Not My Romeo Read online

  Contents

  Not My Romeo

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  Rev Me Up Excerpt

  Other Books by Kylie Gilmore

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  About the Author

  Not My Romeo

  The Clover Park Series, Book 6

  © 2015 Kylie Gilmore

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  Confirmed bachelor Vince Marino wants nothing more than to win the Clover Park Library project and earn partner in his father’s construction company. But a last-minute bid by Sophia Capello, the jaw-dropping daughter of his father’s lifelong rival, throws Vince out of the running.

  Sophia has to get Capello Construction back on track after her father left them near bankruptcy. Except she’s way out of her league in the construction world, which is why she takes a big risk and proposes a partnership with the hotheaded and handsome Vince. After she wins the project.

  Vince’s cockiness combined with Sophia’s determination forges an alliance filled with explosive and tempting tension. But what will happen when Vince, who doesn’t believe in mixing business with pleasure, discovers Sophia has never truly experienced passion? Will he stick to his rule and protect everything he’s worked so hard for? Or will he find the temptation of showing Sophia what she’s been missing too much?

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  Chapter One

  Vince Marino was hours away from closing the twelve-million-dollar Clover Park Library project on behalf of Marino and Sons Construction, and he didn’t need his dad second-guessing him.

  “Dad, what’re you doing here?” Vince pinched the bridge of his nose, working hard for patience. His dad had finished chemo four days ago and was supposed to be at home resting, not at work checking up on his son. His dad’s deep brown eyes had bags under them. He looked wiped out, and Vince was more than ready to take over the reins at Marino and Sons, as he’d been promised from the beginning. Out of his five brothers, two biological, three step, Vince was the only one who’d stepped up to work in the family business. His dad had made him start at the bottom at eighteen on crew and work his way up. At thirty-four, sixteen long years later, Vince was still proving himself.

  His dad grunted. “I just want to go over a few things before your presentation.”

  “I got it,” Vince said, rolling up the construction plans for the project. They had computer renderings as well, but he liked to show the client on paper.

  “You know how much we need this,” his dad said. “And it’s not in the bag until I sign on the dotted line.”

  Vince jammed his hands on his hips. “If you’d made me partner already, I could sign on the dotted line tonight.”

  “Tomorrow’s soon enough.” His dad ran a hand through his thinning brown and gray hair and sank heavily onto a chair. Vince was the spitting image of his dad from his large six-foot-three frame to the dark brown hair (no gray streaks for Vince yet), dark brown eyes, and strong nose and jaw. Watching his dad change as he got older was like glimpsing Vince’s future self. Of course, his dad had looked a lot better before the chemo. He wasn’t his usual vibrant, cheerful self either.

  “Show me the budget again,” his dad said with a wave of his hand. “I want to see the cash flow.”

  Vince bit back a curse only out of respect for his dad’s condition. He flipped open the laptop and pulled the info up.

  “So they’re a definite on the municipal bond?” his dad asked.

  “Yes. It passed the vote.”

  His dad squinted at the screen. “Remind me how much.” He needed reading glasses, but refused to wear them.

  “If private donations hit ten million, the bond will kick in for two million more.”

  “Who’s running the private donation campaign?” his dad asked.

  “The Friends of the Library committee,” Vince said patiently. They’d been over this before.

  “You think they’ll hit their target?”

  “They’ve already got half of it,” Vince said. “This town is well connected. Gabe’s been a big help with corporate sponsors.”

  At the mention of Vince’s older stepbrother, his dad broke out in a wide smile. “Those city lawyer connections keep paying dividends. Good, good.”

  Vince pushed back the old jealousy that was his knee-jerk reaction when it came to Gabe. Until recently, he and Gabe had been rivals. Vince’s fault, he knew. They’d been forced together as kids when Gabe’s mom married Vince’s dad. Vince had been twelve, Gabe fourteen, both of them the oldest in their respective families, both used to bossing their little brothers around, and they’d been forced to share a room. What was hardest for Vince was sharing his dad. He’d lost his mom when he was nine and had been tight with his dad. His dad had taken in his three new stepsons like they were his own. Looking back, he gave his dad a lot of credit for that, especially since his stepbrothers’ biological dad was a complete asshole, but at twelve, and for longer than he’d like to admit, Vince had been nothing but pissed off.

  Vince packed up the laptop and stood. “I’ll call you tomorrow with the good news.”

  His dad stood and straightened Vince’s tie for him. Anyone else and Vince would’ve slapped his hands away, but it was his dad. He accepted the annoyance and reached again for rapidly vanishing patience.

  “You want me to come with?” his dad asked. “Just to listen and chime in if there’s any questions.”

  Vince gritted his teeth. “I thought I was running it.”

  “You are. With supervision.”

  Vince met his dad’s eyes with a hard stare. “Either you trust me or you don’t. Which is it? Why have a Marino and Sons if you’re never going to hand over the reins to your son? Because I don’t see any other son lining up here for the job.”

