The Billionaire's Ruthless Affair (Rich, Ruthless and Renowned)

by Miranda Lee

  When she’d secured a second and personal interview for this job, she’d looked him up on the Internet, unable to find out all that much information, the best being an article written about him for a men’s magazine a couple of years back. Harriet had been surprised to discover that he’d come from a down-at-heel migrant family, living in government housing in the outer western suburbs of Sydney. His near-genius IQ had given him access to special schools for gifted children, followed by various financial grants to help him through university, culminating in his being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.

  The magazine article she’d read had outlined his rise to success in Sydney, first as a realtor based mainly in the western suburbs, then as a property developer with his head office in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. The article made no mention of any business interests in England, or his personal life, except to say that he was one of Sydney’s most eligible bachelors. There’d been no mention of his family or friends.

  Harriet rolled her eyes at what happened when Alex reached the front of the queue. The very pretty young brunette behind the counter beamed at him as she took his order, her eyes and manner very flirtatious. Harriet found herself decidedly irritated, hating the thought that Alex might have already found a replacement for that silly Lisa. The sudden thought that she might be jealous seemed ludicrous. Jealous of whom? And of what? And, more to the point, why?

  Harriet frowned, wondering and worrying that Alex’s hugging her earlier might have unlocked feelings which she’d always had for him and which she’d successfully hidden, even from herself. Harriet couldn’t deny that she’d liked the feel of his big, strong arms around her; she liked his bringing her here for coffee as well.

  Whatever, when Alex turned away from the counter and started heading towards her, Harriet found herself looking at him with new eyes, the same new eyes which had examined Dwayne with brutal honesty and had found him sadly lacking.

  The word ‘lacking’ would never apply to the boss of Ark Properties. He had everything that any woman would want. In a boyfriend, that was, but not in a prospective husband.

  So lock this unwanted attraction of yours away again, Harriet, and look elsewhere for your life partner. Because it’s never going to be Alex Kotana!

  Perversely, however, as soon as he sat back down at their table, she opened her silly, jealous mouth and said waspishly, ‘I suppose that happens to you all the time.’

  ‘What?’ he said, sounding perplexed.

  Whilst kicking herself, Harriet quickly found a wry little smile and a more casual tone. ‘The brunette behind the counter didn’t half make it clear that you could have put her on your order, if you’d been so inclined.’

  Alex smiled. ‘She did, didn’t she? Unfortunately, she’s not my type.’

  ‘You don’t like brunettes?’ Now that she thought about it, his last two girlfriends had been blondes. She’d never met the first one, who’d come and gone within a month of her becoming Alex’s PA, so she didn’t know if she was a blonde or not.

  His eyes held hers for a rather long moment, making Harriet feel decidedly uncomfortable. She hoped her momentary jab of jealousy hadn’t been obvious earlier. If it had, then she might not be lasting long in her job. It was a depressing thought. Her job meant the world to her. It was interesting and challenging and very well paid. Now that she didn’t have Dwayne in her life, she needed her job more than ever.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said swiftly. ‘I shouldn’t be asking you personal questions like that. It’s none of my business.’

  Alex shrugged his powerful shoulders. ‘No sweat. I’m about to ask you a personal question or two.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Come now, Harry, you don’t expect me not to be curious over why you broke up with Dwayne. That’s why I brought you down here away from the prying eyes and ears in the office. To worm out all the grisly details. You must know that.’

  Harriet sighed. ‘There are no grisly details.’ Just mundane ones.

  ‘So you didn’t discover he was a secret drunk, or a drug addict?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘You didn’t come home and find him in bed with your best friend?’

  ‘Lord no,’ she said and laughed.

  ‘Then what on earth did the man do?’

  Harriet knew it was going to be difficult to explain without her seeming like some kind of nutcase. But she could see she would have to try. When Alex wanted to know something, he was like a dog with a bone.

  ‘He just didn’t measure up as husband material.’

  ‘Ah,’ Alex said, as though understanding perfectly what she was talking about. ‘I rather suspected that his golf playing might have become a problem.’

