Tempting Fate

By Aspen Hayes

Alex Stone is a man that is used to getting exactly what he wants. Heir to an advertising dynasty and at the top of his game as lead executive, Alex is confident, commanding and absolutely irresistible.

So when his father, CEO of Stone Advertising hires curvy single Nora Myers to go head-to-head with his son in the boardroom, nothing could prepare Alex for the competitive battle that would ensue, or for the fire in Nora's eyes that would ignite a sexual spark unlike anything he's ever felt before.

But it's not going to be easy - Nora is all about business and is determined to keep the playboy at a distance, unwilling to become just another conquest in a string of many.

For Alex, it doesn't take long before he's grappling with emotions that he's never felt before. Jealously, and an uncontrollable obsession that threatens to drive him over the edge. And he's never been more afraid, or more excited.

But when Alex's angry ex girlfriend appears on the scene intent on destroying any chance that he has at real happiness, he must figure out a way to prove to Nora that he is not the man that he used to be.

This book is for mature audiences. It contains explicit language and sexual content.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aspen Hayes
• Release date: Sep 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301463381

Aspen Hayes

Aspen wrote her very first romance novel at only thirteen years old, by hand, in an old lined scribbler and she hasn't stopped since. Writing what she loves to read, Aspen writes both contemporary and paranormal romance which almost always features an irresistibly sexy Alpha Male with a happily ever after. Aspen Hayes lives on a beautiful island in Canada where she is currently hard at work on the next book in her latest series. Connect With Aspen! Aspen loves to hear from her readers and you can reach her a number of different ways including her website at http://www.AspenHayes.com - via twitter @ http://twitter.com/aspenwrites or by joining her newsletter at http://www.TangledPublishing.com

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Table Of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About The Author

Tempting Fate

BBW Erotic Romance

By Aspen Hayes

Copyright © 2013 by Aspen Hayes

All Rights Reserved. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.

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This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and places are solely the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, including events, areas, locations and situations is entirely coincidental.

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Chapter One

Squinting against the brilliant morning sunshine that filtered through the soaring penthouse windows, Alex Stone moaned and burrowed further into the crumpled rug that had served as his bed. The night before it had been the cream leather couch, and the night before that, one of the loungers on the lofty deck overlooking the city. Only the silken domain of his custom-made bed remained pristine, the crumpled sheets undisturbed since...

... Since when, exactly?

Alex’s eyelids fluttered. Opening slowly, they revealed a blurry close-up of the rug’s striking black, red and white geometric pattern. He frowned, the sledgehammer headache pounding at his temples effectively preventing cognitive thought. Sleep had been evasive, despite the empty high-end vodka bottle staring him in the face like a reproachful lover. Noticing a musky odor, he paused to sniff suspiciously, realizing that the pungent aroma harkened to at least two days since his last shower.

From an unseen location, Alex’s phone angrily buzzed. The intrusive sound bore into his head, causing him to wince. He rolled over with a groan and noticing that he was naked, tried to recall what had happened to his Beckham body wear. His memory refused to cooperate, so he simply stared out the window at the expansive city view forty floors below. Glittering in the morning sun, the city bustled with the energy he normally thrived on, but today, he felt more like a street bogged down by an endless traffic jam.

The phone paused, then buzzed with renewed vindictiveness. Alex peered blearily around a contemporary living room of high-end glass, chrome and leather furnishings reduced to a chaos of discarded clothing, dirty dishes and empty booze bottles which would undoubtedly elicit a string of curses from Mrs. Vance, his shrew of a housekeeper. A fixture of the Stone family for twenty years, nothing short of an asteroid strike would prompt her to retire, and she was much too loved by Alex’s family to fear reprisal from anyone, Alex included.

Uttering the cry of a damned soul, he rose to his feet and staggered toward the phone playing peek-a-boo beneath a crumpled bath towel that had found it’s way into a planter of lush bamboo palm trees. He scrolled through eighty-seven missed messages and almost as many emails. Noticing most were from his father, he steeled himself and played the most recent voicemail.

Alex, it’s Dad. Again. Remember me? Or do we need to run a DNA scan? I’ve got Langley breathing down my neck about the campaign. Miles may be a lifelong friend, but business is business and I can’t be covering your ass any longer. Look, if you don’t want to tell me what’s going on, that’s your call, but I’m telling you now, if it starts affecting Stone Advertising, then I’m not covering for you anymore. Maybe you can ‘fly in’ early from your vacation and get back here or else I’m going to have to let Nora take it from here.

Nora ... the very mention of her name elicited a physical stab of pain through Alex. Even now, images of a face and the voluptuous figure of a goddess swirled in his mind, releasing a floodgate of emotions that nearly brought him to tears.

Alex, he said aloud. What the hell are you doing, man?

Taking a deep sigh, he speed dialed his father. A moment later, Brad Stone’s commanding voice resonated so loudly from the phone’s speaker that Alex was forced to lower the volume. At that moment, the low battery alert sounded. He scrambled frantically in search of the phone charger.

Alex? Goddammit! Brad raged. I’ve been calling you for days. Have you decided to singlehandedly bring down the company your grandfather worked so hard to build?

Alex winced and ran his fingers through his matted chestnut brown hair. It desperately needed a trim and gawking at his reflection in a mirrored section of a divider wall, he saw that he was beginning to resemble a Roman senator, but an elder senator whose healthy growth of beard exceeded the limits of trendiness.

