The Billionaire's Touch (The Sinclairs Book 3) Read online




  ALSO BY J.S. SCOTT

  The Sinclairs

  The Billionaire’s Christmas (A Sinclair Novella)

  No Ordinary Billionaire

  The Forbidden Billionaire

  The Billionaire’s Obsession

  The Billionaire’s Obsession Complete Collection—Simon

  Mine for Tonight

  Mine for Now

  Mine Forever

  Mine Completely

  Mine for Christmas

  Heart of the Billionaire—Sam

  The Billionaire’s Salvation—Max

  The Billionaire’s Game—Kade

  Billionaire Unmasked—Jason

  Billionaire Undone—Travis

  Billionaire Untamed—Tate

  Billionaire Unbound—Chloe

  The Sentinel Demons

  A Dangerous Bargain

  A Dangerous Hunger

  A Dangerous Fury

  Big Girls and Bad Boys

  The Curve Ball

  The Beast Loves Curves

  Curves by Design

  The Pleasure of His Punishment: Stories

  The Changeling Encounters

  Mate of the Werewolf

  The Dangers of Adopting a Werewolf

  All I Want for Christmas Is a Werewolf

  The Vampire Coalition

  Ethan’s Mate

  Rory’s Mate

  Nathan’s Mate

  Liam’s Mate

  Daric’s Mate

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Text copyright © 2016 J.S. SCOTT

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Montlake Romance, Seattle

  www.apub.com

  Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake Romance are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

  ISBN-13: 9781503950924

  ISBN-10: 1503950921

  Cover design by Laura Klynstra

  This book is dedicated to my beloved mother, Jennie. She left this world on August 22nd, 2015, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. My mom is the reason that I’m writing today. She was a romance reader, and I started devouring romance books very early in life, because throughout my teenage years I swiped her Harlequin Romances after she finished with them. Reading those books started a lifelong love of romance novels that stayed with me and was the very beginning of my desire to write them myself. Mom believed that working hard and being kind to others would take a person a long way in life. She was right, and I’ll always try my best to live by the example she set for me.

  I love you, Mom, and I’ll miss you every day for the rest of my life, but you’ll always live on through me and my memories of what an extraordinary woman you were. Thank you for always being my biggest fan and for being so proud of me.

  From Your Loving Daughter Who Will Never Forget You,

  ~Jan

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  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

  EPILOGUE

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PROLOGUE

  Fourteen Months Ago

  Miranda Tyler chewed absently on the pen between her fingers, oblivious to the germs she was probably ingesting from the well-used object. She stared pensively at the blank email draft in front of her. Was she really going to do this? It seemed pretty pointless, and yet . . .

  Her friend Emily had just gone to try to speak personally with the only Sinclair living in the area, the only man who had the resources to save Christmas for the seacoast town of Amesport, Maine.

  It wasn’t Emily’s fault that all of the funds for the Youth Center of Amesport had been stolen, but Miranda—otherwise known simply as Randi to her friends—knew that Emily was blaming herself completely for the fiasco. Her friend was sweet, trusting, and those traits had gotten her completely screwed. All of the money was gone from the Christmas fund for the Center, stolen by an asshole who Emily had trusted, and now they desperately needed help.

  Come on, Randi. If Emily can go try to talk to the Amesport Beast, Grady Sinclair, you can find the damn balls to send a stupid email.

  Honestly, sending an email off to a generic address in the hopes that one of the billionaire Sinclairs might actually read it and help the town of Amesport did seem like a meaningless action. But Randi was desperate, and she couldn’t seem to conjure up a better idea, although she badly wished she had one. Her foster parents had left her their home, but her teaching job wasn’t exactly lucrative. She got by on what it paid, but she didn’t have the kind of funds needed to replace the Christmas money. If she did, she’d give it without a thought. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.

  Once Emily had gone to meet The Beast—aka Grady Sinclair—Randi had sat down at one of the Center’s aging computers, trying to find email addresses for the rest of the Sinclair family. Like the billionaire brothers and cousins are really going to make their personal emails public? Still, Randi wanted to do something.

