A Los Angeles Passion

They’ve found the ultimate passion

But could her secret threaten their Hollywood ending?

Award-winning screenwriter Trey Moore agrees to look after his infant nephew for two weeks, and for once he’s out of his depth. Gorgeous Kiara Woods, owner of LA’s glitziest day care, offers help. While she’s teaching Trey Babysitting 101, she’s falling hard for the sexy millionaire. But can she risk revealing a painful truth that’s already cost her so much?

SHERELLE GREEN is a Chicago native with a dynamic imagination and a passion for reading and writing. She enjoys composing emotionally driven stories that are steamy, edgy and touch on real-life issues. Her overall goal is to create relatable and fierce heroines who are flawed, just like the strong and sexy heroes who fight so hard to win their hearts. There’s no such thing as a perfect person...but when you find that person who is perfect for you, the possibilities are endless. Nothing satisfies her more than writing stories filled with compelling love affairs, multifaceted characters and intriguing relationships.

Also By Sherelle Green

A Tempting Proposal

If Only for Tonight

Red Velvet Kisses

Beautiful Surrender

Enticing Winter

Wrapped in Red (with Nana Malone)

Falling for Autumn

Waiting for Summer

Nights of Fantasy

A Miami Affair

Her Unexpected Valentine

A Los Angeles Passion

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

A Los Angeles Passion

Sherelle Green

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08631-8

A LOS ANGELES PASSION

© 2018 Harlequin Books S.A.

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

“I think we should save that story for our next date.” She briefly closed her eyes. “I mean meeting. We can save that story for our next meeting.” Kiara stood abruptly. “I think it’s time for me to go.”

“Okay,” Trey said with a laugh. “I’ll walk you out.”

They made their way down the spiral stairs.

“I had a nice time tonight,” Kiara said when she reached the door. She turned around to find him watching her intently.

“I had a nice time, as well.” Trey took a step closer to her. “I enjoyed getting to know you a little better.” He was so close, Kiara was afraid to breathe.

“Me, too,” she whispered. His eyes dropped to her lips. She forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat.

When his hand reached up to cup her face, Kiara completely froze. There’s no way he’s going to kiss me, right? We just met each other.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.

Say yes. Say yes. Say yes. “No,” she said, moments before his lips came crashing down onto hers.

Dear Reader,

I was excited for the chance to write another novel in the Millionaire Moguls series, and writing about Trey Moore and Kiara Woods did not disappoint. Since I often write connecting stories, writing Trey and Kiara’s story gave me the opportunity to write about characters who hadn’t met prior to the novel.

I hope you also enjoy catching up with Kyra Reed, from the Bare Sophistication series, who is close friends with Kiara in A Los Angeles Passion. In true Kyra fashion, she can’t be anyone but herself.

Make sure you follow me to stay updated on my latest releases!

Much love,

Sherelle

authorsherellegreen@gmail.com

www.bit.ly/SherelleGreensCoffeeCorner

@SherelleGreen

To my in-laws, Bernadine and Isaiah, for all your support and encouragement. I feel so lucky and blessed to have each of you in my life. Mom, ever since my first book event, you have always attended and supported me. Not only am I grateful to have you present at these events, but other authors and readers alike love your enthusiasm and always look forward to seeing you. Together, we always have a good time and our closeness means the world to me. Dad, the fact that you’ve shown an interest in my work and have pushed to help me take my career even further truly warms my heart. You keep me laughing and you already know I’m always down to hear one of your stories.

Not only am I grateful to have an amazing husband, but I feel blessed to have such kindhearted, supportive and loving in-laws.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Trey Moore could barely conceal his anticipation as he ran his long fingers over the smooth, creamy piece of his latest obsession.

“That’s it,” he whispered, pinching at a couple of curled edges that were beautifully laid out on the table before him. “Come to me, baby.”

For months, he’d been preparing for this very moment. Trey reached for his scotch on the rocks before sitting on the high chair of his dining room table. He took a measured sip of the cool liquid and observed the printed cream-colored pages of his screenplay, which was currently divided into scenes.

Trey had been cooped up in his Brentwood, LA, estate for nearly seventy-two complete hours, and he was no closer to being finished with his latest screenplay than he was before he’d taken his hiatus.

