Unlocking the Tycoon's Heart

by Ella Hayes

  This CEO has everything!

  Except the love of the right woman...

  The first time guarded tycoon Theo Molenaar crossed paths with his business partner’s sister Mia Boelens, he was compelled by her bright-eyed beauty. The second time it was her fierce protective instincts. Now there are too many things to count... Theo knows all too well you can’t believe appearances. But Mia’s the first woman with whom he’s felt his secret—and his heart—might actually be safe...

  Mia closed the bedroom door and rolled back against it, her cheeks aching with smiles.

  Had she just ridden pillion through Amsterdam behind Theo Molenaar? She was tingling. That moment when she’d turned around and he’d been right there in front of her... Hello, Mia. How she hadn’t collapsed with shock, she’d never know. There were over a million people in Amsterdam. Bumping into Theo—literally—was a one in a million chance.

  One in a million!

  She held her breath, listened to him moving about in the salon, little creaks, the thud of his feet as he walked over the rug. On the bike he’d made her laugh until her sides ached. Those little quips he’d made, their easy back and forth as they’d wheeled along. He was funny as well as gorgeous—an irresistible combination. She pressed her hands to her cheeks. She didn’t have to look in the mirror to know she was flushed, and it wasn’t because of the champagne, or because of the cool breeze whipping at her face as they’d flown through the streets. It was because of Theo.

  Dear Reader,

  I’m very excited to bring you my third title for Harlequin Romance, Unlocking the Tycoon’s Heart.

  I’m half Dutch (on my father’s side), so I thought it would be great fun to write a story set in Amsterdam. In truth, I’m not that familiar with the city (I’ve been there only twice), but since my camera accompanies me everywhere, especially when I’m walking around foreign cities, I was able to use many of my personal photographs to inform my descriptions of the city as experienced by my heroine, Mia. Personal experience counts for a lot when I’m writing, and one particular incident in the story, involving Mia’s cat, is something I actually witnessed (although I have exercised a degree of poetic license in the retelling for the reader’s entertainment). My gorgeous, troubled hero, Theo, was inspired by a Dutch model, although I discovered his nationality only after I had “cast” him in the role. Serendipity plays a huge part in Mia and Theo’s story; it was obviously working for me from the very beginning!

  If you want to discover more about this story, I’d love to meet you on social media!

  Love,

  Ella x

  Unlocking the Tycoon’s Heart

  Ella Hayes

  After ten years as a television camerawoman, Ella Hayes started her own photography business so that she could work around the demands of her young family. As an award-winning wedding photographer, she’s documented hundreds of love stories in beautiful locations, both at home and abroad. She lives in central Scotland with her husband and two grown-up sons. She loves reading, traveling with her camera, running and great coffee.

  Books by Ella Hayes

  Harlequin Romance

  Her Brooding Scottish Heir

  Italian Summer with the Single Dad

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  For Caro...happy memories of Amsterdam 2014!

  Praise for

  Ella Hayes

  “I could go on about how much I enjoyed this book, but would end up spoiling the story for future readers, so I will sum up by saying that this is an excellent debut for Ella Hayes, and Milla and Cormac’s story is wonderfully told to the point that it will stick in the memory after the last page has been turned.”

  —Goodreads on Her Brooding Scottish Heir

  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

  Excerpt from Cinderella’s New York Fling by Cara Colter

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘A SIGNALLING FAULT?’ Mia’s heart caved. She turned away from her laptop, swapped the phone to her other ear. ‘Bloody hell, Ash! Have they said how long?’

  ‘No...but I’ve got a bad feeling...’

  She glanced at her watch. One-fifteen! No wonder her brother sounded tense. After an early-morning business meeting in Kent, he was now stranded on a train on the outskirts of London when he was supposed to be on his way to a two o’clock meeting with Theo Molenaar—in the city centre!

  The opportunity to pitch to the CEO of Dutch IT giant MolTec was a massive deal for Ash. If the pitch was successful, it would boost his software development business into the stratosphere, and after everything he’d been through with Harold Kogan it was a boost he sorely needed.

