Beach Reads

Beach Reads

Autor:Marie Force

En proceso

Billionaire

Introducción
Welcome to Beach Read containing nine of Marie Force's single title contemporary romances, all of which have been reader favorites! Here you’ll find everything from steamy couples in Marfa, Texas, to an unlucky-in-love super model to a prominent doctor who falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend to a woman putting her life back together after the death of her mother to a young couple separated by tragedy but brought back together by love. Each title offers a sizzling love story and a guaranteed happy ending. So get comfortable and be prepared to fall in love—nine times! Beach Reads is created by Marie Force, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author.
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Capítulo

  VOLUME ONE: True North

  On anyone else the dress would have looked ridiculous. Pink bows of all sizes, tulle, a puffy peplum, and the full, swinging skirt that, all combined, made up the most hideous bridesmaid dress Travis North had ever seen. Chuckling, he imagined the reaction of the exquisite creature wearing the dress when she saw it for the first time. What women did for their friends -

  Travis had worn Armani so he would blend in with the guests as he kept tabs on his well-orchestrated staff while they served filet mignon to five hundred guests under a massive white tent overlooking Narragansett Bay. The sun was setting in a blaze of summer color, and so far, there had been no major crises. Travis did a quick check of the elaborate ice sculptures, sparkling white lights, shimmering candles, forty thousand dollars worth of flowers, thirty-piece orchestra, and seven-course meal as the scene played out from his vantage point on the sidelines.

  All his careful planning, obsessive attention to detail, and unwillingness to leave a single thing to chance was paying off. Anything less than a complete success was unacceptable to Travis, who had an enormous amount riding on this evening. He had bided his time waiting for the right premiere social event to elevate North Point, the country club and marina he had built over the last three years on the northern coast of Aquidneck Island, home to the high-society city of Newport, Rhode Island.

  When Edith St. Martin and her homely-as-sin daughter Enid came calling nine months earlier, Travis had known he had a winner. The St. Martins were old Newport money, and Enid's wedding would guarantee a tent full of the very people who would ensure North Point's success. Travis couldn't pay for the kind of P.R. this lavish wedding would generate. That's why he'd personally seen to every detail, and now, as he watched it unfold, he was annoyed to realize he was focusing far too much attention on the stunning dark-haired bridesmaid and not enough on the delivery of petite filet mignon.

  "Sam." He waved one of the waiters over to where he stood amidst the shrubbery that lined one side of the tent.

  "Yes, Mr. North?" the young waiter asked with the earnest desire to please that had convinced Travis to hire him.

  "Do you know who she is?" Travis nodded toward the bridesmaid seated next to the bride at the head table. "I feel like I've seen her somewhere before."

  Sam raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

  Travis glanced over at him. "What do you mean?"

  "You really need to get out more, boss. That's Liana McDermott."

  "Who?"

  "Hello? Sports Illustrated swimsuit model of the year, 2008, 2009, 2010." Sam counted off the years on his fingers. "Portsmouth's most famous ex-resident?"

  Travis took another look at the stunner, mentally removing the ugly dress and replacing it with a thong bikini. Before his sex-starved body could react to the image, he returned his attention to Sam. "What the hell is she doing here?"

  "Horse Face's first cousin." Sam referred to the nickname the staff had given the bossy bride. "Maid of honor."

  Travis rubbed his clean-shaven chin absently, knowing he should reprimand Sam for the use of the name, since Horse Face was going to be a cash cow for North Point.

  "It's hard to believe they share the same DNA, isn't it?" Sam asked, settling into the conversation.

  Travis snapped out of his daze. "Thanks for the info. Go on back to work."

  "Yes, sir," Sam said with a salute.

  Liana McDermott. Travis watched the delicate beauty share a laugh with her cousin. Her long, raven hair cascaded over creamy white shoulders, and the silly dress seemed to have been cut to highlight her full breasts. She was too far away for Travis to be able to tell what color her eyes were, but even from a distance he could see they were almond shaped and topped with extravagant lashes. Suddenly, he was far more interested in finding out what color her eyes were than he was in supervising the cutting of the wedding cake.

  Travis watched with interest as she scanned the tent, her brows knitting with concern.

  Probably looking for her date, he thought as he wondered what kind of man might accompany a woman like her.

  Oh, this ugly dress is so itchy! Liana squirmed in her seat in a failed attempt to sooth her irritated skin. Why she had ever agreed to wear such a hideous excuse for a dress she would never know. Actually, she hadn't agreed to it. She had been too busy on an extended shoot for Vogue in Milan to come to Rhode Island for a fitting and hadn't seen the monstrosity until it was too late to object.

