Tempting Mr. Wrong

By Kerri Carpenter

Lance Townsend craves freedom after years living a structured existence in the Army. But just as he’s about to leave for the trip of a lifetime, Lance receives a letter written by his best friend before his death asking him to look after his daughter. The problem? The adorable little girl’s aunt is the one woman Lance has never been able to forget.

Between raising her adorable niece and living in a home that can only be described as a fixer-upper---emphasis on the fixer part--Carly Quigley is in over her head. So when the man who jilted her years ago shows up at her door claiming her brother asked him to check in on her and the house, she reluctantly accepts. Except having the sexy military man around is distracting, and all either of them can focus on is their undeniable attraction. But Lance isn't planning on staying, which makes him the wrong man for her. Unfortunately, the wrong man has become oh-so-tempting.

Each book in the Wrong Man series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Kissing Mr. Wrong
Book #2 Tempting Mr. Wrong

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jun 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781633755888

Kerri Carpenter

Award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter writes contemporary romances that are sweet, sexy, and sparkly. When she’s not writing, Kerri enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, taking Zumba classes, rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams, and anything sparkly. Kerri lives in Northern Virginia with her adorable (and mischievous) rescued poodle mix, Harry. Kerri loves chatting with readers. Visit her at kerricarpenter.com or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to connect today.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Find love in unexpected places with these satisfying Lovestruck reads…

The Best Friend Incident

Trouble Next Door

Kissing Her Crazy

For Seven Nights Only

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 by Kerri Carpenter. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

2614 South Timberline Road

Suite 109

Fort Collins, CO 80525

Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

Lovestruck is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Edited by Alethea Spiridon and Elizabeth Pelletier

Cover design by Heather Howland

Cover photography from Getty Images/iStock

ISBN 978-1-63375-588-8

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition April 2016

For my Zumba family

Thank you to Ashley’s Saturday morning class for all of the support! I can’t tell you how much it means to me!

And thank you to my extended Zumba family in Pennsylvania. You know who you are!

Prologue

Dear Lance,

If you’re reading this letter, it means I didn’t make it. Okay, joking here. Although, maybe I shouldn’t be joking about something like this. But, jeez, if a guy can’t kid around about his possible (but highly unlikely) demise, I don’t know who can.

(Yes, Gretchen is rolling her eyes as she reads over my shoulder. I swear, sweetie, I AM taking this seriously.)

Let me get to the point. My gorgeous, although totally anal and overly organized, wife has decided that since we just bought our new house and Mya is the ripe old age of two, we are in dire need of a will. Trust me, I think it’s ridiculous, too. What are the chances?

Anyway, if something were to happen to both me and Gretch, Carly will become Mya’s guardian. Gretch has all kinds of official documents with crazy legal mumbo jumbo at our lawyer’s office. Guess that’s what I get for marrying a paralegal. I’d tell you what it says, but hell if I know. So good luck to my adorable little sister reading through all of that.

That brings me to the reason for this letter. Since Gretch took care of all the technical crap, I thought I’d do this in my own way. Lance, buddy, stop rolling your eyes and snorting.

Let me get serious for a second. Do I think anything is going to happen to me and Gretch? Not really. Hell, I got out of how many army tours without anything too bad going down? But, just in case, and because my wife is making me, I have some requests.

The house we bought, well, it’s my dream house. I know it needs some work. (Gretch just yelled, That’s an understatement!) But I always wanted a fixer-upper. Lance, even though you are not as skilled as me, make sure everything is in tip-top shape.

More importantly, I’m asking you to check in on Mya. Make sure she’s healthy and happy. I know Carly will teach her all the girly stuff she needs to know. But perhaps you can do your best friend a solid, and convince her she shouldn’t start dating until she’s thirty. After all, you are her godfather, even if you couldn’t change a diaper for shit last time you visited.

Lance, I’d like Mya to know how to properly hit a baseball. I’m praying she didn’t inherit her mother’s lack of athleticism. None of that T-ball crap. I want her to go straight to the big leagues. First woman in the majors. Make it happen. Also, keep those presents coming. Even at two, I can tell Mya loves the stuff you send her.

