Fortune of the Month: Charles Fortune Chesterfield
Age: 29
Vital statistics: Dark, sexy hair women love to tousle, seductive blue eyes. Six feet plus of honest-to-goodness princely charisma.
Claim to fame: âBonnie Lord Charlieâ is an international hottie whose TV adverts for British tourism promise visitors to England âthe royal treatment.â
Romantic prospects: Are you kidding?
âSocial media would have me as some kind of lothario. This is not strictly true. I do enjoy feminine attention. I canât help it if women find me irresistible. I do not fear commitment; I simply choose to avoid it.
But now thereâs Alice. And Flynn. My son! From the moment I found out he was mine, everything changed. Iâve promised to do everything in my power to be a good father to my boy, and that means keeping my hands off Flynnâs mum. Strictly friends, she says. Itâs what she wants. Itâs the right thing to do. And Iâm bloody certain itâs going to kill me.â
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The Fortuneâs of Texas:All Fortuneâs Children Money. Family. Cowboys. Meet the Austin Fortunes!
Chapter One
âA toast to your marriage.â
Charles Fortune Chesterfield lifted his glass of deep red cabernet, unable to hide the smile that curved one corner of his mouth. âOr should I call it your unmarriage? Your remarriage?â He winked at his sister Lucie, sitting across the table from him in the trendy Austin restaurant. It was early April and the weather in Central Texas was quite fine, a welcome change from the dreary rain of a London spring. He would rather have been sitting at a table on the restaurantâs spacious patio, enjoying the fresh air and the sound of the city passing by them. Unfortunately, the paparazzi hounded his family wherever they went, so Charles and Lucie were huddled in a quiet booth in the back of the restaurant.
âDonât be cheeky, Charles,â Lucie answered in a clipped tone, her hazel eyes flashing. âIf you came all the way to Texas to tease me, you should have stayed in London.â
âIâm happy for you, Luce.â Charles set down his wineglass and grabbed his younger sisterâs hand, giving it a squeeze. âTruly I am. Thatâs why Austin was my first stop on this trip.â
âAnd...â she prompted, her smile returning.
âYou and Chase make a lovely couple,â he offered. âItâs obvious how much he loves you.â Charles hoped his sister realized he was sincere. He hadnât seen her as happy as she was now, reunited with her first love and husband, Texas oilman Chase Parker. Few had known about Lucieâs impulsive wedding when she was only seventeen until the fact that she and Chase were still married came to light last month. Charles had hated watching his younger sister hounded by the press, but true love had triumphed in the end.
Heâd flown in yesterday from London and gone straight to dinner with Chase and Lucie at the sprawling Parker ranch outside town. Even jet-lagged, heâd been able to see how much they loved each other. His family had wasted no time in filling him in on the news from Horseback Hollow, the small Texas town the rest of his siblings called home. Lucie had also informed him that family matriarch and cosmetics mogul Kate Fortune was still in Austin and apparently meeting with their generation of Fortune children to look for someone to take over the empire built on her Fortune Youth Serum.
âChase is perfect,â Lucie agreed now, âalthough I wouldnât recommend calling him âlovelyâ to his face. A native Texan wonât appreciate that description, Charles. But Iâm talking about you.â She punched a few keys on her cell phone and lifted it for a better view. Sheâd gone to one of the online tabloid sites so popular in Britain.
The headline displayed on the small screen read Is the Third Time a Charm for Bonnie Lord Charlie? An obvious reference to Charlesâs two previous broken engagements. Below the headline was a grainy photo of Charles and a beautiful, thin and very regal-looking brunette.
âLady Caterina Hayworth?â Lucie asked, her brow puckered. âTell me youâre not engaged to Conniving Cat. I know you like your women brainless and beautiful, but sheâs a social climber of the worst sort. You must know she wants your celebrity status as much as she wants you.â