Also by Maria Hoagland
Billionaire Classics
Beauty and the Billionaire Beast
Her App, a Match, and the Billionaire
Falling for Her Billionaire Best Friend
The Matchmaker’s Billionaire
Bargaining with the Billionaire
Cobble Creek Series
The Inventive Bride
The Practically Romantic Groom
The Combustible Engagement
Romance Renovations Series
Home for the Holidays
Kayaks & Kisses
Keeping Romance
Love for Keeps
Santa Cam
Family Medical Drama
Still Time
The ReModel Marriage
Bargaining with the Billionaire
Maria Hoagland
Red Leaves Press
Copyright © 2020 by Maria Hoagland
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Untitled
Next in the Billionaire Classics Series
In Case You Missed It in Billionaire Classics Series
To the one who finds the fun in life and celebrates it with humor and peanut butter in his ice cream.
1
Whoever said Arkansas was all backwoods country hadn’t been to Eureka Springs during one of their summer festivals. Or maybe they had, and they’d enjoyed it so much, they were trying to keep this place a secret.
Either way, Autumn Molinero wasn’t about to correct anyone. She wouldn’t mind keeping this little corner of the world to herself—well, that and the extra thousand people attending the Eureka Springs blues weekend. Her dad hadn’t been kidding when he’d said the town lived on its tourist trade.
Eureka Springs was charming with its Victorian architecture, unique boutiques, and quaint accommodations nestled in the gorgeous Ozark Mountains. The town was perfect.
The scent of Mexican food from a nearby restaurant alternated with the aroma of warm chocolate brownies from the local bakery. Her stomach rumbled with the temptation to go in search of dinner. It was a good thing her nose hadn’t caught teriyaki sauce, or she would lose all control. When Talia and Camden get here . . . She couldn’t eat without her guests.
Drawn in by the low, mournful sound of a lone trumpet, Autumn walked under an arched sign, around a tiered water fountain, and into the throngs of concertgoers filling Basin Spring Park. Bodies weren’t shoulder to shoulder by any means, but it wasn’t easy finding a free spot to wait for her friends. On a stage up the terraced hillside, the lead singer crooned into the microphone, his face contorted with emotion.
At a particularly complicated riff, she stopped walking and closed her eyes. The mellow electric guitar infused her soul with its sorrowful melody. She’d never listened to blues before, but in this setting, it complemented the sultry air. She swayed with the music, enjoying every flawlessly timed note.
She paused for a phrase to resolve, and in the sudden stillness, her earrings knocked against her jawline in syncopated rhythm.
“The music is almost as beautiful as you are.”
With her eyes still closed, the voice sounded like it was coming from right next to her—maybe even directed at her—but that couldn’t be right. Why would some random guy be talking to her? With hypersensitive, focused ears, Autumn was probably eavesdropping on a private conversation. She ignored the statement and concentrated on the song that held her captive.
As the tune climbed the staff, building in intensity, an elbow nudged her roughly. “I said, the music is almost as beautiful as you are.”
Autumn’s eyes flew open in alarm, and she scrambled back a step in the dim lighting, her hand flying to her chest as if it could offer any protection. Even if the guy hadn’t awkwardly interrupted her, touching her was completely uncalled for. And creepy.
Mouth agape, she blinked. The man was definitely talking to her. Through the shadows, he could have been passably decent-looking, but she couldn’t see past his leer. Her stomach roiled, and chills went down her spine. Trying to control her breathing, she turned away, pretending her attention was on the stage and the music.
“You’re going to ignore me?” In her periphery, he shook his head. “I was trying to be nice.” He scoffed. His crooked smile said he thought too much of himself. “I get it—you don’t know me, but we can fix that. Wanna grab a drink?” The way his words slurred, she had no doubt he’d had a few already. He smelled like it anyway.
But he was right on one thing—she didn’t know him. And she had no desire to change that.
Where were Talia and Camden? She checked her watch. Their ghost tour should be up any time now, and they’d planned to meet back here. Her mouth went dry.
“I’m waiting for a friend." She purposely didn’t look at him; if she turned, she felt she might snap. Her spidey senses had gone on high alert. Although she tried, she had trouble keeping her focus on the stage. Instead, she took stock of those around her. She’d never felt so alone in a crowd.
“No worries.” He stepped closer. “I’ll keep you company until she comes.”
Her heart thrummed louder than the music. Shoot! She’d said the wrong thing. She took another step away. “We were supposed to meet at—” Her mind scrambled for the name of a restaurant—something, anything plausible—but the nameless shops blurred in her panic.
