The Billionaire’s Stubborn Lover (The Maxfield Brothers Series Book 3)
THE BILLIONAIRE’S STUBBORN LOVER
THE MAXFIELD BROTHERS SERIES BOOK 3
LESLIE NORTH
CONTENTS
The Billionaire’s Stubborn Lover
Blurb
Mailing List
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
Epilogue
The End
Thank You!
Exclusive Excerpt: WIRED
THE BILLIONAIRE’S STUBBORN LOVER
The Maxfield Brothers Series
Book 3
By Leslie North
BLURB
Embracing the future means Nathan Maxfield will have to let go of past mistakes.
Nathan Maxfield feels like he’s never really had the chance to prove himself. The youngest of the Maxfield brothers, he’s always let the rest of the family take charge of his father’s company, Duncan Enterprises, while he focuses on green architecture and his passion for the environment. When a new building contract comes along, he finally has a chance to show his father and brothers what he’s made of; if he can please a difficult, conservative client, that is.
Carolina Valdez is in the same boat. After three failed marriages, she’s juggling kids, work, and helping her mother’s restaurant, Maria’s, to get off the ground. When the Maxfields’ new construction project threatens to tear down Maria’s, she’ll have to work with Nathan to find a solution. She’s anticipating a fight. The last thing she expects is to get lost in his blue eyes.
They’ve both made mistakes when it comes to romance, but they might be the best thing that ever happened to one another; if they can forgive themselves for past missteps and build a new life together.
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1
“She is going to kill me,” Nathan groaned as he bent down to slip on his loafers. His notebooks and papers were skewed all over the kitchen table, and he gathered them as best he could. Glancing once again at the clock, he swore and shoved everything into his bag. Snagging his keys and the bag already in his grip, he was out the door and taking the apartment stairs two a time. “She is so going to murder me!”
Angie Maxfield was not usually a terrifying person, but if he didn’t haul ass, he was probably going to be the main event at her party. It was bad enough that the CEO of Duncan Enterprises was married to his oldest brother, but now she was also pregnant. Very pregnant.
Pregnant, hormonal, and cranky.
Hoping to buy himself more time, he called his other brother, Gabe, as he started the car and threw it noisily into gear. In another interesting twist of his family history, his middle brother had recently married Nathan’s ex-girlfriend, Daisy. And while he’d given Gabe his blessing, he was fully prepared to use the situation to his advantage and at least try to save his ass.
“Nathan,” Gabe growled in a warning voice. “You’re not here, and Stephen has noticed.”
“I’ve left my apartment. It’s going to take me twenty minutes to get there. Has Angie noticed that I’m not there?”
“Twenty minutes? Nathan, you live thirty minutes away.”
Nathan hit the accelerator and flew down the road. “I’m aware of that, and you haven’t answered the question.”
“Angie is currently distracted by Daisy because Stephen forgot to pick up the cake. He’s going to try to sneak it in without her noticing. I thought his lack of sleep was supposed to start after the baby was born.”
“You need to make sure that she doesn’t realize that I’m late. These days when she’s angry, she cries, and I can’t see that woman cry again. It terrifies me.”
Gabe chuckled. “I know what you mean, but why are you throwing me into the line of fire?”
“You married my ex-girlfriend.” Nathan tapped the button on the steering wheel to disconnect the call and gripped the steering wheel tighter. The truth was that he was happy for Gabe and Daisy. Since their marriage, Gabe had been far less uptight and much easier to be around and while Daisy was still passionate about her causes, she was far less likely to get in an argument with someone over their sloppy recycling methods.
Nathan and Daisy were finished long before they actually broke up, so there was no jealousy or hatred between the brothers. But Nathan desperately needed to get to the party before Angie realized that he was late, and he was not above using Gabe since he was in a corner.
Inspiration had struck in the early hours of the morning, and Nathan hadn’t gotten much sleep. He’d spent hours sketching on paper and looking at previous designs. It wasn’t until he’d gotten up for more coffee that he even realized it was no longer morning.
Fearing the wrath of a pregnant Angela Maxfield was hardly irrational; her hormones were raging. Two days ago, she’d gotten so angry at Stephen that she’d spent an hour crying in Nathan’s office. And all Stephen had done was boil her eggs instead of frying them. Angie didn’t let it go until lunchtime, when Stephen brought her a ripe mango, neatly cut into chunks, with a side of sticky rice drenched in some sort of coconut sauce. Then she was singing his praises, as if she were Snow White.
Nathan eyed his car’s speedometer and glanced around the street. Fortunately, there wasn’t a police car in sight, and even though he was already going ten miles over the speed limit, he thought about Angie’s tears and pushed down even harder on the gas pedal.
Stephen and Angie had only recently moved into their new house. For a long time, they lived out of her condo while Stephen commuted between Duncan Enterprises and Maxfield Construction, but before Angie got pregnant, Stephen had put the finishing touches on the new house. The two-story house was Stephen’s vision. A compromise between Angie’s humble upbringing and the money she and Stephen now made, it had a large fenced-in backyard, a small pool, and plenty of space. Stephen and Angie were ready for this baby and however many more would come after that.
