I Will Always Love You, #1

  I Will Always Love You

  By Erica Storm

  Copyright 2017 by Erica Storm

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2017 by Erica Storm

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. No reproduction of this book part or whole is permitted. This book should not be scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the author’s permission.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Bought and Sold | Chapter 1: Zack

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  Further Reading: Bought and Sold Box Set

  Also By Erica Storm

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  I’ve never been overseas, so when my girlfriend, Ashlee, ask me to go to Ireland, I said yes. She said she met this handsome Irish guy, and she couldn’t get him out of her mind, and she had to see him again before she died.

  “That’s serious,” I said to her. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  I knew it had to do with hormones even if she didn’t know or wanted to admit. When it came to that time of the month, she would pace nervously and rant about how much she wanted him inside of her. And if she didn’t get some kind of satisfaction then she would “go out there and find someone, anyone.”

  “You have a brain and a drawer full of sex toys. Can’t you just use one of them and pretend it’s him. It’s a whole lot cheaper and safe,” I said to Ashlee.

  She wouldn’t listen, “I’m tired of pretending that I’m having sex with Danny.” So that’s his name I thought. “And my boyfriend Chad isn’t doing it for me. He doesn’t do the oral thing. Who ever heard of a man not going down on you?” Ashlee said.

  I raised my hand. “Me.”

  “You wouldn’t know Tasha because you’re waiting for that perfect man.”

  “Speak for yourself. I know there’s no such thing. In the black community we deal in reality. You white girls deal in fantasy land. If I ever go that far to the edge, please pull me back or slap me or something,” I had said to her.

  Ashlee was a bitch the whole time and I got tired of her walking around our apartment cussing all the time. Day in and day out “fuck this is all I heard her say and I began picking up on her language too. She couldn’t get anyone to go with her and now I know why.

  Her other girlfriends wanted to go to anywhere but Ireland. They would even go to Paris but after the lasted bombings they told her hell no, not Paris. And that’s where I came in.

  I was the first person that said why not and after paying my portion of the rent for two months I felt secure that I would be okay with the money I had saved from working a part-time gig after classes. I took a job at McDonalds for four years, paid my tuition and took out low cost student loans and was able to make it and live in an apartment with Ashlee.

  We flew thirteen hours from New York and landed in Ireland.

  So here I am in a quaint little village in Cork Ireland which reminded me of some small southern town in the US. It was in the middle of nowhere. And we were staying in a bed and breakfast inn and had been there for a week. The old couple we rented rooms from looked like they needed the few dollars we gave them even though we were close to running out of money. It was a good thing and a bad thing that we were leaving in two days. The bad thing Ashlee hadn’t seen Danny and I was stuck in this cottage and this place when I could be having fun with some friends in Manhattan.

  “So what do we do next?” I asked, glaring at Ashlee. It was her idea and I would hold her to it. “You promised me that I wouldn’t regret coming here with you but so far we’ve been here a week and all I’ve seen is water and nothing else.”

  “I’m waiting for Danny to call and say it’s all clear,” Ashlee said as she threw her phone on the bed.

  “We’re leaving in two days and you haven’t seen your Danny yet. When is he supposed to call you?”

  “He’s not really my Danny.” My eyes opened wide. That’s all she talked about for weeks. When I see my Danny. And now this.

  “If he’s not your Danny then why we are here in this God forsaken place, and I haven’t seen a four leaf clover or a Leprechaun?”

  “There are no Leprechauns?” Ashlee said shooting me a narrow look.

  “I know that. I’m just trying to make a point.” I climbed out of the bed. “Do we have to wait for Danny? Let’s just go into town and have some fun on our last night here. We’ll have to pack tomorrow and then we have a tour of the churches and you can tell I’m looking forward to churches,” I said with a sneer. “As a minister’s daughter, I never want to see another church especially not on my vacation. Do you know how long Baptist churches last?”

  “No. I’m catholic.”

  “Twelve hours with the night service. I’ve spent my whole life in Sunday school teaching and going to church. Then it’s playing the piano every Sunday, and then singing in the women’s choir. I’m up to here with church.” I made a gesture and raised my hand over my head.

  “I didn’t know, Tasha. I just thought you black people loved church.”

  “We love church, and we love water. Don’t get me wrong, but I don’t like to spend my vacation in a church or watching at the water. And you’ve heard the one about water too. It’s because of our hair. Do you know how long it takes to straighten this stuff?” I pulled at my curly afro.

  “But I like your hair. It’s curly and different. I wish my hair was like yours.”

  “I like my hair too but I wish my hair was like yours where I don’t have to worry about it all the time. We can go on wishing all night and that won’t change anything. The only thing that will change is getting off our ass and going out and finding someone to fuck us before we head back to the states and to Brooklyn.”

