Pure Romance Collection Part One: 4 Sweet Romance Short Stories.

By Elizabeth Reed

Pure Romance Collection Part One: 4 Sweet Romance Short Stories.

Please note that each of these stories can be bought as a standalone separate story.

Total word count 23,267.

To Love a Difficult Man
Natalie works as a personal assistant for Sam Stewart, a famous and successful artist. Sam has always been difficult to work and live with, but Natalie is grateful to him for giving her the job, which has provided her with valuable work experience and an opportunity to travel the world. But now after two years, Natalie wants to leave Sam’s employment and plan for her long-term future.
Sam is not impressed by her resignation, and tells her as much! Used to getting his way in all things, he is taken by surprise when Natalie challenges his wishes.
Then to make their relationship even more complicated, they share a passionate moment in New York, which changes things between them.
Will Natalie be able to acknowledge the real reason why she wants to put as much distance between Sam and herself? And will Sam admit what’s behind his deep frustration and do something about it... before it’s too late?

The Persistent Billionaire

Joshua Fisher is a billionaire businessman who, without fail, every week eats at Karen and her father’s café. Over time, Karen has become on more familiar terms with Joshua, although she is keen to keep him at arm’s length whenever she feels unsettled by his presence.
But now she can no longer avoid a confrontation with Joshua as he proposes to buy out her father from his business, which has been a labour of love and hard work for her Dad for over twenty years. Karen’s father becomes distressed with the news, with the result that Karen sees no alternative but to march to Joshua’s office and appeal to him to forget about his plans, despite the fact that Joshua has an annoying habit of unnerving her at the best of times.
Now Karen is to find that by letting her guard down and facing Joshua directly, she has opened up a new exciting opportunity that may just lead to her own happiness!

Husband Material

Richard and Caroline have been friends for many years now, having once been very close when they lived together as flat mates.
As the years have gone by and they have stayed in contact, Richard finally realises that Caroline means a lot to him: She is the only woman that he has ever loved and cared about. All he has to do now is convince Caroline to his own way of thinking and win her over!
Richard’s mission will not be easy. Caroline already has set notions about him not being husband material. But even she cannot deny the mental and physical chemistry that they share between them. And it may be only a matter of time before she realises her own true feelings!

Running from Mr Adonis
Christina is totally in awe of Gregory Brown aka Mr Adonis. Every time she is near him, she is reduced to a giddy teenager, which makes things slightly awkward for her as his personal shopper! Now even more nerve wracking, she has accepted an invitation to his exclusive party. There, she competes with her friend Becky, who is equally smitten with Gregory, to win his attention.
What follows from the party leaves Christina completely confused. Gregory makes a confession that he has fallen hard for her, after seeing her from the shop window where she works some time ago. But how can his declaration be true, after Becky makes it known to her that Gregory spent the night with her and the next morning! Could Gregory really be a liar and womaniser?
With her preference for an easier, drama free life, can Christina really let her defences down and run away from the intense feelings that appear to exist between both Gregory and her, and instead accept them and fight for a possible future together?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Reed
• Release date: Jul 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311672506

Elizabeth Reed

As long as I can remember I have always loved everything and anything to do with the romance genre. Enjoying writing, reading and watching a wide range of love stories. I am a true romantic at heart! So after studying for a philosophy degree and then going on to work in a corporate job in advertising, I decided to reconnect with my passion again! I now write mainly romance short stories, with the aim to share all of my ideas with others who also have an interest in romantic fiction. I write in a range of romance subgenres including erotic romance, contemporary, sweet, paranormal/fantasy fiction and historical. I hope to continue writing as long as my ideas keep flowing out from my mind. In early 2014 I experienced my own personal love story, when I married my one true love. I now live together with my husband in London.

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Pure Romance Collection: Part One (4 Sweet Romance Stories)

By Elizabeth Reed

Published by Elizabeth Reed at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Elizabeth Reed

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To Love a Difficult Man

Chapter 1

‘Natalie, where are my brown shoes?’

Natalie ran down the stairs knowing there was only a short time till he exploded. She would need to act fast to prevent it.

She scanned the front room before fixing her gaze on a pair of brown shoes under a desk. She picked them up and walked over to where the man stood by the front door.

‘Here they are, Sam! They were under your desk.’

