Finding Bliss: The Moore Family Book 1 Read online

  Praise for Abby Brooks

  “Abby Brooks is a wizard with Beyond Us—entertaining and pure enjoyment!”

  Adriana Locke—USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author

  “A masterful blend of joy and angst.

  Praise for Abby Brooks

  “As a voracious reader it is not unusual for me to read 5-7 books per week. What is unusual is for me to be thinking about the writing and characters long after I've finished the book. With just the perfect amount of angst and remarkable character development, Abby Brooks has crafted a masterpiece…”

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  "A lovely story of growing beyond your past, taking control of your life, and allowing yourself to be loved for the person you are."

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  “Abby Brooks writes books that draw readers right into the story. When you read about her characters, you want them to be your friends.”

  Praise for Abby Brooks

  Finding Bliss

  The Moore Family Book 1

  Abby Brooks

  Copyright © 2020 by Abby Brooks

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Faking Bliss Sneak Peek

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Also by Abby Brooks

  Connect With Abby Brooks

  Chapter One

  Juliet

  Juliet Lane had to pee. In fact, she’d had to pee for the last sixty miles or so, but each rest stop she passed seemed more remote than the last.

  Considering her circumstances, she wasn’t in the mood for remote.

  Not one little bit.

  Hell, at that point, not even mildly populated would do. She wanted bright lights. Tons of visibility. And people around her. Lots of people. After surviving the last couple months, she wasn’t about to give another asshole the chance to make her his victim.

  “Isn’t that right, Lulu?” She singsonged to the Yorkshire terrier in the seat next to her, smiling happily. “No more dominant jerks for us.”

  God, it felt good to say that and mean it, Juliet thought as she fortified her bladder and returned her attention to the road. The next rest area would be everything she needed. She just knew it.

  Up until recently, her self-sufficient streak ensured she’d never been dependent on anyone, let alone put herself in a position to be someone’s victim. Enter Peter Vox, CEO of Tech Lord, the newest, biggest, and best in technology today. Cutting edge tech for those in the know! At least according to the Tech Lord slogan.

  Peter certainly said it enough, spouting it at every meeting, every press conference, even going so far as to put himself into every commercial. Always leaning back in his pretentious leather chair in his office on the bajillionteenth floor of one of the tallest buildings in New York City. The commercials screamed sex (and power) with Peter’s gray eyes blazing into the camera. His blonde hair impeccably styled. The floor-to-ceiling windows behind him sparkling with the lights of the city.

  No doubt about it, panties got wet across America every time he was on screen.

  There’d been a time when Juliet herself melted into a puddle of barely comprehensible woman simply because he looked at her. But that was in the beginning—those feelings faded sharply as she got to know him. After everything that happened between them, she felt nothing but relief to have a few hundred miles of highway between her and the city. Between her, Peter Vox, and his fashionably twitchy palm.

  It seemed like every woman in the world was fantasizing about having a super-hot billionaire boyfriend of her own. One who knew what he wanted and had the balls to reach out and take without waiting for permission. Throw in a touch of sadism with a dash of cold and domineering and you had the perfect recipe with which to ‘explore your sexuality.’

  Juliet had been excited—okay, she’d been downright ecstatic—when Peter slid that contract across the boardroom table for her to sign. Heart racing, she ticked off her list of hard and soft limits while they discussed rules and safe words. She’d always liked her sex a little rough and there she was, presented with the chance to really let down her hair and walk on the wild side.

  To hand control over to someone bigger than her.

  Someone stronger than her.

  To allow him to take her on some marvelous sexual journey of self-exploration.

  But life wasn’t like the movies and BDSM wasn’t the fun and games pop culture had her believing.

  At least not when your partner lost control...

  Shit got real, then. Fast.

  She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, then checked her mirrors before making herself smile. Positivity was a habit and smiling was the first step. Peter Vox didn’t have power over her anymore. She’d taken it back for herself when she packed her car and left the city that morning. Wasting any more time worrying about him (or their past) was just another way of handing the reins right back to him. She’d taken precautions. He’d never find her. Her life was hers again and the freedom tasted sublime.

  So what if she didn’t know where she was going?

  So what if she didn’t have a plan?

  She’d fake it till she made it.

  Even if that idea scared her to death.

  Lulu looked at her expectantly, panting in the pool of early spring sunlight that blazed through the passenger window. The little dog probably needed a pitstop even more than Juliet did.

