Some Guys Have All the Luck

by Deborah Cooke

  Some Guys Have All the Luck

  A Contemporary Romance

  Deborah Cooke

  Deborah A. Cooke

  Contents

  Some Guys Have All the Luck

  Flatiron Five

  Dear Reader

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Thank you!

  Going to the Chapel

  More About Bad Case of Loving You

  More about Secret Heart Ink

  About the Author

  More Books by the Author

  Some Guys Have All the Luck

  Cassie has everything she wants…

  Cassie Wilson’s life is pretty much perfect, with a dream job, great partners—and the freedom to do whatever she wants whenever she wants. The last thing she wants is to go back to Montrose River, the town she couldn’t wait to leave, and revisit the past. But when her oldest friend asks her to be a godmother, Cassie sees an opportunity to make a difference in Emily’s life. Maybe teaching Emily to dream big will be her legacy. Besides, one weekend in the Midwest won’t kill her. She’ll be back in Manhattan so quickly that they won’t have time to miss her at Flatiron Five.

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  Reid knows what he wants…

  Reid Jackson is convinced that luck has to be made. Keeping his eyes open has been the secret to his success, along with a lot of hard work. He might have come from the wrong side of the tracks, and he might have a reputation of being bad to the bone, but he’s built success after a major setback. When Cassie Wilson comes breezing back into town, Reid is ready to find out if she really is different from everyone else. Cassie is everything he imagined. She turns his expectations inside out—and shakes up his life. When Cassie decides she wants more than a fling, Reid knows he’s not the man she wants him to be—can Cassie change his mind and convince him to hope for more?

  Some Guys Have All the Luck

  By Deborah Cooke

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  Cover by Kim Killion

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  Copyright 2018 Deborah A. Cooke

  All rights reserved.

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  Without limiting the rights under copyright preserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher of this book.

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Created with Vellum

  Flatiron Five

  Contemporary Romance Series

  Once upon a recession, five friends banded together to find success. Ten years later, their exclusive fitness club, Flatiron Five, is the hottest destination in Manhattan. People flock to F5 to get fit, to get lucky, and even, to fall in love. The founding partners have been immune to F5’s spell—at least, so far...

  1. Simply Irresistible

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  2. Addicted to Love

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  3. In the Midnight Hour

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  4. Some Guys Have All the Luck

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  5. Going to the Chapel (A short story)

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  6. Bad Case of Loving You (2019)

  Dear Reader

  The adventure continues at Flatiron Five!

  Some Guys Have All the Luck is Cassie’s story, as well as a reunion story and a small town romance: Cassie goes back to the town she couldn’t wait to leave for a christening. She has no intention of staying away from New York any longer than necessary, but when she crosses paths with Reid Jackson, who she remembers as the baddest boy in high school, she recognizes a chance for a little diversion. Reid is more than happy to get up close and personal, since Cassie was always off-limits to him. But something magical happens between these two, and it’s more than just great sex. They start talking, challenging each other and confiding in each other. Because it’s supposed to be just one encounter, they think they have nothing to lose—and as a result of taking that chance, they gain everything. I love how Cassie and Reid created a love that is more than either ever expected to find and hope you enjoy their story.

  I’m adding a short story into the F5 series, which will be the next release. Going to the Chapel is Flatiron Five #5 and will be a September release. My alternate title was Two Weddings & a Baby, which tells you pretty much what it’s about.

  The sixth and final book in the Flatiron Five series will be Theo’s book, Bad Case of Loving You, coming in 2019. This is a second chance story as well as an inter-racial romance. I know this one is going to make me cry while I write it. The book is available for pre-order at some portals and you can read more about it at the end of this one.

  I’ve also launched a series of shorter stories set in the Flatiron Five world. In Damon and Haley’s book, In the Midnight Hour, Chynna set up a tattoo shop at F5, and it’s rumored that she can give a tattoo on the full moon that helps the recipient find true love. Cassie gets the first tattoo, which doesn’t yield results until she goes home to Montrose River. This new series called Secret Heart Ink tells the stories of the people who get those tattoos. The first three romances feature three friends who visit F5 while on a girls’ weekend in New York. Snowbound and Spring Fever are now available, and One Hot Summer Night is coming soon. There will also be a Christmas story in this world called Under the Mistletoe, which is Chynna’s story. Please visit my website for details on the Secret Heart Ink series.

  Of course, I write paranormal romances, as well. My Dragonfire series of paranormal romances are all being published in new editions in 2018, and I’ll continue the stories of the Pyr in 2018. My other paranormal romance series, the Dragons of Incendium, features dragon shifter princess from space. These are action-packed and sexy, and straddle the line between paranormal romance and science fiction romance. I also continue to write medieval romances as Claire Delacroix.

