by Natalie Ann
Mistletoe Magic
Natalie Ann
Mistletoe Magic
Paradise Place Series
Copyright 2020 Natalie Ann
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without a written consent.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Author’s Note
Also by Natalie Ann
About the Author
Blurb
Prologue
1. Get Out Of Town
2. The Perfect One
3. Take Control
4. Challenging Myself
5. A Connection
6. Hold Onto Someone
7. The Shy One
8. Take The Initiative
9. Solve Their Problems
10. Time To Move On
11. Guiding Him Home
12. Damn Proud
13. Just Selective
14. Know About Us
15. Rebelling This Year
16. My Boyfriend
17. A Place Of My Own
18. Lit The Flame
19. Watched and Judged
20. Right At Home
21. Changed Your Life
22. A Guy Thing
23. What We Do
24. My Eyes Were Opened
25. Cause Trouble
26. Tossing You Anywhere
27. Be Free
28. Solve Her Problems
Epilogue
Also by Natalie Ann
About the Author
Author’s Note
Author’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Also by Natalie Ann
The Road Series-See where it all started!!
Lucas and Brooke’s Story- Road to Recovery
Jack and Cori’s Story – Road to Redemption
Mac and Beth’s Story- Road to Reality
Ryan and Kaitlin’s Story- Road to Reason
The All Series
William and Isabel’s Story — All for Love
Ben and Presley’s Story – All or Nothing
Phil and Sophia’s Story – All of Me
Alec and Brynn’s Story – All the Way
Sean and Carly’s Story — All I Want
Drew and Jordyn’s Story— All My Love
Finn and Olivia’s Story—All About You
Landon Barber and Kristen Reid- All Of Us
The Lake Placid Series
Nick Buchanan and Mallory Denning – Second Chance
Max Hamilton and Quinn Baker – Give Me A Chance
Caleb Ryder and Celeste McGuire – Our Chance
Cole McGuire and Rene Buchanan – Take A Chance
Zach Monroe and Amber Deacon- Deserve A Chance
Trevor Miles and Riley Hamilton – Last Chance
Matt Winters and Dena Hall- Another Chance
Logan Taylor and Kennedy Miles- It’s My Chance
Justin Cambridge and Taryn Miles- One More Chance
The Fierce Five Series
Gavin Fierce and Jolene O’Malley- How Gavin Stole Christmas
Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed - Brody
Aiden Fierce and Nic Moretti- Aiden
Mason Fierce and Jessica Corning- Mason
Cade Fierce and Alex Marshall - Cade
Ella Fierce and Travis McKinley- Ella
Fierce Family
Sam Fierce and Dani Rhodes- Sam
Bryce Fierce and Payton Davies - Bryce
Drake Fierce and Kara Winslow – Drake
Noah Fierce and Paige Parker - Noah
Wyatt Fierce and Adriana Lopez – Wyatt
Jade Fierce and Brock James – Jade
Ryder Fierce and Marissa McMillan – Ryder
Love Collection
Vin Steele and Piper Fielding – Secret Love
Jared Hawk and Shelby McDonald – True Love
Erik McMann and Sheldon Case – Finding Love
Connor Landers and Melissa Mahoney- Beach Love
Ian Price and Cam Mason- Intense Love
Liam Sullivan and Ali Rogers - Autumn Love
Owen Taylor and Jill Duncan - Holiday Love
Chase Martin and Noelle Bennett - Christmas Love
Zeke Collins and Kendall Hendricks - Winter Love
Troy Walker and Meena Dawson – Chasing Love
Jace Stratton and Lauren Towne - First Love
Gabe Richards and Leah Morrison - Forever Love
Blake Wilson and Gemma Anderson – Simply Love
Brendan St. Nicholas and Holly Lane – Gifts of Love
Paradise Place
Josh Turner and Ruby Gentile – Cupid’s Quest
Harris Walker and Kaelyn Butler – Change Up
Philip Aire and Blair McKay- Starting Over
Nathan Randal and Brina Shepard – Eternal
Ryan Butler and Shannon Wilder – Falling Into Love
Brian Dawson and Robin Masters – Mistletoe Magic
Caden Finley and Sarah Walker – Believe In Me
Amore Island
Family Bonds- Hunter and Kayla
Family Bonds- Drew and Amanda
Family Bonds – Mac and Sidney
Family Bonds- Emily & Crew
About the Author
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Blurb
Brian Dawson is sick and tired of being hit on by the wrong type of women. What he wants is someone sweet and wholesome. The girl next door that would love him and want to be with him for who he is, not what he can give them. Too bad it seems like she doesn’t exist.
