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Manhattan Millionaire’s Cinderella
Sun Chara
Will their wedding night be a one-night stand or a merger for keeps?Global real estate mogul, Cade Sloan should've listened to his own advice: trust no one, and never a woman…especially not his 24 hour bride gone AWOL with his millions. Nina, mousy secretary turned sexy vixen, will repay every penny with interest…When Cade gears up for a takeover, there's sweet hell to pay. Nina owes her husband a wedding night and he’s hell bent on collecting… his way, his time, his pleasure.
Manhattan Millionaire's Cinderella
Sun Chara
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers
www.harpercollins.co.uk
Contents
Sun Chara (#u62307a82-9068-5f79-b914-642c45047fe0)
Dedication (#u5ec24bd3-ad7f-5632-861a-09d6e6ab850a)
CHAPTER ONE (#u64aa509d-6572-564f-81fd-0bc8e66ff2e8)
CHAPTER TWO (#ue805052c-0ec6-52d7-9adb-884fed7bcf32)
CHAPTER THREE (#u6513a021-94cb-504b-b373-2e94ef60391f)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
Love Romance? (#litres_trial_promo)
About HarperImpulse (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Sun Chara (#u86368cde-e298-503a-9cbb-f446597e3905)
Greetings from southern California! I’m a teacher turned actor/writer and have appeared on stage and film in How the Other Half Loves, General Hospital, and McGee & Me. The showbiz background comes in handy with speaking engagements, judging RWA contests, and judging the Emmys. I have a Master of Arts Degree, and I'm a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Romance Writers of America. Globetrotting for lore (once, on an excursion amidst the pyramids in the Valley of the Kings, a gentleman offered fifteen camels for my hand…now had it been race horses…) while keeping tabs on Hollywood leads, I love creating stories of pure passion with global thrills!
To my sweet mom, bros Joe and Harry and family, and the beautiful people of Cyprus, England and across the globe … you shine!
A super nova thanks to my wonderful editor Charlotte Ledger who spoke words of wonder: 'I really feel it's meant to be having picked you out of SYTYCW!' Wow!
Bunches of thanks to the best ever publishing team at Harper Impulse … you are magical!
And to everyone who has a dream, Never Give Up!
'With God all things are possible.'
CHAPTER ONE (#u86368cde-e298-503a-9cbb-f446597e3905)
Cade Sloan—Manhattan’s hotshot bachelor on the brink of bankruptcy.
Cade read the headline and hurled the newspaper into the trashcan, the taunting words searing his brain. Prowling back and forth his high-rise office, he paused mid stride and zoned in on his secretary, who sat ramrod straight, her fingers flying across the computer keyboard.
“Ms. McLow—” The words dissolved on his tongue, and he scratched his head. What was her name anyway?
“Ms. McLow—” He cleared his throat and tried again. “Ms.—”
“McLowsky.” She lifted a shapely brow and tossed him a glance through her coke-bottle thick lenses, a blush on her cheeks. “Nina McLowsky.”
Did she just click her tongue in disapproval?
Just his luck. She came with attitude.
“Of course.” He swiped a finger around his shirt collar, and his chest tightened. “Nina McLowsky.” Scrambling toregroup, he seized the coffee-matefrom the counter and filled a cup with coffee.
She looked like she had walked out of a 1950s Norman Rockwell painting, the epitome of diplomacy and efficiency. He stroked his throat, and then shook his head, amazed. He was actually flirting with the idea of a merger …with her.
At least with her there’d be no emotional tantrums. The thought had him breaking out in a sweat. He never let any woman get close enough to get a glimpse beneath the surface, to know what made him tick. ‘Never trust a woman,’ was his motto.
A cab horn blared amidst the congested traffic on Madison Avenue ripped through his thoughts. He flinched in annoyance.
He hadn’t felt this out of his depth since he was a boy, and he had vowed never to feel like this again. And he was running out of options. His global real estate investments were about to tank. He had to score a mega hit or he was going to cave. Fast.
And that rankled his pride.
“Here you go.” He plopped the coffee cup on her desk, and a huff of air burst from his mouth, ruffling a wisp at her temple.
She squinted at the steaming brew, then up at him, her baby blues all innocence and perplexity. “Thank you.”
His gut flexed.He frowned and dismissed the unsettling feeling.
“Careful, it’s hot.”
She peered at him above her thick lenses, a hint of a smile on her mouth, her fingers never missing a beat. Maybe if he focused on the dimple on her cheek, he could go through with the transaction.
“Take a moment, Ms. McLowsky.” The smell of caffeine gave him a boost, and latching onto his own mug, he shot her his killer smile.
“Sir?”
