by Taylor Hart
What the crap? His father couldn’t demand that his sons get married. That was unreasonable! And selfish! And …
The image of his father at Christmas last year—lecturing them about being men of honor and duty and getting off their butts and getting married—actually made him smile. That was Jack Kelly: the man, the myth, the legend.
Pain stabbed the center of his chest, and he tried to ignore it. The funny thing he’d discovered about grief, as of late, was that he never knew when it would throw him off-balance.
He whipped his phone out of his pocket. Fine. If he had to fund the charity without his father’s money, he would do it. He would call the annoying billionaire from Jackson whose bike he was working on.
“Hello?”
“Hunter James!” Parker had met him once on a trip to Jackson Hole with his father. Hunter was a Texas gambling man turned big oil.
“Parker Kelly. Boy, when you going to get that bike of mine finished?”
“Soon. The parts take time to find.”
Hunter sighed. “How’re you doing?” He was, of course, referencing the death of Parker’s father.
“Ah, fine.” Parker hated it when people asked him that. “But I have a situation and need some financing for a charity my father’s been operating.”
After a long, uncomfortable moment of hesitation, Hunter asked, “What’s the charity?”
“A surf and soup on the beach here in Oceanside. I started it with my father when I was twelve.”
“You’re having money problems? Why don’t you take some of your inheritance and fund it?”
Parker cursed in his mind; the will stated that they couldn’t tell anybody about the marriage ultimatum. “It’s a family thing.”
“Hmm. I’ll think about it. Why don’t you write up a proposal and shoot it to my secretary?”
The kiss of death. As a boy, Parker had learned that if someone said “type it up and send it to the secretary,” it wasn’t a good enough idea to bother them with. “Alright. Thank you.”
“No problem. Get my bike done.”
“Yes, sir.” He pressed end, and with great effort he resisted the urge to throw the phone. He wasn’t going to stinking get married so he could fund a charity! How could that be an honest or right or good thing to do?
He pulled open the door for his shop, then closed it behind him. He pressed an app on his phone that activated the high-tech security system he’d recently installed. Oceanside Beach was known to be dangerous at night. He took off, feeling a need to rush across the street even though it wasn’t busy. For eight months of the year, it was a crazy tourist street, but at Christmas, not many tourists came to Oceanside Beach. At least, not the smart ones. If they wanted a great beach at Christmas, they went to Hawaii.
Parker wound his way around the street and through the tunnel that already had accumulated a bunch of street people. As he went past, most of them waved or called out a greeting to him. He’d been working with homeless people since age twelve, when he’d come to Oceanside with his family and only cared about the homeless and surfing. For weeks after the trip, he’d driven his father crazy, asking all kinds of questions about why the people weren’t taken care of and why they didn’t have food. It was the catalyst for the Surf and Soup homeless shelter that he now entered.
“Closed,” Harvey, the manager of the Surf and Soup called out.
Parker grinned and locked the door behind him, tapping a few buttons on his phone to activate the security system he’d personally installed here as well. “It’s me.”
Harvey turned and gestured toward the basement. “You’ve got a crowd tonight.”
Something akin to pleasure passed through Parker’s chest. “Perfect.” He raced down the stairs, hearing the low rumble of rap music that someone had linked to his stereo system. Rap wasn’t his thing, but he’d learned that this crowd usually liked it.
As he walked in, Chuck, his friend on Christmas break from the FBI, nodded to him. Chuck was doubling as his bouncer/MC for the night. He put a mic to his lips. “The cowboy is back in town, folks. Are you ready to rumble?”
Parker glared at Chuck, he’d never liked being called the cowboy, but the crowd that was gathered all shouted out. “Cowboy! Cowboy!”
Chuck grinned at him.
Parker moved to the edge of the rink and pulled off his hoodie and T-shirt.
“Have you found funding for this place yet?” Chuck leaned into him.
Parker shook his head. He’d told Chuck about his father’s will the other night, when he was sparring with him. They weren’t supposed to tell anyone, that’s what his father’s will had said, but if you couldn’t trust a friend from the FBI, then who could you trust?
Chuck cursed. “Can’t close this place.”
