Kathryn Ross - Ruthless Contract

Cover Page

Excerpt “You shouldn’t have done that.” “Why not?” he murmured in a husky undertone. “I thought it might bring back a few memories. It certainly brought back a few for me.” His lips twisted in an arrogant smile. “You always were a passionate little thing.” A rush of red-hot anger replaced the warm feelings inside her, and she pulled away from him. “And you always were full of yourself,” she snapped. “For your information, I hated every moment of that kiss.” “You do surprise me,” he drawled lazily, then placed a finger against his lips as she looked ready to explode. “Shh! Don’t wake the girls.” Abbie took a step back from him, her gaze moving over the laughing gleam in his eyes. That kiss had been just a joke to him. “I hate you, Greg Prescott…I just hate you.”

About The Author KATHRYN ROSS was born in Zambia, Africa, where her parents happened to live at that time. Educated in Ireland and England, she now lives in a village near Blackpool, Lancashire. Kathryn is a professional beauty therapist but writing is her first love. As a child she wrote adventure stories and at thirteen was editor of her school magazine. Happily, ten writing years later Designed With Love was accepted by Harlequin. A romantic Sagittarian, she loves traveling to exotic locations.

Title Page Ruthless Contract Kathryn Ross www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Copyright

“Why not?” he murmured in a husky undertone. “I thought it might bring back a few memories. It certainly brought back a few for me.” His lips twisted in an arrogant smile. “You always were a passionate little thing.”

A rush of red-hot anger replaced the warm feelings inside her, and she pulled away from him. “And you always were full of yourself,” she snapped. “For your information, I hated every moment of that kiss.”

“You do surprise me,” he drawled lazily, then placed a finger against his lips as she looked ready to explode. “Shh! Don’t wake the girls.”

Abbie took a step back from him, her gaze moving over the laughing gleam in his eyes. That kiss had been just a joke to him. “I hate you, Greg Prescott…I just hate you.”

was born in Zambia, Africa, where her parents happened to live at that time. Educated in Ireland and England, she now lives in a village near Blackpool, Lancashire. Kathryn is a professional beauty therapist but writing is her first love. As a child she wrote adventure stories and at thirteen was editor of her school magazine. Happily, ten writing years later Designed With Love was accepted by Harlequin. A romantic Sagittarian, she loves traveling to exotic locations.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

LIFE never went as you expected it to, Abigail reflected as she looked down from the plane at the skyscrapers of New York.

Jenny and Mike had been so happy, had had so much to live for. For a moment her eyes blurred with tears and swiftly she searched in her bag for a tissue. She wasn’t going to cry any more, she told herself fiercely. She had already cried enough tears to last a lifetime.

She could still hardly take in the fact that her beautiful sister was dead, that she would never see her or Mike again.

The pilot’s voice interrupted her thoughts as he told them that they would soon be landing at JFK and that the local time was five-thirty in the afternoon…

A frisson of nerves started to twist inside Abbie as she thought about seeing Greg Prescott again.

It was five years since she had last seen him. It felt like a lifetime ago. It had taken her a long time to get over the havoc that man had wrought in her life. Even now at the oddest times she found herself thinking about him, thinking what a fool he had made of her.

The plane touched down smoothly and the long flight from London to New York was over. Abigail didn’t move immediately; she waited until the majority of passengers had gathered up their belongings and were filing down the aisle before she even unfastened her seatbelt.

Then calmly she opened her handbag and took out a small compact to check her appearance.

Her blue eyes were slightly shadowed, reflecting the fact that she hadn’t been sleeping well recently, and her skin was very pale. With a sigh she reapplied dark pink lipstick and then ran a hand through her long blonde hair to fluff it up. She wanted to look completely composed when she saw Greg.

She had been surprised when he had written to her and told her she could stay with him instead of at a hotel, and she had been even more surprised when he had offered to pick her up at the airport.

She had wanted to refuse both offers. The thought of having to spend any time in that man’s company was completely abhorrent. It was only the thought of the children that had made her write a stiff letter of acceptance.

Poor little Daisy and Rachel. She bit down sharply on her lip as she thought about the twins. It was quite frankly just the thought of the children that had kept her going over these last few days. She had every intention of taking them home to England with her. They needed her and she was going to be there for them.

Swiftly she rose to her feet, a look of determination on her young face. She was going to have to face Greg Prescott now and forget their past history.

It seemed to take forever to clear immigration. Even though you no longer needed a visa to visit the States, the authorities were hot on who was coming in and, more importantly, when they were going to leave.

Abigail was thankful that she had heeded Charles’s advice and booked her return flight in advance. She could always add the children on from this side once she had cleared everything with Greg.

Her heart thumped nervously as she picked up her bag and walked through the barriers. Her eyes ran searchingly along the sea of faces waiting at the other side. At first she couldn’t see anyone she recognised and she wondered for a brief second if he just hadn’t bothered to come.

She pushed her trolley around the crowds and headed decisively towards the telephones. She wasn’t going to stand around like an idiot waiting for him, she told herself angrily. If he couldn’t be bothered to be here on time she would make her own arrangements.

It was then that she saw him. He was leaning indolently against a counter to one side of her, just watching her.

Her heart seemed to miss a beat and for a second they could have been the only two people on the planet. The crowds around them, the hustle and the noise just seemed to disappear as she met those dark, deeply disturbing eyes.

He looked different…yet so familiar that her heart leapt crazily. He was still ruggedly handsome, only now the darkness of his hair was flecked with silver at the sides and instead of wearing casual jeans he was dressed in a formal dark suit. He looked every inch the successful lawyer that he was.

He didn’t move towards her immediately, but took his time, his eyes lazily sweeping from the tips of her stilettoheeled shoes over the navy blue suit that clung in a flattering way to the slender curves of her figure, before resting slowly on her face.

Much to her annoyance she felt herself starting to blush and he smiled as he noticed her heightened colour. Only then did he move across to her.