Hugh and I need to talk. And it needs to be somewhere nearby and private.
I pull out my phone and confirm the conference room is free before texting another security officer to come and cover for me for half an hour, even though I don’t expect the conversation to take anywhere near that. No, what I have to say to Hugh will be brief and to the point—the time it takes me to regain my infamous control will take much longer.
The door to Gavin’s office opens, and as Hugh exits, Gavin crooks his finger at me. “A moment, Lachlan?”
I nod. “Be right there.” As Hugh passes me, I tell him to wait for me. My stomach is churning at the prospect of the upcoming confrontation.
Gavin shuts the door behind me. “So, you know this guy. Does he play hockey?”
Of course, that’s not really the question he’s asking. Hockey is code for kink. It's not a requirement at all for our security team, but after what Gavin and Max saw in the outer office, I understand his curiosity.
Fucking Hugh.
This is a disaster already.
I want to lie, tell him Hugh has zero interest in hockey, but the truth is he’s an even bigger player than I am.
“Yeah. For even longer than me.”
“Good to know.” And with that, Gavin opens the door.
When I walk through it, I’m greeted by the sight of Hugh, one leg on the floor, the other dangling from his perch on the corner of Beth’s desk.
Unlike Max, Hugh is the dangerous kind of flirt. Long on sex, short on commitment. And Beth deserves someone who’s long on both.
"What are the chances?" Hugh says, reaching across her desk, and for a sickening second, I think he's going to touch her.
White hot rage spikes inside me, but he just picks up her pen and twirls it in the air.
"I know, right?" She leans back in her chair and crosses her legs, her skirt crawling up her thighs an inch. She's wearing heels that dangle off her feet when she crosses her legs, and she does just that now.
My gut tugs hard at the creamy curve of thigh.
At the dangling heel.
And most of all, her throaty, dirty laugh that I'm never on the receiving end of.
"Common enough name," Hugh says, lowering his voice. "But I'm happy to share it with you."
Fucking hell.
I clear my throat. “Sorry to interrupt…”
Of course, I’m not. Beth glares at me, but Hugh just smirks.
Fuck, even after a decade, he can still push my buttons.
I'm done being polite. "Come with me."
As soon as I shut the door to the conference room, Hugh grabs me by the collar and shoves me against the wall, his face so close to mine, our noses are nearly touching.
My gaze drops to his full lips and for just a second, I forget everything and think about kissing them.
Then I remember the shitty way things ended and I meet his smouldering dark brown gaze with my own angry glare. “Why are you here?”
He doesn't blink. "Professional advancement."
"Bullshit."
"That pretty brunette in the office, then."
"Leave her alone."
"Is she yours?"
That's a complicated question, and none of his business. Not anymore. Not that it ever really was, officially. My chest pulls tight. That was a long time ago. "She's a good woman."
"You always did have a soft spot for them."
I grit my teeth. Beth isn't like any other woman. If things were different…
Story of my life.
His fist tightens in my shirt, then with a rough exhale he releases me and steps back. "I'm really not here to get in your face."
I snort. "Sure."
"You going to block my application for the team?"
I shake my head. I'd never do that. "No. But we can't…"
"Can't?"
"Us. This. It can't happen again."
He gives me a hard, dark look. "Still hiding who you are?"
I shake my head. "No."
He moves closer. "Still hiding what you really want?"
Yes. "I make some concessions for professional reasons."
"So once I'm on your team…"
How did he get right against me again?
He growls. "Fuck you, Lachlan."
His hand is around the back of my neck before I realize it and I reach out to stop him, but insead my fist wraps around the front of his shirt and pulls him the rest of the way in, crashing his mouth down on mine.
Ten years, and I still recognize the taste of him.
Thank you so much for reading Dr. Bad Boy! There’s an epilogue for you, too, so turn the page for that! We hope you love Max and Violet as much as we do.
* * *
If you want to keep in touch with us for Lachlan, Hugh, and Beth’s book, you can find us at www.friskybeavers.com, and sign up for our exclusive VIP mailing list there.
