Invitations: Part Two Box Set

By Isabelle Drake

Invitations: Part Two

Bold Moves

Orderly and predictable describes Eva Marie's life, until she accepts the dare of a Brazilian soccer player with wicked moves and a notorious reputation.

The last thing Eva Marie needs right now, just as her event planning business is getting off the ground, is a man. Especially a sought after bachelor with a reputation for no-strings-attached, serial dating.

Famous Brazilian soccer player Davi Ferreira likes his games and women fast and flashy. Handsome and fit, he's never met a woman he couldn't quickly and easily charm into his bed. Until Eva Marie. When the opportunity to participate in her event, The Ultimate Bachelor' promises to give him one final chance to escape the friend zone, he eagerly accepts.

Thanks to a popular DC blog, people in Washington are watching the live stream featuring Eva Marie's event. Cameras cover everything, including Eva and Davi's ultra-sexy kiss. The steamy exchange sparks a firestorm of tweets that force Eva and Davi to settle a question posed by web viewers—was the sizzling kiss a promotional stunt or the real thing?

Ambushing the Boss

A video camera, a too-short-to-ignore skirt and a come-get-me attitude—Jake Reed doesn't stand a chance against Sabrina Weller.

Sabrina Weller has just moved to Washington DC and is ready to make the most of city life. When her cousin, Eva Marie, holds a welcome event, Sabrina meets Jake Reed. He's awkward and abrupt but something about him makes her hot. The next time she sees him, he's pretending to be Jay Allen, entry level new hire at Steelsmart, the same company she's recently started working for.

Jake Reed, the socially inept new president of Steelsmart Corporation, has two problems on his hands. One, his newly acquired company has morale problems. Two, he wants to bed one of his employees. When his vice president arranges for the entire company to go on a retreat on a secluded island, Jake can't avoid crossing paths with the sweet-talking, fast-living temp who continually teases and tempts him. He's in over his head and she isn't about to give up until she gets what she wants.

Risk It

Come to the Triple B Ranch and find your bliss! Gwen Baker has just been invited to participate in a new reality show, the Get Tied Down Challenge.

Couture dress-maker Gwen Baker says yes to spending a weekend at exclusive, singles-only The Triple B Ranch courtesy of the reality show, the Real DC. Recently dumped by a guy who insisted she wasn't exciting or spontaneous, she's eager for the chance to practice her man-hunting skills and take advantage of the live stream event to show off her custom cocktail dresses—even if the setting is a little bit rustic. Not one to be discouraged by setbacks like trying to look sexy in silk while roasting marshmallows over a campfire, Gwen arrives at the ranch ready to play along and pick one of the contestants. But the three guys from the city do nothing for her while the cook makes her ache for some serious sizzle.

As the head cook at the singles-only dude ranch, Connor Tate thinks he's immune to the charms and temptations of the female guests. Long legs, curvy or cute...he can ignore them all. He doesn't want any drama. He's only at the ranch to earn cash for grad school. So when the cast and crew of the Get Tied Down Challenge arrive at the camp, he's sure he'll be able to keep to himself and avoid the raven haired-hottie roaming the trails. But an impromptu kiss with Gwen turns into a contest of domination that soon comes a test of wills—a test he's glad to fail. He gives in to the sweet temptation she offers but he's a long way from bein

• Language: English
• Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
• Release date: Jun 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781786864987

Isabelle Drake

Isabelle Drake got her start writing confession stories for pulp magazines like True Confessions and True Love. Since publishing those first few stories she has written in multiple genres, earned an MFA in Creative Writing and became an English & Writing Professor.When away from her keyboard, she watches films, especially classic noir, horror and romance, and reads (of course). An avid traveler, she'll go just about anywhere--at least once--to meet people and get ideas.Find Isabelle as Isabelle Drake on Facebook, Youtube and Goodreads & @isabelledrake on Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr & isadrake on Snapchat.

