Wild Card: Billionaire Cowboys Gone Wild, #5

By Adriana French

I knew a fake engagement with a commanding alpha cowboy would get dicey. To make it worse, he's my brother's billionaire best friend. Now, I've caused a family feud, and I think I'm in love…

Judge

Women have always thrown themselves at me. It comes with the territory of being a Parker, one of the wealthiest ranching families in America, but after my team won the World Series, the attention from the ladies has gone off the Richter.

So when my best friend's sister Vivi needed my help to get a promotion at Friendbook, and I needed hers, to get a certain someone off my back, a fake engagement seemed like the perfect plan, especially since it was my buddy's idea.

But now our little game has gone off the rails.
I'm dreaming about her day and night. Vivi thinks I'm still playing pretend, but now that I've had a taste of her, I'm obsessed. I'll tear down every wall to have her.

I'm in love and the game isn't over.
I have one more wild card left to play. If I win, Vivi will be mine forever.

 

If you're in the mood to meet a gorgeous, charming, filthy rich cowboy, you've come to the right place. This possessive alpha male will take your dirty fantasies to the next level! Judge is the next Parker brother to meet in the irresistibly naughty Billionaire Cowboys Gone Wild Series of standalone reads. Hold on tight to the reins, Judge is about to play his wildest card yet!

 

This has all the high heat and coarse language you've come to expect from Adriana French romance. 

No cheating. No cliffhangers and an epic HEA guaranteed!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adriana French
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201219628

Book preview

Copyright

Wild Card Copyright © 2022 by Adriana French.

This book is a work of fiction. You have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored without express permission. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, or places, events or locations are purely coincidental.

Stock Images from PeriodImages.com 

Photography by VJ Dunraven of VJ Dunraven Productions LLC

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Newsletter Invitation

Author’s Note

Synopsis

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 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

Ride ‘Em Hard (Chapter One)

Also by Adriana French

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Author’s Note:

Wild Card is a high heat Best Friend’s Sister, Fake Engagement, Billionaire, Country Star romance featuring the sexy af alpha cowboy, Judge Parker.

It’s a standalone read, but book #5 in the

Billionaire Cowboys Gone Wild series.

This book includes a preview of the super popular, enemies to lovers standalone romance Ride ‘Em Hard. Although the book is also a complete standalone read, it’s the origin story of all the books in the Wild Wests and Billionaire Cowboys Gone Wild series. Wild Card concludes at approximately 95%. Don’t forget to sign up for my Newsletter at the end! Happy Reading!

With love,

Adriana

Synopsis

When I needed a fake boyfriend, I never imagined my brother would suggest his billionaire best friend. The sexy alpha cowboy has always been protective of me, and will do anything to help. But now, we’ve crossed the line, and what I feel for him is anything but fake…

Judge

Women have always thrown themselves at me. It comes with the territory of being a Parker, one of the wealthiest ranching families in America, but after my team won the World Series, the attention from the ladies has gone off the Richter.

So when my best friend’s sister Vivi needed my help to get a promotion at Friendbook, and I needed hers, to get a certain someone off my back, a fake engagement seemed like the perfect plan, especially since it was my buddy’s idea.

But now our little game has gone off the rails.

I’m dreaming about her day and night. Vivi thinks I’m still playing pretend, but now that I’ve had a taste of her, I’m obsessed. I’ll tear down every wall to have her.

I’m in love and the game isn’t over.

I have one more wild card left to play. If I win, Vivi will be mine forever.

Saddle up, Sugar. A new breed of cowboy-cavemen is here. Why be only dirty and filthy rich when you can be wild too? Judge is the next Parker brother to meet in the irresistibly naughty Billionaire Cowboys Gone Wild Series of standalone reads.

Expect high heat, coarse language, and an over-the-top plot. Grab the reins, Judge is about to play his wildest card yet!

Chapter One

Snow is falling, and for whatever reason, the sight of the silvery flakes clinging to the pines outside the window calms me. Nothing else seems to help me relax anymore. Alcohol doesn’t work. I’m not into weed, or pills. I only need the Montana chill in my bones to help me decompress after the most brutal baseball season of my career.

My lips curve into a satisfied grin. We did it. The Colorado Rockies won the World Series. Now I have a little time to myself before spring training and next season. Scarlett, Greg and I are sprawled out on the couch in my living room, half watching the pregame report but mostly waiting for the football game to start.

Did you know you’re getting married soon, Judge? Scarlett blinks up at me and then peers down at her cell. My sister’s always been overdramatic, so I don’t give her more than a sideways glance. God knows what she’s reading.

Greg Harmon, my best friend since third grade, grabs a handful of popcorn and takes Scarlett’s bait. Who is it now?

With a mischievous smirk, Scarlett flips her screen around and shows us an image of me and Kingsley Lockhart at Casa de Estrellas, my family’s estate in Texas.

Really? I sneer in disgust. The shot was taken last December after my mom’s annual winter bash. Kingsley’s clan and most of Greg’s were there as well, including his gorgeous sister Vivi, but it’s impossible to tell that by the picture. Where’s everybody else? I groan and take a pull from my beer.

