Lucy Lennox – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Lucy Lennox – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:32:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.books2020.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Lucy Lennox – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com 32 32 Owning Jett (Made Marian Legacy #3) Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/owning-jett-made-marian-legacy-3-read-online-lucy-lennox Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:32:15 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/owning-jett-made-marian-legacy-3-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Billionaire, Contemporary, M-M Romance, Suspense Authors: Lucy Lennox Series: Made Marian Legacy Series by Lucy Lennox
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Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)

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Two weeks. One villa. A dangerous game of seduction and lies.

My job is get close, get the intel, get out.

Then Locke Maris walks into my op.

He’s cold. Controlled. Heir to a billion-dollar shipping fortune. And so aggressively straight he doesn’t even look at me twice...

Until he does.

Locke makes me an play his assistant by day, be his secret lover by night, at a house party where the world’s elite will gather to sip champagne, enjoy the Italian sun…and play a dangerous game called Paxis.

In this ancient variation of chess, humans are pawns and each coded move could start or stop wars. I should report this to my agency immediately. Walk away clean.

But I can’t walk away.

Because in the privacy of his suite, the moves Locke makes are just as dangerous, the words he murmurs in my ear as devastating, and the growing devotion I feel as destructive as any global war.

At the end of this, I’ll have to disappear like I always do.
I don’t get to want things that could ruin my cover—or my career.

But Locke Maris is ruthless about protecting what’s his, and as far as he’s concerned he owns me.

When everything falls apart, I’ll find out exactly how far he’ll go to keep me

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

JETT - FOUR YEARS AGO

It wasn’t a stretch to play a go-go boy. I loved sex, and I was proud of my body. Win-win. Not that my bosses at ESP knew either of those things.

Fortunately for them, I was also only twenty-three, so I could pass easily as a dancer in a gentleman’s club.

Unfortunately for me, I was new enough at the agency to not have a choice in my assignments. Might as well enjoy it as much as I could.

I rolled my hips at my mark—Ronald Gillen, cargo-smuggling union boss and all-around shitheel—and felt his eyes follow the curve of my ass and thighs in my booty shorts. Loud club music flooded my system and loosened my already warm muscles.

I bit back a laugh at the thought of telling a younger Jett Marian that one day he’d be paid good money to shake his assets for men in a gentleman’s club. Talk about a dream job. After two particularly shit breakups in college, I’d determined that playing the field was a thousand times better than being in a relationship. And the past several years had only proven me right.

Some old guy reached over and pinched my ass before shoving a twenty in the waistband of my jock and making a lewd comment about how I’d look even better on my knees for him.

Okay, so maybe not all of it was dreamlike. In fact, after spending the past four nights dancing in expectation of Ronald appearing in this club, I was ready to get the information I needed from him so my professional dancing days could be over.

I made a big production of licking a finger and trailing it down my bare chest, regretting it a moment later when I realized my fingertip still had leftover glitter eye shadow on it. Blech.

“Such a pretty boy,” Ronald murmured, eying me over his fat cigar. “Are you new here, sweetheart?”

“I came especially for you, Daddy,” I teased with a flirty grin before turning and leaning over, moving my hips from side to side so he could get a peek of bare cheek at the edge of my shorts. I reached back with one hand and ran my fingers along my skin just under the edge of the fabric while holding on to the pole with the other hand. “You like what you see?”

My goal was to get him into a private room for a lap dance where I could distract him while getting close enough to scan his phone with the device embedded in my leather bracelet.

He was with several other men, half of whom were obviously more interested in the women dancing around the room, while the other half either lasered their attention on me or were too busy courting Ronald’s favor to pay attention to the dancers at all.

I turned around to face him and leaned the top of my back against the pole, moving my hands down my front and into the top of my shorts. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, pushing the shorts down enough to show the jock underneath them and a hint of pubic hair.

When the Ecumene Stability Project had recruited me out of college a little over a year ago, I’d gone through the kind of intense training program used by the CIA, MI6, and Mossad—which made sense, since the massive global intelligence agency had a budget larger than all of them put together. Among other things, that training had honed my body into a tool—efficient, strong, ready for anything.

Including luring alcoholic old men into private rooms.

I just needed to seal the deal.

I bit my lower lip and slowly dragged my gaze up from Ronald’s black leather wing tips to his crotch and lifted my eyebrows in pleasant surprise as if I saw something impressive there.

I did not.

My tongue came out to wet my lips, and I exhaled, keeping my eyes on his crotch for another moment before sighing and whimpering a little. Then I continued my perusal up over his beer belly to his chest and thick neck. I forced myself to imagine letting this man do dirty things to me, and the image was horrifying enough to heat my cheeks.

Which was exactly what I was going for.

I blinked at him innocently and turned away in faux-embarrassment for having been caught looking. More ass-shaking and pole-humping, then I’d face him again and play with my nipples. It was important to have a plan.

“He’s a pretty one, isn’t he?” I heard Ronald say to someone in his smoke-roughened voice. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised he sounded like a New Jersey dockworker when that was literally what he was. Or had been before moving up to union steward.

He was the guy who managed the list and the line, knew every ghost container on every ship, and accepted envelopes of cash to get favorable movement for all three.

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Advertisement Burning for Alexander (Made Marian Legacy #2) Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/burning-for-alexander-made-marian-legacy-2-read-online-lucy-lennox Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:05:46 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/burning-for-alexander-made-marian-legacy-2-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Series: Made Marian Legacy Series by Lucy Lennox
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Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >103

But now all I see is Alex Marian.
The bane of my existence. Firebug. Reckless bar owner. Walking disaster.

It doesn’t matter that he’s the sexiest man alive. Or charming. Or kind.

He’s entitled, spoiled, rich, naive—everything I hate.

He’s also young and untouched—not that it’s any of my business.

The townspeople say he’s the sunshine to my grump.
What they don’t know is that worrying about him keeps me up at night.

He's the match, and I'm the gasoline—and the way he looks at me says he knows exactly what kind of fire we'd make together.

But Alex Marian might just be worth the burn

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

ALEX

DrunkenPoet: Anyone in this forum available to answer a few questions about ICS-100 certification?

IndexEcho: Yeah. I have ICS-400, ARFF, and NIMS IS-700. What do you need?

_____________________

If the accidental conflagration had occurred at any other time, it wouldn’t have been a problem. We’d have put it out with a wet bar mop before anyone was the wiser and gone on with our lives.

Unfortunately for me, tonight was not my night.

So when the fire started, it happened to be at the exact same moment our town’s new fire chief walked into my restaurant with the sheriff.

“What the actual fuck?” the angry man in a navy blue Legacy FD fleece asked again, glaring at me.

