Free The Resilient One: A Billionaire Bride Pact Romance by Cami Checketts, Jeanette Lewis Page A

neighborhood.
    “Hello,” she said when the phone trumpeted again, she really needed to change that.
    “How’s the reclusive Richie?” Maryn smacked her lips like she was kissing the phone.
    “He’s a good guy,” Alyssa admitted. She walked onto her balcony and looked at the lush trees in the bed and breakfast’s yard. It would be hard to leave a place where papaya grew on the trees. It seemed absurd to not be thrilled with the opportunity to take a world-wide trip with a man as kind, wealthy, and good-looking as Beck, but because of past trauma with men she had a lot of reservations about committing, especially after a repeat of Hugh’s attack in her sleep. Added to that was the worry of how to tell Beck about the pictures she’d taken of him and his sister.
    “Is that all?” Maryn prodded.
    “So far he’s been nothing but the perfect gentleman,” Alyssa admitted. Beck seemed like everything her teenage self used to fantasize about, but she was all grown up now and reality was often very different than pipe dreams.
    “Any lip action or proposals?”
    “No lip action.” Alyssa paused. What did Maryn know? Had she been privy to what Beck was planning and not clued her in? “Did you know he was going to ask me to be his photographer?”
    “His photographer ? Heck, no. I meant proposals of marriage, you dork.”
    “Oh.” Alyssa was relieved that her friend hadn’t been hiding anything.
    “He asked you to photograph, what? His hotness? That wouldn’t be a bad job. You promised me pics two days ago and I’m still waiting. The photos I have in his file look like he’s pretty well-built.”
    “He’s definitely well-built.” Alyssa smiled, remembering his reluctance to take his shirt off and loving that they shared insecurities about their imperfections. But unlike her foot, his chest was beautiful, even with the scars. “He wants me to travel with him and photograph children in underdeveloped countries to help raise awareness for their needs.”
    “You’re going on a world-wide trip with Beckham Taylor ?” Maryn squealed in delight. “Oh, yeah, I hooked my girl up. Oh, yeah, she’s going to marry a stinking billionaire.”
    “Maryn,” Alyssa interrupted, trying hard not to laugh. “I didn’t agree to go. I’m the dark side of the billionaire bride pact, remember? All the other girls admitted I was least likely to ever fulfill the stupid pact.” Curse Erin for instigating the pact and Alyssa for ever agreeing. Well, she couldn’t quite curse Erin, her friend was amazing and too genuine to be cursed.
    “What? I didn’t raise you to be a fool.”
    “Now you sound like Granny.”
    “Good. She’d agree with me.”
    Alyssa hadn’t said anything to Granny yet. She would definitely agree with Maryn.
    “Come on, sis. When an opportunity like this comes up, you jump on it, or him, as the case may be.”
    Alyssa blushed at the image of her jumping into Beck’s arms. Oh, my. She fanned herself with her hand. The outside breeze wasn’t enough. “I’m just giving myself some time to think it all through. I told him I’d get back to him at the end of the week.”
    “So you didn’t say no?”
    “Not yet.”
    “And he’s spending quality time with you all week to convince you to go?”
    “Oh, I hope so.”
    Maryn laughed. “That’s more like it.”
    “Hey,” Alyssa interrupted Maryn’s chortling laughter. “Can you do some research for me?”
    “On what?”
    “Him.”
    “Come on. At some point you have to learn to trust a man without delving into every speck of dirt he’s ever rolled in.”
    “Please.” Alyssa picked at a hangnail and lowered her voice, “You know how it is for me.”
    Maryn sighed. “Sorry, sis. I keep praying you’ll get past it all.”
    “I had the nightmare again last night.”
    “Oh. Sorry I wasn’t there.”
    “Me too.” Maryn used to wake her from the nightmare when Alyssa cried out in her sleep. It was always a relief to not have to play the