Another Time: A Love Story

By Kaitlyn Allen Hart

Viscount Darius loved Natalia for years. He kept searching for the right time to tell her. Life events kept tearing them apart. Convinced another time better than the present, he doesn't disclose his true feelings until it is almost too late. Then, to save an innocent child, they deny their feelings. Natalia braves the threat of death to save the child and Darius. Will they discover everlasting love? Or must they wait for another time?

Learn how Viscount Darius Colin and Dr. Natalia Brooks confront threats on their lives from the Parker crime family. Kaitlyn Allen Hart submerges the reader in yet another tale of love, suspense, and desire.

 

Enjoy this novella, Another Time: A Love Story, and become immersed in the maze of relationships fraught with conflicts of love, duty, and desire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mountainview Press, LLC
• Release date: Mar 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215943311

Kaitlyn Allen Hart

Kaitlynn Allen Hart has published thirteen romance novels with several in development. She wrote a series called Royal Persuasions with the first book subtitle being Say Yes to Love. She is currently working on other series and always developing new and inspiring ideas. When working on a new book, it fills her mind with plots, characters, actions, and even the individual words the characters say. An introvert at heart, Kaitlyn has a doctorate and always reads romance novels, her favorite genre. She used to sit before the fire or curl up in chair and read the night away, lost in the characters. About fifteen years ago, she started writing her own stories and only recently began publishing some of her books. Get her newsletter and a free book: The Frenchman's Proposal at https://www.kaitlynallenhart.com/ and never miss a new release.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Can you fall in love in an instant? At another time, another place, with another man, was love possible? Three days before the wedding and Natalia understood she couldn’t marry Matthew Parker. The Parker family suffocated her with their demands. Every detail was to their precise instructions, and Matthew saw nothing wrong in adjusting the wedding plans to please his parents. After all, his family was paying for the wedding, not Natalia, breaking the tradition the bride pays for the wedding. Matthew wanted everyone happy. However, he overlooked his bride and her wishes, a warning sign she tried to ignore.

Natalia Brooks met the up-and-coming attorney at a chance party. Invited to serve the guests to make some extra money for school, Natalia bumped into Matthew by accident, spilling a cocktail tray into his lap. He jumped up from a table in anger and the minute he gazed into startled deep brown eyes; he stopped. I am so sorry, sir, Natalia said, handing him linen napkins to dab up the mess. She refused to touch his person, but helped as best she could with dry towels.

In his charismatic style, he said, No problem, but since you destroyed my pants and I look like a child suffering from a personal accident, best you sit down and explain your behavior while this stain dries.

Explain my behavior? Her dark eyes widened and long, lush lashes fluttered with the directive. Oh, you mean spilling the tray. Since the party was at his home and he was the official host and her employer, she grimaced, examining the best answer. She didn’t want to disclose the blustering man with large hands pinched her on the bottom, setting off a chain of mishaps. He pinched, she jerked, and the tray tipped. But those were the facts. So, she made a choice and chose the truth. I took this job to make extra money for college, medical school to be exact, but this man behind me with the big mouth, slobbering words, and roving hands pinched me. I’m sorry. I wanted to slap him, but restrained the impulse. When I turned to confront his personal assault, the tray slipped, and she motioned to his pants. I apologize for the mishap.

Jake Tapper was a player, making unkept promises to girls, and changing females in his bed each week. A miracle, he avoided contacting some transmitted disease because of his rotating sexual partners. Monogamy never would be one of his attributes. A disgusting manipulator and liar, he viewed women as objects for one purpose, stroking his sexual libido. The attack on the petite, dark brunette server was uncalled for at a party thrown by the Parker family to honor their son. Jake, you jerk. Apologize to this young lady!

Jake turned and glared at Natalia, showing she was not worth his time of day. What? You want me to apologize? Come on, Matthew, give me a break. She is a server, not a duchess or Queen of England, for God’s sake. Natalia Brooks was another girl to tempt into his bed for an hour or two, stealing another adrenaline rush. Everyone knew the hired help craved to elevate their lifestyles, and Jake Tapper was the son of a billionaire. With the public façade created by his financial status, he used this knowledge to physical advantage, leaving behind a string of unwanted and mistreated women. Six feet tall, his lean, dark appearance a contrast to Matthew’s fairer complexion and blond hair. He towered over Natalia. She refused to be degraded by the intoxicated man. Wealth didn’t matter to her, manners did.

No apology is necessary, sir. Natalia said to Matthew. With a sweet smile, she took one cool drink chilled with ice cubes, strode over to Jake Tapper. As he nuzzled her, she pulled at his pants waistline, and dumped the cool drink where he least expected it. Jake screamed out as the cool liquid soaked his pants, shrinking his personal prowess, and Matthew laughed until tears rolled down his face. While the guests huddled around in groups stopped talking to view the disruption, Natalia brushed aside the man shrieking with discomfort, head held high, and marched out the front door of the multi-million dollar mansion, never looking back. She didn’t leave through the kitchen door where the help entered and exited. Instead, she barged out the front door. Impressive, thought Matthew. This young woman was quite impressive. He didn’t think she was older than twenty-five, but her self-defense mechanisms with quick thinking interested him.