He stood too close, wedged behind the bar, wielding my two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar Amerex fire extinguisher… which he’d just discharged all over my beautiful, hand-carved bar as if he had no idea the effect potassium citrate and acetate had on burled walnut.

I ignored him and called through the opening behind the bar to the kitchen. “Karim, please grab some clean, damp cloths and dry cloths. Quickly!”

Chemical solution came close to dripping from the edge of the bar as I lunged to stop the flow with the towel tucked into my back pocket. “Fuck. Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Can you please move? I have to clean this before it gets all over everything.”

The man reached for the small bottle lying next to the charred remains of my napkin and straw holder and held it up.

It was the sanitizing spray Tavo had been using, too close to the Bacardi 151 float I’d been flicking a lighter on. The combination of the two had caused the flaming kerfuffle in the first place.

The grumpy fire chief nudged me back with a fingertip to the shoulder. “You will not touch anything.”

I ignored the odd twinge I got from feeling his finger on me. The older man was sexy as fuck, no doubt about it. Thick, wavy hair that was more salt than pepper, dark eyes that seemed happiest pinning people like bugs on a board, and broad shoulders. Most of all, a commanding presence.

But so far, it seemed like he had the personality of a meat grinder.

He continued with another soft poke. “This is now a crime scene, and disturbing it is a violation of⁠—”

“Crime scene?” I barked out a laugh. “Guy, it’s a small mishap at best.”

“Your ‘mishap’ appears to be deliberate arson, and as such, I will be doing a full investigation.”

I opened my mouth to tell him just how ridiculous he was being when I remembered the first time he’d come in here a few weeks ago. “Wait, is this about the day we met? About me not knowing who you were? Is this some kind of retaliation for my bad memory?” Hopefully, my voice didn’t sound as high-pitched and unhinged as I felt. Annoyance and incredulity bubbled up, and I wanted to deck the man. “I told you, we’ve never met before!”

And I could say that with certainty because the man was sex on a stick. I would’ve wanted to climb him and beg him to do dirty things to me. But now that it turned out he was an asshole, maybe it was a good thing we’d never met.

His jaw clenched. “We’ve met. More than met, in fact. And if you want to pretend otherwise, that’s your decision. But, no, this has nothing to do with our previous… encounter. It has to do with fire safety. Public safety.”

“When exactly did we meet?” I asked, letting Karim take over the cleanup from the other side of the bar while I kept the chief’s focus turned slightly away. The less “evidence” of this minor incident, the better. “Because I’d remember you with all this…” I waved my hand to indicate the whole of him. “Bluster and general assholery.”

His eyes widened and then narrowed. “Three years ago in Amsterdam. Ring a bell?”

I thought back to the only time I’d ever been to Amsterdam. It was during a layover from France on the way to meet the rest of my family in Iceland. But that had been more like eight years ago because I’d been at Château de Pommard finishing my level three WSET qualification.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >103

Advertisement Hashtag Holidate Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/hashtag-holidate-read-online-lucy-lennox Wed, 29 Oct 2025 22:14:23 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/hashtag-holidate-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Advertisement

Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >101

I came to Legacy, Montana, to sell a fantasy—twelve Insta-ready #Holidates of Christmas. One career-making brand deal. Zero drama.

Then my videographer bailed, and in walked Maddox Sullivan.

Grumpy. Gorgeous. Growly. A mountain man with zero chill and even less tolerance for influencers like me. He agrees to film my content—off-camera only—but when my first date cancels, guess who ends up in front of the lens?

Cue the fireworks.

Our chemistry is instant. My followers are obsessed. #TeamMaddrian starts trending. Suddenly, all my dates are mysteriously dropping out, and Maddox is reluctantly starring in every single holidate—sleigh rides, snowball fights, cocoa by the fire, kisses under the mistletoe.

And I… I’m starting to forget this was ever supposed to be pretend.

Because every time Maddox looks at me, I feel something real. Something lasting. Something terrifying.

I came here for curated content. Now I’m dreaming of a life I never thought I wanted—with a man I never saw coming.

But am I falling for the picture-perfect holiday fantasy? Or could this be the start of my real-life happily ever after?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

#LUXURYMEETSLEGACY

ADRIAN

I stared out the rental car window at the weathered timber sign.

Legacy, Montana. Population 8,743.

In other words, too small for a good wine bar. They probably had domestic beer on draft and antlers on the walls of their one roadhouse.

My phone buzzed with another notification. I didn’t bother looking, not only because I was driving, but also because I already knew what it would say. Three thousand followers lost this week. The comment under a recent post had summed it up: Getting boring, Adrian. Same old luxury hotels. Yawn.

Which was exactly why I was here, of course, freezing my ass off in twenty-eight-degree weather instead of lounging poolside in LA. My latest sponsor, Nordique luxury après-ski wear, wanted “true holiday magic”—the kind of wholesome Christmas content I’d never done. But if I pulled this off, it could mean a full-time brand ambassador deal. The kind of eye-popping money that would keep me from crawling back to Connecticut to work for my father’s insurance company.

I’d spent five years building a brand, and Adrian Hayes—the luxury lifestyle personality and digital nomad—wasn’t known for small towns. I thrived in cosmopolitan cities and exclusive resorts, places where the lighting was perfect and the backdrops were designed to be photographed. Not… I looked around at the rustic town of Legacy and sighed. Hunter McShotgun’s Wilderness Outpost.

But maybe rustic could work. Maybe the small-town vibe would give me exactly the kind of authenticity and relatability I’d been missing in recent posts. At least I really freaking hoped it did because the project with Nordique had the potential for much more.

When I’d first pulled up the company’s social media tags on my laptop, I’d winced. “Looks like their target demographic is forty- to fifty-year-olds,” I’d protested to my manager, moving to my phone to scroll through my own posts—rooftop cocktails in Miami, a celebrity chef’s restaurant opening in New York, a carefully curated beach day in Malibu. I squinted at the monitor to see if there were any visible signs of aging. “What the hell do they want with me? Do I look fifteen years older than I am?”

“Of course not, babe. But Nordique wants a spokesmodel who’s aspirational, not actually old as shit,” Vic had countered with the brutal honesty that made him both an excellent manager and a terrifying human being. “Every gay man with a jawline and a ring light would suck Old Man Winter’s you-know-what for this client. Stop whining and say yes. You’ll make it elegant and unique. You always do.”

Elegant and unique. That phrase had echoed in my head for days after I’d agreed to take the job.

