Wanted: one convenient wife
Venture capitalist Leo Reynolds is married to his work, but now he needs a wife. Someone to run his home, host his partiesâand accept a marriage thatâs strictly business. His one rule: love will play no part in their union. At least thatâs the lie he tells himself, until he meets his matchâ¦.
Enter Daniella Whiteâhandpicked by the matchmaker as the perfect wife. Marriage to Leo means security, and sheâs willing to give up passion for friendship. But the moment they meet, sparks fly. And now temptationâand Leoâs own heartâhave the billionaire ready to change all the rules.
KAT CANTRELL read her first Mills & Boon novel in third grade and has been scribbling in notebooks since she learned to spell. What else would she write but romance? She majored in literature, officially with the intent to teach, but somehow ended up buried in middle management in corporate America, until she became a stay-at-home mum and full-time writer.
Kat, her husband and their two boys live in north Texas. When sheâs not writing about characters on the journey to happily-ever-after, she can be found at a football game, watching the TV show Friends or listening to â80s music.
Kat was the 2011 Harlequin So You Think You Can Write winner and a 2012 RWA Golden Heart finalist for best unpublished series contemporary manuscript.
One
Leo Reynolds wished he could marry his admin. It would make life so much simpler.
Unfortunately, she was already married and nearly twice his age. Plus, women didnât stick around once they figured out he worked a hundred hours a week on a consistent basis. Loneliness was the price of catapulting Reynolds Capital Management into the big leagues of the venture capital game.
âYouâre a life saver, Mrs. Gordon.â Leo shot her a grateful smile and leaned back in his chair.
His laptop was refusing to speak to the printer and a critical document had gotten caught in the middle of the dispute. The signed hard copy now in his hand was due to Garrett Engineering on the other side of Dallas in less than an hour.
âIâd hardly call printing a proposal saving your life.â Mrs. Gordon glanced at her watch in a deliberate gesture designed to point out the time. âItâs late and itâs Friday. Take Jenna to that new restaurant in Victory Park and let me handle the proposal. Relax for once. Itâll be good for you.â
Leo grimaced as a ping of remorse bloomed and faded. âJenna and I split up. Sheâs already seeing someone else.â
Hopefully, the new relationship would make her happy. She deserved a man who could shower her with attention and affection. He regretted not being able to give her what she wanted, but it would be patently unfair to let Jenna keep hoping heâd ever become a man capable of focusing on a relationship. As a result, heâd lost a comfortable companion.
âOf course she is. Itâs not like she ever saw you.â Mrs. Gordon crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Leo with a tsk. âNow who are you going to take to the museum dedication?â
Leo groaned. Heâd conveniently forgotten about that, but it wasnât as if he could skip the dedication. The new childrenâs museum in the Dallas Arts District bore his name, after all, since heâd donated the money to build it. âYouâre free next Saturday, arenât you?â
Mrs. Gordon cackled as though Leo had been joking. âOne of these days, Iâm going to say yes when you ask me out and really mess with you. If Jennaâs not in the picture, find another woman. They seem to be pretty thick on the ground.â
Yeah, he tripped over women on a regular basis who would like to go out with him. Or at least they thought they did, right up until they realized they wouldnât be satisfied with what little time and attention he could give. It never took very long to reach that point.
A vague hollow feeling invaded his gut, one heâd experienced more and more lately. Heâd written it off as an increased urgency to hit that elusive, unachieved mark of success. But now that it had happened during a discussion about his personal life, he wasnât so convinced.
âI hate dating.â And small talk. That getting-to-know-you period took time and energy he didnât care to expend. Reynolds Capital Management came first. Always.
âThatâs because you donât do it often enough.â
Here they went, off on her favorite subject. She never got tired of scolding him about the lack of a permanent female in his life.