Read Online Renegade Millionaire by Kristi Gold - Free Book Online

a frilly spreaddotted with lilacs, the antique-white dresser, the immaculate hardwood floors with scattered throw rugs, looked like something from Victorian times. A matching lilac-colored chaise set below one window served as an invitation, a place to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. Or with a lover on a lazy Sunday afternoon. She swallowed hard.
    â€œWow.” It was all Joanna could manage at the moment. The room was almost twice as big as her old apartment, and no comparison as far as comfort was concerned. Never in her wildest imaginings had she envisioned this lovely place.
    Rio laced his hands at his nape, his gorgeous face shining with satisfaction. “Yeah, it’s nice. Not exactly my kind of decor, but I didn’t have the heart to change anything. It has a personality all its own.”
    Joanna couldn’t agree more. She walked to the bed and ran one hand down the post. “It’s wonderful.”
    He pushed open another door and leaned against the wall next to it. “The bathroom’s right here. It’s not very big, and it only has a tub. An old claw-footed tub, but it’s been restored. If you’d rather take a shower, you can use one of the second-floor bathrooms, or you could use mine. It’s big.”
    Joanna locked on to his sensual smile. The image of showering with Rio Madrid arrived in great detail, including fogged-up glass from heavy breathing, not steam. Slick bodies, roving hands…
    Good heavens. She didn’t need to think about that now. Or ever. “Is there somewhere I can hang these?”
    He pointed behind her. “In the closet.”
    She turned. “A closet? That’s great. I haven’t had one of those in a while.” She hadn’t had a lover in a while,either, a fact apparent every time Rio Madrid walked into the room.
    After hanging her things in the moderate-size closet, she faced him again. “I guess I’ll go get the rest of the boxes and bring them up.”
    â€œI’ll do it in a minute. Care for some lunch?”
    â€œSure. I thought I’d go to the store and pick up a few groceries.”
    He pushed away from the wall. “I had my housekeeper do that yesterday.”
    â€œYou have a housekeeper?”
    â€œYeah. I can’t keep this place clean by myself, nor do I want to. She comes in twice a week, during the day.”
    â€œI think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
    His grin resurfaced. “So your idea of heaven is a housekeeper?”
    Joanna strolled to the bed and dropped onto the edge. “One of my ideas.” Laughing, she fell back and sank into the soft mattress, arms raised above her head. “And this bed.”
    Rio slipped onto the bed beside her, thankfully not in a prone position. “I agree, a good feather bed qualifies as heavenly. So do other things.”
    She stared up at him. “What other things?” Had she really asked him such a leading question?
    His smile faded into a seriously sensual expression. “Walking barefoot in grass. Swimming naked in a lake. Making love in the moonlight.”
    Joanna’s heart lurched hard in her chest. She’d only done one of those things, but she hadn’t walked barefoot in clover since she was a teenager. “Very poetic, Doctor.”
    â€œNot poetry, just perfection.”
    He was perfect, Joanna thought, from head to toe, at least superficially. But she knew soul deep that perfection was only an illusion. Everyone had flaws; Rio Madrid was no exception. But he also had an undeniable aura, a sensual magnetic field, drawing her in as if she were made of iron. She feared she might not be that strong if he made one move toward her.
    Bolting from the bed, she stood before him, hands clasped tightly to keep from pulling the band out of his hair to let it completely fall just so she could experience its silky texture. “Okay, so what do you have in mind for lunch?”
    The look he gave