  To learn about my new releases and get additional content available only to subscribers, please sign up for my newsletter. Heroes & Bad Boys is the newsletter for my Deborah Cooke contemporary romances.

  Until next time, I hope you have plenty of good books to read.

  All my best,

  Deborah

  http://DeborahCooke.com

  One

  April 19—Montrose River, Illinois

  It was true that no good deed went unpunished.

  Reid surveyed the mess from the shattered jar of dill pickles and shook his head. “Lionel?” he called, not really expecting an answer.

  There wasn’t one.

  He strode to the back room of the Montrose River Shop ’n Save to get the mop and bucket. He grabbed the dustpan and broom in the other hand, yelled f
or Lionel one more time, knowing it was an exercise in futility, and went back to the pickle aisle. Naturally, it had been the extra large size jar. He’d swept up the glass and most of the pickles by the time Lionel appeared at the end of the aisle.

  The kid looked sheepish.

  To be fair, Lionel Stewart always looked embarrassed or as if he’d rather be anywhere else in the world. He was a really tall kid, almost as tall as Reid even at sixteen, and so thin that if he turned sideways, he just might disappear. Reid was halfway convinced that if he looked up “nerd” in the dictionary, there’d be a picture of his newest employee. Lionel had thick glasses with masking tape on the nose bridge as well as on one side. The poor kid’s mother really did dress him funny: his jeans were always a bit too short and his shirts were awful. Today’s choice was a plaid flannel shirt that was probably warm but its orange and turquoise pattern hurt the eyes.

  He’d given the kid a job in the hope of helping him. One week in, Reid was starting to doubt his impulse.

  “Sorry,” Lionel said, a familiar tremor in his voice. The kid had the biggest Adam’s apple Reid had ever seen and it worked up and down all the time.

  “Where’d you go?” Reid asked as he mopped up the brine. He reminded himself that Lionel’s looks and his clothes weren’t the kid’s fault. Even his name wasn’t his fault.

  Who named a kid Lionel?

  “Um, I had to leave.”

  “Because there was a mess to clean up? Because you don’t like the smell of dills?”

  Lionel flushed and dropped his gaze. “Sorry.”

  Reid leaned on the mop and ensured his tone was patient. “Maybe you could tell me what happened.” He knew Lionel would tell him every detail. The kid couldn’t summarize to save his life. He either apologized, with no explanation, or delivered a lecture.

  “Mrs. Lang couldn’t reach the pickles.” Lionel gestured to the top shelf, where this size of jar and brand of pickle was displayed. “She asked me to get her a jar, so I stopped unpacking the salsa.” He indicated the box of bottled salsa, open and half-emptied at the other end of the aisle. “And I got a jar of pickles for her.”

  “All right. So far, so good. How’d they end up on the floor?”

  Lionel’s blush deepened. “When I turned around, Jayden was with her.”

  “Jayden Lang, Mrs. Lang’s daughter. Okay. Did she break the jar?”

  “No!” Lionel became almost incoherent in his agitation. “She was there. She was looking at me. It was Jayden! The jar slipped. It broke. I ran.”

  Reid pushed a hand through his hair. “Does this mean you like Jayden?” He watched Lionel hang his head. “Or is it all sixteen-year-old girls who are cute?”

  “Jayden,” Lionel mumbled miserably.

  “Well, that’s a relief, given the number of cute sixteen-year-old girls in town.” Reid had hoped Lionel would smile, but he didn’t. “So, in future, you’re only going to bolt and run when Jayden comes into the store? Because I can have Jackie make an announcement whenever the Langs come into the store, and you can hide in the back until they’re gone...”

  “No!” Lionel wailed.

  “Or you could actually stay out here, do your job, and talk to her.”

  All the color drained from Lionel’s face. “You don’t understand, sir.”

  “I do understand. But you need to man up here, Lionel, and actually do your job when you’re getting paid to do your job. And when you make a mess, you need to clean it up. Someone could slip and fall.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Did Mrs. Lang get her pickles?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Probably not, since she couldn’t reach them.” Reid took a jar and handed it to Lionel. “Go find her, give her the pickles, apologize, and tell her they’re with my compliments.”

  Lionel took a step backward, clutching the jar. “But Jayden might be with her!”

  “You could say hi to her while you’re there.”

  Lionel shook from head to toe, his eyes wide with horror. His Adam’s apple went up and down like a jammed elevator. “You don’t understand, sir. I like Jayden but she never looks at me...”

