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  © Copyright 2016 by Holly Jaymes - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

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  Taken:

  A Second Chance Romance

  By: HOLLY JAYMES

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1 Nicola

  Chapter 2 Austin

  Chapter 3 Nicola

  Chapter 4 Austin

  Chapter 5 Nicola

  Chapter 6 Austin

  Chapter 7 Nicola

  Chapter 8 Austin

  Chapter 9 Nicola

  Chapter 10 Austin

  Chapter 11 Nicola

  Chapter 12 Austin

  Chapter 13 Nicola

  Chapter 14 Austin

  Chapter 15 Nicola

  Chapter 16 Austin

  Chapter 17 Nicola

  Chapter 18 Austin

  Chapter 19 Nicola

  Chapter 20 Austin

  Billionaire Liason

  Found By The Billionaire

  Introduction

  Nicola Graham led a simple charming life in a small tourist town on the East Coast. She had an easy job as a reporter at the local newspaper, a successful older brother in New York and every reason to be happy and satisfied. Except that ever since she was a teenager, she has been obsessed with her brother’s best friend - hunky, brooding, bad boy; Austin Hebert. She has secretly pined after him, dreamt of his body and hopelessly watched as he slept with every other woman who crossed his path. Then one night she caught him having sex with a stranger at the back of the local bar, and Nicola’s life as she knew it began to spin right out of control. She wasn’t about to take it anymore.

  Chapter 1

  Nicola

  I drummed my fingers on the desk while the computer screen stared back at me. There was seriously nothing more to write about. It was a newspaper, and we were a team of four reporters and our Editor, and what more could we write about every day in our little sleepy tourist town by the sea?

  Mrs. Muller was re-opening the bar at her restaurant now that tourist season was coming up, that was my latest feature. Nothing really ever happened here, we all just got along easily, our newspaper was probably one of the most boring local papers in the whole country. Which could have been a good sign, somebody should have told me to count my blessings.

  I was bored alright, I was living alone in our big family home now that my parents had passed away, and my brother Chip had moved to New York as well. Most of my childhood friends had moved away too, but I couldn’t go. I was a home bird. I was happy where I was, happy doing this, happy knowing every single person in my town, happy to welcome tourists, give directions, get my croissant and coffee every morning from Manning’s Bakery. Also, this is where Austin Hebert was, and I couldn’t bring myself to move away from him just yet.

  My parents had hoped that I would be married, settled down with children, have a successful career as a journalist for a big newspaper; somewhere else in the country and well before I turned thirty. And here I was, just turned twenty-eight and in the same house, in the same job, still in love with Austin Hebert.

  “Nicola, is it good to go?” I heard Susan, my Editor’s voice behind me, interrupting my thoughts and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was always so afraid that someone would see it in my eyes, someone would find out how I felt about Austin.

  “Yes, just hitting send.” I looked up at her with a smile, and she smiled back encouragingly. Susan was the best boss, and she had taken me under her wing, especially after my parents died in a car crash a few years ago.

  I tapped at my keyboard, sent off the article and sat back in my revolving chair. I caught Lucas’s eye as I swirled in my chair. He was sitting diagonally opposite to me, and he grinned. I knew he was still building up the courage to ask me out, but I hoped he didn’t because I would have to refuse him. He was sweet, probably way better as a human being than Austin, but he just wasn’t for me.

  “Good. You’re done for the day, Nicola. See you tomorrow morning.” Susan called out from her desk as I reached for my bag. “Oh. Will you hop over to O’Leary’s tonight? I want you to cover the season specials and then ask for their music line-up for the month. You can write it up tomorrow.” Susan added.

  I felt my shoulders freeze as I slowly stood up. My heart had begun to race the moment I heard those words. O’Leary’s. That’s where Austin worked, where he had always worked since he was eighteen. This would give me another reason to go see him. I nodded my head at Susan and waved before turning on my heels, in a quick attempt to hide my smiling face from the rest of the team.

  “See you tomorrow everyone,” I called out without turning to look at them, and then hurried away outside.

  The sun hadn’t even begun to set yet. Summer meant longer days. I walked out of the one-storied small office building and shaded my eyes against the bright five-thirty sun in the horizon. My cotton floral dress flapped behind me as I tried to look directly at the sun and smiled.

  The town was filling up now; tourists had begun to arrive already. I could see the beach away in the distance with more people than usual. Children were making sand castles and kicking plastic balls around. Some locals passed me by and waved; I waved back. I was happy here; this was my home, and this was where my heart was.

  Then I remembered again that I had to go to O’Leary’s Bar tonight. It was only a five-minute walk away from the office, but I decided that I would go home and change first.

  I started walking towards the house when my phone buzzed in my bag.

  “Hi, big brother!” I said when I answered the call. I could hear Chip’s heavy breathing on the other end. He was on a treadmill.

  “Hi, little sister. Done for the day?” He asked, panting and out of breath.

  “Why are you at the gym now?” I asked him, forgetting that his work required him to keep odd hours. He worked in the stock market which meant that he usually worked all through the night.