Epilogue
Violet
five years later
* * *
I wake to murmurs floating down the hall.
“I want to do it,” Noah says, his little boy whisper carrying clearly enough I can picture exactly what’s going on.
Max has some kind of Mother’s Day plan, and Noah is trying to be in charge.
I grin and close my eyes. That means I’ve got a few more minutes of sleep, and since Noah’s little brother or sister is knocking the stuffing out of me these days, I’m happy for the peace and quiet.
“No, wait, hang on. If you press that—” Max sighs.
Okay, so not so much quiet.
“There you go. That’s right. Set the timer. And…say cheese!”
“Cheese!”
Ten seconds later, my phone chimes.
* * *
M: Happy Mother’s Day
The father and son selfie makes my heart swell.
I text back.
V: Good morning to my two favourite men.
M: Do you want breakfast now?
Noah races through our bedroom door at the exact same moment. “Mommy! We’re making you breakfast! And we took a picture!”
I show him my phone. “I got it. I love it.”
“That’s me, and that’s Daddy.”
“I see that.”
“Happy Mother’s Day.”
“Thank you, baby. I love you.”
He crawls under the blankets with me and wraps his arms around my neck. “I love you, too, Mommy.”
Max appears in the doorway and reaches up, hooking his fingers at the top of the frame. His white t-shirt slides up, baring the taut, defined muscles that disappeared into his shorts. I bite my lip as I hold our son close and look at my handsome, amazing husband. I love you, too, I mouth, and he blows me a kiss. “Breakfast in bed?”
I nod, and at the same time, our second baby wakes up in my belly and does a gentle roll.
“Oh!” Noah pipes up. “I felt that!”
Max’s eyes light up and he joins us on the bed. “Baby moving?”
“Yeah.”
“Breakfast can wait a few minutes,” he says, crawling in on the other side of me.
No arguments here.
Keep reading to find out more about our other books. Sadie writes kinky musicians, and Ainsley writes forbidden bodyguards.
* * *
~ Ainsley & Sadie
Also by Sadie Haller
Dominant Cord
One Gold Heart
One Gold Knot
One Gold Triquetra
* * *
Tainted Pearl
Tainted Pearl
Tainted Shadow (coming soon)
To connect with Sadie:
@SadieHallersPen
SadieHallerAuthor
www.sadiehaller.com
Also by Ainsley Booth
Forbidden Bodyguards
Hate F*@k
Booty Call
Dirty Love (coming soon)
To connect with Ainsley:
@ainsley_booth
ainsley
boothwrites
www.ainsleybooth.com
Acknowledgements
Everyone we thanked in the acknowledgements of Prime Minister gets another nod, because Gavin and Ellie’s fans are awesome people. Thank you for the support for this series, it means the world to us.
We are lucky women to have Rhonda Stapleton do our developmental edits. There is nothing more rewarding than getting feedback from someone who truly gets your story and characters.
Jessica Alcazar is the original Frisky Beaver, and she was and continues to be indispensable both as a beta reader and a secret keeper.
Maria Rose got a nod in the dedication, because it was her tweet that triggered the chain reaction for this series—so the blame is all on her!—but she also helped us celebrate finishing the book in Winnipeg. Thank you for the awesome reader friendship.
Susan Hayes gets full credit and all the thanks for the purple shoes idea. We loved turning Max into an online shopper.
Thanks as well to our awesome AirBnB hostesses, Trish and Kate, who left us croissants and gave us the perfect base in Winnipeg to put the final polishing touches on this book. We’ll be back!
And finally to our partners and families who are endlessly patient when we hold up a finger and swear, “one more minute!” when we all know it’ll be ten or thirty…or maybe just dinner at the computer as we finish a scene.
Until the next book!
~ Ainsley & Sadie
Copyright
Ainsley Booth & Sadie Haller, 2016
Digital ISBN: 978-1-926527-30-7
Dr. Bad Boy Page 28
