Conflicted on 5th: A 5th Avenue Romance Novel, Book One (5th Avenue Romance Series 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright © 2015 Abbie St. Claire

  Dedication

  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

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Acknowledgements

  About The Author:

  Conflicted on 5th

  A 5th Avenue Romance Novel

  Book One

  Abbie St. Claire

  Copyright © 2015 Abbie St. Claire

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  This book contains material protected under the International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the Author/Publisher.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, situations, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to real individuals, living or dead, business institutions, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  If you received this book from any vendor other than Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks or Createspace, please go to one of the vendors listed and purchase the book legally.

  Top Design and Formatting: DeLaine Roberts, DR Graphic Expressions www.drgrapicexpressions.com

  Dedication

  I dedicate this book to an amazing person in my life.

  Your strength through your battles has been an

  inspiration above anything I’ve ever known.

  To know you has made me stronger and believe in

  things I’d never thought possible. You taught me that.

  To love you has left me feeling love in return.

  You taught me to believe in myself.

  You taught me to trust my instincts and be true to myself.

  Never doubt my love for you,

  for I will never doubt yours

  as long as I remain on this earth.

  Chapter 1

  Ian

  Through the foggy glass of the shower door, I watched as Kendra’s tall frame approached even though she knew I preferred to shower alone. I swiped the steamed door and observed her tossing my cell phone on the bathroom counter in a huff.

  “Ian, it’s your nanny. She’s called three times.” She turned and started to leave, but I noticed her tightened brow which matched her snippy voice.

  I’m sure whatever it was, it meant ending our plans for the afternoon, once again leaving her unsatisfied.

  Nothing would please me more than having additional time with Kendra, a total sex kitten willing to prove anything, but my life as a single, working father got in the way.

  “You didn’t answer it, did you?” My tone was a bit sharper than I intended.

  Dark, long hair flew through the air with a quick spin before she completely faced me, her hand perched on her black, garter-belt covered hip. “No. I’m rather cognizant of the rules.” Her shoulder was thrown backward and her eyes were contracted. God, she was even sexier when she was mad.

  If Mrs. Bernstein had phoned numerous times, then something wasn’t right. I placed my call to her on speaker while I quickly threw my scrubs on.

  “The school called, Dr. Briggs. Oliver’s had another incident and they need you here right away.”

  This shit at school needs to end.

  “Then, you’re there with him?”

  “Yes, we’re in the counselor’s office along with Hunter Roberts.”

  “Hunter Roberts? Tell the counselor I want Pamela Roberts there school by the time I get there in thirty minutes.”

  Kendra plopped down in an oversized chair in the far recess of the room. Even with a bit of distance between us, the coldness in her stare chilled me.

  Lacing up my athletic shoes in a hurry, “I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to be brusque with you. My privacy is very important to me, especially where my son is concerned.”

  With slow, deliberate movements, she swayed to a stop in front of me, having already dressed back in scrubs of her own.

  She put her finger under my chin. “One of these days, you’ll come across someone you’ll be willing to share all of your life with. But, the longer you hide everything from your son, the harder you’ll make it for him, when the day comes. He will never learn to share you.”

  She moved to the bar and took a sip of the champagne I’d ordered for us and then stared at the bottle. “There’s nothing to celebrate here. We’ve been meeting like this for almost a year, but this,” she spread her arm out through the stiff air between us, “isn’t a relationship and it never will be. I’m moving on Ian, please don’t call me anymore.”

  I heard the sound of the safety latch opening on the door behind me. “He’s been through a lot you don’t understand.” I called after her.

  “How would I understand? You care for me like your whore. You need me to sneak around and have escapades in hotels while your son’s in school. I’ve never met him and you and I don’t go out in public. We don’t share friends, and even at the hospital, we pretend to barely know one another. It’s not a life for either of us. Please appreciate my request.”

  The door closed… She was gone.

  On the drive to the school, I thought about the relationship I’d tried to have after my wife died. The relationship was with non-other than Pamela Roberts. It was awful and lasted only a couple of months. Even though Oliver was only five at the time, he wasn’t used to having a woman around and the way she yelled at him and Hunter, made me cringe when I recalled those moments.

  Hunter was an altogether different problem because he and Oliver attended the same school even though he was four years older. It was one matter to handle the breaking of Oliver’s toys and purposely throwing his stuff off, but the pushing around at school involved Hunter’s pack of friends, and some of them lived along our street.

  With fast paced steps, I entered the main office of the Rivercrest Private School. Pamela threw open the door of Principal Heath’s office and stormed out.

