In The Billionaire's Bed

In The Billionaire's Bed
SARA WOOD

He's bedded her…but will he wed her?Catherine can't believe her late landlady has left the manor to workaholic Zach Talent! He may be handsome, but he makes it perfectly clear that he was Catherine off his new property. However, their stormy encounter arouses passion of another kind–and soon she's sharing his bed!But despite the explosive desire between them, Zach insists that this must be a no-strings affair. Catherine knows that she's in love with the man who exists beneath Zach's tough exterior…and to be his mistress is better than to be nothing to him at all….

“Let’s make a deal. You must be used to those. You must understand, Zach—there must be something in this for me. Otherwise, I’m off.”

He looked down at her, reluctant to grant any favors. But she knew that his love for his son would win the day.

“Done!” he said decisively. “But let’s get this clear. It’s just for a month.”

“Agreed.”

“No riotous parties.”

“No.”

Had he come a step closer? It seemed the gap between them had filled with a thick and electrifying heat.

“Next weekend, as part of your duties…I thought…maybe a boat trip.”

She closed her eyes and nodded dumbly. And then she felt something brush her lips. Something warm. Soft yet firm. Every fiber of her being was crying out for Zach to touch her, hold her and make passionate love to her….

She’s his in the bedroom, but he can’t buy her love…

The ultimate fantasy becomes a reality.

Live the dream with more MISTRESS TO A MILLIONAIRE titles by some of your favorite Harlequin Presents

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In the Billionaire’s Bed

Sara Wood

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

‘HI, EVERYONE.’

Catherine tried to sound bright but failed. As she eased her narrow boat alongside Tom’s massive Dutch barge she could see from her friends’ faces that the rumours she’d heard in Saxonbury town were probably true.

Tom, Steve, Nick and Dudley rose from the spacious well of the foredeck, looking alarmingly sympathetic. That made things worse. Her stomach did an impromptu roll of its own accord.

Now she had to face the fact that if Tresanton Island had been sold then her immediate future lay in the hands of the new owner.

Turning her head, she looked back longingly at the beautiful island further up river. She’d had no legal right to be there, even though she’d had the mooring for the past three years. That hadn’t mattered with the tolerant and genial Edith Tresanton as her landlady. But ever since Edith’s death there had been an air of uncertainty about her situation.

Willing hands caught the ropes she tossed. Hitching up her long skirt, she let The Boys—as she called them—haul her on board. Her gypsy-black pre-Raphaelite hair escaped from its binding and she deftly fastened it again, her sweet, fragile-boned face an unusual pallor.

‘Been talking about you,’ Tom said in greeting. ‘Cuppa?’

She shook her head and perched apprehensively on the deck lid. Steve gave her a friendly kiss and wasted no time getting to the point.

‘You know the island’s got a new owner?’ he asked anxiously.

Her heart sank. ‘I suspected it. That means I could be in trouble,’ she said, her hopes disappearing into her tiny size three’s. She rubbed suddenly damp palms on the thin cotton of her flowing skirt. ‘What do you know?’ she asked. ‘Have the people moved in? I didn’t see a car on the bank when I came past.’

‘Removal van’s been and gone. Local traders say a bossy, yuppie London woman’s taken it over,’ Tom answered, spiralling Catherine’s spirits down still further. ‘Fancy yuk-yellow sports car, all chrome and turbo thrust and so’s she. City suit, egg-whisk hair, killer heels and an elaborately painted face.’

‘Not exactly a kindred spirit,’ she muttered.

She’d hoped that a nature lover would buy Tresanton Island. Who else would want somewhere so isolated, so rural? A nature lover would have liked having narrow boats around. Would have considered it romantic. The new owner didn’t sound as if she’d be too empathetic.

‘Yeah. Not our sort—or Edith’s,’ he grunted. ‘A really bossy type. She’s moved her stuff in and cleaned everyone out of expensive gourmet provisions—after screeching with shock-horror because Saxonbury doesn’t stock wheat grass.’ He grinned. ‘Some bright spark directed her to a field for the grass and she went ballistic, calling him an ignorant peasant! That’s all we know.’

Catherine managed a smile then released a huge breath of resignation. It sounded as though there would definitely be changes to the island—and to Edith’s house. The manor’s charming, countrified air would probably be transformed with the addition of a stainless steel kitchen and futuristic technology. And the island laid to lawn.

But what of her? Her wistful gaze lingered on her boat’s scarlet cabin roof cluttered with flower boxes, assorted chimneys and narrow boat paraphernalia. Traditional in style and wonderfully cosy, the narrow boat had been the ideal solution for somewhere cheap to live and work in an expensive area. In all her twenty-six years she’d never felt so insecure.