Her eyes locked on a man walking toward her, and she flared her eyes at him, desperate for a reprieve from the creeper on her other side. If only he could read her mind, feel her desperation and sweep in. With a water bottle in each hand, he was probably headed for his own date and wouldn’t even have noticed her.
“Where are my manners?” The creeper on her left laid a heavy hand on her forearm, and she spun her head back to face him. “I should have introduced myself. I’m Jace. And you are?”
She was done trying to be nice. “Not interested, if you haven’t noticed.” She pulled her arm from the man and bumped into the couple behind her. Her glare dug into Jace, who’d touched her too many times. “Get away from—"
“Ah, Taylor!” The blond man she’d locked eyes on moments before was suddenly at her side, his tone full of honey and confidence, his Southern accent so similar to her own. “Here you are.”
If she couldn’t tell in the dim light that he was looking straight at her, she might have thought he had mistaken her for his girlfriend. He pressed one of the water bottles into her hand, the warmth of his touch reassuring. She would be okay. Yet her heart skipped on at a supersonic rate. He looked deep into her eyes, and all nervousness fled—until he leaned in and placed a brief kiss near her temple. She should slap him, but at the same time, she�
�d needed him and he’d stepped up.
“Here’s that drink you wanted.” His voice was deep and smooth and carried all the familiarity it should have if they were actually dating. “Sorry that took forever. The line was super long, and it took me a minute to find you.”
Jace still hadn’t walked away; in fact, she could practically feel his sour breath on her neck. It took everything in her not to gag as revulsion at his presence surged through her.
“Thanks, Tyler.” She said the first name that popped into her head without realizing how close it was to the name he’d called her. Taylor and Tyler. Too cutesy. Oh well. Too late to fix that. She accepted the water bottle, but instead of twisting off the cap, she stepped in closer toward him. She was desperate to get Creepy Guy off her and instinctively felt that this other stranger was a much better bet.
It was wrong of her to make assumptions, but this man, her knight in shining armor, had started this rescue. The question was, how far was he willing to let the charade go? He had been the one to kiss her.
Swallowing her fear, she took a leap of faith. She ran her hand down his arm, attuned to any twitch or hesitation that might indicate she was out of line. When he didn’t move away, she slipped her hand into his. Immediately, he intertwined their fingers, and her heartbeat quickened. She breathed out slowly and smiled up at him, grateful that he played along.
“I know I tell you this all the time, but you have the most beautiful smile.” With his free hand, “Tyler” reached out as if to touch her face or a lock of her hair, but stopped short. For the briefest of moments, his blue eyes flicked to the man over her shoulder, proving this was all a show, but didn’t acknowledge him any other way. “The lead singer’s good, isn’t he?” Tyler said.
Her temporary date’s slight Southern accent, while much less than what Autumn was used to in Dallas, was comforting, and it made her feel even more at home. He dropped her hand to twist off the cap of his water bottle and took a long drink, but he kept his eyes protectively on her and Jace.
“My favorite so far,” she managed to say. A sense of calm lapped over the hot panic she’d felt before this golden god, Tyler, had shown up. Though it made no sense, she felt safe with him. She willed her heartbeat to slow, but every time she looked over at her hero, it skipped into a sprint again. At least it wasn’t an all-out panic run.
He took another drink, his eyes intent on something—or someone—over her shoulder. “He’s gone,” her rescuer whispered, stepping back to the respectable distance between strangers.
“Thank you.” She breathed out a sigh of relief that almost brought tears. With shaking hands, she held out the unopened water bottle, returning it to him. He probably had someone waiting for that somewhere.
“Drink. Really. It’s okay.” His reassurance was a salve to the wounds the other man had inflicted.
Except Jace hadn’t done anything other than express interest in getting to know her, right? But it had felt so much worse, so much more suggestive—and disturbing. She shuddered, thinking about him. No more. She wouldn’t allow the jerk one more moment in her brain’s space.
“Thank you.” For more than just the water. She couldn’t say the words, but he would know.
She wanted to trust him, and her mouth was parched after her scare. She tried on a shaky smile, twisted off the top, and lifted the bottle to her lips, taking that moment to take in his appearance for the first time.
What was it about his first impression that had made her reach out to him? He was clean cut with short hair and a little stubble, and along with his strong frame of at least a couple inches over six feet—and more importantly, over the creep—he’d immediately come across as trustworthy and safe. But now that she had the chance to look closer, there was more than nice hair and tanned muscles drawing her in. Clear, blue eyes with a hint of humor and a warm smile made her realize she’d been staring, and he’d noticed.
She lowered the bottle and turned back toward the stage. The guy with the microphone had the most amazing voice. Who knew blues music was so good?
