Resisting the Bad Boy: Sullivan Brothers Nice Girl Serial Trilogy, Book 1 of 3: CAN'T RESIST, #1

By Violet Duke

* NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING TRILOGY * (Book 1 of 3)

He's the ruthless lawyer with a not-so-little black book, and one simple rule as unyielding as his heart: Nothing more than a month.

She's the doctoral student helping to raise his niece. His brother's best friend. And the valium for his soul he had no business wanting.

To be fair, she did ask him for advice--on what she could do to stop being 'the nice girl' for a little bit. All he did was answer truthfully: "Try something new that excites you."

...Preferably him.

"A fast-paced, heartfelt, and fun read!" -- #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Lauren Blakely

"This book gave me one of the worst (or best) book hangovers I've had in a LONG time. I absolutely LOVED it." -- Mama's Reading Break

The first book of the Sullivan Brothers "Nice Girl Trilogy" that began the New York Times and USA Today bestselling CAN'T RESIST series.

NOTE TO READERS: This is Book #1 in a three-part, 135K SERIAL trilogy,* where each book has a separate story arc in the greater love triangle between the brothers, and thus needs to be read in order. Book #4 (aka "the other brother's happily ever after") is the sequel to the trilogy, and a standalone novel that can be read on its own.

THE CAN'T RESIST SERIES
BOOK 1: RESISTING the Bad Boy*
BOOK 2: FALLING for the Good Guy*
BOOK 3: CHOOSING the Right Man*
BOOK 4: FINDING the Right Girl
*Serial trilogy w/ cliffhangers--also available as a three-book 650-pg bundle (titled the Nice Girl Trilogy Boxed Set)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Violet Duke
• Release date: Mar 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9798201118198

Violet Duke

NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author Violet Duke is a former professor of English Education who is ecstatic to now be on the other side of the page writing wickedly fun contemporary romance novels. Her NYT and USA Today bestselling books have been Top 10 bestsellers across the major eretailers both in the US and internationally. When she's not writing or feeding her book-a-day reading addiction, Violet enjoys tackling reno projects with her power tools, trying pretty much anything without reading the directions first, and cooking 'special edition' dishes that laugh in the face of recipes. A born and raised island girl, she spends her days getting into creatively fun trouble in Hawai'i alongside her two cute kids (daughter Violet & son Duke) and similarly adorable husband.  Find the latest on her books and fan giveaways at www.facebook.com/VioletDukeBooks

Book preview

Chapter One

— CONNOR —

Glancing across the room at his guests, Connor was pleasantly shocked to see his brother Brian arrive at the party with a date on his arm.

As most everyone in his house tonight could attest, Connor wasn’t used to failing. He quickly became one of the most sought-after corporate attorneys in the state just a few years after finishing law school, and now had a record number of game-changing court wins under his belt, along with a well-earned reputation for not being afraid to be held in contempt for his clients.

So sue him, he enjoyed the rough and tumble victories. Hard-fought wins were the best ones.

That said, he’d gladly trade in every last win to take away even an ounce of pain Brian had endured over the years. Because when it came to helping his little brother cope with being a widower at the age of thirty, Connor had had no clue who to fight, or how to win.

Aside from paying off a small fortune in hospital and care facility bills from his sister-in- law’s battle with early-onset Huntington’s, and creating a scholarship in Beth’s name for youth plagued with the debilitating disease, Connor had felt useless to Brian after her death. All he’d been able to do was give him space, the only thing Brian insisted he needed.

Logically understanding that Brian had needed to tackle this long stretch of grieving on his own didn’t make it any less of a bitch for Connor; it just made him craftier about how he snuck in the big-brothering.

Luckily, beastly hot weather was a near perpetual thing for a large part of the year in Arizona, and the house Connor had bought several years back had come with a pool. Simple as that. After a few months of weekly poolside cookouts, soon, Brian also began accepting Connor’s invitation to come over to catch a game with him whenever Skylar was at her best friend’s house.

The day Connor came home to find Brian had already let himself in and was out back grilling some steaks up for them, no exaggeration, he’d been more than a little choked up over the laidback normalcy of it all.

For over a decade, Brian’s singular mission had been to give his wife a lifetime’s worth of happiness every day, while hiding his own anguish over her heart-wrenching physical and psychological decline. Connor knew it used to kill Brian to watch Beth become bedridden and gradually give up raising her own child the worse her motor functions became. Even before her memory started to get eaten away by the disease.

Connor had done what he could to help, never hesitating to drop everything to watch his niece Skylar whenever Brian couldn’t get a sitter. With their own mother having about as much experience being a warm grandma as she’d had being a doting mom when he and Brian were kids, she held a remote emergency-only third place spot in the caretaker line-up (by her own request), with Brian’s friend from college, a nice girl Connor vaguely recalled meeting years ago, being at the top of the list.

