CHAPTER ONE

      RICK couldn’t place her.

      She stood in the foyer by the front desk, almost as stiff as the black business suit she wore. A red folder was pressed close to her white shirt, her attention on scanning the busy room.

      She looked all business, except for her hair…Rick tilted his head and furrowed his brow. It was short, dark and tousled, sticking out at wild angles, looking like a style that belonged on an artist or a model, not on such a serious looking woman.

      He rubbed his jaw. Odd.

      He knew all of his own staff intimately, the research subsidiary by name and the support team on sight. Was she a new employee or just a passer-by?

      Rick shook himself. She wasn’t going to be a mystery. Two minutes and he’d have the young woman sorted, classified and pigeon-holed, like everything else in his life. He turned, focusing on the task at hand.

      Rick straightened his tie and stepped up on to a chair, putting a smile on his face. ‘I’d like to congratulate everyone here on a job well done—the Hinney & Smith project has been a great success for us. We can now ship our products all over the continent ourselves, cutting costs and increasing our profit margins.’

      ‘We’re now a bigger and better company and I’m proud of all of you.’ He lifted his champagne glass. ‘To a great team with a bright and prosperous future.’

      He took a gulp of the champagne amidst the cheers and whistles. He meant it too. They were a great bunch to work with. Their dedication and loyalty to research, finance and ultimately acquisition had ensured his company another success.

      His gaze wandered back to the cool but pretty stranger. The woman stood in the doorway, casually surveying his employees.

      She didn’t have a glass. He could remedy that.

      Rick stepped down, smiling and shaking the hands of his team. He loved giving praise where praise was due—and hell, they all deserved heaps.

      Rick rubbed his jaw. His next challenge was to merge the company with SportyCo, making his sports equipment twice the force in the marketplace. It was a risk to go for it so soon, but he couldn’t wait. He wanted it. He hadn’t worked so hard for the last ten years to baulk now.

      It would probably be safer to wait, ensuring his playboy image was well behind him before he embarked on the ambitious move. It was unlikely that they’d agree to him as president of the combined company if he didn’t have the right sort of credibility.

      The last six months with Kasey Steel should have done the trick in convincing the world that he’d left his wild days behind him. His friends were believing that he’d settled down. The business world couldn’t be far behind…?

      No matter what he’d done he hadn’t been able to free himself from his past. His passion for extreme sports was seen as reckless, his nights out with the boys as drunken rages and his dating as womanising. He couldn’t win. Until now.

      Rick hadn’t expected the effect a steady relationship