Table of Contents
Copyright
SEXY BACHELOR
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
Epilogue
Bucking Wild
BUCKING WILD
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 FOURTY
Copyright
TEMPTING THE CROWN
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40
Epilogue
DIRTY PLAY
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Epilogue
DIRTY GAME
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
EPILOGUE
RESIST
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
Epilogue
Sexy Bachelor
Published By Maggie Monroe
Copyright © 2017 Maggie Monroe
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places or events are entirely the work of the author. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or places is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in piracy of copyrighted materials.
SEXY BACHELOR
Prologue
This could go one of two ways. Knowing the kind of man I was, I knew which option I would choose. The one I always chose. Decisions like this came to me naturally.
At least they used to. They should. I wasn’t the type to get bogged down in ethics—or consequences. Not the emotional kind anyway. I analyzed deals in black and white. Any sign of red and I walked.
I prided myself on the size of my bank account, not the number of friends I had. I could spot a liar a mile away. A swindler even farther. Call it natural instincts. Call it wanting to be the predator, not the prey. Call it growing up with a liar as a father.
I’ve been called calculated or cold. By some standards I was heartless. Ruthless. I shrugged it off. Other people’s opinions never meant anything to me.
I’m the one who weighed the outcomes. I’m the one who saved the deal. Everything else is only collateral damage as far as I’m concerned. At the end of the day, there can only be one winner. And that winner better be me.
The contract sat on the table. I reached for the pen.
She wouldn’t forgive me, but she knew what she was getting into when we started this. She knew when she crawled into my bed, there was always going to be a consequence.
There was only one way this was going to end from the beginning.
Chapter One
Blake
My elbows dug into the wooden railing. There was no doubt this room had the best view of the beach. The
way the balcony jutted over the dunes made the view unobstructed. The shoreline was already busy this morning. Tourists loved this place. Their umbrellas and chairs planted in the sand, marking their territory. But this beach wasn’t theirs. They were only temporary. I knew there would be a new group in the morning. That’s how South Padre was—always changing.
I stood to take a sip of coffee and squinted under the sun. I peered at the tall hotels on my right. Sometimes it felt as if they were mocking me. Their steel and glass exteriors showcasing what a successful business venture should look like. I turned away. It was too late to turn this project around. Imagine what this view would be like from the top of one of those buildings. The price tag for this little piece of sandy real estate would sky rocket. I shook my head and walked back inside, sliding the door behind me.
I was a silent partner in the Dune Escape condo conversion. Every time I drove into town I regretted that part of the deal the most. I had agreed I would stay out of the daily minutia. Besides, I didn’t have time to micro-manage one condominium conversion.
I left my mug on the new granite countertop and headed to the bedroom to find my running shoes. Texas was blazing hot in August, but I could get a run in before the temperature hit one hundred.
I tossed my T-shirt back on the bed. It was too hot to consider more layers. I planted earbuds in my ear, tucked my phone in my pocket, and headed out the door.
I hit the sand under the Escape’s boardwalk. The new platform looked good. I didn’t like getting bogged down in construction details, but touches like this made a big difference. The motel had been around since the 1950s. It was an island eyesore until I rescued it.
I turned toward the hotels and started jogging near the wet sand where the waves retreated every few seconds. I nodded at a few girls sunbathing. It seemed early to be out, but I wasn’t complaining. A pretty girl in a bikini added to the view.
I was going on six months of bachelorhood. I had been single again about as long as I had been in a relationship.
The blonde waved at me, and I pushed forward.
Being single suited me. The relationship I had with Holly was fun. She liked to go out and have a good time, but I could see that look in her eyes. The one that said she wanted a promise from me. A promise we would be together. Forever. I wasn’t sure I was the kind of man who could make that type of commitment to any woman. Once I realized it was all she could think about, I knew I had to end it. I used the long distance as the reason. I didn’t need another lecture on my commitment issues. Breakups never ended happily. I learned that a long time ago.
It looked like the tide was going out. There was more beach under my feet. I cranked up the volume on my playlist and picked up the pace. The clumps of tourists were thicker on this part of the beach. The hotels were bringing them in faster than the sand castles were washed out by the waves on the beach. This is what we should have done with the Escape. We should have turned it into a hotel or condo rental that reached the sky. There was untapped money potential in that piece of land that I passed up just to try to stay in the good graces of the only bit of family I had—Caleb.
I felt the sweat run down my neck and the burn in my calves. Beach running wasn’t easy, but every time I was on the island I had to get it in. People told me I ran into challenges on purpose. I didn’t look at it that way. What was the point of doing something if I couldn’t prove I did it better than anyone else? Tackling challenges was my way of showing I could outmaneuver anyone in a boardroom. Outrun anyone on the beach, and out play anyone at life.
My phone beeped as a call interrupted the music.
Aggravated, I answered quickly. “Yeah. What is it Paul?”
“Good morning, sir. The financials are in for the Cove project. I sent them to you five minutes ago.”
“All right. Thanks for letting me know.” I stopped next to one of the hotel boardwalks so I could hear him better. The surf was loud.
Paul was the newest member of my staff. I hired him straight out of college. He was working on his MBA at night. I thought it showed he had goals. Some sort of drive. I didn’t want complacency on my team.
“Do you want me to tell them you’re going to make an offer?” He treaded lightly.
“I’d like to look over the report first,” I explained.
