Betting the Billionaire

By Avery Flynn

If that man calls her one more time… So what if Gabe Campos is a model-dating billionaire who gets Keisha Jacobs hotter than a Ferrari's engine on the straightaway? He keeps pushing her to sell her family's furniture business, but she'll never give in—not unless she wants to give her father a second heart attack.

All Gabe should be thinking about is how he'll finally get revenge on the man who killed his father. But when he meets the man's daughter, Keisha, instead of focusing on destroying Jacobs Fine Furnishings, he can't get her warm-whisky voice out of his mind.

Forced by a snow storm to spend the night together, their passion ignites. The next day, however, it's back to business. The only way Keisha can save her family is to win a bet with the billionaire. But neither realized their hearts are part of the bargain…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Apr 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781622665501

Avery Flynn

Avery Flynn is a USA Today bestselling romance author. She has three slightly-wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband and is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip. She was a reader before she was a writer and hopes to always be both. She loves to write about smartass alpha heroes who are as good with a quip as they are with their *ahem* other God-given talents. Her heroines are feisty, fierce and fantastic. Brainy and brave, these ladies know how to stand on their own two feet and knock the bad guys off theirs.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Acknowledgments

About the Author

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The Millionaire’s Revenge Contract

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Avery Flynn. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

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Suite 327

Parker, CO 80134

[e-mail]

Indulgence is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Edited by Stephan Morgan

Cover design by Elizabeth Turner Stokes

Cover photography by Rocketclips, Inc./Shutterstock

ISBN 978-1-62266-550-1

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition April 2014

Dear Reader,

Thank you for supporting a small publisher! Entangled prides itself on bringing you the highest quality romance you’ve come to expect, and we couldn’t do it without your continued support. We love romance, and we hope this book leaves you with a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

xoxo

Liz Pelletier, Publisher

To all the fixers who keep trying to make the world a better place. :)

Chapter One

Keisha Jacobs would give up her favorite ratchet box wrench for the ability to reach through the phone and strangle the rich asshole on the other end of the line. However, the fact that such an action happened to be physically impossible was a blessing. Few things were as sparse around Jacobs Fine Furnishings as bail money.

But the bills? She surveyed the stack of envelopes filling the leopard print inbox on the corner of her office desk. Oh, there were plenty of them.

Unclamping her jaw before she broke a molar, Keisha sucked in a fortifying breath through her teeth. There. Much better. Sort of. I don’t care how much money you offer, Mr. Campos, Jacobs Fine Furnishings is not for sale.

Everyone has a price. He delivered the comment with the honeyed voice of someone used to getting his way. Too bad for him she’d already fallen for that ploy. Once. With another smooth-talking uber-stud. All it had gotten her was an overpriced wedding dress and nowhere to wear it. Not me and not this company.

Keisha slid her fingers across her laptop’s built-in mouse pad. The screen flickered to life. She scrolled up The Harbor City Post’s website to an old photo of a clean-shaven, square-jawed hottie in a tuxedo with a model-slash-actress-slash-singer type on each arm.

Figured.

Three’s Company: Harbor City’s bad boy billionaire, Gabe Campos, hits the town with two beauties for the annual Fashion Fights Hunger gala at the Harbor City Museum of Modern Art. Looks like he doesn’t just have the Midas touch when it comes to money.

The article under the photo waxed on and on about how Campos relaxed by building furniture.

Why don’t you meet me, and we can discuss this in person? Gabe’s smooth voice slithered down her spine, tempting and oh so dangerous. I can have my helicopter pilot fly down to Salvation, Virginia and bring you to Harbor City. We can chat about the acquisition over dinner. I’d love to finally see the face that goes with that Southern drawl.

She rolled her eyes at Gabe’s image on her screen. Do you think because I live in a small town that I’m a total noob?

I’m just trying to be friendly.

Keisha snorted. No, you’re trying to buy cheap.

So you’d be willing to sell if I increased my offer?

Man, this guy would not take no for an answer, and it was making her nuts. Six month of flirty negotiations coupled with his maddening stubbornness had her twitching in her seat. Absolutely not.

That’s a problem. His voice turned from sticky sweet to flinty in a heartbeat.

Not for me it’s not, she retorted.

It will be.

The dial tone buzzed in her ear before she could think of a better come back than, Oh yeah?

Well, that sounded like it went well. Her best friend, Ellen, stood in the doorway still wearing her red-checked waitress uniform from The Kitchen Sink diner under an unzipped, thick winter coat. She held a white bakery box in her arms.

Please tell me that’s chocolate, because I need it. Keisha hung up the phone and let her chin drop to the desk. The giant poof of her natural ebony afro floated around her head like a force field.

Yes. Ellen sauntered into Keisha’s brightly lit office, her red uniform mixing in perfectly with the eclectic vibe and vibrant colors. And I’m totally holding the cake hostage until you agree to weave your interior decorating magic on my place before you leave for the big city.

