Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Newsletter
Marni’s Midnighters
About the Author
Also by Marni Mann
Sneak Peek of The Lawyer
The Single Dad
The Intern
Sneak Peek of Unblocked
Copyright © 2022 by Marni Mann
All rights reserved.
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Visit my website at: www.MarniSMann.com
Cover Designer: Hang Le, By Hang Le, www.byhangle.com
Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com
Proofreaders: Judy Zweifel of Judy’s Proofreading, Kaitie Reister, and Chanpreet Singh
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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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ISBN-13: 979-8410280037
To B.
For being my constant.
My inspiration.
And the reason I know anything about love.
Prologue
Jenner
“Damn it, Jenner, you’re drooling.”
I heard Walter’s comment, but my attention was on the brunette who was making her way across the restaurant. She had one hell of a body, wearing a tiny, low-cut red dress. Full Cs on display. The bottom of her dress hitting the center of her thighs.
And, goddamn it, it was climbing.
With each step, the hem rose half an inch. By the time she passed our table, I was hoping she wouldn’t bother pulling it down, giving me the view I was after.
I bet her pussy was fucking perfect.
Her stare, locking with mine, was the kind that mentally stripped off my suit. Her slight grin only confirmed that, those plump lips promising a blow job I’d never forget.
“Do you need a napkin?” Walter added.
The brunette continued to hold my gaze until she passed us, turning the corner into the entrance of the restaurant.
Now that she was gone, I shifted my attention back to Walter. “Holy hell.” I shook my head, lifting the dark cloth from my lap to wipe the corners of my mouth. “Did you see her?”
“She certainly had eyes for you.”
Walter Spade was my largest client. A hotel mogul I’d been doing business with since I’d passed the bar. For tonight’s meeting, I’d chosen the highest-rated steak house in LA, the scotch he was sipping over five hundred dollars a glass.
I smiled. “Do you blame her?”
He chuckled. “Tell me, are there any skirts in LA you haven’t looked under?”
I pushed my back into the chair, rubbing my hands together. “Hers.”
“Should I wager a bet that you’ll have her naked before we’re served dessert?”
This certainly wouldn’t be the first time a woman’s glance had enticed me enough to meet her in the hallway outside the ladies’ room and carry her inside, fucking her against one of the walls of the stall.
But Walter wasn’t just some client I could leave for thirty minutes.
Walter was the client.
The one who had helped me become a billionaire.
I got our waitress’s attention and pointed at our tumblers, signaling we needed a refill, before I replied, “The only thing we’re betting on tonight is the success of your upcoming hotel.” I shifted in my seat, crossing my legs under the table. “I know you mentioned you have several locations in mind. Have you made any decisions?”
Spade Hotels was the biggest independent chain in the world with twenty-six five-star hotels in his portfolio. This meeting was to discuss his plans for the twenty-seventh, which he wanted to open within the next twenty-four months.
Each build-out was becoming more difficult, unraveling hundreds of unchartered complications. The city would tie me up in permit issues, and the seller would bury me in thick, daunting negotiations. There was often litigation over the height of the hotel, the zoning, if the land housed animals or endangered vegetation. Months of research went into these projects, and that was before construction even began, which was another stage I legally oversaw.
“I do have a few ideas,” he started. “One that’s been marinating for over a year.”
Walter approached new ventures unlike the way I pursued women. He was strategic, not impulsive. He wanted to analyze each endeavor, plan the exploration, process the possibilities.
I wanted to taste and please and come, and then I wanted to wake up in my own bed.
Alone.
“Let’s talk about it,” I told him.
“Before we do, I want to hear your thoughts.” He turned his glass in a circle, the amber-colored liquid sloshing against the sides. “You’ve traveled the world, Jenner. You’re in a plane more often than you’re on the ground. You’re at the age where people start having more disposable income and they like to travel in style. They might still fly coach, but they want thousand-thread-count sheets covering them at night. Where do the young and wealthy, like yourself, visit nowadays?”
I had two brothers who I used to do most of my traveling with. Since my youngest brother, Ford, had his daughter, Everly, his getaway time was more limited. My oldest brother, Dominick, was tied down with Kendall—his client turned girlfriend. The extent of my trips now happened solo, but when I was able to drag the guys away, there were a few spots we visited most often.