The Playboy Boss's Chosen Bride. Emma Darcy
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woman fooling with me.’
The tight place in Merlina’s chest loosened up as imminent humiliation passed. She grinned back. ‘I wore it to please you on your birthday, Byron. Jake said you preferred blondes.’
‘Well, I now find myself leaning towards sassy brunettes. And speaking of my birthday…’ Byron half turned, offering his arm to her. ‘Allow me to escort you to my table where we can toast it together.’
‘How kind!’ she purred, curling her arm around his.
She wasn’t sure if Jake actually growled but he looked at her as though he’d like to go for her throat. The aggression emanating from him was definitely dangerous. And thrilling.
Byron patted her hand and smiled benevolently at his grandson. ‘Thank you, Jake. Best birthday gift you could have given me.’ He blithely waved a dismissal. ‘You can have the cake rolled away now but I’m keeping Merlina. And please ask the orchestra to play Lerner and Loewe’s classic, ‘The Night They Invented Champagne.’
Jake was left standing in fight mode with nothing to fight as Byron led Merlina away in a triumphant walk back towards his guests. Maybe he’ll kick the cake, she thought, and decided to flirt outrageously with his grandfather for as long as the party lasted.
‘Oh, what fun!’ Byron burbled in her ear. ‘I take it you have issues with my grandson and you’ve just given him a wake-up call.’
She smiled at him, noting the merry amusement in his eyes. ‘Something like that.’
‘Brilliantly done, my dear. Don’t know what he sees in all those skinny women.’
She sighed. ‘I don’t think it will change anything, Byron.’
‘Nonsense! You have him on toast.’
‘Just the heat of the moment. And that does my pride a lot of good,’ she wryly confessed. ‘But unlike you, Jake isn’t the marrying type, and I’ve already wasted too much of my life on him.’
‘This is not the day to give up, Merlina. You’re on the crest of a wave and you must ride it through,’ he advised. ‘It’s time the boy did get married and I heartily approve of you as my granddaughter-in-law. A sassy woman puts a bit of excitement in one’s life.’
She laughed, hugging his arm with real affection. ‘You are a darling, Byron. But I don’t think…’
‘Leave it to me. I’m a master of manoeuvres.’
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