More kids? Nathan shuddered to think of having to go through this all over again.
As he parked in front of the house, another car came to a screeching halt behind him. In the rearview mirror, Nathan could see a leggy blonde jumping out of the car. She was dressed in a baby blue floral sundress that showed off her tanned skin and clung to her hourglass figure. Struck by her beauty, Nathan forgot all about Angie and her hormones. He watched as she scurried on her high heels to the back seat and leaned in. When she appeared again, she had a toddler in her arms. Around the back of her car, two more young kids appeared holding hands. The woman turned to reach back into the car and pulled out gift boxes and set them on the roof of her car.
She then stepped back and frowned as she glanced at the presents, the two children, and the toddler. Nathan immediately saw her dilemma.
Unbuckling his seatbelt, he climbed out of the car. “Need some help?” he asked casually.
The woman turned and smiled at him. “Yes, please! If you could help me with the gifts, I would
forever be in your debt! You’re Nathan, right?”
“Yes, I am.” Surprised, Nathan studied her. Young. Three kids. Knew his name. This could only be Angie’s youngest sister, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember her name. He was fairly certain that he’d met her at the wedding, but he’d also been in the middle of a project, and very few things sunk in when his mind was on work.
He was about to apologize, but she was already handing the gifts to him. “We have to try and sneak in. My mother is going to kill me if she realizes that I’m late. Of course, it’s pretty hard to sneak three kids in anywhere. Thank you so much for helping.”
“You’re welcome,” he said dumbly. Her mind seemed to work at a hundred miles an hour. She was already lecturing her two oldest on how to behave at the party and pulling her hair out of her youngest’s grasp. Gripping their hands, she hurried them across the lawn.
Nathan shifted the packages in his arms and followed. They were about to make it inside when the front door flew open and a woman in a wheelchair blocked their path.
“Carolina Valdez, I know you are not late to your own sister’s baby shower! What kind of values are you teaching your children if you can’t make it to one event on time!”
“Mother, now is not the time,” Carolina said with a frown.
“Abuela!” The toddler in Carolina’s arms started to squirm and hold her pudgy arms out to Maria Lopez.
“My baby, Carlita,” Maria coo’d as she reached out to take her. Her expression softened as she kissed the toddler, but when she looked at Carolina again, her face was hardened with anger. “What on earth is your excuse this time?”
“I am a single, working mother with three kids,” Carolina snapped. “Be happy that I actually made it at all. Can you please move before we’re even later?”
“You never learn your lesson, do you? You’re a stubborn, bull-headed…”
“Mrs. Lopez!” Nathan said brightly. “It’s so nice to see you again! How are you?”
Maria narrowed her eyes as she glared at him. “Another Maxfield thinking that he…,” she clamped her mouth shut and rolled her wheelchair out of the way.
“Mom!” Carolina exclaimed. She shook her head as she hustled the other two kids inside and gave Nathan an apologetic smile. Nathan set the presents down on the over-laden table, adding to the already impressive pile, and Carolina reached out to grab his arm. “Hey, look, thank you for the intervention back there. My mother can get a little cranky sometimes, but she’s not usually outright rude!”
Nathan thought of his father and nodded. “I know the feeling.” He was about to say something else, but Carolina was already chasing after her daughter and calling her name. Smiling, Nathan entered the living room to join the rest of the party, but someone blocked his path.
“Nathan,” Angie said as she folded her arms. He pulled up sharply and held his breath. Tears were already gathering in her eyes. “First, Stephen forgot the cake, and then Gabe tried to distract me because you were running late, and you hoped I wouldn’t notice. What is it with you guys? It’s my baby shower, and I wanted everyone to come together and have a good time, and now it’s all falling apart!” Angie started to wail, and Nathan watched in horror, as she seemed to be gaining momentum.
He took a deep breath, ready to say anything to distract her when Carolina immediately stepped between them. “Angie! Tamara is dying to talk to you!” Reaching over Carolina pulled her daughter in front of her and nudged her forward.
“Hi, Aunt Angie! I like your necklace,” the little one called Tamara said sassily. Nathan could see all kinds of attitude in the girl, and Angie beamed and reached down to take the girl’s hand. Distracted and happy, Angie walked back into the party, and Nathan breathed a sigh of relief.
“I figured that I owed you one,” Carolina said with a smile. “Angie is terrifying these days, but she’s absolutely wonderful around kids. It makes my life so much easier. I think I’m the only person who doesn’t want her pregnancy to end.”
Nathan chuckled. “Now that you’ve given away her secret, I’m sure everyone will be lining up to babysit you. FOR YOU!” he said more forcefully, as he began to stammer.
