by C. J. Thomas
Accidentally in Love
High Stakes Billionaires
CJ Thomas
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2018 CJ Thomas
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
[email protected]
About the Author
CJ lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont. You can find CJ skiing, hiking, and spending time with family when not typing away on the latest hottest read.
Connect with CJ:
[email protected]
Accidentally in Love, Book Description
Billionaire Trevor Foster was the damaged war hero who stole my heart.
My life was on the line. I ran from one man and into the arms of another. Bleeding and broken, it happened faster than my mind could process. Our damaged selves were made for each other. But when I learned he had a secret of his own, I didn’t know if we could survive.
Two wrongs never make a right.
He owed me nothing, but I had a responsibility to my family. They were the reason I doubted myself. It wasn’t about me. It was about them. And this was something my father was never going to let me out of. Being the senator’s daughter was never easy, but finding myself accidentally in love only days before my wedding was just asking for trouble.
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
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Afterword
Also by CJ Thomas
Acknowledgment
1
Sienna
My chest burned but I couldn’t stop.
He’ll catch up. Find me. And, when he does, he’ll kill me.
I heaved through heavy breaths that made my dry throat sting. Suddenly, I stopped and glanced over my shoulder with wide, unblinking eyes. I had to know. Needed to be sure that he had given up. Decided that chasing me wasn’t worth his time.
Sophia’s voice cracked through the line. “He’s going to kill me,” I barked just as my phone died. “Shit.”
Planting my hands on my hips, I sucked back several deep breathes trying to refill my tapped-out oxygen levels. It was energy I knew I needed. I couldn’t stop for long. Because if he was still after me—which I was sure he was—then that would be the end of me.
My heart stopped when I swore I saw his familiar head bob up inside a crowd. Sending my pulse racing, I quickly removed my flats knowing that I would be quicker and more nimble running barefoot. Not wanting to stick around and see if it was him, I turned and sprinted down the sidewalk.
Sticking out my elbows, I plowed between people who refused to get out of my way.
I bounced like a pinball off those who were bigger.
Not once did I stop to apologize. I kept my eyes forward.
Pursing my lips, I pumped my arms faster. My heart felt like it was going to explode as it beat fiercely against my ribs. I lengthened my stride like a gazelle running from its predator, leaping over curbs. I cut corners and tramped over grass as terror kept me running.
Slowing, I brushed my bangs out of my eyes and glanced over my shoulder.
I didn’t see him.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t there.
Gently, my head swiveled to take in the life happening around me.
It was normal. Sweet. Calm. The bad hid beneath the surface, and I wondered if anyone noticed the disheveled girl standing awkwardly in the center of it all, looking on like a deer caught in the headlights.
A couple holding hands passed in front of me. The pang of jealousy twisted my side. That was what I was supposed to have. Instead, I had agreed to marry the bastard who’d just left me with a bloody lip.
Anger roiled my insides and my muscles quivered. I didn’t deserve what he’d done to me. I’d asked a simple question and his response confirmed his guilt. No woman deserved to be treated like that. I’d make him pay for what he’d done.
Looking around, I wasn’t sure where I was going. I knew the neighborhood I’d found myself in. It was a safe one. Had a good reputation. But I couldn’t stay.
Time stopped and I stood and stared at the many calm faces enjoying their evening out. Dinner with family and friends. Drinks on the patio, relishing in the summer heat. Silently, I hoped no one would recognize me. This wasn’t a story I could afford to be told.
I opened my palm and glanced at my dead phone.
Sophia knew I was in trouble but she didn’t know where I was. Without a charged battery, there was no way of calling. I nervously glanced around, hoping I hadn’t been noticed.
Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, a streak of blood trailed from my knuckles to my wrist. I blinked away the fog and something inside me told me to keep moving.
I angled my shoulders sideways and brushed through a small crowd of people before picking up my pace once again.
The sudden realization of what just happened lodged in my throat. Tears swelled my eyes full until the pool began to stream down my cheeks. The pain from running over small stones should have slowed my pace, but my mind refused to make me aware. When I felt strangers’ eyes looking in my direction, I ducked my head and kept moving. Knowing my abuser would want to finish what he’d started, I had to stop worrying about Dad’s career and start focusing on myself.
