Conquering King's Heart / Montana Mistress: Conquering King's Heart. Maureen Child

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СКАЧАТЬ be smoothed. The floor would be carpeted, all the gleaming floorboards covered up. Bella’s Beachwear would survive, but it wouldn’t be the same. The man had no more vision when it came to business than he had when it came to women.

      It was all about the bottom line to men like Jesse.

      A crowd was gathering across the street on the beach and she turned her head to look. As a few dozen people milled around, Bella caught glimpses of what was going on. She noticed the RVs parked on the sand, a bank of cameras, huge lights and electric fans. And in the middle of it all, Jesse King.

      In spite of herself, she was curious. Bella hurried across Pacific Coast Highway and stepped up onto the sidewalk. She kept to the fringes of the interested crowd of onlookers and let her gaze slide over the goings-on.

      Gorgeous male models, each of them wearing King Beachwear, were positioned around several surfboards, all planted nose down in the sand. Bella had to admit that the guys looked great, but her gaze kept straying to the female models they were using in the background. “Honestly, you’d think he could take a little interest in what the women were wearing.”

      “Why am I not surprised you’ve got a comment?”

      She whipped her head around and looked up into Jesse’s amused blue eyes. He’d managed to sneak up on her. Darn it.

      “Let’s hear it,” he said, one corner of his mouth tipping up as he folded his arms across his chest. He glanced at the photo shoot, saw the photographer bustling around, arranging everything to his satisfaction. “What don’t you like about all this?”

      Bella bit down on her bottom lip. It wasn’t any of her business, of course and she really shouldn’t care at all, but then…her gaze went back to the very pretty, very thin women wearing generic swimsuits and she just couldn’t stand it. “If you’re going to all this trouble to shoot a big ad campaign, why not have all of the models look good?”

      He frowned at her. “They do.”

      “Why do I bother?” she muttered, shaking her head. “Look at the blond girl in the back.”

      He did and smiled at the view.

      Bella ignored that. “Her suit doesn’t fit right. It’s too tight across her hips—what there are of them—and too big at the bust.”

      “She looks fine to me,” Jesse said with a shrug.

      Bella pushed a strand of windblown hair out of her eyes, then pointed at a brunette talking to one of the male models. “What about her? That bikini is cut all wrong and the fabric is shiny, for heaven’s sake. What did you do? Go down to the department store and snatch a bunch of suits off the clearance rack?”

      Jesse frowned. “The girls look okay to me. Besides, this shoot isn’t about women’s suits. It’s about King Beach. We’re selling guys’ clothes. The girls are just background.”

      “Do they have to be poorly fitted background?” she asked.

      He sighed a little. “We’ve got a contract. We’re giving the department store—”

      “Hah!” she crowed, because she’d been so right about where they’d purchased the women’s suits.

      He scowled at her. “The store gets credit in the photo tagline.”

      “Fine,” she said, wondering why she even cared about any of this. “Use one or two of them. But if you want this ad to look good, then all the models should be eye-catching.”

      One eyebrow lifted. “Meaning…”

      She shouldn’t have walked over here, she told herself. Shouldn’t have gotten involved. What did it matter to her, after all, if his magazine ad didn’t look as good as it could? Yet…

      Bella’s gaze slid back to the swimsuits the women were wearing and every one of her designer instincts stood up and growled. She simply couldn’t stand it. Besides, Jesse King was so darn sure of himself. So arrogant, she really wanted to…“Meaning, women are the real shoppers of the world, Mr. King. If you had any sense, you’d know that. Those suits your models are wearing are so generic they should be marked one size fits all as long as they’re size 0s. My suits are made to flatter a woman’s figure. All women.”

      He grinned, looked her up and down, then stared into her eyes with a direct challenge. “Even you?”

      Insulted, Bella lifted her chin and glared at him. She knew she was being manipulated, but at the moment, Bella didn’t even care. He was so convinced that his way was the right way, she wanted to prove him completely wrong. One sure way to do that was to show him exactly what she meant.

      “I’ll be right back,” she announced, then left him to walk over to the female models. She spoke to them briefly, got their sizes, then hurried across the street to her shop. It only took a few minutes for Bella to scurry back to the photo shoot, her arms filled with some of her designer suits.

      “What do you think you’re doing?” Jesse asked as she herded the women toward one of the RV trailers.

      “You’re about to find out,” was all she said as she stepped into the trailer behind the models and firmly closed the door.

      Minutes ticked past and Jesse frowned at the RV. He wasn’t sure why he was letting Bella get away with this. He should have just headed her off at the pass, so to speak, and told her he didn’t need her help to sell his sportswear. But damn if he’d been able to do that.

      “Jesse, how much longer?”

      He turned to look at Tom, the photographer, then shot a quick glance at his own wristwatch. “Give her another few minutes, Tom. As soon as she admits she was wrong to stick her nose in, we’ll get back to the shoot.”

      “Fine by me,” Tom told him, shifting a fast look at the cobalt-blue sky above. “But we’ve only got this section of the beach for the morning.”

      “You’re right.” Jesse’s permit would end at noon, so there was no point in indulging Bella any further, even to get her to admit that she was wrong. He stalked over to the RV and knocked on the door. “Bella,” he called out, “time’s up. We need to finish the shoot.”

      The door to the RV opened and the models came out, smiling and primping. Jesse checked out each and every one of them as they walked past him. Even the skinniest of the models looked as if she had a figure now. The fabrics clung to their bodies and enhanced what few curves they had. It cost him to think it, but Bella had been right.

      Tom, the photographer, let loose a low whistle and instantly started staging the women into far more prominent poses for the ad shoot. Jesse watched and shook his head, amazed, really, at the transformation. But where the hell was Bella?

      Smiling to himself, he climbed the steps into the RV, stuck his head inside and shouted, “Lose your nerve? C’mon Bella, let’s see you in one of those suits you’re so proud of.”

      “Turn around.” The sound of her voice came from right behind him and Jesse couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten past him. But when he turned to look at her, he understood completely.

      For months, he’d seen the woman around town, always buried СКАЧАТЬ