Robin Masters’ world came crashing down on her when she walked in on her husband in bed with someone other than her. She got out of there and got out fast. Now all she wants is to move on and put it behind her. She’s sick of feeling stupid and naive for never seeing what was right in front of her face. And when she starts a relationship with her divorce attorney, Brian, the last thing she expects is her ex to come back into her life and cause trouble.
Prologue
Robin pulled down the long driveway of her gated residence just outside of Saratoga that she shared with her husband. She never had anything like this growing up, but when she met Alex Fischer four years ago her world changed.
She’d kept her job as a dental hygienist four days a week and she volunteered at a local animal shelter every Monday and on a few Saturdays, but money wasn’t an issue.
Her paycheck was hers and hers alone. Alex’s family had oodles of money and he was determined to make sure he paid for everything. That he was the hero and the provider in their marriage.
If she was uncomfortable with it at first, he put her mind at ease.
Early on in their relationship, and even their marriage two years ago, he’d won her over spoiling her rotten even when she insisted she didn’t need flowers and fancy dinners. Balloon rides and vacations.
Now though, things weren’t as sweet or wonderful as they used to be.
Where his mind was at and why he seemed so distant just made her wonder if there was someone else in his life.
Rather than
pull into the garage today, she parked in the half circle in the front, unlocked the door and moved up the stairs. She should know better by now to bring a change of clothes when she volunteered at the shelter, but she’d been upset with how short Alex had been with her this morning when she brought up counseling before starting a family that she left without thinking of it.
Now she had mud all over her jeans and the sleeve of her shirt from a rumbustious puppy she was handling during the vet’s exam. When she tried to bathe the Pitbull boxer mix after, the puppy had thought it was playtime and she ended up wetter than the dog.
As she made her way up the stairs, she thought she heard a voice. That was odd. No one should be home. She stopped and listened again, heard some more mumbling sounds, then quietly moved down the hallway toward the master suite.
When she got to the doorway, it was only open a quarter of the way. She was the last to leave this morning and she never shut the bedroom doors.
She peeked her head in and saw Alex in bed on top of someone. Naked with the sheet halfway up his waist. His dark head was down, his mouth kissing someone with more passion than he’d ever shown her.
She popped out and put her back to the wall as the tears started to form in her eyes.
This would explain why he was so detached from her lately. More like six months easily. They’d barely had sex a handful of times in the past year. They’d never had an active sex life. Even when they were dating. Since Alex had a large sordid dating past and he was older than her by five years, she’d thought it was odd, but since he was so sweet and loving to her, she’d let it go. He’d even convinced her he was ready to settle down and stop having fling after fling when she was reluctant to comment early on. He wore her down though.
How stupid she was!
Now she had her answer to his recent behavior. He was sleeping with someone on the side.
Rather than run out the door in tears, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, put the video on. She squatted down, made sure she got enough of an angle of him in the bed and then kept her arm there while she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to watch, but she was going to nail his ass to the wall for this.
After a minute, she heard the bed moving and the sheets rustling around, Alex’s voice laughing and saying he was hungry, and she knew it was time to leave.
She raced down the hall as quietly as she could with her hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs, left the way she came, then drove away.
When she was at the end of the long driveway and knew her car couldn’t be seen, she saved the video to her cloud, emailed it to herself and then to her brother for safekeeping, telling him not to watch, she’d explain later.
After a few deep breaths and wiping her tears, Robin decided she’d better watch the video. She had to know who this woman was. Was it someone she knew? A friend that betrayed her? Anything for her to get a better understanding of how she could be such an idiot.
And what she saw made her realize that nothing could blindside her quite like this.
1
Get Out Of Town
Nine Months Later
Brian Dawson walked up front to meet with his client. His office was small, just a few staff. He’d brought on a new lawyer right out of college and she was a go-getter. Molly Robinson had what it took to be a little bulldog in the courtroom. She was quiet and shy, a little on the dull and boring side appearance wise, but it was all a ruse. Wind her up and she was going for your throat. He loved it.
That left his receptionist up front, his clerk that did a lot of research for him and an accountant who handled the finances.
He liked the small office vibe and enjoyed calling his own shots. He was pretty damn successful in his own right and planned on staying at this level.
Big corporate law firms, partners, and cutthroat colleagues had never been what he wanted in life.
