He cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking gently over her cheeks, so intimately, so tenderly. “Don’t you ever doubt me again, because next time, I won’t hesitate to take you over my knee and spank your ass until you believe how much I love you. All of you. Got that?”
She nodded and laughed, her heart floating in the clouds as she realized that she loved being in love. With Max. Forever.
Epilogue
Three months later . . .
Max watched Hailey mingle with all the guests and clients she’d invited to her open house reception for the new Ellison Agency office. It had taken her three months to get moved in and settled, as well as to decorate and furnish the first two floors of the building to reflect a modern, upscale atmosphere for her match-making business. Judging by everyone’s reaction, all her hard work had paid off.
He caught sight of his mother and father talking to Maureen, who was there to support Hailey, as well, even after everything that had happened at the carnival. Then again, he and Hailey were still a couple, just without an engagement ring on her finger. They’d taken the time to date, to spend quality time together alone, and with his family and their friends. If he thought he loved Hailey three months ago, his feelings for her now were so entrenched he couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life without her in it.
As she talked to a client and smiled at something they said, he couldn’t help but think how beautiful she was. How radiant and sweet and kind, not to mention as sexy as hell in that black, form-fitting dress he’d coaxed her to wear tonight. It hugged her curves in all the right places, and with her long, gorgeous blonde hair falling around her back and shoulders in soft waves, she was stunning. And when he’d told her that earlier, the best part was, she’d believed him, he thought with a smile.
“What is with that goofy grin on your face?” Wes asked as he came up beside Max, then followed his line of vision to where Hailey had moved on to chat with Brielle and Natalie. “Ahhh, now it all makes sense. When are you going to put a fucking ring on it already?”
Max pushed his hand into the front pocket of his pants, his fingers closing around the small square box he’d put there when Hailey wasn’t around. “Soon,” he said, beyond ready to make it happen. “Very soon.”
Another hour went by as guests enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and Max decided he’d had enough of sharing Hailey for a while. He found her with his parents, laughing at something his father said, and Jesus, he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of hearing that sound . . . or watching the way her lips softened into a smile whenever she saw him, like right now as he approached the trio.
“I haven’t had any time with Hailey, and I’m here to steal her away for a little while,” he said, grabbing her hand in his, then sneaking up the back elevator with her to the third floor apartment she now lived in, and where they’d both gotten ready for the party earlier.
“What are we doing up here?” she asked curiously as she followed him into her bedroom.
Releasing her hand, he faced her as she looked up at him expectantly. He always thought that he’d be nervous when he proposed to the woman he loved, but this moment felt so perfect and right there was no room for any other emotion but the love filling his heart to overflowing.
“There’s something very important I need to ask you,” he said, very seriously.
Her eyes widened. “Okay,” she said quietly.
After reaching into his pocket and retrieving the box, he got down on one knee and popped open the lid, revealing a diamond solitaire ring surrounded by a dozen other sparkling stones. She gasped, her eyes flying to his in disbelief.
“I wanted to do this whole engagement thing properly this time,” he teased. “Hailey Ellison, I love you like crazy and I want you to always be mine. Will you marry me, sweet girl?”
“Oh my God,” she said, as happy tears filled her eyes. “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you!”
He grinned and slipped the ring on the finger that had been bare for too long, then stood up. She jumped into his arms, knocking him backward onto the bed and her on top of him. They bounced on the mattress with both of them laughing, until she sat up, straddling him uninhibitedly, and gazed at the diamond on her finger.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured in awe.
“You’re beautiful,” he replied, placing his hands on her knees then pushing his palms beneath the hem of her dress. “And so hot and sexy I’m not letting you go back down to the party until I fuck you.”
“I have guest and clients waiting for me!” she said on a squeal of laughter as he tumbled her onto her back. “I can’t go back looking . . . ”
“Like you just got well and truly fucked by your fiancé?” His fingers reached the sexy lace panties she’d started wearing for him, and all it took was one well placed stroke to make her melt and change her mind.
They didn’t make it back down to the party for a good long while.
Well Built
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHORS
CARLY PHILLIPS
ERIKA WILDE
New York Times Bestselling Authors Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde bring you a new fun, flirty, standalone romance.
When it comes to women, sexy, well-built Kyle Coleman has always been a lover, not a fighter. His one exception? The tempting, beautiful Ella Fisher. Her family and his share a tempestuous past, which make the two of them as a couple off-limits—despite the fact that she inspires some of his dirtiest fantasies. He’s kept his hands off of her for years . . . until the lines between family loyalty and lust become irrevocably blurred one fateful evening and changes everything between them.
Chapter One
“You do realize that you’re about to start a major shit storm today, right?”
Kyle Coleman shifted his attention to Nolan Roberts, the man sitting in the passenger seat of his truck and his best friend since childhood. “Yes, I’m well aware that I’m about to piss off a certain someone who has no idea another person is interested in the run-down building next to her father’s market,” he replied to his friend, his tone droll. “Just like I know you’re dying to witness everyone’s shocked reaction when they realize who purchased the place, so don’t fucking pretend you’re accompanying me because you enjoy my sparkling personality.”
