Billionaire's Ultimate Acquisition
He won't take no for an answer!Isabelle Harrington is furious when arrogant playboy Spencer Chatsfield becomes her new boss. He's also the man who shattered her heart years ago. The only thing she can't stand more than Spencer is the sizzling chemistry still burning between them!Months of meticulous planning has led Spencer to this ultimate acquisition. The only thing standing in his way is the delicious Isabelle. He'll just have to seduce her into compliance! Except Isabelle is keeping a secret…one that will raise the stakes higher than ever before.Welcome The Chatsfield, New York!
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Isabelle could handle him when he was fighting with herâ¦when he was angry. But this compassionate side was something that ambushed her defences. She didnât want to like him. She didnât want to respect him. She wanted to hate him. She needed to hate him, otherwise he would unravel her tightly bound emotions. She could not allow him close. To see the needs she had hidden for so long.
She tucked her hair back over her left shoulder with a sweep of her hand. âPlease leave. I donât want to talk to you right now.â
âThis isnât just about the takeover, is it?â
She rolled her eyes as she turned away. âAs if that wasnât enough.â
He came up behind her and planted his hands on the tops of her shoulders. It was a gentle anchoring touch that made her want to lean back against him for the support she secretly, desperately craved.
But what if he had another agenda? What if he was only coming in close to exploit her further? Hadnât he exploited her enough? He would woo her to his side, make her say and do things she might later regret.
Her beloved hotel was no longer hers. Her life was being taken over by a man she didnât know how to handle. Had never known how to handle. He was too powerful. Too sophisticated. Too everything.
An avid romance reader, MELANIE MILBURNE loves writing the books that gave her so much joy as she was busy getting married to her own hero and raising a family. Melanie has won several awards, including The Australian Readersâ Association most popular category/series romance in 2008 and the prestigious Romance Writers of Australia R*BY award in 2011.
She loves to hear from readers!
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Twitter @MelanieMilburn1
To Nas Dean. I am so grateful we met at RWA in Anaheim. My life would not be the same without you! Thank you for all you do to make my writing life run as smoothly as possible. xxx
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NOWHERE ON ISABELLEâS list of things to do before The Meeting was there any mention of cleaning up a fur ball. She looked at Atticus in dismay. âYou do this to me now?â
Atticus purred as he indolently lifted a front paw to groom as if to say, What is your problem?
Isabelle blew out a flustered breath. âWhy didnât you do this yesterday when I had time to take you to the vet? Why today, when Iâve got a hundred people filing into the boardroomââ she glanced at her watch and groaned ââlike in about five minutes. Argh!â
She pictured the Chatsfield clan striding inâGene and his eight adult childrenâ¦and Geneâs nephew Spencer Chatsfield and his two younger brothers. Even thinking Spencerâs name made her blood boil. As if what heâd done ten years ago hadnât been enough. How could she have fallen for someone so hard and so fast when heâd only been playing a game? That was what made her veins throb and pulse with rage. She had been too stupid to see him for what he was. Too gullible and naive to see he was toying with her because he could, not because he wanted to.
Seven months ago he had come breezing back into her life with a takeover offer. A takeover offer! As if she would ever sell anything to him.
But he was up to his old tricks, somehow in the interim gaining forty-nine per cent of the Harrington shares. But at least they were equals now. She had the other forty-nine so he would have his work cut out trying to get them off her.
To get anything off her, including her clothesâespecially her clothes.
âI shouldâve brought home the smooth-haired tortoiseshell,â Isabelle said as she gingerly picked up the fur ball in a tissue. âWhat was I thinking getting a hair machine like you?â
Atticus blinked his green eyes and then lifted his back leg into a position Isabelle as a wannabe yogi could only envy.
âOr a dog.â She flushed the fur ball in the ensuite toilet. âOne of those cute little yappy purse ones. Thatâs if dogs were allowed at The Harrington.â She quickly checked her reflection in the mirror, grimacing at the way her layered hair hadnât sat quite the way sheâd wanted it to. âOr any pet for that matter. You should think yourself lucky I bent the rules to sneak you in.â
She came back out and looked down at her blue-grey Persian cat again. âAre you sure youâre not going to choke to death while I head downstairs?â
Atticus blinked again and mewed. âPurrht.â
Isabelle snatched up her bag and phone. âI hope to God that wasnât a yes.â
Isabelle saw him as soon as she entered the boardroom. He was sitting to the left of his brothers, Ben and James. Dressed in a sharply tailored designer charcoal-grey suit, with an ice-white shirt and black-and-silver-striped tie, he looked every inch the corporate player. Wheeling and dealing was his forte. He thrived on the challenge of the game, be it in the boardroom or the bedroomâ¦especially in the bedroom.
