Artist, Laine Connors is the life of the party. Her free spirit, open and honest personality baffles many and she is written off as not to be taken seriously by men. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it, but she needs to find someone who shares her outlook on life which isn’t easy on a small island.

Carson Mills has been burned before. He always ran rather than walked when it came to women but he learned his lesson. Until he got hit in the face by the lore of the island by a fun-loving beauty that makes him see life is worth living in the moment. Too bad he struggles to let go of the past and hopes he doesn’t ruin what he’s been searching for.

If you haven’t read the PROLOGUE, check it out now.

Chapter One

On Principle 

Sixteen Years Later

“I don’t know why I’ve got to go with you,” Elise complained to her father.

“Because we need two votes on a business proposition like this,” he said. “Royce had an emergency and you’re the one that always says two votes.”

She wanted to growl at her father but wouldn’t when he wasn’t saying anything she didn’t know or hadn’t said for years.

Not since her father had his heart attack years ago and she and Royce thought they were going to lose him.

She’d been heartbroken.

The only parent who cared about her in her life and he was too young to leave this earth.

He worked too hard. He stressed himself out. He spread himself too thin.

All the things her mother bitched about for years and part of the reason her parents were divorced.

After the heart attack, her father put half of the business in her and Royce’s names. She ran the office end of everything now. Her brother, Royce, ran the construction end.

Her father, he had his finger in all the parts, but he didn’t do a ton of physical work like he used to.

They’d had another scare when her father’s pacemaker had to be replaced months ago. All it did was reinforce the fact she was going to do whatever he asked…within reason.

“But this is the second building the Fierces want to go in on. The first one is going well. You know Royce and I will agree to it.” 

Sometimes she gave him a hard time on principle. It was a game they played and both enjoyed.

Her father grinned. “And you didn’t want to do it.”

She rolled her eyes and it made her father laugh. “Fine. You were right. I was wrong. But it is a lot more work. And it will be more on Royce too. With the baby coming he wanted to take time off. We don’t want you doing any more.”

This part wasn’t a game to her. She did care about them and her biggest complaint was the amount of work it had put on everyone’s shoulders for the past almost two years since this started with the Fierces. She felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel and should have realized that wouldn’t happen.

They’d looked at other buildings previously that didn’t pan out.

“Not a worry,” her father said. “Royce and I will work it out. We are just looking. Nothing is being finalized as of yet. I don’t need Royce with me to check the building over structurally. McCarthy’s will be there along with Grant and Garrett.”

Grant and Garrett being the lead on this, and their engineering firm would look over the structure with McCarthy Construction. Her family business did all the inside work.

And knowing that McCarthy’s was going to be there, meant a really good chance Gabe would be there too.

The reason she didn’t want to go and kept her distance from any of these business meetings, putting up more of a fuss than normal.

“Which means you don’t need me,” she argued. “We trust you and you know it.”

“Stop,” her father said. “I’ll treat you to lunch. You pick the place. If you behave, you can have ice cream after.”

She laughed and angled her head at him. He could always calm her down and cool her off. In her life she needed it more often than she ever let anyone see.

“You’ve got a deal.”

Elise had to get over this.

She was going to see Gabe just like she had for the past year. Like she had for years. 

Their two companies did business together. Just because no one knew why she wanted to avoid Gabe didn’t mean she had to be rude.

Though she was. Just not around her father half the time. She didn’t need that lecture.

“If you need help in the office, we’ll look into doing that,” her father said.

“We’re fine,” she said.

“Talk to me, Elise.”

“You know I do, Dad.”

“Sit down and do it now,” her father said firmly.

She knew not to argue.

“Things are good. Busy is good. We got through the last project just fine. I mean it’s been well over a year of actual work and the rest of the spaces are close to being under contract on this building. The Fierces having Roni there managing the site helps a ton. The work on my end is just dealing with the renters when it comes time to pick out their finishes.”

Even then Roni Hollister had been taking a hand in that and helping her out when needed. But there were still other projects going on with their business that didn’t have to do with this commercial building.

She never thought they’d consider a second building when the first wasn’t completed.

“That’s right,” her father said. “And like the last property, if we decide we like it, we won’t probably buy it until close to the end of the year. Then McCarthy’s has to do the bulk of the work to the structure itself.”

McCarthy’s focused more on commercial buildings. Steel structures, the roofs and the windows, the flooring, etc. Exterior work there too. They had more and bigger equipment. 

“So most likely the summer then,” she said, thinking of things in her mind. That was when the rest of their business picked up too.

“If we decide to go ahead with this, I’d say that is about the time things will pick up for you. But I do want to consider getting you some help. You can’t do it all.”

“Sure, I can,” she said, laughing.

“If anyone can, it’s you. But I don’t want you burning out. One of these days you’re going to find someone that you want to spend time with.”

“Nope,” she said. “I’m married to my job.”

“Elise. Your brother said the same thing and look at him now.”

“That’s because he knocked up Chloe,” she said, giggling.

Her father shook his head. “I know you’re joking and you love Chloe.”

“Of course I do. And it’s not a joke but a fact. He knocked her up, but he loves her as much as we do. And I’m going to have a niece to play with and spoil, so yeah, I’d like to have some time to help out.”

Her father smiled. “You’re a good kid, Elise. You don’t show it to many that you’ve got a heart of gold, but it’s there.”

“And I’m keeping it locked up in a safe too,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. “It’s my only treasured possession.”

He picked his keys up on his desk. “Why don’t we go now?”

“It’s too early,” she complained. If they got there too soon she’d be stuck standing around making small talk with people.

With Gabe. 

If he was there. 

He was bound to be there. Not his younger brother, Jayce, who didn’t work for the company or his sister, Jocelyn, who did. Jocelyn did the finances and kept to herself.

Elise only knew these things because her father was always bringing up the McCarthys lately.

She supposed it had to do with the fact of the close relationship the four businesses had.

