The Beastly Groom Read online

  The Beastly Groom

  Texas Titan Romance

  Cami Checketts

  Copyright

  The Beastly Groom: Texas Titan Romances

  Copyright © May 2018 by Cami Checketts

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Dedication

  To all the Titan readers. Thank you for your fabulous support of this fun series. Writing with Taylor Hart, Jennifer Youngblood, Lucy McConnell, and Sarah Gay is such an honor and we love you all!

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Excerpt - The Irresistible Groom

  Also by Cami Checketts

  Chapter One

  Ema Kahue straightened the satin overlay of her blue dress. She had no reason to be nervous—she was on television every week—but something about bidding on a date with the hunky Knox Sherman at this charity auction had her stomach pitching.

  “Excuse me,” she murmured to Mike, her camera guy. He was always by her side, but he didn’t have the camera this Friday night; she’d just brought him for moral support. “I’m going to find a toilet to puke in.”

  Mike grinned at her, brushing his longish blond hair back. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. The Beast is mortal.”

  The Beast was an army hero, a billionaire, a world-renowned defensive end, and the most handsome face she’d ever seen, all while raising his best friend’s daughter. No way was he a mere mortal.

  “So his parents claim.” Ema tossed Mike a brave smile and made her way out of the banquet room and into the wide convention center hallway, where she could breathe a little better. It wasn’t just bidding on Knox Sherman, the most private celebrity she’d ever encountered, that had her uneasy. If she didn’t play her part carefully, Knox would never allow her and Mike to invade his sanctuary and get the footage they needed for her show, Live Like a Celeb. She spent two to three days of each week in different celebrities’ homes, and then production edited and aired her show. Everyone loved the quick turnaround and personalization of her show. The stars could tout their latest product, movie release, or whatever was pertinent to them marketing-wise, and the public got an inside look into their lives.

  Live Like a Celeb had climbed from an Amazon original to VH1, but her agent was in negotiations with ABC currently. Winning the Miss Hawaii pageant in college had been a huge help to her dreams of succeeding in broadcast journalism. Her whole family was proud. Her mom was from Alabama and had been a successful model before her marriage to Ema’s huge Hawaiian father. She’d always told Ema she was going to do great things, but nobody else from Kauai would’ve dreamed their little Ema would have her own reality show on ABC someday.

  Thinking of agents, she wished Knox Sherman’s agent could’ve simply secured Ema a two- or three-day in-home interview. No other movie star or professional athlete had refused them entry in the past six months since they gained popularity and moved to VH1, but apparently not even Knox’s agent, Claire, had much sway with him. Claire said he only agreed to the charity auction tonight because it was benefiting military vets. He had graduated from Army West Point and served in the military for four years after graduation before being recruited to the Patriots for two years and transferring to the Titans last year.

  Ema found the restroom and ran her hands under cold water, eyeing herself in the mirror. Her dark brown hair hung in loose spiral curls down her back, and luckily her bronzed skin didn’t show how flushed and stressed she was. She blotted a bit of shine from her nose, applied another layer of cinnamint gloss, took a deep breath for confidence, and flung the bathroom door open.

  She heard a whack, a loud grunt, and the door sprang back at her.

  “Oh, no! Did I bust you up?” She peeked around the door.

  Knox Sherman of all people stood there with a noticeable red mark on his forehead and a frown marring his perfect face. He looked better than any movie star she’d met, with his dark beard and hair perfectly trimmed and his signature lips—the top like Cupid’s bow and the bottom just full enough to make you want to taste it. His dark eyes were lined by thick lashes and even darker brows. His skin was the most beautiful olive tone she’d ever seen; women would pay any amount of money to have skin that flawless, even with the few scars he’d probably earned overseas. He wore a tailored navy-blue suit, which couldn’t hide the muscles on his six-five frame. Mere mortal? Nope.

  He touched his forehead and a wry smile curved those perfect lips. “You tried,” he said.

  Ema laughed and stepped out of the bathroom and next to the drinking fountain where he stood. Maybe this guy didn’t deserve his grumpy label. “I’m sorry. I was swinging that door to prove I could take on the world.”

  “I’m sure you could.” His eyes roved over her face and his smile grew. Gesturing past himself, he stepped back and said, “Don’t let me stand in the way of world-taking-on.”

  Ema’s palms stopped sweating and her dress didn’t feel so constrictive. The Beast was nothing to be intimidated about. True, he was built like a tank, but he was nice and kind of funny. She was tempted to simply ask him about hosting the show at his ranch and avoid having to spend VH1’s sponsor money on the auction. They’d given her a green light, though. She guessed they needed write-offs as much as the next guy, and it was for a great cause.

  “If you decided to stand in my way, I’d be sunk,” she said.

  Knox folded his arms across his chest, making his biceps and the large muscles in his shoulders bulge under his suit coat. “Are you suggesting you want me in your way?”

  Ema’s face went hot and she praised her Polynesian ancestors for her dark skin that didn’t show a blush. “Maybe … but I’d rather talk with you about staying at your house.”

