Easy Kisses
Easy Kisses
Book Four in the Boudreaux Series
By
Kristen Proby
EASY KISSES
Book Four in The Boudreaux Series
Kristen Proby
Copyright © 2016 by Kristen Proby
All Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Cover Art:
Photography by: Sara Eirew Photographer
Cover Design: Okay Creations
This one is for Holly Pierce.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Kristen Proby is the author of the popular With Me in Seattle series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong characters who love humor and have a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type—fiercely protective and a bit bossy—and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves. Kristen spends her days with her muse in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, and sunshine. And naps. Visit her at KristenProby.com.
Website
Facebook
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Goodreads
Other Books by Kristen Proby:
The Boudreaux Series:
Easy Love and on audio
Easy Charm and on audio
Easy Melody and on audio
Easy For Keeps (pre-order)
The With Me In Seattle Series:
Come Away With Me and on audio
Under the Mistletoe With Me and on audio
Fight With Me and on audio
Play With Me and on audio
Rock With Me and on audio
Safe With Me and on audio
Tied With Me and on audio
Breathe With Me and on audio
Forever With Me and on audio
Easy With You
The Fusion Series
Listen To Me and on audio
The Love Under the Big Sky Series, available through Pocket Books:
Loving Cara and on audio
Seducing Lauren and on audio
Falling for Jillian and on audio
Baby, It’s Cold Outside and on audio
An Anthology with Jennifer Probst, Emma Chase, Kristen Proby, Melody Anne and Kate Meader
Table of Contents
About the Author
Other Books by Kristen Proby
Prologue
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
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Excerpt from Easy For Keeps
Other Books by Kristen Proby
Prologue
~Charly~
“I’m such a pushover.” I follow my brother, Beau, from the bedroom. He’s pulling my suitcase behind him, grunting from the weight.
“You’re a lot of things, Charly, but a pushover isn’t one of them.” He smirks and rolls his shoulder, and then narrows his eyes at me. “This is over the weight limit.”
“I didn’t want to take two suitcases,” I reply with a shrug. “So I crammed it into one.”
“They’ll make you take stuff out.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I’m taking the company jet.”
Beau cocks a brow and leans his hips against the back of my couch. “I’ll make you take stuff out, then.”
“No, you won’t.” I kiss his cheek, and pat it, harder than needed, laughing when he scowls. “You love me.”
“I’m excited to be rid of you for a couple of weeks,” he replies and rubs his cheek. “You’re mean.”
“I can’t believe Savannah talked me into this,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “I don’t need a retreat full of a bunch of desperate women to tell me what my worth is.”
“Van says the guy’s hot.”
“I can look at hot guys at the gym. I don’t need to fly all the way to the boonies for that.”
“Then why are you going?” I stop pacing and prop my hands on my hips, facing my brother.
“Because I’m a pushover.”
His lips twitch.
“Because I love Van.”
“And you never do anything for yourself,” he adds.
“My shop is for me,” I reply. “My house. My car. All for me.”
“But you don’t ever take a vacation, Charly. I don’t know why you even bought this house. You never leave the shop.”
“Hi, kettle, I’m pot.” I shake my head and lead Beau to the front door. “Thanks for watering my plants and stuff for me.”
“Take the two weeks to relax. And you never know, you might just learn something about yourself.”
Beau lifts my bag into the trunk of my car and looks at me dubiously. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you? I don’t know if you’ll be able to lift that thing back out.”
“I’m sure.” I grin and kiss him on the cheek again. “Thanks for bringing my suitcase out, and for the chat.”
“Text me and let me know you’re doing okay,” he says, always playing the role of the oldest brother.
“Yes, sir.” I give him a mock salute before lowering into the seat of my new Lexus and driving away.
I love my car the way a mother loves her newborn baby. I worked my ass off for it and everything else I own. My shop, Head Over Heels is a success, and gives me the opportunity to buy nice things and enjoy a fabulous shopping budget.
My family’s money doesn’t pay for any of it.
Okay, so I’m taking the Boudreaux Enterprises jet to Montana, but that hardly counts.
I have enough time before my plane is scheduled to leave to stop by Ryan’s house and say goodbye. Ryan and I have a long, but not terribly complicated history. We’ve never been in love. We’ve used each other for nothing but sex.
Because, let’s be honest, it’s the sex that keeps us both coming back for more.
We haven’t slept together in a few months, but he’s my friend, and he’s had a hard time of things lately, with the loss of his mom. I want to check in on him before I leave.
