanced down at her cell phone. She had been in line almost thirty minutes. So much for lunch. There was barely going to be enough time left for her to grab something to eat at her desk.

  “Next!”

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Jayla hurried up to the window and smiled at the short Indian woman standing behind the counter. “Hi, I need to check my balance.” She handed over her driver’s license and waited as the teller pecked away at her computer.

  “Which account are we talking about?”

  Moved up closer to the window, she said softly. “My checking. I wasn’t able to access it from the ATM outside.”

  Her brown eyes rose from the screen to meet hers. “That’s because your balance is four dollars and fifteen cents.”

  “What?” There was no way she had heard her right. “There should be nineteen grand in there.”

  She frowned, tapped away at the computer and then frowned some more. “Well, there was nineteen grand in there, but it was withdrawn this morning.”

  Jayla chuckled. “No, that’s impossible. I haven’t set foot in this bank in months.” That was the beauty of direct deposit.

  “Well, someone did. Please step out of line while I get someone to help you.” She avoided eye contact and walked away from her station. Jayla’s eyes followed her as she stepped out onto the floor and over to one of the glass-encased offices where a fiery redhead was sitting behind a desk. Large round glasses were hanging from her nose. The two were talking and Jayla noticed Red’s gaze traveled over to her before the petite Indian woman handed her a sheet of paper. The woman started typing at her keyboard while Jayla waited for what felt like forever. Legs shaking, hands sweating. There had to be some kind of accounting error. What else could it be?

  “Ms. Parker?”

  She blinked out of the trance in time to see the teller signaling for her to go into the office, while she returned to her window and the line of impatient customers. Jayla walked into the office, feeling as if she had been sent to the principal’s office.

  The redhead sat up a little straighter and smiled as she approached. “Please, come on in and have a seat.”

  “I’d rather stand,” she muttered, anxious to find out what had happened to her money.

  She nodded. “Of course. I’m Anna,” she added, then reached over to the small printer on her desk as it spit out a single sheet of paper. “Maggie has informed me you know nothing about the money that was withdrawn from your account this morning?”

  Something was wrong. There was no way. Jayla frowned. “There’s some kind of mistake. No one withdrew nineteen thousand from my account this morning.”

  Anna held out the sheet of paper. “Here is a copy of the check that was presented to the window this morning. Does the name Nicholas Silvers ring a bell?”

  Jayla practically snatched the paper from her hand. “That’s my boyfriend!” she said and gasped when she glanced down at the copy of the check that had been made out to him. “Oh my God!”

  A concerned green gaze stared up at her. “Do you need to report fraud? If so I can print the papers.”

  She flushed and shook her head. “No need,” she whispered then turned and walked away from her office. Anna called after her but Jayla ignored her and moved out to her car, almost in a daze. Once in her car, she dialed Nicholas’s number and the knife stabbed her even deeper when she discovered his phone had been disconnected.

  She stared down at a copy of the check she had handed to Nicholas this morning. He was supposed to have gone down to pay the property taxes on her car for her. She had signed the check and thought nothing of leaving the rest blank for Nicholas to complete. Now her nineteen thousand dollars, all the money she had saved to buy her first house was gone.

  Jayla stormed into her apartment fifteen minutes later to discover her money wasn’t the only thing gone.

  So was Nicholas.

  2

  Six Months Later

  As she stood outside the principal’s office, Jayla Parker remembered how much she had hated high school.

  Catty teenage girls, corny clubs, cliques, and especially the cocky jocks.

  Her eyes traveled around the space as she stood poised at the middle of the dusty corridor that led to the gymnasium. Over the last ten years, the walls had been painted a fresh coat of prison-beige paint. But nothing else had changed. There were still rows of metal lockers between classroom doors and large waste receptacles at each end of the hall. The school still had the familiar scent of sweat and Pine-Sol, and with the eighty degree temperatures outside, the combination was enough to make Jayla’s already queasy stomach churn.

  Had she mentioned she hated high school? And to be even more specific, she hated Clarence B. Dixon High School. If Kat hadn’t insisted, Jayla wouldn’t have ever set foot in that school again.

  “Isn’t this exciting?” Kat squealed as she hurried to catch up with Jayla. They’d barely stepped through the double doors when her curvaceous cousin Katherine James realized she had left her cellular phone in the car. Heaven forbid if Kat had gone more than thirty seconds without receiving a tweet or Facebook post.

  “Well, being that you had to bribe me to come… exciting isn’t quite the word I would use,” Jayla reminded her.

