by Betsy Poole
BILLIONAIRE’S
SEDUCTION
(A Romance Collection)
Note to Reader
This book is a COLLECTION and contains 3 Standalone books in various genres.
We hope you enjoy reading our collection.
Acknowledgements
A really huge thank you to all those amazing romance writers who have been such an inspiration to me my entire life. I’d never be here, doing what I love, if I hadn’t picked up my first romance book at the age of ten, sneaking it out of my mother’s room. That book was my first, but certainly not my last.
I would like to give a special thank you to my husband, my children, and my publishing house for helping me in this journey consistently and constantly.
All have unselfishly provided their professional input and suggestions throughout the preparation of this collection.
*** What others said about BILLIONAIRE’S SEDUCTION ***
“An absolute delight to read" ~Amazon Reviewer
"She didn’t know what she was missing… Until he found her.” ~Melanie Clarke
"Betsy Poole knows how to pull reader’s attention into the minds of her characters.” ~iBooks Reviewer
"I sometimes found myself right in the middle of the story looking outside to the main characters from my balcony." ~Christine Jacobs
"Betsy crafts the characters in a way that we find ourselves within each one of them one way or another!” ~Full of Romance Magazine
Tesla Publishing, North Carolina
An imprint of Sherlock Circus LLC
A Sherlock Circus Book / Published by arrangement with authors
Copyright 2016 by Sherlock Circus LLC
Tesla Publishing supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing us to continue to publish books for every reader.
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PUBLISHING HISTORY
Version_1
NC mass-market edition/2016
Cover Images: by Angela Saunders
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Introduction
This collection includes 3 best-seller Romance fiction standalone novels from best seller authors. It’s been a long journey for us as a publisher to bring together the best authors in the industry to create the best collection currently available at Amazon. We have no doubt you will enjoy every single novel as much as we enjoyed the process of bringing this invaluable collection to life.
Table of Contents
Collection Book 1: The Last Break (Western Romance)
Collection Book 2: Saving Ila (Billionaire Romance)
Collection Book 3: Serendipity Strikes (Billionaire Romance)
Collection Book 1: The Last Break (Western Romance)
They say that the miracles are never things, they are people. Eva didn’t really believe in the power of relations and how people in our life can change our idea about everything in the world until she came to Spring Hill. A small town in Tennessee, which was located only a few miles away from Nashville, was the home of her grandparents.
Eva was done with her college and she was already accepted at a big IT firm as an executive. She had a few months to pass, and instead of going out for a vacation, she decided to visit her grandmother.
She wasn’t really attached to her grandmother, but she also knew that it could be the last time when she would be visiting her. Eva had plans of moving to the west coast and to start her new life in the Silicon Valley. But before that, she knew that there were places that she was supposed to visit before and Spring Hill was certainly one of those preferred cities that she wanted to carry with her.
She thought that she would do it all. Eva was one of those girls who had a perfect plan for her life. She had worked really hard in school to go to Colombia and was one of the best students in college as well. She got her dream job and she knew that her entire life was about to be changed. It was just a matter of a few months, and her dreams would no longer be her dreams. They would turn real, which would make Eva plan her life while staying awake all night.
Before moving to California, she had a bucket list to complete. She wanted to live her life and do all those things that she couldn’t do when she was in school or college because she was just way too good or focused towards the completion of her goals. She wanted to sing out loud on a karaoke night and wanted to attend the concert of her favorite band. She wanted to get dirty on the ranch while scolding pigs and running after hens and chickens. She wanted to get a horse and to ride it all night long under the moonlit sky. She wanted to get a tattoo and truly fall in love. She had been with a fair share of men and has stolen plenty of kisses, but it was all infatuation. She never truly loved someone and didn’t want to pass the rest of her life, devoid of such a precious expression.
She had heard people talking and singing about love, expressing it in the form of art and walking that extra mile for the one they love, but Eva could never understand it. For her, love was a distant object that she could only stare, but never experience. When she was growing up, it was that forbidden fruit that she wasn’t brave enough to taste. As time passed, her priorities changed and she declared that she had no time for love, when deep down, she was a pure romantic.
She would read Pablo Neruda and Shakespeare at night, hoping for someone to write sonnets like that for her. But when the light of the day would come, she would become the same tough girl who could take over the entire world any moment.
