Carol Marinelli – The Royal House of Karedes: One Family: Ruthless Boss, Royal Mistress / The Desert King's Housekeeper Bride / Wedlocked: Banished Sheikh, Untouched Queen (страница 2)

Possibly the only librarian who got told off herself for talking too much, NATALIE ANDERSON decided writing books might be more fun than shelving them—and boy, is it that! Especially writing romance—it’s the realisation of a lifetime dream, kick-started by many an afternoon spent devouring Grandma’s Mills & Boon® novels…

Natalie lives in New Zealand with her husband and four gorgeous-but-exhausting children. Swing by her website anytime—she’d love to hear from you!

www.natalie-anderson.com.

For my four lion cubs.

Thank you for letting me postpone writing

‘The Adventures of…’

I promise we’ll write some more soon,

but for now we’re too busy living them—

and loving them.

CHAPTER ONE

JAMES leaned back in his chair, rubbed over his face with both hands and then ruffled them through his hair. The flight from Kuala Lumpur had landed just after five that morning and he’d come straight to the office, showering and changing on site. He’d already caught up on most of the essentials and now he desperately wanted another coffee and something more substantial than a rubbery in-flight muffin. He’d read the paper and relax for ten.

Thankfully he heard sounds of movement in the office outside his door. Good. His secretary must have arrived. A little later than usual but he didn’t mind; she was the best there was—usually.

He picked up the papers he’d been skimming earlier, grinning as he walked to the door.

‘Bridge, did you break all your fingers and thumbs or something? The typos in this report are appalling. I can hardly read it.’

He looked up from the page he’d been chuckling over and stopped on the threshold, staring at the stranger rising from behind the desk.

She was tall, she was dark, she was stunning, she was…

‘Not Bridget,’ he said stupidly.

‘No.’ Her voice was quiet but firm, with a foreign lilt and a tinge of guilt to it.

And in that one beat he lost all power of thought—couldn’t process a thing. Could only look at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. The only word remaining in his brain was wow. It seemed to take an age for his heart to beat again. When it finally did, he walked closer. The colour in her cheeks seemed to rise higher with every step he took nearer.

‘I’m—’

‘Princess Elissa.’ He remembered now, kicking the grey cells back on. He’d told her brother he’d give her a job. He’d forgotten that in the hype of the conference. She must have been here in Sydney at least a month already?

He couldn’t help himself—kept staring and stared some more. He’d seen her photo countless times in papers, magazines, on telly. But this was the first time he’d ever met her in person. He’d never thought she’d be such a stunner in real life—so often these model types were actually a disappointment live and up close, without the benefit of tons of make-up, accentuating lighting and airbrushing. But in truth no photo could capture the dancing lights in her dark eyes, or the richness of colour in her long brown hair. Hair that invited the touch of fingers, and that would feel like silk brushing across skin. And nothing could prepare anyone for the perfection of her body—both slim and curvy, womanly and tantalising.

‘Bridget is on holiday. I was told to work up here while she’s away.’

James nodded, still too busy processing her presence to be able to speak much.

‘I’ll redo that report.’The colour in her cheeks was deeper, she wouldn’t look him in the eye, and as she held out her hand for the document he saw it shook a little.

It brought him back to reality. A smidge of compassion made him feel the need to give her some sort of excuse, to ease her embarrassment. ‘Some of the buttons on the keyboard are probably different in Europe.’

She looked up at him then, for just a second before looking back down to take the report. Apology shone in her eyes and something akin to—panic? ‘Must be.’

Fascinated, he watched the dull red splotches spread over her lightly golden skin; his fingers itched to trace over the patterns—to see if it felt as hot as it looked. Then he realised he was still holding onto the paper that she was trying to take back. He let it go and in the same instant, turned away. He’d been staring a little too long. But it had been a bit of a shock—she really was something else. Hell, he must be more tired than he thought—damn jet lag.

He shook his head, wanting to flick away the haze. But all he could see was red—the colour of temptation. It was interesting how someone who must be so used to scrutiny still had an all-over body blush like that. It never showed in the photos of her. It must be airbrushed out.