  The minute she acknowledged me, she raised her fist in the air. “How dare you make this Hunter’s problem. You think because your family’s rich and powerful your kid can get away with anything. Today, the world will know all your family’s secrets.”

  Same story for three fucking years. She thinks the world will care that I like kinky sex and she has a photo to prove it. Unfortunately, the photo is rather unflattering to her, so her threats do not scare me in the slightest.

  “How are you, Pam?” I’m sure the smirk on my facial expression conveyed the real substance behind my pleasantries.

  A survey of the room revealed all eyes were on Pam and I like we were the two headliners from a title fight. .

  Behind the receptionist, I hear
d Ms. Stevens’ concerned voice. “Ms. Roberts, if you and Dr. Briggs would please join me in my office, I’m sure everyone else would like to go back to work.”

  “Umm, sure.” I uttered, rubbing the day old scruff on my chin.

  Once seated, Ms. Stevens explained the latest altercation between our sons. Seemed like Hunter was the aggressor, again, and this time, he was taunting Oliver in the lunchroom amidst a big audience. Pam attempted to fight for him, but Ms. Stevens said he acknowledged it, citing no explanation.

  Pam slapped the table hard. “I want to hear my son admit it. I trust he did no such thing.”

  Ms. Stevens picked up the phone and asked someone to bring the boys in.

  Once they took a seat beside their respective parent, I noticed Oliver’s red and swollen eye, but quietly admired Hunter’s swollen lip.

  “Hunter, we’d wish to hear your account of what happened, please,” Ms. Stevens’ normally soft voice was stern.

  “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I hit him. He hit me. We’re even.” He sank backwards in his chair and passed over his arms in haste. “Mom, I want to go home.”

  No one’s leaving until I get some answers.

  The room was silent.

  “This isn’t the first time you’ve come after him, Hunter. Why do you keep doing this?” I asked softly.

  Hunter pushed his chair back and stood up. “Because my mom keeps reminding me that if I wasn’t around, she’d still have you.” He was fighting back tears, but the redness of his eyes and quivering chin gave his feelings away.

  Harsh and hard to believe, in some way, I knew there was a sliver of truth, she’d said something like it in a fit of anger, because deep wounding was her biggest problem. She was hateful and went down and dirty when she was mad. And once I’d witnessed it, I was done with her.

  Pam stood and grabbed for Hunter’s hand, “I never said anything of the sort, Hunter and you know it.”

  “You were always sucking up to Oliver. Don’t lie,” Hunter cried.

  “Ms. Roberts, Hunter, please take your seats.”

  Pam faced me head on. “No, we’re done here. If it weren’t for you and your spoiled brat of a kid, Hunter wouldn’t be behaving this way. He just wants me to choose him, so I am. We’re leaving. Principal Heath has suspended him for the rest of the week. I wished I’d never met you. My life has been hell ever since.”

  Ditto.

  On the drive home, Oliver was quiet and withdrawn as usual. I wasn’t certain who threw the bigger score to settle, Hunter or Pamela? But regardless, something had to give and a new school was the first thing on the schedule.

  The next afternoon, my intercom buzzed, and I exercised the luxury of pushing ignore while I stared at the photo of my family on my desk. I’d made calls all morning setting up interviews for a new school for Oliver.

  Buzz, Buzz, Buzz.

  “Dr. Briggs, there’s a Dr. Brooks Holloway on line two for you. It’s the second time he’s called today and he sounds more impatient than the first. He says it’s urgent.”

  “Thank you, Neva. The last patient is on his way to you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Line two, Dr. Briggs,” she insisted.

  I possessed no actual excitement to take his call, but since I’d avoided his text earlier in the morning, it made sense to get it over with.

  When I’d seen him a few weeks earlier, he was more interested in peddling me pussy with his single sales rep friends than I was in getting lucky. Misguided priorities on his part, because neither of them even remotely made my cock twitch. My preference included a woman without complications and a deep desire for sexual freedom.

  Nothing else.

  Begrudgingly, I picked up the line. “Brooks, how are you, my friend?” I asked out of politeness, not because I really cared at the moment, my mood sour heading into a weekend, having dealt with school shit, hospital on-call, nannies, and no time for surfing or sex. It had been some time since I’d rendezvoused with one of my regulars at the club, and I was in dire need for relief of my own.

  Something had to give.

  “Trying to get a hold of your busy ass. Apparently you’re so swamped in your LA practice, you don’t have time for us country boys.” He laughed.

  “Dallas isn’t country,” I joked.

  “Look, Ian, I’m gonna get directly to the point of my call. We’ve got a guy retiring, and we want you to fill his spot in our practice.”

  “Eh, not looking right now.”