Is it lava cake? Keisha lifted her head and tried to read the small print on the side of the white box. Only the most delicious comfort food could make up for dealing with Gabe I’m-Richer-Than-Bruce-Wayne Campos any better. The man was a fucking silver-tonged, muscle-bound menace.

Ellen winked. Oh yeah, baby.

Keisha sat up like someone had waved the green flag at the Talladega race track. It’s a deal.

Wow, you didn’t even put up a fight. Ellen sat down in the teal guest chair and unpacked two personal-sized cakes of chocolate goodness, plastic forks, and napkins. You do remember what my place looks like? The fake wood paneling? The Virginia Hokies wallpaper in the bathroom? The lime green kitchen?

Yes, yes, and yes. Keisha sank her fork into the cake, and a river of gooey chocolate spilled out. But I just hung up with Mr. Ego-the-Size-of-His-Bank-Account.

Again? What is his deal? With all the money he’s got, why would he be interested in a small business like Jacobs Fine Furnishings? No offense.

None taken, Keisha said around a bite of lava cake. The moist cake on her tongue gave way to the decadent chocolate sauce hidden inside the bite, and her eyes almost rolled back in her head from the pleasure. He gave some sort of cock and bull story about how he’s a big Jacobs Fine Furnishings collector and has always wanted to be a part of the craft, so he figured buying the company was a way to do that.

The explanation had set off her bullshit meter faster than a Ferrari with nitro in the tank.

Why not say yes to all that money? Ellen asked.

Because there’s no way I’m going to be responsible for my dad having a second stroke. Once was enough. If the disaster of my broken engagement caused the stroke, what do you think selling Jacobs Fine Furnishings would do to his heart? We can’t even get him to take a two week vacation, let alone sell the place. It took four months for him to agree to let my cousin, Tyrell, train to be his replacement. And that only happened because the doctor said he’d have another stroke within six months if he didn’t get his stress level down.

Her dad had started the company in his parents’ barn and had a knee-jerk aversion to anyone whose last name wasn’t Jacobs running the family business. Any deal to sell was destined to fail—no matter how much money Gabe offered.

I could never work with my mom. Ellen shook her head. We’d kill each other within a week.

"Well, I won’t be working

Reviews for Betting the Billionaire

[Leena Aluru · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5 ?.. its good. Simple and compact. Novellas are a tricky affair so she pretty much naolednit with right quantities of romance and drama. Gab comes out topss and Keisha is ok. Overall a quick, pleasant read.

Recommended: ?

[bette_hansen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great fun sexy read introducing us to the fine folks of Salvation! In typical Avery Flynn fashion, this book is filled with witty banter, steamy romance, and characters that grab your heart. I definitely recommend this one! The only problem - you'll want more Gave and Keisha.

[skirret · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Billionaire playboy Gabe Campos has a personal grudge against a small-town interior design company managed by Keisha Jacobs, the daughter of Dell, the disabled owner. Knowing how much the company means to him, she refuses to sell.

In the middle of a snowstorm Gabe’s Aston Martin runs out of gas and he squishes through the freezing slush to a car repair shop which, surprise, surprise, happens to be Keisha’s home. Recognition turns to loathing turns to attraction. We have all the makings of a standard isolated-cabin sex romp, but a telephone call intervenes.

The next few pages of this charming novella explore the reasons for Gabe’s grudge and Keisha’s dilemma—accept an attractive out-of-town job offer or stay and keep her dad’s company afloat.

In a three-way confrontation between Gabe, Keisha and Dell, Gabe confirms his determination to destroy Dell’s company. No one wants to back down so Dell proposes to bet his company’s future on a carpentry contest between Gabe and Keisha (not as ludicrous as it sounds).

At which point Ms Flynn reveals more about Gabe’s grudge and introduces an unexpected twist. The story has come a long way from the erotic promise of the snowstorm encounter, but the anticipated fireworks do eventually light up the sky and we’re left with a satisfactory resolution.

Crisp prose, a light sprinkling of chick-lit humour, and a happy ending. Thoroughly recommended with just a few tiny reservations, all of them of the your-mileage-may-vary variety.

The first encounter with wrench-wielding Keisha and her cake-carrying friend reminded me of Julia Roberts in The Runaway Bride. A coincidence, perhaps, but also a distraction.

Automobiles and woodwork contribute much to the humour and detail, but might be lost on those unfamiliar with the finer points of either.

Finally, a brief mention of one-and-a-half plot holes (YMMV). The bet plays such a major role in the story that even a few preparatory paragraphs explaining the speed with which Gabe and Dell propose and accept the bet would have helped. Maybe I missed it, but the resolution of the bet isn’t fully explained.

All these are no more than quibbles. Ms Flynn writes fine, racy, romantic erotica, and her latest offering is a tasty treat.