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Christmas Bride For The Boss
Kate Hardy
Wedding planner – to wife and mother? Jamie Wallis needs a replacement nanny for his daughter – fast! So when a stunning young woman comes to him with a business proposal, he has a different proposition for her…Securing Jamie's investment is essential, but Sophie Firth wasn't expecting to be asked to care for his daughter! However, once they meet, Sophie can't help adoring little Sienna. And, as Christmas approaches, Sophie quickly becomes part of the family – and Jamie can't resist letting her into his heart!
Wedding planner—to wife and mother?
Jamie Wallis needs a replacement nanny for his daughter—fast! So when a stunning young woman comes to him with a business proposal, he has a different proposition for her...
Securing Jamie’s investment is essential, but Sophie Firth wasn’t expecting to be asked to care for his daughter! However, once they meet, Sophie can’t help adoring little Sienna. And, as Christmas approaches, Sophie quickly becomes part of the family—and Jamie can’t resist letting her into his heart!
Sophie knew the hug was a mistake as soon as she’d done it.
She could smell the citrussy scent of his shower gel and feel the steady thud of his heart against her. And the surge of sheer attraction, tempting her to jam her mouth over his and let him lose himself in her, forget his pain for a while…
This was insane.
It had to stop.
Now.
She dropped her hands and pulled away. Sorry. I overstepped the boundaries. I just thought you could do with a hug.’
‘I could. Thank you,’ he said.
‘I...um...I’d better get going.’
‘Thank you for today,’ he said. ‘For everything you’ve done. I appreciate it.’
‘No problem. I’ll see you Monday.’
Panic skittered across his face. ‘Sophie, I know it’s pushy of me to ask, but... I don’t have a clue what to do with Sienna tomorrow. There’s only so much story-telling and colouring we can do in a day.’
‘You could always do something messy,’ she suggested. He looked horrified.
He looked horrified.
She frowned. ‘Didn’t you do that sort of thing as a kid?’
‘No. My mother didn’t like mess.’ Her thoughts must have shown on her face, because he said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with liking a tidy house.’
‘And there’s nothing wrong with a bit of mess, either,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t take that long to clear up.’
She left without finishing her coffee, and before she did anything really crazy—like sliding her arms round his neck and kissing him stupid.
Christmas Bride for the Boss
Kate Hardy
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
KATE HARDY has always loved books, and could read before she went to school. She discovered Mills & Boon books when she was twelve and decided this was what she wanted to do. When she isnt writing, Kate enjoys reading, cinema, ballroom dancing and the gym. You can contact her via her website: www.katehardy.com (http://www.katehardy.com).
To Gay, my much-loved stepmum, who’s the living proof that stepmothers are AWESOME.
Praise for
Kate Hardy
‘I was hooked… Her Festive Doorstep Baby is a hearttugging emotional romance.’
—Goodreads
Contents
Cover (#ub69bfb1e-9916-5e98-84e5-ef1e633cd530)
Back Cover Text (#ucfa92a1e-54cc-5d29-9353-96162c1b10ec)
Introduction (#u9cd5e114-8c7b-5b5e-9619-0d00c9731c77)
Title Page (#u384e7b75-39af-5cad-8ade-732f08ed05ae)
About the Author (#u5936aa6b-5e94-51c2-a1c4-25c647190d99)
Dedication (#u3d6fdd87-674c-57ca-b09f-8de957de0563)
Praise (#uaa104fc4-cebd-56e5-b0b8-2570d22b722f)
CHAPTER ONE (#udd154040-2277-5325-9b0f-4090f3989fec)
CHAPTER TWO (#u8ca9f2f0-3bec-56a2-bbe7-c5837401bc31)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#uc10230bf-2b35-5b10-9fda-05035af8ae8b)
‘ALL RIGHT, MISS FIRTH. You have ten minutes to convince me why I should invest in your company.’ Jamie Wallis leaned back in his chair, unsmiling, and looked at her.
Sophie caught her breath.
This was it.
The next ten minutes could change her entire life.
She needed to be more professional now than she’d ever been. And she really needed to ignore the fact that Jamie Wallis was one of the most beautiful men she’d ever met. The photographs she’d seen didn’t do him justice. And Eva hadn’t warned her that you could practically drown in his dark eyes.
Focus, she told herself. Because everyone’s counting on you to get his backing. And you don’t do relationships any more. Not since Joe. You finally learned your lesson: focus on your business.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’m assuming you’ve gone through the accounts I sent you, so you’ll already know our company’s bottom line is solid.’
He inclined his head, still unsmiling. ‘So why exactly are you asking me to invest in your company?’
