Reckless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 2) Read online

  by

  Mallory Crowe

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Fonts used with permission from Microsoft.

  Copyright © 2016 by Mallory Crowe

  Mallory Crowe (2016-5-24). Reckless (Fractured Farrells Book Two)

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  REMORSELESS Sneak Peek!

  Check out all of Mallory Crowe's Books!

  Hatred was a strong word, but as Malia looked up at the towering resort casting shade over the relaxing ocean, hatred was exactly what welled up inside her. Even on an island thousands of miles from where she’d grown up, she couldn’t escape the shadow of her past.

  She knelt into the water. The ocean waves lapped up her legs and got the bottom of her cutoff jean shorts damp as she filled the small vial with the soft sand beneath her feet. As she brought the vial out of the water, she screwed on the cap and shook off any excess water droplets before she placed the vial in her pocket. Once she was back on shore, she’d put it in her bag. Malia had dropped one too many valuables into the damaging salt water to trust herself to bring a purse, cell phone, or keys this far from the safety of the beach.

  Malia made her way back to the shore, staring intently into the clear water below. It was mostly sandy, but bits of rock and coral came loose often enough in this area of the beach to be dangerous to the unsuspecting foot. Nothing worse than having to walk home three miles with an open sore on her foot. She knew that from experience.

  Once she made it to the sandy beach, she set the sample in her bag and picked up her sandals. The water acted like a glue on her feet and there would be no use trying to get any sand off until her feet had a chance to dry.

  As she pulled the strap of her bag over her shoulder, her cell phone, which she’d half-assed moved from her pocket to her purse before she’d gone in the water, popped out and fell into the sand. More evidence that she should keep any and all electronics as far away from water as physically possible.

  “Need help down there?” asked a deep voice from above.

  She jerked at the intrusion and looked up to see the tourist who’d managed to sneak up on her. Usually they traveled in packs and made more noise than she’d imagine possible. Judging from his light skin and the fact that he had nothing with him but the glass beer bottle he was drinking out of, he was a tourist who’d wandered over from the nearby resorts along Waikiki Beach.

  “I got it, thanks.” She scooped up the phone and got herself situated before she continued onto the path that led from the resorts all the way to Diamond Head Crater. But instead of moving on, the tourist still stood there, staring at her. “Aren’t you a bit far from the resorts?”

  He took a deep drink of his beer. “That was kind of the point of the walk.”

  Well, if he wanted to avoid people, Oahu was probably the worst island of Hawaii for him. Especially the side with Honolulu. “So what are you doing out here?” She winced once the words were out. She really should’ve just left, but it wasn’t the first time her curiosity got the best of her.

  And she was curious about the guy. It wasn’t just some random person walking along the beach, drinking. It was some random beautiful person. He wore slacks and a lightweight robin’s egg blue buttoned-up shirt. The slacks were much too warm for the spring air, but his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the shirt was unbuttoned down to mid-chest. That combined with his dark hair and clear blue eyes all added up to one damn pretty package.

  “I came out to appreciate the view,” he said, reminding Malia that she’d asked him a question.

  She stood up straighter and stared him down. “I’m not interested in hanging out with any tourists.”

  The corner of his mouth hooked up as he cocked his head, studying her. “I wasn’t hitting on you.” He motioned behind her with his beer. “I came to see that view.”

  Malia turned around to see the lowering sun. She wouldn’t call it sunset yet, but once it started to go down, it went down fast. Wouldn’t be long before the entire island was in shadow.

  “Oh... Sorry,” she muttered. People here just didn’t snap at others or assume the worst, even of the tourists. It was one of her favorite things about the islands. Everyone was so nice and laid-back, something she never got on the mainland. Apparently she could take the girl out of the city but couldn’t take the city out of the girl.

  “The fact that I found a beautiful woman here is just a perk.” The tourist brought the beer to his lips.

  She snorted as she reached the concrete path and shook whatever sand she could off her feet. “Well, I’m flattered, but I have to be going. Enjoy your sunset.”

  Just as she turned to walk away, he called out, “Does it really turn green?”

  She stopped as she looked over her shoulder. “Excuse me?”

  “I’ve always heard that if you watch the sun carefully here, it flashes green right as it goes down. That true?”

  Malia sighed as she looked between the direction she needed to go and the man behind her. Damn it, she was intrigued by someone who appreciated small wonders. “If you want to talk, walk with me.”

  He smiled, a little indication that his goal had been to be close to her, and approached.

  Malia tried to figure out whether she was being paranoid. It wasn’t as if she had men banging down her doors and asking for dates. In fact, she pretty much never got hit on. During the ten different moves she’d done with her mother between the ages of twelve and seventeen, she’d perfected her resting bitch face.

