Mistletoe Mischief Read online

  Contents

  Untitled

  Thank You

  1. Aurora

  2. Ryder

  3. Aurora

  4. Ryder

  5. Aurora

  6. Ryder

  7. Aurora

  8. Ryder

  9. Aurora

  Other Books by Alandra Knight

  Connect with Me

  Copy Right

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

  Copyright © 2019 Alandra Knight

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  Pictures/Shutterstock

  Cover Design by Alandra Knight

  Created with Vellum

  Thank You

  I always feel like I am lost for words when I am writing this part. There are so many people who help out. You know who you are and just know that you are awesome!

  Aurora

  I just love December in my sleepy little hometown of Carville Cove. Each shop on Mainstreet has a window display of a Christmas scene. The town square has a huge tree in the center of it and tonight when they light it, the entire village sings Christmas carols. The soft twinkling lights, the seasonal sounds, even the smell of this town makes you feel wrapped up in a Christmas hug! Everyone is so in love and there’s magic in the air! My fiancée Nathan and I have been dating for a little over a year and we’ve decided to make it forever. Tonight, is a party my dad’s throwing not only for Christmas and the tree lighting tonight, but also for me to celebrate my recent book release, it hit number one on the best seller’s list for best mafia romance. My professional assistant, Bethany, flew in just for the occasion.

  “Bethany, I STILL can’t believe you flew here with me just for this!” I tell her as we approach my dad’s front door.

  “Please, you’re like my sister from another mister, I think it’s time that I met your family. I feel like I’ve known them forever since I talk to them on the phone for you.”

  I find this really odd because I’ve NEVER asked her to call a family member or talk to them on my behalf. I always make time for them. I’ll have to remember to ask her more about that later.

  “You talk about them all the time. I feel like I’ve known them forever! This is really cool of your dad to throw a party to celebrate such a huge milestone for you as an author!” she adds quickly, trying to change subjects.

  “Honestly, I feel like Ryder should be here too! He’s the brains behind my book world!” I smile.

  “Right!” Bethany concurs. Ryder’s my boss that I haven’t met yet. All correspondences go through a special app that his company created so that all of the information would be safe and secure.

  Believe it or not this whole thing started as a contest. The company was looking for some new inspiration. I submitted a short story and Ryder personally called me to ask if I would be interested in expanding the story and publishing it. Down on my luck at the time, I said yes and the rest is history.

  I raise my hand to knock on the door just as it starts to open. “You were NOT going to knock on this door!” My dad says in disbelief. My dad is a big teddy bear, he’s six foot four, with an athletic build. All my friends swoon over him! I joke with Bethany that the only reason I had friends when I was a kid was because they wanted to see him! His arms wrap around me in the best hug I’ve gotten since the last time I was home.

  “Yogi, I’ve missed you,” I whisper to my dad.

  “Boo-Boo, it’s always too long between visits,” my dad replies. We break the hug and as I pull away, he keeps his arm around me, which makes me feel safe and loved.

  “Yogi, this is my professional assistant and good friend, Bethany. Bethany, this is my dad Marc Baker,” I introduce them.

  Bethany’s hand darts out as she says, “It’s nice to finally meet the man that gave birth to this legend!”

  I can’t contain my laugh at her statement. “Well, I had some help with that.” My dad laughs. “Come in. You girls must be freezing going from Victoria Paradise to Carville Cove!”

  We walk into the house and everyone I know locally is in the room. One by one they start to spot me and start applauding. I hate attention, drama, and conflict. It makes me uncomfortable, but these guys make it seem not so bad. As people stop me to congratulate me on my best seller, I scan the room looking for my fiancé. He said he would be here. I know he’s here already because I noticed his car out front when I got here. I’m not having any luck spotting him though. The night wears on and I still can’t find Nathan, come to think of it I haven’t seen Bethany in a while either. “The biggest day of my career and he’s nowhere to be found. Maybe I shouldn’t marry him. If he isn’t going to be here when things are great, what makes me think he’s going to stand strong when things are bad?” I sneak upstairs to my old childhood bedroom for a few moments of solitude to find the door shut. My dad doesn’t allow closed doors unless you’re sleeping and even then, you best be sleeping alone! I press my ear to the door and I hear moans and smacks from the other side.

  “Oh Nathan!” the woman screams with ecstasy. I turn the doorknob and find Nathan, my fiancé…

  “BETHANY?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?” I scream with disbelief seeing Bethany bent over the footboard of my childhood bed, completely naked, being impaled with my fiancé’s cock in her ass! “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!!” I seethe, “I don’t EVER want to see your backstabbing bitch face anywhere near me ever again you fucking CUNT!” I scream at her.

  “Rory, you don’t mean that!” Bethany says trying to get dressed.

  “Don’t you fucking dare tell me what I mean and what I don’t! You are damn fucking lucky that we have a house full of people, because right now, I’m ready to release Whitley on you!” Whitley is the main female character in my best-selling mafia story. She’s a bad ass and she takes what she wants and releases fury on those who try to stop her.

