Bourbon Promises - Signed Paperback

Bourbon Promises (Bourbon Canyon Book 3)

I left for a weekend in Las Vegas and came back with a husband.

Gideon James isn’t just any husband. He’s the wealthy CEO of a Vegas hotel casino, he’s devastating in a suit—and he’s Bourbon Canyon’s very own prodigal son. Now he’s returning to claim the land my brothers are in the middle of purchasing from his father. With me at his side, Gideon will finally be able to stop the sale.

Why else would someone like him marry me? I may just be a small-town schoolteacher one step away from cat-lady status, but I’m not clueless. I know exactly why Gideon chased me into that all-night chapel. If he wants my help to sell this union and get his land, he’s going to have to give me something in return.

A baby.

Then we’ll go our separate ways.

Only the longer we’re under the same roof, the harder it is to remember our relationship is fake. The easier it is to forget there’s an end date on this contract. The plainer it is to see this marriage could be more than bourbon promises.

Chapter One Sneak Peek:

I glared at the screen on my desk. I could scroll through any part of Silver any minute I wanted. I could go back three months, or I could watch live like it was my very own streaming show. Rarely did I need to. But when the reservation system had sent a flag to my office weeks ago, I’d made sure I was ready.

That fucking family.

I had put the goddamn Baileys into the system. If they used a credit card or tried to reserve a room, I’d put a stop to it. On a whim, I had added the Kerrigan sisters too. Were the Baileys trying to get dirt on me?

There were no secrets. I’d worked fucking hard to get this corner office and an entire casino of staff under me.
Like my grandfather had said, What a man owns defines him.

I didn’t own the place, but I ran it. I controlled it. I grew rich from it. Rich enough to buy anything I wanted—only to have my father ensure I didn’t have a say about the one property that mattered to me.

Goddamn him.

You need to make this yours. A man is nothing without his legacy. My grandfather’s words had been running nonstop through my head since Dad had called to tell me he was selling.

I squeezed a fist as I watched the woman on the edge of my screen. The image was slightly grainy. She had one leg crossed over the other and was scrolling through her phone.

She hadn’t been allowed into Glitter.

What had she been thinking? Couldn’t she tell she was way out of her league? The girl wasn’t showing more than an inch of skin at her collar line. Her bare neck wasn’t enough to gain entrance into the club.

Glitter’s manager was relentless about his “standards,” and I’d had more than one argument with the board about that jackass, but Glitter’s bottom line spoke louder than me.

I studied my screen. I didn’t know Autumn Kerrigan personally. I knew she taught third grade at the lone elementary school in Bourbon Canyon. I knew she and her sisters had been adopted after their parents had died in a nasty wreck. And I knew that she was staying in room 1405, ten floors below my own suite.

She must’ve known that she wasn’t getting inside.

Her friends had ditched her?

A tingle of dismay crossed through me. I didn’t like her, but getting ditched hit a sore spot with me. Who needed enemies when you had friends like that?

Autumn was buried in her phone, hunched over the device like she was trying to disappear in a casino full of cameras that caught every angle.

I’d seen all those angles.

Ever since she’d checked in. I’d seen the way she’d tapped her foot while waiting for her card to run. How she’d laughed with her head back and that wavy hair falling down her back. How she’d held the door for all her friends to enter the public restrooms first, like a damn gentleman. She’d shown them more consideration taking a piss than they had for her a half hour ago.

My phone buzzed. I didn’t bother to check it.

Taya was at the club and wanted me to join her. We’d have our own private booth. As the brains behind the casino’s financials, she’d want to talk shop. Then she’d want more. I hadn’t succumbed in a while.

A part of me was . . . restless. Taya and I worked together, and occasionally, we fucked. She looked good on my arm, and she liked how my name opened doors for her.

I glanced at the screen. I’m waiting.

She didn’t like to wait.

I had told her we could talk over the plans to restructure the parking garage and renovate several rooms into luxury suites. Rich people didn’t want to park with the masses.

