by Kaylea Cross
She thought about that for a long minute. “And this time I did choose life. I chose it fully. Dylan was there. He wanted me to come back.”
“I’m glad. But I would have brought you back even if you resisted.” He nipped her ear.
Love welled up in her heart.
These past weeks had been crazy. Jack had stopped by often, and spent the night when he could. All his darkness was falling away from him, and, as attracted as she’d been to the old Jack, the new one simply took her breath away. When they were together, she felt more alive than she could remember ever feeling.
They were good for each other. They were healing together.
He held her, and they stayed like that, gazing at the bonfire and Maddie, who buzzed around it like a mad hornet, now making airplane noises.
When the fire died down, leaving nothing but ashes, Jack filled up the hole with dirt. The ground lay flat again, no sign of all that had happened there in the middle of winter. By summer, grass and weeds would grow over the scar in the earth, would make it as if nothing bad had ever happened there.
They walked back to the house, Maddie running up ahead again, excited because she had a play date with a little girl who lived across the road. A nice family with three kids had bought the farmhouse there. So Ashley and Jack walked Maddie over there, chatted for a few minutes, then came back home. Jack put on coffee.
“Any plans for later?” he asked.
“I think I’m going to paint.”
“A landscape?”
She’d gone back to those again. “I think I’ll paint you,” she said on impulse. She’d been wanting to paint him for a while now.
“I have a better idea,” he said as he came over to her and nuzzled her neck. “Let’s do naked things.”
“I could paint you naked.”
The wolfish smile he shot her took her breath away. “I love you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She reached up to unbutton his shirt, pulled it away from his skin. And smiled. She appreciated his body, both as an artist and as a woman. She felt happy with him. Happy and free.
When he was bare on top, he reached for her sweater and tugged it up, over her head.
“Hey,” she protested without heat. “Customarily, the artist stays clothed.”
“I strip, you strip.” He laid down the law.
“Fine, if that’s the kind of tit-for-tat guy you want to be.”
Mirth lit up his eyes. “Actually, I’d prefer more tit than tat,” he said and snatched her bra away. His gaze filled with naked heat.
Pleasure tingled down her spine.
She reached for the buttons on his jeans, tugged his pants down, waited until he kicked them away, then reciprocated. She hooked a brazen finger into his boxer shorts. “These definitely have to go. The color clashes with the background I’m thinking about painting.”
“I’m supportive of your art. You know that. I wouldn’t want to mess up anything.”
He stood still as she pulled his boxer shorts down inch by inch, kissing his body along the way as she squatted in front of him. He was hard and thick with wanting her, and it felt pretty amazing to be wanted with such unabashed need.
But he had his hands on her, pulling her up, before she could think too much about that. “My turn.”
Her knees nearly gave out as he stripped her naked, drawing his long, seeking fingers over her hip bones and thighs, leaving kisses in their wake.
When she was sure she couldn’t take more, he straightened and caught her up in his arms, heading off to the bedroom with her. “On second thought… I believe artists study their subjects before the actual painting process. I think we need a little more up-close studying.”
She wasn’t about to argue with him.
Not when the way he made love to her was art in itself.
He spoiled her rotten in bed. She tried to do the same to him, a resolution difficult to keep when she felt like her brain was melting.
Every touch, every kiss, every look took her higher, her body swimming in pleasure even as emotions filled her heart to the brim.
“I want you,” he whispered in a hoarse voice, his muscles tensing. And he filled her, both body and heart, to bursting. “I want you now and forever.”
She clung to him as the waves of pleasure crested.
“I love you. You have me,” she told him.
“Forever?” He pulled back a little to watch her face for the answer.
Now he wanted to be detail oriented? Now, when her brain and body were in shambles? “Forever. Obsessed cop.”
“Loopy artist.” The smile he flashed took her breath away. “My loopy artist.” And then his lips descended on hers.
* * * *
Read the next book in the Broslin Creek Series, Deathtrap by Dana Marton.
About the Author
Nationally bestselling romantic suspense author Dana Marton writes fast-paced action-adventure romances that take her readers all over the globe. She is a Rita Award finalist and the winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence. She loves writing stories of intrigue, filled with dangerous plots that try her tough-as-nails heroes and the special women they fall in love with. Her books have been published in over a dozen languages around the world.
Okay, the above version is the glamour version for press releases. The truth is that my path to publication was nothing but unglamorous. I wrote for 13 years and completed 4 books (as well as having others in various stages of completion) before I finally received a call from a publisher. I was beginning to wonder if I was being tenacious or just too dense to know when to quit. But it all worked out at the end! I love, love, love writing and would spend all day in front of the computer if I could just break my family of the habit of wanting to eat and wear clean clothes. What’s up with that?
You can find Dana and more information about her Broslin Creek books, Deathwatch, Deathscape, Deathtrap and Deathblow through her website at http://danamarton.com/.
Table of Contents
LEGAL EASE
Sutton Capital Series
Book One
Lori Ryan
* * *
Copyright 2013, Cara Shannon. All rights reserved.