  Reid interrupted him. “I’m telling you to do this because I understand perfectly. When I was your age, I worked here, doing just what you do. It was my first job.”

  “You didn’t,” Lionel said with suspicion.

  “I did. It was considered to be a bad choice on the part of the owner, an old guy named Marty.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I was trouble. You can ask anyone you think is old. They’ll tell you.”

  “And this job changed your life?” Lionel said, his tone skeptical.

  “In a way it did,” Reid admitted. “But that’s not what this story is about. You see, there was this girl.” He inhaled, remembering, well aware that Lionel was watching him closely. A guy never forgot the first girl to ever catch his eye, especially if she was off-limits. “Cassie. She was this gorgeous reckless tomboy who could dance like nothing on earth. Her hair was long and shiny. She smelled amazing.”

  “You got close enough to smell her?”

  “Only when she walked by. There was this waft.” Reid gave Lionel a hard look and the kid nodded, understanding perfectly. “But she didn’t even know I was alive.”

  Which had been Marty’s intention, but Lionel didn’t need to know that part.

  Lionel gripped the jar, rapt. “What happened?”

  “Nothing, because I knew better than to talk to her. She left town after graduation and never came back.” He leaned closer, aware that he was leaving out Marty’s one and only rule. The point was that he was passing on a lesson. “I missed my chance to talk to her, Lionel, because I was a chicken.” The kid swallowed. “What would she have done if I’d spoke to her?”

  “Laughed?”

  Reid shook his head. “Probably not. She probably would have answered me. She was a nice girl, just like Jayden is a nice girl. That probably would have been it, but there’s really not a lot to risk here.”

  Lionel swallowed and stared past Reid down the aisle. “Really?”

  “Really. Take Mrs. Lang the pickles, then come back and mop this floor one more time. I want to be sure there aren’t any glass shards anywhere.”

  “Yes, sir.” Lionel walked past Reid, holding that jar as if it contained all the confidence on the planet.

  Reid hoped the kid wouldn’t shatter another jar just with the pressure of his grip. He spotted a dill under the lip of the shelf down by the box of salsa and went to sweep it up. He’d only taken two steps when he heard the distinctive sound of a large jar of pickles smashing on the floor.

  “Lionel!” he roared in frustration and spun.

  He froze, his words dying on his lips.

  There was a woman coming down the aisle, navigating her way around the pickles and the astonished Lionel, who was apparently frozen to the floor at the end of the aisle. It was no wonder Lionel was staring: she was gorgeous. Dressed all in black, she was wearing a short skirt and a leather jacket. Her hair was gleaming blond and swept up high. It shone in a familiar way that made Reid’s mouth go dry. Earrings glittered on her earlobes and she wore fine leather gloves. Red ones. Her lipstick was the same color of red. She looked polished and expensive.

  And hot.

  She looked so different from the women in Montrose River that she might have come from Mars.

  It was her black leather boots that stole his breath away, though. They were amazing. They had pointed toes and stiletto heels and rose so high that the tops disappeared under the hem of her skirt. Fetish boots, or as close to them as Reid had seen in a very long time.

  She’d come from the city. Reid wasn’t sure which city, but it was one he really wanted to visit.

  Now.

  He also wanted to find the top of those boots and feel her skin wherever they ended. Because her skin would be smooth and soft, like polished ivory. Scented. Then he’d let his fingers wander north from
the top of the boots. She was a woman who made him want to be really bad, over and over again. Just the sight of her made him yearn for the old days, when he’d been trouble.

  Because she seemed to be looking for it.

  Then Reid realized who she was and felt a little too much commonality with Lionel.

  As sure as he drew breath, it was Cassie Wilson strolling toward him, all grown up and more beautiful than ever.

  She wasn’t a tomboy anymore.

  Was she still reckless?

  He’d bet his last buck that she still smelled like heaven.

  If he’d been a man who believed in luck, he might have thought he’d invoked her.

  As it was, he wondered what had brought her back to town.

  She smiled at Lionel as she passed him, spared a glance for Reid, then glanced down the aisle toward the salsa.

  As indifferent as ever.

  “Excuse me,” she said and Reid stepped back, because he was standing in the middle of the aisle.

  “Don’t slip,” he advised before Cassie did exactly that.

  He saw her eyes widen and her lips part. He heard her heel slide on the linoleum, then he caught her around the waist just in time. He was holding her tightly against his side, his every teenage fantasy come to life, and thought he might have died and gone to heaven when her hands landed on his shoulders.