Forever Yours

Forever Yours

Nicole Salmond

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 Nicole Salmond

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.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8:

Chapter 9:

Chapter 10:

Chapter 11:

Chapter 12:

Chapter 13:

Chapter 14:

Chapter 15:

Chapter 16:

Epilogue

Playlist

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Prologue

The wind blew a cool breeze sending a chill up Stella’s spine. Her arms were crossed over her chest, trying to hold onto the little warmth she had left. She could not remember how long she had been standing over the gravestone, feeling the emptiness of her life surround her. She could feel the strain in her legs telling her she needed to let go, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.

He was dead because of her.

She had let herself fall so deep. The feelings she had suppressed for so long were now all too real and it frightened her. She once thought she knew what love was, but it wasn’t until she met Tristan that she discovered the true meaning of love between a man and woman.

A gentle tear fell down her cheek. If they had never met, she wouldn’t be standing here, and wouldn’t be feeling what she was feeling. She loved Tristan with every ounce of being of herself; she’d fallen completely and utterly in love with him. She had let herself experience feelings that she had buried long ago, making a promise never to feel like that again, she would never let herself be hurt and feel the burden of love.

Yet, here she was. The harsh reminder of the tragedy of love.

Chapter 1

Stella knew she couldn’t say no to her sister. Claire had been running around the unit for the past half hour debating on what to wear and giggling like a schoolgirl. She’d been pulling out all the playing cards for a month now in attempts to get this guy to go out with her. He had finally given in and agreed to go out to dinner with her. It was definitely not something Stella saw often, as Claire was your typical girl next door beauty and never had any trouble with guys. But this guy was different; he seemed resistant to Claire’s obvious charms and had made her chase him until it had become her life’s mission to get a date with him. A mission she had finally won, but had conveniently forgotten about her other responsibilities in the process.

Claire knew tonight was her turn to do the night audit, so she had spent the last ten minutes begging and bribing Stella to cover her until Stella had finally caved to her sister’s pleas.

You’re the best, Stel! her sister said as she brushed a quick kiss on Stella’s cheek. She then took off across the room, taking one last glance to the wall mirror and giving her reflection a self-assured smile before grabbing her handbag off the kitchen bench and walking to the door with a skip in her step. Don’t expect me back until tomorrow morning, she giggled, giving a playful wink before closing the door behind her.

Stella grinned at her sister. Typical.

Stella and Claire had come to an agreement three months ago, to share the night audit shift. Although Stella was initially against it, Claire had proposed a very compelling argument.

At the time, they were in need of a place to rent on the Gold Coast; however, they had a hard time finding anything in their price range, as they both worked part time. Stella had graduated from University four months ago and moved to the city to find a job as an accountant. Unfortunately, she had been unsuccessful and had to settle as an administration assistant at an accounting firm until a job opportunity came up, which she soon discovered happened only rarely.

Claire was three years younger than Stella was. She was a young, carefree girl with not a worry in the world. She saw the world as an adventure and made it her life’s mission to conquer it. There was no such thing as ‘can’t’ in Claire’s life. Stella admired that about her. Unfortunately, Stella had learned the hard way that life wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies. She had found it easier to focus her life on her career and ambitions, making sure there was no room in her life for surprises and adventure.

On her search for a job and her sister’s search for adventure, both settled on the Gold Coast. They had grown up in the country, so they were unacquainted with city life, especially the cost of living and the high rental costs, which Stella cursed frequently.

Claire had discovered a local hotel needing someone to be the night auditor, and had an agreement that instead of being paid a wage, as the work was unpredictable and someone needed to be on call all hours of the night, they would get a unit rent free, and have access to all hotel facilities. It was a perfect solution to their problem. They moved in immediately and agreed they would take turns each night doing the night shift audit. Claire was adamant she would uphold her end of the bargain. But of late, Claire seemed to always come up with an excuse not to comply with her terms of the agreement. It was hard to say no to Claire. Her smile was contagious and Stella couldn’t help but feel the need to see her sister happy and free.

The job entailed being on call all night, something Stella initially wasn’t fond of, but she soon discovered it was easy work. She rarely had to leave the room apart from the occasional late check-in or the naked person locked out of their room. Stella unfortunately had the honour of being on duty on such a night, and dealing with a poor naked guy whose wife had locked him out of the room because he was too drunk even to put his own clothes on. As unamusing as it was at the time, she found herself laughing about it now.

Stella stretched out her arms and legs on the couch, preparing for an uneventful evening - she hoped anyway. Grabbing the remote, she scanned through the channels until she found the Friday night movies. She barely let herself immerse in the selection of movies, as she drifted off into a sleep.

She felt little to no connection with the love stories portrayed in movies and on T.V. Stella lived in the real world, where love was hard and unkind. It wasn’t something she searched for, or was envious of others that did. She knew it wasn’t the greatest outlook to have on life and love, but past experiences had made her doubtful of love, and all the amazing things it claimed to do.

She was content in living the life she had. She didn’t need men and didn’t need love to make her life better. Stella found her happiness in other ways. On the days she didn’t work, she found herself at the beach. She had a love for the water and enjoyed experiencing it as much as possible. Her growing love for the beach, sand, and surf, gave Stella a golden sun-kissed tan which highlighted her dark, long, blonde hair and blue eyes. Her love for the beach wasn’t the love that so many talked about and that she knew existed. But it was a love that kept her going each day.

