So this was life on the edge.
Rhys knew that a single call home could resolve their financial crisis, but logic wasnât governing his actions this evening. Looking at Trae, he held out their last coin. âThis is it.â
She smiled in approval. âThen weâre in this together. How about showing this machine whoâs in charge?â
Rubbing the coin for good luck, Rhys dropped it in the slot. He didnât look at the symbols flash, focusing instead on Traeâs hand on his arm, until all at once she released her grip with a squeal to the accompaniment of a million bells and whistles.
They turned towards each other, excitement overriding all other emotions. As she fell into his arms, Rhys understood that she merely meant to hug him, but between the thrill of winning â and her enticing scent â was it any wonder he wanted more than a simple embrace?
The Tycoon Meets His Match
BARBARA BENEDICT
www.millsandboon.co.ukDear Reader,
To this day I canât help but feel a certain thrill every time I hear the cry, âRoad trip!â Maybe itâs the challenge of it all, the setting off into the unknown, the call to adventure with its promise of fun and laughter. Caught up in the demands of our busy modern lives, when do we have time to escape so impulsively?
In The Tycoon Meets His Match, Iâm offering the vicarious opportunity. Join Trae and Rhys as they set off on their cross-country journey. Along the way theyâll hit snags, find surprises and experience how it feels to fall madly, deliriously, head over heels in love.
So buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Lilian Darcy
It was a dark and stormy nightâ¦
Technically, it was a dark and stormy night, but if Teresa Andrelini hoped ever to be a published writer, she couldnât settle for such a cliché. Traeâs professors, even her classmates, would insist she could come up with a better description.
The word hokey popped into her mind.
The âletâs-make-a-vowâ ceremony was Quinnâs idea. Trae wouldnât put it past her drama-queen friend to have brokered a deal with the powers-that-be for the gale now howling outside their living-room window. Talk about atmosphere. Here they stood in this solemn circle, Trae and her three housemates, their faces shadowed behind flickering candles, trying not to flinch with each crash of thunder.
It was hard not to be impressed by everyoneâs grim determination. Well, by Quinn and Alanaâs determination, anyway. The way Lucie kept avoiding their gazes, Trae figured her poor roomie must be having trouble taking Quinnâs oath.
Heiress Lucinda Beckwith believed in fairy-tale endings. If Lucie were the budding author, sheâd write a romance and probably make oodles of money. Trae, though, had found that the guys who seemed to be the real-life charmers had a tendency to turn out to be jerksâthe proverbial snake in Princeâs clothing. Jo Kerrinâs husband was a perfect example.
At the thought of their missing friend, Trae felt an uncomfortable pang. Jo would have loved the melodramatic hoopla of Quinnâs ceremony, but she was now on her way to St. Louis to escape her so-called Prince Charming. Poor Jo had bought into the fairy-tale ending, and look what had happened to her.
âEarth to Trae.â
Quinnâs strained voice betrayed her impatience, but then they were all stretched tight after putting Jo on the bus that morning. Looking up to find Quinn frowning, Trae realized sheâd been lost in her thoughts again, a habit that drove her roommate crazy.
âI said,â Quinn tried again, âdo you so swear?â
âYes,â Trae said in her loudest, clearest voice. âI wonât get married until Iâve achieved my goal to be successfully published.â
In actual truth, sheâd already made the oath to herself years ago. Coming from an Italian father and five older brothers, sheâd felt, early on, the need to establish her independence. Trae would not end up like her Cuban mama, an unpaid servant to the males in her life. If and when she hooked up with a man, sheâd be the one in charge of her future. No male distraction was going to get in her way.
Satisfied with her answer, Quinn turned to Alana. âDo you, Alana Simms, swear not to wed until youâve attained your goal of a successful career?â
Alana straightened her spine. âI swear,â she said clearly, despite the soft purr of her Southern drawl. âNo man will stop me from establishing my own modeling agency.â
Trae didnât doubt her. With her black hair and classic beauty, Alana need only walk into a room to stop all male conversation, but she rarely dated. With her understated grace and her slender, gorgeous body, she could snag any modeling job she wanted, yet she was forever turning down lucrative offers to make modeling a full-time career. She only modeled the little bit that she did to pay the bills and learn the industry. She had every intention of putting the knowledge to use. Pity the fool who thought he could seduce Alana away from earning her business degree. Her features might have the delicate perfection of a Dresden figurine, but underneath that beautiful exterior was a core of pure steel.