Bachelor on Trial (Beauty and the Bachelor Book 1)

by Lexi Greene

“You’ve helped me to put the past to rest. Helped me to breathe in a lift and to see what’s important. It’s not how much you earn or how powerful you are, but rather how you feel about yourself and how you appear through the eyes of those you love.”

  “Are you saying you love me, O’Connor?”

  “That would be premature after two days, Radcliff.”

  “Two days, two minutes, two decades… makes no difference to me. My heart knows already that you’re the only woman I’ll ever want. A partnership with you is the only partnership that matters to me.”

  “A partnership for life?” She smiled and her gaze filled with unshed tears. “I’d like that with you.”

  “But?”

  “But those carefree kids of yours who run loose on the beach?” Her smile collapsed at the edges and her eyes turned cool and bleak.

  “The ones with the blonde hair and the violet-blue eyes and the smiles exactly like yours?” He wiped her cheek, his gaze captured by the smooth texture of her skin, the sparkle of the sun on her tears like two stars reflected from the heavens.

  “I have endometriosis. My mum had it, too. She couldn’t get pregnant again after she had me. She said she left it too late.” Scarlet’s gaze dropped from his. “What if I can’t have children? What if I can’t give you those carefree kids? I want them for you. I want them for us. You would make an amazing dad.”

  “Ah. The real reason behind the rush to partnership.”

  “The older I get, the greater the risk I won’t be able to get pregnant.”

  “Then, we’d better get practising, honey, because without you, those kids mean nothing. What are we waiting for?”

  “Me.” Geoffrey’s voice sounded from the doorway. “Are you two lovebirds ready?”

  “Yes, I think we are.” Tony’s voice was triumphant. “We have an important merger to discuss. I’ll drop you at the office. You can handle the rest on your own, right?”

  “Yes. I got you both into this mess and I’ll get you both out of it.”

  “Excellent.” Tony captured Scarlet’s hand and wrapped an arm around Geoffrey. “How long since you’ve seen your kids? It’s amazing how powerful an apology can be.”

  “Don’t we have a funeral to arrange?”

  “Nope. More of a celebration of dad’s life. What about Torquay? Let’s spread his ashes under the night sky. It’s the closest place to heaven I know.” After being in Scarlet’s arms… but he hardly needed to share that with Geoffrey. Instead, he squeezed Scarlet’s hand and caught her watery gaze, held it, and shared what was in his heart.

  “Is that why you headed there the other night?” His brother’s voice pulled him back from a place beyond heaven.

  “Yep. You should try looking upwards and outwards some time, Bro. You’re missing out on something special.” He pulled Scarlet closer beside him. Held onto her like a man drowning.

  “I’m missing out on someone special, that’s for sure.” His brother crumpled, his overweight body pulling forwards, his shoulders rounded. Gone was the smell of alcohol that had reeked from his pores, but his ruddy flesh and puffy eyes told a different story.

  “There are a million fish in the sea.”

  “Hey, I’m still here,” said Scarlet with a laugh. “And I like to think I’m one of a kind.”

  “You’re the only one for me,” Tony said with a grin and a wink, but he was the most serious he’d ever been in his life.

  Tony pulled into a parking space in front of the office in Collins St. The traffic pulsed and throbbed, frenetic around them. He’d forgotten it was a workday. He waited until Geoffrey slammed the rear door and started to walk towards the building, his shoulders slumped, his steps slow. But then he straightened and turned and waved, and Tony waved back. He glanced in the mirror and waited for a break in the snarl of traffic. “And now, Miss O’Connor. We have an important matter to attend to.”

  “We do?”

  “One that doesn’t involve a legal file or a business suit, although you wear those better than most.” He reached out and took her hand in his.

  “I think I like where you’re going with this.”

  She smiled and he could have swum in the violet sea of her eyes for the rest of his days. “I definitely like where I’m going with this, and I know you will too. I’ll make sure of it.”

  Epilogue

  “Sunscreen!” Scarlet called after her two rascally four-year-old sons who zipped away, their grins wide, their surfboards under their arms. She lowered the tube and locked eyes with Tony.

  “Don’t sweat it, honey. It’s after five o’clock. They won’t burn. Besides, they have my skin. They’re fine.” His lopsided smile was hard to resist, particularly when his chest was bare and he was half clad in a wetsuit, his board under his arm.

  “Come on, Dad.” Two voices, identical in tone. Impatient.

  “Why don’t you have a rest until Geoff, Ally, and the kids arrive?”

  Scarlet rested her hand on her swollen belly. “Your daughter would love that. It’s when I lie down that she practices her surfing moves.”

  “Well, she has two older brothers to keep up with.”

  He grinned and her body reacted, a wave of heat washing through her.

