The Millionaire's Virgin. Anne MatherЧитать онлайн книгу.
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Mills & Boon is proud to present a fabulous collection of fantastic novels by bestselling, much loved author
ANNE MATHER
Anne has a stellar record of achievement within the
publishing industry, having written over one hundred
and sixty books, with worldwide sales of more than
forty-eight MILLION copies in multiple languages.
This amazing collection of classic stories offers a chance
for readers to recapture the pleasure Anne’s powerful,
passionate writing has given.
We are sure you will love them all!
I’ve always wanted to write—which is not to say I’ve always wanted to be a professional writer. On the contrary, for years I only wrote for my own pleasure and it wasn’t until my husband suggested sending one of my stories to a publisher that we put several publishers’ names into a hat and pulled one out. The rest, as they say, is history. And now, one hundred and sixty-two books later, I’m literally—excuse the pun—staggered by what’s happened.
I had written all through my infant and junior years and on into my teens, the stories changing from children’s adventures to torrid gypsy passions. My mother used to gather these manuscripts up from time to time, when my bedroom became too untidy, and dispose of them! In those days, I used not to finish any of the stories and Caroline, my first published novel, was the first I’d ever completed. I was newly married then and my daughter was just a baby, and it was quite a job juggling my household chores and scribbling away in exercise books every chance I got. Not very professional, as you can imagine, but that’s the way it was.
These days, I have a bit more time to devote to my work, but that first love of writing has never changed. I can’t imagine not having a current book on the typewriter—yes, it’s my husband who transcribes everything on to the computer. He’s my partner in both life and work and I depend on his good sense more than I care to admit.
We have two grown-up children, a son and a daughter, and two almost grown-up grandchildren, Abi and Ben. My e-mail address is [email protected] and I’d be happy to hear from any of my wonderful readers.
The Millionaire’s Virgin
Anne Mather
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
EPILOGUE
THE man sitting at the table wasn’t Martin Price.
Paige’s stomach hollowed and she glanced blankly at the waiter who was escorting her across the restaurant. There’d been some mistake. Martin’s shoulders weren’t as broad, his skin wasn’t as dark, and his fair curls bore no resemblance to the thick black hair that erupted in rough splendour over the rim of white collar that was visible above his charcoal tailoring.
She was about to make her protest when the man rose to his feet and turned to face her. ‘Ah, Paige,’ he said, as her legs threatened to slip out from under her. ‘How good of you to come.’
Paige didn’t know what to do; what to say. There had been a mistake. She saw that now. And she’d made it. She’d believed she was coming here to meet her ex-fiancé, but it was obvious that that had only been a ploy on someone’s part to get her here. She turned frantically to the waiter but he was already walking away, and although she badly wanted to follow him people were watching them and she was too much of a coward to make a scene.
‘Won’t you sit down?’ he said, indicating the chair opposite. His lips parted in a thin smile. ‘It’s good to see you again.’
Paige hesitated. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘You will.’ His dark eyes narrowed between lashes that had always been absurdly long for a man. ‘If you’ll give me a few minutes of your time.’
‘Why should I?’ Paige was panicking now, but she couldn’t help it.
‘Oh, I think you owe me considerably more than that,’ he remarked, his expression hardening. ‘Please—’ It was hardly a request. ‘Sit down.’
Paige drew in a breath but unless she wanted to embarrass herself she didn’t have a lot of choice. Still, it was with evident reluctance that she subsided into the chair across the table, wrapping her hands about the purse in her lap as if it provided a lifeline.
‘Good.’ Having succeeded in his objective, he resumed his seat just as the wine waiter arrived at his elbow. ‘Now, what will you have to drink?’
He was drinking wine, she noticed. Red wine that reflected the light from the chandeliers above their heads and gave off a ruby brilliance. She was tempted to join him; she loved wine and he knew it, but she had no intention of giving him any advantage and in her present condition it would probably go straight to her head.
‘Um—just mineral water, please,’ she murmured, after a moment, addressing herself to the waiter, and he gave her a polite little bow before going to attend to her order.
‘Mineral water?’ His tone was mocking now but Paige refused to be intimidated.
‘What do you want, Nikolas?’ she asked, avoiding his sardonic gaze. She didn’t want to look into his eyes again, didn’t want to feel the sudden rush of sexual awareness she’d felt when she’d first realised who he was. ‘Where’s Martin?’
‘He’s not coming.’ He said the words without apology. ‘Ah, here’s your—water.’
Paige gazed at him now, ignoring the waiter completely. ‘What do you mean, he’s not coming?’ she demanded. ‘I think you’d better tell me what’s going on.’
‘Do you?’ His tone was ironic. ‘I gather he didn’t explain the situation when he spoke to you.’
‘No.’
Paige swallowed. She refused to admit that it was Martin’s secretary who had contacted her and arranged this meeting. She’d been so relieved to hear from him again, she hadn’t questioned why, after breaking their