At Any Price
A Reckless Falls Novel
Theresa Leigh
Copyright © 2017 by Vivian Lux, and 2018 by Vivian Lux and Theresa Leigh
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.
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About this book
I haven’t had a stroke of luck in my entire life.
I’m serious—not one single lucky day. Well, aside from the day my son was born pink and healthy and squalling at the Reckless Falls hospital. That was lucky.
Everything else? Disaster.
I’m a single mom trying to make things work, and the last thing I need is a man weighing me down. I don’t have time to run someone else’s life—I’m barely keeping up with my own.
All that changes the day I run into the billionaire, Jameson Tellar. Literally.
He thinks I’m his good luck charm and won’t let me leave his side. And as for me? I’ve fallen head over heels with the one man who will never stay in Reckless Falls. It’s only a matter of time before he moves on, so I have a choice to make. Let him go?
Or hope that for once in my life, my luck holds out?
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The Reckless Falls Series
Fool Me Once
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Eight years ago, Cole broke Autumn’s heart. But now he’s back in town and asking her to take a second chance on her first love.
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Take Me Away
Aria and Derek’s story
After escaping her abusive ex, Aria flees back to her small town and the house left to her by her grandfather. But it she’s not the only one claiming her inheritance. Her rival? A reclusive bad boy from Aria’s past. He’s not leaving his home without a fight…
and he fights dirty.
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More Than Enough
Harper, Callum, and Grayson’s story
Harper knows kissing Callum was a mistake. And kissing Grayson was an even bigger mistake. Now she’s falling for both of her older brother’s best friends. She can’t possibly choose between them.
But what if she doesn’t have to?
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Hold Me Tight
Brynn and Everett’s story
Brynn likes her uncomplicated life as a single girl in a small town. But when a stalker has her fearing for her safety, she finds comfort in a surprising place - tied up in Everett’s bed.
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All Of Me
Bee, Jackson, and Finn’s story
Bee risked everything to leave her hometown and open her dream bakery. When her store is targeted by vandalism, she finds surprising support from owners of the four-star restaurant next door. Finn and Jackson are best friends and business partners. And they both want to taste of the little baker’s… buns.
* * *
At Any Price
Charlie and Jameson’s story
Single mom Charlie is convinced her luck ran out long ago. After all, she just plowed her car right into billionaire Jameson Tellar’s.
But he claims it was a stroke of luck that brought them together. And he’s willing to do anything to keep his lucky streak going…
* * *
The Crown Creek Series
The Kings:
Sweet Crazy Song
Jonah and Ruby’s story
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Lost Perfect Kiss
Gabe and Everly’s story
A risk taking bad boy. A girl-next-door nurse. And the kiss that never should have happened. Gabe has to convince Everly to take the biggest risk of her life. Him.
Soft Wild Ache
Beau and Rachel’s story
Growing up in a repressive religious cult meant that Rachel always believed the outside world was evil. But when sensitive rocker Beau opens her eyes to life outside the compound walls, she learns that he’s the sweetest sin she’s ever seen.
His Secret Heart
Finn and Sky’s story
Sky was certain she knew everything she needed to know about volatile, unpredictable bad boy Finn King. But when her world turns upside down, she realizes everything she thought she knew is wrong.
Coming Soon:
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Crown Creek Standalone:
Last Good Man
Cooper and Willa’s story
Willa hates Cooper. But when she wakes up in a hospital room, he’s the one who’s there waiting - rumpled, frantic… And swearing she’s his fiancee.
Coming soon:
Ryan and Naomi’s story
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Visit theresaleighromance.com for more.
Contents
1. Charlie
2. Jameson
3. Charlie
4. Jameson
5. Charlie
6. Jameson
7. Charlie
8. Jameson
9. Charlie
10. Charlie
11. Charlie
12. Jameson
13. Charlie
14. Jameson
15. Charlie
16. Jameson
17. Charlie
18. Charlie
19. Jameson
20. Charlie
21. Jameson
22. Charlie
23. Jameson
24. Charlie
25. Jameson
26. Charlie
27. Jameson
28. Charlie
29. Jameson
30. Charlie
31. Jameson
32. Charlie
33. Charlie
34. Jameson
35. Charlie
36. Jameson
37. Charlie
38. Jameson
39. Charlie
40. Jameson
Epilogue
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Chapter One
Charlie
My toddler only weighed twenty-two pounds, but he fought me like a bear mixed with Mike Tyson.
"Buddy!" I breathed, stepping back and taking a breath. I was starting to sweat and I could practically feel my hair frizzing.
Malcolm slid bonelessly to the floor of my car where he puddled in a pool of tears. "MomMom!" he wailed.
