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  An Angel for Ms. Right

  Copyright 2010 by Lenise Lee. All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts to be used solely in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part electronically, mechanically or by any means is strictly forbidden without the expressed written permission of the author.

  The unauthorized reproduction of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines up to $250,000 or up to 5 years in prison for violation.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents have no existence outside of the author’s imagination and are purely fictitious. Any similarity to actual events, locales, or people, living or deceased, is coincidental.

  WARNING: The material included in this work is intended for adult readers 18 years of age and older. Please store this material in a safe place where underage readers will not have access to view it.

  Denise Right is struggling to maintain a crumbling home life with her estranged parents and has no time for love and relationships.

  Adam Aggeliki has been holding a painful family secret but when he meets Denise he knows she is the one to mend his heart and he will do whatever it takes win her heart and trust.

  Can the pair find the happiness they both seek in one another's arms even as the world around them is shattered?

  An Angel for Ms. Right

  By

  Lenise Lee

  Dedication

  This story is dedicated to the One who can make all things possible, thank you. A dedication is also given to you, dear reader, thank you for your support.

  Chapter 1

  “Excuse me?”

  The warm baritone voice interrupted Denise Right’s deep thought and stopped her in her tracks as she exited the lecture hall. Without thinking, she turned quickly on her heels and collided with a massive wall that turned out to be a broad muscular chest.

  “I-I am so sorry,” Denise stuttered as she looked up in to the most dazzling sea-green eyes she had ever seen.

  Her breath caught in her chest and she stumbled back and would have went crashing to the floor, if two large hands had not reached her in time enough to steady her on her feet.

  “Whoa. Steady as she goes. Are you okay?” the green eyes peered uncertainly into Denise’s light brown ones.

  She remembered where she was and managed to pull her eyes away from his gaze and looked around quickly to confirm whether or not anyone else had witnessed her buffoonery. Thankfully, most of the other students in the Introduction to Legal Process class had already exited and her professor was busy gathering his papers from the dais and had not noticed the scene.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” pretty eyes said as he tried to capture her attention once more.

  Denise reluctantly turned her head back in his direction.

  “No, it’s fine. It was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.”

  He smiled then and, if it were possible, his eyes seemed to turn from sea-green to a stunning emerald while two breathtaking dimples pierced the cheeks of his olive-colored skin. Denise felt a blush coming on and decided to hurry the conversation on before she embarrassed herself even further.

  “Um, did you need something?” she questioned, making sure not to stare too hard at his adorable dimples.

  With one quick stroke, he ran his tanned hand through his dark hair. Denise noted that it was short around the side and slightly spiky on top. It was not the usual look that she would go for on a guy, but on him it definitely had a sexy appeal and seemed to bring out the strong angular cut of his face.

  “Actually, I did have a question.”

  His brow furrowed and he seemed to be trying to find the right words. He took a deep breath and sucked in his lower lip. At that moment, Denise wished she could taste that lip.

  “Would you go out with me?”

  Once again, Denise felt herself rocking on the ball of her feet but was able to catch herself before she pivoted too far back and needed another rescue.

  He must have seen the look of confusion on her face because he quickly continued without being prompted.

  “Wait, before you think that I am some kind of stalker or weirdo. It’s not what you think. I mean, I don’t think I phrased that correctly.”

  Of course not, she thought, no guy this gorgeous would ask me out without there being some hidden agenda.

  She took a quick scan over him again. He was probably around the same age as her – twenty-three – but the similarities ended there. Black tee that hugged that wonderful chest she had experienced only a moment ago. Loose fitting dark blue jeans hung perfectly around his hips. A pair of black oxford shoes rounded out the look. He stood well over six feet and had a solid look that confirmed he must work out on the regular. She, on the other hand, had only barely made it to the 8 AM lecture and was donned in a pair of grey sweatpants and long sleeve grey tee, white sneaks. She had only enough time to comb her chestnut brown hair that hung slightly pass her shoulders into a single pony tail at the base of her lean neck before breaking into a fast run across the campus to be seated only moments before Professor Peterson began his morning tirade.

  Denise took another mental comparison between the immaculate man that stood before her and her own sloppy image and instantly concluded that he wanted something from her. He probably wanted to copy her lecture notes. It was no secret that she currently held the highest average in this course and he would not be the first to attempt to convince her to do their work in exchange for some type of compensation. The first year of law school was brutal and most students did not finish out the entire year before moving on to another course of study. The class she entered with the preceding fall was a total of 200 and had now dwindled to less than 100 during the middle of the spring semester.

  “What did you mean?” she heard the defensive tone in her voice.

