The Loner

The Loner The Billionaire Freemasons Nicole Flockton Copyright © 2023 by Nicole Flockton 2nd Edition Photo Credit: 12264531 © Get4net | Dreamstime.com Logo Design by Jason Flockton All rights reserved. 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. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from Nicole Flockton. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. *Previously published as Bound by His Desire* Contents About the Book 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 Epilogue Also by Nicole Flockton Acknowledgments About the Author About the Book His number one rule - don’t get involved with his assistant. Nick Rhodes has seen the darker side of love. Had his youth ripped away from him. His focus now is on business and he needs an assistant who isn’t going to see him as a meal ticket to easy street. Pamela Bishop is everything he needs in a professional colleague, and comes with an ironclad guarantee – she absolutely will not fall in love with him. Love is not her top priority. Pamela has one goal — get on top of the mountain of debts incurred through her mother’s medical expenses. Her job as Nick’s assistant is going to let her achieve that. Jeopardizing this opportunity by falling in love with her arrogant, if handsome, boss is the last thing she’s going to do. Sometimes breaking the rules is necessary. As the romance of New York City surrounds them, Pamela and Nick find themselves spending more and more time together. They can no longer ignore the attraction flaring between them. Nick has always lived by his own rules, but breaking them may lead to forever. *Previously published as Bound By His Desire To Mum and Dad: thank you for always believing in me. Chapter One Nick Rhodes’s body stirred to life when he spied the woman standing in the doorway of the church. Her green dress accentuated and enhanced her curves. Her hair fell softly in curls over one shoulder in a waterfall of caramel. She held a small posy of flowers and he figured she must be a bridesmaid he hadn’t met at the rehearsal dinner the previous evening. Although that seemed strange, seeing as Luc only had him as his best man. There appeared to be no one standing behind her. He knew Jasmine’s assistant was to be a bridesmaid too. Whoever this girl was, he would remedy the lack of introduction as soon as the ceremony had finished. Maybe a quick fling would take the edge off his anxiety about what was happening in New York and the disaster that awaited him when he returned. The music started and the woman walked with slow measured steps down the aisle. As she got closer to him he had to stop his jaw from dropping. He knew the woman. It was Pamela Bishop. The same woman who had been two seats down from him at the dinner, who had worn an outfit that had ensured she blended in with the background of the room. The same woman who hadn’t said “boo” to him, but had managed to change the rehearsal dinner from chaos to calm in a matter of minutes. The same woman who Luc assured him would make a perfect new assistant. It didn’t seem possible. His body didn’t care what Nick’s mind thought, all it cared about was the stunning woman walking toward him, and he wanted to get to know her in the most primal of ways. The closer she got to him, the more he could see and feel her nerves radiating out toward him. Her eyes darted all around the church, looking to see if she could find a quick exit. Everything shouted out to him she wasn’t accustomed to everyone looking at her. When her gaze caught his, he sent her a smile. Nick hoped it was reassuring. He felt his lips widen when he noticed a soft pink glow bloom in her cheeks. He shifted slightly to relieve the unexpected pressure in his pants, hoping no one noticed his discomfort. Once Pamela reached where he and Luc were standing and took her place opposite them, the music changed and the Wedding March swelled loudly in the church. He watched in amazement as his friend, the hardest, most ruthless businessman he knew, almost melt at the sight of his wife walking toward him. He couldn’t blame Luc, Jasmine looked beautiful in the soft pink dress that emphasised the evidence of Luc’s impending fatherhood. He was excited and happy for his friend and, for today only, he gave himself permission to push business aside and enjoy the ceremony and evening ahead. Tomorrow he could find a new assistant and fix the deal before it completely fell apart. He may have to reconsider his thought about approaching Pamela to be his assistant, though. If she turned up to the office each day looking like she did right at that moment, he might find himself throwing his own rule about getting involved with his assistant out the window. The thought pulled him up short and the murmuring of the priest, reciting the wedding vows, faded to the far recesses of his mind. How could he even think about pushing aside his rule to never get involved with an