by J. L. Leslie
Copyright 2021. J.L. Leslie. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes, promotions, authorized giveaways or teasers only.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Besting Brady (Hearts of Hollis, #2)
Brady
Dedication
I want to first of all dedicate this book to my mom, like I do all of my books. She is who always supported me in my writing, and I dedicate all of my words to her. I miss her each and every day!
A special thanks to my husband and kids for allowing me to go into my writing cave and also for their love and support! Also, to my sister for listening to my ideas and never complaining! You’re the best! I love you all!
A special thanks to my PA, Amber Feist, for being my friend and sounding board! For always helping me find the perfect cover and for reading my words!
To my fan group, J.L. Leslie’s Lovelies, for being the best fan group an author could ever ask for! Thank you!
To my street team, J.L. Leslie’s Pimpin’ Peeps, you are the most amazing street team! Thank you for always sharing my work!
To my ARC team, thank you so much for reading my words! It amazes me each day that people take the time to read what I write and sometimes actually enjoy it!
A very special thank you to my beta readers! I so enjoy your feedback and comments! You make this journey so much easier for me! Thank you!
Last, but not least, a special thanks to the amazingly talented, Nicole Dykes. We originally started the Hearts of Hollis Series as a co-write adventure. We had a lot of fun together and I grew and learned a lot as an author during that experience. I wrote the last book in this series, Admiring Avery, solo, and shortly after, we mutually decided it was best if I re-released books 1-3 solo. I had a blast falling in love with these characters again and sincerely appreciate Nicole trusting me with our characters! Thank you!
Special Acknowledgment
My proofreader, Chantal Baxendale.
My beta readers Amber Feist, Morgan Terry, and Joanna Edger.
Thank you all so much for polishing my words and providing me with honest feedback, which is exactly what I need!
Chapter One
Brady
I unhook my toolbelt and toss it on the back of my truck. It’s November, but still fairly warm outside for Texas. That’s what I love about Hollis, the town I grew up in. There’s really no winter here, just one season year-round.
Although I’ve left town to go work in different states, I always come back to Hollis. I guess small-town life is ingrained in me. I can never seem to stay away for too long.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” my best friend and boss, Caleb, asks as he saunters up to my truck.
We’ve been working together since we were kids, not even legal age to work, but officially working for King Construction since we were sixteen. He’s the foreman of our crew, and he has earned that title. But lately, he’s been a dick to everyone, and no one wants to work with him.
He shows up late smelling like alcohol and raises hell at us all damn day. He’s making costly mistakes and blaming them on us and everyone, including myself, is sick of it. But until he and Casey, his ex-girlfriend, either make up or move on, we’ll be dealing with it.
“What are you talking about? Everyone’s knocking off early to go to the re-opening of the hardware store,” I answer, smelling the alcohol on his breath. “Jesus, man, it’s barely ten in the morning.”
“Mind your damn business, Brady,” he warns.
“You know, you’ve been making it our business for months now. She’s moved on! You should, too!”
Caleb and Casey have been together since high school. They have this love/hate relationship that has caused them to make up and break up more times than I can count. But they haven’t gotten back together, and she’s dating some professor from the college over in Redbud.
I figured they would’ve made up by now. When we worked an out-of-state job, it took Casey less than twenty-four hours to welcome Caleb back with open arms when we returned to Hollis. Of course, my leaving didn’t quite work out for me and the girlfriend I had at the time. Jade.
We had a whirlwind of a summer together last year, and then I got a call for the job and took off. Without saying goodbye. When I came back, Jade and I didn’t exactly pick things up where we left them, although I think we could have had I wanted to. We had a decent thing going. Great sex. A lot of laughs.
But I’m not that guy. You know, the whole relationship thing doesn’t do it for me. Jade wanted the exclusivity, and I hooked up with someone else. Needless to say, she didn’t wait around for me, and that’s probably for the best.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Brady?” Caleb asks angrily. “I didn’t tell anyone they could leave early.”
“Caleb, get a grip,” I snap. “We talked about this last week. We’re all going. Shit, the whole town will be there.”
I hate what my friend is going through. It isn’t like him at all. He’s normally cracking jokes and hazing rookie co-workers with me, but lately, he’s full of anger. He drinks too much and fills his time with whatever woman is willing to let him in. Typically, I don’t have a problem with that, only he’s not behaving like my best friend anymore. I can barely stand to even be around him nowadays.
“Fuck it, go. I don’t give a shit,” he grumbles and stumbles away.
I don’t even know what to say to him at this point, so I get in my truck and leave. I stop by my house first so I can take a shower. My place isn’t much: a two-bedroom, one bath cabin-style house two blocks down the street from my mom’s. I don’t even own it but rent it from my aunt. It’s better than renting the room above the bar from Jack. Although, he has plans on remodeling it. He’s been talking about doing that for quite some time. Told him I’d do the job for him and cheap.