For Trey, there was nothing more frustrating than having writer’s block when his agent and producers were on his back for the next Hollywood hit. He’d known, the minute he’d accepted this job, that he’d run into a few issues toward the end. He prided himself on only agreeing to write screenplays for stories that he truly believed were special in their own way. However, even he’d admit that, initially, he hadn’t seen the producer’s vision behind this particular project. As time grew and he let the story line foster in his head a bit, he’d begun to change his mind.

Every time Trey wrote a screenplay, he invariably got that feeling in the pit of his stomach that he’d figure out how to tie up every loose end in the story finally. Call it writer’s intuition or good old-fashioned luck, he always knew instinctively that he’d be able to finish things satisfactorily, and just an hour ago, he’d gotten that hunch again.

The feeling had come a little later than he’d liked, but luckily, he still had a couple of weeks to pull perfection from the last few scenes he’d written down in an effort to appease his agent and producers. It was mid-September and he hadn’t promised them anything final until mid-October.

Taking another sip of his scotch, he picked up one of the action scenes and read his handwritten sticky notes plastered across the paper. “Come on, Trey,” he said, closing his eyes. “What’s missing here?”

He kept his eyes closed as he imagined the scene playing out in his mind as it would in the movie. He was only partially into his vision when he heard keys jingling in his front door. Trey opened his eyes and glanced down at his rose gold watch.

“Carmen,” he said aloud as he shook his head and headed toward his front door. There was only one person who could be coming into his home at eleven o’clock at night.

“What do you want?” he said, crossing his arms over his chest the moment the door peeked open.

“Dang, big bro. Is that any way to greet your favorite sister?”

“You’re my only sister.”

“Precisely the reason you should be more grateful to see me.”

“You’re right,” he said with a laugh as he reached for the car seat that held his nephew, Matthew. “Hey, M-dog,” he said as he picked up the six-month-old. “How’s my boy doing?”

“Ugh.” Carmen frowned. “Why do you insist on calling him M-dog?”

“Because it’s way better than you and Mom insisting on calling him Matty. There’s nothing manly about the nickname Matty. Are you trying to raise your son to permanently be in the friends zone with every girl he meets?”

“Shut up,” Carmen said, lightly slapping Trey’s shoulder. “M-dog isn’t a good nickname, either. You’re lucky I love you because had anyone else called him that, I would have nipped it in the bud right away.”

Trey smiled, knowing she meant it. Although Trey and Carmen didn’t have the same father, they were extremely close. Trey’s stepdad—who was also Carmen’s father—had been around for most of his life, and since Trey’s relationship with his own father was strained, he appreciated his stepfather.

Through his biological dad, Reginald Moore, Trey also had two half brothers, Derek and Max. Since they all had different mothers, they hadn’t been too close growing up. Like him, Derek also had an uneasy relationship with their father. Actually, Derek’s relationship with Reginald was much worse than Trey’s. Max was the only son who was close to Reginald, because he’d had the benefit of growing up with Reginald in his life and always had him around.

“Have any scotch?” Carmen stepped away from the foyer and walked into the kitchen area that was connected to the dining room and living room.

“You already know I do.” Trey handed baby Matthew back to his sister as he pulled out a glass to pour scotch. “I thought you weren’t drinking any liquor, though? When did that change?”

“Oh, it didn’t,” Carmen said with a sneaky smile. “The scotch is for you.”

Trey stopped midpour. “For me? I already have a glass I was sipping on before you arrived.”

“Great. Then maybe you should get that glass.”

Trey leaned against the counter. “Enough stalling, Carmen. I’m happy to see you and my nephew, but why are you here?”

Carmen nuzzled her nose with Matthew’s tiny button before speaking. “Well, as you know, Max has been trying to get me a few gigs, but even with his connections as my talent agent, I haven’t gotten a lot of bites.”

Trey nodded, well aware of Carmen’s frustration with her acting career. His sister was talented, and seeing that their mom was a famous actress in her day, Hollywood expected that at least one of her children would follow her path. Surprisingly, Trey had found his niche in LA as a prominent screenplay writer. However, Carmen was still trying to emulate their mother. Trey knew that all she needed was a big break to showcase her talent, and he was hoping that Max, his half brother and Carmen’s agent, could help her in any way possible.

“So, it looks like my hard work is finally paying off. I landed a minor role on a weekly television series.”

“That’s great, sis.” Trey gave her a quick hug, careful not to crush Matthew. “I knew you’d get a break soon enough.”

