Room Service Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Part I

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Part II

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Part III

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Part IV

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Part V

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  Part VI

  Part I

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Part II

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Part III

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Part VII

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Part VIII

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Epilogue

  Part IX

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Epilogue

  Part X

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Room Service

  Summer Cooper

  Contents

  Personal Note

  Prologue

  1. Trent

  2. Jessi

  3. Trent

  4. Jessi

  5. Trent

  6. Jessi

  7. Trent

  8. Jessi

  9. Trent

  10. Jessi

  11. Trent

  12. Jessi

  13. Trent

  14. Jessi

  15. Trent

  16. Jessi

  17. Trent

  18. Jessi

  19. Trent

  20. Jessi

  21. Trent

  22. Trent

  23. Jessi

  24. Trent

  25. Jessi

  26. Trent

  House Keeping

  Exclusive Freebie

  Summer Cooper

  Also by Summer Cooper

  Copyright © Lovy Books Ltd, 2018

  Summer Cooper has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Lovy Books Ltd

  20-22 Wenlock Road

  London N1 7GU

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  Summer x

  Personal Note

  To my lovely readers,

  Thank you for choosing to read my book. I really hope that I can bring you some joy with my words.

  To extend your reading pleasure, I’ve included a few bonus short stories right after the main story.

  Please refer to the Table Of Contents to see what to read next!

  Summer Cooper

  Discover the wild girl in you.

  Prologue

  Matthew Thompson sat in his private room in front of a roaring fire. It was just another day, and he was ending it in comfort.

  He should have been a happy man, quietly enjoying the fruits of his labors. But how could he when his children had all but abandoned him? Well, his sons at least; his daughter sat on a couch a few feet away from him, her feet tucked neatly under the chair. She was too busy with her phone to notice him and had been since they’d sat down to eat dinner.

  As the last of his children still living with him, she could at the very least have been keeping him company, he noted sourly. And he didn’t just mean her sitting there and doing her thing as he stared into the roaring fire, bored out of his mind. Why couldn’t people have conversations anymore? Why did people only want to talk through a screen now?

  He flicked a glance at his own phone, screen down just at his fingertips. He was so bored he couldn’t even read.

  He missed his children, the sound of laughter filling the air, the secret whispers as they plotted some mischief only children could get up to. He missed how when they were younger, they’d run up to him every time he came home, welcoming him with open arms. When was the last time that even happened?

  Matthew was willing to settle for having them all in the same area.

  After several more minutes passed and Emily didn’t so much as look up, he sighed and called out to his daughter.

  “Emily?”

  “Hmm?” Her slim fingers flew over her phone’s screen as she typed something out. She was the perfect blend of both him and his wife—a daughter a man could be proud of, if only she’d pay attention.

  Matthew let out his heaviest sigh yet.

  “Would you at least look up at your old man? I’m starting to feel a little jealous of your phone, here.”

  Her fingers slowed as she glanced up, but they didn’t stop. He didn’t even feel like sighing anymore.

  “Do you need something, Dad?”

  He rolled his eyes. “What I need is for you to sit up, put your phone down for a minute, and listen to your father. What happened to you, Emily? You used to be Daddy’s little girl, and these days it’s like you rarely have time to talk to me.”

  She flushed a little, her hands finally pausing on her phone. She looked down at it for a few seconds before turning off the screen and putting it to one side.

  “All right,” she said, sitting upright, back straight, and hands placed demurely on her knees. “Although, Dad, it has been quite a few years since I was your ‘little girl,’ you know?” She arched a delicate eyebrow, bright eyes twinkling with a bit of mischief.


  Matthew rolled his eyes. He could do that same eyebrow trick, his were just a bit grayer than hers.

  “Anyway, what did you want to talk about?” At least she’d put the phone down now.

  Matthew smiled, his tall frame and lined face so like his sons and his daughter. “I want you to help me plot how to get your brothers back here.”

  Her hands twitched on her knees in surprise. She flipped some blonde strands of hair that had fallen over her shoulder and blinked at him. That wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for, but the one he’d counted on getting.

  “Excuse me?” she said.

  “I want my sons back, Emily. They might not have as much time for me, just like you, but can you even remember the last time they visited?”

  She opened her mouth but paused because there was nothing she could say. It was true. The sons of the Thompson household hadn't been back for quite a while. During the holidays they tried to all meet up, but it wasn’t in their family home where they’d all grown up.

  “Can you manage it, though?” she said after a minute, frowning. “I mean, they’re all busy doing who knows what wherever they are—”

  “You don’t know where they are?”

  She looked offended. “Dad. I could tell you where Trent is. But the other two tend to move around a lot, so you’re on your own there.”

  Matthew nodded. It was all he needed. Trent would have to be the first he called home because he was the most stable, the most put together. He would be easier to invite, though for many reasons he would be the hardest to get to stick around.

  “Fine,” he said, thumping his hand down on a knee. “Call him up. Give him whatever excuse, but I want to see him back here.”

  Emily flinched. “Dad! I never said I’d help you! I don’t want any part of this scheme or whatever it is you’re cooking up!”

  Matthew chuckled. “You mean what we are cooking up,” he corrected, ignoring her refusal. “Don’t you want to help your aging father? Don’t be so difficult, Emily. Help an old man out.”

  It didn’t take much pleading to get her to cave. Even though she had grown, she was still his little girl in a lot of ways, and she loved to make her father happy. His daughter had always been such a warm, loving person, so as long as he hinted that he was unhappy, she would do something to change it.

  He considered himself very lucky to have had her. She was the second most important woman in his heart after he’d lost his first wife.

  “As much as I love traveling to meet up with your brothers, don’t you think it would be best they come here?” he needled. “Once they’re all home, I can just relax my old bones, and they would be the ones to come to me for a change. Please, Emily.”

