The Rogue's Fortune. Cat SchieldЧитать онлайн книгу.
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“Alone at last.”
Roark came up behind her, his breath warm and provocative against her neck.
“I think our engagement party was a success.”
Was that her, sounding breathy and turned on? All night she’d been swamped with the longing to feel his hands on her.
“We achieved what we set out to do. The auction house board knows that beauty has tamed the beast.”
Despite the way his fingers wandered along her waist, with turbulent results, Elizabeth chuckled. “I think I’d characterize you more like the big bad wolf.”
He spun her around so abruptly her mouth opened in a startled huff.
“Then prepare to be gobbled up.”
She knew this was what she needed to guard against. But then his lips captured hers, robbing her of breath, torching her senses, and a wave of longing crashed into her, drowning all thought… .
The Rogue’s Fortune
Cat Schield
CAT SCHIELD has been reading and writing romance since high school. Although she graduated from college with a BA in Business, her idea of a perfect career was writing books for Harlequin Mills & Boon®. And now, after winning the Romance Writers of America 2010 Golden Heart Award for series contemporary romance, that dream has come true.
Cat lives in Minnesota, with her daughter Emily and their Burmese cat. When she’s not writing sexy, romantic stories she can be found sailing with friends on the St Croix River, or in more exotic locales like the Caribbean and Europe. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.catschield.com or follow her on Twitter @catschield
Recent titles by the same author:
THE NANNY TRAP
A TRICKY PROPOSITION
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A WIN-WIN PROPOSITION
Did you know these are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
To my Aunt Sophie
* * *
THE HIGHEST BIDDER
At this high-stakes auction house where everything is for sale, true love is priceless.
Don’t miss a single story in this new continuity!
GILDED SECRETS by Maureen Child
EXQUISITE ACQUISITIONS by Charlene Sands
A SILKEN SEDUCTION by Yvonne Lindsay
A PRECIOUS INHERITANCE by Paula Roe
THE ROGUE’S FORTUNE by Cat Schield
GOLDEN BETRAYALS by Barbara Dunlop
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Cat Schield for her contribution to The Highest Bidder miniseries.
Contents
One
He sauntered through the well-dressed crowd, bestowing his lazy smile on those who gushed their congratulations. Tall and powerfully built, he’d been ogled by half the women he’d passed. He, in turn, seemed uninterested in the stir he created as he charmed his way through the two hundred guests assembled for the premier wine auction.
As he scanned the room like a secret service agent, only his penetrating eyes gave away the fact that he wasn’t as relaxed as he appeared.
Most people wouldn’t have noticed Roark Black was on edge. Most people didn’t have super-sensitive radar for the dangerous types.
Elizabeth Minerva did.
“The shrimp is running out!”
Jolted out of her ruminating by Brenda Stuart, her quick-to-panic “assistant” on this event, Elizabeth ripped her gaze away from the handsome adventurer and skimmed damp palms from her waist to her hips.
“I just checked and there’s plenty of shrimp left,” Elizabeth told Brenda. Annoyance with herself fed her impatient tone. There was also plenty of champagne and canapés and a dozen other things Brenda had fussed about in the last hour. “Why don’t you make yourself a plate and go relax in the back?”
Anything to get rid of the former wedding planner to the middle class. Josie Summers, Elizabeth’s boss, had saddled her with Brenda because as always Josie had underestimated what Elizabeth could handle. It was the woman’s second event as Elizabeth’s second in command, and rubbing elbows with Manhattan’s rich and famous was spotlighting exactly why Brenda wasn’t ready to be here. Instead of projecting a confident, capable vibe as she moved invisibly through the party, Elizabeth’s assistant had badgered a server in front of Bunny Cromwell, one of the city’s most prolific hostesses, and scolded a bartender for not making a city councilman’s drink properly.
“I can’t relax,” Brenda exclaimed, her sharp tone catching the attention of two nearby guests. The women exchanged disgusted expressions. “And you shouldn’t either.”
Plastering on a serene smile, Elizabeth seized Brenda’s arm above the elbow, fingers pinching ever so delicately. “I’ve got everything under control here. The auction will be starting in a half an hour. Why don’t you head home?”
“I can’t.” Brenda resisted Elizabeth’s grip as she was hauled toward the screens set up at one end of the enormous loft space to conceal the food prep area from the party-goers.
“Sure, you can.” Elizabeth used her soothing voice as she marched the older woman away from the party. “You’ve put in so many hours this week. You deserve to get out of here. I can handle the rest.”
“If you’re sure.”
As if Elizabeth hadn’t handled larger parties in the three years since she’d graduated from college and taken a job with Josie Summers’s Event Planning. Granted, this was Elizabeth’s first A-list crowd. The first event that had given her butterflies before