Counterfeit Kisses © 2020 by Cora York All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Cora York
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cora York
Visit my website at www.corayork.com
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: April 2020
Quick Reads for Fast Lives
Counterfeit Kisses
Cora York
Tessa
After my ex drains my bank account and spreads vicious lies about my business, I need a big event to help salvage my ruined reputation. And I get just that chance when megastar Violet Hale announces her plans to marry in Ireland. My pitch about the fated love I share with my perfect fiancé wins over Violet and scores me the contract. It’s a shame Mr. Perfect is nothing more than a figment of my imagination.
But no one will ever discover my one little white lie...right?
Keegan
I despise liars and cheats.
When I discover Tessa Maken lied to win a contract that should have been mine, I force my way into her fabricated life and pose as her fated fiancé. When our counterfeit kisses turn real, and when my feelings begin to cloud my judgment, I have to choose between exposing Tessa as a fraud or trusting my traitorous heart…and her.
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
One Year Later
About the Author
Dear Reader,
For the past few years, Counterfeit Kisses has languished in the depths of my laptop. I first began writing Tessa and Keegan’s story in 2013 and published a much different version than this one in 2016, but because I didn’t have confidence in my writing, I unpublished a short while later. I’ve spent the past few months reworking and rewriting Counterfeit Kisses. I had wondered if I should wait until Christmas to republish since it’s set during the holidays, but I was way too excited to wait. Plus, I think we could all do with some heartwarming and fuzzy romance just about now.
I hope Tessa and Keegan’s story makes you smile.
Cora
April 2020 xxx
Chapter One
Keegan
Christ. What a complete waste of time. My head pounded as if I’d spent all day throwing back double shots of cheap tequila. If only. I’d spent the last few hours scanning inane gossip blogs digging for information.
Movie star Violet Hale planned to marry pop brat Archer Parks somewhere in Ireland on Christmas Eve—only a week away. If all had gone to plan, Devlin Events would’ve won the contract. But things hadn’t gone to plan. Far from it. And I wanted to know why.
I rubbed my grit-filled eyes and glanced out of the office windows. Rays from the setting sun flickered behind Manhattan’s dimming skyline. The fiery view suited my mood.
How had my company lost one of the biggest celebrity contracts of the year, and how had Maken Memories, an insignificant Irish company, won it?
Nothing about how I’d lost the contract made sense. Per Google Tessa Maken, the owner of Maken Memories, had no offices or employees. No way could she pull off such a high-profile event.
Why had two international stars hired her to coordinate their wedding when she had no more than a few z-list events and small-town weddings to her name? It didn’t add up. One way or another, I’d find out how she’d succeeded where I’d failed.
All bids for the job were supposed to be anonymous. I’d only discovered I’d lost the contract when lowlife Shane Gorman had emailed saying we should chat about Tessa Maken winning the Hale-Parks wedding.
I grinned. Had the bastard’s nose healed since the last time we’d met?
If Shane said the sky was blue, I would check to make sure he wasn’t lying. But when a quick online search showed social media photos of him with his arm wrapped around a sexy brunette named Tessa, I decided I’d give him ten seconds.
For the twentieth time in five minutes, I checked my cell to make sure I hadn’t missed Shane’s call. I hadn’t. If my family knew I was in contact with the sleazy arsehole, they’d kick me into next week for not killing him.
Brody, my younger brother, wearing his usual construction site uniform of worn jeans and a torn red flannel shirt, strode into the office and dropped onto a chair on the opposite side of my pristine desk.
“Fancy a few beers at Lorcan’s?” Despite living in Brooklyn Heights for over fourteen years, Brody’s Northern Irish lilt was as strong as ever. It was as if he’d never left Derry’s narrow streets. “He’s expecting a few Christmas parties at the bar tonight. You know what that means?” Brody wiggled his eyebrows. “Drunk office workers looking for a hookup.”
“Can’t play wingman this evening. Too busy.” I minimized the gossip blogs cluttering my screen and put the monitor to sleep. Any other night, I’d have jumped at the chance to toss back a few beers at Lorcan’s. Our brother’s bar was always good for a laugh and for picking up women, but I wanted to figure out how I’d fucked up before doing anything, or anyone.
“What’s up, sad arse?” Brody asked. “It’s not like you to refuse
