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Married To The Maverick Millionaire
Joss Wood
She can marry the millionaire and keep her hands to herself…right?When Cal Carter needs a husband in name only, her childhood friend is the perfect pick. But on the other side of “I do,” her sexy millionaire of convenience is much more man than she counted on! She can’t stop thinking about their marriage bed…Especially when the millionaire in question is Quinn Rayne, world-famous heartthrob hockey coach. Quinn is grateful for Cal’s proposal, which keeps the press at bay—but the sizzling passion between them is irresistible. All it takes is one stolen kiss at a masquerade ball to turn this convenient arrangement between friends into a red-hot affair…Married to the Maverick Millionaire is part of the From Mavericks to Married series.
She can marry the millionaire and keep her hands to herself...right?
When Cal Carter needs a husband in name only, her childhood friend is the perfect pick. But on the other side of “I do,” her sexy millionaire of convenience is much more man than she counted on! She can’t stop thinking about their marriage bed...
Especially when the millionaire in question is Quinn Rayne, world-famous heartthrob hockey coach. Quinn is grateful for Cal’s proposal, which keeps the press at bay—but the sizzling passion between them is irresistible. All it takes is one stolen kiss at a masquerade ball to turn this convenient arrangement between friends into a red-hot affair...
Married to the Maverick Millionaire is part of the From Mavericks to Married series.
They were both masked and they could pretend...
God, she needed to pretend. “Kiss me.”
Cal couldn’t see Quinn’s expression beneath his mask, and it was too dark to see the emotion in his eyes. She felt his hesitation and worried that he would back off, that he’d yank them back to reality, to their lives. When his mouth softened, she knew that he was as tempted as she was.
He finally ducked his head and his mouth hovered over hers, teasing.
Minutes, hours, eons later, he lowered his head and his mouth brushed hers. His fingertips dug into the bare skin at her waist, and by their own volition her hands parted his jacket to touch the muscles at his waist, to echo his hold on her.
As he kissed her, as she lost herself in him, the world faded away, melting in the joy his mouth created. In this moment, as his mouth invaded hers, she wasn’t the good girl, the do-gooder with the sterling reputation.
She was Cal, and Quinn holding her was all that was important.
* * *
Married to the Maverick Millionaire is part of the From Mavericks to Married series—Three superfine hockey players finally meet their matches!
Dear Reader (#ue9ee4b5b-291a-5858-b7d5-751b9635aa88),
Quinn Rayne is running out of friends to play with. Kade and Mac have both fallen in love, but the biggest Maverick playboy is not prepared to give up his hard-living, fast-paced and adrenaline-filled lifestyle to settle down. However, Quinn’s bad-boy behavior has caught up with him, and he is no longer the Maverick darling. The press, Maverick fans and, most important, the Maverick’s business partner are all tired of Quinn’s antics and have decided that it’s time for the Maverick’s coach to settle down.
His oldest and best friend, heiress Callahan Adam-Carter, has been married once and that was a disaster, so she, like Quinn, is content with her single lifestyle. When Cal returns to Vancouver, her dead husband’s lawyer informs her that, since she has not remarried five years after his death, she is due to inherit a ridiculous amount of money from his estate. Cal doesn’t want or need his money, and that means she has to marry...and quickly.
Cal sees a way to kill two pesky birds with one stone. She’s the city’s favorite daughter, and by marrying her, Quinn can rehabilitate his reputation and Cal can avoid inheriting Toby Carter’s tainted money. She and Quinn are friends, best friends. After a year or so they’ll divorce and they’ll still be friends. What could possibly go wrong? *cue evil author cackling*
Kade, Mac and Quinn are three of my favorite characters, and I hope you enjoy spending time with them—I’ve loved every minute.
Happy reading!
Joss
Connect with me at www.josswoodbooks.com (http://www.josswoodbooks.com)
Twitter: @josswoodbooks (https://mobile.twitter.com/josswoodbooks)
Facebook: Joss Wood Author (https://www.facebook.com/Joss-Wood-Author-420179588035754/)
Married to the Maverick Millionaire
Joss Wood
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
JOSS WOOD’s passion for putting black letters on a white screen is matched only by her love of books and traveling (especially to the wild places of southern Africa) and, possibly, by her hatred of ironing and making school lunches.
Joss has written over sixteen books for Mills & Boon.
After a career in business lobbying and local economic development, Joss now writes full-time. She lives in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with her husband and two teenage children, surrounded by family, friends, animals and a ridiculous amount of books.
Joss is a member of the RWA (Romance Writers of America) and ROSA (Romance Writers of South Africa).
