Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Romance author, Maya finds herself trapped in a never-ending time loop, reliving the same luxurious masquerade party night after night.
But there’s a twist—someone keeps trying to kill her. Each time she dies, she wakes back up in the limo heading to the party, and she’s determined to uncover the mystery of her predicament.
Enter Ethan Vanderbilt, an erotically handsome and intimidating billionaire who becomes obsessed with possessing Maya. When he also gets caught in the time loop, the two must work together to unravel the mystery and find a way out.
Will they be able to solve the puzzle before it’s too late, or will they be stuck in the loop forever?
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
I Remember
I remembered the first time I was murdered,
and then the second,
and third,
and all the other times after those.
Over and over.
Again and again.
The blood spilling out of me.
The pain seeping into my bones.
The terror gripping my heart.
The unbearable agony drowning my soul.
The darkness swallowing me whole.
And then,
he changed everything.
Chapter 1
The Invitation
A week before shit got crazy
Tick. Tock.
That damn clock!
Crawling on the floor, I couldn’t help but be annoyed by the incessant ticking of the clock on the wall. It seemed as if every second was amplified, each tick-tock ringing in my ears and distracting me from finding my lost manuscript that had decided to hide somewhere in my office.
Tick. Tock.
I tried to focus on the task at hand, but the constant ticking of the clock made it difficult to concentrate.
Tick. Tock.
Instead of thinking about where the manuscript could be, I found myself crawling around and counting down the seconds, each tick-tock a reminder of the time slipping away.
There was never enough time to complete everything.
Tick. Tock.
I jumped up from the floor and did my best to forget about the damn clock.
Under the desk? No. Over by the shelf? No. I already checked there.
I rushed around my messy office, searching for the manuscript that I was supposed to finish revising weeks ago. “Come on. Where are you?”
Tick. Tock.
I stumbled over a pile of notebooks and banged my knee on the edge of my desk. “Goddamn it.”
Silent, my new assistant, Shi adjusted her glasses and stayed near the doorway and out of my way. She was a beautiful Chinese woman with long, silky black hair and round, deep-set brown eyes that always sparkled with curiosity. Her delicate features were accentuated by her grace and poise, and since hiring her two weeks ago, she had always carried herself with quiet confidence.
Which was why I hated being an absolute crazy mess around her.
Tick. Tock.
“That’s it. I’m taking that damn clock off to wall!” I rubbed my knee and stumbled over to my back. “Enough. What sort of high-tech speaker is in this damn clock where it has to tick and tock so loud?”
Shi began to step into the office. “Maya, I can take the clock down for you—”
“No. No.” Determined, I hurried over. “It would be my pleasure. The only reason why I kept it up was because my mother gave it to me.”
Tick. Tock.
I glared at the clock. A portrait of a black Jesus Christ had been painted in the center. The clock’s black hands held mini bibles and loudly ticked away the seconds.
Sorry, Mom. But I just can’t. . .
Tick. Tock.
Shi spoke, “That’s nice that your mother bought you a clock.”
“Mom thought it would be a nice reminder of how Jesus will always be there for me.” I grabbed the sides and yanked the clock off the wall. “She forgets I write sexy romance for a living. Here I am on a typical day writing how a heroine is in a sex club witnessing a five person orgy scene with cum shooting all over the place and there goes Jesus right over my shoulder tick tocking. Now, I’m getting ashamed, cleaning up some of the cum in the chapter, and taking away a few of the cocks so that the story is a bit more respectable in His eyes.”
Shi chuckled.
“I’m sorry, Jesus.” I kissed the front of the clock, headed over to Shi, and gave it to her. “Tell Helen to put this in storage and only bring it out when I let her know my mother is coming over. Then, Helen is to wipe the clock off and put it in my office, making it look like it has been there the whole time.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Shi placed it in the hall against the wall.
Thankfully, I could hear the ticking less from there.
I rushed back over to finish the hunt for my manuscript and bumped the same knee on the other side of the desk. “Shit.”
Shi adjusted her black glasses. “Are you okay, Maya?”
“Just fucking awesome.” I rubbed my injured knee and limped over to the bookshelf. “I’m sorry. Let’s get back to multi-tasking. Go ahead and continue with next month’s schedule.”
“Are you sure? Maybe, I can help you find the manuscript.”
“No worries. It’s here somewhere.”
Is it?
I’d never been known for my organizational skills. Shelves full of books, notepads, and paintings lined all four walls. Every corner of my desk displayed anything one could imagine a store sold in their stationary department—millions of pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers, post-its, washi tape, staplers, and a shit ton of empty notebooks.
I was a papyrophiliac.
In other words a stationery addict.
I couldn’t start writing a new book without buying three shiny new notebooks that I probably would never use. I couldn’t walk by an aisle of pens and not grab five, even though I had more than enough at home.