“I’m really excited,” Carmen said, beaming from ear to ear. “I couldn’t wait to tell you. I even wanted to tell Scott and gloat a little, but I don’t want to jinx anything.”

Scott was Carmen’s ex and Matthew’s father. Trey had always gotten along well with Scott, but Scott didn’t support Carmen’s dream of becoming a full-time actress, so the two had split right before Carmen found out she was pregnant. Trey was proud of his sister for not letting her dream of spending the rest of her life with Scott and raising a family together deter her from following her other goal of becoming an actress.

“I understand that.” Trey playfully nudged her on the head like he’d done since she was little. “When do you start filming?”

“Funny you should ask.” Carmen perked up. “I’ve been informed that it will take two weeks to film the pilot episode and I’m needed on set starting tomorrow. Which brings me to the reason I’m here.”

Trey squinted his eyes when Carmen glanced from him to Matthew, then back to him. “Oh, no, sis. You’ve got to be kidding me. You already know I’ve got this thing to finish. Hell, I haven’t even been out the house in days.”

“I know, Trey. And I wouldn’t ask if I had other options. I need someone to watch Matthew for two weeks while I film.”

“The full two weeks!” Trey didn’t mean for his voice to carry, but just the thought of him babysitting a six-month-old while trying to make this tight deadline was enough to send him into a slight panic, and Trey was not the panicky type. “Are you sure I’m the best option?”

“Best? Probably not. Only? Absolutely. You already know that Mom and Dad are on their African safari. And Scott is traveling between New York and Miami throughout the rest of this month on business, so he’s not even in LA. I would ask Scott’s parents if they weren’t in Germany for the next few weeks. And I can’t get a two-week nanny on such short notice. I know the timing isn’t ideal for you, but I could really use your help right now.”

Carmen shot him her big-puppy-dog-eyes that usually did the trick when she was trying to convince him to do something he didn’t want to do. Trey lifted Matthew’s tiny hand in his.

“Carm, I’ve never watched a child on my own for that long, let alone an infant.”

“You used to watch me when I was little and you’re only eight years older than me.”

Trey shook his head. “The first time I babysat you on my own, I was twelve and you were four. That’s hardly an infant.”

“Whatever.” Carmen shrugged. “The point is, you did fine back then and I’m sure you’ll do fine now. There will be other times you have to watch your nephew, so you might as well start now. Plus, I really need your help. I’ve been hoping to land a gig like this and it may just be the opening I’ve been waiting for.”

Trey sighed. He really did want Carmen to go for her dreams and he knew firsthand that the set wasn’t a good place for infants. He recalled a time when his stepdad had been out of town and the babysitter had gotten sick. So his mom had been forced to bring him and a colicky Carmen on set for a movie she was shooting. It hadn’t been pretty.

His eyes landed back on Matthew’s adorable brown face and chubby baby cheeks. “Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll babysit M-dog for two weeks.”

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” Carmen kissed Trey’s cheek before handing Matthew to him. “Thank you so much, big bro. I owe you big-time!”

“I plan on collecting, too,” he said with a laugh. His joke fell on deaf ears because Carmen was already halfway to the front door. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back.” Ten minutes later, Trey was sorry he’d asked. It took no time for his home to go from the ultimate bachelor pad to a nursery straight out of an HGTV show.

“Carm, what is all this stuff?”

“This,” she said, waving her hands around everything she’d placed in his living room, “is everything you will need to turn Casa De Trey into Matty’s Baby Manor.”

Trey handed Matthew back to his sister as he tried not to freak out by all the paraphernalia scattered around. Baby swing. Baby mat. Baby carrier. Baby bathtub. Blankets. Stuffed animals. Pop-up crib. Diapers. Bottles. Pacifiers. His mind couldn’t even comprehend all the stuff needed to care for an infant.

“What in the world is all this?” he asked as he pointed to a mound of what appeared to be pieces of some type of toy.

Carmen smiled. “That’s Matty’s ExerSaucer.”

“His exer...what?”

“His ExerSaucer.” Carmen pulled out her phone with her free hand to show him a picture of Matthew sitting in one. “It’s like an activity center for babies. It helps keep him busy. I had to break it apart to get it in my car, but I figured you could put it back together.”

“Damn, Carmen. You might as well have brought over your entire house.”

“I tried,” she said with a laugh. “Also, even though Matty is a baby, try to limit the cursing around him. You never know what types of things babies pick up at a young age. And I also have a large tote bag that has his formula in it with instructions on scoops and how much water to add. His medicine is in there, too, as well as his Baby Bullet.”