In the influencer world, you had to give people the same but different. They wanted a consistent personality but not the same old repeated content. I’d built my following by being aspirational but approachable, luxurious but attainable. For the women, I was the gay best friend they wished they had, with a life they wished they could afford. For the gays, I was the man they dreamed of and sent their lurid fantasies (and pics) to. For the straight men, I was the account they loved to hate and the person who set their wife’s bar hella fucking high.

I was also known for being a little bit different. A little bit unpredictable. Take the time I did a skincare tutorial using glacier runoff in Iceland. Or the time I turned my broken umbrella into a prop on a Scottish Highlands tour and got reposted by Vogue.

Which was why I was low-key panicking now. Unpredictable wasn’t easy to plan on short notice.

After scrambling for a concept that would combine “dressing to impress” with celebrating the holidays, I’d finally landed on “The Twelve Dates of Christmas.” Twelve videos of me experiencing holiday traditions while modeling Nordique’s winter collection.

When I’d hinted at the upcoming series and asked for location recommendations, my followers had suggested too many places to count. But one had stood out as the perfect choice. Nordique’s tagline was “Where luxury meets legacy,” which meant Legacy, Montana, with its single ski slope and its small but growing reputation as a hidden gem for LGBTQ+ travelers was a clear winner.

Hopefully, a town this small, maybe with the help of its tourist population, would be able to provide a dozen potential “romances” with small-town guys for my followers to get invested in, too.

All I needed was a videographer since my usual cameraman’s emergency appendectomy had left me hanging.

But first, I needed a small vat of coffee to combat the effects of my early morning flight.

When I parked and stepped out of the car, the cold air immediately bit at my face, and my breath formed little clouds in front of me. I zipped my jacket higher and said a silent apology to my beautiful Prada winter boots—which had never seen actual snow until today—as I crunched down the icy street.

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Advertisement Rescuing Dr Marian (Made Marian Legacy #1) Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/rescuing-dr-marian-made-marian-legacy-1-read-online-lucy-lennox Sat, 30 Aug 2025 08:41:38 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/rescuing-dr-marian-made-marian-legacy-1-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Series: Made Marian Legacy Series by Lucy Lennox
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Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >98

One kiss changed everything.
As sheriff, I’m the guy people call for help.
But when my solo Hawaii trip gets hijacked by my clingy ex, suddenly I’m the one who needs saving.

My unlikely rescuer?
A gorgeous stranger who plants one breathtaking, reckless kiss on me in the middle of a crowded bar—sending my ex packing… and stealing my carefully guarded heart.

Tommy Marian kissed me like he knew me.
Like he wanted me.
Like I was his.
Like he was mine.

But he’s not.

He’s a straight, ambitious city doctor—here in paradise for his own damn wedding.
And I’m going home alone, as usual.

Six months later, I land a dream search and rescue gig in Legacy, Montana.
One summer. A break from my coupled-up friends. Zero distractions.

Except guess who’s freshly single… and bunking in my tiny cabin? The biggest distraction of my life.

Tommy Marian is still beautiful, still infuriating, and still everything I can’t want.
He says what happens in Legacy stays in Legacy.
I say I’m not even tempted.
At least one of us is lying.

Because when Tommy disappears on the mountain, I realize I’d burn the world to get him back…
And maybe this time, I won’t let him go

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

FOSTER

The emergency call came in just as I was locking up the sheriff’s office for a long-awaited vacation.

Three hours later, I was rappelling down a cliff face to extract a photographer who’d gotten a little too creative with his angle shots. Three hours after that, we’d gotten him to safety, but I’d missed my flight to Hawaii and spent five hours driving through a blizzard to catch the next one. And eight hours after that, I’d made my final connection by the skin of my teeth, but my luggage had not.

So by the time my seatmate sloshed her vodka cranberry all over my chest, it was safe to say I’d lost whatever patience I might have had at the start of my hellish, never-ending day.

Fate was seriously fucking with me.

“And the wors’ part is, I never saw it coming,” the woman slurred, still waving her cup as she spoke, seemingly unaware it was now empty. “But then, I guess no one ever does. I thought he was The One. I thought he and I were the real thing. Like… like daisies in sunshine. Like kit… kin… kinsmin.”

“Kismet,” a low, aggrieved voice muttered from the row behind us. “You mean kismet.”

I covered my snort with a cough. The guy in 9A had started correcting Miss Daisies and Sunshine’s drunken mispronunciations under his breath, but the longer her drama went on, the less he seemed to hold back his commentary.

At this point, his comments were the only thing keeping me sane.

“Did you say something?” she asked, squinting at me.

I thumbed over my shoulder. “I think he said ‘Kleenex.’ Speaking of which, do you have any tissues in your bag?” I gestured from the bulging carryall at her feet to the remains of her vodka cranberry trickling down my chest. “I could use one.”

“Don’t think so.” She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, gosh, you spilled your drink!”

I sucked in a breath. “I didn’t—” A travel pack of tissues suddenly appeared between us with a little waggle, and I glanced through the darkened gap between the seats to see a deep hazel eye smiling back at me.

Mr. 9A to the rescue.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Don’t mention it.”

While I dabbed at my ruined shirt, Miss Daisies and Sunshine kept talking, ensuring everyone around us knew way more than we’d ever wanted or needed to know about the “cheating ass” who “din’ deserve my love.”

“And the wors’ part is,” she wailed, “I never saw it com⁠—”

I jumped in to prevent her from starting again at the beginning. “Look, I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but you’ll move on from this. I dated a cheating ass once, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Matthew-don’t-call-me-Matt.” I rolled my eyes. “High-maintenance, persistent, terrible at karaoke, regrettably bad at monogamy. It sucked at the time, but I learned a lot of lessons about what I want in a partner. And the man had good taste in resorts,” I added. “Hence my trip to Kauai.”

She scrunched up her face. “Yer ex is gunna be here, too?”

“Oh, god no. The opposite. I ditched my ex, but I still love Hawaii, and the only time it’s safe for me to visit is over New Year’s. Matthew hasn’t missed a ball drop in decades.”

“Is that like…” Daisy Sunshine lowered her voice, but not by much. “…a gay thing?”

Mr. 9A snickered.

I pressed my lips together to keep from barking out a laugh. “Uh. No. It’s…” I pondered this. “Well, come to think of it, there are a few gay men involved in that particular event.”

This time, 9A snort-choked so loudly the woman beside him asked if he was okay.

Mercifully, the plane touched down at that exact moment.

“Know whut? I’m gunna take yer advice,” Daisy announced as the people at the front of the plane began grabbing their things. “I’m gunna get a new man. I’m gunna find real love. Like poetry. Like Shakesgere.” She frowned. “Shakes… Gere?”

