The Accidental Elopement

by Maggie Dallen

Overview

First comes love, then comes marriage--or is it the other way around?

Lucia is an Italian spitfire with big dreams like her billionaire grandfather. But she wants to become a top tier fashion designer, not the heir to the family business in Italy. Now is her only chance to forge her own path. And what better place to start than in New York City? But working behind a bar doesn't exactly pay the rent. Her trust fund would come in handy, but she needs to get married first. Luckily, she may have found the perfect husband candidate in her co-worker, who just happens to be the most charismatic and devastatingly gorgeous man she's ever met . . .

There's more to Ryan's charming smile than meets the eye--he's out for revenge and working for his enemy is his best bet at getting it. When Lucia comes to him with her crazy plan, he sees a perfect opportunity to make his move. But doing that could mean hurting his new wife. They say nothing's sweeter than revenge--but "they" never met a woman like Lucia . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781601834706
Publisher:	Random House
Publication date:	11/22/2016
Pages:	174
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)

Read an Excerpt

The Accidental Elopement

A Chance Romance

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By Maggie Dallen

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

Copyright © 2016 Maggie Dallen
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60183-470-6

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CHAPTER 1

Lucia had exactly nine dollars and thirty-six cents in her pocket as she fought her way onto the crowded F-train heading downtown. Enough to buy one more coffee and a bagel — a combo she'd come to adore during her six-week stint in New York — but not much else.

She reached through a thick crowd of people so she could hold onto the cold metal pole in the middle of the train to keep her balance. The subway. That was one thing she would not miss when she left. But even that bit of optimism was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Who was she kidding? She was going to miss everything about this city, even the crowded, smelly subway.

She had just enough left on her Metrocard for a train to the airport but her credit card had long since maxed out and she had no clue how she could pay for the airfare.

You could call Grandpa.

She shook her head in disgust. It was bad enough that she was going back to Italy with her tail between her legs; there was no way she would beg her grandfather for the airfare home. When her grandmother was alive, she used to describe him as overprotective. More like smothering. Of course he only had her best interests at heart — as did her ex-fiancé — but that didn't mean they knew what was best. She would be the one to pave her future, even if it meant she failed.

Lucia watched as the subway door opened and closed before continuing on downtown. The next stop was SoHo. She knew where she had to go. If she was being honest with herself, she'd known where she was heading the moment she'd walked away from her disappointing meeting with her former boss — her last lifeline to the new life she'd been working for this past month.

Stifling a heavy sigh, she shifted to make room for another passenger who needed access to the pole. An older Hispanic man who was sitting on one of the orange plastic seats made a gesture, silently asking if she'd like his seat. She forced a smile and shook her head. "No thank you, I'm getting off at the next stop."

Daniel's hotel loomed taller than any other building in the trendy downtown neighborhood. It was the closest thing to a skyscraper amidst small boutiques and brownstones. She had the address that Jack and Holly had given her when they'd tracked her down that first week after she'd impulsively hopped on the plane to the States. Her friends had found her with alarming ease and had made her promise that she would go to Daniel if she needed any help.

Daniel was one of her grandfather's business partners — but he was also a friend, she reminded herself. She was certain he knew she was in the city but he and his wife, Ivy, had given her the space she'd asked for. They'd given her room to create a new life, one that had nothing to do with her grandfather's money or expectations.

And she'd done a hell of a job. Six weeks into her "new life" and she was about to beg a family friend for money so she could run back home. Lucia paused before the glass doors of the hotel and drew in a long deep breath of the cool fall air. Maybe she should ask Jack and Holly if she could stay with them in Paris instead. But that would just be delaying the inevitable. She exhaled with a loud sigh and pulled open the heavy door.

The hotel smelled cozy and clean — like a home away from home. Which it was, she supposed, for the wealthy and famous who could afford to stay at a place like this. The lobby was quiet but the clerk behind the front desk was busy talking to guests who appeared to be checking in.

Lucia paced around the reception area. She could wait; it wasn't like she was in a rush to humiliate herself. The lobby opened into a bar area, where an empty hostess stand stood and beyond that an empty restaurant sat perfectly set up, waiting for the next crowd.

Perching on a barstool, Lucia kept an eye on the front desk. Maybe she should have called first.

"Would you like to see a bar menu?"

Lucia swiveled around to find the bartender watching her expectantly.

"We're not serving dinner yet but we have some appetizers available."

The bartender was hot. Like, movie star hot. Lucia's mouth went dry and her ability to speak English took a momentary hiatus from her brain. This guy was intimidatingly hot. Dark hair and bright blue eyes with a chiseled jaw — he should play a superhero in a movie.

When one corner of his mouth turned up in an amused smile, Lucia came back to her senses. "No, thank you. I'm not hungry." Her stomach gave a little whine of protest but she ignored it. Those nine dollars had to last her until she got home.

The bartender put away the little menu but didn't move. "Something to drink?"

