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The Boss: A Cozy Romance 78
‘AREN’T you going to the gym any more?’ Rhiannon asked two days later. ‘This is the third day in a row you’ve missed.’ Georgie scrubbed at her red eyes. ‘I don’t want to run into Ben-Break- Your-Heart Blackwood,’ she said. ‘I’m going to switch my membership to another gym.’ ‘Poor you,’ Rhiannon said, as she stroked Georgie’s head. ‘He really did a good job on you, didn’t he?’ Georgie blew her nose and tucked the sodden tissue into her bra, joining the others for a lumpy potato effect. ‘I’m so dumb when it comes to dating,’ she said. ‘I’m not going on another date for siX months, I swear it.’ ‘That’s a long time, Georgie.’ ‘I don’t care,’ she said as she got to her feet. ‘If I so much as look at a man with a view to dating him, I’m going to donate a thousand dollars to the hospital research foundation … no, make that five thousand dollars. That should make me think twice before I fall into the same trap again.’ ‘Wow, that’s a lot of money,’ Rhiannon said. Georgie set her shoulder
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 1
WHAT ON EARTH WAS SHE DOING HERE? The helicopter swooped low over the trees and Grace felt her stomach roll. Beneath her lay acres and acres of lush tropical rainforest, the canopy forming a dense green umbrella that sheltered and concealed the exotic mysteries of the forest floor. At any other time she would have been captivated by the wild, breathtaking beauty of her surroundings, but she was far too tense to think about anything except the meeting that lay ahead of her. The meeting and the man. What on earth was she doing dressed in this ridiculously hot, scratchy suit, flying over the top of the Brazilian rainforest to throw herself at the mercy of a man who apparently didn’t know the meaning of the word? Rafael Cordeiro. Brilliant, dangerous, damaged. So many words came to mind when thinking of him, none of them tame or soothing. Shockingly wealthy and wielding more power than kings and presidents, he was reputedly so clever with figures that the financial press had likened h
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 2
The tropical heat made her suit stick to her body and suddenly she realised just how woefully ill-prepared she was to meet this man. She wasn’t even comfortable in her clothes. Stooping to free the spindly heel of her shoe from the careless bite of the wooden planks beneath her feet, Grace clutched the briefcase in her hand and suddenly wished she’d gone over the figures one more time in the helicopter.But what difference would that have made? With the help of her father, she’d committed them to memory. There was nothing in her briefcase that wasn’t already fiXed in her mind.Jerking her shoe from the jaws of the walkway, she regained her balance and straightened.And saw him.He stood directly in front of her, as dark and dangerous as anything that might have prowled out of the jungle, his body completely still, his eyes watchful.And he was watching her.Entirely unprepared for the physical impact of the man, Grace ceased to breathe. The helicopter, the rainforest and all her
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 3
Grace turned her head and squinted into the dense forest that surrounded them. With the helicopter gone she was suddenly aware of the constant background noise that enveloped them. Jungle sounds. Yelps, calls, shrieks, chirping and warbling. It was as if the whole forest was alive. ‘It sounds as though someone is being murdered out there.’ Laughter in her eyes, she looked back at him, seeking to build an emotional connection and falling at the first hurdle.There was no connection. No answering smile. And it was impossible to know what he was thinking because his face revealed none of his thoughts.‘You’re afraid of the jungle, Miss Thacker?’ His tone was less than encouraging. ‘Or is it something else that is making you nervous?’Something else? Like the fact that her whole life was on the verge of being ground into the dust, perhaps, or the fact that she was alone in the rainforest with a man who obviously disliked the entire human race?There were so many things to make her ner
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 4
This was her baby, she reminded herself. She had all the answers she was going to need. ‘People who come into our cafés are given far more than a shot of caffeine. For as long as it takes them to drink their coffee or eat their lunch, they’re transported to Brazil. With your initial investment we opened twenty coffee shops across London. We’re ready to open more, but not if you withdraw your support …’ She broke off and rose to her feet, needing to pace. She couldn’t sit across the table looking at that handsome face. She couldn’t concentrate. ‘Do you mind if I walk around? I’m not great at sitting at tables and if I only have a short time I have to be comfortable or I won’t be able to make the most of it.’His sardonic gaze slid to her feet. ‘Frankly I’m amazed you can stand, let alone walk around. I see you gave careful thought to the footwear that would be most appropriate for a visit to the rainforest.’Trying to keep her thoughts together, she refused to allow his sarcasm to un
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 5
He was a billionaire. Surely the fact that she hadn’t yet given him a financial return on his investment couldn’t be that much of a problem? ‘I realise that you’ve given us an enormous sum of money but we will pay it back with interest as the business grows. I’d really appreciate an opportunity to go through the figures with you and show you our plans. I really hope that when I’ve given you a full picture of where we’re going with Café Brazil, you’ll agree to extend your investment.’‘Why would I do that?’‘Because you’ll see that it’s worth it for you.’ She lifted her briefcase onto the table. ‘If you withdraw your investment then the company goes under, it’s as simple as that. And if the company goes under—’‘You lose your enviable lifestyle.’She frowned slightly, thinking of the fourteen-hour days she’d been putting into the business. Was that what he meant? ‘I’m certainly lucky to have a business that I love,’ she said, venturing a smile and then withdrawing it instantly as s
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 6
THE sunlight poured through the windows and Rafael Cordeiro watched as the colour fled from her cheeks.Your game’s up, beauty, he said to himself, wondering how she could have been so naïve as to think that he wouldn’t discover what was going on in her company. Not that she hadn’t been clever, because she had. The numbers added up. Most people wouldn’t have spotted what he had.Most people didn’t have his lack of faith in human nature.At first glance her accounts appeared to reveal nothing more than a business that was slow to get off the ground. And her apparent desire to be friendly and chatty was a strategy that might well have succeeded with a man less cynical and experienced with her sex than him. Grace Thacker came across as engaging, enthusiastic and refreshingly open.A different man could have been impressed by her admission of disappointment that her business should have been in profit by now.A different man might have allowed himself to believe in her innocence.It
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 7
‘I hadn’t planned on sightseeing.’‘I’m talking about visiting the fazenda. The coffee farm that supplies your chain. It’s right that you should know more about the product you sell.’ He watched her carefully but she simply smiled and the smile put dimples in her cheeks and made her seem even younger.‘I couldn’t agree more. I’d love to visit the coffee growers. My father insisted on doing that bit when we originally set up the deal. What a great idea.’Ignoring the dimples and the sudden heat in his loins, Rafael suddenly wanted to laugh.For sheer bald front, you couldn’t fault her. By now she had to be wondering just how much he knew about her and yet there wasn’t even a flicker of guilt in her eyes. Or concern about his proposal to take her deep into the jungle. She just stood there in her perfectly cut Armani suit, balancing on four-inch heels, as if tramping through the Brazilian rainforest was something she’d packed for and which she frequently did in her spare time.She c
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