Loe raamatut: «Tempted By Scandal»

One

Nadia Gonzalez didn’t believe in regrets. She simply did her damnedest to never make a mistake. Being careful but determined always paid off—that approach got her into the college she wanted to attend and a scholarship for the tuition she couldn’t afford. When she was younger, her resoluteness had helped her win several beauty pageants—not her proudest achievements but ones that had meant a great deal to her mother. More recently, her perseverance had helped her land her job as executive admin for Matt Richmond, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world. That was the real feather in her cap and she wasn’t about to do anything to put that at risk.

But there was a very good chance that Nadia had made a mistake that put her job in jeopardy. She’d done the unthinkable. She’d fallen into bed with her ridiculously hot boss. As a woman who prided herself on meticulous organization and great attention to detail, as someone who didn’t want to be judged first by her physical appearance, this might have been a gaffe for the ages.

But the minute she saw Matt in a perfectly tailored, sleek black tux at the hospital fund-raiser last night, looking unfairly handsome, she knew she was in trouble. He almost never put on a tie. He’d joke with people that he wasn’t big on formality, but that wasn’t entirely true. He loved champagne, extravagant parties and expensive cars. He simply didn’t want to get dressed up to enjoy it. But as difficult as it was to get Matt into a suit, it turned out that Nadia had a talent for getting him out of it.

This was no small development in Nadia’s life. She’d spent the past fourteen months, virtually every moment she’d been employed by Matt, secretly pining for him. He was everything Nadia could ever want in a man—the embodiment of sexy confidence, high IQ and seemingly endless brilliance wrapped up in six feet two inches of the most appealing package Nadia could imagine, topped off with thick sandy blond hair. When he walked into a room, men and women alike turned their heads. The air crackled with electricity. His mere arrival trumpeted his greatness, and was punctuated by his bracing blue eyes. Just thinking about him made her fingers and lips tingle.

Now, driving up a steep and winding hillside an hour east of Seattle, her foot gunning the gas, these thoughts of Matt were ill-timed at best. It felt like her thighs were about to burst into full flame. Thankfully she finally crested the hill, took a deep breath and flipped on her blinker, zipping into the main drive for The Opulence resort, managed by one of the many divisions of Matt’s massive company, Richmond Industries. A sprawling, luxurious property tucked away on a thickly wooded and rocky mountaintop, the setting for The Opulence exemplified the Pacific Northwest at its most beautiful, as towering trees nearly scraped the pale blue sky. On a bright October day like today, the air was so crisp you wanted to breathe it in forever. In five short weeks, Richmond Industries’ fifth-anniversary retreat would be held here. Nadia really hoped she’d still have her job by then.

“Checking in, miss?” the young man at the valet stand asked.

Nadia climbed out of her car and handed over her keys. “Just for one night. I’m Nadia Gonzalez. I work for Matt Richmond.”

The valet nodded. “Yes. Ms. Gonzalez. Mr. Richmond arrived about an hour ago.”

Nadia hadn’t spoken to Matt since she’d left his magnificent house at four thirty that morning, slinking off under cover of night, still wearing the evening gown she’d donned for the hospital fund-raiser. Leaving that early had been Matt’s suggestion and Nadia agreed. He was an incredibly powerful man and men like him drew attention. Neither of them could afford the optics of a boss-assistant tryst, but especially not Matt. There were too many people eager to tear him down. That’s what happens when you have success mere mortals can’t begin to comprehend.

“Great,” Nadia said. “I’m heading in to meet with him right now.” The thought of seeing Matt was making the thighs-on-fire situation that much more intense. “Be sure to take good care of my car. It’s my baby.”

“Of course, Ms. Gonzalez.” The valet hopped into her month-old silver Audi, a bonus from Matt for a job well done on the still-secret Sasha project, a joint partnership between Matt and Liam Christopher, his best friend from college. Nadia had worked hard for that car. She’d earned it.

But thinking about crossing the line with Matt while watching her prized car disappear into a parking garage made her question her priorities. Yes, she’d wanted Matt for a long time and they’d shared an unbelievable night of passion. But so what? Was she really willing to throw away her career and quite possibly the most primo admin job in the US? No. Was she willing to discount the years she’d scraped by so she could make a better life for herself and her family? Absolutely not. A guy like Matt was not the settling-down type. There would be no happy ending with him. Which meant that her first priority when speaking to him today would be to make sure he understood that last night was a one-time thing. They would both be better off if they forgot about it and returned to their strictly professional dynamic, even though that was going to break her heart.

