Aiden
Kingman is reunited with the woman he mistakenly wronged seven years
ago...and this time around, he’s determined to make things right.
Check out this first look for FIGHT FOR YOU by Nina Crespo, coming
this July…
About
FIGHT FOR YOU
In this
second of the Kingman Brothers series, Aiden Kingman is reunited with
the woman he mistakenly wronged seven years ago...and this time
around, he’s determined to make things right.
Seven years ago, Aiden Kingman had to choose between betraying Delanie Clark and her father or staying loyal to his father’s company. He chose his father—losing Delanie in the process—and he’s regretted it ever since. Now as CEO and partner in Kingman Partners International, he needs to finalize buying a retreat property, but there’s one major hold up: Delanie is the contract negotiator for the owner, and she doesn’t trust him.
Delanie and her father lost everything when Aiden’s father lied about his intentions for buying her family’s mountain retreat. She swore that she would never have anything to do with Aiden Kingman again. But now she’s facing him across the negotiating table, and sparks that had previously been stamped out reignite between them. When tragedy places the deal on the line, will they put their history behind them? Or will the deal cost them both their second chance at love?
Nina Crespo, author of the charming and sexy Forget You, is back with a sizzling romance that will have you believing in second chances, forgiveness, and learning to love despite the past.
Seven years ago, Aiden Kingman had to choose between betraying Delanie Clark and her father or staying loyal to his father’s company. He chose his father—losing Delanie in the process—and he’s regretted it ever since. Now as CEO and partner in Kingman Partners International, he needs to finalize buying a retreat property, but there’s one major hold up: Delanie is the contract negotiator for the owner, and she doesn’t trust him.
Delanie and her father lost everything when Aiden’s father lied about his intentions for buying her family’s mountain retreat. She swore that she would never have anything to do with Aiden Kingman again. But now she’s facing him across the negotiating table, and sparks that had previously been stamped out reignite between them. When tragedy places the deal on the line, will they put their history behind them? Or will the deal cost them both their second chance at love?
Nina Crespo, author of the charming and sexy Forget You, is back with a sizzling romance that will have you believing in second chances, forgiveness, and learning to love despite the past.
On Sale in Digital: July 9,
2018
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Read
the first chapter from FIGHT
FOR YOU:
Chapter
One
Seven
years ago
Delanie Clark stroked the
dark wood footboard of the large sleigh bed in the bedroom of the
rustic two-room mountain cabin at Clearmount Retreat. Should she
greet Aiden Kingman wearing the lingerie set she’d picked out last
week at the mall while thinking of him . . . or nothing at all?
She walked to the side of the bed and dropped her green
backpack on top of the blue comforter. She’d let him discover her
naked . . . in the hot tub. A smile she couldn’t stop bloomed on
her face. That was the perfect place to wait for him and escape the
chilly autumn night.
Finally, it was Friday. She’d hardly been able to
concentrate during her classes at the University of Kentucky because
he’d stayed on her mind. Since he’d called on Wednesday to tell
her he was definitely flying in from Maryland for the weekend, the
days had crept by at a snail’s pace and so had the five-hour drive
earlier from Lexington. It seemed like an eternity since she’d last
seen him, instead of just one week.
Delanie took off her brown hiking boots and socks, along
with her tan wool sweater, jeans, and underwear. She stuffed her
clothes into the pack, stowed everything in the closet behind her,
then hurried into the corner bathroom for a towel. When she came back
out, she dimmed the brass lamp on the bedside table.
Moonlight shining through the sliding glass door across
from her gave the simply furnished room a romantic glow. The smell of
the oak logs stacked inside the fireplace built into the wall near
the foot of the bed lingered with the clean, earthy scent of the
space.
While she was growing up and living on the retreat
property, one of the jobs her father assigned to her had been filling
the kindling boxes and stocking wood in the cabins. She used to
imagine the guests enjoying warm drinks in front of their fireplaces,
thoroughly mesmerized by the orange and amber flames curling and
flickering over the logs.
