Read Online Romance: The Art Of Love: A Billionaire Romance by Veronica Cross - Free Book Online Page B

walked to his desk and pressed a button on his phone.
              “Yes,
sir?”
              “Hold
on a minute,” Clifford said. He looked up at Annette. “What are you going to
want for dinner?”
              Annette
shrugged, flustered by the question. “I don’t know…anything, I guess.”
              Clifford
spoke into his phone. “So you’ve got that. We need a dinner of anything, I
guess sent up. For two, please.” He chuckled. “And a couple of bottles of wine
to go with that.”
              “Yes,
sir. We’ll have that to you shortly.”
              Clifford
returned to Annette’s side, bemused by her expression. “What?” he said. “I’m hungry,
and it looks like we’re in for a long, long night.”
              Annette
stared at him for a long second. It didn’t seem the slightest bit unusual to
Clifford that he could pick up the phone and simply command that a meal be
brought to him. Most of the time, Annette tried not to think about the fact
that her lover was so very rich, but there were moments when she just couldn’t
ignore it.
              “Your
cook’s going to just love that order,” she said with a laugh. “Two orders of
anything? We’ll get cat food served up to us on a silver platter.”
              Clifford
laughed. “Are you kidding? Max loves that, when he can make whatever he feels
like. I mostly leave it up to him.”
              “Really?”
              “He
says it’s more fun that way. And if I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s
people do their best work when they’re having fun.”
              “Well,”
Annette said, letting her body lean against Clifford’s for a long moment, “I’m
not sure how much I enjoy playing Girl Detective, but it’s fun spending time
with you.”
              Clifford
put his arms around Annette, drawing her close for a kiss. “It’s the best
possible way to spend time.” His second kiss was more passionate than the
first; his hand dropped to gently cup her breast. “In fact, our forger will
still be out there tomorrow. We could adjourn for the evening, go upstairs
and…”
              Annette
felt her heart start racing. Excitement coursed through her body the way it did
every time Clifford really looked at her. The intensity in his blue eyes was
electrifying. Captured in his gaze was the purest desire, a want the likes of
which she’d never seen before.
              But
she also had a job to do. As much as she wanted to make love to Clifford, she
also desperately wanted to find this forger. Recovering Clifford’s lost
millions would not only prove her worth as an art appraiser, it would put
Annette on a financial footing that, while nowhere near equal to Clifford’s
vast wealth, would certainly free her to pursue a relationship with him without
being accused of being a gold-digger or worse.
              “If
you hadn’t of just ordered dinner, that’s exactly what we’d do,” she said with
a kiss and a smile. She let her hands wander just enough to gauge Clifford’s
desire; his eyes closed when she pressed against the protruding front of his
trousers. “But you did, and we do have to find this guy.”
              “One
more kiss,” Clifford said. “I want to see if I can change your mind.”
              Annette
leaned forward into the kiss. Clifford took her breath away with even the most
casual peck. This embrace, when he was explicitly trying to seduce her, left
her head spinning.
              Their
lips had just parted, and Annette was more than willing to forget about the
forger and let Clifford lead her to his bedroom when a knock came on the office
door.
              It
was Max.   “Here you are, sir,” he
announced, wheeling a cart into the room. “Two orders of anything, I guess,
cooked to perfection, and paired with some lovely California