Falling for the Billionaire's Daughter - Lori Ryan Page 0,4

unwanted desire to protect her. Not that there was anything to indicate she needed protection. It was the big brown eyes and the way her hair fell from its ponytail to frame her face in wisps that made her look fragile, he guessed.

But that was really where any hints of softness ended. He had watched during the meeting with his interns as she’d let her disapproval become obvious. Though he had no idea why she should disapprove of his plans. They were good plans. Even if he had thrown them together over the course of two days, they were solid.

He tilted his head at her. He didn’t exactly want to start an argument with her but he also wasn’t the type of guy to just ignore things if she had an attitude about something.

“Do we have a problem, Ms. Wilson?”

She actually laughed at that. “Ms. Wilson? You can call me Joy. And no, we don’t have a problem.”

“You sure about that? It feels a little like you’ve got a problem with some of this.” Understatement of the century. She might be all ‘call me Joy,’ but she definitely wasn’t throwing off friendly vibes.

And why did that make her all the more appealing to him? He liked that she wasn’t flirting with him and trying to please him. He didn’t know what that said about him so he ignored it. And ignored the way his body was all too aware of her.

She shook her head. “Nope. No problem. Not from me. I’m your yes-woman. It’s all yesses from me.”

He saw the minute her words hit her ears and she flushed pink, highlighting the freckles that danced over her nose and cheeks.

Good. Because there was no damned way she didn’t have a problem with him. She was lying through her teeth right now and he knew it.

“Perfect,” he said. “Then we won’t have any trouble working together.”

Her eyes flashed and he knew she wanted to argue with him.

He could see it eating at her.

He raised a brow and waited, but she only stood and gave him the kind of tight-lipped smile that really said, “fuck you” and walked out of the room.

Well, that went well.

Chapter 3

Kaeden watched as the entire Sutton group off-loaded at one of what turned out to be many art festivals Breckenridge hosted throughout the summer. There were art installations throughout the town with music and food booths set up along the main street.

Kaeden faced the group, raising his voice above the crowd. “We’ll meet back here at one p.m. to head back to the lodge,” he said. “If you miss the bus, you can walk up to the top of Main Street and catch one of the city busses back up the hill. They’re free and then the lodge is only a short walk from where they drop you off.”

He wasn’t sure if everyone heard him or not. He should have written out a schedule for everyone and included the lodge’s address and all the shuttle bus information.

He turned to the interns to tell them to work on that for tomorrow only to find them grinning at him as they handed out sheets of paper. He took one and looked at it.

The schedule, lodge address and phone numbers, and the shuttle bus information were all neatly printed on the little slip.

Well, that was creepy.

He looked up to find Joy Wilson watching him with what he could only describe as a knowing expression. Like she’d just watched the whole exchange and knew the Stepford Twins—that was what he’d taken to calling the interns after they’d finished three of his sentences for him before breakfast was half over that morning—had read his mind yet again.

She smirked at him and he wondered if it would be wrong to tell her she could ride back to the lodge with the van. Sure, her boss had sent her in case they needed her, but really? They didn’t really need a babysitter on this outing.

But then she was walking up to Jack and she had him smiling and laughing at something she’d said. Perfect. He couldn’t very well blow her off when it was clear Jack liked her.

Jack raised his voice to the milling group. “Joy tells me the lodge can ship anything you all buy at the booths back home for us.” He grinned at them all and winked at his wife, Kelly. “Not that I want to encourage you to shop, but I figure it would be rude not to pass on