Pride After Her Fall

Lucy Ellis

The secrets behind her smile… Bankrupt, homeless and alone, Lorelai St James is an heiress on the edge. Yet she hides her desperation behind her glossy blonde hair and even brighter smile. Getting lectured on her driving by a hot-tempered – and ridiculously attractive – stranger will not be what shatters her carefully crafted fa?ade!Legendary Australian racing driver Nash Blue knows a thing or two about pride and sees straight through Lorelai’s polished front. Her vulnerabilities play havoc with his concentration and, never shy of a challenge, he begins his biggest yet: unwrapping the real Lorelai St James…‘Lucy’s ability to weave a story together keeps me hooked to the final page. More please!’ – Alice, 31, Luton

‘We’ve got a lot in common.’ He settled back, angled in his chair, all shoulders and lean, muscular grace. ‘I like to compete. You’re a serious trophy.’

‘Pardon me?’

He gave her a lazy once over she should have found insulting after the ‘trophy’ description, instead she felt it like a direct hit to her sleeping libido.

‘You’re smart and seriously sexy and I haven’t been bored since I sat down with you. Like I said, you’re a serious trophy.’

Lorelei inhaled sharply.

She knew it, this was how some men saw an attractive woman, she had just never met a man who had the nerve to say it to her in so many words.

‘Nash, a trophy is an inanimate object you sit on a shelf.’

‘A trophy can be anything you want to win,’ he countered, sitting forward and Lorelei had to remind herself not to edge back. He emanated thumping male entitlement. ‘I don’t get in the race, Lorelei, unless I’m confident of the outcome.’

For a breathless moment she considered asking him exactly how confident he was of her? But deep down she feared the answer.

‘How am I doing so far?’

Lorelei paused long enough to take another sip of her drink.

‘Oh, I think you’re in the race.’

About the Author

LUCY ELLIS has four loves in life: books, expensive lingerie, vintage films and big, gorgeous men who have to duck going through doorways. Weaving aspects of them into her fiction is the best part of being a romance writer. Lucy lives in a small cottage in the foothills outside Melbourne.

Recent titles by the same author:

THE MAN SHE SHOULDN’T CRAVE

UNTOUCHED BY HIS DIAMONDS

INNOCENT IN THE IVORY TOWER

Did you know this title is also available as an eBook?

Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

Pride After Her Fall

Lucy Ellis

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

For Bridie

CHAPTER ONE

NASH as a rule didn’t court publicity, so meeting with a publicist went against the grain. But this was for a charity event and he couldn’t very well say no.

‘I’ll meet her at the American Bar in the Hotel de Paris.’

He checked his watch as he approached his low slung Bugatti Veyron.

‘I’ll be with Demarche until one. I can give her a couple of minutes in the bar. I’ll try to make it, but she may have to cool her heels.’

It was one of the few perks of fame. People would wait. He hooked the door of the Veyron and idled for a moment, looking out over the calm Mediterranean water.

Cullinan was talking about seating.

‘No, mate, don’t book a table. This is a five-minute job. Nobody will be sitting down.’

Blue’s management team was headed up by John Cullinan, a savvy Irishman Nash had used in his early racing career when he was thrust onto the world stage. John had protected him from the worst of the media for over a decade and he trusted him to deal fairly with the public and handle the professionals.

He’d need him in the coming weeks. There was already intense speculation about his future. He hadn’t said a word during the running of the Grand Prix here in Monaco in May, but somehow just his presence trackside with current Eagle heavyweight Antonio Abruzzi had sent the media into a frenzy. Not that it took much. Meat in the water and the piranhas swarmed. That was why this meeting with the construction firm Eagle was taking place in the privacy of a hotel room and security barracudas on both sides had elaborate lo