  Harriet just stared at him. ‘I had no problem with Dwayne playing golf,’ she replied, feeling somewhat confused. ‘Though it didn’t go down well when he bought a very expensive set of clubs the same day he suggested I buy my wedding dress on the Internet.’

  Alex’s brows lifted. ‘He wanted you to buy a second-hand wedding dress?’

  ‘Yes,’ she admitted tartly.

  ‘Ah,’ he said in that knowing way again, Harriet gratified that her boss understood that Dwayne’s penny-pinching suggestion might have been a deal breaker.

  ‘My father was a mean man with money,’ she found herself elaborating. ‘I vowed when I was just a teenager that I would never marry a scrooge.’

  ‘I fully agree with you. But didn’t you know Dwayne was tight with money when you first started dating him?’

  ‘He wasn’t like that then. He used to spend money on me like water. Took me to the best restaurants, the best concerts, the best of everything.’

  ‘Yes, well, a man like Dwayne would have had to pull out all stops to impress a girl like you. And he succeeded, didn’t he? You fell for him and agreed to marry him. But once he had his ring on your finger, he dropped the ball. Am I right?’

  ‘Very right,’ Harriet agreed, then frowned. ‘What do you mean by “a girl like me”?’

  Alex smiled a crooked smile. ‘It must have been very upsetting to find out that your Prince Charming was nothing but a frog. And a stingy frog at that. What I meant was that you were always a cut above Dwayne, not only in looks but in intelligence and personality. He must have known on first meeting you that he would have to lift his game in every department if he wanted to win the heart of the beautiful Harriet McKenna. But the fool couldn’t keep it up, which is what happens when you play out of your league.’

  Harriet flushed wildly at his compliments, not sure whether to believe him or not. Alex could be inclined to flattery on occasions. Not with her, but with clients. Though he had said she looked gorgeous the night they’d all attended that fundraising dinner back in March. She’d been wearing a new red cocktail dress which had looked well on her with her dark hair and eyes.

  ‘So what was the final straw?’ Alex went on. ‘The wedding dress business? Or something else?’

  ‘The wedding dress suggestion certainly brought things to a head. But I’d been unhappy for some time. And worried. It was obvious Dwayne wasn’t the man I thought he was. He certainly wasn’t acting like the man I fell in love with. He’d become lazy around the house. And with me.’

  ‘You mean your sex life had suffered.’

  Harriet laughed and blushed slightly. ‘What sex life?’

  ‘The man was a fool,’ Alex said sharply. ‘What did he honestly expect would happen if he started neglecting you in bed?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ Harriet said with a sigh, thinking to herself that she couldn’t imagine Alex neglecting any of his girlfriends in bed. That man had testosterone oozing out of every pore of his gorgeous male body. ‘He obviously didn’t expect me to break off our engagement. He couldn’t believe it at first. When I tried to explain the reasons why I’d fallen out of love with him, he went into a rage, accusing me of all sorts of crazy things.’

  ‘Like what?’

  Harriet could see Alex was determined to hear the truth behin
d the break-up.

  ‘Like I no longer loved him because I’d fallen in love with you...

  ‘As if I’d be stupid enough to do something like that,’ she raced on before Alex had a chance to jump to any potentially dangerous conclusions.

  Chapter Three

  THE ARRIVAL OF the brunette with his order of coffee and bagels could not have come at a better time, giving Alex the opportunity to hide his peeved reaction to Harriet’s somewhat scoffing reply to Dwayne’s accusation. A perverse reaction, in a way, considering he didn’t want any woman falling in love with him. But it wasn’t very flattering for Harry to tell him that her falling for him would be stupid!

  His throwing the waitress one of his super-charming smiles was more the result of a bruised ego than his desire to capture the girl’s interest. He’d been right when he’d said she wasn’t his type. She’d been way too eager to please. As much as Alex liked to date pretty young things—and the brunette was just that—he preferred independent, spirited girls who didn’t gush or grovel, and who didn’t have a single gold-digging bone in their bodies. Alex had known immediately that the brunette was not of that ilk.