  “Well that is strange talk coming from you Tasha. I’m shocked at you.”

  “I wouldn’t be after living with you. Something was bound to rub off,” I said.

  “Good. Now we’re on the same page,” Ashlee said. I turned and looked in the mirror and began combing my hair.

  Ashlee was staring at my hair. “How do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Straighten your hair and then it’s all curly again.”

  “I straightened it very carefully. When it starts to smell like a burnt cat then you have the comb too hot even with the electric ones. But I don’t do that anymore. I was getting it straightened with chemicals and then it started to fall out. That’s why I go natural. And I’m glad I did because it would be a waste of time in this weather. Doesn’t it do anything but rain in this place?” I said looking out the large picture window at the marsh and the water.

  “Tasha, I’m tired of waiting for Danny to call and I’m sorry that you spent all your money on this trip,” Ashlee said.

  Ashlee and I get along good sometimes like anybody else. Sometimes when you have been under one roof too long, people get on each other’s nerves. I like Ashlee, she is one of the first white girls who understood what black girls go through. Or she thinks she understands. But I give h
er credit for even trying.

  “We’re going to go to that bar where I met Danny and we’re going to get wasted.”

  “You can get wasted, but I want to know who’s fucking me. If we’re hot enough we can find some good looking guy for each one of us,” I said. “I hear the men here have red hair and green eyes. Just like I like them.”

  “My Danny has green eyes but his hair is dark brown,” Ashlee said. I glance at her.

  “You said a few minutes ago that he wasn’t yours. Did I miss something?”

  “I did didn’t I?” She shot me a closed smiled.

  “Is there something I should know?”

  “He owns this bar and he has a wife.”

  “Well we won’t go to it. We’ll go somewhere else.” She looked at me and put her head down.

  “It’s the only bar for miles.”

  “Then that settles it. We’re going and you don’t have to see him if you don’t want to. Just ignore him.” I looked over and saw the expression on Ashlee’s face. She had come this far just to be in Danny’s arms and have him inside of her and she wouldn’t let a chance like that pass her by.

  Chapter Two

  We dressed in the tightest distressed jeans possible. My ass had grown a couple of inches and filled out the jeans while straining the zipper until I had to lie flat on the bed to get them up around my full hips. “Now that’s done.” I could stand now I had to walk in them.

  “How do I look?” I asked holding my breath and turning to profile as Ashlee was putting on a second coat of pink lip gloss. She turned and smiled at me.

  “You look hot. That ass is sure to get men drooling.” I rolled my eyes.

  “What is it about women’s butts that make men stare?” I questioned not waiting for an answer. “No don’t tell me. Some men are ass men and some like breasts. Do these walking sex machines think of anything but that?”

  “Not much else,” Ashlee said with a grin, “but there is one other thing.”

  “I know,” I said, “the pussy.” We said out loud and then we broke into a laugh, and we caught ourselves and put our hands over our mouths because we were in the home of two elderly sisters and one of their husbands.

  “You look great,” I said.

  “Not as good as you,” Ashlee said. “You’re going to have all the men looking at you because you have that brown skin and you look different.”

  “Don’t start that. You’re beginning to doubt yourself. That’s why I’m still single. I don’t have time to worry about whether men will like me or not. I have to complete this last course at the university and I’m out in the world all alone. At least you have a family you can borrow money from when you’re not borrowing mine.”

  Ashlee was a pretty girl. She wore her blond hair short and to her shoulders. Most of the times it was straight but even her hair couldn’t handle this foggy rainy weather.

  I threw on a leather jacket over my tee shirt while I thought about my job prospects and how long it would take to get one.

  Ashlee had on her jeans, except the jacket wasn’t leather. She wore a blue jean jacket. I was still trying to tame my hair when she was ready to go.

  We had rented a car at the local garage in Cork before we came to this little village. Ashlee had the privilege of driving the car. I knew I would kill us both if I got under the wheel snaking my way through narrow streets that didn’t have boundaries.

  I had to tell her several times, “Slow down or we won’t get to that pub. They will find us on the side of this road if you can call it that.” I was relieved when we finally saw lights and cruised into the town and straight ahead was a cheerful looking pub with Christmas lights on in July.

  We parked and stepped out of the car hesitant to get out. “I don’t know if I want to go in there,” Ashlee said standing looking nervous near her door.

  “You had better come with me because I’m going in and you’re bloody well coming with me.”

  “I never heard you use those words before,” Ashlee said. She knew I was serious.

  I shrugged and said, “When in Rome... would you prefer me to say, “Get your fucking ass in there and shut the fuck up. Doesn’t it sound better the way these English people talk?”

  “They are Irish and not English.”

  “Whatever. I’m an American and you know we don’t know the difference and get your ass in gear because we’re going to have a great night whether you want to or not and I don’t want to hear you crying about Danny. I didn’t come all this way to stay in a cottage with you and entertain old people. It’s enough they look at me as if I’m in a circus.”