This book is dedicated to my own Cal, the port I run to in any storm.
I am so grateful to have you in my life.
Contents
Cover (#ue6281f0b-240b-5f62-bab8-a4f1d91e4348)
Back Cover Text (#u4d623d5c-5b93-5435-9752-2ea6057fa09d)
Introduction (#udb545c47-9198-5d6d-b201-e59234054ab7)
Dear Reader (#uf19b43f7-bbb5-57ec-be5b-a65d5c6888a0)
Title Page (#u2df4370e-1201-520d-af0e-ca578d13c7ce)
About the Author (#u0a095e36-b3c5-50ab-ac75-601e8fbd5b8a)
Dedication (#u40a67f72-dc98-558a-ad62-cde6597765a7)
Chapter One (#ube3fbeac-985e-5d5d-9c31-1988bc30b26a)
Chapter Two (#u331c3944-fd77-56fb-b22f-cbdb3e427faf)
Chapter Three (#u7e7d8cec-b641-5dd3-8f26-6c08ff65f06f)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
One (#ue9ee4b5b-291a-5858-b7d5-751b9635aa88)
Quinn Rayne flew across the parking lot on the Coal Harbour promenade, his feet slapping an easy but fast rhythm as he dodged both tourists and residents taking a late afternoon stroll on the paved and pretty walking and biking path next to the marina. The earbuds in his ears and his dark sunglasses were an excellent excuse to ignore the calls of recognition, the pointed fingers.
Even after a decade of being in the spotlight, he still wasn’t used to being an object of curious, sometimes disapproving, fascination. Surely the residents of Vancouver could find someone new to discuss? There had to be someone in the city who was a bigger badass than he was reputed to be.
As he approached the marina, he slowed his sprint to a jog and then to a walk, fingers against the pulse point in his neck and his eyes on his watch. After two minutes he nodded, satisfied. He might not be playing professional ice hockey anymore, but he was as fit as he’d ever been. He’d see whether his players, when they returned to practice next week, had also maintained their fitness. For their sakes, he hoped so.
Quinn walked to the access gate to his wharf. He punched in his code to open the gate and jogged down to where his yacht was berthed. Because he owned one of the prime sites, he had unobstructed views of Burrard Inlet, with Stanley Park to his left and Grouse Mountain in front of him. Living on the water was more adventurous than living in a house and God knew how much he craved adventure.
Quinn stepped onto the Red Delicious and quickly ran up the steps to the main deck, the quickest way to access the living area. He slid open the door, pulled his earbuds from his neck and tossed them, his cap and his sunglasses onto the sleek table to his right. He glanced at his watch and wondered if he had time for a shower before Mac and Kade arrived to report back on a meeting they’d attended earlier with Warren Bayliss, their partner and investor.
Bayliss was an essential part of the ongoing process to buy the Mavericks franchise from the current owner, Myra Hasselback, who was also considering selling out to a Russian billionaire who owned a string of boring sports franchises. Quinn didn’t need his brother’s string of degrees to know that when he, a full Mavericks partner, was excluded from the meeting Warren called, then there was trouble in paradise.
And that it had his name on it.
Quinn walked into the massive open-plan living area and immediately noticed the small form tucked into the corner of his oversize sofa, a cup of coffee in her hand, staring out of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. One foot was tucked up under her butt; her other—long, slim and sexy—was bent. She’d been sitting like that on the beach at Sandy Cove the first day he’d met her, gap-toothed and grinning, a six-year-old dynamo. She was his girl-next-door or, to be technical, the girl from three houses down. His childhood companion and his teenage confidante.
Sensing his presence, she turned her head, deep-red curls bouncing. Freckles splattered across her nose and onto her cheeks, each one perfect. God, he loved her freckles, had missed those freckles, her face.
He slapped his hands on his hips, not sure if he was just imagining her or if she was really sitting there, bright hair and makeup-free but so damn real he could barely breathe.
“Red. What the hell are you doing here?”
Her smile slammed into his sternum and Quinn’s heart bounced off his rib cage. Callahan’s deep, dark eyes danced as she jumped to her feet and Quinn found himself smiling, properly smiling, for the first time that day. He reached out, grabbed her and swept her into his arms. She weighed less than a feather and he easily whirled her around. The scent of wildflowers hovered around her. It was in the hair he buried his face into, on the warm, smooth skin he could feel beneath the barrier of her shirt. Her laugh rumbled through her and instantly lightened his mood. She’d always had the naughtiest, dirtiest laugh.
Cal Adam was back and his world made a little more sense.
Her feet still off the ground, Cal placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed away from him, her eyes clashing with his. “Hi.”