  ‘Is there anything else you’d like, sir?’ the brunette asked after carefully placing the coffee and bagel on the table, her attention all on him, not having cast a single glance in Harriet’s direction.

  ‘No, thanks,’ he said and resisted the impulse to give her a tip. Harriet was already looking seriously irritated.

  As the waitress departed, Harriet sent him a droll look.

  ‘Yes, I know,’ he said drily. ‘It does happen to me all the time. But she’s still not my type.’

  ‘Then perhaps you shouldn’t have flirted with her.’

  Alex clenched his teeth hard in his jaw whilst he struggled to control his temper. ‘And perhaps you should tell me why you find me so unlovable,’ he retorted, still smarting over her earlier remark.

  She blinked at his sharpness before dropping her eyes, taking a few seconds to pour the sugar into her coffee and looking up at him again. ‘I never said you were unlovable, Alex. I said I would not be stupid enough to fall in love with you. That’s an entirely different concept.’

  Alex’s bruised ego was not to be so easily mollified. ‘Would you care to explain that last statement further? Why would it be so stupid for you to fall in love with me?’

  ‘Aside from the fact that I’m your PA, you mean?’ she threw at him.

  He had to concede that that was an excellent reason. It was never a good idea to mix business and pleasure, something which he was in danger of forgetting.

  ‘Point taken,’ he said. ‘Is that the only reason, then?’

  She gave him a long, searching look that he found decidedly irritating. This was a Harriet he wasn’t used to. Up till today she’d been the perfect PA, never complaining or criticising, calmly obeying his every wish and command. She’d never before looked at him in such an assessing and possibly judgmental fashion. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.

  Frankly, he preferred the Harriet who’d wept in his arms.

  ‘You’re not eating your bagel,’ she said as she coolly stirred her flat white. ‘And your coffee will get cold. You know how you hate lukewarm coffee.’

  ‘I also hate not having my questions answered,’ he ground out, sweeping up his mug of black coffee and glaring at her over the rim.

  * * *

  Harriet knew she had annoyed him; knew he’d taken her statement as a personal criticism. It had been seriously foolish of her to tell him about Dwayne’s accusation. But it was too late now. Somehow she had to explain her remark without offending Alex further.

  Make light of it, girl. Turn it round so that it’s your failing and not his. And don’t, for pity’s sake, repeat the word ‘stupid’ in context with falling in love with him. No wonder he took umbrage!

  ‘The thing is,’ she said in a lighter, less emotional voice, ‘I realised a few years back that if I wanted to get married and have children...which I did; which I still do, actually...that I had to stop dating a certain type of man. I—’

  ‘And what type is that?’ Alex interrupted before she could go on.

  ‘Oh, you know. Your type.’

  ‘My type?’

  Oh, dear, she’d done it again. She’d opened her big mouth and put her foot in it. ‘Well, not exactly your type, Alex,’ she said with a ‘butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth’ smile. ‘You are rather unique. As you are aware, I’ve worked in real estate ever since I came to Sydney when I was twenty. Girls usually date men they meet at work. It was inevitable that I would end up dating real-estate salesmen. Invariably, they were tall and handsome, with the gift of the gab, but not exactly the most faithful kind of guy.’

  ‘I see,’ Alex said thoughtfully. ‘Go on.’

  Harriet was glad to see that Alex had lost his disgruntled expression, his blue eyes no longer cold and steely.

  ‘By the time I turned twenty-seven, I decided I was wasting my time on men like that. So I sat down and made a checklist of what I wanted in a husband.’

  ‘A checklist?’ he repeated, looking both surprised and amused.

  ‘Find it funny if you like. Emily certainly does.’

  ‘Who’s Emily? Your sister?’

  ‘No. Emily’s my best friend. She’s an English teacher who flatted with me for a while. It was through her that I met Dwayne.’

  ‘I did wonder how you two met. Frankly, I never thought you were all that well suited. Still, Dwayne must have met your checklist to begin with.’

