Mending the Billionaire Scotsman: A Clean Scottish Romance Book Two Read online

  MENDING THE BILLIONAIRE SCOTSMAN

  A CLEAN SCOTTISH ROMANCE BOOK TWO

  BREE LIVINGSTON

  Edited by

  CHRISTINA SCHRUNK

  Mending the Billionaire Scotsman

  Copyright © 2017 by Bree Livingston

  Edited by Christina Schrunk

  https://www.facebook.com/christinaschrunk.editor

  Proofread by Sherry Chamblee

  https://www.sherrychamblee.com

  Cover design by Victorine Lieske

  http://victorinelieske.com/

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  Bree Livingston

  https://breelivingston.weebly.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Mending the Billionaire Scotsman / Bree Livingston. -- 1st ed.

  ISBN:

  CONTENTS

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  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

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Sneak Peek! Her Pretend Billionaire Boyfriend Chapter 1

  Sneak Peek! The Cowboy’s Fake Marriage Chapter 1

  Other Books by Bree Livingston

  About the Author

  I’ve watched Highlander a gajillion times, therefore I must be an expert on the Scottish accent.

  P.S. That was meant jokingly. I am not an expert, but I tried really hard. That counts, right?

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  CHAPTER 1

  F at drops of rain hit the window and rolled down as Paige Cooper waited for her business partner and best friend, Sarah Freeman. They’d agreed to meet for breakfast two doors down from their travel agency. The scent of coffee and freshly baked pastries filled the air of the small bistro and made her stomach grumble.

  “Come on, Sarah, my stomach is about to cannibalize itself.” Paige set her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand, puffing a piece of hair out of her face. She looked out the window and settled her gaze on a palm tree across the street.

  Her twin sister was getting married. In fact, Penelope had left two days prior to meet movie actor Angus MacLachlan’s family in Scotland. Paige could still see the hurt in her eyes when Paige adamantly refused to attend. It’s nuts. Paige had flung the words like darts.

  When she’d set Penelope up to be on Celebrity Proposal, she never in a million years would have guessed her sister would come home engaged. Engaged. Paige’s brain melted like wax just thinking about it.

  The bell above the door jingled, drawing Paige out of her thoughts.

  Sarah gave her a wave and goofy smile as she trotted over and took a seat. “Hey! Man, it smells good in here. I think I gained ten pounds just walking in. Twenty if you count the deep breaths I took on the walk to the table.”

  “I got here ten minutes ago. I’ll be surprised if I can waddle out the door.”

  “I can’t believe this place just opened. The whole area is getting revitalized. Not great for my budget, but it’s nice that the city is taking interest.”

  “I think it helps when the outgoing mayor buys the strip mall our business is located in.”

  Sarah waved Paige off and rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop it. Mayor Jakes wasn’t so bad. My mom loves him.”

  “Because he’s cute.”

  “Well, yeah, there’s that too.”

  A petite waitress with a tag that read “Emmy” stopped at their table. “Hi!” Her tone was bright, and she bounced on her tiptoes. “Can I get you started with some of our fresh-baked cinnamon rolls? Ohhh…or our newest muffin? Orange-cranberry with our own in-house tangerine marmalade? Paired with our own blend of roasted coffee, it’s to die for.”

  “Uh, I’ll take some coffee and a raspberry scone.” Paige gave a small smile.

  “I’ll have that coffee and the muffin. It sounds wonderful,” said Sarah.

  Emmy giggled and wrinkled her nose. “You bet. Trust me, you’ll love it.” She whirled in place and danced off.

  Paige blinked as the girl disappeared through the double swinging doors. “That girl is entirely too perky for 7 a.m.”

  “Don’t be a lumpy grumpy.”

  “Seriously. She needs to lay off the espresso. No one should be that happy this early. And what grown woman says ‘lumpy grumpy’?”

  “Me, and I’m that happy.”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but I love you, so it doesn’t count.”

  Sarah pressed her tongue to her cheek and harrumphed. “And I love you, so I’m not offended.”

  Paige laughed and stuck her tongue out. Her laughter died, and she propped her head in her hand again. “Are you going to Penelope’s wedding?”

  “Of course I am. The three of us have known each other since we were toddlers. I couldn’t not go. I can’t believe you aren’t.” Sarah’s ocean-blue eyes bored into her.

  Paige dug in her bag and pulled out the plane ticket her sister had given her when she’d finished filming Celebrity Proposal a couple of days ago. “When she left in September to film the show, I never expected her to come home engaged after just twelve weeks. Or that she’d get married in February, twelve weeks after that. In Scotland. It’s insane.” How was Paige supposed to support that craziness?

  “It might be, but she’s in love.”

