Reputation

  Reputation

  Adriana Locke

  Reputation

  Copyright 2020 by Adriana Locke

  Cover Designer: Kari March

  Content Editor: Marion Making Manuscripts

  Copy Editor: Editing 4 Indies, Jenny Sims

  Proofreader: Michele Ficht

  Umbrella Publishing

  Copyright Law:

  If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, this book has been pirated and you are stealing. Please delete it from your device and support the author by purchasing a legal copy. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above copyright owner of this book or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked statue and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  This book is dedicated to everyone that’s been touched by cancer. You are not alone.

  In memory of my mother. I miss you.

  Contents

  Synopsis

  1. Coy

  2. Bellamy

  3. Coy

  4. Bellamy

  5. Coy

  6. Bellamy

  7. Coy

  8. Bellamy

  9. Coy

  10. Coy

  11. Bellamy

  12. Bellamy

  13. Coy

  14. Bellamy

  15. Coy

  16. Bellamy

  17. Coy

  18. Bellamy

  19. Bellamy

  20. Coy

  21. Coy

  22. Bellamy

  23. Coy

  24. Coy

  25. Bellamy

  26. Coy

  27. Bellamy

  Epilogue

  A Note from the Author

  Chapter One: Sway

  Books by Adriana Locke

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Synopsis

  Reputation

  Mason Family Series #2

  Coy Mason is a jerk.

  If there is one truth that Bellamy Davenport knows, it’s that. Well, that and the fact she didn’t mean to hurt him. Physically. Coy can’t be hurt emotionally because he doesn’t have a heart.

  Coy is not just the small-town, literal boy next door. He’s a heartbreaking, womanizing, mischief-making (and delicious) man and was all of those things well before he became a hot-shot country music sensation.

  He’s a dream standing in her doorway with no shirt, messy hair, and a “Do you wanna?” grin. But he’s also a nightmare for her heart, and she knows it.

  Their enemies-to-lovers relationship always ends the same way—heavy on the enemies, light on the lovers.

  So why is she still standing there?

  One

  Coy

  “You’re not doing anything stupid, are you?”

  “Not yet,” I say, slurping the milk off my spoon. “But I just got here. Give me time.”

  My eldest brother, Holt, half-laughs, half-groans through the phone.

  The groan is there because he knows me enough to be afraid I’m serious. The laugh is there because, as much as he hates it, he’s entertained by my antics.

  Somewhat, anyway.

  I scoop up another spoonful of fruity cereal and shove it into my mouth. Ice-cold milk dribbles down my chin, and I swipe it away with the back of my hand.

  “At least you decided to stay with Mom and Dad,” Holt says. “Maybe that’ll keep you out of trouble.”

  “Yeah, because that’s worked out so well in the past.”

  “Good point.”

  I lean against the counter. The edge of the marble is cold and bites into my hip. I wish for a split second that I had bothered to put a shirt on when I woke up twenty minutes ago.

  “I almost rented a house on Tybee Island,” I say, “but I figured I might as well save the cash. Besides, Mom cleans my room and makes food just how I like it. I can’t go wrong here.”

  “You realize you’re in your mid-twenties now and have money of your own, right?”

  “Your point, old man?”

  Holt chuckles. “I’m simply pointing out that you’re capable of procuring food and housing on your own.”

  “I procured them on my own.” I scrape the little flakes of cereal off the side of the bowl. “I called Mom myself … which was an easy choice when I got hit with how much it was going to cost on Tybee. Do you know what places are going for down there? Hell, Holt. I might quit performing and buy rental homes.”

  “Great idea. I’m sure Wade would help you.”

  “Very funny,” I say, making a face.

  Out of all my brothers, Wade is the last one I want to deal with. About anything. Not that any of them are particularly a barrel of fun—except my youngest brother, Boone—but Holt and our other brother, Oliver, and I get along just fine. Wade and I, though? We rarely see eye to eye on anything. If I’m music and mayhem, he’s silence and spreadsheets. I’m not even sure how we have the same genetics.

  “Be nice, Coy,” Holt says.

  “What? Do you think that Wade and I could do anything together? He has a resting dick face and a repulsion for strip clubs. Yeah. I think not.”

  Holt struggles to hide his laughter. He succeeds. Barely.

  “I’m just happy to hear you’re managing your money well,” Holt says. “Even if you can’t manage your women.”

  “Hey now,” I say, dunking the spoon into the bowl again with a little more force than necessary. “Keep your jealousy in check. I can’t help it that I’m a rock star and make women lose their damn minds.”

  “Rock star?” Holt’s laughter fills the line with no attempt at restraint. “That’s a stretch.”