So that’s it. Basically, I’m asking you and Carly to work together to make sure my little princess is well taken care of. Oh yeah, make sure Carly stops dating these idiots. I don’t know where she finds these dogs. She needs a nice guy. No more loser assholes. Only the best for her. So watch over her, too. Think you can handle that?

…

Two years later…

The countdown had begun.

Lance picked up his mail from the unit mailroom, offered a few quick greetings, and then made his way back to his bunk. Before he took a load off on his own neatly made bed, he stopped to say hi to one of his twenty bunkmates.

’Sup, Bing?

Townsend, Fred Bing replied with a nod. He was fiddling with something on his phone.

What’s the number? Lance asked.

Fred didn’t even have to look at the calendar hanging next to his bunk with the days marked off in deep red marker. Forty-two, he replied quickly with a big grin.

Someone’s getting closer and closer to going home.

Lance continued to his bed. If Fred had a little over a month left in this place, that meant Lance had three more months. Initially, he’d made fun of the kid’s calendar, but as time went by, he couldn’t help but feed off his excitement.

Fred would only be done with this tour. He had more to come after that. In Lance’s case, a whole new world was about to open up. In three short months, he would be done with his required eight years of post-college commitment to the army. His time as a soldier would come to an end.

For the first time in his entire life, he would be free of rules and requirements. No one would tell him what to do. He’d grown up with the mother of all strict mothers. Every second of Lance’s childhood had been mapped out and timed to perfection. Lessons and playdates and study time. College hadn’t been much better. He’d taken an ROTC scholarship that required him to be on time, pay attention, and, of course, obey orders.

He leaned back on his bed, still clutching his mail.

Then came his eight years of service. Not that he’d disliked the army. He’d actually really enjoyed the military. But after thirty years of following other people’s schedules and being told what to do, Lance was massively looking forward to being in charge of his life. No rules. No time lines. No responsibilities.

Still planning on a road trip when you get out? Fred asked.

Lance shuffled through the envelopes. You know it. He had a bucket list that he’d been compiling for the last decade. Vegas is a must.

No shit, Fred said. If I were you, I’d hit up Austin, Nashville, and New Orleans.

Of course you would. Lance shook his head. Fred was a southern kid through and through.

When he glanced at the bottom envelope in his pile of mail, Lance paused. His hand shook slightly when he took in the last name in the return address. Nine months had passed, and even seeing the name ‘Quigley’ still caused a huge lump to form in his throat. He threw the rest of the mail on his bed and sat up, eyeing the letter and wondering what in the hell it could contain.

Who’s it from? Fred nodded toward the lone envelope that Lance was now clutching so hard he was starting to bend the paper.

Carly Quigley.

Fred wiggled his eyebrows. You been holding out on us, Townsend? Got a girl back home?

Lance clamped down on the urge to snort. Nope. Carly is Chris’s sister. Was Chris’s sister, he silently amended.

He rubbed a hand over his jaw as he considered the letter. Chris Quigley, John Campbell, and Lance had been inseparable for years. They’d served together, gone on vacations together, and had each other’s backs in every way imaginable. The Three Musketeers, if those guys had been decked out in camo and hoisted guns in the Middle East instead of wearing tights and feathers.

John had gotten out of the army recently and made his way to some small town in Virginia. Lance missed the guy, but he knew John needed to get out. Too much shit had gone down.

Chris had left a couple years ago. Took a desk job at Fort Bragg, settled down, found a wife. Lance had been stateside for the wedding, and even he couldn’t deny how besotted his best friend was over his new wife.

Before anyone could blink, Chris announced the arrival of his daughter. The guy was living the dream, at least his version of the dream. A transient life with no responsibility would suit Lance just fine right about now. But then the accident claimed the lives of Chris and his wife.

Lance turned the envelope over and over in his hands while he let the fresh reminder of loss pass over him.