This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Overview:
Kelly Bradley didn’t need to worry about falling in love when she came up with her plan to marry Jack Sutton. She’d dated so many great guys over the years, but not fallen in love once. Not with any of them. It just wasn’t in the cards for her. So, when she approached powerful, sexy Jack Sutton and proposed a temporary marriage-of-convenience, she wasn’t one bit concerned that her heart would be on the line. But, when Jack agrees and she moves into his home, Kelly quickly discovers just how wrong she was. Before she knows it, not only is her heart on the line, but her life is, too.
Heat Level:
Sensual
Prologue
Kelly’s head was throbbing when she woke and she felt nauseated and confused. She tried to shake the foggy feeling in her head and the cotton feeling in her mouth. Panic set in when she realized her hands and feet were bound with thick layers of duct tape and she was in a room she didn’t recognize. Kelly felt as though a band was tightening over her chest, suffocating her and she struggled to breathe as waves of panic swept over her and bile burned at the base of her throat.
She was lying on the floor in a typical bedroom; a bit small. It was daylight out. There was a twin-sized bed, and a torn-up upholstered chair in the corner, but that was it. The room was bare, other than those two pieces of furniture.
Kelly fought to pull details from her mind, grasping at threads of memory
so thin they seemed to fall from her memory before she could see where they went. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths and pictured herself earlier in the day. It would have been noon when she was grabbed. She had left the clinic at noon.
She could remember walking out the back door of the clinic. Denise had asked her to take the trash to the dumpster on her way out so she left through the back door even though her car was parked out front. Out front, where her security detail would have been.
She struggled to remember, but felt like there were holes in her mind, like her brain wasn’t quite functioning right. She could remember someone coming at her from behind as she walked out into the alley, then a strong, sweet smell filled her nose and overwhelmed her before she blacked out. Nothing about the memory seemed right, like trying to put together pieces of different puzzles.
Tears were flowing freely now. Kelly could picture four men surrounding her and she remembered seeing a van before she passed out. The men had worn masks….
Staying calm was no longer an option. Fresh waves of sheer terror bolted through Kelly’s body. She closed her eyes tight and tried desperately to calm herself, but she had never felt a level of dread and utter anguish like this. Her mind started running through all the ways that this could end, each image sending her into further panic until she felt like she would choke on the fear. Then one image stopped her catapult into darkness. Jack.
Chapter One
Whish, swoosh, whish, swoosh, whish, swoosh.
Jack Sutton lost himself in the rhythmic sound of the churning wheels of his bike as he rounded the final bend of an eight mile morning ride. He was with his cousin, Chad, who was more like a brother to him than a cousin, and their best friend, Andrew. The three met once or twice a month to ride through the picturesque neighborhood next to the Long Island Sound where Jack’s home was located.
Jack saw Chad soar past him out of the corner of his eye and sprint the last few yards into Jack’s driveway ahead of him and Andrew. It never ceased to amaze Jack. Chad had a good three inches over Jack’s tall frame and he was built like a military tank, but he was still somehow faster and more agile than both Andrew and Jack. Jack and Andrew exchanged a look, laughing at Chad’s need to beat them every time they rode. Most days, Andrew and Jack would at least give Chad a fight over the winning slot, but beating Chad wasn’t on Jack’s mind today and he had a feeling it wasn’t on Andrew’s either.
The showdown he would have with Chad’s mother, Jack’s Aunt Mabry, later today was what had him tense and uneasy. He thought pushing himself hard on this morning’s ride would help take the edge off his mood, but it hadn’t helped. He shoved aside his mood long enough to grin at Chad while the three men rode slow laps through the circular drive to cool down, each sipping water and talking trash as they rode. He’d be damned if he’d let Chad see anything was wrong. He wouldn’t make Chad choose a side no matter what Aunt Mabry threw at him.
It wasn’t until after his cousin had loaded up his bike and pulled out of the driveway that Jack raised the subject Andrew and he had been avoiding for the last couple of hours.
“Spill it,” Jack said. Andrew had been grinding his jaw the whole ride so Jack knew whatever he’d been avoiding saying in front of Chad wasn’t good.
Andrew was the only one who knew Chad’s mother was finally making good on her threat to try to take over the company Jack’s father had built. She planned to use the terms of Jack’s mother’s will to take control of a large portion of the shares of Sutton Capital and try to vote Jack out of his position as Chief Executive Officer. She wanted Chad to take Jack’s place at the head of the board table. Jack and Andrew had been quietly approaching the shareholders in the privately owned company to be sure Jack had their support if Mabry got her hands on the stock Jack’s mother had once controlled.
Andrew didn’t blink when he looked at Jack and broke the news. “John Barton died of a heart attack last night.”
Jack swallowed a curse and swiped his face with his hand. “He wasn’t very old at all. When did it happen?” Jack asked, the shock evident in his voice.
“Only fifty-eight. Happened late last night. His wife called me this morning. They were supposed to leave for Italy in three days for a month-long vacation. I don’t think the man has taken a vacation in twenty years, but Anne finally talked him into relaxing with her and then this happens.”
