He smacked his forehead. Then he met her at the top of the stairs, grabbed her, and hugged her. “I can’t believe you.”
She grinned. “Come on. Let’s go for a ride.”
She handed him the keys. He shook his head and followed her back down the steps. “You were the mysterious high bidder over the phone?”
“Yup!”
He unlocked the driver’s side door, and Lily appeared at his side. “Maybe I could drive,” she said with a smile.
He stiffened. It was a stick shift in a car worth seven hundred thousand dollars. “Well…”
“Kidding! You should see your face.”
He grabbed her and pinned her against the car for a hot and heavy kiss, lifting her leg so he could grind into her. Long moments later, he pulled away. She looked dazed, cheeks flushed, lips parted, halfway between surprise and lust.
“You should see your face,” he said.
She shook her head, a bemused smile on that sweet face, and got in the passenger side.
He slipped into the driver’s side and turned to her. “Why would you do this?”
“This car was meant for you.” She held up a finger. “And you have to accept my gift.”
He cradled her cheek, moved beyond words, and kissed her tenderly. Things got heated quickly after their earlier kiss, and he slid his hands under her shirt, gliding up her soft skin to caress her breasts.
“Lil,” he said in her ear, “all I want is you.”
“I’m afraid you’re getting a lot more,” she said, unzipping him.
He hissed out a breath because a moment later her hand was fully around him. She licked her lips.
“Not here,” he said. “This car is worth a fortune.”
She slowly leaned down. Those plump pink lips with the bow at the top inching closer. “I’ll take good care of it,” she purred. “And you.”
She took him fully in her lush mouth. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back, giving her full control. There was nothing like that mouth on him. He wished he could hold out, but she was a demanding temptress that took everything and left him dry. He exploded an embarrassingly short time later.
She tucked him back in and rezipped, giving him a cheeky smile.
He pulled her close and kissed her, a how-did-I-get-so-lucky kiss. He couldn’t speak, but he hoped it got across.
She settled back in her seat and smiled. “Okay, drive.”
He gazed at her, dazed for a moment by the love he felt for the woman who snuck past his defenses and unlocked his heart. He took in a deep breath and let it out.
“That almost sounded like a happy sigh,” she said.
“It was. Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
She nodded happily. “As much as I love you.”
“All right then. Let’s see how this bad boy takes to the open road.”
He put the car in gear and thrilled to the power of the muscle car as he revved it up and let her loose.
Epilogue
Two weeks later, Lily walked hand-in-hand with Nico to meet his family at the Clover Park Fourth of July fireworks celebration. Apparently, it was a family tradition. They walked into the Clover Park High football stadium entrance, and Lily was immediately caught up in the excitement as the scent of hamburgers and hot dogs grilling wafted over her and kids ran around with glow necklaces and spinning sparklers.
“You want ice cream before we go in?” Nico asked. “Shane’s Scoops is the best.” He leaned down toward her ear. “And I really want to see you lick that cone.”
She grinned. “I will happily lick your cone.”
He groaned and squeezed her hand. They waited in line and got two chocolate ice-cream cones served up by a cheerful man with red hair.
“Hey, another ginger,” Lily exclaimed, pointing at her hair. “Now I know this’ll be good.”
“Hey, Shane,” Nico said. “This is Lily.”
“Nice to meet you,” Shane replied. “You want extra sprinkles just for us gingers?”
“Absolutely!”
Shane sprinkled some chocolate sprinkles on top with a shaker and handed it to her.
“Daddy!” a little girl about three years old with red hair shrieked. “Hannah licked my cone!”
“You know what to do,” Shane told the girl, who promptly licked the other girl’s cone.
Hannah, who looked to be about two years old, swung a fist, which her mother, pregnant and pushing a stroller with a sleeping toddler, managed to block. The mom with long brown hair in a braid shook her finger at Shane. He grinned.
Nico laughed. “Reminds me of me and my brothers. Speaking of which, come on.”
They headed to the stadium and found the two rows where his family sat. Happy birthday streamers hung off the ends of the bleacher seats.
“Whose birthday is it?” Lily asked.
“Mine,” Nico said.
She stared at him. “You were born on the Fourth of July? Why did I not know this?”
“Because we’re too busy screwing to talk about unimportant details.” He grinned. “I always loved the fireworks on my birthday. We always celebrate here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I didn’t even get you a present! This is so embarrassing.”
“You can give me a present later,” he said with a wicked smile.
She shook her head. “I wish I’d known.”
“We’ve only been dating two months,” he said. “I forgive you.”
They settled at the end of the row next to Vince and Sophia, who looked tanned and happy from their honeymoon in Mexico. She had the seat next to Sophia and chatted with her about Mexico, which Lily had been to before, while she licked her cone, and Nico licked his, watching her.
“Hey, Nico,” Vince called from Sophia’s other side. “Ma made you some birthday cookies.”
Mrs. Marino turned around from the row in front of them and offered them a plastic container full of crescent-shaped cookies covered in powdered sugar.
“Mmm, don’t they look good,” Vince said. His brothers and sisters-in-law—Luke, Jared, Gabe, Zoe, Sophia, and Angel—all looked over with smiles on their faces. “Italian wedding cookies, but good for any occasion.”