Snot poured from his nose as fast as the tears flowed from his eyes. I wiped my hands down the front of my shirt and felt the damp patches where he'd soaked through the fabric. "Oh bud," I sighed, feeling that same squeeze around my heart that I always felt when I looked at my son. "Honey, I told you. MomMom is sick. She can't watch you today."
Malcolm's fresh wail of anguish pierced my eardrum and I winced away, and as I did I saw the flicker of curtain up on the second story of the cramped house I shared with her. She was watching all of this. Of course she was. And feeling one of two things. Smugness over the fact that her grandson seemed to prefer her to his own mother, and guilt over the fact that she couldn't...or wouldn't...come out to soothe his tears.
Then I looked down at the watch Malcolm's father had given me, the only useful thing he ever did besides give me my son, and winced again.
"Buddy?" I said, my voice a little louder. "We need to go."
The drive across town to my new job was only five minutes, but we had the added complication of the three minu
tes it would take to get to Maisie's house, plus God knows how long it would take to wrestle Malcolm out of his car seat and into her house. Plus, the added drama of me saying goodbye and leaving him there, which could take thirty seconds, or three hours depending on his mood. Which meant I could leave right now and still be a half an hour late for the new job I was only just starting to settle into. I didn't have time for any of this.
The fact that I'd gone from a hostess and server at a shitty twenty-four-hour diner to the front-end manager of a four-star restaurant still kind of blindsided me, and I didn't completely trust that one day I wasn't going to find out it was all some sort of colossal joke.
But until that day happened, it was the best thing that had happened to me since my son was born.
And now my son was screwing it all up.
"Buddy," I said through gritted teeth. "Let Mama buckle you in please."
Malcolm responded by arching himself upward in some move that came right out of one of those Japanese horror movies. "Oh for...fudge's sake." I inhaled sharply. Then, feeling like the worst mother in the world, I jammed one forearm down into his lap — effectively bending him back into a sitting position — while with the other I wrestled the straps across his squirming body.
He screamed directly into my eardrum and arched upward against the restraints. "MomMom!" he yelled plaintively for my mother to come help him, to rescue him from his awful fate. My ear was ringing with the sound of his distress, and I was starting to sweat. I couldn't imagine what my eye makeup looked like right now.
But when I heard the click of the buckle across his chest, I sighed with relief. Quicker than anything, I snapped in the buckle between his legs, and yanked the whole thing tight.
He quieted, and looked at me in red-faced indignity.
"Sorry bud." I shrugged. "We have to go now."
I walked around the car, and yanked open the driver's seat side door. Malcolm was quiet as I slid behind the wheel, but it was the calm that comes before the storm. The second I turned on the engine, he opened his mouth and let out an ear-piercing scream.
At that moment, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the rearview mirror and recoiled in horror.
The five minutes wrestling session had left me looking like I'd been dragged through the mud backwards. My hair was definitely starting to frizz out into a blonde cloud around my head in utter defiance of the mountain of product I'd slapped in it this morning. My eyes looked wild, bloodshot from being up far too late last night trying to catch up on bills. My cheeks were pale as hell and I'd forgotten to put on blush. And to top it off, the way the light was hitting my hair right now, I thought I saw a glint of gray hair mixed in with the blonde.
"No," I said aloud. "I'm twenty-fudging four. It's just bleached out from the summer." But in the back of my mind I remembered my mother saying she started coloring her hair at twenty-five.
Malcolm let out another shriek as I pulled out, turning out of our little alley way onto Main Street. "Baby boy," I sighed heavily. "You have got to stop screaming."
He responded with another ear-piercing shriek.
Desperate, I started rummaging through my bag, and when my fingers closed around my cell phone, I took a deep breath. Screens rotted his brain, I knew that much, but you have to do what's necessary, right? "Here baby, want to play with Mama's phone?" I asked, turning and dangling it in front of him.
He reached out with his chubby fist, and yanked it hard but his fingers couldn't close in time. I heard the sickening sound of it falling to the floor.
I smacked my hand against the steering wheel as he began to wail anew. "Ah, Malcolm, what the — fudge..." I caught myself before I swore in front of my son. "Hang on, bud, there's a stop sign right up here." I pulled up at the same time as a fancy car with out of state plates. Some rich tourist. I wondered if they could hear Malcolm yelling right now. "Hope it ruins your vacation," I muttered uncharitably, then raised my voice for Malcolm's benefit. "Mama will get it, no don't scream anymore, Mama's got it, Mama's got it." I twisted in my seat, reaching down behind the passenger seat, but my fingers just brushed the top of it, missing it entirely. Malcolm wailed piteously and I gritted my teeth. Bracing myself against the floor, I felt my fingers start to close around it. I stood up as high as I could, raising myself up off the seat. "Almost got it..."
