Hold Me Closer (Sea Island Brides Book 1)

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of
the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or
dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 by Dead River Books

ISBN: 978-1-62421-039-6

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form
whatsoever.

Cover Design by Robin Ludwig Design, Inc.

http://gobookcoverdesign.com/

Editing Services by Janet Bessey at Dragonfly Editing

http://dragonflyediting.blogspot.com/

Formatting by Dead River Books

http://www.deadriverbooks.com/

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When
it came to seducing men, Annabelle Day’s white bikini was her
secret weapon. It was the kind of string bikini that tied on either
side of her hips and left just enough to the imagination to keep it
interesting.

She
hadn’t worn it in a few years, and she felt completely
ridiculous.

She
carefully adjusted the small triangles covering her breasts,
for at least the tenth time. A quick glance at her cell phone told
her it was three-fifteen. Hudson Montgomery was late.

Annabelle
bit her lip. Where in the world was he?

Was
he even going to show at all?

She
sighed and looked toward the back door of the sprawling southern
mansion. Maybe it was for the best if he didn’t come. She was
already feeling way too nervous and silly. Even if he did show up,
she wasn’t entirely convinced she’d be able to pull this
off.

But
she had to, for her cousin’s sake.

All
she needed was one great picture—the powerful
playboy-turned-saint with his arms wrapped around a bikini-clad
stranger.

The
media would go wild for a picture like that, which meant Hudson
Montgomery would do anything to keep it a secret.

Annabelle
wasn’t sure of the exact details, but there was definitely
something going on with the Montgomery family. They were often called
“America’s Royal Family”. One of the wealthiest
families in the country, they had made billions building upscale
hotels across the globe. And it didn’t hurt that Hudson’s
grandmother had been a famous actress back in her day. His
grandfather had come from nothing, building his hotel business from
the ground up out of sheer determination and strength of will.

The
family had been in the media constantly since the sixties. It had
only gotten worse with the dawn of social media, the public eye
always turned to the five gorgeous and charismatic children of the
Montgomery family.

Hudson
and his twin brother Harlan were the worst, always in the tabloids
for hooking up with girls or partying too hard.

But
since their father’s death almost a year ago, the Montgomery
family had gone completely off the grid. Other than a few charity
events here and there, the well of sin had run dry. And the media was
desperate for something to break.

The
rumor was that Jackson Montgomery had put some secret stipulation in
his will that was keeping his children out of the social scene.

Annabelle
didn’t even really care why the Montgomery kids were on their
best behavior. All she cared about was getting one photograph that
might indicate Hudson wasn’t entirely the reformed man he
appeared to be this past year.

If
the Montgomery’s were avoiding scandal, that’s exactly
what she needed to create. She was never going to actually sell the
photos. She just needed him to believe that she would.

She
just needed to get his attention.

A
glance across the pool reassured her that her photographer, Mark, was
poised and ready to shoot when the time came. Mark was the shy, quiet
type, and Annabelle had him wrapped around her little finger. Or at
least she hoped she did. When she’d asked for his help, he’d
been eager to jump right in and contribute his time.

She’d
agreed to pay him fifty bucks to take the photos, which was the most
she could offer at the time. The glint of light reflecting from his
camera lens gave away his position whenever he moved, but it was
doubtful Hudson would notice anything suspicious.

Which
is where the sexy white bikini came into play. The ultimate
distraction. It used to be her favorite choice for a day at the
beach. Well, before life got so serious all of a sudden.

The
bikini used to make her feel sexy and confident, but as she tugged at
the thin pieces of fabric, she felt silly.

And
nervous.

What
if he took one look at her and told her to get out?

She’d
felt so confident this morning, ready to nail Hudson’s
egotistical self to the proverbial wall. But after waiting in the hot
sun for more than thirty minutes, she had started to feel deflated
and insane.

Who
does this kind of thing?

She
was about to blackmail him, for goodness sake.

She
could get arrested for doing this. Not that Annabelle was
blackmailing him for money. What she wanted was far more important
than money. This was about payback and justice. This was about
refusing to let anyone, no matter how rich, take away her cousin's
chance at happiness.

The
butterflies in her stomach started doing cartwheels.

As
far as Hudson was concerned, Annabelle was there to do a casual piece
on the Montgomery family estate for Southern Style Magazine. When she
called him a few weeks ago, she told him to meet her by the pool and
to wear something casual for the photographs. She’d told him
they would keep the entire piece classy and relatable.

He
had no idea she was nothing more than an intern at Southern Style,
and that no one would have dared to give her an assignment this
important after only half a summer on the job.

Just
as she reached to readjust the ties around her neck, she heard the
back door of the mansion swing open. Her stomach knotted, and she
squinted toward the back porch, anxious to see if it was really him
this time.

