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  “How long?” she says softly.

  “I’m not sure. I’m guessing long enough to accumulate dust on the lenses of the cameras and microphones.” Brian says.

  “Are they gone now? Did you remove them all?” Peyton asks.

  “Yes, I swept the whole house and removed everything I found. With the alarm in place now, you shouldn’t worry about these things moving forward,” he tells her.

  “Thank you, Brian, for everything. I… I just want to forget about him and move on. He’s taken enough of my life from me. He’s seriously lost his damn mind. Do you think he’ll try anything else?” she asks. I’d like to know that too. I’m afraid for her safety a hundred times more now. With Brian keeping his eye on her, I need to trust that he’ll do everything in his power to protect her.

  “I don’t have an answer to that, Peyton. Only he knows what he’s going to do. But I will do my best to keep an eye on you and make sure you’re safe at all times,” he says reassuringly.

  I cup her shoulder as we finish the conversation and Brian goes to leave. He says he’ll be around. And with that, he leaves us in the office.

  “You okay, Babe? I need to make sure you’re okay before we leave this office,” I tell her.

  “Yes. Well, no. I’m not okay, Liam. This is such bullshit! I don’t even know where to begin on how fucked up this is. He saw us, Liam… he saw me!” she says as she gets up.

  “I know, Babe. I wanna kill the motherfucker and trust me, if I ever see him, he’s dead. But you can’t let him ruin today for you,” I tell her as I pull her close and hold onto her tightly, running my hands up and down her back.

  “I know. You’re right. I’m not going to let him have this… this fear anymore. I’m done playing his games,” she says with confidence. That’s my girl. I was going to wait until after the wedding to let her know about the trip I planned, but good news is seriously lacking right now so I decide to tell her.

  Once I tell her my plans to sweep her away to Mexico for a long weekend, she is speechless and shocked—but in a good way. I’m glad she’s excited because to tell you the truth, I just want to get her far away from Monroe so she can relax and remove herself from this madness.

  We both head out of the office so she can finish up and change into her dress for the wedding. There are about 30 minutes left before the ceremony starts, so I go find the rest of the guys in the wedding party and take my place at the altar.

  My life is a bundled mess of nerves right now and to think I thought today just might be a day I didn’t have to deal with bullshit news. Hate is term I don’t sling around too often, but it’s the only word that comes to mind when I think of that sick bastard. How dare he?! I wish I could go back and never have met him. I regret the day I ever laid eyes on him.

  I have to snap myself back to reality because I have a job to do. I can’t let this affect my job. I’ll break down later in the comfort of my own home. Now that I know it’s bug-free, that is! When Brian told me about the bugs, I was so shocked I couldn’t even find it in me to react, to even utter a single word. This couldn’t be my life—but it is. And thank God I have Liam right now to lean on for support. The man’s a Saint!

  I finish up with the last vendor and head upstairs to a guest room I left my dress in. It’s an emerald green gown that has a sweetheart neckline. The underlining of the gown is satin with a layer of lace in the same emerald green color on top. It’s stunning! It hugs every curve I have and showcases the girls just enough to look classy and not slutty. I always say you only look like a slut at weddings if you’re desperate and need to get laid. That is so not this girl.

  I sit in the back row as the music starts and Ophelia and her dad walk down the aisle. She looks beautiful. He dress is simple, a traditional white ball gown with a portrait neckline, finished with tulle and lace that travels down her bodice and hugs her hips before flowing to the floor. It’s not flashy or too much. It’s perfect and it’s so her. I look to the front where Liam, the Best Man, is standing next to a handsome looking Dominic. Liam has his arms crossed in front of him and I can tell he’s looking for me. I smile to myself at how handsome he is. He’s like one of those southern gentlemen you don’t come across everyday in that tux, and he’s dashing. He finds me in the crowd of people and grins at me before laying me with one of those dimples and winks. I shake my head and giggle. He’s just too much. But he’s mine, ladies. I look around the room and take in all the décor and everything looks… perfect.

  The ceremony ends all too soon. It was really touching how they lit a candle for Liam’s and Ophelia’s mom who couldn’t join us physically here today but I know she was here in spirit. I saw their dad get misty-eyed and even though my parents are still alive, I can’t help but feel how sad it is to celebrate a day like this without the matriarch of the family.

  After the ceremony, Ophelia and Dominic, along with their immediate families, are whisked away to get their portraits taken while I direct the guests to the cocktail area where I have waiters and waitresses serving hors d’oeuvres and drinks just inside the tent out back. Everything looked perfect, from the flowers to the lights.

  When you walk into the open white tent, there are bar tables draped with white linens and white sofas placed throughout the front of the tent. There’s a wall that separates the cocktail hour and the actual reception area where the dinner and dancing will be held. Candles are lit on every table creating the most romantic feeling.

