The Billionaire Bargain by Lila Monroe

Author:Lila Monroe
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Supernova Publishing
Published: 2015-01-20T05:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

I couldn’t sleep.

I’d tried everything to relax. I wore my comfiest pink silk pajamas festooned with yellow ducks (and Kate’s lingerie under them, which was surprisingly comfortable), and my childhood blanket was wrapped all comfy and toasty around me. Lavender aromatherapy candles were burning around me, suffusing the air with their calming scent. The TV flickered with the light of the DVD menu for my favorite cheesy spy show. A mug of hot chocolate with plenty of milk was in one hand, and a well-worn copy of my favorite romance novel—don’t even ask about the questionable art of a kilted Scotsman with an unexplained Maori tribal tattoo on the cover, please—in the other. I’d even put on the CD of‘soothing nature sounds’ that my folks had gotten me for my last birthday, because it’s never too late to try to distract your daughter from her dream of running a successful business by turning her into a hippie. Birds chirped, leaves rustled, brooks burbled gently.

And I wasn’t even a little bit sleepy.

Maybe because I wasn’t used to getting to bed as early as eleven? I was trying to take it easy, though. I was still in a bit of a tizzy about all the attention Grant had been showing me. He…he couldn’t really be interested in me, right? Or was I being paranoid? Was this just the memory of too many high school assholes and college frat boys who thought it was funny to flirt with the big girl and then laugh with their friends when she took it seriously?

My phone rang, and I snatched it off the sideboard. Maybe it would be Kate and we could talk about—

The caller ID said Grant Devlin.

I flipped it open immediately.“What happened? What did you do? Do the papers know yet, or—”

“Nice to know how high your opinion of me is, Miss Newman,” Grant said dryly.“Can’t a man just be looking for some intelligent conversation with a lovely lady?”

“I’m sure you’ve got six dozen of them on speed-dial,” I shot back, my heart rate slowing down as I processed that the company wasn’t going to tank after my first day in the new job.“Seriously, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” he stressed.“I’m just bored.” His voice took on a pouty tone that I’d bet serious money had brought out the maternal instinct in all his previous relationships.“It’s your fault, you’re the one who’s clipped my wings. I’m housebound now, and there is nothing to do here. You should entertain me.”

I rolled my eyes mightily, wishing he could see it.“Not in my job description.”

I heard a clicking sound, then the background noise shifted. “Did you know how terrible television has become in the last ten years?” Grant mused as if I hadn’t spoken.“It’s heartbreaking.”

“That’s why I only watch the classics.”

“Watching any of those classics tonight? You could come over and watch them in my private theatre.”

“I’ve had my John Steed ration for the night, thanks,” I said, glancing at my own TV screen—doubtless several orders of magnitude smaller

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