Taming a Maverick, Book 1 Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

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  A Synopsis & Table Of Contents...

  Inspiring Words

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Copyright

  Taming a Maverick

  Book One

  Alpha Billionaire Romance

  Mile High Series

  By: Arianna James & Third Cousins

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  A SYNOPSIS & TABLE OF CONTENTS...

  Maverick Jones was all set to fly out on his private jet but there are engine problems. He meets Melody Sampson an attractive stewardess who knows who the designer is. They enter into a bit of a whirlwind romance that ends in gun shots, and that's just the beginning of their crazy ride together.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  DISCOVER MORE BOOKS BY THIRD COUSINS

  INSPIRING WORDS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

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  COPYRIGHT

  INSPIRING WORDS

  “The more one judges, the less one loves.”

  - Honoré de Balzac, Physiologie Du Mariage

  CHAPTER ONE

  “What do you mean it won’t start?” Maverick took his glasses off and looked at his pilot in disbelief.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones. It was working fine last night when I got it ready to go, but now it won’t start. I’ve got a mechanic to come in and look at it, but there’s no way you’re making it to your meeting until I know it’s safe to take you up.”

  “This is unacceptable.” Maverick turned and yelled for his driver.

  “Sir,” the driver said as he hurried up, “let me drive you over to the airport. You can fly in first class, and barely notice the difference.”

  Remington hadn’t been his driver for long. Maverick's long-time driver had retired two weeks earlier, leaving him with this weasel-looking little guy. Maverick hadn’t figured out yet what his deal was.

  “Fine, let’s go. I have to be in New York by tonight, and as soon as this plane is ready I want it in the air and on its way to come and get me.”

  “Yes sir,” Remington and the pilot said at the same time.

  Maverick stormed back to the limo and waited impatiently as the two of them put his luggage back into the car. He would only be in New York for the one meeting but he had to travel with a ton of samples from his clothing line.

  Once Remington had everything in the car he climbed in. “All ready sir. You handled that well.”

  “Thanks, Remington.” Maverick wasn’t sure how to take him. He always complimented him no matter what the situation was.

  They pulled up to the airport twenty minutes later. The idea of standing in line for the chance to pay far too much for far too little service seemed ludicrous, so Maverick stood in the cool shadows of the parking garage by the car and seethed while Remington went in.

  He came back with a long face.

  “Sir, you’re not going to be happy.”

  “I don’t like it when you start sentences with those words,” Maverick said.

  “You’re going to have to fly coach. They don’t have any other seats on any flights to New York. There’s some kind of festival, or concert, I was foggy on the details. Anyway, we have to go coach.” Remington smiled and held up the tickets.

  Maverick glared, grabbed his ticket, and started toward the security check. “Get my bags, and let’s get this over with,” he said over his shoulder. He couldn’t believe he had to fly coach when he had a perfectly good private jet waiting for him. It had never failed to work before.

  When he’d been searched and violated by the TPS lady, Maverick made his way to the gate. Remington had to let them scan all the samples so he didn’t waste his time waiting for him to come on.

  Once on the plane he made his way to his seat, spotting at least three babies on his way. He prayed his headphones were in his carry-on.

  “Is there anything we can do for you sir?” an older flight attendant asked the person behind him who was coughing uncontrollably. Maverick knew he was going to get sick and have a terrible headache by the time he reached New York. He should have stayed in Chicago and just done the meeting via video chat.

  “There you are sir,” Remington smiled at him as he stowed the carry-on bags. “You don’t want the window seat?”

  “No, it’s all yours.” Maverick’s attention was taken by the flight attendant showing them the safety procedures. She was pretty, with dark brown hair that kept falling into her face as she made the strange two finger pointers to show everyone where the exits were, and the oxygen masks.

  “I said would you like a piece of gum sir.” Remington was talking to him. “It will help your ears pop with the pressure.”

  “No, thank you.” Maverick leaned back against the seat. The pretty stewardess was now out of sight so he closed his eyes. The dreadful dresses they made the staff wear did nothing for her. He would have designed something magnificent for his flight attendants. He grumbled to himself as he tried to relax and the first baby started to cry. He grabbed a set of ear buds from his bag and tried to find an audio book that wouldn't totally bore him. It was going to be a very long flight.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Melody Sampson stood behind the thin curtain that blocked the passengers in coach from seeing her. She was trying to get up her nerve. Tiffany pushed behind her to grab a mini bottle of vodka and stuff it in her bra.

  “There’s a cute guy in first class wants me to bring him some cocktails before it’s time for drinks. Isn’t that bad?” she giggled and Melody forced her eyes not to roll by focusing really hard on a spot on the floor.

  “What a renegade,” she said flatly.

  “You’ve got your eye on someone in coach, I see. He looks too rich for your blood. What’s he doing in that part of the plane? Maybe I should spend some time giving him some drinks,” Tiffany said.

