by Brynn Paulin
Table of Contents
Title Page
Bad Boy Bossy Pants
Copyright
Thank You!
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue
About the Author
Books by Brynn Paulin
Bad Boy Bossy Pants
The Bad Boys
By Brynn Paulin
Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC
www.supernovaindie.com
Powered by Your Imagination
Bad Boy Bossy Pants
by
Brynn Paulin
Being a billionaire is fantastic until…
It’s not. I command my world but I can’t buy the two things I want: The woman I desire and a miracle. Neither are for sale. And both are out of my reach.
I’m one-hundred percent in love with my best friend’s sister. I have been for years, and she just told me she’s moving away. Like heck, she is. Not without me. I’ve been her rock for the past six years. She needs me.
Okay, I need her just as much.
The other thing? The miracle? My girl thinks she’s broken because she can’t hear. To me, she’s perfect. But because I would give everything to heal her, she thinks only I want to fix her.
She couldn’t be more wrong. She’s my world, exactly as she is. Now, I just need to convince her of that before it’s too late.
Copyright
© 2019, Brynn Paulin
Bad Boy Bossy Pants
Cover Art by Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC
Electronic Format ISBN: 978-1-62344-343-6
Published by: Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
Thank You!
Thank you for your purchase of Bad Boy Bossy Pants.
I hope you enjoy the story and will consider leaving a review or telling a friend about the book.
I love hearing from readers! To keep in touch and follow my news, please visit me on my website at www.brynnpaulin.com.
Dedication
For NaShara,
Warrior woman and awesome stalker!
Chapter One
~ Rossman ~
“So, I’ve decided to move.”
“Yeah?” I took a sip of my coffee. Rowena and I met at this coffeeshop a lot during the week. I was her safe sounding board, even though her two brothers were my closest friends. Or so everyone, including them, thought. For the past four years, it was their sister I was closest to.
God forbid, anyone find that out, though. It would ruin my image of the devil-could-care, bachelor bad boy. Not that I gave much of a fuck about that. It was the label everyone else put on me, and I’d just rolled with it, because if anyone learned my real feelings for this girl before me, I was fucked. And maybe in a world of pain once her brothers got hold of me.
When my friends found out I was totally in love with Rowena, I was a dead man. Their little sister was off limits, but my thoughts and body had their own filthy ideas. Ideas I constantly had to tamp down.
She nodded. “I want to go somewhere that no one can be all ‘poor Rowena’, someplace where I can start living a full life without my family treating me like I’m an eight-year-old invalid.”
Immediate panic tightened my chest. Whoa! This was way more than I’d thought. She wanted to leave town. I took a deep breath and attempted to hide the apprehension taking hold of me. No way in hell was I letting my woman leave.
Not that she knew she was my woman.
“Okay,” I said, keeping my gaze fastened on her. “Where are we moving?”
Her eyes widened, then she giggled, the sound only slightly off.
“We’re not moving anywhere. But I was thinking somewhere warmer. I hate Michigan in the winter.” She didn’t say it, but I knew it wasn’t because of the cold. I thought I knew just about everything about her.
It had been winter when she’d lost her hearing because of a virus. Something that should have been temporary but wasn’t.
Right now, we probably seemed like a regular couple sitting in the coffeeshop, but the fact of the matter was, if anyone paid attention, they’d hear the slight flatness of Rowena’s tone and realize when I spoke, no sound came from my mouth. No sound was needed, since my girl was reading my lips.
Since the middle of her high school years, almost six years ago, she’d been deaf, literally waking up with no hearing one day due to a rogue infection. While everyone else had been in a dead panic, running around trying to figure out how to fix it and yes, treating her like she was completely broken, I’d been her rock, her friend outside her family. If she thought she was leaving me behind, she was wrong.
And I said so. “You’re not going anywhere without me,” I growled, making it show on my face since I knew she couldn’t hear the rumble. I accompanied it with emphatic signing, just to be clear. Yeah, the signing I’d learned for her, with her.
“Ross…” she sighed. Her eyes closed, and I reached out to tap her cheek, right below her left lashes.
“Don’t,” I said when she opened them, taking her sweet time, too. Little Miss Headstrong thought I wasn’t on to her. Rowena closed her eyes to shut out what she didn’t want to “hear.” It was a control thing she’d developed when her life had spun out of control.
It didn’t work with me.
And she was dead wrong if she thought she’d could push me, too.
“Don’t boss me,” she complained.
I leaned forward, staring into those dark brown eyes of hers. “Do you really think I’ve been by your side every day for the past six years just to let you walk away? Think again, Row. Fucking think again.”
She stared at me and thankfully didn’t close her eyes for more than quick blinks.
“Excuse me. Don’t you dare go all bossy pants on me,” she finally said, repeating her complaint.