“Shakespeare,” came from behind us. “For god’s sake.”

“Brother to Richard. Obvs,” I added, turning to grin between the seats at the man who’d saved my mood if not my shirt.

He was clean-cut, with neatly trimmed light-brown hair, bright hazel eyes, and a knowing grin that made my stomach do something interesting.

I also noticed the equally attractive woman next to him, scrolling through her phone, and realized they were probably together.

Figured.

All the best ones were taken these days. All of my friends back in Wyoming had recently paired up, too, leaving me the sole, glaringly single target of my mother’s matchmaking ways.

Hence, my hookup vacation in Hawaii. No mother. No snow. No work. Only me, the sun, umbrella drinks, and a plentiful Grindr app for the next ten days. Ringing in the New Year right.

Daisy turned around and beamed at 9A. “You know him? The poet?”

He bit his lip and nodded, eyes dancing as he glanced at me, inviting me to share the joke. “I know him well. Spent way too much time with him in high school, actually. Wordy fucker.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >98

Advertisement Finding Lord Landry – The Billionaire Brotherhood Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/finding-lord-landry-the-billionaire-brotherhood-read-online-lucy-lennox Thu, 17 Apr 2025 13:10:57 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/finding-lord-landry-the-billionaire-brotherhood-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Billionaire, Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Advertisement

Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >114

When a secret enemies-with-benefits situation turns into the world’s most public fake marriage…
The world knows me as Landry Davis, supermodel. A beautiful face and killer abs that have spawned a hundred fantasies.
To my friends, I’m simply Landry, the snarkiest (read: most fun) member of our billionaire brotherhood.
But to Kenji Toma, the gorgeous and oh-so-capable personal assistant I’ve been in love with for years, I’m “effing Landry,” the charming slacker who disappears for weeks only to resurface in trouble. His favorite enemy-with benefits. A man he refuses to fall in love with (though I’ve tried) and also can’t resist managing (a fact I’m not too proud to take advantage of).
What none of them know is that I have another title–in fact, a whole other life. One I was born into. One that comes with sprawling estates, a coronet, and a metric ton of familial and political expectations. A life I’ve kept secret for way too long… and hope to keep secret for just a little while longer.
At least until I learn Kenji is in danger.
When all my money and fame can’t save the man I love, I don’t hesitate to use long-hidden political power to whisk him to safety, even though it means outing myself as Viscount Hawling, the elusive heir to the Davencourt earldom…
And pretending the man who loves to hate me is actually my doting husband

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

ONE

KENJI

“Do you have any soup?” Landry demanded. “I’m starving, but I shouldn’t have solids until after tomorrow’s shoot.”

“No. But there’s a ramen place on the corner. You should go there,” I said, emphasizing the word go so there was no confusion.

Landry ignored me, stretching his long, lean body on my bed. “What about lemon? Why don’t you ever have fresh lemons when you know I need lemon in my water to chug down as much as I have to drink.”

I tried my hardest not to look at the miles of bare skin on offer. He was preening. The man didn’t know how to be any other way than arrogant about his body, but then again, if I’d had a body like that—one people paid millions to display their clothing on—I might preen, too. Unfortunately, on Landry, the preening was not only insufferable but also irresistible.

Not that I’d ever admit that out loud. To anyone. Even on pain of death.

“I’m not your valet…” My words trailed off because while I wasn’t his valet, technically, I was his executive assistant. And an argument could be made—for other people, not Landry—that an executive assistant should, in fact, consider supplying the things a man needed for his job.

He turned onto his side and propped his head on his hand. His long, blond hair was enticingly tangled, as if the man had just had the hungry fingers of a lover in it.

I cleared my throat. “You need to leave.”

He kicked off the sheet and ran his fingers down his thigh and back up the inside of his thigh while giving me a familiar look.

I pressed the button on my mindfulness app and asked, “What does Chaska Inira say about staying calm when provoked?”

“When emotions rise like stormy seas, seek the still waters beneath. A provocation is but a test—a mirror reflecting the mastery of your own peace. Do not wrestle with the storm; instead, anchor yourself in understanding and let the tempest pass.”

Chaska’s melodious voice soothed me as I finished folding my pajama pants and placed them into the suitcase. Even though I’d had the Louis Vuitton bag for over two years now, I still treated it like a spoiled princess. Who paid this much for a Rollaboard? No one rational, that was who. People with more money than sense.

“Told you you’d like it,” Landry said knowingly, nodding toward the suitcase.

“And I told you I didn’t want Louis Vuitton. I wanted a Samsonite just like the one you ruined,” I muttered. I wasn’t lying, per se. It was true that I had wanted a simple replacement for my old, trusty carry-on. But when he’d given me this one anyway… well, I hadn’t cried about it.

Landry sat up and peered into the suitcase. “Did you iron those? Who the fuck irons pajama pants? Wait. Is that a cummerbund? And what kind of retreat is this? I thought you were staying in a yurt with yaks and ringing metal bowls or something.”

I ignored Landry’s voice and tried to focus on the one in my head that was actively counseling me against murder.

I was still waters, and Landry was the damned tempest.

“I don’t see why you have to go halfway around the world to listen to more of that ‘live, laugh, love’ nonsense. You should stay here,” Landry continued. He reached into the suitcase for my bow tie, but I slapped his hand before flicking it away.

“Sex is over. Our time together has come to a not-regrettable end,” I informed him.

He settled back onto the pillows and put his hands behind his head. This had the—probably intended—effect of popping out his defined biceps. I bit back a sigh. While I didn’t necessarily like the man himself most days, Landry was fucking incredible in bed. His body was a very fine specimen, and he was particularly talented with his tongue.

I’d also discovered a few years ago, when we’d made the unfortunate decision to hook up “just this once,” that Landry Davis happened to be the world’s most generous lover.

I wasn’t sure what Chaska would say about fate taking a glorious talent like Landry’s and wrapping it in an immature, self-absorbed package, but I doubted the answer would help me find lasting peace. Dwelling on Landry never did.

As if he could hear my thoughts, the man in question ran his hand down his chest to his cock, which was still flaccid against his thigh after he’d orgasmed while balls-deep inside of me.

I cleared my throat. “I’m flying to San Cordova in six hours. I will be gone for four weeks. And to answer your question, it’s a mindfulness retreat at a luxury island resort… as I’ve already told you.”

Not that he’d listened. Not that he’d actually heard me or cared.