He retreated into his office and told himself to get a grip. Intriguing blushes or not, he didn’t want her taking up any of his brain space. She was way too beautiful for him—the kind of woman every man would want and one who would want the attention of every man. And he wasn’t one for sharing.

Liss let out the breath that had been held so long her lungs were bursting. She flung back in the chair like a rag doll. So that was James Black? For some reason she’d imagined her hotel tycoon boss to be fifty-ish, a little squat, balding. Not maybe thirty, tall and with a head full of slightly unruly dark brown hair. He was gorgeous. He was more than gorgeous, and when she’d looked into his eyes she’d seen the most tantalising golden gleam that had her aching to reach out to touch him—to capture it and keep it.

She should have done her research. Just as she should have taken an emergency ‘brush-up-your-secretarial-skills’ course on the flight over from Aristo. This was it: her last chance—or the last chance she wanted to be given. She had to prove herself here or she’d never get to go back home. She’d have to start over again someplace else and she refused to let that happen. Sydney was it. This job was it.

And what a great first impression she’d made. Completely fouling up that report and then blushing all over like some schoolgirl. She never blushed. But she really hadn’t expected him to come out of his office with that warm smile, and the humour twinkling in his eyes. And she hadn’t expected the heat to rise in her body in such an instant response. Just looking at him had turned her lust switch on.

Distracted, she messed up a call and mortifyingly had to ask the receptionist, Katie, to come up and explain the phone system to her once again. She’d already written down step-by-step instructions on how to operate it but still she couldn’t quite get it—she was always putting a caller through to answering machine instead of transferring them to someone else, or worse still cutting them off completely. She could manage her own mobile well enough and her PDA and they were much more complex pieces of equipment. There was just something about this system. They were five minutes into it when he walked out of his office again.

‘Welcome back, James.’ The receptionist gave him a stunning smile.

Only a small smile flickered on his face in return. ‘Thanks, Katie. I’m just going for coffee. Back in twenty.’ He looked at Liss. ‘Can you have that report for me by then?’

‘Certainly,’ Liss replied with far more conviction than she felt. But he was halfway across the room already and in another instant out the door.

Katie gave a mock swoon once they’d heard the door to the stairwell slam. ‘He’s back.’ She sighed and gave Liss a sly look. ‘Something else, isn’t he? Lucky you, getting to sit outside his office all day.’

Liss nodded vaguely, not really wanting to dissect the undeniable hunk-factor of her new boss. Of course she wasn’t the only one who saw it. But gossiping wasn’t the way to get herself taken seriously.

However, inside she dissected his response to Katie’s openly flirty greeting. The smile had been far more reserved than the one he’d had on his face when he’d thought she was his secretary Bridget. She found herself wondering what Ms Perfect Typist Bridget looked like.

‘Be careful though. He’s mercurial.’

Liss paused at Katie’s comment, curiosity mounting.

Katie’s smile was sly and Liss knew if she ever wanted to know anything about the organisation or its staff, all she had to do was ask the receptionist.

‘Can’t be caught.’

‘Oh?’ Liss wasn’t interested. Really wasn’t interested.

‘He doesn’t do commitment.’ Katie kept chatting as if knowing full well Liss was all ears.

But Liss wasn’t here to learn about the boss’s love life. She was here to work. ‘No?’

‘Three dates and it’s over.’

Focus on the phones, Liss. ‘Can you show me how to transfer again?’

Katie didn’t bother to hide her laughter as she showed Liss once more which buttons to push. ‘You’ll get it after a bit. You’re probably not used to having to work like this.’

Liss had to admit that was true. But cut off from her trust fund she had little choice. Alex had set her up. Until she learnt to settle down she was to be without her funds, and having to work—at a job Alex had selected. For a business acquaintance of his, who just happened to be based on the other side of the world. It was so convenient for them—Elissa the embarrassment shipped off again, no longer a concern to the family. Out of sight, out of mind. They seemed to be able to do that so easily and inside she was crushed. She’d wanted to stay on Aristo after her father’s death. Had wondered if there was some way in which she could be useful. Instead she’d been installed into a serviced apartment in Sydney—one of James’s complexes, she’d discovered—and by the time the rent was taken out of her wages she had minimal cash left to get by. For the first time she was forced to earn her own living—to curb her impulses and to take some responsibility.