The Daring One: A Billionaire Bride Pact Romance Read online

  “It’s been your life passion.”

  “Yeah.” She stirred her Diet Coke with the straw. “I went to Otis College of Art and Design in L.A. It’s one of only two toy design schools in the nation, and within a year of graduation I was my dad’s top designer.”

  “Good for you.” His praise was warm and genuine. “What kind of toys do you specialize in?”

  “Mostly classic ones made out of wood—puzzles, building toys, animals—but I also enjoy doing dolls. I created a line that’s similar to the Polly Pockets, but my dolls are intricate and wooden, and the clothes are real cloth with buttons, zippers, and Velcro.” She adored her Mini-Me dolls, but hated that they weren’t hers any more. At his look of confusion, she smiled. “Polly Pockets are tiny plastic dolls with all kinds of interchangeable clothes and accessories.”

  “So your dad is a toy manufacturer or a toy store owner?”

  “He was both. He had about a hundred retail stores where we sold our toys and all kinds of other toys as well, but we also manufactured and sold our trademarked toys throughout the world.” Unable to look at him, she pushed the remaining black beans around on her plate. “He got bought out earlier this year. The new company owns my designs now, and they didn’t want to manufacture anything new. They didn’t want me.” That sounded so pathetic. She knew it was more that they didn’t want to pay her and they already had her designs, including the new Mini-Me line, which was one of the hottest toys of the year. What did they care if they had Summer? Yet she did an amazing job, she knew she did, and she prided herself on her new ideas. How could they just cut her and her family out?

  Daring to look up, she saw that Chance’s brow was pinched. He simply stared at her.

  “So: long, sad story. No money, no traveling the world, no mountain biking.” She shrugged. “It’s fine, though. I’m still designing and I’ll find someone great to work with soon.”

  Chance nodded shortly. “I’m sure you will. Did you like your dinner?”

  Summer didn’t know what to make of the rest of dinner. Chance was pleasant, but the playful banter was gone. He asked for her cell number before watching her ride off on Haley’s beach cruiser. That was the only solid indicator that he cared enough to see her again. She wasn’t sure where the evening had gone wrong. He seemed to approve of her career as a toy designer, but maybe it was just awkward for an extremely wealthy guy to figure out how to respond to someone that had fallen on hard times.

  As soon as Summer had pedaled away, Chance dug his phone out of his pocket and jammed his finger against the touch screen, where Byron’s name appeared as his most recent call. “The daughter’s name was Gabriella, right?” he demanded.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Magical Dream Toys. The daughter was their top designer. What was her name?”

  “Excuse me for me a second, Alyssa.” Byron’s voice was honey smooth.

  “Alyssa! What happened to Serena?” Chance was already boiling with worry that Summer’s story was going to coincide with his own. He couldn’t handle Byron messing up with another secretary right now.

  “Um, yeah. You were right about her, bro. Empty brain. She could drown in the shower.”

  Chance stormed down Main Street. He’d walked the mile into town and was glad now. He’d need at least that to calm down or he might break something in the rental house. “Byron, you are driving me nuts! Does Yvonne know?”

  “She won’t care. Serena is so dumb and needs the job, so she promised that she’d keep working and tell Yvonne that she broke up with me. Genius, eh? I can’t wait for you to meet Alyssa. Her legs, whoa. I wish I could write poetry, you know?”

  “Byron, you’re a slimeball.”

  His brother chuckled. “What were you asking about the toy store deal?”

  Dread settled in the pit of his stomach. If anything could make him forget about his brother’s sleazy treatment of women, it was worrying if Summer was going to hate him. “What was the daughter’s name? She didn’t go by something different than Gabriella, did she?”

  “Um, yeah, it was Gabriella.”

  Chance breathed again. It wasn’t Summer, though the last name was the same. Could it actually be some crazy coincidence?

  “But when I worked with Mr. Anderson to get a job for his son, Jake, I asked if Gabriella needed a reference. He said she wanted to find a job on her own, but he called her something different, like a nickname for a free spirit. Let me think.”

