Nailed It!
Prologue:
Samantha (A few months earlier)
I stretched and yawned. Something was different. I smiled as realization came to me. Makenna was safe and sound, and in the next bedroom. I listened and could hear her stirring. Well, she was never one to sleep late.
And she was an engaged woman now. I knew Nash was the man who would make her happy. I was so excited for her.
I sat straight up in bed. Damn, there was so much that needed to be done. They had to set a date. We had to go shopping for a wedding dress. It didn’t matter that she had worn a pretty white dress when she married Eric the Loser. It had been a quickie wedding. Nothing fancy. Eric probably hadn’t wanted her to spend any of his newfound wealth on something as frivolous as a wedding.
Yes, Makenna was filthy rich, but so was the guy she was marrying, even though you’d never know it by the way they acted. I would make sure Makenna did this wedding right. This wouldn’t be a quickie wedding.
I jumped out of bed and hurried to the connecting door, flinging it open. “We have so got to talk.”
But it wasn’t Makenna standing in the middle of the room. Nope, it was a very naked man with a dragon tattoo curling around one arm. My gaze drifted over him, stopping below the waist. The guy was hung like a stallion and built as solid as a brick wall, with bulging biceps and washboard abs. He was a tanned Zeus with eyes that burned into me and quickly turned my legs to the consistency of melting butter.
“I can think of a lot better things to do than talk.” His words were raspy, scraping over my body.
Good Lord, I’d almost had an orgasm, and he was a good eight feet away from me. I mentally shook my head as my gaze jerked back to his eyes. The last few days suddenly slammed into me. Makenna getting kidnapped, me being attacked…
“You’re not Makenna. What the hell did you do to Makenna? If you’ve hurt her, I’ll…I’ll…”
He grinned and my heart skipped a beat.
No, no, no! Do not fall for his male magnetism. He might be a killer. A fucking hot killer, though. I had to stay focused. I glared at him.
“You’re sexy as hell when you’re mad, especially wearing that see-through nightie.”
I glanced down. Well, fuck. My nightie was see-through. My eyes narrowed. “I’ll be right back.” I turned on my heel, but at the last moment, glanced over my shoulder. “Put some clothes on. When I come back, I’ll want answers.” I marched back into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
I thought about just grabbing a robe, but at the last minute decided I needed body armor against this guy and pulled on underclothes, then sweats, and a t-shirt. I slipped on my tennis shoes then marched back to the adjoining bathroom. I was just about to open the bedroom door when I changed my mind and knocked instead.
“Come in.”
I heard the amusement in his words. He was laughing at me. Now I was pissed. I flung the door open and gave him my fiercest look. At least he had the decency to wipe the cocky-ass smile off his face. And he was dressed. That was a good thing. Right? It didn’t feel like a good thing.
“Maybe we should start over,” he said. “I’m Ryder. Ryder Hayes, Nash’s brother. We flew in to help him search for Makenna.”
I felt as if I’d had the wind knocked out of me. “Nash’s brother?”
He nodded. “Makenna moved to his room last night, so I took this one.”
It was too damn early in the morning for all this crap. “I need coffee,” I mumbled as I turned and left the room. I felt like such an idiot. I didn’t even want to know what Ryder thought about the crazy woman who’d barged into his room. Nope, not just a crazy woman. A crazy woman wearing a see-through nightie.
I came to a dead stop as I entered the kitchen. I assumed these were the other two brothers, along with Nash and Makenna. How could I not have guessed Ryder was Nash’s brother? The resemblance between them was too strong.
Makenna smiled. “Good morning, Sam. I hope you slept well. These are Nash’s brothers, Layne and Jaxson.”
My smile was weak at best as they came to their feet and offered me a chair at the table. I slid in between them, suddenly feeling very tiny, even though I was five feet, eight inches. Ryder chose that moment to enter the kitchen.
“It’s about time you were getting up,” Nash told his brother. “I think you know everyone except Samantha, Makenna’s business partner.”
Ryder grinned. “We met briefly upstairs.”
Makenna looked at us as if she suspected something was going on between me and Ryder. I gave a little shake of my head. Nash set a cup of coffee down in front of me. I was grateful for something to do. I couldn’t meet Ryder’s gaze. I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to meet Ryder’s gaze. Not after seeing him naked.
“You know,” Nash turned to me. “Makenna told me that you want to build a house in the country. You won’t find a better contractor and designer than my brother. The two of you should get together and talk about it.”
I almost choked on my coffee.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Ryder said. “I would love to see more of Samantha and show her some of my ideas.”
I think I was the only one who understood his double entendre. The guy was an ass, and I had no intention of ever hiring him to build my home. It just wasn’t going to happen.
Samantha:
When I barged into the adjoining bedroom early the next morning, I naturally expected to see my best friend, not the very naked man with a dragon tat curling around one muscular arm, or that he would make an offhand remark about my very sheer nightie.
Ryder Hayes is a smart ass, definitely no gentleman, and I never want to see him again!
Except he’s the best man, and I’m the maid of honor. I’m pretty sure he’ll ruin my idea of a fairytale wedding for my best friend.
Ryder:
Samantha is hot! As soon as I saw her in that nearly see-through nightie, I knew I wanted her.
But she has my number: I’m a confirmed bachelor, and plan to stay that way. She’s all about finding Mr. Right. Maybe I can convince her to have fun with Mr. Wrong until he comes along?
Yeah, I’ll be her sex toy, and she won’t even need to change my batteries