Andre Just To Be With You (Seattle Sullivans 3)

1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-938127-39-7
Verlag: Oak Press, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 400 Seiten

Reihe: The Sullivans

Ian Sullivan, the powerful and wealthy CEO of Sullivan Investments, has never failed at anything in his life...apart from love and marriage. Certain that he'll never take the plunge again, the last thing he expects is for a beautiful actress to turn his perfectly organized world completely upside down. Tatiana Landon, one of the hottest talents in Hollywood, has been waiting for true love her whole life. When she meets Ian, she's certain she's finally found it...along with a passion that sizzles hotter than anything in her wildest dreams. All she needs to do now is find a way to convince him to take the risk of loving again. Ian soon realizes that Tatiana is just as focused on winning his heart as he is on locking it away. But when unexpected circumstances thrust them into a world where real-life rules don't apply, will Ian finally recognize Tatiana as his one true love? JUST TO BE WITH YOU is part of Bella Andre's #1 bestselling series about The Sullivans. While it can easily be read as a stand-alone story, you'll likely enjoy reading the other books, too. SAN FRANCISCO SULLIVANS The Look of Love From This Moment On Can't Help Falling In Love I Only Have Eyes For You If You Were Mine Let Me Be The One Come A Little Bit Closer Always On My Mind Kissing Under The Mistletoe SEATTLE SULLIVANS One Perfect Night The Way You Look Tonight It Must Be Your Love Just To Be With You I Love How You Love Me All I Ever Need Is You NEW YORK SULLIVANS Every Beat Of My Heart Now That I've Found You Since I Fell For You Sweeter Than Ever The Best Is Yet To Come Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You You Do Something To Me Every Time We Fall In Love The Maine Sullivans are coming soon! THE MAVERICK BILLIONAIRES Breathless In Love Reckless In Love Fearless In Love Irresistible In Love Wild In Love More Maverick Billionaires are coming soon! THE MORRISONS Kiss Me Like This Tempt Me Like This Love Me Like This REVIEWS: 'I am so glad I found this series and if you haven't read Bella Andre yet, you are seriously missing out! Her books will shock you, make you laugh, turn you on with her incredibly seductive heroes, and of course, make you fall in love! An auto-buy author!' - Under the Covers Reviews 'Each book is so remarkable and you really come to love the characters. This series is incredible. It's one of my favorites. If you haven't started them yet, you are missing out!' - Guilty Pleasures Reviews 'Bella Andre writes warm, sexy contemporary romance that always gives me a much needed pick me up. Reading one of her books is truly a pleasure.' Maya Banks, NYT Bestselling Author

Bella Andre's New York Times and USA Today bestselling novels have been #1 bestsellers around the world and she has sold more than 5 million books so far! Known for 'sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance' (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine 'Red Hot Reads' twice and have been translated into ten languages. She also writes 'sweet' contemporary romances as Lucy Kevin. There are more than 50,000 5 star reviews for Bella Andre's books on Goodreads!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Andre, Bella

Leseproben

CHAPTER ONE

Rain fell steadily outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Sullivan Investments skyscraper, just as it had for the past several days. Coffee shops seemed to outnumber all other retail outlets in the city two to one. And Ian Sullivan’s sister, Mia, had already texted him a half-dozen times to remind him that he’d better not show up late to dinner at their parents’ house tonight because of a last-minute meeting.

And yet, despite all that, it was good to be back in Seattle.

Surprisingly good.

Ian had worked out of the London office for the past several years, and his European investments were thriving as a result. But now that Sullivan Investments was on the verge of making a massive investment in eAirBox, an innovative cloud-based digital storage company based in Seattle, it had made sense to finally head back home. Plus, two of his siblings would be getting married and starting families soon, and Ian had already missed too many pivotal moments in his siblings’ lives by being an ocean away.

In any case, Ian was glad that he’d been able to keep it all in the family with the deal he’d made today with Jake McCann on his very successful chain of McCann’s Irish pubs. Jake was not only a genius at coming up with artisanal brews, he was also married to Sophie, one of Ian’s cousins from San Francisco. Though he knew he was breaking one of the tried and true rules of doing business, in Ian’s experience, working with family had always been not only enjoyable, but also extremely profitable.

“I’m glad we were able to make this deal work, Ian,” Jake said through the video conference feed set up in one of Ian’s smaller conference rooms on the 15th floor.

Jake’s T-shirt put his tattoos on full display, and though he was an incredibly intelligent guy with great business sense, it wasn’t much of a stretch to look at him and guess that he’d come from a pretty rough upbringing. Ian would never have imagined that his soft-spoken librarian cousin and Jake would work as a couple, especially considering the story that Jake had gotten Sophie pregnant during a one-night stand. But they’d turned out to be one hell of a good team, and Ian was happy for both of them.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for what you’ve done with your pubs, Jake. Everyone here is glad we can be a part of your expansion.” When Ian’s head legal counsel excused himself from the meeting to take an urgent call, he took the meeting in a personal direction. “How are Sophie and the twins doing? Smith and Jackie must be getting big.”

“Hold on a sec and I’ll show you.” Jake got up from the chair in his home office and returned a short while later with a kid squirming under each arm. “Kids, say hi to your Uncle Ian.”

Jake and Sophie’s twins were ridiculously cute as they waved and grinned at him. Jackie had crumbs all over her hands and face, and Smith’s dark hair was standing on end as if he’d just woken up from a heavy-duty nap.