  Emily had been so devastated and desperate. Randi couldn’t bear it, and she couldn’t sit and do nothing while Emily went to grovel to Grady Sinclair and continued to make everything her fault. In reality, Emily was an amazing director for the Center, a selfless woman who had dedicated herself to the nonprofit organization that was the heart of Amesport life. The Center was a better place since Emily had accepted the job of director.

  Just do it! Send the damn email. What’s the worst that could happen?

  Randi put down the pen she was chewing on and copied and pasted the “info” email address published on the Sinclair Fund web page into her empty draft. She’d found the site during her search—the organization was a large group charity in which all of the billionaire Sinclairs participated. More than likely, her email would end up in the hands of some assistant or secretary. She very much doubted that any of the Sinclairs were really hands-on with the charity. But maybe one of the employees would have a heart and pass the emailed info to one of the bosses. It was almost Christmas.

  Dear Mr. Sinclair:

  Randi paused after typing the generic greeting, figuring that was as good a start as any, since every one of them had the same last name. She quickly wrote the shortest email possible, explaining the crisis and practically begging for their assistance. When she finished, she breathed a sigh of relief. She hated groveling for anything; it rubbed her the wrong way. But she loved Emily, and there was very little she wouldn’t do for her real friends.

  Grady was the only Sinclair who lived in Amesport, and Emily was currently approaching him personally. With his reputation for being a jerk and a recluse, it had taken a lot of guts for Emily to seek him out on the secluded Amesport Peninsula.

  Her eyes darting to the clock on the wall, Randi realized that Emily was prob
ably just now arriving at Grady’s mansion. Grady’s brothers Evan and Jared each had a home on the same cape right at the edge of town, as did their sister, Hope. The mansions were currently empty and rarely, if ever, visited.

  Plenty of people gossiped about the Sinclairs, especially about Grady, but nobody really knew any of them. Honestly, Randi couldn’t remember an occasion where she’d actually seen any of the other Sinclairs come to Amesport on vacation. Jared had overseen the building of his siblings’ homes on the exclusive peninsula, but she’d never seen any of them.

  All of the Sinclair men have to be stiff-necked snobs! They certainly have never frequented any of the local businesses, or people would know them.

  Randi dearly wished she had found information on the Sinclair sister, but Hope was rarely in the media and apparently not active on social media. Grady’s cousins, Micah, Julian, and Xander, had little connection to the town, but some of their heritage was here. So she’d try to appeal to their sense of family.

  As she read the hastily written note to check for errors, she hesitated on how to sign the letter. Writing from her email at the Center, she could be anonymous, a worried citizen. Everyone in the town of Amesport had access to email here in the tiny computer room of the Center, and Randi had her own free email address she’d created only for business here. She rarely utilized it except for sending progress reports to the parents of the students she helped tutor after hours as a volunteer. Unfortunately, she was fairly certain most of the parents didn’t even bother to read her correspondence.

  She ended up simply signing the email: A Concerned Resident of Amesport.

  Hitting the “Send” button with a heavy sigh, she watched as the letter was sent off into cyberspace, wondering exactly who would read it. Probably an assistant who would delete it without another thought. The Sinclair Fund was an enormous charity. They were in the business of raising funds for large nonprofit organizations, not giving them out to a small town in crisis.

  Randi signed herself out of her email for the Center and shut down the computer. She’d promised Emily she’d watch over the activities here while her friend was approaching Grady Sinclair to try and raise the funds they needed to save Christmas for Amesport and the surrounding villages. Unfortunately, Christmas wouldn’t be very merry if they couldn’t get the funds back for presents for needy children and the annual Christmas party. For some of the kids, whatever they got from the Center would be their only gift, and the food provided at the Christmas party their main Christmas dinner.

  Randi pushed the dreary thought from her mind as she looked at all of the decorations around the old building. Emily had brought life into the aging structure, even though the tired Center desperately needed maintenance. Colorful wreaths and Christmas decorations were everywhere, hung with love for the season by its employees and volunteers.

  Peeking into the area where the senior citizens held their bingo sessions, Randi’s stomach rumbled at the enticing smells coming from the room. She’d come to the Center, straight from her teaching job at the local school, to tutor a few students who were struggling with their studies, and she was starving.

