April Fool Bride
Authors: Joan Reeves
Tags: #romantic comedy, #wedding, #contemporary romance, #bride, #marriage of convenience, #love conquers all, #romance and sex, #romance and humor, #millionaire bachelors, #heiress romance
An All Brides Are Beautiful Romance
By
Excerpt
APRIL FOOL BRIDE
An All Brides Are Beautiful Romance
Copyright © 2014 by Joan Reeves
Is it a marriage of convenience or something
more? Something that sizzles like steam heat between Maddie and
Jake that neither can resist.
* * *
Jake drained his cup and went back to the
coffee carafe for more, using the time to mull over her
"offer."
He didn't know what was going on in that rich
girl brain of hers, but whatever it was, it was definitely
intriguing. And so was Maddie. He'd be lying if he said she didn't
make his pulse throb. She wasn't conventionally pretty, but her
face was arresting. Striking. Appealing in its sensuality.
Her lips drew his gaze. Briefly, he allowed
himself to think about covering her mouth with his. How would she
taste? How would it feel to have her mouth on him. Heat uncurled
within him, and he had to fight the images.
He didn't have anything better to do at the
moment, he told himself. So why not string her along? See what she
wanted. He turned and faced Maddie. Crossing his arms, he leaning
back against the black granite counter, aiming for nonchalance.
"Okay. Tell me more. Who do I have to kill for this great financial
opportunity?"
"Oh, it's nothing like that," Maddie said in
a rush. "You just have to marry me."
An All Brides Are Beautiful Romance
Copyright © 2014 by Joan Reeves
Smashwords Edition
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1All rights reserved. Without limiting the
rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication
may be used or 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 Joan Reeves, the copyright owner and
publisher of this book, with the exception of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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.
The author acknowledges the trademarked
status and trademark owners of various products that may be
referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without
permission. The publication and/or use of these trademarks is not
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1Cover Art Copyright
©
2014 by Adina
Mayo, www.AdinaMayo.com (Adina at AdinaMayo dot com).
ISBN: 9781310495557 (Courtesy of
Smashwords.)
An All Brides Are Beautiful Romance
Sassy, Sexy Sizzling: Other Books by Joan
Reeves
Quotation Collection: April Fools, Fools in General,
and Jokes
Dedication
April Fool Bride
is dedicated to
Lauren
and
Fiona
, two smart, beautiful--and totally
cool--young women who are dear to me. I've known you both since you
and Adina played together as children. Surely it's an April Fool's
Joke that you're both grown, married, and have children of your
own. Right?
As always, this book is dedicated to my hero,
my husband Larry. You have my heart.
Chapter
1
The first day of spring in New York featured
the kind of weather Madeline Quinn most hated. Cold, gray, wet, and
miserable which made it perfect because that's exactly the way she
felt. Especially the miserable part since she had only from now
until April first to accomplish a daunting task, and she was
uncertain she could do it.
Maddie gave a quick snort of laughter. April
Fool's Day, how appropriate. The icy wind cut through her gray
all-weather coat. She wished she were home. In Texas, March had
brought golden sunshine, skies the color of a robin's egg, and
bluebonnets dancing along the roadways. Back home in Houston,
azaleas in every hue of pink and red enticed thousands of visitors
to tour the Azalea Trail in her River Oaks neighborhood.
Maddie glanced at the dirty snow against the
curb. No wildflowers or blooming shrubs lined these city streets.
Nothing grew in New York unless you counted the mounds of gray
snow.
Another blast of frigid wind hit her. Maddie
shivered. Even Mother Nature conspired against her--pummeling the
city with a late winter storm that kept her from fleeing home.
Even though home with her stepmother was
about as cold as New York and lonely too, at least she was used to
that. She'd realized years ago that Constance Quinn had no love to
give her sad little stepdaughter. Maddie wondered if her austere
stepmother had love to give anyone or anything. For the most part,
the woman her dad had married when Maddie was eight years old was
pleasant to her. Civil. There was a certain comfort in knowing what
to expect from the elegant blonde who had jumped from an accounting
office in Edward Quinn's energy company to Edward's master bedroom.
All within a year of the death of Maddie's mother. Constance simply
had no interest--then or now--in her stepdaughter.
Another gust of wind grabbed the ends of the
turquoise wool scarf wrapped around Maddie's head. Hastily, she
captured the finely-woven fabric and tucked the loose ends back
beneath her coat collar. She should have stayed in the cab until
the driver pulled up to the address she'd given him. But, as they'd
neared her destination, her nerves had gained the upper hand. She'd
panicked and impulsively decided to walk the final block so she'd
have time to calm her nerves. She just hadn't expected it to be so
darn cold.
Maddie knew procrastination only delayed the
inevitable. Procrastination, as Constance had often pointed out,
was one of her many faults. But she'd needed the grace of these few
minutes before she faced the man she'd flown to New York to see.