  “We’ll stop at the very next one,” she promised. Lulu dropped her head to her paws and Juliet checked the rearview mirror one more time.

  He’s not back there, she chided herself. He’s probably just now figuring out you’re gone and there’s no way he’ll know where you are. He’s rich, but he’s not Batman.

  Twenty miles later, Juliet finally found a rest area and pulled off at the exit, stretching as she straightened out of the driver’s seat. Despite the evening hour, heat radiated off her car and shimmered above the pavement. That morning, frost had glittered on the road as she left the city, but the farther south she drove, the hotter it got. She blinked in the bright light and took a deep breath, then smiled as she ticked one more box off her mental bucket list.

  What did the ocean smell like? Salty. Fishy. Pungent. And green.

/>   Her aching bladder reminded Juliet why she pulled over in the first place. She cracked a window to keep the car cool for the dog and locked the door before she waddle-walked as fast as she could into the restroom. Poor little Lulu was just going to have to wait her turn, and heaven help her if she peed in the car. A few minutes later, she rushed back out to the parking lot, eager for the scent of briny coastal air to replace the overwhelming smell of rural rest stop bathroom. Another car had pulled in while she was inside, a giant boat of a Buick, and Juliet’s confident paced slowed to a hesitant shuffle.

  Heart pounding, she studied the driver.

  Was that a touch of blonde hair…? Were those eyes cold and gray…?

  Her thoughts whirled into panic until she realized what she was doing and let out a laugh.

  Of course that wasn’t Peter. He’d never drive something as mundane as a Buick. Hell, if he was going to make an appearance, he’d do it by landing a helicopter at her feet, wind plastering the grass to the ground and blowing the leaves on the palm trees. Then, after an appropriately dramatic build up, he’d step down from the chopper in his expertly tailored suit with his designer tie flapping freely as he strode toward her, those bedroom eyes gleaming in anticipation of how he’d make her scream an apology when he got her back behind closed doors...

  Juliet shuddered. No more, she chided herself. He doesn’t deserve one. more. thought.

  She got to her car and opened the door, leaned over the driver’s seat, and reached into the back for Lulu’s leash while a tiny old woman heaved the door shut on the Buick and lumbered off toward the bathrooms. As Julz dug through the few boxes she’d been able to pack, looking for the currently AWOL leash, another car pulled in beside the Buick.

  This one was sleek and expensive and gleamed in the evening sun—a power-mobile if she’d ever seen one. She didn’t need to see the driver to know he had something to prove. Probably a class-A jerk with a tiny dick. Giggling to herself, she rolled her eyes. Lord knew she’d dealt with her fair share of those in New York.

  Maybe cut the guy some slack? Don’t judge everyone on the Peter scale of awful.

  With a heavy sigh, Juliet pushed the rest of her small frame as far into the backseat as possible. “I’m sorry, babe,” she said as Lulu put her paws on Juliet’s back. “That silly leash is just gone.”

  She stretched one more time, her ass fully in the air, and found the leash where it had fallen on the floor behind her seat. With a triumphant little “aha!,” she wriggled back into the front seat in time to see the old woman stumble.

  She tripped against the curb.

  Wobbled, arms flailing.

  Then fell heavily to the pavement.

  With a gasp, Juliet threw open the door and raced to help. Lulu bolted out of the car, passing a startled Julz without a backward glance, and kept right on running toward the line of palm trees on a hill that blocked the view of the beach.

  The old woman struggled into a sitting position as Julz screamed for her dog, then crouched to help the stranger to her feet. “Are you all right?”

  “Nothing hurt but my pride, I ‘spect.”

  She offered the woman a hand, heart sinking as her furry friend shrank in the distance, her little legs eating up the ground faster than you could say ‘who wants a treat?’

  “Lulu!” Panic laced Juliet’s voice.

  “Getcher dog,” said the woman with a smile. “I’m tougher’n I look.”

  Eyes on Lulu—who’d started running in circles, barking at something in the grass—Julz kept a hold on the woman until she was on her feet and stable. “You sure you’re okay?” she asked a final time.

  “I’m old. I just bit the dust in front of a stranger…I’m as okay as I’ll ever be.” The woman smiled again and waved her away. “Now go get yer dog ‘fore she reaches the water.”

  Lulu stopped running in circles and disappeared past the row of palm trees. Juliet took off, frantically calling her name. The panic she’d tried to keep at bay finally rose into her throat and tears pricked the corner of her eyes.

  If she lost the darn dog, that might be the last straw.

