Bought by a Millionaire Read Online Free PDF Page A

over the room. Except for the mumbled voices of the television mounted to the wall, all chitchat had come to a stop. Not even the flutter of magazine pages marred the near perfect silence.
    She raised her head and glanced around, wondering what had caused such an odd reaction from the other women.
    And then she saw him.
    Standing at the check-in window, Burke was leaning forward, speaking to the receptionist in a low voice. She would recognize him anywhere, even in the long, black overcoat, with only his polished shoes and ebony hair visible from the back.
    A second later, he turned and his gaze zeroed in on her like a heat-seeking missile. And suddenly, she understood why everyone had grown stone quiet. She found herself falling speechless around him, too.
    Even if his picture hadn’t been on the covers of countless papers and magazines over the past few years, he still would have stopped traffic. He was just so…imposing.
    As he crossed the room in her direction, she swallowed hard and the book on her lap slid from her limp fingers to the floor. She started to bend forward to retrieve it, but Burke reached down first, the muscles in his arms and thighs rippling with the movement.
    â€œI think you dropped this.”
    â€œThank you,” she said, licking her lips and forcing herself to meet his eyes.
    He pointed to the space beside her on the narrow, padded bench, ignoring the curious stares he was getting from the other women. Obviously, he was used to being watched.
    â€œDo you mind?”
    â€œNot at all.” She couldn’t possibly refuse him, so she shifted more to the side and moved her oversize purse to the floor.
    â€œHow are you feeling?”
    His question caught her off guard, and as she raised her head to look at him, she wondered if Dr. Cox had told him about her little dizzy spell earlier.
    â€œFine,” she answered, even as she felt a warm flush creep over her cheekbones.
    â€œNo broken bones, I hear.”
    Shannon frowned in confusion. And then her slight blush turned into a full-blown bush fire. Apparently, the doctor had filled him in on more than just her recent health concerns. He’d also told Burke about her run-in—literally—with the inline skater.
    â€œNo. No broken bones,” she admitted, suppressing her self-consciousness. “Just a bruised ego. Besides, it never would have happened if I’d moved all the way off the sidewalk to be sick.”
    In a blink, he had turned to face her. His big hands, with their tanned fingers and neatly trimmed nails, gripped her shoulders. Not tightly, but securely. And his dark brows were drawn together in concern. “You were sick?”
    Oops. Maybe Dr. Cox hadn’t told him everything about her day.
    â€œOnly for a few minutes. It passed, I’m fine now.”
    â€œDid you tell the doctor? What did he say?”
    If possible, she was becoming even more nervous than usual in his presence. It wasn’t only the serious, almost worried, expression on his face. Or the fact that he had every right to know the details of how she was feeling and what the cause might be.
    No, the quiver in her stomach and clamminess of her skin were caused entirely by the heat of his hands still cupping her shoulders, seeping through the light knit of her butternut-yellow sweater to her skin.
    How was it possible to be sexually attracted to the man who had hired her to be a surrogate mother for his child? And whyin heaven’s name couldn’t she have met Chicago’s most eligible bachelor at a different time, under different circumstances? At least then, she might be able to follow through on these feelings and fireworks coursing through her system without guilt or the risk of violating a legal and binding contract.
    Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to pull away, to break his almost mesmerizing hold on her.
    â€œI told Dr. Cox. He didn’t seem to think it was a big deal.”
    â€œIt’s a