After I shower, I dress in jeans, a faded blue t-shirt, and my boots. Yeah, my typical attire. I’m not the type of guy who dresses up for any occasion. Besides, we’re in Hollis. No one dresses up.
The hardware store is only ten minutes from my house. In fact, nearly everything in Hollis is ten minutes from my house. That’s how small Hollis is. The hardware store originally opened several months ago, but the guy who opened it didn’t like small-town life, so he closed it shortly after.
Then another guy bought it. Another guy from the city, only this guy has been sticking around Hollis for a while now. He just so happens to be my Jade’s boyfriend. Well, I guess I can call him my friend now. We’re civil to each other. We certainly haven’t thrown any more punches. Sometimes I’d still like to nail him a good one, though.
Madden Steele and his two brothers, all three of them city boys from Dallas, decided to buy the hardware store and open it back up. I won’t say I’m disappointed. Hollis having a hardware store is good for King Construction. We don’t have to go out of town to purchase things or order them online. Wi-Fi in Hollis is a bitch sometimes.
I pull up, and the parking lot is full. Having anything new opening in Hollis is a damn big deal. Nothing happens here. Jack’s Bar, my favorite establishment, is the last thing that opened here, and that was twenty fucking years ago. Jack has been quick to remind everyone of that.
“Jade,” I call out to the blonde, who still at times makes my heart flutter, “what a turnout.”
She turns around and a smile spreads across her beautiful face. I remind myself
that I walked away from her. That she’s the relationship type and I’m the exact opposite. That she’s fucking happy.
Her best friend, and the person responsible for the change in my best friend, is standing right beside her. We exchange hostile glares, although we’ve been friends since high school.
“Hey, Casey, how’s it going?” I ask.
Casey is pulling her dark red hair into a ponytail. She looks annoyed, not an unusual look for her. “There are too many damn people here. I barely got a fucking parking space, and I have to figure out how to get out of here in thirty minutes so I can go to class. You know I’m not good at backing up, and I only came to look at Madden’s sexy ass brothers.”
I laugh at how candid she is. That’s Casey. No filter at all. “This is the most excitement the town has had since Hollis Days.”
“If everyone started getting laid, they’d have excitement,” she quips. I don’t disagree with her on that.
“Ooh, it’s starting. There’s Madden,” Jade announces.
I look over at her, and despite the fact that I lost her to him, I know she made the right decision. Honestly, I don’t think there was even a choice. I never would’ve given her what she deserved, and we both knew that. Long-term commitment is not something I’m capable of.
The three of us stand together and watch Madden and his brothers announce the re-opening. Madden gives a short speech about how he came to Hollis and their plans for the store. Then he cuts the ribbon on the door.
People start going inside and looking around to see what changes the Steeles have made. I’m not interested in any of that. I want food, and I know there’s a buffet table set up in front of the store. Too bad they opted not to have an open bar.
I spot my co-workers, Tate and Logan, and say my goodbyes to Jade and Casey. Tate and Logan are on the same page as me. They’re already heading to the buffet table.
“Good job, Madden. Your voice is like fucking silk,” I tease, taking a moment to congratulate him on the new store.
“I’m sure you hear it in your dreams,” he jokes. “You remember Keegan and Landon?”
“Yeah, good to see you two again,” I say and shake their hands. We’ve only met a couple of times, and they both seem nice. Well, Keegan is nice, and Landon is focused, making him come across as a bit of a prick. “Is Amelia here, too?”
Keegan looks for his wife a moment and shrugs. “She’s here somewhere. Probably with Jade and Casey by now. She was in the store setting up a display area for her jewelry. I don’t know why she thinks a hardware store needs a jewelry display.”
“The women in Hollis will love it,” I assure him. “Now, I’m going to eat. Catch you guys later.”
I turn and run smack into someone. By pure reflex, my arms reach out and grab her, steadying her from stumbling to the ground.
“Walk much?” she mumbles, gripping my forearms.
Her blonde curls fall over her face, red lips pursed, and she lets go of my arms to brush them back. Bright green eyes gaze back at me, and I swallow hard to try and catch my breath. I can’t even speak.
She laughs and says, “You can let go now.”
I look down and realize I’m still holding her arms. I drop my hands to my sides and open my mouth to say something to her, but she steps past me and disappears into the crowd.
I run a hand through my hair. I’m frustrated that I froze like that. That absolutely never happens to me. I’m Brady Fucking Thompson. No woman ever leaves me speechless.
Until now.
Chapter Two
Lillian
I try to regain my composure after bumping into the handsome stranger. He seemed like he wanted to linger, but I walked away before he could. This town has me all turned around. I swear I can still feel his touch on my arms, and the way he looked into my eyes has me shaken, more than I would like to admit. I tell myself it’s only because I’m tired from the ride and the fact that I’m actually here.