Trey’s eyes widened. “Baby bullet? Do I even want to know what that is?”

“It’s what you will use to blend his baby food.” Carmen searched the floor until her eyes landed on a bin of baby food. “This bin should have all the food needed to blend your own recipes. Nothing too fancy. Just sweet peas. Mashed bananas. Stuff like that. It’s not enough for two weeks, but should be enough for a week. And it needs to be refrigerated.”

Trey lifted the bin and walked to the kitchen to place it in the refrigerator. He’d only agreed about twenty minutes ago, and already, he had to remind himself why he was doing this. Carmen’s phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.

“Oops, I forgot I had this call. I have to take this.” She rushed to Trey and handed him Matthew. “I’m going to miss my baby boy. Mama loves you,” she said to her son as she showered him with kisses before answering her phone.

“This is Carmen. Can you please hold for a moment?” She glanced at Trey. “Are you good? You know you can call me anytime. In the large tote, I also left detailed instructions on everything, so you should be okay. He’s already been fed tonight and I just changed him before we arrived. Tonight should be easy since he pretty much sleeps through the night. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

Carmen was already out the door before Trey could formulate a response. Once they were alone in his home, Trey glanced down at the wide-eyed baby in his arms, unsure if he should be more worried about babysitting Matthew or if Matthew should be worried about him being the babysitter.

“We’ll get through this, right, M-dog?” In response, Matthew blew a couple of spit bubbles before scrunching his forehead. “What does that face mean?” Trey asked, observing his nephew a little closer. “Are you agreeing with me?”

Matthew gurgled some more bubbles before he spit up and let out a loud wail.

“Oh, hell,” Trey yelled as the spit-up ran from Matthew’s mouth down to Trey’s hand. Acting fast, Trey grabbed one of the blankets Carmen had left and began wiping off the baby’s face.

Several minutes later, Trey still couldn’t get Matthew to stop bawling. “Could this night get any worse,” he said between the wails. On cue, his iPhone rang, displaying the last name he expected to see. Reginald Moore? What does he want?

Trey answered on the fourth ring. “Hello, this is Trey.”

“Trey, this is your father. I have both your brothers on the line as well.”

Trey pulled back to look at his phone as if it were contagious. “Max and Derek both?”

Each of his brothers greeted him. Trey rarely talked to his father and both brothers, so if they were all on the line, it had to be important.

“Trey, is that a baby in the background?” Reginald asked. Trey glanced down at Matthew, who was still crying.

“Yeah, I’m babysitting my nephew. Let me put you all on a brief hold.” Acting quickly on his feet, Trey managed to configure the pop-up crib with one hand and carefully place Matthew in the middle of the crib. As soon as he popped the pacifier into his nephew’s mouth, the crying stopped.

Thank goodness. Trey glanced back at his phone, which was still on hold. One problem down. One more left. He sat on his large plush armchair that was next to the crib before resuming the conversation. “Okay, I’m back. So, tell me...what’s the purpose of this call?”

He tried to leave the bitterness out of his voice, but it had been a long few months, and a call with his father never ended well.

Reginald cleared his throat. “Now that I have all of you on the phone, there’s something very important that I need your help with.” There was a slight pause before Reginald continued. “I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I would never do anything to hurt Prescott George, and I definitely did not do anything to the San Diego chapter. Granted, it was hard for me to accept that they would be named chapter of the year, but I would never stoop so low as to sabotage them. I gave Prescott George more than twenty-five years of my life, and as I’ve stated before, someone framed me.”

Trey squeezed the bridge of his nose as his father continued to voice his innocence. Prescott George—or the Millionaire Moguls, as they were informally known—was a prestigious, all-male national organization that was as powerful as it was discreet. Until six months ago, Reginald had been a respected board member of the LA chapter of Prescott George, where his sons were also members.

After an internal investigation that proved Reginald was guilty of trying to sabotage the Prescott George San Diego chapter to keep them from winning the annual award, Reginald had been kicked out of the organization.

Trey, along with his half brothers, was horrified by the accusations and embarrassed that their father would try to harm the chances of another chapter. All of Reginald’s sons were subjected to an internal investigation to make sure they hadn’t assisted Reginald in his activities. And even though all three of them were cleared, the damage to the Moore name had already been done.