Sophie Pembroke - Stranded with the Tycoon

The man who sees her beauty…

Ben Hampton is the last man in England that workaholic historian Luce would ever choose to be stranded with. Tall, dark and infuriatingly arrogant, he’s also a reminder of her not-so-glorious romantic history—something she’s spent the past few years burying herself in work to forget.

Hotel tycoon Ben knows there’s fire behind Luce’s buttoned-up exterior, and fanning its flames is an irresistible temptation. Luckily, getting snowbound in the countryside gives him the perfect opportunity to tempt out the real Lucinda Myles!

“A night off. With me. You put on your best party dress, let me take you out to dinner. You talk about yourself, not the things you’re supposed to be doing. You let me take responsibility for showing you a good time. You relax. We have a nightcap in my suite, then you get a good night’s sleep.”

“In my own room?” Luce stamped down on the corner of her mind that was happily imagining what might happen if they were both in his room. Ben’s smile grew a little wolfish. “Well now, that’s up to you.”

“Really,” Luce said, flatly.

“Of course.” Ben looked mildly offended. “I’m not saying I won’t give it my best shot. You’re a beautiful woman, and I enjoy the company of beautiful women. But at the end of the night, you get the choice of my bed or the spare room. Either way you have a bed for the night.”

Luce found her gaze caught on his. He thought she was beautiful? Ben Hampton actually wanted her. Sober, all grown up, not obviously crazy…and he wanted her. She could have dinner with him, flirt, kiss…more. All she had to do was say yes.

Dear Reader,

There’s something magical about snow. Especially when you’re sitting inside by a warm fire, mug in hand, watching it fall and cover the land. Or crunching through the first fall, leaving crisp footprints in your wake. Building snowmen, sledging, running inside to warm up again…or just enjoying the hush that a good snowfall brings to the world.

Of course if you’re trying to drive through mid-Wales, U.K., in a snowstorm, like Luce and Ben are in this book, it’s a whole lot less fun. Especially if it traps you in a cottage in the middle of nowhere with someone you haven’t seen in ten years and didn’t like very much even then.

But the magic of snow can’t be resisted, and the power of a romantic, secluded cottage shouldn’t be underestimated. Until the inevitable thaw, when the world returns to normal—but leaves Ben and Luce changed forever….

I grew up on the Welsh border—not very far from Chester, where this story starts—and I had so much fun setting this book in familiar locations. Ben’s cottage is, I’m afraid, fictional, but based on many cottages I’ve spent very happy holidays in over the years. And while the restaurant where they first eat dinner together doesn’t exist in the real world, the one that sits in the same spot on the Chester Rows in reality is a favorite for Mum and me to stop at for lunch when indulging in a little retail therapy!

I hope you enjoy Ben and Luce’s snowy adventure—maybe even as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Best wishes,

Sophie

Stranded with the Tycoon

Sophie Pembroke

www.millsandboon.co.uk

SOPHIE PEMBROKEhas been dreaming, reading and writing romance for years—ever since she first read The Far Pavilions under her desk in Chemistry class. She later stayed up all night devouring Mills & Boon® books as part of her English degree at Lancaster University, and promptly gave up any pretext of enjoying tragic novels. After all, what’s the point of a book without a happy ending?

She loves to set her novels in the places where she has lived—from the wilds of the Welsh mountains to the genteel humour of an English country village, or the heat and tension of a London summer. She also has a tendency to make her characters kiss in castles.

Currently Sophie makes her home in Hertfordshire, with her scientist husband (who still shakes his head at the reading-in-Chemistry thing) and their four-year-old Alice-in-Wonderland -obsessed daughter. She writes her love stories in the study she begrudgingly shares with her husband, while drinking too much tea and eating homemade cakes. Or, when things are looking very bad for her heroes and heroines, white wine and dark chocolate.

Sophie keeps a blog at www.SophiePembroke.com, which should be about romance and writing but is usually about cake and castles instead.

This is Sophie Pembroke’s fabulous first book for Mills & Boon!

For Holly.

I’m proud of you all the way to the moon, too.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

LUCINDA MYLES WASN’T the sort of woman to panic, usually. But the prospect of being without a bed for the night five days before Christmas, in the midst of the coldest December the north-west of England had seen in decades, was decidedly unappealing. The city of Chester was booked solid by Christmas shoppers and by the other unfortunate academics attending the badly timed Bringing History to the Future conference. If the Royal Court Hotel didn’t find her booking...well, she was going to need a new plan. But first she’d try dogged persistence. It had always worked for her grandfather.

‘I understand that you’re fully booked,’ Luce said, in her most patient and forbearing voice. The one she usually saved for her brother Tom, when he was being particularly obtuse. ‘But one of those room bookings should be for me. Dr Lucinda Myles.’ She leant across the reception desk to try to see the girl’s computer screen. ‘M-Y-L-E-S.’

