What Matters Most

by Bailey Bradford

Overview

Sometimes it takes losing everything to find out what matters most.

Josh has a fondness for hot pink, penguins…and one wicked man he knows he shouldn't trust. Nick is a confused, angry man, one who has been denied the opportunity to know his half-siblings, who was ignored and treated less than second best—until the fair-haired children fell out of favor with a resounding thud. Now Nick has something he isn't sure he wants—a ranch left to him by a father who never cared for him, and a fascination with a certain hot-pink, penguin printed, scrub wearing nurse who makes his blood boil in a way no woman ever had.

But Josh left him hurting on the floor the last time he dared touch the man. Nick had never thought the attractive dark-haired man with the jewel-bright eyes would be anything other than a tool to spy on his half-siblings, but somehow, Josh has gotten under Nick's skin, and Nick isn't sure he ever wants it any other way.

But the choice isn't just his, and it's more than just their futures that are at risk… And Nick doesn't know if he can get past Josh turning away from him once again, or if he can be strong enough to reach for what matters most…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857156280
Publisher:	Totally Entwined Group Ltd
Publication date:	08/22/2011
Series:	Love in Xxchange , #4
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	168,197
File size:	347 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

A native Texan, Bailey spends her days spinning stories around in her head, which has contributed to more than one incident of tripping over her own feet. Evenings are reserved for pounding away at the keyboard, as are early morning hours. Sleep? Doesn’t happen much. Writing is too much fun, and there are too many characters bouncing about, tapping on Bailey’s brain demanding to be let out. Caffeine and chocolate are permanent fixtures in Bailey’s office and are never far from hand at any given time. Removing either of those necessities from Bailey’s presence can result in what is know as A Very, Very Scary Bailey and is not advised under any circumstances.

Read an Excerpt

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Some days just sucked, that was all there was to it. Josh had woken up and felt like today was going to be one of those perfect days. He was well rested, the morning sun lit up his crappy bedroom and made even the dingy walls look pretty, dappled as they were with streaky paint someone had slapped on. Burnt orange was not his favourite colour, and the walls clashed horribly with his hot pink sheets and blanket, but somehow, with the sunlight glinting on the godawful orange, the whole room had seemed...not as bad as usual.

Josh had got out of bed and slipped off his pink star dotted pyjama bottoms and started his morning yoga. It helped to centre him, and keep him flexible, his muscles defined yet not so bulky he couldn't hook his heel behind his head. Flexibility was a bonus in bed, and Josh prided himself on amazing his lovers. Well, he would have if he'd had any. It'd been a long dry spell, but really, what had he expected living in the armpit of south Texas?

He should have moved to San Fran, that was the thought he often had when he was lonely. Truth was, he didn't want to be that far away from his brother. The man annoyed the living shit out of him, but he'd raised Josh, and he was the only family Josh had left. And yeah, okay, so Evan had helped, too.

Josh had stopped that train of thought before it could derail into a spectacular fashion and destroy the peace he was trying to find. He'd sunk into his meditation and came out feeling refreshed.

Then he'd pulled his favourite scrubs out of his closet only to discover there was a nice, ball sized hole in the crotch of his penguin scrubs. He'd muttered and cursed the evil washers at his apartment complex. It wasn't the first time they'd mangled something of his. Josh had laid the scrubs on his bed and made a mental note to pick up some matching-ish material so he could patch them.

He'd put on his second favourite pair of scrubs, bright red ones covered in cheery smiley faces. Kind of hard on the eyes, but people seemed to like them regardless. Josh had slipped on his shoes then screeched to high Heaven when something crunched. He'd kicked the shoe off and gagged as a flat and icky roach fell out onto the carpet. And of course, the stupid handivac hadn't been charged, which left Josh holding a paper towel in one hand and pressing the other over his mouth as he gagged and heaved.

The coffee machine overflowed, the filter having been folded all funky. There'd been coffee grounds and water all over the countertop and even on the floor. His milk was bad and his bread mouldy. He'd sneezed while brushing his teeth and created a mess he'd never have thought possible. By the time he made it outside to his beat up Honda, he wasn't the least bit surprised to discover one tire was low. His good mood had been thoroughly trounced along with the cockroach, so Josh had let loose with the curses as he dragged out the little compressor Justin insisted he keep in the trunk.

But the battery was dead, the compressor couldn't draw a charge, and Josh ended up tossing the damn thing back in the trunk and calling for a cab. Which was when he realised he'd forgotten to charge his cell phone overnight. At least he'd got his address to the cab company before the phone had died. He'd run back to his apartment, thinking the cab would take forever to get there. Inside he'd grabbed his charger then sprinted back out the door just in time to see the cab pulling away from the kerb. Josh had had to chase the stupid thing down, and the morning sun he'd thought was so pretty had turned hotter than hell and Josh smelt like the arm pit he claimed he lived in by the time he got to work.

He hadn't been fool enough at that point to think his day would get any better, and it hadn't. Mr Walton, his boss, had pitched a hissy over Josh charging his cell phone at work. The arrogant asshole didn't give a flying shit how Josh's morning had gone and told Josh so when he'd tried to explain why he was charging his phone. Josh had given up and unplugged his charger when his boss started talking about writing him up. Josh couldn't think of a bad enough word to call his boss, so he'd settled on fantasies involving his boss being naked in front of everyone and having a willy the size of Josh's thumb.

Josh had decided then and there he needed more evil ideas. He'd figured he'd have to talk to Annabelle. She knew how to be mean and how to get away with it. She'd probably come over here and nut his boss.

From there on out, the day had been one disaster after another. Cranky patients, angry patients, furious patients-Josh had concluded he'd been a puppy and kitten kicker in a previous life since Karma was clearly trying to teach him a lesson with this one.

Added to all the bad shit, Josh had felt that itchy sensation skittering down his spine, the kind that made the hair on the nape of his neck stand up and wave for attention. Someone was watching him, that's what the sensation was telling him, but Josh couldn't figure out who-until he caught his boss glaring at him at the end of his shift, waving a stack of papers at him. Josh had tried to be optimistic about Walton glaring at him, considering all too often the ass was leering in a way that was well past creepy. A glare was better than that perv ogling him any day.

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