All Mine: The Complete Series Box Set

by Lauren Wood

  “I just have one question to ask you Ronald.”

  “Okay, go ahead. I will answer if I can.”

  “Why me?”

  Ronald wasn’t expecting that question and for a moment I had to wonder if he knew why. Maybe it had been something that just popped into his head and he blurted it out, but I didn’t think that was it. It was like he knew I was going to be there at the charity event. Did he know that I was going to be the one that he would propose this all to? It just didn’t make sense to me and I wasn’t comfortable in a situation where I couldn’t see all of the angles. Everyone wanted something and I couldn’t clearly see why I had been chosen to marry his daughter.

  “Many reasons. You have been trying to get to me for years. The shenanigans at the charity event told me that you were desperate enough to entertain such an idea. You are accomplished, very accomplished in your own rights and that alleviates anxiety that you are in it to get my money. You want to make more of your own and there is nothing wrong with that. Darryl Jameson took me under his wing a little before I turned forty. That’s when everything started to happen for me. So, you have a good family line, your own money and a brain in your head. What more could I ask for in a son in law?”

  It was a lot to process, but it was clear that he had read up on me and at least thought it through to some degree. Though I had to wonder why if so much thought was put into this idea of his, why he hadn’t come up with something better than an arranged marriage.

  “But why would you do it this way?”

  Ronald scoffed. “Why not? Parents have been picking their children’s partners a lot longer than marriage for love. Love is fleeting, but money, obligations and family ties last a life time.”

  I felt a shiver run up my spine with his words. How could I have not known that this was going to be more than a marriage? It wasn’t just a piece of paper. It was going to be more, so much more. Insane as it sounds, I was just now starting to realize that this was going to be a lifetime thing that I needed to really think about. Didn’t I have enough money? Did I really need to do all of this just to make more and pick up some prestige?

  “You are right. This is a big commitment.”

  Ronald chuckled. “You need to make the decision. Are you jumping in or backing off?”

  It was a now or never type of situation. I could tell that right from the bat and I wanted to tell him that I couldn’t, there was no way that I would go with such a crazy scheme, but Ronald had been right on all accounts. I was just a little bit desperate. Desperate enough to reach another height that I couldn’t on my own, just to get off of the plateau I was on.

  “Yes Ronald. I will marry your daughter. You have a deal.”

  The older man exclaimed and I pulled my ear back. I had a bad feeling in my stomach. Most people listened to theirs and let it guide them through their life. I ignored mine every chance I got. The larger the leap, the more uncertainty there was, the more yelling from my gut to stop. This was one of those times and I was just going to see where it took me. Out of all of the deals I had made though, this one seemed to be the biggest.

  “Hot damn son. Well good. I have my wife putting something together for this weekend. That will suit you, won’t it?”

  “This weekend?” My voice was hoarse and the last bit came out as a croak. This was happening far faster than I would have liked. How was I going to explain this to my own parents? I sighed when I really thought about it. My father would be happy because it was Ronald’s daughter. He wouldn’t care how we met or anything other than attaching ourselves to his family.

  My mother on the other hand would want to know everything else. I didn’t have an answer for her and I was already trying to formulate something in my head. Giving me just a few days to figure it out was pushing it in my mind. Why did it have to be so suddenly?”

  “Yes, do you have plans? Because if you do, you might want to cancel them.”

  “No, no plans that can’t be rescheduled. That is just rather soon. Isn’t a lengthy engagement period considered the right way?”

  Ronald told me that he didn’t care. “It doesn’t matter how it looks. Not in this century anyways. I just want it done and everything moving in the right direction.”

  There was an urgency I didn’t understand, but I was just going to chalk it up to a hidden health scare or something like that to make him want to put his affairs in order. I tried to remember if I had seen any signs of sickness when I had seen him last. I didn’t remember thinking of anything more than he was sharp and healthy for his age.

  I agreed to his mad scheme and got off of the phone not really sure how to feel about it all. I wanted to think of this as the changing point. I was already rich beyond all means, but I was still hungry for more. Now it was power and respect, the kind that I had seen first-hand when I was around Ronald. That is what I wanted and I was on the way to getting it.

  The idea that I was going to be married and it all hinged on that was just a thought way off in the back of my mind. It didn’t matter to me anything about her. I would marry his daughter in a few days and I hadn’t even asked to see her first because it was the power and money that I wanted. I had enough women on the side that none of my needs were unsatisfied. Why would any of that change?

  I sat back and closed my eyes, trying to imagine what this change was going to be like. I tried to imagine myself as a husband and I just couldn’t. It had never crossed my mind before, but here it was, about to happen. All I had to do was meet my new bride and convince the world that we were happily married and in love.

  That didn’t sound that hard. I made a call to the investigator Mike to keep looking. There was no rush on it now, but I wanted to know all that I could about my wife to be.