  Cheating Hal!

  Mia pushed away her pain and refocused. Ash needed solutions, not regrets.

  ‘I know... What about offering to meet Molenaar in Amsterdam on Monday?’ She tried to sound upbeat. ‘Come back with me on Friday! Stay the weekend! It’s ages since you’ve been over and... Cleuso misses you.’

  ‘Cleuso’s the stupidest cat alive! He wouldn’t recognise me if he fell over me which, let’s face it, is quite likely.’

  She stifled a chuckle. ‘That’s harsh.’

  ‘The truth often is. We both know that.’

  Mia’s momentary lightness evaporated. ‘Halgate’ had blown up eighteen months before but the bitterness lingered. She could hear it in Ash’s voice, could still taste it in the back of her own throat.

  Ash had thought that Hal Kogan was going to be the perfect business partner, and she’d thought so too. Smart, articulate Hal—full of energy and confidence. He could hold a room, steer a conversation, handle people without them knowing they were being handled. In business, he was magnetic. In private, he was irresistible. When he’d trapped her in his steady blue gaze, she hadn’t wanted to free herself. He’d filled a space in her heart, and after everything she and Ash had been through it had felt like destiny: Ash and Hal building a business; Mia and Hal building a life. They were a little family. Perhaps she’d wanted it so much that she hadn’t been able to see anything else. Guilt squirmed inside her belly. Perhaps she hadn’t wanted to see it.

  ‘Besides,’ Ash was saying, ‘much as I’d love to come to Amsterdam and share a cramped cabin with Clueless, Monday’s no good for Molenaar. He’ll be in the States by then. This was the only window he had... Hang on! They’re saying something...’

  Through the earpiece, Mia could hear a crackly announcement playing over the speaker in her brother’s carriage. She held her breath.

  ‘Up to an hour’s delay... Damn it! I’m going to have to cancel.’

  The anguish in his voice was tearing her apart.

  ‘No! You need this. There has to be a way...’ She eyed her laptop. ‘I’m putting you on speaker, okay?’ She propped the phone against her coffee mug and typed ‘Theo Molenaar’ into the search bar. The screen filled with MolTec stuff: bulletins and business reports. Nothing about the man, until...

  MOLENAAR HAS HIS EYE TO THE TELESCOPE!

  She clicked the link and scanned the article, waiting for words to jump out: pioneering IT solutions; environmental interests; satellites; black holes; the expanding cosmos.

  ‘Bingo! Molenaar’s a star-gazer.’ Sh
e retrieved the phone. ‘He’s into astronomy.’

  ‘And that helps how?’

  ‘I’m not sure... Let me think...’ She got to her feet, drifted to the window. A white van was parked in the mews. Southeast Satellite & Broadband Services was written on the side of it in big purple letters. In her head the words clustered around the grain of an idea. ‘Ash, you’re coming in from the south east, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘The observatory’s in Greenwich.’

  ‘So?’

  She felt a smile coming. ‘Tell Molenaar you’ve been delayed but can make it to the planetarium in an hour. If he meets you there it’ll save both of you a lot of time and, if you are held up for longer, then at least he’s in his happy place among the stars. Everybody wins.’

  ‘For pity’s sake, Mia—you’re talking about the CEO of MolTec! I can’t ask him to trek across London on my account. I’ll just have to postpone.’

  Something inside her snapped. ‘No! I’m not letting you do that, not for the sake of one little hour.’ Her mind was racing. If she could deliver Theo Molenaar to the planetarium, give Ash his chance with MolTec, maybe that could be her atonement. Atonement for blindly believing that Hal had funded all their fancy trips to Paris, Prague and Berlin with an unexpected bequest from a distant relative.

  ‘I’ll meet him.’ She hurried into the hall and started pulling on her jacket. ‘I’ll make him see that going to Greenwich makes perfect sense.’

  ‘Mia, you can’t. He’ll think it’s weird.’