  “Or if you’d rather, we could curl up together.” His blue, blue eyes gleamed and he stepped closer, his hand framing her jaw, his lips like heated velvet against hers.

  “Someone needs to keep those two, safe.” She looked beyond him to where the waves broke against the sand and their sons had already launched onto their boards, waving and shouting for Tony to hurry up. She smiled and her heart filled with love—overwhelming, gut-wrenching love, but it was when her gaze returned to his adoring one that the tears began to swell. “Hormones,” she grumbled and wiped the wetness with an impatient hand.

  “I love you, O’Connor. Every minute of every day.”

  “I love you, too.” She sank into his kiss, a space opening inside her as wide and as deep as the ocean, as vast and as endless as the night sky. A space filled with love and desire, and hope.

  “Dad!”

  “Gotta go.” He dragged his lips from hers, his gaze devouring her. “You look good.”

  “I look huge.”

  “You look perfect.” He planted another kiss on her lips and turned to chase after the boys.

  Scarlet sat at her desk, her mind on her closing argument for an arbitration on Monday, when the door opened, and Geoffrey called out.

  “I thought partners got the weekend off. Especially pregnant ones.”

  She turned and welcomed him with a smile. “As you well know, there’s no such thing as time off in this business.”

  “Well, there should be. Besides, haven’t you got your hands full with your two little monkeys. Where are they?”

  “In the surf with their dad. They won’t be long. Ah, here they are now.” The screen door banged, and two wet, blond-haired boys stormed into the room bringing a trail of sand in with them.

  “Hi, Uncle Geoff and Auntie Ally. Ethan! Georgia! You won’t believe what we saw! A stingray. A big one. Swimming in the surf.”

  “Better a ray than a shark,” Georgia said with a laugh, ruffling Thomas’s hair. She was in her twenties but adored her younger cousins.

  “It was huge, but it didn’t try to attack us.”

  “It was surfing, too,” Jacob added.

  “Where’s your dad?” Scarlet asked.

  “Right here.” Tony grinned and shook hands with his brother. “Good to see you guys. Hey, kids. How are things?”

  “Really good! Can we take the boys out for a game of beach cricket?”

  “Go for it. We’ll get the dinner happening and then your dad and I will challenge you to a match. You need all the practice you can get if memory serves me right. Too easy,” he said to Geoffrey with a grin.

  “Not a chance,” they called, their voices jeering in unison. “No way. We’ll beat you this time!”

  “How are you feeling?” Al
ison asked Scarlet.

  “Fine. Tired. I’m looking forward to Eve’s arrival. How about you?”

  “Busy. If it wasn’t for Geoff, I’d be at the office, but I’m glad I’m here. Every time we come down; I love it more. And it’s great to see you all.”

  Scarlet and Alison carried the bread and the salad outside and placed them on the table before relaxing into a couple of chairs. Scarlet poured them both an iced water and they sat back to chat.

  “We’ve firmed up on our decision to retire from the practice. We’ll do some consultant work, but we want to spend more time at our house down here and travel. I feel like I’ve spent the best part of my life at work.”

  Scarlet glanced over at Geoffrey who looked back at them and winked at Alison. He was far from the man she’d known. He held a glass of iced water and he’d trimmed down. He no longer drank alcohol and looked better for it. The smell of perfectly cooked meat filled the air. Geoffrey and Tony’s talk was punctuated with laughter.

  The kids abandoned their game and moved on to a version of chasey. They ran across the sand, the big kids whooping as joyfully as the little ones.

  “Meat’s ready,” Tony called over to her.

  “I’ll get the kids,” Geoffrey said.

  Alison rose with a warm smile. “I’ll come with you. I’d like to stretch my legs.” They held hands as they stepped off the patio and onto the sand.

  Scarlet stood, too, and Tony came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

  “This is just what I pictured. This is just how I hoped it would be. Kids. Family. Fun on the beach. The smell of the barbecue. You—my love, my always.”

  He kissed her neck and breathed against the sensitive skin there sending delicious ripples of desire through every cell. She leaned against him, her gaze on the gulls that winged through the air with elated cries. The sun was low in the sky, and the horizon was washed with rose-pink, mauve, and orange. The boys ran towards their Uncle, their voices joyful and Alison wrapped her arm around Georgia’s shoulder.

  Scarlet rested her hand on her firm, round belly and Tony rested his hand on hers. Their daughter stretched and turned.

  “This is more, so much more, than I dared to hope for,” Scarlet whispered, and Tony pulled her close.