  Pretty eyes still held a tight wrinkle in his brow and the squinting of his eyes indicated he had taken note of the change in her mannerism as well.

  “I wanted to ask if you would help me out with this class,” he nearly whispered as he watched her intensely for her reaction.

  Ha! I knew it, she smiled in her mind as she mentally congratulated herself on her logical deduction.

  She placed her hand on her hip, “Look, um, what did you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t. I’m Adam Aggeliki,” he said as he extended a large hand toward her.

  Slowly, Denise allowed her own to be enveloped by his firm grasped and felt a warm sensation blanket her mocha tinted skin. Her lashes fluttered and the pair locked eyes once more. Realizing that he was probably purposefully using his strong masculinity to win her over, she quickly recovered her hand and then spun around on her heels to move toward the exit door to the left of the lecture hall.

  “Look, Adam Ag-Ag-”

  “Aggeliki. It’s Greek.”

  “Yeah,” Denise called over her shoulder, “That’s nice. I don’t cheat and I don’t do people’s homework, okay? So, I guess that answers any other questions you may have. Bye.”

  Confident she had made her point, Denise quickly pushed through the door and into the bright sunshine. Her mission was to forget her problems at home, forget she was stressed to the point of tears over her studies, and most definitely forget Mr. Aggeliki.

  Chapter 2

  Two hours and two cups of black coffee later, Denise found a table in the middle of the study area on the second floor of the Eastern States University Law Library. She flopped down into the high back wooden chair with such force that she found herself suddenly moving in a backwards direction as th
e chair tipped back on two legs. She jumped up quickly and recovered both her balance and that of the chair before reseating herself, very slowly and carefully this time around.

  With her papers and several textbooks spread out before her on the large oak desk, she mentally prepared to set to work on getting some major studying done. Mid-terms were only a couple of weeks away and then spring break. She would have to find the strength to force her drained body to go back home and proceed to pretend how wonderful everything was in the Right Family for a week or so.

  “I can hardly wait,” she mumbled and then reached for her Torts and Contract Law textbook.

  At the same moment, the tiny black cell phone clipped to her left hip began to vibrate.

  This is unbelievable, Denise thought as she scanned the number on the screen before flipping the phone open.

  “Hello, Mother,” she forced a smile onto her face and hoped it would reflect in her voice.

  “Denise,” her mother began – no hello, no how are you – straight into a chiding session, “how many times do I have to remind you to call me Mom? For goodness sakes, we are related by blood, or have you forgotten about that along with bothering to call me at least once per week.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” Denise purposefully over emphasized the last word, “I have been a little busy. You know, trying to get good grades and all.”

  “Oh, Denise, you really need to get a life. It is always study, study, and study with you. Why do you persist in ostracizing your own self from the social community?”

  “You mean, why won’t I go out with any of those guys with the over inflated egos you keep trying to set me up with? That’s what you really meant, right Mom?”

  The frustration in her mother’s voice became evident after she inhaled a large and overly dramatic breath.

  “Denise, why do you insist on giving me such grief? All I want to do is look out for your best interest and all you want to do is fight me all the way.”

  “Mother, your idea of ‘my best interest’ is marrying me off to some doctor or lawyer and then waiting until you can start counting grandkids!”

  A sudden look of anger from a dark-haired man seated at the table in front of her alerted Denise that she had raised her voice too high and needed to step into the stairwell to finish this conversation before it became even more heated. She threw him a quick smile and then rested the phone between her ear and shoulder. As she rose from her chair, she decided against grabbing her black leather handbag from the table since she would be sure to be right back. She scanned the area as she walked through the large room and looked over tables and around bookcases in search of the door to the stairwell. All the while, her mother continued to try to command the conversation, as usual.

  “Denise, you have no right to speak to me that way. If you father was here, I would tell him about this sudden attitude you have as of late.”

  “But he’s not there, is he, Mother?” Denise shot back after she heard the door to the stairwell click closed.

  The sudden silence confirmed that her point had been made. Her father, Dr. George Coolidge Right III was rarely home at this time of day or evening. In the last few years, even before Denise had went off to the university, Dr. Right had seemed to find an endless number of reasons to avoid spending anything but the briefest of moments with his family. Denise use to feel sorry for her Mother. Never much of a sleeper, even when she still lived at home on a regular basis, on her way to the large family study or toward the kitchen, Denise would catch muffled sobs of grief coming from her parents’ room. Since she was always certain that her father was not in the house, Denise could only assume that Mrs. Patricia Right had been crying herself to sleep again. It was after several of those episodes Denise vowed she would never allow her life to be that vulnerable to the whims of a man. Around the same time she stopped hearing the cries in the night, her mother seemed to try to take domineering control over Denise’s life, especially her love life.

