Birthday Boy: The Birthday Romance Series, #2

By Rachel Rinetti

Birthday Boy: Book Two in The Birthday Romance Series. 

Two broken hearts. One undeniable attraction. 

Angie never expected her husband to dump her two weeks before Christmas. With a holiday already booked in Gumtree Plains, she decides to get out of the city and go alone. 

Liam is in no mood for a summer fling after watching his ex-girlfriend marry his ex-best mate. He just wants to relax at his family's farm in Gumtree Plains for the festive season. 

Despite their best intentions, Angie and Liam's lives cross paths after an unfortunate accident. And neither can deny the chemistry between them.

As they embark on their own journeys of discovery, they begin to heal each other. 

But the real world is never far behind. Fate may have brought them together. Will reality tear them apart? 

Birthday Boy is the second book in The Birthday Romance Seriesby Rachel Rinetti. For the best reading experience, it is recommended you first read Birthday Girl. 

Other books in the series: 
Book 1, Birthday Girl 
Book 3, Birthday Wish

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rachel Rinetti
• Release date: Jul 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386816331

Rachel Rinetti

Rachel Rinetti is a collector of stories, teller of adventures and lover of life.  From a young age, she loved telling stories and taking people on a journey. As an adult, Rachel has never lost her love for storytelling and writes about love, loss, grief and triumph. 

Book preview

Chapter one

THE PHONE ALMOST SLIPPED through Angie’s fingers, like butter gliding across warm toast.

‘What do you mean you’re not coming home? I’m at the Canberra airport. Your flight was meant to arrive twenty minutes ago,’ she said as she glared at the digital watch on her wrist.

‘I’m still in Hawaii.’ The words slapped across her face like the dry heat of summer air.

‘Hawaii?’ None of it made sense to Angie. Her husband was meant to be waiting at the airport with his luggage at four o’clock sharp.

‘Was there a delay? Is that why you’re not here?’

‘Look, there’s no easy way to say this, Angie. But ... I met someone.’

Angie clutched at her chest as the flurry of people moved around her, in and out of the airport. Some hugged their loved ones, some kissed, and some even cried. It was Christmas time. Of course families were hugging their loved ones. It was what people did at this time of year. Yet instead of seeing her husband for the first time in two weeks, she’d been stood up.

A spark of heat struck through Angie’s collarbone and shot up her neck. It was happening again. All over again. Craig had broken her heart and crushed her soul only a few years earlier. And now, another cheating scumbag had reared his ugly head and she was paying the price.

He met someone?

‘What the fuck, Michael?’ It was all she could muster. The people hugging their loved ones stopped their chatter and turned to stare. Their critical eyes were the last thing Angie cared about.

She’d married Michael only two months earlier. They were still in the honeymoon phase. Still on the trend of having sex twice a day. It was orgasms galore, mornings of post-coital bliss. Now he was telling her he’d met someone else?

‘Angie, I’m sorry. Maybe we rushed into things too soon.’ His voice crackled over the phone. Angie pressed the phone closer to her ear. 

‘Coming over here has given me some time to think. A lot of time.’

‘Hmm, and perhaps some time screw around with someone else who isn’t your wife!’

‘Angie, come on.’

‘Come on? Really, Michael? You said a minute ago it was too soon for us. It’s a bit late to tell me this, don’t you think? I’ve already changed my last name and altered all my identity documents. Do you know how much grief it is to get a new passport? A new licence? Do you know how much our wedding cost! My dress was a one-off, hand-made lace piece from Italy I’ll never get to wear again.’ Heat sparked through her chest again and her lungs began to close in.

‘Why do you care how much the wedding cost? You didn’t even pay for it.’

Angie drew in a sharp breath. The cost of their wedding wasn’t the point. Being married was all Angie had wanted for so long. She’d wanted a husband, to start a family. Someone to stand by her side and take away the loneliness of this ugly, cruel world.

‘You cheated on me after two months of marriage. How could you do this to me?’

He didn’t answer the question. 

‘And don’t you dare try and turn this around on me and act like those vows meant nothing. Is there more than one, Michael? How many others have you screwed while we’ve been together?’ Angie was well aware Michael was entitled and arrogant. According to him, he deserved all the good things in life. And when he wanted something, he chased it relentlessly until he got his way. It was why Angie had married him. Michael had chased her, wooed her, until he got what he wanted. And now she was left to pick up the pieces of their broken relationship.

‘We’re supposed to be spending a week at Gumtree Plains in the Snowy Mountains. I rented a holiday house and we leave tonight. Am I supposed to cancel the booking?’

‘I don’t know, go up with there with Lizzie and have a girl’s weekend.’

‘At Christmas? She’s got her own family and responsibilities, I can’t ask her to drop everything for me. You, on the other hand—’

‘Angie, look. I’ve had a lot of time to think and this isn’t going to work between us.’ He paused. ‘I’ll reimburse you for the booking.’

Angie almost had to pick up her jaw from the floor. Michael had a hide. This wasn’t some business transaction he could throw money at to finalise.

‘This is supposed to be our first Christmas together as a married couple. We didn’t get a proper honeymoon because of your work schedule. I need this holiday.’ She loved her job. It was what got her out of bed each morning and gave her life purpose. But even Angie wasn’t immune to the inevitable burnout resulting from the long-hours and demands of being a solicitor.

Angie was met with silence.

‘Look, Angie, I have to go. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ve got my lawyers drafting up papers for the divorce.’

The call ended.

That was it? After two months of marriage, all he had to say was he wanted a divorce? What he was doing wasn’t even legal. They had to be separated for twelve months before a court would even consider a divorce application. She pressed the call button again and waited for him to pick up. It went straight to voicemail.

Angie couldn’t contain the sizzling heat rising up her chest. She flung the smartphone across the airport with all her strength. It connected with the shiny white tiles and slid across the surface.

‘Ma’am. Is everything alright?’

Angie looked over her shoulder as the tears bubbled in her eyes. A stranger in a red airline uniform stared. The woman’s perfect blonde hair was pulled back in a slick ponytail and her neatly pressed shirt and pencil skirt forced Angie’s inferiority complex to rise from the ashes.

‘No, not really. I’ll survive though.