Ian didn’t have a clue how Jake managed to run his business so well and have time to take care of his wife and kids, too. Marriage was the only thing that Ian had ever failed at, so badly that he’d come out of it one hundred percent certain that a wife would never—and should never—be in his future again. Which meant kids were out of the picture, too. Fortunately, there were plenty of Sullivan babies to spoil rotten.

Ian had just said his own hellos to the twins when they wriggled out of Jake’s grip and made a break for it. Ian heard Sophie’s laughter as she scooped them up just before she came in range of the camera’s lens.

“Hey, cuz.” Sophie seemed utterly unperturbed by the fact that her kids were not just squirming like crazy now, but were also trying to pull each other’s hair. “I’d love to catch up more, but since it looks like I’m going to have to break up a baby brawl in a minute, I wanted to let you know that I’m supposed to tell you not to be late to your mom and dad’s house for dinner tonight. Or else.”

“Mia texted you, too?”

Jake and Sophie just laughed as they split the kids between them and Smith’s and Jackie’s wails began. “Say hello to everyone for us.”

After shutting down the video conference feed, Ian headed for his office down a long open hallway that looked over dozens of cubicles. At fifteen minutes past six on a Friday night, everyone had already left. Though he’d been back at the Seattle headquarters for only a week and a half, Ian had seen for himself that everything in the office was running with perfect efficiency. Organization and order had always been crucial components of his success, along with a laser focus and an unwavering determination.

Only once had he made the mistake of letting himself be spontaneously thrown off course. But in the wake of his messy marriage and even messier divorce, he’d been even more careful to make sure that the women he connected with were willing to play by the rules that would keep them all safe from future messes: no entanglements, no emotions. Just hours of pleasure when they were together, and nothing at all that lingered when they weren’t. And if anyone thought giving up love was something to grieve, that’s because they didn’t know how much relief there was in knowing he would never hurt a woman again by promising her something he would never be able to actually give.

At the threshold of his office, Ian shook all thoughts of love and romance aside before he stepped inside. Love had no place in the worldwide empire he’d built, and he was glad for that fact, especially when he needed every ounce of his focus right now to do whatever it took to finally close the eAirBox deal.

Mentally drafting an email to his board regarding the new counter-offer he was planning to make on Monday morning, Ian was halfway to his desk when he realized he wasn’t alone. His large leather chair was turned away from his desk so that the back was facing him…and the most stunning bare legs he’d ever seen were crossed over the arm of it, the woman’s shiny red heels tapping out a fast rhythm in the air.

He couldn’t immediately place the legs, but the scent was one he’d come across only once before, at his cousin Marcus’s wedding in Napa Valley a handful of months earlier. Equal parts vanilla and spice, the combination was at once innocent and so powerfully sensual that he was overwhelmed with the need to breathe her in just one more time, and then one more time again.

Tatiana Landon.

If she were anyone else, Ian would immediately have alerted her to his presence. But he needed to take a few moments to steel himself against the powerful way the beautiful actress affected him. And at the end of a long, hard week, he found it took him more than a few seconds not only to solidify his walls, but also to make absolutely sure that they would remain impenetrable.

Finally, he cleared his throat. But her feet didn’t stop tapping out the beat and she didn’t turn the chair around. Her evocative scent grew stronger when he moved closer, and he gritted his teeth against the potent impact it had on him as he reached for the top of his chair to turn her to face him.

He’d only just begun to spin the chair when she let out a little shriek and jumped halfway out before falling back into it. One hand was pressed over her mouth, the other over her chest, her legs tucked beneath her on the big leather seat as she stared up at him with big green eyes.

Before he could stop himself, Ian was drinking in the gorgeous expanse of skin on display from the way the skirt of her dress rode up her thighs. Her long hair was loose around her shoulders and her skin was flushed from the fright he’d given her.

Was there another woman on the planet this beautiful?

By the time she pulled out her earbuds and slid her legs out from beneath her, she was laughing. “You scared me.”

If he’d thought she was beautiful before, watching her laugh, so free, so easy, showed him he’d had no idea what real beauty was until now. He’d been the one to startle her, but just looking at her had his heart beating too fast.

“How long have you been waiting in my office?”

“A little while. Your assistant wanted to let you know that I was here, but I asked her not to interrupt your meeting. Of course, that was before I knew that you have absolutely nothing worth snooping through in your office.” She paused to look more closely at him. “You look pleased, so I’m hoping that means your meeting was a good one.”

“It was,” he said, even as he worked to bank his surprise that she could read him so easily, or so accurately. “Jake and I had a lot of final details to iron out before the contract of our new agreement can be drawn up, so our meeting went longer than we planned.”

“Are you talking about Sophie’s Jake? You’re investing in McCann’s Pubs?”

“I’ve been interested in his company for a while and the timing was finally right.” Wait a minute—he didn’t need to give her any explanations about why he hadn’t been in his office to greet her. Especially since she hadn’t let him know she was coming in the first place. “Why are you here?”

Her lips curved up at the corners, just the slightest bit. Almost as if she thought his total lack of manners was…cute. “It’s nice to see you again, Ian.”

Damn it, she was right—he was being a jerk. But only because she threw him off in a way no one else ever had.

“You, too.” But he knew that wasn’t good enough when his cousin Smith would be getting married to Tatiana’s sister, Valentina, soon. With any other member of...