Flirting With the Boss

Flirting With the Boss
Teresa Southwick

Ashley Gallagher had wished for money and power, then she received a promotion…and a new boss: Max Caine, corporate shark and the first man to break her heart. But Ashley knew better than to trust a bad boy, even one in a suit. Was he in town to destroy his grandfather's company? She'd find out–no matter what it took, even if it meant wining and dining Max while resisting his potent half smiles and sizzling glances.But then the riches of his love began to glitter more temptingly than gold….

“To what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Max asked.

“I’m here to ask you out to dinner.”

He couldn’t have been more shocked if Ashley had walked into his office and started a striptease. “Why?”

“Do I need a reason?” she asked, hedging.

Throwing caution to the wind, he stood and walked around his desk. He was close enough to pull her into his arms. She met his gaze and took several steps back.

“Yeah.” He crossed his arms. “Why don’t you sit down and tell me what information you’re trying to worm out of me?”

She nodded.

As she settled herself, the whisper of her nylons as she crossed one shapely leg over the other sent sparks skipping through him. Her skirt hiked up several inches on her thigh.

She didn’t have to buy him dinner to find out his secrets.

All she had to do was sit there looking like sin-in-waiting.

Flirting With the Boss

Teresa Southwick

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

TERESA SOUTHWICK

lives in Southern California with her hero husband who is more than happy to share with her the male point of view. An avid fan of romance novels, she is delighted to be living out her dream of writing for Silhouette Books.

The Fortune-teller said…

Money and power are not what they seem. Love is the sweetness that brings you your dream.

If the three born on February twenty-ninth rub the magic from the lamp and make a wish—on that day that comes only once every four years—each shall receive her most coveted desire.

But there is peril.

Each of the three must see beyond the evident. Look into the soul of the one her heart has chosen. Only then will she find the truth that is hers alone.

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 One

Sweet Spring, Texas—June 4, 2004

All that glitters…

Is not gold, Ashley Gallagher thought. She stared at the gold-wrapped chocolate coins on her desk—one of Caine Chocolate Company’s specialty items. Bentley Caine, owner, president and her mentor, had recently promoted her to manager of the specialty and seasonal department.

Touching the red ribbon tied around the cellophane package, she thought about the man who was also her friend. He was in the hospital recuperating from a heart attack. After collapsing at work, he’d insisted she contact his estranged grandson.

Max Caine wasn’t the last person she’d wanted to talk to, but he was among the bottom three. Only her respect and affection for his grandfather had compelled her to make the call.

She’d given him the facts. Max had made no attempt to draw out the conversation so she’d said goodbye. That had been two days ago. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected from him, but her expectations hadn’t included nothing. Surely by now Max should have—

“Knock, knock.”

Ashley looked up at the sound of the masculine voice. Her stomach knotted when she recognized the good-looking specimen of manhood in the doorway. Just the man she’d been thinking about. A stress-inducer if she’d ever seen one. Unfortunately she’d seen her share. This one had just been the first.

“Hello, Max.” Her voice was breathless. Considering she’d barely gotten the two words past the constriction in her throat, breathless delivery was a win.

“Ashley.” Max Caine moved into the room. “How are you?”

How brazen was he? Acting as if it had been ten days instead of ten years since she’d last seen him. Swallowing hard, she met his blue-eyed gaze. If only she could say she’d forgotten how blue his eyes were, but she couldn’t. Not if she was truthful.

And darn her heart for thumping so hard. The fact that he was even better looking than the last time she’d seen him was no excuse for this reaction to him. She could only chalk it up to the fact that she was a serial non-dater.

But gosh darn it, Max Caine had actually come back. She hadn’t thought he would. Neither had Mr. Caine. While they’d waited for the paramedics, he’d said he wanted to see his grandson. But he didn’t think Max would come if he did the asking. He’d insisted she make the call to bring Max home. Mission accomplished.

“How am I? How do you think after your grandfather’s heart attack? How is he today?”