Excerpt
Her softly feminine voice
filled his ears, “There you go. You’re flying.”
While Adam focused on the
combination of what he was doing and his physical awareness of the woman sat
beside him Roane took the silence to mean she could try making conversation
again;
“Weird being back?”
“At the Vineyard?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“How can it not be? You’ve
been gone a long time.”
Adam didn’t take kindly to
being called a liar, even sub-textually; frowning as he spoke, “My witness is
the empty sky.”
There was a brief silence.
“Voltaire?”
“Kerouac.”
When he looked sideways at her
she was staring at him and Adam liked that she couldn’t figure him out. It could
stay that way as far as he was concerned.
“You have dozens of these
don’t you?”
Adam felt his mouth twitch, “A
few.”
“As a way to avoid making
conversation?”
Nope, he could make
conversation when he wanted to, “Not good with silence then I take
it.”
“I’m fine with silence.” Said
the woman who had babbled nervously at him all the way through the airport
concourse; “It’s rudeness that bothers me - I’m just trying to figure out if
that’s what you’re doing.”
“So short sentences make me an
idiot – the lack of idle conversation makes me rude,” Didn’t like him much did
she? Adam took a breath, “Anything else?”
There was another moment of
silence and then a mumbled; “You really couldn’t be any different from Jake if
you tried…”
She might not have meant it
with quite the same level of contempt his father had anytime he’d used similar
words but they had the same effect. And Adam felt the echo of adolescent anger
roll in on him like a tsunami – destroying any sense of reason or tolerance in
its wake the same way it always had. He’d heard the words a million times; said
with impatience or frustration or resentment or in disappointment. But the
result was always the same. Jake had been the son their father wanted. Adam had
fallen short of the mark.
Well not anymore. And maybe
Roane Elliott should be the first of them to understand that.
Adam turned his head, dropping
his gaze to look her over at his leisure. He heard her sharp intake of breath
when he watched the rise and fall of her breasts long enough to see two distinct
beads appear against the soft material of her blouse. And then he smiled a slow
smile as he looked up at her parted lips, at the flush on her cheeks and finally
into the darkened blue of her eyes. Only then did he quirk his brows; his voice
a low rumble in the headsets,
“Ready to find out just how
different are you little girl?” He angled his head a little and studied the way
her honey blonde hair curled against her cheek, “I saw how you looked at me on
the beach last night. Manners and I.Q. weren’t high on the list of things you
were interested in then, were they?”
When she stared at him with
widened eyes he leaned a little closer, deliberately looking down the ‘v’ of her
blouse at the rapid rise and fall of creamy half-circle breasts above the lace
of her bra, “I think Neanderthal man turns you on.” He let his gaze rise slowly,
“You’re one of those women that fantasizes about being taken,
aren’t you? The very idea makes you hot…”
He watched the beating pulse
on one side of her elegant neck, the way she damped her parted lips before
sucking in a shaky breath. And then his gaze locked firmly with hers again,
“You’re right. It is about control with me. But you want to lose
it, don’t you? In a way you obviously don’t with my brother or you wouldn’t
react to me the way you do. You know I’d take you the way you want to be taken.
Hard. And slow. For hours on end…”
There was a brief narrowing of
her eyes before he continued, “Maybe you should make sure you chose the right
Bryant little girl…”
Roane’s breath caught, she
swallowed hard and then her eyes sparkled with a mixture of outrage and desire,
“Jump to conclusions much, do we? Well for the record, I’m not some little
girl you can intimidate,” Her chin lifted defiantly, the husky edge of
her voice giving away her physical reaction to his words as much as her body
already had, “Let go of the stick. Please.”
Adam frowned, “Wh-“
Without warning her knee
jerked, and the plane veered violently to the left; throwing Adam away from her.
He released the stick as if he’d been burned, his stomach lurching and a violent
expletive leaving his mouth. When the plane eased smoothly onto an even keel
again he glared angrily at her,
“What did you do?”
Roane was facing forwards,
both hands on the stick and her fine boned jaw-line set with determination, “I’m
sorry. My foot must have slipped.”
Meaning she’d kicked the
rudder, right? Adam would have laughed at her audacity if she hadn’t just taken
a year off his life. His brother had gone and gotten himself quite the little
firecracker.
