Leah Ashton - Behind The Billionaire's Guarded Heart

He was more interesting than gorgeous, she realised, with a slightly crooked nose and an angular chin. His too-long hair and his stubble—forgotten, she was sure, rather than fashionable.

But it was that sum of those imperfect parts that made a darkly, devastatingly attractive whole.

And definitely not what she’d been expecting.

Whatever she’d thought a mysterious billionaire who deliberately shunned the spotlight would look like, this was not it.

He was also nothing like Evan.

That realisation came from left field, shocking her.

April blinked again. What was she doing?

‘Please come in,’ Hugh Bennell said. As naturally as if only a beat of time had passed.

Maybe it had?

April felt flustered and confused—and seriously annoyed with herself.

She’d just met her new boss. She needed to pull herself together.

She was probably just tired from the long hours she’d been working.

But did tiredness explain the way her gaze documented the breadth of her new boss’s shoulders as she stepped inside?

Nope.

There was no way she could pretend she didn’t know what the fireworks in her belly meant. It had just been a long time since they’d been associated with anyone but her husband.

And a pretty long time since she’d associated them with Evan.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a second.

No. No. No, no, no.

She had not flown halfway around the world to turn into a puddle over a man. Over her boss. No matter how mysterious.

That certainly wasn’t why she was working two jobs and sharing a room in a truly awful shared house.

She’d come to London to live independently. Without her mother’s money for the first time in her life and without Evan for the first time since she was seventeen.

And she needed this job. She certainly needed the very generous hourly rate.

She didn’t need fireworks, or the heat that had pooled in her belly.

‘Miss Spencer?’

April’s eyes snapped open. ‘Sorry, Mr Bennell.’

‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

He did have gorgeous eyes. Thoughtful eyes that looked as if a million things were happening within them.

‘Of course,’ she said with a deliberate smile.

He inclined his chin, somewhat sceptically. ‘I was just saying that we’ll run through your responsibilities in the kitchen.’

She nodded, then followed him down the narrow hall beside the rather grand if dusty staircase.

As they walked April did her absolute best to shove all thoughts of fireworks or heat firmly out of her mind—and her body. Frustratingly, Hugh’s well-worn, perfectly fitted jeans did nothing to help this endeavour.

Neither did the unwanted realisation that—for the first time since Evan had told her he didn’t love her and her sparkling life had been dulled—she felt truly alive.

* * *

April Spencer was beautiful.

Objectively beautiful. As if she’d stepped off the pages of a catalogue and into his mother’s house.

For a while he’d stood and just looked at her, because he’d felt helpless to do anything but.

He’d looked at her chocolate-brown hair, at her porcelain skin and her crystal blue eyes. At her lips—pink, and shining with something glossy. At her fitted clothes and the long coat cinched in tight at her waist.

He’d expected a backpacker. Someone younger, really. Someone he could actually imagine lifting and shifting boxes.

This woman was not it.

This woman was poised and utterly together. Everything about her exuded strength and confidence. As if she was used to commanding a room. Or a corporation.

Not rummaging through boxes.

It just didn’t fit.

He’d let her in, but then he had turned to face her—to question her.

He needed to know who she was and what she was doing here.

But when he’d turned her eyes had been closed.

He’d watched her for a second as she’d taken deep breaths. In through her nose. Out through her mouth. And it was in that moment—while that knowledgeable gaze had been hidden—that he’d sensed vulnerability. A vulnerability that had been completely disguised by her polish and her smile.

And so, instead of interrogating her, he’d asked her if she was okay.

And instead of calling the agency back, asking for someone more suitable, he’d led her into the kitchen and handed her a confidentiality agreement to sign.

That moment of vulnerability had long gone now, and the woman in his mother’s kitchen revealed nothing of whatever he’d seen.

But he had seen it. And he of all people knew that people were rarely what they first appeared. He’d spent most his life hiding all but what people absolutely needed to know.

So for now he wasn’t going to question April Spencer.

But he did acknowledge her incongruity, and he didn’t like that this project to clear his mother’s house already felt more complicated than he wanted it to.

April laid his pen on top of the signed paperwork. ‘All done, Mr Bennell,’ she said with a smile.

‘Call me Hugh,’ he said firmly.

‘April,’ she said, with eyes that sparkled.

He was again struck by her beauty, but forced himself to disregard it. The attractiveness of his employees was none of his concern.

He nodded briskly, and didn’t return her smile. ‘You’ll be working alone,’ he said, getting straight to the point, ‘and I’ve provided guidelines for how I want items sorted. It should be self-explanatory: paperwork containing personal details is to be saved, all other papers to be shredded and recycled. Junk is to be disposed of. Anything of value should be separated for donation. I’ve provided the details of local charities you can contact to organise collection.’

April nodded, her gaze on the printed notes he’d left for her.

‘Is there anything other than papers you want kept?’ she asked.

‘No,’ he said.

Maybe louder than he’d intended, as her head jerked upwards.

‘Okay,’ she said carefully. ‘And how do I contact you if I have any questions?’

‘You don’t,’ he said. ‘I’m not to be disturbed.’

Her glossy lips formed a straight line. ‘So who can I contact?’

He shrugged dismissively. ‘You won’t need to contact anybody. It’s all made very clear in my instructions. Just send me an email at the end of each day with details of your progress.’

‘So you know what’s in the boxes? Caroline implied that you didn’t, which is why you need me to sort through them.’

Hugh shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

April met his gaze. ‘So you trust me to go through a whole room of boxes and make all the decisions myself?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It’s all junk. You aren’t going to stumble across a hidden fortune, I promise you.’

She looked unconvinced.

‘And besides—it’s not a room. It’s the whole house.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Pardon me?’

He ran a hand through his hair. He just wanted this conversation to be over and to be out of this place. This stuffed full, oppressive house which this woman only complicated further.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Three floors. Leave any furniture where it is. Don’t lift anything too heavy. I’ve left you a key and the security code. I expect you to work an eight-hour day.’ He stopped, mentally running through any further extraneous details he should mention. ‘If there’s an emergency—only an emergency—you can call me. My number is listed in the documentation.’

‘That’s it?’ she said.

‘That’s it,’ he said.

‘Great,’ she said. ‘Where do I start?’

‘I’ll show you,’ he said.

Minutes later they stood before a wall built with pale brown cardboard.

‘Wow,’ April said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’