She spent almost her entire childhood in Spring Hill, as it was the residence of her parents as well. As she got up and left for college, her parents got divorced and they both decided to move out of the city. They both sold their property and decided to settle in different parts of the country that only broke Eva’s heart and made her taste the bitter side of love. Her parent’s divorce and that too after almost twenty years of their marriage was a shock to everyone. This made Eva further believe that she was better off without love.
Once she asked her mother the reason for their divorce, and could still remember her words, haunting her nights. “Sometimes, two good people don’t result in a good matrimony, my daughter. We fall out of love as easily as we fall in love with each other. It’s not like anyone of us has cheated or have committed a sin. We have simply run out of love,” her mother said, which made her cautious of the thing called love. There was just so much in the world that people were afraid of and love was certainly one of them.
As her parents moved out of Spring Hill, there was no reason for her to visit the place, except her grandmother, who was getting old and needed someone to take care of her. She had proper attendants who would stay with her, but it was the presence of a family that she really craved for. Eva decided to visit her in order gave her a surprise and also thought that it would be a great opportunity for her to relive all those old days.
She was brought up in a typical country town, but she never really experienced the raw country appeal of Tennessee. It wa
s high-time when she would get in touch with the country girl in her and stay for a few months in Spring Hill was certainly a great start. Little did she know that she was about to experience not just some age-old country flavor, but also a new definition of love!
Love for her would no longer be related to betrayal or regret – it would be something really precious that was about to question her belief towards life, letting her see the bigger picture with a new pair of eyes.
Chapter 2:
“This can’t be happening right now. No!” she sighed as her car broke only a few miles away from her grandmother’s house. Fortunately, she was already inside the premises and knew that help would be just around the corner. She opened the gate and tried to inspect the engine. She was not at all an automobile pro but certainly knew the basics of it.
She was wearing a beige blouse and a purple skirt that was making her look glamorous as hell. Her nude colored stilettos and her blue wayfarers certainly made her look her very best. She thought of taking some help and tapped her cell phone in order to look for a mechanic nearby.
Though it was hardly night, but the town was almost empty. She knew that she had to act soon if she wanted to reach home fast.
“Eva, is this you?” she heard a familiar voice, and somehow, she already knew that she was in a safe place.
“I don’t believe this. Oh God! Derek, this is really you!” she said and hugged him immediately. They both went to high school and were good friends. Eva would help Derek complete his homework and Derek would make sure that no one would disturb her when she was studying in the middle of the day. They were great together and helped each other in various ways. That day was certainly no exception.
“It has been so long. Where have you been?” he asked her, as he let go of her hug. It was a real shocker for Derek to see Eva like that day, and that too after so long.
“I know. I was busy with college and I have to move to California in a few months. I just took some time off and decided to visit grandma for the time being,” she replied and let him know the reason for her visit. She inspected Derek from head and toe and realized that he has certainly grown more mature and muscular with time.
He has always been extremely good looking, but time has certainly done its work with him. He was wearing a cowboy hat, matching boots that were going flawlessly with his cowboy attire. He had an amazing physique and Eva could feel how well he had worked on his body with the way his biceps were bulging.
“I know. I heard about your grandma. It’s really nice of you to come and visit her, Eva. Damn! This is really strange. I have really missed you,” Derek confessed as all those emotions that were coming back to him from his past. When they were teenagers, Derek used to have a thing for Eva, but he never confessed his feeling for her.
She has always been extremely occupied by her priorities and would curse about almost everything related to love, which only made Derek think that she was not into her. Little did he know that Eva felt the same way for Derek too! She never confessed about her feelings because she thought that love would make her fragile. She had seen people changing their life goals because of love and didn’t want it to happen to her.
She knew that she would be leaving Spring Hill in order to attend college and will have a different life while Derek would be living in the town. His parents owned several ranches and properties in the town, which Derek was supposed to take care of. He was the only son and was expected to take care of the family business. Even at that age, she knew that the two of them had no future and that confessing her feelings for him would only make her reveal her fragile side.
“I miss you too, Derek. I miss everything about this place. I knew that I had to visit it before relocating myself,” she added.
“You did the right thing, Eva. Do you need my help with something here?” he asked and signaled at her car that was almost broken in the middle of the street.
“Yes! You always come to my rescue. What would have I done without you!” she smiled and explained to him what was wrong with her car.
“Let me have a look.”
