Page 1 of Flirting with Trouble

Chapter One

Wells

“I know I’m looking for a needle in a haystack, but the right vibe is everything. Rock Bottom is the hottest bar and grill on Silver Island, and I don’t want to settle for anything less for my flagship restaurant here,” I say to Kent Pyle, the real estate agent who has spent the last few hours showing me properties in New York City.

“I appreciate that. Finding the right location is a process. I think you’ll like the properties we have lined up for tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.”

We shake hands, and as Kent heads out to a waiting car, I step onto the busy sidewalk feeling like I’m stepping into a cattle chute. The hustle and bustle of the Big Apple, with its bright lights and skyscrapers, is a far cry from the quaint island towns where I grew up off the coast of Cape Cod. Tourist season on Silver Island is chaotic, but it’s nothing like this, and the heat here is oppressive. If I were back home, I’d be heading to the beach right now with my surfboard to catch some waves. In lieu of that, I’ll take a cold drink, a few laughs, and maybe a willing woman to take the edge off.

It’s been too long since I scratched that particular itch.

My cell rings, and my older brother Fitz’s name flashes on the screen. I can barely hear myself think past the traffic noise and the din of the fast-moving crowd as I put the phone to my ear. “Hey, Fitz. What’s up?”

“How’d it go? See anything promising?”

“No. They were all run-of-the-mill.”

“What did you expect? It’s the Big Apple. The goal is to squeeze as many people as possible into cracker-box-size rooms and charge astronomical prices.”

No shit. I want the challenge of making a restaurant stand out among hundreds of others, and money is not a problem. Our ancestors discovered Silver Island, and our family owns the largest resort there, the Silver House, which Fitz runs with our parents. We have family money. Boatloads of it. But while Fitz followed in our parents’ footsteps, my three other siblings and I have blazed our own paths and have barely touched our trust funds to do so.

“You’ve got to pay to play, and if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere,” I say, stepping around a couple as I cross the street.

“If anyone can do it, you can. Fair warning, Mom met with Charmaine this afternoon.”

Charmaine Luxe is a real estate agent on the island. As much as my mother supports all of us following our dreams, I know she’d rather I open another restaurant on the island. I think she’s afraid I’ll move away for good, though I haven’t made that decision yet. I love my family and my life on the island, but lately I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something more out there for me. My restaurant is doing phenomenally well, and I hired an excellent manager who has spent the last year proving to be efficient and capable. With Meghan Young at the helm, I finally feel comfortable spending more time off-site and expanding my business.

“Thanks for the warning. You should come out here with me sometime. I think you’d like the city.” Fitz rarely leaves the island. None of us do. That’s part of my problem. I’m not just feeling stifled professionally. I’m also feeling it personally. I’m not into long-term relationships, but the island is close-knit, and gossip spreads faster than weeds. Hooking up with tourists isn’t as thrilling as it was when I was in my twenties, and I’m well past wanting to be the talk of the town.

“No thanks,” Fitz says. “City life isn’t for me. Where’re you heading now?”

“Hopefully into a bar. Maybe I’ll find a hot city girl who wants to have a good time.”

Fitz laughs. “Good luck with that.”

“I don’t need luck.” I slow my pace to glance through the window of a bar and stop in my tracks, my attention locking on Victoria—Victory—Braden, the wild-haired brunette beauty I met over the holidays on the island, when my friend Sutton Steele got engaged to Victory’s brother Flynn.

“Hey!” a guy complains as he bumps into my shoulder.

“Sorry.” I step aside, my gaze still trained on Victory, who is sitting at the bar staring into her drink.

“What’d you do, Wells?” Fitz asks with amusement.

I all but forgot I was on the phone. “I just found exactly what I’m looking for.”

“A place for the restaurant?”

“No. Victory Braden sitting alone at a bar, like a gift waiting to be opened.”

“Dude, she’s blown you off every time you’ve hit on her, and don’t you have a meeting with her brother Seth tomorrow?”

Seth Braden lives in the city and owns a major retail conglomerate as well as several restaurants and nightclubs. We got to talking at Sutton and Flynn’s wedding, and when I told him I was looking to open a restaurant here, he said he’d be happy to let me pick his brain about the differences between operating a business in a small town versus a big city.

“Yes, I do, but that is business, and she is pleasure. I’ll catch up with you when I get back.” I pocket my phone and head into the bar.

Met with the pulse of music and the din of the happy-hour crowd, I make a beeline to Victory, remembering the way the air had sizzled between us when I saw her a few weeks ago at Sutton and Flynn’s wedding. She pretended the attraction was one-sided, but the lust in her eyes betrayed her words. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since. She’s a rarity, as elegant as she is brilliant, and as the president of Blank Space Entertainment, she has a reputation for being a ruthless businesswoman. The kind that mesmerizes you with her striking blue eyes and radiant smile as she cuts you to pieces.

I fucking love that.