  His brows drew together and he clenched his arms tightly, making his muscles stiffen. All traces of a smile had left the building.

  Oh, shoot, that hadn’t come out right.

  “Mr. Sherman, it’s time, sir.” A beautiful dark-haired lady with blue eyes touched his arm and pointed toward the banquet room.

  “Thank you, Maggie.” He followed the woman without another word to Ema, who stood there with her mouth hanging open. Her devoted followers loved her show because she said exactly what she thought, so she didn’t always have the filter between her mouth and her brain turned on. It made for great footage, but she was humiliated that Knox Sherman probably thought she’d just propositioned him. Especially since it was common knowledge he didn’t invite anyone to his estate and horse ranch outside of Dallas. Her stupid line made it all that much more horrible.

  Knox glanced over his shoulder before he held one of the double doors to the ballroom for the lovely Maggie. Ema’s and Knox’s eyes connected, and Ema thought she caught a glimpse of his vulnerabilities and desires. In that moment, she knew the truth: he didn’t invite anyone into his heart, or his home, because of the heartache he’d seen in his life. Just as quickly as she’d seen it, his eyes shuttered, and he glowered at her and turned away. The doors shut behind him.

  Ema pushed out a long breath and made her way back to the entrance she’d come out of. The entrance for mortals who stuc
k their feet in their mouths. She didn’t mind her stupid comments when the camera was rolling, but right now she wanted rewind and delete buttons.

  Knox stared around the large room of the convention center. He and his fellow teammates were up front, facing the crowd. It put him on edge to know that everyone was staring at him, especially since one of these highly polished women would win the bid on him and he’d be forced to go on a date.

  He made it through the meal mostly in silence, only talking to Cole for a few minutes. Riker tried to engage him in conversation, but Knox’s one-word answers left those attempts trailing off. Knox glanced at Walker and the Titans’ center gave him a chin bob with no smile. Walker was Knox’s kind of guy. His teammates were good guys, probably interesting to talk to, but he didn’t care to get chummy with anyone. He’d been chummy with his platoon, and look where that got him—counseling every week and nightmares every night. There wasn’t the danger of physically losing a brother like when he was deployed, but football players were traded, retired, had career-ending injuries. What was the use of friendships that would just disappear? He was happy with his staff, who were as close to him as his only living sister, and his daughter, as long as her mother didn’t show up and try to exploit her.

  He smiled, thinking of his daughter, Shelby. Three years old, happy, and adorable. She was his motivation for everything, and the reason he stayed far away from scheming women.

  “Smile like that again and the other half of the women in the room will pass out,” Riker whispered to him.

  Knox slowly turned to look at Riker. “I don’t care what any of them think. I’m only here for Scar and the vets.”

  “Sheesh, Beast.” Riker drew back. “I’m always glad you’re on my team.”

  That made Knox smile again. “Don’t ever let yourself get traded.”

  Riker chuckled. “You’d rip my head clean off, wouldn’t you?”

  “With pleasure.” Knox had led the league in sacks the past three years. Riker was a quick quarterback and would be tough to pin down, but Knox liked a challenge.

  Everyone was wrapping up their dinner when Scar came out and introduced tonight’s MC and auctioneer, Maia. Did she have no last name, like Prince or Madonna? Weird Hollywood women. Her name meant little to Knox—he didn’t watch television besides kids’ shows—but when Scar mentioned the new princess movie Maia was the voice for, Knox perked up. Shelby loved any princess movie, and the two of them either read together or watched a princess show in the afternoon when she needed some downtime.

  Maia walked onstage, and when she spoke, her voice was familiar. Shelby had watched the trailer for her upcoming movie over and over again. It helped Knox relax a fraction. He hated being bid on like common cattle, and he hated even more the thought of going on a date with some calculating, wealthy woman, but it was for a good cause. He rolled his neck and forced himself to unclench his fists. It’d be over soon, and if he hurried home, he’d get to sing Shelby to sleep. He’d begged his adopted aunt and Shelby’s live-in nanny, Genevieve, to let her stay up late tonight, even though they’d both pay for it tomorrow. His girl was grumpy without sleep.

  His eyes swept the crowd as everyone else was focused on Maia. Which one of these overdressed, over-styled, overconfident woman would he be forced to spend an evening with? Why would any of them even want to spend an evening with him? His fellow football players would be much more friendly and fun for a woman to be around. Maybe Knox would get lucky and nobody would bid on him. He tugged at his tie, almost pulling it loose. No, he wanted to raise money for the vets. He’d happily donate more than anyone would bid on him if they’d just let him out of here.

  He and his agent, Claire, had gone the rounds about tonight and some other crazy idea—a cheesy reality TV show host had requested to come into his home, stay for a few days, and video his life. Who would want to put their life and their family on display for the world like that? His hands got sweaty just thinking about it. It wasn’t simply his love of privacy; he had to protect Shelby from would-be predators, kidnappers, conniving women, and her own mother. He had nightmares about all of them, especially since he’d had half a dozen young nannies try to use Shelby’s affection to make a romantic play for him. It made his skin crawl.