When
he finally walked through the screen door, Annabelle’s breath
caught in her throat.

She’d
seen his picture in magazines and newspapers since she was a little
girl. Who hadn’t? And yet, she hadn’t been at all
prepared for the way he made her feel when he stepped out of that
door. She felt his presence deep down in her core, something secret
igniting below her belly button.

His
shoulders were broad and his arms had just
the right amount of muscle, the polo he wore
stretched across his strong chest, clinging to all the right places.

He
was just slightly tanned—enough to
make his skin have a healthy glow, his bright blue eyes sparked
as he stepped into the sun.

They
darkened the moment he laid eyes on her.

“I’m
sorry, I was supposed to be meeting Ms. Day?” Hudson asked, one
eyebrow raised questioningly as he closed the space between them.

A
sharp sense of awareness rippled through her as his blue-green eyes
surveyed her from head to toe. She had no idea if he liked what he
saw or not.

“Please.
Call me Annabelle,” she said, sitting up slightly and pulling
her large sunglasses down on her nose. She prayed he wouldn’t
notice just how much her hands were trembling. Her stomach
somersaulted and she swallowed it down like medicine. “Thank
you so much for meeting me, Mr. Montgomery.”

“I’m
confused,” he said, looking around at the empty pool. “I
thought we were meeting for a professional interview. I wasn’t
expecting you to be dressed so, ah, casually.”

Annabelle
reclined against her elbows. She tried to push her chest forward
provocatively, but she only halfway performed the move and ended up
feeling even dumber than before. Crap. She was totally going to blow
this.

She
cleared her throat. “You were late, Mr. Montgomery,” she
said. “I decided to make myself comfortable in case you didn’t
bother showing up for our meeting. I can get dressed if you’d
like?”

“Not
at all,” he said, his eyes dipping to her cleavage. He blinked
and shook his head. “I mean, yes, of
course. Get dressed and we can continue this inside, perhaps.”

As
southern accents go, Hudson’s was perfection. Words rolled off
his tongue like honey, and Annabelle was drawn to his charm.
Annoyingly so. How could someone so charming be such a snake?

“I
was thinking we could do our interview out here.” She gestured
toward the pool. Thinking about what he’d done to Julia gave
her just a hint of confidence. She had to pull this off. Just a few
more minutes and she could get the hell out of here and be one step
closer to the truth. She forced her best smile. “You could
always put your swimsuit on and join me.”

He
studied her, a small smile teasing the corners of his lips. He seemed
to actually be considering it for a moment.

But
just as quickly as the smile had come, it disappeared. His eyes
darkened and he cleared his throat.

“As
tempting as that sounds, Ms. Day, I’m afraid I will have to
leave soon to head to Savannah for another meeting,” he said,
motioning to the back door. “Why don’t you get dressed
and join me inside?”

Annabelle
clenched her teeth and felt tears sting her eyes. This wasn’t
going at all like she’d planned. If they went inside, it would
be impossible for Mark to get any good photographs.

She
needed to either abandon the idea all together, or give it one
hundred percent. Who cared if she made a fool of herself in front of
this careless, insensitive jerk?

She
swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to ignore the constant
flutter in her tummy.

“Wait,”
she called out, standing. The towel she’d had slightly draped
over her legs fell to the tile around the pool’s edge and she
jogged toward him.

His
eyes dipped to her chest again, and she blushed, readjusting the
straps to make sure nothing had, uh, come loose.

She
took a deep breath and placed her hand gently on his arm.

“How
much time do you have, exactly?” she asked. She walked her
fingers up his arm and touched his chest. God, she wasn’t
supposed to care, but he had some seriously defined muscles hiding
under there. “I was thinking we could get to know each other
better.”

She
was standing so close to him now, she could smell the spicy scent of
his cologne. Her heart was beating wildly against her ribcage and she
felt the sudden desire to press herself against him.

This
was ridiculous.

What
was happening to her? It was like being near him was melting her
brain or something.

Stay
focused on the goal here
, she reminded herself.
This is about
Julia, not me.

Hudson
looked down into her eyes and for a brief moment, she thought she saw
the same bewildered desire reflected there. But as she leaned closer
to him, almost unable to control herself, something inside him must
have snapped.

He
grabbed her wrist so hard, it actually pinched a little. Or maybe it
was her ego that ached.

“Ms.
Day, I’m not sure what you’re trying to pull here, but I
assure you I’m not interested in what you seem to be offering,”
he said, his honeyed voice suddenly turned to stone. “You have
approximately five minutes to get off my property before I have you
escorted off.”

His
words stung. She wrenched her arm away from him and straightened her
shoulders.

“I’m
not trying to pull anything,” she said, matching his harsh tone
of voice. “I was simply trying to get to know you better, but I
guess everyone was right about you. There’s nothing more I
really need to know.”