Mia’s Scandal (18 page)
Reading has been an important part of Michelle Reid’s life as far back as she can remember and was encouraged by her mother, who made the twice-weekly bus trip to the nearest library to keep feeding this particular hunger in all five of her children. In fact, one of Michelle’s most abiding memories from those days is coming home from school to find a newly borrowed selection of books stacked on the kitchen table just waiting to be delved into.
There has not been a day since that she hasn’t had at least two books lying open somewhere in the house ready to pick up and continue whenever she has a quiet moment.
Her love of romantic fiction has always been strong, though she feels she was quite late in discovering the riches Mills & Boon has to offer. It wasn’t long after making this discovery that she made the daring decision to try her hand at writing a romance for herself, never expecting it to become such an important part of her life.
Now she shares her time between her large, close, lively family and writing. She lives with her husband in a tiny white stone cottage in the English Lake District. It is both a romantic haven and the perfect base to go walking through some of the most beautiful scenery in England.
What did you enjoy about writing a continuity title?
This was my first attempt at writing for a continuity series and I enjoyed the challenge of creating a story from someone else’s ideas. However, the real challenge for me had to be disciplining myself to keep the story within continuity guidelines when my writer’s head wanted to shoot off in all different directions!
Did you identify with the Balfour sister you were writing about?
Oh gosh, no. Mia Balfour was born and brought up in Italy, so I had to teach myself to think like an Italian heroine! I do this all the time with my Italian heroes but it felt somehow quite different climbing into the head of an Italian heroine. And Mia was so young and sweet and vulnerable and brave, I admired her from the beginning and I loved “learning” to understand her.
Which sister’s hero did you find most appealing?
Besides Mia’s hero, Nikos Theakis? I thought long and hard about this question but each time I decided on an answer I instantly changed my mind. So I suppose I have to say that I found them all appealing!
What do you think makes a great hero/ heroine?
Because our heroes are so strong, a great heroine must be able to stand up for herself even when feeling desperately vulner
able. Likewise our forceful heroes must be in touch with their softer side around our heroines, no matter how tough and passionate their conflicts are. It’s a kind of essential balance.
When you are writing, what is a typical day?
Usually I wake up each morning with a new scene buzzing inside my head, so my first priority (with a cup of coffee!) is to get that scene down fast, in case I lose it. Then I set to and read through what I’ve written the day before. I tweak, if it needs it, and sometimes fight with it because it wasn’t doing what I had intended it to do. I like to leave the previous day’s work with an unfinished sentence or a couple of word bites to remind me how I want to move the story on. Lunch is quick, a slice of toast and a glass of fresh juice, then the real work begins. If I’m working well I will write without noticing the hours passing by, until my neglected husband dares enter the lion’s den (my office) and make rumbling noises about dinner.
If things are not going well I will break off halfway through the afternoon to do something really mindless like shopping or ironing, but I often have to race back to my computer halfway through because a solution to the problem I was struggling with has appeared out of nowhere! If the story is really grabbing hold of me I will work again after dinner and late into the night. I confess, the story rules me, not the other way around!
Feisty Kat Balfour has been sent to Carlos Guerrero’s yacht. It’s only when she’s handed an apron that she realises she’s there to
work,
not play. Brilliant businessman and thrill-seeking dare-devil, Carlos is an enigma. Trapped in the middle of the ocean with the most fiercely sexy and powerful man she has ever met, Kat is way out of her depth!
Carlos is amused by his new housekeeper – he’ll put her to work, but he’d rather put her to bed! First he must tame the wilful beauty…
The room in which she now stood was the polar opposite of the poky cabin she’d just been shown. This had the enormous dimensions she was used to – a grand dining salon set out on almost palatial lines. Inlaid lights twinkled from the ceiling – but these were eclipsed by the blaze of natural light which flooded in through sliding French windows which opened up onto the deck itself.
There was a dining table which would have comfortably seated twelve people, though Kat noticed that only two places had been laid and used. Various open bottles were lined along the gleaming surface and candle wax had dripped all over a bone-china plate. At its centre was a beautiful blue-glass platter of exotic fruits and next to it sat a crystal goblet of flat champagne, along with a carelessly abandoned chocolate wrapper.
Kat’s lips pursed into a disapproving circle – wondering why on earth a member of staff hadn’t bothered to clear it away. “What a disgusting mess,” she observed quietly
“Isn’t it?” agreed Mike, laughing. “The boss sure likes to party when he parties!”
So at least she now knew that the “boss” was a man. And an untidy man, by the look of things. With a sudden smooth purring of powerful engines, the boat began to move – and Kat’s eyes widened in surprise. But before she could register her inexplicable panic that they were setting sail so soon, something happened to wipe every thought clean from her mind.
The first was the sight of a bikini top – a flimsy little excuse for a garment in a shimmering gold material which was lying in a discarded heap on the polished oak floor. It was a blatant symbol of decadence and sex and, for a couple of seconds, the blood rushed hotly into her cheeks before she allowed herself to concentrate on the second.
Because the second was a photo of a man.
Kat’s heart thundered as she stared at it, recognition hit her like a short sharp slap to the face.
The man in the photo must have been barely out of his teens, yet already his face was sombre and hardened by experience. Black eyes stared defiantly straight into the lens of the camera and his sensual lips curved in an expression which was undeniably formidable.
He was wearing a lavishly embroidered, glittering jacket, skin-tight trousers and some kind of dark and formal hat. It was an image which was unfamiliar and yet instantly recognisable and it took a few moments for Kat to realise that this was the traditional garb of the bullfighter. But that realisation seemed barely relevant in the light of the horror which was slowly beginning to dawn on her.
That she was staring at a likeness of the young Carlos Guerrero.
Trying to conceal the shaking of her hands, she turned to Mike.
“Whose boat is this?” she croaked.
Mike’s blond head was jerked in the direction of the photo, and he smiled. “His.”
“C-Carlos?” Even saying his name sent shivers down her spine – just as the memory of his harsh words lancing through her still had the power to wound. “Carlos Guerrero?”
“Sure. Who else?” Mike’s expression grew even more curious. “You didn’t know?”
Of course she didn’t know! If she had known then she would never have set foot on the damned vessel – why, she wouldn’t have gone within a million miles of it! But there was no way she was going to enlighten this smirking engineer about her misgivings, or the reason for them. She needed to assert her authority and get onto dry land again.
“I think there’s been some kind of mix-up,” she said, her smooth tone belying the fast beating of her heart and sudden sense of urgency. “And I’d like to go ashore. Please.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”
Kat’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, Carlos told me that a new domestic was arriving – and that her name was Kat Balfour.”
One word reverberated around the room and she repeated it, just in case she had mis-heard it. “Domestic?” she repeated incredulously.
“Sure. You’re Kat Balfour and there’s six hungry crew on board.” He smiled. “And we need someone to clean up after us and make our meals, don’t we?”
It was so outrageous a statement to make, that for a moment Kat thought he must be having some kind of – extremely unfunny – joke at her expense. As if she was some kind of lowly deck-hand who was about to wait on a load of crew members! But one look at his face told her he was deadly serious. What the
hell
was going on?
© Harlequin Books SA 2010.
With special thanks and acknowledgement to Sharon Kendrick
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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First published in Great Britain 2010
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
MIA’S SCANDAL © by Harlequin Books SA 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4089-2844-8
