Love Stories Read online

  Love Stories

  A Novella Collection

  Samantha Young

  Love Stories

  A Novella Collection

  by Samantha Young

  Copyright © 2021 Samantha Young

  * * *

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the above author of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  This work is registered with and protected by Copyright House.

  * * *

  Edited by Jennifer Sommersby Young

  Cover Design by Hang Le

  Photography by Regina Wamba

  Contents

  Also by Samantha Young

  The Forbidden Christmas Gift

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  New Year’s Eve

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Loving Valentine

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Epilogue

  Ember in the Heart

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Here With Me

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Also by Samantha Young

  Other Adult Contemporary Novels by Samantha Young

  Play On

  As Dust Dances

  Black Tangled Heart

  Hold On: A Play On Novella

  Into the Deep

  Out of the Shallows

  Hero

  Villain: A Hero Novella

  One Day: A Valentine Novella

  Fight or Flight

  Much Ado About You

  * * *

  On Dublin Street Series:

  On Dublin Street

  Down London Road

  Before Jamaica Lane

  Fall From India Place

  Echoes of Scotland Street

  Moonlight on Nightingale Way

  Until Fountain Bridge (a novella)

  Castle Hill (a novella)

  Valentine (a novella)

  One King’s Way (a novella)

  On Hart’s Boardwalk (a novella)

  The Hart’s Boardwalk Series:

  The One Real Thing

  Every Little Thing

  Things We Never Said

  The Truest Thing

  * * *

  The Adair Family Series:

  Here With Me

  There With You

  * * *

  Young Adult contemporary titles by Samantha Young

  * * *

  The Impossible Vastness of Us

  * * *

  The Fragile Ordinary

  * * *

  Writing as S. Young

  * * *

  War of the Covens Trilogy:

  Hunted

  Destined

  Ascended

  * * *

  Warriors of Ankh Trilogy:

  Blood Will Tell

  Blood Past

  Shades of Blood

  * * *

  The Seven Kings of Jinn Series:

  The Seven Kings of Jinn

  Of Wish and Fury

  Queen of Shadow and Ash

  The Law of Stars and Sultans

  * * *

  The True Immortality Series:

  War of Hearts

  Kiss of Vengeance

  Kiss of Eternity: A True Immortality Short Story

  Bound by Forever

  Fear of Fire and Shadow: a standalone adult fantasy romance

  The Forbidden Christmas Gift

  Chapter One

  EVAN

  Mid-December

  * * *

  Edinburgh, Scotland

  * * *

  Bing Crosby crooned, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and he wasn’t wrong. Standing in the atrium of Shaw’s Department Store on Princes Street, it definitely couldn’t get any more Christmassy for me. Strands of gorgeous fairy lights cascaded over the balconies of the gallery floors above us. I stood at Santa’s Grotto, surrounded by fake snow and glitter, while a twinkling forty-foot Christmas tree towered above.

  Oh, and I was dressed as one of Santa’s Little Helpers.

  With glitter shimmering on my cheeks and my petite figure wrapped in a green velvet elf dress, I looked all of sixteen, I was sure of it.

  For months now, I, Evan Munro, had been trying my hardest to make my brother’s best friend—my boss—see me as something other than his best friend’s wee sister who was not only twelve years his junior but the woman he offered a pity job to.

  Okay, so it was a little harsh to call it a pity job. The situation demanded more respect than that. After all, when I graduated from university, I’d struggled to get any work, never mind the PA position at Shaw’s. However, it was safe to say I only got the job because my big brother Patrick asked his successful best friend, Reid Shaw, to give me the position on a trial period.

  One would think, in this difficult economy, that I’d do anything to keep the job.

  For instance, I wouldn’t be mooning over my boss with an infatuation the size of said planetary satellite. But I couldn’t help it.

  Until recently, I’d become obsessed with showing Reid that the twelve-year age gap between us didn’t matter because I was a mature, wise-beyond-my-years woman who would rock his freaking world in and out of the bedroom.

  After the events of the last few months, I thought I’d made progress.

  And I had.

  But it still didn’t matter.

  Because to Reid, I would always be his best friend’s untouchable little sister.

  Weeks ago, wearing this costume in front of Reid would have mortified me. Now I couldn’t care less.