“Clever.”
The compliment didn’t earn him
any brownie points, “Feel free to take your lack of conversational skills to the
extreme from here to New York. Or I can give you a demonstration of just what
this plane is capable of if you’d prefer…”
Adam knew she wasn’t just referring to the plane.
She’d clearly told him not to mess with her. It was a nice try, he’d give her
that. Would have worked better if she’d denied anything he’d
said
about wanting to be taken hard and slow and for hours on end…
The knowledge did several
things to Adam.
But what it did most was bring
out the very thing Roane had already accused him of having; a primal,
Neanderthal-type strand to his DNA code. One that now felt a deep seated need to
tame her…
Adam had never backed down
from a battle of wills. It had been half his problem for most of his life. So
she may have gotten the upper hand on him this time but she wouldn’t do it
again. She should understand who she was dealing with. All of them should.
She’d just get a more pleasurable version of the lesson…
Back to books
Text Copyright © 2009 by
Trish Wylie Cover Art Copyright ©
2009
by Harlequin Enterprises LimitedPermission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used
by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™
are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated
companies, used under license.
Behind The Scenes
One Night With The Rebel Billionaire
is the book that made me
remember why I love writing after I'd had a writing experience that made me
consider giving it up altogether (yes, again!). For that alone I will forevermore be grateful
to this little book.
Then of course there's Adam.
Now if you're paying attention you'll know this is the second time I've named a
hero Adam. And can I just say... 'Adams' appear to be getting better and better
as I go along...
Now I don't know what it is
about my Modern Heat heroes during the past year, but it's got to the stage
where it feels very much like they're holding a competition to see who can be
the sexiest. Adam Bryant is uber-sexy and the most Alpha hero I've EVER
written. TRUST ME. He makes Gabe from Claimed look like a pussy cat.
Let's just
say when writing this book my laptop wasn't overheating without reason!
Adam is Jake's half brother -
the hero from the short story I did for The Sun
newspaper - and this book is set before that story. Adam is the black sheep of the
family, has been gone for twelve years, is a bit of a rebel and as well as being
sexy as sin he's deliciously enigmatic - oh and has a genius level IQ and tends
to quote from the likes of Voltaire and Kerouac at seemingly random points. He's
pretty amazing. I LOVED HIM by the end of the book.
Roane Elliott is Jake's best friend. She's
described in the book as a 'glass half full' gal and I think that sums her up
very well. Unlike Adam who is described as 'as fixed a mark as the wind' Roane 
has
lived her whole life on Martha's Vineyard. She loves her life the way it is, is
happy where she is, has friends and a make-shift family in the Bryant's. She's
Adam's polar opposite in so very many ways...
And that my friends, made for a rather interesting
dynamic!
But one of the things I loved most about this book
is the things that made these two so different were the very things that made
them perfect for each other. As the story progresses Roane becomes the fixed
mark in Adam's life and Adam becomes the person who can make her 'soar' on solid
ground. They balance each other out, compliment each other - and I can really
see them being together for the rest of their lives. Gotta love it when that
happens...
Location, Location,
Location
I've
decided I love island settings. There's just something so very magical about
them - I experienced it when writing
Bride Of
The Emerald Isle - set on the beautiful Valentia Island off the coast of
County Kerry - and here I was five books later falling under the spell of Martha's
Vineyard on the other side of the Atlantic ...
One of the most fun things about any book is how much you get to delve into
places you might never have looked at before in your day to day life. I LOVE the creative stage and when
I started to look for settings for this book I knew I wanted New York in a
little of it but I'd thought
possibly
The Hamptons would be the very place for the rest. But nope, it wasn't to be...
Why? Well 'cos the second I found
the Vineyard and started researching - I fell just the littlest bit in love...
The pictures I found did it.
It's just such a magical, romantic place. And the second I found the pic of the
wooden walkway down onto a beach the opening scene started to form in my mind. I
could hear waves crashing against the shore, I could see a full moon, I could
see a woman walking home to the kind of little beach house I'd give my left arm
to live in... and then all of a sudden there was a gorgeous male there. A
stranger. And he was... erm... skinny dipping... How's that for an opening
scene?
