Taking Chances (Sharing Space #4)

By Nina Perez

Chloe and Patrick have been basking in the glow of their semi-secret romance, able to enjoy each other without opening themselves up to the scrutiny and opinions of others. That all changes when Chloe is faced with a family emergency. Why does Chloe's best friend treat the new relationship like a betrayal?

Patrick comes under scrutiny when Chloe's mother visits for Thanksgiving. Will he live up to the standards Mrs. Brooks has for her daughter? And how will the Murphy clan react when they learn Patrick's new love is black?

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Taking Chances is the fourth book in the six-part Sharing Space series. A new book will be available for download every few weeks. Each book is a short, fun, and sexy read that will leave you wanting more.

Book five in the Sharing Space series, Winter Wishes, will be available mid-April 2014.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nina Perez
• Release date: Mar 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311415387

Nina Perez

Nina Perez is the author ofThe Twin Prophecies: RebirthBlog It Out, BitchThe Sharing Space SeriesThe Twin Prophecies: Origins (March 2014)Lily in the Middle (Summer 2014)She is also the founder of Blog It Out, Bitch and Project Fandom, a site filled with the latest in pop culture from a geek’s point of view.During the day she serves as a Social Media Community Manager for an online outdoor retailer. By night, she writes, watches a lot of British TV, and spends quality time with her two MacBook Pros, iPhone, and iPad 2.She enjoys tabletop gaming, video games, smexy novels, crime novels, and anything science fiction. From Brooklyn, New York, she now resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two children.She may also be slightly addicted to Apple products, Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, and Idris Elba.

Book preview

Taking Chances

Sharing Space – Book Four

By Nina Perez

Taking Chances (Sharing Space #4)

Copyright © 2014 Nina Perez

Published by JK Press at Smashwords.

To the usual suspects…

MJ Heiser & Steven Novak

My Project Fandom crew

My parents, siblings, and family

Sophie Loney

And most of all, thank you to Donny, Kali, and Jack

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Grateful, Part 1

Chapter Two: Grateful, Part 2

Chapter Three: Grateful, Part 3

Chapter Four: Disgust and Disapproval, Part 1

Chapter Five: Disgust and Disapproval, Part 2

Chapter Six: The Two Thanksgivings, Part 1

Chapter Seven: The Two Thanksgivings, Part 2

Chapter One

Grateful, Part 1

Chloe

Lila’s new assistant was driving me crazy. Jules knew her job, but she didn’t know she knew it. She constantly second guessed herself and that was a definite no-no when working for Lila. Every task Lila gave her required Jules coming to see me first and asking my thoughts on the best way to get it done. She’d timidly knock on my door, poke her head inside with her brown eyes wide, and ask, Do you have a minute?

It wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I’d told her, Just see me with any questions. I was beginning to wonder how she got hired in the first place. How did she make it through the interview process with such low confidence? Lila would have eaten her alive. Then Myra informed me that Jules was related by marriage to Hampton Lloyd. Who needs self-confidence on the job when your uncle-in-law owns the place? Still, it was frustrating because she had the chops. She just needed to focus and believe in herself. She definitely needed to stop running to my office every damn time Lila tossed her a to-do list, her calendar, and instructions to make it work.

One afternoon I tried to be polite yet firm in letting Jules know that I’d help her—but only briefly, as I had my own work to complete. She vigorously nodded her head; her brown ponytail bobbed up and down, and an appreciative look spread across her round face.

Oh, I understand. I’m sorry. It’s just I don’t want to mess up.

I spent twenty minutes explaining how to run a performance analysis on a major client’s social platforms. You make it all look so easy, she told me once we were done.

It’s okay. You’ll get it, too.

I hope so, she said, rising to leave. And thanks again for doing this. I know you’re busy. It’s just that Lila is always talking about how great you were. I figured I’d rather check with you first before making a mistake.

Give it time.

She thanked me again before leaving. It was nice to hear that Lila thought so highly of me in my old role because my new one was intimidating as hell. Though I still reported to Lila, it was in a completely different capacity. I was one of several project managers on a team that reported to her.

I was relatively new, which meant I didn’t have any big clients; I mainly had small companies with small advertising budgets. That didn’t matter. They were mine, and when they wanted to launch new social media promotions they called me. It was my job to oversee everything involved in their projects. I developed concepts, assigned tasks to team members, and then managed the whole project to make sure that the client was happy and, above all, that it came in under budget. My current project was to develop a Facebook campaign for a car dealership that operated out of the tri-state area. My team had a meeting scheduled later that day during which I’d have to tell one of them that their first concept, in a word, sucked. That was my least favorite part of the job.

My cell phone vibrated against my office desk. I checked the display screen to find Patrick had sent a text message.

Pizza OK? We have enough cooking 2 do next week. xoxo

Fine with me. xoxo

He was right; we did have more than enough cooking to do next week as it was Thanksgiving and we were having two of them. Yes, two Thanksgivings, and they were Patrick’s idea. We hadn’t told many people that our relationship had changed. I’d told Crystal, and Patrick had confided in Paul, but that was about it. We were living in this cocoon, in our own little world. That world was about to be infiltrated by Thanksgiving around the corner and my mother’s visit looming. She’d long since gotten over her reservations about me living with a man. She understood that when Patrick moved in it had been a necessity; I needed a roommate and I couldn’t afford the rent alone. After a while she was just relieved that there was a man in the apartment.

However, she was not aware that her only child was now romantically involved with this man. Patrick and I had a decision to