His Most Exquisite Conquest Read Free Page A

And what a prince he was, not only drop-dead gorgeous, but a billionaire to boot! Ellie had said enough about the Finn Franchises for her to know this guy was seriously wealthy, but had never mentioned he was also seriously sexy.
    Which gave Lucy pause for thought as they made their way out of the building and across the Esplanade to the boardwalk that ran along the water’s edge of the park leading to the marina. Was there something wrong with Michael Finn, something that had put Ellie off being attracted to him? Was he a terribly demanding boss? Lucy wasn’t keen on demanding men. If he had struck himself off Ellie’s possibility list, Lucy needed to know why before jumping in the deep end with Michael Finn.
    Though it was a beautiful day and her heart was singing. There was no reason not to enjoy this exciting attraction while it was still lovely and shiny. As soon as they paired off on the boardwalk, the two of them in front, Ellie and Harry behind, Michael gave Lucy a smile that tingled right down to her toes.
    ‘Tell me about yourself, Lucy,’ he invited. ‘How did you come to be in cemetery administration? You look as though you should be a model.’
    He had silver-grey eyes—very distinctive, like the rest of him—and she was thrilled that he was interested in her, if only for a little while. Words bubbled out in an effervescent stream. She told him about her experience of modelling—its advantages and disadvantages—then tour guide jobs she’d had, and he laughed at the amusing stories about people who’d made guiding both difficult and hilarious at times. Moving on to her stint in the dance studio, she was prompted to ask, ‘Do you dance, Michael? I mean, do you like dancing?’
    It was a strike against him if he didn’t.
    He grinned at her, half singing, ‘I’ve got rhythm...you’ve got rhythm....
    She laughed in delight.
    ‘Our mother insisted that Harry and I have dancing lessons when we were kids,’ he went on. ‘Said it was a mandatory social skill and we would enjoy it in the end. We grumbled and groaned at having to miss sport for girlie dancing, but she was right. You could get the same adrenaline rush out of dancing as you can out of sport.’
    ‘A case of mother knows best,’ Lucy remarked.
    He winced ruefully. ‘She always did.’
    Seeing the change of expression, Lucy softly asked, ‘Does that mean your mother is not still with you?’
    It drew a quizzical look. ‘Don’t you recall the plane crash that took both my parents?’
    ‘No. I’m sorry, but...’
    ‘It was all over the newspapers, the media....’
    She wasn’t about to admit that her dyslexia made reading newspapers too difficult. ‘How long ago was this?’
    ‘Close to ten years.’ His frown lifted. ‘Maybe you were too young to take much notice. How old are you, Lucy?’
    ‘Twenty-eight. And just over ten years ago my mother died of cancer. I didn’t take much notice of anything for a while, Michael.’
    ‘Ah...understandable.’
    His face relaxed into a smile again and Lucy was highly relieved that a sympathetic bond had been established. She pushed it further, saying, ‘I don’t have a father, either. He deserted us before Mum died. It’s just me and Ellie now.’
    ‘Do you live together?’
    ‘Yes. We share an apartment. Ellie is a wonderful sister.’
    The voice of her wonderful sister shattered the lovely build-up of understanding. It was raised in extreme vexation, crying out, ‘That’s because you’re so annoying!’
    Startled, Lucy instantly swung around, anxious that nothing go wrong today. Michael turned, too. Seeing that she’d drawn their attention, Ellie rolled her eyes at her companion and huffed in obvious exasperation before saying, ‘It’s okay. Harry was just being Harry.’
    Guilt swirled around Lucy’s mind. Had she inadvertently lumped Ellie on her birthday with a man she didn’t like, spoiling the nice lunch her sister had been anticipating with Michael? Being completely