His face widened into a knowing grin. “Ha! You can’t give up your Apple Watch and charging station. Or your daily lattes. Admit it. You had to pick a retreat with amenities.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >114

Advertisement Peacocks (Licking Thicket #5) Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/peacocks-licking-thicket-5-read-online-lucy-lennox Sun, 02 Mar 2025 13:35:10 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/peacocks-licking-thicket-5-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Series: Licking Thicket Series by Lucy Lennox
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >45

Lane’s Tips for Licking Thicket Newcomers

If at all possible, find yourself a hot and helpful landlord like Jaybird Proud who mows the lawn shirtless… and hope your grass grows quickly.

Expect the unexpected at work. If you’re a veterinarian, this might mean letter-cows, pet pigs that aren’t pets, and Butterscotch the Pomeranian, who has Strong Feelings about his glands.

Offer your help around town when needed… especially when that gorgeous landlord knocks on your door because his (pea)cock won’t stop displaying.

Learn about local customs, including: matchmaking, leaving Italian Gentlemen on the doormat, ordering tater tots, and entwining dead vines into wreaths as a sign of true love.

Get your car washed on the regular… especially when your landlord is the one doing the scrubbing.

Above all, keep things casual, even when Jay ends up at your place every night. And every morning. And the occasional afternoon.

But when you find yourself falling for someone like Jaybird Proud (and life in his weird and wonderful town), let go of everything you thought you wanted… and Entwine that Thicketeer forever.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Lane’s Tips for Licking Thicket Newcomers

If at all possible, find yourself a hot and helpful landlord like Jaybird Proud who mows the lawn shirtless… and hope your grass grows quickly.

Expect the unexpected at work. If you’re a veterinarian, this might mean letter-cows, pet pigs that aren’t pets, and Butterscotch the Pomeranian, who has Strong Feelings about his glands.

Offer your help around town when needed… especially when that gorgeous landlord knocks on your door because his (pea)cock won’t stop displaying.

Learn about local customs, including: matchmaking, leaving Italian Gentlemen on the doormat, ordering tater tots, and entwining dead vines into wreaths as a sign of true love.

Get your car washed on the regular… especially when your landlord is the one doing the scrubbing.

Above all, keep things casual, even when Jay ends up at your place every night. And every morning. And the occasional afternoon.

But when you find yourself falling for someone like Jaybird Proud (and life in his weird and wonderful town), let go of everything you thought you wanted… and Entwine that Thicketeer forever.

Chapter One

Lane

After my last disaster of a relationship, in which I’d been accused of being “a master of emotional evasion” who was “fundamentally indifferent toward romantic partnerships”—don’t date a law professor, people, just don’t—I never expected to find myself interested in another man.

And even if I had? Even if, somewhere in a sealed-shut compartment in the back of my brain, there existed a part of me that wasn’t entirely “indifferent toward romantic partnerships” on the whole?

I’d sure as hell never expected the object of my fascination could be someone like Jaybird Proud.

Jaybird had offered to rent me the apartment over his garage when I moved to Licking Thicket six months ago… then refused to cash my rent checks because I was his cousin Charlie’s boyfriend’s friend, which “practically makes us family, Lane!”—an assessment I disagreed with on many, many levels.

Jaybird greeted me most evenings, come rain or come shine, with a bright, handsome smile, a cheery “Howdy, neighbor!” and occasionally the offer of a dinner casserole. Or a beer. Or, on one memorable occasion, a “dirt cake”… whatever the hell that was.

Jaybird wore snap-back hats with misspelled John Dear logos (“on account of Kitten Montgomery’s confusion at Valentine’s Day while working the embroidery machine,” Jaybird had explained. “But I don’t wanna make her feel bad by not wearing it, do I?”).

Jaybird’s career ambition began and ended with working at the Suds Barn as a full-time Automobile Cleansing Artisan (not joking) because “there’s nothin’ more satisfying than settin’ things to rights.”

Jaybird had never met a T-shirt with sleeves that hadn’t seen the sharp edge of a pair of scissors (which, okay… shoutout to Jesus for that one) even when the weather turned cold.

He was like a splinter under my skin. Too silly to take seriously, too friendly to be genuine, and too sexy not to fantasize about… sometimes multiple times a night.

“The man’s gonna drive me to drink,” I admitted to my friend Hunter before taking a bite of my ham and swiss. I only had a half-hour lunch break today between a morning full of spay and neuter surgeries and an afternoon packed with wellness appointments, so I was glad Hunter had agreed to get to the Thicket Tavern early and order for us.

Hunter had heard my complaints often enough now that he didn’t bother asking for clarification.

“What’s Jaybird done now?” He crunched a cucumber slice, looking way too amused at my plight.

“Cleaned the ice off my windshield this morning,” I muttered. “Mirrors too. Said he didn’t want my fingers to freeze off before I did surgery this morning. Who does that?”

Hunter let out a low whistle. “Diabolical.”

“It is,” I insisted.

I knew I probably sounded ridiculous, but I simply didn’t understand why Jaybird did the things he did. In my experience, people didn’t do nice things—not so many nice things, at least, and not all in a row—for no reason.

But try as I might, I couldn’t puzzle out what Jaybird’s agenda was.

If he was a dog, or a cat, or even a turkey, like Hunter and Charlie’s pet, Tammy Wynette, I’d have known exactly what he wanted and how to handle him.

Men had always been much, much harder for me to read… and unfortunately for me, Jaybird was undeniably a man.

All six feet and several sexy inches of him.

“You know… you could move out,” Hunter suggested. “Morris and Danica Borris are retiring down to Georgia and selling their spread.”

I glanced up at him. “Morris Borris?”

He ignored me. “You’d like their place. Ten acres at the edge of town. Super quiet. River access for fly fishing. It’s exactly what you talked about when you considered moving up here.”

My stomach twisted at the idea.

Yes, fishing had been one of the draws of moving to Licking Thicket from Athens last summer. There had been many. First and foremost was the opportunity to escape the quasi-scandal that had resulted from my breakup with Professor Chadwick Montgomery. The University of Georgia was a big school but a tiny town, and if I’d had to respond to one more well-meaning, whisper-voiced, “How you doing with, uh… with Chad’s wedding and all?” I was going to lose it.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >45

Advertisement Protecting Mr Fine – The Billionaire Brotherhood Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/protecting-mr-fine-the-billionaire-brotherhood-read-online-lucy-lennox Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:50:12 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/protecting-mr-fine-the-billionaire-brotherhood-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Billionaire, Contemporary, Forbidden, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Advertisement

Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >120

I’m a lucky man and I know it. 

Kids from backwoods Georgia don’t land scholarships to Yale, but I did, and striking it rich–like, billions of dollars rich–with my best friends after graduation should have used up my luck for a lifetime. 

But luck struck again when I followed my passion into music. My career exploded, and now I get to travel the world, performing for thousands of raving fans every night. 

