The CEO Daddy Next Door Read Free Page A

What exactly has made you such a curmudgeon?”
    â€œI appreciate your deft use of the English language, but I hardly think this is an appropriate topic of conversation.”
    He turned for his door, but Ashley’s hand on his arm stopped him. It was as if he was wearing no jacket at all. The warmth of her touch cut right through the wool. He looked down at her slender fingers curved around his biceps.
    â€œYou can’t hide from things. You definitely can’t hide from me. I’m a very perceptive person. That’s why I have the job I do. I see things in people they don’t see in themselves.”
    He turned his sights to her face, fighting the sensations coursing through his body. Warmth. Attraction. A deep, desperate desire to weave his fingers through her hair, cup the back of her head and claim the kiss he’d deprived himself of the night they went on their date. The look in her wide brown eyes was one of the most sincere he’d ever seen. It would’ve been so easy to give in to the way she made him feel at that instant. But he owed Lila too much. “Good night, Ms. George.”
    She shook her head and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s Ashley, Chambers. You’ll get it eventually.”

Two
    A shley had given Marcus a slew of top-secret nicknames—Tower of London for his stature, the Earl of Handsome for obvious reasons and the British Pain-in-the-Butt, reserved for moments like last night. She had very few problems figuring out most people. Marcus was another case. Why did he dislike her so much? After her scolding at the HOA meeting, she’d spent much of the night trying to sort it out. She’d devoted most of the ride to her office that morning to thinking about it, too. The man had it all. So why be so unhappy? Why be so closed off?
    A knock came at Ashley’s office door. Grace from network publicity poked her head inside, her wavy auburn hair in a messy bun that only someone truly self-assured could pull off.
    â€œYou ready for me?” She didn’t wait for an answer, breezing into Ashley’s office in a tailored gray suit and heels. The benefit of having accepted the office space the network had offered was that meetings were a simple matter of strolling down the hall. The downside was being under their thumb.
    Ashley nodded, untangling herself from confusing thoughts about Marcus. “Yes. Of course.” She collected a stack of papers on her desk, turned to a clean page on a legal pad and picked up a pen. It was time to get to work. There were several final details to discuss for the Manhattan Matchmaker premiere party.
    â€œSo? Do I dare ask what happened with your building board meeting last night?” Grace took a chair opposite Ashley’s desk, resting her laptop on her knees. Grace had been a champion of Ashley’s show from the very beginning, and they’d become good friends over the three years they’d worked together.
    â€œThey decided that one more complaint from the Tower of London and I have to hire a new contractor.”
    Grace winced. “Ouch. Harsh.”
    â€œTell me about it.” The uneasy feeling in her stomach returned. Marcus had too much control over the one thing in her life that was strictly hers. “Bottom line? He hates me. That’s pretty clear by now, and I can’t get past the idea that it’s about more than the mess in the hall.”
    â€œI can’t fathom anyone hating you, Ash. It sounds to me like he’s just an uptight guy. He shook your hand after a date. Who does that?”
    â€œDon’t remind me.” Yet another piece of evidence supporting her supposition. Marcus simply disliked her. “Let’s just get to work. I have a million things to do before the party Thursday night. The people over at Peter Richie are going to strangle me if I don’t show up for my final dress fitting this afternoon.”
    Grace shook her head in dismay.