Though Connor never actually found himself in the same place at the same time with Brian’s good friend—since they essentially babysat when the other couldn’t—he still felt a strong kindred bond with her. Together, their main goal over the years had been to shield Skylar from what was happening to her mom.

There had been no shielding Brian, however.

Truth be told, while Connor had always admired Brian’s extraordinary, wholly nonhereditary capacity for love, he’d been a little glad to see the tragic love story finally come to an end. Awful as that sounds. He’d adored his sister-in-law, really. But the time was long past for Brian to move on with his life.

And tonight, it finally looked like he was starting to do just that.

I’m going over to say hi to my brother, Connor turned to inform his date for the night, the always stunning Victoria, a divorce lawyer from a rival firm who just happened to be between men this week. You want to come with? I know how much you enjoy chatting with him. He snickered. The pair’s notorious dislike for each other was no big secret.

Brian’s here tonight? Huh. Good for him, replied Victoria with her token radiant smile, the most effective tool in her arsenal to detract attention from her constantly wandering eyes. Give him my best, will you? I’m going to mingle. The Adonis in the gray pinstripe is looking mighty lonely there in the corner.

Connor rolled his eyes. Alright, have fun. Just be sure to stay away from the men at my firm…the women too, for that matter. Last year alone, you sent our sweet, bright-eyed bankruptcy fifth-year into a funk and later had two of the probate guys ready to kill each other.

He frowned in remembrance of that catastrophe. Actually, you know what? Check where they work before you even start speaking to them at all.

No promises, she sang out as she sashayed off.

Despite the very real threat her refusal to behave was sure to present sooner rather than later, Connor still found himself smiling after her. Victoria was the only constant female in his life for four years running now. How that managed to happen was one of life’s great mysteries. He supposed she fell in the friends with benefits category, though calling her a friend was a bit of a stretch…and he’d politely stopped all transactional ‘benefits’ after the first month.

Okay, so she was more of a platonic date-on-demand he relied on so no woman he actually was dating at the time would get any ideas in their head about being on his arm at any public event.

Really, it went both ways. She’d accompany him to black tie functions to save him from vapid socialites on the prowl, and he’d reciprocate if ever she needed. It was just an added bonus that watching her devour up and spit out men who had it coming to them was fun as hell.

Hearing the unmistakable peal of Victoria’s flirt-giggle carry across the room, Connor peered over to check out who she was clearly getting ready to close, so soon in the game. When he saw it was none other than his firm’s most spoiled client by far, Clay Gibbs, pompous ass extraordinaire, he couldn’t help but grin. Victoria had a truly uncanny jackass radar, which she used to entertain herself by hooking up with men she considered hot, but in need of being brought down a few pegs. As far as Victoria was concerned, this was sort of a public service she took personal pride in providing.

That woman is as scary as ever, commented Brian as he came up to thump a hand on Connor’s back in greeting. And yet, morbidly enough, it’s hard to stop watching her in action isn’t it? It’s like being unable to change the channel when an alligator is about to gobble up its prey.

Connor chuckled and turned around to give his brother a hug. Don’t let her hear you complimenting her like that. The two of you may actually start getting along. Flagging down a nearby server to refresh Brian’s drink, he shifted right into interrogation mode. Glad you could make it out tonight, man. You going to introduce me to your date?

Looking over at the pretty brunette standing beside Brian, Connor had to work hard to keep his reaction in check. Seeing her vintage pin-up girl figure from across the room earlier, he hadn’t expected the face accompanying the soft, curvy body to be so…sweet.

Wholesome even.

I’m Connor, he said smiling, thrown a bit by the quick glimmer of humor he saw flash in her eyes.

Hey, Connor, she grinned with unmistakable amusement. We’ve actually met before. A few times, actually. It’s nice to see you again.

Frowning, Connor scanned Abby’s fresh-faced features once more.

Wide, guileless eyes. Not a trace of cosmetics he could detect. And loose reddish-brown curls with natural highlights clearly not from a salon, done up in a ponytail, which looked to be more out of comfort than fashion.

There was no way in hell he’d met this woman before.

That whole hot librarian vibe she had going on, especially with those cute nerdy glasses that somehow managed to be damn sexy on her, would be difficult for any red-blooded man to forget. Plus, even without recognizing her, he could inherently tell she was sweet. A nice girl, for sure. Not his usual type at all. Pity.

I’m sorry. He dug through his memory banks hard a second time, but still drew a blank. Are you sure we’ve met before?

Brian glared at him, looking more than a little disappointed. Dude, it’s Abby. Abby Bartlett?

Wait, this was Brian’s friend from college? The veritable Mary Poppins herself? Wow, she sure grew up since he saw her last. In a nice girl with a hot halo sort of way.

Abby, of course. My apologies. We met in the hospital right after Skylar’s birth.

Those deep brown eyes of hers were outright laughing at him now. And maybe a couple more times since then.

