Naughty Takeover
An Enemies to Lovers Romance
Piper Sullivan
Copyright © 2018 by Piper Sullivan
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Also by Piper Sullivan
His Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games 1)
Sinful Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games 2)
Fake Fiancé Next Door: A Small Town Romance
Knocked Up By My Best Friend:A Friends to Lovers Romance
Stranded: A Mountain Man Romance
Cowboy's Fake Fiancée: A Single Dad & A Virgin Romance
Cowboy's Barmaid: A Small Town Military Romance
Seal's Professor: A Military Roommate Romance
Nanny’s Fake Fiancé: A Single Dad Romance
Dr. Daddy Next Door: A Single Dad & A Virgin Romance
Dating the Doctor: A Single Dad Romance
Single Dad Kisses: A Collection
Nanny Down Under: A Single Dad & Nanny Box Set
Contents
1. Lukas
2. Talia
3. Lukas
4. Talia
5. Lukas
6. Talia
7. Lukas
8. Talia
9. Luke
10. Talia
11. Luke
12. Talia
13. Luke
14. Talia
15. Luke
16. Talia
17. Luke
18. Talia
19. Lukas
20. Talia
21. Lukas
Preview: His Takeover (Boardroom Games 1)
Preview: Sinful Takeover (Boardroom Games 2)
About the Author
Also by Piper Sullivan
Lukas
“No. Absolutely not.”
Talia Breckenridge planted her palms flat on the linen draped table inside Blake and Poppy’s homey kitchen, fire spitting out of her honey brown eyes, lending an even more fiery element to the hot little package that was Talia. She glared at me and my brother Blake across the table, like it was my fault she’d been called here today. I didn’t want to be here any more than she did.
“If Talia can’t handle working alongside me, I’m sure my assistant and I can handle everything.” Even though Scarlett spent more time battling her eyelashes and trying to get me to notice her spectacular tits, she was a decent assistant when she tried to be.
She snorted out a laugh that shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was strip me down and fuck me now hot. “If the wedding was made up of dick and balls, I’d agree. But the only thing you two could possibly create together is an unplanned pregnancy.” She scooped the martini off the table and took a long, fortifying sip.
I’d be lying if I said her indifference, no, her outrage at having to work with me didn’t sting., but it did. Women always wanted to hang around me, spend time with me in the hopes of becoming my main thing for a little while. Not Talia. And I’d wanted her from the moment I first laid eyes on her. That was almost two years ago, and still I’d made no progress.
“As skilled as I am in the sack, I don’t fuck my assistants.” No matter how much they tried to tempt me.
“A man with standards,” she said sarcastically as she fanned her face mockingly. “Excuse me while I swoon.”
I rolled my eyes before leveling my older brother Blake with a stare cold enough to kill. “Explain to me again why you two, can’t just hire a damn professional wedding planner?”
“Because,” Blake’s voice grew hard and icy as he stood, glaring at both of us. “Poppy is on bed rest for the last nine weeks of her pregnancy. She’s only two days in and already losing her mind. You guys are our family and I’m counting on you to do this. Poppy is too.”
“Yeah, I’m counting on you guys too,” Poppy entered the dining room looking colorful and vibrant. And miserable, as she rubbed her giant belly.
“Shit.” Who could say no to the sunny picture of motherhood she made?
“You had to hit me with the family stuff, didn’t you?” Talia glared at Blake and then Poppy, but it was clear she was out of steam. “Fine. I know you’re going to hate being benched, but I know what you like, which means you won’t run yourself crazy running behind some wedding planner.”
Blake’s shoulders relaxed. “Exactly, Talia. Thank you.” Unbelievably she laid a comforting hand on top of Blake’s, smiling sweetly. I didn’t even know she had a sweet side, I’d certainly never been privy to it.
“No worries. And bed rest means I can boss her around and she has to listen.” Like the dutiful assistant she was, Talia grinned at Poppy and whipped out a notebook and pen, scribbling furiously while Blake and I watched. “Maple will be happy to help too.”
“So I can count on you two?” Blake wanted nothing but a positive response, and I knew that. He was strung tight, my brother, with a deep desire to make sure everything ran perfectly in his world, but I knew just how to soothe him.
“You absolutely can,” Talia assured him. “I’ll make sure this is as stress free as possible for you and Poppy.”
“I will too,” I added too late to sound like an adult, and more like a boy who wanted credit for his contribution too.
“Great! That’s a load off my back,” Blake smiled and sipped his water until his body was no longer drawn and tight. “Thank you for this. Both of you.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Poppy said, but I could see the tension she carried in her shoulders. “But we have something else to discuss,” she declared ominously.
“Shouldn’t Lacey be helping with this? I don’t want her to feel left out.” I also didn’t want to hear about the something else that had Poppy so worried.