Chris? Your friend that you served with, right? Fred asked, clearly choosing his words carefully.

Yep, Lance replied.

You still sending those presents to his kid?

When I can, Lance said. He hadn’t seen Chris’s daughter Mya in about two years. As her godfather, it was nothing to ship off a toy or book every couple months.

Why is Chris’s sister writing you? Fred asked.

Lance shrugged, trying to keep the gesture nonchalant in an effort to hide the feelings that always bubbled up when he thought of Carly Quigley. He’d known Chris a long time before he actually met Carly, but he sure as hell heard a lot about her. Chris took advantage of every opportunity to mention her. The two had obviously been close.

Gotta send something to Carly. Her birthday is coming up.

Carly graduated with honors from college. Must have gotten her smarts from me.

Carly decided to go to grad school. Didn’t I tell you she would get into that master’s program?

I’m stoked. Carly’s moving to Pine Springs. She’s gonna live with me and Gretch for a year or so.

When Chris and Gretchen got married, Lance finally met the infamous Carly in the flesh. Lance refrained from letting out a long whistle now. Without a doubt, she had been the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Mounds of curly red hair, fair skin, and a bubbly personality that drew him right in.

At the reception, they’d been seated next to each other. She’d kept him entertained with stories from college and her sorority. Then they’d danced together under the stars. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her in his arms.

He shook his head. Because the thoughts he was having were just as inappropriate now as they were then. More so now. Carly was his best friend’s sister. His younger sister whom he adored. Not to mention, she’d only been, what? Twenty, twenty-one? She’d been a baby.

So when she’d asked him if he’d like to join her for a drink in her room, he’d made up an excuse and high-tailed it out of there so fast, he’d barely had time to notice the hurt expression on her face. Barely.

When Mya had been born, he’d visited as often as his leave schedule allowed. But Carly had never been around. She was either hanging with friends or on vacation. Lance had to wonder if that was on purpose.

You gonna read that letter or keep stroking it lovingly? Fred called out.

Lance displayed a finger of choice in response, and then he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. It was short and sweet, including all the usual pleasantries civilians offered. How are you, hope you’re staying safe, blah, blah, blah. He scanned it over quickly and then froze.

So I was cleaning out Chris and Gretchen’s bedroom the other day, and I came across some of Chris’s things. I found this letter that he’d written a couple years ago. It was addressed to you. I’m not sure why the envelope is torn. It kinda looks like there may have been more to the letter, but I didn’t want to invade your privacy and read it.

I can’t believe it’s been nine months since the accident. I think about him every day. Of course, it’s hard not to when I’m taking care of Mya.

Anyway, I hope you’re doing well and this letter brings you some comfort.

~Carly

Lance scanned the attached letter. He noticed a couple things right away. It was definitely Chris’s handwriting and had his stupid sense of humor. Honestly, who wrote a letter like this?

Carly was right—the envelope had been torn and the letter was incomplete. He was definitely curious what else Chris had to say, although he thought he got the gist of it. Leaning back against his pillow, he reread Chris’s words one more time, slowly this time. When he came to the last part, his pulse picked up and his palms began sweating. Watch over Carly’s dating life? Keep her away from the bad guys? What the hell did that mean?

He read the letter for a third time. Well, he was decent at baseball. Probably could teach the kid a thing or two.

Lance exhaled, long and slow.

Chris’s daughter was living with Carly. She was her guardian. If he was understanding this letter correctly, Chris wanted him to check in on the house and Mya. That could get awkward with Carly, but Lance would suffer through any kind of discomfort if it meant fulfilling his best friend’s wishes.

Scanning the date at the top, Lance did some quick math. This had been written two years ago. The house was likely renovated by now, so he probably wouldn’t need to stay long.

Still grasping the letter, Lance looked up at a picture tacked above his bed. Chris had an arm around Lance with that goofy grin he always wore. Despite appearances, that had been a particularly rough day. They’d almost gotten into some dangerous shit. But, just like always, Chris had saved the day. Saved him. Lance would do anything for the guy.