Fierce Engineering. Kennedy Construction. McCarthy Construction. Olsen Law.

They did make a great team if she did say so herself.

Didn’t mean she had to play nice with Gabe though.

“How about I let you get ice cream before lunch?” her father asked.

Her head went side to side. “That could work. I’ll just get a cone. That’s easy to travel with.”

“Get whatever you want,” her father said. His phone went off and he reached for it on his desk. “Why don’t you give me ten minutes, then we’ll go. I’ve got to make a call.”

She left her father’s office and went back to compose herself in her office. She could play nice. She’d been doing it for years.

But why did it seem to keep getting harder and harder?

***

“Hi, Grant,” Richard Kennedy said when Grant picked up his phone. He shut his door the minute his daughter was in her office. He didn’t want her to hear this.

“Are you coming alone or with Elise?” Grant asked.

“Elise is coming with me. I had to bribe her. Do you know if Gabe is going to be there?”

“Jim said yes,” Grant said. 

“My daughter is in a mood,” he said. “I’m not sure this is a good idea. She really doesn’t care for Gabe for some reason.”

“Sparks,” Grant said. “Lots of sparks. It won’t take much to start a flame.”

“Some flames burn out fast or burn out so hot they create a backdraft.”

Grant laughed. “I doubt it’d come to that.”

“You don’t know my daughter,” he said, laughing. “When she has her mind made up about someone or something, there is no talking her out of it. We could be caught in the fire with no help in sight.”

He knew it came from his ex-wife.

Elise was neglected by her mother. She’d had no good role model either and he wasn’t so sure he did that great of a job parenting the way he could have.

He tried and he knew Elise appreciated it.

“You have no idea why she seems to have an issue with Gabe?” Grant asked. “I find him extremely laid back and likable.”

“Me too,” he said. “He gets along great with Royce also. I’m not sure what the deal is. Maybe he’s too pretty for her.”

Grant laughed. “I thought that too, but I’d never say it to Jim. I think Gabe would be embarrassed.”

“I’m sure Gabe enjoys the way he looks more than most,” Richard said. He did worry if Gabe might have a reputation as a ladies man, but he’d never heard that.

Just because the guy had some model looks and had women looking at him when he walked down the street didn’t mean Gabe did anything with them. At least he hoped not.

He was putting his faith in the Fierces that they knew what they were doing with his daughter since they did so well with his son.

“That’s between him and his conscience,” he said. 

Grant laughed. “Trust me, I get it. Not that I’ve got a daughter, but I’ve got two nieces. Jade and Ella are strong women capable of handling those things. From what I know of Elise, she’s one of those strong women too.”

“Very much so,” he said. “Maybe too strong at times. Which I’m sure is why she’s still single.”

He knew Elise just wanted to do her own thing in life. 

She liked to call the shots. She liked to come and go when she wanted.

She didn’t like anyone to tell her what to do.

Most likely because Elise’s mother tried to put his daughter in a mold that got broken one too many times.

He’d never do that to Elise. Ever.

He let her have more freedom than maybe he should have, but she was a good kid. More misunderstood than anything, but she knew right from wrong and was respectful when it called for it.

Elise could stand her ground and hold her own and there wasn’t much more a man could want out of his daughter. At least what he could want.

“And that is what we are going to try to help you with,” Grant said. “We just have to figure this out on the down low.”

“Elise will be onto you in a hurry,” he said. “She knows everything that happened with Royce and everyone else. I actually thought you were working on Roni and Trent right now.”

“We are,” Grant said. “Not sure we are making much progress, but no one says we can’t start trying to throw a few chums in the water with your daughter.”

“Good lord, that is the best analogy because I’m positive Elise is going to come out like a shark and someone is going to end up bleeding. I just hope it’s not me.”

Prologue

“How was the test?”

Elise Kennedy looked at her college roommate. They got along just fine, but Sandra was not someone she felt she could get close with. Not someone she’d completely confide in.

Heck, she realized there wasn’t anyone other than her father and brother she could ever feel comfortable enough to confide in.

She put one foot up on the stool, her hands on the mattress, lifted and plopped her ass on the top bunk of her bed. Under it was a desk where she did her schoolwork.

“It was fine,” she said.

“I’ve got that class in two hours,” Sandra said. “Want to give me your notes?”

“Sure,” she said. She didn’t care. It was only a social studies elective. She was a business major. Sandra was an English major and offered to help her with those classes.

Her phone was ringing yet again. Then it stopped after a minute and started to buzz with texts.

“Someone wants to reach you,” Sandra said.

“My mother. She’s being a pain as always.”

There was no lost love between her and her mother. Not when her mother tried to turn her into a girlie girl that she’d rebelled against. 

Nope, she was a Daddy’s girl and liked it that way!

Give her jeans and sneakers, work boots too, and she was happy as a pig rolling in the dirt.

She’d gotten dirty helping her father on the construction site enough as a kid. But that wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life.

Not what her mother wanted either when Becky Kennedy left her father and decided she didn’t want her kids dragging her down.

“Are you going to answer it?” Sandra asked.

“Why not,” she said sarcastically. “Might as well start my weekend off right.”

She was done with classes for the day. She loved her early Fridays, but Sandra had a two o’clock class and would be done by three thirty.

“Can I witness this or do you want me to leave?” Sandra asked, grinning.

“I’m here for the entertainment factor,” she said, shrugging.

Sandra laughed and sat on her bed on the opposite side of their small room to face Elise.

She hit the button to call her mother back. She’d had a peaceful month at college not having to talk to her mother and she knew it wasn’t going to last forever.

“Why don’t you ever answer my calls, Elise?” her mother asked before she even said hello. No surprise there.

“Because I’m in college and busy,” she said. “I know you don’t work, so you don’t understand the rest of us have things going on during the day.”

“Steve is home at night,” her mother said. “I spend time with him.”

