by Clarissa Yip
Back Cover Copy
Returning home brings the most unexpected surprises…hot and dangerous.
She didn’t believe in happily ever after. He needed to protect his bachelorhood.
Melissa Johnson, aka, the Brat, had always blamed James Bauer for ruining her for other men. After years of crushing on James, she knew she had to get him out of her system.
James Bauer enjoyed his single life and dreaded returning home to see his blind-date-setting mother, until one fateful night, he found his nemesis in tight black leather, working at a dance club, of all places. Once their touch ignites the fire and longing for each other, will it be enough to keep them together, or send James back to the city?
Highlight
Cara, the blonde, stood up and moved to his side. “We’re putting together wedding favors.” She showed him a two-by-two white box tied with brown and green ribbon. He studied it. To him, it was just a box.
“They look nice.”
“You should help us. We have another two hundred to do before Melissa comes back with the favors themselves,” said Betty, the redhead.
His smile faltered. As much as he loved his sister, there was no way in hell he would spend an afternoon tying pretty little bows on cardboard. “Well--”
“Can someone help me carry in the boxes?”
James whirled around. “I’ll help,” he offered before he knew who spoke.
He stopped and stared. His eyes trailed over three-inch black pumps, sleek long legs clad in a black pencil skirt and lilac-colored blouse that hugged the perkiest breasts he’d ever seen. He zeroed in on the face behind black-wired frames and felt a jolt down to his groin, then frowned.
“Brat?” he asked.
Bachelor’s Return
781616502628
Copyright © 2011, Clarissa Yip
Edited by Tiffany Maxwell
Book design by Lyrical Press, Inc.
Cover Art by Lyn Taylor
First Lyrical Press, Inc. electronic publication: April, 2011
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
Published in the United States of America by Lyrical Press, Incorporated
Dedication
Thank you to all who believe in me.
Chapter 1
James Bauer was back and he wasn’t too happy about it.
Any type of family gathering was always a conspiracy against him, especially his bachelor state of life, but this time he had no choice. It was a week before his little sister’s wedding, and he wouldn’t be forgiven if he didn’t show up. The moment the familiar white picket fence and formidable Colonial house came into view, longing for his modern high-rise apartment in the city eroded the dread of the many lectures to come.
Grant, New York was suburbia hell.
He parked his car in the Bauer driveway and got out. Trudging along the walkway of the little house with black shutters, he glanced at his surroundings. Childhood memories rushed at him. All the times he’d played catch in the front yard, rode his bike on the sidewalk, and of course, his mother’s voice, yelling down the street. Homecoming was never sweet, only filled with constant nagging about his current lifestyle and choice as a bachelor.
Suck it up, Bauer. Family is family. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. James pressed the doorbell. Stomping feet approached the other side of the door as he clutched his travel bag and waited. He heard the flip of the bolt lock and the door flew open. His mother’s excited smile met his reluctant one.
“James!” Elizabeth Bauer reached up and wrapped her arms around him. The smell of sugar and cookies teased his nose. He breathed in the sweet scent from her short brown hair and his heart tightened.
“Mom.” He pressed a kiss on her cheek and released her.
She dragged him past the threshold and closed the door. “It’s about time you got home. I was hoping you’d come yesterday. You know how important it is to your sister that you’re here.”
And so it begins. He placed his bag next to the stairs and slipped off his leather jacket. “I had to work yesterday. You’re lucky I even took a week off to come home. I still have conference calls to take care of while I’m away.”
His mom took his jacket and waved him down the hall. “All the girls are in the kitchen, finishing up the wedding favors. Your sister’s in there.”
James made his way to the kitchen, following the sound of laughter and his sister’s high-pitched voice. Liv was always louder than any female he knew. His sister had the tendency to speak her mind at any given time, especially when she used to tag along with him and his football buddies. His friends had found her loud, and at times, obnoxious, but he loved her. And he almost felt bad for his soon-to-be brother-in-law.
He swung the kitchen door open and stopped at the tornado in the room. The whole place was a mess. Paper and yards of weird-looking lace were thrown across the table. Pots and pans sat everywhere on the counter, and boxes littered the floor from the doorway to the windows.
“Oh, my God! James!”
His sister’s voice rang in his ear as she threw herself into his arms and hugged the hell out of him. He breathed in her vanilla perfume and hugged her back. The knowledge that his little sister wasn’t a baby anymore weighed in his heart. “Sorry I’m late.”
Liv drew away, her bright blue eyes shining with excitement. “Come meet my girls. You missed all the other parties, so you haven’t had the chance.” She gripped his hand and pulled him over to her friends.
