Mitchell, Ava and Holiday, Sydney - A Bride for Two Tycoons [Male Order, Texas 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  The Male Order, Texas Collection

  A Bride for Two Tycoons,

  Part 1: The Courtship

  Determined to secure funding to save her non-profit, Madeline Spencer heads to Male Order, Texas, a town just east of Dallas known for its enormous wealth and generous philanthropists. Her first stop is Ellis Enterprises, and she hopes a corporate donation from the elite multinational company will help make her dream come true.

  Unbeknownst to her, Male Order is menageamous and the powerful Ellis brothers are loaded in more ways than one. The moment Dalton and Garrett see her, there’s no denying their overwhelming urge to claim this single-minded and sensual woman who thinks a romantic entanglement can only be a liability.

  During a whirlwind courtship the brothers introduce her to the lavish pleasures of a Male-Order lifestyle but learn they don’t need to open their pocketbooks to open Madeline’s heart. They just have to convince her that mixing business with pleasure isn’t so bad after all.

  Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 53,691 words

  A BRIDE FOR TWO TYCOONS

  Part 1: The Courtship

  Male Order, Texas

  Ava Mitchell

  Sydney Holiday

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  A BRIDE FOR TWO TYCOONS

  Copyright © 2010 by Ava Mitchell and Sydney Holiday

  E-book ISBN: 1-61034-042-6

  First E-book Publication: October 2010

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2010 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of A Bride for Two Tycoons by Ava Mitchell and Sydney Holiday from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The authors and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Ava Mitchell and Sydney Holiday’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect their right to earn a living from their work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  We would like to dedicate this book to our fans, who we hope will enjoy the trip from the warm, homespun charm of Liebling to the lavish and sophisticated world of Male Order.

  A BRIDE FOR TWO TYCOONS

  PART 1: THE COURTSHIP

  Male Order, Texas 1

  AVA MITCHELL AND SYDNEY HOLIDAY

  Copyright © 2010

  Chapter One

  Garrett Ellis pushed the remains of his chicken salad sandwich around on his plate with a fork. He counted the minutes until the dessert course would arrive and he could finally excuse himself and get on with his day. Well, at least high tea at the Dallas Arboretum included champagne. He took a sip, savoring the way the tingly bubbles danced on his tongue. The sun was out on an ideal early-summer day with only a few wisps of clouds in the clear blue sky. The ambience would have been picture perfect with the right person.

  Garrett looked up briefly at the socialite his sister had set him up with as she continued her incessant yapping. Sometimes it even sounded like the high-pitched yipping of an actual dog. Perhaps boredom was making him go insane, and he was hearing things. He also noticed she had a strange habit of every now and then casually breaking off a piece of her sandwich and then slipping it under the table. Garrett wondered if this was part of some weird diet she was on. At least it wasn’t that ridiculous cayenne pepper, maple syrup thing. In any case, she didn’t seem to notice his inattention.

  Good.

  How long had she been talking now? And what about? Probably something about how cultured she was and how much she loved fine things—hint, hint. All these beastly gold diggers were the same and, frankly, he was becoming utterly bored by them. Sure, they were good for a fuck every now and then to help distract him from anything troubling him, but he thought the shallowness of it all was getting a little stale. He could hardly believe it himself, but he actually was ready for a little substance, something and somebody real whom he could truly devote himself to.

  The girl laughed, and automatically, Garrett mimicked her back. He reminded himself to nod and smile every now and then, just to keep up appearances though he didn’t know why he should even bother. This date was strictly a favor for his sister who flagrantly used her friends and loved ones to get her new business off the ground. Bea’s Billionaire Ménage Matchmaking was her most recent venture and her most annoying one yet. At least for Garrett. He didn’t understand why Dalton, his older brother, somehow was excused from these ridiculous dates. After all, if by some fluke Bea actually made a match for them, they’d be sharing the lucky girl anyway. Perhaps it was because he was busy running the family fortune.

  Then the deafening sound of silence moved him from his thoughts.

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  Busted.

  The blonde bombshell sneered at him with collagen-injected lips. The thought of those glossy red plastic lumps on any part of his body made him ill. Garrett briefly weighed the pros and cons of how he should reply to the polymer cougar snapping her perfectly manicured fingers at him. Be polite, apologetic, and make the woman and his sister happy? Or the alternative—being honest, which would be interpreted as rude, but would get him the hell o
ut of there?

