Donna Kauffman - Walk On The Wild Side

A second later she shot up in her bed. Only, it wasn’t her bed. Or even night. Sun was shining in the bedroom window.

“What’s wrong?” Nick tugged her arm till she turned.

Just looking at him took her breath away. All dark and tawny, sprawled in white cotton sheets. There should be a law against looking so sinful and downright inviting. Her body was already gearing up to accept that invitation, too.

“I have to leave,” she said nervously.

“There you go, having to do something again.” He shifted and the sheet moved dangerously low on his hips. “What’s really wrong?”

Her mouth went dry. “I—I spent the night.”

“And this is a problem—why?”

“Because I don’t spend the night.”

Nick propped himself up on his pillow. “Oh?”

“Spending the night leads to speculation,” she said. “On the part of the person you spend it with.”

Nick grinned and reached for her. “And what’s wrong with that…?”

Donna Kauffman is the award-winning, nationally bestselling author of eighteen contemporary romance novels. She worked as a bookkeeper, dog groomer, people groomer, art instructor and competitive bodybuilder before turning to storytelling. She began writing while expecting her first child, put the manuscript aside, then finished it during a second pregnancy. That book became her first published novel. She’s since written many more, calling on both imagination and background in order to create compelling, innovative stories.

Walk on the Wild Side is Donna’s debut book for Temptation. It’s a fun, sexy story about a wealthy heroine who longs to take a walk in the real world, albeit temporarily. The passion and love she finds with Nick is worth the trip alone. Look for more books from this talented writer who loves to hear from her fans. Check out her Web site at www.donnakauffman.com. Enjoy!

Walk on the Wild Side

Donna Kauffman

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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This book is dedicated to my “sister,” Jill Shalvis.

Families aren’t always the ones you’re born into.

Thanks for taking that first step and making us a family.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Epilogue

“YOUR PLACE is with the family, heading the company,” said Edwin Chandler, rebuking his granddaughter. “There will be no further nonsense about this…this sabbatical you wish to take.”

Susan Haddon Chandler kept her gaze focused outside the tinted limousine window. Otherwise the sight of her grandfather’s sharply disapproving expression might just tempt her to strangle him. Which would be exceedingly foolish. Then she’d have to take over the business immediately.

“Susan, are you paying attention? I didn’t raise you to be rude.”

No, she thought wearily, she was raised to be cold, unfeeling, totally focused on business and the bottom line—exactly like her grandparents were. To hell with love, life and anything resembling a good time.

And she hated being called Susan. Her grandparents were the only people in her life who didn’t call her Sunny. That nickname was the one nice thing her father had given her before he and her mother had died in a yacht racing accident right before her fifth birthday.

Almost from that day forward, she’d known this day was coming. She’d always believed that she’d somehow find a way to accept the inevitable when the time came. Every other person in her graduating class had clutched their diploma like the ticket to freedom it represented.

She hadn’t, though. Her degrees represented a one-way ticket to life imprisonment inside the block of cold granite and steel that housed Chandler Enterprises. She would be expected to remain in her suite of rooms in Haddon Hall, the ancestral home of her maternal great-great-grandmother, where her grandparents could continue to monitor her every breath.

How did she say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” to the people who had given her everything?

She hazarded a glance at her grandfather and felt her spirits sink even lower. There were no words that would penetrate that stubborn piece of stone he called a heart.

“Grandfather, I’m not trying to upset you,” she began.

“Well, you’re going about it very well indeed. I’m not getting any younger. It’s time to curb this foolishness.”

Her grandfather was seventy-eight. But he still put in a full workweek and then some. She knew he would continue to do so until he dropped dead, preferably while heading an international board meeting, closing yet another multimillion-dollar deal. She was fairly certain there was a clause somewhere on her birth certificate that said she was expected to do the same.

“I’m finally done with grad school. I don’t think it’s foolish to want to spend some time on my own,” she reasoned. “You know how much I appreciate all you and Grandmother have done for me. And I’m not turning my back on Chandler Enterprises.” The critical look he gave her only firmed her resolve. She was no shrinking violet. Edwin had seen to that early on. Well, now he would have to deal with the mini-me he’d created.

“I fully intend to take my place in the company,” she told him. “But you have no intentions of stepping down any time soon. Six months will not alter our plans significantly. I’m only twenty-five. I have the rest of my life to devote to Chandler Enterprises. I’m only asking for six months.”

“You had plenty of time on your own in school.”

No, I didn’t, she thought stubbornly. Her grandparents had chosen the sorority she pledged, made certain she only roomed with girls from suitable families and checked up on her constantly. That was when they weren’t demanding she fly home every other week for some social function or other.

She tried again. “It’s not like I’m planning to cut myself off from you and Grandmother. I’ll even stay here in Chicago. I just need enough time to learn a bit more about who I am—”

“The one thing you can certainly never doubt is who you are, Susan. And six months might as well be an eternity. You know about the upcoming merger. If you are to ever head this company, now is the time to step in, to be in on the new direction we are taking from the day the papers are signed. I expect you to participate in the meetings we have scheduled and more important, I expect you to help Frances and me host the variety of social events that will go hand in hand with this monumental event in the history of Chandler Enterprises. You know as well as I do that more business takes place at those functions than in the boardroom. I expect you to shine, to take your rightful place beside me and move into the inner circle.”

Her grandfather’s words turned into a toneless hum inside her head as her panic began to swell. The more he talked about his expectations, the faster the panic grew. She had to get out. Now.