Nolan merely smirked in response, silently admitting culpability.
When Kyle had mentioned attending today’s public auction to Nolan, his friend had insisted on accompanying him. Not for moral support. No, Nolan’s interest was all about witnessing the controversial purchase Kyle intended to make today. No matter the cost. Which meant outbidding Ella Fisher for the commercial piece of property she was also interested in. And because Kyle didn’t want to give his rival any advance notice that she had competition for the building, Ella had no clue she was about to be blindsided.
Admittedly, a part of him felt guilty about the element of surprise he had in his favor, and there was no doubt in his mind Ella was going to be livid when he won the auction. But business was business, and Kyle wasn’t about to treat this deal any differently just because he shared a tempestuous past with the woman who wanted the same piece of real estate that he did.
So, yeah, a major shit storm was about to touch down in his old hometown, as Nolan had so eloquently stated.
After his pronouncement, Nolan left Kyle to his thoughts as he continued to drive. He hit the outskirts of town, well aware that his brand-new, shiny red Ford F-250 was turning curious heads as he slowly drove the speed limit along the main street—appropriately named Main St.—which led through his hometown of Woodmont, Illinois, population 956, according to the welcome sign posted just outside the city limits. Considering the wide-eyed stares as he passed the various stores and the people strolling along the sidewalk, you’d think that he was driving a Bentley instead. But he knew the unique color of his truck, not to mention the rumbling sound of his diesel engine, was enough to alert everyone in town that an outsider was driving throug
h.
He gripped his fingers tighter on the steering wheel as he headed toward his destination. For his entire childhood, he’d felt like an outsider in this small community, so why would this situation be any different? Ten years ago, he’d left Woodmont as a dirt-poor kid determined to be something better than his drunk, verbally abusive father, and today he was a successful multimillionaire and part owner of Premier Realty.
His position within the company wasn’t to sell houses and other real estate assets. He bought them. Old, run-down properties and structures that he and one of his partners, Connor, restored. Once they were finished with the improvements, the realty part of the company resold the place for a hefty profit. In the reality television world, he was labeled a “flipper”—and he fucking hated that term—but his professional business card billed him as a residential and commercial redeveloper.
But what he’d achieved an hour away in Chicago didn’t change the way a lot of the townsfolk still viewed him, thanks to his father’s belligerent personality and his brother’s list of transgressions that had somehow painted him with the same tainted brush and as one of the no-good Coleman brothers.
He’d like to believe that time had changed the town’s perspective of him, and for the most part, they treated him cordially and civilly, but he’d come to accept that there was one family in particular who would never welcome him with open arms. Yeah, his brother had burned that bridge long ago, and Kyle had been stupid enough to add fuel to the fire that had cost him the girl he’d been crazy in love with. A few unfiltered, hurtful comments spoken in frustration and anger had earned him a sharp slap to the face and a get out of my life response that still had the ability to make his stomach clench when he thought about everything he’d lost.
Ella Fisher was, and always would be, the one he’d let slip through his fingers. Obeying those words and walking away from her was his biggest regret, even if he’d told himself, repeatedly, that it was for the best. That a future together would never have worked out for them. Not after what his brother, Todd, had done to Ella’s sister. And not when her father had made it more than clear that Kyle wasn’t good enough for his daughter.
Over the past ten years, Kyle had come and gone from Woodmont on a regular basis, at least a few times a month, because his mother still lived here, while his townhouse was in Chicago. After his drunk of a father died and Todd ended up in jail on a manslaughter charge, Kyle made sure that his mother was taken care of and that the house his father had let fall apart was completely restored, since his mother refused to move or leave the small town.
But visiting his mother didn’t require him to interact with the residents since Patricia Coleman lived on the outskirts, which enabled him to avoid the main part of town and the possibility of running into Ella Fisher. Thanks to his mother’s tendency to keep him abreast of everyone’s business in town, the last Kyle heard, Ella had been engaged to a guy they’d gone to high school with after dating him for three years—the news of which had induced a gut-punch sensation in the pit of his belly.
Except Ella had never made it to the altar—the wedding had been called off a few months before the big day nearly a year ago. They were no longer a couple, and Kyle hated that a part of him was relieved, even though he knew there was no chance in hell that he and Ella could ever be what they once were. Unfortunately, no other woman had come close to replacing what he’d once felt for the girl he’d left behind.
Despite his mother’s updates, it had been a few years since he’d seen Ella in person, but as he drove past the five-and-dime, then the Family Diner, where his mother had worked all his life—and still did, despite him providing her with enough money to retire on—Kyle realized that was all about to change.