Parker nodded and picked up the tape he used to wrap his hands.
“Listen.” Chuck leaned in close. “I have a friend who invited me to this Christmas ball with a bunch of fancy-pants government people. Even a senator who is running for governor.”
“And I care why?”
“There’s always funding for stuff like this; you just have to find it. You have to know the right people. Why don’t you go, flash your name around, and talk to some people?” He winked at him. “Plus women—lots of hot women will be there. All of them looking for a man who can dance.” He air gunned him. “And I have seen you dance, Cowboy.”
Parker grimaced. Flashing his name around felt like blasphemy. Sure, maybe he had issues with his father, but the Kelly name was sacred. His father had worked hard for everything he had. Flashiness wasn’t his style. “Not looking for attention. And not interested in a ‘hot’ woman.”
Chuck’s face scrunched into disgust. “Dude, I know Carol or Kathy or whoever dumped you, but you need to get out there.”
He grunted. That relationship had ended over six months before he’d moved to Oceanside. “Ah, no, I don’t.”
“You’re still stuck on finding that girl from your past. Ari or whatever. Aren’t you?”
Parker froze. Chuck was using privileged information. Privileged in that Parker never told anyone about her. Outside of his brothers, Chuck was the only one he’d ever shared his relationship with to. “You have all the right things to say tonight, don’t you?”
Chuck put his hands up. “Never mind.”
Parker hesitated, hating how touchy he could be lately. When Chuck offered him a glove, he shoved his hand inside. “Are you attending this ball as part of the Bureau?”
Chuck let out a light laugh. “Hey, I’m on vacay, you know that.”
Parker grunted. “Right.”
Chuck shook his head and laced up the strings for him. “Don’t you know you can’t ever get away from the Bureau? Once you’re in, you’re in.”
Parker held out the other hand for a second glove. “Unless they ask you to leave.”
Chuck met his eyes, then shoved him a bit. “Unless they ask you back.”
Why was Chuck being so cryptic? Was he here to recruit Parker back to the Bureau? Too bad all ex-FBI kept things close to the chest. He should know; he’d been one of them.
“Whatever.” Parker didn’t have time for cloaks and daggers right now, he had a fight. He entered the rink, bouncing from foot to foot. The rink was old school, just the basics. The basement was dank, and even with the fresh coat of paint and the new equipment Parker had installed when he’d first gotten here, it still stank of dampness.
He’d arranged to fight someone through a down-low, black market fight club, and the guy was already in the rink. He looked like a brown-skinned Russian version of the fighter from Rocky IV. Even better.
The crowd had various people. Some were homeless and knew about the fights and insisted on coming. Most of them were from various gangs. That was how Parker had initially found people to fight. He’d taken it up with the playboy gangster punks who had tried to rob his shop. He’d insisted on meeting their bosses, and then fight night was born. It kept some peace among
the gangs, which made the cops happy as well, so the cops looked the other way. They didn’t want to deal with any of it, especially considering the cop-unfriendly climate on the streets. It was a win-win situation.
Parker stared at the Russian guy, who was doing some pretty impressive moves with a trainer. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be good enough. They were never good enough.
Chuck hopped into the rink, putting his hand up to silence the crowd. “Has everyone placed their bets?”
Parker ignored the betting. He didn’t condone it, but he knew part of fighting meant getting paid. It wasn’t fair for him to take money when he’d been trained by the government to be the best, so he gave his share to Harvey to pay for expenses around here.
Chuck stood between them and lifted the stopwatch hanging around his neck. “Okay, boys, have fun.” A timer went off, and Chuck grinned. “Get ’em, cowboy.”
Parker moved to the center of the rink, his hands up, blocking his face. The Russian measured him with his eyes, then took a punch. Parker easily dodged and used the side position as leverage to land his own punch to the guy’s gut. The Russian dove into the air and spun, grabbing Parker’s head with his legs and yanking him to the ground.
Parker grinned. Maybe it would be a fairer fight than he’d thought.
