скачать книгу бесплатно
Bedded by Blackmail / Millionaire's Secret Seduction: Bedded by Blackmail / Millionaire's Secret Seduction
Robyn Grady
Jennifer Lewis
Bedded by Blackmail Robyn Grady Tristan Barkley had sworn off romance. Until a sizzling night with Ella Jacobs, his secretive housekeeper turned blonde bombshell, made the millionaire rethink his decision. When he learned she was carrying his child, he proposed the only solution: marriage!Millionaire’s Secret Seduction Jennifer Lewis Everything about sexy tycoon Dominic Hardcastle set off alarms in Bella’s head. For he had the power to destroy her plans. Maybe some intense overtime with Mr Tall, Dark and Dangerous was needed. Suddenly her schemes didn’t seem so simple… or her heart so safe…
Bedded by Blackmail by Robyn Grady
Tristan reached the pool’s edge at the same time the woman in the pink bikini pulled herself out of it.
With her hair pouring like wheat-coloured silk down her back, her glistening body might have belonged to a swimsuit model—buxom with shapely tanned legs that just kept getting longer.
Tristan braced his own legs shoulder-width apart and crossed his arms in a confrontational pose.
Unsuspecting, the woman straightened fully, sliding her hands back over her hair, like some Bond Girl from a beach scene. When she finally noticed him—when she looked up with those big blue, suddenly startled eyes…
Tristan’s mouth fell open and his arms dropped like dead weights to his sides. Then he dragged a hand down over his mouth and blinked several incomprehensible times.
No, this didn’t make sense. The hair was the wrong colour. That body sure as hell didn’t fit. Still, he ground out the question.
“Ella…is that you?”
Millionaire’s Secret Seduction by Jennifer Lewis
“It’s not about the money. It’s about my dad’s legacy. I’ll prove Tarrant forced my father into selling against his will and then the courts will restore his work to my family.”
Alarm mixed with amusement made him snort. “You’re going to sue Hardcastle Enterprises?”
Bella held Dominic’s gaze, her grey eyes unblinking. “Yes. I know a judge will do the right thing.”
“Sounds to me like you have way too much faith in the legal system and not nearly enough in Tarrant’s utter ruthlessness. Did you find what you need?”
“Not yet. Are you going to have me fired?”
“Me? Oh, yeah, the son and heir. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with you…”
Except kiss you again, maybe…
Bedded By Blackmail
By
Robyn Grady
Millionaire’s Secret Seduction
By
Jennifer Lewis
MILLS & BOON®
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/)
Bedded by Blackmail
By
Robyn Grady
Robyn Grady left a fifteen-year career in television production knowing that the time was right to pursue her dream of writing romance. She adores cats, clever movies and spending time with her wonderful husband and their three precious daughters. Living on Australia’s glorious Sunshine Coast, her perfect day includes a beach, a book and no laundry when she gets home. Robyn loves to hear from readers. You can contact her at www.robyngrady.com.
Dear Reader,
My all-time favourite fairy tale is Cinderella. When my sister gave me the picture book many years ago, I pored over the words, copied the illustrations, dreamed about being part of such a perfect ever-after.
The theme of rags to riches—from poor in life to rich in love—is still a favourite. Surely the ultimate fantasy is overcoming great odds to end up with a “prince” and lasting love.
My heroine in this story has faced many challenges. Illness and death in the family, accusations of murder, as well as chilling blackmail threats. Enough pressure for Ella Jacob to go underground and assume an identity as a dowdy but efficient housekeeper.
Her boss, successful businessman Tristan Barkley, is cynical about many things, but not where his housekeeper is concerned. Knowing Ella will make an ideal wife—certain that love will grow—he proposes marriage. But there’s a price to pay for his readiness to trust so quickly and a few more secrets to uncover about his new bride’s past before they can come close to a fairy-tale ending.
Deceit, betrayal, deepest loyalty and even a touch of magic, I hope you enjoy Bedded by Blackmail.
Best,
Robyn
For Carol, my beautiful big sister. Happy birthday!
