His Shy Cinderella. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ you like a towel?’

      ‘Yes, please.’ And he was glad he’d thought to bring swimming trunks as well as a T-shirt and sweatpants.

      She handed him a thick cream-coloured towel. ‘I just need you to sign in here, please.’ She gestured to the book on the windowsill with its neatly ruled columns: name, room number, time in, time out. ‘The changing rooms are through there on the left,’ she said, indicating the door. ‘The lockers take a pound coin, which will be returned to you when you open the locker. As a guest, you also have use of the sauna, steam room and spa pool. Just let us know if you need anything.’ She gave him another smile.

      ‘Thanks.’ He signed in, went to change into his swimming gear, and followed the instructions on the wall to shower before using the pool.

      The pool room itself was a little warm for his liking. Nobody was sitting in the spa pool, but there were three people using the small swimming pool: a middle-aged man and woman who were clearly there together, and a woman who was swimming length after length in a neat front crawl.

      Angel McKenzie.

      Brandon slid into the water in the lane next to hers and swam half a dozen lengths, enjoying the feel of slicing through the water.

      Then he changed his course just enough that he accidentally bumped into her, knocking her very slightly off balance so she was forced to stand up in the pool.

      He, too, halted and stood up. ‘I’m so sorry.’

      She looked at him. The first thing he noticed was how vivid her eyes were; the photograph had barely done her justice.

      The second thing he noticed was that she was wearing earplugs, so she wouldn’t have heard his apology.

      ‘Sorry,’ he said again, exaggerating the movement of his mouth.

      She shrugged. ‘It’s OK.’

      Clearly she planned to go straight back to swimming. Which wasn’t what he wanted. ‘No, it’s not. Can I buy you a coffee?’

      She took out one of the earplugs. ‘I’m afraid I missed what you said.’

      ‘Can I buy you a coffee to apologise?’

      ‘There’s no need.’ She was starting to smile, but Brandon saw the exact moment that she recognised him, when her smile disappeared and those amazing violet eyes narrowed. ‘Did you bump into me on purpose?’

      He might as well be honest with her. ‘Yes.’

      ‘Why? And what are you doing here anyway?’

      ‘I wanted to talk to you.’

      ‘There’s nothing to say.’

      He rather thought there was. ‘Hear me out?’

      ‘We really have nothing to talk about, Mr Stone,’ she repeated.

      ‘I think we do, and your PA won’t book a meeting with me.’

      ‘So you stalked me?’

      Put like that, it sounded bad. He spread his hands. ‘Short of pitching up on your doorstep and refusing to budge, how else was I going to get you to speak to me other than by interrupting your morning workout?’

      ‘My company isn’t for sale. That isn’t going to change.’

      ‘That’s not what I want to talk about.’

      She frowned. ‘Then why do you want to talk to me?’

      ‘Have breakfast with me, and I’ll tell you.’

      She shook her head. ‘I don’t have time.’

      ‘Lunch, then. Or dinner. Or breakfast tomorrow morning.’ Brandon didn’t usually have to work this hard with women, and it unsettled him slightly.

      She folded her arms. ‘You’re persistent.’

      ‘Persistence is a business asset,’ he said. ‘Have breakfast with me, Ms McKenzie. You have to eat before work, surely?’

      ‘I...’

      ‘Let’s just have breakfast and a chat.’ He summoned up his most charming smile. ‘No strings.’

      She said nothing while she thought about it; Brandon, sure that she was going to refuse, was planning his next argument to convince her when she said, ‘All right. Breakfast and a chat. No strings.’

      That was the first hurdle over. Good. He could work with this. ‘Thank you. See you in the restaurant in—what, half an hour?’

      ‘Fifteen minutes,’ she corrected, and hauled herself out of the pool.

      Brandon did the same, then showered and changed into his business suit and was sitting at a table in the hotel restaurant exactly fourteen minutes later.

      One minute after that, Angel walked in, wearing a business suit, and he was glad that he’d second-guessed her and worn formal clothing rather than jeans. Though he also noticed that her hair was still wet and pulled back in a ponytail, her shoes were flat and she wasn’t wearing any make-up. The women in his life would never have shown up for anything without perfect hair, high heels and full make-up; then again, they would also have made him wait for two hours while they finished getting ready. Angel McKenzie clearly valued time over her personal appearance, and he found that refreshing.

      The other thing he noticed was that she was wearing a hearing aid in her left ear.

      That hadn’t been in his dossier. He was surprised that Gina had missed it, but it felt too awkward and intrusive to ask Angel about it.

      Then she knocked him the tiniest bit off kilter by being the one to bring it up.

      ‘Do you mind if we swap places? It’s a bit noisy in here and it’s easier for me to lip-read you if your face is in the light.’

      ‘No problem,’ he said, standing up immediately. ‘And I’ll ask if we can move tables to a quieter one.’

      She gestured to the floor. ‘It’s wooden floor, so it’s going to be noisy wherever we sit. Carpet dampens speech as well as footsteps.’

      And there was a group of businessmen nearby; they were laughing heartily enough to drown out a conversation on the other side of the room. ‘Or we could change the venue to my room, which really will be quieter,’ Brandon said, ‘but I don’t want you to think I’m hitting on you.’ Though in other circumstances, he thought, I probably would, because she has the most amazing eyes.

      He was shocked to realise how much he was attracted to Angel McKenzie. She was meant to be his business rival, from a family that was his own family’s sworn enemy. He wasn’t supposed to be attracted to her. Particularly as she was about six inches shorter and way less glamorous than the women he usually dated. She really wasn’t his type.

      ‘The restaurant’s fine,’ she said, and changed places with him. ‘So what did you want to talk about? If it’s your offer to buy McKenzie’s, СКАЧАТЬ