When you get this lucky, you don’t get to want more, and you definitely don’t get to complain about the little things. My family, my crew, and my label are counting on me and I refuse to let them down. I pretend I’m fine, totally fine, Mr. freaking Fine… even when someone starts targeting me with a strange series of threats. 

The only one who sees beneath the pretense is my gorgeous, strictly-professional bodyguard. Ryan keeps me safe and calm. He holds me when I’m terrified. 

But even Ryan doesn’t see everything. He doesn’t know I want him. That I crave him. The man who keeps me together has no idea how much I want him to take me apart. 

And I’ll never tell. Because there’s no way someone as strong and confident as Ryan could have feelings for someone as chaotic as me. 

Nobody’s that lucky… not even Mr. Fine.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

PROLOGUE

RYAN

Don’t let a bear’s aloofness fool you—they feel emotions deeply. They may act tough, wandering solo through the wilderness, but inside? They’ve got hearts as big as their appetite for honey.

—Bear Facts for Insomniacs, Episode 13

The moment I truly learned what hubris meant was the moment I first met Zane Hendley.

Correction, it was the day I first met Zee Barlo, Grammy Award–winning rock star, headliner of sold-out arenas around the globe, and one of the Sexiest Men Alive… according to People magazine. I didn’t catch a glimpse of the real man behind the public persona until later.

“He’s the new Taylor Swift, if Taylor Swift was a beautiful man instead of a beautiful woman,” Violet explained as we made our way into the record label’s Los Angeles recording studio for our first client meeting. I was still getting used to seeing my new boss in person instead of on a Zoom screen, and I noticed a sparkle in her eyes when she referred to her newest client. “And this is a super-cush assignment. You’re welcome.”

“You mean there are no actual threats to his safety?”

Her heels made a clip-clip sound on the marble floor of the large corporate lobby as we crossed to the elevator bank. “No, no. There definitely are. But they’re from rabid fans wanting a piece of him more than sociopolitical agents hell-bent on his destruction.”

I must have winced because Violet immediately apologized. “Shit, Ryan. I’m sorry.”

After a deep, calming inhale through my nostrils, I attempted a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. Here I am discussing assassinations when your previous employer is still lying in state. Are you sure you don’t want to go back to Ventdestine for the funeral?”

My memories of Asger Salling and the rest of the Ventdestinian royal family were a mixed bag. While I’d deeply respected the king for the entire twelve years I’d worked on his security detail as a member of the royal guard, and we’d shared plenty of friendly moments, I hadn’t truly been his friend. I’d been more like very friendly wallpaper.

I’d also been skeptical of the king’s prediction that he’d be a target for assassination because he’d sensed “the winds of fate whispering ill tidings around the palace”—the kind of claim that only someone in the tiny, superstitious nation of Ventdestine could make with a straight face—but as it turned out, I’d been wrong.

My decision to leave the royal guard and return to the US had happened well in advance of his assassination, and the security failure hadn’t had anything to do with me. In fact, I’d already been comfortably ensconced at my sister’s place in Montana when I’d gotten the news along with everyone else that the king of Ventdestine had been shot and killed during a PR visit to the royal naval yard.

I still felt partially responsible for it, though. Maybe if I’d taken Asger’s concerns more seriously, if I hadn’t let my feelings about his superstitions affect my assessments, I could have better prepared my replacement.

In my new assignment, I’d make sure there were no feelings involved whatsoever.

“I’m sure,” I said, clearing my throat as I followed her into the elevator.

Violet grinned as she jabbed the button. “Good. Because I can’t lie, I feel like if you went back for a visit, you might end up staying. The new king is so eager to have you back his head of security reached out to ask if I’d subcontract you to them. And the salary the guy offered was… substantial.”

“I know,” I said gruffly. “Kasper contacted me directly, too. But as I told him, I’m not interested in going back to Ventdestine. I’m ready for a new assignment, and like you said, this one sounds great.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >120

Advertisement Inheriting Miss Fortune – The Billionaire Brotherhood Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/inheriting-miss-fortune-the-billionaire-brotherhood-read-online-lucy-lennox Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:26:20 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/inheriting-miss-fortune-the-billionaire-brotherhood-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Advertisement

Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >111

I was a man without a family… or so I thought.
I came to tiny Majestic, Wyoming, to escape misfortune: the loss of my brother; my parents’ blame for it; the billion-dollar secret that caused it all.
I find peace in my horses, in my friends, in quiet nights alone… and sometimes in remembering a scorching-hot one-night-stand from two years ago.
But everything changes when Tully Bowman, the man behind that unforgettable encounter, turns up in Majestic bringing me the daughter I’ve inherited (along with her multi-million-dollar trust fund).
Just like that, my peace becomes chaos, my quiet nights are filled with little Lellie’s cries for “Daddy,” and the heat between Tully and me becomes more than just a memory.
Because it seems Tully’s planning to stick around… at least until I prove I’m a “suitable father” and not the fortune-hunter Lellie’s grandparents think I am. And the longer we spend together–the more he challenges and provokes me, comforts and calms me–the harder it is to remember why I ever thought one night would be enough.
I’m a bad bet for fatherhood, but if I choose to keep Lellie and raise her as my own, it won’t be for her money. It will be because this precious girl and the man who brought her to me might be the fresh start and new family my heart has been looking for.
And because the best thing that ever happened to me might just be… Inheriting Miss Fortune.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

ONE

TULLY

“Custody goes to Devon McKay?” Franklin Scott boomed. “Of my granddaughter? You can’t be serious!”

I clenched my jaw and held my tongue. His reaction was no surprise. As Katie’s parents and sole surviving family members, Pastor and Mrs. Scott might have seemed like the obvious choice to get custody of her daughter. Obvious to anyone who hadn’t been close to Katie, that was.

The founding partner at my firm frowned at me from across the large conference table. “Tully, do you know this Mr. McKay?”

I opened my mouth to respond but quickly shut it. The answer to that question was… complicated. I didn’t know him in the way that one knew a longtime friend or coworker. While I’d heard a little about him from Katie, I’d never gotten to know him personally outside of having spent a few hours with him once at a party at Katie’s house.

Having said that… I did happen to know what his face looked like when he tried to keep himself from coming. What his hot mouth felt like wrapped around my most intimate body part. The way his face had turned gently against mine as he’d surreptitiously inhaled the scent of me before leaving.

I blinked and focused back on my boss. Orris Dunlevy’s thick, chalk-white hair was always perfectly formed into a slight swoop to one side, regardless of how frustrated he was. Monogrammed cuffs peeked out from his thousand-dollar suit jacket as he studied me with his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

“No, sir,” I said on an unsteady exhale. “I mean, not really. I’ve heard of him, of course. I did prepare the will.”

