Heating Up Hawaii Read Online Free PDF

unwilling to lose a couple of profitable accounts she’d managed. To ease her conscience and do the right thing she had agreed as long as she paid for the expenses of the wedding party. Although his family had footed the bill for the outrageous wedding services, she was the one to pay for whatever they couldn’t cancel on time. The downside was that she’d eaten tuna sandwiches and chicken salad for about a month.
    But it was the right thing to do, the consequence to her action. Never mind that Charles had sneakily cleared her out of any big accounts for the past months. Luc didn’t need to know that.
    “It’s Darren. And he’s been through a rough patch after our break-up.” Penny squared her shoulders, her fingers tense on her lap.
    The understatement of the year… Though Luc didn’t need to know that her ex relapsed from his addiction to alcohol in the weeks following the wedding being canceled. She felt guilty enough, and by the predatory looks Luc shot at her, he would only make her feel worse.
    “Why don’t you set him straight? That things are over?”
    “That’s what I did when I called off our wedding.”
    He shot her an annoyed look. “Yet, he still hounds you.”
    Yes. “It’s not like that.”
    “I beg to differ. I’ve seen how uncomfortable he makes you. I think you don’t want to set him straight because if you do, you’ll be fired.”
    “I worked for DG for a year before I even met Darren and got engaged. What happened between Darren and I has nothing to do with the quality of my work.” Penny said out loud what she had been repeating to herself and others; her mantra. For how much longer would she pay the price for mixing business and pleasure?
    “Do your coworkers feel the same way?”
    “I don’t care how they feel,” she lied.
    “So ruthless, ma petite. ” His finger circled the edge of the wine glass. “What happened to the idealist woman I met?”
    “She matured.”
    “I see that.” His stare moved from hers, down to her lips.
    Her neck pulsated when his gaze slowly slid down to her chest. Her nipples strained against her bra, and her breasts heaved. She crossed her legs tightly. Unsure if her heart beat faster than the pulse between her thighs.
    The waiter approached them with the bill. She rubbed her slick palms against each other, under the table, to give her fidgety fingers something to do.
    Luc simply shrugged, and a cool, blasé expression masked his face. He barely went through the motions, just paid the bill and steered her out of the restaurant. The limousine purred on the curb. The driver opened the door with a smile and she got in, followed by Luc. But she noticed something was different.
    A hidden emotion lingered on the air and pressurized the atmosphere inside the limo in such way that they might as well have been sharing a Smart Car.
    What happened to the idealist woman I met? The question rang in her ears. For several years, she thought she’d replaced idealism with pragmatism. Things were much easier when they could be rationalized, organized, and planned. That’s how she grew professionally, by thinking and anticipating.
    Too bad her love life was different. And she’d tried, damn it. She’d tried to turn her engagement and marriage to Darren into a smart decision. But perhaps that romantic girl still lived inside her somewhere, carefully tucked underneath the wounds.
    It doesn’t matter, her practicality warned.Her performance on this assignment would be key for her opening her own business. For her success. For her career, which had been the only stable thing in her life. If she allowed herself to fantasize about Luc, she’d get wrapped around the memories of how unfit for each other they were. Well, not in the bedroom…
    Penny cleared her throat. “We haven’t talked about when you’ll need me in Maui.”
    “Tomorrow,” he said casually.
    “Tomorrow?” A chill knotted her stomach.
    He sobered. “I actually mentioned it when the waiter