Nadia made her way up the flagstone promenade to the massive double doors of the main lodge. Two doormen in smart black jackets opened them in unison, and she swept into the grand but warm lobby. Every detail was perfect—mahogany wood moldings, high ceilings and elegant chandeliers. She’d spent a lot of time in surroundings like this since she’d started working with Matt, far removed from her modest upbringing in Chino, California, outside Los Angeles. It felt good to be in this world. She liked being able to help pay her younger sister’s college tuition, and chip away at her mother’s medical bills so her parents could sleep easier at night. All the more reason to hold on to her job tightly and put Matt back in a box with a note saying, “He’s your boss. Don’t be stupid.”

Nadia arrived at the front desk and gave her name. As the clerk checked the computer, Nadia’s phone beeped with a text from Matt.

Come up when you arrive. 310. Meeting with Teresa St. Claire at 2:00.

“Yes,” the clerk said. “Ms. Gonzalez, we have you in room three-twelve. Right next to Mr. Richmond.”

Nadia smiled and swallowed hard, swiping the keycard from the gleaming wood counter. Nothing like staying next door to the man you can’t resist. “Fantastic.”

“Elevators are at the far side of the lobby. I’ll have a bellhop bring up your bag.”

“Thank you.” Nadia hustled over and jabbed the button then typed out a quick response to Matt on her phone. On my way.

Good. A single word was his only response, a stark reminder that he was an impossibly busy man who always put business first.

The trip up three floors was just long enough to sort out what she had to say to Matt. Today would mark the end of their personal involvement. They had to put a stop to it before it went too far.

At the very end of the long hall, she passed by her door and knocked on his, staring down at her feet, choking back the anticipation of seeing him again. She would not falter. She would be the picture of capable and confident, even when she was feeling nothing more than weak. She would shrug off their tryst, let Matt off the hook and move on. She was too smart and had worked too hard to give herself anything less.

* * *

Matt Richmond looked out the windows of his hotel suite, allowing himself to be momentarily entranced by the sight of Centennial Falls. This was one of the calling cards of The Opulence—the main building was precariously perched at the edge of the stories-high drop. He watched as ice-cold water rushed, churned and poured over the rocky ledge, leaving behind only mist and spray. Mother Nature was one of the only things that amazed him anymore. Everything man-made could be explained. He liked the mystery. He liked that he couldn’t control it.

Honestly, that was part of the appeal of Nadia. On the outside, she was unflappable. A beautiful closed book. But he’d sensed that on the inside was a woman untamed. That inkling had made him play with fire. The thought of having her in his bed sent a ripple of heat right through him. It was as if the fire was still here.

He jumped when the knock came at the door. Nadia. He’d spent hours trying to decide how to handle their working relationship now. He’d determined his only course was to let her lead the way. He bounded across the room and opened the door. She regularly knocked the breath out of him, but today her effect on him was even stronger.

“Mr. Richmond.” Without making eye contact, Nadia swept into the room and set her purse and laptop bag down on the coffee table, then strode over to the desk. She immediately began straightening the papers he’d left strewn about. “You’ve been busy.”

He followed her, walking through the heavenly wake of her perfume. Her wavy blond hair was up in a twist and he caught himself wanting to pull it out. Instead he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “You don’t have to do that.”

“You have a very busy day and you work better when you’re organized.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “You know me better than I know myself.”

“It’s my job to know you.” She turned and finally looked at him, but her eyes weren’t warm and inviting like they’d been last night. Now they were full of worry. “Which makes me wonder what you were thinking when you had the hotel put me in the room next to yours. That doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“What? I had no idea. You made the reservation.”

“And the Richmond Hotel Group manages the hotel.” She took in a deep breath. “Look, Mr. Richmond...”

He reached out and placed his hand on her arm. The connection to her was immediate. He craved her the way he needed to breathe. “You’re going to call me Mr. Richmond now? After the things we did together? We’re alone, Nadia. Please, call me Matt.”

“Fine. Matt. Last night was a mistake.”

That word sliced through him. The only mistakes he ever made were in trusting the wrong people. Had he slipped up by trusting her?

“We both need to forget it ever happened,” she continued.

That didn’t sit well with him, either. “That’s going to be a difficult task when I go home tomorrow and climb into bed and realize my sheets smell like you.”

“So have one of your ten housekeepers change them.”