  Harriet sighed. ‘I thought he did, till he moved in with me and eventually showed his true colours. I now appreciate that it’s impossible to know a man’s true character till you live with him. Dwayne certainly met the first three requirements. When I made up my checklist, I decided that I wouldn’t even go out with a man till he ticked those three boxes. That way I hoped to avoid falling in love with any more Mr Wrongs.’

  * * *

  Alex’s mind boggled over what those three requirements might be. Harriet was right about his finding the idea of a checklist funny. He did. Though he shouldn’t have. Didn’t he have a checklist of his own when it came to the girls he dated? They had to be in their early twenties, pretty and easy-going. He had a feeling, though, that Harriet’s checklist would be a lot more fascinating. And, yes, very funny indeed.

  ‘Do tell,’ he said, trying to keep a straight face.

  ‘Promise me you won’t laugh.’

  ‘I promise,’ he said, but the corners of his mouth were already twitching.

  ‘Okay, well, the first requirement is he can’t be too tall or too short. Whilst I find tallness attractive, I’ve found that too-tall men are often arrogant, whilst too-short men can suffer from the “short man” syndrome.’

  Alex realised that at six-foot-four he probably came into the ‘too tall’ category.

  ‘Do you think I’m arrogant?’ he asked.

  ‘A little. But not in a nasty way.’

  ‘Thank God for that. And requirement number two is?’

  ‘He can’t be too handsome or too ugly.’

  Well, Dwayne had certainly been on the money there. As for himself... Harriet would probably label him in the ‘too handsome’ category.

  ‘And number three?’

  ‘He can’t be too rich or too poor.’

  ‘Right.’ Well, that certainly ruled him out as a prospective date for Harriet. Not that he would ever ask her out. He’d have to be mad to date Harriet.

  But, as he looked into her big brown eyes, Alex was struck by the startling realisation that that was exactly what he wanted to do. Take her out, then take her back to bed.

  Bad idea, that, he thought and busied himself stuffing his mouth full of bagel whilst trying to work out where such a potentially self-destructive desire had come from. After all, Harriet didn’t fit his own checklist for dating candidates any better than he fitted hers!

  Still, it didn’t take Alex al
l that long privately to admit that he’d secretly wanted to take Harriet to bed since the day he’d interviewed her ten months ago. The attraction had been there from the moment she’d walked into his office, looking deliciously nervous but beautifully turned out in a sleek black suit which had followed the curves of her very feminine figure. Her dark brown hair had been up in a professional and somewhat prissy style, but her lushly glossed mouth had betrayed her true nature. He’d immediately made the decision not to hire her, despite her excellent résumé—till he found out she was safely engaged, at which point he’d fooled himself into thinking he could ignore his hormones.

  And he had, up till now.

  They would have remained in control, too, if she hadn’t broken up with Dwayne; if she hadn’t cried and he hadn’t hugged her. That had been the catalyst which had started the chemical reaction which saw him now being tempted to do something seriously stupid.

  Thank God it was still just a temptation. He didn’t have to act on it. Didn’t have to suffer the humiliation of Harriet rejecting him, not just because he was her boss, but because he was too tall, too handsome and too rich.

  His sudden laughter brought a reproving look into her velvety brown eyes.

  ‘You promised you wouldn’t laugh,’ she chided him.

  ‘Sorry. Couldn’t help it.’

  ‘In that case, I won’t tell you the rest of my checklist. You’d probably crack up entirely.’

  ‘You could be right, there. So I’ll save up the rest of your checklist till a later date. Now, I think we should finish up here and get back to work.’

  Chapter Four

  HARRIET SIGHED AS she sat back down at her desk and turned on her computer. She hadn’t wanted to go back to work; back to reality. She’d been enjoying having coffee with Alex, despite her many faux pas. She hadn’t really minded his laughing at her checklist, which she now appreciated was rather funny. Whilst it did have some merit, such strategies simply didn’t work out in real life, just like those silly matchmaking forms they made you filled in on online dating sites.