Moments That Change Lives

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Blurb:

A pregnancy, African American, billionaire romance novel. Mira, always short on cash but rich in experiences, loves her unique job as a rainforest tour guide. Her life is stable, complete with a dependable boyfriend, Raoul.

But her world is upended when she is chosen to lead a private tour for Henry Masters, a billionaire with a taste for adventure. Their journey takes a dramatic twist as they suddenly must fight for their life after being trapped inside a collapsing cave.

In the face of peril and with emotions running high, Mira and Henry share a moment of unexpected intimacy. Rescued and back to safety, Mira is stunned to find out she’s pregnant! But what will her future hold with Raoul? And will Henry accept the fact that she’s pregnant with his baby? Get answers in this black pregnancy romance book by Natasha Dillion.

Chapter 1

Mira Glass was looking at the crooked tree just as she did every day for almost five years now. After roaming and exploring all of the rain forest, this was undoubtedly the weirdest tree she could lay her eyes on. And that made it special. That made her think of herself. Mira Glass.

She was sitting a few feet across it, her chin on her knees as she was lost in her bundle of thoughts. Perhaps she was torturing herself by coming here every day and thinking. Thinking about everything she had done with her twenty-eight years of life. Besides, what could an African American girl do in the world that stigmatized and prejudiced her? Become a President? A CEO of a corporation?

Well, that wasn’t Mira Glass. Destiny or whatever was up there (and Mira believed in The One That Is Up There) scribbled in their notebook for Mira Glass, a twenty-eight-year-old girl to move from home into a rain forest and work as a tour guide there. The salary wasn’t sky-high, don’t make that mistake, but she loved the job as much as she loved this tree she was looking at it like it was ready to speak any moment now.

The tree was a ceiba pentandra, or kapok tree for short, to her best knowledge. The one that could reach up to two hundred feet and was used for fibers, giving it the name of silk-cotton. What attracted her to this particular tree was the specific unusual angle to which it was tilted and the way the branches looked like open hands that were ready to hug her. It brought tranquility and peace to her soul. That tree made all of this look like home. It helped her not to miss her actual home. Somehow it made everything better and Mira was glad that she had found a place where she could take a deep breath, relax from a long day. And just be herself.

Suddenly, she sensed two hands covering her eyes. They were rough and yet soft for her. They were the ones that caressed her. The ones that loved her and that was another reason she stayed in this rain forest.

“Raoul!” She shouted, giggling and then he bent down and kissed her on the lips. His were damp with sweat.

“Your boss told me he couldn’t find you and I told him I would. I always find my girlfriend in the weirdest of places,” Raoul said, but she didn’t pay much attention to his words.

Describing her relationship with Raoul would be the toughest thing to do ever. It was harder than explaining Einstein’s Theory of Relativity or summarizing Hawking’s A Brief History of Time for Mira. However, the strangest thing was that she couldn’t exactly pinpoint why. They had met there. Raoul was a bartender in the hotel her tourists stayed in and conversations had led to more conversations. They had led to free drinks, night-outs, some more chatting and there they were.

Mira and Raoul – in an okay relationship. She always used that word for the both of them in her mind. Never in public, but in her mental notes. Okay. They were okay. She was sure he loved her or at least had a crush on her. He was kind and caring toward her – fulfilling her every wish, giving everything that she needed in the right moment. Yes. They were okay. She didn’t know much about him, where he had lived before, whether he had a family, his best childhood friends… But wasn’t there a wise man who had once said that people should dwell in the present and not in the past. Or perhaps that was just Miss Glass.

“Hey, Mira, you look a bit off today. Is something wrong?” Raoul grabbed her chin and slowly turned her head in his direction. He had a pretty face – one of those faces you could rely on and lay your trust in. His black eyes looked into hers; his mouth revealed his white teeth. Anyway she was grateful for having him. It was definitely better to be with him than stay single forever in this rain forest where people were scarce and dates even scarcer.

“I dunno,” she replied. “It’s the gray clouds, I think.”

Indeed there were gray clouds overshadowing her rain forest. Gray clouds that threatened heavy rain, which meant that she would be out of business and that was the worst thing that could happen. Mira needed every damn penny she could get her hands on.

“Let’s chase them away, then,” Raoul said and kissed her passionately on the mouth again. He slipped his tongue in, fondling her arms and her long brown hair.

“No, stop. I don’t feel like myself today.” She stood up ready to leave and ran in the direction of the hotel. What was happening to her? This wasn’t Mira Glass! As her feet took her to the offices, she scolded herself for being so ungrateful and rude to Raoul.

The offices that housed the travel agency and her department, tour guides, opened before her. It was a beautiful one-story building that looked very much like a bungalow with the white walls and the small cute windows. It looked like a present in wrapping paper to her and she smiled at that thought; her behavior with Raoul erased completely.

Entering, she was astonished by the crowd milling around in there. Mira managed to recognize some familiar faces, but a lot of the others were tourists. Finally some work, she thought as she pushed herself into the crowd to find her boss.

“Mira, Mira!” She turned as her eyes detected the face of Angelo.

“An!” She hugged him. He was her closest friend and the only person that had welcomed her in this rain forest the first second she had stepped here.

“What’s up, girl? Haven’t seen you in ages!” Angelo said taking her by the shoulder.

“Yeah… You turned up ill for almost a month now and that’s the last I’ve heard from you.”

“A story for another time, M. I bring terrific news. Not good news – that’s a level below. This is once in a decade!”

Mira’s heart started to flutter. “C’mon, spit it out! You’re torturing me.” She smiled nervously.

“There’s this guy who wants a private tour guide. The sum is huuuge. Sorry, but that’s all I can say. Boss is looking for you,” Angelo said.

“That’s indeed terrific news. Fingers crossed I get assigned. Anyway, where’s the boss? And what’s with all of this mess?” Mira asked as bewilderment mixed with excitement glistened on her face. Angelo just put his hand on her back and went deeper into the crowd.

“There’s been an ad on TV about this rain forest. And apparently there’s some blockbuster movie that’s about to be shot here,” he shouted in her ear, so that she could hear him from the loud chattering and buzz in their offices.

As they went to what was referred to as the meeting room, Mira stared at some Asian guys yelling in perhaps Mandarin. A baby was crying in his mother’s arms fueling the tension in the atmosphere while everyone else was trying to get the best deal out of the clerks and a chance to see a Hollywood movie star, which she wouldn’t mind as well.

“He’s in there,” Angelo said and got pulled by a couple asking for something Mira couldn’t exactly hear clearly.

She knocked on the door and was quickly engulfed into the stale air of the meeting room. The meeting room could easily be a bathroom in a five-star hotel, but here it was just fine.

“Sir,” she said, standing straight. Mira noticed his face was puffed and there were dark circles under his armpits.

“As you probably saw, Mira, the world has gone mad. I need you on this next tour desperately. You’re leaving immediately.” His voice was truly desperate.

“But…”

“Please, Mira, you’re our only available and our best, you know that,” her boss said wiping away sweat from his forehead.

“You promised me a day off.” She didn’t give in, because life taught her how to behave in these kinds of situations. Her boss’s mistake was that he had let his guard down and she saw how much he needed her.

He was panicking now – putting his hands on the back of his head and going around the room. “Mira, please, do me this favor.”

“Okay. I’ll do this, but on one condition.” There was strictness in her tone.