P.S. You Would Be So Lucky, page 1
P.S. You Would Be So Lucky
J. S. COOPER
Copyright © 2022 by J. S. Cooper
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Forbidden Arrangement Blurb
Mailing List
Acknowledgments
Contents
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Forbidden Arrangement Blurb
Mailing List
Acknowledgments
Blurb
Dear Hotter than Hades Wannabe,
Let me fill you in on a secret. Football players do not run the world, and they certainly do not get to run mine. To be honest, I don’t even know the difference between a quarterback and a tight end. Well, that’s a bit of a lie. I love me a good tight end...but do not distract me. You can bat your big blue eyes at me any day of the week, and I will feel nothing. You’re not God’s gift to women, no matter what your mama told you. Yes, we had one night together. And no, I didn’t know you were "The Brad Chambers.” Like I said, I don’t follow football. I didn’t leave my purse in your apartment because I was trying to ensure you would call me again. I couldn’t care less. And no, I don’t want a repeat performance of that night. It wasn’t that memorable. I hope this will get you to stop emailing me now. And no need to send me VIP tickets. Not interested.
Sincerely,
The Hottest Three-Night Stand You Will Ever Have
P.S. You would be so lucky to get another night with me!
Chapter One
Tall and built like a truck with big blue dazzling eyes, buzzed blond hair, a smile that screamed “I can make you come in two minutes,” and facial hair begging to be touched. The man in front of me was trouble with a capital T, and I could not keep my eyes off him. He also had a smooth baritone voice that made my toes curl.
“I’m not taking anything less than ten mil,” he snarled into the phone, and my eyes widened. “I don’t care, Troy. Take care of it.” He ended the call and shook his head. His eyes met mine for two brief seconds before he kept looking around him. The guy was obviously a jerk, but he was the hottest jerk I’d ever seen. And probably the richest one as well. He pulled his phone out of his pocket again, and as he did, a small wallet fell out. I waited for him to pick it up, but he hadn’t noticed. I hurried forward.
“Excuse me,” I called out to him. He turned to me with a raised eyebrow, and I waited for him to say something. His lips curled up as he looked me up and down, and I swallowed hard. “You...” I paused as he shook his head.
“No autographs, sorry.”
“What?” I stopped.
“Not tonight, honey.” He shook his head, and I watched as a stretch limo drove up and stopped. The driver jumped out and opened the door for him. The man turned away from me and moved toward the open door.
“No, wait...” I bent down to pick up his wallet. “You...” I pointed at him, and he laughed.
“Yes, I am the Brad Chambers, but tonight is not a good night for me, sexy.” He smirked, and I watched as the driver shut the door behind him and then got back into the car. I stood there holding his wallet and just watched as the limo drove away.
“Arrogant prick,” I mumbled to myself. He was obviously some dickhead who thought he was world famous. I rolled my eyes, put his wallet into my handbag, and continued down the street as quickly as I could. I was not going to let that asshole ruin my day.
“You’re a New York gal now, Shantal,” I whispered to myself as I walked down the cold Manhattan streets toward the exclusive ESPN party that Susie had invited me to. My pantyhose felt too tight, and I was having trouble walking in the high heels and tight dress, but I was determined to make a statement when I entered the room. Susie, Marcia, and Lilian were already there and waiting for me outside the venue. I’d been unlucky enough to catch a cab that had dropped me off in the wrong spot. And while I hated walking, I didn’t have money to be wasting on endless cabs. I checked the GPS on my phone. I was still half a mile away.
“Ugh.” I stopped and rubbed my calves for a few seconds and then continued walking.
“Hey sexy,” a young guy with long black hair yelled at me, and I just stared at him as he waggled his tongue.
“In your dreams,” I shouted back at him, and he laughed and high-fived his friend. He wasn’t my type, and I wouldn’t give him the time of day, but I was grateful for the shoutout.
“Every night...” he shouted back, and I just shook my head. I was about to say something back to him when my phone started ringing, and I saw that Marcia was calling me.
“Hey, what’s up, Marcia?” I asked as I quickened my pace.
“We just wanted to know how far away you are?”
“About five more minutes. My feet are already killing me.”
“Aw, hopefully not too badly.”
“Not too bad. But man, I just had an encounter with the biggest jerk in New York City.”
“That naked cowboy guy?” Marcia asked, and I giggled.
“No, not the naked cowboy. Is he a jerk?”
