‘My bag?’
‘Yes, your bag,’ he said, his impatience tingeing the air.
Olivia glanced down at the bag in confusion. Looking back up at the exasperation that lit the brown eyes, she realised his motivation was irrelevant. Right now it seemed clear he wouldn’t listen to anything she said until she gave it to him. She ducked down awkwardly and picked up the bag.
‘I’ll come round,’ he said.
She heard the thud as he presumably jumped down from the toilet; she pushed the door open and held out the bag. ‘Look, is this really necessary?’ she asked, a shudder of aversion shivering through her as he started to sift through the contents.
‘Yes,’ he stated. ‘My security chief is worried that you are locked in here constructing a bomb.’
Fabulous! Her stomach plummeted into a free fall of panic; she was under suspicion of being a terrorist.
Come on, Olivia. Calm down. You’ve talked your way out of worse than this before.
Though she suspected that talking her way past this man would be akin to melting iron with an incense stick.
Still, she had to try. She took a step forward out of the cubicle and straightened her spine.
‘I realise all this is a bit bizarre, but I’m not a terrorist and I’m not here with the intention of hurting anyone. If—’
Adam Masterson wasn’t so much as looking at her, let alone listening. Instead he was on the phone.
‘Nate,’ he said. ‘I’ve checked the bag. Our enterprising intruder locked herself in the toilet to get dressed, not to build a bomb.’ He listened for a moment and then put the phone back into his pocket.
OK. At least the terrorist theory had been knocked on the head. Not that Adam Masterson looked relieved; if anything the set of his lips was even grimmer, the frown deeper. Time to try again.
‘Look, I’m truly sorry,’ she said. ‘I never meant to cause so much hassle. I really, really just want to—’
A derisive snort interrupted her. ‘I know what you really, really want to do, and I’m really, really not interested.’
Olivia frowned. ‘You can’t possibly know why I’m here.’ She was having trouble enough believing it herself.
Adam pulled his phone out of his pocket.
‘Hang on!’ Olivia said. ‘You’ve got to listen.’
He shook his head. ‘Nope, I don’t. I’ve got to get Security in here to remove you from the premises.’
The panic erupted in her chest; this was her chance and she’d blown it. Unless... Maybe now was the time to utilise her black belt in taekwondo.
Propelled by the sheer impossibility of failure, Olivia launched herself at him.
‘What the—?’
Taking advantage of his millisecond of surprise, she knocked the phone from his hand.
To no avail.
In a fluid movement he’d caught the mobile and shock juddered Olivia’s body as she collided with an immovable wall of chest. Strong arms locked behind her back in a hold way too powerful for her to break even as she leant back, shoving her palms flat against his chest.
Her breath escaped in short, sharp pants as she looked up at him. For a fleeting second his light brown eyes darkened and focused on her lips. Unable to help herself, she dropped her gaze to his mouth as a sudden shiver prickled her skin.
A shiver not of fear but of desire.
Which was ridiculous. Right now her instincts should have kicked in; she should be at least attempting to struggle free. Instead she couldn’t stop staring at the mesmerising shape of those firm, capable lips. His heart pounded under her hand; her fingers curled into the silk of his white shirt.
As she pressed her own lips together to moisten them something primal flickered in his eyes. His arms tensed to pull her forward. Then abruptly he released her.
Her skin tingled where his arms had touched her and Olivia stepped backwards, until the cold marble of the counter pressed into the backs of her thighs. Her heart thumped painfully against her ribcage. Perspective—she desperately needed to locate some. Along with control. Her master plan was in tatters and somehow she had to salvage it. Before Adam Masterson called Security.
He stood there, those gorgeous lips set in a grim line. Anger darkened his face; his eyes were cold chips of mud. ‘Lady, just how far are you prepared to go to bag me?’
‘Excuse me?’ What was he talking about? Perhaps his proximity had addled her brain cells completely. Somehow she had to pull herself together and try and turn this situation around. She had no idea what had happened in those charged seconds in his arms but she couldn’t let it ruin everything. ‘I don’t understand.’
An exasperated sigh hit the air. ‘Drop the act. I know you’re here to “bag me”,’ he said, hooking his fingers in the air to indicate quotation marks.
‘As in murder you and put you in a body bag? Tempting, but given your security levels I’ll pass.’
For a second she thought she saw his lips give the tiniest of quirks. Was it possible the man possessed a sense of humour?
He swiped his hand over his mouth and shook his head. ‘You haven’t heard of Bag a Billionaire?’ The narrowed eyes, the creased forehead were both clear indicators of patent disbelief; the gleam of humour had obviously been a mirage.
