Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife

Kate Hewitt

Литагент HarperCollins EUR

Cormac Douglas doesn't let emotion get in the way of business.Now he needs a weekend wife to secure a prestigious contract, and biddable secretary Lizzie Chandler is the perfect candidate. Lizzie is outraged, but Cormac's ruthless persuasion leaves her wanting more.When he asks for her services again, she finds herself agreeing to be his hired wife. . . in the bedroom as well as the boardroom.

THE BOSS’S MISTRESS

Out of the office…and into his bed

These ruthless, powerful men are used to

having their own way at the office.

And with their mistresses,

they’re also boss in the bedroom!

Don’t miss any of our

fantastic stories this month:

The Italian Tycoon’s Mistress

by Cathy Williams #13

Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife

by Kate Hewitt #14

In the Tycoon’s Bed

by Kathryn Ross #15

The Rich Man’s Reluctant Mistress

by Margaret Mayo #16

Only in Harlequin Presents EXTRA!

KATE HEWITT discovered her first Harlequin romance on a trip to England when she was thirteen, and she’s continued to read them ever since. She wrote her first story at the age of five, simply because her older brother had written one and she thought she could do it, too. That story was one sentence long—fortunately, they’ve become a bit more detailed as she’s grown older.

She studied drama in college, and shortly after graduation moved to New York City to pursue a career in theater. This was derailed by something far better: meeting the man of her dreams, who happened also to be her older brother’s childhood friend. Ten days after their wedding, they moved to England, where Kate worked a variety of different jobs—drama teacher, editorial assistant, youth worker, secretary and, finally, mother.

When her oldest daughter was one year old, Kate sold her first short story to a British magazine. Since then she has sold many stories and serials, but writing romance remains her first love, of course!

Besides writing, she enjoys reading, traveling and learning to knit—it’s an ongoing process, and she’s made a lot of scarves. After living in England for six years, she now resides in Connecticut with her husband, her three young children and, possibly one day, a dog.

Kate loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her Web site, www.kate-hewitt.com.

RUTHLESS BOSS, HIRED WIFE

KATE HEWITT

TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON

AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

RUTHLESS BOSS, HIRED WIFE

For Caroline and Ellen,

the two spunkiest heroines I know

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CORMAC DOUGLAS needed a wife. Tomorrow. Irritation and impatience thrummed through him in time with the drumming of his fingers on his desk. Outside, the crenellated turrets of Edinburgh Castle were shrouded in a thick and gloomy October fog.

He needed a wife. How? Who?

The women he knew were not wife material. Beauties to be seduced or aspiring socialites to be avoided. No one who would be suitable to act as his wife, weekend engagement only.

No one he could entice, bribe or blackmail. Bend to his will.

His narrowed hazel gaze scanned his office—a large, spare room on the top floor of a restored building on Cowgate. He’d gutted the place when he’d bought it five years ago, turned the old, poky rooms into a wide-open space filled with light and exposed brick.

Normally the sight of the office he owned and the memories it banished gave him a satisfaction that replaced his usual restless discontent.

Now it just seemed to mock him. He had the perfect commission, ripe for the taking, meant to be his, and he wouldn’t get it unless he had a wife.

The conversation a few