With thanks to my editor, Diana Ventimiglia, for your help in making this book so special.
Chapter One
Tristan Barkley knew danger when he sensed it. As he whipped open the sliding glass door and scanned his expansive backyard, he sensed it in spades.
His heart beat like a war drum against his ribs while the hair on his nape prickled and every muscle in his body bunched tight.
Where was Ella? What trouble was she in?
He’d phoned to speak with his housekeeper twice this morning. Ella wasn’t aware of his last-minute plans to attend a gala event in Sydney tonight. Home a day early from a weeklong trip to Melbourne, he’d wanted to be sure his tuxedo was back from the cleaners.
But when she hadn’t answered his calls, he hadn’t been concerned. Perhaps she was out shopping. Ella Jacob was fanatical about having her boss’s every need and want satisfied. It was one of the reasons he valued her—or rather, her dedication to her job—so highly.
However, when he’d arrived home a few minutes ago, he’d noticed her car keys hanging on their hook. A second later, his gut wrenched at the sight of her practical leather handbag and its contents strewn over the kitchen counter. Her uniform had been turned inside out and discarded on the cold marble tiles. One black lace-up shoe lay near the timber meals table, the other had been left upside down near this door.
Now as he shaded his eyes against a single ray piercing the brewing black sky, his heart squeezed like a fist in his chest.
If anyone had entered his house uninvited…if someone had dared to hurt Ella…
He strode onto the lawn and movement beyond the northern courtyard caught his eye. Tristan narrowed his focus and zeroed in on a trespasser’s fluid backstroke as the intruder sliced through the cool blue of his Olympic-size pool. Twenty-twenty vision said the long, tanned limbs were female. A flash of a pink swimsuit, and the curves it partially concealed, confirmed she was of his generation or younger.
Tristan let out a territorial growl. There’d been a recent spate of robberies in his neighborhood. The police suspected the work of a couple. One poor grandmother had been assaulted and tied up in her own home. Was that woman in his pool the girlfriend of some brazen burglar? he wondered.
He charged forward even as another scenario came to mind. Might be that Ella had simply invited a friend over. Although, come to think of it, he’d never heard her speak of friends. Or family. And that didn’t explain the handbag, her uniform. It didn’t explain where she was.
His long strides picked up pace.
Once he yanked that woman from the water, hell ’n’ Hades, he’d have some answers then.
He reached the pool’s edge at the same time the woman in pink climbed out, her hair falling like wheat-colored silk down her back. Her glistening body might have belonged to a swimsuit model—buxom with shapely, tanned legs that seemed to go on forever.
Tristan braced his own legs shoulder-width apart and crossed his arms. Unsuspecting, the woman straightened fully, sliding her hands back over her hair, like some Bond girl from a beach scene. When she finally noticed him, when she looked up with those big blue, suddenly startled eyes…
Tristan’s mouth fell open and his arms dropped to his sides like dead weights. Then he dragged a hand down over his mouth and blinked several times.
No, this didn’t make sense. The hair was the wrong color. That body sure as hell didn’t fit. Still, he ground out the question.
“Ella…is that you?”
“Mr. Barkley?” The bombshell’s cheeks turned as red as the miniature roses spilling from the poolside terracotta pots. “You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”
“I rang this morning.” Twice.
Driven by testosterone-fueled force, his gaze dipped lower and his blood began to stir. Mother of mercy, he’d had no idea.
She folded her arms over the top of the swimsuit, which only made her amazing cleavage appear twice as deep and ten times more alluring. This couldn’t be the same woman…
“I rolled my ankle on a run this week,” she explained. “I like to keep fit. Swimming’s a good alternative.” Her wet hair sprayed a cold arc on his business shirt as she threw a look at the pool then back. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”
His brain stumbled up to speed. Ella, his unassum-ing housekeeper, ran to keep fit? In a dowdy uniform, who’d have guessed she worried about anything other than making sure the bathroom sparkled and her deli-cious dinners were set on the table on time. Out of uniform, however, in that amazing swimsuit, she looked nothing short of…sensational.