  “Because I won’t have time later. When are you coming to New York?” He asked, still running. I smiled as I pictured him sweating, panting, and still pushing himself to the limit.

  “I don’t know. I’ll ask Susan when I can take some time off.” I told him, not exactly excited about going to New York. I never enjoyed the hustle-bustle, the crowds, the sounds…I always missed the quiet of my town in the madness of a big city.

  “Ok. Text me when she tells you. I have to go. Love you Sis.” He said and hung up the phone without waiting for my response.

  I shook my head indulgently as I slipped the phone back into my bag. My brother had always been this way, fiercely protective and older-brotherly. He always thought of me as a baby sister, even though we were both older and mature adults now.

  I was nearly home, and I walked hurriedly. Chip and Austin. One my older brother, the other the love of my life. Both best friends, or at least had been. Chip and Austin had been inseparable all through Kindergarten, School, High School and College. Until Chip moved away. I had always been the little sister who wanted to be a part of their team but never could be. I knew that Austin thought of me as his little sister too, as his best friend’s little sister. Besides, I was not his type.

  Austin had a distinct type, and I knew because I had studied all of his girlfriends, his affairs and one night stands from a distance ever since we were teenagers. Austin liked the cheerleaders, the girls with the high-pitched laughs and perfectly done-up faces. Once he was through with all of them in our town, and when he started working at the bar, he turned his attention to the tourists. And why wouldn’t he? Everyone threw themselves at Austin Hebert. Girls couldn’t resist him and men wanted to be like him.

  Fit as an athlete, bulging biceps, deep dimples on his cheeks every time he smiled, sparkling blue eyes, dark chocolate brown hair. In another world, Austin Hebert could have been a rockstar, a biker, a cowboy maybe. He smoked like a chimney, drank every night, fucked whoever he wanted and said whatever he felt like. Even Chip had grown up, evolved, developed priorities and ambition, but Austin remained the same.

  I was at my front door now, and I stuck my key in and pushed it open. This was my childhood home, where Chip and I grew up. Where Austin spent so many evenings hanging around with Chip in our backyard, while I watched him from my bedroom window upstairs.

  The house was empty now, only filled with memories. I walked in, and I suddenly realized for the first time that I could hear my own footsteps. I tried not to think about how lonely the house was and instead focused on what I would be wearing that night. I smiled again as I rushed upstairs to my old bedroom, which was still my bedroom and threw the closet doors open.

  I lingered for longer than required and pulled out a pair of dark jeans and a thin cotton blouse printed with cherries. I stepped into the shower, quickly dried my hair and slipped into my clothes for the night. I’d be wearing heels because I liked the way my hips swayed in them. I put on copper bangles for my wrists and chunky copper earrings as accessories. For my makeup, I couldn’t think of anything other than lip-gloss. I was just never very good at it, and it was
no time to start trying now.

  I stared at my mirror after I had already gotten ready. I’d let my glossy wavy blonde hair lie loose around my shoulders. They reached my waist these days, forming a thick curtain-like sheath around my shoulders. My eyes looked especially green today, just like my mother’s. My skin was pale now, but I knew I’d get a slight tan soon since it was almost summer. Try as I might, I knew I looked nothing like the other women, the ones who Austin slept with, but still, I wanted to look my best every time I saw him. I knew I behaved like a giddy giggling teenager when in reality I was in my late twenties, but I had known no other feeling than a deep burning desire for him. That is how I had felt all my life; that was why I had never been able to leave town.

  I picked up my bag on my way out and hung it from my shoulder and locked the door behind me.

  I’d be seeing Austin; just the very thought made me smile. The last time I’d seen him was the previous morning when I was leaving Manning’s Bakery, and he was walking in. He’d smiled at me, with those deep, delicious dimples on his cheeks. I’d smiled back, and then he had gone in, looking hungover and exhausted and still in his black leather jacket. No matter how Austin was with anybody else, rude and demanding; he was always nice to me. We had grown up together. He was my friend, or at least he thought he was. To me, he was the love of my life, the man I wanted to be with. The man I once thought I had, but then he slipped away again.

  I could see O’Leary’s in the distance as I walked towards it. In the hour and a half, I had spent in the house, the sun had nearly set, and it had become darker. And naturally, everyone had gravitated towards the bar. And this night the bar was even more crowded than usual, brimming with tourists already.

  I tucked in stray strands of golden hair behind my ears as I approached the bar. The same feelings coursed through my veins every time I knew I was going to see him. A heady mix of excitement and nervousness. I had known Austin for all my life, ever since I could remember, and I couldn’t think of the last time I hadn’t been nervous around him.

  I bit my lip when I pushed open the doors of the bar, some people’s cigarette smoke at the doors entered my lungs and made me cough. But I didn’t care anymore; I was going to see Austin.

  The bar was buzzing, the band had already started playing. People were talking loudly, and I could barely see a clear path to the bar at the back where I knew Austin would be.