Later on, she and Aiden would lie in bed, watching their
own fire slowly burn to embers. For once, they could fall asleep in
each other’s arms and wake up together in the morning, like a
normal couple, and share breakfast. Her dad was on a fishing trip
until late Sunday. For the first time, she wouldn’t have to sneak
back down the trail into the family living quarters she shared with
him before dawn. More importantly, Aiden’s concern about them
seeing each other as a conflict of interest while he negotiated to
buy Clearmount from her father no longer existed. The papers had been
signed yesterday, selling the property to Aiden’s family company,
TriRoyal Incorporated. They’d take over ownership of her dad’s
thirty-acre retreat next month, and she and Aiden were finally free
to share about their relationship.
Delanie hurried out the sliding door into the
wood-framed, glass-enclosed deck and shut it behind her. Moonlight
illuminated the steam rising from the sunken hot tub on the right.
The mountains in the distance and the gently swaying trees
surrounding her added to the peaceful ambiance.
She dropped the towel on the deck, twisted her long,
dark hair into a loose topknot, then slipped into the rippling water.
The stress from studying and agonizing over the economics exam she’d
ultimately aced that afternoon melted away as she leaned back and
closed her eyes.
Would Aiden have more of TriRoyal’s modernization
plans to show her? What he’d shared so far was fantastic.
Redwood-and-stone cottages would replace the well-used wood cabins
that were currently on the property. Picture windows would provide
views of the lake, trees, and mountains.
Delanie’s heart accelerated as she recalled Aiden
sitting across from her a week ago in the hot tub, telling her about
his plans. His slicked-back dark hair had emphasized the chiseled
angles of his gorgeous face.
“Not only are we building larger decks on the
cottages, we’re also installing bigger hot tubs.” He’d
shot her a lazy grin. “You and I will
definitely take advantage of them when we visit the new and improved
Clearmount Retreat next fall.”
“I like that idea, a lot.” She
hadn’t been able to stop herself from returning his smile. “But
I wouldn’t mind if you took advantage of me now.”
“Come over here and I will.”
“Uh-uh.” She’d crooked
her finger at him. “You come here.”
As he’d stood and approached her, water had trailed
down his defined pecs and abs. The gleam in his hazel-brown eyes and
the erection rising high on his abdomen had promised her one
thing—earth-shattering orgasms.
“Are you mine?”
That’s what he’d asked her in bed later on as he’d
kissed her along her left leg, from her toes to her inner thigh. He’d
started all over again with her other leg. Each brush of his lips
inching nearer to her sex had taunted and teased her.
“Answer me, Delanie.”
She’d tried to respond, but his tongue feathering over
her clit and a back-arching climax had taken away her ability to form
words. His length gliding slowly inside of her and pulling out at an
equally tortuous pace had captivated her. With each successive, deep
stroke that followed, yes not only became her answer but a plea for
more pleasure. And Aiden had delivered.
Infused with the warmth of remembered bliss, Delanie
sank deeper into the water. What they shared was . . . perfect.
But her dad would be surprised to hear she and Aiden
were in a relationship, and that they were going to keep seeing each
other. He’d asked her not to become serious with anyone until after
she’d turned twenty-one. She’d only missed the mark by six
months, and her father did like Aiden. At twenty-four, Aiden was
already an acquisitions negotiator for his father’s company. He
understood the importance of responsibility and would support her
making college her main priority over him. It wasn’t like they were
planning to get married or anything. Surely, her father would
understand why she’d kept it a secret until now. She and Aiden had
happily and unexpectedly fallen in love—and she hadn’t wanted
that to disrupt his business dealings.
A man’s voice coming from inside the cabin, clearly on
the phone, broke into her thoughts.
Aiden? Her heart drummed in her chest as she listened
closely. No . . . not Aiden. Gerard Kingman. Shit!
Just as she shrank back into the shadows, a stream of
light came from the bedroom. Aiden’s tall, black-haired father
opened the sliding door and strode into the enclosure, talking on his
cell.
“I don’t care what it takes. Just do it. No more
delays.” Gerard unknotted the maroon tie from the collar of his
white dress shirt and stuffed it in the pocket of the charcoal
overcoat that melded perfectly with his dark suit. With his back
turned to Delanie, he moved toward the stairs at the other end of the
deck.
The temperature seemed to creep up with the warmth
flushing into her cheeks. She couldn’t let him find her bare-ass
naked in the tub. If he came closer, she could dunk herself under the
water. She’d rather drown than have him discover her.
