The Billionaire Bachelor Series, Book 2
Can Phoebe trust Jonathon with her biggest and most precious secret?
Phoebe Heart struggles to keep the bills paid with her survivalist training courses while raising a preteen daughter. When a producer approaches her about starring on the survival show Paradise she's hesitant. Hasn't she spent a lifetime trying to stay out of the spotlight of her famous mother? But the money is too good to pass up, and Phoebe will do anything to provide a stable future for her child.
Billionaire playboy Jonathon Breck is always up for a new adventure. When he's offered a starring role on Paradise he jumps at the chance. In return for spending twenty-five days on a tropical island, using only his wits to survive, he'll receive a nice big check, which he plans to donate to his favorite charity. So with two months training under his belt, he's dropped off on a lush oasis. He knows it'll take skill to find food, water, and shelter on the deceptively beautiful island.
Each of them expect to be on the island alone, so they're shocked when they discover the producers have thrown in a surprising twist. Phoebe and Jonathon find themselves teamed up. Jonathon is intrigued by the sexy woman, but he can't shake the feeling he's met her before. Phoebe is appalled she's paired off with the man she had a drunken college one-night stand with.
Passion ignites while they share in the trials of Paradise, but disaster strikes, leaving them facing life or death. And Jonathon learns the truth that Phoebe desperately hoped to keep hidden from him—they share a child.
Now Jonathon faces the biggest challenge of his life—convincing Phoebe to let him be a part of their daughter's life. Can Phoebe trust the notorious playboy with her young, impressionable daughter's heart? And can she trust the feelings she has for the charismatic billionaire?
Content Warning: contains graphic language and explicit sex
"So what do you do for fun, Phoebe?" Jonathon asked while they waited for their food to cook.
"I don't know, read I guess. I don't have a lot of free time to spare." She hugged her knees to her chest, staring at the fire.
"You're obviously into this survivalist thing, how long have you done it?"
The getting-to-know-you session made her uncomfortable, and a part of her wanted to scream at him. How do you not remember me? You took my virginity and got me pregnant all in the same night! She bit her tongue to stem the coming storm of words until she felt some control.
"A long time," she finally answered. Shortly after dropping out of college and moving across the country where I could raise my daughter in peace.
She took a stick and rolled several of the crabs off the stone, letting them cool in the sand before collecting them in her palm. Jonathon followed suit as she bit into one. Though small, and gritty, it didn't taste half-bad. Perhaps tomorrow she'd search for sea urchins, and weave a lobster trap. With the few needed calories in her belly, Phoebe felt a bit better about Paradise. Even if she had to share it with the last man on the planet she'd expected.
As the sun set before them, and the sky turned from blue to soft reds and orange, Jonathon tried to draw her into conversation again.
"Tell me about your life, angel," he said.
She frowned at the pet name. He'd used it before—long, long ago.
"Not much to tell," she said. "Work, my daughter, more work."
"You have a daughter? What's her name?"
She fidgeted, not knowing quite what to do with her hands, so she drew circles in the sand with a fingertip. "Sarah. She's eleven."
"I have an adorable niece that age." Jonathon stretched his long legs before him and rested back on his hands. Phoebe noticed welts left by sand flea bites on the tops of his feet.
Sarah has a cousin she'll never know. Sadness flowed into her heart, as did the sense of helplessness she'd carried for so long. There he was, only two feet away, and she still couldn't break the silence. Sarah was too important to risk on a stranger's whims. If Jonathon did show interest, then his interest may quickly wane, leaving Sarah with emotional scars.
"It'll be rather cozy in our hut tonight, don't you think?" Jonathon asked in a low timbre, interrupting her thoughts. His eyes rested on her, catching the light of the flickering campfire. Beyond him, the water blazed beneath the sun's last throes of life, setting fire to the crystalline blue. Staining it dark orange, blending ocean into sky.
A cool breeze washed over them, sending a rush of goose pimples over her skin. Or maybe it was the way Jonathon's deep voice rasped her nerve endings, the way his gaze seduced. Both held a masculine power that reached into the most feminine parts of her.
In that moment she realized how strong her weakness was when it came to Jonathon. Whatever magical control drew those supermodels to him, left her just as powerless. A whispered request from his sensual lips and she'd melt into him and beg for more. Her heart pounded in her chest as she stared into his eyes. His hand came up and his knuckles brushed her cheek, stroking back a loose strand of hair. She trembled with the touch, ached for more.
"Phoebe, angel…" His fingers trailed above her ear, and it took a moment to realize he'd turned off her camera. He slipped it over her head, before he reached up and did the same with his. "I'd rather it be only us right now."
No, no, no, I can't do this. She couldn't catch her breath as he scooted closer. The tips of his fingers traced over her cheek, light as butterfly wings, before his palm settled there. The warmth of it sent a shockwave of desire through her, and she sucked in a hard breath. "Please…" No.
Jonathon leaned in, his lips hovered over hers. "There's something about you, angel," he whispered. "Something I can't quite put my finger on."
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Olivia Starke calls the Ozarks home. One of the most beautiful areas in the country, she loves hiking trails with her dogs, kayaking on the numerous waterways, and enjoying southern Missouri’s fresh air and sunshine.
She’s also ‘Mom’ to four dogs, a growing number of kitties that show up at her door, and four VERY spoiled horses that do little to earn their keep. Not that she’d ever hold that against them.
She’s a HUGE fangirl of Doctor Who and to a lesser extent Supernatural, and has a pretty interesting love triangle (or square?) going on in her head between the Doctor and the Winchesters.
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