Book preview

Totally Bound Publishing books by Isabelle Drake

Single Books

Play for Keeps

Rock & Roll Fantasy

Invitations

Now or Never

Dare Me

Shameless

Bold Moves

Ambushing the Boss

Risk It

Make Me Over

Off the Rails

Clandestine Classics

The Fox

INVITATIONS: PART TWO

Bold Moves

Ambushing the Boss

Risk It

ISABELLE DRAKE

Invitations: Part Two

ISBN # 978-1-78686-498-7

©Copyright Isabelle Drake 2014

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright January 2014

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Totally Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2019 by Totally Bound Publishing, United Kingdom.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

Totally Bound Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

BOLD MOVES

Book four in the Invitations series

Orderly and predictable describes Eva Marie’s life, until she accepts the dare of a Brazilian soccer player with wicked moves and a notorious reputation.

The last thing Eva Marie needs right now, just as her event planning business is getting off the ground is a man. Especially a sought after bachelor with a reputation for no-strings-attached serial dating.

Famous Brazilian soccer player Davi Ferreira likes his games and women fast and flashy. Handsome and fit, he’s never met a woman he couldn’t quickly and easily charm into his bed. Until Eva Marie. When the opportunity to participate in her event, ‘The Ultimate Bachelor’ promises to give him one final chance to escape the friend zone, he eagerly accepts.

Thanks to a popular DC blog, people in Washington are watching the live stream featuring Eva Marie’s event. Cameras cover everything, including Eva and Davi’s ultra-sexy kiss. The steamy exchange sparks a firestorm of tweets that force Eva and Davi to settle question posed by web viewers—was the sizzling kiss a promotional stunt or the real thing?

Dedication

For Barb:

oversized hats

soccer games

baking days

winey train rides

fierce fences

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Victoria’s Secret: Victoria’s Secret, L Brands Inc.

Pintrest: Pintrest

Facebook: Facebook, Inc.

Twitter: Twitter, Inc

Chapter One

Get your paddles ready, ladies. The bidding will start in fifteen minutes. The event announcer, a tall, bald man in a black suit standing in the middle of the stage gestured to the five men seated in the row of tall stools beside him. Each of the men waved and the crowd responded with a round of cheers and giddy, high-pitched laughter that blended well with the soft jazz playing in the background.

From her corner in the back of the small, low-lit ballroom of The Continental Hotel, Eva Marie watched as two-hundred and sixteen of Washington DC’s socially and politically connected women started waving numbered auction paddles, some using them to smack each other, others giggling nervously as they eyed the row of bachelors about to go up for sale.

Eva knew exactly how many women were clustered around the high-top tables and milling around the room because her new promotion company, Perfectly Professional, had put the event together. Ticket sales had fallen a little short of her goal of three-hundred, but if the auction went well, the event could still be a success. Eva was counting on success.

Thanks to a cross-promotion with DC’s popular blogger, Kelly M, she had gotten a deal on the space rental. But still, she’d invested nearly all of her available funds into the catering costs of this exclusive event, The Ultimate Bachelor. At a fundraising auction free wine for the guests was essential. Eva hadn’t had much choice, so she’d paid the bill and crossed her fingers. And bought a bright red lucky knot tied with three gold coins. Then had considered heading out to her favorite psychic in Old Town Alexandria for a card reading to make sure she’d made the right decision.

Leaving anything up to chance was a bad idea. If this event didn’t get her the attention her new business needed, she might end up back at square one, scraping along by organizing neighborhood birthday parties and hotel suite celebrations until she got another chance to make it into the big time.

Outside, just past the floor-to-ceiling windows lining the south wall of the modern-styled ballroom, bright pink cherry tree blossoms bobbed in the evening breeze. Every few minutes the wind picked up, sending petals flying through the air.

Occasionally, a fierce gust blew down the branches and sent dozens of sticks skittering. Gray clouds darkened the sky and the constant threat of a heavy downpour lingered. A DC thunderstorm was nothing to mess with but Eva was ready to take it on if she had to.

Despite Eva’s worry, the women inside were happy to spend their time chattering and waiting for the auction to start. They were sipping wine, catching up with each other’s latest news and taking long, lingering, assessing looks at the men on the stage. The few male guests who’d been brave enough to attend the fundraiser clung to the edges of the crowd. Apparently, none of them wanted to be confused with the men at the front of the room.

Judging by their casual expressions and the laid back way they sat on the stools, the five men at the front of the room were glad to be there and comfortable being in the spotlight. Thank goodness Eva had picked well. Each man up for sale was handsome and well-dressed. They were also rich, well-connected or both. In short, each was a real live ultimate bachelor.

