“Ready?” she asked.
Was he ready? His jaw was squeezed tightly in an effort to keep his mouth from hanging open at the sight of this delightfully disheveled groundskeeper.
“Uh…” he managed. “Thank you.”
He followed her back through into the main part of the castle and up a set of stairs to the master bedroom, unable to keep his eyes from wandering over her curves.
“Here we are,” she said and led him into a brightly lit room with a four-poster bed in its center and floor-to ceiling bookcases lining one wall. Aldon was curious as to which titles lined the shelves, as reading was one of his greatest passions. Still, his interest in Piper outranked his preoccupation with books at the moment.
“Does the room seem fitting?” Piper asked.
“Absolutely,” he answered quickly. “Charming, in fact.”
She nodded. “There’s an adjoining bath with all the toiletries you might need. Let me just get some fresh sheets on your bed.”
Piper threw open the closet doors and pulled out a set of creamy white linens.
“You don’t have to do that,” Aldon said. Surely it wasn’t this woman’s job to make his bed.
Although, he had to admit, he’d never really had to make his bed himself before. His staff had always done it for him.
“It’s no hassle,” she replied and shot him a warm smile. “I want you to be comfortable. You seem a bit stressed. Hopefully while you’re here, you can just relax and feel pampered.”
Suddenly, Aldon was overcome by Piper’s kindness. A warm glow lit him up from the inside as he considered her empathy. Not only was this woman drop-dead gorgeous, but she was good-hearted.
An image of the always-flawless Carrie slid into his mind’s eye. She never looked messy or disheveled, but then she never had any reason to. She’d grown up with staff catering to her every whim. It wouldn’t ever cross her mind to make her own bed, much less make one up for anyone else.
Piper, with her cute, mud-streaked cheeks and authentic smile, seemed to genuinely enjoy helping others. She was so unlike his ex-fiancée, and, at the moment, this made her extremely attractive, even with her dirty face.
“There you go,” she said and smoothed down the bedclothes with one hand. “I just need to get the comforter.”
“Uh, Piper,” he said.
“Yes?”
“You have something on your cheeks.”
Her hand flew to her face, and she started to laugh, a bright sound that lit Aldon up from the inside.
“Occupational hazard,” she said and used a handkerchief to dust off the remaining dry mud. “Better?” she asked him.
“Yes,” he said, but thought to himself that Piper looked amazing no matter what. A little mud couldn’t hide the kind of beauty she possessed. For a split second, he wondered what it would be like to be with her—wrapped up in the fresh sheets she’d just stretched over the bed.
Stop.
He was here for solitude, not for a romp with a ravishing redhead.
“I’ll grab the comforter,” she said, her sweet voice dripping like honey over the bitterness of his current circumstances.
He forced a smile and swallowed, because he had the distinct feeling that this attraction he felt toward Piper was going to be an ongoing problem.
A very interesting problem.
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BLURB
Romance novelist Brandy Jackson is not a one-night-stand kind of girl, but with Maximillian Benton, she’s willing to make an exception. Big mistake. Turns out, the charming, handsome man with a sexy British accent is a jerk who’s only interested in laying claim to Landon Castle, the inheritance Brandy received when her beloved grandmother died. But apparently through a cheating attorney, the castle was purchased at auction by Max. When a judge orders them to both live at the castle until the legal matter is resolved, Brandy reluctantly agrees. As big as the castle is, it turns out to be too small for her and Max, who find themselves spending more and more time together. And even though Brandy knows Max isn’t her happily-ever-after, when the heat becomes too much she still gives in to her passion. Bigger mistake. Now she’s pregnant.
Max’s motives for wanting the castle are simple: revenge. A billionaire software designer, Max was swindled by the man who owned the castle, and now it’s sweet payback owning the thing his nemesis loved most. So when his plans are sent awry by a pretty American, he has no choice but to dig in his heels and make sure the castle remains his. Max tries, rather desperately, to ignore his attraction to Brandy and the way his heart expands whenever they’re together. Despite his cynicism about love, he can’t help wondering if Brandy might be different from all the other women he’s met. But when he believes he’s been duped by her sweet smile and sexy body, Max all too readily decides ending what they have is for the best. Happily ever after just isn’t for him. But he can’t shake the feeling he may have lost the best thing in his life…
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EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
Chapter One
Max Benton had come to the Grand Abby Hotel in York on business, not pleasure—but that didn’t mean temptation didn’t have a way of happening.
These days, it was almost always business with him. Either he was sprinting to finish coding a security program to faultlessness, or he was enjoying the company of a woman. Tonight, sitting at the hotel bar with his laptop open and an Old Fashioned on his right, he was just settling into the former when the latter walked through the door.
Don’t look, Max warned himself. Look up and it’s over for you. You may as well kiss your deadline goodbye.
He massaged his lower lip thoughtfully with one rough finger, then cursed. He didn’t need to be thinking in terms of kisses. He had seen an incredible pair of legs enter the bar out of the corner of his eye, and he’d immediately barred himself from looking beyond that. The telltale click of heels heralded the woman’s approach. She sat down several stools away and sighed wearily. He didn’t look up. When she placed her order with the bartender in a pleasant, throaty voice, he didn’t look up. But when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed those long, lean legs cross themselves beneath the bar, and that black skirt rise up to expose several more inches of thigh…
He looked. He was helpless not to. He kept his glance brief, drinking in everything he could of his fellow bar patron before turning back to his screen. Suddenly, he became aware of his own heartbeat, his blood pumping in his ears. She was more than he might have expected even in his wildest (and crudest) imaginings—she was a stunner, a knockout, a raven-haired beauty with a body that would make a photographer for Playboy blush. She carried herself casually, as if she wasn’t at all aware of herself or the effect she would have on any watching hot-blooded male, and her unassuming demeanor only made that blood of his run hotter.
She jounced one ankle beneath the bar, cheek pillowed in one softly-closed palm, as she pored over a set of documents she had unearthed from her briefcase. She didn’t appear to notice him there, but appearances could be deceiving. She could be playing the same game he was, both players abiding by unspoken rules.