Dirty: Loving Him Against All Odds Read online

  Dirty:

  Loving Him Against All Odds

  A Novel By

  Christine Gray

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  © 2016

  Published by Royalty Publishing House

  www.royaltypublishinghouse.com

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.

  OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:

  The Billionaire Mob Wife, Loving The Bad Boy

  Pursued; The Billionaire’s Obsession

  Sweet Obsessions; His Beauty, Her Beast

  BOOKS UNDER PEN NAME

  SAPPHIRE

  Don’t Tell My Husband Series

  Falling for an Alpha Billionaire Series

  Consumed by Love

  An Extraordinary Love

  One of a Kind Love

  Hello Peeps,

  This story is a year in the making. Trish and Brayden were created a while back and are finally getting the end that they deserve. In addition to that, you’ll find out if Beau and his father will make up or if he’ll refuse to forgive. Lastly, you’ll catch up with Andreas and Calico, too. For those that will be meeting Trish and Brayden for the first time, have no fear. I wrote the story in a way that you don’t have to read other series to know what’s going on.

  Like always, thanx so much for allowing me this opportunity to share my crazy, kinky, humorous, drama filled imagination with you. I hope U all enjoy the ride.

  Till Later….

  Chapter One

  “Well, you can just kiss my ass. How the hell are you going to ask me for a loan when you haven’t given me two pennies to rub together for your three kids? Listen, I can’t deal with you anymore. Go rob a bank,” she grumbled sarcastically before she tossed the phone into the passenger seat.

  Trish eyed the 18-wheeler while she sped up to merge onto Interstate 285 South to fight the late morning Georgia traffic. She was heading into Atlanta from Norcross. She couldn’t afford to let her ex-husband, George, get under her skin. He was full of rude comments, baseless allegations, empty threats, and pleas for financial help. For the millionth time, she wondered why she had wasted so much of her life chasing him. Their fifteen-year marriage was a miracle in itself. Hell, maybe it was punishment for all the grief she put her parents through from the day she had laid eyes on him. Even in their junior year of high school, he was a player. He felt his popularity and title of quarterback gave him a pass to do whatever or whoever he liked. He kept that same mentality all through college. How did she know? She had followed him, of course. After he failed to get picked up in the NFL draft, his self-entitled attitude only got worse. He began to place blame for his loss of fame and riches at her feet.

  She had too much on her mind that Tuesday morning to give him any more thought. At the moment, her only thought was, how the hell could it be this damn hot so close to December? The heat was overwhelming as she adjusted the air conditioning vents in her grey Audi Q7 toward her face. Coming from Delray Beach, Florida to Georgia, she thought she would adapt to the heat with no problem. However, she realized that she had forgotten just how hot, sticky, and downright miserable the Georgia heat could be in the spring. The realization that it wasn’t summer yet did nothing to remove the frown on her attractive, honey-brown face. She had no doubt that her freshly done blow out would be a thing of the past in a matter of a few days. She needed to cool down – quick! She took a deep, steady breath in an attempt to settle her nerves. She had been doing her damnedest to hold it together over the last few weeks, but with every passing day, it was getting harder to hide her fears of impending doom. It loomed over her like a dark, menacing cloud. She was praying it would pass her by.

  Trish had done the one thing she had cautioned herself not to do when she started her real estate business flipping houses. In a short time, she had already made over sixty thousand in profits; but now, she was facing the reality of losing it all if something didn’t happen soon. At the current moment, she was sitting on five houses. Two of the homes were behind schedule on their remodeling to get them on the market. Two were on the market, but hadn’t sold. The fifth house was a short sale, bought sight unseen in Buckhead. It made her stomach churn just thinking about it. She had been so excited when she received a text with the house’s specs and photos. She literally jumped at the price. It never occurred to her that the banker, who helped her secure so many deals, was setting her ass up for the biggest failure of her life. Her hand gravitated to the red folder on the dashboard. It was filled with pictures of the Buckhead home’s interior but before she could open it, she was stopped short by the sound of her cell going off.

  She growled as she snatched up the phone and read the text message.

  “I know I’m late, asshole!” she shouted into the empty vehicle. This was the last thing that was on her mind. She never wanted to be on the damn college advisory board in the first place. Thinking back to being approached while visiting her son’s middle school, she had been shocked and flattered. She had seen the fashionably dressed, dark-skinned woman with the high-quality Brazilian weave at the school often. They would smile and exchange the normal pleasantries in passing, but nothing that would have warranted a seat on the board at Clark University. Even now, as she pulled into the school’s parking lot, she recalled the dumbfounded expression on her face when she asked the woman why she offered the seat to her.

  “Why would you ask me? I mean, I’m sure there’s—”

  “Why not you?” the woman cut her off with a friendly smile. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have approached you if I didn’t think you would be good for the board. I like your style. I like the way you carry yourself. And I like the way your boys handle themselves, which is a direct reflection of you,” she had explained. The woman narrowed her brown eyes. “Besides, not only will you be doing something great. But sitting on the board will align you with the right people. The right people to help further your investments,” the woman added with a smile.

