Project: Runaway Heiress Read Online Free PDF

wasn’t busy running her own fashion-design business, she would have been ecstatic over the possibility of going to work for them.
    Yet tonight they were meeting with someone who wanted to leave Vincenze for Ashdown Abbey.
    Which wasn’t to say Ashdown Abbey was a lesser label. Far from it. If anything, Ashdown Abbey and Vincenze were similar when it came to levels of success. But their design aesthetics were entirely different, and it would definitely take some doing—at least in her experience—for a designer to go from one to the other without traversing a sharp learning curve.
    Fighting to keep her mind on the job she was supposed to be doing rather than the one that came more naturally to her, Lily said, “I’m not sure exactly what my role is this evening.”
    “Just listen,” he replied casually. “It will be a good way for you to learn the ropes, so to speak.”
    He turned a little more in her direction and offered a warm smile. “Frankly, I asked you to join me so I wouldn’t have to be alone with this fellow. These so-called business dinners can sometimes drone on, especially if the potential employee attempts to regale me with a long list of his or her talents and abilities.”
    Lily returned his grin. She knew what he meant; the fashion industry was filled with big mouths and bigger egos. She liked to think she wasn’t one of them, but there was a certain amount of self-aggrandizing required to promote oneself and one’s line.
    “Maybe we should work out a signal and some prearranged topics of discussion,” she offered. “That way if things get out of hand and your eyes begin to glaze over, you can give me a sign and I’ll launch into a speech about global warming or some such.”
    Nigel’s smile widened, showing a row of straight, sparkling-white teeth. “Global warming?” he asked, the amusement evident in his tone.
    “It’s a very important issue,” she said, adopting a prim-and-proper expression. “I’m sure I could fill a good hour or two on the subject, if necessary.”
    He nodded a few times, very slowly and thoughtfully, his lips twitching with suppressed humor. “That could certainly prove useful.”
    “I thought so,” she agreed.
    “What would you suggest we use as a signal?”
    She thought about it for a minute. “You could tug at your earlobe,” she said. “Or kick me under the table. Or perhaps we could have a code word.”
    “A code word,” he repeated, one brow lifting with interest. “This is all starting to sound very...double-oh-seven-ish.”
    Appropriate, she supposed, since he reminded her a little of James Bond. It was the accent, she was sure. Her stomach tightened briefly.
    Feigning a nonchalant attitude she didn’t entirely feel, she shrugged. “Spies are good at what they do for a reason. But if you’d prefer to be trapped for hours by a potential employee you can’t get away from, be my guest.”
    Silence filled the rear of the car, only the sound of the tires rotating beneath them audible as the seconds ticked by and Lily’s anxiety grew.
    She might have overstepped her bounds. After all, she’d only been in this man’s employ for twelve hours. That might have been a bit too early to start voicing her opinions and telling him what to do.
    Worse, she probably shouldn’t have jumped on his mention of James Bond movies and followed the spy thread. Because technically, she was a spy within his organization, and she didn’t want him spending too much time wondering how she knew so much about the business of espionage.
    “I definitely agree that an escape plan is in order,” Nigel said, finally breaking the nerve-inducing quiet. “How would it be if I inquired about your headache from earlier? You can say that it’s come back and you’d really like to get home so you can rest.”
    “All right.” It sounded as good as anything else they might come up with, and she certainly knew more about headaches than she did about global warming.
    “And if