The Duke's Boardroom Affair / Convenient Marriage, Inconvenient Husband: The Duke's Boardroom Affair. Michelle Celmer

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      “Okay.” As she took it from him their fingers touched and she had to force herself not to jerk away. It was barely a brush; still, she felt warmth and electricity shoot across the surface of her skin. Which made no sense considering how much she disliked him.

      “I’ve been going through your phone messages,” she told him. “Your mother called. Many times.”

      “Well, there’s a surprise,” he said, a definite note of exasperation in his voice. “I should probably warn you that when it comes to dealing with my mother, you have to be firm or she’ll walk all over you.”

      “I can do that.” Being firm had never been a problem for her. In fact, there had been instances when she’d been accused of being too firm. A necessity for any woman in a position of power. She had learned very early in her career how not to let people walk all over her.

      “Good.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m on my way out, and since it would seem that neither of us has eaten yet, why don’t you let me take you out to dinner?”

      First a lunch invitation, now dinner? Couldn’t he take no for an answer? “No, thank you.”

      Her rejection seemed to amuse him. He shrugged and said, “Have it your way.”

      What was that supposed to mean? Whose way did he expect her to have it? His?

      “I’m going to the dry cleaners tomorrow to pick up your laundry,” she said. “Do you have anything dirty at home that I should take with me?”

      “I do, actually. My housekeeper is off tomorrow morning but I’ll try to remember to set it by the door before I leave for work. Would you like my car to pick you up?”

      “I can drive myself.” Her father had always had a driver—until recently, anyway—but she never had felt comfortable having someone chauffer her around. She was too independent. She liked to be in control of her environment and her destiny. Which had been much easier when her father owned the company. When she was in charge. Answering to the whims of someone else was going to be…a challenge.

      He shrugged again. “If that’s what you prefer. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

      Unfortunately, yes, he would. And nearly every morning for the following six months. “Good night.”

      For several very long seconds he just looked at her, then he flashed her one of those devastating, sexy smiles before he walked out of her office, shutting the door behind him.

      And despite her less-than-sparkling opinion of him, she couldn’t help feeling just a tiny bit breathless.

      Victoria checked her caller ID when she got home and saw that her father had called several times. No doubt wondering how her first day had gone. All she wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep, but if she didn’t call him back he would worry. She dialed his number, knowing she would have to tread lightly, choose her words carefully, so as not to upset him.

      He answered sounding wounded and upset. “I thought you wouldn’t call.”

      It struck her how old he sounded. Too frail for a man of sixty-five. He used to be so strong and gregarious. Lately he seemed to be fading away. “Why wouldn’t I call?”

      “I thought you might be cross with me for making you take that job. I know it couldn’t have been easy, working for those people.”

      That was the way he’d referred to the royal family lately. Those people. “I’ve told you a million times, Daddy, that I am not upset. It’s a good job. Where else would I make such a generous salary? If it does well, the profit sharing will make me a very wealthy woman.” She found it only slightly ironic that she was regurgitating the same words he had used to convince her to take the position in the first place.

      “I know,” he conceded. “But no salary, no matter how great, could make up for what was stolen from us.”

      And she knew that he would live with that regret for the rest of his life. All she could do was continually assure him that it wasn’t his fault. Yet, regardless of whose mistake it was, she couldn’t help feeling that she would spend the rest of her life paying for it.

      “Is it a nice hotel?” he asked grudgingly.

      “Well, I didn’t actually see the hotel yet.”

      “Why not?”

      Oh, boy, this was going to be tough to explain. “There isn’t a manager’s position open in the hotel right now,” she said, and told him about the job with the duke, stressing that her contract wouldn’t change.

      “That is completely unacceptable,” he said, and she could practically feel his blood pressure rising, could just imagine the veins at his temples pulsing. He’d already had two heart attacks. One more could be fatal.

      “It’s fine, Daddy. Honestly.”

      “Would you like me to contact my attorney?”

      For all the good that would do her. “No.”

      “Are you sure? There must be something he can do.”

      Was he forgetting that it was his attorney who was partially to blame for getting them into this mess?

      “There’s no need, Daddy. It’s not so bad, really. In fact, I think it might be something of a challenge. A nice change of pace.”

      He accepted her lie, and some of the tension seemed to slip from his voice. He changed the subject and they went on to talk about an upcoming party for a family friend, and she tried to remain upbeat and cheerful. By the time she hung up she felt exhausted from the effort.

      Performing her duties would be taxing enough, but she could see that creating a ruse to keep her father placated would be a long and arduous task. But what choice did she have? She was all her father had left in the world. He had sacrificed so much for her. Made her the center of his universe.

      No matter what, she couldn’t let him down.

      Three

      Charles lived in an exclusive, heavily gated and guarded community fifteen miles up the coast in the city of Pine Bluff. His house, a towering structure of glass and stone, sat in the arc of a cul-de-sac on the bluff overlooking the ocean. It was a lot of house for a single man, but that hardly surprised her. She was sure he had money to burn.

      Victoria pulled her car up the circular drive and parked by the front door. She climbed out and took in the picturesque scenery, filled her lungs with clean, salty autumn air. If nothing else, the duke had impeccable taste in real estate. As well as interior design, she admitted to herself, after she used her code to open the door and stepped inside the foyer. Warm beiges and deep hues of green and blue welcomed her inside. The foyer opened up into a spacious living room with a rustic stone fireplace that climbed to the peak of a steep cathedral ceiling. It should have looked out of place with the modern design, but instead it gave the room warmth and character.

      She had planned to grab the laundry and be on her way, but the bag he had said he would leave by the door was conspicuously not there. Either he hadn’t left yet or he’d forgotten. She was guessing the latter.

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