The Tycoon's Make-Believe Fiancée Page 0,3

going but her feet refused to shift properly, it was inevitable that she would almost fall over the chair in front of his desk.

She groaned and slapped her hand over her now-bruised knee. “What are you doing here?” she snapped, then instantly regretted her outburst when she saw the dark eyebrow move upwards.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she replied, immediately trying to look contrite. “That was rude of me.” She was trying to scurry out of his office but it was hard when her feet were still in not-wanting-to-cooperate mode.

“Stop,” Royston called out.

When the woman immediately froze, he watched her, fascinated. She really was a stunning woman. Her dark brown hair curled softly around her delicate features, and her green eyes sparkled. Of course, at that moment, their sparkle was probably something he should be offended by, but he was only amused. He also liked those full red lips, which were currently drawn in a thin line as she tried to keep from snapping at him again. He’d seen her several times in the hallways, and had always been struck by her beauty, but he’d never taken the time to really look at her. He’d always been too busy, getting to another meeting or contemplating his next move that would completely vanquish his latest enemy.

Royston loved business, loved building up his empire and controlling more and more companies. And he was extremely good at it. He also ruled his empire with an iron fist, not allowing any slack. When employees did not live up to his very high expectations, they were gone. He paid his employees extremely well and expected them to perform to his exacting standards.

So despite his passing interest in this woman, he hadn’t taken the time to really look at her, other than to appreciate her beauty from a distance as he went about his business.

But now, he took a long moment to really look at her, to take in all the lushness of her lips, her slender but round in all the right places figure and he was more than a little intrigued. “I’m assuming that’s the financial report with last quarter’s figures?” he asked her smoothly, coming closer so he could see her better.

“Yes, sir,” Miranda replied, wishing she could just run and hide. The rest of the women in this office thought he was the “cat’s meow”, gushing about how sexy he was, how tall he was and how they would all drop their husbands if he crooked his little finger in their direction.

But Miranda wasn’t impressed. He might be sexy as sin, but all that handsomeness was the public façade of a man who was just horrible! His entire executive staff was terrified of his wrath, of not meeting his expectations. If rumors were true, he would sit in the meetings and tell his directors what results he wanted them to bring in for the next year or quarter or month and they would kill themselves to achieve those results.

This was the first time she’d ever interacted with the man face to face. She was hard pressed to keep her mouth shut, and not berate him for being such a horrible person towards all his employees.

“The report is late,” he said very succinctly. He stopped when he was about two feet from her, his eyes moving over her lovely features. His mind was less concerned with the report and wondering if her very pale, very smooth skin burned with the slightest touch of the sun. Or would she turn a delicate shade of tan?

Her lips were slightly chapped, he noticed. From kissing her husband or boyfriend? He instantly dismissed that idea, not wanting this woman to be encumbered by a relationship with another man.

“Yes, it is a few minutes late. But I think you’ll find that the information is accurate and….” She tried to come up with another benefit, but he moved closer to her and her brain just fizzled to a stop. “What are you doing?” she asked when he moved even closer to her, not sure why her voice was barely above a whisper. Or why the man smelled so….incredible!

“What’s your name?” he demanded.

Miranda blinked, not sure why he needed to know her name. “Am I about to be fired? Because if that’s the case, I think I’ll just keep my name to myself.”

He couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped at her obvious attempt to hide from his wrath. “I’ll find out anyway.”

Her eyes accidentally dropped to his firm, thin lips but she