“Have some,” Mrs. Marino said to Lily.
“I have ice cream,” Lily said. “Maybe later.”
Nico took one, took a bite and held it up to her mouth. “Bite,” he said.
She glanced over at his stepmom smiling encouragingly, and took a small bite. She chewed and swallowed. “Very good, Mrs. Marino.”
“It’s official,” Vince boomed, reaching over and taking her cone.
“Hey!” she protested.
Sophia was smiling at her. “Turn around.”
She did. Nico was down on one knee in the aisle, holding up a black velvet box with a small marquis-cut diamond ring. Tears unexpectedly stung her eyes, and she blinked them back. His dad was holding his ice cream cone and his whole family was standing, pressing close at her back to watch. Luke was holding up his cell phone aimed right at them.
“Lily, I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?” Nico asked in the sweetest proposal she’d ever heard.
“Yes!” she cried and a cheer went up as the entire Marino-Reynolds clan congratulated them. Luke was snapping pictures with his cell as he crowded in close.
And then Nico slid the ring on her finger and wrapped her up tight in his arms. His family patted their shoulders and backs, congratulating them.
She gained not only a husband, but a huge loving family that day, she realized as each brother and sister-in-law hugged her in turn and welcomed her to the family. Tears streamed down her face. Happy tears for what felt like an embarrassment of riches for someone who’d grown up so poor in the family department.
She could hardly believe her luck. “Pinch me,” she told Nico.
“Can I knock you up instead?” he whispered in her ear. “Three or four times?”
She flushed, hoping no one had heard that. But she
nodded happily anyway.
“I heard that,” Vince said with a wink. He turned and hollered down the row. “Gabe! I think we’re gonna have to move Sunday dinner to your place. He’s gonna knock her up and this family’s not gonna fit in Mom and Dad’s dining room much longer.”
Everyone laughed. Gabe gave him the thumbs-up.
“That seems fitting,” Mrs. Marino said. “Clover Park’s where this family began.”
~ ~ ~
With Lily’s permission, Nico sold the Mustang to an overseas collector for a nice profit and became full owner of his shop. He stocked electric vehicles now in addition to the classic cars to do his part for the environment and was training his staff to repair them. Lily, his wife, he loved the sound of that, showed up in the Exotic and Classic Restorations showroom pregnant in her blue dress right on time. She worked from home on Fridays and always met up with him for lunch at his shop. They shared her city apartment Monday through Thursday while he reverse commuted back to Eastman, and shared a home in Clover Park, not far from where he grew up, over the long weekends.
He loved the way the pregnancy gave her even more curves, especially that baby bump. She’d passed the bar exam, brilliant woman that she was, and had been working very successfully on behalf of the environment for nearly a year.
He smiled again at that huge belly. She was due in a month—he’d knocked her up on their honeymoon. Score! She planned on taking a year-long maternity leave to care for their daughter before returning to part-time work. They had plenty of family around to help with childcare, which was the way they both wanted their kids to grow up, surrounded by family.
He met her halfway across the showroom and gave her his killer smile—part player, part charm, one-hundred-percent devoted husband. “Hello, Tiffany.”
Her sweet pink lips curved into a small smile, and she gave him a mock slap. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to his office for their usual afternoon hookup. Where it all began. Right here on this desk with the wrong redhead that turned out to be so, so right.
~THE END~
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You’ve just read book #7 in the Clover Park series. The books in the series are The Opposite of Wild (Ryan & Liz), Daisy Does It All (Trav & Daisy), Bad Taste in Men (Shane & Rachel), Kissing Santa (Rico & Samantha), Restless Harmony (Gabe & Zoe), Not My Romeo (Vince & Sophia), Rev Me Up (Nico & Lily), and An Ambitious Engagement (Luke & Kennedy). I hope you enjoy them all!
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If you’d like to read an excerpt from An Ambitious Engagment, Luke and Kennedy’s story, please turn the page.
An Ambitious Engagement Excerpt
The Clover Park series, Book #8
Financial planner Luke Reynolds has his sights on a new client, but just when he's finally secured a golf meeting with the eccentric billionaire, he's told he must win the game against some upstart competitor named Ken. Unfortunately, Ken is a beautiful woman. And she beats him. Things are about to get down and dirty.
Kennedy Ward's ambition is fueled by her father's medical bills and supporting her four younger siblings. So when billionaire family man Bentley Williams assumes the bickering between her and Luke is because they're a couple, Ken assures him they're happily engaged. Next thing you know, they're invited to a weekend at his estate.
Only one of them will win this game.
And one of them will lose their heart.
Luke Reynolds downshifted his Porsche 911 Carrera on the winding country road leading to the Majestic River golf course and grumbled to himself, “Friggin' ass crack of dawn.”
He accelerated, flew over a dip in the road, shaking up the car, and making him take a deep breath. He wasn't a morning person to begin with, but to be up this early on a Monday for a seven a.m. tee time in Connecticut, a good hour's drive from his Upper West Side Manhattan apartment, was ridiculous. The only reason he'd agreed to the ungodly hour was because his prospective client, Bentley Williams, had told him Ken Ward, Luke's competitor for the account, had already agreed to the time.