Paul was green. I had hoped he would pick up on the way I ran my business a little quicker. Maybe the grad studies would help. Financials came before an offer. That seemed fucking obvious to me.
“Right. That makes sense. Ok, well I’m in the office. Let me know what you want me to do next.”
“Paul—” I started to launch into a rundown on business concepts, but I was wasting my breath. “I’ll call you when I review the file.”
“Sounds good, sir. When do you think you’ll be back in the office?”
That was something else about him. He always wanted to know where I was. It wasn’t any of his damn business. “I’m in Padre for a few days. I hope to have my hands full here. What’s up?”
“Nothing, I just—we just were wondering if you would be back in the office soon.”
“You’ll know when I’m back. Anything else?” I exhaled.
“No, sir.”
“Thanks, Paul.” I clicked the call back to my music. I looked up at the sun. It was high enough to start making the beach unbearable. I pivoted in the sand and started running toward the Escape.
I jogged up the Escape’s new boardwalk and along the sidewalk into the office. It was no longer a one-room shack. It was an actual office for the condos. There was a display room and a clubroom where the residents could gather for social events. I insisted the only way they could draw in high-priced buyers was to offer something the rest of the island didn’t have.
I was pleased with the design they came up with. It was professional and elegant, a far cry from the tacky neon sign that used to blink in the window. It was a bonus the air conditioning worked. The old one rattled every time someone opened the door.
“Do you ever wear a shirt?” Lea walked out from her office.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” I never tired of bugging her. I knew I was a dripping, sweaty mess. “Promise I won’t sit on your new furniture.”
She rolled her eyes. “How thoughtful. I didn’t know you were in town.” She walked to the coffee machine and inserted a gourmet packet. There must have been fifty different flavors.
“Got in last night kind of late. I didn’t want to wake you,” I lied.
“Thanks. I tell Caleb all the time you’re capable of being considerate.” She retrieved her cup. “Coffee?”
I shook my head. “Nah. I’m going to grab some water.” I filled a plastic cup by the water cooler.
She settled on one of the couches in the clubroom. Her blond hair fell on either side of her neck. “What deal has you in town this time?” she asked.
“Actually that’s why I stopped by. Could you print a file for me? I need to look it over.”
“Sure. Send it to my email.”
I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn’t attracted to Lea. But she was marrying Caleb and from the start she only had feelings for him. He was a lucky bastard. She was beautiful and smart. Somehow, she had become part of my family unit. She was like a sister—make that more like a hot stepsister.
I sent the email from my phone and waited while she downloaded it to the printer. She returned from her office a few minutes later with a stack of papers in her hand.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Thanks.” I flipped through the sheets of numbers. “This is my next land acquisition.”
She threw a hand on her hip. “Tell me. What are you tearing up this time?” she pried.
“You know that trailer park at the other end of the island?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes. Conch Cove?”
I grinned. “That’s the one. I’m trying to get a bid in for the land today. It’s a private auction.”
She sighed. “Why do you insist on
building a high-rise here?”
“First of all, I never said it was a high-rise.” She could read me like a book. “But more importantly, you keep forgetting I’m a developer. This is what I do. I buy. I build. I sell. I make a ton of money.”
“Sometimes I think you’re missing all the important things in life, Blake. There is more to Padre than money.”
“Just because you drank the Kool-Aid and decided to move here doesn’t mean it’s for everyone, girl.”
“You’ve never given this place a chance. All you see when you drive over the bridge is dollar signs.”
I smiled wickedly. “And a lot of them.”
“You’re completely impossible, Blake.”
I clutched the pages in my hand and walked toward the door. “Tell Caleb I’ll grab a beer with him before I leave.”
She sighed. “Buddy’s tonight for drinks?”
“Sounds good. Meet you two there.”
I shoved the glass door open. Today was going to be a good day. I had a new multi-million dollar project within reach again. That always made me happy.
I punched in Paul’s number on my way up the stairs.
“Yes, sir?”
“Go ahead and get the proposal started for the Cove bid. I’ll call back in a few minutes with hard numbers. Also, put in a call with our broker and tell them I want Ruth Rimerez at the table. She’s the best.”
“Yes, sir. Anything else?” he asked.
“Wait for me to call,” I instructed.
I hung up. I needed to take a shower and get dressed. I had a lunch meeting at noon with one of the commissioners to talk about my high-rise. It was critical to make sure the political climate in Padre was warm enough for the idea. I wasn’t about to spend millions if I couldn’t produce what I wanted.
I pulled a crisp white shirt from the closet. I had started leaving more clothes here each time I breezed into town. I was waiting for Lea to tell me this condo had sold and I needed to pack my closet full of stuff, but so far the priciest one in the mix hadn’t sold. It would happen. There were only five units still on the market.
I rinsed off and grabbed a towel from the rack. I wrapped it around my waist and walked to the kitchen. The Cove numbers were spread across the bar. If I was right about this, it could be my most lucrative beach project to date.
I jotted down a few figures and did some quick math. There was no way I wasn’t going to throw my name in the ring for this one. I had been watching the island real estate for months. The timing was right. I pulled out my phone.
“Paul, I’m sending over my instructions. Put the numbers in exactly as I have them. Got it?”
“Yes, sir. I can do that. I’ll call you when I get the bid together,” he stammered. I wished he sounded more confident.
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