She took a deep breath. ‘Because as well as you owning several resorts, your company offers specialist holidays to travellers, so Plans & Planes—being a travel agency and event planning service—fits in very well with your business. Especially as we’re introducing a new service which merges both sides of our company—something you don’t offer at the moment.’
‘Which is?’ he asked.
‘A planning service for people who want to get married abroad. We can organise everything from the wedding ceremony and reception through to the honeymoon, plus accommodation for the guests, and we’ll deal with all the paperwork.’ It had been her brainchild and she’d been so looking forward to developing the new service.
Until Eva had dropped her bombshell.
‘And your approach to me has nothing to do with the fact that your former partner is my late wife’s cousin?’
Sophie had expected that question and worked out her answer in advance. ‘Eva suggested you as a potential investor, I admit. But I researched your company before I decided to approach you. I’m not looking for nepotism. I’m looking for someone who sees a good investment that fits in with their own business plans.’
‘I see.’ He steepled his fingers. ‘What about the fact that Eva’s leaving the company? How do I know that everything at Plans & Planes isn’t going to take a massive nosedive without Eva at the helm?’
It was a fair question and Sophie wasn’t going to take it personally. ‘The impact of Eva’s departure on the business is mainly financial.’ The impact on her was another matter: Eva was Sophie’s best friend as well as her business partner and she’d miss Eva hugely. ‘Eva’s deputy, Mara, has worked for us for the last three years and she’s ready to step into Eva’s shoes on the travel agency side,’ she explained. ‘Mara has the experience, the knowledge and the capability to take that part of the company forward. I’m staying to manage the event planning side and the new weddings abroad service, so there’s continuity of management.’
He made a couple of notes. ‘If the business is flourishing, why do you need an investor?’
‘Because, as I’m sure you’re aware, Eva is moving to New York with her fiancé.’ Aidan had been headhunted by a top New York advertising agency and the opportunity was too good to turn down. ‘So she needs me to buy out her half of the business.’
‘And you have no savings you can use to buy her out, Miss Firth?’
She had, until two months ago. She took a deep breath. ‘No.’
‘Why?’
Telling him the truth would make it sound as if she was trying to manipulate him. Plus it was between Sophie, her brother and her sister-in-law. She wasn’t going to break their confidence. ‘Personal reasons,’ she said.
‘Won’t your bank give you a loan?’
She winced inwardly, knowing how bad her answer was going to sound, but she wasn’t going to lie. ‘No.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Because your financial management isn’t good enough?’
‘There’s nothing wrong with my financial management,’ she said patiently. ‘The business is doing well.’
‘Then why don’t you have savings, Miss Firth?’
‘Personal reasons,’ she repeated.
‘That, Miss Firth, is tantamount to telling an insurance company that you’re a businesswoman. It’s too vague. They’ll need to know precisely what business you’re in so they can assess the risk.’
‘I’m not asking you to insure me, Mr Wallis. I’m asking you to invest in the business.’
He gave her a cool, assessing look. ‘Miss Firth, if you want me to invest in your company, you can’t hide behind “personal reasons”.’
Maybe she could tell him some of it. Broad brush rather than details. ‘All right,’ she said reluctantly. ‘Since you ask, I lent my savings to someone I love very much.’
‘Then surely you can ask that person to return the money, now you need it for yourself?’
‘No.’
He frowned. ‘Why not?’
Because the money had been spent, and her brother and sister-in-law were already under enough pressure. This was their fourth attempt at IVF, and she didn’t want to make it any harder for them than it already was. ‘I can’t explain more without breaking a confidence.’
‘So you’d rather see your business go under?’
‘Of course not. We have four staff and a roster of reliable temps, and I want them to have job security.’
He shrugged. ‘Then ask for the money back so you can buy out Eva’s share of the business.’
They were at stalemate. Or maybe there was another way round this. ‘Do you have siblings, Mr Wallis?’ she asked, already knowing that he did but not knowing how close he was to them; not every family was as close as hers.
He inclined his head. ‘Two.’
‘If they needed you, would you hesitate to help?’ she asked.
‘Of course not.’
Just what she’d hoped he’d say. ‘Then I can safely say you would’ve made the same decision I did, in those circumstances,’ she said.
‘Given that I don’t know the circum—’
His mobile phone shrilled, cutting him off mid-word. He glanced at the screen, as if about to hit the button to decline the call, then frowned.
‘I apologise, Miss Firth. I’m afraid I need to take this.’
From the expression on his face, this was definitely a private call, Sophie thought. ‘Shall I wait...?’ She indicated the reception area outside his office.
He looked grateful. ‘Thank you.’