  “I want you and Oliver to come out and visit with my team. You can spend time with my family. I believe you would be an excellent fit for our practice here, especially with all the latest trends you’re doing with micro-fracture surgery. Besides, this kind of change would do you both good, pal.”

  The lengthy pause was unintended, but gave me time to think about what a move meant. “No need to float my ego, dude. I’m honored you would put me at the top of your list, but Oliver has been through so much and moving away from California and his grandparents… I simply don’t know.”

  “Right on, I get ya, but seriously, man. It’s been almost eight years since Olivia passed. Surely, there’s more to life than mending bones and surfing.” He paused with a sigh. “You deserve a do-over. You’re still young and have lots of livin’ left to do. Get on a plane and I’ll show you my new sailboat. You can tell me everything wrong about it. It’ll be fun, and I know this would be a great career move for you. You might actually smile for a change.”

  His offer was intriguing, and as I thought another moment about it, taking a trip could do us some good. But a move, hell, no. “Dude, promise you won’t peddle T&A to me and I’ll make the trip.”

  Brooks’ tone pitched with excitement. “I’ll email you all the info. I know you’re going to say yes to our offer.”

  Without a doubt, I know I’m going to say no.

  Two weeks later, Oliver was snuggled into my side as we took off on the early flight from LAX to Dallas. While it would be nice to hang out with an old friend from school, I was certain it was going to be a complete waste of business time. With no need to get distracted, I’d assured myself a relocation and starting a new practice wasn’t in the cards.

  My heart will always be in California. Her presence is everywhere in my surroundings. My beloved could never be replaced.

  People began to move about on the plane, and I studied them. In front of me, there was a tall, slender woman with curly, dark hair who stepped out of her aisle seat to allow the middle-seat passenger to get up. When the brunette turned her profile toward me, she was a doppelgänger for my wife at about the time we met in college.

  Suddenly, my heart was gripped in a painful vice, and the crotch of my jeans became increasingly uncomfortable. Reflective moments of laughter and happiness shredded me. I soulfully wished something could make me stop pining for her.

  “Dad, how much longer?” Oliver rubbed his sleepy eyes. The disturbance was perfect timing.

  “Two hours. I brought ear buds. Want to watch a movie on the iPad with me?”

  “Sure.” He shrugged, his face emitting defeat. I hadn’t confided in him the reason for the trip other than to visit old friends. Even when I assured him there would be children his age to play with, he was less than amused.

  “We can watch it together,” I suggested.

  “Awesome.” His tone peaked with excitement.

  My eyes were fixed on the screen, but my thoughts drifted. His needs began to flood my mind. We were equally dependent on each other, and I clung to Oliver as a method of protection from being a single parent, but also because I was coping with my own difficulty. Solely caring for him since he was an infant, it was easy to put him first. Keeping everything routine was my way of doing the right thing. Perhaps mundane has turned to maddening for both of us?

  Was it possible we both needed a do-over? A much desired change of pace and some serious excitement in our lives?

  His school year had been the most difficult,
and he’d been subject to that wretched bullying…even while attending a private school. As hard as I’d tried to be everything to him, there were parts of his life out of my control. He craved a woman’s touch.

  So do I…

  His mother would want him to be happy, no matter the geography. She would’ve wanted me to move on with my life a long time ago, and she certainly would not approve of me sneaking off to a hotel for an occasional fuck with a total stranger I’d picked up in a bar or a scheduled nail and bail with one of the gals I referred to as my regulars from the club. To her, that would only have been an insult and a complete waste of time. She was about power, force, and dominance, not callous one-night stands.

  She always took charge of everything, and I’d tried my best to make her happy.

  Less than six weeks later, I was house hunting in Dallas. How Brooks and his team had twisted my arm to accept their position, I’ll never know. But it meant a new start for us and not much time to seal the deal if I wanted to be settled before school started in August. Oliver’s excitement about the idea left me worried his social issues were deeper than I’d grasped. When he wasn’t ready to return to California after the first trip out to Dallas, I had my answer. His needs before my own.

  Brooks picked up Oliver to spend a day at the lake, while I drove over to the realtor’s office from the hotel. I thought about building a new home on my own and starting over with a clean slate. Everything in my house in Los Angeles was a reminder of Olivia, even down to the flooring. We’d playfully argued over every detail before I’d give in and tell her she owed me. She joyfully paid it forward in other ways. She was such a romantic and taught me so much about expressing love in more ways than just sex. Something I hadn’t learned from growing up in a dysfunctional family of my own, but sometimes she took it to an extreme level.

  After days of looking at houses which failed to speak to me, I sat at Sylvia McIntyre’s desk and looked over a few homes she’d pulled up on the computer.