The Tycoon's Make-Believe Fiancée Page 0,5

then decided it would be a good idea. She was the ideal candidate. She was smart, beautiful and able to handle herself under pressure. And what was more, he liked her. He genuinely thought she was an interesting person. There was also the added benefit that she was smoking hot! His body definitely liked the idea he was about to offer her.

“Let’s have some lunch,” he commanded arrogantly and stood up, walking around his desk.

Miranda stared at his back, startled to notice how broad his shoulders were. “Excuse me?” she asked, standing up as well but not really moving except for her eyes which followed him. She honestly wasn’t sure if her eyes were shooting daggers into his well-muscled back or if she were wondering what he looked like naked. Okay, she was doing both, but one was probably more likely than the other, she told herself.

“I have a proposition for you, but I’m hungry. So I’m taking you to lunch. Grab your purse and let’s go,” he told her and left his office.

Miranda wanted to throw something at the arrogant man but settled for sneering at him once she was alone. Knowing that she didn’t really have a choice because he wasn’t just her boss but, literally, everyone’s boss, she walked out of his office, her hands fisted by her sides so she couldn’t grab something as she walked by. She was fairly certain he wouldn’t overlook her beaming him with that ridiculous silver blob thing on his coffee table. She’d be fired for sure.

She exited his office, intending to go to her own office and get her coat and purse. But she found him standing by his assistant’s desk talking about something completely different so she just moseyed back to her desk and sat down. She had her purse ready, but she refused to stand beside him waiting like some pathetic minion until the man was ready to leave. She’d been working hard for the past three days, had only gone home last night to shower and change clothes, and come to think of it, that had been this morning and not last night, so she was tired, irritated, had a lot of work to catch up on since the horrible man demanded that these reports be completed in an unreasonable amount of time after the data was available and, well, the truth was, she was just plain stubborn. It had gotten her into trouble in the past, but she still hadn’t fixed that particular quirk of her personality.

It took about ten minutes before he finally came looking for her. She was only down the hallway a bit so it wasn’t like he had to search hard for her. But he stood in her office doorway, looking like some sort of an enormous, avenging god and she couldn’t help it when her stomach did a few flip flops.

“Ready to go?” she asked brightly, ignoring the menacing glower he was directing towards her.

Royston glared down at the woman, wondering if she realized how much trouble she was in. Then he remembered what he needed her for and he tamped down his irritation. “Ready,” he replied as politely as his temper would allow. He suppressed the urge to add the words, “Get your adorable butt moving,” because he didn’t think this defiant beauty would react well to that command.

Maybe once he knew her better, he might say something like that, just to see what kind of explosion occurred afterwards. He actually liked the idea of this little woman exploding around him. A lot!

His assistant had gotten them a table at the restaurant just down the block so he waved his driver, who was standing beside a long, black limousine just outside the doors to the building, aside and ignored the body guard that was hanging back several feet. Since she was a bit slower than he cared for, he put a hand to the small of her back, urging her to move more quickly. That lasted for maybe two hundred yards before she came to a complete standstill.

When he turned to inquire what the issue was, he saw the fury in her eyes and his body instantly reacted to it. He’d never had this strong and instant of a reaction to a woman before and it was both disturbing and enticing. “What’s wrong?”

She almost sputtered but she couldn’t do that because she couldn’t even catch her breath. “What’s wrong?” she finally got out. “Where’s the fire? What’s the ridiculous rush?”