Grr…he had no idea who this upstart Ken was. He'd never heard of him before and could find literally nothing on him. He scratched at his light brown beard, considering his competitor. Must be some kind of stealth sabotage from a rival wealth management company trying to take advantage of the newly-made billionaire.
Bentley had unexpectedly inherited the Williams Oil fortune after his older brother died of a heart attack. He'd heard rumors that Bentley was a little eccentric, that his family had put him in charge of non-oil related activities. In other words, parties. That was just fine with Luke. He enjoyed a good party, especially if big spenders were there who needed some guidance in their future investments. Luke wanted this client so badly he could taste it. His firm, Campbell Financial Group, had a rare opening on the small team focused on the top tier of wealthy clients. If he could land Bentley, that promotion was his. Not to mention job security. His boss had recently confided, in a not-so-subtle attempt to light a fire under him, that the firm planned on downsizing every team except their top tier.
A cherry red Mustang started tailgating him. He hit the brakes, annoyed, and the car got right up on his bumper. He powered down the window and hollered, “Back off, asshole!”
He glanced in the rearview mirror to see a blond woman gesturing to him to speed up.
He slowed even more. It was a no passing zone-a narrow road with no center line and plenty of blind curves.
The Mustang gunned the engine and passed him with a roar. “It's a thirty-mile-per-hour zone, Grandpa!” the woman yelled as she passed, nearly clipping his car and forcing him off the road. He slammed on the brakes, stopping a heart-stopping inch from a giant oak tree.
He smacked the dashboard. Grandpa? He was thirty-two years old! In his fucking prime! He hit the accelerator and veered back on the road, quickly catching up to her. He rode the tail of the Mustang, who sped up, dangerously fast for this stretch of dimly lit road. The sun was still partially hidden by the trees. He slowed. Fuck it. Let that idiot end up wrapped around a tree. Not him.
He blew out a breath and told himself to calm down. He mentally reviewed what his firm could offer Bentley through their connections and collective experience. What he personally could offer with his track record of successful investments, his prior years of experience on Wall Street trading stocks and managing portfolios, and twenty four-seven access to him through his personal cell number. He was more than ready for the big time as a financial planner to the rich.
By the time he arrived in the lobby of the Majestic River country club, his golf bag thrown over one shoulder, he was completely composed. Bentley, his thirty-year-old potential client, greeted him with a boyish grin. He was a good head shorter than Luke's six foot and his messy brown hair falling into his blue eyes only added to his boyish look. He wore a blindingly yellow polo shirt with pink and green plaid Bermuda shorts. Two beautiful blondes stood on either side of him; one of them towered over him. Hell, maybe when you were a billionaire, you could have two blondes at all times. Luke had a couple million stashed away, partly earned, partly inherited from his asshole biological father, which never hurt in the woman department, though he'd never had a threesome. He didn't like to share.
The tall blonde smiled at him, but his world stopped when the short blonde met his eyes with a fiery glare. The contrast of all that fire combined with her petite, almost angelic beauty had him soaking her in longer than was polite. Her blond hair was pulled back in a small ponytail that accentuated her delicate cheekbones and jaw. Smooth, creamy skin, pink lips, an
d a sexy athletic body, trim and toned with perky breasts, in a simple white polo shirt and white shorts. His hands actually tingled with the need to touch, until he reached her fiery blue eyes again and suddenly realized why all that fire was focused on him. This was the woman who'd run him off the road! She'd better not turn Bentley against him for his part in their little game of chicken. He pulled his wayward thoughts back on track and reached out to shake Bentley's hand.
“Nice to meet you, Bentley, I'm Luke Reynolds.”
Bentley shook his hand vigorously, which made his messy brown hair fall even further into his eyes. He tossed his hair back with a shake of his head. “Great to meet you too! Hope it's not too early for you. I'm an early bird by nature.”
“No problem at all,” Luke said smoothly. “Had a coffee on the drive in.”
“Good, good,” Bentley said, all early-bird smiles. “This is my wife, Candy.” The tall blonde beamed. With her high-heeled sandals, she matched Luke's height.
Luke shook her hand and gave her his full-on charming smile that always worked on women. “So nice to meet you, Candy.”
“You too,” Candy chirped. “I'm just here to watch. Bennie likes me to meet all of his business associates.”
Bentley pulled Candy close, one arm wrapped around her waist. “I just can't bear to be separated from my Candy. I love being married.”
“Me too, sugar bear,” Candy said.
They rubbed noses and cooed at each other.
“Everyone should be married,” Bentley said with a goofy smile. Considering Bentley had only been married six months, Luke was sure the shine would rub off soon. Though two of Luke's five brothers had married, with one soon-to-be married, Luke still found the whole love thing to be more of a random event. Like getting struck by lightning. His own parents' marriage and bitter divorce had made an impression. But their story wasn't so different from half the country. With a fifty percent divorce rate, it was a wonder anyone ever felt optimistic enough to tie the knot. His brothers were on the good side of that statistic he hoped, but only time would tell.
Rev Me Up Page 20
