Free Hot for Him by Amy Armstrong Page A

ago—maybe more.
    Elena had a great team of designers working for her, but she still preferred the hands-on approach. She was known for being a strict boss, but her no-nonsense approach got results. All right, so she was a control freak, but proud of it. She would never have achieved the same level of success if she’d been more relaxed or too capricious. Running a profitable business required a firm hand. But maybe her uncle was right. What would be the harm in taking a week off to unwind? She certainly deserved it, maybe even needed it.
    Twelve-hour working days were commonplace, but it didn’t stop there, did it? Elena not only burnt the candle at both ends, she lit a couple more for good measure. It seemed she wasn’t satisfied lately unless she had a permanent hangover, but her frenetic lifestyle was becoming a little too much to take. Her heavy workload was one thing, but the excessive partying had to stop or something was going to give. A change in pace might be just what she needed to get her life back on track.
    “Elena, what do you say?” her uncle prompted.
    “Let me see if I can arrange a flight and…”
    “Be at London City at ten Monday morning,” Henry interrupted. “I took the liberty of chartering you a flight. You can thank me when you get here.”
    When her uncle hung up, Elena cursed and threw her mobile on the bed. “Son of a bitch.” It looked like she was spending a week on the Riviera. She was annoyed that Henry had been so presumptuous, but a very small part of her liked that the decision had been taken out of her hands. It would do her good to relax for a week, if she remembered how.

Chapter Two
     
     
     
    Just as Elena had expected him to, Henry had arranged for a car to pick her at the Côte D’Azur airport in Nice. She instructed the driver to take the coastal route and fifteen minutes later they were driving along the Promenade de la Plage, heading towards Antibes. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed France, but being in the country again, feeling the sun on her face and breathing in the fresh sea air reminded her how much she loved the Riviera. When she was in university, Elena had dreamt of moving to the country permanently, but it hadn’t worked out that way. After she’d started her design business, she’d become caught up in the frenzied London lifestyle and her dream had pretty much been put on hold.
    The car pulled into the driveway of her uncle’s villa and as she stared at it through the tinted windows a fond smile stretched across Elena’s lips. She’d forgotten how beautiful the place was. The villa was set high up on a mountain and the panoramic view of the sea stretching out to the Cap d’Antibes was simply breathtaking. Stepping out of the car, Elena smoothed out the creases in her Lanvin silk skirt, taking her Dior sunglasses from the top of her head and sliding them into place to shield her eyes from the bright, midday sun. As she ascended the stone steps that led to the magnificent, glass fronted doors, she felt as though she was coming home.
    Henry was more like a father than an uncle. At nineteen, Elena’s parents had been killed in a car crash and though she was legally an adult, Henry had insisted on looking out for her, ensuring she had everything she could possibly need. That translated into him paying for her education and giving her an allowance, even though she’d been well taken care of in her parents’ will. His latest endeavour to ‘care’ for her was inviting her to live in his villa in Cannes. He hardly spent any time there himself and said he didn’t like to see it sitting empty, but Elena was certain his generosity was because he hated where she currently lived. Her cosy flat in Knightsbridge was too downmarket for his tastes. That was probably what the invite to spend the week had been about. Elena suspected he wanted her to get a taste of what she was missing and if that was his intention it was a damn good plan. She liked