  Of course, Matthew wasn’t as old and tired as he was trying to make himself out to be. He was getting on in years, but he still considered himself young and spry. He wasn’t even in his sixties yet, and he was retired. But there was no reason to inform her of that just yet.

  She was buying his ploy, and as much as a part of him felt bad that he was practically tricking his daughter, he was glad she was willing to help him out in this.

  Matthew knew he would need it.

  “Fine,” Emily said with a sigh like he’d known she would. “I’ll help. But if it doesn’t go the way you plan, you’ll be on your own, Dad.”

  Matthew just smiled, looking forward to having all his children together with him again. Finally.

  1

  Trent

  I walked into the office and heads turned in my wake. I didn’t care if it was my height or my expensive suit that caught people’s eyes, but I strutted across the room like I owned the place.

  In a way, I did.

  I walked over to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. A few people waited for one to come down to either of my sides, and I kept facing straight ahead as they turned to each other to mutter and gossip. I didn’t bother listening to what they said. It was all the same.

  They loved to talk about how I was smart, sophisticated, and savvy. That part, I loved to hear. I was totally in control of my world and my father’s empire, and I didn’t mind that people envied me for that.

  The rumors I hated were the ones about how my father must have helped me get to where I was. That I’d spent all my life riding on his name and his money, instead of building up my own life and career without much of Dad’s help. None of them knew the real me, or the life I’d endured to get where I am now. Still, no matter how much I hated hearing it, I never let those emotions show.

  Be in control at all times.

  That was the motto I’d set up for myself, and I’d followed it just fine over the years. So what if people talked shit behind my back? I was going to show them just what my effort brought me, and I was doing it my way.

  The elevator doors finally opened and I walked inside. None of the other people waiting followed me in, and after a few seconds, the doors slid shut with only me inside.

  Well.

  Not that it was unexpected. I was the big boss around here, and most people naturally kept out of my way. None of that stopped them from gossiping about me, though.

  As I was left alone, I swept my hand through my thick, blond hair and frowned to myself as I thought about cutting it short. It got in the way when it was long enough to fall over my forehead and tickle the nape of my neck. But I was too busy with work for even a quick trip to the high-priced salon I visited to have my hair cut.

  The inside of the elevator was reflective, as though the walls were made of mirrors. I’d checked myself at home, but I didn’t mind checking again. Everything had to be perfect and in place. The shined black shoes, pressed dark slacks and matching jacket, the navy-blue shirt under it and the blue and black striped tie were all perfectly in place without even a stray thread to mar the picture of perfection. I’d styled my hair away from my forehead and I pushed it back just a little more. I held my briefcase at my side, a gold diamond watch on my wrist and a small ring on my pinkie finger. I kept my right hand free of accessories because it was my dominant arm.

  The elevator stopped on my floor, and I shrugged my shoulders to readjust how the jacket had settled, even though I knew it was already perfect. I strode onto the floor, heading straight for my office. There were fewer people here, but I still caught their attention.

  My PA was already at her desk and working, and I gave a small nod of approval. I’d given her instructions the day she started working for me, and one of them was that she always be there earlier than me in the morning and be ready for anything I needed her to do. She stood up as I walked over to her desk, lifting a cup of take-out coffee from her desk and holding it out to me.

  “Thank you, Jennifer,” I said, accepting it.

  I took a sip and almost sighed at the taste. I gave another small, near imperceptible nod of approval. Like she could see it, she beamed for a moment, then schooled her face to professional politeness.

  “Please patch any important calls over to me,” I instructed. “If it’s not so important, please handle it yourself.”

  It was going to be a busy day, and we both knew it.

  “Yes, sir,” she said with a sharp nod.

  I nodded back and walked over to my door, pushing it open with my shoulder. I moved over to my desk and set down the coffee and briefcase, then rounded it as I took off my coat. It was still a bit early, and the air hadn't quite warmed up yet, but I might as well be prepared early. I draped the coat over the back of my chair and sat down. I pulled some important documents out of my briefcase, then set it down to the side.

  Finally, I took another sip of my coffee, cracked my fingers, and got down to work.

  I had about twenty minutes to look over some papers; then the calls started coming in. My PA took care of some of them, but I still got the bulk of them, and I settled into the busy environment with ease, taking phone call after phone call and ending them with both sides satisfied.

  It hadn't been easy starting out, but I’d made m
y fortune as a financial trader. Of course, there were plenty of people under the impression I got so many investors because of my father’s connections. Quite the contrary, I’d distanced myself as much as I possibly could from the Thompson family name. There was the occasional investor who called me up because they saw my name and connected it to my dad’s but as far as I cared, Thompson was just another name. Working with me didn’t mean they would get any perks out of my dad.

  Not that he would give perks to anyone, even his sons. My old man was nothing if not a proper businessman.

  Most of the morning was spent taking calls, and by the time it hit lunch I was starting to feel the strain. I’d got used to being busy and it barely phased me anymore. I’d learned early on that you didn’t get anywhere without hard work. I’d wanted to make a name for myself, with my time and my sweat, and I had.

  My PA popped in with my lunch, and I barely gave her a grateful nod before going right back to work.

  The calls were starting to grow less frequent in the afternoon. I caught some bites in between the calls, then tossed the remains of lunch into the trash can to my side behind the desk.

  It was the usual, busy day. That was until my PA walked into my office, looking hesitant. I glanced up at her but finished the call I was on before giving her my full attention.

  “Is there something wrong?” I asked, frowning. “Did you get a difficult client?”

  She shook her head. “Um, not a client, sir. She says she’s your sister? She’s on another line for you.”