Because Becky Kennedy-Vern’s kids always fell at the bottom of the priority list. Her mother couldn’t take ten minutes out of her night to call her kids when they might not be in class if it was an inconvenience to her marriage. Steve would probably welcome the few minutes of solace.

“Good for you,” she said. “What is going on?”

“I can’t call to see how you’re doing in college?”

“I’m doing fine,” she said. “Just like I have for years in high school. You’d know that if you ever reached out. Or reached out at a reasonable time when a kid might be available.”

There was silence on the other end. “You didn’t want to move with me,” her mother snapped.

“You didn’t want me and you know it. You only wanted me because it looked bad that Dad got custody. No way was Dad going to let us be split up and you didn’t want Royce.”

Her mother snorted. “Your brother was better off with your father. He was taking over the business anyway. But you won’t have anything to do with it.”

This was where her mother never listened to her.

Ever.

And just because she was feeling extra ornery, she said, “Mom, if you took the time to talk to me, you’d know I’m going for a business degree and am going to run Kennedy Construction with Dad and Royce.”

Her mother sighed heavily. “I had such high hopes for you. Your father is a horrible example in your life. Maybe I should have fought harder to have you come live with me.”

“You’re only deluding yourself,” she said, almost growling. No one spoke poorly of her father or brother to her. Her mother never would have done what she’d just threatened anyway and Elise would have fought harder than her father would have.

Everything was lip service with her mother.

The only reason she had a normal childhood was because of her father. Never her mother.

“At least tell me you’re wearing more than jeans and sneakers to class.”

She looked at the jeans shorts she had on. She didn’t know if that counted and could have cared less. “It’s too hot for jeans,” she said.

“Shorts aren’t that much better,” her mother said. “I’m not sure why you couldn’t be a little bit more feminine. You’re going to be alone for a long time. No guy wants to be with a woman that acts like a man.”

“That’s your opinion,” she argued.

Though it was the truth since she didn’t date much in high school. Even in college she just kept to herself.

But one month into her freshman year and no guy had talked to her much unless it had to do with a classroom assignment.

Maybe her mother was right.

“You know, Elise. If you weren’t so argumentative and standoffish, that would go a long way too.”

She ground her teeth. She felt she was that way because of her mother. Or she got it from her mother and it wasn’t a good trait.

“Thanks for the motherly advice,” she said. “I’ll take it into consideration when I’m searching for my future husband in his three piece suit in class. Was there anything else you wanted to critique me on?”

“No,” her mother said sarcastically. “It’s not like you ever listen to me anyway.”

“Nope,” she said, matching her mother’s tone. “So if you don’t have anything else to say, I’ve got work to do.”

She hung up after that and wanted to throw her phone across the room.

“That was pretty entertaining,” Sandra said. “Your mother is so loud I could hear everything over on my bunk. Her tone of voice included, which I have to say was pretty sharp and nasty. And I don’t think you dress badly, don’t let it get to you.”

“Thanks,” she said drily.

“I just meant that you don’t dress up. But you’re not a guy or anything. You aren’t trying to look like one. You’ve got long hair. You’ve got a great body and big tits that I wish I had a fraction of.”

She laughed. “You only know they are big because you see me in T-shirts without a sports bra strapping them down.”

Elise hated that her breasts always seemed to get in the way when she was playing sports.

“Can I be honest about something else?” Sandra asked.

“Why not?” she said. “It’s that kind of day.”

“You are argumentative and standoffish to those that don’t know you. I guess I understand more knowing what I do about your mom and witnessing another of those conversations.”

“I’m only standoffish,” she said, “because I’m not into all the petty girl fighting and things.”

“You’ve got a point,” Sandra said. “A really good one. I’ve been dragged into more drama than I want to be. I supposed when we first met it was more guarded, but you loosened up in a day or so.”

“You were a stranger to me. I had no idea how you were going to be at first. I’ve got enough drama with my mother alone,” she said and slid off her bunk. 

Sandra nodded. “Why don’t we go to a party tonight?” Sandra said. “You don’t get out much. I heard there is one a dorm over. We can have fun and put all this crap with your mother behind you.”

“It will never be behind me completely,” she said quietly.

“Then you need to learn to ignore it and what better way than to go out? Come on,” Sandra said. “Be my wingwoman.”

Sandra’s laughter and waving her arms around on the bed were getting to her. “You’re right,” she said. “I think I will.”

“Sweet,” Sandra said, jumping down. “And I’m going to get some lunch and go to class.”

Sandra left after that and Elise went through her drawers looking for something that was a bit more feminine. Maybe she’d do her hair too. Put some makeup on.

Tonight she was going to prove how shallow her mother was.

She was going to look the part her mother always wanted. She was going to drink and act that way too.

She just hoped she didn’t have too many regrets. 

But wasn’t life just full of them anyway?

Elise Kennedy doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother. The woman that tried to fit her in a mold and she’s sworn never to conform. After a careless spontaneous decision in her youth to prove her mother wrong, she promises herself to never let that woman influence any decision again. Only history seems to repeat itself when she is around Gabe McCarthy and she wonders if she’ll ever get a chance to make it right.

Gabe McCarthy can’t get Elise Kennedy out of his mind. One night and many regrets still haunt him. Now, every time he sees her, he does his best to put on a happy face knowing it only riles her up more. Probably wrong on his part but he can’t seem to get the reaction he wants out of her. When he finds out the Fierces have put them together as their next project, he makes the bold decision to take matters into his own hands. Elise would rebel for the sake of someone planning out her life and he isn’t about to let another obstacle stand in his way.

Prologue

“I’ll see you when I get home,” Lynn Perkins said.

“I’ve got to work,” Cal said. 

At seventeen he had a part-time job stocking shelves at the grocery store. When he turned eighteen his father was going to get him a job at a liquor store doing the same. A buddy of his father’s owned the business and needed the help as he was getting up there in age. 

“Then I’ll see you when you get home,” his mother said. “I’m going to try to finish my Christmas shopping, then we can decorate the house later.”

