Cara Colter - Interview with a Tycoon

Kiernan McAllister’s wet hair, the colour of just-brewed coffee, was curling at the tips. The stubble on his face accentuated the hard, masculine lines of his features.

The out-of-the-storm look of his hair and his being unshaven gave him a distinctly roguish look, and despite his state of undress he might have been a pirate, relishing his next conquest, or a highwayman about to draw his sword.

His eyes were a shade of silver that added to her sense that he could be dangerous in the most tantalizing of ways. In the pictures she had seen of him his eyes had intrigued, with a faint light at the back of them that she had interpreted as faintly mischievous—as if all his incredible successes in the business world was nothing more than a big game and it was a game that he was winning.

But of course that was before the accident where his brother-in-law had been killed.

There was the difference. Now Kiernan McAllister’s eyes had something in them as shattered as glass, cool, a barrier that he did not want penetrated by someone looking for a story.

In that moment, Stacy knew he would turn her down flat if she requested an interview.

Interview with a Tycoon

Cara Colter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CARA COLTERlives in British Columbia with her partner, Rob, and eleven horses. She has three grown children and a grandson. She is a recent recipient of an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award in the Love and Laughter category. Cara loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her or learn more about her on her Facebook page through her website: www.cara-colter.com.

To all those readers

who come to visit me on Facebook, thank you!

Contents

Cover

Introduction Kiernan McAllister’s wet hair, the colour of just-brewed coffee, was curling at the tips. The stubble on his face accentuated the hard, masculine lines of his features. The out-of-the-storm look of his hair and his being unshaven gave him a distinctly roguish look, and despite his state of undress he might have been a pirate, relishing his next conquest, or a highwayman about to draw his sword. His eyes were a shade of silver that added to her sense that he could be dangerous in the most tantalizing of ways. In the pictures she had seen of him his eyes had intrigued, with a faint light at the back of them that she had interpreted as faintly mischievous—as if all his incredible successes in the business world was nothing more than a big game and it was a game that he was winning. But of course that was before the accident where his brother-in-law had been killed. There was the difference. Now Kiernan McAllister’s eyes had something in them as shattered as glass, cool, a barrier that he did not want penetrated by someone looking for a story. In that moment, Stacy knew he would turn her down flat if she requested an interview.

Title Page Interview with a Tycoon Cara Colter www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author CARA COLTER lives in British Columbia with her partner, Rob, and eleven horses. She has three grown children and a grandson. She is a recent recipient of an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award in the Love and Laughter category. Cara loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her or learn more about her on her Facebook page through her website: www.cara-colter.com .

Dedication To all those readers who come to visit me on Facebook, thank you!

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

EPILOGUE

EXTRACT

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

STACY MURPHY WALKER’S heart was beating way too fast. She wondered, gripping the steering wheel of her compact car tighter, how long a heart could beat this fast before it finally calmed itself out of pure exhaustion.

Or exploded, her mind, with its tendency to be overly imaginative, filled in helpfully.

But, still, she was entirely aware the slipping of her tires on the icy mountain roads was not solely responsible for the too-fast beating of her heart.

No, it was the sheer audacity of what she was doing.

Bearding the lion in his den.

A bronze name plaque, McAllister—in other words, the lion—set in a high stone fence, tasteful and easy to miss, told her she had arrived. Now what? She turned into the driveway but stopped before tackling the steep upward incline.

What was she going to say? I need an interview with Kiernan McAllister to save my career as a business writer, so let me in?

She’d had two hours to think about this! No, more. It had been three days since a friend, Caroline, from her old job had called and told her, that amidst the rumors that his company was being sold, McAllister had slipped away to his Whistler retreat.

“This story is made for you, Stacy,” her friend had whispered. “Landing it will set you up as the most desired business freelancer in all of Vancouver! And you deserve it. What happened to you here was very unfair. This is a story that needs your ability to get to the heart of things.” There had been a pause, and then a sigh. “Imagine getting to the heart of that man.”

Stacy had taken the address Caroline had provided while contemplating, not the heart of that man, because she was done with men after all, but the humiliating fact that what had happened to her was obviously the going topic in the coffee room.

But Caroline was right. To scoop the news of the sale of the company would be a career coup for a newly set loose freelancer. To lace that scoop with insight into the increasingly enigmatic McAllister would be icing on the cake.

But more, Stacy felt landing such an important article could be the beginning of her return, not just to professional respect, but to personal self-respect!

What had she thought? That she was just going to waltz up to millionaire Kiernan McAllister’s Whistler cottage and knock at his door?

McAllister was the founder and CEO of the highly regarded and wildly successful Vancouver-based company McAllister Enterprises.

And what was her expectation? That he would open his door, personally? And why would he—who had once been the darling of the media and graced the cover of every magazine possible—grant an audience to her?

McAllister had not given a single interview since the death of his best friend and brother-in-law almost exactly a year ago in a skiing accident—in a place accessible only by helicopter—that had made worldwide headlines.

Now, Stacy hoped she could convince him that she was the best person to entrust his story to.

And here was the problem with imagination.

She could imagine the interview going so well, that at the end of it, she would tell him about her charity, and ask him...

She shook herself. “One thing at a time!”

It was a shot in the dark, after all. And speaking of dark, if she did not get her act together soon, she would be driving back down this road in the dark. The thought made her shudder. She had some vague awareness that ice got icier at night!

She inched forward. She was nearly there, and yet one obstacle remained. The driveway had not been plowed of snow, and the incline looked treacherous. It was in much worse shape than the public roads had been in, and those had been the worst roads Stacy had ever faced!

At the steepest part of the hill, just before it crested, her car hesitated. She was sure she heard it groan, or maybe that sound came from her own lips. For an alarming moment, with her car practically at a standstill, Stacy thought she was going to start sliding backward down the hill.