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Ava and her twin sister, Charlotte, couldn't be any different. Ava is a struggling artist who waits tables to make ends meet, while her sister runs a successful real estate agency in the city. Charlotte begs Ava to take her spot at a bachelor auction because she becomes ill to bid on a dream date with Fletcher Hines, Houston's most eligible bachelor. If only she would have known the reason behind his participation in the event.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," I mumbled.
The heel of my too-high stiletto caught in the crack of the sidewalk outside of the Post Oak Hotel. I stumbled against the pillar, my clutch in one hand and my other holding myself upright.
This was a nightmare.
I straightened myself and slid my palms down my dress, which belonged to my twin sister Charlotte. She was the reason I stood outside of this hotel in uptown Houston with every indication that I did not fit in.
The women walking into the hotel were all wealthy, which I was not. My sister was a businesswoman. The one that owned a real estate agency that bought these types of dresses. The ones I window-shopped for on the weekend.
I turned away from the sliding glass doors and took a deep, much-needed, breath. This auction was out of my comfort zone. Charlotte was a beautiful, successful, woman in her late twenties. I didn't understand her need to pay for a date with an eligible bachelor.
However, I'd Googled the man she wanted me to bid on and I understood the attraction. He was Fletcher Hines. The son of a notorious mafia family that owned a chain of Italian restaurants throughout the southern states.
They were loaded, and frankly, under the radar for the most part.
However, I'd heard the whispers throughout the streets and it was enough to keep me away from people like that.
Until tonight.
Tonight, I was bidding on this man with my sister's cash because she had the flu. It only took her pleading with me for two solid days, and one thousand dollars, that I desperately needed, for me to agree.
And I was regretting it.
This was supposed to be Charlotte walking into this place and bidding on her date with this billionaire. Not me.
I closed my eyes, seeing an image of the eviction notice currently sitting on my kitchen counter. I didn't share Charlotte's love for business. I was an aspiring artist who waited tables to make ends meet. Which was the reason I agreed, because I was desperate.
Inhaling deeply, I gathered my courage and strolled toward the glass doors. I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection. My blonde hair was braided along the side of my head and pulled into a ponytail that fell into soft curls against my shoulder.
The black dress was low-cut, with lacy sleeves and a silky skirt that touched the floor. My makeup wasn't remarkable. I avoided my sister's request for a picture before I left. She'd pick me apart for not looking good enough.
She should be thankful I agreed to go.
I walked into the hotel, which was known for its fancy venues for anything from weddings to conferences. Auctions as well.
Who knew bachelor auctions were even a thing? What happened to meeting someone the old-fashioned way?
I followed the crowd toward the left and down a hall. The tile sparkled like a toothpaste commercial and led us into a giant ballroom with an overhanging chandelier fancy enough for the royal palace.
There were tables set up with nameplates for us to find our seats. I found mine quickly and sat down. Nerves skated down my spine. I placed my clutch beside my plate and looked at the time on a giant clock to my right.
It should be starting any minute .
Other women, who did not bother speaking to me, sat around me at our round table. I didn't care. I'd mentally checked out before I walked inside.
Someone tapped on the microphone and silence ensued over the room. An older gentleman wearing a tuxedo and a late-night advertisement smile stared back at us. "Hello, Houston."
His voice was radio DJ-worthy and made everyone chuckle.
"I see many beautiful women in the room tonight. I can't imagine why." More laughter enveloped the room and I even chuckled at his playfulness. "The food is being brought around on trays while we begin. This is for the Henrietta Foundation, a charity based on helping children with life-threatening diseases."
They would use children as an excuse to display a bunch of handsome bachelors.
"I'll call one bachelor out at a time. Ladies, get your paddles ready because we're about to begin."
A server stopped at our table and began to pass out steaks. I was glad Charlotte and I shared the same taste in food. She slid my medium-rare steak and potato onto my plate and my mouth watered.
Steak was a luxury in my world. Maybe this would not be so bad.
I sliced into the first piece and took a bite. I had to keep myself together from moaning, as I wanted.
This alone was well worth the trip here.
"Jacob Henry," the announcer called out.
A man with dirty-blonde hair and a lopsided smile walked onto the stage. My table began to whisper while I continued to eat. "Jacob is the CEO of Henry Motors which has dealerships across the state. We'll start the bidding at one thousand."
Paddles shot up around the room. Most of the girls hadn't touched their food. What a freaking waste.