  “Hello? Earth to Garrett. Garrett Ellis, can you hear me?” She waved her hand in front of his face a few times until he finally made eye contact again. Her look of disdain immediately returned to saccharine sweetness. She smiled wide at him, revealing a row of glaringly white teeth. He practically had to squint when the sun hit it at certain angles. Garrett mentally rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe this woman would still give him the time of day considering he treated her with absolutely no interest at all. He hadn’t even bothered to shower or shave but threw on a wrinkled lemon-yellow polo shirt and hideous neon-green plaid madras shorts, a gift from his great-aunt Mabel. His canvas once-khaki-colored-now-splotchy-beige boat shoes were the ones he’d worn deep-sea fishing off the coast of Costa Rica this past weekend, and they had a distinct fishy odor. Apparently, when she looked at him, she only saw dollar signs, and the smell of money overruled the stench of rotting fish.

  “Yes, Darla, I hear you perfectly well. You were talking about…” Garrett looked her up and down, trying to assess what would interest someone so vapid. She kept stroking her hand down the length of her hair, as if to polish it. “Your new highlights. They’re lovely.”

  Her eyebrows knitted, as best they could considering all the Botox injected there, and Garrett realized he must have missed the mark.

  “No?” Garrett reached over and grasped a lock of her hair, twirling it around his finger. “Well, if I were you, I’d be talking about them all day. They’re beautiful.”

  She immediately bowed her head and batted her eyelashes. Garrett couldn’t believe himself sometimes. He could hardly stand this woman, and yet he couldn’t help but crank up the charm. He needed to get out of there before he got himself any deeper. Pecan tarts and petit fours would have to wait another day. Tea time needed to be cut short.

  “Oh, Garrett, you’re such a charmer. Your sister was right about you.” Darla giggled and then arched her back, pushing her breasts out. “You know, I’m quite interested in learning a little bit more about your brother, Dalton, too. I have some family in Male Order, so…” She looked up at him expectantly and bit her bottom lip, causing the tips of her blindingly white teeth to stain with lipstick.

  He smiled blankly at her for a few moments, trying to think up some plan of escape. Then a child’s high-pitched scream rang through the gardens. He scanned the area and saw the source of the noise jumping up and down frantically at the edge of a large water fountain. The little girl looked anxious as she pointed to a lifeless brown lump floating among lily pads while the fountain spurted water perilously close to it.

  “Oh my goodness, I think the child needs help. I’m really sorry but—” Garrett had started to stand when Darla’s talons gripped his arm, urging him to stay.

  “But, Garrett, it’s just a child. I’m sure she’s fine. And look, there are plenty of people clamoring to her aid.” The desperation on her face crinkling its way into her voice was sad, but not Garrett’s problem. He had no interest in the woman, and truly, it was wrong of him to lead her on at all. He shook her grip off his elbow and pulled away.

  “Just a child, Darla? Just a child?” Garrett tried his best to look wounded and disgusted. “I thought we might have something special, but now I see this was never meant to be. I need to be where I am needed, and that child,” Garrett pointed, his face twisted in anguish, “needs me. The least I can do is render aid somehow. I must go.”

  “But, Garrett, I need you. Wait!”

  “So sorry, Darla. I’m sure Bea will have another wealthy suitor for you. I’ll have her call you…” Garrett ran off, trying to hide his grin as he went.

  As Garrett jogged toward the scene, he could see a gaggle of kids surrounding the fountain. He briefly considered veering toward the parking lot, but then he noticed a young woman in the midst of all the mayhem, her exquisite auburn hair glimmering in the afternoon sun. It cascaded down her shoulders in fiery waves and perfectly framed her porcelain complexion. She looked to be desperately trying to calm all the children down. Garrett slowed to watch the scene unfold.

  “Kids, kids, please calm down,” she said, as her chocolate brown eyes darted around. “Please,” she lowered her voice, “you guys are going to get us all in trouble.”

  The little girl screamed again, tears streaming down her reddened face. “But, Miss Maddie, my bear. Antoine threw my bear in the water, and it’s gonna drown!”

  “I assure you it won’t drown.” She bent down and said something that Garrett couldn’t hear, but whatever it was, it quieted the girl who now stood obediently, nodding her head.

  The woman popped up and again her eyes darted around, searching for what, Garrett wasn’t sure. The rest of the kids also hushed as they watched the woman lean on the edge of the fountain and stretch an arm out for the bear while the other one kept her steady and on dry land. Her perfectly round ass jutted out as she leaned forward.

