The Argentinian's Baby Of Scandal Read online

  ‘Tell me about yourself,’ he urged.

  ‘There’s not a lot relevant to tell,’ Belle retorted uncomfortably, wishing he would just get to the point instead of keeping her in ignorance. ‘I’m twenty-two. I left school at sixteen with a bundle of GCSEs and I haven’t had any educational input since then. I’d like to change that when I get back to London. These days you need training and qualifications to make a decent life.’

  ‘If you know that why did you skip that opportunity until now?’

  ‘I never had the opportunity,’ Belle countered wryly, settling down on the concrete bench beneath the trees. ‘My grandmother died and then my grandfather fell ill and needed looking after. After they were both gone, I took a job here, which was basically housekeeping but which turned into full-time caring as well.’

  Dante lounged back against a tree trunk, all lithe, lean power and thrumming masculinity. He was as relaxed as she was tense. ‘Is caring for older people what you want to do going forward?’

  Belle stiffened. ‘No, definitely not. I think professional caring’s a job you need a vocation for and I don’t have that.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Dante murmured, increasingly surprised by her cool, unapologetic self-containment because at the very least he had expected bubbly encouragement and flirtation from her. In his experience women came onto him whether they thought they had a chance with him or not, but Belle wasn’t making the smallest effort in that direction. ‘You may not have a vocation for the job I’m about to offer you either, but it would eventually get you back to the UK and I would pay you handsomely to do it.’

  Belle twisted round to get a better view of him, wishing he would step out of the shadows so that she could see him better. ‘Tell me about it…’

  ‘I need a woman prepared to pretend that she’s my live-in girlfriend. Faking the part would be all that was required from you,’ Dante assured her with calm emphasis. ‘The job would only last for a couple of weeks and then you would be free to pursue your own plans with the cash I give you. It would be a win-win proposition for both of us.’

  Belle was rarely deprived of speech, but the shock of the nature of his job offer was sufficient to glue her tongue to the roof of her mouth because such an exotic possibility wouldn’t have crossed her mind in her wildest dreams. ‘But…er…you don’t even know me,’ she protested weakly when she could find her voice again.dpg!

  ‘Why would I need to know you? Steve vouches for your trustworthiness. It’s a job, a role if you want to call it that. It’s casual and temporary but also financially rewarding,’ he completed smoothly.

  ‘But pretending to be someone’s girlfriend would mean knowing stuff about each other, that sort of thing,’ Belle protested in a rush. ‘And we’re complete strangers.’

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  HIS CINDERELLA’S ONE-NIGHT HEIR

  Lynna Graham

  Available next month

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  Copyright ©2019 by Lynne Graham

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