Read Online Renegade Millionaire by Kristi Gold - Free Book Online Page B

hand on the window beside her head,leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Are you shy, Joanna Blake?”
    â€œI’m a mother, for Pete’s sake.”
    â€œAnd mothers are forbidden to use hot tubs?”
    â€œMothers don’t have the kind of figures most twenty-year-olds have. At least this mother doesn’t.”
    He allowed his gaze to slide down her body and linger in certain places. He wanted to do the same with his hands. “I seriously doubt that.”
    â€œYou’re seriously wrong.” A blush stained her fair cheeks. “Besides, I don’t own a decent swimsuit.”
    â€œWho said anything about a swimsuit?”
    She turned back to the window. “What’s in that building over there?”
    Obviously she was more interested in continuing the tour than his suggestion. “It’s a pool house with an attached garage. I keep my bike in there.”
    â€œTen speed?”
    â€œHarley.”
    Once more she faced him, this time hugging herself as if she needed protection from him. “You own a motorcycle and live in a mansion. I’d say you are a walking contradiction, Doctor.”
    He wished she’d call him by his first name. Right now he wasn’t the doctor. Right now he was a man in the company of a woman that he wanted too much. “Is that a problem?”
    â€œNot really. It’s just that you’re not at all what I thought you’d be. At least at first.”
    â€œAnd what was that?”
    â€œAn average male on the make. Your generous nature surprises me. So does your attraction to material things.”
    He took a step back, guilt dogging his steps as he made his way back to the table and reclaimed his seat.“I’ve heard it all before, that old ‘the love of money is the root of all evil’ clause. But once you’ve been without it, money’s not a bad thing to have. I imagine you know that.”
    â€œYes, I do.” Joanna joined him at the table and sat across from him with her blue eyes trained on his face. “I take it you didn’t have much when you were growing up.”
    â€œI had next to nothing. My parents were migrant farmworkers, chasing the next job. After my father died, my mother moved from California to Texas. She worked as a fruit picker during the season and hired out as a domestic the rest of the time.” And a midwife at night, something he didn’t care to discuss.
    â€œWhat happened to your father?”
    Rio didn’t like dredging up the past, but he’d left himself wide open to her questions. “An industrial accident involving some kind of machinery. I don’t know many details.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” She sounded as if she truly was.
    â€œDon’t be. I don’t remember him. I was too young when it happened.”
    She rested her cheek on one palm. “So what made you decide to become a doctor?”
    A long story, but he’d try for a condensed version. “My mother worked for a retired colonel. He knew I had an interest in medicine, so he took me under his wing since he didn’t have any kids.”
    Joanna leaned forward. “Did he put you through medical school?”
    That, and hell on earth. “Yeah, but first he put me into boarding school when I turned sixteen. I hated it. They made me cut my hair, robbed me of my heritage so I’d fit in. I’ve worn my hair long ever since.”
    â€œYour culture’s very important to you, isn’t it?”
    â€œSome aspects, yes, some not.” Especially those that defied logic.
    â€œBut you believe in your… What did you call it?”
    â€œMy onen. Mayan mythology. The sun god is a jaguar. It also foretells the arrival of foreigners.”
    â€œForeigners?”
    â€œYeah. I think my mother chose that for me since I was born in the States. But she swore it came to her in a dream. I have a hard time believing it.”
    He’d never put