The Lockharts were at our parents’ house for dinner last night. You should’ve seen Kingsley in action. Scarlett’s eyes grow wide as she fills Greg in, and I wish she’d drop the subject or at the very least read the room. She kept trying to talk you into sneaking off into a bedroom, didn’t she, Judge?

Rubbing salt in the wound, are you? I hold my sister’s stare for a beat, then shift to Greg. I brushed her off as best I could without being rude, but Kingsley was relentless.

Well, you have known her forever … Greg says.

Only because our parents are so tight, but I have zero interest in her. Don’t find her the least bit attractive.

Must be tough being a billionaire, with a World Series ring and all those women flinging their panties off and falling at your feet.

Scarlett swipes her phone’s screen. Looks like Kingsley is serious about you. She shows me another picture Kingsley has obviously manipulated, and then another. She’s making it look like you two are madly in love.

For fuck’s sake, don’t I have any say in this? Next time I see her, I’m going to nip this absurdity in the bud, and since she refuses to take a hint, I won’t be as nice to her as I was last night.

You should check your Friendbook occasionally, Scarlett mutters.

It’s been so long I don’t even remember my password. I reach over the cushions, gesturing for Scarlett to hand me her phone. Do you mind?

She waggles her brows and passes it to me.

Greg leans over, trying to see the screen. Everyone’s pretty much lost their shit over you since you won the Series.

"I didn’t win the World Series, The Rockies did. My team did. We all did." Crap. I scroll through Kingsley’s Friendbook page. I’m in almost every post.

Correction. Greg contemplates me with pride. "When you threw that no-hitter, and you secured your team’s wildcard position in the playoffs, your team then went on to win the World Series. The Rockies wouldn’t have had the chance to even compete if you didn’t get them into the playoffs first."

I’m so fucking distracted by what I’m seeing on Scarlett’s phone, I’m getting a headache. I show Greg the screen. Look at that picture. These were all originally group photos of our families. Serves me right for standing next to her on the end. I made it too easy for her to crop everyone else out of the shot.

Guess it doesn’t help that Kingsley’s dad owns Friendbook, Scarlett adds.

You know Vivi’s working there now.

My chest tightens when Greg mentions his sister’s name. I’ve been so consumed with baseball, I haven’t had the bandwidth to think of anything else. Unlike Kingsley, or any of the other women who are now suddenly into me because I’m in the limelight, Vivi has always appreciated me for exactly who I am, World Series winner or not. She’s been my biggest cheerleader since she was seven. Which means I’ve been holding myself back from kissing her since I was nine. And all this time, I’ve managed to hide my attraction to her from Greg, who would wring my neck if he ever found out.

Vivi’s the baby of the family, and I understand why the Harmons are so protective of her. After they lost Tate, Greg’s older brother, in Afghanistan, you can hardly blame them for trying to shield Vivi from any more heartache—but hurting Vivi is the farthest thing from my mind. Hell, it’s too dangerous for me to allow myself to think of any what-ifs with Vivi.

Over the last few years, my desire for her has grown in intensity, to the point where whenever I’m near her I get a hard-on, which makes my attraction to her all the more challenging. So Vivi isn’t living in Silicon Valley? I ask casually.

Greg shrugs. Nope. Friendbook stole her from Google, so she’s back home, at least for now. My pulse quickens with the realization that she’s within my reach again, especially now that the season is over. I keep my face devoid of expression so Greg doesn’t catch on. She has to travel to Menlo Park and pop into Friendbook headquarters once a month, but she works remotely most of the time. Kingsley’s on her project team.

Well, good. Scarlett reaches for her phone, and I pass it back to her. Maybe Vivi can delete Kingsley’s posts.

Greg shakes his head and downs another fistful of popcorn. Vivi doesn’t have anything to do with content. She’s creating Friendbook’s virtual reality space, or programming something. Not sure. I’m too busy at the ranch to keep up with exactly what my brainiac sister does. But she has three gigantic monitors set up in the back room, with a special Wi-Fi system, a VPN. Top-secret shit. Big league. He sets his empty down on the coffee table, and I dig into the icy bucket next to me and hand him a fresh beer.

Greg stares out the window while he pops the top. My best friend is very good at many things, but poker isn’t one of them. He has the sort of face that reads like a book, and there’s something cooking in that brain of his. Tell you what. And here it comes … I might be able to get you out of this predicament with Kingsley. With a shit-eating grin, he turns and narrows his dark eyes on me.

I’m all ears.

Vivi was just complaining that she doesn’t have a date for the Friendbook gala. She’s vying for a promotion and is positive she won’t get it unless she’s in a serious relationship.

What the hell kind of crock is that? I snap, pissed that anyone would pull that archaic bullshit on her. She’s the smartest woman I know.

Scarlett scowls. Are we back in the fifties now? She doesn’t need a husband or a boyfriend, or girlfriend, or anyone, to do her job.

I think the issue is she’s the youngest in her department. She’s only twenty-two, Greg points out, as if I’m not already well aware of every single fact regarding Vivi Harmon. The only reason I didn’t realize she was back in West Palomino was because of my insane season this year, but I would’ve found out on my own. "Vivi is competing with people a lot older than her. She needs to give