I park my car and make my way up his front steps, but before I can knock on the door, I can hear voices through an open upstairs window. Before I can call out to get Ryan’s attention, I hear his voice saying, “I swear, Pamela, I haven’t slept with Charly in weeks.”
Who the hell is Pamela?
“I don’t care,” a female voice says, clearly pissed off. “I want her gone. I know your past, and I know that as long as she’s in your life, you’ll be sleeping with her.”
“That’s not true.”
Oh, that’s so true. I smirk and nod because the angry Pamela is exactly right. The sexual chemistry between us is undeniable.
“You’ve said it yourself,” she says. “You may not like her, but you love to fuck her.”
I feel my jaw drop.
“I already planned to call her,” Ryan says. “I’m going to tell her that we’re over.
For good. I don’t need her in my life. You’re the one I want, Pam.”
I back away and walk briskly back to my car. I don’t need to hear any more.
Jesus, I know that things between us have been complicated for years, but I thought that at the very core of it we at least respected each other.
Maybe this trip is coming at a good time after all.
Chapter One
~Charly~
“Okay, everyone, listen up!” Simon Danbury says at the end of day one of the Lift seminar. “I know you’re tired and you probably want to go to your room and crash. I get it. But I highly recommend that you come downstairs for dinner. Or go out with a few other girls.” His British accent is sexy, I’ll give him that. It’s not a bad thing to listen to all day. “Talk to each other. Trust me when I say that the friendships you make while you’re here for two weeks will be ones you take with you. Have a good night.”
“God, I’m exhausted,” a woman named Heidi says as we gather our things and walk out of the conference room toward the elevators to our rooms. I opted for a private room, but some of the women offered to double up to save on costs.
All I want right now is my quiet room, a bottle of wine, and some Advil.
In that order.
Heidi rides to the same floor as me, and I’m surprised to find that she’s my neighbor. “I’m so glad I got a private room,” she says, mirroring my thoughts.
“Me too.”
“Are you going down to dinner?” she asks, nibbling her lip. She’s a pretty woman, in her mid-forties. She looks athletic and fun.
“I really just want room service,” I reply with a tired smile. “Who knew that listening to someone talk all day could be so exhausting?”
“Well, he made us dance too,” she reminds me. “I haven’t danced in years.”
I nod and smile at her as I reach my door. “He’s good looking, but he’s not a great dancer. Have a good night.”
“You too!”
My room is blissfully quiet. I open my curtains and sigh at the view. Giant mountains frame a blue lake. Despite it being early June, there is still snow on the peaks.
I can’t get over how late the sun stays up here. It’s late afternoon, but the sun is high in the sky. As I watch, several women walk out of the resort and down the dock to a waiting tour boat that trolls around the lake.
I bet the views they get are amazing.
I sigh and kick out of my heels, stretching my feet on the carpet and text my sister, Van.
First day is done.
She immediately replies. How did it go?
Long. Lots of talking and information.
I’m sorry if you hate it, she says. Instead of reply via text, I dial her number.
“Tell me you don’t hate it.”
“I don’t hate it,” I reply truthfully. “There is some good information so far.”
“And Simon isn’t bad to look at,” Van adds with a smile in her voice.
Boy, you aren’t lying. “No, not bad.”
“Oh, stop it.” I can practically hear her rolling her eyes. “He’s hot and you know it.”
“Just because the man looks like Henry Cavill doesn’t mean I think he’s hot.”
“Liar,” Van replies with a giggle. “At least you get to stare at eye candy all day.”
“I should be working,” I reply without even thinking about it.
“The shop is fine,” she says. “It’s in good hands, and you deserve some time away. Enjoy it. And keep me updated.”
“Okay. Love you, sugar.”
“Love you, too,” she says and hangs up and I sit heavily on the bed, looking around the lodgy room. There is nothing about this room that’s my style, but it fits the Montana motif. There’s a gas fireplace framed by logs and rocks, and there is even a teddy bear on my bed.
Nice touch.
My other sister, Gabby, would love it here. As an innkeeper, she’s always been fascinated by different resorts. I’ll have to mention it to her, and suggest that she and her new husband, Rhys, make a trip up.
I’m starving. I could order from room service, change into my yoga pants, and relax the rest of the evening.
Or, I could take advantage of being here and go be social.
I’m good at being social. It was bred into me. I can talk to anyone, and sell them shoes.
“Suck it up, Charlotte, and go experience what you came here for.” I nod once and slide my feet back into my heels, grab my bag and room key, make sure my name badge is on, and set out for the restaurant.
Once in the lobby, I run into Heidi again.
“You decided to come down,” she says with a friendly smile.
“So did you.”