The first two men to be auctioned off were local radio celebrities well known for their interests in family-friendly neighborhood events. The money they raised would be going to a foundation for co-op pre-schools. After those two, was a legislative correspondent. After him, a Georgetown University professor who’d made a name for himself by teaching weekend seminars on dating in the new millennium. Eva had her doubts about him, but standing six foot six and weighing about two hundred and twenty pounds, he was a big solid block of man most women had a hard time ignoring. His red hair, pulled back into a wild ponytail, and pirate beard were a nice touch. Now that she’d seen him in person, Eva had big hopes that he’d attract a lot of attention and get the ladies excited. Eva’s friend, Davi Ferreira, Brazilian soccer player, was last in line and would be the final man on the auction block.

Tanned and fit, dressed in a white linen button-down and body hugging slacks, he looked like an ad for a sex-charged tropical getaway. Since the two of them were friends only, Eva had chosen to remain immune to both his too-sexy-for-his-own-good looks and his easy-going charm. And because she didn’t care what he did in his personal life, she ignored the over-the-top stories that fueled Davi’s reputation. A series of dates with the touring Victoria’s Secret models was the most recent one. Like she cared if he went skinny dipping with a different beautiful woman in a different hotel pool every night. Or that his photo was constantly popping up on ‘Hottest Guys in DC’ Pinterest pages.

She and Davi had been friends for about six months, long enough that she didn’t even hear his delicious Brazilian accent. Occasionally she fantasized about seeing him naked, but that didn’t mean anything. Right?

Although if she didn’t think about him that way, why did her stomach flip every time she thought about one of these beautiful women buying him for the night? Nerves. That was it. After all, there was so much at stake.

Eva tugged her gaze away from Davi and spotted Kitty Marr, weaving her way through the crowd. With her hair pinned up and the collar of her dress shirt buttoned all the way up, she was dressed for business. No one in the room would ever guess that the professional-looking woman in charge of the live Internet feed was actually the infamous Kelly M, the creator and author of the hugely popular sexploitation blog Capitol Girl. Eva had been told the secret of Kitty’s identity when one of Kitty’s friends, Jenn, had come up with the brilliant plan to do a cross-promotion with the blog and Eva’s fundraiser auction. Eva and Kitty had hit it off and worked out a deal that was beneficial to both of them—a live stream of the bachelor auction featured on the blog.

Plenty of publicity for both of them.

Kitty stopped in front of Eva and pointed to the cameras mounted in the corners of the stage. We’re all set with the cameras. Two on the stage and two on the crowd. Ken, the tech guy, will rotate to keeps things interesting.

Is the feed live?

Not yet. Kitty turned to the window just as another gust blew pink petals across the glass. He’s having trouble with the signal or something like that so he’s gone for a cable.

A huge branch tumbled across the ground. A couple of women rushed over to watch the sticks and branches and one of the few men in the crowd moved over to watch the women. Thank goodness everyone else was sipping their glasses of wine, drooling over the men about to go up for sale and still ignoring the threatening weather.

Stop looking like that. Kitty touched Eva’s arm. He’s going to take care of it and we’ll be live in a couple minutes. Right now, I’m streaming some of the interviews of the guys we did last week and the site hits are up. Tweets too.

Eva did her best to wipe the worry from her face. Sorry, I know you have it under control, it’s just that I really, really need this event to be perfect.

It will be. After all, you put it together. Oh, Ken wants something. Gotta run. Kitty dashed off, leaving Eva alone with her worry.

Was imagining yourself unzipping the back of your female friend’s dress against the friend code? What about imagining yourself pressed up against her in a dark corner, feeling your dick get hard against her soft, warm body? Kisses—friendly and otherwise—were another gray area for Davi. It wasn’t that he’d never had a female friend before, he had, just not one as sexy and confusing as Eva Marie.

Over the past couple of weeks, every time they were supposed to be talking about the details for the auction fundraiser, he kept finding himself staring at her and wondering if he just quit talking and put his lips on hers, would she kiss him back? Every other woman Davi had ever kissed had kissed him back, but there was something different about Eva Marie.

Whatever that different thing was, it was the reason he was watching her move through the crowd. The same reason he fell asleep every night thinking about her and woke up every morning with an impossibly hard dick.

If he