  In fact, it was pretty damn funny.

  I was sure Reid would never see me as a woman he could take seriously again, but as I smiled at the excited faces of the kids lining up to see Santa Claus, I no longer cared.

  Fine.

  That wasn’t entirely true.

  It hurt like hell.

  But I had a little something called self-respect, and if Reid was too afraid to take a chance on me because of Patrick, then he wasn’t the right man for me.

  Bing’s voice trailed off and Mariah Carey flooded the department store’s sound system.

  Santa, some guy called Gary I only met an hour ago, gestured to me and then to the pile of presents under the Christmas tree. I stifled my chuckle as the bells attached to my pointy-toed elf shoes jingled as I walked. A little girl with laughing brown eyes caught my attention, and we shared a giggle together just before I bent down to collect the next gift from under the spectacular tree.

  A whoosh of cool air hit my backsi
de, and I straightened, blushing. The elf costume was not only roasting hot, but it came with a stiff petticoat that prevented the mid-thigh-length skirt from covering my bum when I bent over. Everyone was probably getting an eyeful of my red-and-green-striped bottom.

  I was wearing elf stockings.

  And my dress was high-necked, the sleeves long, with the collar and wrists trimmed in white fur.

  Seriously, I needed to learn how to say the word no.

  Feet jingling and bell tinkling on my matching festive green hat, I strolled over to Santa and gave him the present. He winked flirtatiously at me.

  Charming.

  I tried not to wrinkle my nose at his impropriety.

  The young boy at Santa’s side took hold of the brightly wrapped gift, all distress at talking to a strange man disappearing as his mum came to take him away. That was my cue.

  I shuffled over to the front of the line and smiled at the waiting father and his little girl. I bent toward her, knowing I was probably giving Santa a clear view of my stockinged arse. Everything about the costume was silly and childish, except for the arse-revealing part. It was supposed to be worn by the sixteen-year-old high school girl who couldn’t show up to be Santa’s elf because she had the flu.

  Margaret, the manager of the women’s department, had volunteered me since I was the only one who could fit into the costume. While I should’ve asked for Reid’s permission first, seeing the panic on Kerry, our event coordinator’s face, I knew I had to help her.

  We’d advertised Santa’s Grotto everywhere, and parents had purchased tickets for their kids to visit Santa and take home a quality gift for Christmas. Determining Reid would be more annoyed if we let down customers, I reluctantly donned the elf getup.

  And now, the object of my affection would probably never look at me the same way again if he caught me in it. Not that it would make a difference.

  Pushing through my disappointment, I smiled at Santa’s next customers as the father handed over their ticket.

  “What’s your name?” I asked the little girl with the blond pigtails. She was adorable in a red velvet dress and matching shoes.

  “Belle,” she murmured shyly.

  “It suits you perfectly.” I beamed, drawing a smile from her. “Would you like to meet Santa?”

  After glancing up at her dad for reassurance, Belle took my hand, and I led her over to Santa and then stood off to the side. While Gary kept throwing me looks that would definitely put him on the Naughty List, he was great with the kids. He had a joyful, booming voice and pulled off “Ho, ho, ho!” with grand aplomb.

  My favorite Christmas song came over the sound system. Wizzard’s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.” While the department store employees had to listen to the same Christmas album all day every day in December, I spent most of my time at my desk outside Reid’s top-floor office—where he’d banned all Christmas music.

  Scrooge.

  God, I wished I didn’t adore the brooding bastard.

  Anyhoo, it was nice to listen to Christmas music all morning, and I relaxed, feeling less ridiculous (sort of) and falling more comfortably into my role.

  Swaying my hips to the music and singing under my breath, I forgot to feel moody and lovesick for the first time in months.

  My toe bells jingled as I skipped toward the Christmas tree to collect Belle’s present. I bent over without thinking, singing to myself.

  It was a wonder I didn’t feel his glare singeing my arse.

  Because I certainly felt it when I stood up, turned with a flourish of my petticoats, and smiled just as my gaze collided with Reid’s.

  He stood to the side of Santa’s Grotto, a fierce glower furrowing his brows, arms crossed over his chest as he glared.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he mouthed slowly before pressing his lips into a hard line. His eyes lowered down my body and back up again. Somehow, his expression grew even darker.