He snorted. His mother was always into the Christmas spirit. He went along with it because it made her happy, but he’d long since outgrown helping her decorate for the holiday.

“Sure,” he said. “We can do that.”

She smiled at him. One of those that told him she knew he was doing it for her. “You’re a good kid, Cal. I know you’d rather go out with your friends. What time do you get out of work?”

He looked at his watch. It was nine in the morning and he was leaving in ten minutes. “I’ll be out at three,” he said.

“I’ll make sure I’m home before that. We’ll decorate and I’ll have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner because it’s your favorite and then you can go do what you want the rest of the night.”

He grinned. “The whole night?”

“You have a curfew,” she reminded him.

He put his sneakers on and grabbed his name tag to pin to his shirt. “Not much longer,” he said.

“Just because you’ll be eighteen in a few months doesn’t mean you don’t get a curfew,” she said. “You live under this roof and you know your father and I give you freedom, but we still like to know when you’ll be home.”

His father was a detective with the Colonie Police Department. It’s not like he’d ever been able to get away with much in his life. Everyone around here knew him. Or if they didn’t, they knew Jack Perkins, and they asked if he was his father.

Cal wasn’t out causing trouble anyway and knew enough not to. He’d never want his parents to think poorly of him. He never wanted to be a disappointment as their only child when he’d heard more than once they’d wanted a big family but just didn’t get that wish.

“I know,” he said. “I’ve heard it all before.” He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. “Bye, Mom. Love you.”

“Love you too,” she said. He walked out the door knowing that his mother was most likely going to get him the new gaming system he wanted for Christmas.

It was the only thing he’d asked for and he knew it was expensive, but he never asked for much and they normally tried to get him what he wanted.

His friends had all been saying how hard it was to get the system, but his mother had a way of finding things or getting the deals. 

If she wasn’t able to get it, he wouldn’t act disappointed. He’d be fine with it and wait until he could buy it himself when it was more readily available. 

He was laid back enough for those things even when a lot of his friends weren’t.

He got to work and punched in, went to the back to find out what he had to do and got busy.

Two hours later, he was laughing with his coworkers while they were loading up the dolly to bring to the store and start stocking more things when he looked up and saw his father next to the store manager.

“Hey, Dad. What’s going on?”

“We need to leave,” his father said. “It’s your mother.”

“What happened to her?” he asked. He felt light headed and sucked in some air fast. His father didn’t get rattled often in life and he could see now that was the case. From the clenched fists to the pale complexion. He felt himself mirroring it. 

“I’ll tell you on the way to the hospital,” his father said. “We need to leave now.”

“I punched you out,” the store manager said. “Go.”

The tone of voice from the store manager told him that everyone seemed to know what was going on but him. 

He nodded his head and walked out with his father, saw the police car with the lights flashing parked in front of his father’s truck.

When he got in the truck, the police car took off and his father followed. They were getting an escort and moving through town fast. 

“Dad, what is going on?”

“You’re mother’s been shot,” his father said.

“Shot! She was going Christmas shopping,” he said. “How can that be?”

His stomach hit the floor and he felt as if he was going to pass out. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He needed to stay strong for his father. The man who protected him and his mother. Always.

“I don’t know all the details,” his father said. “We’ll get more information later. I only care about your mother. Just know, Cal. It’s not good. You’re old enough to understand that and be told.”

The fact they were racing through the town and running streetlights while he held onto the door with a white-knuckle grip should have been answer enough that was the case.

“Is she going to die?” he asked quietly.

His father didn’t turn to look at him, but Cal saw the tear rolling down the big man’s cheek. “I don’t know. But we have to be braced for that possibility.”

They got to Albany Medical Center in record time, his father leaving his truck and keys with the valet at the entrance as the two of them raced in.

It didn’t matter though. 

They were too late.

They got to the front desk, gave their names and then were escorted to a private room where a doctor came in and delivered the news.

Somehow Christmas shopping turned into the end of his mother’s life and Cal wasn’t sure how his world would ever be right again.

Cal Perkins lost his parents at a young age forever altering his outlook on life. All he’s ever wanted to do was make them proud and that guides all his decisions. It might be why he is still single because it feels as if nothing he does is really for him, yet he’ll never let anyone know.

When Mia Finley graduated from law school, her hopes and aspirations were to save the world. But years into her career, she’s burned out and her dreams were slowly being drained. She relocates closer to family and starts over with her self-confidence at an all-time low. Until she meets a man that has every reason to hate life and yet embraces it. Or so he was trying to show the world. But she learns fast that sometimes you need help to heal old wounds, something the two of them are going to have to navigate together.

If you haven’t read the PROLOGUE check it out.

Chapter One

Experiencing Life 

Ten Years Later

Ivy let out a sigh as she watched yet another coworker get engaged.

It didn’t seem fair that everyone was finding love and she could barely find a guy she liked enough to get naked with.

But Heather and Luke were perfect for each other and she was thrilled for her friend.

She turned to Heather’s roommate, Daisy. Another one that found a great guy. The numbers were dwindling of friends that she’d have to go out with.

“What are you going to do now?” Ivy asked.

“What do you mean?” Daisy asked. 

Everyone was talking at once while they looked at the menu to order their food at Mona’s. She did have to admit she loved how close everyone was that she worked with.

She’d never had this growing up. Not with friends, ever… Not even in college when she kept trying to go back and finish. 

She was more interested in experiencing life than learning from books. Guess it showed with the way she floundered so much.

“Are you going to stay at Poppy’s place alone or get a new roommate?” Ivy asked.

“Ivy,” Dahlia said. “Why would you ask that right now? You always think of those things rather than focusing on the happiness around you.”

She pouted a little. She didn’t know why Dahlia, who was four years older than her, always had to scold her like their mother did.

“It’s just Daisy has always lived with Heather. It’s got to be a big change,” Ivy argued.

“And she’s got a boyfriend right now, so maybe it’s not that big of a deal,” Dahlia said.

