Leah Vale - The Bad Boy

Sarah stepped back from him. “As I’ve already said, what you’re trying to do is my business.”

“So if you haven’t already told Joseph and Alexander that I tried to ruin the grand opening, do it.” Cooper didn’t want her charity.

A sound at the door stopped her from replying and drew their attention.

None other than Joseph McCoy walked in, followed closely by Alexander. Neither man looked as though he’d been told that the newest member of the family had tried hard to cost the McCoys millions today.

Cooper didn’t have to wait long to be sure.

As Alexander closed the door behind him, Joseph came to Cooper and jovially slapped him on the back. “Shame you couldn’t get away to show us around that impressive remodel you did, grandson—but I have to say I’m pleased with your priorities. Good to know you put the success of the grand opening first and foremost.”

Cooper looked at Sarah, half dreading, half daring her to end this farce and tell Joseph the truth….

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Dependable, Missouri, home of the McCoys and their billion-dollar retail empire, built on the motto Don’t Trust It If It’s Not From The Real McCoy!

Too bad the McCoy heir wasn’t trustworthy, at least where the ladies were concerned. And after Marcus “Hound Dog” McCoy met a sadly fitting end during an encounter with a grizzly bear while fly-fishing, the truth comes out during the reading of his will. His younger brother is actually his eldest son, and he kept the rest of his scattered progeny secret by paying the mothers a million dollars each in hush money. Can his father, Joseph McCoy, maintain his moral reputation but still bring these newly discovered grandchildren, these Lost Millionaires, into the family without scandal?

Not if Cooper Anders has his way. Cooper has known since his early teens that he was a real McCoy, and he burns with the need to avenge his mother.

Can Sara Barnes, a trusted employee who yearns to be more, bring Cooper into the fold? Or will he make her choose between love and the family she’s devoted her life to serving? I hope you enjoy finding out!

Please visit my Web site, www.leahvale.com.

Leah Vale

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

924—THE RICH MAN’S BABY

936—THE RICH GIRL GOES WILD

957—BIG-BUCKS BACHELOR

1026—THE BAD BOY

The Bad Boy

Leah Vale

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Melissa, Terri and Nicole, for your bodacious minds; and to my family, for your most excellent support. I love you all.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Dear Mr. Anders:

It is our duty at this time to inform you of the death of Marcus McCoy due to an unfortunate, unforeseen encounter with a grizzly bear while fly-fishing in Alaska on June 8 of this year, and per the stipulations set forth in his last will and testament, to make formal his acknowledgment of one Cooper Anders, age 30, of 785 Westmark Street, Dependable, Missouri, as being his son and heir to an equal portion of his estate.

It is the wish of Joseph McCoy, father to Marcus McCoy, grandfather to Cooper Anders and founder of McCoy Enterprises, that you immediately assume your rightful place in the family home and business with all due haste and utmost discretion to preserve the family’s privacy.

Regards,

David Weidman, Esq.

Weidman, Biddermier, Stark

Cooper rocked back on the heels of his black work boots, the air stalled in his lungs. Shock nearly made him plop right down on the concrete county-jail steps. Instead he looked up from the letter to the cloudless, late-morning sky, then thought better of it and dropped his gaze to the space between his feet. Marcus McCoy, you son of a—

“Mr. Anders?” The gorgeous, petite brunette who’d handed him the letter drew his attention, a touching concern sharp in her bright green eyes. “Are you all right? You weren’t hurt during the, er, altercation last night, were you?”

He waved off her worry and his reaction to it. “No. No one laid a hand on me.”

“But I thought you’d been arrested for involvement in a bar fight.”

Cooper snorted. “I mostly just sat on the biggest guy so it’d be a fair fight.” He raised the letter and his brows. “So this is why you bailed me out of the klink? You were sent by them?”

She smiled as if they were a good thing, showing white teeth to match the rest of the pretty package. “Yes. I work for McCoy Enterprises.”

Eyeing the curves beneath her brown sweater and beige slacks, he snorted again. Seemed it was a snorting kind of morning. “So much for a favorite male fantasy coming true.”

A frown marred her smooth forehead. “Excuse me?”

“You know, the one about being sprung from jail to become some babe’s cabana boy?”

She blinked, then her eyes widened and splotches of red spread over her high cheekbones. On any other day he would have tried for a full-body blush.

On any other day he would have sworn this day would never come.

He looked back down at the inarguably official letter. Adrenaline surged and his heart started to pound. He hadn’t had a clue how to deal with the news of Marcus’s death when he’d first heard of it on the news a few days ago. Now he did. “Though an altogether different fantasy of mine is about to come true.”

“I can imagine.”

Something in her tone, a wistfulness, made him look back up, but her smile implied he’d simply reassured her. She probably wasn’t the only person in town who’d think that suddenly becoming a part of the McCoy family would be a dream come true. But for a very different reason from his. Appearances could be so deceiving.

He eyed her glossy brown hair, cut so the ends flipped up just as it reached her slender shoulders, her subtle makeup, her lack of jewelry other than a tiny gold anchor on a necklace and her business-casual outfit. Her appearance, though extremely attractive, screamed corporate drone. He seriously doubted anything deceptive was going on with her.

He nodded at the letter. “So you are aware of what this says?”

She cleared her throat. “Yes, actually, I am.” She folded her hands in front of her, all professional-like, but her discomfort sneaked through in the way she held her neck stiff and her gaze darted from his to the letter and back.

A strong sense of kinship stirred in him. He knew all too well what it felt like to be caught after doing something he shouldn’t have. “I admire your honesty.” But since he’d yet to completely shake the habit of acting how he was expected to in this town, he once again let his interest roam over the conservative sweater and slacks that failed to hide the curves underneath. “Among other things.”

She made a soft, strangled sound that brought his attention to her wide eyes. She must not get out much.

He kicked up a corner of his mouth and shrugged. “I suppose you can’t be blamed for taking a peek, since they didn’t bother to seal the envelope. And I doubt the vaunted McCoys bail people out of the slammer on a regular basis. That would get anyone’s curiosity up.”

Her sculpted dark eyebrows came down and she shook her head. Her nicely formed lips, accented with a subtle brownish lipstick, opened to protest.