Read Online The Millionaire by Victoria Purman - Free Book Online

he’d made such a gesture. Paris, maybe, a couple of years before, because that was what the city of lovers did to people, even when they were planning nothing more than one night with a foreign correspondent from New York, who was as wild as her home town.
    He held the roses to his nose and sniffed their perfume. He couldn’t wait to see Ellie’s reaction when he handed them to her. Which game would she bring to their encounter today? Would it be the wide-eyed adoration or the sassy woman? He wasn’t sure which he liked more. Sure, he was a professional and he liked that she admired his reputation and his work.
    But when he went to bed at night, he was a man. And his very male ego got a huge kick out of her sass, sparring with her, the way she bit back and teased him, too. It had been a long time since he’d let himself play like that. And the part of him that was all man wanted, no needed, to see those legs again. Not to mention that mouth.
    Yeah, all that was the reason for the flowers.
    When he reached the coffee shop, he hid the flowers behind his back and walked inside.
    Ellie was sitting at a table for two, right in the front window, swiping the face of her phone determinedly. Despite the heat, she was wearing a long sleeved shirt, buttoned up to the neck. It looked like silk, something shiny and soft.
    “Hello.”
    Ellie looked up and dropped her phone on the table.
    He tried not to grin but was so happy to see her he couldn’t hold it in. “These are for you.” He held out the bunch. It was so huge that his gesture momentarily blocked his view of her. When he lowered the blooms, he was met with a suspicious expression instead of the smile he’d been hoping for after.
    “Flowers,” she said with a frown.
    “You’re not a reporter for nothing, are you? Very observant.”
    “This isn’t a date, Mr. Malone. This is an interview.”
    “I thought I should thank you for the dinner and the wine last night. If that’s all right with you.”
    “Thank you,” she managed with a tight smile.
    Chris pulled up a chair and sat. “Coffee?”
    Ellie checked her watch. “I don’t have time, unfortunately. You of all people know what deadlines are like.”
    “I understand.”
    “And my editor wants this now. She thinks you’re a good story.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
    Ellie looked him right in the eyes, determined suddenly. “Depends on what you tell me.”
    “Anything you want.”
    Chris decided the blush in her cheeks was worth every cent of the flowers.
    “Okay.” Ellie positioned the flowers on the left of the table and placed her phone on what space remained. She checked it was recording and looked over at him.
    “Mr. Malone, you originally said no to a request to help out a much-admired charity. Why was that?”
    Ouch. He expected a few fluffy questions, not this. “I do get numerous requests every year from charities, and I did originally say no, that’s correct.”
    Ellie straightened her shoulders and there was a gleam in her eye he hadn’t noticed before. “So why did you backtrack, after your initial refusal about making a donation to the Royal Flying Doctors’ charity auction?”
    He leaned in. “A beautiful woman convinced me it was a good idea.”
    Her beautiful mouth flatlined. “Funny. You know I can’t use that quote.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because… because I’m not the story, that’s why.”
    “Oh, I forgot,” he said with a wry grin. “It’s all about me.”
    “Were you worried about your family’s reputation after the news went viral? Were there concerns that the story would damage Malone Enterprises and a time when it’s bidding for major contracts in this city?”
    Straight for the jugular. And, potentially, straight for the truth, he noticed. Where had this terrier come from?
    He raised an eyebrow, glad that couldn’t be recorded, and leaned forward. “When I discovered exactly what the fundraiser was for, of course I changed my mind.