I took another bite as two women had a showdown over him. The smug smile on his face made me cringe. The men loved this. It was pathetic.
Several more bachelors came out and went to very excited women in the audience.
I was on my last few bites of steak when they called Fletcher Hines out on stage. An excited whisper echoed across the room.
My fingers tightened around my fork as he walked out into the spotlight.
Even the way he walked was attractive. It was smooth, like butter, and his dark eyes scanned the room as if he were the predator, not the prey.
His dark cherry-colored suit was tailored to fit his lean body. The slope of his deltoids rounded off into impressive biceps that made me squirm in my seat.
He angled his square jaw, as he looked from table to table, as if he was the one choosing a partner and not the other way around. His hair was ebony black with a short length on the sides, and a longer length on the top. Though it was pushed back with a gel that kept it in place.
Those dark eyes shifted to my table and a shiver worked its way down my body. The intensity of the way he looked at me stopped me in my tracks.
The fork in my hand halted inches from my mouth. I instantly understood why my sister was attracted to him. Everything about him was dark and attentive.
He was observant and in charge.
Judging by the ten thousand dollars my sister told me to bid, I knew she saw everything I did standing on that stage, and more.
"Fletcher Hines is the co-owner of Hines Italian Restaurant, a five-star restaurant chain scattered around Texas and Louisiana. He's thirty-three years old with a Master's Degree in Business Management. We're going to start our bidding at one thousand dollars."
Oh, crap. Here we go.
I grabbed my paddle and nervously kept my eyes on my unfinished plate.
I raised my paddle to one thousand dollars. I could feel his eyes on me but I didn't dare look. This was the most uncomfortable I'd ever been in my entire life.
The tips of my ears grew warm from embarrassment.
"Two thousand."
I raised my paddle again, feeling Fletcher's heated stare on the side of my face. Other women around the room kept bidding until we were at eight thousand dollars.
There were only two more thousand left in the amount Charlotte instructed me to spend. If she didn't win, she didn't. I had instructions and I needed to follow them.
"Nine thousand dollars," the announcer shouted.
I lifted my paddle and the room fell silent. Glancing around, I stared at a room full of angry women. I swallowed the lump of nerves in my throat and dared a look at the stage.
"Looks like we have a winner. Bring your paddle and information to the gentleman in the far corner, Ma'am. He'll get you set up for your date with Fletcher Hines."
Scattered applause lingered around the room as I stood up and walked toward the podium. I listened to my heart beating loudly in my chest when rough fingers wrapped around my upper arm and I was turned around.
Fletcher Hines stood behind me, his hand wrapped around my arm and his eyes searching mine. I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn't exactly Charlotte Terry, but he pulled a card from his pocket and flipped it to me between his fingertips.
His scent wafted over me like a douse of water. It smelled woodsy, like a man, and was no doubt expensive.
He opened his full mouth and said, "What's your name?"
"Charlotte Terry," I lied. He didn't need to know the details. He'd never know my sister and I switched places.
"Meet me at this address, at this time, Charlotte. Don't be late."
He let go of my arm and strolled out of the place like he owned it. I looked briefly over my shoulder as he left and scoffed. Rude much?
Not that I cared. It wasn't like he was my date.
Have fun with that one, Charlotte.
I'm out of here.
Jessica feels pressured when her grandmother passes and leaves her estate in the backwoods of Louisiana to Jessica. It was never her dream to move down south. She wanted to become a journalist in Denver, not the hills of the bayou. Though, to honor her grandmother, she moves into the quaint mansion nestled in the woods. There she's greeted by her cousin, Jacob, and his oddly handsome friends. It isn't until she's thrust into the middle of their secrets that she realizes she's the key to their survival and one of his friends has been starring in her dreams for months.
Claire Summers is finally free of her bullied high school life and living on her own while she attends college. Finally free of her prison, she thinks her troubles are over, until her high school bully shows up and crashes her chances of enjoying her college years. Axel Davers realizes as soon as he steps foot into his first college class that his mate is in the room. However, it blindsides him when he sees Claire Summers, the one girl he loathed in high school, sitting there with a rebellious snarl on her face. Not only did he hate her growing up, but she's also human and doesn't know anything about supernaturals. Knowing he has no choice but to pursue his mate, he finds it harder than ever to break down that wall he built when he bullied her years before. When lycans begin to terrorize the neighboring packs and the college campus, Axel finds himself doing whatever it takes to protect his mate. However, Claire hates the sight of him, and even if she feels an invisible pull, she pushes him away until she breaks. She never realized that Axel held so many secrets, and when they come to light, her entire existence flips upside down, and she's bombarded with a truth she never knew was real.
