Millionaire Dad's SOS by Ally Blake Read Free Book Online Page A

convince this man he needed her help. If he had any idea she’d stumbled upon his daughter he’d probably already decided which exact spot in the surrounding rainforest would be the best place to hide her cold dead body.
    Her tongue darted nervously out to slide along the chip in her tooth. His gaze slipped to watch the movement, his dark eyes turning almost black.
    She was pinned to the spot, unable to move as he reached out and grabbed a T-shirt from beside the cooler, then slid it on in that particular way men did such things. The soft cotton casually sculpted his muscles and if at all possible he was even more intimidating fully dressed.
    When Meg finally found her voice again she said, ‘This isn’t the way to the Wellness Building.’
    ‘No,’Zach said, his deep voice rumbling through her very bones. ‘It’s not.’
    She frowned. ‘Where am I exactly?’
    ‘The lake.’
    ‘There’s a lake?’ she asked. ‘Wow, I really don’t know how to read a map.’
    ‘I’ll give you a hint,’ he said. ‘It’s the big blue bit at the bottom with “Lake” written in the middle of it.’
    Her cheeks, if possible, grew warmer still. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm when she said, ‘Thanks. You are as ever the gracious host.’
    ‘Was there something else you wanted from me?’
    ‘Look, you can relax. I really didn’t mean to invade your beer-drinking time. Stumbling upon you was pure accident.’
    ‘Obviously fifty acres isn’t quite as much room as it sounds.’
    ‘So it seems.’ She began to back away. ‘If you’d be so kind as to point the way—’
    ‘I was just about to head out for a row. Want to join me?’
    Her feet stumbled to a halt. ‘Excuse me?’
    While his eyes seemed to skim the view behind her in search of prying eyes, he waved an inviting arm towards the end of a jetty that was shrouded in tall reeds wilting in the heavy heat. ‘After many months of wrangling with a guy on the end of the phone, my old row boat has finally arrived from a storage lock-up in Sydney and I’m taking her for a spin. You game?’
    Game for what ? Concrete shoes? A speedboat containing Rylie, Tabitha and their ready packed bags? Or worse, an intimate boat ride with a man whom she couldn’t want; who didn’t much like her; who still managed to give her uncontrollable stomach flutters that only grew more intense with each and every meeting.
    A whimper from her self-preservation instincts had her licking her lips in preparation to say thanks but no thanks, until her mind filled with the memory of a sprawling house in the forest, and a lonesome, brown-haired girl with his eyes.
    The most decisive reason for her to walk away was the one reason she finally could not.
    ‘Sounds lovely,’ she said with the distant but polite smile she used on those who shamelessly accosted her in the fruit and veg section of her local supermarket asking for an autograph.
    His eyes darkened all the more, as though he knew it too, but he still slipped the strap of the cooler over his shoulder, then turned and walked towards the lake.
    Meg did all she could do and followed.
    Once she rounded the thick reeds she saw a small, fat, wooden boat bobbing merrily on what turned out to be a massive lake. The boat’s missionbrown paint was faded, the red floor was scratched and fatigued, and the benches had seats worn into them from a lifetime of accommodating bottoms.
    It was ancient and imperfect. So not the kind of sea-faring-type vessel any of the men in her family would be caught dead in. She loved it.
    She crouched down and ran a hand over the stern to find it smooth and soft. ‘She’s really yours?’
    She glanced up to find Zach watching the rhythmic movement of her hand. She curled herfingers into her palms and pushed herself back to standing.
    He had to bend past her to unhook the rope from the jetty. She leant back to give him room, but not far enough not to catch his scent. She breathed it in. She couldn’t help herself. It