Stella learned that life didn’t go according to plan, and it wasn’t always as happy as you hoped it would be. Sometimes you had to settle with what you had and know that life in fact, wasn’t greener on the other side.

***

Stella approached the hotel lobby’s two glass sliding doors, cautiously eyeing the two men outside that were dressed very formally in black suits.

Half an hour earlier, she had received a call informing her of a late check in for the penthouse suite. She was curious about who would be checking in to a suite at eleven at night. Generally, all guests who booked the penthouse suite made arrangements weeks, even months ahead, and not half an hour before check in, especially when it cost easily over a thousand dollars a night. She pressed the red button on the wall next to the sliding doors to open them, allowing the guests to enter the lobby.

Mr Bentley, I take it? she questioned the two men in front of her. One of the men nodded in agreement.

Welcome, if you’d like to follow me to the counter, I’ll check both in and then I’ll show you to your room, she said as she swiftly walked towards the main counter. When she reached the counter, she noticed only one of the men followed her; the other was still standing outside near the parked car.

Stella clicked through the hotel’s computer system, checking that she had all their details. I already have all the information I need from you, including your credit card information for security reasons. So I’ll just grab your room keys and a luggage trolley, and I can show you up to the room.

She moved to the back office, grabbing the penthouse keys and luggage trolley, and wheeling it out into the lobby. She walked the suited man to the hotel’s front doors to meet his friend, handing him one of the keys as they walked.

Miss… ? the man spoke to her.

Green, Stella responded.

I understand the hotel has a strict confidentiality and privacy policy? he questioned her.

Yes, sir. Where had that come from? She thought.

Then I trust you will follow it?

Stella was taken aback by his questions and hesitated before answering him. Of course.

He nodded. Good.

Stella tried to ignore the strange question and glances from the man, and focused on getting them to their room so she could go back to bed.

When they reached the hotel’s doors, she pressed the red button, putting the trolley between the doors to stop them from automatically closing. She then walked to the boot of the car to assist the men in collecting their suitcases and put them on the trolley.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one of the suited men opening the backdoor of the car and talking quietly into it. She watched curiously, as a third man stepped out from the car. He looked to be in his late twenties and was dressed differently than the other two men. He was wearing dark faded jeans, and his broad-shoulders made the white shirt he was wearing, cling to his chest. He had messy brown hair and was tall, standing confidently next to the two other men. But of all his stunning features, it was his eyes that caught Stella’s attention; they were a deep, mahogany brown. His look burned intensely into her, his eyes seductive and dark, and she found herself needing to catch her breath.

She shook herself from her stare. It was very unlike Stella to be caught up in the looks of a man and she wasn’t about to lose her composure now.

She watched as he walked towards her with grace and confidence, clutching a guitar case. She dropped her gaze and held her hand out to grab the guitar case from the man. I’ll take that for you.

He smiled and jerked the case back from her. No, it’s okay, I’ve got it. His voice was deep and soft.

She politely smiled, turning her head to one of the men. You’ll be in parking space 210. If you head out of the parking bay and turn left, it will take you down to the underground car park. You can use the key in the lift to get to the penthouse suite. You’ll need the combination 4724. The man gave a nod and turned back to the car. She motioned to the other men, Follow me, please.

She led the men through the lobby to the lift. Once inside, she pressed the combination to the penthouse suite into the keypad and waited for the men to enter. She watched as the doors closed. The trolley had made the space in the lift confined, and she could feel her shoulder rubbing up against the mysterious man.

She could feel his eyes on her, and she suddenly wished she’d just given them instructions to the penthouse, rather than escort them. His gaze made her uncomfortable, as he made no effort to turn away.

Was he always so abrupt? Surely, he knew she could see him staring at her. Stella could feel his eyes moving down her body. She cursed the hotel’s uniform, a light, blue-coloured shirt with buttons down the front, hanging loosely on her. Her black, knee length, cotton skirt, also did no justice to her body as it hung freely from her hips. The hotel seemed to enjoy giving all their employees uniforms that were one size too big. She could only imagine what the mysterious man was thinking.

Not that I care anyway, she convinced herself.

She watched the numbers as the lift began to climb, moving through the floors, and decided to break the awkwardness that silenced the lift. So, what have you all been up to tonight?

That’s none of your concern, Miss, the suited man behind them snapped. His response startled Stella.

The man next to her let out a light hearted laugh, lifting the tension. Never mind about him. He is just a bit over protective. He gave her a reassuring smile. She tried to hide her startled expression by smiling back at him, but even the best fake smile couldn’t hide the strange uncomfortable feeling she’d felt since she’d opened the hotel’s doors to the men only moments ago. Their gaze held for a moment before the lift came to a stop and the doors opened. She quickly pulled herself from his eyes, reminding herself of why she was there.

She motioned her hand forward. After you.

He stepped forward with the suited man following him, as they walked into the suite. The mysterious man paused and looked at Stella as she pushed the trolley forward, but clipped it on the gap on the floor between the lift and the tiles. The man quickly grabbed the trolley with one hand, steadying it so it didn’t fall.

You all right? he asked while still holding