Daisy watched as she and her sister eyed each other. The last thing Ivy wanted to do was fight here when everyone was happy. She didn’t think her question was that insensitive, but maybe it was.

Maybe she just couldn’t get out of her own way half the time and focused on the wrong things as she was reminded of frequently.

“Yes, I’ve got a boyfriend and I’m trying to spend time with him when I can,” Daisy said. “I haven’t thought much of the future. Heather and I will talk about it. As you can tell, they don’t move fast.”

They’d all just found out Heather had something going on with Luke much longer than she’d let on.

“I’m sure Heather is going to move in with Luke,” Ivy said. “I would.”

If she were Heather, she would have moved in with Luke months ago. 

“Because you’re selfish like that,” Dahlia said simply.

“That’s mean,” Ivy said. Her eyes started to itch and burn with the telltale signs of tears coming on. 

She’d heard it more than once she was selfish and only thought of herself.

That she needed someone to care for her.

She couldn’t be alone.

She always had to have a guy in her life or someone to make her feel important.

That she had Daddy issues because of the attention she wanted from her father that she never got.

None of those things would be wrong.

She just hated that she couldn’t seem to stop feeling that way.

It felt as if there was something wrong with her when no one else worried about the things she did.

“Girls,” Jasmine, her older sister by two years, said. “Enough. This is a happy dinner. Ivy, what is going on with you?”

It was the soft tone that Jasmine used a lot. Not a lecturing one even though Jasmine had been known to do that too.

But she’d been the closest to Jasmine, who seemed to understand her the best.

After all, it was Jasmine who helped her move to Mystic and start over. To learn to live on her own and have this great job surrounded by everyone in this room.

She’d never let her sister down and would always be thankful for the opportunity.

“Nothing,” Ivy said, smiling. “Just everyone is hooking up and I’m stuck with Dahlia.”

“You’re the one that wanted me to move here,” Dahlia said. “I could have stayed where I was. I was happy enough.”

Dahlia was quiet, but it was obvious she was hurt by the comment. She just sucked sometimes as a sister. She wanted to try to put on a happy face and be positive and it didn’t come off right.

“I’m sorry,” she said, hugging Dahlia. “I’m not sure what is going on with me. I think I’m hormonal. I get that way. I hope there is something chocolatey on the dessert menu. Do you wish Theo could have come with you, Daisy?”

She thought maybe if she turned the topic around, no one would realize what a horrible person she was by her careless comments with her sister. Or the ones she’d been making with everyone else. Daisy’s boyfriend was a doctor and working tonight.

“I do, but understand he has a job to do too. I can’t come first at those times, but I know I’m on his mind.”

“Which is the way it should be,” Jasmine said, having heard the conversation being across from them. “Ivy will understand that one day too.”

Another gentle rub for her to grow up. To be more accepting. To not rush to find something because everyone else had what she wanted.

That she couldn’t always come first in people’s lives.

Maybe she just wanted to come first once in a while without having to ask for it.

“I know,” she said. “It’s just lonely here.”

“It shouldn’t be with Dahlia living with you,” Daisy said.

Ivy turned to look at her sister and gave her a little smile and nudge with her arm. “It’s not lonely at home, but I can’t get Dahlia to go out and do anything. It’s work, work, work.”

“I’m busy,” Dahlia said. “I’ve got a new job to learn.”

Dahlia always used that excuse when Ivy wanted her sister to go out and do something fun.

In the few months Dahlia had lived with her, she’d done nothing more than work. She was positive her sister didn’t even talk to the opposite sex unless it was someone in this room and she sure the heck hadn’t gone on a date.

“I don’t want to get in the middle of sisters fighting,” Lily, their boss, said with a big smile on her face. “But I’ve told Dahlia she doesn’t need to spend that much time at work. Don’t blame me.”

“Look at who is talking,” Poppy, another one of their bosses, said. “You’ve done the same thing. We all have at this table. Right?”

She looked around at the women sitting together and everyone was nodding their heads.

Ivy had no problem working all the time. The more she worked, the more money she made. And she loved her job and learning new things. She wanted them to know they made the right choice in hiring her.

Plus, maybe some sexy guy would come in and she could strike up a conversation with him.

Yep, always going back to that.

“There is a balance to find,” Heather said. “I found it with Luke and wasn’t sure I would be able to. I’m learning that when you find the one you love, you make exceptions for things and are more understanding and hope they are the same with you.”

“I am,” Luke said. 

“Awww, aren’t you two so sweet,” Ivy said. 

Everyone just started to talk in general at the table now. Their orders were taken, Dahlia was quiet.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly to Dahlia. “I didn’t mean it.”

Dahlia sighed. “I know. We are just two different people. You know that.”

“But we get along well, right?”

Dahlia smiled at her. Maybe her older sister saw she desperately needed that kind of approval right now.

Like she’d been told enough in life too.

“We do,” Dahlia said. “When you’re not being a little brat.”

She laughed and laid her head on Dahlia’s shoulder. “You wouldn’t want me to be any other way.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Dahlia said, “but it’s the sister I’ve got and love.”

It made her feel better to hear that and she could relax now for the rest of the dinner.

She wasn’t so relaxed when they drove home and climbed the stairs to their apartment. 

Dahlia went to put the key in, but the door pushed open when she touched it. “Ivy, you locked the door, right?”

“What?” she asked, looking down. “Yes. I always do. You know we’ve had safety drilled into our heads our entire lives.”

“It’s open,” Dahlia said.

She grabbed her sister’s arm as her heart started to thump loudly in her chest. “Don’t go in.”

“We have to,” Dahlia whispered. “I’ll call out first. I’m sure it just didn’t shut all the way or something.”

“I don’t think so,” Ivy said. She was careful about those things. She’d listened to her father when everyone said she didn’t. After all, safety was the reason she was so lonely half the time.

Dahlia pushed the door open with her foot. “Hello?”

