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How to Bag a Billionaire
Nina Milne
HOW TO BAG A BILLIONAIREAnother ‘billionaire bagger’ caught climbing through the restroom window! Except Olivia isn’t interested in billionaires, even the delicious Adam Masterson. She just needs to find Adam’s father – which is why she’s crashing his swanky party! Only she’s caught by Adam himself! He’ll help Olivia – if she poses as his girlfriend. And how can she refuse? Next stop: Thailand. And a whole heap of trouble!
‘Let’s make sure everyone believes that we are on a date, OK? And try and look happy about it. A lot of women would pay to be in your shoes.’
‘I’m not a lot of women.’
He’d gathered that. ‘Then you’ll have to fake it. Let’s go.’ Glancing at his watch, he gestured to her bag. ‘Leave that. I’ll get someone to take it out of here.’
‘Give me five minutes. I need make-up. And shoes, for that matter.’ She leant down to pull out a silver clutch bag and a pair of shoes. Long, elegant feet slipped into lime-green high-heeled wedge sandals and his pulse kicked up a notch.
Enough. Straightening up, she pivoted to face the mirror, leaving him with an alluring view of her bare back, the black dress tapering down in a V to the voluptuous curve of her bottom.
Adam forced himself to turn away.
‘I’m ready.’
He swivelled round and a whoosh of air was expelled from his lungs as desire upped another notch. In a few minutes she’d been transformed from au naturel beauty to glamorous allure. Which meant she had him coming and going.
Her hazel eyes shimmered and her lips were outlined in glossy dark red. Lips he wanted to claim right here. Right now. Oh, hell. He was screwed; no way was his libido leaving this party.
Dear Reader (#ulink_96510e0c-f25d-5ea8-9099-fe0d79699014)
This book is incredibly special to me—partly because it is my Mills & Boon debut, but also because I am so excited that Olivia and Adam, who lived inside my head for a long time, have made it into the big wide world.
The first chapter of this book wrote itself—I knew that nothing would stop Olivia from getting to Adam once she had him in her sights. I also knew that Adam would put up the fight of his life to avoid being bagged.
But there the book stopped. Until one day not so long ago when Olivia and Adam demanded I get them out of the ladies’ restroom and let them try and sort out what happened next …
So I did!
I hope you enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations that beset them on their sometimes rocky path to love.
Nina xx
How to Bag
a Billionaire
Nina Milne
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
NINA MILNE has always dreamt of writing for Mills & Boon
—ever since as a child she discovered stacks of Mills & Boon
books ‘hidden’ in the airing cupboard. She graduated from playing libraries to reading the books, and has now realised her dream of writing them.
Along the way she found a happy-ever-after of her own, accumulating a superhero of a husband, three gorgeous children, a cat with character and a real library … Well, lots of bookshelves.
Before achieving her dream of working from home creating happy-ever-afters whilst studiously avoiding any form of actual housework, Nina put in time as both an accountant and a recruitment consultant. She figures the lack of romance in her previous jobs is now balancing out.
After a childhood spent in Peterlee (UK), Rye (USA), Winchester (UK) and Paris (France), Nina now lives in Brighton (UK), and has vowed never to move again!! Unless, of course, she runs out of bookshelves. Though there is always the airing cupboard …
HOW TO BAG A BILLIONAIRE is Nina Milne’s debut for Modern Tempted™!
This title is also available in ebook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For my husband, Sandy, and our children,
Jack, Harmony and Harry.
Thank you for putting up with me whilst I wrote this book.
It probably wasn’t easy.
Contents
Cover (#u54a1bc5e-d93a-5da9-8c6a-f0d93d9ddb57)
Introduction (#u319e2ba9-1a4b-518d-9465-bb7f189ac6c1)
Dear Reader (#ulink_ce5b0d3e-ecc4-5571-a3fa-f951eee313cd)
Title Page (#u26433e20-00c3-5e3b-a5f3-4e28cf9c7bd3)
About the Author (#u0f470547-badd-559f-85d0-138c8d0e560d)
Dedication (#ua4c9f1cd-3329-50ef-9102-87d871749ad6)
Prologue (#ulink_2f3cc802-7b73-58f8-8b83-56faea1891fc)
Chapter One (#ulink_9c7fe24d-048e-5bd5-aec9-f1c0f8c7a35a)
Chapter Two (#ulink_227a9fe4-0cce-571d-8067-80820482da2d)
Chapter Three (#ulink_3fafd9f9-18b1-55e5-9879-2eff1a48ef8f)
Chapter Four (#ulink_ae97c957-bc11-5d00-a772-c6290cb7e50e)
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)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
PROLOGUE (#ulink_d3e916b6-1347-571a-ad42-62478bc332ec)
August edition. Glossip magazine
Today’s advice column is for all you gold-diggers out there.