  Sneaking quietly into the room to snatch a few chicken wings and some cake without being detected by some of the sharp old ladies was never easy, but she was up for the challenge. Snatching food had become almost an art for her in her early teenage years.

  After a nervous week of checking for an answer with no return message, Randi completely forgot about the email she had sent in desperation . . . until she finally got a reply . . .

  Two Months Later . . .

  Evan Sinclair might have laughed at the ridiculous email he’d just finished reading—if he was actually the type of man who found humor in anything . . . which he didn’t. Ever!

  He stared at the email, frowning as he read it for the second time. What kind of person would have the gall to ask a charity raising big money for cancer research, abused women, and the several other urgent causes that the Sinclair Fund actually helped, for money? And it wasn’t even for a good cause, in his opinion. It was for a small coastal town that needed Christmas funds. Did the author of the missive really think he was some sort of friendly elf to grant her Christmas wish?

  Hardly!

  Evan didn’t believe in Christmas. If there was a modern-day version of Scrooge, it would be him, except he wouldn’t ever have the apparent epiphany that old Ebenezer experienced. In fact, the holiday did irritate him and always would. It meant a disruption of business, and scheduling meetings around the frivolous, commercialized season. It hadn’t been a pleasant holiday when he was a child, and he abhorred it almost as much as an adult.

  Normally, none of his brothers or cousins looked at the mailbox for the Fund, and they certainly didn’t answer letters personally; they had employees for that. But the email had caught his eye when his assistant had written to him about a complaint a big donor had mentioned over the quality of assistance he was getting via email from the website. Evan had logged in to the mailbox from home to evaluate how some of the inquiries were being handled. They couldn’t afford to lose important donors, and especially not people who donated millions.

  He could hardly miss the subject line “Help Us Save Our Town” as he scrolled through old emails.

  Intrigued, he’d opened the missive.

  Now, he was scowling at the correspondence in front of him. The email’s author was anonymous, the email address generic, simply signing the short explanation and plea for help with “A Concerned Resident of Amesport.”

  He should have dismissed it, especially since he knew his brother Grady had already solved the problem well before Christmas. In fact, Grady was now a town hero in Amesport because he’d donated the needed funds. He had also gotten himself engaged and then married to the Center’s director, Emily.

  Christmas is over. Leave it. Grady solved the ridiculous situation, getting himself injured in the process.

  Evan wasn’t crazy about the outcome, especially the fact that his younger brother had thrown himself into the line of danger to resolve the whole debacle and rescue his new bride. But Grady seemed happy enough since his nuptials with Emily, even though, in Evan’s opinion, he’d married with far too little thought and way too much haste.

  The entire holiday season had passed . . . thank God. Unfortunately, the audacity of the person who had sent the correspondence still annoyed him.

  He frowned as he read the email again, still wondering about the author. It was a well-written account of the situation at the time it was composed, but it was still presumptuous. He hated the fact that the words were trying to play on his sense of guilt, duty, and family. If there was one thing that Evan did, it was watch out for his family. As the eldest in his broken family, he considered everything that happened to his siblings his business, his responsibility.

  Uncharacteristically, he forgot about why he was in the mailbox for the Sinclair Fund in the first place. He switched gears and signed up for an anonymous email address on one of the numerous free sites that offered them, and decided to reply to the inquiry. The email had been appropriately ignored previously by employees, and probably should have just been deleted. For the sake of the charity, he didn’t want the sender to know exactly who was replying. He just wanted the author to understand that the Sinclair Fund wasn’t an appropriate place to seek a donation for a trivial problem. He could reprimand the person, discourage future emails of the same nature to the Sinclair Fund, and no one would ever know.

  He copied and pasted the original email from the mystery author before replying.

  Dear Concerned:

  How else could he start the return email? He wasn’t even sure about the gender of the person writing, but he would place a hefty bet on the writer being a female. Women seemed to get ridiculously sentimental over certain holidays.