Three women stared at him in wonder, and he smiled. Two blondes and a redhead. The women smiled back at him. One even fluttered her lashes.
“This is Betty, Cara and Denise. My brother, James.”
“Ladies.” He nodded and turned to his sister. “Where’s Alan?”
“He’s out picking up beer with the guys. Everyone is hanging out here today.” Liv took a seat at the table next to the redhead. “You promised you’d stay all week. You haven’t been home in months.”
An imaginary noose tightened around his neck. He loved his family, but that was just eight days too long for his mother to be throwing eligible women at him. The last time he had been home, his mother had set him up on four dates in one weekend. He almost had an aneurism after the second date. Women acted differently when they found out he made a fortune. Worst of all, he couldn’t stand the talk of settling down and picking out wallpaper.
“I can’t guarantee that I won’t be called back to work if there’s something important. But with you making surprise visits to my office, everyone knows when your wedding is.”
His sister responded with a wink.
He shook his head. Liv could get away with anything when she turned her baby blue eyes on him. His sister was cunning. He glanced at
the table covered in cardboard and cloth. “What are you ladies making?”
Cara, the blonde, stood up and moved to his side. “We’re putting together wedding favors.” She showed him a two-by-two white box tied with brown and green ribbon. He studied it. To him, it was just a box.
“They look nice.”
“You should help us. We have another two hundred to do before Melissa comes back with the favors themselves,” said Betty, the redhead.
His smile faltered. As much as he loved his sister, there was no way in hell he would spend an afternoon tying pretty little bows on cardboard. “Well--”
“Can someone help me carry in the boxes?”
James whirled around. “I’ll help,” he offered before he knew who spoke.
He stopped and stared. His eyes trailed over three-inch black pumps, sleek long legs clad in a black pencil skirt and lilac-colored blouse that hugged the perkiest breasts he’d ever seen. He zeroed in on the face behind black-wired frames and felt a jolt down to his groin, then frowned.
“Brat?” he asked.
* * * *
Melissa Johnson’s eyes narrowed in on the man clad in tight jeans and a white muscle t-shirt. The blue jeans fit him to perfection as his shirt stretched deliciously across his broad chest. The jerk probably still worked out every day.
Her heart pounded against her blouse.
He was back.
For a week.
“James.”
He moved in closer, and she noted how handsome he looked, the same as when he was younger but more built and taller. “You look as if you grew another inch, brat.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. The nickname he’d given her since she was five grated her nerves. He’d always seen her as a brat. Nothing more. Just another annoying little sister he could beat up and make fun of. She had enough of his big brother demeanor and his attempts at ruining her life with other men.
Her first date in high school had been ruined when James had showed up at the park where her and her date had snuck off to make out. He’d embarrassed her by dragging her home and telling her she was too incompetent to attract any guy, namely him. The first date in her life had turned out to be a dare from a group of jocks, but still, James didn’t have to humiliate her and carry her home like a sack of potatoes.
It wasn’t the only time. Her list of discrepancies against him could go on forever.
“Were you expecting the little girl with braces and raggy hair?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
She thought she saw his eyes drop to her cleavage, but she must have been wrong.
James grinned. His smile quickened her heartbeat. “Still temperamental, I see. I told you your attitude is going to get you in trouble some day.”
“Don’t worry. Just stay out of my way and you won’t see my rage.”
He laughed. “Where are the boxes? I’ll help you carry them in.”
Melissa glanced over his shoulder to see the girls staring at them with curiosity. Liv was shaking her head. Her best friend had witnessed the many times James and her batted at each other whenever they were in the same room. “They’re in my car.”
He followed her outside and down the side of the house to her little Honda Civic. “What have you been up to these days?”
“Just work. You?”
“Same. What are you doing now?”
She clicked her key fob to unlock the car. “I work as a research assistant at the college.”
“Still sticking your head between books?” James opened the trunk door, and she moved back, making sure she wouldn’t accidentally touch him. His musky cologne wafted to her nose, and she couldn’t help drawing in a deep breath. It was a mix of soap and his masculinity. She’d always loved his scent, even as a child.
“I like books. I wasn’t into the whole getting drunk and sleeping with whoever was available like you were.”
James piled up box after box, but instead of picking them up, he turned around and leaned on the bumper of the car. “Still mad at me?”
Startled, she frowned. His blue eyes twinkled, and she felt the urge to smack him. “Why would I be mad at you?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Getting on your nerves. Saving you from your stupid actions.”
She should smack him. He’d already ruined her for everyone else. Every guy she dated, she started to look for qualities that reminded her of James, and now she was still single. She had to get him out of her system.
Once and for all.
