Adoring Her (The Heiress #3) Read online

  Adoring Her

  (The Heiress, Book 3)

  By:

  Michelle Dare

  Adoring Her

  Michelle Dare

  Published by Michelle Dare

  Copyright ©2016 Michelle Dare

  First Edition, ebook - published 2016

  Cover Design by Sommer Stein

  Photography by Sara Eirew

  Interior Design & Proofreading by Riane Holt

  Editing by Barren Acres Editing

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  All Rights Reserved Worldwide. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

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

  The use of locations and products throughout this book are done so for storytelling purposes and should in no way be seen as advertisement. Trademark names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

  Michelle Dare

  Email: [email protected]

  Twitter: @michelle_dare

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  Website: http://michelledare.com/

  Radek Cole had been the stereotypical bachelor, just the way he liked it. Then he fell hard and fast for Kasi Markson, a fiercely independent woman, who always speaks her mind and never backs down. They’ve overcome major obstacles in their short time together, but that only made their relationship stronger. Too bad there are still hurdles to conquer.

  An admirer becomes unhinged and a former lover reappears. What else awaits them? Can they weather any storm that comes their way, even the one that’s about to turn their lives upside down?

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Prologue

  My name is Radek Cole. By now you know who I am, but I’m here to tell you more. I’m here to tell you my side of things. You see, everything in my world changed the second I got a phone call from my boss saying there was a woman who needed a pilot at the last minute. He told me her name and I knew who she was. I mean, who didn’t?

  Kasi Markson was someone I knew only from what I heard through the media. I had seen pictures of her, and even searched her quickly online when I found out I’d be flying her on her private jet. Gorgeous. Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. She was who every guy dreamt of going to bed with at night. Those pictures didn’t do her justice, though. Not when I got to see the real woman first hand.

  I knew who her father was. Being a pilot, especially one who flew private jets, how could I not? Kaleb Markson was known around the world for the company he founded, Markson Aviation. He produced quality products for the rich and famous. The fact that I would be flying his daughter to a meeting with him put me on edge. I had to make a good impression. That job could lead to other jobs. I made sure to be on point that day, but what I didn’t expect was for Kasi to infiltrate every one of my senses.

  I was in the cockpit, making sure everything was ready for takeoff, when I met my copilot for the trip. My boss told me this guy regularly flew Ms. Markson and was a close, personal friend. He took his seat and introduced himself to me. I took in his face first and noticed a genuine smile, which made a good first impression. Hopefully it wasn’t fake and he wasn’t a complete dick.

  His short, wavy brown hair gave him the appearance of being young, although I wasn’t sure of his age. What caught me off guard was the sheer size of him. He was muscular and wide like a linebacker. When he gripped my hand to shake it, I thought he was going to break my fingers, and I’m not a small dude.

  “Hey, man. I’m Rob Tanner. Nice to meet you.”

  I inclined my chin out in greeting. “Radek Cole.”

  “Thanks for stepping in to fly my friend. Her regular pilot got sick and she kind of got stuck.”

  “No worries. I’m happy to help. I’ll be right back,” I said. “I’m going to go introduce myself to her.”

  He nodded and I stepped out of the cockpit. One look in her direction and I froze. Kasi was wearing a tight blouse and an even tighter pair of jeans. Her eyes were closed, lips parted, and her blonde hair fell over her shoulders. My cock hardened at the sight. Fuck me. The last thing I wanted to do was meet someone with a raging hard-on. I tried shifting a little to make it less obvious before going to talk to her, but didn’t have much success.

  She was listening to something on her iPad and had no clue I was about to approach her. I tapped her on the shoulder, and the second my fingers met her body, it was like a current of electricity shot straight to my groin. Great. It really needed that extra incentive.

  Her eyes opened and instantly reminded me of an ocean, a crystal blue ocean. She removed her earbuds and spoke to me. The sweet sound of her voice, like a hypnotizing song, didn’t help the problem in my pants at all. I introduced myself, and just as I was about to head back up front, I watched her check me out. I was done for. Game over. If we’d been anywhere else, I’d have excused myself and found some place to go and jerk off to alleviate the pressure in my pants. No such luck, though.

  When my ass finally landed in my seat, I was left a little stunned. Never in my life had I been so instantly attracted to someone. There was nothing I could do about it, of course. She was completely off limits.

  Rob must have noticed the look on my face when I came back. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, sorry.” I rubbed my hands over my face.

  “I’m guessing you met Kasi,” he said chuckling. “She can have that effect on men.”