His eyes traveled from his haggard face down to what had been, until recently, a trim, finely cut body now hinting at softness. A look of horror crossed Alex’s face. Glancing around the room, the crumpled remains of pizza boxes confirmed his worst fears.

Alex? Brad bellowed. Have you gone AWOL on me again?

I’m sorry, Dad, Alex said, turning away from the mirror with a look of disgust while he continued his search for the phone charger. I was going to call you today.

Bullshit, Brad said. Enough is enough. I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing, but your mother and I are really fed up. You’d better sort out whatever the hell’s got you hiding from the world. Nora’s not saying a word and I’m not pressing her, but I’m telling you now to get your act together – and fast.

Dad, trust me, I know. It’s…it’s something I just can’t talk about right now.

Judging by your recent behavior son, trust is a little hard to come by at the moment. Brad replied. Once you were the rising star of Stone Advertising. Clients were lining up outside the building waiting to sign up with us. Now I’ve got Langley threatening breach of contract if their campaign is delayed any longer. He paused and murmured to someone in the background. Look, Alex, Brad said, I’ve got to put out some fires here, but I’m making it clear that if you don’t show your face first thing tomorrow, Nora Myers is not only completing the Langley campaign, but she’s taking over your job. Do I make myself clear?

Spotting the phone charger mysteriously coiled beneath the stairs, he quickly plugged it into the nearest outlet and connected his phone.

Did you hear me? Brad asked.

Dad, don’t worry, Alex said. I promise I’ll be in tomorrow.

I’ll be expecting you at nine a.m. sharp, Brad grunted before hanging up.

Alex winced and stared at the charging phone. The fog in his head was finally starting to clear and the stark reality of a situation verging on critical looked him squarely in the eye. At thirty-two, he was an alumni of one of the most prestigious Ivy League schools, a Forbes Person of the Year and the star of one of the most successful advertising empires in the country. He had come into life kicking and screaming, an attitude that had navigated him toward the lofty peaks of success without the help of his family ... but all of it was about to sink like the Titanic on its maiden voyage – all because of Nora Myers.

He scrolled through the glut of waiting messages. Besides his father, everyone from Mrs. Vance to his best friend Rick had been trying to reach him. He was about to start deleting the backlog of his other messages when his gaze fixed on an older email. His fingers hovered indecisively over the touchpad, then reluctantly tapped to open the message.

Alex merely stared at the stunning image of Nora smiling at home from a captured moment that he could never forget. Blinking away tears, he traced the outline of an ethereal face worthy of Botticelli, framed by a cascade of curly smoky black hair. A gauzy veil fanned from a jeweled coronet, and sea foam green eyes gazed sublimely, complemented by the cream silk, pearl-encrusted gown barely peeking into the photo.

Above all else, it was Nora’s radiant smile that caught his breath and sent his pulse racing, and even as he gazed at her image with the demeanor of a love-struck puppy, the memory of his uncle’s colorful wedding reception overwhelmed his mind and heart with emotion.

*

Basking beneath a warm June sun, the manor grounds tumbled around a sparkling sapphire lake like the colorful splashes on an artist’s canvas. Emerald green lawns vied with stunning, fragrant gardens and stream-fed woodlands were alive with birdsong. A charming guesthouse festooned with dozens of banners, ornate flags and flowers reflecting a Renaissance-themed wedding reception flanked the lake, its sprawling patio and dock extending into the clear, pristine water.

A miniature village of white tents and gazebos decorated in similar style as the guesthouse boasted wandering minstrels, jugglers and serving staff clad in full costume. Displayed within a specially cooled tent, an eye-popping buffet tempted guests with a staggering array of authentic Renaissance dishes, while an adjacent bar tent lured in the thirsty with a selection of contemporary as well as more authentic wines, ales and beers.

Guests clad in authentic costumes mingled and feasted, lending to the magical atmosphere, at least most of the guests. Locked inside a bathroom tucked away in the top floor of the guesthouse, a naked and wet Alex and Tisa aggressively frolicked in the oversized shower. Condensation fogged the etched glass enclosure, their writhing bodies slapping against the polished marble walls.

Pinning Tisa against the wall, Alex wrapped her toned, tawny legs around his waist while she whimpered obscenities in Spanish and clawed at sculpted muscles of his back like a rabid animal. Though Alex’s finely chiseled physique attested to hours of workouts in his private gym, his classic cowboy good looks, augmented by sexy curls of chocolate-brown hair and eyes the color of a Montana sky, were the result of good genes passed down from both parents. Good genes from his father certainly also contributed to his solid, truncheon sized cock rising between Tisa’s slick pussy.

Like his mother, Alex had been a model until he entered university in his early twenties to pursue his MBA, but the years of jet setting around the world had filled his passport with more than an enviable collection of stamps. Alex Stone had graced the cover of virtually everything publishable, and there wasn’t a party, event or premier where he didn’t appear with some equally gorgeous female, or two, in tow.

Inevitably, as partying overtook modeling, Alex started popping up in some not-so-notable publications. After a few nude scandals and failed paternity cases, his parents Brad and Delilah Stone threatened to cut off his trust fund if he didn’t settle down and restore the family image. Growing weary of supermodel drama, Alex had agreed to focus his energy on his education, and proved to be a genius at anything he tackled, including the Stone Advertising empire, which he joined immediately after graduation.

Within the years since, the company became an empire to rival Rome, as reputation, stocks and clientele soared. Alex became the golden child of advertising and had forged a path to the dizzying heights of Forbes Person of the Year. Though Alex’s younger brother and sister followed in his footsteps, it was Alex’s high-beam personality and