“I don’t give a damn if they mow down the place,
cement over the lake, and build a parking lot on top of it as long as
the papers are signed. Get it done.”
Mow down the place? Parking lot? What was he talking
about?
She heard the front door slam shut.
“Dad, where are you?” Aiden’s bellow reverberated.
The solid thunk of his shoes became louder when he entered the
bedroom. Delanie watched him storm out onto the deck and advance on
his father while she tried to shrink back into the shadows farther
still. “What the fuck did you do?”
Gerard slipped his phone into his pocket. “That’s
none of your concern.”
“None of my concern?” Aiden’s muscles bunched and
released underneath his navy sweater and jeans. “You working a side
negotiation with the outlet mall developers on my deal damn well
qualifies as my concern.”
Side negotiation? No. They weren’t talking about
Clearmount. They couldn’t be.
“First, you work for me, not the other way around.”
Gerard’s tone grew implacable. “Second, this is about business
and has nothing to do with whether or not you can bang the property
owner’s daughter with a clear conscience.”
“Leave Delanie out of this.”
“I didn’t bring her into it.” Gerard pointed at
Aiden. “You did. I must admit, it was a smart move getting Delanie
on your side. She was a big influence in swaying Bryan Clark to come
to the negotiating table. He signed the deal. We own the property.
It’s mine to sell. The mall developers are happily going to pay my
asking price.”
“Clearmount is my project.”
“That has nothing to do with it. Because of my
decision, we made money. Everybody got what they wanted. That’s how
it works.”
“It wasn’t your call. This was my
acquisition.” Aiden raked back his hair
with both hands. “I should have been the one handling negotiations,
not you.”
Delanie’s heart thumped so hard it felt as if her
breastbone would shatter. “No!” Water sloshed in her face as she
surged forward in the tub and into the light. Disbelief made her
tremble more than the cold as she crossed her arms, covering her
chest. “You promised my father you would preserve Clearmount as a
retreat. Aiden—you showed me the renovation plans.”
Gerard’s dismissive look replaced the heat in the
water with a chill. He turned to Aiden, blatantly ignoring her.
“We’re flying out to our property in Denver tonight. Productivity
at the hotel there is low, complaints are high, and since no one else
seems to be able to solve the problem, we’re going to fix it.
You’re riding in the town car with me to the airport. You can make
arrangements for the car company to pick up your rental before we
take off. Hurry up and deal with her. We don’t have all night.”
He strode into the cabin.
Delanie looked to Aiden. “What’s going on?”
He snagged the towel from the deck. “You’re
shivering.”
She took Aiden’s hand and he pulled her out of the
tub, but he didn’t meet her gaze.
Hot and cold prickles dripped down her spine with the
water puddling at her feet. “Is it true?”
He tucked the towel around her. “Let’s go inside.”
“Answer me!” The force of the words burned her
throat. “Did you sell Clearmount to outlet mall developers?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It was simple enough for you to fuck me so I’d
vouch for you to my father.”
Aiden’s jawline angled as he gripped her shoulders.
“It’s not like that.”
“Isn’t it? Like your father said, you got what you
wanted. Right?”
His silence filled in the gaps.
He’d used her. How could she have been so stupid?
She’d fallen for him but he hadn’t loved her at all. Anger and
hurt washed over Delanie. She wrenched out of Aiden’s grasp. “Get
away from me. I never want to see you again.”
FIGHT FOR YOU by Nina Crespo releases on July 9, 2018
www.ninacrespo.com
Copyright
© 2018 Nina Crespo. All rights reserved.
Author
Bio:
Nina Crespo lives in Florida where she indulges in her favorite
passions—the beach, kickboxing, a good glass of wine, and dancing.
Her lifelong addiction to romance began in her teens while on a
“borrowing spree” in her older sister’s bedroom where she
discovered her first romance novel. Curiosity about people and
places, including what’s beyond the stars, fuels her writer’s
imagination. Indulge in her sensual contemporary stories and steamy
paranormal tales to feed your own addiction for love, romance, and
happily ever after.
Need Nina? You can
also visit her online at the following places:
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