Mistress Minded Read Free Page A

nodded.
    â€œYou’re welcome,” she said.
    He lowered his head even more and his breath brushed over her cheek. Oh, God, was he going to kiss her? She shifted to her tiptoes so that only a breath separated them, and she heard Adam groan.
    Abruptly he dropped his hands and walked out of the bedroom. Jayne turned toward the boxes of clothing, telling herself that her heart was beating faster because of the charade and not because of the sexual arousal pumping through her veins.

Two
    A dam paused outside the doorway. After months of ignoring that made-for-love hat mouth, which had tempted him for so long, had been so close, and only at the last minute had sanity intruded on the moment, forcing him to pull away.
    Jayne dropped into the chair next to him. “I feel ready for one, Ray. I haven’t had time to read the file on Perla Negra. I think that means Black Pearl, right?”
    What was that fragrance she was wearing? It didn’t smell like Chanel or any of the other perfumes he was familiar with. Against his best judgment Adam leaned closer to her, inhaling the scent.
    “It does. There’s also a legend around the black pearl. Want to hear it?” Ray asked.
    “Yes,” Jayne said.
    Adam closed his eyes and turned away. She was his employee. He wasn’t going to act on any feelings he had toward her. He faced the Angelinis, trying to focus on whatever conversation they were having, but it was nearly impossible. Hell, he and Jayne wereplay-acting. He’d done enough pretending over the years that this should be a walk in the park.
    From this angle he could see the curve of Jayne’s breast, and when she tilted her head to listen more closely to Didi, he smelled the fragrance of her shampoo.
    Didi’s eyes lit up as she leaned forward in her seat, as well. “It involves a pirate, a maiden and a fortune lost at sea.”
    “Sounds like my kind of story,” Jayne said.
    Adam could scarcely pay attention. For the first time a woman was taking precedence over business. For the first time Jayne wasn’t just his girl Friday, but a desirable woman. For the first time a woman was making more than his pulse beat faster, because he realized that Jayne used the same mechanisms he did to hide from real life. The job.
    Knowing how important her work was to her, he was determined to make sure their stay didn’t become more than a charade. Because he could never keep Jayne on staff if he took her to his bed. It would compromise the standards he’d set in the workplace and the code he’d followed since his father had run off with his secretary years before.
    Adam listened to Ray and Didi tell a tale of forbidden love and piracy. He’d read about it already in the resort’s literature, which the Angelinis had forwarded to him.
    La Perla Negra, a strand of precious black pearls,had been stolen from a Franciscan abbey by the devious pirate Antonio Mantegna. Along with the pearls, Antonio stole Maria Boviar, the only daughter of a wealthy nobleman. Maria and Antonio were rumored to have been lost at sea.
    But the Angelinis at La Perla Negra Resort and Spa claimed that Antonio and his beloved Maria had made their way to the small Caribbean island that was now home to the resort. And that the strand of black pearls Antonio stole was hidden somewhere in the resort.
    “Wow, do you offer tours of the resort to try to find the pearls?” Jayne asked.
    “We don’t have anything formalized, but there is a treasure map in every room,” Ray explained.
    “The real treasure isn’t the pearls, Jayne,” Didi said.
    “What is it then?”
    “The treasure is said to be whatever you desire the most.”
    “Sounds like fun, doesn’t it, honeybun?” Jayne put her hand on Adam’s arm.
    He looked into those pretty blue eyes of hers and saw mischief sparkling in them. Well, at least she hadn’t called him stud muffin. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes narrowed and she sucked in a breath. She wasn’t immune to