Seduced (The Billionaire's Command #1)

By Victoria Villeneuve

When Caroline's company won an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii, she thought all she'd be doing was lying on the beach drinking mai tais with her best friend Lisa. Little did she know her life would be turned upside down when she ran into Mark Selzer in the elevator.

Expecting their one night of passion to be only that, Caroline is shocked when Mark shows up at her door two weeks later. Will she be able to open up enough to let him into her life? And how will she react when she finds out he's the heir to the largest resort company in the country?

This 15,000 word story is the first instalment in The Billionaire's Command trilogy. Here's an excerpt:

On the fourth day, Lisa and I were going to leave the resort and go find somewhere nice to eat along the main strip. We were just leaving the hotel when I realized I’d left my sunglasses in my room.

“Crap. Can you wait for me in the lobby? It’s so bright out I don’t think I’ll be able to see anything if I don’t take my sunglasses.”

“Yeah, sure,” Lisa replied, and I made my way back to the elevator. I was racking my brain trying to remember where I had put the sunglasses, so much so that I didn’t notice the man coming out of the elevators when the doors opened, and I barrelled straight into him.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed, embarrassed.

“No, no, it was my fault. I apologize,” the man replied, grabbing my shoulders gently to steady me. His touch was strong, confident, and it sent a surge of electricity running through me. I looked up at the man, and my breath caught in my throat.

Looking down at me was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen in my life. High cheekbones, a day’s worth of dark brown stubble, hair that seemed to practically flow from his head in a polo shirt and jeans that looked formal somehow, here in Hawaii. I grabbed his arm to steady myself, the hard muscles of his biceps bulging against my skin.

For the first time in my life, I found myself completely speechless. I wanted to say something, anything, but no words were coming out of my mouth. I was completely captivated, taken in by the man’s glistening blue eyes, like the deep waters here on the Hawaiian coast.

“Are you alright?” he asked me, his voice kind, but deep.

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Thank you,” I stammered, feeling like an idiot. The man smiled at me and I melted into a pool on the elevator floor.

“Perfect. Sorry about that once more,” he told me, leaving the elevator. I watched as the man walked away and the doors closed behind me. As the elevator slid smoothly up to the 12th floor I had completely forgotten what I even came up here for. I couldn’t think about anything except that guy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Victoria Villeneuve
• Release date: Aug 20, 2013

Book preview

Seduced (The Billionaire’s Command #1)

Seduced

Victoria Villeneuve

Copyright 2013 by Victoria Villeneuve

Smashwords Edition

I stood in front of my bed, frowning at the suitcase I’d hoisted onto it, trying to decide which bathing suit I was going to take with me. I mean, I know, it’s the ultimate first world problem. The red one piece with black polka dots that covered up more of my body, but would ultimately make me look like a bit of a prude who didn’t dare wear a bikini, or the black and gold striped bikini that was undoubtedly sexier, but definitely not me?

I sighed, then tossed the one piece into the suitcase. I wouldn’t be comfortable in the bikini. I didn’t even know why I bought it. Sure, I’d look like a prude, but let’s face it, I was the prude of the group. Everyone else who worked in the branch of my office was either already married, many with kids to prove that they had more sex than I did, or still single and living it up in bars on Friday nights.

God, cheer up Caroline. You’re going to Hawaii, it’s not like this is a chore I scolded myself as I moved onto figuring out how many pairs of socks this trip was going to require.

In all honesty, I was really looking forward to this trip. It had all started three months earlier, when the company I worked for, Alistair Investments, put forth a contest. The branch which brought in the most new business in June would win an all expenses paid vacation to Hawaii for a week in August at a luxury resort.

I didn’t really have all that much to do with winning the contest. I worked as a financial analyst, which is a pretty fancy way of saying I’m a glorified accountant. I look at numbers, and I decide if those numbers are likely to go up or down. I have an office in the back of the building, where I confer with my fellow analysts, but we’re not the ones who go out and find new clients for the branch. We don’t bring in the new money, we keep the money that the sales staff bring us loyal.

Luckily for me, however, our sales staff was second to none, and we blew away the rest of the competition for the duration of the contest. That’s how I managed to get a free vacation to Hawaii without really needing to do anything for it. Whatever. I worked really hard to get where I was, and I was going to enjoy this little treat, even if I didn’t really earn it per se.

My best friend, one of the salespeople in question, Lisa, always told me I should be appreciative.

You never take any breaks, Caroline. You work like a madwoman. You don’t have boyfriends, you don’t really go out and party with people, you need an outlet to let off some steam every once in a while.

Yeah, well, I still feel like a cheater going on this vacation I didn’t earn. I mean, you did like, half the sales for our branch for the quarter.

I did, but whatever. We knew from the start that everyone in the branch would get to go. It’s not like you’re cheating your way in or something. Come on, Caroline. Have some fun, let loose. It’s Hawaii, all expenses paid! I went there with Rob for our honeymoon and we spent a ridiculous amount of cash, this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip.

I guess so, I replied, succumbing to Lisa’s positive energy. I wished I could be like her. Lisa was so strong, so confident. She had grown up in the suburbs here, her father was a former athlete who had almost gone pro until a knee injury ended his career before it had even started. He bought a coffee shop in town and ran that, while Lisa’s mom taught kindergarten at the local elementary school. Lisa basically had the perfect upbringing I had dreamed of having.

She visited her parents every Sunday. On the other hand, I had basically escaped from mine and spent most of my time trying to make sure I couldn’t be found.

I never knew my father, he left my mother before I was born. But I had the kind of overbearing mother that never lived the kind of life they wanted to, and so took it out on their kids. Unfortunately, since I was the only one she had, one hundred percent