  Oh no. Please, no.

  “Sunrise or … Summer! That was it, he called her Summer.”

  Chance halted and sank into an empty bench, his heart sinking deeper. He’d known it was her as soon as she told her story, but the stark reality about pulled him under. Was she going to hate him when she found out who he was? The daughter, Summer, had been traveling outside of the United States throughout the process of working with Magical Dream Toys and the takeover. She’d probably only heard of his company as Mumford’s Sons. Her dad was the one Chance and Byron had dealt with.

  “Oh, man.” Chance pushed his hand into his forehead.

  “What’s going on? You okay?” Byron sounded genuinely concerned.

  “You know the beautiful girl I met? Told you about a couple of days ago?” His brother had gone from one woman to the next in less time than he’d talked Summer into dinner. Unbelievable. Chance’s entire time in Crested Butte had been caught up in daydreams of Summer.

  “Oh, yeah. Glad to hear you finally broke the celibacy curse.”

  Chance shook his head. “She’s Gabriella, or Summer, Anderson.”

  Silence scratched across the line. Finally, Byron muttered, “Aw, no. That’s bad.”

  At least his brother got it. Chance stood and marched down the street again, pressing the phone hard into his ear and trying to control his panicked breathing. He finally found an amazing woman, and because of a business deal, he was going to lose her before they even had a chance.

  “She doesn’t know who you are?” Byron asked.

  “She thinks I’m a lawyer. She knows my name, but it’s possible she never heard our names, just Mumford’s Sons.”

  “Okay. It’s all okay, then. Just don’t tell her.”

  “‘Don’t tell her’? You want me to lie?” Chance exploded, earning a nasty glare from an elderly woman walking the other direction. “Sorry,” he whispered to her.

  “You always tell the truth, young man,” she admonished.

  Chance nodded meekly. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Humph.” She shook her head and stomped off, muttering about young people.

  Chance blew out his breath and kept walking, but slowed his pace a little bit—he didn’t need to run over tourists or be rude. “I just got chewed out by an old lady.”

  Byron laughed so loud it rattled Chance even further. “You’re such a boy scout, bro. If Summer doesn’t connect the dots, why do you need to do it for her?”

  “Because that’s what us boy scouts do.”

  “Come on! Work with me here. Oh, sorry, Alyssa. No, it’s not another girl.” Byron sighed loudly. “Can you please say hi to Alyssa?”

  Chance didn’t have a second to say no. He couldn’t care less if Alyssa realized his brother was a two-timing jerk and wouldn’t stay loyal to her if she was his soul mate.

  “Hi,” a sultry voice said.

  “Hi, Alyssa.” He didn’t inject any emotion into his voice. “Can I please talk to my brother now?”

  “Sheesh. I’m glad I got the fun one.”

  There was giggling and laughter and a scuffle for the phone. Byron came back on, panting. “I gotta go, bro. Lie to her—it’s the only way for you.”

  “You wouldn’t lie to me,” Alyssa protested so loudly Chance could hear.

  “Of course not, baby, but I couldn’t lie to you. Not with the connection we have between us.” The phone disconnected, and Chance was relieved. He didn’t want to hear the crap his brother would spew to keep on kissing something pretty. How were they even related
?

  He stowed his phone and slowed his steps as he walked through the park east of town. What was he going to do? He’d never taken his brother’s advice where women were concerned, but he was tempted. Groaning, he shoved a hand through his hair. He couldn’t lie, especially not to Summer. But if he told her the truth, they’d be over before they began. Maybe he could just postpone telling her everything. If she never asked what his company was called, why would he needlessly volunteer up the information? That would be awkward, right?

  He rolled his eyes at himself. He was justifying, like Byron would do. No, Byron wouldn’t justify or lie; he prided himself on his honesty. He’d tell the woman the truth, but be so charming about it she’d forgive him and be kissing him by sunset. It wasn’t fair that Byron could enchant and beguile any woman who looked his direction.

