Valentine's Gift: Holiday Interludes, #3
()
About this ebook
Valentine's Day isn't looking too promising for romance writer and former supermodel Nikki Prentice Devereaux. Max, her husband of ten years, has recently grown distant. Even though she doesn't want to, she comes to the unhappy conclusion that he's having an affair.
It's Fashion Week in New York City, and the ever-busy Max is planning a big surprise for Nikki. But unfortunately he has more than one, and this one could affect the their relationship. Will Max's secret give them more of their happily ever after, or will their marriage end in D-I-V-O-R-C-E?
Marie-Nicole Ryan
Marie-Nicole Ryan was born in a small western Kentucky town, but after college and marriage, she said "Good bye" to small town life. After spending three years as an army wife, she landed in Nashville, TN, where she spent several decades working as an R.N. and case manager. Finally in 2002, she achieved her dream of becoming a published author. She loves all lawmen and detectives and writes erotic historical western romance and contemporary romantic suspense. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, won a 2008 EPPIE for erotic romantic suspense. One of her early books, SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS, won the Golden Wings award from the publisher for excellence in romantic suspense. In addition, her mystery/suspense novel, ONE TOO MANY, was a 2009 EPPIE Finalist. She's a formerly active member of RWA® and Music City Romance Writers. Recently, she returned to her old hometown in western Kentucky. When she's not slaving away at her current work in progress, you might find her walking her dog Kelsea, a sheltie rescue, or at the Y. But you won't ever find her in an airplane. No, not ever.
Related to Valentine's Gift
Titles in the series (3)
Mistletoe and Mario: Holiday Interludes, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPillow Talk: Holiday Interludes, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsValentine's Gift: Holiday Interludes, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
Colors Of The Heart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHis Secondhand Wife Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Snowbound Seduction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Secret Protector Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marriage By Deception Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mistletoe and Mario: Holiday Interludes, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn The First Night Of Christmas... Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIf Wishes Were...Daddies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rest of Her Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrivate Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Little Bit Wicked: A Forbidden Love Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another Man's Child Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carolina Winds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLong, Tall Texans: Rick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queen is Dead: Queen of Miami, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDancing Away With My Heart: A Small Town Southern Romance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Bed and the Bachelor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Snowbound New Year's Night: An Uplifting International Romance Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Madame Eve's Gift Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soldier's Secret Child Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontana Rancher's Kiss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrictly Confidential Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThere Goes The Bride Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStranded Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnforgettable Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Every Move She Makes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dance With Seduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rake's Bride: Dry Bayou Brides, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWanted: One Son Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistorical Romance: The Regards of A Rogue A Duke's Game Regency Romance: Wardington Park, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Short Stories For You
Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Years of the Best American Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Things They Carried Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Skeleton Crew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Tuesdays in Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unfinished Tales Of Numenor And Middle-Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ficciones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lovecraft Country: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Explicit Content: Red Hot Stories of Hardcore Erotica Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Scorched Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sour Candy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: A Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selected Short Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Four Past Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Skin Folk: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Valentine's Gift
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Valentine's Gift - Marie-Nicole Ryan
Valentine’s Gift
Holiday Interludes 3
Women’s Fiction Novelette
by
Marie-Nicole Ryan
R Y A N D A L E P U B L I S H I N G
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NOTE TO READERS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MORE BOOKS BY MARIE-NICOLE RYAN
COPYRIGHT
NOTE TO READERS
This story takes place approximately ten years after SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS ended with Max and Nikki’s happily ever after. I hope you enjoy a glimpse of one of their rockier marital bumps in the road and how they find their way back to true love. And yes, once again the antique French mask will play its magical part, this time by giving Nikki a glimpse of their future.
Chapter One
Nikki stared at the laptop screen. The words danced and blurred before her teary eyes. She sniffed and rubbed away the tears. The strains of a Bach concerto played softly, while a lavender-scented candle flickered, sending its fragrance throughout the room. No matter—they weren’t doing their usual job...getting her in the zone. How the hell was she supposed to write a happy ending for Jenna and Clay when her up-until-now devoted husband was having an affair? Did she have any real proof? No. Not any that would stand up in a court of law. Not yet.
But the evidence was certainly starting to mount against him.
How could he do this? How could he give up what they had for someone else? Married ten years and he’d never given Nikki cause to believe in anything except his steadfast love.
Until now.
For two weeks he’d been distant. Forgetful. Late for dinner. Worst of all, too busy, to so much as respond to her texts. Always pleading work as his excuse.
Face it. At thirty-seven, she no longer looked like the supermodel he married. Every day he was surrounded by much younger models at his agency. And in spite of being nearly fifty-two, he was as trim and handsome as the day they married. Oh, add a few lines to the corners of his eyes. While his hair had turned a silvery gray at the temples, the result was obvious. He only looked more handsome and distinguished. After all, wasn’t he was at that age
where some men looked around for a trophy wife?
She never would’ve believed Max could be that kind of man. He wasn’t insecure about his manhood. My God. Their very private New Year’s Eve celebration on St. Croix was even more romantic and sensual than their honeymoon in Paris. He hadn’t gotten older...she held back a sob...he’d gotten better. Good grief, she was thinking in clichés. Cliché or not, it didn’t alter the fact that someone else was likely reaping the benefits of his sexual prowess.
Sniffing, she wiped the tears from her eyes. Jenna and Clay’s HEA would have to wait.
No.
She had a deadline looming, and she’d never missed one. With renewed resolution, she poised her fingers over the keyboard.
Damned if she would be less than professional just because her husband found another woman. A fling was one thing, but what if he’d fallen in love?
Her throat closed. Her eyes stung. She bit her lips to stop the trembling. She hadn’t been able to give him a child, in spite of several rounds of in vitro. Maybe he’d found someone younger. He’d always told her it didn’t matter. After all, he had Alexa by his late wife Solange. Alexa was very dear to Nikki, a rare combination of little sister and step-daughter. The twenty-three-year-old was an interior designer and most assuredly not interested in running an international