I clicked out of the surveillance system and left my office. In the elevator, I snapped my suit coat straight and buttoned one button.

When I got to the second floor, I exited. The nightclub was street level, but I hated walking through the casino. The barrage of sounds would only make me cranky before a financial discussion with Taya that was sure to be irritating. There was another bank of elevators closer to the nightclub.

Half the time, we fucked because we had to release the tension from arguing over finances. I got told what the investors wanted and it was up to me and her to carry out their wishes.

I rolled my shoulders. I should schedule a massage and get these kinks worked out.

I ignored the gawking of tourists. They were used to the tuxes of the casino staff, but I stood out. How, I didn’t know, but it was a reaction I’d accepted over the years.

An older couple loaded into the elevator in front of me.
She grinned, eyeing my suit. “Don’t you look fancy? Plans for tonight?”

“Yes.”

Her brows rose like she was waiting for me to continue. Her shirt matched her husband’s. A picture of dice with snake eyes on the front. Very Vegas. Very touristy.

She finally nodded and exchanged a get a load of this guy glance with her husband.

I suppressed a sigh. If only I could get a private elevator to the club, then I wouldn’t have to deal with the public. I ran the casino. I wasn’t the PR team.

When the elevator dinged, I hung back to let them out first. I was about to follow when a short bundle of cotton-candy-smelling woman crashed into me. I caught her by the shoulders before she staggered backward and fell.

“Oh, crap. I’m sorry.” Her rich voice rolled over me like a warm wave.

I hated the slots in the casino—anywhere a ton of people congregated, talking, talking, talking—but my ears liked when she spoke.

She blinked up at me. My brain shut off, and I drowned in her emerald gaze.

No, emerald was too plain. Occasionally, people felt comfortable enough to comment on my eyes. They’re such a light green. You don’t see that often. I never commented back.

But this woman’s eyes were a deep jade and each iris had a small chunk of brown close to the pupil.

Technically, her eyes were hazel, but someone would have to get very close to notice.

I could have done without that knowledge. Just like I wished I could erase her sweet scent from my memory. I didn’t want to know details about this woman.

Autumn Kerrigan.

Her eyes flared wide and her lips parted, drawing my attention.

Goddamn. Couldn’t her lips be a boring pink? Instead, they were a soft red and the tongue that licked out to wet those red lips reminded me of the cotton candy she smelled like.

Would she taste as sweet?

“I—I’m sorry.” She tried to step back just as the elevator doors attempted to close. She was in the opening.
I had two seconds to make a decision. Let her take the elevator while I met Taya, or . . .

I drew her farther in. Her eyes widened like I was a wolf dragging her into my den.

“It’s fine,” I said smoothly, my mind kicking into gear after being stunned senseless by Autumn Kerrigan, of all people.

Why hadn’t she been let into the nightclub? Hadn’t the bouncer seen her fall of thick, coppery hair? The dusting of freckles over her creamy skin? Those damn eyes should’ve been an instant entry.

Her gaze slid to her shoulders, where I still gripped her.
I peeled my hands off her. “Apologies.” I never thought I’d apologize to a damn Bailey.

The elevator started moving. She spun toward the controls. She was about to hit a button, but I couldn’t have her going to her room and hiding from my spying.

“Are you enjoying your stay?” Look at me, doing PR.

She clenched her fists and pivoted back to me. Her shoes, while sensible, made her legs look long and curvy. And while she’d been turned, I’d gotten teased by a glimpse of her lush ass.

“I was, but I didn’t make the fuckable cut at the nightclub.”

I recoiled at the acid in her voice. Not what I’d expected from the soft, curvy woman. “Oh?”

Instead of a tirade, all I got was a shrug. “Whatever. It’s tasteless.”

I bristled. Nothing about Silver was tasteless. I’d made sure nothing about this building resembled the dusty and dirty place I’d come from. Glitter & Gold was the crowning glory of the structure.

I also agreed with her.