Laughing outright, Carolina took his comment in stride. “Not anyone who knows my kids,” she said dryly. “Tamara is only ten, but she thinks she’s old enough for a cellphone, Julio is eight but is the destructive force of an earthquake when he sets his mind to something, and Carlita is in her terrible twos. I go through babysitters like crazy.”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He pulled at his sweater vest and thought about asking if he could get her a drink when they both heard the distinctive sound of glass breaking followed by something less breakable rolling across the floor. Carolina’s eyes widened.
“Oh, no. Julio,” she muttered and dashed through the crowd.
Nathan watched her move and couldn’t help but admire how quickly she moved in stilettos.
“Close your mouth,” Gabe growled from behind him. “It’s like you’ve never laid eyes on her before.”
“I wasn’t staring,” Nathan muttered. “She’s a whirlwind. Hey, I got something to say to you: you know you threw me under the bus, Angie was waiting for me when I walked in the door.”
His older brother shrugged. “She found out that William Wells was looking at other architecture companies. I had to distract her with something. If it makes you feel better, I threw Stephen under the bus too. Daisy gets mad at me whenever Angie gets mad at me. There is no escape.” Gabe shuddered.
The door slammed and their other brother hurried in, breathing hard and looking around. He was carrying a huge confectioner’s box. “Okay guys, I’m back. I’m here, did she notice I was gone?” Stephen stopped anxiously beside them, and gave another worried-looking check around the hallway in case his wife should suddenly appear. “Can you two run interference while I slip into the kitchen?”
“Stephen Maxfield,” Angie hissed as she parted the crowd with her pregnant belly. “How could you forget the cake?”
“Is that Daisy waving at me? Gotta go,” Gabe said quickly as he went in the opposite direction.
“I’ll take the cake!” Nathan shot his oldest brother a grin before he grabbed the cake and he too hurried out of Angie’s way. Once it was clear that Angie wasn’t going to follow him, he relaxed and slowed his pace. If he tripped and dropped the cake, Angie and Stephen would have to toss a coin to see who got to put their hands on him first.
Once the cake was safely on the table in the kitchen, he let his eyes wander over the rest of the food display. As he looked over the clean lines of the table, they began to live and breathe. Forming a 3D image in his mind, he began to mentally manipulate the lines into the idea that he’d been working on that morning. Modern simplicity with historical beauty. Nathan’s head swirled with ideas as he continued to manipulate the drawings in his head.
“Is this what you consider party attire?”
Blinking, Nathan turned at the familiar voice. Duncan Maxfield studied him from behind the kitchen counter. He had a beer in one hand and a sandwich in the other.
“You’re not supposed to be drinking,” Nathan said with a frown. “Your doctor made it clear that you’re not even allowed a daily beer.”
“Loafers. Dockers. A sweater vest. You dress as if you’re older than me. It’s a party, Nathan,” Duncan grumbled as he ignored what Nathan said. The old man had a health scare more than a year ago, and he’d gone to extreme measures to bring all three of his sons back to live in the same city. Duncan Enterprises was back on its feet and doing well, and Duncan was putting a lot of effort into correcting the mistakes of the past with his boys.
But he was still hard-headed. Reaching out, Nathan snagged Duncan’s beer and finished it for him. “There is nothing wrong with my outfit,” he answered after he wiped his mouth. “And if I catch you with alcohol in your hand at this party, I’ll sic Angie after you.”
Something akin to fear passed through Dun
can’s eyes, and he glared at Nathan. “You’re supposed to be the easiest going of my sons,” he snapped as he took a bite out of his sandwich and pushed past him. Nathan couldn’t help but smile. It was always nice to get one up on his father.
The party was in full swing. Stephen was apparently forgiven, Angie was happily opening presents, and Daisy kept trying to pin a bunch of tiny babies on him. But Nathan was mostly focused on the ideas in his head.
And the leggy blonde that kept sneaking him a look from across the room.
2
Nathan perched on the stool and leaned above his drafting board with a pencil and ruler. The fluorescent lights overhead were giving him a headache, but it probably had more to do with the hangover he was still nursing.
What baby shower goes until two o’clock in the morning? Groaning, he sat back and sighed. He’d already gone through the last of his aspirin, and he was only two hours into his morning. At this rate, it was going to be a long day.
“You have a perfectly good office, so what the hell are you doing in storage?” Stephen snapped as he opened the door. Gabe was right behind him. “We’ve been looking for you for an hour.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Nathan muttered as he stood and bent backwards to relieve his back pain. He really needed to take more breaks when he worked. “Alicia knows that I draw in here. If you checked my office, you would know that.”
Gabe looked around the storage room skeptically. “That still doesn’t answer the original question. And why is this room empty? I spent hours looking over inventory last week. There were no empty storage units.”
“Yeah, I log this room as full so no one comes in here while I’m working. You guys keep interrupting me when I’m in my office. And now that you’ve found my hiding place, I’ll have to acquisition another one. Why are both of you looking for me?”
“William Wells,” Gabe said with a sigh and rubbed his temples. “The rumors are true. He really is shopping around. We need an update on his design, Nathan, before we lose him.”