Sweet Lovers 3
Mia Bella Anna
Anna Bryant is a beautiful and talented woman who is completely focused on building her interior design company.
Sexy nightclub owner and personal trainer, Cole Turner, owns Twilight Enterprises with his brother. They hired Anna Bryant Designs to design their first club and are ready for her to start the next one.
But that’s not all he’s ready for. Cole wants Anna, despite complications which can arise when mixing business with pleasure. Anna is hesitant at first, but moves forward on her own terms. They enjoy experiencing each other and their relationship develops quickly—perhaps a bit too fast for comfort.
When police move in to investigate Twilight Enterprises, Cole and Anna’s professional and personal affairs pull her and her business under the microscope as well, possibly jeopardizing all she has worked for.
Will Cole be cleared and get Anna back? Can Anna put their hardships aside to realize they are meant to be together?
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 43,244 words
MIA BELLA ANNA
Sweet Lovers 3
Jacqueline Anne
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
MIA BELLA ANNA
Copyright © 2015 by Jaqueline Anne
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-410-5
First E-book Publication: May 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all the creative people in the world.
Let your vision shine.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
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
About the Author
MIA BELLA ANNA
Sweet Lovers 3
JACQUELINE ANNE
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
“Becca? Have you seen the fabric swatches for the Anderson Hotel?” Anna shouted from her office where she was hopping over boxes and piles of stuff. “Ahhh,” she screamed as she tripped and barely caught herself before falling flat on her ass.
Becca rushed in. “Are you okay?”
Anna steadied herself. She was frustrated and kicked the box that nearly did her in. “Yes,” she grumbled. “I think we are outgrowing this office space.”
Anna had moved into the office space nearly three years ago once she decided to hire Becca. The two women went to college together. They had become friends while taking some of the same classes. Becca had worked with a big time firm right out of college and hated all the political aspects of the company. She never wanted to run her own firm claiming running a business wasn’t her forte. Anna appreciated her design ideas, and she was always cool, calm, and organized even under pressure. Becca loved Anna’s vision and her work ethic. Despite the fact that she took a pay cut to work for Anna, she never regretted the change. Becca truly enjoyed working with Anna and the catchy Director of Designs title Anna gave her. The two of them working side by side had been an absolute blessing, particularly on the stressful days.
Becca nodded agreeing with her boss and friend. “The swatches are in the bookcase, second shelf.”
“Right where they are supposed to be.” She smiled at her friend. “What would I do without you?”
“Not sure,” she teased. “You probably wouldn’t have this hotel contract.”
“I wouldn’t be able to handle it on my own, that’s for damn sure. You are amazing. Have I told you that lately?”
“Yes, but you can tell me again.” Becca snickered with a smile.
“We should probably think about hiring someone else to help out around the office.”
Both phone lines started ringing at the same time causing the women to give each other overwhelmed looks.
“And when would we have to time to look for someone?” Becca questioned.
“Point taken. I’ll get one line.”
Becca nodded and ran back to her desk to answer the other one.
Anna grabbed the swatches and finally answered the call on the fourth ring. “Anna Bryant Designs. Anna speaking.” She was scrambling through swatches and barely paying attention to the call.
“When does my favorite interior designer have time for dinner?” a man asked.
Anna stopped what she was doing for a moment to focus on the call. “I’m sorry. Who am I speaking to?” Anna was in full blown work mode. Dinner proposals were the last thing she had time for.
“Cole Turner.” He chuckled. “I guess I didn’t leave a big enough impression on you.”
Anna sat down in her office chair and sighed. “I’m sorry, Cole. Things are crazy busy. I should have recognized your voice. It�
��s been a while. How have you been?”
“Apology accepted. I am doing well. Business is great, and it sounds like it is going well for you, too.”
“It is. Becca and I really need to find a bigger office space and more help. However, that will take some time, and there are only so many hours in the day.”
“Very true, but you sound overworked.”
Although it was the truth, Anna really couldn’t complain much. She had high goals set for her business. Despite the stress, things were progressing nicely. “We are working on an enormous contract for an elite hotel.”
“That is wonderful! Congratulations, Anna!”
“Thank you,” she responded gratefully. She was very proud of the large hotel they had gotten but was already starting to worry about why Cole was calling. He had contracted her to design each of his clubs. She assumed he was calling because he was ready to start the next one. “So what can I help you with Cole?”
“I want to take you out to dinner, so we can start talking about plans for the next club. How does next Friday sound? I will be back in town by then.”
Anna sighed and her shoulders tensed even more than they had been over the past few weeks. How the hell was she going to manage all of this and be out of town?
“I am actually going to be in New York City for my brother’s best friend’s wedding next weekend. Can we make it the following week?”
“I’ll come with you.”
“What?” Anna asked, shocked by his self-invite.
“I’ll come with you to New York City. We can chat on the plane and do some research at some of the clubs while we are there.”
“Cole, this is a family event. My brother and his family will be there and so will my parents. I have known Mike, the groom, since we were little.”
“Perfect. I can’t wait to meet everyone. E-mail me your flight itinerary, and I will book mine. I will have a car pick you up and take you to the airport. See you then, Anna.” Cole hung up the phone.
“What the fuck just happened?” Anna muttered and set the phone down on the receiver.
Becca popped back into the doorway of her office. “Are you talking to yourself again?” She laughed.
“Yes. I do that more when I am stressed, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do. So who was on the phone?”
“Cole Turner.”
“Oh, the sexy club owner.” Becca waggled her eyebrows.
Anna glared at her. “He invited himself to Mike and Catherine’s wedding.”
“What?” Becca asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, he did.” Anna shook her head in disbelief.
“That man either has a set of balls on him or he has it bad for you. Although…it wouldn’t be so bad if it was both.” Becca winked at her.
