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His Forbidden Conquest: A Moment on the Lips / The Best Mistake of Her Life / Not Just Friends
Kate Hoffmann
Kate Hardy
Aimee Carson
A Moment on the LipsDante Romano may be dark and delectable, but Carenza Tonielli will never sell him her family’s ice cream empire. Only she needs him to show her how to run it! Soon, even wary Carenza just can’t resist mixing business with a bowlful of pleasure…The Best Mistake of Her LifeHigh-flying ex-prom queen Kate Anderson just can’t face her school reunion alone. Her twin brother’s best friend, Memphis James, is a dangerously hot option. Should Kate flee the scene – or free-fall into the wildest fling of her life? Not Just FriendsWhen Adam Sutherland reopens Camp Winnehatchee, reuniting the former camp counsellors was a no-brainer! But when he realises that Julia McKee has transformed from shy wallflower to scorching-hot babe, nostalgia soon shifts to desire…
His Forbidden Conquest
A Moment on the Lips
Kate Hardy
The Best Mistake of Her Life
Aimee Carson
Not Just Friends
Kate Hoffmann
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover (#u75791575-5645-58b3-b022-8aed011baed1)
Title Page (#u869c2032-676f-59ee-8e63-acd278489886)
A Moment on the Lips
About the Author (#u9ae41153-f558-5f10-96c4-221bbc418b1d)
Dedication (#u9b654a96-a03e-5371-ba61-7042a4762c55)
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Best Mistake of Her Life
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
EPILOGUE
Not Just Friends
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Dedication (#litres_trial_promo)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Epilogue
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
A Moment on the Lips (#ud7ae2c2f-8cd8-5c67-9c28-036c01d1bd50)
Kate Hardy
KATE HARDY lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband, two children, one bouncy spaniel and too many books to count! When she’s not busy writing romance or researching local history, she also loves cooking—see if you can spot the recipes sneaked into her books. (They’re also on her website, along with excerpts and the stories behind the books.)
Writing for Mills & Boon has been a dream come true for Kate—something she wanted to do ever since she was twelve. She’s been writing Medical Romances since 2001, and also writes for RIVA; her novel BREAKFAST AT GIOVANNI’S won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romance Prize in 2008. She says she loves what she does because she gets to learn lots of new things when she’s researching the background to a book: add warmth, heart and passion, plus a new gorgeous hero every time, and it’s the perfect job!
Kate’s always delighted to hear from readers, so do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com (http://www.katehardy.com).
For Gerard, Chris and Chloe. Sempre.
CHAPTER ONE (#ud7ae2c2f-8cd8-5c67-9c28-036c01d1bd50)
IT WAS her shoes that gave her away.
Her business suit was fine. Professional. Like her pristine leather briefcase, barely there make-up and the way she wore her long hair in a simple yet elegant twist. But the heels of her shoes were much too high and much too delicate. They weren’t office shoes: they were do-me heels. And Dante Romano had known enough princessy types in his time to recognise that these were expensive do-me heels. The kind that only a rich, spoiled woman could afford.
Closing this deal was obviously going to be much less time-consuming than he’d feared. So much for his sources telling him that Carenza Tonielli was serious about taking over the family business.
‘Thank you for coming to see me, Signorina Tonielli,’ he said, standing up. ‘May I offer you some coffee? Water?’ He indicated the bottle and glasses on his desk.
‘Water would be lovely, thank you.’
‘Please, have a seat.’ He gestured to the chair on the far side of his desk and waited until she’d sat down before pouring them both a glass of water and sitting down again himself.
She picked up her glass and took a sip of water.
Beautiful hands, he thought. And shook himself mentally as a picture flashed through his head. Oh, for pity’s sake. Yes, Carenza Tonielli was beautiful. Probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. But she was also very aware of it, and he wasn’t interested in doing anything other than business with a spoiled princess.
Liar, his libido corrected. You were thinking about what those hands would feel like against your skin. And that mouth.
That beautiful mouth. A perfect rosebud. Well, he might be thinking about it, but he certainly wasn’t going to act on his thoughts. He didn’t have the time. Not if he was going to hit the targets for his business plan. Until the franchise was off the ground, his social life was taking a definite back seat. And he wasn’t about to indulge his libido.
‘So why did you want to see me?’ she asked.
Was she really that clueless? Poor Gino. He’d made a huge mistake, handing over the business to his wayward granddaughter in the hope that she’d come good. The girl who’d left Naples to party her way round the world—and it had taken her ten years to come home. Was she really going to exchange la dolce vita for one of sheer hard work to turn the business around?
From what his sources in London had said, Dante was pretty sure that all Carenza Tonielli was interested in was having enough money to buy herself a new designer outfit for every party she attended, drink the very best champagne, and drive the very latest sports car.
None of which she’d be able to do, given the state Tonielli’s was in right now.
Well, he wouldn’t cheat her. He’d give her a fair price, the same as he’d offered her grandfather. She’d get the cash she needed to finance her lifestyle, and he’d get a brand name that would help make his business grow. It was the perfect win-win situation for both of them. And hopefully she’d see that, too.
‘I was negotiating a deal with your grandfather. To buy out Tonielli’s,’ he said.
‘Oh.’
‘So, since he’s handed the reins over to you, I assume that you’re the one I need to negotiate with now.’
She looked at him. ‘I think there’s been some kind of mistake.’
He blinked. ‘You’re not in charge of Tonielli’s?’
‘Oh, I’m in charge, all right.’ She folded her arms. ‘But the business isn’t for sale.’
He looked shocked. As well he might—a shark in a business suit, who’d planned to buy her grandfather’s ice-cream empire at a rock-bottom price.
A handsome shark—Carenza would give him that—with dark hair brushed back from his face, a generous mouth and beautiful dark eyes. A sexy shark, even. But he was still a shark. And she wasn’t selling. Not to him, not to anyone.
‘You’re going to run Tonielli’s?’ he asked.
Carenza had seen that incredulous expression before. On her new boss’s face, when she’d made a suggestion about running the gallery. Just before she’d walked out; no way could she work with someone who treated her like an airhead, incapable of doing anything other than giggling, answering the phone and painting her nails. And it needled her that this man—a man she’d never even met before—clearly also thought that she was an airhead. Why wouldn’t he take her seriously?
Because she was blonde?
Or because she was a woman and Dante Romano was an Italian man, incredibly chauvinistic and still stuck in the attitudes of the nineteen fifties?
‘I’m going to run it,’ she said, keeping her voice ice-cool.
He leaned back in his chair. ‘How?’
She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Don’t be insulting.’
‘Signorina Tonielli, you have no experience and the business is in a mess,’ he said quietly. ‘It needs turning around—and I have the knowledge and the staff to do that.’
He was bluffing, she was sure. Things weren’t that bad. She shrugged. ‘There’s a recession on. Everyone’s feeling the bite.’
