Class Of Desire (Contemporary Romance) Read online

  Class Of Desire

  by

  Clara James

  Copyright © 2013 by Linda Wilson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Class Of Desire

  All rights reserved.

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this work may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording and faxing, or by any information storage and retrieval system by anyone but the purchaser for their own personal use.

  This Book may not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of Linda Wilson, except in the case of a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages for the sake of a review written for inclusions in a magazine, newspaper, or journal—and these cases require written approval from Linda Wilson prior to publication. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

  Table Of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Prologue

  Elizabeth scanned through the various television stations mechanically searching for something, anything to watch as she tried to relax in her quaint little apartment. “This sucks - 120 channels and still can’t find something good,” she muttered to herself, yawning while stretching her hands above her head in frustration.

  The distinctive smell of burgers, smoke and soda seemed to linger upon her even after she’d left the small fast food restaurant where she worked. If she could only find the strength needed to make it to the shower she’d feel much better. Just thinking about the warm water gently cascading down her body should have been enough motivation, but it wasn’t. Her muscles were sore and her feet were nearly swollen from the long day at work.

  “Are you sitting on your couch all day thinking about going back to school...Why think about it? Just do it. Stop making excuses! Your time is now, get back in school and start a rewarding career. Do it now, don’t wait... Call the Bregor Allen College Today! That’s 1-800-Get-There. Advisors are waiting to talk to you right now. Financial aid available to qualified students. So stop procrastinating. Call now...”

  The young Hispanic woman in the television commercial spoke with such vigor and passion that she immediately caught Elizabeth’s attention. Her words seemed to stir up something in Elizabeth like fuel on a fire, moving her into action.

  Leaping to her feet Elizabeth almost forgot about how tired she was, as she rushed to her bag in search of a pen and paper. For a while she’d wanted to go back to college; however, for some reason or another she would always put it off. This all stopped today. As she rushed back to the couch, she leaned in closer ensuring that she wrote the accurate phone number on the tiny slip of paper.

  Nothing would stop her now, she guaranteed herself, as she dialed the number to the school anxiously waiting for someone to answer her call. “Hi my name is Elizabeth Carter, I’m 31, a single mom and I want to learn more about your college.” She informed the gentleman on the other end of the phone line.

  “I’d be happy to help you get back into college Miss Carter. Tell me what major you’re interested in pursuing.”

  “I think I would enjoy something related to legal studies” she replied.

  A smile touched her face as she spoke candidly to the college representative, who was more than happy to advise her on her options and how she could begin the enrollment process.

  Chapter One

  Escape

  Elizabeth or Lizzy as she liked to be called, had spent the earlier part of her day at the local store purchasing the books for her classes. When she was presented with the bill for the three books, she almost suffered a mild heart attack. “$575, you’ve got to be kidding me...Do I get a discount?” she remembered blurting in shock to the cashier. That was almost half her entire month’s salary. She was thankful she qualified for federal financial assistance with her college expenses. The thought of her having to choose between books and rent was a scary one.

  ***

  “I swear I’m so nervous Cathy, I can feel my stomach churning,” Elizabeth sighed taking a deep breath in as she tried to calm herself.

  Her co-worker Cathy seemed somewhat uninterested in what Elizabeth had to say. Without a word she proceeded to the front, attending to the long line of impatient customers. Had she not known Cathy any better, Elizabeth would have thought that she was a little jealous. Most people in their line of work dreamed of going back to school, but only a few of them actually did.

  Physically speaking, Elizabeth could not have been more different from Cathy. Her long dark hair was usually pulled back neatly into a ponytail, while Cathy’s blonde hair was cut low in a boy cut and looked as harsh as dried grass. There was another notable difference between the two; Elizabeth was a stunningly gorgeous woman, the epitome of classical beauty. Yet surprisingly she seemed oblivious to the fact that she was so attractive.

  Cathy on the other hand was a cocky, loud spoken brute. Short tempered, with a crude southern accent. She had moved to New York in the early nineties from a small town in Southern Texas. Often she used the fact that she was the oldest employee on staff to boss her co-workers around. Although Elizabeth didn’t agree with her actions most of the time, there was an undeniable level of mutual respect between the two women.

  Perhaps she got along with Cathy because she was never really perturbed by the older woman’s authoritative behavior. Elizabeth usually kept to herself in a desperate effort to avoid confrontation. In the back of her mind she always knew that she was meant to be more than just a low level fast food worker. She dreamed of being in a court room presenting convincing evidence that would help a jury or judge put some jerk in jail for his criminal offenses.

  “Don’t worry about her Lizzy; it’s been a rough morning here.” Allen stepped up to the order window, a few inches from Elizabeth and picked up his ear piece. “Welcome to Jimmy’s Burgers may I take your order?” he spoke with such flamboyance and flare that one would think he made thousands per hour and was very content with his job.

