A Highland Heist A Contemporary Highland Romance Book Three (24 page)

             
“Good, you two are here. Everyone else is out on the balcony.” Jake crossed the room toward them.

             
Sara dropped her Coach bag onto a nearby table and embraced her older brother. “Care to tell us what's going on?” Before letting go she dropped a kiss on Jake's cheek.

             
With a devilish smile Jake moved toward Christopher and slapped him on the back. “Why don't you both come outside and join everyone. Then I'll tell you what's up.”

             
“Who else is here?” Sara fell into step alongside Jake and Christopher.

             
“Charlie, of course, Maureen, Callie and Dylan.” He didn't wait for a response before stepping onto the balcony that ran the entire length of the building.

             
Immediately, Sara thought of Christopher's remark in the car about a wedding. His guess must be right. What other reason could they have for inviting Charlie's mom?

             
While Jake walked over to his fiancée, Sara took a seat near Dylan and Callie. They sat on an extra-wide padded lounge chair. Dylan's arm rested across Callie's shoulders and their hands were clasped together. Sara fought hard to suppress an eye roll in their direction. Since meeting Callie, her no-nonsense workaholic half-brother had become quite the romantic.

             
“So are you going to tell us what's up or should we guess?” Christopher asked the very question on her mind.

             
“Charlie and I are getting married tonight.”

             
“You'd better be joking or Mom's going to kill you!” Sara looked from Charlie to Jake waiting for one of them to answer her.

             
“I'm not joking. Dylan and Callie helped us arrange everything. We getting married tonight at five o'clock.”

             
Even though her brother and his fiancée had been engaged since New Year's Eve they hadn't set a wedding date or to her knowledge even started to make formal plans. She guessed they were in no rush.

             
“What about Mom and Dad?” Sara glanced around at the other people present. No one but Maureen seemed the least bit surprised by Jake's announcement.

             
“They don't know. And we want to keep it that way,” Jake answered.

             
“Have you lost your mind?” Sara came to her feet. “You cannot get married without them here, Jake. Mom will never forgive you.” She knew her brother liked to do things his own way, but she never thought he'd go this far.

             
In response Jake gave a slight shrug. “It's not about them. Charlie and I don't want a huge affair like Callie and Dylan. That's not us.”

             
Sara couldn't argue with him on that point. She did find it hard to picture Jake and Charlie having such an elaborate and formal wedding. That didn't mean she couldn't see them having something grander than this. And not to have their parents there felt wrong.

             
“If Mom knew about this she'd insist on making it a big event and then the media would descend. We don't want that. She'll be angry, but eventually she'll get over it.”

             
The way she saw it, saying their parents would be upset was the understatement of the century. At the same time though, she couldn't disagree with her brother that Elizabeth Sherbrooke would insist on turning the wedding into a grand event for the whole world to see.

             
“I still think that you're crazy.” Sara looked over at Callie and Dylan who had remained silent so far. “And why didn't you tell me about this Dylan, if you both knew.” It hurt to think Jake trusted them with the secret but not her.

             
“Need to know. He needed me to help arrange things. Otherwise he wouldn't have told us either,” Dylan answered. “We didn't say anything because we figured the less that people knew, the less likely someone would slip. And it’s not like it’s been planned for long. We finalized things about three weeks ago.”

End of Sample.

The Billionaire Princess
by Christina Tetreault is available now.

Please read on for a sample of Mine For Tonight Book One: The Billionaire's Obsession by J. S. Scott

Simon Hudson stood silently in the shadows of the opulent lobby, his hands in the pockets of his jeans and one shoulder propped against the frame of a large window that faced the street. His whole body was tense, his dark brown eyes scanning the sidewalk with the intense and total focus of a madman.

Where in the hell is she? It’s ten forty-five.

He knew Kara was working tonight. She had called in sick for the last two evenings, but was back to work at Helen’s Place, waiting tables on the swing shift. He had checked. His mother owned the bistro where Kara worked and was generally pretty forthcoming with information when Simon wanted it, but he was careful. If he wasn’t, his only parent would be hounding him to find out why he wanted information on Kara. His wonderful but inquisitive mom would be like a bloodhound after a scent if she thought that Simon’s interest was anything but casual. He would be nagged to death, his mother wanting to know exactly what his intentions were with Kara.

Simon frowned. Like he had any intentions? He had fantasies and all of them involved Kara spread out on his bed, screaming his name as he made her come, over and over.

Simon took a deep breath and slowly blew it back out, trying to get his body to relax and telling himself that he must be insane to take exactly the same position, night after night, for some woman who he had never officially met. But here he was…again, his back to the curious doorman, leering out the window like an unbalanced stalker, waiting to get a glimpse of Kara Foster. Something about the woman brought out strange, territorial, and protective instincts that kept him here, keeping watch, waiting for her to walk by his condo building on her way home from work.

And then, when he spotted her, he’d do the same thing he always did. He’d follow her at a distance, trying not to alarm her, and wait until she had let herself into her apartment safely before he turned around and walked back home.

He wouldn’t talk to her, or even get close to her. He never did. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but Kara was going to nursing school and working full-time at his mother’s restaurant. According to his mom, Kara adamantly refused to date because she didn’t have the time or energy to put into a relationship. She was probably right about that. The insane woman didn’t sleep enough, eat enough. She had no one who even worried about her except for his mother…and Simon. Hell, in the last year, Simon had probably cared more about Kara’s well-being than a dozen family members would have, and he couldn’t even call her a friend. Problem was…he wasn’t a family member, and his feelings were far from brotherly.