  “That's Maverick Jones. He’s my favorite designer.” She didn’t spend any time with the other stewardesses so they wouldn’t know she lived to wear designer clothes and shoes when she was away from the plane. She’d caught Maverick's eye when she was giving the safety speech and knew he was judging the horrible outfits they had to wear on the plane. It wasn’t her fault the airline was stuck in the nineties and didn’t feel like changing.

  “How do you know that’s him?”

  “I know his logo and I know what he looks like. He's slumming it for some reason and I’m going to go talk to him,” Melody said, sounding way more confident than she felt.

  “Let me warm him up for you.” Tiffany grinned wickedly and sashayed out into the aisle, flipping her long black curls back and sticking out her chest. Melody watched as she bent down to talk right in Maverick’s ear, but she didn’t whisper. “There’s a flight attendant back there getting all hot for you. I bet if you wanted you could join the mile-high club with her.”

  Melody’s face felt hot. She stumbled out after her, laughing awkwardly. “I just told her you’re my favorite designer. I don’t have a sexual interest in you at all.” She let out another strange laugh and stuck her hand out to shake his.

  “Really, you don’t?” He smiled and winked at her, causing her embar
rassment to creep up to a higher level. “I’m flattered you like my style. I’m Maverick and this is Remington, and we are pleased to meet you.”

  “Melody, you can call me Melody, Mr. Jones. I just love your clothing and shoes.” She was stuttering and falling all over herself. There was no doubt the other passengers were watching her make a fool of herself.

  “Why are you sniffing around him? You know who he is. He doesn’t want women like you near him.” Remington said and Melody was stunned silent.

  Maverick's face was unreadable. “I’m sorry, ma’am. My driver has a really weird sense of humor. I don’t understand it.”

  Melody felt uncomfortable. She walked to the front of coach and into first class to gather herself. Tiffany was sitting in a chair beside the man she’d been flirting with, which was not something they were supposed to do. When she saw Melody she wiggled her fingers. “How’d it go with the designer man?”

  “Thanks for embarrassing me.”

  “It’s what I’m good for.” Tiffany went back to entertaining the passenger and Melody went back to coach.

  She avoided making eye contact with Maverick or his driver as much as possible. There was about an hour left in the flight when they hit a bit of turbulence and the plane started to shake a bit. She took to the speaker to tell everyone to buckle up and not to worry because it was just a bit of turbulence.

  “Melody, get over here,” Maverick said. He looked frantic and she was worried for a minute.

  “What’s wrong, Mr. Jones?”

  “What the hell is going on? I don’t do well in planes like this and I certainly don’t do well when it’s shaking.”

  “He usually flies by private jet,” Remington said. “the pilot is very good, there’s never any turbulence.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” Melody started to say, but Maverick cut her off.

  “I don’t care that you think you’re my biggest fan or you know me, but go and tell the pilot to cut this shit.” The plane dipped again and he yelled, grasping his seat.

  Melody moved away from him, pretending to go towards the cockpit, but just leaned against the wall behind the curtain. She was angry. She didn’t care if he was scared. He shouldn’t have talked to her like that.

  “What an asshole,” Tiffany said as the plane lurched and she fell into Melody. “Burn all the clothes you have from his line.”

  Melody tried not to think about his words and hoped the plane would settle down soon.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Maverick felt like a jackass once the sweat rolling down his back finally stopped. He’d had a complete anxiety attack over turbulence and took it out on the sweet flight attendant. It wasn’t her fault, and now she was avoiding coming back his way.

  He needed to figure out how to make it up to her. She was really pretty and he couldn’t help but feel drawn to her despite the short time he’d spoken with her. He let a little turbulence and his frustration with the whole situation come out and mess it all up.

  “Melody,” he called to her when she finally had to come down the aisle to do checks with the passengers. At first she wouldn’t look at him, but her big brown eyes finally met his and he was transfixed. “Please come here.”

  She moved towards him a little slowly and he felt even worse that he’d repelled her so much.

  “Yes, sir? How can I help you?” The formality stung him a bit.

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t really nice to you before. I wanted to know if you’d have dinner with me.”

  She blinked, probably taken aback by the offer. It did seem to come out of nowhere. “I’m sorry. You want to have dinner with me?”

  “Yes, I want to have dinner with you.”

  “Why?” She backed away as if she was suddenly suspicious of his motives.

  “Because you’re pretty and I want to take you out.”

  “Okay.” She was smiling now. He’d gotten past his horrible actions and actually made her smile. “I’ll get you the address of my hotel in New York. I have to be on a flight back to Chicago early tomorrow.”

  “Perfect. I’ll pick you up and we’ll have an early dinner.”

  “Sounds great.” She was smiling widely now and he was thrilled.