“We’ve got two big bodyguards with us with guns,” Ivy yelled.

“Why would you say that?” Dahlia whispered.

“I don’t know. It seemed like the thing to do,” she said just as quietly.

Dahlia moved in a few feet, then flipped the light on and they saw that their living room was a mess.

“Oh my God,” Dahlia said. 

“We’ve been robbed,” Ivy screeched. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Wait,” Dahlia said. “I want to see what happened.”

“No,” Ivy said, grabbing her arm. “Now. We have to get out and call the police. We don’t know if he’s still in the building. Maybe he’s in one of the other apartments.”

It just occurred to her it was barely nine and there wasn’t one light on in all the apartments that she could see when they pulled into the driveway. There were three levels and maybe everyone was out tonight.

She hoped it was that and no one was hurt.

Her heart was racing fast enough she feared she might pass out. She grabbed her sister’s arm and pulled her down the stairs, not caring they both had heeled boots on. 

“Slow down,” Dahlia said. “I’m going to break an ankle.”

Ivy started to sob as the tears were running out of her eyes and blurring her vision. “No. I don’t want to be in there.”

They got outside quickly and jumped in Dahlia’s car and locked themselves in. Dahlia called the police. Ivy called Jasmine.

Prologue

“Dad,” Ivy Greene yelled. They’d been in Haiti for about a month and she was bored out of her mind.

“I’m busy right now,” her father said when he walked into the house. 

“Ivy,” her mother said. “You know Dad just got home. Let him clean up and finish his paperwork.”

“But, Mom,” she argued. It was bad enough that it was only her and Chase now. She was closest to her sister Jasmine, at just two years older than her. But Jasmine was in Georgia and starting college. 

She knew this day would come. One by one, her siblings turned eighteen and went to America to live a life she’d felt she’d been deprived of. They’d all been deprived of.

She’d been the baby for a full five years before Chase came and now she still couldn’t get any attention being the oldest in the house.

Or not the kind she wanted.

“No,” her mother said. “Help me cook dinner, please.”

She wanted to stomp her foot. She knew it was immature, but the frustration inside of her was building. “How come Chase doesn’t have to help? When I was eleven I had to do all sorts of chores, but he gets to do what he wants.” 

“He’s with your father right now,” her mother said.

“That’s not fair,” she whined. Chase had followed her father to the other room to do some work she was sure.

Her mother looked at her. “Don’t get upset. Wipe your eyes.”

“Dad never spends any time with me,” she said. “Ever. It’s always with Chase. I bet even if I said I was interested in learning what he does all day, he still would spend it with Chase.”

Her mother sighed. “Ivy. You know as well as I do that your father is a very busy man. Chase is helping him. If you showed any interest you could too, but you’d just get underfoot.”

“But what if I was interested?” she asked.

Her mother narrowed her eyes at her and picked up the knife for her to move over and help with dinner. “Are you interested or just coming up with another excuse to be with your father?”

She hated that she had variations of this conversation with her mother all the time.

“I shouldn’t have to come up with excuses to be with him,” she said, starting to sniffle. “It’s always all about Chase.”

“That’s not true,” her mother said. “Your father spreads his time out as evenly as he can. We are still new to the area and I know you’re bored.”

“Why can’t we go into town?” she asked. At least when her sisters were around she had someone else to do things with.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” her mother asked sternly. “To ask your father to take you into town because you know we can’t go without him?”

Ivy pursed her lips tightly. She was going to get in trouble if she said yes. And if she said no, her mother would know she was lying.

All they did was move from one poverty-stricken country to another.

It wasn’t safe half the time and they could never go anywhere alone.

Some areas were better than others, and as long as she was with her older siblings in a group, she’d be fine.

But Mark, Dahlia and Jasmine were all gone. That just left her and Chase and now she was spending more time doing all the chores that still existed and having no fun at all.

The safety group she had to do things with her older siblings was gone too and no one felt she was responsible enough to take Chase anywhere so she was stuck until her parents could do it.

“When can we go?” she asked. 

“I don’t know,” her mother said. “I’ll talk to your father later tonight. Help me get dinner ready. Or you can go and take the wash off the line.”

“I’ll stay in with the dinner,” she said. Anything was better than folding stiff laundry that was drying outside.

She started to slice the vegetables. Things she didn’t even know the names of. Her mother tried hard to keep the meals simple for them. She didn’t want to think she was fussy, but she just wanted something normal for once.

Like the ice cream she’d gotten when they visited her grandparents in Texas a few years ago. They’d stayed a month and she didn’t want to leave.

She’d been told no, she had to go. Her parents wanted them together.

She supposed it was better being with her siblings than being alone.

Only the day was here when she was alone.

Twenty minutes went by while her mother was dealing with the laundry. All those modern amenities that other sixteen-year-olds had in America were things she didn’t have here.

She had a limited wardrobe. Enough to pack in two bags when it was time to relocate. Not a lot of possessions either. Laptops weren’t things that were common in the village they were living in. Nor the internet. What they got was a satellite and not used often. Normally when her father was working and that was it.

“Do you need help?”

She turned to see Chase walk into the kitchen. “Yes. But as you can see I’m almost done. You always come in when I’m done.”

Chase grinned at her. “I don’t plan it that way.”

She could tell by the look on his face, he did. “Where is Dad?”

“Taking a shower,” Chase said. “He’ll be out soon. It was so cool what he was showing me just now.”

She ground her teeth. “What was that?”

“He said a kid came in today with three broken fingers and he showed me how he fixed and set them. I can’t wait to do all this myself.”

“Do you really want to go into medicine or just want to spend time with Dad?”

Chase laughed and picked up a slice of fruit that she’d been cutting. She didn’t know the name of that either, but it was sweet.

“I want to learn,” Chase said. “Maybe if you read more than you pouted you wouldn’t be so bored all the time.”

She felt the tears come back into her eyes. Everyone told her she was high maintenance, overly sensitive and needed attention.