  Damn it.

  I guessed it didn’t look all that professional for his personal assistant to dress in a teenager’s elf costume.

  My lips widened into a sheepish grin, followed by an equally sheepish shrug, as if to say, “What can you do?”

  In answer, he crooked his finger at me to come to him.

  It was appalling the way my body reacted to the commanding gesture, as if I’d just been summoned to the bedroom.

  Mortified, frustrated, and irritated that he had such power over me, I gave him a slight shake of my head. Reid’s eyebrow raised at my defiance, but I ignored him. We’d decided that I needed to find a new job, and that was exactly what I’d done. My time at Shaw’s was up after Christmas, and Reid would no longer be my boss. So defying him wasn’t really an issue.

  Instead, I moved toward Santa, who took the present with another lascivious wink in my direction.

  The whole time, I could feel my boss’s stare burning into me.

  I knew he was beyond annoyed at this point.

  A niggle of concern filtered through my newfound “could give zero fucks” attitude.

  Maybe Reid would ask me to leave sooner.

  And even though I kept telling myself I didn’t care what he thought of me, I knew it would sting horribly if he made me pack my things and leave him.

  I wasn’t prepared for it.

  Not yet.

  I still had two weeks of secretly pining for him and hating him in equal measure.

  I wanted those two weeks!

  They were mine.

  I flicked him a look beneath my lashes.

  He was still there.

  Glowering at me.

  Oh, dear.

  I was definitely on someone’s Naughty List.

  Chapter Two

  EVAN

  Early October

  * * *

  Three months ago

  * * *

  The thing is … I’m actually a really professional person. Normally. Ask anyone.

  The current situation didn’t highlight that virtue, but I promise it was true.

  It was just very hard for me not to press my ear to Reid’s office door so I could listen in on his conversation with Emmy.

  I wouldn’t usually.

  I might be infatuated with my boss, but his relationship with Emmy was none of my business.

  However, yesterday, I had the unfortunate task of relaying to Reid that his girlfriend had rung up a whopping five grand bill under his personal account for the store. Reid had gone quiet at the news, giving nothing away regarding his feelings on the matter.

  Then, today, I’d been in the staff room trying to defuse a quarrel between Ailsa, the salon manager, and Louis, the beauty department manager. Apparently, Ailsa had recommended a product to a customer that we didn’t stock, and this ruffled Louis’s feathers. While he was sort of right that she should only recommend store products, I couldn’t help but understand why Ailsa was pissed off at him for his condescending attitude.

  Handling staff disputes was not part of my job description. It should fall to George, the general manager, to Human Resources, or to Reid himself. Reid, however, had no patience for tattletales, as he called them, and George was in a meeting with our events coordinator for the upcoming Halloween sale. Human Resources were surprisingly good at avoiding human contact outside of their own department. Reid had thus asked that I “see to the problem regarding the staff.” This had been happening more and more lately, since I had a knack for conflict resolution.

  “So,” I was saying to Ailsa and Louis, “if Ailsa thinks this product is a better one than the products in Shaw’s, I’ll talk to Reid about stocking it. That way, we all win. Yes?”

  Louis gave a little huff, but nodded.

  Ailsa beamed.

  That was when I saw Emmy floating by the staff room wearing four-inch heels, her diaphanous trench coat billowing behind her as she strutted down the hallway toward Reid’s office.

  “Uh … I have to go. We’re all good?” I gave Louis and Ailsa a thumbs-u
p before scurrying out of the staff room before they could stop me. “Back to work,” I threw over my shoulder.

  Emmy was already in Reid’s office by the time I caught up. The woman had outrageously long legs.

  That was when I abandoned all common decency and pressed my ear to the door.

  I was shamefaced, but not nearly enough to stop myself.

  “Three months is nothing,” Reid said calmly.

  While my boss could glower for Scotland and brood and cut a person with a look so dirty I’d seen grown men crumble under it, he rarely raised his voice. He was always so in control. It made me want to ruffle his feathers.

  And by ruffle his feathers, I mean drive him so wild with passion he falls on me like a wild thing.

  Flushing hot at the imagery, I squeezed my thighs tight and tried to concentrate on the somewhat muffled conversation beyond the door.