How to bag a billionaire in six easy steps.
Looking for a lifestyle change?
Down on your luck?
Don’t despair! How about you bag yourself a billionaire?
OK, ladies—here’s how you do it:
1. Identify your target:
He needs to be loaded and he needs to be single—and wouldn’t it be a bonus if he were drop-dead gorgeous, as well? Too much to hope for? Not today. Because we have done some digging and found a dream target for you. Drumroll, please... We give you Mr Adam Masterson, Founder and CEO of Masterson Hotels. Richer than rich and sexier than sin.
2. Discover what he likes in a woman:
We’ve done some research and it wasn’t easy, folks. Adam Masterson is a bit of a dark horse. But the good news is that over the past years he has been seen about town with a variety of types. Blonde or dark. Small or tall... This field is open to all. Adam Masterson’s only criteria is beauty: the man likes his ladies easy on the eye.
3. Adjust yourself accordingly:
Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble... Lotions, potions, get on with the motions! Start beautifying, ladies.
4. Work out your target’s routine:
This is a tough one. Adam Masterson has no routine—Paris one day, London the next. But we have it on good authority that his swish flagship hotel might be the place to start.
5. Waylay target:
Time to find your inner minx and cook up some schemes.
6. Seduce target:
Over to you...
Adam Masterson is out there. He is worth billions and he is worth bagging. Who will bag him first?
Happy Hunting!
ONE (#ulink_2d064c15-041e-57f5-8521-aa80ac90e3f9)
She could get arrested for this.
The thought pounded her temples as Olivia Evans glanced around the dark and thankfully deserted London alleyway at the back of Masterson Mayfair, the flagship of Masterson Enterprises hotel portfolio.
Why had she thought gatecrashing one of London’s most exclusive parties was a good idea?
A bead of perspiration prickled her forehead. Swiping it away with an impatient gesture, she pressed her lips together hard. This was a good idea because it was the only idea left. It was imperative that she see Adam Masterson before he gallivanted off on yet another business trip. She had tried every conventional method of contacting him, but the man was more closely guarded than the president of the United States. There was every possibility his PA doubled as Head of National Security.
Desperate times called for desperate measures; hence Operation Break and Enter.
Olivia hauled in a breath; with any luck that would push the panic down. One final glance around and, standing on her tote bag, she applied herself to the task of picking the window lock. Amazing how some childhood skills didn’t desert you. Even those learnt from one of the more unsavoury of her mother’s boyfriends. The thought of her mother had her shoving the hooked pick deeper into the lock until she felt it butt into the mechanism; she would not give up now.
Nerves knotted inside her before giving way to a buzz of exhilarated relief as the lock gave. Pocketing the pick, she pulled the window open, then jumped off the tote bag. She thrust the bag through the gap a minute later.
So far, so good. Her reconnaissance of the hotel had been spot-on; the room she had chosen as an access point was a small conference room which wouldn’t be in use tonight as the hotel was being exclusively given over to a charity gala. Hosted by Adam Masterson. Finally she had him in her sights.
She scrambled up onto the window ledge and her nerves retied themselves right back up. What her recon hadn’t bargained for was the size of the window gap.
Logic. Angles. Weight. Mass distribution. Those were the things to focus on—because, come hell or high water, Olivia would get inside. Never mind that it looked to be physically impossible.
So should she wriggle in forwards on her tummy or try to get in backwards? There were so many things that could go wrong: she could get stuck, she could fall into the arms of a waiting security guard... Maybe this wasn’t such a brilliant idea.
But if she gave up now then she wouldn’t get a chance to talk to Adam Masterson.
That was unacceptable.
Good thing she was flexible.
* * *
Adam Masterson perched on the edge of his security officer’s desk and scowled at the CCTV footage of the woman balanced on the windowsill.
What the hell was she doing? Apart from an excellent impersonation of Catwoman. Dressed completely in black, with a beanie pulled low over her forehead, it was impossible even to know her hair colour.
More to the point, who the hell was she? Journalist? Photographer? Wishful thinking... He’d already arranged publicity for the event. Which meant here was yet another hopeful player in the new party game Bag a Billionaire. Bad enough that he knew the ballroom would soon be awash with legitimate guests scheming how to waylay him over the canapés. At least they’d paid for the privilege, with the money going to a more than worthy cause.
Tendrils of memory threatened and he cut them off before they could take hold. He’d had his daily surfeit of grim memories already today, following his earlier conversation with his ex-wife and the news that she was remarrying. He was happy for Charlotte, but the exchange had brought back recollections of a time in his life he was less than proud of. Way less.
