Bits & Pieces: Bits & Pieces, #2

By Rachel Kent

Tara Jacobs’ carefully planned life flipped upside down in “Broken Pieces.” Finally, she’s picking up the pieces and moving on when an unexpected client billionaire playboy Bradley Ives shakes up her world. 
As a therapist she struggles to keep her professional ethics while fighting a growing attraction to the bad boy everybody loves to hate. 
Meanwhile Bradley Ives is the first ever person convicted in a Bitcoin scam. He’s putting together the pieces of his career and dealing with the family fallout and repaying his debt to society. 
Unknown to both of them, they are being followed by a black car. A car they don’t even notice because they’re so involved in their current problems, but that car will eventually creep up on one of them, and result in kidnapping or worse! 
Download today to continue the exciting, unexpected journey of Tara Jacobs in the Bits & Pieces series. 
Please note: This is a 27,000 word novella that continues in the next book in the series. It has a strong cliffhanger. It contains steamy romance scenes. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rachel Kent
• Release date: Jun 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513015071

Book preview

Bits and Pieces

By Rachel L. Kent

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Certain places may be real, but liberties may have been taken to suit the story.

Copyright 2015 Rachel L. Kent. You may not reproduce this work in any part without the author’s written consent with the exception of small quotes for review purposes.

Contents

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 1

Tara

I’ve been a bad, bad boy.

Tara Jacobs fought hard to keep her therapist poker face while listening to devastatingly handsome Bradley Ives’ opening to their first appointment. He may not remember, but near the beginning of his trial, she had literally run into him trying to quickly escape the courthouse, and he had saved her from the media by throwing himself at their mercy.

Sure, she inwardly smiled at his joking manner and had a tough time not drooling like every woman especially when she remembered the electric zing she got when they briefly touched. She appreciated what she saw when she looked across her small office at him lounging casually on the couch, but she knew that if she were going to keep this therapy session on track, she couldn’t succumb to his attempt to not take their time together seriously.

Why do you say that, Mr. Ives? She asked, hoping to turn the patient’s comment back on himself to get him to actually examine what brought him to her office in the first place. Given the circumstances of his therapy, that was unlikely – especially at this first session.

It’s Bradley, he said, flashing his devilish grin, dimple winking.

Tara had acquired Mr. Ives, wait—Bradley, as a client from a court-ordered sentence he received for his part in a landmark Bitcoin scam case. The ruling, the first of its kind because Cryptocurrency is so new, had set the precedent for future Bitcoin lawsuits. In addition to probation and community service, in order to avoid jail time, Bradley Ives had been ordered to complete therapy for his so-called thinking errors and possible anger management problems.

Even so, he could have chosen any therapist in Chicago, and somehow he ended up on her Edison Park doorstep. Why me? She wondered.

She inwardly sighed and managed to contain her eye roll, and said, Why do you say that Mr. Ives?

Well it’s official. Now that I’ve been found guilty and sentenced, I’ve clearly been a bad, bad boy.

I hear sarcasm in your voice. How do you feel about your sentence?

He scoffed and asked, Does it matter?

I don’t know, Bradley, does it?

Well, my family and friends certainly seem to feel I’ve been bad. My mother calls me daily to harass me about the damage I have done to the all-important family name.

I sense some displeasure as you talk about her. Has this been an ongoing thing?

Of course. We’re the Ives’s, and to her that is the most important thing. It has always been appearances over reality with her.

And how does that make you feel, Bradley? Tara found herself starring into his steely gray eyes, almost losing herself in their depths. Mentally, she shook her head and told herself to knock it off and stay professional.

How should it make me feel? I mean my mom wanted me to ‘look’ good instead of allowing me to be me.

Tara remained silent allowing Bradley some time to gather his thoughts. She found herself drawn to his pouty lips and imagined pushing back an unruly lock of hair that had fallen over his eyes.

Stop it! She admonished herself.

To distract herself from the man sitting before her, she busied herself making notes in his patient file. He appeared to be struggling with something, but instead of delving into more about his mother, Bradley flashed his insolent smile again and said, So, will this be enough to get you to sign my forms for this week?

Aghast, she opened her mouth to speak when her timer subtly sounded, and she curtly informed him that their time for the week was up.

This is EXACTLY the type of man you do not want, she told herself. He’s so arrogant and cocky, which is not something I am looking for in a man. Anyway, she should not be looking at a client as a man! What was wrong with her?

Bradley, be sure to stop by with Nina to set up a time for next week. The only way I will sign your forms is if you complete the court-ordered therapy. Perhaps in our next session we can also discuss your community service options.

Tara shook her head after Bradley closed her door. After writing up her notes on his visit, she took a moment to massage her temples and relax before her next client arrived. Bradley’s visit piqued her interest more than it should have, and she needed to calm down and center herself to be fully engaged with her next client.

She stood up, her feet sinking into the plush carpeting she had chosen to create a soothing environment in her office, and put a drop of peaceful lavender essential oil into her discreet diffuser to help infuse her office with the serene fragrance. After that, she poured some hot water from an electric teapot into her mug, and placed a tea bag to steep while she gathered her file for the next client, who was due within a few minutes.

She looked out the office at the trees shedding their colorful leaves, thankful that she was able to drive Bradley Ives out of her mind – except, she had just thought of him again. What was it about that man? Why did he have this affect on her after so little time together? Most of the time she was easily able to keep her professional distance from her clients, but Bradley had somehow worked his way into her mind, which was something she had to stop as soon as possible if she planned to continue treating him.

***

Bradley

Oh great. Just what I need in my life. An uptight, rule follower.

The therapist was completely professional, as she should be, but somehow that irked him. He was used to charming women immediately, till they were putty in his hands.

I had to pick the one woman in Chicago who is immune to my charms.

Oh well. There was nothing to do but make the best of the situation anyway. After all, this was his court-ordered penance for his part in the Bitcoin Scam of the Century. At least that was what the media had termed it.

Honestly, he had no idea he had invested in a scam. He ultimately became the fall guy for the court to prove a point with because he was the only one they could locate. The worst part? He hadn’t even known, and still didn’t know, who else was involved in this investment. It was the main reason why his father was so angry with him about his very public misstep.

Bitcoin was such a hot commodity that everybody wanted in on it, and he was no different. When the opportunity presented itself, he had jumped on it without so much as a second thought. He had figured, if it was good enough for the Winklevoss twins, it was good enough for him. Each day he spread his money around investing in whatever he could in an attempt to grow his own fortune. And he had