  His dad jerked his chin. “Win the library project and we’ll talk. You have to show me you can bring in business.”

  “I told you I got this!” Vince barked.

  His dad squared his shoulders, still an impressive figure even after everything he’d been through. They were eye to eye. “I’ll believe that when I see you at the groundbreaking ceremony.”

  And wasn’t that just it in a nutshell? Gotta see it to believe it. Can’t just believe in your firstborn.

  “Thanks for your vote of confidence,” Vince said before grabbing his stuff and heading for the door.

  “Watch that mouth, son,” his dad said.

  Vince didn’t reply. There was no respectful way to vent his anger. Instead he stepped outside, took in a deep breath of warm September air, got into his ’69 Chevy Camaro and peeled out of the lot.

  ~ ~ ~

  Sophia Capello strode through the Clover Park Library, head held high as if her father hadn’t taken a million dollars from the company’s coffers. And sank it
into an alpaca farm.

  As if her mother hadn’t run off with the pool boy.

  As if her younger brother hadn’t just dropped out of college to follow his favorite punk rock band across the country.

  And, most importantly, as if her family’s business, Capello Construction, wasn’t on the brink of collapse.

  She stopped at the door of the meeting room and took a deep breath. A long oak table surrounded by black plastic chairs dominated the small room. And in those chairs sat nearly all middle-aged men—she assumed the town council and mayor—talking quietly amongst themselves. At the head of the table stood a whiteboard easel, which was where she’d be presenting Capello Construction’s bid for the new library.

  Her father, the head of Capello Construction, was currently holed up in his brother’s apartment, nursing a broken heart (over her mother) with scotch and cheese puffs. He’d begged her to pull together this presentation at the last minute. The high price tag on the project was literally their last hope before bankruptcy.

  She stepped inside and pasted on a smile. “Good evening, everyone. Thank you for allowing me to bid tonight.”

  She got right down to business, pulling some architectural drawings from her portfolio binder and leaning them against the whiteboard easel. Nerves skittered through her. She was not well-versed in construction, though she knew some things as an expert on historic architecture. Her dad had coached her, or more like she’d pried answers out of him while he’d stuffed his face watching Scarface on repeat. Her proposal depended on preserving the oldest part of the library while adding to it in a way that blended. She took a seat at the table and felt an intense stare directed right at her.

  She looked up and nearly gasped at the male beauty glaring across the table at her. He was breathtaking—thick dark brown hair, deep chocolate brown eyes, chiseled cheekbones, a strong jaw, full sensuous lips. He was also large with a thick neck and massive shoulders that filled out his suit jacket, reminding her, for lack of a better word, of a lumberjack, except with nicer clothes. Her heart kicked up, but she held his gaze. It must be Vince, the hothead from Marino and Sons Construction. She’d never met him, but she’d heard about him over the years as her dad went off on his usual tirade against Marino and Sons Construction. The hostility and rivalry between her father and Vince’s father had begun over a woman and escalated over the years to nothing short of all-out war. They were always bidding on the same projects, always undercutting each other’s bids in bold moves to win the business, but, in the end, hurting only themselves by coming in at a lower price. She really didn’t understand it. She suspected her dad’s temper had a lot to do with it, which was why she had no worries about Vince’s temper. Sophia was her father’s daughter, with a lot more control.

  “Who the hell is she?” Vince barked, making her hackles rise. “And why am I seeing construction plans?”

  “Now, Vince,” a man said.

  Sophia glanced down at the neatly labeled paper name card perched in a binder clip in front of the man—Mayor Riggs. Figured. He was at the head of the table.

  She spoke directly to Vince. “I’m Sophia Capello from Capello Construction. A last-minute addition to the agenda.”

  Vince’s head snapped up, and she held his fiery gaze.

  She went on. “I have a proposal for the library that includes looking at the historical significance of the building. Something I’m sure everyone in Clover Park would want to preserve.”

  Vince’s jaw clenched. She looked back at him calmly.

  Vince looked up and down the table. “Gentlemen, I’ve been jumping through hoops for months of meetings and presentations for the construction of this building by Marino and Sons. I thought this was a done deal. Why is this open for discussion?”

  “We haven’t signed any contracts yet,” Mayor Riggs replied. “We’d like to hear from Ms. Capello tonight.”

  “Thank you, Mayor Riggs,” Sophia said smoothly.

  A muscle ticked in Vince’s jaw. Sophia raised a brow, earning a dark scowl from Vince. Her pulse thrummed pleasantly. A little adrenaline before an important meeting could only help.

  She smiled. “Shall we get started?”