“She’ll be planning her own wedding inside of a year, let your sister enjoy watching this fresh hell from afar.” Talia’s words were spoken with certainty, like she knew planning a wedding was sheer insanity. Suddenly I felt sick.
Blake’s face held a hint of red when he spoke. “Poppy’s asked Lace to plan the bachelorette party.” The way he stuck a finger in his collar told me he was worried what my twin sister might come up with for his bride-to-be’s last night as a single woman. “She’s included.”
“Don’t worry Blake, I excel at handling difficult clients, so your baby brother here won’t be a problem. We’ll plan an upscale, but slightly bohemian wedding. You and Poppy need to start on the guest list if you haven’t already. Just so we know how much of everything we’ll need.” She rattled off several other commands while we sat there, staring at her. Talia was completely oblivious because she hadn’t looked up yet. “And if you have some place your little heart is set on for the wedding and/or reception, let me know.”
“Whatever Poppy wants is great with me.”
That stopped her rapid wrist flicking and she looked up at my brother with a soft smile. “That’s so sweet. I’m happy for you both.”
Blake blinked, still getting used to showing emotion. “Thank you, Talia. I love her.”
“I know, and that’s why I only had a mild tantrum.” She pulled a card from her bag and slid it across the table. “If you think of anything else as we go forward, just shoot me a text or ema
il. And no need to keep the wedding too formal. Maybe consider orange cummerbunds or something.”
“Fuck no it won’t,” I shouted at her, making her, Poppy and Blake laugh.
“Who knew this one had such strong opinions on wedding attire?” She was purposely trying to rile me up, and it was working.
I had plenty of strong opinions, and Talia would see that soon enough. Not only would I help plan this wedding, but I planned on using our time together to finally get her out of my mind. A quick roll, or ten, between the sheets and her allure would be gone. I’d see her for who she was, just a woman.
Plan in place, I flashed my most charming grin her way, and leaned in. “Just you wait sweetheart, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes as she began to repack her giant bag. What was the woman carrying around in there?
“I look forward to you proving me wrong.”
Poppy clapped excitedly. “I’m so glad to hear you both say that, because Blake and I have another issue we need you to deal with. Both of you.”
Fuck my life. “The wedding isn’t enough?”
Poppy blinked like she was trying to hold back tears, and I had to remember she was twelve hundred months pregnant and sensitive as hell. “Sorry to inconvenience you.”
“What do you need, Poppy?” Talia’s tone was sympathetic and kind, but she sent a searing glare my way to let me know just what she thought of me. As if there was any doubt.
She sighed and rubbed her belly, gaze fixed on the table as Blake rubbed her shoulders in soothing circles. He spoke instead. “We’re sponsoring the Northwest Adventure Classic, and we’d like you two to take care of the details.”
I smelled a rat, but with Poppy on the verge of tears there wasn’t a damn thing I could say about it now. Luckily Talia was on top of it.
“Send me whatever details you do have, and I’ll coordinate a time to meet with Lukas through his assistant.”
I heard a hint of resignation, or maybe it was annoyance, but she still refused to look at me.
“Is that all?” Blake nodded and I walked out, ready to go lose myself in a drink, a steak and woman. Not necessarily in that order either.
Talia
Finally!
I’d spent the past four days putting together two different binders to handle the chaotic hell my life had just become. The Northwest Adventure Classic was six months away, but when it came to events like this, that meant we were already six months behind. And I couldn’t just take care of it on my own, because Poppy and Blake wanted both their companies to sponsor it equally. So, I had to do my part for Poppy’s company as her assistant, and Lukas would take care of his and Blake’s family company’s contribution.
Why they’d decided to dump this on my plate along with all the wedding crap was beyond me. But now wasn’t the time to whine. There would be plenty of time later, and lots of vodka, for me to curse my best friend, my boss and my godchild growing inside of her.
With both binders complete, I could no longer avoid the one thing I’d put at the bottom of my list the moment I left Poppy and Blake’s place.
Meeting with Lukas.
It wasn’t that I disliked him, even though I kept him at arm’s length. It was just that everything about him, from his curly blonde hair, that even the best product couldn’t tame, to his chocolate brown eyes with lightning rods of gold shooting through them, it all reminded me of my ex. He was too rich and too arrogant for my taste. And he’s been trying to get in my pants ever since Poppy’s and Blake’s orbits overlapped.
He was tempting as hell, and I knew it would be an unforgettable night if I was ever foolish enough to act on it. But I didn’t shit where I ate, and no man was more in my life than Lukas, whether I wanted him to be or not.
A quick look at the clock told me I needed to get going, because heaven forbid the man try to make my life easier. His assistant had insisted that he couldn’t possibly make it out of the office today, so I grabbed my jacket, packed my bag and made the drive to Peak Adventures. This wasn’t my first trip to Lukas’ workplace, but it was always as Poppy’s assistant, not that much had changed, but this time I had to deal with him on my own.