Willow lost her mother when she was six years old from an attack by rogue wolves. She listened to her mother die while hiding in the kitchen pantry. She vowed that day to learn to fight to protect her pack and kill the rogue wolves that took her mother’s life. But female warriors aren’t allowed. When her father steps down as alpha, and gives his position to a new warrior, Willow is devastated. Any chance of her becoming a female warrior is gone. Especially when she finds out the alpha standing in her way of becoming a female warrior is her alpha mate.
Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screamed in frustration, "What do you want from me?" What was this supposed to be? He raised an eyebrow wickedly. "What do I want? You'll find out soon enough." With that, he hoisted her up and carried her back into the office. The door slammed shut with a kick, and he cleared the desk with a sweep of his arm before laying her down on it, his body pinning hers in place, completely trapping her in his grasp. Every cell in his body was telling him he wanted her. He wanted to claim her again. This time, there would be no escape for her-he wouldn't let her slip away. Never again. If he had suffered for five years, then this woman wouldn't get off easily either!
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
My name is Katia, and I am just trying to survive until my fated mate arrives. Which may be easier said than done. Rejectection is the last straw. Whispering my acceptance of his rejection. I run through the pack house, out across the manicured lawn into the forest. "I'm sorry, my sweet girl," I say to my wolf. I'm sorry you have been stuck with me and have had to suffer everything I have. She whispers," it's not your fault, Katia. We came to a cliff with a waterfall. The hurt keeps pounding at me. I need it to stop. My sweet girl, and I just want peace, I keep running and leap off the cliff. Spreading my arms wide, with tears streaming down my face, I fall, not making a sound, waiting for sweet oblivion where we feel nothing ever again. "I love you, my sweet girl! Until we meet again, "My wolf replied just before we hit the water, "I love you too, Katia. I have never regretted a moment with you." The Snow Moon pack is having their last barbecue of the summer next to the waterfall on their land. The adults are laughing and joking while watching the pups play. The alpha, beta, and gamma are swimming with some of the older children and playing a game of Marco Polo. Someone yells, "Oh my goddess, someone just jumped over the waterfall!" Everyone is frozen as they watch what looks to be a child falling arms spread wide, no one makes a sound. The small body hits the water like a plane crashing into the side of a mountain. The alpha, beta, and gamma, spring into action, swimming towards the area the person went under. The alpha is screaming his wolf is going crazy repeating, "Find her. Find her...find her!" They dive and the beta surfaces with a small person in his arms. Alpha takes the girl from his beta, laying her on the ground. The men are shocked by what they see. She is covered in scars and injuries. Her body is twisted and broken. The Beta asks, "Who could have done this to someone so defenseless?" Alpha drops to his knees, repeating, "MATE...MATE...MATE!"
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"
6 years ago, Lydia suffered a brutal betrayal orchestrated by her own husband and step-sister, who drugged her and framed her. In a twist of fate, she ended up having a one-night stand with a stranger. Don't even remember what he looked like. Later, in the throes of death, she discovered the truth about her mother's death all those years ago. In the blink of an eye, she lost everything. 6 years later, Lydia returned with her genius son, vowing to exact revenge on all her enemies! Little did she know, she encountered an incredibly familiar man at the airport! *** The man was briskly pushing open the door to the restroom, heading to the urinal. Even with such a mundane action, he did it with unparalleled elegance and grace. Lydia, following him in a daze, saw his fierce lower body and suddenly snapped back to reality. She let out a high-pitched scream, instinctively covering her eyes with her hands, her cheeks flushed, and stood there stiffly, unsure of what to do. Lambert furrowed his brows slightly but remained calm as he continued to relieve himself. The sound of water hitting the urinal made Lydia's face even redder. She angrily shouted, "You pervert!" Little did Lydia know that Lambert, seeing her in this state, had a flicker of recognition in his eyes. Memories from many years ago flashed through his mind, and his heart couldn't help but stir. It was her!
"I heard you're going to marry Marcelo. Is this perhaps your revenge against me? It's very laughable, Renee. That man can barely function." Her foster family, her cheating ex, everyone thought Renee was going to live in pure hell after getting married to a disabled and cruel man. She didn't know if anything good would ever come out of it after all, she had always thought it would be hard for anyone to love her but this cruel man with dark secrets is never going to grant her a divorce because she makes him forget how to breathe.