Read Online Project: Runaway Heiress by Heidi Betts - Free Book Online

suppose it never occurred to me that I really only needed the pot, cups and saucers.”
    With a huff, she dropped into one of the soft leather chairs opposite his desk and crossed one leg over the other. Her skirt shifted, revealing inches more of stocking-clad skin that he shouldn’t be staring at. But he couldn’t seem to drag his gaze away until he’d looked his fill.
    Licking suddenly dry lips, he swallowed and drew his attention—reluctantly—to her face.
    “I apologize for misleading you.”
    “But I worked really hard on getting this right, and now I find out I could have just dropped a tea bag into a cup of hot water and been done with it,” she said, still sounding put out.
    He inclined his head, acknowledging her upset. “I understand. My fault entirely. Feel free to do exactly that from now on. It may not be my preference, but it’s no less than I deserve.”
    She studied him for a moment, blue eyes locked on his. Then she leaned back, almost deflating into her chair.
    “You’re not what I expected, you know,” she said finally, surprising him with her boldness.
    He cocked a brow. “Oh? How so?”
    “I thought you would be a bit more demanding. Dictatorial, even. Like that chef on the cooking show who yells all the time and calls the contestants names.”
    Nigel couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew exactly who she was talking about. “Actually, I believe he’s Scottish, not British. And I don’t recall ever calling anyone a donkey, no matter how angry I might have been.”
    “Good thing,” she replied matter-of-factly. “I don’t think you’d appreciate my reaction if you used a term like that with me.”
    “I can imagine.” He could, and it wasn’t pretty. Of course, he’d never been one to get red in the face and start slinging invectives when he lost his temper, so she had nothing to worry about on that score.
    “You’re not at all what I expected, either,” he confessed.
    He regretted the words as soon as they passed his lips. It was a bit too much sharing for their short acquaintance, not to mention entirely out of character for him.
    Of course, she’d heard him, so it wasn’t as though he could pretend he hadn’t said it.
    She tipped her head to one side, glancing at him curiously. “You mean you thought I’d be quieter, more tractable, eager to please.”
    Nigel chuckled aloud at that description. Despite the fact that she had, indeed, seemed eager to please her new boss in the two days she’d been in his employ, something told him that wasn’t entirely usual for her, and that the rest didn’t suit her by half.
    Quiet? Not if by that she meant meek.
    Tractable? He couldn’t imagine any such thing.
    “No,” he answered, giving his head a rather decisive shake. “Not at all. Given the past assistants I’ve had here in the U.S., I was expecting you to be...a few biscuits short of a tin, if you understand my meaning.”
    “You’re in the habit of hiring mentally unstable personal assistants?” she teased, brow raised.
    “Not unstable, thank goodness,” he responded, “but young, and not a lot going on above the neck, other than good grooming and dreams of becoming either a supermodel or the next fashion designer to become an overnight success. Not only could they not make a decent cup of tea, but they couldn’t keep their minds on their responsibilities long enough to accomplish what they’d actually been hired to do.”
    She thought about that for a moment, then inclined her head and her gaze toward the cup still resting on the desk in front of him.
    “You haven’t even tasted the tea yet. How do you know I can make a decent cup?”
    He didn’t bother to answer, simply lifted the cup to his mouth and took a long, hearty swallow. Setting the cup back down, he said, “Excellent. It would have been better if I’d started drinking it while it was still piping hot, but really—quite excellent.”
    “Well, you have only yourself to blame for that, don’t