by Roxie Odell
“And who are you here to see?” the guard deadpanned.
“Cara Rodriguez,” answered Brodie.
The guard picked up the phone to call Cara.
“Hey!” Brodie called, terrified that she would turn him away again.
The guard refused to acknowledge that untimely yell.
“Sir,” Brodie said, his voice pleading, “please don’t call her. It’s a surprise.”
The guard looked at him with suspicion.
“Surprise!” Brodie said, pulling out a large wad of cash.
“Man, put that away,” the guard said, even though his eyes remained fixed on the bills as Brodie unfolded them.
Brodie passed five hundred dollar bills forward. “Will this cover our little surprise party?”
“I could lose my job,” the man argued.
“So I’ll give you another,” Brodie said coolly. “I need to see her.” He was as obnoxious as he could be, and he expected to get whatever he wanted. What he wanted at that moment was Cara, and he wasn’t about to let anyone tell him no. As he’d told Thomas’s mother, some things were priceless. “I can keep going if it’ll do me some good,” said Brodie wickedly, jiggling the remaining money around in his hand.
“Fine,” the guard said, snatching the five hundred dollars, “but this better not be counterfeit. I have an alarm, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
“If you do, you’ll have some explaining to do, with all that cash in your booth,” Brodie said, pushing his luck.
“What cash?” asked the guard, stuffing it down the front of his pants.
Brodie sized the man up and was surprised to see that he was as good at the game as Brodie was. “Fair enough. Look, I just need to apologize to a woman I deeply offended. She won’t take my calls, and she thinks I’m a jerk,” said Brodie.
“Gee, I find that hard to believe,” said the guard sarcastically. “Tell me I’m not aiding and abetting a stalker…or an axe murderer.”
“No. I was well on my way to becoming her boyfriend, but I said something stupid at the wrong time and hurt her feelings. If she throws me out today, you’ll never see me again,” said Brodie.
“She already threw you out, according to what you’re saying,” said the guard.
“I mean…to my face. I have to eat shit just once more before it’s gonna sink in,” Brodie admitted.
“Well, you know what they say, man.”
“What?”
“You are what you eat.”
Brodie laughed. “Good one.”
The guard nodded and raised the gate to let them through.
“Wish me luck, Thomas,” Brodie said to the baby when he stood on her doorstep and knocked.
She opened the door and was instantly stunned. “What’re you doing here?” she demanded.
“I came to apologize,” he said.
“No, you came to get your way,” she corrected. “I see you found the guard’s price. Would you like to try to guess mine? You were hoping you could, weren’t you?”
“Cara, I can’t pretend you didn’t hear what you heard. I honestly thought I was protecting you from Angelique, and—”
“We both know this isn’t just about that,” she said, cutting him off. “Just last night, you were smashed with that nurse. I mean…” she said, glancing over at Thomas and finding herself unable to finish.
For the first time, Brodie realized Cara was jealous of Julie, and she sort of had a right to be. He wouldn’t have liked it any better if the situation was reversed. “I’ve had a couple really bad moments,” he admitted.
“A couple?” she asked, arching her eyebrows and crossing her arms.
“You’re not even the least bit heartbroken?” he asked.
“I-I’m not sure,” she said, very, very quietly.
At the sound of that, he slumped and turned away, ready to cut his losses and run.
“How much?” she said from behind him.
“Excuse me?”
“How much did you have to pay the guard?”
“Please don’t blame that guy. This was all me,” he said.
“I’m just curious,” she insisted.
“I won’t throw a good man under the bus to save my skin,” he said.
As tiny as she was, Cara stiffened her spine and glared at him, a force to be reckoned with. “You wouldn’t know a good man if one was staring back at you,” she said. “You’re here, and that means you paid somebody off.”
For some reason he couldn’t understand, a momentary peace washed over Brodie, and as he looked at Cara’s incredibly beautiful, flawless face, he just disconnected. “Goodbye, Cara,” he said.
“Goodbye, Brodie,” she replied.
He stutter-stepped down to his waiting car, quickly ducked into the back seat, and signaled the driver to depart. As okay as he felt at the moment, he was sure it was the calm before the storm. At any moment, his heartache would open up and swallow him whole. She’s wrong about me, he thought, for as a man of intense wealth, he really did know rare, wonderful people when he met them. It may have taken him some time to realize it about her, but now he was certain that he would never meet a woman like Cara Rodriguez again.
On the brief ride home, Brodie Rogan glanced over at the car seat beside him and renewed a commitment he’d let go astray, the most important commitment of his life. He’d spent too much time thinking of himself and his own needs, and that had nearly destroyed him. He’d been beating himself up for it, but now he was willing to let go and move on.