"Oh, crap!" I yelled, as my foot slipped and the car jerked forward, rolling into the intersection right into the path of the fancy car. And for a second the noise of scraping metal was loud enough to drown out everything else, even Malcolm's scream of pain.
Chapter Two
Jameson
My assistant's voice was distorted by the tinny speakers of my rental car, but his distress came through loud and clear. "Sir, I'm sorry, what was that?"
I rolled my eyes. "I said that I didn't come back to this backwater hellhole just to sit around with my thumb up my ass," I said, carefully enunciating each word. "I've got places to be, and if they can't be bothered to show up for meetings on time..."
Miles' voice cut through. "Sir, that's what I'm trying to tell you," he interjected. I could almost see him wincing for having interrupted me. But I let it slide. "There was a communication error. This meeting was supposed to be at two, not twelve like we had thought."
I inhaled sharply through my nose. "Well, that's too fucking bad, isn't it?" I declared. "They don't get my money then. I'm already in the car, driving away from here as fast as I possibly can."
"Sir," Miles pleaded. "You traveled all this way."
"And I'll travel right the fuck back," I reminded him. "Being back in this dump is giving me hives anyway. Wait listen, you hear that? Is that...banjoes in the distance?"
"Sir, they are very interested in meeting your terms," Miles pleaded. "I understand not wanting to stay after a mess-up of this caliber..."
"They made me wait," I seethed. "Me."
"Yes sir, I know."
"I'm Jameson fucking Tellar. They need me and my checkbook to keep this development project in the black. Fucking Cole Granger sweet talked me into this bullshit in the first place just because we were roommates at Penn. Goes to show what happens when you go into business with a friend. I should have gone with my gut and told him no from the get-go."
"Sir?" Miles deftly inserted himself into my righteously fuming tirade right as I took a breath. "Why don't you flip a coin?"
I sighed heavily. "You think you know me, don't you Miles?" I chuckled.
His tinny voice sounded grossly pleased with himself. "I have a vague notion, sir."
I leaned back, and rummaged in my pocket. My thumb smoothed over the worn edge of my lucky coin. I believed in luck. It's what made me so rich in the first place. "Okay fine, I'm pulling up to a stop sign right now. Heads, I stay in Reckless Falls and go through with the stupid meeting. Tails, I get the hell away from this dumb idea in the first place. Hey, how did I let you talk me into this again anyway, Miles?"
"You made me flip a coin, sir," Miles said witheringly.
I grinned. "Well, here we go again then, huh? Here, I'm about to go through the intersection. Call it. Ready?" I rested the coin on the side of my finger and pressed my thumb to the edge just as I let my foot off the brake.
All at once there was the sickening crunch of metal on metal. The whole car lurched sideways, sending my lucky coin flying as my head slammed into the window.
For a few heart-pounding seconds I just sat there dazed, staring at the odd angle I'd come to a halt in. I'd never been diagonal on a street before. This was new.
Then I suddenly came back to myself. "Oh what the fuck?" I shouted out loud.
Miles was frantically shouting through the speakers. "Sir? Sir are you okay?"
I rubbed the side of my head. "Fuck. Some yokel just plowed into the passenger side." I looked in the rearview mirror and gingerly touched the tender spot on my head. "That's gonna leave a fucking mark," I seethed. Red hot rage boiled up in my blood and suddenly I needed to fucking lay out
the piece of shit who'd done this. I should have never fucking come to Reckless Falls in the first place and now I have to deal with accident bullshit. "Fucking yokel pieces of shit in this backwater town," I shouted, yanking off my seatbelt and slamming my door open. "Why don't you watch where you're fucking going, you fucking hillbilly?"
A woman reared up out of the driver's seat, eyes blazing. "You asshole!" she shrieked, whirling around and making a beeline for the back of the car.
"Where the fuck are you going?" I shouted, rushing to intercept her. "Don't fucking run from me like this, I will have your ass on a platter in court, you don't even know..."
The fact that she paid me no attention at all made my already hot blood start boiling. The fact that she thought it was more important to be fucking around in her backseat than dealing with the accident she just caused made me want to punch out her window. "Hey!" I shouted, rushing around the car. "Fucking look at me!"
At that, she snapped back up and stood tall.
With a fucking baby in her arms.
"Oh shit," I breathed as I saw the blood on his face. "Is he okay?"
"I don't know," she moaned frantically, touching his little body everywhere. He squirmed in her arms and she closed her eyes and started shushing him as she swayed from side to side.
At Any Price Page 1