  Shelby’s mother, Paris, really made his skin crawl. She’d taken a huge settlement from his deceased best friend, Tyler, to sign over Shelby to Knox at birth. Paris was the ultimate diva and occasionally showed up hoping Knox would fall for her and trying to get pictures with him and Shelby to boost her social media. He rarely let himself think about the kidnapping attempt on Shelby when she was only six months old. The perpetrators had been caught and he’d protected his girl. His private investigators were ninety percent certain Paris was behind the attempt, but the police hadn’t been convinced yet. It had made him shut out the world even more.

  Finally Claire had conceded the fight and told him if he did the auction she’d back down on the home invasion idea, for now. For now. He hated those words where any woman was concerned. Paris had signed over all parental rights for an obscene amount of money, but she’d already tried to come back several times to mess up his adopted daughter. Shelby’s biological father, Tyler, who had been Knox’s best friend and a billionaire, had set Shelby up for life and beyond. Money wasn’t an issue for Knox with his salary and sponsorships, so he simply managed Shelby’s future holdings for her. If only Tyler had survived that land mine. He’d died before Shelby was even born, some kind of intuition guiding him to set up all the paperwork to leave Knox to raise his orphaned daughter and protect her from Paris.

  Knox’s neck tightened and his gut churned as he thought of Tyler’s death. The room felt like it was closing in. His breath shortened as he tugged at his tie.

  “You okay, man?” Riker asked.

  Knox nodded quickly, appreciating the interruption of his thoughts. Riker really was a stand-up dude. Knox took a few calming breaths and a long guzzle of his water, then forced himself to look at the crowd again and tried not to think. Thinking brought panic attacks and worse.

  His eyes settled on the dark-haired woman who’d slammed the bathroom door into him before dinner. He almost smiled at the memory. Talking to her may have been the first time he’d enjoyed a conversation with a beautiful woman, until she insinuated she wanted to forget any innocent flirtations and jump right into staying at his place. Wow. Women were just pushy, terrifying creatures. Best he kept his distance, no matter that he’d felt a strange connection to her. Like she’d been able to read him when their eyes met.

  He heard Maia say his name and forced himself to stand and step toward the stage. Being first meant the agony would be over faster.

  “Come on, dude, give them one smile,” Riker teased him.

  Knox sent him such a fierce glare, it should’ve knocked him over. Riker only laughed. Knox ignored him and stepped up to Maia’s side, towering over her. She tilted her head up and smiled at him. It was a nice smile, and he was relieved that she wasn’t one of those sharky kinds of women. Her hands shook slightly as she shuffled through a stack of cards. Had he not been right there on stage, he wouldn’t have noticed. But then, he’d been trained to notice those kinds of things. Knowing she was a little bit terrified made him even more comfortable with her.

  “Knox Sherman. The Beast. We truly feel honored to have you here. The reports are you don’t date much.” Her voice was light, non-threatening, and not at all suggestive. If he’d had a little sister, he’d want her to be wholesome and innocent like Maia. She reminded him of a kid selling lemonade on a hot summer’s day. Of course, she wasn’t a kid—not in that dress.

  Knox had to smile at her opening lines. “I don’t date at all, ma’am.”

  “And yet, here you are, donating a date to help injured vets and those struggling with PTSD.”

  Knox kept his expression neutral. Nobody but his therapist, his pastor, and Aunt Genny knew that he struggled with PTSD himself.

  “Can you tel
l me a little bit about the type of woman that catches your eye?” Maia asked.

  For some reason, his eyes strayed to the exotic-looking beauty again. He’d noticed how tall and well-formed she was, definitely some Polynesian background with her beautiful face, skin, and shape. “No, ma’am. Not a woman alive could catch my eye.” Even as he said it, his eyes lingered on the woman in the blue dress. Would he burn for lying? It didn’t matter. He had to keep his distance.

  Maia arched her eyebrows. “I’ll bet there’s a heartfelt reason behind that answer. You can’t be as intimidating as you pretend to be.” She led him to a chance to open up.

  Knox winced. He was every bit as intimidating as he pretended to be, and he had no plans to change. Yet he kept reminding himself that he was here for the vets and shouldn’t scare away every potential female bidder. He pushed out a breath and murmured, “I have a three-year-old daughter and she is my first priority. That’s why I don’t date … much.” Another lie—he didn’t date at all.

  Dreamy sighs came from women close to the front. They thought it was cute, or maybe they thought he would be sensitive because he was devoted to Shelby. Far from it: they should realize that his love for his daughter meant they had no chance with him, other than this one forced date. Tyler used to tease him that his handsome face was a blessing and a curse. Nope. It was a straight-up curse. Why did women care that he was handsome? With the demons in his head, he’d be a horrid boyfriend and an even worse husband. Just another reason he stayed away from women.

  He forced another smile at Maia. “Shelby loves princess movies, and she’s looking forward to the release of The Princess and the Well of the World’s End.” He mentally cursed. Now he sounded like a commercial for animated shows and he’d just shared his daughter’s name in a room full of sharky women. This was why he didn’t participate in events like this.