She didn’t think she did, but she didn’t like to be alone either.

“That isn’t nice to say, Chase,” her father said, coming into the room.

Ivy turned and smiled. She missed her father and was happy he came to her defense.

She put the knife down and went to him to get a hug. “Hi, Daddy.”

It probably sounded childish for her to address her father like this at her age, but it was what came out of her mouth.

Her father gave her a one-armed hug. “Are you behaving?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she said, sighing. She wasn’t five, but her father always treated her as such. “I’m helping with dinner like Mom asked me to do.”

“Good girl,” her father said and moved away.

There was a solid minute of silence while he sat at the table and was on his computer. He didn’t have much of an office space here. Most of the places they lived in had two to three bedrooms if that. She was lucky to have her own room for the first time in her life now. But that meant her father had to give up the room he would have used as an office to Chase.

Maybe she shouldn’t have thrown such a fit about having to share with him with their age difference, but it wasn’t fair. She’d been sharing with her sisters for years while Chase got his own room. 

Her father had given in and said he’d do his work at the table.

“Dad,” she started to say.

“I’m busy,” he said. “Can you wait until after dinner?”

She opened the door for her mother. “What did I tell you?” her mother said softly. “Dad is working. The table is his office and he needs us to be quiet.”

Ivy sighed. She’d listen because she knew she played a part in the fact he was working at the table, but she wouldn’t feel guilty about that.

It’s not as if her parents ever felt guilty about dragging their five kids all over the world with no say.

She didn’t even bother to answer her father. He wasn’t paying attention anyway.

Her mother and she got back to dinner.

But two hours later when dinner was done and cleaned up, she’d thought she could get her chance to talk to her father, only to discover he was sleeping in the chair when she came out of the bathroom after showering.

“Don’t wake your father,” her mother said. “What you were going to ask him can wait another day. Why don’t you go outside and play with Chase.”

“I don’t play,” she said. 

“Then go watch your brother while he entertains himself,” her mother said.

She quietly marched outside where her brother was kicking a ball around. “Come play with me,” Chase said.

“No,” she said.

“Why not?” Chase asked, running over. “You’re just going to sit there and stare at the sky. What do you think of when you do that?”

“A different life,” she said.

One where someone listened to her. Paid attention to her.

Talked to her.

Heard what she had to say.

Maybe gave her five minutes of their time before they gave her chores to do.

“Our life is still better than those that Dad is taking care of,” Chase said simply and ran off to kick the ball, leaving her there as her tears fell silently. Yeah, her eleven-year-old brother made her feel about one inch tall. 

She didn’t know why she couldn’t be happy with what she had instead of wishing for more.

Ivy Greene is the one sibling in the family that seems to need the most attention. Maybe because she didn’t get it from the person she wanted it from the most. Her father. She goes through men trying to find something she can’t quite put her finger on and it’s making her miserable. After a long dry spell, she decides to take a different approach. Only this time, she might have gotten more than she bargained for.

Brooks Scarsdale doesn’t have time for the nuisances of dating. If he wants a woman, he can find one easily enough. Hell, they even come to him. Just like the young Ivy Greene did. But for a man that never wants to get weighed down with the expectations of catering to a woman’s needs, he finds that Ivy is the one that might make him change his mind. The only problem…he’s too terrified to admit it to anyone and maybe lose the best thing that ever entered his life.

If you haven’t ready the Prologue, you can catch up now.

Chapter One

Get Lucky

Six Weeks Later

“Happy New Year,” Egan said to his mother when he walked in around noon. His younger brother, Ethan, was already there and lifted his eyebrow at him.

“Just getting up?” Ethan asked.

“Happy New Year,” his mother said. “Ethan, leave Egan alone. He could have been working late last night.”

“Please,” Ethan said. “He was at the casino with me.”

“Drinking club soda,” Egan said. “I had to fly some whales back to Boston at one. You left before then.”

He and his younger brother owned a small percentage of his brother Eli’s casino. Two and a half percent each. Not much, but he wanted in on the action. His father owned twenty-five percent. Just like his father owned twenty-five percent of his charter company and his brothers had five percent each too. 

There was part of him that wanted the hundred percent but learned that family did it together and were stronger for it.

Just like the Bond billion-dollar empire his father owned would come to the three sons at some point in the long-away future.

He’d leave the running of that to his brother Ethan who sat at a desk and was learning the ropes alongside their dad.

“I just figured you were staying to get lucky,” Ethan said.

His mother walked over and slapped his younger brother’s arm. “Don’t talk like that in front of me.”

He and Ethan laughed. They’d always talked like that in front of their mother. She had that reaction every time too.

“You’re used to it,” his father said, coming into the room. 

They grew up in this massive house on the island. They had a house in Boston too. For Egan, island living was the way to go. Eli too. Ethan, he had his condo in Boston’s Seaport District and didn’t own anything on the island. When Ethan was here he was staying with their parents or in the casino. Mostly the casino because what man in their thirties wanted to stay with his parents even if they had a whole wing to themselves?

“How busy were you last night?” Ethan asked. 

“Busy enough. Lincoln was out longer than me. We were flying back and forth until ten; then I had a few hours before I had to return a group to Boston at one. Lincoln stayed at the condo last night. I returned since I had two flights to bring back this morning that stayed at the casino.”

Egan owned a home on the island. It’s where he wanted to be. But it made smart business sense to have a place to crash in Boston too. 

His other pilot, Lincoln Harrington, rented a home on the island and the two of them just stayed at the two-bedroom condo in Boston when they needed to. They each had their own room but rarely were there the same night unless they planned it.

His business didn’t just fly people back and forth from Boston to Amore Island or doing tours. They flew all over the Northeast out of Boston or picked up cargo for people and came back.

Considering one of the businesses his father owned on the docks was shipping and receiving, a good part of his flight time was small cargo for people that didn’t want to wait or worry about shipping and delivery times. Or extremely valuable items.

