Wife for Hire Read Online Free PDF

the plane leveled off. He motioned to his flight attendant. “A brandy for the lady and a scotch, neat, for me.”
    “Certainly, sir.”
    As she left to get their drinks, Lindy struggled into a more normal sitting position.
    “Why don’t I fill you in on some things about the job? When we get there, we’ll be asked to complete some questionnaires so we want to have our story straight. Have you had a chance to look over the file?”
    She nodded. “Several times. Want to quiz me about our life together?”
    He shrugged. “Sure.” If making it into a game would keep her mind off the whole twenty-thousand feet off the ground thing, he was willing. “All right, then. What’s your name?”
    “Belinda O’Neil, but I go by Lindy. I’m twenty-eight and live in Great Neck, Long Island.”
    “And your husband?”
    “Management consultant Owen O’Neil. Age thirty-five. He enjoys racquetball and sailing. Favorite meal is steak au poivre, blanched asparagus, and parsnip puree,” she recited neatly.
    He nodded, pleased she’d done her homework. “All true, by the way, aside from the last name and the job title. I left the interests section of your dossier blank so we could fill it in together. The best lies are close to the truth. No reason for you not to add your hobbies, so long as we can tweak them to match our jet-setting lifestyle.”
    “What do you really do for a living, anyway?”
    “I’m a venture capitalist.”
    She eyed the luxurious aircraft, her sharp gaze flicking from the buttery leather seats to the cabin-sized flat-screen TV. “Must be a pretty sweet gig.”
    He gave a curt nod. “Not too shabby. I’m rather good at it.”
    “I do have one question, though. Aren’t you nervous Nico will figure out who you are? Can your cover withstand some poking around if he gets suspicious? Or what if he sees the resemblance between you and Cara? There are people I’ve seen in the grocery store and have said ‘Oh, that must be Bill Macullough’s daughter’ because they look so much alike. Plus the accent…”
    “Not an issue. I hired a friend who owns a security firm to build our covers. He doesn’t know the details, just that we’re here and I needed some aliases, which he was happy to supply. I don’t think Nico has the time or the means to get through all the layers, and frankly, why would he bother trying? With regard to Cara, she’s my half-sister. My father left my mother for hers.”
    Lindy’s eyes clouded with sympathy and he looked away. Why had he even said that? It wasn’t at all pertinent to the conversation. He pressed on briskly. “At any rate, we grew up on separate continents, so she talks like a Yank. He won’t know me.”
    “Can I ask how you got so close if you lived so far away?”
    “We weren’t close at all until about ten years ago. She’s the only family I have left and vice versa. Part of the reason I relocated to New York was to expand my business to the States, but I won’t lie. The thought of living closer to Cara was certainly a consideration. Especially now when she needs me. I’ve been here for three months and, frankly, I can’t imagine moving back to Belfast now. It’s been really nice having her so close.”
    “I feel the same about my brothers,” she said softly. They hit a patch of turbulence and she cringed. “Ugh.”
    “Focus on me, all right? We’ve got work to do and I’m paying you a lot of money to do it, so focus.” He held her gaze while he spoke, and took a pen and small notepad from his sports jacket.
    “Y-you’re right. Go ahead.”
    “When is your birthday?”
    “May eighth.”
    “Hobbies?”
    “I love to bake for people. I try to go to the nursing home near my house twice a month and bring goodies. Cookies, cupcakes, and they love my rice pudding.”
    Of course they did. He pursed his lips. “Let’s say we put down ‘Enjoys gourmet cooking.’”
    She chuckled and a little of the color seemed to return to her face. “That’s