Nordic Heroes: In the Market and a Wholesale Arrangement
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Authors: Day Leclaire
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Family Saga, #Romantic Comedy, #sagas, #contemporary romance, #sexy, #steamy, #Marriage, #of, #convenience, #office, #romance, #Contemporary, #Seattle
Book #1 in the
Nordic Heroes
series
by
Day Leclaire
USA Today
Bestselling Author
Table of Contents
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To my husband, Frank, without whom this story would be impossible.
and
To Keith L. Andre, who makes a great Viking role model.
and finally,
To my sister, Diane, for loaning me her Viking husband. Thanks!
Meet Rainer and Thor Thorsen. Two of Seattle’s finest bachelors. They’re rich. They’re powerful. They’re gorgeous. They’re modern-day Vikings.
They know what they want. They take what they will.
And they live by a single motto:
There’s only one thing a Thorsen loves more than fighting . . . and that’s
winning!
Whether it’s winning at business or at love, these Thorsens will fight for what they want.
In the Market: Rainer Thorsen
is determined to own Cornucopia. Only one thing stands in his way:
Jordan Roberts
. She’s equally determined to keep her family’s business. But one look at Rainer’s ruthless, winner-take-all grin and she realizes she’s in for the battle of a lifetime. Should she try and charm the modern-day Viking? Or should she kick him and his lightning bolt earring out the door? Either way she’s in serious trouble because Rainer has made it clear that winner takes all. And he intends to have Cornucopia . . . and her!
A Wholesale Arrangement: Thor Thorsen
is as tough as they come and business always comes first. That doesn’t change when his former fiancée,
Andrea Constantine
needs his help to save the company she inherited. Thor proposes a business arrangement to solve her dilemma — marriage. But Andrea can’t live without love. The only way she’ll agree to Thor’s proposition is if it’s a marriage of convenience . . . unless she can convince him to put love before business.
It’s so much fun sharing these books with readers, mainly because my husband and I once ran a store very similar to Cornucopia, the setting for
In the Market
. We had many wonderful customers over the years of ownership, one with a grip of steel who loved to squeeze our precious tomatoes, just like Mrs. Swenson.
Some of the events in the books are true, some creations. I’ll let you decide which is which, but I will say we experienced more than one tomato battle in our store!
The other detail that is true-to-life is part of the ending in
A Wholesale Arrangement
. To this day, my husband adjusts the supposed vows of our wedding ceremony, adding whatever changes he decides will work to his advantage, whether it’s to obey, cook, clean, or whatever else occurs to him. One vow remains constant—the vow to love each other.
I hope you enjoy the
Nordic Heroes!
Love,
Day
Coming October 2015:
The Dragon Brides: Fire
Nordic Heroes Boxed Set
Two great books for one low price!
The Sinful Secrets Series
The Dante Legacy
Dante’s Dilemma
– a novella
Featuring Primo and Nonna
Forever Dante
– Coming in 2016
Matteo’s Story – Coming in 2016
D’Angelo’s Story – Coming in 2016
Dante – Coming in 2016
Fontana – Coming in 2016
Brand – Coming in 2016
R
ainer Thorsen rubbed a hand across his squared jaw and shifted impatiently. He didn’t like this—this endless waiting. Nor did he like standing around, biding his time and accomplishing nothing.
Everyone else moved with purpose, and normally he did, too. But this wholesale produce market wasn’t his home turf. His retail operation utilized other wholesalers. As much as he wanted to grab a hand truck and help out the busy salesmen racing back and forth filling orders, he couldn’t. His presence here served a different objective altogether.
Even so, hanging around a loading dock in downtown Seattle, staring at a woman—no matter how attractive—had him as near to crazy as he cared to get. It simply wasn’t his style. Action. Now that appealed to him. That’s how he preferred handling problem situations. He’d always lived by a personal motto of “When in doubt, get out there and stir things up.”
Which meant it was time to start stirring.
