The Naughty List

By MC Cerny

Carla Monroe, matchmaking momma and regular busybody, is about to play cupid once again. This time, she’s pairing her wild daughter with an unlikely match...the competition.

Priscilla Monroe is brash and impulsive. A freaking pain in the ass, if you ask her brother. She hasn’t found a man yet who can keep pace with her...or put up with her.

Rand Knights is pure alpha. His confidence and pheromones are so strong, you might want to bottle it up for a lonely night. He thinks Pris will be the perfect one-night stand and the perfect dig at his competition, until he gets wrapped up in her killer legs. Now, he’s more interested in getting to know the feisty, headstrong, and foul-mouthed woman who just might make his life impossibly perfect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MC Cerny
• Release date: Apr 3, 2015

MC Cerny

M.C. Cerny first fell in love with books after experiencing her first real ugly cry reading, Where The Red Fern Grows. Her debut romantic suspense novel, Flashpoint was written in a series of post-it-note ramblings that would likely make her idol Tom Clancy blush. She is a post graduate of NYU, working fulltime, and calls rural NJ home with her menagerie of human and feline fur-babies. When M.C. is not writing, you’ll find her lurking in Starbucks, running marathons, singing Disney show tunes, and searching out the perfect shade of pink nail polish.

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The Naughty List

M.C. Cerny

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above copyright owner of this book.

Copyright © 2015

Edited by Kim Young

Cover Design by Staci Brillhart

Formatting by M.C. Cerny

ISBN-13:

ISBN-10:

First Edition: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cerny, M.C.

The Naughty List/ M.C. Cerny – 1st ed.

Because everyone wants to be naughty, at least once…

~ Dedicated to my BFF ~

Melanie

Girl, you get me. For that, there are no words, except thank you and I love ya! Oh yeah, and peaches! F*, F*, F*…mmm, peaches!

Carla Monroe, matchmaking momma and regular busybody, is about to play cupid once again. This time, she’s pairing her wild daughter with an unlikely match…the competition.

Priscilla Monroe is brash and impulsive. A freaking pain in the ass, if you ask her brother. She hasn’t found a man yet who can keep pace with her…or put up with her.

Rand Knights is pure alpha. His confidence and pheromones are so strong, you might want to bottle it up for a lonely night. He thinks Pris will be the perfect one-night stand and the perfect dig at his competition, until he gets wrapped up in her killer legs. Now, he’s more interested in getting to know the feisty, headstrong, and foul-mouthed woman who just might make his life impossibly perfect.

Playlist

Dangerous – David Guetta

Problem – Ariana Grande

Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood

Somethin’ Bad – Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert

S&M – Rihanna

Blank Space – Taylor Swift

Lips are Movin’ – Meghan Trainor

Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars)

Centuries – Fall Out Boy

FourFiveSeconds – Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney

CHAPTER ONE

PRISCILLA

Humming to the song that’s playing in the club, I take a sip of my blue drink that tastes like bad fruit punch, too much flavored vodka, and something else I can’t pin down. Absentmindedly, I rub my finger around the rim of the glass as I watch my older brother, Finn, tug Maxie, my best friend, off the dance floor. She is surrounded by a bunch of hungry-looking men, and Finn has a grouchy expression on his face. Maxie seems a bit tipsy, and my hard-headed brother looks ready to fight the metrosexual dudes whose eyes linger too long on her curves. The last thing I see is Maxie being dragged out of the room by his caveman ass. I wonder if he is going to throw her over his shoulder. Now that would have been a sight to see. It would have had nothing to do with my best friend’s curves and everything to do with my brother’s insufferable horny self since she came back to Miami to plan this party for my mum’s matchmaking company we all work for. I am really happy to have my bestie sharing my condo, but I have a feeling her moving boxes are about to be repacked and moved down the street. I really hope my brother doesn’t fuck this up. It’s no secret that ever since we were all kids, those two were destined for each other…even if they were both in utter denial.

The memories make me chuckle, forcing me to clasp a hand over my mouth so I didn’t snort my blue fruity drink. Sighing, I wonder if I’ll ever find a man who would give enough shits about me to haul me over his shoulder like that…

Careful. I’d hate to see a pretty girl spill her drink on such a lovely dress.

I look down at my evening’s attire, a sexy little number, turning towards the voice standing next to me. Golden good looks meet my gaze. He’s wearing a tasteful tan suit and a shirt, with the collar unbuttoned, in a bright blue shade that matches his eyes. He’s draped his arm over the bar and crowds me into my little corner. His pickup line is cheesy as hell, but I’m curious by his bold move.

Hi, I’m Priscilla. Pris, actually. I’m one of the hosts for the mixer, and you are?

I look down at my guest list, perusing names of potential couples we have matched up already, waiting for him to give me a name I recognize, which would tell me he’s totally off limits tonight. I hold my hand out, which he takes firmly in his own grasp. His grip is warm and strong. His hand applies pressure to the soft skin between my thumb and fingers, squeezing suggestively. My stomach clenches. I like him already. I feel like we started a little game and the ground rules have yet to be identified.

Rand. Rand James. I, uh… I won’t be on the list. He nods, releasing my hand, playfully tapping my clipboard. I put it down on the bar, raising my eyebrow impishly. A guy with two first names? This should be interesting.

"Oh, this? This is my naughty list," I coyly inform him, twirling my hand in the air.

I spent hours scouring appropriate applicants and those signed up for our matchmaking services for tonight’s mixer. I doubt my brother or mum would appreciate me calling the list of potentials naughty, but when you spend hours vetting the skanks and the desperate from the appropriate, you figure a few wackos have got to have slipped by.

"Hmm, and how do I get on that list? It sounds fun," he says, pitching his voice low. I roll my eyes at his brazen audacity. As if a low, raspy voice would make me juicy goosey… He really doesn’t want to be on this list for my consideration.

So, Rand James, what brings you out tonight? To a mixer, of all things?

Once we take charge of a venue, our events are closed to the public. We even hire club bouncers to keep things calm and fun with our two drink limit, so I’m curious how he got in here. Not that I mind, and I definitely am not going to kick him out, unless Finn comes back and decides to be a hard ass.

I just figured I’d check out the scene, you know? Rand takes another step closer to me and I get a scent of mint and something else. He’s cheeky, but not impolite.

Hmm… Well, most of the couples here have been spoken for and matched by our professional services, I tell him, taking a sip from my drink, mostly to give my hands something to do.

"Are you? Spoken for, that is?" He smiles an infectious smile. I decide to play it up. Why not? It’s not like I’ve had a decent date in ages, despite my mum being one of the most successful matchmakers around. Things like that sometimes scare guys off, as if I want to get married and pop out a load of screaming kids right away.

Which I do not.

I grab a curl of my hair and play with it. Depends. Do you dance? He laughs, throwing his head back. Surprisingly, it’s hot as hell.

I’m a man of many talents, dancing included. He holds his hand out and I take it. Pulling me out onto the dance floor and gripping my hips, he tugs me against his body. I put my hand up between us to give me space, following the thumping rhythm of David Guetta’s Dangerous. For the moment, he respects my need to stay separate, our bodies skirting around each other in a playful game of cat and mouse.

So, where did you learn your killer moves? Dancing around him, I tease him with light touches, fixing the collar of his shirt, my finger circling the top button and trailing lower. He grabs my hand and places it on his chest, pulling me in closer for a sedate bump and grind to the rhythm of the music. The song changes to Problem by Ariana Grande and our bodies adjust to the beat. I feel like I’m about to have one with this sexy man all up in my business.

He leans in, circling his arms around me to speak huskily against my ear, "Don’t laugh. I learned in