  ‘Maybe.’ She pushed her feet into some shoes, grabbed her bag. ‘Or maybe he’ll think it’s a...creative solution!’

  ‘It’s certainly creative.’ The smile she could hear in his voice faded to a sigh. ‘You’re crazy, you know that?’

  She opened the door, squinted into the city sunshine. ‘But you still love me, right?’

  ‘Always.’

  She smiled, then rummaged for her sunglasses and slipped them on. ‘Now, tell me where Molenaar’s staying, then get yourself to the planetarium.’

  * * *

  She preferred these small, boutique hotels to the generic glamour of the bigger five-star places. The reception lobby of this one was particularly nice. It had a cosy vibe—quirky art on the walls, comfy-looking sofas upholstered in dense fabric. If Molenaar felt at home in this hotel, it meant he wasn’t flashy. She liked that.

  A desk clerk in a blue shirt looked up as she approached. ‘Hello. Can I help you?’

  ‘I have a meeting with one of your guests.’ She smiled. ‘Theo Molenaar.’

  ‘Your name, please?’

  She paused for a beat. ‘Ashley Boelens.’ There’d be time for explanations later.

  The man nodded and stabbed an extension code into the phone.

  She drew in a slow breath, trying to quash the tremble that had just started in her knees. Hatching a plan to help Ash was all very well, but there was no getting away from it: Molenaar was expecting a business meeting, not an impromptu jaunt to Greenwich. He might be offended. Or dismissive. Maybe this wouldn’t help at all. Maybe she was messing everything up...

  There was a little throat-clearing noise. The desk clerk was looking at her, his eyebrows slightly arched. ‘Mr Molenaar will be down in a moment. Please take a seat.’

  In the seating area, she lowered herself onto a sofa, pulling her bag onto her lap. Mr Molenaar... A knot tightened in her stomach. She didn’t know what he looked like—or how old he was. There’d been no pictures with the article she’d read and in her five years as a features writer she hadn’t come across him. Of course, since she didn’t write about tech or astronomy, that was hardly surprising. She shifted on the sofa, running her fingers through her fringe. If she could just switch off her stupid nerves she’d be fine, but her nerves seemed to have developed a mind of their own and they were jangling chaotically.

  She glanced at the lift doors and saw the floor numbers flashing...counting down. He was on his way!

  She straightened her spine and lifted her chin, suddenly noticing the bulky weight of the bag in her lap. Lotte would be laughing at her: Mia! You look like Mary Poppins! Hurriedly, she turfed it onto the sofa, but her phone spilled out along with a lipstick and two pens. Frantically she raked them back inside, yanked the zip shut and then she looked up.

  Blink! Breathe!

  A thirty-something gorgeous man was standing in front of the closing doors looking right at her. He was tall, clean-shaven. His dark-blond collar-length hair was swept back from his forehead, so it was easy to see his brow furrowing as he gazed over. And then his eyes moved on, sweeping the lobby, clearly looking for the real Ash Boelens.

  She knew she ought to go over and introduce herself, but for some reason she couldn’t move. Why couldn’t he have been much older or at the very least a stereotypical computer geek? What she’d come here to do was audacious enough without having to contend with Molenaar’s movie star looks.

  Helplessly, she watched him go over to the desk, exchange words with the clerk, and then he was turning, looking at her again.

  Breathe.

  She forced herself up onto unsteady feet.

  He was walking towards her, eyes narrowing, softening, and then he was holding out his hand.

  ‘Ash...?’ His eyes were green, filled with confusion and curiosity. ‘I’m Theo Molenaar. But I’m...’ He hesitated. ‘I was expecting...’

  His tone was friendly, his accent light. There was kindness in his face, a smile hiding at the corners of his mouth. She felt her lips curving upward. She liked him, just like that. Easy as pie.

  ‘You were expecting my brother.’ She put her hand into his. ‘I’m Mia Boelens.’

  His fingers flexed around hers, warm and just firm enough.

