✯BOOK BLITZ:✯ The Billionaire’s Ploy by Allie Burton {EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!}

The Billionaire’s Ploy by Allie Burton 

Release Date:  October 25th 2017

Series: Castle Ridge #5

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

All’s fair in love and business.

Billionaire Jackson Croft refuses to let anything interfere with his merger and marriage plans. His merger. His brother’s marriage. When Emory Barrington returns to Castle Ridge and catches his younger brother’s attention, Jackson needs to take drastic steps to stop the flirtation. Even if it means using himself as bait.

As a child Emory was infatuated with the younger Croft brother, so when he invites her to a party she can’t resist. Until Jackson interrupts their dance, tries to bribe her, and then steals a kiss. A kiss that vibrates to her soul.

To make up for the attempted bribe, Jackson offers her a job decorating his Denver penthouse. She’s just starting her interior design firm and can’t turn the business away even if it means working closely with the billionaire. The project turnaround is fast and the attraction between Emory and Jackson grows faster. She believes she sees the real man beneath the façade, but when she learns of his double-dealing her heart can’t take the betrayal.

In this take on the Sabrina story, can deception lead to love? 

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{EXCERPT}

“You are what?”

“Available.” With quick reflexes, Jackson bent his head and locked his lips onto Emory’s soft and surprised ones.

Magnetic energy sparked through him. He molded her body to his, lining up the interesting parts in all the right places. His mouth pressed against her shocked seam. Her lips were moist and yielding. He couldn’t stop himself from using his tongue to get a little taste. A taste of heaven.

For a second.

She broke away and slapped his cheek. “You jerk. What the heck were you doing?”

The sting on his skin was what he deserved. He was a dirty, jaded man. A guilty man. He deserved to be slugged or shot. He’d afflicted the man she was supposed to meet and expected to take his place? The thought scarred. He hadn’t been thinking when he kissed her. Only feeling and sensing and seeing.

High flags of righteous red shone on her cheeks. Her gaze turned stormy and dark. With a simple kiss, he’d changed her from light and innocent to shady and somber. That’s what he did to people. It’s what he’d done to himself.

He couldn’t show what he felt. He put a sneer on his face. “I wasn’t sure if it mattered which Croft brother you kissed.”

Except he knew it mattered.

But his brother loved Shey. They’d get back together soon, and it would be Emory’s heart hurting. In a way, he was doing her a favor. Stopping this attraction between her and Ryder before it got started.

“You surprised me.” She swiped her mouth with the back of her hand and glared. “And it matters.”

Music from the party intruded into their silence. Wind blew through the budding trees. Her scent must have stuck to his skin when he’d pressed her body against his, because he still smelled apples. She continued to glare, completely unaffected by his kiss.

The checkbook burned against his chest, reminding him of his goal. “You’re correct. It does matter. My brother isn’t right for you.”

“And you are?” She scoffed.

“I’m not right for anyone.” Darkness surrounded his soul at the truth of his statement. He didn’t have the time, or the inclination, for a relationship. He certainly wasn’t worthy of her, especially after his next action. He took out the checkbook and pen. “How much will it take for this little flirtation to disappear?”

She reeled back and her eyes grew darker, except for the bright flash of anger. “You’re paying me off?”

“Twenty thousand? Fifty thousand?” The dollar amount meant nothing. He needed to save the merger. Save the marriage between Ryder and Shey.

Emory tilted her chin up in the habitual way, exhibiting curiosity and intelligence. “You’re joking, right? All we did was dance.”

“A dance. A kiss.” Jackson controlled the spear of jealousy remembering their kiss. “I’m trying to save an important merger.”

She shook her head in slow motion. “I have nothing to do with a merger.”

“Ryder does. If he and Shey don’t get married I’ve easily lost a million dollars, and even more if the merger doesn’t go through.” Jackson had to remember. This was for the merger and his brother’s future.

“The deal’s worth a million dollars?” The awe in Emory’s tone told him he’d won.

Everyone had a price, even innocent fairies.

Disappointment left him sluggish. He clicked his pen and started to write out the check. “I’ll write this for one hundred thousand.”

She slapped the checkbook out of his hand, and it hit a puddle with a splash. “You couldn’t buy me with all of your wealth.”

“I wasn’t sure if it mattered which Croft brother you kissed.” Except Jackson knew it mattered.

But his brother loved Shey. They’d get back together soon, and it would be Emory’s heart hurting. In a way, he was doing her a favor. Stopping this attraction between her and Ryder before it got started.

“You surprised me.” Emory swiped her mouth with the back of her hand and glared. “And it matters.”

Music from the party intruded into their silence. Wind blew through the budding trees. Her scent must have stuck to his skin when he’d pressed her body against his because he stilled smelled apples. She continued to glare completely unaffected by his kiss.

The checkbook burned against his chest, reminding him of his goal. “You’re correct. It does matter. My brother isn’t right for you.”

“And you are?” She scoffed.

“I’m not right for anyone.” Darkness surrounded his soul at the truth of his statement. He didn’t have the time or the inclination for a relationship. He certainly wasn’t worthy of her, especially after his next action. He took out the checkbook and pen. “How much will it take for this little flirtation to disappear?”

She reeled back and her eyes grew darker, except for the bright flash of anger. “You’re paying me off?”

“Twenty thousand? Fifty thousand?” The dollar amount meant nothing. He needed to save the merger. Save the marriage between Ryder and Shey.

Emory tilted her chin up in the habitual way exhibiting curiosity and intelligence. “You’re joking, right? All we did was dance.”

“A dance. A kiss.” Jackson controlled the spear of jealousy remembering their kiss. “I’m trying to save an important merger.”

She shook her head in slow motion. “I have nothing to do with a merger.”

“Ryder does. If he and Shey don’t get married I’ve easily lost a million dollars and even more if the merger doesn’t go through.” Jackson had to remember. This was for the merger and his brother’s future.

“The deal’s worth a million dollars?” The awe in Emory’s tone told him he’d won.

Everyone had a price, even innocent fairies.

Disappointment left him sluggish. He clicked his pen and started to write out the check. “I’ll write this for one hundred thousand.”

She slapped the checkbook out of his hand and it hit a puddle with a splash. “You couldn’t buy me with all of your wealth.”

AUTHOR BIO:

Allie Burton has always been a reader and writer. She wrote her first novel at the age of twelve when she was stranded at a hospital by a snowstorm. Receiving her first romance from her grandmother, she fell in love with the genre. As an adult, she read young adult books with her own teens and was excited to find something fresh and new. Now, she writes both.

Having so many jobs as a teen and adult became great research material for the stories she writes. She has been everything from a bike police officer to a professional mascot escort to an advertising executive. She has lived on three continents and in four states and has studied art, fashion design, and marine biology.

Allie is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Romance Writers of America. She loves to ski, golf, and run. Currently, she lives in Colorado with her husband and two children.

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