He narrowed his eyes. Why couldn’t he go over to Ms. Jordan Roberts, look her straight in those lovely smoky eyes and say, “Lady, sell me your produce market”? He grinned. That would ruffle a feather or two. Or three. And anything that could ruffle her feathers interested him greatly.
He watched her examine a carton of cantaloupes, bending low to tug open the stapled lid. Firm muscles played beneath her fitted jeans, drawing his gaze to her rounded backside. His grin widened. Nice. Very nice. She lifted one of the large textured melons to her face. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, a tiny smile playing about her lips. The woman understood produce, he conceded. The reverence with which she handled the fruit told him that much.
Rainer spoke to the salesman beside him. “She seems to know her way around all right, but she’s too young for this business, Marco, too sweet. It makes me suspicious. There’s got to be something else lurking behind that angel face. Something with more of a bite to it.”
“She’s got a bite, all right,” the shorter man confirmed. “It’s just that—”
“I knew it! Soft as peach fuzz on the surface, but underneath she’s—”
“A nice kid.”
Rainer chuckled, his gaze once again on Jordan’s trim figure. “Right. A nice kid who bites.”
“That’s not what I meant. She is a nice kid, always has been,” Marco insisted obstinately. “Ten years she’s bought from us. First with that crazy uncle of hers, now alone. She’s always seemed bright and cheerful and—”
“She’s worked in the business that long?” Rainer tilted his head to one side, his scrutiny of the dark-haired woman sharper than before. She’d moved farther down the dock, stooping to examine a box of Jonathan apples. She didn’t look a day over twenty-two—twenty-three at the most. He’d have to readjust his thinking a bit.
“You gonna take her down?” Marco asked anxiously. “I’d think snapping up a woman’s livelihood would go against the grain.”
Rainer frowned, not appreciating the reminder. That eventuality disturbed him, as well. But this was family business and nothing stood in the way of that—not even a pretty brunette with a figure that turned every head on the docks.
He decided to answer Marco honestly. “It would bother me more if she owned the store. But she doesn’t. Her uncle owns it. She runs it. If I can win her over to my side, the store will be as good as mine.” He paused to consider. “I bet I’d be doing her a favor by taking it off their hands. She can’t have much of a life, tied to such a time-consuming business.”
Marco looked surprised. “I never thought of it that way. Seems a shame. She’s always appeared to be such a happy, contented—”
“Biter?” Rainer’s admiring gaze drifted back to Jordan.
The salesman scowled. “It’s only when she’s pushed that you see her scrappy side.”
He suppressed a smile at the combative tone in Marco’s voice, intrigued by his spirited defense of the woman. “So much the better,” he said gently. “I prefer a fair fight.”
Marco groaned. “This is not good. No, sir, it ain’t. You don’t understand, Rainer. The lady has this little bitty stubborn streak. You swiped her bananas and that’s bound to make her a tad testy.”
Rainer raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t swipe them. You sold them to me.”
“Not on purpose, I didn’t.” The older man’s face drooped into deep weather-beaten creases. “I didn’t hear they were sold till after I’d promised ’em to you. She’ll want ’em back. If she kicks up a fuss and Nick Constantine hears of it, the boss will have to side with her, no question. After all, those bananas did belong to Ms. Roberts first.”
Rainer shrugged. “True. Not that it matters. I’ll still have accomplished what I set out to do, regardless of the outcome.”
“Which is?”
“To see what she’s made of. You think she’ll fight me for those bananas, don’t you?”
“Don’t have to think. I know. She’ll fight.”
Rainer laughed, clapping a hand on Marco’s shoulder. “I’m going to enjoy this. There’s nothing a Thorsen relishes more than a friendly tussle with a strong determined opponent.” He paused, his grin wicked. “Nothing, that is, except winning.”
Marco shifted uneasily. “Listen, I’ve been thinking. Your father and me, we go way back. Working for Alaric like I used to, I’d do anything for him. Anything. But maybe you could figure out some other way to test Ms. Roberts. She’s a nice girl, Rainer. Why would you want to start trouble with her?”
“Because I live for trouble,” he said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Marco gave an emphatic shake of his head. “Not with her, you don’t.”