‘Nope. Honest.’
His frown deepened. ‘In a nutshell, some idiot magazine reporter wrote an article advising wannabe gold-diggers on how to bag themselves a billionaire and identified me as the target. Since then I’ve arrived home to find a naked woman in my bed with “Kiss me Quick, Kiss me Slow” tattooed on her stomach and an arrow pointing downward, my mail yesterday included some rather explicit photographs, I have had women break the heels of their shoes and collapse in a heap in front of me, and women’s cars seem to miraculously break down wherever I go.’ Pausing, he eyed her. ‘I’m sure you get the picture.’
‘That’s terrible,’ Olivia said. ‘But...’
‘Terrible?’ he echoed, the mocking note jarring through the air. ‘I agree. Though I must say no one has resorted to gatecrashing a party with quite such style as you have.’
It took a minute for the implications of his words to sink in before outrage smacked her mouth wide open. ‘You think... You mean... You think I’m like one of those women?’
He leant back against the wall, arms folded. ‘You’ve broken into my hotel and thrown yourself into my arms in a dress that is conveniently falling off you—what do you expect me to think?’
Anger started to bubble at his sheer arrogance, stirred frothier by the small part of her that conceded the devil had a point.
One hand slammed on her hip even as the other held the dress up. ‘I admit I’ve broken into your hotel, but I did not throw myself at you. I promise you I haven’t risked arrest for the supposed pleasure of “bagging” you.’
For a moment he studied her face and she met his gaze full-on, saw something flicker in the milk chocolate depths. She prayed he could hear the truth in her voice. Otherwise he would have her marched out of here any second now and she couldn’t let that happen. There was way too much at stake here—and not just for herself.
‘Please,’ she said. ‘I understand why you are suspicious but you don’t need to be. I promise. Give me a chance to prove it to you. Hear me out. Please.’
‘Fine,’ he said. ‘You’ve got ten seconds.’
Copyright © 2014 by Nina Milne
ISBN-13: 9781460337059
HERE COMES THE BRIDESMAID
Copyright © 2014 by Belinda de Rome
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced
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www.Harlequin.com
Another “billionaire bagger” caught climbing through the restroom window!
Except Olivia Evans has no interest in billionaires—even those as delicious as Adam Masterson. She just wants to track down Adam’s father…and if crashing a superswanky party is the way to do it, so be it!
Only, she’s caught red-handed by Adam himself! And now that Adam has become the subject of a “billionaire hunt” he has a proposition for Olivia. He’ll help Olivia in her quest—but only if she poses as his adoring girlfriend for the paps. It’s a deal she can’t refuse…even if it does come with a luxury trip to Thailand and a whole heap of trouble!
SNEAK PEEK EXCERPT FROM
How to Bag a Billionaire
“Let’s make sure everyone believes that we are on a date, okay? And try to look happy about it. A lot of women would pay to be in your shoes.”
“I’m not a lot of women.”
He’d gathered that. “Then you’ll have to fake it. Let’s go.”
“Give me five minutes. I need makeup. And shoes, for that matter.” She leaned down to pull out a silver clutch bag and a pair of shoes. Long, elegant feet slipped into lime-green high-heeled wedge sandals and his pulse kicked up a notch.
Enough. Straightening up, she pivoted to face the mirror, leaving him with an alluring view of her bare back, the black dress tapering down in a V to the voluptuous curve of her bottom.
Adam forced himself to turn away.
“I’m ready.”
He swiveled around and a whoosh of air was expelled from his lungs as desire upped another notch. In a few minutes she’d been transformed from au naturel beauty to glamorous allure.
Her hazel eyes shimmered and her lips were outlined in glossy dark red. Lips he wanted to claim right here. Right now. Oh, hell. He was screwed; no way was his libido leaving this party.
Dear Reader,
This book is incredibly special to me—partly because it is my debut book for Harlequin®, but also because I am so excited that Olivia and Adam, who lived inside my head for a long time, have made it into the big wide world.
The first chapter of this book wrote itself—I knew that nothing would stop Olivia from getting to Adam once she had him in her sights. I also knew that Adam would put up the fight of his life to avoid being bagged.
But there the book stopped. Until one day not so long ago when Olivia and Adam demanded I get them out of the ladies’ restroom and let them try to sort out what happened next…
So I did!
I hope you enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations that beset them on their sometimes rocky path to love.
