A.C. Arthur - Love Me Like No Other

That was a loaded question if Linc had ever heard one.

“I want you,” he said slowly and watched as Jade’s eyes grew bigger, “for one week.”

“What?” she finally whispered. “Are you out of your everlasting mind?”

“I’m offering you a way out. Spend the week with me, or I’ll call the police.” Even to his ears the ultimatum sounded offensive. Even so, he waited with baited breath for her answer. He should’ve stopped, kept a reasonable distance from her but he simply couldn’t. The tension crackled between them as he lowered his head until his lips were inches from her ear. “I want you for six nights in my bed and seven days at my beck and call.” His tongue scraped her earlobe….

Jade melted. Heaven help her she was still attracted to this monster. And now she owed him money. She was at his mercy.

was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where she currently resides with her husband and three children. An active imagination and a love for reading encouraged her to begin writing in high school and she hasn’t stopped since.

Determined to bring a new edge to romance, she continues to develop intriguing plots, racy characters and fresh dialogue—thus keeping the readers on their toes! Visit her Web site at www.acarthur.net.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Damon, for your patience and encouragement.

Dear Reader,

Love Me Like No Other introduces the first of the Donovan clan to be swept away by love. The Triple-Threat Donovans are three brothers known for three things only: their breathtaking good looks, the size of their bank accounts and their inability to commit to lasting relationships.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas—at least that’s what Jade Vincent thinks until she’s face-to-face with her college sweetheart. Now, to save her sister, she’s forced to make a deal with the devil! Lincoln Donovan is tired of the life he thought he wanted, but he’s too stubborn to see what that change is, until she literally falls in his lap.

I am thrilled to share Linc and Jade’s story of rekindling lost love with you. Linc’s story needed to be told first, not because he’s the oldest Donovan brother, but because I so enjoyed watching him grow. He and Jade were meant for each other and I hope you’ll agree. When you get a chance, please visit my Web site for a closer look at the Donovan clan, www.acarthur.net. And don’t hesitate to share your comments about Linc and Jade via e-mail at acarthur22@yahoo.com.

A. C. Arthur

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Epilogue

“You need a wife.”

Clenching his jaw, Lincoln tried his best to remember this was his mother he was speaking to. “I don’t need anybody or anything.”

“What good is all this success if you have nobody to share it with?” Beverly Donovan was unwavering when it came to the well-being of her children. She’d watched her oldest grow into a handsome man, an intelligent man, an entirely too serious and business-oriented man. And she didn’t like it one bit.

“I have my family, unless you’re planning on disowning me because I refuse to get married.” He gave her a half smile, the one he always gave her when he was trying to win her over. Normally it worked. Today, however…

“Don’t be fresh, Lincoln.”

…her tone cut that short.

Beverly stood, brushed imaginary lint from her pink Chanel-style suit and looked down at her son. “Your father and I are celebrating forty years together, son. Forty long, beautiful years of loving and supporting each other. These have been the best forty years of my life.” She moved to him then caressed his clean-shaven cheek. “I only want that same happiness for you.”

Beverly Donovan had a way with words. His parents were happy. Happier than most married folk he knew. It was only natural that she’d want the same for her children. He loved that she cared about his happiness and he loved that she’d never been too busy with her own life to see to his. He simply did not agree with her plans for his future. “I am happy, Mom.”

“That’s what you think.”

“Craps!” the man dressed in too-tight black pants and a colorful vest with a bright red bowtie said. His expression remained dour, the way it had been for the last three hours since she’d been here.

Jade Vincent shifted. Her feet hurt. Whatever possessed her to wear slacks and pumps to a casino?

The man with the long black stick and the blank gray eyes leaned into the table, retrieving the dice—the ones that had just cost her another fifty dollars—and with a quick glance he handed them to her again.

Taking them out of his hand she looked down at the pile of chips that once represented all the free cash she had to spend—the entire three hundred and forty-two dollars.

What was she doing here?

The pale man waited for her to either roll the dice or walk away from the table.

Men, she thought with a heavy sigh. That was the simple answer to her latest dilemma. How a woman who graduated tops in her class from Harvard always managed to pick the worst men was an enigma to her. Her stomach twisted, her temples throbbing as chiming slot machines and hostesses with sing-song voices chanting “Coffee? Soda?” for the billionth time, echoed in her head. She didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to be in this desperate situation, but she’d never gotten what she wanted.

So with great reluctance and a silent prayer to the gods to shine favorably on her just this one time, she shook the dice in her hand then let them fall onto the green felt, watching eagerly as they tumbled and landed.

Her entire future rested on the roll of two red squares. Well, not her future. Noelle’s future. Noelle Vincent, two years younger than Jade, average intelligence, a pretty face and a magnet for trouble. It was just three days ago that Noelle had come barging into Happy Hands, Jade’s day spa, whining about some fiasco at the casino. Noelle, in her bubbly, never-worry-about-a-thing-because-my-big-sister-will-bail-me-out attitude, had sat in the steam bath and informed her older sister that she had ten days to come up with five thousand dollars or the owner of the Gramercy casino was going to have her thrown in jail. Jade hadn’t had a moment’s peace since then.

All Jade had ever wanted was to run her business and to lead a nice, quiet life.

Fate obviously had a different agenda.

Since her grandmother’s death a year and a half ago Jade’s life had been full of drama and stress. With Noelle usually being the cause of them both. Still, it would be unfair to blame all her recent misfortune on Noelle. A good portion could be attributed to Charles Benson. He was the man she’d thought she loved. The man she was going to marry.

Jade had planned every tiny detail of the wedding even through the grief of losing her grandmother, knowing how much the thought of her being married to a good man would have made Grammy happy. She missed Grammy terribly but would be forever thankful for the inheritance she’d left her. With that money Jade had planned to open her day spa.

Jade was going to make something of herself. Something her mother couldn’t do. She was determined to be successful. Lillian Vincent died from years and years of alcohol abuse when Jade was sixteen. That’s when Jade and Noelle had moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to live with Grammy. Grammy spent many a day drilling into her head the importance of being independent and not relying on anyone but herself. In turn, Jade was spending her days drilling the same thing into Noelle’s thick skull. Jade had been smart enough to get into Harvard and even smarter to know that she’d only be happy running her own business. And with Grammy’s inheritance she’d planned to do just that.