“No idea,” she admitted. “Hey, Finn is making a face at me. Let me go and talk to him. See you in a bit.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there soon,” I said and hung up, only slightly envious that Marcia was dating our hot-ass boss, Finn Winchester. Not that he was my type. I preferred my man not to be able to tell me what time I needed to be at work. I rounded the final corner and made my way toward the venue, excited and grateful to see my friends waiting outside for me.
"There you are, Shantal." Marcia took a couple of steps toward me and stopped. She looked me up and down and then whistled. "You look absolutely amazing."
"Thanks, girl," I said as I did a little twirl. "I bought this dress yesterday."
"Well, it looks really good on you." Susie sidled up next to her and grinned. "I guess you really are looking for a man."
"You know it.” I laughed. “Though he has to be a good man. I just don’t want any old thing.”
“Well, I think you’re going to get more than one good man,” Lilian said. “Shall we head inside?”
“Yeah, definitely. Where are the guys?”
“Oh, Brody, Finn, and...” Marcia paused.
“And who?”
“Sorry, I was going to say Dan, but you don’t know him.”
“No, I don’t.” I shook my head.
“Well, they already headed inside.”
“What? They didn’t wait for me. How rude.” I pretended to be upset that they hadn’t waited for me.
“That’s what I said,” Susie said, shaking her head and laughing. “But it turns out Brody is supposed to make some sort of speech inside."
"Oh my gosh. You're not missing his speech because of me, are you?" Now I felt bad. Stupid cab driver.
"Hey, no worries." She shook her head. "It's fine. I've heard him practice the speech at least thirty times this morning. I really didn't need to hear it one last time."
"But didn't he want you there to support him in front of everyone?"
"He's got his teammates. He's got his manager. He's fine. I wanted to be here to support you."
"Oh my gosh," I whined. "Why does that sound so pathetic?"
"What?" she said. "Why'd you say that?"
"I just mean I feel like a loser. I feel like all of you are like, Shantal needs a man and we're going to help her find one, no matter what happens, even at our own expense." I made a face. "I want you guys to have fun tonight as well. It's not about me meeting my future husband. Maybe I'll meet a nice guy, and maybe I won't, but I still want us to have fun."
"We'll have fun," Lilian said, clasping my hand. "Trust me. It will be a good time."
"I know. I just..." I paused as Susie raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's just go inside and have fun, okay?"
"Okay." Susi
"I'm in need of some champagne."
"You and me both, sister," Marcia said with a slight giggle as she held her hands up in the air and pretended to be opening bottles. "Come on. Let's go inside and get our drink on." Marcia smiled at the doorman, who nodded and let us in.
"He didn't even ask to see my ID," I said, surprised and a little happy. Was he letting me in without checking my ID because he thought I was so hot?
"He knows me." Marcia grinned.
"Wow. How does he...?" I was slightly deflated at her words.
"Well, he doesn't really know me," she said, "but he saw me with Brody and Finn earlier, and I guess he's a huge fan of Brody, so..." She shrugged. "I’m like his claim to fame for the night."
"Oh, my God, that's so funny. That must make you feel good, though, Susie." I looked behind me. “How does it feel knowing you’re dating one of the hottest athletes in the world?”
"Yeah. It's really weird being in Brody's world, you know?"
"Oh, why'd you say that?"
"I mean I just know him as my Brody. We laugh, and we joke, and he’s just like every other man I’ve met. But then, on the other side, he's a world-famous baseball player. And at this party, he's the man, you know.” She shook her head. "It's quite surreal."
"Ah, so he's getting a big head, then?"
"He's getting a very big head." She nodded and giggled. "And I just hope the other women at this party know that he's taken so that they will back the fuck off."
"Oh girl, you just point out any woman after him, and I will talk to him, and I will talk to them and take care of them."
"What would you do?"
"I'd slap a bitch down," I said, and we all started laughing.
"You're a good friend, Shantal." Susie smiled at me, and I nodded.
"Thanks. I think you're a pretty good friend, too."
“Guys!” Lilian said loudly. “Enough with the Hallmark fest. Let’s go all MTV up in this...bitch.”
Chapter Two
Old-school Usher was playing through the speakers as we walked into a large crowded room that felt more like a meat market than a party. There were so many good-looking men in the room that I didn’t know where to look.
