Secret Indiscretions: Carson Cove Scandals Read online

  Copyright © 2019 by Kelli Callahan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  Forbidden Kiss: Sneak Peek

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  Kelli’s Voracious Vixens

  About the Author

  Also by Kelli Callahan

  Chapter One

  Melanie

  “You have to let me see that ring!” I ran over to my friend, Taylor, as she was walking down the hallway at Carson Cove University.

  “This old thing?” She grinned and held it up.

  “It’s gorgeous! My god! That picture on Facebook didn’t do it justice at all!” I stared at the ring, and my mouth fell open in shock.

  “You totally have to come to the wedding! I need your address so I can send you an invitation.” She pulled out her phone.

  “Oh…” I tensed up. “I’m actually going to be moving soon, so maybe you could give it to me at school?”

  “Sure, no problem.” She smiled and put her phone back in her purse. “We’re going to get married right after graduation.”

  “That’s a short engagement.” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Are you sure you’re ready to get married?”

  “If you had told me when I started this school year that I would be planning a wedding at the end of it, I would have thought you were crazy.” She exhaled sharply. “But after everything we went through to get to this point—and a baby scare—yeah, I’m definitely ready. Don’t get me wrong; we want to have kids and even talked about trying after the wedding. We just want to wait so we can enjoy our honeymoon.”

  “I’m so happy for you.” I smiled and leaned in for a quick hug.

  “Maybe we can get together for drinks one day this week?” Taylor tilted her head inquisitively.

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” I nodded quickly. “How about Wednesday? I have the night off from work.”

  “Perfect.” She nodded. “Okay, I need to get to class.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I waved goodbye and started walking in the opposite direction.

  I was definitely happy for Taylor, but I wasn’t envious of everything she went through before she got an engagement ring on her finger. She was marrying her best friend’s father, which was complicated enough, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. I was still trying to wrap my head around the scandal that surrounded their relationship. They found a way to get through it. That was all that truly mattered.

  Deep down, I wished I had someone that looked at me the way Bryant looked at Taylor, but the last thing I needed was a man in my life. I was about to graduate from college, and I still didn’t have a job lined up—if I didn’t find something soon, I wasn’t going to be able to stay in Carson Cove after I walked across the stage.

  I thought I would hate this place when I first moved here, but I really like living in Carson Cove.

  I walked to my next class and checked my email before my professor got started with his lecture. I was waiting to hear from several companies in Carson Cove—basically, every company that was hiring. I wasn’t looking for anything special. I just wanted to get my foot in the door and have an opportunity to prove that I deserved to be there. Unfortunately, none of the companies I sent my resume to had responded, and every day that passed without hearing something from them made me question if I ever would.

  “Alright class, let’s get started.” Professor Thompson stood up from his desk.

  At least I have something else to occupy my thoughts for the next hour…

  * * *

  A few days later

  “There you are.” Taylor walked up to the table and put her purse down. “This place is really crowded for a Wednesday…”

  “Yeah, I seem to always pick the worst place for us to get a drink.” I shook my head back and forth. “Do you want to go somewhere else? We might have to wait a while for our drinks.”

  “Nah, it’s no big deal.” Taylor waved off my concern and sat down. “I’m actually hungry—I’m going to get something to eat.”

  “That will probably take longer than our drinks…” I chuckled under my breath. “I guess I’ll get something too.”

  “Oh, before we do—I have something for you.” She reached into her purse. “Hot off the press, you get the very first invitation to my wedding.”

  “Aw, thank you.” I took it and smiled.

  “It’s actually one of the samples they gave us, but it’s exactly the same as the official ones I’ll have next week.” She winced. “I hope you don’t mind—I just didn’t want to forget once things got busy.”

  “No, it’s perfect.” I looked down at the invitation. “Do I need to RSVP—or…”

  “Don’t worry about that.” She shook her head back and forth. “I know you’ll be there. You can bring a date too—if you want.”

  “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” I rolled my eyes and put the invitation down next to me on the table.

  “I thought you were dating someone…” Taylor narrowed her eyes. “Grant? Paul?”

  “Luke…” I shrugged. “We went on a couple of dates, but it didn’t work out. You know how it is with college guys—they want to be one of your many mistakes before you graduate.”

  “Dating is definitely hard…” She nodded in agreement. “How are things going with the job search?”

  “About the same as my dating life.” I sighed and reached for my phone—the fact that my email was full of nothing but spam confirmed that my situation hadn’t changed.

