Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal)

by J. C. Reed

  “Then why did you help me find out?”

  “I want you to know the truth, and to be honest, I wanted to know, too.” He looked up, his gaze intense. “So, do you want me to tell him? If you do, it’s best he hears it from me.”

  I let the thought sink in for a moment, then shook my head. “Is it wrong that I don’t really want to?”

  His fingers curled around mine. “No, it’s not wrong. You’re afraid.”

  I nodded. “It’s all happened so suddenly. To be honest, the idea that I might have a brother shocked me.” I searched his gaze and found warmth and understanding in it. “My biological father’s alive. I have other siblings, too. I don’t even know if I’ll ever be ready to meet him.”

  “Because of what your mom wrote.”

  I nodded. Waves of anger wafted over me. “He never tried to contact me. He didn’t give a shit about her. What kind of man leaves a pregnant woman behind?”

  “Someone who’s not ready.”

  Maybe. I took a sharp breath. “And yet he has his own family now. His life moves on even though he knows that I exist. All he ever had to do was write me a few lines. Maybe even call. He chose not to.” Tears began to cloud my vision. But it wasn’t sadness that threatened to choke me. It was anger addressed at a man I had never met. At a man I had no desire to ever meet. “I think I’m ready to move on and forget.

  “That won’t be possible, Laurie,” he whispered. “You need closure. It doesn’t have to be now, or tomorrow, but someday, you will have to seek it out. And Kade will need it, too. Just not as long as he’s fighting his demons.”

  “I know.” I eyed him. “I don’t blame Kade. The last thing I’d want is for him to feel abandoned. But there’s a letter my mom wanted him to have. I don’t know what to do with it.”

  “Save it for the right time. Maybe after the trial’s over.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “How much longer is it going to take?”

  “The judge is a friend of mine. The case will be over before the end of summer.” His eyes grew distant, and when he spoke, his tone was low. “That’s when you’ll get your divorce. Just like you wanted.” His gaze was tense, an open question. “That’s what you want, right, Laurie?”

  I bit my lip so hard, I could almost taste the blood. “I really missed you, Chase,” I said instead.

  “You don’t have to lie,” he repeated the words I’d said in Acapulco.

  I laughed. “It’s the truth.”

  “So you say.” His eyes sparkled, and for a moment there was silence.

  He cast his eyes down, avoiding my gaze. I pondered what else to say, how to convey just how I had missed him without giving away the true magnitude of my feelings for him. His gaze met mine, and I realized his expression had changed.

  There was a glint in his eyes. The same glint I had glimpsed in Acapulco. My heart lurched as my feelings began to crush me.

  “It’s been three months,” Chase said slowly.

  “Yes.” I forced myself to smile, but my nerves got the best of me. “Time flies, doesn’t it?”

  He shook his head. “Sadly, not for me, no.” His fingers began to trace circles on my naked arm. The familiar gesture was so erotic, my breath hitched and slow pull settled between my legs. “Are you sure you want the divorce because, you know…” Standing, he retrieved something from his back pocket and pushed it across the table.

  I peered at the jewelry box, stunned.

  “You still have it?” I asked.

  “Yes. I sleep with it next to my pillow.” He winked, making it impossible to tell whether he was joking, or not. “Besides, this is worth a fortune.”

  “Now you’re being stingy.”

  “I know, right?” He winked.

  Definitely joking.

  I shook my head. “Why, Chase?”

  “You know why. I already told you a hundred times. I’ll gladly repeat it if you need to hear it again.” He smiled gently. “I’m in love with you.”

  His choice of words rendered me silent. It was no longer ‘I’m falling in love with you more and more every day.’ It was ‘I’m love with you.’

  Definite.

  Period.

  “You really mean that?” I asked, my voice breathy.

  He nodded and leaned over the table. His grip on my hand tightened. “I’ve never been more serious in my life. Indeed, if the situation wasn’t so tense, I would have asked you a question.”

  “What question?”

  He slid over, occupying the seat next to mine, and pressed my hand against his heart. “I would have asked you to marry me. In fact, that was the first thought that occurred to me back in the lift, when I thought we were about to die. I wanted to ask you to be my wife.”

  I leaned back, my gaze connected with his, my mind devoid of thoughts.

  When the meaning of his words finally dawned on me, I let out a laugh. “So you admit you thought we were going to die. Because I remember I kept insisting the possibility very much existed, and you kept claiming otherwise.”

  He grimaced. “Now that it’s over, yes, my beautiful wife, I admit you were right. It took a near death situation to make me fall in love with you, but it happened that day.”

  He had been in love with me from the first day we met? “You’re hilarious, Chase.” My eyes filled with tears.

  “No, I’m not,” he said quietly. “In all honesty, Laurie, you’re the woman I want in my life. And so…” He opened the box and slid the ring onto my finger. “I’m asking you to stay my wife.”