  “Oh, good grief.” She smacked the ticket onto the table, shaking her head.

  “Did you see the way he looked at her?”

  She hadn’t seen how Angus had looked at her sister, but she’d definitely seen how Penelope looked at him—completely and totally in love. “I swear, if you swoon, I’m going to let that perky waitress dance all over your unconscious body.”

  Sarah huffed. “Paige, I get that you don’t approve, but she’s your sister. You love her.”

  “I do love her, which is why I can’t support this.”

  “You’re going to have to trust Penelope that she knows what she’s doing.”

  Paige leveled her eyes at Sarah. “Like her not knowing the man she was dating for two years was a married l
ying fink?” Penelope should have told her about Tom. Paige could have done something to keep her sister from getting hurt.

  “Okay, that’s a low blow, and you’re not one to talk.”

  Sarah was right on both counts. Paige hadn’t done any better in the man-picking game. On the day she was to be married to Tyler, she’d found a Dear Jane letter, and then the next day, she’d realized why when she found her inheritance gone.

  Paige had held on to that hurt for years. Not that anyone would’ve known. She’d dated plenty of men, let them buy her drinks, and danced into the wee hours of the night, but she let them down before they got any funny ideas or ideas about a future with her.

  “Angus MacLachlan is not in love—”

  Emmy reappeared, balancing a tray with their food and drinks, and set their orders down. “Is there anything else I can get you two?”

  “I’m good for now,” said Paige.

  “Me too,” said Sarah.

  “Okay, well, just call if you need anything.” Emmy pirouetted and left again.

  “Think she’s a dancer?” asked Sarah.

  Paige lifted an eyebrow. “The clues are pointing to yes.”

  Sarah chuckled. “Okay, back to your sister.”

  “That actor is not in love with her. They met under the pretense of him wanting a wife to clean up his image.”

  “It may have started that way, but you don’t know. Penelope is attractive, funny, witty, and sweet to a fault. Can’t you at least entertain the possibility that he fell in love with her?”

  Paige picked up the ticket and sighed. “She is all those things.” The wheels began turning as a plan came to mind. The best way to show Penelope that Angus was only out to save his image was to show her, and the only way to do that was to go to Scotland.

  “See. So there is a possibility.” Sarah lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. “And we don’t know him. But we can go to Rosegail Bridge and get to know him. His parents are letting us stay in their guesthouse the entire time. I’ve got a little money saved that I can use for expenses here and there. Angus even offered to pay our rent on the business for the next few months because Penelope wants you there. He would have flown us to Scotland on his family’s private plane if you hadn’t been so stubborn about going. He’s willing to do anything to make Penelope happy, including having someone who doesn’t like him at his wedding. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

  “So, let’s go. I even had an idea to write a travel blog while we’re gone. I mean, Rosegail Bridge is a quaint little town in the Highlands. Imagine what that’d be like! I was thinking I’d write about the food, the sights, and all the wonderful things the little town and Scotland have to offer. Plus, Christmastime in Scotland sounds romantic.”

  “I think it would be cool to go.”

  Sarah sat back in her seat and took a big drink of her coffee. “That was too easy. What are you up to?”

  “Too easy? What are you talking about?”

  “I know you. Your favorite pastime is tormenting your sister. Hence, her foray into reality television.”

  Okay, she needed to sell it if she was going to keep her plan of stopping Penelope’s wedding a secret. “I did love tormenting my sister. I signed her up for that show because she seemed so sad and boring. I mean, she went to work, came home, and then rinsed and repeated. Her only friend was George.”

  “And what’s wrong with having a dog as a best friend?”

  “Nothing, but she needed to live. Going to work and back home isn’t living.”

  “I agree, but you didn’t do that out of the kindness of your heart. You did it because you really like messing with Penelope.”

  “Those were just pranks. This will affect her whole life.”

  “And since when have you cared about that? Oh, I know, high school. When you came back from that camping trip with a chip on your shoulder.”

  “Hey!”

  Paige cringed inside at the reminder of that trip. How had Sarah figured out that was when her relationship with her sister had changed? During that camping trip, Paige overheard something that broke her heart. It had changed her relationship with not only Penelope, but her dad too.

  “Well, it’s true. When you got back, you’d turned into a jerk to her. Penelope took it in stride, but you got joy out of seeing her miserable.”

  It was true. Paige had gotten joy out of giving Penelope grief. Still, this was a mistake Paige couldn’t let Penelope make. If Angus broke her heart, if he used her like Tom, Penelope wouldn’t recover.

  “This is different. She’s engaged and getting married. I want to be there for her. It just threw me for a while. I mean, one minute she’s calling him the devil, and the next minute she’s thinking he’s a saint.”

  “She got to know him. That’s all.”