  It took one hell of a guy to get past those walls, and if this one wanted to take a shot, she’d at least think about it. “The green flash is a real thing and it’s not just Hawaii. Most places where you can see the sun set over the Pacific has it, but it’s hard to see.”

  She took short steps, keeping an eye out for any debris or stones on the walkway, and the man walked alongside her. His long legs could probably take him a lot faster if he wanted, and from the steady strides, she was betting he hadn’t had a lot of those beers.

  “Have you seen it?”

  “Yep. I had no idea what it was that first time, though. I thought I might be drunk at first. It was so random, I thought I’d imagined it. It wasn’t until a year later that I heard some friends mention the flash that I put two and two together.” She looked over at him, trying to figur
e out anything about the stranger. He didn’t smell of overpowering cologne, which was a definite plus. His hair was short and his facial hair wasn’t what she’d consider a beard, but it had grown out enough to cover his strong cheekbones and jawline. Not the worst sight to see on her way home. “So, what? Did someone mention the flash at the bar and you decided to come check it out?”

  “Nah. I heard about it years ago. I’m normally too busy to get out.”

  And judging from the beer in his hand tonight, she would guess he was still busy, just past the point of caring. “So you work here a lot? Most mainlanders would love that.”

  “They like getting a free trip to paradise; they don’t like the work. The problem is that I work too much while I’m here.”

  “So what makes tonight different? What made you finally decide to search out the natural wonders of the island sun tonight?”

  “It’s been a shitty week. Shitty year, I guess.”

  Do not ask him about his shitty year. Do not ask him about his shitty year. Do not— “What was so shitty about it?”

  “My father died last year. That was just the first domino that sent a whole mess of chips falling down. Now I have to make time to do the things I’ve been putting off.”

  See...this was why she shouldn't ask questions. Now the same guy she had wanted to leave her alone a few minutes ago was suddenly a real, live person who she felt bad for. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. The guy was a bastard. But I’ve been cleaning up his mess and it seems like the more I do, the worse it gets.”

  Eesh. Note to self: Dude has daddy issues. “Hopefully you get some good relaxation in this week then.”

  “Doubtful. Still have to work and my sister is flying in tomorrow with her boyfriend. Any time I do have free will probably be with them. So tonight will have to tide me over for a while.”

  Oh no. He was angling for the whole “I’m only in town for a few days and want a fling”. She’d heard enough stories about one-night stands with tourists gone wrong to last her a lifetime. It would be better to distance herself now instead of leading him on. “Then I suggest you find some better company than me. As soon as this green flash happens, I’m abandoning you.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m the opposite of clingy. I think the word my last girlfriend used was ‘commitmentphobe.’ Which is really a stupid word.”

  “Stupid?”

  “It sounds like some disorder or disease that needs to be cured. I want to have fun with as many different people as possible while I can. That should be celebrated.”

  Malia had to look away so he wouldn’t see her grin. “It could also lead to disorders and diseases, though.”

  “And that is why I travel with an embarrassingly large stash of condoms.”

  Malia couldn’t help it. She snorted with laughter. She knew he was flirting with her and normally she had such a high guard for charming guys like this, but somehow he’d caught her off her game. Didn’t matter. She’d already made it clear that after sunset, she was leaving him alone. “I’ll file that tidbit into my mental folder called ‘Things I Didn’t Want To Know,’ Mr....”

  “Right. Names. I forgot you don’t know me.” He stopped and held out a hand. “I’m Robert.”

  She eyed his outstretched palm for a second. She really didn’t like touching people. Enough so that she’d had to move to an island thousands of miles from the coast to get to the isolation she craved. Even so, shaking hands was one of those things “normal” people did, and she braced herself for the discomfort.

  “I’m Malia.” She met his handshake but surprisingly didn’t feel any skeevy goose bumps. His grip was warm, strong, and every bit as confident as the man in front of her.

  And the fact that she wasn’t freaked out was more disconcerting than she wanted to admit.

  Malia pulled her hand away and pointed to a bench ahead. “We can sit there and watch for the flash. It shouldn’t be too much longer now.” As she sat, she brushed the sand off her feet, which were now dry enough that a good portion of the stuff came off. Not all of it. As hard as she tried, she constantly would find more bits of the stuff stuck to her skin when she crawled into bed.

  Not that she minded. It was a small price to pay to live in such a beautiful place.

  “So you know what I was doing wandering around.” Robert tipped his now empty beer. “What brought you here? I thought this beach was all tourists.”

  Malia tried to look away from his handsome face and to the gentle ocean, but the sun was too bright at its current angle and she turned back to Robert. “Just doing a favor for a friend. She’s doing a study about the salt levels in the water at different times of the year, so every day she needs samples from that section of beach.”