He wanted to be his own boss. He wanted to solve the problems his way. He wanted to be the hero and not share in the glory with a team of cocky lawyers that were fighting more for wealth than morals.
“Hi, Robin,” he said, shaking her hand. “It’s good to see you again. Come on back to my office.”
He’d handled her divorce earlier in the year. Most divorces took a lot of time and this one had the potential to be extremely messy with no prenup. He’d been shocked to hear that, but Robin had explained that she’d turned Alex down multiple times and to prove he really loved her and was committed, he said there’d be no prenup as they were meant to be together forever.
Not only was her ex the heir apparent to a chain of convenience stores and gas stations throughout New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but he was caught red handed in bed with someone other than his wife...on video no less.
Alex’s family was old school and mortified. His marriage to Robin had been all over the presses and local papers as a Cinderella story. Robin was liked by many and loved by Alex’s family. They’d thought for sure she was the answer to their son’s wild ways.
In the end, they offered her a massive settlement. Not just to keep her quiet, but to compensate her for her pain. Robin walked away with millions when she hadn’t been asking for anything other than a quick divorce and for Brian to deal with everything to change her name back to Masters. She wanted nothing tying her to her ex.
“Thanks for seeing me so quickly,” she said. “I was hoping you could handle the closing of my house. I’m trying to do a fast turnaround and I’m paying cash.”
“Of course,” he said. “Where are you buying?”
“Paradise Place,” she said, laughing.
He snorted. Everyone around Albany County knew of Paradise Place, but Robin was from Saratoga. “I heard it’s beautiful there. My best friend, who also happens to be my brother-in-law, his cousin lives there.”
“Who’s that?” she asked. “I don’t know anyone other than the realtor who sold me the house. Ruby Gentile. Soon to be Turner in a few months. She was praising the area, as she lives in the development too.”
“I don’t know Ruby, but my brother-in-law’s cousin is Harris Walker. He married Kaelyn Butler, whose family started Paradise Place.”
“Bet they’ve got a nice house,” she said. “Never heard of them. I mean I know of the Butlers obviously.”
He laughed this time. “Guess you don’t follow baseball. Harris Walker used to be a pitcher for the Mets. He got injured in a car accident last year. Only married a few months ago too. It was in the papers. Anyway, no big deal. Just thought I’d mention them.”
“Paradise Place is big. I heard they have a party each summer, but I missed it. I’m sure I’ll meet a lot of people next year. It was time to get out of town.”
Which explained why she was leaving Saratoga. “Are you still working for the same dentist?”
“No,” she said. “I got sick of commuting from Colonie to Saratoga on the Northway. I knew I could find another job easily enough and did. Just part time but with great benefits. I wanted to continue working with the animals and found a great shelter locally that could use the help. I’m spending two days a week there.”
“Sounds like you are moving on. I hope you’re happy.”
He’d liked Robin when she came to him in the beginning of the year. She could have gotten any lawyer she wanted who would have been drooling over her case, but she’d contacted him and he never knew why. Not that he wasn’t thrilled over it.
“I am. I’m getting there. You were so kind and patient and gentle with me. You never pushed me to go after Alex. I didn’t want a circus. I just wanted to move on and as quickly as possible.”
“That is probably why his family loved you so much,” he said. She had a gentle soul. He’d seen it all along. She’d been devastated over her ruined marriage, but she didn’t want revenge. Not many women were like that that he’d come across during a divorce proceeding.
Not many women were like her in general, he’d learned, and felt a pull to her right away.
&nb
sp; He couldn’t do anything about it and didn’t. But he was thrilled she called him for this and he would get to spend some more time with her.
“I’m sure. Alex’s parents still want to maintain a relationship and I just can’t. I don’t even know if it was to save face or not, but I need to cut ties with them.”
She tucked her brown hair behind her ear and tried to force a smile. “Did you tell them that?”
“No. I should. I’m taking the coward’s way out and just avoiding them. I even changed my number, but his mother emailed me. I mean it’s been easier since I moved here and I don’t see them much. Between work and the shelter, I’ve been busy.”
He knew she had a passion for working with rescue dogs. “So how many dogs have you adopted since you’ve been on your own?”
She frowned. “None. I can’t have dogs in my apartment. When I moved in, I was still reeling from everything. It was winter and so on. Then the summer just flew by and I was trying to figure things out. I’m not sure what made me start looking for houses, but I saw this one and right away, the minute I walked in, I had to have it. I’d love to close now, but I can’t.”