  “But, we’re going to have fun! And…” she paused for dramatic effect. “Just wait until everyone sees you.”

  Well, that was the reason why she had come.

  She watched as Kat stopped to adjust her little black dress. If it was any smaller it would have been considered a postage stamp. Glancing down, Jayla ensured her own dress hadn’t twisted with the sway of her hips, and smiled when she noticed everything was intact. She had opted for a tan dr
ess with crisscrossed straps, which complimented her dark complexion. As her cousin sauntered down the hall in a pair of pink stilettos, she felt a tinge of envy. Kat had always had it easy—curves, beauty, brains, while she, on the other hand, had to work harder and smarter to get what she wanted. But not anymore, she reminded herself. With a roll of her shoulders, she continued down the hall.

  As they turned the corner, Jayla smoothed a hand across a ponytail that brushed the top of her shoulders. She’d opted for the younger look, considering it essential to the role she intended to play for the next three days.

  They followed the heavy beat of music with her high-heeled, lime-green pumps echoing on the concrete floor. The popular song alone was enough to take her mind back ten years to a bleak period she’d rather forget.

  When they neared the gym, she noticed former students standing in the hallways, laughing and talking. Jayla ignored the appreciative male gazes that followed them toward the door. Just any man wouldn’t do, and even then, the last thing she’d be interested in was something romantic. After being scammed by her ex-boyfriend, she no longer engaged in relationships. A weekend fling… that was a horse of a different color.

  Together they stepped into the crowded gymnasium. Classmates were already mingling, and taking photographs with heavy laughter circulating the room. Donnie James whistled as she sauntered past him and yet Jayla rolled her eyes heavenward. Ten years ago he wouldn’t have given her the time of day. Instead, she tilted her chin and continued her stride through the doors and over to the registration desk, decorated in the purple and gold school colors, where a very pregnant woman was seated.

  “Welcome back to Dixon High!” she greeted in a high-pitched voice. “Names please.”

  “I’m Kat James and this is my cousin Jayla Parker.”

  “Hi Kat!” she squealed. “I’m Hannah. We use to have American Literature together.”

  “Of course,” she said and then batted her eyelashes, which Jayla knew was a clear indication her cousin was lying. Kat had a better chance of remembering some gorgeous guy she’d met in line at the supermarket.

  Hannah’s blue eyes studied Jayla before a puzzled frown marred her forehead. “Jayla… hmm, I’m afraid I don’t remember you.”

  Of course she did.

  Quit running in the halls before I have to give you a citation!

  Spit out that gum!

  Jayla gave herself a mental shake, then stood off to the side as she waited for her name-tag. She would not allow anything to ruin her weekend. Instead, she would do what she had done the last few years—focused on reinvention and elevation. Dedication and hard work had eventually paid off. And as a result, she was no longer that frumpy hall monitor who lurked the corridors, instead she was the new, beautiful, free-spirited Jayla Parker.

  Jayla’s eyes traveled around the large space the reunion committee had transformed into a nightclub. Strobe lighting. Two cash bars. Dozens of wait staff working the floor. While looking over at a table in the corner, something caught her attention.

  Someone.

  Jayla swallowed. There he was. Stefano Ortiz.

  She recognized him immediately. Former track star. Mr. Popular. Even after all these years, he was fiercely sexy, and muy caliente. All it took was one sweep of his dark eyes and heat flooded through her so suddenly she nearly stumbled back. Kat was calling her name, but Jayla was catatonic and her feet felt glued to the floor. How was it even possible for Stefano to be more handsome than before? She wondered. And yet the proof was sitting right in front of her. The years had only intensified his fine qualities. His Latino features were so mesmerizing, she felt her tongue sliding across her lips.

  Stefano had eyes black as the midnight sky, a shadowed face with lean cheeks and a strong nose. His hair was dark and thick, cut a little too short for her taste and yet her fingers itched to stroke his head. However, what penetrated into her soul like an explicit dream, were the memories of the deep, accented timbre of his voice when he spoke Spanish.

  Her nerve-endings were firing in a way she had not experienced before and Jayla quickly hauled her eyes away. Back in high school, all of the girls, especially the cliques, whimpered with desire when he walked by. Stefano was used to girls wanting him, and a little twist of bitterness clenched inside her at the memories. Back then, he hadn’t given a girl like her the time of day.

  But now she was a woman. And tonight, all was about to change.