I
then did something different. The pictures were just too amazing and there were
too many I wanted to use - they were setting my imagination ON FIRE. So instead
of collaging the way I do to help me along, I storyboarded. I had a page for
each scene, a set of pictures for each scene and a pretty darn clear idea of
what I wanted from each scene as a result. And it really, really worked!
So each and every one of these pictures you see
here represents a part of the story. The wooden walkway to the private beach
where Roane finds Adam that first night. The tentative holding of hands that
shows how fragile their relationship is (one of my favourite pics
EVER
may I just say!), Adam by the fire he builds with driftwood on the beach when he
can't sleep after his first night with Roane...
Then came all the little things that made such a
difference. Remember Adam is an uber-sexy, genius level I.Q. of an alpha male -
opening up isn't really his thing. So I had to find a way for my heroine to be
able to delve beneath the surface a little...
In the pictures I had of my hero inspiration for
this book there were little items of 'jewellery' - a necklace, a ring, leather
straps tied around his wrist... So I started thinking about what they might mean
and what they
could
tell my heroine. Turns out each and every item had its own story and some of
them were linked to the island and Adam's family history, some to who he was as
an adult and the things that he valued in life.
In the end yes, New York did make an appearance -
this time out with Park Avenue and a sidewalk Cafe near Central Park - but
there's no doubt in my mind that this is a Martha's Vineyard romance. Everything
from the islands history to its incredibly serene beauty has an effect on this
story. Heck, even it's location added to it. Cos how does an incredibly
rich
family like the Bryant's conduct business in New York on a day-to day basis? The
answer - they flew. So all of a
sudden I found my heroine was a pilot...And lo
and behold, a little voice informed me that my hero wasn't a fan of flying.
Turned the tables on who was in control I thought - or did it?! Well I guess
you'll just have to read the story to find out, won't you?
All told I LOVED this story. And I'm so in love
with Martha's Vineyard I really do think I'll be back there again - fictionally
speaking. Though it has now been added to my wish list of places to visit in
real life.
Background Music
Yes,
you've guessed it - for One Night With The Rebel Billionaire I did
indeed have yet another 'soundtrack' I put together on my laptop. So there was
more than one song. But this time the mood of the story was very much led,
musically speaking, by the band Five For Fighting...The track I
played on repeat the most was from their album Battle For Everything.
'100 Years' is a song that tells how one man looks back on his life from
the age of fifteen onwards. And it was so apt for Adam from the moment he
stepped back onto that beach after twelve years away from home. As the lyrics
played I could see him in that wistful setting, looking back on his life and the
things that happened... trying to make sense of it all... It was PERFECT.
"The
sea is high and I'm heading through a crisis; chasing the years of my life.
Fifteen there's still time for you - time to buy and time to lose yourself
within a morning star..."
You can order a copy of the album
here
and see a Youtube video of the song
here.
*All Photographs are used to
give a visible representation of the Authors 'view' and are in no way
representative of the people or places in real life beyond the realms of the
Authors imagination.
Reviews
One Night With The Rebel
Billionaire (4.5) by Trish Wylie: When Roane Elliott meets a naked stranger
on the private beach of the Bryant estate, she can't decide if she should report
him for trespassing or stay to admire his perfection. She soon learns the man is
no stranger; he's Adam Bryant, the charismatic son of her employer. After more
than a decade away, he's home to make amends with his ailing father, and Adam
won't be leaving before he and Roane discover all that could happen between
them. This terrific tale is awash in passion and sensuality. The hot and sexy
hero will make your heart beat faster.
Sandra
Garcia-Myers -
Romantic
Times
One Night with the Rebel
Billionaire was sexy, hot and a fast
sensual read as only Trish Wylie can pen, and her billionaire alpha Adam Bryant
is one sexy, handsome and beautiful man, one with secrets and twelve years to
answer for to his father and brother. What he doesn’t count on is his attraction
to Roane a young woman who’s working for his brother and also taking care of his
father. The sexual tension between Roane and Adam leap and sizzle off the pages.
And then after sexual taunting Roane is swept away and is given passion that’s
she’s never known and tries to guard to heart in the process.
Marilyn Shoemaker -
Marilyn's Romance Reviews
