The Sweetest Surprise: Quickies, #1

By Livia Lang

Emily's boyfriend is going to dump her. At least, that is what she's been convinced. He is acting incredibly strange, keeping secrets and lying about money. Worst of all, with Valentine's Day coming up, he might dump her on her favorite holiday! 

However, things are not as they appear. Her thoughtful boyfriend actually has a sweet secret up his sleeve. With Emily freaking out, will he be able to keep his lips shut until the big day? 
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This is an 8,000 word romantic short story. It is the perfect length to read while at the gym or waiting for the laundry to finish. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Livia Lang
• Release date: Sep 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393281290

Book preview

1

Emily’s boyfriend was going to break up with her. Or, at least that was the impending disaster that all the signs pointed towards. The worst part? Valentine’s Day was approaching, and she had a feeling he would drop the bombshell on one of her favorite holidays.

It had started about two weeks earlier, when Jason had suddenly become quiet and withdrawn. At first, Emily had thought he was distracted by work. After all, he seemed to be taking a lot of extra emails and calls at night in their home office, and his tech firm had always demanded long hours. So she wasn’t immediately concerned when he’d disappear to his desk all evening. However, other foreboding signs soon began to pile up.

For the first time, he had forbidden her from touching his computer in the office. In fact, he had started locking the door! This was particularly annoying since her sewing machine was in that room, and he had completely blocked her from quilting. He shut down any of her attempts to talk about the situation.

He had also started sneaking away from the house during the weekend and refusing to say where he was going. He would slip out of bed early in the morning, and creep away out through the garage door. Whenever she caught him, he would say he was going on a run. However, he never seemed to be wearing his running shoes for these ‘runs’.

Worst of all, she had noticed the money in their savings account decreasing in small increments. He kept making up excuses for money emergencies, such as forgetting to pack his lunch and having to eat out, but it seemed like a lot of cash was suddenly gone. The idea that he had developed a sudden and serious cocaine habit was becoming an uncomfortable possibility.

To say that all of this was out of character for Jason would have been a grand understatement. He not only prided himself in honesty and openness, but she had long held a suspicion that he had some genetic abnormality that physically prevented him from lying. From their very first date, he had spent the last three years dragging Emily – kicking and screaming – out of her emotional shell and into the happiest, healthiest relationship she had ever been in. She was painfully shy, but being around him and his honesty had allowed her to slowly open up.

His sudden personality change and clandestine activities were giving her emotional whiplash and a very nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had spent several long nights in a row