  I smile. “Okay. You’re right. I believe the last headline I saw called me a country music sensation. If it makes you feel better to call me that, I’m good with it.”

  “Well, the last headline I saw said something about you fleeing Los Angeles with your tail between your legs.”

  Fucker.

  I fill my mouth with cereal before a bunch of verbal diarrhea comes spewing out.

  My tail between my legs.

  What-the fuck-ever.

  My stomach churns the children’s cereal as Willa Welch and a particular day last week comes to mind.

  The pretty blond actress is better at her job than anyone understands. Hell, I’m not even sure what’s real and what’s not when it comes to her.

  The only thing I am sure of is, somehow, I was automatically the bad guy in the press.

  Again.

  I swallow hard before taking another bite.

  My brain replays the incident. The way the boutique door sounded when it closed behind us. The sun’s bright rays as we strolled down the street. The way she pivoted out of nowhere and looked like she was going to cry.

  My confusion. The bag—the one holding the overpriced shirt with the semi-witty saying on it that I’d just bought Willa as a token of good faith—coming straight for my head. My shock. The shrill of her voice followed by the swarm of paparazzi who ate the dramatics up like starving hyenas.

  I’ve only been caught off guard a few times in my life, but this was one of them. My first thought was that our shared agent, Meadow, had concocted this fight for Willa and me just l
ike she created our fake relationship. It seemed crazy but so did the original premise.

  “You need to clean up this bad-boy image you have, Coy. Willa needs to dirty hers up some to get the roles she wants. It’s perfection,” my agent said.

  I was quite satisfied with my reputation but whatever. I just wanted the cash, and if being a nice guy would get me more opportunities, I was in. Besides, all I had to do was pretend with Willa.

  All of it was bullshit.

  One of us forgot that.

  That one of us wasn’t me.

  It all came to a screeching halt—along with a dozen cars—on Sunset Boulevard. I can’t remember what I said, but I was silenced by Willa throwing her coffee in my face as the grand finale. Thankfully, it was iced.

  “Are you listening to me?” Holt asks.

  “I did get the hell out of LA,” I say, annoyed. “But the only thing between my legs was my giant—”

  “Okay, okay.” Holt’s sigh is tinged with amusement. “When are you planning on going back?”

  “Not sure. I swore a blood oath to Meadow that I’d stay under the radar until she works her PR magic. I’m supposed to relax and write music—two of the three things I do best.”

  My brother snorts. “I don’t even want to know the third thing.”

  “Your call, but I could probably give you a few pointers.”

  Holt seamlessly changes the subject to some business deal he’s working on, but I find it hard to follow along. My attention span is already short, thanks to the reminder of Willa.

  The back of my neck tenses as I work through the asinine events leading up to me being in Savannah.

  My jaw pulses as I try to calm down. It’s a load of crap that Meadow sent me to Georgia while Willa is allowed to stay in the comfort of her home and routine. She’s not missing work. She’s not putting a pause on her to-do list. And, even worse, she’s allowed to cry to the press. About me. Over a fake relationship.

  None of that was real.

  “You can go with us if you want,” Holt says.

  “Where?”

  “You weren’t listening, were you?”

  “Kind of,” I admit. “Not really.”

  He goes on again, repeating the offer to go with him … somewhere. But my attention is diverted.

  The sound of footsteps rings through the kitchen. My mother breezes through the doorway in what looks like a lazy stroll, but it’s not. I can see the wheels turning in her head as she glances my way and floats me an easy smile.

  My mother makes everything look easy. She never used a cleaning service or bought dinner out very often for our family of seven. She managed the house, her five sons, a husband with a penchant for gin martinis and poker, and was still on the board of directors for various Savannah programs. Everyone thinks my brothers got their drive from our father, but it was really from Mom. She’s the queen around here.

  She points at the phone with a perfectly painted red fingernail. “Is that important?” she whispers.

  “Nah. It’s just Holt,” I say around a mouthful of cereal.

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she admonishes before letting my error go. “I have an appointment in twenty minutes and will be home around six. Your father should be home slightly before me.”

  “Got it.”

  “Can you take the trash out for me, please?” she asks as casually as if she’s asking me what I want for dinner—a question she did not ask.

  My spoon pauses midway to my mouth. Milk drips off the sides and hits the counter.

  “Did you just ask me to take out the trash?” I ask.

  “Yes, Coy, I did.” She slides a water bottle into her oversized black leather bag. “Is that a problem?”

  She glances at me over her shoulder with that look in her eye. It’s a quiet challenge, a silent invitation to press the issue.

  “Mom,” I say, not really wanting to press the issue but unable to help myself. “Really?”

  She stops at the door leading to the garage. “Really what?”