I reached out and gripped the corner of a brick building, skidding around the corner. Barreling down the alleyway, I ducked behind a large dumpster before wedging my body just inside an opened door to a lit garage.
With my heart thrashing between my ears, I hid in the shadows, quickly turning my face back to the outside. It was quiet and I was sure that I would be safe here. At least for a while.
I licked my lips to the taste of blood. The smells of oil and grease filled my head, making me aware of my surroundings
. Music played on the radio but I was too scared to pay attention to the details.
A noise behind me sent me spinning.
A tall muscular man stepped out from behind the opened hood of a car and stopped my heart.
He moved closer and narrowed his eyes.
I stepped back until my shoulders hit the wall. There was nowhere else to go. He kept coming. Every fiber in my body tensed as I stared into his royal blue eyes. They were beautiful, but something told me that looks could be deceiving and I might have just entered something more dangerous than I’d left.
2
Trevor
“Dammit,” my whiskey breath cursed as soon as I confirmed the head gasket was blown.
It was what I’d feared. The Mustang’s engine had been misfiring and leaking oil since I’d decided to restore it. But it wasn’t until now, when I discovered the coolant was mixing with the engine oil, that knew I was correct in my diagnosis.
Sliding underneath the car, I wanted to check the catalytic converter to make sure that, too, wasn’t blown. As I ran my finger over the cool exhaust, I heard the front door fly open.
I turned my head, wondering which brother of mine was coming to drink off my bottle.
Lately, it could be anyone of them. Their visits had picked up since my deal with Dad to trade in my free time for a suited spot in the family business. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the idea of wearing a tie to work, but being a Foster came with a price. That cost was taking our place within the enterprise Dad had started decades before. My time had come.
I watched with squinted eyes as two narrow bare feet danced on uneasy painted toes. My brow furrowed into a curious ledge, unable to stop thinking who might be here to visit me.
It was no brother of mine, and certainly not my younger sister, Charlotte, either. Charlotte was always quick to make her presence known—first by text message, then by an announcement that would echo off the concrete walls. No, this was someone new.
A leg lifted and the foot came back down wearing a shoe. Then the opposite leg followed the same pattern as the first. Her legs were long and as bare as her feet were when she’d first arrived.
Lifting my head, I checked the clock on the far wall hanging above my Harley Davidson motorcycle. I’d lost track of time. Another day had slipped by in the blink of an eye. Not that it mattered, but I hoped that knowing the time would explain who was here.
Rolling my neck back to the front, I perked my ears to listen to the woman holding her breath.
I could tell by the direction of her feet that she was facing away from me. Something told me that she didn’t know I was here. But, then, why was she here? It didn’t happen often, but sometimes my place was mistaken for a service garage. Perhaps that was all this was.
I pushed myself out from beneath my car with a furrowed brow.
Popping up to my feet, I looked around. She was alone. Strange.
Her golden white hair draped down the center of her back to the flare of her hips. Her ass was beautifully tucked into a pair of extremely short jean shorts, and I couldn’t help myself from staring at her incredible legs.
One step in her direction made her spin around as fast as lightening.
My abs flexed when I saw her eyes were wet with agony and apparent fear. Showing her my palms, I took a step closer but stopped when her shoulders fell back against the wall. I could see by the look on her face that she was frightened—feeling trapped with nowhere to go. But there was nothing to worry about. I wasn’t here to hurt or harm. Only to help.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
Pressing her palms flat on the wall behind her, she glanced to the opened front door. It was cracked and the last of the day’s light poured through it and across my recently swept concrete floor.
I wiped my hands clean with a towel, taking baby steps in her direction.
The woman was insanely gorgeous. Tall, thin, and with hair that was irresistible to not find attractive. I was a sucker for long hair. Blondes, too.
She moved her hand to her necklace. Ignoring the sparkling stone on her finger, I raked her over with my eyes. Her V-neck tee did little to hide the curves of her chest, and with her shorts riding as high as they were, my imagination ran wild.
