Beaumont Brides Collection Read Online Free PDF

this man had studied under experts.
    Rudeness made it so much easier to quell her treacherous body’s leaping response to that first elemental power charge.
    ‘I’m not an actress,’ she protested. ‘I’m-’
    ‘On that, at least, we are in total agreement,’ he agreed, cutting smoothly across her. ‘Although the possibility that you were just being yourself is, if anything, even more appalling.’
    Fizz opened her mouth to protest that every word she had spoken came from the heart. But having paused at the sight of him, that same heart was now galloping in a wild and furious attempt to make up for lost time. The man had simply taken her breath away. Not with his words, although they were bad enough. But there was a rock hard, unyielding quality about the man. And she felt as if she had just run into him at ninety miles an hour.
    ‘You are Luke Devlin?’ It wasn’t a question. Merely a gambit, an attempt to gain a moment to catch her breath. She had immediately sensed the man’s power and now it was clear that he was a two-fold threat. She buried her fear in attack. ‘Then why on earth didn’t he say who he was, instead of letting me blather along -’
    ‘Did you give him the opportunity?’
    Fizz felt her cheeks tingle slightly as they responded to this challenge with a blush. This was getting serious. Furious with herself for betraying her discomfort, for letting the situation run away from her and giving him control of the conversation, she attempted to justify her mistake.
    ‘When I called him Mr Devlin he responded.’
    ‘That is because we share the same name. Phillip is my cousin. Like the Beaumonts, we Devlins value family ties.’ But the twist to his lips suggested that any similarity between his family and hers was purely coincidental. He glanced at the desk piled high with files and littered with spreadsheets, then gestured to a sofa near the window, indicating that she should sit down. ‘You are Felicity Beaumont?’ he continued, when she didn’t move. ‘Fizz,’ he added, thoughtfully.
    ‘Two cases of mistaken identity in one afternoon would be pushing coincidence a little far, don’t you think?’
    ‘Yes, definitely a Beaumont,’ he murmured. ‘Your manners betray your origins.’
    ‘And keeping someone waiting for the best part of half an hour is the height of politeness?’ she snapped back.
    His sharp look warned her that she was pushing her luck. ‘A deputation from the staff asked to speak to me. I took the view that their concerns were more important than yours. Perhaps you disagree with my judgement?’
    Fizz positively cringed with embarrassment. The situation had been bad enough to start with and she had already made it considerably worse by berating some anonymous accountant. No, not anonymous. Another Devlin, as if one wasn’t enough. And trying to score a cheap point had only made her look stupid.
    ‘No,’ she said, quickly. ‘Of course they were far more important.’
    ‘I’m glad you realise that. Understanding what requires urgent attention and what can be dealt with at leisure is a skill that anyone in business neglects at their peril, Miss Beaumont. Perhaps you should remind your father of that fact.’
    Beneath the professional smile she cursed her father. Why on earth did he have to choose this particular moment to throw her into the deep end? If he’d come to the meeting he would have distracted Luke Devlin, given her a moment to study the man. Work out what made him tick.
    ‘As I explained, he is very busy -’
    ‘Too busy to lift a telephone? Spare an hour of his time?’
    ‘He’s directing a joint schools production of Much Ado About Nothing,’ she offered. It was a lame excuse. She knew it. Devlin’s expression suggested that he was of the same opinion.
    ‘A school production? And that takes the great Edward Beaumont every minute of his day? Or am I supposed to be impressed with his altruism? The Harries and the Beaumonts. Public benefactors