 by Kristen Ashley.jpg)
Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Hale Wheeler inherited billions from his father. He’s decided to take those resources and change the world for the better. He’s married to his mission, so he doesn’t have time for love.
There’s more lurking behind this decision. He hasn’t faced the tragic loss of his father, or the bitterness of his parents’ divorce. He doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps, breaking a woman’s heart in a way it will never mend. So he vows he’ll never marry.
But Hale is intrigued when he meets Elsa Cohen, the ambitious celebrity news journalist who has been reporting on his famous family. He warns her off, but she makes him a deal. She’ll pull back in exchange for an exclusive interview.
Elsa Cohen is married to her career, but she wants love, marriage, children. She also wants the impossibly handsome, fiercely loyal, tenderhearted Hale Wheeler.
They go head-to-head, both denying why there are fireworks every time they meet. But once they understand their undeniable attraction, Elsa can’t help but fall for the dynamic do-gooder.
As for Hale, he knows he needs to fight the pull of the beautiful, bold, loving Elsa Cohen, because breaking her would crush him.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
FAMILIAR FEELING
Corey
Then…
It was not a good idea to roll up to his son’s baseball game in a chauffeur-driven town car.
However, it was either that or miss another one of Hale’s games.
No, that was incorrect.
It was either that or miss the entire season, since this was the championship, and until then, Corey hadn’t been to a single game.
But weather had been atrocious in Minneapolis, where he’d been that morning. Their takeoff had been delayed for over three hours.
One of his assistants had made all the plans, and Corey should have had plenty of time to get home, get changed and drive to the field in one of his personal vehicles, all of which were high-performance, and thus expensive. But they weren’t chauffeur-driven town cars.
Regretfully, after their late takeoff, that became impossible.
But he couldn’t miss another game. Sam would be livid, and Corey would have to put up with her attitude.
And his son Hale would be…
Corey didn’t finish that thought as he stood beside the bleachers in his ten-thousand-dollar bespoke suit trying to figure out what was happening on the field.
He’d never been into sports. However, since Hale played baseball, if Corey had more time, he’d look up the rules and regs, even read up on the history and watch a few games.
Although he didn’t know much about baseball, he could see his son’s natural ability. His focus. The ease with which he maneuvered his body, even at fifteen years old.
Watching him, Corey had a funny taste in his mouth because Hale reminded him of…
He didn’t finish that thought either.
Nevertheless, Corey was a busy man. He didn’t have time for much of anything, but work. If he had time, he’d have been at more than one of Hale’s games and would have learned by being there, not reading a book about the history of baseball.
He stood where he was, not-so-easily ignoring the attention he got from both sides of the bleachers.
Yes, Corey was wearing a suit that no doubt cost months of their mortgages.
Yes, Corey was in a suit, rather than wearing something far more casual, like everyone else.
Yes, his chauffeur was also his bodyguard, and the man was not only sticking close to his charge, but also being obvious about it.
Yes, Corey was more famous than many in that town, and considering it was Los Angeles, that was no small feat.
And yes, he was by far richer than any in that town, and that was no small feat either.
What made the attention not so easy to ignore wasn’t about any of that. Normally, he would have no issue with it. He was used to it. And in these instances, he could share it. Genny and Tom were in the bleachers watching Hale. As were their kids, Chloe, Matt and Sasha.
Or, as Corey understood it, but Sam did not, Hale’s real family were watching Hale play baseball.
Now, they never missed a game.
Genny—or America’s Sweetheart, Imogen Swan—wasn’t richer than Corey, but she was far more famous. Tom, partly by association, was as well, considering he wasn’t only Genny’s husband, but many said he was one of the greatest tennis players ever to play the game.
And Corey could feel their censure, particularly Tom’s.
Tom was a busy man too, but he’d cut off his own arm before he’d miss something important to his wife or one of his children. In fact, if the situation came up (and it had), Tom would fly from Australia to LA just to walk Genny down a red carpet, then fly right back in order to continue commentating the matches, which was what he did now that he’d retired.