Romancing My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens) Contemporary Romance by Melissa Foster

though his father hadn’t been the best father on earth, and even though he’d hurt their family and abandoned them all, Pierce’s heart had been broken, too. Hell, he’d not only seen his mother’s heart get crushed; he felt the earth shift beneath them when his father left.
    Pierce knew all about calculating risks and valuing effort. Love was a gamble, and he knew the payoff could be astronomical, or it could be devastating. That was a risk he wasn’t willing to take. And if he didn’t take the risk of falling in love, there was no risk of being hurt.
    By the time he reached his house, he was out of breath and dripping with sweat. And he had no better answers to what it was about Rebecca that made him question what he’d always believed.
    After a grueling weight workout in his fully equipped home gym, he headed to the casino. At seven thirty he was driving through the parking garage, slowing as he reached the fifth floor, and remembering the hunger of Rebecca’s kiss and the way she’d clutched at his shirt. He’d behaved himself last night, and he knew damn well that keeping things casual tonight was going to be hard as hell. Who was he kidding? He was getting hard just thinking about kissing her again.  
    Inside the Astral, Pierce passed the elegant, handcrafted furniture in the lobby and paused at the reception desk to greet Patricia, an attractive brunette who ran the front desk.
    “Good morning, Patricia. How’s Larissa?” He made a point of getting to know his staff. He didn’t like the idea of being known as that Braden guy who owns the place. Pierce liked to be more hands-on, and he knew Patricia had been out last week for two days because her five-year-old daughter had been sick.
     “Good morning, Mr. Braden. She’s much better, sir. Thank you for asking.” Patricia smiled as he passed on the way to the executive elevator.
    “I’m glad to hear it.”
    He rode the elevator to the tenth floor, where Kendra Peterson, his executive assistant, stood by the reception desk in her superbly fitted Chanel suit. She held a day planner in one hand and had a pen tucked above her ear.
    “Good morning, Pierce. You just missed a call from Treat. He said he tried your cell but was unable to reach you.”
    Pierce pulled his cell from his pocket. “I forgot to turn the ringer on again. I’ll call him now. Thank you.”
    Kendra shook her head, and her dark eyes filled with a look he’d seen too often in his mother’s eyes.
    “You really need a woman in your life, Pierce. Women remember to take care of things like that.” Kendra was in her midfifties, as tall as Iman, with skin as smooth and rich as melted chocolate. She’d been married for twenty-five years. Her efficiency was unmatched, and her pushiness in the relationship department was relentless. Pierce’s mother, and his older, engaged or married cousins, had also joined in on the push-the-relationship wagon recently. Luckily, Pierce was adept at ignoring their efforts.
    “Thanks, Kendra, but I think I can handle it.”  He held up his phone and showed her the volume bar spreading across the screen.
    She shook her head in that way that said, You don’t get it.
    After spending just a few hours with Rebecca, she had him viewing his thoughts on all things women related differently. He wondered if maybe all women weren’t just looking for an easy step to wealth. Pierce knew he was an easy ladder to climb, which was one of the many reasons why he kept a wall between his heart and what lay between his legs.
    He dialed his cousin Treat’s number on the way into his office. Treat was a few years older than Pierce and was also in the resort business. Like Pierce, he was a keen negotiator with a nose for bullshit. Treat, his wife, Max, and their daughter, Adriana, lived in Weston on the property adjacent to Hal Braden’s ranch. Treat was the oldest of Hal’s six children.
    “Pierce, I just called you five minutes ago.”
    It was good to hear Treat’s