His Millionaire Maid (18 page)

She stared at him with dazed eyes. “But I have to. So that you can—”

“Have to?” He frowned at her. “Why? What does he have over you?” Then, the truth dawned sickeningly on him. “Wait. Are you going to Palm Springs in exchange for your dad not hounding me to sell anymore?”

She nodded, quiet, and Joe wanted to explode.

“How can he do that to you? And why the hell are you letting him! You’re not afraid of him. Why don’t you tell him to shove it?”

He was quivering with outrage, but she just sat there, big eyes fixed on him. “You can’t guess why, Joe?” A nervous smile tweaked at her lips.

He stared at her, too afraid to move as another truth hit him. “Oh my God. You love me, too.”

“Yes, you big dope,” she choked out.

The truth shone from her eyes, filling him with light. Tentative, afraid he was imagining this, he reached both hands across the table, and she met him halfway and curled her fingers around his. Her fingers were cold and trembling, but the love glowing in her face was hot and strong.

“I am a dope,” he said. “When your dad told me you were still working for him, I thought that meant you condoned his bullying tactics.”

She shook her head vehemently. “I was furious with him, and I told him exactly how I felt. You need to know that Perry worked on his own to put the squeeze on the banks and use your grandmother as leverage. But that doesn’t excuse my dad. And he wouldn’t stop pursuing you unless I agreed to continue working for him.”

She sighed in resignation, and the soft sound nearly tore Joe in two. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you work for him.”

“But I want your B&B to succeed. And I don’t want a megaresort spoiling Hartley.” She shrugged. “Besides, I only agreed to the Palm Springs job. It’ll be six months, tops.”

But he knew she was just putting on a brave front. “You’ll hate it. You hate it already. Admit it.”

She played with his fingers, and every touch sent warmth spinning through his veins. He gazed at her with growing awe. This spunky, sassy, sexy woman was in love with him, and even if their future was uncertain, one thing was clear. Before daybreak tomorrow they would find a quiet room to be alone, where they would forget about their problems and make love until they both couldn’t move.

Desire simmered in him as he eyed the outline of her breasts beneath the delicate silk. It had been too long since he’d felt her body sliding against his…

“Joe, pay attention.” Nina squeezed his fingers. “Stop staring at my breasts.”

He grinned at her. “I can’t help it.”

She wriggled in her seat, and he knew she was getting aroused, too. “I might have a solution to our problem.”

Do you live close by?
he wanted to quip, but instead he nodded. “Yes?”

“You need a chunk of money to get your B&B up and running. I just happen to have some spare cash to invest. Seems like a no-brainer to me.”

He instantly drew his hands away from hers. “No way. I’m not taking money from you. Nope. Not gonna happen.”

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m not giving you the money, I’m
investing
it. Big difference.”

He sat back, still stunned by her offer. “But why?”

“Don’t you get it, Joe? I want to come back and settle for good in Hartley.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I really do. I want to build this bed-and-breakfast with you. I want it to be the best for miles around. I want to work until my muscles ache, and then I want to go home to your house and make love to you until your muscles ache, too. And I want to drink beer at the Comet with Vince and eat Sarah’s yummy food and visit your nonna and yak with Mrs. Stewart and jump into the sea with you every now and then.”

It sounded like a dream. An impossible dream, but boy, did he want to believe in it.

“Won’t you get bored?”

“Not if you wear those fancy pink rubber gloves every once in a while.”

“I’m serious,” he said, despite holding back a chuckle at the memory of the day they met. “Won’t you miss your city life, your friends and family?”

She shrugged lightly. “I’ll want to visit them, sure. So what?”

She made everything sound so easy and right and doable. If he let his imagination run free, he could see them working together as partners, relaxing as friends, pleasuring each other as lovers. In the near future he could even see himself getting down on one knee and asking her to marry him. Nina was the only woman he could imagine in his life, taking over his life.

He had to trust in her love. Had to risk his heart, everything, if he wanted her. And God, how he wanted her.

He stood and rounded the table to stand beside her, hands held out to her. “We’ll have to draw up a watertight agreement.”

An irresistible smile spread across her face as she clasped his hands and rose to stand in front of him. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart.
She’d called him sweetheart. He felt ten feet tall.

“We’ll work out the exact amount needed and not a dollar more.”

“Of course.”

“The bed-and-breakfast will be strictly business between us, okay?”

Expressive blue eyes glimmered at him through her lashes. “Sure, Joe. Strictly business. I’ll only strip naked and go skinny-dipping in the ocean when you’re not around. Promise.”

Blood pounded in his veins and shot southward. He really needed to get her alone, fast.

“We might negotiate a separate contract covering skinny-dipping,” he said, sounding strangled.

Laughing with delight, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “It’s going to be fun negotiating that contract. You’ll be surprised what this maid can squeeze out of you!”

His millionaire maid would never cease to surprise him, of that Joe was convinced. He lowered his mouth to hers, eager for the negotiations to begin.

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Acknowledgments

What would I do without my editors to guide and shape my book? Huge thanks to Stacy Abrams and Lydia Sharp for showing me how to improve this story!

About the Author

Coleen Kwan
has been a bookworm all her life. At school, English was her favorite subject, but for some reason she decided on a career in IT. After many years of programming, she wondered what else there was in life — and discovered writing. She loves writing contemporary romance and steampunk romance.

Coleen lives in Sydney with her partner and two children. When she isn’t writing she enjoys avoiding housework, eating chocolate and watching
The Office
.

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