She lifted the water bottle in a salute. “Thanks for this too. I really appreciate it. Sorry you’ll have to get another for your date now.”
“Why? Are you that thirsty?” His delivery was dry, and it took her a moment to get what he was saying.
“Apparently, you were if you bought them both for yourself.”
“Two-for-one deal.” He shrugged. “I just got offstage, and my throat was dry.” He raised his own bottle and tapped hers. “But this did the trick.”
There was a pause in the conversation. She’d expressed her gratitude and he’d accepted gracefully, but she didn’t want it to end. And maybe, with the way he remained at her side, he didn’t either. She had to think of something to say and fast, but he beat her to it.
“Tyler, huh?” He quirked an eyebrow at her.
She chuckled. “It was the first thing that came to mind, but it was too close to what you said—” She shook her head.
“I know. I almost burst out laughing . . .” His shoulders were relaxed. He was so at home here, like this was his regular hangout spot and he rescued women every other weekend.
“You held it together pretty well—not missing a beat.” She bit down on her lip, then promptly let go when she realized what she was doing. “Do you think he bought it?”
“Enough.”
True, it took care of the problem. She nodded, soaking in the evening dusk, the soulful music, the peace. “You were onstage?” The reason he’d come armed with water. “I’m sorry I missed that. I just got here.” She paused a beat. “You play then?”
“Actually, no. I was the comic relief.”
Comic relief? What could that mean? She gave him a quizzical look.
He answered with the tilt of his head and a smirk, momentarily delaying his answer. “Literally.”
That still didn’t answer the question in her mind. She’d been to Renaissance fairs with jugglers and knife throwers, but what did blues festivals have? She made a point of noticing his form-fitting T-shirt and nice jeans.
“I’m a comedian. My comedy club opens next week. I was doing a little . . . advertising.”
Now she was really sorry she’d missed it.
“But this is great.” He looked back up at the stage. “If you weren’t at Basin Springs Park, were you at the hotel or The Auditorium for the other concerts?”
Autumn shook her head. “Nope. Total newbie. First experience with blues . . . and Eureka Springs.” She chewed her lip. “I was supposed to go on a ghost tour with my friends. We’re visiting from out of town, but road construction and a detour put me back. So they went on ahead, and they’re—”
Her phone buzzed, and she saw a text. We’re here.
She scanned the crowd. “Actually . . .” She waved the phone so he would know as she went up on tiptoe to look. It probably sounded like an excuse to get away from him, but that was pretty far from the truth. She wanted to stay and get to know him better, and she was sure Talia and Cam wouldn’t mind hanging out for a while.
Talia stood at the edge of the crowd, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet to see over the heads of the crowd. Autumn raised her hand so Talia could find her. As soon as Talia saw her, she grabbed Camden’s hand and rushed over.
Moments later, Talia engulfed her in a hug, but Autumn cut it short to introduce them. When she looked over, “Tyler” was gone.
2
Kian Gould shuffled through a box of photos, trying to find a specific shot of him at age seventeen alongside his father. “I know it’s in here somewhere,” he mumbled into the wireless earbuds he wore so he could talk on the phone and still use his hands.
“What’s the big deal?” His dad chuckled into his end. “Which photo are you looking for? Maybe I have it.”
He sifted through more, finding photos of everything from Halloween outfits to high school graduation with no semblance of chronology. “The one from the first 100-mile race we did t
ogether.”
“From the Eurekan? Back, what—nine, ten years ago?”
Though light, Kian liked that he heard pride in his father’s voice. “Mmm-hmm.” Kian had been meaning to get it framed for display at his bike shop. It was nice to be able to claim that he’d been involved with the event in some way or another since it had started. If only he were racing this year and not sponsoring, organizing, and overseeing big portions of one of Eureka Springs’s biggest annual events.
“That’s one of my favorite pictures, too,” his dad said. “I probably have it on a flash drive somewhere. I’ll look for it later and email it.” There was a slight pause. “What made you think of that?”
Kian wasn’t exactly sure. Just their conversation. “Chalk it up to Father’s Day nostalgia.”
It had been difficult for both of them when Kian’s mother passed away four years ago. Unable to deal with the ghosts of memories and “should have beens,” Ian had made the grueling choice to leave home a couple years back. And while Kian understood, with his shop and bike tour business up and running, he opted to stay in the family home. They remained close, though, getting together a couple of times a year in person and on the phone a couple times a month.
“I can send you a selfie if you can’t remember what I look like,” Dad joked.
“You know how to do that, old man?” Kian scoffed, though his dad wasn’t that old.
Bargaining with the Billionaire (Billionaire Bachelor Mountain Cove) Page 1