Well that just ratcheted his chagrin up to full-blown guilt. He wasn’t exaggerating about always having completely opposite babysitting schedules from Abby and never being in the same place at the same time with her. Still, it was reasonable to assume he probably had seen her a time or two since Skylar’s birth. At least in passing. How the hell had that happened without the experience being seared into his memory?

Her lips quirked up into a quick hey-don’t-sweat-it smile. Relax, Connor. It’s fine; we’ve waved at each other maybe a handful of times over the past ten years. Talked for like a half a minute once when we went over Skylar’s fever medication schedule.

Okay, now that he remembered. The medicine schedule, not Abby, unfortunately. To be fair though, that had been his first time babysitting a sick kid so he didn’t remember much beyond the phone numbers for Brian’s pediatrician, Poison Control, the two Urgent Care centers in a one mile radius of Brian’s house, and everything he’d obsessively googled all night about child illnesses that masked their symptoms as common colds.

In fact, Abby continued with a playful simper, I’m kind of looking forward to the next time we go through this all again. I’m thinking I need to make myself way more memorable next time you re-introduce yourself to me. Something along the lines of shouting out random things to my invisible friend that I’ll swear is standing next to you. She tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully, eyes twinkling playfully. Haven’t worked out all the details yet. Don’t worry, I’ll make it really unforgettable.

Surprised laughter built in his chest. How about that? Talk about intriguing. Before he could banter right back and offer a few hilarious suggestions of his own, however, a nearby voice broke into their conversation, Professor Bartlett, is that you?

Professor? That was a spicy upgrade from cute librarian. Connor was hooked.

The line and sinker came when he then proceeded to witness Abby scold—actually scold—his firm’s best civil litigator.

"How many times do I have to tell you to cut that out? My PhD is not a done deal, Jim."

Oh hush, young lady. James T. Holt came over to give Abby a formal peck on the cheek. As far as I’m concerned, ‘ABD’ stands for all but done. You may as well get used to being called a professor.

Jim turned to bring Connor up to speed. I’ve known this young lady for years. She’s a miracle worker. Thanks to her, my son was actually able to move on to high school this year. Hallelujah.

"Reese was not that bad," defended Abby, hands on hips.

Says the woman who only had him in small doses, replied Jim dryly. I’m just glad you started tutoring at his school when you did.

Because his homework was already starting to get too hard for you? ribbed Abby.

Jim chortled heartily. Oh, I admit it freely. That newfangled math he was learning made me cross-eyed more nights than I could count.

Abby nodded over at Brian. You’re not the only one. Brian here calls me at least a few times a week in utter exasperation while he’s helping his daughter with her math homework.

Brian extended his hand out to shake Jim’s. Always good to meet a survivor. I’ve still got a lot of years ahead of me with this stuff so if you’ve got advice for me, I’m all ears.

Abby blinked in surprise. "I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you two didn’t know each other. Brian, this is James Holt, one of the greatest legal minds in the city…well, next to your father and brother of course. And James, this is Brian Sullivan. Yes, the Brian Sullivan. She patted him on the shoulder proudly. The rebel Sullivan who dared to choose teaching over lawyering."

While Brian and Jim immediately launched into conversation over current commerce affairs, Connor leaned against a nearby wall and watched as Abby excused herself to head to the bar and order a glass of what just happened to be his favorite brand of whiskey, which, as far as he knew, no one else ever ordered at his parties.

Then the woman went and surprised him further by returning and offering him the glass. Here you go. She smiled. Brian mentioned this was your go-to drink.

Interesting that she took note of that little factoid.

Before Connor could offer to get her something from the bar as well, however, she continued on in a conspiratorial tone, No worries, you don’t need to be on big brother duty tonight. You can return to your guests. I’ll keep an eye on Brian for you.

The innocuous words hit him like a bucket of ice on his lap. Right. Reality check, jackass—she was Brian’s date.

Brian’s smart, captivating, completely off-limits date that he had no business being this interested in.

He took a step back from the all-too-fascinating woman. Lucky guy. Guess my last noble big brother duty of the night will be to let you get to it.

Abby smiled, looking amused. Brian was right. The Connor Sullivan charm is definitely the stuff of legends.

Lord, he could listen to the way she said his name all day, her husky teacher voice an inspiration for instant fantasies of the lusty sex-in-the-classroom variety.

Yep, he had to get the hell away from her. Fast.

I could say the same about you, he replied, cutting off the compliment before it could turn into flirting, all the while rigidly resisting the urge to tease out one last sweet smile from her before he walked away.

He was already starting to miss that smile, which was puzzling since he’d never had any sweetness in his life to miss before this point. It’s been a pleasure, Abby. You’re right, I should return to my guests. You enjoy your evening. With that and a cursory nod, he excused himself like a bat out of hell, waiting until he was safely at the other end of the room before allowing himself one final glance back.

Just in time to see Brian lean over and whisper something in her ear that made her light up the whole