  “So how are you going to do school, work, the kids?” Allen asked with a doubtful expression on his face.

  Lizzy shot him a pensive look as if trying to decide whether she should even answer his question. Was he being sarcastic or did he genuinely care? She couldn’t tell.

  “I’ll be going to night school for now, and I’ll see how it goes from there. My neighbor will watch the kids for me...” she paused for a second before finishing her statement. “As for work - well, I hope Sam goes easy on me with the schedule. I really need to get the day shifts from now on.”

  “Wow, work during the day, college at nights. You sound like you’re about to be a very busy woman Elizabeth Carter.” The young man chuckled lightly, cutting the air of tension between them.

  A soft smile touched Lizzy’s lips as she elbowed her co-worker, playfully referring to herself as “superwoman” in the process. Allen Cryer was the youngest guy at the restaurant, yet he’d been the one to warm up to her the most. Surprisingly he was very mature,
even more mature and intelligent than some of the other employees who were twice his age.

  The sound of keys jingling caught their attention and immediately they straightened up and grew serious, like two children caught in some act of foolery by their teacher. Sam approached them stealthily with a crossed look on her face.

  Lizzy’s heart pounded as she feared what her supervisor Sam Locke would say to them. Sam was huge, and although she was not much older than Lizzy, her manly stature made her seem very intimidating.

  “Where’s your hair net Allen? You know the rules; don’t make me write you up.” Her voice was stern and it sent a shiver through Lizzy.

  Thankfully Lizzy had always been one to follow the rules and so she never forgot to wear her hair net or gloves, and she always washed her hands before service. Lizzy moved away quietly to the back of the kitchen, busying herself with an order of 2 burgers, fries and a small drink. In the background she could hear Sam and Allen’s voices growing louder and louder. They were now having a heated argument right there on the job.

  “You’re dispensable. Don’t you EVER forget that!” Sam barked at Allen, brushing past Lizzy with so much rage, that she almost knocked her over.

  Lizzy gripped unto the counter instinctively in an effort to steady her body and avoid what could have been a really nasty fall.

  “Oh yeah, I’m dispensable huh! Well I’m gonna make this real easy for ya,” Allen’s voice cut through the air like a knife.

  Turning to him, Lizzy watched with curious eyes as he furiously ripped the pair of latex gloves from his hands and tossed it into the garbage bin to his right. The crumbled ball of plastic went sailing in mid-air like a basketball launched into a hoop.

  An uneasy feeling swept through her, this was like déjà vu. She’d seen it all before; the argument, flared tempers, heated words exchange and bruised egos. In the back of her mind she knew exactly what would happen next. Ten years working with Jimmy’s Burgers and every other week or two an employee would either quit or get fired. It was a painful reminder that apart from the fact that this job paid minimum wage, there was no job security. She hoped that now she was in college again, she would finally graduate, go on to Law School and become an attorney.

  In that moment her two children crossed her mind. Lizzy had been in college when she met her ex-husband Luke Johnson. They had been madly in love and shortly before her junior year of college, she discovered she was pregnant. At seven month’s pregnant Luke proposed and a few weeks later her daughter Molly was born. Luke and Lizzy got married several months later and their ceremony was held at a small Baptist church in New York. The wedding was small and only a handful of their closest friends and family were present.

  Lizzy tried going back to college after the baby was born, but over time it became harder and harder to do. “I can take care of you both, I promise,” she recalled, Luke telling her one day. At the time she was very young and naïve. She believed that she’d met the love of her life and become content with being a stay at home mom at the age of 20. Everything was okay until her second child. Nathan was a bouncy little baby boy, a preemie yet very active and full of life. His cries were so loud that one of the delivery nurses said it left her ears ringing for hours.

  It seemed that perhaps she would have her fairy tale life after all; she was married to her college sweetheart and had two beautiful children. However, a few weeks later her perfect life came crashing down. Luke wanted a divorce and he didn’t want to talk things over. He’d hired several movers and a bulldog attorney to take care of everything for him, while he moved to Europe with his new girlfriend. After a nasty divorce she’s never seen or heard from him again. Eventually the child support payments stopped coming and Luke could not be reached. After a few years of trying to find him she gave up and was on her own to raise her two kids.

  ***

  A loud buzz alerted Lizzy that there was a customer at the drive-through window. Hastening her steps Lizzy rushed to the window, ready and willing to serve. Life had not been fair and while other employees could easily walk out the door in frustration and rage, this was not an option for her. This job had helped her put food on the table for years, it was her only means of survival and she could not afford to lose it.

