Lovers by New Year's: The Priceless Collection

By Verika Sloane

A secret admirer...

Rosamund Banks receives a note on her desk from a secret admirer who promises to reveal himself at the New Year's Eve party. She thinks she knows who it is, but isn't all that certain she feels the same way about him...and she might not find out if she's right when she gets trapped in a room away from the gala. Then her night turns out quite differently than she imagined.

A secret rendezvous...

Seeking solitude during his own family's party, Aaron Taggart is surprised when he hears Rosamund's call for help. As her employer, he shouldn't even think about kissing her, let alone seducing her. But he can't help but steal an opportunity to have her to himself, and offers her a private tour via secret passageway. Once he has her in his arms however, he may have no other choice than to steal her heart as well.

Should Rose choose her romantic secret admirer or a man known around the office as "The General"?
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verika Ink
• Release date: Oct 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393751083

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

"Y ou won’t believe who your secret admirer is."

Rosamund Banks—Rose to most—quickly lifted her gaze from the proposal to her friend and work associate Daphne.

They’d started a friendship almost immediately when she started working for Taggart & Company.

The slim blonde hadn’t bothered to knock before bursting in her office, but considering the news, Rose didn’t mind the dramatic entrance. You know who he is?

Daphne bumped the door closed with her hip. I do.

How could you possibly have found out? I just got the card less than forty-eight hours ago! Pulling her bottom desk drawer open, Rose reached in her purse for the note-with-no-named-sender that’d thrown her universe in a spin of mystery. She’d practically memorized it:

Rose,

You are an amazing woman. Not only are you genuinely kind, intelligent, and beautiful, you’re the kind of lady I find rare. The kind who brings light to the office every day. I’m sure you’re not aware of how I feel, but it’s time you do. We have so much in common, more than you know. I’ve been keeping this inside for too long. If you go to the Taggart New Year’s Eve Ball, I’ll reveal myself to you before midnight. Please come.

’Til then…

Daphne brushed her blunt blonde bangs from her eyes, swept in one of Rose’s high-backed chairs and placed her hands on the edge of the desk. She took a deep breath and grinned. Who would it be that would make Daphne so excited? Ever since Rose discovered the note, she and her friend had wracked their brains wondering who could’ve written it.

It’s Chris Taggart, Daphne blurted, ending the suspense.

Rose dropped her mouth open. Stunned. Chris? she exclaimed, unable to disguise the astonishment from her voice.

Daphne giggled. The one and only.

"You’re right. I don’t believe it," Rose murmured.

Chris Taggart was the youngest son in the legacy of Taggarts. He was in his early thirties, with all-American, Ralph-Lauren-model kind of looks and an outgoing, if a little too restless, personality. When he walked in, women visibly sighed with adoration. That is, when he decided to come to the office. He spent more time outside of the headquarters representing the company at business luncheons and parties with the upper echelon of San Francisco. Which made the fact he wrote the card note even harder to fathom.

Rose made a face. I think you have the wrong guy, Daphne.

The executive assistant seemed comically offended Rose wouldn’t take her word right off the bat. I knew you’d be skeptical, but you don’t even look excited!

Well, for one thing, Chris and I barely spend any time together. Working or otherwise. Her mind still reeling, she checked over Daphne’s shoulder to make sure the door was closed and that no one was hovering around to interrupt them. And for another, he’s basically a womanizer.

"A womanizer can always change for the right woman. Prime example, my friend Neil. Had more women coming and going out of his life than a day spa. Then one day he goes exclusive with his best friend’s assistant, and the next thing I know— she snapped her fingers, —they eloped! If Neil can flip the switch, I know Chris can. Trust me, he is nowhere near as bad as Neil."

Her heart gave a little thump. Okay, where’s your proof?

Daphne snatched the card from Rose’s fingers without warning, laid it flat on the desk and then—like an attorney putting down evidence in a trial—slapped down a sticky note next to it. I took this off Chris’s monitor. Don’t worry, I’ll put it back. Look.

Her heart pounding, Rose read: Thornton lunch. Bring approved vendor list. 2pm. Harbor Breeze Restaurant. The stroke of the b’s…the jagged s’s…the way he crossed his t’s. There was no doubt of the identical handwriting. She lifted her wide gaze to Daphne’s, gushing, This is crazy.

Daphne gave a girlish squeal, shaking her head, her stylish bob swinging from cheek to cheek. No, this is awesome. Chris Taggart is infatuated with you!

Rose sat back, slack-jawed, thinking of all her interactions with Chris the past two months. I don’t see how, Daphne. He hardly knows me.

In fact, up until this moment, she would’ve said the guy didn’t even know her name. From the constant gossip, and the occasional lunch date that sashayed to his office, he seemed to have a thing for exotic women. Long legs, tanned, with sexy accents. And Rose definitely wasn’t one of those. Her reddish-brown hair was always clipped in a French twist or a sock bun, her brown eyes nicely almond-shaped, but rather plain. Though she had a perfect set of teeth thanks to two years of braces in high school, she wasn’t the type to inspire infatuation from a dashing playboy like Chris. And I hardly know him to be frank.

Daphne checked her watch. What does that matter? You’ll get to know each other very soon! Men are never as obvious as we are when they are falling for someone. She rose from her seat. Unfortunately I can’t stay and chat too long. The General will be done with his conference call in a few minutes.

Rose shuffled her papers together, giving a chastising look on how Daphne referred to her boss, Aaron Taggart, as The General. Ruggedly handsome with light brown hair and blue eyes, he was four years older than Chris, and president of the company. Stoic, some would say reserved, and all would say callously decisive, the elder Taggart son was his brother’s direct opposite in almost every way when it came to work ethic and style.

While everyone and their dentist seemed to adore Chris, very few had as many nice things to say about Aaron. Even so, that didn’t mean the man deserved such a harsh nickname just because he worked hard and expected everyone else to do the same. The times she worked directly with Aaron, she found herself uncomfortably warm in her clothes and a minor breathless. He had a way about him. And it wasn’t because he did anything other