The 6th in the Ex White Soldier book set.
Taylor enjoyed being a soldier and serving his country. Forced out of the army because of an injury, he’s since settled into civilian life and built a strong relationship with his girlfriend Desiree.
When an opportunity arises which can have him using some of this previous army skills to earn cash, will he fall back into elements of his previous violent lifestyle? And how will his long term partner react?
A Fight For Love, Read It Now
This book is part of the Ex White Soldier series. See it and all parts to the series on the the book page page.
Cage Fighting BWWM Novel Sample
A month had gone by since Desiree’s incident with her work work colleague Miranda Littlejohn. Miranda had shamelessly threatened to make a play for Desiree’s man, and Desiree had shown her what for.
Initially, no one ever dared to bring the whole incident up lest they get a smacking; at least that was what they thought. But, after a while, the episode became the very story that people enjoyed at dinner parties.
It was on a Saturday morning when Desiree arose. When she got to the living room, Rochelle and Cynthia were already there, having breakfast.
“Why are you still in your PJ’s?” Cynthia asked as Desiree walked languidly towards them.
“Yeah, this is a first,” Rochelle added, smiling.
“Well, today is one of those days I look forward to while at work,” Desiree said as she sat down. “A nice long weekend away from toil and stress,” she elaborated.
“What do you mean ‘a long weekend’? You are always working weekends,” Rochelle said.
“Yes, but this time it’s different. I don’t have to work until Tuesday afternoon. Guess I am living the high life,” Desiree said mockingly. “I worked through two of my days off, then I decided to finally take the long deserved time I was due,” she added. Rochelle raised an eyebrow. Everyone knew that ever since Desiree got a promotion, she had turned into a workaholic.
“You were forced to take the time off weren’t you?” Rochelle asked. Desiree smiled and then nodded in affirmation.
“Figures,” Cynthia grinned as she opened her laptop.
“What do you mean figures? Am I that predictable?” Desiree asked.
“Two things. One, yes, you are that predictable, Desiree Young. And two, if this was something you had planned, I am almost certain that you would have spent the night at Taylor’s,” Cynthia said without looking up. Desiree frowned.
“Really? Come on, I would like to think that there is something I could do without you people using your psychic powers to second-guess me,” she said sarcastically. Cynthia looked up from her laptop and shrugged.
“You know what I would not have predicted? You offering to do my café books for me,” she said hopefully. Desiree rolled her eyes.
“I may be predictable, Cynthia but I am no fool either,” she said with the exaggerated pomposity she knew would irk her sister. Rochelle took a sip of her coffee and shrugged.
“Shame, we would have definitely not seen that coming,” she said.
“Yeah, whatever. What’s for breakfast?” Desiree asked as she stood up and walked to the kitchen.
“Rochelle made some banana pancakes,” Cynthia said. Desiree looked at her sister and smiled.
“You have really become quite the surprise, Roch. I remember there was a time you couldn’t even boil an egg,” Desiree said.
“Hey, I take offense,” Rochelle said as her sister served two golden hued pancakes on a plate. She poured some syrup over them and then returned to the living room. Rochelle smiled at her and then took the remote from the table.
“You know I mean well sis,” Desiree said as she sat down. She frowned as she realized she had not brought a knife and fork with her. “Rochelle, pass me your knife and fork. I don’t want to go all the way back to the kitchen,” she said. Rochelle held her plate to her sister one-handed as she continued flipping the channels randomly. “So, what about you, Roch? What do you have planned for the day?” she asked in between bites.
“Well, not much. Now that I am officially done with college, I have an entire week to do absolutely nothing,” Rochelle said smiling.
“Technically, you are not officially done with it.” Cynthia added pedantically. “You still have to get an internship. You do know it accounts for forty per cent of your grade, right?” she added, looking at Rochelle with a mock-stern expression.
“I do. But I am not doing anything this week. It’s my time to unwind,” Rochelle said smiling. “And I have already sent out my applications. All I have to do now is wait,” she added confidently. Desiree smiled at her proudly as she took another bite. She could hardly believe that there was a time when she worried day and night about her sister.. She was now surer than ever that she was a better parent than most. Rochelle had turned into this beautiful and intelligent young lady that proved to Desiree that she had done a good job. She knew that if her mother saw her at that moment; saw them, that she would have been proud.
“And how come you aren’t at Taylor’s anyway?” Cynthia asked.
“Like you said, I was forced to take the timed off. I had not made any vacation plans and he has a few jobs to do today. So I guess I will be seeing him later,” Desiree said.
“I don’t understand why he has to work. I mean he did win fifty grand,” Cynthia said. Rochelle turned and looked at the two.
“You know, I always thought it was just me, but you know what Dee? I also wonder the same thing. I mean, that was fifty grand he never had to toil for. Shouldn’t he just invest in stocks and just sit back and live the dream?” she said. Desiree laughed.
“You guys realized that he won fifty grand, not fifty million, right?” she said.
