Ellie Darkins - Conveniently Engaged To The Boss

From assistant to fiancée!

Joss Dawson knows the one thing that will make his dying father happy is to see his son find love...the problem is, he’s sworn off love forever!

But the answer’s simple! Asking his father’s fiercely intelligent, beautiful assistant Eva to play the perfect role—his fiancée. Only for Eva it’s not that easy...

Pretending to be Joss’s fiancée threatens to ruin the life she’s worked so hard for! And how will she keep her head when she’s losing her heart to her frustratingly attractive new boss?

She leaned back against the door, and Joss stood in front of her, filling her vision with the wide shoulders of his exquisitely cut suit.

“Everything okay?” he asked, his voice low and sensual.

Eva nodded, when what she really wanted to do was shout. To tell him that no—she wasn’t okay. This was far, far from okay. This was confusing and terrifying and oh so much more complicated than she had ever wanted her life to be.

But she couldn’t let go of his hand. Couldn’t be the one to break that connection between them.

She’d felt it growing as they’d played their parts over dinner. A touch of the hands here. A brush of fingers over an arm there.

The intimacy had grown between them in some strange simulacrum of the relationship they had invented. But she had expected them to walk away from it. Expected to leave it at the table. She hadn’t expected it to stalk them into the lift and back up to their suite.

Intimacy was safe in public, where neither of them could act on it. But with her back against this door and Joss in front of her—looking serious, smelling delicious—it was a more dangerous prospect. And Joss knew it, too.

Conveniently Engaged to the Boss

Ellie Darkins

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ELLIE DARKINSspent her formative years devouring romance novels, and after completing her English degree decided to make a living from her love of books. As a writer and editor, she finds her work now entails dreaming up romantic proposals, hot dates with alpha males and trips to the past with dashing heroes. When she’s not working she can usually be found running around after her toddler, volunteering at her local library, or escaping all the above with a good book and a vanilla latte.

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For Mike

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text From assistant to fiancée! Joss Dawson knows the one thing that will make his dying father happy is to see his son find love...the problem is, he’s sworn off love forever! But the answer’s simple! Asking his father’s fiercely intelligent, beautiful assistant Eva to play the perfect role—his fiancée. Only for Eva it’s not that easy... Pretending to be Joss’s fiancée threatens to ruin the life she’s worked so hard for! And how will she keep her head when she’s losing her heart to her frustratingly attractive new boss?

Introduction She leaned back against the door, and Joss stood in front of her, filling her vision with the wide shoulders of his exquisitely cut suit. “Everything okay?” he asked, his voice low and sensual. Eva nodded, when what she really wanted to do was shout. To tell him that no—she wasn’t okay. This was far, far from okay. This was confusing and terrifying and oh so much more complicated than she had ever wanted her life to be. But she couldn’t let go of his hand. Couldn’t be the one to break that connection between them. She’d felt it growing as they’d played their parts over dinner. A touch of the hands here. A brush of fingers over an arm there. The intimacy had grown between them in some strange simulacrum of the relationship they had invented. But she had expected them to walk away from it. Expected to leave it at the table. She hadn’t expected it to stalk them into the lift and back up to their suite. Intimacy was safe in public, where neither of them could act on it. But with her back against this door and Joss in front of her—looking serious, smelling delicious—it was a more dangerous prospect. And Joss knew it, too.

Title Page Conveniently Engaged to the Boss Ellie Darkins www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author ELLIE DARKINS spent her formative years devouring romance novels, and after completing her English degree decided to make a living from her love of books. As a writer and editor, she finds her work now entails dreaming up romantic proposals, hot dates with alpha males and trips to the past with dashing heroes. When she’s not working she can usually be found running around after her toddler, volunteering at her local library, or escaping all the above with a good book and a vanilla latte.

Dedication For Mike

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

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

‘COULD YOU HELP me with this zip, or are you just going to watch?’

Instinctively Joss shut the door behind him, wondering if anyone else had seen, and glanced through the window of the office to make sure his father wasn’t nearby.

‘Sorry, Eva. I was looking for my dad. What are you doing in his office? And why does it involve being undressed?’

Eva shrugged—he watched her shoulder blades move under pale, exposed skin where the dress’s zip was gaping at the back.

‘Edward’s already gone to the boardroom. Shouldn’t you be there too? Never mind. Could you help? I should have been there five minutes ago, but I spilt a cup of coffee over myself and now I’ve got the zip stuck.’

‘Okay, okay—sure,’ Joss said, with a glance back at the closed door. ‘My dad wanted to see me in here before the meeting, but I couldn’t get away from my last call.’

He reached Eva and gently batted her hands away from the zip, pulling the slider to the top as quickly and impersonally as he could manage.

Eva turned her head to look over her shoulder, and as his eyes met hers he felt the tug of attraction that was ever-present around his father’s executive assistant.

‘Um... Joss, I meant unzip.’

Oh, no, that was not what he’d signed up for. No way was he that stupid. He’d been keeping his eyes, hands and mind off this woman for years. He knew the limits of his self-control, and just this proximity to her was pushing it—never mind anything else.

‘I’m not sure that’s...’

‘Joss, would you just do it? Shut your eyes, if you want, but get me out of this thing! It’s not like I’m naked under here, in case you’re worried about your delicate sensibilities.’

He took a deep breath and unzipped, but the teeth snagged halfway down her back.

‘It’s stuck.’

‘Still? Brilliant. I was hoping it was just the angle I was pulling it. Can you unstick it?’

He wasn’t sure he wanted to—not when unsticking it meant exposing more creamy skin and finding out exactly what she’d meant when she said that she wasn’t naked under there.