“It’s all about you,” he said to the little one beside him. “All I need is to take care of you…and to make lots of money for the both of us.”
THE END
Player’s Club Series # 2 Blurb
What if your best chance for blistering passion is also a one-in-a-billion, unrealistic one?
Julie Corbin is a stunning, successful nurse, but she’s all alone in the sexy city of Washington DC. She was sure the last guy who hit on her couldn’t have possibly taken her seriously, but he certainly captured her deepest desires. In fact, he made her want more than any man had ever.
The very delicious, very single billionaire Peter Rogan is also new father who just so happens to be Julie’s former boss. After a tumultuous parting of the ways, one thing after another leads them back to each other. Two lonely people with so much going for them, they learn they share more than just a love for dance. Their chemistry is so powerful and erotic that they can’t keep their hands off each other. In their secret moments, they are driven to new heights to which neither of them have dared to travel to before.
While Julie can’t stop fantasizing about a future with the wealthy, powerful Peter, it is Mr. Rogan’s shady past that she’s caught up in, and that comes at a high price. Just as she reaches the crescendo, when she is at her all-time happiest, she has devastating run-ins with the mother of Peter’s child and his last lady love. Overcome with jealousy and insecurity, Julie begins to doubt Peter, and he suddenly loses his Prince Charming appeal.
Will Peter’s pesky past be enough to put an end to their fiery affair? Can Julie really bear to walk away from that romantic, magical world the dashing billionaire has to offer, or will she be seduced to those enchanting lips that beg her for one more chance?
More by Roxie Odell:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N8WN4S5
Book 1 of the Sinner-Saint Series
On the way to work, Cheri Holt encounters two events she certainly didn’t expect and isn’t at all prepared for. First, she’s robbed at gunpoint, and second, a good Samaritan by the name of Thomas Graham—the hottest man she’s ever seen in her life—literally bursts out of the darkness and saves her from the bad guy.
Though her knight’s armor is slightly tarnished Cheri is completely smitten, a damsel ready to undress.
Unfortunately, her impromptu bodyguard disappears, and so does the only witness who can back up her version of what happened during the robbery. The gunman is destined to walk
free without any corroborating testimony, giving Cheri yet another reason to continue stalking her gorgeous mystery man. In a chance encounter and a passionate exchange, Cheri asks Thomas for his help, but this time the answer is no. He’s a man with a past, which prevents him from being there to rescue her again.
He tells her to turn and walk away, but Cheri finds that an impossible thing to do. Their attraction is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of feeling, and they both know it. In the end, it’s Thomas who can’t let her go.
Just when it looks like they might be heading for a white picket fence future, his old ways revisit him, threatening to destroy the best thing that’s ever happened to him…and to her.
Can Thomas and Cheri find the strength to love each other and share a future that might be tainted by the past?
Billionaire in Paris Series
BOOK 1 is FREE
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HNAYDOS
It may seem impossible to have a bad day in Paris, but beautiful, smart Grace Delacourt somehow accomplishes that as she is reamed by her boss right there on the sidewalk of an outdoor café. When a handsome, charismatic man advises Grace to walk away from her job, she has no idea that the man, seemingly just out for a cup of coffee, is a billionaire shipping tycoon.
Tony Petrides, owner of Greek Tower in the Paris business district—a successful empire in its own right, with offices all around the world—whisks Grace away from her boss’s screaming rant and turns her bad day into a memory that will stay with her forever. Unfortunately, their intense and unexpected romance is eventually derailed by a little white lie. Grace tells Tony goodbye, but when she returns home and finds herself unable to land another job, she is forced to accept a position on the West Coast, with Petrides Shipping, working one on one with the man himself.
Will their smoking-hot chemistry override past mistakes, or will one more lie finish them for good?
Tropical Fever – Part 1
Book 1 is FREE - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0BIMV4
Riley Teeter is a billionaire’s daughter, living in the strangling midst of a very strict upbringing. A girl in need of some serious summer fun. She’s lost herself to school, family, and all the responsibilities that come with being a political icon’s daughter.
Grayson William Smith is the consummate player, a young man who works the vacationing ladies harder than he works his job. He’s attractive, mysterious, and has all the right ingredients to distract Riley… except one. He’s completely and utterly disinterested in her.
Nevertheless, as odd a couple as they are, Riley and Grayson can’t deny the attraction between the two of them. When Riley starts to find herself again, will the incredibly handsome Grayson show her how to get lost in the moment? Will they find a way to melt together in the tropical heat of a paradise all their own?
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