  He promptly shot out a reply, closed the window for the free email site, and forgot all about the issue as he returned his attention to the Sinclair Fund
mailbox to see if his donor actually had cause for complaint. Evan didn’t even think about the annoying email again . . . until he got an answer several days later.

  Randi gaped at the rudest email she’d ever received, her mouth actually opening and closing like a fish out of water that was struggling to take a breath.

  Dear Concerned:

  I’m curious as to whether you really expected to receive an answer to your email sent before Christmas. Did you really think one of the Sinclairs was going to read your email, then actually provide funds for a town that isn’t even on the map, and for such a ludicrous reason? We are trying to help solve pressing concerns in both our nation and the world with the Sinclair Fund, not masquerade as Santa Claus. I think it would have been much more appropriate for you to address your email to the North Pole.

  However, it is my understanding that you and the citizens of Amesport did get your Christmas wish. Wasn’t this issue completely resolved by Grady Sinclair?

  Sincerely,

  Unsympathetic in Boston

  “Unsympathetic in Boston? Oh, my God! What a jerk!” Randi scowled at the computer screen at the Center, completely taken aback by the response to the email she’d sent two months earlier. After so long, she’d completely given up on getting an answer.

  The only reason she’d signed in to that email address at all was to contact a parent of one of the children she was tutoring, and she’d been stunned to find that she finally had a reply to the email she’d sent to the Sinclair Fund.

  She checked the date and realized her plea had only been answered a few days ago. Why now? She’d pathetically checked every single day for over a week after writing her email to the Sinclairs, desperately hoping somebody would respond. And so they did . . . after Christmas had passed, and with the snottiest comments imaginable!

  Randi’s temper started to slowly simmer as she continued to gape at the snooty response, unable to believe that an employee of a charity would respond so bluntly. Maybe the problem did seem small to them, but it was important to her town.