“Oh, and exactly how would you like me to be?” I challenged. “I’ve spent half my life being your biggest cheerleader. I don’t think that’ll change now.”
She sighed. “I need to get to work,” she said, standing. “Are we doing breakfast tomorrow?”
As if I wouldn’t meet her for our regular Saturday breakfast? Most people didn’t know it, but we’d been meeting nearly every morning since her junior year of high school. Her brothers certainly didn’t know I’d been driving their sister to school all those years. She’d needed a rock, someone to hold her hand, and I’d been that. I’d arranged my work schedule so I took a break to pick her up in the afternoons, too, before I went back and finished out my day.
“Of course. Do you want me to pick you up?”
I knew she‘d say no. She didn’t think her parents would take it well if they knew how close we were. One, I didn’t like it. But I didn’t push since I still needed to convince her she was mine. It was the most wuss-ass thing I’d ever done, pussyfooting around revealing my feelings. Two, if her parents didn’t know we were spending so much time together, they were completely blind. But they weren’t. I knew they suspected. I’d gotten more than one speculative look from them. And third, her brothers would have my ass once they figured thin
gs out. We both knew that.
Just as I’d thought, she shook her head. “I’ll drive over.”
I caught her hand, and as usual, my body reacted to the feel of her soft skin against my palm. “I want to discuss this moving shit tomorrow.”
She rolled her eyes, and I wanted to spank her cute little ass. “Fine.”
Pivoting, she stalked away. I saw a guy in khakis and a dress shirt say something to her as she passed, but Row kept walking, obviously not seeing him speak.
“Bitch!” the man swore.
I was on my feet and in his face in a moment. My fist clenched in his cheap cotton shirt. “Watch your language,” I growled. “She couldn’t hear you.”
Obviously unconcerned for his welfare, he made a disbelieving sound. “Right. I was right beside to her.”
“She’s fucking deaf, asshole!”
His chocolate-brown eyes widened, and I shoved him away from me. Though I really wanted to kick his ass, brawling was something I’d left behind in high school. Ironically, the last fight there, the one that had gotten me expelled had been about Row, too. She’d been in eighth grade, and for the record, my feelings had been nothing but protective back then. But when some ass had started making inappropriate comments about my friends’ little sister, I’d broken his nose.
And gotten expelled. My dad’s money had smoothed things out, and I’d been back in school by the following Monday. My father had kept a tight leash on me the rest of the school year. He’d brought me into his investments firm and given me random jobs to keep me busy.
I’d learned everything I could, absorbing everything my father taught me. A good thing. A year later, he’d died from a massive heart attack. My uncle had tried to step in and take over, but I’d fought him tooth and nail. And won. I’d diversified, and in turn, tripled the company’s worth—and mine—in the meanwhile.
Heading back to the table, I gathered my things then headed out to my car, a Mercedes-AMG. What could I say? I liked fast, expensive cars without being over the top—I saved the Bugatti for very rare occasions.
The drive to my office took minutes, and I went directly into a board meeting. Both my brothers were already there, slouched into their chairs at either side of mine at the head. Neither really wanted to be there. I’d bought them out but made them retain positions on the board. I’d scheduled this quarterly update for when they were both in town.
I knew we made quite the picture there at the head of the table. Me in my bespoke suit, Ryder in his old band tee and tight, ripped jeans, tattoos and piercings showing and Regan in khakis and a polo with his race team logo on it. The three of us looked so different, yet shared the same face since we were identical triplets.
“How was your coffee date?” Regan asked. I heard the scoffing in his tone. He couldn’t believe I hadn’t moved forward with Row yet.
“Yeah, did you kiss her? Isn’t it standard to kiss on the fourteen-hundredth date?” Ryder enjoined.
Assholes. “Shut up.”
I looked around at the other board members, then to the CFO who waited for me to prompt him. “Mr. Wadsworth, if you’re ready, you can go ahead with your report.”
I zoned out while my top staff spoke. I’d already read all their reports, wanting to be apprised of everything well before anyone else heard it. Rather than listen to how we’d grown over the past two quarters, our newest acquisitions working well for us, my mind was fully on my woman.
My top staff at McKenzie and sons was strong and more than competent enough to keep things running here if I worked remotely. I could move wherever Row wanted to go and manage from there.
Since I was taking notes on my tablet, I easily opened my messaging app without anyone knowing what I was doing.
Ross: Meet me at my place at 1 for lunch?
I clicked away from the application, not actually thinking she’d answer right now. At the moment, she was probably thigh-deep in preschoolers at the school where she taught, but Fridays were half days. From past experience, I knew she’d check her messages before she left work.
A note popped up, and my brother raised an eyebrow at me, his smirk irritating. I shrugged him off.
Row: Aren’t you in a meeting?
Ross: Aren’t you teaching?
Row: They’re with the art teacher.
Ross: So lunch?