Fred plopped down next to him. So, what’s first? One of my choice cities? How about New York? Hanging out in the Big Apple. He jammed a finger into Lance’s arm. Or why don’t you blow the U.S. and go hang out in Amsterdam? I heard some crazy shit goes down over there.

Lance took in Fred then glanced back at the letter.

You are about to be the man. Total bachelor who can do what he wants, when he wants, where he wants. Come on, Townsend, what’s first?

A feeling of unease settled over him the way the sand and the dust had been known to cover their temporary home.

Looks like I’m heading to Pine Springs, North Carolina.

Chapter One

Carly glanced around the playground she frequented so often it had become a second home over the last year. The sound of children laughing—and sometimes crying—mingled with the smell of peanut butter sandwiches and baby wipes.

But as she kept an eye on her niece playing in the sandbox, she took a moment to consider the adults today. In her opinion, there were all different kinds of parents. Carly was fascinated with the helicopter parents, the ones hovering over their kids, monitoring hopscotch and butting into playtime on the slide.

Of course, those kinds of parents were in stark contrast to what Carly deemed the cell phone parents. As if on cue, one walked by the bench where Carly sat, her cell plastered to her ear. She’d been pacing for the last twenty minutes, alternating between talking way too loud and checking her email with a sour look on her face. But at least she’d shown up at all, Carly thought. There were kids she saw every day at this playground whose birth parents remained a mystery. At least the nannies they hired were cool to hang with.

She stretched her arms high into the air and sat back on the bench. She really shouldn’t judge because Carly didn’t qualify for any of those groups. She wasn’t a parent or a nanny. Not a real one anyway. She was only filling in.

Aunt Carly! Aunt Carly!

Her head snapped up to take in her beautiful four-year-old niece running toward her enthusiastically, bright red hair bouncing around her head. Carly pushed back her own hair, so similar to Mya’s.

Hey, peanut, what’s shaking over in the sandbox?

Mya giggled and stopped right in front of her. Not much. Just stupid Justin being gross again.

What’s he talking about today? Carly hid a smile as she eyed the kid in question, who was currently pouring a bucket of sand over his head. She stifled a laugh as her friend, and Justin’s very frazzled nanny, reprimanded him.

Boogers, Mya said, scrunching up her cute little nose.

Yuck, Carly replied obligingly. But are you having fun otherwise?

Mya gave a big and emphatic nod, sending more curls springing. Can we stay all day? she asked.

I wish, but we’ll have to go home at some point.

Mya tilted her little head. In case Santa Claus comes? she asked hopefully.

It’s about three months too early for that. She ran a hand over Mya’s hair.

I thought Santa left that present for me last week, but it was Uncle Lance.

Mm-hmm. Carly knew how excited her niece got when she saw a package from Lance, Chris’s best friend, even if she had to clamp down on her own feelings regarding Uncle Lance.

It’s not that she didn’t

Reviews for Tempting Mr. Wrong

[booksnuggle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Tempting Mr. Wrong" by Kerri Carpenter is book number two in the "Wrong Man" series.  This is Lance Townsend and Carly Quigley's story.
Lance is out of the service and is ready to do the things on his bucket list.  Out of the blue he receives a request that his best friend had written before he died.  The problem is he will have to go see Carly his best friends sister.  Why is that a problem? Well, he jilted her years ago.  
Carly is raising her niece since her brother and his wife died.  She is struggling with all the responsibilities but will do what she needs to do for her niece.Lance shows up claiming that her brother requested that he check on her niece and to finish some of the jobs on the house that had never gotten done.  Once Lance completes the house repairs he will be on his way to do the things on his bucket list. The chemistry and attraction between them is very intense.  Will Carly give in to this temptation since Lance is only there temporarily?I enjoyed Lance and Carly's story.  There were times that I wanted to smack Lance but he had things to work through.  This is a sweet, steamy, and heartwarming story.FYI, includes mature content.  I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.