  “That’s because they don’t see too many black people.”

  “Everybody sees black people. They’re on the television.”

  “They don’t have a television.”

  “But they do and they’re watching at me like I just landed from Mars,” I said pointing at the group of young men and women standing outside the bar talking.

  “Oh them. They’re just curious. They don’t get a chance to see a black woman up close and one with an afro,” Ashlee said.

  “Just as I thought. We could have gone anywhere and I follow you to Ireland where there are no black people and I like an animal in the zoo. But I don’t give a fuck. It’s my last day and I’m not going to ruin it because you don’t want to face Danny and his wife.”

  I walked around to Ashlee’s side of the car and took her hand. She looked at me. Her eyes wide with fright. “Do you want them to think that we’re a couple?” She snatched her hand from mine and continued walking in slow steps ahead of me. I knew that would get to her.

  “Good. Now all we have to do is make it through that group of drunken men and we’re good.” As we walked a collection of six men surrounded us. Just looking at us. We smiled at them and they smiled back.

  Instead of cat calling like you get in the states, one asked me, “Can I buy you a drink?” I glanced at him and shot him a large smile.

  “Yes, but not now.” He swayed with a large dark beer in his hand.

  “Can I escort you in?” The other asked Ashlee.

  “We’re looking for Danny,” Ashlee said.

  “Oh Danny. You’re the one from the states. He told us about you.” She put her head down. I wondered if he said that Ashlee gave him the best blowjob of his life. Ashlee was always bragging about how she knew how to get a man off in a second and then have him fuck her longer. And the way he was looking at her, Danny must have told him not thinking that he would see Ashlee again.

  “Yes, you can escort me in,” Ashlee said as she took his arm. I followed the two inside the bar and then I looked around. The place was like an old world pub with dark wood and chairs and tables and a few booths in the rear of the bar.

  When we entered, all eyes were on me because I was alone and because I was the only black girl in the place with body-hugging jeans, a leather jacket, and my tight afro curls pulled up on top of my head.

  They didn’t know what to think of me I gathered from the look on the men’s faces. The women were easy to read. They resented our presences not because I was black and from the US and not because Ashlee was white and from the US, but because we were young women who had the eyes of their men.

  I saw a man raise his hand and made a gesture to Ashlee’s date to come to the rear and bring us.

  He sat in the booth alone with a pint of dark beer in front of him. It only took a few minutes for Ashlee to get over Danny and move on. She was holding the man’s hand and never bothered to ask him his name. I guess when you’re thinking of only sex and getting laid there is no use to ask names. They probably won’t see each other again if one of them don’t do something stupid like fly three thousand miles to have sex.

  She had a way of moving on to the next man which confounded me.

  On one hand she would travel over three thousand miles and spend good money to get to Ireland to see a man, and then get very comfortable with the first man that said hello to her. In a w
ay I admired that because I was just the opposite.

  I didn’t cozy up to men that easy and that fast.

  As I came close my heart stopped and my pulse increased. This was a man that I would fly six thousand miles to have him inside of me. Green eyes, dark reddish blond hair, a rugged looking face with a square jaw. He wore a white tee shirt with the name of the bar O’Shea in green and gold lettering on the front.

  He glanced up at me with a wide smile. With all the smoke swirling around I thought he was a smoker but looking at those teeth that was impossible. His teeth even and white gleaming in the dim light.

  My eyes fell to his muscular arms adorned with tattoos as he held out his hand for me to sit. He was at the end of the booth but he asked me to sit on his right. I scooted in and sat at the end but forgot that Ashlee and what’s his name needed to sit too.

  I glanced at him with his hand still extended, wanting me to sit near him. I moved over thinking the booth was larger than I thought, it wasn’t as Ashlee piled in next to me.

  Sitting so close to him I couldn’t breathe from because of his warm throbbing body next to mine.

  “My name is Liam,” his voice strong and polite. He looked to me. I was in awe of him. What a hunk? I expected him to have a heavy accent but he didn’t.

  “I’m Tasha.” I held out my hand and he took it and pulled me closer to him. I was almost in his lap, and that was a great place to be, but I like to know a man before I get that personal with him.

  “And I’m Francis,” Ashlee’s new man declared.

  “My name is Ashlee,” she said introducing herself to only Francis. Her eyes never ventured anywhere but in his face.

  Liam turned to me, “Are you here for the show? It doesn’t start until eleven.”

  “No. We didn’t know that there would be a show.” I looked at Ashlee who had begun kissing Francis the minute she sat down after the introduction.

  “It’s usually for the tourist. You are tourist,” Liam said.

  “Yes we are don’t we look it?” He gave me a closed smile. Then the barmaid came over after Liam raised his hand.