She didn’t answer right away, scraping my raw nerves. Anything could account for the delay, but it still annoyed me.
Row: I’ll be there at 1. I’ll bring food with me.
I grinned. I didn’t cook, and she knew it. Mostly, I liked how domestic it felt, planning a meal together.
Chapter Two
~ Rowena ~
My Ross was the center of my thoughts as I led my students through the morning. Most of them had been deaf since birth. I almost envied them. They didn’t know what it was like to hear. They’d adapted since day one. They knew they were different, but their world had never had sound. Usually, they had my complete focus. But today, I couldn’t wrest my focus from the man I’d had coffee with earlier.
Where are we moving?
Was he for real? I knew he was. Ross was nothing but one-hundred percent real with me.
And if he was serious about this… Well, that wouldn’t do. I’d told him I wanted to move because of this town and my family. It was a half-truth. The real truth was, I was in love with my best friend. Being around him and being with him, without really being with him, was more than I could bear for much longer. I needed to get over him and move on.
Ross: Meet me at my place at 1 for lunch?
I sighed, glad the kiddos were over in the art room right now. I grinned as I typed back to him. I might be in a no-win situation, but he made me happy—until I was alone in bed at night.
Row: Aren’t you in a meeting?
Ross: Aren’t you teaching?
Row: They’re with the art teacher.
Ross: So lunch?
I didn’t answer right away, weighing my choices. There wasn’t actually a choice of going or not. I would go to see Ross. The weight of my decision was what I would do when I got there. I closed my eyes. This was the part where I used my proverbial lady-balls.
Today, I’d tell Ross exactly how I felt. He’d run for the hills as fast as possible, and I’d start making plans for relocating.
Row: I’ll be there at 1. I’ll bring food with me.
Clicking off my phone, I shoved it into my purse and worked on the tracking I needed to do before I left for the day. There wasn’t a lot to do when it came to the preschoolers, but I liked to make notes on their progress every day, as well as layout exactly what we’d be doing on Monday. Even though I had my lessons lain out by the month, I still needed to tweak things from what I’d planned at the beginning of the year.
Plus, I wanted everything completely up-to-date since I intended to start looking for a position in another city for after the winter break. I’d seen posts for several openings, and that’s what had spurred this idea. The more I considered it, the more it seemed right.
The rest of the day flew by, and fifteen minutes after my last student left, I was on my way to the deli to pick up lunch for me and Ross. The people there knew me, so I was in and out quickly.
Butterflies roiled in my belly as I made my way across town to Ross’ house. He’d sold the huge estate left behind by his father, splitting the proceeds with his two brothers. His mother had passed away when he was small, before I’d met him. Now, he lived in a much smaller condo—not that I’d call the four bedroom small by any means. It was still too big for a single man, even if that man was a billionaire.
It seemed surreal to me that the guy I’d known since childhood had become so wealthy. I mean, both our families were affluent, but Ross had blown that away with his explosion of wealth the past few years.
I didn’t care. He was the same person I’d always known. Devil-may-care and an asshole to many, but so good to me. He treated me like fine china. Babied me. But he’
d always had that manner with me. It hadn’t changed when I’d gone deaf.
My hand shook as I reached out to punch in the access code for the parking garage beneath Ross’ building. Minutes later, my fingers still shook as I punched in the code again for his personal parking area. There were four cars inside, but two empty spaces remains. He claimed one had been specifically designated for me. It still made me roll my eyes. Whatever, Ross.
He answered the door almost as soon as I knocked. I took him in, devouring the muscles that made my mouth water. He worked at a desk every day, yet he had wide, powerful shoulders and a slim waist with a flat belly. He’d changed since this morning, and right now, a thermal stretched over his torso and was tucked into low-slung, faded jeans. And darn it, if he didn’t look just as good in the casual clothes as he did in his bespoke suits.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” I replied, my mouth dry.
He cocked his head to indicate I should come in and held the door open while I carried our lunch into the condo. I headed for the breakfast bar that divided the kitchen from the informal dining room. Ross was there beside me before I started unpacking.
“Talk to me,” he said, taking the bag and going to the fridge to shove it inside, already knowing it was all cold food. We always got the same thing from that deli.
“About what?” I asked even though I knew. He wasn’t postponing our discussion until tomorrow’s breakfast.
He pinned me with a look, telling me clearly not to bullshit him.
“I’ve seen quite a few postings for teachers in other cities. I want to move somewhere that people don’t remember what happened to me.”
I hated how everyone in this town, at least the ones I was in constant contact with, knew that I’d gone to bed fully hearing one night and woken with sudden deafness the next morning. While many people had that occur in one ear then had it eventually reverse, that wasn’t the case with me. Mine was in both and never cleared up.
He shook his head. “Let’s fast forward. You told me this. I want to talk about us.”
