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Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
May 1996
Junior Prom
Kynlee glanced at the clock. Her excitement dwindled as she
realized she had less than an hour left before prom was over and before she had
to say goodbye to her date. She still couldn’t believe he’d asked her to the
prom. Cooper Grant—star basketball player, top in their class, and one of the
hottest guys in the entire school. But, soon, she’d have to say goodbye to him,
the few friends she’d made, and the City of Oswego which she’d grown to love in
the short time she’d been there. She cursed her father for taking a job with
the FBI.
“Why so serious?” Cooper asked as he sat beside her, the
too-large papery tablecloth crinkling around his knees.
Kynlee smiled. “Just can’t believe prom is almost over.”
“I know,” he said with a smile that melted Kynlee’s heart.
“Bryce is having a post-prom party. Wanna go?”
“I’d love to, but I can’t. Curfew,” she said with an
apologetic shrug. She still hadn’t told him that tomorrow morning she was
boarding a Virginia-bound plane and that this would be the last time they’d see
each other. What was the point? It wasn’t like she owed him any explanation.
Prom would be their first and last date.
“Dance with me?” He stood and held out his hand.
Kynlee followed him to the dance floor and savored the feel
of his arms around her as they swayed back and forth to the slow song. That
night had been perfect. She couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend her
last night in New York. Kynlee sheepishly looked up at Cooper—who stood a full
foot taller than her—and saw the twinkle in his eye a moment before he pressed
his mouth to hers.
March 2000
“Hey, sis, you coming?” her brother, Josh called from the
car.
“You go ahead. I’ll catch up later,” Kynlee said, staring at
the hole in the ground they’d just put her father in. He’d died a week ago and
it was the first time she’d shed any tears. She was just so damn angry at him.
Angry that he’d joined the FBI, angry that he’d spent more time in the field
the past two years than with her, angry that he’d let himself get shot. And her
brother was going to join the NYPD. In honor of their father, he’d claimed.
“Yeah, right,” she mumbled.
“Kynlee?”
She spun around in her chair and came face to face with
those unmistakable baby blues. “Cooper?” She nearly gasped.
“I saw the obituary in the paper. I wanted to pay my
respects and, well…” He looked down. “I was hoping I’d get to see you again.”
He wanted to see her again? Kynlee’s lips started to tremble
and for the first time since her father’s death, she cried. Cooper hugged her
and she buried her face in his neck. He stroked her hair and she cried harder.
“Do you want me to give you a ride somewhere?” Cooper asked
after a while.
Kynlee wiped her eyes and nodded. “We’re staying at the
Holiday Inn next to Dunkin’ Donuts,” she said. “But I don’t want to go back
there.”
“My parents are out of town.”
“Okay.”
***
Kynlee tip-toed around the room and gathered her clothes.
She stopped at the bed and glanced down. A small red spot stained the
sheets—proof that she’d given her innocence to Cooper the night before. She
smiled. It’d been so much better than her friends in Virginia told her it would
be. They’d all told her it would hurt; that she wouldn’t enjoy it until after
she’d done it a few times, that it would be quick, and that she wouldn’t have
an orgasm because the man would be too worried about himself. It had been
nothing like that with Cooper. He’d been so gentle and attentive.
“Bye, Cooper,” she whispered to his naked sleeping body
before leaving the room. She got dressed in the hallway before digging out her
cell phone and calling a cab. Her heart broke as she left his house and
instructed the cabbie to take her to the airport. Tears coursed unbidden down
her cheeks. For the second time in her life, she was forced to leave the one
and only man she loved.
Buy Links:
Amazon:
Love by
Number--The Aurora Island Resort Series #1
(September
2012, Cobblestone Press)
Blurb: Two years ago, Ashleigh
Malone had her heart ripped out by her then boyfriend, Mark. He stole all of her money, left her in debt, and slept with
her best friend. Thanks to him, she lost
her house, her job, and her dreams of opening her own resort. He destroyed her
ability to trust anyone--especially men. She did the only thing she could--she
took a job as the manager of a growing, luxury, private island resort in Hawaii. Far away
from Mark and the pain
he caused, Ashleigh throws herself into her job and after two years she finally
feels normal again. For her, life is good. Until she meets Ryan Blake. In a
matter of days he manages to turn her world upside down. Ashleigh reminds
herself that she has sworn off men and no matter how sexy Ryan is or how he
lights her insides on fire, she can't get involved with him because he's her
employee and the boss's son.
As a forensic
accountant for the FBI, Ryan Blake was unfortunate enough to be the one
stuck going to the Aurora Island Resort to determine who'd been stealing
hundreds of thousands of dollars. To anyone else, being assigned a job on a tropical
island would be a dream come true. But this tropical island happens to be owned
by Richard Blake--Ryan's father--who is convinced that the resort manager is
the one stealing. Ryan vows to get the job done as quickly as possible so he
can go home. Until he meets Ashleigh Malone--the woman his father thinks is
stealing. She's smart, sexy, and cold as hell towards him. Ryan now had two
missions: prove to his father that Ashleigh isn't stealing and get her into his
bed. Hopefully forever.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Ashleigh Malone
What the hell had I
been thinking? There was no way I could be both the manager and accountant for
a growing luxury resort.
Yet, every time I thought about handing over the finances to someone else, I
broke out in a cold sweat. Mark had done a number on me financially, and after
two years I still wasn’t over it.
Unfortunately, it
wasn’t my call anymore. The owner and my boss, Richard Blake, had decided to
hire a professional accountant, and I’d all but begged him to let me hire
Meghan MaCayan—my best friend from college who ran her own successful
accounting firm. It hadn’t flown. I was told that it was a conflict of interest
to have a friend working in the accounting department. I remembered laughing at
him. Not my proudest moment, but the absurdity of his statement had shocked me.
