The Playboy Bachelor (The Bachelors of Arizona #2)
Page 26
Charles was quiet and then nodded. “Do your worst.”
“Oh, I plan to.” Her lips curved into a greedy smile. “I plan to.”
Brant Wellington tells everyone that he’s single, rich, and happy. Instead, he’s running from a past he can’t forget. But all it takes is one unforgettably hot night with his ex to turn Brant’s past into one complicated—and tempting—present . . .
A preview of The Bachelor Contract follows.
Prologue
Colorless shapes moved in rapid succession as the roar of the crowd grew louder by the minute. Nikki clutched the auction paddle with a sweaty hand while making sure to keep her wineglass secure in her left.
She wasn’t sure what was louder.
The people.
Or her heart as it pounded against her chest.
At least she didn’t have to see him.
Then again, she’d never had to see him to feel his magnetic presence. Brant Wellington was and always would be a larger-than-life figure to her, a person who didn’t just live up to the hype—but out-hyped the hype.
He’d been her hero.
And then he’d fallen.
And stayed down.
That was the worst part.
When people fell, they got up—it was simple logic. You fall down, and you fight to stand again, you fight with everything you have to make sure you can find solid ground.
Not Brant Wellington.
He’d fallen down.
And he’d been on the ground ever since.
“The next item for auction!” the loud voice boomed. It was happening. It was actually happening.
Nadine Titus had given her strict instructions. And because she was out of her mind—she’d said yes.
“Brant Wellington!” the voice announced as a hush fell over the crowd.
And then the bidding began.
Heart in her throat, Nikki waited for paddles to lift—though she couldn’t exactly see them, she supposed the announcer, Charles Wellington, would keep everyone up to date with how much was being bid.
A cough sounded to her right.
And then a second loud cough.
That was her cue.
Hand still shaking, she raised her paddle into the air and spoke in a reserved voice. “Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“Going once,” the voice boomed. “Twice.” Her pulse soared into dangerous territory while her mouth went completely dry. “Sold! To, sorry, what is your paddle number?”
“Zero-zero-five.” She’d memorized it the minute Cole, her companion, had let her know the number.
She stood and forced a smile she didn’t feel. A practiced smile. One that would convey her excitement at winning one of the most notorious bachelors in the country.
But she knew the truth behind that smile.
The hurt that still remained. The rejection that haunted her day and night, and still, she couldn’t shake the feel of his hands on her body, or his hot kisses and how they always managed to make her melt into a helpless puddle at his feet.
Maybe it was better that she was legally blind.
Because when she stood, she didn’t have to see the look on his face.
The look that would solidify how horrible an idea this had been.
Because she was pretty certain that look was almost identical to the one he’d worn the day he had walked out of her life.
And never come back.
Chapter One
Present Day
Get the hell out!” Brant roared as he threw a vase across the tiled floor. It landed with a crash as it exploded into hundreds of blue glass shards.
Bentley stared at the mess then stepped over the shattered pieces, and still, he made his way over to Brant. “A vase, man? Have you turned into a chick? Is this our first fight? You might as well have thrown a bra. Oh, also”—he walked around the couch while Brant retreated backward—“you missed.”
“I’m drunk.”
Bentley’s clear blue eyes flashed. “You’re always drunk.”
Brant’s ass collided with the wall. Trapped. He was completely trapped.
In his own apartment.
With the most annoying man on the planet.
Who just so happened to look exactly like Brant minus a few key muscles and a very unsavory personality flaw.
“Just go.” Brant wiped his hands across his scruffy face. “I’m fine. I just need to sober up.”
Bentley snorted. “And if I had a dollar for every time that phrase came out of your mouth.”
Pain—raw, familiar, all-encompassing—wrapped itself around Brant’s throat until he felt like he was going to choke. “Why are you here?”
Bentley slowly turned his head and looked around the apartment. Brant knew what his twin saw. Empty pizza boxes. Empty beer bottles littered across every flat surface. A few empty fifths of whiskey. Clothes strewn across the couch, and white powder on the coffee table.
“It’s not mine,” he said quickly. Guilt stabbed him in the chest at his brother’s disappointed look. “I swear.”
“Would it matter anyway?” Bentley asked in a quiet voice. He slowly walked over to the table and grabbed one of the small plastic packets, then disappeared down the hall.
A toilet flushed.
When he returned, a tense silence crackled through the air as Brant waited for the yelling, the accusations, more pain.
Because if there was anything he knew without a shadow of a doubt, there would always be more. A human’s capacity for pain was limitless.
He would know.
Damn it, he wasn’t drunk enough if he could still feel the pain, if he could conjure up images of her jet-black hair and red-lipped pout.
If the air still smelled like her skin, no matter how many times he told himself it was a trick of the imagination.
God, he hated her.
But not as much as he hated himself.
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Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of Regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing, you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
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Also by Rachel Van Dyken
The Bachelors of Arizona series
The Bachelor Auction
The Bet series
The Bet
The Wager
Eagle Elite series
Elite
Elect
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Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
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
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
A Preview of The Bachelor Contract
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About the Author
Praise for The Bet and The Eagle Elite series
Also by Rachel Van Dyken
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Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Rachel Van Dyken
Excerpt from The Bachelor Contract copyright © 2017 by Rachel Van Dyken
Cover design by Elizabeth Turner
Cover copyright © 2017 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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ISBN 978-1-4555-9873-1 (mass market edition)
ISBN 978-1-4555-9874-8 (ebook edition)