  Garrett chuckled. He thought the woman certainly had to know she was far too petite to reach the stuffed bear. But, for some unknown reason, she kept trying, reaching and stretching. Garrett wondered if she was perhaps a superhero in disguise with amazing powers of expansion. One would assume that based on the look of determination on her face. Or perhaps she thought sheer will alone was enough to accomplish anything.

  Garrett’s dick stirred in his pants. Something about her tenacity impressed him, a feeling he rarely had with most of the women in his social circle. They tended to be over-pampered gold diggers who went to the best schools money could buy and yet were as feeble-minded as people could get.

  And before him stood a woman with natural beauty who he hoped had brains to match.

  He walked up to see if he could help. He thought the role of knight in shining armor would suit him well.

  * * * *

  Madeline Spencer could feel her calves starting to lock up and ache from being overextended. She knew the bear was impossibly out of reach, but she had to try. It was Jasmine’s favorite toy and likely her only one. She couldn’t let that little girl down. She took that dusty, endlessly patched-up thing with her everywhere.

  “Please, Miss Maddie, you have to save him. If he stays in there much longer, he’ll sink and drown,” Jasmine whined as quietly as a child could in that situation. Really, Madeline was very impressed with how well her kids were behaving. These were good kids, but they grew up in and lived in a rough part of Dallas’s inner city. Discipline and stable environments were difficult things to come by. Normally, they would be running and jumping around screaming, singing, perhaps uttering a few profanities here and there, words that children shouldn’t know, and yet, that was reality.

  “I know, honey, I’m trying. I promise you he’ll be okay.” She cringed a little at her words. Well, if it got a little soaked, that wouldn’t be the end of the world, so it wasn’t necessarily a lie. But to a six-year-old girl who viewed the stuffed animal as her best friend, watching it sink to the bottom of a murky fountain could amount to that. Madeline sighed heavily and then inhaled deeply, sucking in her breath and bracing herself for one final stretch. She watched as the bear’s body began to sink under its own waterlogged weight until all she could see was the top of its head, rounded ears, and little plastic eyes and nose bobbing up and down in the water.

  So freakin’ close. Her middle finger grazed the bear’s nose, but only resulted in pushing it farther away. Her shoulder started to cramp up, and tears formed in her eyes in reaction to the pain. In an effort to get the bear to coast on the current, she paddled the water toward her. It got caught on a lily pad.

  Even though her sleeves were rolled up, they still dipped into the turbulent fountain waters. The wet, crumpled fabric clung to her elbows, but she was beyond caring.

  In frustration, she’d stood and almost jumped in for the bear, knowing full well that would just land her knee-deep in water when a whiff of fish and a big, warm hand stopped her.

  “Whoa, there, sweetheart,” a low voice drawled. “It looks like
you were about to jump for that soggy-looking thing. That’s no place for a lady. You could get soaked.”

  Madeline looked up into the cool blue-gray eyes of a man who she instinctually knew was too handsome for his own good. He exuded sex and trouble. The heat that radiated from his hand on her waist ran straight through her entire body. She hoped he had no idea of the truth in his words at that moment. His thick fingers dug into her flesh, willing her to move her body, which she seemed to suddenly have no control over. He reached to her damp elbow. Was he pulling her toward him? Toward his body?

  Madeline swallowed hard as she tried to get her bearings, but it was damn near impossible considering she couldn’t move a muscle or wrench her gaze away from his.

  “Are you all right?” The smooth tone in his voice seemed to melt through her. She nodded slightly in affirmation but couldn’t tell if it was visible. “Is she always like this?” He smiled and broke his gaze from hers as he addressed the children standing around them. The sound of snickering brought her back to her senses.

  Thank God. How long had she been like that? Was it just for a moment? It felt like an eternity.

  She shook her head, took a deep breath, and tried to speak, but no words came.

  “Um, uh,” she stammered. Her brow furrowed. A breeze swept through, chilling her dampened skin. Goose bumps prickled up and down her arm, and she shivered.

  He pulled her close, the heat from his body searing her. “Cold? Your clothes are all damp.” Then a small body squeezed between them. She looked down and saw Jasmine’s braided hair, done up with little white plastic clips of daisies.

  “Mister, my bear. Miss Maddie was trying to save my bear.” Jasmine looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. That brought Madeline back to her senses completely.

  “Yes, that’s right.” Madeline nodded vigorously. “I need to get that bear and quick, before a guard finally notices what’s going on here.” She kicked off her shoes and hiked up her skirt, shaking off the man’s lingering effects on her body in the process.