by Joss Wood
From Boardroom to Bedroom
by USA TODAY bestselling author Jules Bennett
Secret Heir Seduction
by Reese Ryan
Too Texan to Tame
by USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard
Her Texas Renegade
by USA TODAY bestselling author Joanne Rock
Available May 2020
Keep reading for an excerpt from An Unexpected Scandal by Jules Bennett.
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An Unexpected Scandal
by Jules Bennett
One
The cool spring rain pelted Nick Campbell’s back. The unopened envelope in his hand held a secret he’d yet to discover...and part of him wanted to shred it and let the secret die with his mother.
Nick stood over Lori Campbell’s pearl-white casket and stared down at the spray of pink roses cascading in every direction. She had left him this letter and told him there were two more to be delivered to the others.
So many secrets, so many cryptic deathbed messages.
Honestly, he didn’t care about any of that right now. The yawning ache in his heart over losing his mother trumped all other emotions.
But he’d vowed he would read the letter once she was gone. She had passed five days ago, and he still hadn’t opened it. For days he’d carried the envelope around in his pocket, thinking he’d look at it, but one thing led to another. Arrangements were made, insurance dealt with, so many details for a funeral. Nick just hadn’t had the time or the energy.
Anticipation and worry gnawed at him, and he knew the moment had come. He had nothing else waiting on him, nothing pressing right this second...and he’d promised his mother.
Nick tore his eyes from the casket and gazed down at the wrinkled envelope in his hand. He tore the seal open and pulled out the letter. With a deep breath, he started to read.
Shock, anger, confusion...so many emotions rolled through him that he had nowhere to channel everything. Nick read through the letter once again, slower this time, hoping he’d read it wrong.
What the hell? How could he process her death and this, too? It was all too much to take in—and he didn’t want to accept any of it.
When he’d realized his mother was indeed going to pass only a few short weeks ago, he’d closed in on himself, not wanting to even think of a future without her...let alone finishing the resort she’d started renovating with his help.
The resort that had led him to Silvia.
For one night, Silvia Lane, lead architect on the resort project, had been more than an associate, more than an acquaintance.
She’d been passionate, giving, so damn sexy that he couldn’t stop thinking about every single detail. Her hair sliding over his body, that naughty grin she’d tossed him just before she’d let her pencil dress slide down her body. And he’d never forget the way she’d cried out his name as her pleasure took over.
That heated encounter had played over and over in his mind the last four weeks. The morning after, she’d slipped back into her dress, and they’d both agreed there would be nothing beyond that night. She was new in town and building her career. She couldn’t afford for anyone to know she’d slept with a client. And he sure as hell was in no position to add another complication to his life.
But she’d comforted him when grief had overtaken him. And part of him wished for more comfort from her now.
Nick’s eyes scanned back over the page until the handwritten words blurred together. He wanted to shred the letter, as if that would make this entire nightmare go away. If only things could be so easy...
Unfortunately, Nick knew his mother wouldn’t lie. The woman didn’t have a deceitful bone in her body, and she would never purposely hurt him, not even with the bombshell she’d left him with.
That didn’t mean he understood why she’d kept the truth from him for so long. Or why she’d chosen to share it with him only after she was gone and he could no longer get answers. And what had she meant about two other letters?
Nick pulled in a shaky breath and shivered against the cold rain. He’d said his private goodbyes and it was time to go. He had to move on, to continue to honor his mother’s wishes, and carry out her plans.
The crunch of leaves had him jerking around, coming face-to-face with Silvia...the woman he hadn’t seen since their one-night stand.
* * *
Silvia had stood back beneath the covering of a lush tree and watched as Nick clearly had a private moment over his mother’s grave. He’d pulled an envelope from his pocket and studied it for some time.
Gripping her umbrella, Silvia decided she couldn’t stand here forever like some stalker. She had to approach him now before she lost her nerve.
For the past five days she had tried to contact him, but then she’d learned about the death of his mother, and she knew the timing of her news couldn’t be worse. She understood why he was not responding to her texts or calls.
It hadn’t been because she’d broken their promise to keep it to just one night.
He was grieving, just as he’d been that night everything had changed.
She wanted to go to him, to place a hand on his shoulder to comfort and console, but everything was different now.
They’d had a strong working relationship for the past few months, and then one night in his office, he’d broken down about his mother, and one thing led to another.
There had been attraction building since day one, when he’d hired her as the lead architect for the renovation of his mother’s resort.