  I tried to weave through the crowds, the smile still on my face but I was being pushed back by a throng of people. Finally, the bar came into sight, and to my sudden surprise, Austin wasn’t there. He was always there. He was one of the two bartenders at this place, on an especially busy night. Where on Earth could he have gone?!

  Chapter 2

  Austin

  I could feel my head throbbing; I was still hungover. I usually arrived at the bar by four, but today I was an hour late. I just couldn’t pull myself away from the studio. The songs were nearly ready, the album was nearly complete, my life’s efforts were about to be fulfilled.

  Over the past ten years, I had saved money, little by little till I could build my private studio in the basement. And for the last two years, I spent every waking moment, when I wasn’t at the bar or wasn’t drunk; writing my songs, recording them, erasing them and then rewriting them. What else was there to do? They had to be written; they had to be sung. This is what I always wanted to do, make music.

  The only other person who knew about it was Chip. And even he wasn’t there in town anymore. I lived alone in a small house my grandmother left me by the beach. Chip was my only friend. I had the same job for the past twelve years, and my life was going nowhere. It was time that I finally took the plunge and realized my dream, and got out of this Godforsaken place.

  “I’m putting the specials up tonight.” I heard Jack say and I nodded my head without looking up. I was drying the glasses on the bar counter with a rag. My head still ached, my shoulders felt weak…I hadn’t got enough sleep. But I didn’t care anymore, the songs were nearly ready, soon all of this would change, and I’d be whole again.

  “And hey, Austin!” Jack called out, and this time I had to turn.

  “What?” I growled at him, annoyed that he couldn’t leave me alone with my thoughts for a minute.

  “Try and smile at the customers tonight. There’ll be tourists coming in.” He said and walked away with his head shaking. I rolled my eyes and got back to drying the glasses. Smile at the tourists. They were nothing more than a bunch of enthusiastic big city dwellers, who came here to spend money in our sleepy beachside town. And everyone around me frothed at the mouth for their attention, their business. I would if I could lock myself up in my house for the entirety of the summer, just to stay away from them. But then how would I make money? The bar was my only means of livelihood, unlike Chip, who was now living the life of a high-roller in New York in his thirty-fourth-floor apartment.

  I didn’t know if I wanted exactly that, but I knew I wanted to leave this town. Go away to a place where I wouldn’t have to pretend to be a friendly villager to tourists. And I knew that my music was my best bet to get me there.

  Jack had predicted rightly; the bar was quickly filling up with touristy faces, and we both got busy very quickly. That didn’t mean that my head stopped throbbing too.

  When tourists arrived, I made more cocktails, which required more effort. The rest of the year round, we all drank beer, straight from the bottle.

  “Bartender!” I heard a voice at the end of the bar, while I poured a shot of Tequila into a middle-aged lady’s shot glass. She was with her husband, or lover or maybe even a stranger. It was only six in the evening, but they both seemed to be ready to get drunk before the sun went down.

  “One moment, please,” I called out without looking in the direction of the voice. Jack O’Leary really needed to hire one extra hand during the summers, but he never had, and he was never going to.

  I placed the bottle of Tequila back in its position and walked towards the end of the counter. Noticing for the first time that the girl was an absolute stunner. She was grinning at me, and I grinned back.

  She sat with a straight back, her dark curls framed her face and matched her glittering dark eyes. She had firetruck red lipstick on, just the way I liked it and her dress was a tight lycra black, easy to peel off. I was already making mental notes in my head.

  “What can I do you for?” I asked, leaning towards her with my arms folded on the counter. Not surprisingly, she leaned towards me as well. I hoped that she was here alone, but why would she be? I hadn’t seen her before, so she had to be a tourist.

  “I was hoping that you would very kindly make me a Cosmopolitan.” She said, and I realized that she had a British-sounding accent, but I could have been wrong, I didn’t know any British people, and I didn’t think I’d met one before either.

  “I will if you tell me where you’re from,” I said, still leaning forward towards her. From my proximity to her I cold smell the strong musky perfume, she was wearing, and I could see the way her deep cleavage rose and fell as she breathed. She still had a smile on her face, and the color in her cheeks rose. She was blushing.

  “I’m from England, Manchester actually.” She said, in that same sexy husky voice with an accent that was blowing my mind the more I heard it. “Can I have my cocktail now?” She added and tilted her head to one side.

  “England. What are you doing here in our little old town?” I asked, still not making a move towards getting her the drink. I was intrigued, I was turned on, and my headache was fast fading.

  She straightened her neck again and flicked some curls away from her face, still smiling. Her lips were delicious to look at, and she must have seen me staring at them, but she looked back at me unflinchingly. She was enjoying the attention.

  “Taking a break. I drove down from New York. I’ve been on a week long conference, and I just wanted to get away.” She explained, and I noticed how she bit down on her lower lip like she was making some naughty suggestion.

  “What are you doing here in this little old town?” She asked when I hadn’t said anything but just stared back at her. I could see that she was studying the tattoos on my arms, trying to size me up as she looked at my body openly.