Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal) (20 page)
Read Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal) Online
Authors: J. C. Reed,Jackie Steele
“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.”
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
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 12
th
, 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
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
Author Links:
J.C. REED
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
JACKIE
STEELE
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!
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 series. 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
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/
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 12
th
, 2016
AN INDECENT PROPOSAL: THE INTERVIEW
AN INDECENT PROPOSAL: THE AGREEMENT
AN INDECENT PROPOSAL: BAD BOY
AN INDECENT PROPOSAL: THE INTERVIEW
AN INDECENT PROPOSAL: THE AGREEMENT
AN INDECENT
PROPOSAL: BAD BOY
