Just Another Pretty Face (HT 459) Read Online Free PDF

she said slanting a teasing smile at her brother, "I guess he should have some say in things."
    "Thank you so much," Pierce drawled. He came out of his casual slouch and slid forward on the sofa, prepared to take charge of the situation now that the preliminaries were over. It was time this long-legged Amazon learned just exactly who she was dealing with. "As Claire's already said," he began, "you'll live in and—" He broke off, looking over her shoulder at the woman in the doorway. "Yes, Mrs. Gilmore? What is it?"
    "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir," she said briskly, "but the baby is awake and fussing. Mrs. Kingston asked me to let her know."
    "Thank you, Mrs. Gilmore. I'll be right there," Tara said as she stood up. "Beau has a bit of a cold," she explained to no one in particular as she edged around the coffee table to follow the housekeeper. "It's been making him miserable."
    "And everyone else within earshot," her husband added, coming to his feet beside his wife as he spoke. She looked up at him questioningly. "It's time we were leaving, anyway," he said, slipping his hand under Tara's elbow to keep her by his side while he made his goodbyes. "Pleasure to meet you, Nikki," he said, nodding at his brother's new bodyguard. His amber eyes gleamed with amusement. "I wish you luck with him." He transferred his gaze to his brother. "Try not to be too big a pain in the ass," he ordered gruffly. "Claire" he said, bending to kiss his sister's cheek. "See you at the studio tomorrow."
    "I've got to be going, too," Claire said, standing up to join the general exodus. "I've got a meeting with Sly Stallone about that Glory Days script. We're having lunch at Le Dome." She glanced back and forth between her brother and Nikki. "Don't murder each other," she said, only half-teasing. "And let me know what arrangements you make."
    And then, suddenly, just like that, there were only two people in the sunny, plant-filled garden room of Pierce Kingston's plush Beverly Hills estate. Five tense, silent seconds ticked by on an unseen clock. And then Nikki steeled her spine and turned her head to look across the coffee table at her new employer.
    Pierce gave her his most roguish smile, the one that caused good girls to swoon in fearful excitement and bad girls to shiver in delicious anticipation of imminent ravishment. It started in his eyes, crinkling them up at the corners, and moved downward, causing his finely molded lips to turn upward in a slow, teasing grin that somehow managed to combine boyish innocence with the indecent, decadent intentions of an experienced rakehell.
    Nikki narrowed her eyes at him. "You might as well save that movie-star smile for someone who's susceptible to it," she said. She used the uninterested, seen-it-all tone of voice that had always worked so well with hotshot jet jockeys intent on putting another notch on their throttles, and amorous GIs who wanted something exciting to write home about. "I'm not the least bit impressed," she added, trying to sound bored.
    She wondered if he could tell she was lying.
    3
    NIKKI SPENT THE REST of the afternoon trying very hard not to be impressed as her new employer showed her around his palatial Beverly Hills estate, but it was a nearly impossible task. Everything she saw impressed her right down to the toes of her cowboy boots. The house was one of the most beautiful she'd ever been inside, warm and cozy and quietly grand, despite the overdone theatricality of the castlelike exterior. It was full of cheerful English chintzes, fine-grained leather, polished wood, luxuriantly healthy houseplants, and more priceless works of art than Nikki had ever seen outside of a museum.
    The grounds were a marvel of the gardener's skills. A perfect mix of fragrant, fecund growth and precision grooming surrounded the sparkling blue pool, hot tub and cabana area before spreading out in a lush emerald carpet to encompass the tennis court beyond.
    And the man—ah, the man!—was the most