Taming the Moguls
Authors: Christy Hayes
Tags: #romance, #womens fiction, #chick lit, #colorado, #reunited lovers, #second chance romance, #romantic womens fiction
By Christy Hayes
Smashwords Edition
Text Copyright © Christy Hayes
All Rights Reserved
Cover art © by Stephanie Mooney. All rights
reserved.
The characters portrayed in this book are fictitious.
Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and
not intended by the author. No part of this book may be reproduced
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In the finale of the Golden Rule Outfitters
series, small town business mogul Tommy Golden faces the biggest
fight of his life. A corporate giant is threatening to
commercialize the area’s quiet ski lift and change the fabric of
the valley he calls home. When he discovers the woman sent to plead
Holcomb Industries case is the woman who ripped his heart out a
decade before, his passion to fight the development becomes a
personal quest for revenge.
Gretchen Lowrey knows her first and only love
Tommy Golden lives in the valley where she’s been sent to negotiate
with a group fighting her employer, but she doesn’t know he’s in
charge of the resistance. If there’s one thing Gretchen understands
it’s that she can’t change the past, but dealing with Tommy in the
present is anything but pleasant. He’s still furious at her for
walking out on him, but she can’t explain her reasons for leaving
now any more than she could years before. The best thing she can
do—the safest thing—is to broker a deal and get out of town
fast.
But fate has other plans. When Tommy and
Gretchen are stranded on a snowy mountaintop, the last thing on
their minds is a deal. The gloves come off and the rules get tossed
out the window. Because in the game of love, there are no
rules.
Table of
Contents
Tommy Golden took a deep breath of icy air
and let it out through his nose, watching the puff of breath float
into the cloudless night sky. The bass from the music inside the
hotel thumped gently through his chest, and the air carried the
faintly metallic smell of snow. He rubbed a frigid hand over his
face and closed his eyes. It wasn’t her. It couldn’t have been.
Gretchen Lowry couldn’t be in south central Colorado when she had a
life—and a husband—in Chicago.
Just the thought of her marriage made him
want to ram his fist into one of the hotel’s stucco pillars. After
all those years, after all that time, the anger and hurt he thought
he’d buried threatened to break free with the power of an
avalanche. He tried to swallow it down as he glanced back inside
the glass doors.
People milled around the foyer, waiting for
the bride and groom to make their escape to the limo idling nearby.
Tommy caught a fleeting glance of Tyler Bloodworth as he waited for
his new wife.
He’s only one kick in the balls
away from heartache.
What did it say about Tommy that he
felt nothing but pity for his young friend at the start of his
marriage? When Jill appeared and linked her fingers with Ty, Tommy
thought maybe they might beat the odds. Maybe.
Tommy saw Patrick Garrity wandering through
the crowd. Tommy knew he should go back inside and let Patrick tell
him about the latest news from the Stop the Slaughter coalition.
The STS was fighting to derail the commercialization of Bear
Stream, the region's beloved and currently undeveloped ski area,
but Tommy thought Patrick needed to learn how to take a night off.
Patrick would eventually find him outside, standing apart from the
revelry.
Tommy just wanted five minutes—hell, five
seconds—alone. Was it too much to ask for five damn seconds of
peace and quiet? With a heavy sigh, he reentered the foyer and
squinted in the bright overhead light. His sister laced a delicate
hand around his arm and pulled him aside with unexpected strength.
Unfortunately, she dragged her current paramour in her wake.
“Just the man I’ve been looking for,” Olivia
said, letting go of his arm. “I have news.” She beamed as she
wrapped both hands around Jack Forrester’s impressive, suit-clad
bicep. “We’re getting married!”
“What?” Tommy couldn’t have been more
surprised if she’d ripped her bridesmaid’s dress over her head.
“How much have you had to drink?”
Olivia slapped Tommy’s arm. “Be happy for me.
I love him.”
Jack cleared his throat and looked at Olivia
in a way that made Tommy’s stomach clench. They weren’t joking.
“Despite my less-than-romantic proposal, your sister’s agreed to
share her life with me.”
“What proposal?” Olivia teased Jack. “You
told me we were getting married after you told me I was doing my
student teaching in Denver.” She rubbed against him like a cat
scratching its back on a piece of furniture. “Good thing it’s what
I want.”
“You’re moving to Denver?” Tommy asked.
“Yes. You’re going to have to hire that
waitress after all.” As if his biggest concern over her leaving
town was the vacant waitress job at his restaurant. Tommy glanced
over Olivia’s shoulder to be sure the bar was still assembled. He
needed a drink for sure. “Olivia—”
“No,” she said. “No lectures. I’ve waited my
whole life to feel like this. Just because you think marriage is a
prison sentence doesn’t mean I feel the same. I love Jack, and he
loves me. We’re going to make a life together with or without your
blessing, but I’d rather you swallow your pride and give it.”
