It's a Fugly Life
Fugly #2
By: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Releasing October
11, 2016
Self-Published
Self-Published
Blurb
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff, Comes a New Standalone Contemporary Romance.
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff, Comes a New Standalone Contemporary Romance.
HE’S
PERFECT FOR HER IN EVERY WAY, EXCEPT FOR ONE SMALL ISSUE. HE’S TOO LATE.
My name is Lily Snow. And I was once the
kind of ugly that turned heads and made people stare. The worst part was how I
let it ruin my life and destroy my relationship with the love of my
life—Maxwell Cole, one of the sexiest, wealthiest, enigmatic men on the planet.
All because I felt ugly and certainly
not good enough for a man’s love.
But not anymore.
One car wreck, three reconstructive
surgeries, and some unexpected money have changed my life.
I’ve started my own company, I’ve finally
learned to like myself—not love, but like (hey, it’s a journey)—and I’ve met a
wonderful new man who’s helped me put Max in the past where he belongs.
There’s only one problem: After six long
months, Maxwell Cole is back, asking for the one thing I can’t give him. And
he’s not taking no for an answer.
NOTE: This is a continuation of the story
FUGLY, but is a standalone.
“So you said
yes.” I could practically see the steam rising off the top of Max’s head of messy
brown hair. Perfectly messy, of course, because Max demanded perfection in
everything he did.
“No.” I had
needed time to think. “But I will. Tonight.”
A long moment
passed while Max stared into my eyes. “Then you have to wait.”
“Why would I do
that?” Patricio loved me. I loved Patricio. No, as I explained, it wasn’t the
same type of love I once had with Max, but for as long as I breathed, I would
never love anyone like that. But that was because the evolution of our
relationship had been unlike anything else. Like many women, I first thought of
Max as the indescribably sexy and driven man who appeared in all of those
steamy ads for his company. Naked. Hand covering the goods. Ripped from head to
toe. Words could not describe how much I worshipped him. Then we’d met when I
interviewed for a sales position at his company, and I caught a glimpse of his
ugly side. I hated the man. I hated how he looked at me, I hated looking at
him, and I hated how he made me feel like the ugliest creature on the planet. Then
he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and talked me into working for him. After
that, we started to really see each other and ourselves for who we were.
I fell hard for
him.
But Max and I
had ended in self-destruction. Me with my ugly problems and him with his. Oh
yes, that man had issues. Big, scary issues with fangs and wiry hair and an ice
pick. We were so tainted by our fucking hang-ups that we were bound to end in a
blazing fire of hurt. That had been the one sane thought I’d clung to these past
six months: we were bad for each other, and it never would’ve worked. It didn’t
matter how much I loved him or he loved me.
“You owe me,
Lily.” Max’s nostrils flared a bit.
I frowned. “I
owe you what?”
“You took
everything from me—my company, my sanity, and my peace of mind.”
Whoa.
“According to you—two seconds ago—you didn’t want your company anymore, and
before I came along, you were a slave to your…secret,” I whispered that last
word. I don’t know why exactly, since it wasn’t a secret anymore. Max’s
perfection-obsessed mother had psychologically abused him and his older sister,
causing him to believe that anything unaesthetically pleasing was a cancer. His
secret disorder was called cacophobia. He would experience extreme anxiety at
the sight of ugliness. It sounded kind of funny until you were at the receiving
end of that disgust or understood how hard it had made his life. His own sister
had disowned them all, likely to save herself. Last I’d heard, Max was trying
to find her.
As for his
disorder? I had been Max’s antidote. His desensitization therapy. Which was why
he’d hired me. Okay—it was part of the reason. He believed in me and wanted to
help me find my confidence. And while my outsides made him break out in a cold
sweat, he found my insides irresistible. He eventually overcame his aversion,
and we shared a few days of magic. Bliss. Heaven. Yes, for a few short moments
we both believed we’d had a future together, without our uglies.
We’d been
wrong.
“Lily.” He
gripped my shoulders. “We both know where this will go. Why make us suffer any
more than we already have?”
“I don’t know
what you mean.”
“I love you.
More than anything, and I know you feel the same. So why put yourself or
Patricio through any unnecessary turmoil?”
I felt enraged
by his presumptive nature. He didn’t own me. He knew nothing about what I’d
been through. There was no way in hell I’d risk getting hurt like that again by
him. Nope. Nuh-uh. I’d rather have a do-over of my face getting mangled—it
would hurt less.
“I think you’re
going to have to accept the truth, Max. We. Are. Over. I am marrying Patricio.”
“No. You
won’t.”
“Says who?” I
asked.
“Me.”
I laughed.
He squeezed my
shoulders firmly. “I know you, Lily. I know the smell of your darkest fears and
the sound of your happiest laugh. I know how your heart beats faster when I
kiss that little spot at the base of your neck.” He leaned down to whisper in
my ear, “And I know how your pussy feels when you can’t get enough of my hard
cock.”
I jerked back
and stared into his hazel eyes, unable to deny a single shocking word. “Your
point?”
He slid his
hand behind the back of my head and kissed me hard. His lips were punishing.
His tongue was hot. His body told me he was ready for war and taking no
prisoners.
Goddammit! I missed
his soft lips. They felt like perfection against my mouth.
He pulled back,
leaving me breathless. “My point, Lily, is that I own you. Not because I’m a
possessive asshole, but because you already gave yourself to me.”
He was
overlooking how he’d turned me away when I groveled at his perfect feet and
begged for forgiveness. I have suffered and suffered and suffered some more.
I’m done suffering. I was not about to invite that horrific breed of
vulnerability into my life. Never again.
I walked out of
the back room and weaved my way between my display tables to the front door.
Max followed
closely behind. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I pushed the
door open and stepped to the side. “This is the only thing I’ve got to offer,
Max. The exit. And don’t come back.”
He smiled,
walked straight for me, and stopped with less than a foot between us. “You’re
mine, Lily, and you can pretend otherwise, but it won’t change the fact:
Patricio doesn’t love you like I do and he never will.”
I held up my
left hand to show my engagement ring. “He says otherwise. And so do I.”
Max shook his
head. “Marketing, Lily. It’s all about marketing.” He turned and left, leaving
my mind to wonder what he’d meant.
Goodreads Series Link:
Author
Info
Mimi
lives with her Latin Lover hubby, two pirates-in-training (their boys), and the
rat terrier duo, Snowflake and Mini Me, in Arizona. She hopes to make you laugh
when you need it most and continues to pray daily that leather pants will make
a big comeback for men
Author Links:
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Mimi Contemporary Romance packs (Fugly, Fug2, HPC, Tailored+ SWAG) and 10
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