“Yes, and invested in the right way, that fifty could be the jackpot,” Cynthia said.
“True that. I mean, if I was you, I would never work again. You also have twenty five grand under your belt,” Rochelle said.
“Oh honey, you are so not done with education, because if you were, you would have known that it is hardly enough,” Desiree said. “The money is a future investment. I would not want to worry about my child’s education at every waking moment, you know,” she added. Rochelle smiled.
“Aww, is someone beginning to hear the pitter- patter of little feet?” she asked.
“Or do we already have a bun in the oven?” Cynthia asked. Desiree smiled and shook her head.
“Nothing of the sort. I just want to make sure that I have a secure future. That’s all,” Desiree said calmly.
“Well, there is that, and there is also the small fact that you would not have to work,” Rochelle said.
“Oh come on, are we back at that again?” Desiree asked.
“Please, the topic was never really over,” Cynthia said. “At least not as far as Rochelle is concerned,” she added, grinning. Desiree took one last bite and then put her plate on the coffee table.
“Okay, I don’t know how I can put this in a way that you would understand. But I love working Roch, I love knowing that I work hard to put food on the table and to keep the roof over our heads. There is just something truly satisfying about knowing that you have worked for everything you own,” Desiree said. She looked at Cynthia, who nodded somberly in acknowledgment.
“She is right. The café does not make a fortune but every day I look at my satisfied customers I know that the late nights are definitely worth it,” Cynthia said. “Well, you two puppies may not have anything to do today but I have a café to run, and I think I am late,” she added as she shut down her laptop and hastily tucked it in its satchel.
“Later,” Rochelle called after her retreating back.
“Yeah, have a great day,” Desiree said as Cynthia shut the door. She took the sticky pancake dish to the kitchen and cleaned up while Rochelle went on watching TV. When she was done, Desiree went back to her room and neatly arranged the covers before jumping in in the shower. She had no plan for the day, but she thought she could at least freshen up. Thoroughly scrubbed, she put on a comfortable pair of black jeans and a slightly faded turquoise tube top. She held her freshly washed hair up and returned to her bed. She retrieved her phone from the dressing table and noticed that she had three messages from Taylor. She tapped on the thread and read through the messages.
Morning babe. I was at the store but they told me you had taken the day off. Maybe we could do some lunch later. Call me.
Scratch that. How about we have dinner instead?
I’ll cook.
There was a cheery emoticon next to his last text. Desiree smiled fondly as she began typing.
Dinner sounds great. I’ll meet you at your place tonight.
She sent the text and then sat at her desk.
“Might as well check out my emails,” she thought as she scrolled through her unread messages. “Spam…scam…spam…..really?” she thought in surprise as she saw a message from her ex Leon. “You do not ever give up, do you?” she muttered irritably as she clicked on a message she knew was going to be a transparently manipulative plea for reconciliation.
Hey Dee.
It has been a while and I have to talk to you and THIS is the only way I can do it since you NO LONGER pick up my calls or reply to my messages. I know I said that I wouldn’t contact you again, but it is getting increasingly hard to keep my mind off you. At first I thought that you were just jealous but I now understand. I should have been more upfront about my marriage. But Dee, the truth is that my wife and I were over a long time before I met you, and I have already told her that I don’t love her anymore, and that I want to be free to love you but she won’t let me go. I miss you, Dee and I will never love anyone the way I love you. You have spoilt me for other women, I just want you. I need you, babe. Just come back to me.
Your ‘one and only’
Leon
Desiree rolled her eyes as she deleted the message. Just then, she heard the chirp of a new message. She looked at the screen and sighed when she saw a text from Leon had just come in.
I emailed you but I never got a reply. Please, just tell me when I can see you. I am staying at the Royale penthouse. I would LOVE it if you would come over and see me sometime.
She shook her head in anger as she put the phone on the bed. Too angry to think, she was initially lost for a solution to deal with this increasingly intrusive pest. As her anger abated, a plan began to form . In one decisive action, she picked up her purse and walked out. When she got to the living room, she found Rochelle signing for a bouquet of red long stemmed roses.
“Somebody misses you a bit too much,” Rochelle said smiling awkwardly. Desiree strode over to where she was and pulled the card from the vaguely tacky arrangement. She looked at the name at the bottom and tore it up before tossing the shredded piece of paper on the flowers. “Hey, that’s no way to receive such a loving gesture,” Rochelle said.
“Well, the person they are from does not deserve a minute of my time,”. Rochelle frowned as she tried dusting the pieces of shredded paper from the petals.
“Well, the flowers are beautiful. I am going to put them in some water,” she said.
“No, toss them,” Desiree said with unusual abruptness as she looked in her purse.
“Why?” Rochelle asked.
“Because I said so,” Desiree said with finality. Rochelle looked at her and shook her head.
“Excuse me?” she asked, bewildered.
“You heard me. I don’t want to see those damn flowers when I come back,” Desiree said.
To read the rest of this story and see other parts, click here.