Curves Envy - Alphas Love Curves: BBW Billionaire Romance by Scarlett Avery

all week by the sexy stranger Lia and I met over brunch. I’ve tried my best to shake him off, but it’s been impossible to erase his seductive smile. Lia tends to get the attention from men when we hang out, but this suave hunk seemed to have his eyes glued on me and I’m not used to being the one guys look at.
    Whatever. It’s not like I’ll ever see him again. There’s no way I’m setting foot at Vanilla Beans on a Sunday hoping to meet him again just to get my hopes crushed when I see him walk in with a beautiful model.
    The week is packed with the humdrum of working for a prominent fashion magazine. Luckily, my new boss is out of town and like the rest of my colleagues, I decide to work from home. I get so much more done when I work remotely.
    My full name is Candice Patricia Westerman. My mother named me after her favorite nineties TV star—Candice Bergen. My mom loved the show Murphy Brown so much she never missed an episode. She would rush home on Monday nights, heat up some food she had prepared over the weekend and plunk herself on our sofa oblivious to the world for thirty minutes. She was such a devoted fan she watched re-runs, had a collection of VHS tapes and later bought the DVD box sets. The sitcom was so prevalent in my life, I thought the house painter on the show—Eldin Bernecky—was my babysitter. You can say my mom sort of branded me early in life and it never occurred to me to be anything else but a newsperson—like Murphy Brown.
    I know if my mother could see me now, she’d be so proud of me. Her and my dad were incredible parents my entire life.
    I wonder if one day the pain will ever subside. Can you ever forget you’ve lost your parents?
    “Meow.” My cat’s call wakes me up from my reverie and I push back the memories of my parents who were taken from me too soon in an attempt to continue my work.
    “I can’t believe it’s already three o’clock,” I say, turning to my cat, when I notice the time on the upper right corner of my MacBook Air computer. “In a few hours I’m going to meet your aunt Trish for drinks. Too bad cats aren’t welcomed.” I caress my fluffy white cat.
    A few years ago, my cousin Trish moved to LA with an up-and-coming actor she was enamored with on the pretext she was pursuing her own dreams. She left the Big Apple a few months after her mom, my aunt Caroline, moved to Augusta, Maine to run away from the painful reminder of losing her baby sister—my own mother. Unfortunately, Trish’s relationship was short-lived when her actor boyfriend decided to dump her to date the daughter of one of the biggest producers in Hollywood. My cousin was understandably crushed, but she decided to remain in la-la land. We’ve talked on the phone and texted here and there, but Trish hasn’t set foot in New York since my grandmother died eighteen months ago. I’m a bit apprehensive at seeing her again, but she’s family.
    Get back to work, Candy. I try to focus on the article I’m writing in the hopes of finishing it before I start getting ready, but my phone rings. I glance down on my desk to the left of my computer and see Devin’s number flashing. “Hey, Dev. How are you?”
    “First let me ask before I get you in trouble, can you talk?”
    “Yeah, I’m working from home since my bitchy boss is out of town.”
    “Good to know. Now I can lay it on you. You casually ask me how am I? I should be asking you that question. Better yet, I should disown you as my friend for keeping such a big secret from me.”
    Oh, no, what have I done now? Why is he so worked up? “Don’t be such a drama queen. We haven’t spoken since Saturday night because you were working all week with the ladies of The Chat in Fort Lauderdale where they were shooting their spring special show. There’s no way in the world I could have done anything to upset you this much,” I joke.
    “Listen, I got off the phone with Lia a few seconds ago and I had to wait until Thursday to find out you