  “Yeah, it’s helping me alright. It’s helping me sweat off my makeup and eat up my damn time,” mumbled Trish as she looked for the meeting the room. She stopped before door N32. Quickly, she took out her compact, re-applied her pressed powder to remove the sheen from her face, glided on an extra layer of mauve-colored lip gloss, and ran her hand through her layered bob.

  Closing her purse, she tapped lightly on the door, then opened it.

  “I apologize for being late. I…” she started, only for her words to trail off as she stumbled in her footing. She was face to face with him sitting at the head of the conference table. When she replayed that moment in her mind later, she was sure she would acknowledge that there were other people in the room; but in that second, there was only him.

  “You haven’t missed too much,” said Brayden in that deep Barry White voice of his. She remembered him developing that voice when they were in high school. Back then, his body didn’t match the sexy voice, unlike now. He slowly rose to his feet. Trish remained rooted in place, while he introduced her to the other members of the board. If the heat affected him, he surely didn’t show it. She took in the way his dark blue shirt stretched over his muscular, tanned
chest and arms. Her brown gaze traveled down toward the black belt and tailored black pants that hung to perfection over his hips. She heard herself swallow hard. She knew how he looked under his clothes as well. She had seen him many times in the same gym she took her kids to for boxing lessons. As a matter of a fact, that’s how she had run into him two months ago.

  “I saved you a seat,” he gestured toward the open seat, breaking into her thoughts.

  “Thank you for this wonderful opportunity,” she said through a tight smile. She nodded in greeting to the other members sitting at the conference table as she walked toward the empty chair. “Oh, right next to yours,” she glared at him as she took her seat.

  “I wanted to make you feel comfortable since I am the only one you know in the room.”

  Quickly, her eyes darted around the space. He smiled. He knew she was looking for Sara, the woman that offered her a seat on the board.

  “Sara works for me. She’s my assistant.” He wished they were somewhere more relaxed, because he was having a hard time holding back the laughter that was threatening to burst. The look that came across her face when all the pieces began to fit was priceless. She opened her mouth only to clamp it shut.

  For the next twenty minutes, Trish sat trying to focus on anything other than the handsome man to her right that was trying his hardest to get her attention. The couple of times he asked her opinion on a matter, she very sweetly declined to respond. Brayden chuckled under his breath as he continued to discuss matters with the other six members of the board. He didn’t have to look at her to know she was watching him. He could feel her eyes on him every time she looked his way.

  It didn’t take long for Trish to notice that sitting this close to him was a mistake. He had been chipping away at her armor for the last few months every chance he got when they crossed paths at the gym. He had even found a way of befriending her children through the help of his own son and daughter. Due to his persistence, she felt her resolve weakening. Lately, she found herself looking forward to their weekly song and dance. It was his approach that she found refreshing, as well as downright amusing and shocking at time. Brayden didn’t kiss ass like some men. He was comical and flippant, as well as seductive. Whether it was the way his mouth moved when he spoke, the wicked grin he would flash, or a heated glance sent her way—they all spoke volumes of what he was thinking in that moment, and that made her panties wet. Trish closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping to ease the throbbing between her thighs. Instead, she breathed in his heady, masculine scent mixed with his cologne, which only caused the throbbing to intensify. She was used to seeing him sweaty—not clean, commanding, and clearly in his element of business.

  “What say you, Trish?”

  Her brown eyes flew open at the question that was posed to her.

  “I…I really don’t know. I’m new, so I just want to observe today,” she tried to explain. She wasn’t going to admit that she didn’t have a clue as to what they had been babbling on about.

  “Come now, you’re a part of the committee. We want to hear your feelings on this very important matter,” pressed the only other woman in the room. She could see that Trish’s mind had been miles away. She wanted to make the newcomer out to be a lazy ass fool to get her off the board to make room for another. If she was honest with herself, she wanted the pretty young thing gone to better her chances of getting with Brayden. She had put in too much work to get that man, and she would be damned if the new bitch was going to waltz in and fuck him instead of her. The fact that she was fifteen years older than him never came up in her mind as a reason to why he wasn’t interested in her lustful advances. She liked them young with a whole lot of stamina. She narrowed her green eyes at the sight of Brayden chuckling before he leaned over to talk to Trish.

  “You weren’t listening, were you?” He covered his wide smile with his hand when she threw the mad look at him. “Why are you upset with me?”

  “Fuck you,” she hissed.

  He leaned back in the leather chair. He tilted his head while he listened to her ask a few open questions in an attempt to figure out what had been said. He wasn’t surprised that no one at the table was willing to supply her with what she needed to know. No one was happy that he had taken it upon himself to fill the empty seat without consulting them first. He had grown tired of the others taking advantage of the fact that they were one short when it came to voting. The last few votes had done more to hurt the minorities in the community than they did to help, which was a shame. Clark University was, after all, an African American school. If it was up to him, he would remove half of the members that filled the seats for prestige and replace them with those who would actually do some good. Of course, getting Trish into the position to get things done was only half his reason. He never claimed to be a saint, so it didn’t bother him that his motives weren’t all completely pure at heart.