  ‘So, Mia...what’s the story?’ Something in his eyes wouldn’t let her go. ‘Are you Ash’s business partner? Is he coming?’

  ‘Ash is coming, yes—and, no, I’m not his business partner.’

  A wisp of hair was tickling her neck. She tucked it behind her ear and glanced at her feet, noticing the hem of her slouchy grey trousers skimming her patent loafers. Theo was smartly dressed in a blue suit and crisp white shirt. His brown shoes were well-polished. She’d been in writing mode when Ash had called and that was how she’d left the house. Without looking, she couldn’t even remember if she was wearing a plain white tee-shirt under her jacket, or the black one with the feminist slogan. Certainly, she wasn’t dressed to impress. There hadn’t been time.

  She lifted her eyes to his. There was warmth behind the intensity of his gaze; something else too which was playing havoc with her pulse. ‘Unfortunately Ash has been delayed. He’s stuck on a train. It’s not his fault—it’s a signalling fault.’

  His eyebrows quirked. Maybe he was amused. She moistened her lips. ‘This meeting is very important to my brother, Mr Molenaar—’

  ‘Stop!’

  The breath caught in her throat. She’d screwed up.

  ‘My name is Theo.’ He was smiling properly now. White, even teeth.

  She exhaled slowly, feeling a small wash of relief. He was going to listen. Maybe she was actually going to pull this off.

  ‘Okay, Theo.’ She smiled. ‘As I was saying, this meeting is very important to Ash. I came here hoping to persuade you to change the venue...’ if only he’d stop looking at her so intently ‘...to split the difference, time-wise. Ash doesn’t want to postpone or cancel. He said this was the only window you had.’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘So, what are you proposing?’

  She swallowed hard. ‘Greenwich.’

  ‘Greenwich...?’

  ‘Ash’s train is coming in a stone’s throw from there, so going to him will save time, and...’ She took a deep breath. ‘I thought you’d like it because there’s a planetarium.’

  For the firs
t time he broke her gaze. He shifted on his feet, pressed a hand to the back of his neck and when he looked at her again his eyes were cooler, guarded. ‘What makes you think I’d like the planetarium?’

  Her heart clenched. She’d unsettled him somehow, just when she needed to keep him onside. She considered his hotel. Small. Exclusive. Discreet! There’d been no photographs of him online... He was a private person, intensely private. Maybe he was made that way, or maybe he was hiding something...

  Hal had been good at that. Hiding. Stealing from the business to fund his gambling habit. Throwing her off the scent with expensive weekends away paid for out of a bogus inheritance. Ash had been the one paying...and when he’d started noticing discrepancies in the balance sheets, when he’d raised his doubts about Hal with her, what had she said? She’d said that Hal would never do such a thing, that he was too smart, too honest, too much in love with her ever to hurt her or their little family.

  But she’d been wrong—catastrophically wrong! Was Theo Molenaar hiding something too? Was he another Hal?

  He was looking at her intently, green eyes full of complications. Maybe it didn’t matter what he was. The only thing that mattered was securing Ash’s chance to pitch to MolTec.

  She smiled, gave a little shrug. ‘I saw an article about you having your eye to the telescope and I thought—’

  ‘That I like the stars?’ The tension faded from his eyes. ‘That article was going with a metaphor about business expansion.’ He hesitated, eyes fixed on hers, and then his face took on a boyish shyness. ‘But, as a matter of fact, I do like astronomy. The big bang theory, the expanding universe...’ He smiled. ‘The oldest planetarium in the world just happens to be on the ceiling of a canal house in Franeker—can you believe that? I went when I was a boy, and ever since I’ve been fascinated by the stars; I even have my own telescope. So, actually, you weren’t too far off the mark.’

  He’d trusted her with something private. The touch of colour at his cheekbones gave him away, or maybe it was that tiny glimmer of vulnerability she could see behind his eyes. She searched for some moisture in her mouth, something to swallow so she could speak. ‘I just want to help my brother, Theo...and the planetarium seemed like a happy compromise.’