The CEO's Accidental Bride by Barbara Dunlop Read Free Book Online Page A

couple of heartbeats.
    â€œI’d remember that.”
    â€œSo, you can’t say for sure…”
    â€œHas this been bothering you?” he asked.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œBecause it sounds like—”
    Suddenly, she snagged her bag and hooked it over her shoulder, coming to her feet. “It’s not bothering me. If we did it, we did it.”
    â€œWe didn’t. ” Not that he hadn’t wanted to. Not that he wouldn’t love to. Not that he wasn’t still—
    Damn it. He had to stop going there.
    â€œBecause I’m not pregnant or anything,” she said, slipping into her sexy shoes and straightening her clingy dress. The action pulled it tighter against her lithe body, and it was more than he could do not to let his gaze take a tour.
    He summoned his strength. “Kaitlin. I think we need to leave Vegas back in Vegas.”
    â€œWe tried.”
    That was true.
    â€œBut it didn’t work,” she pointed out.
    â€œBlame Elvis,” he drawled, fixing his gaze firmly on her face and telling himself to leave it right there.
    Her smile grew. “You’re funnier than you let on, you know?”
    He gritted his teeth against her softening expression, those lips, those eyes, that tousled hair. It would be so easy to pull her into his arms and kiss her.
    But for the first time in his life, he ignored the powerful urge.
    â€œThanks for signing the papers,” he offered gruffly.
    â€œThanks for giving me a job.”
    The specter of her previous designs appeared inside his head. He didn’t know what he’d do if she insisted on resurrecting them.
    Now might not be the time. Then again, now might be the perfect time. They seemed to have come to a truce. Maybe he should take advantage of it.
    â€œYou know that building has been in my family for five generations,” he declared.
    â€œThat doesn’t mean it can’t look good.”
    â€œThere are a lot of different ways to make it look good.” Classic ways. Functional ways. They were a transportation company, for goodness’ sake, not an art museum.
    He wished he could interest her in using the Hugo Rosche plans as a jumping-off point. Hugo had taken over after he’dcanceled Hutton Quinn. Zach had paid a penalty to get out of the contract. But Hugo had left on good terms with a reference and several prospective clients set up by Zach. Hugo’s plans made the most of the existing layout, and they’d only take about six months to implement.
    â€œAnd I’m going to find the best one,” she breezily promised. Her bravado frightened him.
    â€œIt’s my heritage you’re playing with, you know.”
    Her expression faltered for a split second, something close to pain flitting through her eyes. But she recovered instantly, and the confidence returned. “Then, you’re a very lucky man, Zach Harper. Because I’m going to make your heritage a whole lot better.”

Three
    T he following week, Kaitlin and Lindsay made their way into the bright pool of sunshine on the roof of the Harper Transportation building. The cement was solid beneath Kaitlin’s feet, and the building seemed to fit seamlessly into its surroundings. Modern high-rises towered over on two sides, while across Liberty, they studied a row of dignified—if chipped—lion statues, and looked farther to the river.
    The roof was square, blocked on one side by the service level and staircase. It was bordered by a three-foot-high concrete wall. Years of rain had stained it, but the mottled color evoked a certain nobility. Kaitlin couldn’t help wonder what it would be like to work under the same roof as five generations of your ancestors.
    Her mother had died when she was born. Her father was “unknown,” not even a name on a birth certificate. And if nineteen-year-old Yvette Saville had had relatives somewhere nobody ever found them. All Kaitlin had of her own heritage was