Natalia didn’t slam the front door, but wanted to slam it, blocking out the disgusting people partying inside. The excessive alcohol, bad jokes, and personal assault were unexpected since her vision of elite society failed to depict their actual behavior. Forget the extra few bucks she would have earned. Nothing was worth a personal insult, treating her as if she was a prostitute. She ripped off the server apron and tossed it to the pavement, hiking it down the long-paved drive to the front gates. By the time she reached the front gates, Matthew cornered her. Miss Brooks, please let me pay you for your work this evening.

No, thank you.

But you said the money earned was to help with school, medical school.

That’s true. Medical textbooks are quite expensive, but I will get by. I can’t accept. Again, she surprised him by refusing to take the money. I never finished the job and I couldn’t accept. Plus, I ruined your pants and cooled off your friend.

It was worth it to see Jake squirm a little. He forgets his place and manners sometimes, refusing to accept responsibility for his actions. A great guy when sober, but too often he drinks too much, and the alcohol drives his manners or, I guess, tonight lack of manners.

No doubt, she said, arms crossed in a defensive posture, rocking back and forth on her heels. The night air was cool, and she left her coat in the kitchen, refusing to go back inside the home to retrieve it. The weather forecast projected a temperature drop into the thirties, but Natalia would rather freeze than go back into that house.

His family owns the Tapper Mills and being the spoiled son, he forgets social limits. His father bales him out of problems, so Jake shrugs everything off and keeps on making messes, never learning from errors in judgment. With his father being so successful, Jake lacks confidence to follow his example, so he covers up a personal lack of confidence with a bottle.

There is no excuse for his parasitic approach toward women. Why do you associate with a jerk like that? Matthew Parker, blond hair, blue eyes, an attractive, well-spoken man dressed in a tailored suit which was dreamy until she spilled drinks across his lap. Not the typical male Natalia met, and it surprised her when he spoke in a non-condescending manner, even chasing after her down the driveway when it was clear she had disrupted the swanky party.

My parents are long-time friends of his father. We grew up together, attended the same schools, same soccer teams, same charities.

Same girls?

Wow! You are direct, aren’t you? He took a step back at the insult. The lady was an unexpected dynamo for one so petite. He directed the security guard to open the gate, and said, Goodnight, Miss Brooks. She turned to leave through the wrought-iron gate, when powerful hands drew her backward. Within seconds, thrust into his embrace, Matthew kissed this most entrancing young woman. The kiss, rough, hard, payment for the insult, transformed into a sensual experience, causing Natalia to step closer and desire more, much more. Sheltered from the cold night air in his strong arms, his kiss warmed her lips and ignited her body. She felt his physical response and pushed closer. They each wanted to touch and be touched. His hands roved over her body, down to her waist as her arms reach up around his neck. Another kiss, deeper this time, saw them losing control as the security guards watched. It took a few minutes before Natalia gathered her wits, shoved him away and strode out the gate without a word. The woman was amazing, Matthew thought, and now he wanted to spend time getting to know her as a person and the luscious, petite body. That was the beginning of the mistake with Matthew Parker.

A month later at school, Natalia was summoned to the president’s office. Fees were overdue, and she expected to be expelled from the medical school program. There was no way to pay the extra clinical fees. She tried for weeks to earn the extra money. Dressed in dark green slacks and a matching blouse with a light brown jacket, as she walked toward the president’s office, each step more difficult to take than the last. With a deep sigh, head high, shoulders back, she entered the office, and she heard the president speaking with another man. No problem. I am happy to help your family.

She stepped up to the receptionist. I am Natalia Brooks with a noon appointment.

Yes, Miss Brooks, please wait one moment. The receptionist buzzed and introduced her arrival. As she waited, Natalia gazed around the office and tried to act calm, although inside she was anything but calm. For five years, she worked her way through school. The fees were exorbitant, but with the money she inherited from her parents, she was surviving. Her parents were killed in an airplane crash. They traveled to spend time with her brother, who was in the Army and stationed in Germany. This flight overseas was their first time to fly. They were so excited about the trip and discussed it at least a hundred times. Passports, new luggage, and identifying clothes to pack were topics of discussion for weeks. Her brother ended his tour in the service and he wanted them to fly over and see the world. The plan was for her parents and brother to fly back to the States together. They landed in Germany, spent two weeks with her brother. Her parents and brother were booked on the same flight back to the States. An engine caught fire, and the plane crashed