Heating Up Hawaii Read Online Free PDF Page B

brought the bill, but maybe you didn’t pay attention. The reopening party is in three weeks. You’ll have lots to do until then.”
    “Of course.” She was glad at how professional and confident she sounded, unlike the mix of excitement and fear pumping in her veins. This was really going to happen.
    When the limousine stopped by the sidewalk that led to her ground-level apartment, she sighed. Luc got out of the car first and came around to open her door just before her fingers reached the handle.
    Penny stood up. “You don’t have to walk me to my door, Luc.”
    “That’s the most important part, Penelope.”
    For a moment she said nothing, her eyes fixed on his. He could be a rotten product with a great gift wrapping. He could be a bastard disguised as a well-mannered European… Luc Leoni could be pretty much anything he put his mind to. Blood pounded fast in her veins every time she allowed herself to remember what he had once been.
    My first lover.
    Her heart hammered in her ears, growing louder with each step toward her door. This wasn’t a date, but the end of a successful business dinner.
    She had the chance to wow him so he could refer her to his hotshot business friends, and make it possible for her to start her own boutique PR firm from scratch.
    Their arms brushed as they reached her front door. Though he wore a long sleeve shirt, a jolt of electricity snaked up her arm.
    Penny clasped her fingers around the door handle.
    She glanced over her shoulder. He remained behind her with a half-smile that would have a weaker woman praying for mercy.
    Or ripping off her clothes.
    “Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Luc.” She conceded. “I will give you everything I’ve got.”
    “And I shall take it…all.” His lips almost turned into a smile, but instead he inhaled and nodded. “Have a good night.”

Chapter Three
    “Has she arrived yet?” Luc asked the flight attendant as soon as he stepped off the white metal ladder and onto the carpet of his private jet.
    “Not yet, sir.” The blonde flight attendant smiled, reached out and lightly stroked his sleeve. The message in her eyes evident–if whoever he expected to come did not, well, she was available and willing.
    He could care less. Since the previous night he couldn’t stop thinking of Penny. Getting emotionally involved with her was not an option–been there, done that. But a raw need within his body had awakened, and since then a rush of adrenaline shook his system every time he thought of her. When was the last time he felt this anxious over a woman?
    Invigorated. Excited. Thrilled.
    He took his suit jacket off, handed it to the flight attendant and plopped down on a cream oversized seat with a heavy sigh.
    It was his personal policy not to mix business and pleasure–and the last experience with her had made him act on it with military discipline.
    When he’d given Penny the assignment, the main thing in his mind was that she had talent, and he always sought the very best. His resort in Maui, an adult-only property which was a new market for him, deserved the best.
    He loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. Just the thought of her was enough to burn his skin.
    What bothered him on a level he couldn’t quite explain or understand was the presence of her former fiancé in her life. Why would the man still hover after being publicly humiliated? After she had walked—no— ran from his life.
    At least I wasn’t the only one she walked away from .
    Penny’s abrupt departure from her summer internship early and his brother’s death six months later showed him that the freedom that love brings can be easily held back with thick, heavy chains.
    Yet all the common sense in the world didn’t change his reaction to her. Why did he respond so intensely to a woman who was no good for him? It had to be because of their shared history.
    He’d always considered himself smart. But a part of his brain chose to shut off her lack of loyalty