The two men were silent for a few minutes before Jack realized what this meant for his battle with Mabry.
“I know this isn’t a great time to bring this up, but—” Jack began before Andrew cut in.
“But nothing. You have to think about the rest of the shareholders, the company, its employees – there’s a lot at stake for a lot of people here, Jack. I know you don’t want to talk about it, but we need to figure out who will have control of Barton’s shares and find out what that does to our chances against your Aunt Mabry.”
This time Jack didn’t bother to swallow his curse. This part of his role as CEO sucked.
“Grab a shower and meet me at the office. We’ll deal with this there,” Jack said. He didn’t wait for an answer. He turned and took the front steps two at a time, hustling to get showered and dressed to deal with the latest catastrophe in his ongoing battle with his aunt.
An hour later, Jack stalked through the lobby of his New Haven office with his jaw clenched. His scowl wasn’t aimed at anyone or anything in particular on his way up to the 26th floor offices of Sutton Capital, but people moved out of his way. Jack stabbed “26” on the elevator control panel and thought about the unpleasant conversation he and Andrew were about to have. It wouldn’t be fun trying to figure out how a man’s death would affect this vote, but they didn’t have a choice right now. The clock was ticking thanks to the terms of his mother’s will.
Ding. The elevator doors slid open to reveal the reception desk and waiting area of Jack’s company. His nod to the receptionist was curt but polite as he moved past her toward his corner office.
He stopped in front of his secretary’s desk before entering his office and glanced down at the temp. “Jennie, Andrew will be here in a few minutes. Show him right in when he arrives.”
“Yes, Mr. Sutton,” Jennie, said with a nod.
Jack strode to his office and shut the door. He paced and waited for Andrew to arrive. Andrew wasn’t just his best friend; he was also the Chief Financial Officer of Sutton Capital and Jack’s right hand man at the company. He hoped Andrew would have good news to help him out of the colossal mess he now found himself in. Andrew was one of the few people that knew Jack the man beyond Jack the CEO of Sutton Capital. They went far enough back that neither saw the other the way their adversaries did.
Jack was used to his opponents fearing him and his investors respecting him. Jack never felt weak or anxious when he stepped up to the negotiating table and he normally thrived on stress and pressure. But, on this, possibly the biggest deal of his life, the unique circumstances had him feeling like he had maneuvered and negotiated himself right into a corner.
Jack moved to his mahogany desk and stared down at his reflection in its uncluttered surface. He considered how quickly his plans had fallen apart. He had been so certain that his strategy would work that he’d become overconfident. That wasn’t like him at all. Jack knew it was his late mother’s involvement in his current situation had thrown him off his game. He needed to come up with another plan and execute it quickly if he was going to save his position in the family company.
When Jennie opened the door and ushered Andrew inside, the tight line of his lips told Jack things hadn’t gone as they’d hoped.
Andrew had been in on his plan from the beginning. He was Jack’s closest confidant and supporter but right now it didn’t look like his friend had the news Jack needed.
“Thank you, Jennie. Hold my calls,” Jack directed.
“Yes, sir.” Jennie closed the door behind her, leaving the two men in silence.
* * *
Jennie rushed back to her desk to turn on her intercom. As a temp secretary, she took a lot of liberties she might not take if her job were more secure – and listening in on what promised to be a juicy conversation was one of those liberties.
Early on at Sutton Capital, she discovered the indicator light on the intercom between Jack’s office and her desk didn’t light up when it should. She’d been listening in on conversations ever since.
The one her boss had with his aunt yesterday was the best by far. From what she could gather, when Jack’s mother passed away five years ago, she’d held the largest single chunk of shares in the company, at thiry-five percent. The remaining shares of the privately held company were held in varying amounts by the six members of the board of directors, including Jack. Jack’s mother cared more about her son’s marital status than the state of the family business. She placed her shares in a trust with Jack holding the proxy voting rights to the shares in the trust.
If Jack wasn’t married by the time he was thirty-five, the trust remained – but the proxy rights reverted to his Aunt Mabry. Yesterday, Aunt Mabry threatened to use the strength of those shares to make a bid for Chad to take Jack’s place as CEO.
For some reason that wasn’t clear in the conversation Jennie overheard, his Aunt Mabry wanted to hurt Jack. She apparently didn’t care that Chad had no interest in being CEO or that Jack was the best man to head the company. As Jennie listened to their conversation, one thing had been clear; for whatever reason, Mabry wanted to hurt Jack.
If Jack wanted to save his position as CEO, he either needed to have enough board members on his side to know he could win a vote…or he needed to get married before he turned thirty-five. Next week.
If Jack were married, the shares his mother left in trust would become Jack’s outright. Mabry wouldn’t be able to touch him.
In the two months Jennie had filled in as secretary for Jack Sutton she’d heard no mention of a fiancé or even a serious girlfriend, so she’d almost fallen out of her chair when she heard Jack tell his aunt he planned to marry his fiancé at the end of the week. If you believed the tabloids, Jack Sutton had a different woman on his arm every week and none of the women had any marriage potential, from the looks of them. They were partying debutantes, at best.