  Once the bride and groom have finished their portraits, I bring them in to see the reception area first. It’s important to me that they are the first ones to experience the completed look. They both take a look around and are floored by how beautiful it came out. The tent was transformed into a magical venue. Chandeliers were placed throughout the middle part of the tent at its highest point, which made the room look elegant and classic. Soft pink lighting was lined against the white walls, creating a luminous glow. The bride’s and groom’s table was placed in the middle of the dance floor, where their initials were projected onto the flooring, making it an intimate table setting for two with a tall centerpiece of lavender peonies, a mixture of white scabious, and David Austin roses. Tilly did an amazing job.

  Long rows of tables were covered in pale pink linens and accented with golden ghost chairs. I topped the tables with candelabras and tall flower arrangements similar to the one on Ophelia’s and Dominic’s table. I added strings of Swarovski crystals to every centerpiece so it looked like diamonds dripping down onto the tables. The table settings were immaculate and looked gorgeous with bone white china plates rimmed with gold flakes and crystal champagne glasses adorning the china. I’m really happy with everything. It’s perfect.

  Ophelia was overjoyed and emotional while Dominic was just happy that she was happy. He shook my hand and thanked me for everything. Ophelia attacked me with hugs and praises. It was very kind of her, but I don’t do it for the praises. I do it for the sheer happiness I saw in their eyes tonight.

  I tell the waiters they can go ahead and open the wall to the reception area so that all the guests can go on in. When everyone finds their seats, I tell the band to go ahead and introduce the new Mr. & Mrs. Dominic Preston.

  I can finally relax now that everything is done. I make my way around the crowd to find Liam, but he finds me first. He grabs ahold of my arm and pulls me into his hold. I welcome it and find such peace when he holds me. He makes me feel so wanted. I’m glad I didn’t fight this. It feels too right. He leads me to our table and we sit down before they start serving dinner.

  After dinner, we danced the night away and laughed while having a great time. I met a lot of Liam’s family from out of town, and every one of them was so down to earth. I also met Liam’s other good friend Colt. He was nice, but he didn’t stay around us long. I also saw Aiden again, and I’ve got to say, that accent of his is truly sexy. I laughed when he had a few choice words for Ken. That’s my girl, breaking hearts everywhere she goes. I informed him I had no ide
a what was going on because she hadn’t said a word to me about her and Aiden even seeing each other.

  From what I could tell, she must have really put it down on him. I know he’s pissed off, but with that pretty accent of his, I couldn’t even take him seriously. The night turned out better than I expected. It was all so… perfect! I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Everything went smoothly with no drama and I wish every wedding I planned turned out like this. Yeah right.

  After around 2:30 a.m. the party started to wind down and I needed to let all the caterers and vendors know what needed to go tonight and what they would need to come get in the morning. It was getting late so I told Liam to go ahead and take Aiden home because he was completely wasted. I’ve never actually seen an English person wasted before. He’s so funny to watch. You just don’t hear those kinds of cuss words from Americans. It was pretty awesome.

  Liam didn’t want to leave me here, but I insisted he go, because he would’ve just sat there for the next hour watching me delegate. It was really late and he needed to take Aiden home anyway. So with a lot of persuasion, he finally listened to me after giving me one hell of a kiss. I can still feel him on my lips. His taste—it’s intoxicating. I can’t ever get enough.

  Liam said we would be leaving for Cancun Sunday evening so I figured once I got home, I’d pass out and wake up early to start packing and clean a little before we headed out. He wanted to stop by my place after dropping Aiden off, but I didn’t want him on the road that late. He can be so stubborn but with a promise to pack nothing but bikinis, he reluctantly agreed. Hey, a girl must use what she’s got sometimes.

  I only meant to stay an hour tops, but once all the guests left, there was much more to do than I expected. I ended up finishing up around four in the morning and I was depleted. Complete exhaustion had taken over my body. I just wanted to go home and be dead to the world for the next ten hours. I knew Brian was around; I just didn’t know where, and that was totally fine with me. Making small talk with someone right now was just too much work. I liked that he stayed in the background.

  I gathered all my stuff and made my way to the car. I couldn’t even bring myself to place everything in the car. I just kinda shoved it all in there and slammed the door closed. Driving to my house wasn’t too bad. I had to roll down all the windows and turn up the music just to stay awake, but I finally pulled up to my house a short time later. Ahh… home.

  My phone rings as I’m about to get out of the car. It’s Brian. I exhale loudly and turn my car off and get out.

  “Hey Brian. What’s up?” I ask him. I decide to leave everything in the car and come back for it later on today. I am just too tired to care.

  He continues to talk as I walk up to the house.

  “Peyton, I need to make sure you get in the house and lock up before I leave you for the night. Stay on the phone with me until you get in and set the alarm back on,” he says.

  “Okay, Brian. Will do. So are you tired of keeping an eye on me yet?” I ask jokingly. He simply replies back with a no. Okay then. He’s definitely not a man of many words.