Nina xx
How to
Bag a Billionaire
Nina Milne
About Nina Milne
Nina Milne has always dreamed of writing for Harlequin®—ever since, as a child, she discovered stacks of Harlequin® books “hidden” in the airing cupboard. She graduated from playing libraries to reading the books, and has now realized her dream of writing them.
Along the way she found a happy-ever-after of her own, accumulating a superhero of a husband, three gorgeous children, a cat with character and a real library…well, lots of bookshelves.
Before achieving her dream of working from home creating happy-ever-afters while studiously avoiding any form of actual housework, Nina put in time as both an accountant and a recruitment consultant. She figures the lack of romance in her previous jobs is now balancing out.
After a childhood spent in Peterlee (U.K.), Rye (U.S.A.), Winchester (U.K.) and Paris (France), Nina now lives in Brighton (U.K.), and has vowed never to move again! Unless, of course, she runs out of bookshelves. Though there is always the airing cupboard…
How to Bag a Billionaire
is Nina Milne’s debut book for Harlequin® KISS™
and is also available in ebook format
from www.Harlequin.com.
For my husband, Sandy, and our children,
Jack, Harmony and Harry.
Thank you for putting up with me whilst I wrote this book.
It probably wasn’t easy.
Contents
Prologue
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
Excerpt
PROLOGUE
August edition. Glossip magazine
Today’s advice column is for all you gold-diggers out there.
How to bag a billionaire in six easy steps.
Looking for a lifestyle change?
Down on your luck?
Don’t despair! How about you bag yourself a billionaire?
OK, ladies—here’s how you do it:
1. Identify your target:
He needs to be loaded and he needs to be single—and wouldn’t it be a bonus if he were drop-dead gorgeous, as well? Too much to hope for? Not today. Because we have done some digging and found a dream target for you. Drumroll, please... We give you Mr Adam Masterson, Founder and CEO of Masterson Hotels. Richer than rich and sexier than sin.
2. Discover what he likes in a woman:
We’ve done some research and it wasn’t easy, folks. Adam Masterson is a bit of a dark horse. But the good news is that over the past years he has been seen about town with a variety of types. Blonde or dark. Small or tall... This field is open to all. Adam Masterson’s only criteria is beauty: the man likes his ladies easy on the eye.
3. Adjust yourself accordingly:
Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble... Lotions, potions, get on with the motions! Start beautifying, ladies.
4. Work out your target’s routine:
This is a tough one. Adam Masterson has no routine—Paris one day, London the next. But we have it on good authority that his swish flagship hotel might be the place to start.
5. Waylay target:
Time to find your inner minx and cook up some schemes.
6. Seduce target:
Over to you...
Adam Masterson is out there. He is worth billions and he is worth bagging. Who will bag him first?
Happy Hunting!
ONE
She could get arrested for this.
The thought pounded her temples as Olivia Evans glanced around the dark and thankfully deserted London alleyway at the back of Masterson Mayfair, the flagship of Masterson Enterprises hotel portfolio.
Why had she thought gatecrashing one of London’s most exclusive parties was a good idea?
A bead of perspirat
ion prickled her forehead. Swiping it away with an impatient gesture, she pressed her lips together hard. This was a good idea because it was the only idea left. It was imperative that she see Adam Masterson before he gallivanted off on yet another business trip. She had tried every conventional method of contacting him, but the man was more closely guarded than the president of the United States. There was every possibility his PA doubled as Head of National Security.
Desperate times called for desperate measures; hence Operation Break and Enter.
Olivia hauled in a breath; with any luck that would push the panic down. One final glance around and, standing on her tote bag, she applied herself to the task of picking the window lock. Amazing how some childhood skills didn’t desert you. Even those learnt from one of the more unsavoury of her mother’s boyfriends. The thought of her mother had her shoving the hooked pick deeper into the lock until she felt it butt into the mechanism; she would not give up now.
Nerves knotted inside her before giving way to a buzz of exhilarated relief as the lock gave. Pocketing the pick, she pulled the window open, then jumped off the tote bag. She thrust the bag through the gap a minute later.
So far, so good. Her reconnaissance of the hotel had been spot-on; the room she had chosen as an access point was a small conference room which wouldn’t be in use tonight as the hotel was being exclusively given over to a charity gala. Hosted by Adam Masterson. Finally she had him in her sights.
She scrambled up onto the window ledge and her nerves retied themselves right back up. What her recon hadn’t bargained for was the size of the window gap.
Logic. Angles. Weight. Mass distribution. Those were the things to focus on—because, come hell or high water, Olivia would get inside. Never mind that it looked to be physically impossible.
Harlequin KISS August 2014 Bundle Page 58