As telltale heat flared through his system, he shook himself and squared his shoulders. That kind of reaction was totally inappropriate. Miss Jacob was the hired help—his housekeeper—and she still had more than a little explaining to do.
He cleared the thickness from his throat and stabbed a reproving finger toward the house. “Your uniform and shoes were tossed around the kitchen. Your handbag was tipped upside down on the counter.”
What was he supposed to have thought? He’d been worried. Damn near frantic, in fact.
Her sheepish gaze dropped away. “Oh, that.”
His brow furrowed more. “Yes. Dammit. That.”
Dripping over the tiles, she began to move away. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”
“Like it’s hard to explain how your hair’s gone from mousy brown to blond?”
Had he landed in Wonderland? What was going on!
“I’ve only dyed it back to my natural color.” She shrugged and explained, “I’m a woman. I wanted a change. This week I wanted to change it back.”
He growled loud enough to be heard. She was avoiding his question. He wasn’t a hard boss; he deserved her respect. The respect he’d always received from Ella in the past. Unless…
His thoughts froze as a withering feeling dropped through his center.
His voice deepened with concern. “Are you in some kind of trouble, Ella? Trouble you don’t want to tell me about?”
When she blinked at him over her shoulder, her full lips slightly parted, she looked so vulnerable.
She curled strands of blond behind her ear. “I’m not in trouble. In fact, it’s rather the opposite.”
She continued on toward a sun lounger, her step favoring one leg. A very nice leg. Very nice body.
Tristan growled again.
He needed to get to the bottom of this mystery and he needed to do it now!
She picked up a towel from the sun lounger’s back and wrapped it around herself, sari style. When she turned toward the house, he barred her way.
His voice was rough, his gaze unremitting. “I need an answer, Ella.”
She peered up at him as rivulets of water trickled down her flawless face. Her eyes were the color of Ceylon sapphires. How had he missed that before? Did she usually wear glasses? He didn’t think so.
Ella’s mouth opened then shut. Finally she blew out a defeated breath. “I was going to tell you tomorrow.”
He set his hands on his hips. His patience was wearing out. “I suggest you tell me now.”
Her chin lifted slightly. “I’d like to hand in my resignation. I’m giving you two weeks’ notice.”
Tristan’s usually balanced world tilted then slid off its axis. He ran a hand through his hair. Of all the crazy things, this had been the farthermost from his mind.
“You want to leave. Is it the pay?” Her wage was more than generous, but if that was the problem, it could easily be solved. “Name your price.”
She was the best housekeeper he’d ever had—thorough, autonomous, inconspicuous, or at least she had been until this incident. He wasn’t prepared to let her go, particularly not now.
The newly elected mayor of a neighboring smaller city had invited himself to dinner in three weeks’ time. A positive impression could only help with an impor-tant deal Tristan had been working on, a project upon which he’d spent a vast amount of time and money. Obviously Ella’s fine cooking skills wouldn’t make or break the deal with Mayor Rufus. However, given the querulous past he and the mayor shared, frankly, Tristan could use all the help he could get.
A quiet strength shone from Ella’s jeweled eyes. “Money’s not the issue.”
A recent memory popped into his head, and then he knew. Of course he knew.
Tristan scratched his temple and replaced the gravel in his voice with a more understanding tone. “Look, if this is about that episode before I left…”
The red in her cheeks spread down the column of her throat. Her chest rose and fell as she shook her head and, dodging him, moved away. “That morning has nothing to do with my leaving.”
As his sense of control returned, Tristan eased out a relieved breath. Now that he knew what was behind her resignation, he could fix the situation.
He caught up, fell into step beside her and searched for words to handle this delicate matter.
“Admittedly it was an awkward moment,” he said. “But there’s no need to be embarrassed or do anything rash.” His mind went back to that day. “You thought I’d already left for my week away in Melbourne,” he recalled. “You didn’t expect to see me in the bedroom, particularly without any clothes…”
