The Reluctant Heir Read Free Page A

her mind. “But can we skip the café for now? I’m terribly tired.”
    His eyebrows rose. “How do you think I feel?”
    “Good apparently,” she answered as she took in how delicious he looked in his shirt and shorts. He looked just at home in his casual clothes as he did in his suit. “You were just strolling around the lobby when I saw you. Besides, I would’ve thought someone like you would be used to long flights.”
    “There’s a reason they invited the teleconference,” he said as they walked into an open elevator.
    She rested her head on the back wall and sighed. “Sleep sounds divine right now,” she said dreamily as she thought of crawling into bed. A nice clean bed with warm, fluffy sheets. “I'm afraid I won't make good company today. I feel like I will pass out the moment I see a bed.”
    “That’s fine. I have a lot of stuff to take care of.”
    “Oh,” she said guiltily as she thought about him having to push work aside to accompany her. “I thought you said you were tired?”
    Had she done this to him? She thought wearily. Had she unconsciously driven him to try to make a connection to a grandfather he had never known?
    She had told him about the clippings his grandfather had cut. Maybe he had found them and was now trying to find a way to connect with the man.
    He shrugged as they got out of the elevator. “Work is work.”
    He took out the key from his pocket and opened the door. Her jaw dropped when she saw the spacious room. The living room alone was the size of a regular room and it had a gorgeous view of the crystal clear ocean. She could just imagine sitting at the balcony, watching the waves at night.
    Her eyes traveled to the two open doors at the other side of the room and felt a sigh of relief rush through her at the sight. The bedrooms!
    She glanced over to him and he smiled as he handed her her luggage. “Go on. It’s the one on the right.”
    “Thanks.” Getting her suitcase from him, she was tempted to hug and kiss him. But realizing how smelly she must be from all the traveling, she didn't and headed towards the room.
     
     
     

Chapter Four
    Rebecca awakened to a dark room. Yawning, she glanced at the glaring clock beside the bed and was surprised to see that it was already past ten.
    But instead of getting up, she plopped back down and closed her eyes as an unbelievably sense of tiredness took over her.
    Her stomach rumbled a few moments later, forcing her to get up.
    Please let there still be room service. She didn’t feel like dressing up for the hotel bar and doubted that they would even have anything more than peanuts or pretzels.
    She opened the bedroom door and was surprised to see all the lights still on in the living room. Landen was sitting at the large wooden dining table with two open laptops facing him.
    Seeing how busy he was, she instantly felt guilty about how long she had just slept. He obviously didn’t have the same luxury. He had said that he was tired and yet, here he was, working himself to the bone.
    Though she knew that there was nothing she could do about his workload, she still felt guilty. Especially when she remembered that she would’ve gone right back to sleep if she hadn’t gotten hungry.
    Her throat dried when she noticed how the muscles in his forearms flexed as his hands moved swiftly over the keyboard. She could just imagine how those hands would feel exploring her.
    She groaned inwardly when she realized how awful she must look. She hadn’t thought that he was still awake or she would’ve at least combed her hair.
    “About time you woke up,” Landen said suddenly as he stopped typing to look at her, an amused smile on his lips. Before she could respond, he tilted his head towards the other end of the dining table. “I ordered you dinner.”
    At the mention of food, she suddenly remembered how hungry she’d been when she’d come out here and couldn’t help but smile. Seeing him had worked up another kind of