The Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain. Margaret Mayo

doorbell at seven precisely. It was almost as though he’d been standing outside looking at his watch, ready to announce his presence at precisely the right second, she thought.

      Fortunately, her father was out; she had no idea where and didn’t much care. It was not the thought of a loving daughter, she knew, and although Simone knew she would never turn her back on him, Matthew Maxwell had long since lost her respect.

      What was uppermost in her mind at the moment were her feelings for Cade. They had returned with such a vengeance when he had kissed her that she was afraid of them, and if she had known how to get in touch with him she would have cancelled their dinner date. It had been incredibly stupid of her to agree in the first place. She had been borne along by the thought of her precious business being saved.

      But by Cade?

      She had seen the way his eyes narrowed as he’d made a study of her body, and she had caught the tensing of a muscle in his jaw as he’d tried to hide whatever it was he was feeling. And then the kiss! A kiss that could lead nowhere. What had he made of her response?

      Could she possibly work with a man who set her body alight so completely? Who turned her from a normally composed and competent woman into a nervous wreck? Even now, as she moved to open the door, her heartrate was climbing.

      She had dressed carefully and conservatively. She wanted to give him no wrong ideas. She wore a pastel-pink long skirt and a matching top with a demure V-neckline and short sleeves. She teamed it with high-heeled sandals and wore mother-of-pearl earrings that reflected the pink of her outfit.

      Her hair was fastened up in a neat twist, and her mirror had told her that she looked cool and calm and in full control of her emotions. Stupid mirror! She was a mess inside, crammed with teeming sensations that threatened to spill over and tell the real story.

      Nevertheless when she opened the door she kept her chin firm and wore a faint smile. And then she nearly staggered backwards as the full breadth of Cade’s sexuality impacted on her senses.

      She’d spent all of the previous night dreaming about him—dreams she preferred not to recall. Then had spent all day psyching herself up so that she could present an indifferent front—but one look into his staggeringly handsome face and every good intention had flown off into space, never to be recovered.

      ‘Aren’t you going to invite me in?’ he asked, when she stood there clutching the door.

      Was he aware that if she let it go she would fall down? Simone smiled faintly and tested her reaction. Actually, no, she wouldn’t fall. She was still capable of standing—just about. She stepped back and let Cade enter. But instead of walking straight past her he stopped, and for one earth-shattering moment she thought he was going to kiss her again. Simone prepared herself to flee, but all he did was touch a kiss to his fingertips before pressing them to her brow.

      ‘I don’t bite, Simone. You needn’t look so scared.’

      ‘Is that what you think, that I’m afraid of you?’ she asked, trying to ignore the pain in her forehead where he had just branded her. ‘What I am concerned about is that you should have had a wasted journey.’

      Golden eyes suddenly narrowed, his head tilted to one side. ‘Because?’

      Simone didn’t know what had prompted her to make that statement. Self-defence, probably. She eyed him coldly. ‘Your idea. You know it won’t work, Cade, the two of us together. We have too much history.’

      His eyes closed even further, until it looked as though he was squinting into the sun. But instead of feeling menaced Simone experienced a dramatic stampede of her senses. Without a doubt if she went through with this merger with Cade she would end up more of a wreck than she already was.

      ‘So what are you saying?’ he wanted to know. ‘That I’m wasting my time?’

      ‘Precisely that,’ she agreed, catching a sharp breath. ‘I think—’

      ‘And I think that you cannot do without me,’ he cut in brutally. ‘We’ll talk here, if you like. Are your parents home?’

      Simone shook her head. At least Cade didn’t know the full extent of her personal problems. Apart from her father’s business dealings, his hedonistic lifestyle had almost ruined her mother’s life too. Unable to cope with her husband’s increased absences from home, Simone’s mother had become depressed, and in her weakened state had suffered a near-fatal heart attack that had left her so fragile she had practically given up on life. She was now in a nursing home, and Simone was desperate to protect her mother as much as she could.

      ‘Then I’ll order in.’

      ‘No!’ declared Simone in blind panic. There would be no escape then, she would be trapped by her raging emotions. Already they were threatening to run out of control. Cade was a force to be reckoned with. Without even trying, he had turned her into an emotional mess. And entertaining him here would add to her torment.

      ‘I guess I’m not easy in your presence,’ she admitted eventually. ‘So much water has gone under the bridge.’

      ‘Or maybe it’s because you have a guilty conscience.’

      Simone saw a flash in his eyes, quickly controlled, but it was a warning all the same. He could be as nice to her as he liked, but beneath his charming veneer was a wolf ready to pounce.

      He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘We’ll carry on as planned, and you can tell me everything that’s been going on in your life. Why your business is tumbling downhill at a faster rate than an avalanche in the Alps, or what happened to the money you and your father tricked me out of, for instance,’ he suggested, his mouth grim all of a sudden.

      At Cade’s mention of the past, and the reason they had split all those years ago, Simone knew she had no choice but to agree to Cade’s request, if only to explain once and for all. She also knew that despite their bitter and complicated past Cade was her last chance of saving her company. However, the thought of dining out with the sexiest man on the planet did her no good at all. By the end of an evening spent trying to hide her churning emotions, she would be a gibbering wreck.

      When she discovered that he had hired a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, compelling her to sit cosily in the back with him, she felt even more anti-Cade. Memories returned of her eighteenth birthday when he had hired just such a car. They’d virtually made love on the back seat, the driver politely averting his eyes as they’d almost eaten each other alive.

      It crucified her to think how easily she had given herself to him. She’d been so eager, it must have been embarrassing. No, that was wrong. Cade hadn’t been embarrassed in those days; she had excited him.

      Despite the inches that separated them she could feel him as fiercely as if their bodies were touching. His cologne invaded her nostrils, intoxicating and arousing, and she suddenly found she wanted to experience his arms about her once more. She wanted his kisses, she wanted…

      Deliberately Simone closed her mind to such thoughts. She wanted nothing. Tonight without a doubt was going to be a total disaster. It would be impossible to spend several hours in his company without giving herself away. He tortured her soul simply by being there. His very presence was consuming, making her head spin and her mind shift out of kilter.

      And they were supposed to be making some sort of business deal!

      Was she crazy or what? It would never work. It was a recipe for disaster. nothing to do with Simone. He

      It was a relief when the car pulled up in front of a new hotel in Airlie Beach. It had been open for only a few months, and was massively impressive—and very, very expensive.

      Cade led her to a lift, swiping his security pass, giving her scarcely any time to look about her. It shot smoothly upwards, but it wasn’t until the doors opened that Simone realised they were in the penthouse suite. She looked at him in alarm.

      ‘What’s going on?’ Her heartrate tripled