  Chapter Two

  Vince sat there in his uncomfortable suit, seething as Sophia proceeded to charm the pants off the middle-aged horny men in the room, who couldn’t take their eyes off her snug bright pink pants suit. It didn’t help that the blazer was open and a skimpy black tank played peek-a-boo with ample cleavage as she moved. He tugged on his tie, pulling it away from his neck. Her long legs were in heels that screamed sex, with a thick strap around her ankles. Her toenails were pink. He tore his gaze from her toes back to her face as she smiled and pointed out all the features of the proposed construction for the library that was supposed to be his first project as full partner at Marino and Sons Construction. He’d been groomed for this position since birth and damned if Sophia Capello of all people was going to take that from him. His dad would keel over if he heard that Vince lost to his longtime competitor and personal nemesis Joe Capello. Or his representative.

  Sophia was yammering on about the ancient part of the library. Like the original chandelier that had been found in the attic of the town hall, the circular iron stairway, the skylight, and the mosaic floor that would make a welcoming foyer and a statement about Clover Park and its long storied history. Yawn. Clover Park was nothing more than a small Connecticut town that had once been the country escape of the New York City wealthy elite and was now just a sleepy suburb. His idea for a modern sleek glass building was both a challenge to construct and offered views to the park across the street that was the highlight of its location. Who cared about the original brick front, which was, by the way, crumbling, or the marble columns by the front door that were more fitting to a larger Greek-style building, not a dinky brick library in disrepair on account of being built in fucking 1896. The addition to the library, built in the 1960s, was extremely outdated and too small for continued use.

  Vince stifled a yawn as Sophia went on and on about the original fireplace—major fire hazard in a room full of books—and finally quieted. He stood immediately to take over the meeting, crossing to where she stood at the head of the table.

  “Gentlemen,” he began. “As we’ve discussed—”

  “Excuse me,” Sophia said with a smile to the seated men. “I wasn’t quite finished yet.”

  He crossed his arms. “Finish.”

  She smiled sweetly at him, but her glittering dark brown eyes were full of challenge. His eyes locked with hers, ready to do battle. She gave him a small smile that was more of a fuck you than a smile and turned to the room. “Rather than go with a stark modern building, I’m proposing more brick blended to match the color of the original, starting with a single story and then moving up to two stories where the majority of the collection will be held.” She flipped to the next drawing, which looked like a helluva lot of brick. Not cheap and definitely not capturing the view. “The slope of the property makes the two-story new construction a viable alternative.”

  He clenched his teeth. His was also a two-story construction, but with the demolition of the old structure.

  She finally wound down. “Thank you for your time, gentlemen. I hope I’ve convinced you of the importance of preserving the historic architecture in a way that’s still modern and functional. This town has such a proud history and it’s up to us to preserve it for our children.” She looked to some of the older men. “And our grandchildren.”

  Vince restrained himself from rolling his eyes. She didn’t even live in town as far as he knew. Unfortunately, the men were eating it up.

  “That’s good,” Mayor Riggs said, nodding enthusiastically.

  “I liked it,” someone else said. Lots of head bobbing and murmuring around the table.

  “Gentlemen,” Vince boomed, taking control of the meeting, “the primary feature of the library’s location is its view of the park. That’s why my design works best. W
e’ve got glass from floor to second-floor ceiling. A light, airy space centered in its natural environment, blending seamlessly. Brick cannot come close to this feel. And we’ve got environmental design built in, with passive solar in the back and construction standards at the highest energy efficiency.” He paused. “You know my design, so let me just highlight the major features. One: natural beauty. Two: energy savings. Three: a less expensive budget than what’s been proposed by Capello Construction. Thank you.” His glare around the room challenged anyone to throw any of what he said into doubt. This was a no-brainer. They weren’t building a freaking museum to the past. This was the time for new and modern.

  Sophia shook her head. “While I’m sure we’d all like to save a few pennies, no one understands the importance of preserving Clover Park’s illustrious history like I do. I’m an expert on historic architecture and work tirelessly to push historic designation through with the National Registry of Historic Places. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a plaque on the front of the building declaring it a historic site?” She beamed a smile that had many of the men smiling back and nodding.

  “And how long would that take?” Vince asked.

  Sophia tossed her long wavy brown hair over one shoulder. “Applications take time, but I can help to make sure the forms go through efficiently.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Sophia glared at him, her fiery nature doing something weird to his insides, twisting them up and somehow heating him at the same time. Fuck. He was just as bad as these old geezers lusting after the beautiful woman. She was trying to take what was rightfully his, and he would not stand for that.

  He addressed the mayor directly. “Marino and Sons is prepared to break ground as soon as next week. Our schedule is cleared for this project, which we thought, based on the number of meetings and approvals we’ve cleared already, was a mere formality. If you want your new library open by spring and on budget, then let’s get started.”

  Mayor Riggs’ mouth formed a flat line, and he slowly nodded. “Now, Vince, you make a good point there, and we all really liked your proposal.” The other men hurried to agree. Brown-noser wimps. “But I think I speak for all of us when I say we also really liked Sophia’s idea. There is something to be said for the history of Clover Park. We were one of the first towns in Connecticut to have a library.”