  “You should apply to Alcott Inc. again.” Taylor leaned back in her chair. “You applied at a bad time. They’re hiring now…”

  “They were supposed to be hiring the last time I applied, and I never heard anything.” I shrugged. “Their website says they’re looking for people with experience, and I don’t have that—unless you count waitressing.”

  “I could always talk to Bryant. Benson Enterprises might have an opening…” She raised her eyebrow inquisitively.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think I want to work for an investment company.” I was about to tell her why when our waiter walked up to take our order.

  We both ordered margaritas and an appetizer—margaritas seemed to be our go-to drink when we got a chance to hang out. The conversation shifted back to the subject of Taylor’s upcoming nuptials. They had decided to have a small, private ceremony with family, and friend’s in attendance. Bryant was rather well known in Carson Cove, and neither of them wanted a high-profile wedding. They weren’t even planning to have bridesmaids or groomsmen by their sides when they tied the knot. It was discussed, but they ultimately decided that they would rather let the people they cared about enjoy the wedding instead of being part of it. I thought that was rather commendable—if I was marrying a guy as rich as Bryant Benson, I would have been tempted to go overboard.

  “We’re going to have a party at Bryant’s house next week to celebrate our engagement. You’re invited, of course.” Taylor reached for her margarita as soon as the waiter put it down on the table.

  “Me?” I blinked in surprise. “I’m—not family.”

  “Bryant’s inviting people from work and some of his clients—it’s a way to appease those that won’t get an invitation to the wedding.” She shrugged. “You’re my friend. I want you there.”

  “Okay.” I nodded and reached for my drink. “I’m sure my schedule will be clear.”

  It always is…

  “Who knows? Maybe you’ll get to network a little bit.” She sipped her margarita. “There will be a lot of people at the party that you want to work for.”

  “Submitting resumes certainly doesn’t seem to be working,” I sighed and took a sip of my drink.

  I don’t really want to walk up to the rich and powerful people in Carson Cove and beg for a job at a social gathering, but maybe I can introduce myself…

  We finished our margaritas before our appetizer arrived, and I decided to switch over to water instead of having another one. I had a few things that I needed to work on for school, and alcohol normally left me feeling tired after the buzz wore off—especially if I had more than one. Taylor asked my opinion on a few things for the wedding while we ate our appetizer and waited on our meal to arrive. We were at the restaurant much longer than I expected to be because they were busy, so it was a good thing the campus library was open until nine. I was going to need every
single minute to make some progress on the big assignment I had to work on for my Product Management class.

  “Back again?” Emily, the girl that normally worked the evening shift at the library, looked up from her computer as I walked in.

  “Yep.” I nodded and looked around the library. “Another slow night?”

  “I don’t even know why they bother to keep this place open.” Emily shrugged. “I spend more time processing requests for books from our digital library than anything else.”

  “Hopefully it stays open until I graduate.” I gave her a smile and a nod before walking towards the table I normally sat at.

  I need the peace and quiet. This is the only place I can get it.

  I never expected to spend my college years living in a noisy apartment building—nor did I expect my mother to follow me to Carson Cove, but the circumstances required it. I got a scholarship from Carson Cove University, but it wasn’t enough to pay for everything. That required me to take out student loans to cover the rest and work full-time at Moretti’s restaurant just to keep my head above water. My mother was disabled and got a check from the government every month, so she was on a fixed income. Her landlord raised the rent considerably during my senior year of high school—so the pieces just kind of fell into place. The cheapest apartment in Carson Cove was better than what she could afford in the city, and I definitely needed her help—even if I was too proud to admit that when she first suggested it.

  It’s always been the Monroe girls against the world—that part hasn’t changed.

  * * *

  One week later

  My boss wasn’t happy when I asked for a Friday night off, but he reluctantly agreed when he found out I was attending the Benson-Abernathy engagement party. Ironically enough, Moretti’s was catering the event, so I might have ended up there anyway wearing my work uniform instead of the best dress I owned. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do any networking if I was serving pasta—or refilling wine glasses. I was going to be invisible enough as it was because I didn’t really know anyone at the engagement party except Taylor and Bryant. It wasn’t like they were going to have time to introduce me to anyone—they were going to be busy enough entertaining all of the other guests.

  I may not stay long, but at least I can put in an appearance to support my only real friend in Carson Cove.