Lucia shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm just here to meet someone."

The hot bartender's eyebrows lifted in new understanding. "Oh, you're here for the job?"

"Um...."

He looked down at his watch and then back to her with that amused, sexy-as-hell little smile. "You're early."

"Oh. I...." Before she could finish, he tossed the dishrag he'd been holding under the bar and headed toward the register. "But you're in luck. I'm the one conducting the interviews so we can get started whenever you're ready."

Lucia watched him dig through a stack of papers next to the register. Interviews?

He came back to her and set a paper and pen in front of her. "Application for Employment" was printed across the top. Lucia felt a hysterical laugh building in her lungs, threatening to escape. A job? He thought she was here for a job?

Lucia picked up the pen and toyed with it as she scanned the questions. What was she even supposed to be applying for?

"Do you have any waitressing experience?" hot guy asked.

Ah. Well, that answered that. For a moment she considered lying but then thought better of it. "Not really." She glanced up to see the bartender's reaction but he was busy wiping down the glassware.

Lucia looked over at the front desk to see if the clerk was available. She wondered if Daniel was even in the building. She had an image of him walking into the bar that he owned and finding his billionaire business partner's daughter bussing tables.

The laughter that had been threatening came out as a choking noise which caught the bartender's attention. "You all right?"

Lucia nodded as the bartender filled a glass of water and set it down in front of her. At that moment her stomach growled so loudly it would have been comical if it wasn't so mortifying.

"You sure you don't want to see that bar menu?"

Those piercing, sapphire eyes were filled with amusement as he rested his elbows on the bar, bringing his face closer to hers.

She shook her head. "No, thanks. I can't, uh ... I mean, I don't have any money on me." The amusement faded and was replaced by a look of understanding that was so sweet and so welcome, it was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"Well you're in luck because employees eat for free."

Lucia looked down at her still-blank application and then back up to the bartender. "I got the job?"

He laughed as he turned back to the register and started tapping at the screen. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. But while you're interviewing, I think we can say you're practically staff."

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "I won't tell the big bosses if you don't."

Lucia thought of Daniel, the biggest of the big bosses at this hotel. "Your secret is safe with me."

That earned her a full-blown smile and — oh my God, the man had dimples. Full-on dimples, along with a cleft in his chin — it was the kind of smile one found on the underwear models gracing the billboards in Times Square, not your neighborhood bartender.

And that smile was focused on her. It was too much — like staring directly into the sun. Lucia dropped her head and pretended to study the blank application in front of her. The only sound around them was a busboy cleaning silverware at the far end of the bar and the distant sound of the front desk clerk dealing with the same guests who'd been hogging his attention since Lucia had arrived.

She heard the bartender moving toward her and started filling in the easy blanks. Her first name, her age. ... the last name she left blank. What was she doing? Her grandfather would have a fit if he found out she was applying to be a waitress.

But Grandpa isn't here.

That thought brought with it a now-familiar heady feeling of freedom. It was that terrifyingly exciting sense of leaping into the unknown that had gotten her through the past six weeks on her own in a foreign country. She'd paved her own way quite successfully for a little while there. Her friends in the fashion industry had set her up with an internship with Eleanor Fallone, one of the biggest up-and-comers in the business. Lucia had thrived in the fast-paced lifestyle and some fashion bloggers and buyers had even started to take an interest in some of her designs.

But then Eleanor had announced that she and her team were heading to London for the next show and there was no room on the team for an intern who couldn't pay her own way.

And while the internship had been an incredible learning experience, it was definitely not lucrative. She'd blown through the little savings she'd tucked away so until she could gain access to her trust fund ... well, she was at her grandfather's mercy. A fact she just knew he was counting on. The trust her mother had set up before she died stipulated that she didn't get access to the money until she turned thirty ... or until she married. Please. As if a ring on the finger meant instant financial responsibility. Or maybe her mother had fallen victim to the chauvinistic idea that men were better with money. She didn't remember her mother but that didn't sound like her. She was willing to bet her entire trust fund that her old-fashioned grandfather had inserted the marriage exception. Not that he was that chauvinistic — he was just that romantic. He'd had the perfect marriage and the perfect family and it was completely beyond him that not everyone lived and died for love.

"Hey, are you all right?"

Lucia's head shot up and she found the bartender watching her, the brilliant smile replaced by a frown of concern. Lucia glanced down to see that she was gripping the pen like a sword and she was dangerously close to tears for the fifth time that day. Drawing a deep breath, she forced a smile.

"I'm fine," she said. She loosened her death grip on the pen and gestured toward the application. "Just not sure this is the best idea...."

He leaned back against an ice bin and crossed his arms. "Do you need a job?"

Lucia fingered the nine dollars and thirty-six cents through her jeans pocket. "Desperately."

The corner of his lips twitched in amusement at her pathetic sigh. "So what's the problem?"