  * * *

  Thank you so much for reading Bachelor on Trial! I hope you enjoyed the story. I really enjoyed writing it. I met Mr. G at a wedding, and I fell in love with him at first sight. He was down to earth and honest and there was a deep connection. I loved the juxtaposition of clean-shaven, serious lawyer, and adventure-loving bikie in a leather jacket and jeans. I’d never been on a motorbike and I loved the freedom. He drove an MG convertible and a huge Ford Galaxy ’66, and weekend fun included a trail bike and an Odyssey buggy for hooning in the dunes. He loved camping trips with his bikie mates and the outdoors, and I loved the whole package!

  If you enjoyed Bachelor on Trial, I’d really appreciate a review on your Amazon website of choice and/or on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55549115-bachelor-on-trial. Authors rely on readers’ reviews to stand out (hopefully in a good way)!

  And I’d love to hear how you and your partner met and what attracted you!

  You can find me at www.lexigreene.com.au or on facebook at www.facebook.com/lexi.greene.75 or www.facebook.com/lovelexigreene or via email at lexigreene@aapt.net.au.

  Sending love and hugs, and warmest regards,

  Lexi Greene xx

  Acknowledgements

  A huge thank you to my editor Jena O’Connor, my proofreader Janice Owen, and my cover designer Charmaine Ross! And to the gorgeous Joanne Dannon, Beverley Eikli and Nina Campbell for their endless support. And thank you to my lovely hubby, Steve, who inspired me to write this story, and to my precious lovelies, Mia and Dan.

  About the Author

  About the Author

  Lexi is an Australian author who loves to write powerful, passionate and provocative stories. She writes romance in the early morning and works as a paediatric neuropsychologist by day. A happily married mum of two teens, a parrot and a puppy, she loves to escape into a good story. She is a firm believer that a bath, a green tea and chocolate take a good book and make it perfect.

  Lexi is a member of Romance Writers of Australia and Romance Writers of America; and is a huge fan of Margie Lawson’s Writer’s Academy.

  Lexi loves a good happily ever after…

  Also by Lexi Greene

  Bachelor on Board

  Success is the best revenge.

  Amber Reed, a rising television producer, needs her new show—Bachelor on Board, Australia—to outshine the one her ex stole from her, or risk losing her job to the conniving Lothario, but when her Bachelor falls in love and absconds with one of the contestants, she’s forced to rely on Plan B, Nathan Moretti, the high school popular who broke her heart.

  Nathan Moretti, soon-to-be head of the wealthy Moretti family, needs a wife to protect the family fortune from his gold-digger stepmother, and his job should be easy with twenty-four beautiful women to choose from. Right?

  Not when the only woman he wants is the one behind the camera and her success relies on him finding love with someone else, on screen, on schedule, as promised. Can Amber forgive the past and risk her heart—again?

  https://bklnk.com/B08KPFWW7D

  Bachelor on Guard Coming Soon

  Abby has spent the past five years proving she doesn’t need Nico D’Antoni, but now her life is in danger and her testimony means everything to the children caught up in the Thai sex-slave industry. Niko may be the only man she can trust to keep her safe—but he’s the only man she’s ever loved.

  Pampered daddy’s princess, Abby Kercher, is all grown up and she’s changed in dangerous ways. For one, she’s earned Niko’s respect. And for two, she doesn’t want his protection… but some things haven’t changed, like the blackness of his past, or his obligation to her father, or his need to keep her safe, which must override everything. But a blast from the past is determined to destroy them both.

  Once Upon a Christmas Wish

  Jenn Adams is determined to tick off her bucket list and face her past nemeses—learning to ski and a man named Brad.

  Brad Oregon is the only man she’s ever loved. His chocolate eyes. His to-die-for smile. His toned body. His very toned body.

  But Brad’s reputation with women is almost as renowned as his ski-racing success. Now a ski instructor in beautiful Whistler, he’s as difficult to resist as the scenery! What the hell. Life is short. A two-week holiday romance should suit them both perfectly. Right?

  https://bklnk.com/B07LBM48NN

  Desert Prince, Scandalous Affair

  There is nothing Zahidah’s Prince Rashid bin Ra’ed Al Shahid won’t do to safeguard his family’s honour and his kingdom’s future.

  And there is nothing Jemma Mason won’t do to protect her daughter, Sami, the result of a crazy one-night connection with a dark, handsome cliché in a Sydney bar.

  When Sami needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life, Jemma must travel to Zahidah and face the prince who has no idea he’s a father. But when Princess Aminah, Rashid’s sister, steps in and saves Sami’s life (and Jemma’s secret), there is nothing Jemma won’t do for Aminah including rescuing her from an arranged marriage she dreads.

  When Aminah is abducted, Prince Rashid wants answers and his questions lead him to Jemma and her web of lies.

  Jemma can’t resist Rashid’s scandalous proposal but can he forgive her when he discovers the truth?

  https://bklnk.com/B07G1RN2WR

 

 

 
-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share