  I drove through Bryant’s neighborhood and had trouble keeping my eyes on the road. Every house was enormous and immaculate. I knew I was getting close to the location of the party when the spaces between the houses turned into vast acres of land with tennis courts, riding stables, and other displays of luxury. The houses got bigger too—some of them were practically obscene. I drove by millions of dollars in real estate before my GPS told me that Bryant’s house was the next one, I would see.

  Wow… Taylor’s description did not do this place justice.

  Benson Estate looked like something out of a fairy tale. The gates were open, and they had a valet to park the cars. I had no idea where they were being taken, but I didn’t see any parked nearby. I waited in line with a Maserati in front of me and a BMW logo in my rear-view mirror. I wondered if the valets had ever parked a fifteen-year-old Hyundai before—I had certainly never driven it anywhere that required me to hand my keys off to someone else before I walked inside. I could already tell I was going to be underdressed just based on the people I saw exiting the cars in front of me.

  “Hi!” I put my car in parked and greeted the valet when he opened the door.

  “Welcome to Benson Estate.” The valet gave me a slight nod and smiled.

  “Please take good care of my car.” I laughed as I put my keys in his hand. “It’s vintage…”

  I probably won’t get an opportunity to say that to anyone ever again.

  “Of course.” He sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled the door closed.

  I walked in and saw a guy named Dave that worked with me at Moretti’s standing by the door. He was dressed in a tuxedo and had a table set up with several wine choices. It appeared that his job was to make sure everyone got a drink as soon as they entered Benson Estate. I said hello and asked for a glass of red. He put it in my hand before he even recognized me. The party was going to be a little more awkward than I realized with so many people that I worked with taking care of the guests.

  Oh my god, is that a Picasso? Seriously? Bryant has a Picasso just hanging in the foyer?

  None of the other guests seemed to be amazed by the sight of a painting that was worth millions of dollars greeting them as they walked into Benson Estate. Before I realized that I would have better job opportunities if I graduated with a business degree, I was in the art program at Carson Cove University. I couldn’t draw or paint to save my life, but I loved photography.

  I liked being behind the lens and turning beautiful images into works of art. I even made some money doing it in high school, and it seemed like something I could turn into a career, but I realized the road was going to be harder than I thought once I got to college. Simply put, I didn’t have time to chase my dreams—I needed something that offered stability and a steady income.

  “Melanie! You made it!” Taylor waved and started walking in my direction as soon as she spotted me.

  “Hey!” I smiled and leaned in for a hug.

  “Come on, let me give you the grand tour.” She hooked her arm in mine and led me away from the crowd.

  “Aren’t your guests going to miss you?” I looked over my shoulder in concern.

  “They’ll be fine.” She waved off my concern. “Bryant will keep them entertained if they get bored.”

  The rest of Benson Estate was just as amazing as what I had already seen. Taylor showed me a few of her paintings that Bryant had hung in the living room—I had never seen any of her work, and I was floored by how good it was. If I had her artistic talents, I would have stayed in the art program. We made our way to Taylor’s art studio, and she showed me some of the paintings she was working on—Bryant had definitely claimed the best ones for himself, but the ones she was planning to sell were still pretty impressive. After taking me on a brief tour of the east and west wing of Benson Estate, Taylor led me back to the main part of the house where the party was being held.

  “This is where we keep all the rich people—and the people I know.” Taylor looked at me and laughed.

  “You’re going to be one of those rich people soon enough.” I raised an eyebrow. “What was it you always called them? Privileged?”

  “Trust me; there’s a big difference between the privileged and people like Bryant.” She shook her head back and forth.

  “Yeah, I guess so.” I nodded. “He does seem pretty nice—I wouldn’t have realized he was this rich just by meeting him.”

  “Alright, so let me tell you about the people here…” Taylor looked around the room. “The girl talking to Bryant is his youngest daughter, Victoria. The guy that definitely should not be that close to my little sister is his son, Dylan.”

  “Is your sister still dating the football player?” I tilted my head inquisitively.

  “Yeah…” She pointed. “There he is—he’ll make sure Dylan doesn’t turn on the charm.”

  Taylor kept pointing people out, but my stare drifted towards a guy that was sitting at the bar. He looked rather miserable and had a scowl on his face, but he was gorgeous. He had jet black hair, a neatly trimmed beard with a few hints of gray, and dark, piercing eyes. There was just something about him—he had a presence. Taylor kept naming the other people in the room, and I took a quick glance at them to be polite, but I kept getting distracted by the sight of the guy at the bar. He was definitely older than me, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing—guys my age were so immature it was often infuriating, and none of them looked that good in a suit.