Every Girl's Secret Fantasy by Robyn Grady Read Free Book Online Page B

room.
    â€œHannie!” Phoebe barked back. “Behave yourself.”
    The pup—Hannie—fell onto his stomach, setting his snout on his outstretched front paws. Pace shifted his jaw. Poor little guy was only protecting his mistress. He got that. He’d bet the dog and Trundy hadn’t got on so well.
    â€œI won’t be a minute,” Phoebe said, heading for adoorway that led, Pace presumed, to her bedroom. “I’ll change and pack a few things.”
    â€œFine,” he called back. “Hannie and I’ll get acquainted.”
    Pace flung over a genial salute, one boy buddy to another. The pint-sized dog cocked his head and his rhinestone collar sparkled.
    â€œWhat say you and I get any concerns out in the open?” Pace said, sauntering over. “Then we can concentrate on enjoying a pleasant afternoon together, just the three of us. What do you say?” Pace made himself comfortable on the couch, angled towards the mutt, and stretched out a hand. “Friends?”
    Inches from Pace’s fingers, ferocious tiny teeth snapped, then clattered like a rapid spurt of gunfire. Heartbeat hammering, Pace scrambled sideways off the couch.
    â€œWhat’s going on out there?”
    Pace ignored Phoebe’s call from the bedroom long enough to count his fingers. He blew on each digit then, shuddering, shook out his shoulders and arms. “Uh, just me and Hannie making friends.”
    Setting his jaw, recalibrating his perceptions, Pace squared off in front of the mutt. Hannie bared those ninja teeth, his top lip drawn back to his nose. Pace exercised his neck, rotated his shoulders.
    Then found a cynical grin.
    This scene didn’t feel a whole lot different from the face-off he’d had with Nick this morning. One of so many.
    Growing up, Pace had heard over and again how much the brothers resembled one another. In looks and habits, perhaps, but their brains were chalk and cheese.Nick was a figures man through and through, while Pace lived for adrenaline rushes—particularly getting behind the wheel of a hot car. That mutual love of and fascination with automobiles was the reason his father had left him in charge of the company.
    Nicholas Senior had shaped his younger son for the role from his early teens. Part of Pace had basked in the attention, and in his father’s belief in his abilities. Nicholas Senior had been a powerful character. Everyone had wanted to please him.
    But another well-hidden part of the younger Brodrick boy had almost resented being groomed for a job which, deep down, he’d felt only half equipped to handle. A job he’d known he could never do as well as his financially brilliant dad. Every time he saw Nick now, and they invariably butted heads, Pace was reminded of the thumping magnitude with which that prediction had come true.
    From as far back as dot he and Nick had been in competition…on the tennis court, for high school girls, but particularly for their father’s attention and approval. Pace didn’t want to dwell on who their father’s favourite would be now if he were alive, but his half-brother never tired of finding subtle ways to stick it in. Point in case this morning.
    In to collect the Aston for Phoebe, he’d found Nick basking behind his desk. His brother had asked again about those figures he needed on Monday; he didn’t want any mistakes and had suggested Pace double-check to make sure they were right. Triple-check if need be.
    His temper had boiled. Like so many other times in his life, Pace had wanted to slog him.
    A knock echoed through the living room, and Pace swung towards the door at the same time as Phoebe emerged from the bedroom, her hair a sheet of silk and her angelic curves breathtaking beneath a flowing white dress. Pace’s skin heated as a groan of brewing desire replaced the pent-up angst of a moment ago. When her jewelled eyes flashed an easy smile as she passed, Pace’s