  Buttoning up the rest of his shirt, Nathan steps over to me and tries to get closer. “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, NOW!” I seethe at him. He stops in his tracks like a deer in headlights.

  “You don’t mean that Rory,” Bethany belittles.

  “You are something else! You know that?!”

  “Oh, come on! You were so busy swooning with the party people you didn’t even notice your own fiancé walk in,” Bethany defends.

  “Okay, first of all if you are going to try to sound intelligent, you should look up the words and how to use them correctly before you try!” I insult her. “Second of all, he was already here. The question now becomes who was he fucking before he found you?”

  “Oh my GOD! What has gotten into you Rory?” Bethany asks.

  “First of all, ONLY my friends can call me Rory. YOU may call me Aurora from now on. Better yet don’t call me anything anymore! YOU ARE FIRED! I will make sure that Ryder keeps you far the fuck away from me!” I feel my temper flaring rapidly.

  “I can’t believe you’re being like this over this!” Bethany remarks.

  I start laughing, because I’m so mad that if I don’t, I ’m going to kill her! “You of all people!” I continue to laugh. “You have been acting as though you were my best friend in my book world since Ryder offered me the contract. You planned my bridal shower! Little heart shaped cakes with our initials on them! The roses that spelled out our initials! The twinkle lights under the table skirts. You even helped me set the registry up! You were my maid of honor!” I’m still laughing. “And you’ve been
sleeping with my fiancé this whole time! I guess the joke’s on me to think this book world, written of nothing but fantasies, fictional characters and made up stories could actually form real world friendships! Because REAL honest friends wouldn’t sleep with your fiancé!” There’s complete silence at that. I get serious, stop laughing, “Judging by your silence, I’m going to say that I’m pretty spot on.”

  “Rory….” Nathan starts to say.

  “NO… Nathan. YOU do NOT get to say one word to me ever again!”

  “Rory, that’s not fair,” Nathan says.

  “Don’t you dare tell me what’s NOT fair! I’ve been busting my ass writing amazing books and all of my hard work finally pays off and THIS is how you show me that you’re proud of my accomplishments, by fucking my PA in the ass all while I’ve been planning a wedding that I don’t even want!” I scream at him.

  “It just happened,” Nathan defends.

  “Sure! You know what? Let’s just blame the mistletoe for your hands grabbing your fiancée’s PA’s ass, while your tongue massages her tonsils and your tiny fucking cock just happened to find her puckered hole. This kind of stuff just happens all the time. I’m sure of it!” I say to them, my words oozing with sarcasm.

  “We could talk about this like rational, civilized adults, you’re being unreasonable!” Nathan says.

  I laugh out loud. “Reasonable, rational and civilized became irretrievable when I found you packing Bethany’s shit!”

  “Aurora Renee! Language!” Madeline scorns, just what I need, my dad’s girlfriend getting involved tonight. “We have a house full of people and they do NOT need to see or hear this SCENE!”

  I close my eyes and count to five and I take a deep breath. “You’re right, Madeline, and I apologize,” I tell her sincerely.

  I wrap my thumb, forefinger and middle finger around my engagement ring and pull it off as I walk over to Bethany, grab her hand, force it open and jam the ring diamond side down into the palm of her hand as I say, “you want my sloppy seconds, here you go bitch! You can have him! You can be the bride in the wedding in February for all I fucking care because it sure as fuck isn’t going to be me!”

  “You don’t mean that,” Bethany starts.

  “I do mean it.” I turn to Nathan, “I can’t tell you what I really want to say out of sheer respect for my elders. I do sincerely hope that your crotch gets infested with bugs, and I really hope that the doctors can’t help you find the remedy.” I tell him with a smile.

  “Aurora now you’re just being ugly!” Bethany starts to choke back tears.

  “Oh, I’m so sworry, wittle snowflake, did I hurt your small-town girl feel-wings?” I say in a baby voice. “I meant to say, take your shoes and socks off, turn off the lights and step on Legos!” I mention as sweetly as I can.

  Turning quickly on my heels and bolting out of the room and down the stairs. Nathan quickly grabs onto my arm, in attempt to wiggle away from him, I lose my balance, fall over the railing and I land on the hearth of the fireplace. Just my fucking luck. I sit up too fast and the room is spinning, everyone’s looking at me in shock. I rub my head and I see the blood on my hand. Luckily, my dad’s a doctor and a damn good one at that. He grabs his bag and starts to do an examination of me in the living room in front of everyone. Could this be any more embarrassing? What was supposed to be the biggest party of my career, turns out to be another heart shattering novel that should be written. My dad ends up taking me to the hospital since I need stitches in my head. They end up having to shave that part of my hair off in order to stitch it up. Adding insult to injury? Why not? I’m so over this shit.

  My dad says, “Hey Boo-Boo, I know this isn’t the way this party was supposed to go, but best seller that’s something to be proud of!”

  “Awe, you mean you didn’t plan it to go like this? I’m disappointed,” I sarcastically say with sadness in my voice.