  Chance shuffled through the park and on the road out toward his rental house. He didn’t know what to do, but he had to get to know Summer. He’d finally broken through her wall of not wanting to date him, and he couldn’t give up now. She was too refreshing and beautiful and funny, too much of everything he’d always wanted to find in a woman. He wouldn’t lie to her, but he had to give them a chance before he spilled the truth. Just a few days, and hopefully she’d be interested in him before he dropped the bombshell that might kill any chance he had.

  Chapter Five

  The next day, when Summer exited the store, Chance was standing on the sidewalk, grinning at her.

  She was hard-pressed to hide a smile of her own. “You just going to wait for me every day after work, cowboy?”

  “I’d like to make it a standing date.”

  Summer liked the idea and the way he looked at her, not leering, but definitely appreciative. She’d had a good time with him yesterday. He seemed like a stand-up guy, and how could she turn down Channing Tatum’s lookalike? “You wait there, wearing that dimple, and I might be persuaded.”

  He’d laughed and she went to dinner with him that night. He was there every night after that, even when it rained and all she would’ve had to look forward to was a miserable ride home and macaroni and cheese. For two weeks she teased him each time she opened the shop door and found him waiting, but he always talked Summer into dinner. Not that he had to talk too hard. She liked being around him more and more every day. Sometimes he got a little distant or looked at her like he knew something she should know, but most of the time they laughed, talked, and enjoyed simply being together. She appreciated that he didn’t ask for more than dinner. At this point in her life, if a guy was going to have a chance, he needed to get to know her and move at a snail’s pace.

  Friday night was a gorgeous summer evening in Crested Butte, and Summer hoped if Chance took her to dinner they could sit out on a patio and enjoy this weather. When she opened the door, her handsome “standing date” stood outside with a picnic basket hooked through one arm.

  “Hey,” Summer said, locking up the door quickly and turning to him. “Somebody’s trying to be a little original.”

  “Trying.” Chance chuckled. “I’d love to plan something original, but when I met my honey-blonde beauty she told me to ‘try again in two weeks.’ It’s been over two weeks since I ran you off the trail.”

  Summer unlocked her bike and started to stroll next to him, liking how comfortable she was with him already. “So what does that mean to me, Mister?”

  “Guess you’ll see tomorrow when I plan a really original date.”

  “Yeah?” She tilted her head and studied him.

  “Yeah.” His teal eyes twinkled. “Picnic in the park work for tonight?”

  “Perfect. How’d you know I’d want to be outside?”

  “I’m getting to know you pretty well.”

  “You wish.”

  Chance chuckled.

  They made their way slowly east, smiling at little children and walking side by side until they reached the park. Chance whipped a blanket out of his basket and proceeded to unload hoagie sandwiches, fruit, cookies, and water bottles. The park was perfect tonight, probably in the high seventies, which was sweltering for Crested Butte even in the summer. Children ran, climbed, and giggled on the playground, and some teenage boys were tossing a Frisbee with upbeat music thumping from their portable speakers.

  “So does the fancy attorney just order someone to do all of this for him, or are you bored here on vacation and that’s why you seek me out every day?”

  “Two loaded questions there.” Chance leaned back on an elbow, stretched out his legs, and popped a grape in his mouth.

  Summer threw a grape at him. “Answer both.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, my assistant called around and the basket was delivered. No, I’m not bored; my brother and assistant have plenty of work for me to do. I barely get out for a ride each morning, searching for a beautiful runner every time and not finding her.”

  “I make sure to go on the trails that bikers can’t use.” She stood and bowed to him.

  Chance grabbed her hand and tugged her back down. She stumbled right on top of him. Everything seemed to slow down. His warm body felt wonderful underneath her, and his dimple deepened as he grinned slowly at her.

  “You didn’t answer the second question to my satisfaction,” Summer murmured, trying not to notice how nice his lips were shaped.

  “Hmm?” His eyes darted to her lips, and Summer felt herself being drawn in by his strong arms.

  “Do you only come find me every night because you’re bored?”