A job was a job and they took it and made a lot of money doing it.

Pretty soon he’d have to consider a third chopper and pilot. If he could find the right person.

“Then it sounds as if Egan was working more than you the past two days,” his mother said.

“Thank you, Mom,” Egan said, going into the fridge to get the apple juice. He’d had three cups of coffee this morning already. Now he needed some sugar.

“That’s gross,” Ethan said. “You’re the only adult I know still drinking juice.”

“It’s better than soda,” he said, eying the can in front of his brother. He turned the bottle around. “It says all natural. You can’t claim that.”

“Boys,” his mother said. “Can we ever have a family gathering without the bickering?”

“No,” his father said. “But Eli and Bella will be here soon.”

“No Griffin?” he asked. 

For years, Eli’s best friend, Griffin Zale, was at most holiday dinners unless he could find a way to get out of them. But Griffin was married to their distant cousin Penelope now and they had a one-year-old daughter.

“I believe Sophia is cooking today and everyone is going there,” his mother said. “You know she loves to spend time with her grandkids and Emily is just getting back into the swing of things.”

Penelope’s sister, Emily, had twins back in the fall. A boy and a girl. Emily and Penelope owned Atlantic Rise Hotel. Egan’s father had some ownership there too. The girls’ father, Mason Rauch, was his father’s right-hand man. So though Penelope was a distant cousin, she was more like a sister to him at times.

And that percentage of Atlantic Rise would also come to him and his brothers at some time in the far, far future. More brain clutter that he’d leave Ethan to figure out.

“I’ve got to meet with them soon to go over a few things,” Egan said.

“What’s going on?” his father asked.

“Just setting up some prices for guests for the summer tours. Time yet for that, but many are booking now to get ahead of it.”

“Good for business,” Ethan said.

“Yeah,” he said. “I might not sit at a desk all day with my ass getting fat, but I’m smart enough to run my business my way.”

“Hey,” his father said, laughing. “I’ll have you know I’ve sat at a desk most of my life and your mother still thinks my ass is nice.”

“Jesus,” he said. “Don’t say that shit to me.”

His mother started to laugh. “It’s not fun when it’s the other way around, is it?”

“You do that on purpose,” Ethan said. Ethan was almost gagging at this point. 

“Of course they do,” Egan said, grinning. “Just like I do. When are you going to learn to not be such a tight ass?”

“You can’t be serious a day in your life,” Ethan said. “And you just gave Mom hell for saying something like that.”

“In his joking manner,” his mother said. “And Egan is plenty serious when he needs to be.”

“Sure,” Eli said, walking into the room. “Take his side. He’s always been your favorite. I thought the oldest or the youngest got that honor, but here it’s the middle child.”

Bella waddled in not looking very comfortable. Egan couldn’t wait to hold his niece and knew it could be any day now.

“You get more than enough attention,” Bella said. “Don’t be jealous.”

“Egan gets it all now because it’s the classic middle child syndrome. He acted out so much that Mom had to make him her favorite.”

“Good lord,” his mother said, throwing her hands in the air. “I have no favorites. At least not yet. Pretty soon you can all complain that my time and attention will be on my granddaughter.”

“That is the way it should be,” his father said.

“I’ll put some snacks out,” his mother said. “I know you guys have some business to talk about and then no more.”

“Why do we have to talk about business on a holiday?” Egan asked. 

“Because all three of us are in the same spot for once,” Ethan said. “Half the time you’re up in the air and Eli works afternoons and nights. I’m in the office before you even think of getting out of bed.”

“I was in the air at seven this morning,” he said. “And in bed much later than you, so bite me if I want to go home and take a nap.”

Which he’d done when he’d gotten back to his place at eight. He got about four hours of sleep last night and three more this morning. He was used to not getting more than that in a stretch during certain times.

His business was on call for emergencies too if the State Police couldn’t get a helicopter over here. 

The ferry didn’t run past nine during the summer and seven in the winter. If someone needed to get on or off in emergencies, they called him. Or not necessarily an emergency but a family member, he was always available.

Did he charge his family? Shit yeah. Like they’d do it to him. No one cared about it either.

Just like he had contracts with businesses to be available too. Any on-call type contract where he collected the money to be available and marked a priority. Then he still charged them.

He wasn’t as stupid as many thought he was just because he didn’t want to actually do the work on his books.

“Ethan doesn’t get it,” Eli said. “He’s always had to be in bed early. He’s not a night owl like the two of us.”

Ethan rolled his eyes at them. “Some of us aren’t half vampire.”

“You tell them,” Bella said. “I’ve made the comment to Eli more than enough, but since I grew up around casinos I know the life. It will come in handy when this one arrives.”

“That’s right,” Eli said, moving over to where Bella was on the couch. His older brother sat next to his wife and rubbed her belly. “Bella can sleep at night and I’ll care for the baby, then she can care for the baby in the morning while I try to sleep.”

“You don’t sleep in that much,” Bella said. “I swear you and Griffin never slept.”

“When is the first flight to Boston tomorrow?” Ethan asked. “I’ll catch a ride with you or Lincoln. Unless one of you is going over today.”

“Are you in a hurry to get away from your mother?” his mother asked. “After you just complained Egan was the favorite?”

“Yeah,” Egan said. “You can stay and bake with Mom like you did as a kid.”

“I wanted cookies,” Ethan said. “The easiest way to get them is to tell Mom I wanted to cook them with her.”

He turned and caught his mother narrowing her eyes at her youngest, her hands on her hips. “So you played me?”

“Janet,” his father said. “Don’t act all indignant. You know when each and every one of your children is playing you.”

“That’s right,” his mother said. “The same as I know it with you too.”

He and his brothers laughed. 

Egan wouldn’t think he was the favorite by any means, but he had to admit, he probably got the most attention because he was the biggest handful.

Not in a bad way. Never that.

Just more like he didn’t care all that much as a kid.

As an adult, he got it though. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy life to the fullest.