  “In a nightclub?” I eyed him, then eyed the beautiful ring on my finger. My heart was racing, my soul was flying—metaphorically speaking, my world was spinning.

  “Given that you and I haven’t had the most conventional of relationships so far—” He shrugged, leaving the rest unspoken. “Hey, what could possibly go wrong, right?”

  “Everything, Chase,” I whispered. “Everything.”

  Like him finding someone else and leaving me. Like both of us deciding we weren’t really relationship material.

  Or maybe, just maybe, we’d find happiness.

  “Hmm,” he whispered. “But you’ve got to admit staying married might not be such a bad idea, particularly since we can’t get a divorce just yet. So—” He smiled and before I could blink, he kneeled before me, drawing the attention—and probably envy—of every woman in the vicinity. “Lauren Wright.” I giggled at his decision to use his last name. “You’re already my wife, so I’m going to skip that part because we’ve already sorted it out. You’ve come to me in a desperate plea to seek my help. Now I’ve got to ask. Are you sure you want to divorce me, even though the sex is pretty mind-blowing, and I’m always happy to offer seafood?”

  I laughed, and then I leaned forward and kissed him. “No, I’m not sure.”

  His brows shot up. “Why? Because you know that I love you, and you love me, too?”

  “Yes,” I said, sporting the biggest smile of my life. “I love you.”

  “Yeah, how much?”

  “To the moon and back.” Our gazes connected, and my heart filled with just a little bit more love for him. “I love you with my soul. And now shut up and just kiss me before you decide to mention crabs.”

  Epilogue

  Fifteen months had passed since the case was closed and Chase won the trial, marking the end of my fears, my insecurities. Indeed the end of my life as Laurie Hanson. Sitting with a cup of coffee in my hand and a book in my lap, staring at the sunset out of Chase’s penthouse, all sorts of thoughts carried through me.

  So many good things had happened since the day I became Lauren Wright.

  Jude had made my dream come true by helping me to get a job interview, and I got hired as a marketing assistant to help promote her TV show.

  Kade and I had become good friends, but he still didn’t know that I was his half-sister. A part of me felt bad, but Chase had been right: Kade wasn’t ready for the truth yet. He had too many issues. Besides, deep down, I was
afraid that the delicate friendship slash bond between us would break. But at times, he reminded me so much of my mother, it had become increasingly hard to hide such a secret from him.

  His dark brown eyes, his pale face, even his long, thin fingers, they were all painful reminders of her. On some days, I wondered how I could have been so blind as not to notice the startling resemblance.

  As it so happened, Kade had an amazing voice, too, and could play the piano, just like Eleanor.

  Whenever I looked at him, I saw her. When he played the piano for us, I couldn’t help but think just how much my mother would have loved to meet him.

  He would have made her proud.

  In spite of my initial reservations, Kade had turned out to be a great guy, but he couldn’t be more different from Chase.

  Or from my father whom I had the pleasure (or displeasure) of meeting once. The encounter had been awkward, and to be honest, I had no idea what my mother ever saw in him. While he promised to stay in touch, deep down I knew that would never happen. Not because he might not try, but because I had no interest in keeping in touch with him whatsoever. Just like Kade, the wounds the past had left behind were too big. Too much time had passed and I just couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened.

  As for Chase and I?

  We were going to be parents any time now. The baby was keeping us both waiting. I kind of looked forward to reading my mom’s last letter while, at the same time, I feared the new phase of becoming a mother myself.

  Chase, being Chase, made everything easy. He couldn’t stop talking about our little family and even bought our first house together, far away from the glitz and the wealth of L.A.

  It was an old building he planned to renovate. But the place—in the country—was amazing and oozed charm and a flair that screamed home.

  As for the estate, it went without saying that we were going to name our daughter after my mother and that one day she was going to inherit my family’s estate.

  Even though I still hadn’t returned to Waterfront Shore.

  I just couldn’t.

  Especially not after finding out about all the bad things that happened to my mom over the course of her life. It was too painful to think that her life had been hell, so we rented it out to a big shot film producer Jude met through work. He had even expressed an interest in purchasing it if we ever decided to sell.

  Which I knew we never would.

  Clint had moved out, and he and Shannon got married. As far as I knew, they were living in Dallas and were expecting their first child.

  I wished them the best of luck, in spite of our fallout after he lost most of my mother’s money. I did gift him my grandfather’s cars which were worth a fortune.

  That made Clint happy.

  And it made me happy, because in spite of his greed, I was grateful for how my life had turned out. Without him and his demands, I would never have met Chase, and that was what mattered.

  And Chase was perfect in every way.

  We were a match made in heaven, even though we couldn’t be more different: I, shy and introverted, and he, pushy and always in your face.