  “Welcome to Jimmy’s Burgers how may I take your order?” she greeted a young woman in a white Chevy with a smile.

  As she attended to the customer a young man approached her from behind. “I’ll see you around Lizzy... It was nice working with you,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Okay kiddo,” she replied in a low voice. A doleful expression swept across her face, as her heart went out to the guy stepping out of the door. She knew that she would never see him at work again.

  Another one bites the dust, she thought to herself with a heavy heart, as her co-worker Allen left the restaurant. The saddest part of it all was that she was already missing him.

  Chapter Two

  Home Sweet Home

  Meanwhile in another part of Pelham Bay, NY...

  The modern style brick house stood proud and tall at the corner of a small dead-end street, a few blocks from the Bregor Allen College. Iron fencing ran the house’s perimeter and a narrow driveway led to a two car garage. Pulling up into the drive way, the intense sunlight struck the windshield of the black SUV and an almost blinding glare was produced. Using one hand to block out the sun light and the other to maneuver his steering wheel the driver drove into the garage.

  Although the warm summer’s sun was a bit too much at times, Dr. Spencer was grateful that the harsh New York winter was still a few months away. He loved New York, but absolutely dreaded the cold. Just the sight of the all-so perfect, pearly white snowflakes gave him chills. Without hearing his accent, one would never be able to tell that he’d actually grown up in the Big Apple. After parking his vehicle he retreated to the back, gathering his bags before heading to the front door. He was finally home.

  ***

  “Oh Spencer we’ve missed you so much honey,” the older woman said as she rushed to the young man at the door with open arms, and a broad smile on her plump face. She made it a point to kiss him twice, one kiss on each cheek, before pulling him into a tight hug. “Grazie a Dio,” she muttered; thank God in her native language. She brought her fingers to her mouth, kissed them, and then blew the kiss to the sky; a sign of her appreciation to God for bringing her only son back home.

  “I’ve missed you too mom,” Spencer said as he embraced his overzealous mother for a long time before she withdrew her body from his. She gave him another long examining stare and then embraced him again.

  “I can’t believe it. You have a PhD. Doctor...” she paused for a minute whispering his first name knowing that he loathed it. “My son - a Doctor,” the woman boasted with pride, reaching down to grab one of his three suitcases.

  “You know I hate that name,” her son reminded her with a serious look. For some odd reason, Spencer disliked his first name with a passion. He kept it a secret from his friends and colleagues; he instead went by his last name- Spencer.

  The smile that had been on her face disappeared for a second, as if he’d struck a nerve. However his mother Mary was never one to hold a grudge; a few seconds went by and she was back to her normal perky self. “I’ve already prepared your room Spence. Your father went to the office to pick up a few things but he’ll be home by dinner.”

  “I got it,” he said as he eclipsed her petite hand with his huge manly hand; gently taking hold of the handle and encouraging her to let go. Mary Spencer slowly straightened up with a huge smile on her face. Her only child was home and she could hardly contain her excitement.

  Spencer was not much different from his mother; their dreamy baby blue eyes were usually the first thing people would notice when they walked into a room. They both had rich dark hair and were very confident and intelligent individuals. It was no surprise that he had a closer relationship with her, than his father. The only feature that he’d gotten from
his father’s side of the family seemed to be his tall manly physique, which rose to about 6 feet and 2 inches.

  ***

  An Italian native, Mary Giuliani-Spencer moved to New York as a young child at the age of seven. She spent most of her time learning the language and customs of the people around her. Years later, she met Peter Spencer, the son of David Spencer a local business man in Pelham Bay. It was love at first sight, Mary and Peter were soon married and after trying to conceive for a long time, they finally had a son.

  Growing up, Spencer was given the best of everything. As a brilliant scholar he excelled in college and then spent a few years working with his father, before going back to school. Now at the age of 26 he’d graduated with his PhD in Psychology and was ready to begin his new career. His parents never really understood why he had chosen that field of study. They had both expected him to pursue a doctorate in Management. However Spencer had other plans and although thankful for all his parents had done for him, he wanted to follow his own dreams. He didn’t mind helping out with the family business, but it was not his passion.

  Spencer loved everything about Psychology; even the word itself was intriguing to him. He loved saying it slowly, P-s-y-chology. It made him feel so accomplished, so intelligent, perhaps it was his guilty pleasure. Now that he had returned to his home town, he intended to work at the local college as a Psychology professor. His parents opposed his decision at first, because of the relatively low prestige of the school. But he wanted to remain close to his family for a few years before moving on to a more prestigious University in another part of the country. He missed his parents while away at college and wanted time to catch up with them before being away again.

  ***

  “I prepared your favorite – five cheese lasagna,” Spencer’s mother informed him as she led him upstairs to his old room. “I did make one small change to the recipe though...”