Free Bought by a Millionaire by Heidi Betts Page A

stretched across a king-size bed, all bronze skin against white sheets. Or maybe black sheets. Sleek and satin. With the top sheet covering him only to the waist, leaving his smooth, wide chest and tight, flat abdomen bare.
    Shannon inhaled sharply and held the breath in her lungs until they burned. Blood raced through her veins, and a thin sheen of sweat dotted her brow and upper lip. She wanted to blame those physical reactions on her low-grade fever, but knew better. It was the image of a half-naked Burke Ellison Bishop that had her hot and bothered.
    Oh, no, she couldn’t remain here, this close to the man who was quickly becoming an undeniable temptation.
    â€œBut I won’t be staying,” she tried again. “The doctor said I would be fine in a couple days, and after that, I’ll be moving back to my own apartment. There’s no reason to havemy things brought over, only to turn around and have them taken back.”
    â€œThat won’t be a problem,” he said, yanking his tie all the way off and loosening the first few buttons of his shirt. “Because I want you to stay here longer than just a few days. I was hoping you’d stay for the remainder of your pregnancy.”

Five
    B urke watched her green-and-hazel eyes widen and sensed a mixture of alarm and astonishment emanating from her pores. He shouldn’t have sprung it on her like that.
    He hadn’t meant to. He’d planned to have her stay a few days until she was feeling better, slowly raising her comfort level and getting her used to being around him. Shannon was no pushover, so he hadn’t expected it to be quite that simple, but he did have the means to make her life easier—at least, until the baby came. The question was, would she let him?
    He saw the wheels in her brain turning as she considered how best to continue her side of the argument, and thought it prudent to beat a hasty retreat.
    â€œLet’s not talk about that now,” he said. “I’ll make you some toast and tea, then you can get some rest.”
    With luck, she’d forget the stickier points of this conversation, get over her discomfort with the situation, and hecould go back to his original strategy of charming her over to his way of thinking.
    Before she could respond or tell him again she had no intention of staying once her cold passed, he left the room, closed the door behind him and headed for the stainless steel, gourmet kitchen.
    He rarely cooked, but he did know how to boil water and fry the occasional egg. Besides, the kitchen came with the penthouse apartment. The best of everything, as usual, for one of Chicago’s wealthiest entrepreneurs. Never mind that he took most of his meals at the office, in the car or standing at the marble-topped island before heading for a night of work in his home office.
    He turned on water for tea and threw two slices of multi-grain bread into the four-slice toaster before walking down the hall to his bedroom. His doorway stood adjacent to Shannon’s, which meant he would be close by in case she needed him during the night.
    Kicking off his shoes, he stripped out of his work clothes and changed into a pair of worn jeans and a loose chambray shirt. He tucked in the tails and rolled the cuffs halfway between his wrists and elbows, but didn’t bother with socks or shoes.
    Padding back out to the kitchen, he flipped off the burner and went in search of teabags. He was a coffee drinker himself, but he knew Margaret kept his cupboards well-stocked, so he was sure he’d find something. At the back of a shelf, behind boxes of crackers and cereal, he found a fancy metal container of herbal tea.
    With the plate of dry toast balanced atop the mug of hot tea, Burke tapped lightly on Shannon’s door before entering. She was sitting up more than when he’d left, her back propped by pillows, the covers folded to her waist.
    â€œTea and toast,” he announced. He set the