The Jilted Bride Read online

  Praise for Shadonna Richards’

  AN UNEXPECTED BRIDE

  (BOOK ONE IN THE BRIDE SERIES)

  "Her debut novel, An Unexpected Bride, has burst onto the scene, zooming up the bestseller lists and racking up fans faster than other writers racking

  up words....a smash hit!"

  - KINDLE FIRE DEPARTMENT

  "Author Shadonna Richards has an "unexpected" bestseller on her hands with this unheralded romantic comedy....An Unexpected Bride has sold 10,000 copies in its first three months..."

  -KINDLE NATION DAILY

  "Shadonna Richards is a wonderful author!...It's a sweet and romantic story that will

  sweep you off your feet."

  - REVIEWS BY MOLLY

  THE JILTED BRIDE

  (BOOK TWO IN THE BRIDE SERIES)

  Shadonna Richards

  Copyright © 2010 Shadonna Richards

  All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you, God for all my blessings. To my cherished son and husband for your unconditional love. With gratitude to my family and friends for your endless support. To Solomon, Jermaine, Merdella, Nesitta, Godwin, Monica, and Percell. To my editor M.M. for always being brilliant.

  The Jilted Bride

  Jody Anders’ adoptive grandparents surprised her with a short one-day visit from New York and they can’t wait to meet Gregory, her wonderful new husband with whom she had eloped. Trouble is, she forgot to mention that he jilted her at the altar and is no longer in the picture. Now what to do? Turn to her hot, sexy neighbour Jake whom she knows very little about? Will he pretend to be Greg her-would-have-been husband for the day? This will be one night to remember or one to never forget.

  Jake Anderson had always been attracted to his cute neighbour ever since she moved into his condominium building owned by his family—a secret nobody knows. When she propositions him for one night to pretend to be her husband—he’s determined to make her wish it were for real.

  1

  “A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life to be thankful for a good one.” ~Mae West

  Jody Anders felt her throat close up.

  “You’re what?”

  “Darling, we’re here in Canada for our church’s annual one-day shopping excursion. We’re on the Highway 401. We thought we’d surprise you and Greg.”

  Me and Greg?

  Oh, she was surprised! More like shocked out of her wits. She pulled back her bangs in astonishment as she clutched the receiver in disbelief. She hadn’t seen her adoptive grandparents in more than a year since she moved to Toronto from New York. She told them she’d met Gregory—which she had, a real life prince charming and that he had proposed to her with a beautiful diamond ring. He had told he couldn’t wait to get married and wanted to elope now and then have a big wedding and invite family later. It seemed like a fairytale come true.

  But then it turned out Greg wasn’t a prince charming, after all. He turned out to be a toad when she kissed him instead of the other way around like in fairytales—so much for prince charming and happily ever after. He also jilted her at the registry office—then had the nerve, would you believe it? The nerve to call her later that evening to tell her he got tied up—on his wedding day! He should have been tying the knot, not getting tied up by some other business. Arrgh!

  She was too ashamed to tell them at the time—bless their dear hearts. Probably because she was too busy stuffing her face with a double serving of chocolate mint ice-cream and eating a whole coconut cream pie every day of the week afterwards.

  She knew they’d be heartbroken after what happened to her and after her adoptive parents passed away the same year in a freak house fire. It would’ve been too much of a shock. They had even told her thank heavens she had happiness in her life at least. How could she tell them, her life was just as demolished as theirs were? That she’d suffered a different kind of loss—a humiliating loss.

  “Darling, are you still there?”

  “Um, yeah, Grams. I’m just…” …in a state of shock right now.

  “What’s the matter, dear? You sound as if you’re not happy that we’re here.”

  “Oh, no, Grams. It’s nothing like that. Nothing at all. I just…well….my place is a mess.” She gave a nervous chuckle as she felt her vein throb at her temple.

  “Oh?”

  Well, actually, so is my love life but I really don’t want you to see that.

  Her friends and family always wondered if the shy and sometimes insecure girl would find true love and happiness. She always felt she’d have to prove herself worthy because of her past. They all knew the story of how she came into the picture. She was abandoned on the doorsteps of a church in the middle of winter when she was eight months old. It had been all over the news. The thought that she was now abandoned at the altar—she could not face that ironic shame twice.

  From that day forward she made a pact with herself. Her heart was now officially under lockdown from future perpetrators to protect it from any further harm that was done. Of course, her grandparents hoped they would live to see her get married and even have a child one day. So she really didn’t have the heart to squash their dream—not now in their golden years.

  As much as she loved the Big Apple, she just had to take a bite out of another city and taste a new freedom. Far away as possible. So when a fabulous career opportunity came up in Toronto, she scooped it up faster than a tub of delicious ice-cream.

