Swept Into The Rich Man's World. Katrina Cudmore

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СКАЧАТЬ perfect symmetry and beauty of the Palladian house as she had run up the driveway, not a single interior light had shone through the large sash windows.

      In her panic, that simple fact had failed to register with her...until now.

      What if nobody was at home?

      But that didn’t make sense. A house this size had to have an army of staff. The classically inspired villa had a three-storey central block, connected by colonnades to two vast wings. The house was enormous—even bigger than the pictures suggested.

      Somebody simply had to be home. They probably just couldn’t hear her above the storm. She needed to knock louder.

      She grabbed hold of the knocker again, but just as she raised it high to pound it down on the door the door swung open. As she flew forward with it all she could see was a tanned, muscular six-pack vanishing beneath a grey sweatshirt, its owner in the midst of quickly dressing. But not before she headbutted that glorious vision of masculine perfection.

      It was like colliding against steel. As she ricocheted backwards she heard a loud grunt. Then hands gripped her upper arms and yanked her back from slamming bottom first on to the ground. The momentum pulled her back towards that hard body, and this time her forehead landed heavily on the person’s chest with a thud.

      For a moment neither of them moved, and her already spinning head became lost in a giddy sensation of warmth, the safe embrace of another human being, the deep, masculine scent of a man...

      She couldn’t tell who sprang away first, but as embarrassment barrelled through her, her eyes dropped down to bare feet and dark grey sweatpants before travelling back up over a long, lean, muscular body. Dark stubble lined a sculpted jawline. Taking a deep swallow, she looked up into eyes that were the light blue of an early-morning Irish spring sky. How often had she tried without success to replicate that colour in her designs?

      Patrick Fitzsimon.

      Those beautiful blue eyes narrowed. ‘What the—?’

      ‘I’m sorry I woke you, but my home’s been flooded and everything I own is probably floating to America at this stage. I tried to drive into Mooncoyne but the road is flooded. My car got stuck. I was so glad your gates were open... I thought they would be locked, like they usually are. I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do if they were locked.’

      He held up a hand in the universal stop position. ‘Okay. Slow down. Let’s start again. Explain to me who you are.’

      Oh, why did she jabber so much when she was nervous? And, for crying out loud, did she have to blush so brightly that she could light up a small house?

      Pushing her hand out towards him, she said, ‘I’m Aideen Ryan. I’m your neighbour. I live in Fuchsia Cottage...down by the edge of the lough.’

      He gave a quick nod of recognition, but then he drew his arms across his impossibly wide chest and his gaze narrowed even more. ‘What is it you need, exactly?’

      Humiliation burnt in her chest at having to ask for help from a stranger, but she looked into his cool blue eyes and blurted out what had to be said. ‘I need a place to stay tonight.’

      His mouth twisted unhappily. For a moment she feared he was about to close the door on her.

      But instead he took a backward step and said, ‘Come inside.’

      At best, it was a very reluctant invitation.

      The door closed behind them with a solid clunk. Without uttering a word, he left her standing alone in the vast entrance hall. Her body started to shake as her wet clothes clung to her limbs. Her teeth chattered in the vast space and, to her ears, seemed to echo off the dome-shaped ceiling, from which hung the largest crystal chandelier she’d ever seen.

      Why couldn’t she have a normal neighbour? Why did hers have to be a billionaire who lived in a palace at the end of a mile-long driveway? She hated having to ask for help. From anyone. But having to ask for help from a megarich gorgeous man made her feel as though the universe was having a good laugh at her expense.

      When he returned, he passed her a yellow and white striped towel without comment. Accepting it gratefully, she patted her hands and face. For a moment their eyes met.

      Her heart stuttered as his gaze assessed her, his generous mouth flattened into a grimace, his long legs planted wide apart, his body rigid. Her breath caught. She felt intimidated by the intensity of his stare, his size, his silent unsmiling presence. She lowered her gaze and concentrated on twisting the towel through her hair, her eyes closing as an unaccountable nervousness overtook her.

      ‘So where’s your car?’

      ‘I tried to drive into Mooncoyne but the river had burst its banks at Foley’s Bridge. It’s the same on your estate—the bridge on your drive is impassable, too.’

      He shook his head in confusion. ‘So how did you get here?’

      ‘I climbed on to the bridge wall and crawled along it... My car is still on the other side.’

      * * *

      Just great. Not only had he been woken from a jet-lagged sleep, but now he realised he was dealing with a crazy woman. This was all he needed.

      ‘Are you serious? Are you telling me you climbed over a flooded river in gale-force winds? Have you lost your mind?’

      For a moment a wounded look flashed in her cocoa-brown eyes, but then she stared defiantly back at him.

      ‘The sea was about to flood my cottage. I called the emergency services but they are swamped with the flooding throughout Mooncoyne. And anyway they can’t reach here—Foley’s Bridge is impassable even to them. You’re my only neighbour. There was no other place I could come to for shelter.’ Throwing her head back, she took a deep breath before she continued, a tremor in her voice. ‘I did contemplate staying in my car overnight, but frankly I was more concerned about hypothermia than climbing along a bridge wall.’

      Okay, so she had a point. But it had still been a crazy risk to take.

      He inhaled a deep breath. For the first time ever he wished his staff resided in the house. If she’d been here, his housekeeper, Maureen, would happily have taken this dishevelled woman in hand. And he could have got some much-needed sleep.

      He had awoken to her knocking jet-lagged and perplexed as to how anyone had got past his security. All of Ashbrooke’s thousand-acre parkland was ring-fenced by a twenty-foot stone wall, built at the same time as the house in the eighteenth century. The impenetrable wall and the electronic front gates kept the outside world away.

      Well, they were supposed to.

      He would be having words with his estate manager in the morning. But right now he had a stranger dripping water down on to his polished limestone floor. He had an urgent teleconference in less than four hours with Hong Kong. To be followed up with a day of endless other teleconferences to wrap up his biggest acquisition ever. The acquisition, however, was still mired in legal and technical difficulties. Difficulties his teams should have sorted out weeks ago. The arrival of his neighbour at this time of night was the last thing he needed.

      He glanced at her again. She gave him a brief uncertain smile. And he did a double take. Beneath that mass of wild, out-of-control СКАЧАТЬ