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Also by Taylor Hart
Bachelor Second Chance Cowboy Romance:
Her Country Star Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas
Her Quiet Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas by guest author
Her Football Star Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas by guest author
Her Horse Racing Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas by guest author
Her Protector Billionaire Groom: A KB Ranch Married by Christmas
Bachelor Texas Rebel Romances:
Her Second Chance Prodigal Groom: No Regrets Christmas
#NorthStar Series:
#Lost
#Seen
#Lured by guest author
#Caged by guest author
Coconut Bachelor Beach Romances:
The Second Chance Billionaire Boss
A Timeless Romance Anthology
Kissing a Billionaire Anthology—The Forgotten Billionaire by Taylor Hart
Royal Palm Resort Series:
The Dancing Groom: A Sweet Beach Romance
Last Play Masquerade Romances:
The No Regrets Groom (A Brady Brother’s Romance)
The Bighearted Groom by guest author
The Ever After Groom by guest author
The Blindsided Groom by guest author
Last Play Christmas Romances:
Pre Order Now! New Release December 20th - The Beauty's Groom
The Betting Groom (The Legendary Kent Brother Romances)
The Risky Groom by guest author
The Haunted Groom by guest author
The Midnight Groom (A sequel to The Football Groom)
The About Face Groom by guest author
Christmas Romance Series:
Her Hollywood Fake fiance (The Legendary Kent Brother Romances)
Pre-Order Now! New Release November 18th - Her Football Boss Fake Fiancé: Sweet Brother's Romance
Texas Titan Romances (I recommend this order to read them)
The Tough Love Groom
The Second Chance Groom
The Dream Groom
The Prince Charming Groom
The Good Groom (A Brady Brother’s Romance)
Navy Seal Romances
The Broken Warrior
The Found Warrior
Bachelor Billionaire Romance Series (I recommend this order to read them)
The Football Groom
The Country Groom
The Unfinished Groom
The Barefoot Groom
The Masquerading Groom
The Christmas Groom
Rescue Me (Park City Firefighter Romances--Cross over with Bachelor Billionaire Romances) (Freestone Brother Romances)
The Lost Groom (Freestone Brother Romances)
The Undercover Groom (Freestone Brother Romances)
The Lone Star Groom
Last Play Romance Series
Last Play
The Rookie
Just Play
A Player for Christmas
End Zone
Hail Mary
Snow Valley Romances
Pre-Order Now! New Release December 30th - Her Snow Valley Fake New Year's Eve Boyfriend
Her Snow Valley Christmas Eve Kiss
Her Snow Valley Second Chance First Love Boyfriend
Spring in Snow Valley: The Bet
Fall in Snow Valley: The Better Man
A Return to Snow Valley: The Christmas Boyfriend
A Return to Snow Valley: The Christmas Girlfriend
The Real Thing Suspense, Romantic Series
Book 1 On the Run
Book 2 Going Rogue
Book 3 Get You Back
Stand Alone Books
A Girl Named Grace
The Secret
Prom Diaries
Her First Love Billionaire: Second Chance Time Travel Romance
Collections
Cozy Christmas Mistletoe Collection
Snow Valley Collection
The Legendary Kent Brother Collection
Country Star Romance Collection
The Freestone Brother Collection
Bachelor Billionaire Romance Collection
Football Romance Collection (Last Play)
Taylor’s Football Collection (Texas Titans)
Christmas Romance Sampler Collection
Movie Star Romances Billionaire Collection
Her Fireman, Movie Star, Navy Seal, and Football Players Box Set
About the Author
Taylor Hart is a best-selling author and Amazon top seller of Billionaire, Football, and Military Romance. All of her books have themes that are inspirational and faith-based. She is a mentor and coach and is obsessed with principles on success and self-improvement.
Her greatest joy is that she is a mother and a wife. She has four amazing boys that remind her of little MMA fighters! She is grateful for her amazing husband who supports and loves her!
Taylor has a deep love of God and feels a deep loyalty to her Savior, Jesus Christ. She gratefully acknowledges His healing love and forgiveness in her life.
Taylor also takes extreme pride in being an American. She is so grateful and proud of the men and women that support and preserve our freedom.
Find Taylor at:
www.taylorhartbooks.com │ Twitter: @taylorfaithhart │ Facebook: Taylor Hart
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