  His light brown eyes examined her openly while she conversed with the others. He marveled every time he saw her. She was the mirror image of the girl she’d been in high school, give or take a few pounds she’d put on during the years. His gaze traveled to her plump ass encased in skin-tight jeans. He shifted in his chair at the sign of his cock waking up. She looked cool and classy in her all-white ensemble. She had rolled up the sleeves of a white blazer that she paired with a satin camisole that dipped low enough to allow his greedy eyes a peek of her soft, round breasts. He was happy that Trish had kept with her habit of wearing little makeup that only enhanced her natural beauty. You could see she gave her eyes attention to bring out their almond shape, and red gloss covered her full lips. The woman was stunning. She had a natural sex appeal that was too strong for any straight man to ignore.

  “Alright, then you agree to extend funding to the high schoolers that meet the requirements that would allow them to participate in a summer program here on campus,” he interjected. This was his way of helping her understand what happened while she was in her fantasy land.

  With that being said, she was able to navigate the waters with the other members. He listened closely to her intelligent responses. She asked all the right questions and before long, he noticed that she was able to sway a few members that were on the fence concerning the program. She didn’t argue when challenged. Instead, she retreated and waited for a window of opportunity that would give her the chance to use the comments spoken before to her benefit. He had to fight to keep his face free of the amazement and attraction he felt for her at that moment. Trish was smart, with a gift of manipulation unlike any he had seen in a long time. He cautioned himself to remember that when he started to date her.

  His eyebrow went up slightly when Ms. Rosenberg pointed out that the meeting should have been over ten minutes ago. The woman had never minded the meetings running long before. He had no doubt it was because of Trish’s presence. He glanced down at his Baume and Mercier watch.

  “Thank you, Amanda, for keeping time,” he said dryly. “Listening to Trish talk was so very entertaining, the time just seemed to fly by,” he added with a crooked smile that had the other men agreeing.

  Quickly, Brayden closed the meeting. He watched Trish get to her feet and make a beeline for the door to leave without giving him the chance to engage her in conversation. He shrugged his shoulders unmoved. Today was Tuesday, which meant he would be seeing her again in four hours. He bit his full lower lip. He could hardly wait.

  **

  Trish shuffled into the gym, followed by her three kids. Her day hadn’t gotten any better after leaving the college. All of her fears were becoming a reality, thanks to that damn house turning out to be a money pit. Upon further inspection, she found out there were major issues with plumbing, flooring, roofing, and God only knew what else. She was starting to see why the house was labeled a short sale. She had played the game long enough to know there were no take backs. The offer had been called into the bank, so there was no turning back. She had been making money hand over fist since first starting this
business venture. She obviously had gotten a bit too cocky. She just hoped this bump on her ass would be a small one.

  Trish felt his eyes on her long before she even realized he was in the gym. She glanced over toward the punching bags to find him there, watching her. She knew that she should look away. Encouragement and want were clearly written on her face, but at that moment she was too tired and frustrated to care. Brayden had always been cute, but that word wouldn't do justice to the man who was hitting the punching bag. Maybe handsome, fine, tasty, or luscious, but definitely not cute. He had just the right amount of chest hair on his muscular chest that disappeared just over his ripped abs, only to reappear as a thin dark line across his lower stomach. Her eyes followed the trail until the hair vanished under the black shorts that hung low on his hips. She eyed the veins that were visible due to the strain of his workout. Her gaze lingered on the deep cuts he had developed on his muscular torso that women coined as an “Adonis Belt”. His naturally tanned skin was void of marks, except for the gray and black tattooed image of a male angel embracing a woman that dominated his strong back. She wondered if the non-threatening angel was Heavenly, or maybe a demon in disguise.

  All you have to do is give him some play to find out, the voice in her head pointed out as she shifted in her chair.

  She quickly looked back down at the papers sitting in her lap. She didn't like where her mind was taking her. The fact that it had been taking her there more frequently bugged the hell out of her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t get attention from men wherever she went. However, it was no one that she really wanted to give her time. Either the men weren’t her equal financially—and she definitely wasn’t interested in financing their hustle—or they were the type that she would never introduce to her children. They would be strictly friends with benefits. That option was one that she had been entertaining more and more lately, but it was also a frightening one to say the least. Whereas George had been spreading himself thin and wide with any woman willing to give it up, Trish had always been faithful to him. The idea of having sex with another man was a bit unsettling, but it was something she knew she was going to have to get over sooner or later. Of course, she knew she didn’t have to sleep around, but the concept of never having sex again was one that she and her assortment of vibrators weren’t quite ready to commit to for life.