Sweet Surrender - eBook

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Sienna
He was determined to make my life miserable. I was sure of it. It started when we were kids, and now ignoring him was no longer an option since he hired me to clean up his image.
But I was a professional. I didn’t get to where I am today by letting anyone crack my veneer.
I could withstand my nemesis, Noah Goldsmith.
I had the man at the club to blow off steam. So Noah could go f* himself.
That was until he walked into my office one day and dropped a truth bomb that hit me square in the face.

Noah
I never really gave a damn.
Maybe that’s what got me into this mess in the first place, or perhaps someone was out to get me. Either way, I was desperate to save my company and had no choice but to enlist the help of Manhattan’s finest Public Relations expert—Sienna Black.
She’s my best friend’s sister and a major pain in the ass.
She’s always hated me, and now I have to find the strength to put up with her orders for the sake of my business.
But she’s pushing me to breaking point, and I need an escape. If I don’t get my fix from the pink-haired girl at the club, I might snap and lose everything I’ve fought so hard to build.

Was it possible to die of nervousness?
My hands were shaking so hard I had to consciously tell myself to calm down before I ran them over the front of the ice-blue dress I had secretly bought and smuggled into the penthouse while the rest of the family was out. I was a princess, right down to the full skirt and the intricate arrangement of curls pinned against the back of my head.
Everybody was going to lose their shit when I walked into the winter formal on Pierce Jameson’s arm. Nobody knew he had invited me. I hadn’t even told my best friend, Rose, and we told each other everything. But this was different. I didn’t feel like hearing Pierce was too old for me. Not only that, but I also didn’t want her to tell her brother, Colton, who was best friends with my brother, Noah, and I knew he wouldn’t be able to help himself. He would inevitably tell Noah, and I knew neither of them would want me hanging around them and the other upperclassmen like I would ruin their good time or something. And I probably would because I knew the sort of stuff they liked to do. They wouldn’t want to drink in front of me in case I tattled on them or whatever.
I didn’t care about any of that, though I knew they wouldn’t believe me. I only wanted to be with Pierce. Ever since we first started talking on Snapchat, it was like life had color. There was something to be excited about when I first woke up and something to smile about as I fell asleep at night—having a secret with somebody like Pierce, somebody I’d had a crush on ever since I first saw him during freshman orientation. He was so tall with thick, golden hair and the kind of smile that made me forget how to breathe.
And he wanted me.
“We have to be careful around everybody else. Your brother would be pissed if he knew we were talking.” He was right, which was why I always pretended we didn’t know each other when we’d passed in the halls at school.
Pierce being three years older meant we didn’t see much of each other, which made it easy. I could keep my eyes looking straight ahead instead of staring at him, offering a secret smile, looking for a sign that he remembered everything we shared when it was just the two of us messaging on the phone.
I smoothed a strand of chocolate brown hair behind my ear before reapplying my pink lip gloss. There was fear in my blue eyes when I met my reflection in the mirror over my dresser. Colton would probably be pissed when he saw me with a senior, somebody in his class. I was taking a risk, hoping he wouldn’t do something stupid like demand I go home or maybe cause a scene or whatever. For once, I needed him to behave himself and not act like a complete dick. Maybe if he saw how happy I was, he would leave me alone. We could deal with everything in the morning. Mom and Dad were out at some dinner, and Colton had planned on getting ready at Noah’s, meaning there was nobody in the penthouse to think anything of me walking around in a ball gown. The heels of my silver shoes tapped the hardwood floors as I hurried around, checking my clutch to make sure I had everything I needed.

This would be fine.
Everything would be fine.
I was going to the winter formal with the boy of my dreams, whom I had spent weeks getting to know through dozens of conversations. Nothing would change once we were face-to-face. He would still be the same person—sweet, smart, and funny.
He knew so many things about me, the sort of stuff I never planned on telling anybody. When I was talking to him, it felt natural to share little parts of myself. I wanted him to know me as much as I wanted to know him.