The pastor clenched his fists on the tabletop while Katie’s mom continued to cry and flutter an honest-to-god old-fashioned hankie near her face. “Someone needs to explain to me how this happened,” he demanded.

Orris nodded but stayed focused on me. “Tully?”

“I’m unsure what you’re asking exactly,” I said carefully. While I was considered the golden boy of Dunlevy, Pace, and Trumble, no one in this firm was safe from the scales of justice around here… and by “justice,” I meant money.

As the founders of the Church of Heavenly Victory, Franklin and Paula Scott were richer than god. And they’d moved all of their legal business to the firm as soon as Orris had hired Katie out of Duke Law. Keeping the Scotts happy was the key to keeping my bosses happy.

But I’d been Katie’s friend as well as her personal attorney, and I wasn’t about to let her down, especially when she was no longer here to stand up for herself or her daughter.

“I’m asking you to tell me why Ms. Scott named this… Devon McKay… as the legal guardian of her child,” my boss clarified.

At the mention of Lellie, Mrs. Scott sobbed louder, which only made the pastor’s face turn redder.

I cleared my throat and prepared for the explosion. “He’s her biological father.”

Orris’s eyes only widened a little, but everyone else in the room, including Katie’s parents, another managing partner, two associates, a junior associate, and two assistants, all seemed to lose their collective minds.

“Impossible!” Pastor Scott barked.

“Kathryn, how could you?” Mrs. Scott sobbed.

The managing partner turned to the junior associate and spoke in a low voice, “Get us everything you can on McKay.”

I concentrated on breathing and reminded myself to stay calm and professional. While I understood and had expected the panic, I also trusted my good friend. Katie adored her daughter and would have never named Dev McKay Lellie’s guardian if she hadn’t trusted him with the girl’s future.

And it wasn’t like the man wouldn’t be able to afford to hire help. Not once he realized Lellie’s guardian would also be the trustee of the fortune her mother had left her.

Mrs. Scott seemed to get control of herself for a moment. “Wait. Isn’t that… that McKay the boy who used to work on Daddy’s ranch?”

Her mention of Dev’s past brought back memories of the night we’d met. Memories of muscled shoulders and biceps, callused hands, and late-day stubble.

I could see the man as a ranch hand, no doubt about it.

“He can’t have a pot to piss in,” Pastor Scott said, outraged. “He mucked stalls for my father-in-law⁠—”

His wife stopped him with a hand to his arm. “Frank, dear, didn’t he end up going to Yale? Whatever happened to him? How did he and Kathryn wind up dating without us knowing?”

I clamped my teeth together. While confessing to Dev’s biological involvement in this custody situation was appropriate and inevitable, it was not my place to remind the Scotts about the details of Lellie’s conception—specifically, that it had been done through a fertility clinic with no dating involved since their daughter had been proudly asexual. I doubted my reminder would matter anyway, not when Katie had explained her asexuality and decision to use a sperm donor several times and they seemed not to have listened.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >111

Advertisement Bodyman Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/bodyman-read-online-lucy-lennox Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:20:37 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/bodyman-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Advertisement

Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 87(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 >19

The first time I got on my knees for President Ashley, it was the night of his inauguration…

And I was only doing my job… helping him remove his shoes.

I’m Lieutenant Commander Kenan Harper, the president’s trusted valet. His loyal aide. His bodyman…

And the fool who’s been in love with Garner Ashley since long before I took this job.

If I had my way, I’d be so much more than his employee, but to say that would be impossible would be the understatement of the century. Garner might be the first openly gay president, but the world’s not ready for a gay First Gentleman, and Garner’s never looked at me with anything but professional courtesy…

Until suddenly, he does.

The first touch between us sparks years of longing into a blaze so bright and wild, neither of us can deny our feelings any longer. But when a relationship is this forbidden, this career-ending, this… world-changing… both of us will have choices to make.

Will I remain in the shadows as the president’s bodyman… or stand out and proud by Garner’s side as the one he loves?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

CHAPTER ONE

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER KENAN HARPER, BODYMAN TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The first time I got on my knees for President Ashley, it was the night of the inauguration. He’d gone back to the Oval Office after making an appearance at one of the balls and had fallen asleep on the sofa. Considering he’d already been awake and working for over twenty hours by then, I wasn’t surprised he’d dozed off.

I’d only been on the job for five days at that point, but I’d spent the entire month between my separation from the Navy and my first day as the president’s bodyman researching what the hell a bodyman was supposed to do.

As a personal aide to the president, it was my job to… pretty much do whatever the man wanted. I was tasked with helping him dress, fetching him coffee, making sure he was properly fed and hydrated, finding missing items or ensuring he had what he needed for trips and meetings, and basically anything else he needed done in order to keep from being distracted from the most important job in the world.

So I had to assume it meant helping him get much-needed sleep when he dozed off on the presidential sofa.

But when I began slipping off his formal wing tips, he jerked awake with a grunt. Irish-green eyes peered at me through inky lashes, and I tried to keep any emotion off my face, even though I was suddenly flooded with it.

“Kenan?” His voice was hoarse from sleep and exhaustion. “Sorry… Commander Harper. What time is it?”

“Three a.m., sir. Would you prefer to move to the residence?”

He sat up and rubbed both hands over his face. A lick of hair stood up on the back of his head, and my fingers itched with the need to smooth it. Instead, I kept my eyes focused on the rug under me as I stood up.

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess that would be a good idea. I have an early meeting at…” His voice trailed off.

“Seven,” I said before clearing my throat. “I’ll make sure you’re up.”

He glanced at me before standing. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll set an alarm.”

Those were the early days, when I’d still stupidly thought I could keep some distance by living in my own apartment. Before the sheer demands and long hours of the job had necessitated me finally caving and accepting a bedroom in the staff section of the residence.

I’d gotten on my knees for President Ashley countless times during that first term, when we were both new and unsure of ourselves.

But none of them were for the reason I’d secretly wanted.

No, that didn’t happen until four and a half years later.

CHAPTER TWO

GARNER ASHLEY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

I’d known before I’d accepted my sister’s suggestion it was a bad idea.

Kenan Harper had been her best friend growing up, the quintessential boy next door who mowed lawns for extra cash, helped at his dad’s hardware store, and dreamed about following his favorite uncle into the Navy. Even though I’d been six years older than Kenan, I’d still gotten used to seeing him around. He and Cat were inseparable, to the point I’d expected the two of them to wind up together one day.

