The Tycoon Takes a Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

warnings, even threatening to elope if Eloisa didn’t keep her opinions to herself.
    Audrey pulled another flower from the centerpiece for herself. “And about Jonah Landis?”
    Eloisa shrugged, suddenly hungry for the cake after all. “He’s my date.” She forked up a bite from the lone remaining slice on a plate the caterers hadn’t yet cleared. “It’s as simple as that.”
    “Guess you don’t need a ride home tonight.” Audrey needled with the same practiced teasing she’d used on her since the days of Eloisa’s first boyfriend—the librarian’s son who occasionally snitched the keys to the reference room so she could read the Oxford English Dictionary in total privacy after hours.
    “I have my car here.”
    “One of Joey’s brothers can drive it over for you.” Audrey arched up on her toes. “Hey, Landis? My sister is ready to go. How about you get your chauffeur to pullup that Rolls Royce limo of yours. Eloisa’s been on her feet all day.”
    Jonah’s gaze slammed into hers, narrow and predatory. She’d seen that look before, right before she’d shimmied out of her dress and fallen into bed with him.
    Shoveling a bite of cake into her mouth, Eloisa tried to tell herself it would be enough to stave off the deeper hunger gnawing through her tonight.
     
    Eloisa shifted uneasily in the limo seat.
    Climbing back into Jonah’s car had seemed easier than discussing driving arrangements in front of the gossip rag reporter. Now that she was alone with Jonah, however, she questioned her decision. The drive to her town house felt hours away rather than a couple of miles.
    Searching for something, anything to talk about other than each other, Eloisa touched the miniprinter and laptop computer beside her. She started to make a joke about checking Facebook from the road, but paused when her finger snagged on a printed-out page.
    She looked closer before she could think to stop herself. It seemed like some kind of small blueprint—
    Jonah pulled the paper from the printer and into a briefcase. “Why were you so camera shy at the party earlier?”
    “I prefer to keep a low profile. Not everyone is hungry for a spot on the front page.” Ouch. That sounded pretty crabby coming out, but Jonah had a way of agitating her every nerve.
    “Do you avoid the press because of your father? You can’t expect to stay under the radar forever.”
    Did he realize how intimately their thighs pressedagainst one another? Eloisa slid her hand from the printer and scooted an inch of space between them. “My mother and I managed over the years. Do you intend to change that?”
    She bit her lip, unable to stop from holding her breath after finally voicing the question that had chewed at her all night long. Her mother may have managed but it didn’t escape Eloisa’s notice that she’d screwed up mere days after the funeral. She waited through Jonah’s assessing silence so long that dots began to spark in front of her eyes.
    “Breathe,” he commanded, holding her gaze until she exhaled then nodding curtly. “Of course I’ll keep your secret. If anyone finds out, it won’t be from me.”
    Sighing with relief she flopped back in her seat and fanned her face, relaxing for the first time since she’d heard his engine growl around the corner. That was one secret taken care of, and she had no reason to believe he could have found out her other. “You really could have saved me a lot of angst tonight if you’d told me that from the start.”
    “What kind of guy do you think I am?”
    A rich one judging by his clothes, his lifestyle and famous surname? Yet all of those were superficial elements. She scoured her mind for things she’d learned about him a year ago…and most of it focused on attraction. She wasn’t so sure she liked what that said about her. “I’m not really sure how well I know you.”
    “Then you’ll have the next two weeks to figure me out.”
    “Two weeks?” Her muscles kinked all over again. “I