“Hi back.”
“You always had the prettiest eyes,” Cal said, the tips of her fingers coming to rest on his cheekbone. “Ice green with a ring of emerald.” She patted his cheek and rubbed her hand through his too-long, overly full beard. “Not sure about this, though. You’re hiding that sexy face.”
Quinn tightened his arms, his lower body responding as she wound her legs around his waist. A picture of her wet and naked, in exactly this position, appeared on his internal big screen, but he brushed it away. This was Cal, his oldest friend, his best friend—having lascivious thoughts about her was weird. And wrong.
He patted her small, tight butt. “Glad to see that you’ve picked up a bit of weight since the last time I saw you.” It had been nearly two years ago and she’d been in hospital with a stomach bug she’d caught in Panama. Cal had looked almost skeletal. Always petite, at least she now looked on the healthy side of slim.
Cal smiled again, dropped a quick kiss on his lips, a kiss that had Quinn wanting more, needing to find out whether her lips were as soft as they appeared, whether that mouth that looked like it had been made for sin could, actually, sin. What was his problem? Was he now such a player that it was a habit to take every encounter with every woman to the bedroom? Even Cal?
Cal wiggled, her feet dropped to the maple floor and Quinn released her. She stepped back and pushed a curl behind her ear.
“Red Delicious, Q? That’s an odd name for a boat.” Cal made a production of fluttering her eyelashes. “Or did you name it after me?”
He grinned. “You wish I did. Nope, it was pure coincidence.”
“Honestly, she’s stunning,” Cal stated, looking around. Quinn followed her gaze. The sleek lines of the sixty-five-meter yacht were echoed in the minimalist furniture and cool white, grey and beige. Sometimes he thought it a little stark...
“It needs some color. Some bold prints, some bright cushions,” Cal said, echoing his thoughts. Despite their long time apart, they still thought along the same lines.
“She’s beautiful and bigger than your last yacht. How many does she sleep?”
“Ten on the lower deck. The master cabin is aft with a walk-in wardrobe and spa bath and there’s another full cabin forward. Two small cabins midship There’s another smaller, cozier lounge...that’s where I watch TV, wind down. Two decks, one off the main bedroom and another entertainment deck with a Jacuzzi.”
“Impressive. I want to see it all. When did you acquire her?”
“About a year back.” Quinn ran a hand down Cal’s hair and her curls wound around his knuckle. The smell of her shampoo wafted over to him and he wondered when Cal’s hair had turned so soft and silky. So damned girly. Cal shoved her hands into the back pockets of her skinny jeans and arched her back. The white silk T-shirt pulled against her chest and Quinn noticed her small, perky breasts and that she was wearing a lacy, barely-there push-up bra.
He rolled his shoulders, uncomfortable. Right. Enough with that, Rayne.
Quinn rubbed the back of his neck as he walked across the living area to the kitchen. He opened the double-door fridge and peered inside, hoping that the icy air would cool his lascivious thoughts.
“Water?” he asked, his words muffled.
Cal shook her head. “No, thanks.”
He slammed the fridge door closed and cracked the lid on the water bottle before lifting it to his lips.
“How is your dad?” he asked, remembering why she was back in the city, back home.
“Okay. The triple heart bypass was successful. I went straight from the airport to the hospital and spent some time with him. He was awake and making plans so I suppose that’s a good sign.”
“I’m glad he’s okay.”
“He’ll be fine. Stressing about when he can get back to work.” He saw the worry in her eyes, heard fear in her flat tone. “The doctors said he won’t be able to return to work for a couple of months and that sent him into a tailspin.”
“He had the operation a few days ago. Maybe he should relax a little. The foundation won’t grind to a stop because he isn’t there.”
The Adam Foundation was the wealthiest charitable organization in Canada, funded by the accumulated wealth of generations of her Adam ancestors. Money from the Adam Foundation allowed an ever-changing group of volunteers, and Cal, to travel the world to assist communities who needed grassroots help.
Cal bit the inside of her lip and her arched eyebrows pulled together. “He’ll need somebody to run it until he’s back on his feet.”
“Is that person you?” he asked, annoyed by the spurt of excitement he felt. God, he and Cal hadn’t lived in the same city for ages and having her around would be a very nice change.
“Maybe,” Cal replied, unenthusiastic. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Quinn frowned as he tried to work out why Cal felt so ambivalent toward the city they’d been raised in. It was beautiful, interesting and eclectic, but Cal only came home when she absolutely had to. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that her husband had been killed when the light aircraft he’d been piloting crashed into a mountain to the north of the city around four...no, it had to be five years ago now.