  I unlock the door and go inside, disarming the alarm by the utility room. I let Brian know that I’m inside the house and I’ve armed the alarm back on. He tells me to go check the back door to make sure it’s locked. I tell him I checked it as I walked back into the living from the kitchen. He says he’ll be back in the morning and for me to have a good night. I tell him to have the same as I let him go. I can’t imagine anyone enjoying a job like that.

  I turn all the lights downstairs off and head upstairs to my bedroom. Since Brian installed the alarm system, I’ve felt safer being here alone again. But for some reason, tonight is an odd exception. I’m getting this funny feeling in my gut as I walk up the stairs. Something just feels off. It’s hard to explain, other than that it’s just unsettling. Maybe I’m making myself paranoid again. Yeah, that’s gotta be it. I’m being silly. I need to get out of my own head. Or just get some sleep. That should do a world of good for me. I need to replenish my body. I can already hear my bed calling my name.

  As I get to the top of the stairs, that damn feeling I have won’t go away, though. Ugh! What is wrong with me?! I open my bedroom door and turn the lights on. Something to the right of my bedroom catches my attention and the minute my head turns in that direction, I drop my purse and scream. It’s Him. Demetrius. He’s in my house. He gets up from the wingback chair in the sitting area of my room and calmly walks in my direction. As he’s walking towards me, I’m backing out of the room slowly.

  “Do not run from me, Peyton,” he says in a firm voice. My legs have lost all control at this point as I start tumbling backward, losing my balance. Fear has taken over once again.

  “What do you want Demetrius?” I ask him.

  He comes closer to me and yanks me by my upper arm, pulling me closer to him. I try to resist and pull my arm away, but the harsh hold he had on me tells me I’m not going anywhere. I see him take something out of his pocket and the next thing I know, there is a sharp pain in my neck. The last words I hear him say before complete darkness falls upon me is…

  “You.”

  Bare It All Series

  Part 2: Bare To You

  Read other books by Pawnie Santana

  I never thought in a million years I’d have the nerve to actually write a novel, let alone self-publish one all by myself. Now this? Bare With Me… (Pun intended)

  There are a handful of people I’d like to thank, but first and foremost, I want to say thank you to my awesome and amazing sister Michelle. Throughout my whole life, she’s been my biggest supporter. From every crazy idea I’ve ever had, she’s always shown me nothing but support and love. Every time I doubted myself, I knew I could go to her for positive reinforcement. I love you Sister for everything you’ve done for me. I know it’s not easy, but having you there to say you can do it made it possible for me to believe in myself.

  To my main squeeze, my husband Javi. When I first told him I’d be writing a book, he didn’t look at me like I just lost my mind; instead, he encouraged me to continue and not give up. My husband is not much of a reader, so for him to read my manuscript at three in the morning means the world to me. We’ve been through more in this lifetime than most people will ever see. Through it all, we made it work and I love you Hubbylicious.

  I was one when I met this cool chick. She’s always been there for me no matter how many years we go without seeing each other. Thirty-three years later, and she’s still one of my BFFs! I love you to the moon and back. Thank you, Shai, for putting up with my hundreds of questions and reading chapter after chapter, giving me your feedback. I know I can always count on you to be honest with me and not blow smoke up my ass. After all, isn’t that what real friends do? :)

  To my B! I love you SO much! When I decided to stop working full-time and needed something to do to fill my days, you suggested some books for me and immediately, I was hooked! You started this madness, girl! Sharleen, Thank you so much for being there every time I had a crazy idea for this book and cheering me on when I doubted myself. I’m so happy that after all these years, I can count on you to give me advice and steer me in the right direction. For that and your friendship, I’ll forever be grateful. *Besos*

  To my girl Quetzy! Any time I’ve ever needed a swift kick to the ass or a reality check, I know I can go to you to keep it real for me. Thank you for reading Bare With Me and ignoring all my typos and crazy title ideas. I think I’ve blown up your phone on more than a few occasions and for that, I’m not sorry. LoL. Since I first started this project, you’ve given me nothing but moral support and made me more excited to keep going and explore my writing. I love you so much, my midang! Haha!

  I must say, it’s been quite a journey. When I decided to write this book, I had no idea what kind of story I wanted to tell, but strong characters were a must for me. I wanted the reader to be engaged, and I feel like I achieved that with Bare With Me.

 
I wanna give a big THANK YOU to everyone who showed support for my crazy dream of becoming a writer, both on social media and in my personal life. Your kind words mean the world to me. A lot of people waited to see me fail, and without the love and encouragement I’ve received, I probably would have. So thank you!

  Last but not least, thank you to everyone who decided to take a chance and read Bare With Me. I hope you love Liam and Peyton’s story as much as I loved writing it. There’s so much more for these two to come.

  Stay tuned…

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  Bare It All Series

  Part I: Bare With Me

  Pawnie Santana

  Copyright © 2014 by Pawnie Santana

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  Pawnie Santana

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  All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, web distribution, or information storage and retrieval systems—without the written permission of the author. Quotations must be properly cited.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.