  * * *

  Marquis was gnawing on a chicken wing when he tilted his head toward the door and said, “Yo, Steph, look over there.”

  Stefano Ortiz looked toward the registration table and his breath stalled. Dios Mío.

  Beautiful. There were two of them. Alike and different in so many ways.

  The short curvy one was Kat. In ten years she had barely changed. She still wore her haircut shaved close to the scalp, showing off her wide set eyes and huge grin. During high school she had been known as the class clown.

  But it was the tall woman with the dark exotic looks standing beside her, with the small waist which flared out to a wide ass and hips, that had every man at the table salivating. He lowered the bottle in his hand and leaned forward to get a closer look.

  Long, dark hair had been swept up in a ponytail that swayed across her shoulders. Wide hazel eyes twinkled underneath long lashes and a pair of delicious red lips curled in a frown of uncertainty. The dark beauty was staring off as if she wasn’t quite in the mood for partying, and she wanted no eyes drawn to her. The thought caused his mouth to curve. She was nothing like his ex-girlfriend Serena who insisted on always being at the center of attention.

  Stefano sat there staring, wondering who she was and how he would get her attention. He hoped like hell she was single. A burning urge to find out consumed him. The good thing was he and Kat were friends. Going over to say hello would be a good way to get close to Kat, so he could ask about her friend. But when he spotted those lush hips swaying his way, he realized he wasn’t going to need an excuse after all. As the two drew closer, Stefano and the other former track team members glanced around the table at one another, grinning as they approached.

  “Hey Stefano,” Kat said, as he stood from the table and gave her a hug.

  “Hola, it’s good to see you again.”

  He caught the eyes of the beautiful woman beside her, then allowed his gaze to roam over her face. Something was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. It was even harder to decipher what she was thinking.

  Kat waved and exchanged greetings with everyone else while the beauty stood there, hand planted at her generous hip, wearing a sly look on her face as if she knew something he didn’t.

  “I can’t believe you came all the way home for a class reunion,” Kat emphasized with a sweep of her hand. “I heard you’ve been traveling all around the world.”

  “I had enough leave that I was happy to come home,” Stefano replied with his eyes still focused on her friend. “You ladies wanna join us?”

  “Sure, we would love to,” the dark beauty finally chimed in. Her voice was low and sultry and made his insides tingle. They rounded the table and took the empty chairs on either side of Marquis, who looked like a kid in a candy store. Stefano couldn’t resist a chuckle as that toothy grin emerged. Down boy.

  Stefano had been one of the first to arrive at the reunion and had spent the last hour catching up and swapping stories with the gang.

  After two years of college, he had shipped off to basic training with the Air Force and had been serving active duty in a security forces unit ever since. Marquis had opted to make a career in the Navy and was stationed in Japan. After the other guys had arrived, the table had grown loud and rowdy. But now that the women were there somehow the raunchy conversation had changed. A lion transforms into a kitten around a pretty woman.

  Marquis and Kat were laughing. Stefano leaned over the table so the beauty could hear him over the beat of the band. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I caught your nam
e.”

  She perched a perfectly arched eyebrow and replied, “Steph? Have I really changed that much?”

  There was an awkward silence and Stefano noticed Kat and Marquis were both looking at them with amusement.

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. A woman as beautiful as you, I would have never forgotten your face.”

  Kat started laughing. “Stefano… that’s my cousin Jayla.”

  He frowned. No fucking way. The Jayla he remembered had worn glasses, braces and oversize clothes. She looked nothing like the curvaceous beauty sitting across the table. Leaning even closer, he studied her eyes until he finally gasped, “Jayla?”

  That saucy grin of hers returned, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. Years of braces had truly paid off. “So you do remember me?”

  Stefano inhaled sharply, pulling himself together. Hell yeah, he remembered. She tutored math and had helped him stay on the team. He remembered how much he had liked hanging out at her house after school. That was until that day his father turned his life upside down and nothing was right again for a long time.

  “You look different.”

  Her lips twitched. “You mean better?”

  His eyes roamed over her face. “Si, you’ve definitely gotten better with age.”

  “So have you.” She purred over the beat of the music and he felt the tremor in her voice clear down to his groin.

  He was getting ready to ask her a question when Kat suddenly sprung from the chair. “Let’s go get some food.” She yanked on her cousin’s arm, insisting that she join her. “We’ll be back.”

  Jayla’s eyes met his for another long, intense moment before she turned away. And in that instance, Stefano knew there was no way he was leaving tonight without her.