I need to focus on the reason I am in Hollis. I stand at the back of the crowd and study the three men that are standing at the front of the store. The Steele brothers. They are my reason for traveling the three hours south of my home in Dallas. They’re the reason I lied to my parents and came to this place.
I watch the youngest, Madden, as he kisses the small blonde that just joined them. Then he turns and nudges the oldest one, Landon. Landon looks briefly at them, they exchange a few words, and then he goes right back to his phone. He’s always been the more intense one of the three, the one who took his family heritage very seriously.
The middle one, Keegan, is busy holding onto his wife. Their wedding, which took place only a few months ago, was the talk of Dallas. It was an event fit for true royalty, and the Steeles are definitely royalty in Dallas. I remember going to the wedding with my parents. I watched as two people I had casually known since my childhood were married, never once thinking they were connected to me as more than just acquaintances.
I went to the same private school as all three of the brothers. We were members of the same country club, but I don’t recall having a conversation with any of them. Sure, polite words in passing, but we weren’t close. Dallas is a large city, and our class size was larger than this town. We didn’t hang out with the same crowd, but I still knew who they were. Everyone in Dallas knows the Steeles.
I have this small hint of panic that one of them may recognize me, but that quickly dissipates. Their family is often the mention of local headlines, even the national news. My parents are wealthy because they both have very successful careers. My father specializes in obstetrics, and my mother is a talented neurosurgeon. Although our lifestyle is extraordinarily comfortable, we are nowhere near the Steeles’ level.
I watch the crowd. It’s unbelievable how many people are here for a hardware store to open. I feel like I’m missing something. It’s just a hardware store, nothing fancy, but this has to be every person that lives in this ridiculously tiny town. This only reminds me that I’m not at home anymore. People have filed inside, and some are still standing outside. There is even a live band playing and food provided for everyone in attendance.
I suppose not a lot happens in this town. I see the woman that Madden is with give him a quick kiss on the cheek and then walk away from the crowd. I watch as she walks happily down the street and to a building that’s labeled Jack’s Bar. There are a few cars parked outside already. After my long drive and the frazzling of my nerves, I could use a drink.
I take another look at the brothers. They look so happy and content, like nothing is missing from their lives. That thought makes me slightly bitter. Mainly because until recently, I felt the exact same way. But my world was turned upside down, and it’s hard to know they have something to do with it. Hard to look at them and not be angry, even though I have this feeling the secret was kept from them as well.
I had planned on introducing myself to them properly, but fear got the better of me. I don’t want to ruin their day with my news. They’re celebrating the opening of their business and I’m harboring a secret that will turn their lives upside down the same way it did mine.
I fight the urge to climb back into my car and drive back to Dallas but decide instead to go check out the bar. Maybe after a drink or two, my nerves will calm down. Then, I can tell them about the letter I found.
I walk down the sidewalk and open the door. A little bell dings when I go inside. There is no one here. I suppose the cars parked outside were only the overflow from the hardware store. I step in a little farther, hoping it’s okay that I’m in here. Finally, the girl comes in from the back of the small building.
“Hey, what can I get you?” she asks, smiling.
I sit down carefully on the barstool, trying not to wrinkle or stain my expensive skirt. When I left home, I had no idea what kind of place I would be coming to. There wasn’t much about Hollis online. It didn’t take me long to figure out I wasn’t dressed appropriately.
“I’ll take a vodka tonic.
Thank you.”
She nods and goes behind the bar to make my drink. I sit my purse down on the stool next to me.
“Just passing through, or are you here for the store opening?”
“Um, just passing through. I think.”
That piques her curiosity, and I mentally slap myself for adding that last part. She just has an incredibly friendly face.
“I’ve heard that before. You stay in Hollis long enough, and you’ll be a permanent resident.”
“A lot of people come through here?”
She sits the drink in front of me. “Oh yeah, all of the time. Most don’t stay, but we catch a couple occasionally.”
I laugh at that, although I find that hard to believe. She must be talking about Madden. He’s the Steele brother that abandoned his birthright to Steele Industries and has moved here full time. I guess I know why now. He looked very happy with her. Landon and Keegan still live in Dallas.
“I will probably stay for a bit, but I’ll be going home soon.”
“Well then, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jade,” she introduces herself, extending her hand.
“Lillian.”
She drops her hand and then goes about cleaning the sticky bar. “I don’t want to be presumptuous, but if you are planning to stay for a bit, would you be looking for a job? We just had a waitress who quit, and we’re pretty desperate.”
I look over at her, kind of shocked she would be offering me a job when she doesn’t even know me. I have a little bit of cash, but if I use my credit cards, my parents will definitely know I am not in Europe when they see the statements.
“I guess it would depend on how long I stay. I really don’t plan on staying long at all.”
“I understand. I shouldn’t have even asked.”
It’s then that I notice the sign above the bar that they’re hiring. “I’ve never even been a waitress before.”
She laughs at that. “Well, you would be trained. It’s not a difficult job.”