  Maverick hardly noticed the landing. He was thinking of all the great places he could take Melody in New York. Then he gave himself a little shake and started going over the talking points he wanted to discuss in his meeting. The samples were for the Spring line, and since it was just the tip of winter, it was past time for the stores to know what they’d have out. He needed to do a little sweet-talking when he got to the meeting and then everything would be fine.

  As he exited the plane, Melody pressed a piece of paper with the address into his hand and smiled at him. He was getting used to her smile. It made her ten times prettier.

  “I’ll pick you up at 5:30,” he said and kissed the back of her hand before hurrying off the plane. He needed to get the samples and get to his meeting as soon as possible. Remington struggled behind him with both carry-ons.

  The meeting went over time because one designer kept asking what changes Maverick could make on one article of clothing. He thought he would go out of his mind and tried to refrain from continuously glancing at the clock.

  Finally he was able to break free. He ran to his car so he could go pick Melody up. When he got to the hotel where she was staying she was already waiting for him outside. She was wearing a nice red skirt and a blouse with more than one button open at the top. She looked mouthwatering. He liked that her hair was down since it was always up on the plane.

  “I hope you like Italian,” he said as he got out of the car and walked over to her.

  “I love Italian,” she said.

  When they were seated, Maverick said, “Remington, take us to Tony’s.” To her he said, “This place is great, a little joint with the best spaghetti you’ll ever have and a balcony overlooking a gorgeous pond. You can feed the fish. It’s a great experience.”

  “Sounds amazing,” she smiled.

  “You look gorgeous.” He liked the way she blushed when he complimented her.

  At the restaurant, they were able to go right to a table in the back and Tony came out to greet him.

  “You’re here a lot?” she asked as he pulled out her chair.

  “Oh yeah. It’s my favorite when I have business meetings. Tony is a good guy.”

  They ordered and sat making small talk as they waited for the food. “Tell me something personal about yourself, Melody,” he said.

  She thought for a minute and started to say something, but stopped herself.

  “Go ahead. Whatever it is, I want to know. We’ve done the generic what do you like, what don’t you like thing. Let’s get into the deeper part of who we are.”

  “And I have to go first?” she asked.

  “Ladies first, of course.” he smiled.

  “Okay. So I had this set of pearls. They were my favorite thing in the world, because when my mother died it was the only thing I kept. I didn’t want to keep her clothes, or many pictures. I just needed the pearls. They gave me some kind of power and helped with the sadness. I had them for years, four exactly, and then on the fourth anniversary of her death they fell off. How do you not notice something is gone that’s always there?” She was lost in the moment, he could tell from the sadness in her eyes. They were focused above him far away. “My life fell apart. I know it was in my head, but it was like all the sadness I’d held onto because I had those pearls came crashing into me. I couldn’t even function, and I don’t think I’ve been the same since.”

  “Wow. I’m so sorry that happened to you, Melody,” he said, watching as her eyes came back to him and focused again.

  “Oh man, that was probably way more than you wanted to know.”

  “No, that’s perfect. Let’s go out on the balcony and get you some air.” He could tell the story had taken a lot out of her so he wanted to make sure she was okay.

  The balcony
was calming and seemed out of place at the back of the small restaurant, but somehow it worked.

  “This is beautiful,” Melody smiled as she took in the lattice fence with vines woven throughout and the sparkling water with fish already kissing the surface in hopes of some bread. He handed her a piece of their bread and watched as she carefully sprinkled it in the water for the fish.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said and pushed her hair away from her face. He inched closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, but she suddenly pulled back.

  “What’s that?” she shrieked and pointed to his chest where a red dot was bouncing around.

  “Get down,” he yelled and pushed her to the ground as the shot just missed them. It didn’t make a noise, but the impact of it hitting the back wall was obvious. They lay on the ground behind the lattice, and Maverick wasn’t sure what to do. Something was very wrong here. Someone was most definitely trying to kill him and they’d put Melody in danger.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The chaos of the next few minutes was hard to get hold of. There had been another couple on the balcony with them, and the young man had thrown his lady over into the pond as he dove to safety. Looking back later, Melody wasn’t sure how that had helped the poor woman.

  Tony ran out with a gun and looked around frantically. “Someone shooting at you, Mav?” he asked and got down to their level.

  “Yeah.” Maverick didn’t say anything more. Melody kind of wished he would say he knew who it was or there must be some mistake of identity.

  “My old lady called the police,” Tony said and stood back up as if there wasn’t a psycho across the pond with a gun aimed at them.

  Maverick and Melody lay there until the police arrived, Melody shaking uncontrollably. The whole thing seemed unreal. She couldn’t believe someone would shoot at him, at her. It wasn’t until the policeman helped her inside and sat her in a booth to question her it started to sink in.