“Oh my days,” I mumbled under my breath as a vaguely familiar man gave me a knowing smile. “I wasn’t anticipating quite so many hotties.” I looked over at Marcia, who was reapplying a bright red lipstick to her lips. She grinned as she winked at me.
“I think you’ll find lots of different choices tonight.”
“I like to have lots of different choices.” I nodded my head to the beat as I looked around. I was about to ask her if she wanted to get a drink when a tall man with a long beard approached me.
“Hey, did it hurt?” He grinned as he looked down at me, his brown eyes laughing.
“Hey.” I smiled up at him. “And no, it didn’t,” I said with a smirk.
“Oh?” He cocked his head to the side.
“My fall from heaven, right?” I laughed at the shock on his face. There was no way he thought that that had been an original line.
“Oh, so you’re a smarty-pants as well as a stunner.” He winked at me and held his hands up in the air. “I’m going to have to back off.”
“Oh?” I stared at him in confusion. Was this man playing a weird hot and cold game with me?
“I don’t like my women too smart.” He shrugged as he smirked. “I don’t want no hoe taking me for all I’ve got.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t call women hoes then.” I gave him a pointed look and shook my head at Marcia. She looked like she was about to go off on him. “He’s not worth it,” I said as he walked away.
“That guy was an asshole.” She grabbed my hand. “I can’t believe he just said that. Who does he think he is?”
“Some millionaire baller.” I laughed. “Let’s get a drink stat. I think I’m going to need one or ten tonight.” I turned around to look for the bar and froze when I saw the tall guy from earlier this evening standing about five yards to my right. “Oh, hell no,” I whispered under my breath as his eyes met mine, and he smirked.
“What did you say?” Marcia asked me with a questioning look.
“Oh, nothing,” I said as I quickly looked away from the cocky guy who’d been bitching into his phone earlier. “I hope they have top-shelf liquor at this shindig because I need to get drunk.”
“The party is sponsored by ESPN, the NBA, the NFL, the MLB, and Casa something tequila.” Susie laughed. “Trust me, they have top-shelf everything.”
“Thank God for that.” I giggled as a gorgeous lady wearing a cheerleader outfit walked past with a tray of drinks. She stopped and looked at us with a smile.
“Champagne in flutes to the left of the tray and Chardonnay in the glasses to the right. If you want liquor, the bar is at the back.”
“I’ll have some champagne, thanks,” I said, grabbing a glass quickly and taking a large gulp. I turned to Marcia and whispered. “Are we supposed to tip?”
“I would think that’s not required.” The deep smooth voice from behind me made me jump, and I turned around quickly, my heart racing as I saw it was the man from earlier.
“I didn’t ask you.” I pressed my lips together and then sipped from my glass.
“Are you following me?” He smirked, and I could feel my heart jumping at the way his lips moved. It should have been illegal to be that good looking.
“You wish,” I said to the man with piercing blue eyes.
“Not really.” He smirked. “I already told you not tonight.”
“I wasn’t trying to hit on you.” I glared at him as I opened my purse and pulled out his wallet. “I was trying to give you back this. You dropped it.”
His eyes narrowed as he stared at my hands, and he grabbed the wallet from me.
“Hmm.” He opened it, checked the driver's license, and put it in his pocket.
“It’s called thank you.” I rolled my eyes at him.
“I was getting to that.” He grinned at me and winked. “You have to give me time to talk.”
“Did you give me time to talk?”
“I’m guessing I got you all worked up earlier, huh?” He took a step closer to me, and I froze. His eyes were laughing at me as he stared at my lips. “Are they wet?”
“Sorry, what?” I blinked at him as my heart raced. There was no way in hell this man was asking me what I thought he was asking, was there?
“Your lips?” he answered me smoothly.
“What do you mean?” I licked my lips nervously. “I was just drinking champagne, so maybe they still had some fluid on them.”
“Those aren’t the lips I was talking about,” he said softly, and I could feel the heat rushing to my face as my stomach did two heart flips. I shouldn’t be so turned on by this man and his completely offensive question, but I was.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave me alone,” I said as I started to turn around.
“If they are...” he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me to him, “then I could help you out.” He paused as he grinned at me. “As a thank-you for returning my wallet.”
I looked around to see where Marcia had gone off to. Why had she left me alone with this asshole? I couldn’t believe he thought he could get me into his bed with his words. Did I look like some sort of easy woman just looking to hook up with a handsome, rich jock?
