The Harshest Hope: An Angsty, Rags to Riches, Billionaire, Lovers to Enemies to Lovers Second Chance Romance (LA Hearts) by Victoria Lum

Author:Victoria Lum [Lum, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eternal Hearts Publishing
Published: 2023-09-12T18:30:00+00:00

Emily

THE SOUND OF the car door shutting behind me alerts me to the presence of another person. It’s an early fall morning, but the city is already awake as Angelenos start their workday. Glancing back, I see Adrian climbing out of his town car, his shiny dress shoes stepping onto the pavement. Then the rest of him catches my attention. His striking figure is clad in a gray suit, two-piece today, pale-blue dress shirt—the color of his eyes—and a navy striped tie. The clothes drape over his body like a lover’s caress, highlighting his strong and powerful musculature. His hair is immaculately arranged as always, his eyes shielded by dark aviators. The scruff on his jaw is carefully trimmed and the divot in his chin begs me to kiss it. My body mentally flinches at the image as a curl of heat gathers in my gut. Memories of the boy who taught me the meaning of love flash to the forefront and a sharp pain scythes my chest. Adrian Callahan, the person who would look at me with love in his gaze, is long gone.

Adrian Scott is all man now, radiating a presence that captures attention.

He stalks toward me, sliding off his sunglasses and slipping them inside his jacket pocket in a smooth motion. He pins me with his startling blue gaze, the color of the Arctic in the blue glow of the morning light. No ounce of warmth or love can be seen in his eyes. I find myself unable to move as I watch this powerful man strutting toward me with sizzling intensity and tightly coiled tension in his muscles. His full lips are flattened in a firm line, but as he approaches me, he tilts up one corner—a half grin—and my heart, the irresponsible organ which can’t seem to behave logically, skips a beat.

“Ms. Kingsley,” he murmurs, his voice raspy, ghosting over my skin.

“Mr. Scott.”

Silence befalls us as we face each other at the entrance to the Taylor Henrickson building. Cars whiz by in the background, the familiar cacophony of the occasional honk of impatient drivers, engines of city buses starting and stopping by the curb, but the sounds are muted, as if we’re encased in a bubble where there’s only the two of us.

“I’ve looked over the candidates you sent over and don’t like any of them. Please send me more to review.”

Anger unfurls inside my chest, and I narrow my eyes. I sent him the dossiers of ten beautiful women from the archives of Fleur. All of them meet the physical requirements he mentioned last time—blonde hair no doubt from the bottle, pouty lips capable of seducing the coldest of men, abundant breasts even I can’t help but take a few moments to admire, and legs rivaling the best supermodels. My heart ached the entire time I was selecting these women and imaging all sorts of sordid entanglements the one he chose would no doubt have with Adrian. The contract doesn’t include sex, only companionship

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