Except there was fear in her eye that had the muscles in my jaw ticking.
That was when I noticed she appeared to be hurt. Something was definitely wrong, and I needed to find out what it was.
A motorcycle rushed past in the alley and her eyes flew open as its muffler drowned our ears with its loud roar.
I recognized the engine—knowing exactly the make and model—but right now it was her who had my full, undivided attention.
Taking another baby step in her direction, she visibly tensed. Beads of sweat formed on her hairline and the stress in her body had me concerned for why she had been running.
“Is someone after you?” I asked.
She cast her gaze to the floor as her chin trembled with shame.
Taking a closer look, I noticed her swollen cheek. It wasn’t bruised, but definitely irritated by what I assumed was from some kind of physical contact. There was possible bleeding at the lip, too. Each new discovery of her pain had my vision blotted out by anger.
My heavy boots stomped across the floor as I closed the gap that kept me separated from the answers I sought. She lifted her gaze, holding my stare along with her breath. Suddenly, there was a sparkle of strength in her eye that hadn’t been there before—an instinct to fight—and the way she looked at me told me she would.
Still showing her my palms, I murmured, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Her head flinched when I took her chin between my fingers, tipping her head into the light. The welt on her cheek seemed to grow within seconds of me looking at it. A deep gash on her lip was sealed with coagulated blood. I swore to myself that I would kill whoever had done this to her. Bringing her eyes back to mine, I asked, “Who did this to you?”
She swallowed hard as I watched her eyes drown in their own tears. It didn’t take long for her body to start to tremor once again.
Her sugar brown eyes skirted around my face before rounding over my shoulder. I watched as she followed the bulge of my arm before slowing on my sleeve of tattoos.
I knew what she was thinking—that I was no different than where she was coming from. But beneath my tattoos and scars was a heart that was created to bring justice to those who did wrong. “You’re safe with me.”
The woman looked through the cracked door, toward the street as if weighing her options.
When she flicked her eyes back to me, I took her by the hand and said, “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
3
Sienna
His touch was warm, secure. The look he was giving me jumpstarted my heart to make me believe I was right in coming here.
I couldn’t help but notice the way he was looking at me.
There was a glimmer in his eye that was both gentle and dangerous. I wanted to be afraid, and something inside told me I should be. The man was large, his shoulders broad, and every ounce of him looked solid as rock.
Except his look didn’t match the softness I heard in his voice—didn’t line up with the words I couldn’t stop hearing over and over again inside my ears.
You’re safe with me.
I flicked my gaze up to his. Immediately, I was swimming in his blues, convincing myself that he could be my protector from the harm that had found its way into my life today.
He threaded his fingers through mine and my chest heaved as I remained cautious of my surroundings. A warm flutter moved across my belly. It was small, but noticeable.
There was a familiarity about him that I couldn’t place. I knew I had seen him before but couldn’t put my finger on where, or when. Had we met before?
He pulled my hand closer to his tight waist, but before I could peel my shoulders off the wall I quickly studied him once again just to make sure.
His jeans
were dirty from what I assumed was oil and grease from whatever he was doing beneath that car he had raised up off the ground. His hair was messy but clean and fit his tough appearance that went with his cotton tagless tank. Everything about him was tough—from his height to the tattoos, including the roughness of his large hands. When the radio flipped from playing music to a political ad, he took his eyes away from me and glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the stereo, intently listening to what the ad was saying.
I found it strange that that was what stole his attention away. He didn’t seem like one to care much about politics, but who was I to judge? Sophia had never paid any attention to politics until she’d started dating Nolan Foster. Now all she talked about was his brother Cooper’s run for governor.
The man turned back to me as the ad seemed to go on forever. His expression had changed. He looked irritated, or maybe even annoyed. Suddenly, I felt more self-conscience about finding myself here and having a stranger take care of me.
“On second thought—” I glanced across the room, finding myself staring at an opened bottle of whiskey. Memories of Gary came rushing back and, suddenly, I could smell the alcohol on this man’s breath, too.