‘Oh, were they? I was looking everywhere for them.’ He took them out of her hands without a single word of gratitude.

‘Are you going out to an event?’

‘No, just out for some drinks with some friends and sponsors. I wouldn’t have bothered if I had it my way, but it pays, I guess, to be nice sometimes,’ he sighed.

‘Will you be out for long?’

‘Natalie, what is it with all these questions? You’re acting like one of my ex-girlfriends trying to keep track of me, and you know how that winds me up!’

‘Sorry, Sam. I was just asking because I wanted to speak to you about a particular matter. Perhaps I can have a word now if you’re going to be out for a while?’

‘Natalie, I am sure it can wait. I’ll see you when I get back and I’m running late as it is. This little chat of ours will only set me back even further.’

‘Ok, sorry. I’ll speak to you when you get back then. Bye, Sam.’

With that, he opened the door to leave, muttering a complaint about women always wanting to talk and his joy that he was not tied down with a wife.

Some people might have perceived Sam to be rude walking out without a goodbye. But Natalie had come to know Sam reasonably well over these last two years as his PA. His temperamental behaviour came to her as no surprise. After all, he was the great Sam Stewart, the famous artist. He had had successful shows all across the globe, spoken and brushed shoulders with other rich and fabulous people. He was admired for his talent and his great works, having many fans in awe of him. With all this admiration, of course it had become easy for him to forget his manners at times. He could do no wrong with such a talent, and no one would dare call him up on his behaviour.

Not even Natalie, who could admit to herself that she too was partly affected by his powerful aura. She remembered when she had come to the interview over two years ago. A naturally shy girl, she had been almost speechless as she handed the handsome, sophisticated man her resume. He had scanned through the information on the sheet of paper quickly, asking a few questions about her previous job posts. She had replied in short, precise answers, not wanting to speak at length, lest he notice her shaky voice and lack of confidence. So it had been very awkward when he put her resume down on the table and stared at her with his penetrating deep blue eyes, trying to assess her directly.

‘You don’t talk a lot,’ she remembered him saying.

‘No, sir. Will that be a problem?’

‘No, no, not at all, I actually think there is a lot to be said about silence, and only speaking when you need to. Better than mumbling on about mindless rubbish like so many people do these days. And of course I need silence when I’m working; that is hugely important to me.’

Natalie nodded. ‘You can be confident in the fact that I will not distract you from making your great works.’

Sam raised an eyebrow at her compliment, now understanding he was in the presence of a fan. But he did not ask Natalie what she knew about him or his work.

‘You are much younger than I wanted for the position.’

‘I am twenty-six, Mr Stewart.’

‘You can call me Sam; no need to be too formal here… And you understand I am looking for a PA that will be able to move into this house to live and travel with me? The job is not a nine to five; you will not necessarily be working regular hours. I can be quite demanding at times. I will let you know that now.’

Natalie nodded. ‘Yes, Sam, I understand.’

‘Okay. Well, I have a good feeling about you… So when can you start?’

Natalie was really shocked to be accepted for the job so quickly, but knew instinctively not to question her good fortune in front of him.

‘I can start in two weeks. If that’s okay?’

‘How about next week?’ He looked at her, perhaps wondering if she would challenge him.

‘No problem. I’ll move in and start work next week, as you wish.’

With that, they both stood up and shook hands on it, to seal the deal.

Natalie could not believe her luck at the time. She was PA to the brilliant Sam Stewart! She was excited to be working with such a great man. And the travel too – something she had not done much of before.

Sam had been true to his word when he said the job would be demanding. He was a difficult employer, who needed Natalie’s complete attention, asking her to finish tasks for him at literally any hour of the day. Natalie never complained, though, and always remained quietly cheerful whether she was planning for one of his gallery openings or organising his grocery shopping for the week. As she would always remind herself when Sam was at his most difficult, this was a fantastic experience. And she was saving up for her future.

However, all good things eventually had to come to an end. She sighed as she sat waiting for Sam by the front door. She looked at her watch, noting that it was just about to turn midnight. She had been determined to speak to him today, but reconsidered now. Perhaps it would be better to catch him tomorrow; after all, she had no idea when he would be coming back home.

She was just about to go to bed when she heard a bang outside the