Free Melting the Millionaire's Heart by Linda Morris Page B

went outside with a scraper and brush to clear the snow off his car, refusing her offer to help. He made a call to his housekeeper to confirm that the roads near his home had been plowed as well.
    “Most of the guests have already gone,” Leslie said. “But Dr. Dunne is still here. He doesn’t give up easy, that one.” Leslie never hesitated to share her opinion with him. She’d known his family for years before she came to work with him. Her son had attended school with him and Jake before his mom pulled them out. Don had been one of the few kids who had never teased or picked on Jake, thanks to her understanding attitude towards Jake’s differences. “And a young lady is here. She’s concerned about her friend who got stuck in the snow.”
    “You can let her know Kayla is fine. She’s with me.”
    “With you?”
    “I came across her after her car accident. We spent the night at my parents’ house.”
    “You spent the night together at your parents’ house? Just the two of you?” The surprise in his housekeeper’s voice irked him.
    “Of course. What was I supposed to do, leave her outside to freeze?”
    “I’m just surprised. It’s not like you to be so hands-on with people.”
    Oh, he’d been hands-on with Kayla all right. All night. Repeatedly. Hands, lips, tongue…but that was their secret. Thinking about how that sweetness had gone so sour this morning made him want to get surly with Leslie, who didn’t deserve it, so he ended the call and went to get Kayla.
    She bundled up and stood silently on the porch while he locked his parent’s front door behind him. Now that the snowplow had gone, the air was silent and still in a way that only a fresh snowfall could bring. He picked her up, intent on carrying her through the snow once again, but this time, she glared at him.
    “Put me down! What do you think you’re doing?”
    “I know you’re mad at me. You don’t have to break your ankle staggering through snow and ice in high-heeled boots just to prove a point.”
    “I don’t want to prove a point. I just want to maintain a certain distance from you.”
    He put her down. “Fine.”
    He followed behind her to steady her if she fell. She slipped once and he lunged to catch her, but she caught herself before he could grab her. She shot him an over-the-shoulder look that could have boiled ice.
    He raised his hands like a hostage at gunpoint. “I’m not touching you.”
    “See that you don’t.”
    He’d knocked her knit cap askew when he’d picked her up, so it sat tilted over one ear at a jaunty angle. He wanted to straighten it, but she wouldn’t welcome the gesture from him.
    “You didn’t seem to care about maintaining distance from me last night.”
    “That was before I found out you were a liar.”
    O-kay, then. At his car, he turned the key to let the engine warm up and they sat in painful silence.
    With the roads still wet and slick in places despite the plowing, he’d have to drive slowly. The drive to his estate would take twenty minutes, easy. Then he’d invite her inside, have Leslie make her something to eat. She’d have to wait for her car to be towed—the local garage would probably be busy after the storm. Maybe after she’d cooled down a bit, he’d have a chance to apologize again. He hoped.
    “What kind of a rich guy drives a Honda, anyway?”
    “It’s not my only car. I drove it to the airport because I don’t like to leave my BMW in long-term parking while I’m out of town.”
    “Don’t you have a chauffeur to drive you around?”
    He shook his head. “I don’t go for all of that crap, tons of servants, a private jet, stuff like that. It just draws attention.” He put the car in gear and headed for his estate.
    “You don’t like being noticed for your wealth.”
    “Something like that. I didn’t grow up with it, and no one else around here has money, so I don’t like to lord my money over people. It sets me apart.”
    “Is your brother really