 
    Dreams: A Curvy Girl Holiday Romance Collection Read onlineDreams: A Curvy Girl Holiday Romance CollectionBillionaire Unattainable Read onlineBillionaire UnattainableOnly a Millionaire_A Sinclair Novella Read onlineOnly a Millionaire_A Sinclair NovellaThe Billionaire Takes All (The Sinclairs Book 5) Read onlineThe Billionaire Takes All (The Sinclairs Book 5)The Billionaire's Game: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Kade Read onlineThe Billionaire's Game: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ KadeDaric's Mate Read onlineDaric's MateThe Beast Loves Curves Read onlineThe Beast Loves CurvesEnsnared (The Accidental Billionaires Book 1) Read onlineEnsnared (The Accidental Billionaires Book 1)Well Played Read onlineWell PlayedBillionaire Untamed ~ Tate Read onlineBillionaire Untamed ~ TateBillionaire Unchallenged ~ Carter: A Billionaire's Obsession Novel (The Billionaire's Obsession Book 13) Read onlineBillionaire Unchallenged ~ Carter: A Billionaire's Obsession Novel (The Billionaire's Obsession Book 13)Prince Bryan: Taken By A Trillionaire Read onlinePrince Bryan: Taken By A TrillionaireA Billionaire’s Obsession Summer Read onlineA Billionaire’s Obsession SummerThe Curve Ball Read onlineThe Curve BallRory's Mate Read onlineRory's MateThe Virgin Auction Read onlineThe Virgin AuctionChangeling 02 - The Dangers Of Adopting A Werewolf Read onlineChangeling 02 - The Dangers Of Adopting A WerewolfBound (Dark Horse #1) Read onlineBound (Dark Horse #1)A Dangerous Fury (The Sentinel Demons Book 3) Read onlineA Dangerous Fury (The Sentinel Demons Book 3)Hacked ~ A Dark Horse Novel (Dark Horse Series Book 2) Read onlineHacked ~ A Dark Horse Novel (Dark Horse Series Book 2)Virgin for the Prince (Taken By A Trillionaire Series) Read onlineVirgin for the Prince (Taken By A Trillionaire Series)MINE FOR TONIGHT (The Billionaire's Obsession) Read onlineMINE FOR TONIGHT (The Billionaire's Obsession)The Billionaire's Secrets (The Sinclairs Book 6) Read onlineThe Billionaire's Secrets (The Sinclairs Book 6)Player!: A Walker Brothers Novel (The Walker Brothers Book 2) Read onlinePlayer!: A Walker Brothers Novel (The Walker Brothers Book 2)Billionaire Unknown: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Blake Read onlineBillionaire Unknown: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ BlakeStolen By the Billionaire Read onlineStolen By the BillionaireLIAM’S MATE: (Book 4: The Vampire Coalition) Read onlineLIAM’S MATE: (Book 4: The Vampire Coalition)All I Want For Christmas Is A Werewolf (Changeling Encounters) Read onlineAll I Want For Christmas Is A Werewolf (Changeling Encounters)One Night with a Billionaire Read onlineOne Night with a BillionaireRelease!: A Walker Brothers Novel (The Walker Brothers Book 1) Read onlineRelease!: A Walker Brothers Novel (The Walker Brothers Book 1)Billionaire Undaunted: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Zane Read onlineBillionaire Undaunted: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ ZaneA Dangerous Demon King (The Sentinel Demons Book 4) Read onlineA Dangerous Demon King (The Sentinel Demons Book 4)Damaged!: A Walker Brothers Novel: (The Walker Brothers Book 3) Read onlineDamaged!: A Walker Brothers Novel: (The Walker Brothers Book 3)Billionaire Unveiled Read onlineBillionaire UnveiledBillionaire Undone: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Travis Read onlineBillionaire Undone: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ TravisA Maine Christmas...or Two Read onlineA Maine Christmas...or TwoNo Ordinary Billionaire Read onlineNo Ordinary BillionaireThe Rough Mating Of A Vampire (The Vampire Coalition: A Short Prelude) Read onlineThe Rough Mating Of A Vampire (The Vampire Coalition: A Short Prelude)The Billionaire's Voice (The Sinclairs #4) Read onlineThe Billionaire's Voice (The Sinclairs #4)Heart of the Billionaire: Read onlineHeart of the Billionaire:Mine for Christmas Read onlineMine for ChristmasChangeling 03 - All I Want For Christmas Is A Werewolf Read onlineChangeling 03 - All I Want For Christmas Is A WerewolfOnly a Millionaire: A Sinclair Novella (The Sinclairs Book 7) Read onlineOnly a Millionaire: A Sinclair Novella (The Sinclairs Book 7)ETHAN’S MATE (Book One: The Vampire Coalition) Read onlineETHAN’S MATE (Book One: The Vampire Coalition)Mine for Now - The Billionaire's Obsession #2 Read onlineMine for Now - The Billionaire's Obsession #2Billionaire Unloved Read onlineBillionaire UnlovedLiam's Mate Read onlineLiam's MateThe Billionaire's Salvation: (The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Max) Read onlineThe Billionaire's Salvation: (The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Max)Billionaire Unmasked: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Jason Read onlineBillionaire Unmasked: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ JasonTemporary Groom: Left At The Altar Read onlineTemporary Groom: Left At The AltarCURVES BY DESIGN (Big Girls And Bad Boys: A BBW Erotic Romance) Read onlineCURVES BY DESIGN (Big Girls And Bad Boys: A BBW Erotic Romance)Vampire Coalition - Complete Collection Read onlineVampire Coalition - Complete CollectionA DANGEROUS BARGAIN (The Sentinel Demons) Read onlineA DANGEROUS BARGAIN (The Sentinel Demons)Nathan's Mate Read onlineNathan's MateBillionaire Unbound: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Chloe Read onlineBillionaire Unbound: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ ChloeNaughty & Nice Read onlineNaughty & NiceMATE OF THE WEREWOLF (Changeling Encounters: An Erotic Paranormal Sex Story Of Sexual Blackmail And Domination) Read onlineMATE OF THE WEREWOLF (Changeling Encounters: An Erotic Paranormal Sex Story Of Sexual Blackmail And Domination)MINE FOREVER (BOOK III: The Billionaire's Obsession) Read onlineMINE FOREVER (BOOK III: The Billionaire's Obsession)The Pleasure of His Punishment : The Complete Collection Read onlineThe Pleasure of His Punishment : The Complete Collection