As he said, they continued talking to each other under the moonlit sky. It was just like old times, except that they weren’t teenagers anymore. They were responsible adults and were changed individuals. Nevertheless, it didn’t feel like that at all. For them, it was just like one of those old days. They could simply blink and revisit the past. Eva knew that she had made the right choice by coming back, even if it was just for a few weeks.
Chapter 3:
Eva could still remember the expressions on her grandmother’s face when she surprised her out of the blue. She hugged Eva tightly in her arms with no intentions of letting her go.
“You have grown up so beautifully, my girl!” she said as she kept hugging her. She was really delighted to see Eva after so long, as she knew that she was going through a tough phase in her life. Medically, her grandmother was not keeping well and wanted to see her favorite granddaughter before any unforeseen situation.
“I will not let you go this time!” she said, as a tear rolled out of her eyes.
“I am here to stay, grandma. I will be here for at least a month with you. I am glad to be here too!” Eva reciprocated her joy and looked at Derek, who accompanied her to her grandmother’s house. Her car didn’t work and Derek decided to drop her instead.
“I have missed you so much, my baby girl!” her grandmother started to brush her hair with her hands. Eva had long blonde curls that were lustrous and shiny. It was just the perfect evening for her and Derek really liked her coming back. He didn’t want her to go, not so easily and decided to give her the time of her life.
As Derek kept looking at Eva, he couldn’t stop his heart beating profoundly. He knew that he has strong emotions for Eva ever since they were in high school. When Eva left Spring Hill, he thought that his feelings for her would subside, but he was wrong. Even after all those years, he still had strong feelings for Eva and wanted to let her know about it. He looked at her and knew that God has given him a second chance. He just had that one month, a few weeks to win Eva back and make her stay – and this time, forever.
The next few days passed the same way. Eva was finding it hard to adjust as it was new for her. Yes, it was her hometown and she had stayed there for years, but when she came back to Spring Hill, after all those years, she had realized that the town had certainly grown. It was not the same place anymore.
She could see the impression of technology in the city area, making the life of its residents a whole lot easier. All the other people who went with her to her school were grown as mature adults. Some of them got married and had kids while some decided to come back and open their own venture in the town. She also realized that she had lost a few people down the lane.
Mrs. Robinsons, her adorable neighbor demised a few years back. The news only broke Eva’s heart as she realized that she was not able to attend her funeral. It was not just that single event that she had missed. There were so many weddings, housewarming parties, birthdays, and events that she had also missed. She wanted to go back in time and re-live those moments, but she couldn’t. It felt like all those last few years didn’t exist at all for her. She wanted to make it count, but she couldn’t. She was not a part of those celebrations, and as she saw all her friends moving on with their lives, she had to question herself about her priorities and choices.
Though, she was delighted to have Derek by her side. He was keeping her company and didn’t seem to disappoint her at all. When it came to Derek, it was just so effortless for her. She could be herself and do everything without giving it a second thought. Every day, Derek would plan some or other thing for the two of them. He would make her re-live the age-old country charm of the town that Eva used to love. He would take her out for a horse riding training and was determined to teach her all the other practices of a cowboy.
Eva was initially not ready for all those activities, but when she had the initial taste of it, she loved i
t to the core. She realized the reason why so many people love the country charm and that traditional way of life, as she got converted from a city babe to a true cowgirl.
Derek made it all happen, as without his help; she would still be stuck with her past. She got to explore a whole new different side of her with him and realized that it was Derek, who was able to bring out the best in her.
Chapter 4:
It has been almost a week since Eva has come to stay in Spring Hill, and in these last few days, she was able to see the difference in her. She was enjoying Derek’s company and was able to live her life on her own terms. She has never been so happy in her life and could catch her own reflection in the mirror time and time. Every night, she would think of Derek and the time that they had spent together, which only made her fall for her.
She would be with her grandmother as much as she would, and would daily have meals with her. They would have heartfelt conversations together and her grandmother would reminisce about her past, narrating her some great stories about her life that would give Eva a personal insight of her life. It felt like she was getting to know herself while hearing those stories. Eva felt extremely fortunate to visit Spring Hill, as it gave her a chance to rediscover not only herself, but also people like Derek, and someone as important as her grandmother. The visit certainly strengthened her bond between these two people, who started to matter a lot in her life.
It was one of those beautiful moonlit nights when Derek and Eva were sitting on the porch. Eva had just put her grandmother to bed and was yet to have dinner.
“Why don’t you stay here for dinner? I have made some really nice lasagna,” she suggested and tried to temp Derek.