  **END OF PREVIEW**

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  BE MY DADDY: SNEAK PEAK

  PREVIEWS

  Be My Daddy

  A Billionaire and Virgin Romance

  BLURB:

  I wanted to give her the full service treatment.

  Meri was a client that I wanted to break all the rules with.

  I met her at a wild time, in a wild place.

  One night with Meri changed everything.

  I’m a professional.

  I don’t f*ck clients.

  It’s against all of the rules.

  But with Meri, I’m learning

  Rules are meant to be broken.

  I have my share of women.

  Forgetting them all before they left in the night.

  I didn’t need any more to deal with.

  Didn’t want anymore.

  With so many reasons why not.

  I ignored all of the reasons why.

  Her soft smile and curved body.

  The way her eyes darkened when I turned her on.

  I couldn’t deny myself any longer.

  I had to have her.

  Just a kiss makes her whimper.

  What will happen when I slam inside of her?

  Taking her innocence with it.

  I long to hear the moans and screams.

  Mind made up, I settle on seduction.

  It won’t take much.

  I’m rich, handsome and skilled in charm.

  I will have her.

  I will make her mine.

  Chapter 1

  Meri

  The sun was beating down on my scantily clad body and there was nothing better than this moment. It was a little celebratory trip that I had decided to take to reward myself for finally finishing 6 years of school for my CPA license. I had less than a week before I started my internship in New York and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.

  But for now, all there was this second, this place, this beach and the hot sun above me. The drink in my hand somehow tasted sweeter in the surro
undings and I didn’t even feel the warm buzz that ran through me. I had to go home tomorrow, but I wasn’t ready to go back. What I was ready for, was another week, month or so here in Thailand. The waves were beautiful and I never wanted to leave. I knew I had to of course, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to. It didn’t mean that I hadn’t fantasized about staying around and finding another life that wasn’t part of the plan.

  “Miss, would you like another drink?”

  I looked down at the glass I was holding. It was halfway full, but I ordered another anyways. They were ridiculously cheap, as well as the fact that I would need another by the time that tanned man came back. I didn’t miss the ravenous looks that he was giving me and I knew what it was that he wanted. I wasn’t sure if I agreed with it, but I didn’t really have a choice on how he looked at me. I just smiled and tried to be nice, with the same thought that I didn’t want to lead the man on at all. I wasn’t here for anything but the waves and some quiet time to read a book. I wasn’t interested in what the man was selling, unless it had a little umbrella in it.

  Watching the couple on the towel not too far from me, I envied the show of affection. I didn’t date much, mainly because I told myself I was too busy with work and school, but the truth was that intimacy freaked me out. Getting that close to someone was scary and I didn’t know if I was cut out for it. I had been on a few dates through the years out of high school, but they never really amounted to anything. It was all just a waste of time, so for the last year I had given up all together. They wanted one thing only it seemed like and I was waiting for the right man to come into my life. My unwillingness to give it away to just anyone made me a social pariah when it came to college boys.

  The tanned man that was slim and obviously a local kissed on a woman that was much older than him. For a few minutes I had thought that they were a couple, but then I started to think that maybe I was wrong about all of it. He was her lover, but maybe he was not her lover but for more than one day. The man was all over the giggling woman and I looked away, sure that I was seeing something rather unsavory unfolding in front of me. I knew that this sort of thing happened here, far crazier things, but it was another thing all together to see it with my own two eyes.

  “Meri, there you are. I have been looking all over for you.”

  I looked up to see Carol standing there. She was getting as tanned as the locals in the short time that we had been here.

  “I told you I wasn’t leaving this spot and I meant it.” I had spent most of the day on the beach, trying to get every moment firmly planted into my brain so that I would always remember this time. I was going to need it for the next fifty weeks until I got another vacation. That was a long time away and I didn’t want to waste a moment of it doing something that I could do back at home. There were no beaches like this in New York, certainly not in the city.

  “Well you missed an awesome day. Me and Rico had the best time.”

  I looked around for the handsome man that my friend had become attached to the hip to over the course of the last week. It was nothing new. Carol always found someone to love when we were out and about. It didn’t matter where we went or what we were doing, men flocked to Carol like she was honey. It used to bother me, but it was now just the way things were. She had that free spirit that people were attracted to. We were friends because she was so open and nice. I met her one of my first days of college as a freshman. She had shown me around and we had been friends ever since.

  Carol’s hair was long and blonde. She had that California girl look down to a science and her skin glowed a pretty bronze color that made her light blue eyes pop. Carol was everything that I wasn’t and though I loved her to death, I felt instantly frumpy standing next to her. This moment was no different.

  “He is going to miss you when we leave tomorrow. I don’t think you two have separated since we got here.”