  I steeled my features. The last thing I wanted was for Rob to know how deeply she affected this particular man. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He chuckled again. “Sure, whatever.” His voice changed fast and became hard when he spoke the next words. “Just don’t get any ideas. You need to keep your hands off of her.” Mood swings much? I didn’t bother responding. I knew I couldn’t act on how I felt, but little did I know I would eventually give in to her. She could be quite the temptress.

  That first encounter
kicked off a relationship with one of the most amazing women I’d ever met. I was a lucky man to get to call Kasi my girlfriend. We’d been through a lot. Some of it had been nothing short of amazing. Other parts had been gut-wrenchingly awful.

  The bumps in our relationship were easy to coast over, but the roadblocks, they weren’t as simple to bypass. Erin was one of those roadblocks. Her name alone made me want to put my fist through a wall. How she blackmailed Kasi was inexcusable. As if the whole thing with Erin wasn’t bad enough, she brought another problem with her that I didn’t see coming. Kai.

  Kai was one of Kasi’s best friends, a guy best friend. Yeah, my brain went right to the fact that no guy is just a friend. Someone always wants more, and in this case, it was Kai. He was in love with my girlfriend and waited until she was with me; or without me, since I had broken up with her, to tell her. I hated it but had been assured repeatedly that she didn’t want him in that way. They were only friends.

  I trusted her. I questioned that trust for a little while, but now it was solid. She didn’t lie to me. I could tell by the hesitation in her voice, or if she avoided eye contact when she contemplated telling me the truth, but in the end she didn’t lie. When she told me I was her man, the one she wanted to spend every night with, I knew she spoke from her heart.

  I had a hard time putting into words the depth of my feelings for her. She was everything I never knew I wanted. Everything that made me feel complete. When I pictured my future, I was a bachelor living the good life, doing whatever I wanted, when I wanted. No one to answer to. That wasn’t the case anymore. My future outlook changed drastically, but in the best way possible.

  Kasi was my reason for getting up every day. She was the bright spot in my life. Everything I’d done, since we’d become a couple, had been for her. Only her. Always her. I adored her. My life revolved around her.

  No, I wasn’t a creeper. I was a man so fucking in love with a woman that I found it hard to breathe at times. My goal every day was to make her happy. She didn’t deserve anything less.

  Now I’ve spilled my guts to you. It took two books, but you get me and my point of view for a bit. Hopefully, you’ll understand a little more about me, and how truly in love I was with this beautiful blonde by the name of Kasi Markson.

  1

  I had asked Kasi if she wanted to live with me. Okay, to be fair I told her, but then I asked her. She wasn’t having any of my caveman shit. I would also be her pilot and hers alone. From the moment she said yes to those two things, I felt like I was riding a huge high, and a weight was lifted from my shoulders.

  When I was done squeezing her in a massive hug, I set her down on the floor and looked in her eyes. She was beaming. Her wide smile spread to me and made my high even better. She was happy. I was happy. For a moment, all was right in our world.

  That high didn’t last long, though. Reality soon set in, and I remembered why I pushed for us to live together. Some crazy prick had been sneaking over the fence that surrounded her home and took close-up pictures through her windows. Luckily, he was currently in jail, but I didn’t know how long that would last. I wasn’t a cop and wasn’t sure how long they could hold him there. Kasi was in the process of getting a restraining order just to be on the safe side. I didn’t think it was good enough and wanted more security for her.

  “I’m going to let Ace out for a bit. I’ll be right back,” she said to me, still smiling.

  “Okay, baby. I have a few calls to make. A boss to give my notice to.”

  She nodded and grabbed a couple of balls to throw for Ace before heading outside. Ace was her very large and very protective German Shepherd. He was also the one that found Joseph Harrison, the dick spying on my girlfriend, and held him until I got there. He was armed with a switchblade and camera. I wanted to harm him so badly but reined myself in by the time the cops showed up.

  Grabbing my phone, I called my boss. I told him I would be quitting in two weeks. I gave him a brief overview of why I was leaving and fortunately he understood. He wasn’t happy about it, mind you, but I did the right thing and gave him notice, instead of quitting effective immediately.

  Surprisingly, I only had one job scheduled during those two weeks, and it was one night away from home. The idea of being away from Kasi didn’t sit well with me, but I knew it was only the one night. One night where she would be alone. Fuck, I didn’t want to go. At least I had a week and a half until I had to leave. My boss said he wouldn’t schedule anything else for me. He knew I wanted to be with her.

  I didn’t like the idea that Joseph might be free soon, leaving Kasi vulnerable. I was hoping he at least stayed locked up until I got back from my last work assignment. I needed to make sure she could handle a gun before I left. Between that, having Ace, and her home security system, she would be protected, or at least I hoped. It didn’t quell the sick feeling I had about leaving her, however.