  Well, she got the job up north and moved to Toronto to escape any reminders of her past and better herself—or was that to find herself? Here in Toronto, no one knew her as Baby X, the abandoned Christmas baby. Still she tried not to feel bitter about it. Maybe her real folks were desperate and on the run for their life…or maybe they were just crazy.

  Then she met Gregory—a smooth talker who turned out to be a real fraud. Of course when he popped the question—the first time anyone asked her to walk down the aisle, she couldn’t wait to spread the good news. Of course, he didn’t walk down the aisle—he walked off the aisle! And the diamond ring! Whoa—what a beautiful ring he gave her—until the cops told her it was stolen!

  She also found out that he was an illegal immigrant and wanted a fast way to stay in the country—he assumed she was a Canadian citizen. Well, he got it, alright. He had been in trouble with the law and they caught up with him. His name wasn’t even Greg. Boy, she really knew how to pick ‘em!

  A knock on the door derailed her train of thought. She quickly hurried over to answer the door with her cordless in her hand pinned to her ear—she’d even forgotten that she wasn’t properly dressed. She had on a t-shirt that barely reached her thigh and fuzzy slippers on. But it was too late, her mind was all over the place with her surprise phone call and she’d answered the door anyway.

  When she opened it, her jaw fell open, she almost melted.

  “Hey, Jody, seems like the mail deliverer got us mixed up again.” The deep silky voice and gorgeous muscled figure of her neighbour, Jake, stood at the door with some envelopes in his hand.

  “Oh, um…thank you,” she said, squeezing the phone to her ear and her shoulder blade.

  Jake Anderson was standing there, all firm and irresistible. He looked as if he just came from the gym in the condo complex and happened to by the mailbox on his way up. No matter how many times she saw him whether
in the elevator or coming out of his apartment, butterflies caught in her tummy and her lips always spewed silly tongue-tied words instead of coherent sentences. Why did he have this affect on her? Still, thanks to Greg the Grinch, she was off men for now but no harm in admiring a man’s physique. Especially the one gracing her vision right now. He was sinfully sexy, tall, dark and….dear she think it…charming. Right now beads of glistening sweat moistened his hard abs. His sculptured body made her dissolve like warm butter in a pan.

  There was something deliciously sexy about his soulful, penetrating eyes. He was a beautiful man. No doubt about that. He had on gym attire with a white vest with track pants and a towel slung over his shoulder. Gosh, a nice round nipple peeked through the vest of his muscular chest.

  God, he was delicious.

  Stop! Stop! Stop! Focus, Jody. Focus. You’re on a diet from men now, remember?

  He handed her the envelopes in his hand in which the mail deliverer delivered to the wrong mailbox. The mail had gotten mixed up… again. But for Jody, the mail wasn’t the only thing in her life that was getting mixed up! She mouthed “thank you” to Jake as she clenched her phone to her shoulder and proceeded to close the door with the letters in her hand.

  He gave her a salacious grin and walked away.

  “Your dad thought we should just surprise you and show up at your door, dear, but I said let’s call when we’re close by,” her grandmother continued the conversation at the other end of the phone.

  Thank God for that!

  For a quick second, she’d almost forgotten they were still on the other end of the phone line until Jake left her presence.

  “We’d be there in less than thirty minutes.”

  “Good, wonderful!” Good grief!

  “Was that him?”

  “Who?”

  “Greg. I heard a man’s voice.”

  “Uh. Yeah.” Liar! God she hated lying on impulse to save face. Damn that super ego! What is your problem, Jody? Stop it now! You’ve gotta end this stupid charade now. Lying is so not good for your health—or your integrity.

  For some reason she couldn’t bring herself to tell them now of all times, that she’d been jilted at the altar and Greg was no longer a part of her life. In fact, he was now a part of the justice system at the moment. On the inside. But her grandparents were only going to be visiting Toronto for the day.

  One day!

  Nothing more!

  Perhaps she could get Jake to change his name to Gregory for a few hours and….and pretend they were….

  Stupid idea, Jody! Crazy idea!

  She would just tell them the truth when they get to her apartment.

  The truth. And nothing but the whole truth, so help her, God!

  2

  Jake walked back into his apartment with a grin on his face. He could not believe his neighbour, Jody. There was something….different about her. She had this sort of innocence about her. Still, she looked gorgeous in her t-shirt with nothing else on but fuzzy slippers. He was a man who often took notice of everything.

