“I’m sorry we won’t be working together any longer, Jaya.”
“Thank you.” She swallowed and wondered if she would turn into a complete fool and start to cry. Standing, she put her hand in his and tried for one firm shake.
Theo kept her hand. His thumb grazed over the backs of her knuckles.
Her skin tingled and her stomach took a rollercoaster dip and swoop.
She looked at his eyes, but he was looking at their hands. Her fingers quivered in his grip as he turned her palm up. She almost thought he was going to raise it to his lips.
It was Theo’s eyes, Theo’s expression that was always so aloof, but now it glowed with something that was aggressive and hungry.
He was going to kiss her!
She stiffened with apprehension and he straightened. Her hand wound up hanging in the air ungrasped as he pulled in a strained breath.
“This is not appropriate. I apologize.”
“No, I—” Please let her dark skin disguise some of these fervent blushes. “You surprised me. I came in here reminding myself not to call you Theo. I didn’t think you thought about me like that. I would—”
Was she really going to risk this? She had to. She’d never get another chance.
“I’d like it if you kissed me.”
DANI COLLINS discovered romance novels in high school and immediately wondered how a person trained and qualified for that amazing job. She married her high school sweetheart, which was a start, then spent two decades trying to find her fit in the wide world of romance writing—always coming back to Harlequin Mills & Boon® Modern™ Romance.
Two children later, and with the first entering high school, she placed in Harlequin’s Instant Seduction contest. It was the beginning of a fabulous journey towards finally getting that dream job.
When she’s not in her Fortress of Literature, as her family calls her writing office, she works, chauffeurs children to extra-curricular activities, and gardens with more optimism than skill.
Dani can be reached through her website at www.danicollins.com
Recent titles by the same author:
A DEBT PAID IN PASSION
MORE THAN A CONVENIENT MARRIAGE
PROOF OF THEIR SIN
NO LONGER FORBIDDEN?
Did you know these are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
An Heir
to Bind Them
Dani Collins
MILLS & BOON
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This one’s for my kids, who managed to turn out amazing despite having a writer for a mom. Or should I say not having a mom?
I often joke that our daughter has done a marvelous job raising our son. For that, and all the times Delainey made lunch for Sam (and me) so I could write, I am deeply grateful.
I also owe a very special thanks to Sam for his suggestion when I had ten thousand words to go on this manuscript and I was stuck. He said, “Dude …” (Yes, he calls me Dude, but this dude looks like a lady.) “Dude, have the brother tell her something she doesn’t know about the hero.” Post-secondary tuition saved!
Contents
PROLOGUE
THEO MAKRICOSTA BLINKED sweat out of his eyes as he glanced between his helicopter’s fuel gauge and the approaching shoreline. He was a numbers man so he didn’t worry at times like this; he calculated. His habit