But then Cat had gone to law school, and Kenan had joined the Navy and moved to California. I’d been so busy building my own legal career before accidentally entering politics I hadn’t given the beautiful boy from Brownsburg, Indiana, a second thought.

Until Cat had recommended him for the position of my personal aide after the election.

“This position is usually filled by a kid,” I’d explained, thinking it was a joke. “Not a lieutenant commander in the Navy.”

“He’s getting out. And he doesn’t want to move home yet. His dad’s pressuring him to come take over at the shop, and he’s not ready. This would be perfect.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 >19

Advertisement Marrying Mr. Majestic Read Online Lucy Lennox http://www.books2020.com/marrying-mr-majestic-read-online-lucy-lennox Wed, 07 Aug 2024 09:50:02 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/marrying-mr-majestic-read-online-lucy-lennox Genre: Contemporary, Funny, GLBT, M-M Romance Authors: Lucy Lennox Advertisement

Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >104

I’ve made myself into many things over the years. A Yale graduate. A brilliant corporate strategist. A city boy. And, though no one outside my inner circle knows it, a billionaire.

One thing I never expected to be? Accidentally married to a straight, small-town cowboy named Waylon, the pride and joy of… *checks notes*... Majestic, Wyoming.

Sadly, what happens in Vegas does not, in fact, stay in Vegas, and before I know it, I’m trying to track my erstwhile husband down, divorce papers in hand and thrift store clothes on my back, desperately hoping the stranger I married won’t realize he’s suddenly entitled to a lot more than that shiny gold ring on his finger.

Unfortunately, Way has other plans.

His town is counting on him as mayor to bring the lucrative AdventureSmash wilderness race to Majestic, and he refuses to sign my papers until the deal is done… which means me and my second-hand blue jeans will be hanging around a lot longer than I’d imagined, pretending our one-night whatever-it-was was a love match for the ages.

As it turns out, Majestic is more charming than I’d expected, and Way… is not entirely without charms himself. It also turns out he’s, ahem, not as straight as he thought he was.

Before I know it, dusty boots feel more comfortable than my shiny wingtips, coffee at the Love Muffin tastes better than Starbucks, and being the First Husband of Majestic starts to seem as important as any corporate merger I’ve ever negotiated.

But for a man with secrets to keep and a whole life waiting for him back in Manhattan, the only thing worse than Marrying Mr. Majestic… would be falling in love with him for real.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

ONE

WAYLON

Nobody sets out to marry a stranger by accident in Vegas. Sometimes, and I’m speaking hypothetically here, sometimes a person sets out to marry a friend. To do someone a solid. To help solve a difficult situation.

And then gets horribly rejected and ends up drinking himself into oblivion.

Which then causes him to marry a stranger.

I was several drinks into my rare quest for oblivion when I realized the businessman on the stool next to me was enjoying a laugh at my expense. The first time a lady at the bar sent me a drink, he’d huffed out a silent laugh. Now, as I accepted my third—possibly fourth?—drink from the bartender, whiskey this time, he was outright snorting.

So I side-eyed the guy. You know, as you do when a businessman gets all up in your business.

The man was clean-cut and sharp-looking. Probably a corporate type in town for a conference on balancing stocks and bonds in a well-curated portfolio. Short brown hair, likely styled by someone who’d never seen the inside of a ten-dollar quick-cuts place. Well-fitting button-down shirt with cuffs folded meticulously up muscular forearms. An Apple Watch that probably kept track of his fitness goals and net worth at the same time.

He oozed money and influence. He probably hadn’t looked at the prices of the drinks before ordering whatever he wanted. And he wasn’t even pretending polite disinterest in my situation. “May I help you?”

“I can’t decide if you’ve got game or you’re oblivious.” His voice was as deep and smooth as the gold-boxed chocolates my sister loved. Cultured. Expensive. “Either way, it’s entertaining.”

I took a sip of my drink and felt it burn down my throat. “Don’t know what you mean.”

“The cowboy schtick is really working for you. You’re incredibly popular with the ladies.”

I took another sip of whiskey while trying to pretend ignorance. I wasn’t proud of what I was doing, and the idea someone had noticed didn’t sit right with me. “What ladies?”

He laughed and tilted his head in the direction of the older woman down the bar who’d sent me my latest drink. “Well, her, for one. Or the gaggle of college girls who sent you the pink and purple test tube shots. Or the waitress who ran her hand across your shoulders. Or the woman who asked if you preferred red over white. You don’t seem interested. None of my business, but⁠—”

My face flooded with heat. “Oh… that. Well, I mean, no, I’m not interested in a… a casual encounter, but…” It was embarrassing to admit, but my tongue had been loosened enough to be less worried than usual. I leaned in and lowered my voice, noticing belatedly that he smelled nice. “I can’t really afford this place. The free drinks are nice.”

“Casual encounter?” His bark of laughter startled me. “Where the hell are you from?”

His amusement only made me blush harder.

“Wyoming,” I said, feeling a little annoyed at his condescending tone.

I shifted the cowboy hat on my lap and rubbed the edge of the brim where some of the buffalo felt had worn smooth after years of me fiddling with it. The man probably thought I was in Vegas to blow off steam and I was doing it wrong. The truth—that I’d come to marry my good friend, like an idiot—was even worse, so I didn’t bother correcting him.

I also didn’t bother explaining that casual encounters weren’t a thing when you were the mayor of a very small town where everyone already knew everyone. I’d heard about hookups in big cities, but I’d never been a party to one of them. Where I was from, you dated and got married. Period. Or else your mama, sisters, and aunt heard every last detail before the sun was up the next day.

“Ahh, a real cowboy, then.” The man’s grin faded. “Sorry. I can see I plucked a nerve. Didn’t mean to. Sometimes I’m an asshole. And tonight… well, let’s just say my own nerves got plucked like a motherfucker. Let me buy the next round as an apology.” He grinned again. “No casual encounter necessary.”

I was tempted to ask him what had happened, but then he might want to know why I was in here tying one on, and that was way too embarrassing to admit…

Until three quick drinks later, when my liquor-lips decided to tell the story my pride had been too crushed to let loose.

“So I proposed to her,” I explained, trying not to slur. The alcohol had hit my empty stomach and spread like prairie fire, making the whole world seem a bit warm and blurry—though unfortunately not blurry enough to let me ignore the fact that I’d flown hundreds of miles only to make a fool of myself.

The man in the button-up squinted at me. As the bar had gotten warmer with the addition of more bodies, he’d opened his top two buttons. I tried not to stare at the little patch of chest hair poking through the gap, but for some reason, my eyes kept going there. “Some guy got your friend pregnant, so you offered to⁠—”

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