Letting a respectable accounting firm take over the finances was a conflict of
interest, but allowing me—the resort manager—to handle the finances had been
fine. I’d learned that the decision had been made yesterday. Richard had hired
an accountant to take over, and they would send him to see me. I guess I had no
choice but to deal with it.
“Excuse me, Miss
Malone? There’s a Mr. Blake here to see you. He claims he’s the new
accountant,” my secretary, Claire, said from where she stood in the door.
I rolled my eyes.
“Send him in.” Richard wasn’t wasting any time, was he? I moved stacks of paper
from one side of my desk to the other in a feeble attempt to make it appear
neat and organized. It was more than just a nervous habit. I thrived on order
and organization and schedules. I knew that and did nothing to quell it. In
fact I was so preoccupied that I hadn’t noticed him walk in. But when I finally
did notice…boy did I notice. I’ll be the first to admit that my social life
leaves a lot to be desired, but I do like to read. A lot. Mostly romance, and
even though I’d read about it hundreds of times, I still wasn’t prepared for my
reaction to him. My jaw hung slack, and my throat went dry.
He was tall, well over
six feet, with brown, wavy hair that just barely grazed his broad shoulders,
and he had naturally tanned skin. Black pin-striped Dolce and
Gabbana slacks hugged his hips. A black silk tie
hung down the front of his white button-up shirt that was pulled taut across
his muscular chest. There was no denying the stir I felt south of my waist. He
was a gorgeous man—a man who belonged in a place like this. And I knew that
there was no way he could be the new accountant. Accountants didn’t look like
that. Accountants were weak looking, geeky, and wore glasses. Didn’t they?
Deep brown eyes stared
at me intently as a self-assured smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. I
hated smirking men. But what I hated even more was that he looked damn sexy
doing it. Confidence, arrogance, and the hint of being a smooth operator oozed
from his pores. He reminded me too much of Mark. I disliked him immediately.
“Are you Ashleigh
Malone?” he asked.
I cleared my throat.
“Yes, and you are?”
“Ryan Blake,” he said,
stepping farther into my office.
I stood, and an
involuntary grimace contorted my face as I shook his hand. An accountant with
rough, calloused hands? I couldn’t help but wonder what he did in his free time
to make his hands so rough. A shiver worked up my spine, and I pulled my hand
from his. “Please, sit,” I said, nodding at the chair across from me as I sat.
Once he sat, I studied
him for a moment. Ryan Blake. And then it hit me. Richard Blake. Ryan Blake. I
couldn’t believe Richard had hired his own damn son! “So, Mr. Blake, tell me a
little about yourself.”
He grinned. “What is
this? An interview? I was assured that I had the job, Miss Malone.”
I gritted my teeth.
“Yes, I’m sure you were.” There was a sneer to my voice that I hadn’t intended.
“And I’m sure you were told that I would be your direct supervisor.”
He nodded.
“I like to know who is
working for me. Now if you don’t mind,” I said as I began to move papers around
on my desk again.
“Well,” he said, folding
his hands in his lap. “I attended Harvard Business School where I received my
doctorate in accounting and finance. Upon graduating, I worked for Congressman
Bouchard and then took a position with the University of Hawaii.”
“Why did you decide to
leave the university and come here?” I met his gaze and noticed he was watching
me shuffle papers. I stopped and folded my hands on top of my desk. He
shouldn’t make me so nervous.
“It was time for a
change. I don’t like being cooped up in an office. I prefer to be outside. The
Aurora Island Resort just seemed like a good fit,” Ryan said.
“If you like the
outdoors so much, why did you devote your life to a career that requires you to
be cooped up inside?” I asked with a smile.
“Because numbers don’t
lie. They are simple and constant.”
He had a point that I
couldn’t argue. “As I’m sure you know we are very customer oriented, and even
though you won’t have any direct contact with our guests, you are officially an
employee and therefore eligible for a bungalow rental on the other side of the
island. Shall I set you up with one?”
“Is that where you
stay?”
His question caught me
off guard, and I blinked several times. “Uh, yeah. Why?”
“Then yes, I’d like
one.”
My heart rate
accelerated, and I had no idea why. Sure, he was sexier than any man I’d seen
in a long time, but so what? He wasn’t a piece of meat, and I wasn’t looking to
get involved anyway. Besides, he was my employee. And the boss’ son.
“You’ve been handling
the books thus far, correct?”
I nodded.
“Then it looks like
for the next few days we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”
I stared at him.
“Excuse me?” Why did the idea of spending time with him excite me so much?
“You’ll have to bring
me up to speed on the books and how things work around here,” he said.
I sighed. “Right, of
course.” I hoped my disappointment wasn’t too obvious. Then an idea struck me.
It was something I knew I shouldn’t have said, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
“It’s company policy that bungalows are for employee’s only. Spouses, children,
and pets are not allowed.” Okay so that was an outright lie, but what were the
chances he knew that?
Ryan smiled at me. A
full, wide, bright-toothed smile that touched his eyes, making them lighten a
shade, and sparkle. It was breathtaking. “Good to know,” he said.
I stood. “Shall I show
you to your bungalow or will you be making other arrangements?”
When he stood, he
towered over me. It should’ve been intimidating, but it was oddly comforting.
“Lead the way.”
“You first,” I said.
He walked in front of me, and my gaze drifted to his ass. It was firm and very
well showcased by his slacks. He’s my employee and the boss’ son. He’s my
employee and the boss’ son. Those words would quickly become my mantra.
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