Even Sister Theresa had scolded her about procrastination, but
Maddie hadn't resented her favorite teacher's gentle admonitions.
She'd worked to overcome her tendency to avoid the unpleasant. She
knew if Sister Theresa were here, the elderly nun would be
disappointed in her reversion to that bad habit.
What the woman would say about Maddie's plan
that had brought her to the Big Apple didn't bear contemplation.
Delaying the meeting was foolish. Her anxiety would only continue
to grow. She should just get it over with. She could do this. It
wasn't as if she had a choice. Not if she wanted to make good on
her promises. And she'd rather die than break those promises. Even
her best friend Amy, who was also her attorney, had agreed that
Maddie's plan was her last resort.
Minutes later, Maddie stared up at a lovely
old brownstone, surprised he lived in such an expensive
neighborhood. Graciella had said he'd "made good money" before he
lost his job, buying her a house and allowing her to retire if she
wanted. It must have been very good money, Maddie thought. She'd
never doubted that he would be successful. He had the intelligence
and the ambition to conquer anything. Even Wall Street apparently.
She was proud of his achievements even though the only reason she
was standing outside his building was because he'd lost his job in
the economic downturn. She didn't know exactly what that job had
been. Graciella had been rather vague about details, but Maddie had
taken his sudden unemployment as opportunity. If she could focus on
the present and avoid thinking of that horrible night when she'd
been fifteen, she'd be all right. A sigh escaped her, and she saw
her breath in the cold air. Was any cliché more appropriate than
young and stupid?
The front door of the old brownstone opened.
Maddie hurried up the steps, smiling at the elderly man who saw her
and held the door. Who said New Yorkers were rude?
Maddie stepped into an oak-paneled vestibule.
Her eyes scanned the call buttons and names. Anxiety knotted her
stomach, and she suddenly felt weak all over. "Just suck it up and
punch the damned button," she whispered.
Fingers shaking, she pressed his call button
then closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. After a
couple of seconds, she pressed the button again. With her courage
fading fast, she stabbed the button a third and fourth time in
quick succession.
"What?"
The barked question from the speaker was loud
in the small space and made her jump. Her heart pounded. Nine years
had passed, but she still recognized his voice.
Before she could answer, another impatient
growl blasted from the speaker. "What do you want?"
All the words in her brain disappeared. Just
like the saliva in her mouth. Her throat felt as dry as a west
Texas creek bed in a drought. If his voice affected her this way,
what would seeing him again do to her?
"Who the hell is this?"
Maddie swallowed to moisten her parched
throat. Her voice came out as a croak. "Hi, Jake. Uh, this is…I
mean…"
An electronic buzz and a loud click
interrupted her. Maddie pushed against the heavy oak and glass door
before she could change her mind. Another cleansing, calming breath
didn't help. At least she had five flights of stairs to gain
control of herself. She tried to deny the thought that any
embarrassment or humiliation or anger--whatever he threw at
her--was worth it if she got to see him again.
As the carpeted stair treads passed beneath
her feet, Maddie rehearsed her speech. She would present the
proposition…She snorted. Wrong word. She definitely shouldn't call
it a proposition. Employment opportunity. That's what she'd say.
She'd explain it coolly and calmly. After all, she was an adult,
not a lovesick teenager. He would either say yes or no. If it was
no, then she'd accept that. She wasn't going to beg. Not like that
night all those years ago. If he said no, she'd go home. That would
be the end of it because he was the only man she could trust. She'd
just bide her time and wait for the next ten years to pass.
At least the trip wouldn't be a total waste.
She'd get to see him again. Be in the same room with him. Breathe
the same air he breathed. See his face. Hear his voice. Smell the
scent that rose from his skin. Maddie groaned. She really had to
stop thinking like that.
Chapter 2
Jake Becker scrubbed his hands over his face.
He'd only had two hours of sleep. Sometimes it was hell having your
business partners be your two best friends because they never took
no for an answer when they wanted to celebrate until dawn. True,
this latest deal had put several million in their respective bank
accounts, but he'd grown tired of the obligatory blond party girl
and the thirty-year-old bottle of Scotch featured in most
celebrations. Unfortunately, Vince and Steve hadn't. Maybe
something was wrong with him, Jake thought, but he wanted something
different.
Hearing that voice--her voice--had shocked
him into full wakefulness. Madeline Maureen Quinn. Of all the women
in the world, Maddie was the last he'd have expected to see on his
doorstep.
With her hesitant throaty whisper, the years
had vanished. He'd been swept back to his bedroom in the servants'
quarters of her family's mansion, with her too-thin, nearly-naked
body pressed against him. Her skin had been so soft. Her hands so
frantic, stroking down his chest to his waist. Fingers fumbling
with the buttons on the fly of his jeans. Pleading with him to love
her in the same sexy voice. A bolt of desire hit him just as it had
then. Did she even know that voice of hers made a man want to scoop
her up and cart her off to the nearest bed?