  “I am going to miss him. I am starting to wonder if maybe I should stay a little longer. I mean, it’s not like I have a job waiting for me like you do. I could stay here and just see what happens with Rico.”

  I just shook my head and closed my eyes. She was always finding male friends to keep her company, but Carol also thought that she fell in love with half of them. I must have spent a majority of my time, trying to convince her that she wasn’t in love. She didn’t love Rico. I think my friend just liked the idea of love and it came so easy for her.

  She saw my eye roll and got defensive. We had this conversation many times before. “What? You don’t think I should stay?”

  “No.”

  Carol pouted and told me that I was no fun. I could go with that, if I had to, but it was better to be safe than stranded alone in a whole other continent on the other side of the world. There was no way that I was going to be able to leave without her. I was just going to have to convince her that she was making a mistake.

  “Come on Meri. You haven’t even really met him or talked to him more than a few minutes. Come out with us tonight, one last hoorah before you go home and then you will see what I see. Then you will feel better about me staying. I know how you worry.”

  I didn’t want to, but I knew she would hound me until I agreed, so I just saved us both some drama. “Fine, but only under the agreement that tomorrow morning we hit the beach before our flight, sans Rico?”

  “What if I stay?”

  “You aren’t going to stay. You are going to come home with me and we are going to pack up the house and go from there. If after a couple of weeks you still feel the same way about this guy, the flight isn’t very much. Just give it some time to see how you feel. Take care of stuff back home and if you still can’t live without him, what is a couple of weeks. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz.”

  I knew that a little time would have her seeing things my way or at least the right way. She didn’t even know the guy and though she said he was great in bed, it hardly seemed a reason to move across the world for someone. It just didn’t make sense to me, considering that her whole life was going to be back in the United States. I never would understand what made people do such crazy things for love or in Carol’s case, lust.

  She agreed and we got dressed to go out. I had bought a few fun little dresses while I was here. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to wear them when I got back home, I would never have the guts. I wanted to have some courage here to wear it at least once out.

  The soft fabric swished around my legs and hugged my larger tits. I was well endowed compared to the most of the women I had seen here and it was no clearer than when I was wearing their clothes. I checked myself out in the mirror and almost turned around to change, but Carol liked it and I guess it was good enough.

  “You look hot Meri. You should wear stuff like that more often. You are always wearing dark colors. All of these bright colors look good on you.”

  “Yeah well don’t get used to it. I get back home and I am going to be an accountant. I don’t think there are going to be many occasions where I will be able to wear this.”

  She waved me off and told me that there was always a place to wear something like that. I didn’t want to really think about it, but I knew that she was right. If I wanted to wear it, I would find a reason. I kept telling myself I was going to get out there more, now that I had done what I set out to do, but my mind was still trained in the past.

  “I would get out more if you would come with me. If you don’t have an internship or a job offer when we get back, why don’t you come to New York with me?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know anyone there.”

  “Me either, but at we would know each other. There will be a thousand Ricos in New York. You can have your pick of them.”

  “You make me sound so bad.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. There really wasn’t much to say. “Whatever it sounds like, I am just saying you should think about it. Now let’s go out.”

  “I forgot to tell you one thing.”

/>   I stopped at the archway to the outside and looked back at my friend. I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like the one thing she was about to tell me.

  “What?”

  “Rico said that he was going to bring a friend. I am not saying that you have to go out with this person tonight, but at least have dinner with us and be nice.”

  “I’m nice.”

  “Yeah, well seriously, just be nice. You know I am not going to stay here most likely, it was a whim and I know you are right. So this will be the last night. Don’t do what you do.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. Whatever it is that you do when you are around guys. You put this wall up and get a little snobby.”

  It wasn’t the first time that I had heard that before, but I still didn’t like to hear it. I had been called frigid, cold, prudish, everything because I wasn’t a girl that went with the rest of the pack. I saw it as a good thing, but there were many others that didn’t feel the same way. Carol knew that I hated it and she tried to take it back, but it had me thinking. Maybe I was a little too uptight. I was going to try my best to have a good night and to not worry about everything so much. I was going to try not to do what I do.

  I went to the club and dinner with that in mind. The guy had a name that I didn’t remember as soon as he said it, heck, I tried unsuccessfully several times to pronounce it and I don’t think I ever got it right, not even once. I did everything that was expected of me and I had a pretty good time.

  But then again, I woke up the next morning with a headache I couldn’t ignore and Carol nowhere in sight. The sun and the brightness that I had loved so much were now a problem that squinting seemed to solve.

  Calling out Carol’s name, I waited for her to answer. When she didn’t, I tried my best to get up, but my head was swimming. I knew that something was off. I hadn’t drunk that much the night before, I mean, I don’t think I had anyways. I hadn’t drunk enough to feel this bad and not remember anything.