Anna rolled her eyes. She had thought there was some attraction between her and Cole. She went to his martini bar, The Dirty Olive, a number of times to hang out and see if anything would happen between them but nothing ever came of it. They were business associates which had to be her focus. After a while, she accepted it would be nothing more and was fine with it. Until today, when he came steam rolling back in her life in a way that seemed more than work oriented. “He invited me to dinner to talk about the next club, but I told him I was super busy with the hotel and had to go out of town for the wedding. He invited himself. Can you believe it? Who does that?”
“Well, apparently Cole Turner does.”
“Jesus! He said he can’t wait to meet everyone. He actually assumed I was taking him to the wedding as my date! Ugh!” Anna was frustrated and plopped her head onto her desk.
Becca walked into Anna’s office. She moved a stack of sample books from the extra chair and sat down. “Well, look at it this way. You didn’t want to go without a date in the first place.”
Anna picked up her head and slumped back in her chair. “I know. I just wasn’t ready to bring Samuel somewhere overnight, and I certainly wasn’t ready for him to meet my family.”
“Samuel is a dork,” Becca said with conviction. “Now, Cole Turner…he is one fine piece of ass,” she stated as she waggled her eyebrows yet again.
Anna and Becca giggled. God love her. The woman was happily married to her college sweetheart but could definitely appreciate a fine male specimen. Cole was definitely a fine one.
It felt good to take a bit of a breather at work even though they didn’t have the time to do so. They had been putting in twelve hour days lately.
“I just hope this doesn’t backfire.” As much as Anna was sexually attracted to Cole, she was doing business with him, contracted business, for all of his clubs. It was important for her to remain professional. But when he flashed her his grin, her damn panties were wet immediately.
“Look at it this way, you are killing two birds with one stone. You get company with a sexy man and more business.”
Anna sighed. “I guess that is how I should be looking at it. I don’t really have a choice in the matter, do I?”
“Apparently not.”
“Thanks, Becca. You’re a good peep.”
“You are very welcome. And before I forget, Marissa from the hotel called to push back your appointment an hour.” Becca got up from the chair, grabbed some files, and started to walk out of Anna’s office. She stopped at the doorway and turned around. “And Anna”—Anna looked up from her desk—“I want all the details when you get back.”
* * * *
Cole smiled feeling like he was well on his way to getting what he wanted—everything he wanted. He leaned back in his black leather office chair and put his feet up on his mahogany desk. His brother, Trent, walked into his office.
“Hey, dickhead. What’s with the smug face?” Trent asked as he sat down in the extra chair. The two brothers were always ragging on each other.
“I’ll be out of town next weekend.”
“Cole, you will just be getting back into town and then leaving again? What the fuck, man? I need you here to help with the bar.”
“It is business, Trent. Don’t fucking cry about it.”
“Where are you going?”
“New York City with Anna Bryant.”
“Our interior designer?” Trent leaned back in the chair trying to wash away the stress of his brother’s intentions.
“Yes, the one and only.” Cole smirked, thinking about how he managed to pull off a weekend getaway with her.
“Jesus, Cole. I told you not to mix business with pleasure.”
“It will be business.” Cole put his feet down and leaned forward on his desk.
“Somehow I don’t believe you. You have had it bad for her for a while now. What gives?”
“The door of opportunity was cracked open, dear brother, and I just knocked it the fuck down.”
Trent rolled his eyes at his brother and threw the files down on Cole’s desk. “Here are the quotes from the contractors on gutting out the new location.”
“Thanks, man.”
Cole looked through all the quotes trying to assess each one carefully, but his mind kept wandering back to the sexy, petite brunette he would be spending next weekend with. For months he tried to ignore his attraction to her because of work, and he was failing miserably. Every time he saw or was with another woman, images of Anna popped into his head. He was done fighting his urges. It was time to get her right where he wanted her. Naked and in his bed.
Chapter Two
Anna called Mike and her family to let them know that she was indeed bringing a guest to the wedding. She focused on the fact that Cole was a business associate. She neglected to tell them he had invited himself. She didn’t want them to think he was rude right off the bat. They were actually excited for her, especially her sister-in-law, Alayna. Part of her wondered if her family was starting to lose hope in her dating abilities.
“I’m so excited for you, Anna, but what about Samuel?” Alayna asked.
“I wasn’t ready to bring him.” She groaned. “I don’t even know if I ev
en liked him.”
“When I met Cole last Thanksgiving, I knew you two had the hots for each other. It took him this long to call you?”
“I saw him a few times at the martini bar but that was it. Nothing happened. He never called. I moved on. Well, sort of, with Samuel, who is as boring as watching grass grow. Have I ever mentioned that?”
“No. Last time you compared him to watching paint dry.” Alayna laughed. “I don’t know what this all means, Anna. Maybe Cole is ready to explore things with you. As long as you and Samuel aren’t exclusive, I say go for it.”
“We aren’t. I wouldn’t even say we are dating. We just go out to dinner every once in a while for the company. Boring company, but company.”
“Just relax and have fun this weekend. I’ll be around if you need me.”
“Thanks. See you later in the Big Apple.”
Anna finished packing her bags and her doorbell rang. “Coming,” she yelled. She slipped on her wedge heels and took a quick look in the mirror. She decided on a black sundress for the trip. She kept her straight brown hair down and left her makeup looking light and natural.
She opened the door, and Cole was standing there looking hotter than hell in his black dress pants and red golf shirt which stretched across his delicious muscles. The tattoos on his arms screamed bad boy even though she knew his business side was just as pleasing. Damn him. The attraction was still there—and strong. Just seeing him again made her body fill up with all kinds of desires. She shook her head. Despite her body screaming at her, her head was on a level playing field. She was still pissed at how he invited himself.
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