“Well, I did pay to be here,” she says with a sigh. “Might as well soak it all in.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I reply. “Would you like to join me for dinner?”
“I would love to,” she says and we walk into the restaurant together. The lodge theme is carried through the place, with a stuffed bear and moose at the threshold of the restaurant.
“Two?” the hostess asks.
“Yes, please,” I reply.
“This way.” She leads us through the restaurant toward a table. I glance to my left, and sitting by the window is Simon, his assistant Todd, and a blonde woman I saw this morning named Shelly.
Simon’s eye catches mine, and he stands. “We have two empty chairs here. Would you ladies like to join us?”
Heidi and I share a glance, then a shrug. “Sure.”
We sit across from Simon, facing the lake and the mountains, and I can’t help but sigh at the view. Both the man and the nature behind him are amazing.
“Tired?” Simon asks with a knowing smile.
“A bit,” I reply with a nod. “And the view is incredible.”
“No kidding,” Shelly says with an annoying giggle, and I realize she thinks I’m talking about Simon.
For fuck sake.
“Actually, I was talking about the mountains,” I add, stifling a laugh when Heidi knocks her knee against mine. “The views here are unreal. When I saw that the conference was to be held in Montana, I just figured we’d be in the boonies, on a dude ranch or something with no wifi and hunting and gathering our food ourselves. I had no idea that this existed.”
“It’s one of my favorite places in the world,” Simon replies with one of his insane smiles. Seriously, he smiles and the room lights up. He’s changed into a casual blue T-shirt that hugs his shoulders and reveals the sleeve of tattoos down his left arm. In all of his public appearances, he wears long sleeves, covering the ink. It’s sexy as hell, not to mention the lean muscle there. His dark hair is disheveled from pushing his fingers through it all day, and his eyes look a bit tired, too. “Where are you from, Charly? Is that the South I hear in your voice?”
I grin. “Louisiana,” I confirm. “I’m from New Orleans.”
“Another of my favorite places,” he replies with a wink.
“Oh, I love it there too,” Shelly says. “What do you do there?”
“I own a shoe store.” I grin at the waitress as she fills my water glass.
“Well, that wouldn’t suck,” Heidi says and glances down at my feet. “I admired your shoes all day.”
“Thank you.”
“How long have you done that?” Simon asks, listening intently.
“Six years,” I reply. “But I’ve lived there all my life.”
He nods, and I can see in his eyes that he has more questions, but he shifts the focus to someone else, to my relief.
“And where are you from, Heidi?”
“Arizona,” she replies and begins telling us about her business raising assistance dogs. She pulls her phone out to show us photos, and I melt.
“Aww, what a sweet baby,” I croon when she shows me the yellow lab puppy she’s working with now. “Puppies are the best.”
“I think so too,” Heidi agrees. Dinner is surprisingly fun. We spend the next
hour chatting about our homes, what we do, and things that interest us. Simon is funny and charming, easily deflecting Shelly’s blatant flirtations.
He’s professional. I assume he comes down and has dinner with a different group of women from the retreat each night. It’s a nice touch.
I wonder how many he sleeps with.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud and scold myself. Why am I always the pessimist? Maybe he’s just a good guy who likes helping women.
It could happen.
I glance up to find Simon watching me. His deep blue eyes are dancing with humor, and if I’m not mistaken, lust.
But he suddenly clears his throat, and it’s gone.
I sign my tab, wipe my mouth, and stand.
“Thanks for asking me to join you,” I say with a nod. “I’m heading up to bed.”
“I’m coming too,” Heidi says, joining me. “Good night, everyone.”
We wave and walk toward the elevators.
“So, I think I’ve figured out why Shelly’s here,” Heidi says. “I’m sorry, but that girl needs to turn down the flirt level.”
“Agreed,” I reply with a laugh. “He’s just a man, after all.”
“Exactly,” she says. “If she came here to stare at Simon all day, she could have saved a shit ton of money and joined a gym.”
I laugh, already feeling like Heidi and I are going to be friends.
“He may come in a pretty package,” I add, “but he puts his pants on just like anyone else. I’m sure there’s someone out there who thinks he’s a pain in the ass.”
“Oh, I like you,” Heidi says.
“I like you, too,” I reply as we reach our rooms. “Have a good night.”
****
Honestly, if I wasn’t so in love with New Orleans, I would move here. The morning air is crisp as I make my way on the trail around the lake. The woman at the front desk told me that the trail actually goes all the way around the lake, but I won’t make it that far.
Today.
But I will explore it on my day off this weekend. For this morning, I’m just jogging down about a mile and back. The cold air filling my lungs feels amazing, and the view continues to stun me.