  “I had the number-one song on the radio for eight weeks two months ago, and …”

  She opens the garage door as she simultaneously pins me to my seat with a firm gaze. After a long, awkward few seconds, her face breaks out into a victorious smile.

  “Do it before I get home, please. Love you, Coy. Tell Holt I love him too.”

  The door snaps closed behind her.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” I mutter.

  “Better get that trash taken out,” Holt says with a laugh. “I’ll let ya go. I have a meeting with Oliver in a few anyway.”

  “Tell my favorite brother I said hi.”

  “I’ll remember that the next time you call me needing a favor.”

  “Well, you could be my favorite if you come over here and take out the trash for me,” I joke.

  “Hard no. I pay someone to take mine out. Besides,” Holt says with what I’m sure is a shit-eating grin, “it might do you some good to remember where you came from.”

  I look around the kitchen. The counters are a white granite and set off a dark-colored Viking range. Sub-Zero freezer drawers and a blast chiller are hidden in the cabinets. A crystal chandelier hangs arrogantly overhead.

  “Yeah,” I say, my voice full of sarcasm. “Better remember my roots.”

  “That’s not what I mean, asshole.”

  I feign shock. “Asshole? That’s it. I’m going to have to bump another brother over you on the favorites list.”

  “So what you’re saying is that Oliver and Boone are ahead of me, and Wade is last?”

  “Well, yeah, basically.”

  Holt laughs. “I gotta go. Call me later.”

  “Bye.”

  “See ya.”

  I end the call and slide my phone across the counter. It narrowly misses the splashes of milk dotting the surface around my cereal bowl.

  A loud, unnecessary growl rumbles through the air as I stretch my arms overhead. The clock says it’s late in the afternoon, but my brain lobbies to go back to bed. I try to bargain with myself that I got into town late and didn’t get to bed until well into the early morning hours. But truth be told, I wouldn’t have been to bed before three in the morning anyway.

  Marching to the cabinet where I think the trash bags are, I open it and look around. I see a broom and a mop and a basket full of batteries. It raises a lot of questions that I force out of my mind.

  I’m about to give up anyway when a slight rasp on the door leading to the side yard distracts me.

  “Who is that?” I mumble as the faint knocking sounds again.

  My family would use the garage door. If any salespeople manage to get by the neighborhood’s gated entry, they’d knock on the front door. The only people who would use the side door would be my dad if he’s coming in from grilling out—so twice a year at best, and this isn’t one of those two occasions.

  I run my hands down my jeans—the same ones I slept in last night—and head to the door. There’s an outline of someone shorter than me by a good bit through the thin cream-colored curtain.

  “Hang on,” I say, fiddling with the lock.

  It takes a few seconds to figure out the fancy new combination lock that wasn’t here the last time I visited. Lucky for me, my parents’ choice of numbers was predictable.

  I open the door.

  “Hello—fuck!” I shout as something slams into the side of my face.

  Hard.

  It feels like I was smashed by a large and angry man or attacked by a swarm of bees. My eyes go blurry from the pain radiating through the side of my face.

  “Oh, crap,” a familiar voice groans in front of me.

  “Did I kill him?” another voice shrieks from farther away.

  “No. Just … sit down, Bree. Please. Right over there. Sit down and be still.”

  I struggle through the wetness building in my eyes to see. I work my jaw back and forth to try to loosen the stiffness already settling in my face.


  Finally, I get my bearings and open my eyes.

  Through the blurry haze, I think I see heaven. And a little piece of hell.

  Two

  Bellamy

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  Despite the chaos swirling around me, everything slows down. Way down. It comes to a screeching halt on my neighbor’s doorstep as I stand with an empty Tupperware container in my hand.

  Why didn’t I just text his mother first to see if she was home? Better yet, why did I think making no-bake cookies with Bree was a good idea in the first place?

  This is why I don’t do domesticity.

  I know not to look up at him. I know better.

  Yet I do because I must hate myself more than I hate him.

  My gaze locks with the golden-eyed, shirtless asshole in front of me, and I try to steady myself with a deep breath.

  “Did I break his face?” Bree shouts from behind me, panic tinging her sweet little voice. “Why didn’t you catch the ball, Bellamy? You could’ve caught it!”

  I should console her. My job is to give her my full, undivided attention. I should tell her that I got distracted by the sense something was amiss and turned at the exact wrong moment—the moment her throw whizzed right by me … and right into Coy’s face.

  Hopefully, the nanny gods will understand my current predicament and give me a pass because my attention is most certainly divided.

  I stand eye to eye with Coy Mason, the man I would give up my entire shoe collection to avoid—the man I would forgo Cheez-Its for the rest of eternity for as long as I didn’t have to reencounter him. The man with a face I want to sit on and pummel at the same freaking time.