God, she was sweet!

Simon had to bite back a groan of frustration as he thought about the first time he had seen Kara, her blue eyes flashing with humor, black tendrils of silky hair escaping from her ever-present ponytail and her lithe body moving gracefully from table to table at his mom’s restaurant. At the age of twenty-eight, she still retained a look of innocence and vulnerability that had Simon caught in her unintentional web. He’d been a prisoner there ever since.

His mother spoke about Kara as if she were her daughter, and Simon knew that Kara and his mother had a special bond: one not formed by blood, but by a special friendship. Shit…if Kara were younger, Simon was pretty sure his mother would adopt her. Lips twitching slightly, Simon hoped his mother never expected him to be like a brother to Kara. It wasn’t happening. His cock stood at attention, rock-hard and ready, every time he saw her. What in the hell was it about this particular woman that made him so edgy and restless?

Simon had fucked women who were more attractive or more sophisticated, and not a single one of them had ever touched any of his emotions. He was a loner, preferring to spend his time with his computer rather than attending social functions, but there were times when he needed a woman’s company for physical relief. Occasionally taking himself in hand just wasn’t getting it done. Simon had certain female acquaintances for those occasions, women who gave him the control he needed and had to have in the bedroom, without a lot of demands or questions. Damn it! That had been enough for him…until he had seen Kara.

Grimacing, his eyes never leaving the street, Simon shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and adjusted his position, giving his shoulder a break by resting his hip against the wall. God, he was getting pathetic. How long would he moon over a woman who had never even acknowledged him? Until she finished nursing school and moved away? Until she got married?

He nearly growled at the thought of another man putting his hands on Kara’s delectable body. Simon fought a purely feral instinct that rose up at the thought of another man touching his woman.

She’s not your woman, asshole. Get a grip.

For once in his life, Simon wished he were more like his older brother Sam, the other half of the Hudson Corporation. Sam would have no problem putting the moves on Kara. Charm, conquer, and discard had always been his brother’s style and Sam wouldn’t have given a thought to the possibility of rejection. Probably because Sam never failed! His only sibling went through the female population like a person with a nasty cold went through tissues. Sam would have broken down Kara’s defenses, charmed her out of her panties and then discarded her for his next conquest.

Oh, hell no. Simon loved his brother, but he’d be damned if he’d ever let Sam seduce Kara. He didn’t even want the two of them in the same room together.

Because she’s mine.

Simon shook his head, surprised at his own behavior. Yeah…he liked control, actually needed control, but he had never wanted one woman in particular. Now, he could think of little else but the pretty waitress who had snagged his attention a year ago.

You’re afraid of her.

Simon scowled at the thought. Like hell he was! He wasn’t afraid of anything, and he definitely didn’t fear Kara Foster. She just…was not a likely lover. Why bother?

He fucked.

He didn’t date.

And he liked it that way.

His brother Sam was the face of the company, the marketer. Simon was a computer geek, happy to stay in the background. What did he know about seducing a woman? He’d never needed to coerce a woman to his bed. The females he fucked were only with him for personal gain. He was known as a generous lover. He wasn’t fool enough to believe they had any personal feelings for him. That, he understood. That, he could handle.

Maybe I need to find a way to fuck her and get over this crazy obsession.

Would it be enough? Could he actually get free from his fixation with this woman if he could find a way to have her?

Christ! He had to do something. His irrational preoccupation with Kara had grown worse and worse over the last year, causing him to want no other woman except her. He hadn’t gotten off with anyone except himself in well over a year, and he really needed to scratch that itch. Yet…he couldn’t. If he tried to take action, to make a move to call another woman, he would see Kara’s pretty girl-next-door face and hang up the phone.

I’m just that fucking obsessed with her.

Simon glanced at an approaching figure, his mind almost immediately starting to dismiss the dark-haired woman who was dressed in a short, black, leather mini-skirt and a bright red sweater. He’d never seen Kara dressed in anything other than jeans and a t-shirt that sported the restaurant’s logo, standard casual dress for employees of his mom’s restaurant.

He did a surprised double-take as the woman got closer, gaping when her face came into view. Holy Christ! It was Kara. She was close enough that he could see her features, the same face that haunted his wet dreams every damn night, but the outfit….

What in hell is she wearing?

Simon could see almost every inch of her long, slender, shapely legs in the ultra-short mini and the whole outfit molded over her breasts, torso, and ass like a glove. His cock was instantly standing at full attention and he pulled his hands out of his pockets. They curled into tight fists as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. Followed by another. And another.

Goddamnit! What was she thinking? Dressed that way, she was practically begging for some man to come and snatch her up off the street.

And, by God, he was going to be that man. He wasn’t leaving that opportunity to another male, someone who might do her harm.

Didn’t she realize that this was Tampa? A major city! It wasn’t some tiny town where she could walk the streets at night and not be noticed or accosted.

Simon unclenched one fist and gripped the window frame for support, his eyes never leaving the approaching female. Gritting his teeth, Simon knew that today was the day he was going to have to get close to her, closer than he’d ever been before. He couldn’t handle these animalistic and rampant emotions anymore. He didn’t like them, wasn’t used to them. All he wanted was his sanity back, to return to his computer and work on his passion for developing computer games without erotic thoughts of Kara taking over his brain.