Free Can't Help Falling In Love by Cheryl Harper Page A

sigh. Tony changed out of his trunks and then stretched out next to her with
     his own happy sigh. He had no idea how long it would last but he felt sure today’s
     attempt at sleep was going to be successful. A beautiful blonde in a swimsuit was
     a fine thing to dream about.

 
    Chapter Five
----
    R ANDA HAD BEEN ecstatic to see Misty stretched out under a sheltering palm frond when she made it
     to the lobby ten minutes early. She’d waited as long as she could. When she’d gotten
     out of the shower after her impromptu swimming exhibition, she’d carefully dried her
     expensively straight hair before adding her notes about the pool to the report she
     was drafting. Estimating the cost of building a new pool was difficult, so she’d made
     a few phone calls to some of their recent contractors to request bids. Hotel room
     renovation was easy. She could figure that in her head. Anything out of the ordinary
     required bids. And the contractors knew very well to take their time. If they were
     lucky enough to get the job, her father would expect them to come in under the first
     bid. Way under. There were enough Whitmore properties that it wasn’t hard to find
     contractors willing to work with them, even at bargain basement prices.
    Forget kindness. Just kill ’em. Randa could feel the whack on the back that always accompanied her father’s rules
     as the thought ran through her head.
    After she’d made notes about every call and every suggestion, she stretched out on
     the bed. She should probably send what she had to her father because he expected results,
     but any mistake she made would mean lost revenue. And if he found out she hadn’t made
     it past the first floor yet, he would not be amused.
    Hit them fast. Hit them hard. Most of his rules were easy to remember like that. So far, she was breaking rules
     left and right.
    But that was her number one goal for Friday: see the rest of the rooms. She wasn’t
     sure how she’d manage it just yet, but she hoped a little time spent in the car with
     Tony, a flash of long leg in a short skirt, and her very best leopard-print heels
     would work wonders. She needed to look both harmless and appealing. She was pretty
     sure she’d nailed it.
    But the icky sensation that crept up her spine at the thought of using his attraction
     to get what she wanted unsettled her. She did it all the time. With old geezers who
     ought to know better. And Tony might even know better. There was the possibility that
     it was her own attraction to him getting in the way.
    She really wished she was just a girl and he was just a guy. And they were headed
     out on a date.
    At four in the afternoon on a Thursday.
    To a bookstore.
    It would definitely be a one-of-kind date, especially in her life. Normally her dates
     required semiformal wear, valet parking, sommeliers, hours of smiling and gritting
     her teeth, and either crushing boredom or growing irritation. Even worse, they were
     always business arrangements, either at her father’s direction or by her own attempt
     to get some deal moving. To be fair, the actual worst date she’d had was with the
     fiancée who had texted his favorite fitness model all through dinner.
    Since she’d just ended that engagement—to two hotels on Hawaii—she probably ought
     to take her time, ease her way back into dating. Those hotels had belonged to Stephen
     Lee and his easygoing son, Stevie. Her father had always wanted a Hawaiian property.
     And as long as he didn’t have to give up his long line of bikini babes, Stevie was
     ready for a wife too. For a little while, she’d thought she could live with that.
    Turning down the dream of a Hawaiian escape was hard, but she’d done it anyway. Her
     father was not amused. Hadn’t all of her brothers made advantageous matches? Why was
     she being so selfish? Why couldn’t she see he only wanted what was best for her? And
     by that he meant best for his hotel chain.
    Randa really hoped that what