“I have to admit I’m a little curious to see how everything plays out today,” Nolan said, once again breaking into his thoughts. “Something like this is as exciting as it gets around here, and I’d rather see it happen live and in person than read it on the front page of the weekly gazette tomorrow or hear about it through gossip from one of my clients at the office,” he said of the accounting business Nolan had taken over when his father had retired.
Kyle huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Do you realize how pathetic you sound right now? That something like this is a major enough source of entertainment for you that you actually took the afternoon off from work to watch it all go down?”
“Yeah, I do,” Nolan openly admitted, his grin never wavering. “Welcome back to small-town life, my friend. Trust me, this is going to be big news after today.”
The last thing Kyle wanted was to be the center of attention. But his reasons for winning the building outweighed the speculation that was bound to circulate once he purchased the property, and gossip was a small price to pay for his mother’s happiness. “Yeah, well, maybe you ought to find yourself a girlfriend and settle down so you have something more pleasurable to occupy your free time.”
“I’m working on it.” Nolan shrugged.
“Yeah?” Kyle raised a brow as he slowed for a stop sign, genuinely surprised that his friend had his eye on someone specific. “You mean you haven’t already gone through all the single ladies in town? I didn’t think there were that many left to choose from that you haven’t already dated.”
“Like Ella, who’s been single and available the past year since breaking off her engagement to Tucker Barnes?” his friend quipped, his tone sly.
Kyle jerked his gaze to Nolan, hating the way his entire body tensed at the thought of his best friend dating someone who’d been so completely and utterly his, which was ridiculous, since it had been nearly ten years since their bitter breakup. It’s not as though he had any claim to her now.
“Is that who you’re interested in?” he asked, his voice gruffer than he’d intended. “Ella?”
“Jesus. No.” Nolan shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that to you, though I do find it fascinating that you nearly bit my head off right now just because you thought I might be interested in her.” He smirked. “Still carrying a torch for your high school sweetheart?”
Nolan was clearly ribbing him, and Kyle refused to react in a way that would give his friend any more reason to provoke him. “Not even close. Trust me, that flame was snuffed out a long time ago and we’ve both moved on.”
Kyle had no illusions that, a decade later, they were different people who led completely opposite lives, and he was certain they had nothing left in common with the starry-eyed teenagers they’d once been. Kyle had royally fucked up whatever they’d once shared, and there was no erasing the pain and anger that had driven them apart.
But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t regret the abrupt way things had ended between them. Even now, he wished he hadn’t left Woodmont, and Ella, without at least apologizing for the hurtful things he’d said. But as the years rolled by, and more time lapsed without seeing her, it had become harder to make that first move and easier to just avoid her when he was visiting his mother.
“So, who’s the lucky girl you’ve set your sights on?” Kyle asked, shifting the conversation back to Nolan.
“Claire Myers.”
Kyle groaned out loud. “Ella’s best friend?” His tone was incredulous. “Are you serious? You were a bona fide jerk to her in high school and didn’t miss an opportunity to tease and torment her because she was taller than most of the guys in our class. Remember when she wore that green dress to school and you called her the Jolly Green Giant? Not cool, man.”
Nolan winced at the reminder. “God, I was such an immature asshole back then.”
“Yeah, you were,” Kyle agreed with a wholehearted chuckle.
While Kyle had been on the varsity wrestling team, which had earned him a scholarship to University of Chicago, Nolan had been the quintessential cocky quarterback who was a total partier and a player—on the field and off. In contrast, Kyle had been more focused on maintaining his grades for college and had been interested in only one girl—Ella. Back then, Nol
an had the pick of any girl he’d wanted, and usually had some cute, petite, perky cheerleader at his beck and call. Claire, on the other hand, had been awkward, skinny, and gangly, and was always stumbling over her own two feet because her legs were so long, which made her a target for ridicule.
“I think you were intimidated by Claire’s height since she was a few inches taller than you. You did have a bit of a Napoleon complex before your growth spurt your senior year,” Kyle said, just to bust his friend’s chops, which earned him the flip of a middle finger. “After all this time, what put Claire on your radar for someone you’d want to date?”
“A week ago she came into the office to ask me about some tax advice regarding her grandmother’s estate, who recently passed,” Nolan told him. “She had on this green miniskirt I swear she’d worn to fucking mock me for what I’d said back in high school. I couldn’t stop staring at her gorgeous long legs and toned thighs that were distracting as hell and had me entertaining some pretty inappropriate thoughts during our meeting.”
The corner of Kyle’s mouth quirked with humor. “Karma is a bitch, isn’t it?”
“No shit.” Nolan rubbed at the back of his neck with his hand. “When Claire stood up to leave, she asked me if I still thought she looked like the Jolly Green Giant or if she’d finally grown into her long legs. She was challenging me, and I have to admit, it was such a goddamn turn-on that I told her I’d have to reserve judgment until after our first date and I had a chance to see if she could walk in heels without tripping over her feet.”
“And she actually fell for that line?” Kyle asked in disbelief.
The Book Boyfriend Series Box Set Page 34