Lucia stared at him, her mouth open and ready to speak but no words came out. Was she actually considering doing this? Could she really get a job like any normal person her age? She could make her own money and stay in New York. Maybe she could even apply to the Fashion Institute like Eleanor had suggested.

Heart racing with excitement, Lucia's eye was caught by the blank spaces that she couldn't fill in. "I, uh ... I don't have any experience."

The sympathetic look in his eyes was so sweet she thought she might melt. "Are you willing to learn?"

Lucia nodded with a little too much enthusiasm. "Absolutely."

He rewarded her with another swoon-worthy smile. "That's all I need to hear."

Lucia's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "So. ... I'm hired?" Her voice sounded squeaky to her own ears but she couldn't help it. The idea that anyone would hire her on the spot with no experience or references, well ... it seemed like a miracle. Especially when she'd been moments away from calling it quits.

The universe works in mysterious ways, her grandfather would say.

The hot bartender leaned over the bar and clasped his hands. "Let's not get carried away," he said with a laugh. "You're hired on a probationary basis. We're understaffed so I'm allowed to hire a few new people. I'll start you out with some slow shifts and if it works out, you can pick up a normal workload. Deal?"

Lucia nodded. "Deal."

He went to take her application from her but paused when he saw all the blank spaces. "You're going to have to fill in the bare minimum here so we can put you on the payroll."

He pushed the paper back toward her along with the pen but Lucia paused before picking them up. The bartender seemed to notice because he leaned over further and spoke quietly. "Don't worry, the managers here don't dig too deep."

Her head shot up in surprise. Did he know who she was? Her grandfather had always shielded his children and grandchildren from the press but maybe he recognized her from the crazy publicity that surrounded Daniel and Ivy's wedding at the Brunelli estate. It had been impossible to avoid the media frenzy that had descended upon their little town in Tuscany and the Brunelli clan had found itself under a magnifying glass.

"I, uh, I can explain," she started.

The bartender shook his head. "No need. Believe me, you aren't the first person to come in here without working papers and you won't be the last."

Lucia blinked up at him. Working papers? And then it clicked into place. He thought she was worried about filling in her last name because she was in the country illegally. She almost laughed out loud in relief. While she had been raised in Italy, her mother had actually given birth to her in New York at a hospital in the Bronx so Lucia was fortunate enough to have dual citizenship. But there was no need to tell this kind stranger that. So instead she let him see her smile of genuine relief.

"Thank you."

For one brief moment their eyes met and she was sure he knew that she was keeping a secret. And in that split second, she had the overwhelming compulsion to tell this man everything. But then he smiled and the moment was over as he slid the paper out in his direction and snatched the pen out of her hands. "So, let's see here ..." he drawled as he perused the blanks spaces.

Lucia let out a little laugh when he bent over the paper and started filling in the top section. "What are you doing?"

He ignored her as he scribbled something on another line.

"There," he said with finality as he slid it back toward her. "You're all set, Lucia."

A laugh bubbled up in her throat as she read his answers. "Lucia ... Jones?" She arched a brow in disbelief. "Is that the best you could come up with?"

He shrugged. "What can I say, I'm not terribly creative with my lies. I've always heard that when it comes to lying, the simpler the better."

Lucia's eyes narrowed with mock suspicion. "And do you lie often?"

He plucked a straw from its holder and tossed it at her. "Only for damsels in distress."

That had her outright laughing. "Is that what I am? Here I thought I was the answer to your prayers." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized how flirtatious they sounded. Heat crept into her cheeks. "Because you're looking for a waitress, I mean."

His eyes were filled with teasing laughter and she waited for a mocking retort. But instead he let her off easy. "Of course."

Lucia shifted in her seat. She shouldn't be flirting with her new boss. But he was so close and his eyes seemed so kind. It had been a while since anyone had flirted with her. She had been surrounded by women and gay men at the internship, with no time to meet people during her precious off hours. And here was this man, this kind, sexy, gorgeous ... nameless man.

Lucia stuck out her hand. "Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Lucia Jones."

He laughed but took her hand in his. "Nice to meet you, Lucia Jones. I'm Ryan Smith."

CHAPTER 2

The jolt of electricity that shot through Ryan at the touch of her hand made it clear — he was in trouble. Serious trouble.

Lucia's head tilted to the side as she laughed up at him, her long black curls falling over one shoulder. "Seriously?" she said in that adorable Italian accent of hers. "You're going with Smith?"

Ryan shrugged and told another lie. "It's the truth."

Her soft hand was still tucked in his, like it belonged there. He'd been drawn to this sexy siren from the moment she'd stepped foot in his bar — what red-blooded male wouldn't be? And now that he was touching her, he didn't want to let go.

Oh yeah, this was trouble. He forced himself to release her hand and busied himself with wiping down the already clean bar.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Accidental Elopement by Maggie Dallen. Copyright © 2016 Maggie Dallen. Excerpted by permission of KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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