Being the professional she was, she had kept her erotic fantasies to herself...until that night when she hadn’t.
Now look where that had landed her.
How had she fallen for his charms? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been charmed by men before. Maybe it was Nick’s vulnerability that night. Perhaps coupled with the impossible-to-ignore sex appeal, she’d really been fighting a losing battle.
Silvia gripped the handle of her umbrella now and shoved her other hand into her jacket pocket. The spring rain and gray skies matched her mood as she took one courageous step and then another.
Nick jerked around, his bright eyes met hers and her mind instantly flashed back to that night they’d taken their business meeting from his leather office chairs to his oversize desk...
She hadn’t seen him since, but he’d always been in the forefront of her mind.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion.
Silvia had never seen him so dressed up. He typically wore jeans and a button-down dress shirt, but now he wore a charcoal suit with matching shirt and tie. His dark blond hair perfectly styled, even in the rain, his usually scruffy jaw clean shaven.
And those glasses.
No matter the anguish he was going through, those glasses stopped her cold. She’d knocked those dark frames off his face when she’d jerked his shirt over his head that night.
Focus, Silvia. You’re not here for a reunion, and he’s hurting.
Neither of them could afford to get more involved than they’d been for those few hours.
He’d disappeared after, and Silvia’s heart ached for him during this loss. The timing of this little secret could not be worse. She’d never lied in her life and she certainly wasn’t about to start now, not even to save him from more shocking news.
“I’m checking on you,” she told him honestly. “I didn’t want to smother you during the service. I saw so many people, and I just... I don�
��t really belong here, but I had to come.”
Understatement.
“I called and texted,” she went on as the rain continued to pelt her umbrella. “I figured this was the only place we could talk.”
Droplets clung to his darkened hair, normally a dirty blond when dry. He seemed oblivious to the fact that he stood before her absolutely soaked, with raindrops dotting his lenses.
He still looked too damn good.
“Talk?” Nick shook his head and removed his glasses. He wiped a hand down his face, flinging the moisture aside. “Work is going to have to wait. I know I was pushing for this project to be done, but—”
“I’m not here about work.”
His eyes widened for a split second before his lips thinned. “We can talk in the car.”
Guilt tugged at her. He stood at his mother’s casket, saying his final goodbyes, and here she was, demanding they talk.
If her news weren’t so life changing, she wouldn’t be here.
“I can go wait in my car,” she told him, then nodded toward the casket. “You take your time.”
She turned and walked away, not giving him a chance to argue or ask questions. She’d told him they had to talk, and he’d agreed—now she and her bundle of nerves just had to go and keep each other company until he joined them.
The moment she slid behind the wheel, Silvia closed her eyes and willed herself to remain calm. Getting worked up would not change the circumstances, and she had to maintain control. Getting emotional or hysterical wouldn’t help and she prided herself on being professional. Now that her professional life had rolled into her personal life, she still had to maintain her composure.
Silvia had only been in her car a couple minutes when the passenger door opened and Nick leaned in.
“I’m soaking wet. Just follow me back to my place. I’ll change and we can talk.”
He slammed the door before she could say a word, and Silvia dropped her head back against the headrest. She’d followed him here in the rain for a number of reasons. She didn’t want to go to his house, didn’t want to be on his turf when she broke the news, and she didn’t want to wait.
So she didn’t.
Silvia opened her car door and stepped out, sans umbrella. She jerked the knot on her trench coat and marched toward Nick’s menacing black SUV. Nerves and fear swirled together, but she swallowed back the emotions to focus on the task.
“I need to talk now,” she demanded to his back.
He turned, clearly stunned that she had not obeyed his command to just follow him home. But she was done waiting and keeping this secret to herself. She always tackled issues head on, and she was ready to start planning the inevitable changes that were to come.
There was no right time to say it, so she just said it.
“I’m pregnant.”
Nick slowly turned all the way around to face her, his eyes never wavering. Silvia practically held her breath, waiting on him to say something or have some reaction other than a blank stare.
“Nick?” she finally said.
“Meet me at my house.”
And with that he turned, got into his truck and drove off. Looked like she would be following him to his house after all, but the first order of business would be teaching Nick Campbell that she didn’t take commands from anyone.
Copyright © 2020 by Jules Bennett
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Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Janice Maynard for her contribution to the Texas Cattleman’s Club: Inheritance miniseries.
ISBN: 9781488062810
Too Texan to Tame
Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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