An Offer He Can't Refuse Read Online Free PDF Page A

Glaring at her purse, she dared it to chirp at her again. It did. Frustration shooting higher, she pushed through the disorganized mess inside her purse, determined to get rid of the caller and get back to compelling her sisters to convince their grandfather that she couldn't be manipulated. That she was through with the past and she was through with that part of the family. For good.
    She jerked the phone to her ear. "Yes?" she snapped out, sending Eve and Joey a narrow-eyed look, letting them know she was going to get off and get back to the matter at hand, no matter what, no matter—
    "Ah." A raspy male tone vibrated against her ear. "We speak at last."
    —who. Oh God. Who it had to be, with that low purr of a voice, was unmistakable.
    "Johnny Magee?" she asked, hoping, hoping she was wrong.
    "Yes. Have I called at a bad time? Your assistant put me through."
    She flushed hotter. "No, no. It's not a bad time at all." Of course it was a bad time. She needed Eve and Joey on her side, but confessing she'd been about to berate her sisters over salads wasn't the image she wanted to project to her most important prospective client. She forced in a calming breath. "I was, uh, preoccupied with some furniture catalogs that came in today."
    Across the table, Joey snorted.
    Téa sent her a dirty look and hoped he'd mistaken the sound for the burp of a water cooler. "Can I help you with something, Mr. Magee? Answer a question about my bid?"
    "Johnny," he said. "Call me Johnny."
    The vibrations of his deep voice quivered like a caress across her skin. Whoa. Her assistant was right, Téa thought, the man should narrate erotic bedtime stories. She could imagine it now, something sizzling yet romantic in that get-naked-for-me voice.
    Firelight flickered over the gypsy girl's bare skin, warming her shoulders, her collarbone, the full mounds of flesh below that ached for his touch. Ached for—
    "Johnny." She said the name aloud and only then remembered that's who she was talking to. Her face burned again. "Yes. Right. Johnny. What can I do for you?"
    "Meet me."
    "Meet you?" Her business instincts perking, she sat straighter in her chair. "Certainly I'll meet you."
    She'd have to wear exactly the right outfit—her IBM-blue suit, she decided. Two days before their appointment, she'd book a fruit-acid facial, then have her nails done the next. Going to her purse, she dug through it again for her PDA. "How about the end of the week, or—"
    "Meet me today. Later this afternoon."
    'This
afternoon?
In the wrinkly linen dress? And she was pretty sure there was a chip in the polish on her right big toe. Yes, she was wearing closed-toe shoes, but still—
    "I know it's short notice, but I've already arranged for a private flight from Las Vegas to Palm Springs and I want to make my decision about a designer as soon as possible."
    Did that mean he wanted to make his decision
today
! Today, when she was wearing her worst lingerie, the scratchy bra and the panties that—good God, what did her underclothing matter? She had bigger worries.
    Today,
today
, Johnny Magee wanted to meet with her. Today when everything had gone wrong. Today when it was imperative she make certain Eve and Joey understood she wouldn't involve herself with the Carusos or their ilk ever again.
    "Of course, if it's impossible…" he started.
    "No!" Nothing was impossible when it came to winning this job—it was the only thing more important than winning over her sisters. "What time did you have in mind?"
    As they finalized the details, Téa found her anxiety easing and her hope rising. Maybe it was due to Johnny Magee's beguiling, bedtime voice. Maybe it was because her bargain seemed to be working out after all. Sure, the day had had its unpleasant moments, and she'd have to leave things unfinished with her sisters, but if she bagged this design job, then what had started out wrong might end up very, very right.
    "Now," he finally said. "What can I bring you by way of