  “You know that is not fair, Denise. Your father works hard to provide for us and to keep you at that expensive school you so desperately hide yourself away at.”

  Denise knew the last statement was meant as retaliation for her earlier comment. Denise resigned this was a losing battle, only to get worse now that the lines had been drawn, and decided it was time to play nice and end this conversation ASAP.

  “Mother – sorry – Mom, I have to go back to studying. I will try to give you a call this weekend. I promise.”

  Denise snapped the phone shut before her mother had a chance to keep the dialogue going any further. She moved to the door and pushed but the heavy metal blockade did not budge. She tried again, putting her shoulder against the frame, since she could not locate a knob, and shoved as hard as she could. It was after the third attempt when Denise realized her 5’4” and 125 lb frame were not going to get the heavy door open. She looked down and noticed the large sign that had materialized from thin air.

  Emergency Exit only. No Re-entry.

  “Shit.” The expletive escaped her lips before she could attempt to hold it in.

  Chapter 3

  Adam Aggeliki felt like a complete idiot. He had gone about his first encounter with Denise all the wrong way. Stupid, stupid, he mentally scolded himself, Of course she would think you were trying to use her. After all, he started off by asking her out and then ended in practically begging her to help him study. What other conclusion could she possibly draw from that turn around?

  He ran his hand through his hair again, for the umpteenth time, a nervous tick he hated but could not seem to kick. Seated at the study desk, Adam attempted to focus on the Litigation and the Law book opened before him. Each and every time he tried to read through the pages, the image of an embarrassed and then pissed-off Denise floated into his mind. What was he thinking anyway? What would a girl such as her want with someone like him?

  Despite his best efforts to keep himself looking in top condition by visiting the gym at the campus several times a week and buying the latest styles – albeit from the bargain racks – there was no way he could compare to Denise Right. From what he had heard, her family was well connected and had more money than the entirety of his family would be able to pull together in a year. Adam was positively sure her four year tuition was already paid in full. He, on the other hand, was here via an academic scholarship and several loans. He was on thin ice in Intro to Legal Process class, having only accomplished a C on his last paper and a C+ on the last exam. He could not afford to get anything less than an overall B average to keep his funding. Considering she had the highest grade average in the class, Denise was probably his only hope in passing the course, but would probably not attempt to give him any more of her time after this morning’s incident. He needed to find a way to work up to talking with her again, perhaps if he explained the situation – more clearly this time – she might reconsider helping him out.

  A noise of wood scraping against the linoleum on the floor jarred Adam from his thoughts. The minute he realized who it was, he knew his prayers were being answered. For a moment, all he could do was watch her as she fumbled with gaining her balance with the chair. A small smile spread over his lips. She always seemed so lost in her own thoughts, and he wondered how she made it through her day without hurting herself several times over. After having already formed a habit of sneaking side looks at her during the lectures, he realized he could easily watch her all day. Her beautiful brown skin always looked so soft and warm; Adam had yearned to have that feel on his fingertips. Today was the first opportunity he had to touch her and the moment did not disappoint. The minute their hands connected, he felt a surge of electricity pass between them. Adam knew she felt it too. When she captured him with those gorgeous light brown eyes, the fire hidden behind them said it all. It took all of his strength not to confess how much he wanted to pull her into his arms and ignite her passion the way she did his.

  Adam came back to the present and had not realized he was completely trans
fixed on the woman in front of him until he heard her yelling into her phone. Though he had missed most of what she had said, the tone made it sound like an urgent situation. Instinctively, he wanted to know what the problem was and how he could make it right for her. A funny thought to have considering she did not know who he was until earlier today and even now, staring directly into his face, did not recognize him since she only tossed him a completely platonic, yet polite, smile as she quickly rose and walked away from the place she had been sitting.

  Right after he watched her scramble down an aisle of books, he noticed she had left her handbag open on the table. Adam knew that the college they attended was a prestigious one but that did not mean there were not people who would maliciously capitalize on an opportune moment, such as an unattended handbag. Before anyone could wonder what he was doing near her belongings, he quickly picked up the bag and moved his legs in long strides to catch up to her. It took a few minutes of searching in vain before Adam concluded she probably wanted some privacy to handle her phone call and had most likely headed for the stairs at the back of the floor.

  By the time he reached the door, he heard her voiced raised and decided to hang back a moment before he went through to offer her the forgotten bag. As he spied the sign on this side of the door, he also recognized Denise would be trapped on the other side if he was not there to open it since there was no way she would be able to enter the library from the stairwell. Adam’s mood lifted slightly as he thought this may be the fresh start he needed to reintroduce himself to this stunning lady.