  Lesson learned.

  Never leave such an important thing to chance, not that it was likely she would be a bridesmaid again any time soon. Despite Enid's over-the-top social climbing, she was the only close friend Liana had, and the only person she would have worn this dress for.

  Now where in the world is Mom? Liana scanned the room yet again. When she arrived the night before she had been startled by the change in her mother. A little bit of forgetfulness on her last visit a year ago had blown up into something much more serious. After the wedding Liana planned to have a long chat with her Aunt Edith who was supposed to be keeping an eye on her sister in Liana's absence.

  Enid reached for her hand. "Come with us to cut the cake," she said, her dull gray eyes dancing with excitement.

  Poor Enid. Liana shuddered again at the unfortunate wedding dress her cousin had chosen. The thing had to weigh at least forty pounds, and the fine sheen of sweat on Enid's face was a testament to the effort it took to carry the concoction around. But the dress did cover up a world of sins on Enid's pear-shaped body. Her equally unattractive groom, Brady Littleton, gazed at his wife with such unabashed love that Liana was struck by a sharp wave of longing. For all her supposed beauty, no one had ever looked at her like that.

  As she got up to follow Enid, Liana took one last visual trip around the tent in search of her mother. She didn't find her mother, but she did catch a handsome man in a tux checking her out. Thick dark hair, strong jaw, well built, and devastating in the formal attire, his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled and nodded at her.

  "Enid," she whispered.

  Her cousin turned back, and the huge bustle on the back of her dress caught Liana like a punch to the stomach.

  Protecting her midsection from her cousin's dress, Liana asked, "Who's the wallflower in the corner?"

  Enid made no attempt to be discreet as she leaned around Liana's shoulder. "I don't see anyone."

  Liana turned and was disappointed that he was gone. "Oh, well, he was there a minute ago."

  "Enid," Brady said. "They're waiting for us, honey."

  Still wondering where the heck her mother was, Liana took the arm of Brady's pimply-faced best man, who had already made several flagrant passes at her, and went to watch Enid and her husband cut their cake.

  Somehow Liana managed to get through the required dance with the best man, who acted as if his three minutes of smashing her toes was the highlight of his life.

  Ugh! Liana was so sick of men panting after her like dogs in heat. If they only knew how boring and predictable they were. Not one of them was different, same old boring lines, same old boring compliments, same old, same old. Just because they had seen her in a few skimpy swimsuits they thought they knew her and worse yet, they thought she owed them something.

  When the dance finally came to an end, Liana broke away from the befuddled best man, determined to locate her missing mother.

  Looking around the crowded tent, she wasn't watching where she was going and collided with a broad chest and a bow tie.

  He grabbed her arms, which was the only thing that kept her from falling.

  "What the ..." she muttered, glancing up at the strong, handsome face she had spotted earlier. "Oh. It's you."

  With the amused lift of a dark eyebrow he went from handsome straight to rakish. "Have we met?"

  "No, but I saw you looking at me before."

  "I would think you'd be used to that."

  "Would you please excuse me?" She tugged her arms free of his hold.

  "Is there something I can help you with?"

  Another line, Liana thought with exasperation until she looked up to find genuine concern on his flawless face. She wondered if he had ever modeled. "I can't find my mother."

  "When was the last time you saw her?"

  "Right after the wedding party arrived. She waved to me when we were having photos taken on the lawn, but I haven't seen her since."

  "You're sure she's not in the tent?"

  "I've checked every table, but I don't see her."

  "What's her name?"

  "Agnes McDermott. She's wearing a navy gown and has short gray hair and my eyes."

  "Violet eyes," he said, offering his arm. "Come with me. Let's see what we can do."

  "Thank you, Mr... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

  "Travis." He led her from the tent to an office in the clubhouse and gestured for her to have a seat on the sofa.

  "Mr. Travis."

  He laughed. "No, just Travis. That's my first name."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just so worried about her. She hasn't been herself lately, and I'm worried she might've wandered down to the water."

  Travis sobered and went into management mode. Reaching for the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket, he withdrew a wireless headset with a built in microphone. "Beck, it's Travis."

  As Liana sat on the sofa and tried to get comfortable in the scratchy dress, she watched Travis take charge, intrigued by the authority he projected.