“He’ll be with you soon. Have a seat.” Scarlett was no fan of mine, which was strange, since I’d only ever been polite to her. Lucky for Scarlett, I didn’t give a flying rat’s ass.
“He has five minutes.” I didn’t care that he was the CFO of a big corporation, we had a meeting scheduled, and if he couldn’t stick to the timeline, this would never work. Taking a seat, I pulled out my tablet and sent confirmation emails to pick up the cake bites for tasting when I left this meeting, fielded two phone calls and glared at Scarlett at least thirty-nine times. “That’s it, I’m out of here.” Next time I would just make the appointment with Lukas directly.
“Maybe he forgot.”
I turned back to look at her. She knew what her assets were, and based on her outfit, she planned to use them to snag a rich husband.
“No honey, I think it’s you who forgot. My best friend is marrying your boss’ boss, do you really want to play this game with me? Because I promise you, no bedroom acrobatics you could pull would save your job.” I was beyond being polite right now.
The door office opened, and Lukas stepped out. His frown disappeared and morphed into a welcoming smile that I told my body to ignore. His rugged jawline and that barest hint of a dimple did nothing for me. Nope, nothing at all.
“Hey Talia, what’s going on?”
“What’s going on is, I should have known you wouldn’t take this seriously, I just wish you’d had a little bit of respect for my time.”
And then I was out of there. Those two can stew in my dramatic departure.
The only good thing about this mix up was that I could stop and have lunch before picking up the cake samples and taking them to Poppy. When I found a deli, I ducked inside, grateful it was the tail end of the lunch hour rush, and there were several free tables. I set my stuff down in a booth and placed my order before calling Poppy.
“Have you eaten anything today?”
“I’m going crazy Talia, break me outta here. Please!”
I shook my head at her stricken tone. “It’s barely been a week Poppy, nut up.”
She sucked in a breath, and then promptly burst out laughing. “Nut up? Seriously?”
“You were spiraling. So, food?”
“I’m good. Blake offered an intern a job in the mailroom while he got intern credit if he would keep me fed each day. The kid has good taste, brought me a lobster burrito with tomatillo salsa and fresh chips. Fresh chips, Talia!”
At least now she was calm. Mostly. “Well, I’ll be by with the cake samples soon, so I hope you didn’t overdo it on fancy burritos.”
“No way, I only ate half in anticipation cake!” It was nice to hear Poppy back to her usual upbeat self. I couldn’t imagine spending two months in bed, then again, I couldn’t imagine growing a baby in my belly either. “Aren’t you supposed to be meeting with Lukas? Don’t tell me you skipped it.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Poppy. I showed up and he kept me waiting for thirty minutes, so I left. I have other things to do, so I’m just going to take care of it myself and you guys are just going to have to trust that it’s equitable.” I sucked in a breath and realized—too late—my mistake. “It’s taken care of and if you worry about it I swear I will kick your ass.”
“Fine,” she sighed and I could see her rolling her eyes in my mind. “I’ll see you later.”
Poppy ended the call before I could issue any more threats, which was fine by me, because the pink haired waitress brought my pastrami with dill chips just as I set the phone down.
“Mmm, so good.” It was the kind of deli sandwich that should be illegal, because it made the person eating it moan like a porn star.
“Looks like I showed up at just the right time.”
I groaned again, but there was no pleasure in
it.
“Why are you trying to ruin my lunch?” It was bad enough he’d screwed with my day.
“I guess that’s just a happy byproduct.” He dropped down into the seat across from me. When I didn’t respond, he ducked low until it became so awkward that I had no choice but to look at him. “That’s better. Care to tell me what I did today to piss you off?”
I finished chewing my food and glared at him. “You mean other than wasting my damn time by not showing up for our meeting, and then not having the decency to call to say you were busy, and then you let me wait in your lobby for a half an hour? Gee Lukas, I have no clue what you did to piss me off.”
“I don’t know who told you we had a meeting today, but we definitely did not.”
“No!” I smacked both of my hands on the small wooden table and I’m sure my eyes were spitting fire in his direction. “Don’t fucking lie to me, Lukas. I called and spoke to your assistant myself the day after we met at Blake and Poppy’s. This meeting was on the books for almost a week.”
He blinked, looking genuinely puzzled by my words. “I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about.”
I wasn’t surprised that was the excuse he would go with, so I flipped open my email program, and showed him my follow up exchanges with his assistant. Because I always follow up in writing after a call.
“Want to tell me again how you’re not fucking her, but she went through these lengths to stop the meeting?” Lukas didn’t say anything, because what could he possibly say?
“For the last time, I am not sleeping with my assistant! But I will find out what the hell happened today.”
Naughty Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games Book 3) Page 1