  “It’s just hair, it’ll grow back!”

  “Geez Yogi, with finding my Fiancé balls deep in my PA’s ass, falling down a flight of stairs in front of everyone I know, bashing my head open and needing my head partially shaved to get stitches. My hair is definitely at the top of my depressed about list.”

  “You can stay with me and Madeline tonight.”

  “I’d rather not. No offense. I don’t want to be anywhere near my room tonight.”

  “You can sleep in the basement, we finally finished it off. There’s a kitchen down there and everything. Stay as long as you like.”

  “Yogi, I’m not moving back home.”

  “Didn’t you and Nathan live together?”

  “Kinda, I kept my place so that I would have a safe haven to write.”

  “You didn’t love him.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Please, do NOT insult my intelligence. You hardly ever talked to me about him. I’ve only ever met him three times, it was like you were purposely keeping him away so that I wouldn’t bond with him,” dad says as we pull into the garage.

  “That isn’t it.”

  “What is it then?” My dad asks. Looking directly into my eyes as he shuts off the car and pulls the keys from the ignition.

  “He would always find some reason to not come with me. I always made excuses for him. He was holding down the couch, binge watching the next series in the que. That was always more important.” I confess.

  “Aurora,” you know he means business if he’s using your given name rather than the nickname, he gave me. I look at him trying to hide the tears that are threatening to fall. “Don’t you fucking DARE allow that poor excuse of a man make you cry. He is NOT worth the salt in your tears.”

  “It’s not that. I’m more upset over Bethany than Nathan. How could she? I thought she was my best friend! She planned my bridal shower!”

  “Did she? Or did she hire someone?” My dad asks.

  “She was my PA! I worked with her! Ryder can’t just fire her for being a whore!”

  “Okay, that may be true, but he can make sure that you don’t have to work with her anymore.”

  “If I ever see that C…”

  “Aurora Renee,” my dad warningly interrupts. He’s a true gentleman and detests the word cunt so I’m not allowed to use it in front of him.

  “Fine! But I can kill the bitch in my next novel, right after I torture her slowly!” I concede.

  My dad let’s out a chuckle like no other, “that’s my girl! Now, come on. I have your favorite ice cream inside!”

  “Toft’s Brown Butter Bourbon Truffle?!” I ask excitedly.

  “Is there any other kind?” my dad asks. We go inside and curl up on the couch. He and I eat almost half of the container while we catch up since our last visit. I know he can’t give me too many details, HIPPA laws and all, but his stories from the ER are hilarious or heroic and he will never let me call him a hero. My dad has become my best friend since my mom died eight years ago. He encouraged me to find a therapeutic outlet and I did find it, with my writing. He’s read every single book of mine and encourages me to write more. He’s the perfect fan!

  My dad carries my suitcase and computer bag down to the basement for me. “You don’t have to do that Yogi,” I tell him.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Why? I can carry my own.”

  “I know you can, but a true gentleman won’t let you. Being that you’re my daughter, I don’t want you to ever forget how a woman should be treated.” He places the bags on the couch, pulls me into his arms for a long hug and kisses the top of my head. “I love you Boo-Boo.”

  “I love you Yogi. I’m so glad I’m home for a little bit,” I tell him sincerely. “As am I,” my dad says and takes his leave back up the stairs.

  I take a look around the basement, which doesn’t even look like one. It seriously looks like an underground apartment. Technically, I could move back home and have my own place for a while. Ever since Madeline came along, I don’t feel welcome here when she’s around. She has been trying
too hard to befriend me, that she comes across as fake. I’m not into fake people. I know this sounds like a complete contradiction, considering I write made up characters for a living. You want to be friends with me? Be real, be honest. Remember something I tell you! I can’t even begin to tell you how many times this woman asked me a question then turned around a day or two later and asked the same exact thing. It’s very annoying. I keep asking my dad if she was diagnosed with a memory loss of some sort. He keeps saying it’s her way of trying to talk. I’m like no dad, it isn’t. Because it’s usually a one-word answer! Letting out my frustrated sigh, I lay my suitcase flat and unzip it, quickly grabbing my pajamas and going into the bathroom to change and get ready for bed. I hear my phone ringing. I finish getting ready and walk back out towards the couch, picking up my phone I see a missed call from Ryder. I sigh, not wanting to deal with this shit anymore tonight. I place my phone down and it starts ringing again. I silence it, I just don’t have the energy to deal with this today. A few moments later, a text message appears.

  The text of course, is from Ryder, “I know you’re watching your phone ring Aurora; you need to answer it.”

  My response, “I don’t have the energy for anymore bullshit today, Ryder.”

  “I wasn’t asking.” Now, there is something about Ryder that when he tells you to do something, you do it. Well, I can be a little defiant at times, or most of the time. Most of the time though, I end up caving just because he does so much for my writing career.

  “Not doing it. I really don’t want to do this tonight.”

  “Then I will summon you to the office tomorrow morning.”

  “Summon me? That’s a thing?”

  “I swear Aurora I just want to…”