From the bottom of my heart, I knew he would kiss me by the end of the night. My heart threatened to explode every time I thought about it. I only hoped it didn’t literally explode when he did—when he took my face in his hands, pressed his lips against mine, and made all my dreams come true.
“I promise I’ll be a gentleman, though I can’t promise I won’t want a kiss.” He had even said that to make sure I didn’t freak out. The memory made my skin tingle and warmed my face even days after he’d first sent that particular message. My heart fluttered whenever I imagined closing my eyes and letting him touch his lips to mine, and I had imagined it a lot.
He was supposed to pick me up at seven. I checked my phone and blew out a huge, nervous breath.
Only a few more minutes.
Did I put on deodorant? Oh, God, this was either going to be amazing or a complete disaster if I didn’t get my shit together. It wasn’t the first dance I had ever been to, of course, but it was the first time things had ever been like this. I would be the youngest person there, for sure, and I would walk in with the hottest, most popular guy in the whole school.
Was it possible to peak at fifteen? I couldn’t imagine life getting any better. “You’ve got this,” I whispered to myself in the mirror near the front door. “He likes you. He wouldn’t have asked you if he didn’t.”
And for all I knew, we would be telling this story one day. Maybe during our wedding anniversary—a big party for our twenty-fifth—we would describe how we’d connected secretly behind everybody’s backs and how we announced our relationship to the whole world at the winter formal.
All of that flew out the window when there was a knock at the door. I almost dropped my purse but managed to keep hold of it at the last second, taking a few deep breaths before squaring my shoulders and opening the door.
This was it.
This was when the rest of my life started.
Which was what made the sight of Noah Goldsmith so confusing. He was alone, dressed in a tux, and smirking as he looked me up and down. I was fully dressed but had never felt so exposed.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded. If it hadn’t been for his smirk, I might have been worried something happened to Colton. “Shouldn’t you be at the dance by now?”
Instead of answering, he let out a high-pitched whistle. “You look nice. What are you so dressed up for?”
“Don’t worry about it.” I hated the way my voice shook. He wasn’t supposed to find out this way, not until we got to the dance. “So, really, why are you here? I thought you guys were getting ready for the formal at your parents’ place.”
“Yeah, everybody’s on their way to the hotel. I wanted to swing by and see you before I joined them.” Folding his arms, his expression hardened into the same look I had seen so many times before from him, my brother, and their friends. Arrogant. Cocky. His chestnut brown hair gleamed in the light above the front door when he tipped his head to the side. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were dressed up for the formal too. But that can’t be possible since you’re only a freshman. So where are you going tonight?”
“Maybe I am going to the formal.” Because fuck him and his attitude. I lifted my chin and smiled. “I’m going with Pierce Jameson. Now you know. You were going to find out soon, anyway.”
I figured his mouth would fall open and his dark eyes bulge. I’d already envisioned the whole thing so many times. But never had I imagined him snorting with laughter before asking, “Are you sure about that?”
“Well… yeah?” I replied with a laugh of my own. “He asked me, and I said yes.”
“Why would he do that?”
This was going terribly. He was going to ruin everything if Pierce showed up while he was still standing in the doorway, acting like a dick. My pulse picked up speed at the thought. “Why is it any of your business?” I countered. “Go, have fun. I’ll see you there in a little while.”
“I hate to tell you, but you’ll be waiting a while.” He blurted out a laugh, shaking his head. “Really, my bad. I shouldn’t have let it go this far. It looks like you, like… went all-out with the dress and hair. But maybe now you’ve learned your lesson.”
“I don’t understand.”
Rolling his eyes, he groaned, “Pierce isn’t coming to pick you up. He’s already there with Penny Schwartz.” When he laughed again, all I could do was stare at him and wait for him to tell me he was kidding. “Come on, Sienna. Did you seriously think he was into you? He’s a fucking senior. Early admission to Harvard. Like he would screw around with a little girl like you.”
Bile rushed into my throat once his words sank into my overloaded brain, and I started trembling as the pain set in. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to. He was going to take it back any second.
Only he didn’t. He looked as serious as I’d ever seen him, and I had known him my entire life.
Do not cry.
Do not.
“What are you saying?” I whispered, hoping he was kidding because the alternative was unthinkable.
Throwing his hands into the air, he nearly shouted, “I’m saying it was me, dumbass! Jesus Christ, you’re slow on the uptake when you want to be. That’s not even his Snapchat account I was messaging you from. Now, you know better than to mess around with the big boys.”
“That’s not true.” I was shaking all over and barely fighting back tears. It was unbelievable. It couldn’t be true. Weeks of talking, joking, getting to know each other. No way could Noah have fooled me like that. I knew him too well.
He arched an eyebrow. “I promise I’ll be a gentleman, but I can’t promise I won’t want a kiss.”
That was it. The proof I didn’t actually need because deep down, I believed him. Standing in the foyer, dressed up nicer than I had ever been in my whole life, I knew it had all been a fantasy. How could I have been so stupid?
I wanted to die. I wanted to fold up in place and die right here on the floor. Anything would be better than standing there and listening to his laughter. Knowing he made a fool out of me. “Who knows about this?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He waved a hand like it didn’t mean anything. “We had a couple shots when we were getting ready, and I think I said something to Evan, maybe.”
Evan? The whole damn school would know about it by the end of the weekend. My brother would find out. He’d probably tell our parents. I wouldn’t be able to escape the humiliation no matter where I went. “How could you do this?” My voice was weak, small, and breathless.
“Like I said. You were the one staring at him during freshman orientation, so don’t pretend you weren’t. I saw you sitting in the auditorium, practically drooling while he gave his student council speech.” There was so much contempt in his voice. It was like he hated me. “And as soon as you thought you were talking to him on Snapchat, you got all flirty and shit. It was pretty easy to make you believe you were talking to him.”
“But how…” A sob sliced through me. I couldn’t hide it, no matter how I knew I should. “How? Why would you do that to me?”
“Oh, come on. You learned a lesson. You didn’t get hurt.”
We both looked down at my clutch when my phone buzzed. I pulled it out without thinking, and at first, my hand shook hard enough that I couldn’t read the message. Once I did, though, my stomach dropped further than it already had.

Unknown: This is Penelope Schwartz. Just talked to Evan. Stay away from my man, bitch, or I’ll kick your ass.

I didn’t realize Noah had leaned down to read the message until he grunted. “That girl has claws. She would tear you a new one. Like I said, you learned a lesson.”
The know-it-all way he said it was what finally broke me. “Fuck you.” I snarled before pressing both hands to his chest and shoving hard enough to make him stumble backward. “I didn’t ask you to teach me anything. You did this because you’re mean and nasty, and only a loser with an ugly soul could spend weeks making me… making me think…”
He ignored the tears filling my eyes and how I fought for every breath. “You’re young. You’ll get over it.” He made a big deal of checking his watch while I gasped for air. “I better go. Everybody’s waiting for me.”
“Let me tell you one thing, Noah Goldsmith.” There was a part of me he hadn’t hurt—something hard and cold, sharp and deadly. And that part turned to stone as I glared up at him. “I’ll be civil in front of our families, but otherwise… I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire.”
I had the satisfaction of watching his face fall before I slammed the door and locked it. In the nick of time, too, since my legs couldn’t hold me up anymore.
My dress puffed up around me like a cloud as I sank to the floor, surrounded by satin and tulle and the shattered pieces of my heart.

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