Her hands fisted at her side, but she gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Oh, but I thought you liked making me miserable, since there’s no one else’s life you wanted to destroy.”
James smiled. “Aww, come on, brat. You know that’s not true. I treated your sister the same way. How is Kerry doing?”
“She’s fine. Engaged. Don’t you see her in the city?” A stab of jealousy gutted her. He was always nice to Kerry, but with her…
“No, I haven’t had the time to call her up. When’s the wedding?”
“Next year. Her and her fiancé decided that it was better if Mark made partner at the accounting firm before they married. Kerry should be here on Thursday.”
“How’s your mom?”
Annoyance stung her. She hated the small talk. It was always about her family or his. Shit was getting old. “She’s fine. You should go over and visit her. Mom’s home. I think she’s going to a movie with your mom tonight.”
As if he knew he was annoying her, he grinned. Her skin tingled under his gaze. “So, you’re still the third wheel then? I know how much our moms love having you on their girl outings.”
Any free time she had, she spent working and studying for her Master’s. There wasn’t time. She glared. “I have better things to do.”
“It’s okay that you only hang out with our moms and my sister,” he said, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
She ignored him and moved to carry the boxes in herself. James stopped her with a hand at her elbow and a shot of heat sprang up her arm. Her breath caught, and she stared up him.
Frowning, James dropped his hand. “I got it.”
She waited until he lifted the boxes, then she closed the trunk as he headed inside.
Glaring at his back, she pocketed her keys.
James Bauer will pay for all he’s done.
Chapter 2
James wished he’d invested in a pair of earplugs.
“She’s really pretty and you’ll like her and…” His mother went on and on about whomever, he didn’t care. Another matchmaking attempt.
He tuned out his mother’s nagging voice and took a swig of his ice cold beer, eyes trained on the flat screen in front of him. The baseball game had started twenty minutes ago, the same amount of time his ears had been ringing.
“James, are you listening?” his mother asked.
He nodded, without hearing, out of reflex. His patience was thinning, but he willed strength. She’d gotten the nagging out of the way, now she was on to blind dates. He estimated another good twenty minutes before she’d decide to take a break.
“I promise, you’ll like her. Kathy’s daughter is a knockout. A model for some big brand magazine.”
“Aunt Beth, did you want me to take the chicken out of the oven? I think I smell it burning.”
His mother gasped and shot up off the couch. James glanced at the doorway of the living room as his mother scurried past Melissa. His torture session was cut short, thank God.
“About damn time,” he grunted.
The brat grinned at him as she sauntered into the room. His gaze followed her walk. Ever since he’d seen her in the kitchen this morning, he found himself noticing things about her that he’d never had before. Her little catchy laughs at his sister’s joke, the black, silky strands of hair slipping from her tight bun, her silver eyes darkening every time he said something annoying. Hell, he’d never even known she had a dimple when she smiled until now.
The moment he
’d touched her in the driveway, he knew he was in trouble.
She’d certainly grown up. The last time he’d seen her was at her graduation four years ago, so that made the brat, what? Twenty-six?
Melissa sat down on the opposite end of the couch and crossed her legs. The sight of her bare skin sent a shiver down his spine, and he felt the stirring of heat in his gut. Not good.
“You’re welcome.”
He jerked his gaze to her face. “For what?”
“For saving you.” She grinned. “Unless you want me to call Aunt Beth back to continue her lecture.”
He stiffened at the idea. “Don’t even think about it. Or I’ll tell her to set you up too.”
“Don’t you dare.”
He laughed at her grimace. “What? Still no guy?”
“You’re a fine one to talk. At least I don’t have guys knocking on my door in the middle of the night, unlike some people.” She picked up the remote and changed the channel.
James frowned. He hated how his sister told Melissa everything that went on in his life. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She scoffed. “Big jugs knocking at your door at three o’clock in the morning when you had some other girl over? Don’t deny it. Your mother even knows. She thinks your soul is going to hell.”
He had to grin. “That was months ago. I don’t have time for women now.”
Melissa settled on the Travel Channel, which was doing an episode on China. She sighed. Her Master’s was in Asian Studies or something, he couldn’t remember.
James stared at her profile. Her concentration was on the screen so he took his time, taking in her small button nose, lush lips and high breasts. He could almost make out the white lace bra under her blouse if she would just…he stopped. His groin tightened at the fall and rise of her chest. Hell, she’s the brat. Hands off. No, thoughts off.
As if sensing his scrutiny, Melissa turned to look at him. “What?” she asked.
James cleared his throat, hiding his embarrassment, and leaned forward, hoping she wouldn’t notice his arousal. “Nothing.”