Jack stiffened beside Olivia and wrapped a
protective arm around her shoulders. Tommy knew Jack Forrester
didn’t give two damns what he thought. As Olivia’s older brother,
Tommy had to respect the man even though he wasn’t convinced he
could trust him. But anyone with a pair of eyes could tell how much
he cared about Olivia.
“I’m just surprised,” Tommy said.
“Congratulations. I mean that.”
Olivia launched herself at him and clasped
her arms around his neck. Beneath the silk dress and woman’s body,
she was still the little girl who’d dug her claws into his broken
heart years ago. “I love you, Tommy.”
“I love you, too, Olivia.” Tommy reached his
hand out for a truce shake with Jack. When Olivia pulled back and
led Jack’s hand to his, Tommy realized he’d forgotten Jack’s visual
impairment. His impetuous little sister had fallen for a man who
needed her and knew how to handle her at the same time. Olivia
squealed and dashed toward Jill, leaving Tommy and Jack in an
awkward standoff.
“No one will ever love her more,” Jack
said.
In that moment, Tommy knew he spoke the
truth. “I’m counting on that.” Tommy watched Jill and Olivia hug.
“When will you leave the valley?”
Jack inhaled. “Are you asking for your
sister’s sake or because of the wind study?”
“Both,” Tommy admitted. Since he’d discovered
Jack’s wind study on the property he’d bought along the river,
Tommy had been making plans to stop him. He couldn’t stand the
thought of a wind farm in the valley he’d grown to love and call
home. Who knew Olivia would accomplish that feat for him?
“Lyle’s done with the interviews for the
book. As soon as I can get Olivia packed, we’ll head north. But,”
Jack added with a quirk of his lips, “my sister’s staying on until
the study’s complete.”
Tommy watched Jack’s sister, Erica, sidle up
to local author Lyle Woodward and plant a kiss on his cheek. “Looks
like she’s staying for more than the wind study.”
“Lyle might be orchestrating the end of my
biography, or at least part of it. He’s a good man, and he makes
Erica happy. God knows she deserves to be happy.”
“So does Olivia,” Tommy said. “If you’re the
one who makes her happy, I wish you the best. If she’s ever
unhappy, you’ll hear from me first.”
“Duly noted,” Jack said. “Just so we’re
clear, the wind study is business. Olivia and Erica are personal.
I’m going to move heaven and earth to take care of your sister. I’d
appreciate if, in my absence, you would keep an eye out for mine.
Erica puts on a good front, but she’s vulnerable. I know Lyle cares
about her, but I’d feel better knowing someone else was looking out
for her, too.”
“I don’t really know your sister, Jack, but
I’m more than happy to ride herd over Lyle. I’ll make sure she’s
taken care of and knows to call me if she’s ever in need. I guess
we’ll be family soon enough. Family looks out for family.”
That time, Jack stuck out his hand with a
smile. “Family. I suppose we are.”
The unexpected moment was interrupted by the
approach of Patrick Garrity.
Kevin Woodward watched his brother, Lyle,
from the railing of his perch on the balcony above the hotel lobby.
He didn’t want his mom and stepdad to catch sight of him the way
Lyle had. Kevin didn’t even know what had happened between him and
his wife, so how was he supposed to explain it?
He hadn’t spoken to Shiloh in the week since
he’d come home and found her getting out of another man’s car.
They’d had an argument that had escalated to the point where
neighbors poked their heads around blinds and drapes to watch the
young couple who’d moved onto the quaint block a few months prior.
He hadn’t gone even a day without hearing her voice for eleven
years. He ached down to his toes from not talking to her.
He knew where she was. Shiloh had always been
a mama’s girl, and Regina Robinson would have been more than happy
to welcome her daughter back into the fold.
He’d spent Thanksgiving week in an empty
home, drinking and plotting his next move. He’d finally taken the
first step in his plan to get her back—on his terms.
He’d always let Shiloh have her way. Always.
It was time for things to change. He’d created a monster: a
spoiled, indulgent over-spender, an immature partner whose
happiness was tied indelibly to his ability to buy her things and
shower her with attention. He was drowning in debt and worry from
trying to make his wife happy. He absolutely couldn’t do it
anymore.
He watched Lyle link fingers with a striking
brunette.
Huh, that’s new
. From the dopey
look on Lyle’s face, it was obvious his little brother had finally
tripped and fallen head first into love. When Lyle lifted their
entwined hands and pressed his lips to her knuckles, Kevin knew
he’d made the right move in booking a room at the hotel in
Westmoreland instead of crashing with his brother. From the look of
things, Lyle wouldn’t be alone.