Matt didn’t enjoy having his success thrown in his face. It wasn’t his fault he was successful or rich. From the desk, his phone rang. Nadia turned and picked it up, glancing at the screen.

“It’s Shayla.” Shayla Jerome was Richmond Industries’ head of Public Relations.

“Is this important?” Matt answered. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“Yes, it’s important. We have a situation on our hands.”

Matt hated the way Shayla couched every bit of news she had to deliver. “Please spit it out. I don’t have time for this. If there’s a fire, get out the extinguishers.”

She cleared her throat. “Fine. TBG just posted pictures of your beauty-queen admin leaving your house in the middle of the night wearing the gown she’d been photographed wearing hours earlier at the hospital benefit.”

Matt’s stomach sank. The Big Gossip, or TBG, was a tabloid website with an unsavory reputation and a massive following. He ran his hands through his hair. Nadia glanced over at him and her eyes narrowed. Nadia had an uncanny ability to read him and he wasn’t ready to share this bit of news with her. He turned and walked away. “How did this happen?”

“That’s not really a question for me now, is it? I’m guessing that somebody on your security detail fell down on the job. Or more likely, fell asleep.”

A low rumble escaped Matt’s throat. “Fine. I’ll talk to Phil.”

“That only helps with preventing this from happening again. For now we have a story trending about you sleeping with an employee. It does not look good.”

“So kill it.”

“TBG has new ownership and a whole new editorial team. They’re not about to bend to the whim of a publicist.”

“Then offer them something better.”

That was enough to get Nadia to walk over to where he was standing by the windows, her flawless face full of worry. He did enjoy the way her full lips went slack. “What’s going on?” she whispered.

Matt merely shook his head.

“Access to the Saturday night gala during the retreat?” Shayla asked.

Matt had refused TBG’s request for access. That retreat was meant to be an exclusive weekend-long getaway for the business elite and Matt’s closest celebrity friends. People came to a party like that to have fun outside the public eye. “Is there another way?”

“I can deny the story and make something up. Say there was a work emergency and you had to go straight to your house from the fund-raiser. You needed Nadia’s help and it was closer than the office.”

Matt thought it through for a second. “That could work.”

“Oh, my God,” Nadia said, looking at her phone. She showed him the screen. There was the story. And that horrible headline, plain as day: “Beauty and the Boss?” Whoever had taken the picture of her tiptoeing her way out of his house had used a camera with night-vision technology.

“I need Nadia to sign a nondisclosure agreement before I do this, though,” Shayla said. “Richmond Industries can’t afford to have her turn around and decide to sell her story to the highest bidder.”

Matt’s stomach was done dropping and was now angrily churning. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Do you trust her implicitly? Because I don’t.”

“You don’t trust anyone.”

“A man in your position shouldn’t, either. For all we know, Nadia tipped off that photographer.”

Matt refused to believe Nadia was capable of that. “Just take care of it. Please.” With that, Matt ended the call.

Nadia’s wide eyes were pleading. “Is this why Shayla called?” She glanced down at her phone in disgust and handed it to him. “We have to do something. I don’t want my coworkers knowing that I slept with you.”

Matt hated that the memory of his amazing night with Nadia had now been eclipsed by a pulpy story, but at least he knew that Nadia had not played a role in the photographer’s presence. If she had, she wouldn’t be so upset right now. “I told Shayla to kill it. Don’t worry about it. It will go away.”

“It’s so easy for you to say that. You have all the power here. I’m nobody.” Nadia wrapped her arms around her waist and turned to the window overlooking the falls.

He hated hearing her refer to herself that way. She wasn’t nobody to him. And looking at her right now, all he could think about was how badly he wanted her. It made it nearly impossible to think straight. “Nadia.” He put his hand on her shoulder and watched as she turned and looked back at him, her warm brown eyes inviting him in. “I don’t want you to regret the things we did together. We’re two consenting adults.” Matt knew it wasn’t as simple as that. People would talk. All the more reason for Shayla to get rid of the story as soon as possible.

She sighed and her shoulders dropped in defeat. “I know that, but it doesn’t matter. We can’t let this happen again. There are too many prying eyes. It could destroy us both.”

Nadia was right. Matt only wished he wasn’t so disappointed by the truth. If he could have anything he wanted right now, it would be her. “I won’t let that happen.”

“See? Power. You can control this. I can’t.”

He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. He knew he shouldn’t, but the way she subtly pressed against his touch sent the blood coursing through his body. “If you understood how badly I want you right now, you would know that the power is all yours.”