  “So you’re out here every single day.”

  “No. But I come out Tuesdays and Thursdays. I help out with a lot of the more time-consuming studies. The university here has some really great programs in geology and biology, so the students normally need a hand.”

  “That’s nice of you.”

  “Well, they pay me. Not a lot, but it gets me a decent dinner every now and then.”

  “Do you do a lot of odd jobs?”

  “I do every odd job. Tours, labor, catering, hula dancer. You name it, I’ve done it.”

  He leaned in closer. “Whoa. Did you say hula dancer?”

  “Well, I wasn’t very good. I don’t exactly look the part.” Unlike the Polynesian beauties who had the delicate dance down to an art, Malia had light-brown, mousey hair. It probably would be much darker if she wasn’t out in the sun so much. “But a friend needed a favor—”

  “And you’re the person everyone calls when they need a favor. Not the best position to be in.”

  “Well, I get paid for my favors.” She winced. “That came out wrong.”

  Robert let out a soft laugh. “I get what you’re saying. I get called for favors all day and I don’t get paid for a damn one.”

  “You’re missing out.”

  “Apparently.” He was quiet for a few moments and the setting sun was just right so that his blue eyes seemed like such an impossible color that she doubted they could be real.

  “The sun is going down any minute. We should probably keep our eyes on it. The flash only lasts a second, so if you’re not paying attention, you miss it.” She took in a few deep breaths as she tried to bring herself back to normal.

  Watching the sun was a good excuse to sit in silence and not do any more...flirting. She didn’t know where the words were coming from. She didn’t even know how to flirt. At least she didn’t think she did.

  So instead, she focused on the oddly romantic horizon while the cool shade of the growing shadows around them was broken up with the warmth coming from the large body next to her. She bit her lip as she closed her eyes. The idea had been that the darkness would help her focus, but instead, all it did was enhance her imagination. Robert moving closer...setting a hand on her leg...

  Her eyes snapped open and she glanced over her shoulder. She hadn’t imagined all of it. Robert was closer. Right next to her, actually. His thigh was just a centimeter from hers. His gaze dropped to her lips and her breath caught in her throat. She should tell him to move back or take a hike or anything. Instead, all that came out was, “It’s going to happen any minute. You should keep your eyes on the horizon.”

  Somehow managing to follow her own advice, she turned back to the sunset. Only the tiniest bit of sun was showing now. If the conditions were right, the green flash should be there any second...

  “I’ll have other chances to see this,” said Robert softly from behind her. “But I might never see you again.” His breath brushed the side of her ear, letting her know that he was even closer.

  Sun. Just focus on the sun. Do not turn around.

  And then it was there. The mystical flash. Sure, there was some reason for it. The atmospheric conditions combined with the light spectrum. But to her, it was magic.


  “Did you see it?” she asked, still not trusting herself enough to turn around.

  “It was beautiful.”

  She didn’t know whether he was talking about the sunset or this was one more attempt at flirting, but it didn’t matter. She was going home now and he’d be going back to his hotel. Which was a good thing.

  “I’m glad you caught it, Robert. Not everyone does.” She stood at the same time he did and they faced each other.

  He held up his empty beer. “I’m due for a refill. Why don’t we continue this conversation at the hotel bar? I can guarantee us a good seat.”

  Malia bit her lip. Damn, it was tempting. Handsome man, free drinks, good conversation. But she still wasn’t getting involved with a tourist, and considering how strong a pull this stranger had on her already, it was better to run sooner rather than later. “I really need to head home.”

  “More favors to do?” he asked.

  “Always.” This was her cue. Time to turn around and walk away. Let the nice night stay a nice night in her mind. But she didn’t walk away. She stood there and stared up at Robert. He leaned in slowly, giving her every opportunity to turn or run or slap him or really anything but what she actually did. Instead, she stood up on her toes to meet him.

  His lips were warm and soft and gentle and so damn intoxicating. He cupped her face with his free hand and angled her for better access as he deepened the kiss, teasing her lips with his tongue.

  At this point, Malia gave up trying to convince herself to run. She wrapped her fingers in Robert’s soft shirt as she kissed him back. It had been so long since she’d even held a man’s hand, let alone kissed one. She’d forgotten how good the contact felt: The sexual rush that ran through her whole body, urging her to do a whole lot more than kissing. The tingle in her hands, telling her to touch him all over. Feel the stubble on his face. Snake under his shirt to see whether his chest and stomach were as sculpted as she suspected.

  Because her self-control obviously couldn’t be trusted, Robert was the first one to pull away. Well, he stopped kissing her. His hand was still at the nape of her neck and his forehead pressed to hers. “Come back with me. I have a room. We’ll get room service. It will be so good for you.”