“Well…uh…” he began, words sticking in his throat. “Drink up.”
“Yes, sir.” She picked up the steaming cup, blew on the liquid and took a sip, fixing her gaze on him over the rim.
Was that a glint of amusement in her eyes?
She blinked and it was gone. “Is that it, sir?” She set the cup on the desk.
“No.” He lifted his mug to his lips, took a gulp of the black brew and scorched his tongue. He swore, a muffled sound.
She heard, andraised that well-defined eyebrow again.
“There’s a new position in the company.” He stepped closer and hitching uphis jean-clad leg, propped his hip on the corner of her desk. “You’re the best match.”
“What is it?”
“A merger, of sorts.”
At thirty-three, Cade was not averse to a challenge; it was the coercion tactics his uncle still used that he abhorred. His uncle. His lifelong nemesis, whom he’d booted from the boardroom, now tossed him a curve to the tune of three million—problem was the deal included a stipulation to muzzle…er… marry him off.
Cade was under no illusions that his uncle’s offer was iced with ulterior motives, but, in no position to refuse, he had to take the bait. A pittance, but it’d swing him from the red into the black, and buy him some time. He’d expand his global holdings, complete the mega development in Cyprus, triple his profits and—his heart turned to determined stone—catch the hacker embezzling company funds.
The con was about to demolish Cade into a heap of rubble. He had to do something.
He scrubbed the stubble on his jaw, and his gaze swerved to her. He’d racked his brain for the perfect candidate, and Ms. Straitlaced, now staring up at him with half parted lips, best fit the bill—no complications.
She licked her lips, and then nipped the bottom one with her teeth.
His gut got unhinged with that strange feeling again. He yanked his gaze away from her mouth and plummeted into the ocean of her eyes. He bounced off, aimed lower and got socked in the belly. Beneath her colorless dress, her breasts rose and fell with every breath she took, and he imagined—
Get a grip, man. Oh yeah. Freud would get a big chuckle outta that.
Cade cleared his throat. “A marr—” He coughed, and forced the words out. “A marriage proposal.” A noose around his neck.
“What?” She gaped at him as though he’d gone bonkers, then her stiff discipline kicked in. “A market proposal, sir?”
“Nice try.” Somehow, he’d outmaneuver his uncle’s ploy to get him hitched, but first, he had to get his hands on the dough.
Matrimony.” He scowled. “It’d be a promotion. Higher salary … perks … company car … me.”
She laughed, but there was a nervous tingle in it. “I don’t qualify, sir.”
“Indeed, you do.” He’d checked her out and she came out squeaky clean. Lived with her cat, bicycled in Central Park on weekends, no boyfriend, a mother in Los Angeles. Her father, a former employee of the company before Cade’s takeover, unaccounted for. He curled his lip in distaste. Divorce, no doubt.
“Marry…you?!”
Heck, did she have to sound so shocked? Plenty of sophisticates would snatch at his proposal. He palmed his nape. But this business model called for specific criteria—and he was looking at her. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because—”
“I don’t even like you.”
That cut through his thick hide and pricked his pride. He shrugged.
“You don’t have to.”
She giggled, and the sound booted him with a delicious zap.
“Strictly a business transaction.” He pointed to himself then to her.
“Mutually beneficial.”
“No, thank you.”
Aww, man, there she went barricading herself behind her prim and proper façade. He had to knock her defenses down and clinch the deal.
“Would a percentage of three million change your mind?”
“Very funny.” She shifted in her chair and resumed typing.
“Okay.” He slid off the desk. “If you change your mind—”
The phone rang.
Nina picked up the receiver and sized him up over the rim of her glasses. Sexual energy vibrated from him, a catalyst to her own. Good reason to keep her distance. “I’ll see if Mr. Sloan’s avail—”
He grabbed the phone from her so quickly, a whoosh of hot air singed the back of her hand.
“Sloan,” he barked, making the room shrink. “No way in hell.” He paced the floor, the muscles in his back contracting. A scowl creased his otherwise handsome features. It was a face that had women lining up and gossip hounds salivating after him.
A shiver shimmied up her spine.
Cade Sloan gobbled girls like her for appetizers, spat them out and moved onto the entrée. Breath whipped from her lips, and she twitched her nose.No way would she be another notch on this stud’s belt.
Nina had her life mapped out. And it did not include her sexy boss who had just propositioned her. She fiddled with her pearl earring, and her gaze strayed back to him.
“Not my type,” she murmured beneath her breath.
He heard and cocked a brow, his eyes shuttering.
Heat—his searing hot attraction – grabbed hold of her. Perspiration dampened her skin and a droplet meandered between her breasts. She pulled a tissue from the Kleenex box and dabbed her upper lip.