  “I guess, but I do want to go. I mean, if she’s gonna do this, someone has to be there to give her away. Plus, going would give me the opportunity to get to know Angus.”

  Sarah eyed Paige for a moment. “All right, but if you try something, I’ll help Penelope send you home.”

  Paige threw her head back and laughed. “You would not!”

  “I would too! I’m vicious.”

  “Oh, yeah, you might beat me with a wet noodle.”

  “Hush, you.”

  Sighing, Paige shrugged. “I guess I need to call the airline and see if I can get the date changed.”

  Sarah smiled.

  Paige narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  “I may have already done it.”

  “You did?”

  “We leave tomorrow,” Sarah said, wiggling her eyebrows.

  “Tomorrow? How am I going to get ready that fast?”

  “I guess it’s a good thing I’m ready to go so I can help you. We’ll leave a note on the door and forward our calls. You need to call Penelope and tell her you’ve changed your mind. She’ll be so thrilled. I know she was disappointed you weren’t coming.”

  “Let’s finish breakfast, and I’ll call her.” Paige had a little less than twelve weeks to prove to Penelope that Angus was a fake and to save her sister from getting her heart broken a second time.

  CHAPTER 2

  Rory yawned as his horse came to a stop. The 5 a.m. wake up call had hit him hard. He could hire people to run their family farm, but he loved working with the animals each day. The farm had been in his family for generations. He’d quickly splashed his face with water, gotten dressed, and hopped on his mare, Gladys.

  Not that he had to get up that early. He could hire people to run their family farm, but he loved working with the animals each day. The farm had been in his family for generations.

  “The fence is broken again?” he asked.

  “Aye. Yer lucky I’m out here. Old Man Ram almost got out,” Taran said.

  “He needs to be soup. If he gets out and hurts someone, we’ll all feel guilty.” Rory had tried to get his brother and Pop to get rid of the ram multiple times. The last time being when the ram had tried to stomp Pop after he’d fallen off his horse. They wouldn’t see his way of thinking, though. It was a matter of time before that ram hurt someone.

  “He’s the best lamb producer we’ve ever had.”

  “He’s also the meanest producer we’ve ever had. I’ve never seen a ram so mean in my life.” Rory dismounted his horse and squatted next to Taran, checking over the broken section of fence. “This is the second time this week.” And three times the week before.

  “Nae out of the ordinary. We get broken sections all the time.”

  Rory gazed intensely at the posts and wire. “This looks like it was done on purpose, Taran.”

  “Naw. Nae one here would do such a thing. And if it was, it was just teenagers bein’ stupid.”

  “Ye dinnae think it has somethin’ to do with that investor wantin’ the land?”

  Taran stopped working on the fence and stood. He stretched his arms over his hea
d and yawned loudly. “Naw. He’s nae been around in weeks.”

  “All the more reason to suspect him.”

  His brother shrugged. “It’s just a broken fence. We fix it and then get the other chores done.”

  Rory eyed his brother. “The fence is nae the only thing needin’ fixed.”

  “Let it go, Rory.” Taran worked his jaw.

  Scoffing, Rory set his hands on his hips. “Let it go? That’s rich comin’ from ye.”

  “Dinnae start.”

  “I will.”

  Taran stalked to his truck. “Fix the fence yerself.”

  Rory strode after him and grabbed him by the arm to turn him around. “Ye have to forgive him sometime. He’s back, and Penelope is a bonnie lass.”

  “Ye dinnae even know her.”

  “Mum, Annis, and Duff all said she was sweet. Annis even gave her approval. That may as well be gettin’ a blessin’ from the Pope. Plus, she’s willin’ to move here so he can be close to family.”

  “He chose a lassie over his family before. Let him choose her too. I’m done with him.”

  Rory swore under his breath and walked to his horse. “Ye cannae be done with family, Taran. Angus made a mistake. He’s paid for it, and makin’ him continue to pay for it says more about yer character than his.”

  Taran swore under his breath. “I dinnae have to farm, remember?”

  When Angus got his first big budget film, he’ set up funds for Rory and Taran. It hadn’t been a lot, but it was enough to begin investing, which is what they’d done with it. With the lump sum invested, over time it had added enough zero’s that they were wealthy with a capital B.

  Rory knew Taran loved the farm too much to go through a threat like leaving, the stubborn mule. “I remember, but dollars arenae family. Ye keep goin’, and we’ll be done too. Fix that fence.” Rory put his foot in the stirrup and swung his leg over the horse. “I’ve got other things to do, and I’d rather not do them with ye.”

  “Yer choosin’ him over me? He left us. Moved thousands of miles away. Never came home. I’ve been here. I’ve been the one helpin’. Not him.”