  During the next week and a half, I planned on taking her to buy a handgun and taking basic lessons. I wanted her armed while I was gone. I also thought up a surprise for her.

  Multiple calls later, everything was scheduled for my change of address. A truck was rented for my move from the apartment I was renting to Kasi’s home. A couple of my buddies said they would help me, which I was grateful for. I really didn’t want to hire movers. I called my landlord and informed him, too. The utilities still needed to be handled, but I had time. What I needed to focus on was Kasi’s surprise.

  The front door swung open as I was ending a call. Perfect timing. “This weekend I’m moving in. Are you ready for me, baby?” I was smiling like a lunatic. I might not have been very good at hiding my excitement, but then again, I didn’t even try.

  “That was fast,” she stated, rather matter of fact.

  “Is that a problem? I’m here almost every night anyway. The sooner, the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “No, not at all. I just didn’t expect you to move in so soon.” She stepped up close and brought her arms up around my neck. “I’m happy you’ll be here. What are we going to do with all of your furniture? We could put it in storage.”

  Laughing, I said, “I feel like I live in a frat house at my apartment. It’s all hand-me-downs. I don’t want to keep it.” Frat house was a very accurate assessment of my living situation. Old, faded blue couch, ratty deep burgundy recliner, and folding trays to eat off of. That was only the living room, so you can imagine what the rest of the place looked like.

  “It’s still in good shape.” Sure, some of it. Like the bedroom set I had. It was a hand-me-down, but it was still worth donating to someone in need.

  “Yeah, that’s why some of my friends are going to help me load up a truck and donate it. Whatever isn’t donated or thrown out I’m going to box up and store in your basement. I’ll go through it and donate whatever else I can.”

  She scrunched her eyebrows, looking at me in confusion. “You don’t have anything personal you want to keep?”

  “One thing. My mother’s hope chest. I can’t let it go.” That chest meant more to me than anything else I owned. It was the last piece of her I had left. I would never part with it. My mood shifted. I was suddenly sad thinking of her and how much I missed her every day.

  Kasi, sensing the change, moved her hand to my face, gently cupping my cheek. “What’s wrong?”

  This was part of my life I hadn’t shared with her yet. Actually, there were many parts of my life I hadn’t told her about. Some were more painful than others, and therefore, harder for me to discuss. It was only Kasi, however. She deserved to know everything. To know all of me.

  “My mom died when I was in my mid-twenties. It’s all I have left of her.” I shrugged, trying to hide my feelings and not get upset. “Well, that and all of the things I have stored inside.”

  She moved her arms around my waist and pulled me in close. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s not something I like to talk about.”

  She nodded
against me and didn’t say anything else. I knew moving in with her meant I had to open myself up more, but that wasn’t easy for me. I tended to keep everything inside and let it sit there. Let it stew and fester. Besides, guys weren’t meant to show emotion, right? We were supposed to be tough. Not everyone can be indifferent and tough as steel every day. We all have our moments when we let our guard down and reality hits us.

  Pulling away from her, I forced a smile. “Tomorrow we’re going for a drive. I have a surprise for you.” Her gorgeous blue eyes locked onto mine. The wheels were turning in her head.

  “I’d ask you what it is, but I don’t think you’ll tell me. Instead, tell me when I need to be ready by.”

  I did some mental calculation of how long it would take to get there, and what time I said we’d arrive. “We need to leave at ten. It’s a two-hour drive.”

  “Two hours, huh? Not too far, but not close. Okay. I look forward to whatever it is you’re surprising me with.” She gave me a brief kiss and a long tight hug. She didn’t know how badly I needed her comfort in that moment. How badly I wanted to lose myself in her touch.

  ****

  Nine-thirty the next morning, Kasi was ready. I was downstairs eating a bowl of whatever sugar-filled cereal I picked up that week at the store. My arms rested on the kitchen island, and I had a spoonful midway to my mouth when she walked into the room. Her long, blonde hair was lying over her shoulders in big, loose curls. The dark jeans she was wearing hugged her thighs and ass perfectly. A fitted, black, long-sleeved V-neck drew my eyes instantly to her voluptuous breasts. Add in the high-heeled, black boots that came up her calf, and she looked like every man’s wet dream. I licked my lips and my dick hardened at the sight. This was going to be one long ass car ride. It was going to take all of my resolve not to pull to the side of the road and fuck her.

  “Like something you see, Mr. Cole?” she inquired, while running a slender finger along the deep V of the shirt.