  “I’m definitely not bored. You’re the only person I want to find every night.” He clamped his hands around her lower back. She had no escape, and she loved it.

  Whack! Summer was hit in the head by a Frisbee, and she learned that the term “seeing stars” was not facetious. Chance’s arms loosened. Rolling off of him onto the blanket, she grasped at her forehead and winced.

  “Summer! You okay?” Chance sat up.

  “Sorry,” she heard a young male voice squeak from above. “Is she okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Summer muttered. She opened her eyes to see Chance peering down at her and two teenage boys haloed above him by the sun. “Nice shot.”

  The boys gave surprised laughs, and Chance’s eyes widened.

  “I’m sorry,” the dark-haired boy repeated. “I didn’t mean to hit you.”

  “He sucks at Frisbee,” the blond with long shaggy hair explained.

  “No worries. I always throw it the wrong direction too.”

  Chance offered a hand and she sat up, her head clearing quickly. The boys still watched her with concern.

  “I promise. I’m fine. No worries.”

  The blond looked at Chance. “You’ve got a really chill girlfriend.”

  Chance nodded. “Thanks.”

  “Sorry,” they both said again. They shuffled away, but Summer heard the dark-haired kid add, “And a freaking hot girlfriend too.”

  Chance grinned with a teasing lilt to his lips.

  “You do not have a hot girlfriend,” Summer said. “Unless there’s someone you aren’t telling me about.”

  “I wish I could claim you.”

  Summer bit at her lip. The worst part about the Frisbee attack was the interruption of a possible kiss. Chance was reeling her in faster than her dad could cast a fly and snag a trout.

  He eyed her with too much concern. “You’re sure you’re okay? You have a little mark right here.” He gently touched her forehead.

  Summer smiled. “It’s good.” She took a bite out of her sandwich and a swallow of her water to prove she was fine. “I’m not that fragile.”

  He arched his eyebrows. “That’s good to know. Now that I’ve got the go-ahead to plan original dates and everything.”

  “I’m looking forward to that,” Summer said.

  “I Will Wait” by Mumford & Sons started playing on the speakers her Frisbee buddies had set up.

  “I love this song.” Summer climbed to her feet and started dancing, further ready to s
how Chance that she was okay, even if her head throbbed a little bit.

  Chance watched her for a few seconds with an amused grin.

  Summer reached out a hand. “Dance with me?”

  He climbed up quickly, took her hand, and swayed with her, singing the chorus in this sexy, low voice: “And I will wait, I will wait for you.”

  When the banjo picked up, he swung her out, then in. Summer laughed, but she actually felt like Chance would wait for her. But what were they both waiting for? Her to find a job? His vacation to be over and their relationship to either fizzle or go to the next level? Summer didn’t know, but after two weeks of learning to trust him and fully enjoying being around him, she was ready to see what the possibilities were.

  Chance watched Summer pedal away on her bike and cursed Frisbee throwers the world over. She had wanted to kiss him. He knew it. He’d been trying to take things slow, though his male instincts had been begging him to speed things up. The teenaged Frisbee throwers had been dead on about Summer. She was unbelievably hot and chill at the same time—funny, smart, laid-back, and with more world experiences than he’d imagined—Summer may just be the perfect woman for him. Now if only he could convince her of that and somehow bring up the fact that he was Mumford’s Sons. He groaned, hoping his face hadn’t betrayed his worries when the band Mumford & Sons had come on and she’d danced so cute.

  Holding her in his arms was heaven, and as soon as she found out who he was, he’d be thrust out of any hope of paradise. She was going to hate him.

  Chapter Six

  Summer’s phone rang as she was getting home from her morning hike to the top of the ski resort. She couldn’t help but smile that it was Chance. This was the first time he’d called her, and she hoped whatever he wanted to do tonight was that step she’d decided last night she wanted to take.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hi, Summer.” Just the way he said her name made her a little breathless. “Are you working today?” he asked.

  “I’m scheduled to go in from noon to close, as always.” Hmm. He wanted a day date, did he?