  And he liked Jody. He liked her a lot and the fact that she didn’t have guys over her apartment all the time, except last year, that….dude she’d been seeing. He could tell the guy was a creep from the get go. Jake had a nose for those types. She really deserved better. Still, he’d overheard her cursing him one night and telling him she didn’t want to see him again and how could he do that to her. Jake really wanted to know what he did to her. Because he thought of what he would do to that guy if he really hurt her badly. He had to be careful when it came to intervening in somebody else’s business. After all, outside of casual small talk they really weren’t that close. They were just neighbours. Though things could just change in the future.

  Still, her intoxicating fragrance turned him on as he caught a whiff of it when she opened her door. God, she was sexy in just a simple t-shirt. She didn’t even have to try to be attractive. Yet, he could sense she didn’t know that what she had was priceless. Men go crazy for a body like that.

  She had natural beauty with no makeup on and seemed to be comfortable in her skin. Her delicious curves and voluptuous hips captured his eyes and his imagination.

  In the past, he’d taken note of how kind she really was…how she would strike up a pleasant conversation with the man sweeping in the lobby or any of the cleaners. She was no snob—that he admired about her. She didn’t seem to be materialistic either. She wore department store clothes and simple jewellery. She carried herself like a lady and didn’t seem to flirt as far as he could tell when they met up in the gym on the first floor of the condo. It was as if she hadn’t noticed the other guys looking at her when she read her book while working out on the treadmill. Jake realized he paid far too close attention to Jody but they were always, for some reason, getting each other’s mail. So it was either fate or something. Besides, most women flung themselves at Jake’s feet whether they knew his background or not—even for a one night stand, they were ready and waiting…but she…she was different. He could see her blush whenever he approached her. Her cheeks would instantly redden and she would often appear sheepish.

  Jake dropped his keys on the counter and walked over to the kitchen with the tall floor to ceiling window. The entire building was a glass-walled condominium and sort of curved into an S shape. In fact, from his living room he could glimpse Jody’s balcony and if her lights were on at night and he happened to be sitting on his balcony…well, he was a gentleman enough not to gaze.

  He slid the glass door of the balcony opened and walked out onto it, enjoying the panoramic view of the downtown Toronto area with the CN Tower skyline. It was breathtaking. They were minutes from Lake Ontario. His dad sure knew how to pick ‘em. Condominium Investments.

  His BlackBerry buzzed and he answered it as he sat down on his chair and twisted the lid off his power drink and took a quick gulp.

  “Yep.”

  “Now is that anyway to answer the phone to your own brother, Jake!”

  “John, you and I both know we’re half brothers because…what was it? Dad had an affair with his secretary, my mother!”

  John gave a nervous chuckle over the phone. “Come on now, it’s not like that. We’re family.”

  “Well, somehow, you wouldn’t know by the way John Anderson, Sr. treats his kids. One like the heir to his empire and the other…the black sheep. Could you guess which one is which?”

  “Come on, Jake, what’s this about now?”

  “I happened to receive a call from his lawyer yesterday.”

  “What? What did he say?”

  Jake paused before answering not because he didn’t know what he would tell his brother but because he could see inside Jody’s apartment. She looked worried pacing about, holding her head and looking around her apartment as if she’d lost something critically important. He should keep his mind on his business. His father was locking him out because he wasn’t living up to the family honour. His brother John was engaged to be married so all was well. He on the other hand had given up his partying ways but after meeting a girl introduced by his father’s friend and getting engaged…he discovered she only wanted him for his name and his money and his body was the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, he’d overheard her conversation. And because he quickly called off the engagement, his father was furious because the old man had a hidden agenda to this matchmaking. The girl, Sandra Wexworth, happened to be the daughter of one of his business allies. If they were to get married it would have been an Anderson Condominium Corporation match made in heaven. The plan would be to merge with Wexworth Properties Inc. and become this mega corporation that would rock the condo world. His dad was all about business! And Toronto was a booming city for condo construction, especially luxury condos built for the rich and famous, from tycoons to celebrities and royalty from all over the world.

  For a good while he was turned off women and decided he would only date but never commit again. Still, his mind ran on Jody. She was somehow
a breath of fresh air from the other women. One day, he would approach her once he got his business sorted out.

  But right now, he was not on the market for commitment. And that’s probably what a girl like Jody deserves. He had other business to deal with right now. More serious business.

  Good thing she didn’t know who he really was. Right now he was going to keep it that way.

  “Well?” His brother sounded impatient.

  “Well, what?” he replied half-focusing. Jody was not sitting on her couch with her head in her hands. Was she alright? He wanted to go next door and find out if there was anything he could do. But then again, that would look just too reminiscent of stalking. Way to creepy. And creepy he was not.

  “What did Dad’s lawyer say? It must have pissed you off because you usually keep your cool. Did he give you some sort of ultimatum on getting hitched or something?”