Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“It’s a party boat. For all of us. With a hundred and fifty feet, we can do a lot of partying.”
Ava shook her head sadly, as if he was the biggest buffoon she’d ever met. “You are so bad at this. At thirty-five years old, do you still know nothing about women? You have to woo her. Romance her.”
He wasn’t the romancing type. He’d never had to romance a woman before, but he couldn’t say that. “How do I do that when she adamantly will not—”
Gabby cut him off. “Fall for your usual bullcrap?”
There was no hope for it. They were right. Troy could only shrug. “I guess so.”
Ava tapped the top of her head as if she were putting on her thinking cap. “Okay, romance. Find out what her favorite movie is, then watch it with her, and tell her it’s the most amazing story you’ve ever seen.” She made a face. “Even if you have to lie.”
Then she leaned in to kiss Ransom, and it was no peck on the cheek, but a full-on, open-mouthed kiss.
The rest of his siblings were not to be outdone. “You can borrow my sports car,” Clay offered, “and take her for a drive down the coast.”
Dane posed, “Why don’t you fly her to my private island? Fernsby will send you off with the tastiest treats.” He winked at Fernsby.
Good God. Another eye roll? Troy still couldn’t be sure. And yet Fernsby nodded ever so slightly.
Troy wasn’t sure he liked any of those ideas. He shot a glare at Gabby, who’d gotten him into this whole thing in the first place. “You’re pretty quiet, dear sister. Aren’t you going to give me any ideas?”
She grinned like the cat that ate the cream. No, wait, many cats were actually lactose intolerant. Gabby was more like Cinderella’s wicked stepsister who’d cut off her toes so her foot would fit in the glass slipper.
“I’m trying to figure out what charity I want you to give that million dollars to,” she said with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
Holy heck, she was right. It didn’t even bother him to finally realize he was falling for Michaela. “Yeah, you’d better do that,” he admitted. He wouldn’t miss that million dollars one bit.
But he couldn’t let his siblings get the better of him, and he let his gaze flare across them all. “All right, peanut gallery. Thanks for the vote of confidence you did not give me. All your ideas completely suck.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll come up with my own.”
He might just buy a yacht for her.
The moment he left the mastermind, his phone blew up with texts from the family, all of them saying the same thing: Tell all about the book signing.
He’d already decided it wasn’t right to share Fernsby’s secrets. The only answer he could give was: Nothing to tell. It was just a book signing.
Besides, he had other things to deal with. Because once he’d made that declaration about Michaela to the Harrington family, he’d better follow through.
If I can’t win Michaela, I will never hear the end of it. Ever.
The truth was, if he didn’t win Michaela, his heart would be the loser.
But now he had a mission. To make Michaela fall for him.
Or, at the very least, to accept a real date.
Fernsby wanted to rub his hands together with glee like the Wicked Witch of the West when she sent her flying monkeys after Dorothy.
It had been obvious last night that the boy was smitten. Even better, today Troy had admitted it.
Fernsby smiled inwardly, where none of the others could see. It wouldn’t do for them to notice his glee.
His work here was done. And he hadn’t needed to do a thing.
He looked hard at Gabrielle. She didn’t meet his eye, her gaze alighting on every one of her siblings, yet skipping over him.
Have no fear, my little pretty, you’re next on my list.
Michaela called Troy just after nine on Monday morning. He’d been expecting her call since Friday, when he’d told her to set him up on another date. She’d probably been going through her list of amazing women and making calls.
Yesterday, he’d gone for a long hike in the hills behind his house. The Santa Cruz Mountains were notorious for bad cellphone reception, so if she’d tried to call him, there was no evidence of it. She hadn’t even left a message.
The hike had been his time for reflection on how to woo her or romance her or whatever else Ava had said. And yet, during that entire ten-mile hike, he hadn’t come up with the perfect romantic gesture that would make Michaela fall for him, or, at the very least, blow her socks off. Despite his being both a billionaire and her client.
Her voice on the phone sounded chipper—too chipper. “I’ve found a lovely woman for you.”