  "We have a missing guest, and her daughter is concerned she may have wandered down to the shore. Can you send some men down there to check? Yes, Agnes McDermott." He covered the microphone to ask Liana, "How old is she?"

  "Sixty-three."

  "She's sixty-three, gray hair, violet eyes, wearing a dark blue evening gown."

  A moment later, a young woman wearing a headset knocked on the office door. "Travis, I saw the woman you're looking for about an hour ago. She left in a cab. I recognized her from your description."

  "Never mind, Beck," Travis said into the mike.

  Liana rose to her feet. "Where was she going?"

  "I'm not sure, Ms. McDermott. I can call the taxi company and find out if that would help."

  "That would be great, thanks," Liana said.

  "Thanks, Niki," Travis said before he turned back to Liana. "You're welcome to wait here."

  "Is this your office?"

  "Yes."

  "Are you the manager?"

  "Something like that."

  "May I use your phone?"

  "Of course." Travis lifted the receiver and punched a button to get her an outside line. He handed her the phone and gestured for her to make herself at home behind his desk.

  She dialed a number and chewed on her bottom lip while she waited for someone to answer. Dejected, she set the phone down a minute later. "I thought maybe she went home."

  Niki came back with a slip of paper. "They dropped her at 242 McCorrie Lane fifty-five minutes ago."

  "Thank you very much," Liana said.

  "Do you know that address?" Travis asked.

  Liana nodded. "It's her house. I wonder why she didn't answer the phone."

  "Is there a neighbor or someone you can ask to check on her?"

  She brightened at the suggestion and dialed a number from memory. "Mrs. Zito? This is Liana." She sighed with exasperation. "Yes, I'm here for the wedding. Two weeks. I know. I wish I got home more often, too. Listen, I need a favor. Can you run next door and check on Mom for me? She left the wedding without telling me. Sure, I can wait." Holding the phone to the side, she asked, "Am I keeping you from something?"

  "It's fine," Travis said with a glance toward the tent. "Take your time."

  "Oh," Liana said with a sigh of relief several minutes later. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Zito. Yes, I'll be over to see you. I have to get back to the wedding now. Okay, bye." She set the phone down and turned to Travis. "Crisis averted. She was asleep in bed."

  "Why wouldn't she tell you she was leaving?"

  "Something's going on with her. I'm not sure what to make of it."

  "Well, I'm just glad she's safe."

  "Me, too. I'm sorry for the trouble. Thank you so much for your help."

  "My pleasure. May I?" He held out his arm to escort her back to the wedding.

  Liana looked first to his outstretched arm and then up to meet his dark brown eyes. "Yes, please." She hooked her hand through his arm. "Do you know what time this thing is supposed to end?"

  "Midnight. Why?"

  "How many more hours is that?"

  He checked his slim Phillippe Patek watch. "More than three."

  "I'm going to die in this dress before then."

  Travis laughed. "It does make quite a statement."

  "Don't say a word, do you hear me? Not one word."

  "I'll do my best to refrain from comment."

  As they entered the tent, Enid rushed over to them. "Oh, there you are, Liana. I see you've met Mr. North, the owner of this beautiful place."

  Liana glanced up at him. "Owner?"

  "Guilty," he said with a small smile.

  "I'm so glad you've met because I've asked him to take you home," Enid said.

  "You did?" Travis asked, perplexed.

  "Remember the final revision to the contract where I added the addendum about my special guest?"

  "I assigned that to my chief of security, Mr. Beck."

  "I'd like you to see to it personally."

  "I can find my own ride home, Enid," Liana said.

  "No need. I'm sure Mr. North will be happy to take care of it himself."

  "Of course," Travis said with a charming smile. "It's no problem."

  "In the meantime, why don't you ask her to dance," Enid said.

  "Is there anything else I can do for you, Ms. St. Martin?" Travis asked.

  "It's Mrs. Littleton now, and no, that'll be all." She scooted them along to the dance floor with a delighted gleam in her eye.

  "I think I'm being handled," Liana said, amused by her cousin's flagrant matchmaking. "She wants everyone to be as happy as she is tonight."

  "They do seem well suited to each other," Travis said as he led her around the dance floor while keeping an eye on the goings on in the tent.

  "They're madly in love," Liana said, glancing up at him. "You're released from obligation. I'm sure you have better things to do than baby-sit me."

  "Actually, it seems my very capable staff has everything under control. We've both got a few hours to kill, so why don't we kill them together?"

  Since that was a line she definitely hadn't heard before, Liana smiled. "Why not?"

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