  He was a good husband, though, and the best lawyer one could get.

  I just hoped I’d never have to divorce him because I was sure he’d never let me win, and to be honest, losing sucked.

  As I turned my swivel chair to regard him sleeping on the couch—he had been working late again—I felt grateful.

  Grateful that he loved me.

  Grateful that things had worked out between us.

  Honestly, I had never thought it possible, but Chase taught me miracles do exist. After everything that happened, I wouldn’t have done things differently.

  We married for a reason, but we stayed married for love.

  And that’s not just a story we’ll tell our kids; it’s my own personal fairy tale that I hope will never end.

  The End

  Do you want to know how Kaiden will find out he is Laurie’s brother? If you do, join my mailing list here

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  and enjoy the free, bonus novella “Half Truths” over your morning coffee very soon.

  This novella is exclusive to my fans and completely free for all my subscribers!

  Coming Soon!

  Beautiful Distraction

  by J.C. Reed

  Did you enjoy Bad Boy or Surrender Your Love? If you like a sexy, cocky, bad boy like Chase or Jett (the characters of Bad Boy and Surrender Your Love) get ready for Beautiful Distraction.

  Kellan Boyd spells trouble, especially when he insists on entering a no strings attached relationship with Ava Cross. This complex man sure knows how to turn heads and complicate lives. Get ready for another story in which a billionaire knows how to mess with a woman’s head.

  Coming April 12th, 2016!

  Sign up to be notified on release day here

  One night to remember

  By Jackie Steele

  What happens when your biggest crush, the one that always ignored you, asks you out, for one night? What if he doesn't even recognize you? Would you say yes?

  Coming May 2016!

  Sign up to be notified on release day here

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  They say no one can do it all alone. And we say that it’s true.

  Thank you to Larissa Klein for the awesome cover. Thank you to Shannon Wolfman for being superwoman, doing web design, developmental editing, and for making the magic happen. A huge thank you with hugs and kisses goes out to our friend and blogger Kim Bias for proofreading the life out of Bad Boy, and that last minute. You’re absolutely awesome, Kim.

  Thank you to our beta readers who allowed us to write a better story and for insisting on including our deleted scenes. Your input has been immensely valuable.

  And most of all, a huge thank you to all our readers. You are the reason this book exists. Thank you for loving the characters, and for telling us so.

  To all the bloggers who’ve supported us, we want to express our gratitude for helping to spread the word and for reviewing our books.

  And last but not least, we want to thank God for all the little blessings such as giving us the time to read and to write, and allowing books to make our world a better place.

  Thank you for reading Bad Boy. We hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a review and spread the word to your friends. If you would like to be notified of new book releases, please join the mailing list. We might release a book about Kaiden Wright and want to make sure we can notify you when it happens. We also love to hear from you. If you would like to contact us, make sure to follow our social sites.

  Jessica & Jackie

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  Check out her contemporary romance novels:

  The New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Surrender Your Love series includes:

  Surrender Your Love, Conquer Your Love, and Treasure Your Love

  The bestselling No Exceptions series that can be read after the Surrender Your Love series:

  The Lover’s Secret, The Lover’s Game, The Lover’s Promise, and the USA Today bestselling book The Lover’s Surrender

  The bestselling An Indecent Proposal series consisting of:

  The Interview, The Agreement and Bad Boy

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  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review, as they are hard to come by for indie authors. And finally, don’t be a stranger. We love to hear from our readers and always write back. To contact us, visit the blogs above or join us on Facebook (links are on the next page.)

  Thank you for reading!

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  J.C. Reed is the multiple New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the Surrender Your Love trilogy and No Exceptions s
eries. She writes steamy contemporary fiction with a touch of mystery. When she's not typing away on her keyboard, forgetting the world around her, she dreams of returning to the beautiful mountains of Wyoming. You can also find her chatting on Facebook with her readers or spending time with her three children.

  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJCReed

  http://www.jcreedauthor.com

  Jackie S. Steele has lived most of her life in New England. She’s never read a book she didn't like. Her love for books began when she stumbled upon her mother's secret dash of Harlequin books, and couldn't stop reading until she had finished them all. Today she still loves curling up with a good book, sipping coffee, and taking long walks on the beach.

  http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJackieSteele

  http://www.jackiesteeleauthor.com/

  BOOKS BY J.C. REED:

  SURRENDER YOUR LOVE

  CONQUER YOUR LOVE

  TREASURE YOUR LOVE

  THE LOVER’S SECRET

  THE LOVER’S GAME

  THE LOVER’S PROMISE

  THE LOVER’S SURRENDER

  BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION….coming April 12th, 2016

  AN INDECENT PROPOSAL: THE INTERVIEW

  AN INDECENT PROPOSAL: THE AGREEMENT