Manhattan Millionaire’s Cinderella

He was much too dangerous.

Lethal…to her.

What if he was behind her father’s disappearance? Her father was a former employee.

“I need more time.” Already having dismissed her, he glanced over her head at the New York skyline visible through the wide expanse of glass of one wall. “Three days.” Gold flecks in his eyes glittered, then he crashed the phone down, tension riddling his broad shoulders as he let out a deep breath of frustration. He strode to the door, paused, and tossed over his shoulder. “Think it over, Ms. McLowsky.”

“Why?”

“Because … er … you’ve got the stellar qualifications stipulated for the position.”

She shook her head, and a curl dared play fickle at her temple. She batted it away with the back of her hand, and resisted the temptation he dangled before her. “I’m flattered, but—”

“No flattery intended.” He laughed. It sounded like a snort and made her bristle with indignation. “Cold, hard cash. Plenty of it.” About to step across the threshold, he paused in stride, one foot firmly set on her turf, the other about to land in his office.

“How much?” Nina blushed to the roots of her hair knotted at her nape. Had she actually uttered those words? She swallowed. Okay, he was serving up a deal that didn’t cross a girl’s desk every day.

Wouldn’t hurt to get the particulars, would it? It could be her ticket out of a nine to five and enable her to open her lingerie boutique before her thirtieth birthday which was just months away. She’d achieve financial independence and go full force after the creepola who lured her father away, leaving her mother a broken heap.

Nina took a breath and shook herself from her lapse into the past. Removing her glasses, she blinked at Cade’s back, and a funny sensation fluttered in her stomach. She ignored it. Mustn’t skip lunch again.

Working through lunch and after hours afforded her time to search for answers. Now, here was the boss handing her a prime opportunity to get them. She propped her eyeglasses back on her nose. Being linked to Cade Sloan would give her access to confidential files that might give her the coup to her father’s whereabouts.

Would she dare? And if she did, could she go through with it?

Her palms grew moist, and she swiped them on her loose fitting dress.

A nervous giggle slipped between her lips. Would it be so awful, if it got her closer to her goal?

But what if you fall for him? She rolled her eyes. Not a chance in hell.

“Fifty thousand.” Cade turned, setting both feet on the floorboards, and held her gaze.

“Wha-at?” Her mind filled with possibilities before his words had her clambering to refocus.

“Fifty grand.”

“That’s pocket change.” She retorted, surprising herself. She must be dimwitted to even debate this with him. It could explode in her face. But if she sampled, he’d have to up the stakes big time. She did a quick calculation. “That’s not even two per cent of the purse.”

“Name your cut.” He circled her desk like an opponent in the ring, and she caught a whiff of his aftershave. Cool spice.

A rush of air filled her lungs, and she let it hurl out in a miniature tornado. “Half the take, no sex, and I’m gone right after the ceremony.”

He eyed her like he was going for her jugular. “Sex is a non-negotiable item in this deal.” A guffaw ripped from deep in his throat. “A real marriage is the backer’s price.”

Nina grasped the mug between her hands, gulped several mouthfuls of the now lukewarm coffee and plunked it back on the coaster. The black brew sloshed the sides of the cup, but didn’t spill. She picked up a pencil and tapped it on the desktop. She hadn’t worked for Cade Sloan without learning a thing or two about savvy —make that cutthroat—business wheeling and dealing. She cleared her throat. “Fifty percent, one night of s-s-se—”

“With me.” He grinned, and from her vantage it looked like a leer.

She ignored the hit. “After the ring’s on my finger, one night with y-y-ou, and then I’m gone.”

“Hasta la vista, babe?” He winked. She nodded. She couldn’t speak.

Her heart squeezed itself into a fist. She must be nuts to engage in this deal with him. She had to find another way to fund her search…support her mother, herself, pay the PI, get answers, find her father.

“Works for me.” He rolled up his sleeves and flexed his arms.

“It does?” She let herself consider her future husband-to-be. He was well built and tanned…must be all that trekking around constructions sites. The August heat branded his brown hair with sunlight, and she wondered how soft—

She paled in comparison, being cooped indoors with the air conditioning. Add to that her frumpy clothes, chunky shoes, eyeglasses and a hairstyle that’d gone out with the wagon train, and no one would give her a second look.

A quiver of a smile brushed her mouth. Beneath her outer garments, lace and silk sheathed her curves, but that was her secret. And that’s how she liked it, how she planned it.

“Mmm,” Cade murmured, a predator cornering his prey. No sweat with this deal. He’d charm the money from her, which was technically his anyway, and then unload her.

Cade dismissed the stab of his conscience.

For her trouble, she’d be tripping along with pocketfuls of cash as per his original offer. A slight easing around his heart. She’d collect on the rings too. She’d be set to go.

You schmuck. He shrugged. He’d been called worse.

“No regrets?” he asked, wondering why he bothered to voice the query.

“I’ll let you know.” She toyed with the pencil between her fingers, not meeting his eyes.

Chuckling, he bridged the distance between them and set his coffee mug next to hers. He was back on the playing field. Rebuilding the company would save hundreds of jobs and create new ones on the home front and overseas. He had nothing to feel guilty about, did he?

He loomed over her, so close he could smell her perfume—exotic blossoms of some kind. It knocked his senses into gear. “Take a memo, Ms. McLowsky.”

She adjusted her eyeglasses and risked a peek at him from above the lenses.

He flashed her a wolfish smile. “Our merger goes into effect tomorrow.”

CHAPTER TWO (#u86368cde-e298-503a-9cbb-f446597e3905)

“Tomorrow?” Nina plunked her hands on the computer keys, short-circuiting the flow of power and filling the screen with gibberish.

“Yep.” Cade grunted, holding her hostage with his gaze.

Nina tapped the delete button and cleared the monitor, thankful that he didn’t get a visual of the screen. She sighed, relieved, before a sliver of fear pierced her. She didn’t like that look in his eye. She should have known it by now; that cunning, ‘take no prisoners’ mentality that had launched him into the mega millions bracket virtually over night crossed over into his personal life. And now he had ensnared her.

He could get any woman he wanted, why choose her?

And why had she consented?

Couldn’t she just delete the foolish agreement she made with her boss? Surely he wouldn’t hold her to it. All she had to do was rescind—

“Not having second thoughts already?” he asked, his tone a challenge.