  Her heart might finally break, and she might actually lose her mind.

  That little pup was one of the few things she still had from life before Peter. One of the few things she’d ever let herself love and the only thing that really loved her back.

  Please let her come back. Please let her come back. Please.

  And then…

  …he stepped out from the row of palms.

  He was gorgeous. Wearing a tux, because obviously. Everything about him was expensive, from his haircut, to his jacket, to his shoes.

  But better than all that…

  Better than the chiseled cheekbones and strong jaw…

  Better than the perfect cut of his suit that showed off the broad shoulders and tapered waist, was the fact that Lulu wriggled in his arms, enthusiastically licking his clean-shaven cheeks.

  Chapter Two

  Juliet

  Juliet slowed to a quick walk and studied the stranger holding Lulu as he approached with a grin on his face…

  His ridiculously handsome face…

  His holy-shit-how-could-he-be-so-completely-perfect face.

  The guy should’ve had background music playing, what with the way the evening sun shone at his back, illuminating his dark hair and athletic body.

  He confidently strode toward Juliet in what seemed like slow motion, his warm smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Lose something?” he asked in a rich baritone.

  Say something, Julz. Close your mouth. Wipe away the drool and speak. You know, the way a normal person would react right now.

  She managed a nod, which seemed moderately more socially acceptable than what she managed just seconds before. She counted it as a win.

  Mr. Handsome held Lulu out for her, an expensive watch poking out from beneath his French cuffs and engraved cufflinks. Everything about the man in front of her screamed high-powered and successful. Well, everything except for the fact that he was at a nearly abandoned rest stop in the middle of Nowhere, South Carolina. That and the easy-going smile halfway through melting Juliet’s heart.

  “Thank you.” She cradled Lulu to her chest and tried not to stare as he ran a hand through his thick, black hair. Her gaze wandered down his torso and, thanks to the hefty coating of sand on his tux, she realized the dog must have made it to the beach.

  “Oh, my gosh! I’m so sorry!” She brushed at the mess without thinking, and then paused as she recognized the hard muscles of a well-defined chest underneath. She patted one firm pec, wondering how many pushups it took to build a chest like that.

  Then, with the force of a thousand lightning bolts of embarrassment, she realized she was petting a stranger in a tux, practically squeezing his chest like she would a cantaloupe at the market.

  Embarrassment pinked her cheek as she slowly lowered her hand.

  How do you even begin to apologize for groping a stranger like a melon?

  With a bemused glance her way, the man brushed at the sand, unbuttoned the jacket and slid it off his shoulders. “It’ll shake right out. Besides,” he said with a lift of his eyebrows and a sexy little quirk of his lips, “wait until you see how much sand is in my shoes.”

  He clicked his feet together as her gaze fell to the mess of sand caked around the laces.

  Juliet laughed nervously as her heart hit her stomach. Who was this guy?

  The kind of men who could afford power cars, gleaming watches, glittering cufflinks, and tuxedos didn’t usually come across as laid-back and understanding. But Mr. Handsome? He seemed so pleasant it almost felt like a trap. Her eyes narrowing, she glanced around the area, just in case the whole thing was a setup.

  Obviously, she found nothing because double obviously, she was being ridiculous.

  Chill out, Julz. Enough with the crazy, already.

  She nuzzled Lulu and smiled over the little dog’s ears at the man who’
d just saved the day. “Well, thank you again.”

  “It’s the least I could do, considering you were busy being a hero yourself.” He glanced over her shoulder toward the Buick.

  Juliet whirled, afraid the stranger had fallen again. The Buick was there, but the old woman was not, so she was either on the ground on the other side of the monstrous car, or had made her way into the restroom.

  “Was she all right?”

  “Hmmm?” Juliet dragged her eyes back to Mr. Handsome.

  “The woman who fell. She okay?” The man arched an eyebrow and gifted Juliet with another magnificent smile before he started walking back toward the parking lot.

  Julz followed. “I think so. She said she was okay. I probably should have stayed, I just really…” Was it shallow of her to admit that she cared more about finding her dog than staying to make sure the old woman was really all right?

  “I’m impressed you stopped to help in the first place. A lesser woman would have run off after, what was it? Lulu?” He arched a sarcastic eyebrow at the name and she nodded. “If she said she’s fine, I’m sure she meant it.” They reached the edge of the grass and paused.

  And that would be where they parted ways.

  Only, Juliet didn’t want to part ways.