The blonde behind the desk angled the screen away from her. ‘I’m afraid there is no booking at this hotel under that name for tonight. Or any other night, for that matter.’

Luce gritted her teeth. This was what she got for letting the conference staff take charge of her hotel booking. She really should have known better. Take responsibility. Take control. Words to live by, her grandfather had always said. Shame she was the only one in the family to listen.

As if to echo the thought, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Luce sighed as she reached in to dig it out, knowing without looking that it would be Tom. ‘And there are absolutely no free rooms in the hotel tonight?’ she asked the blonde, figuring it was worth one more shot. ‘Even the suites are booked?’ She could make the university reimburse her. They wanted her here at the conference—the least they could do was give her a decent room for the night.

‘Everything. Every room is booked. It’s Christmas, in case you hadn’t noticed. And now, if I can’t be of any further assistance...’ The blonde looked over Luce’s shoulder.

Glancing back herself, Luce saw a growing queue of people waiting to check in. Well, they were just going to have to wait. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by this fancy hotel with its marble floors, elegant golden Christmas tree, chandeliers and impatient businessmen. She’d had one hell of a day, and she was taking responsibility for making it better. ‘Actually, perhaps you could check if any of the other local hotels have a free room. Since you’ve lost my reservation.’

‘We haven’t—’ the blonde started, but Luce cut her off with a look. She sighed. ‘I’ll just check.’

While the blonde motioned to her colleague to come and assist with the check-in queue, Luce slid a finger across the touch screen of her phone to check her messages. Three texts and a voicemail. All in the last twenty minutes, while she’d been arguing with the receptionist. A light day, really.

She scrolled to the first text while the disgruntled businessman behind her checked in at the next computer. It was from Tom, of course.

Has Mum spoken to you about Christmas Eve? Can you do it?

Christmas Eve? Luce frowned. That meant the voicemail was probably from her mother, changing their festive plans for the sixth time that month.

The next text was from her sister Dolly.

Looking forward to Xmas Eve—especially chocolate pots!

That didn’t bode well. Christmas Day was planned and sorted and all due for delivery from the local supermarket on the twenty-third—apart from the turkey, which was safely stored in her freezer. Christmas Eve, however—that was a whole different proposition.

The final text was Tom again.

Mum says we have a go! Fantastic. See you then.

Luce sighed. Whatever Mum’s new plan was, apparently it was a done deal. ‘You’re the responsible one, Lucinda,’ her grandfather had always said. ‘The rest of them couldn’t take care of themselves for a minute out there in the real world. You and I know that. Which is why you’re going to have to do it for them.’

Apparently they needed looking after again. With a Christmas Eve dinner. And chocolate puddings. Presumably in addition to the three-course dinner she’d be expected to produce the following day. Perfect.

Luce clicked the phone off as the blonde came back. The voicemail from her mother, hopefully explaining everything, could wait until Luce had a bed for the night.

‘I’m sorry,’ the blonde said, without a hint of apology in her voice. ‘There’s some history conference in town, and with all the Christmas shoppers as well I’m afraid the local accommodation has been booked up for months.’

Of course it has, Luce wanted to say. I’m here for the damn conference. I booked my room months ago. I’ve just spent all morning discussing how to bring history into the future. I deserve a room.

But instead she clenched her jaw while she thought her way out of the problem.

‘Right, then,’ she said after a moment. ‘I’m going to go and sit over there and try calling some places myself.’ She motioned to the bar at the side of the lobby, where discreet twinkling fairy lights beckoned. This day would definitely be better with a gin and tonic. ‘In the meantime, if you have any cancellations, I’d appreciate it if you’d book the room under my name.’

‘Of course.’ The blonde nodded, but her tone said, You’ll be lucky.

Sighing, Luce turned away from the desk, only to find her path to a G&T barred by a broad chest in an expensive shirt. A nice chest. A wide, warm chest. The sort of chest you could bury your face in and forget about your day and let the owner of the chest solve your problems instead.

Not that she needed a man to fix her problems, of course. She was perfectly capable of doing that herself, thank you.

But it would be nice if one offered, just once.

Raising her gaze, she saw that the chest was topped by an almost unbelievably good-looking face. Dark hair brushed back from tanned skin. Golden-brown eyes that glowed above an amused mouth. A small scar marring his left eyebrow.

Hang on. That scar was familiar. She knew this man. And she should probably stop staring.

‘Is there a problem with your reservation, madam?’ he asked, and Luce blinked.

‘Um, only that it doesn’t seem to exist.’ She glanced back at the reception desk to discover that the blonde, rather than assisting the next guest in the queue, was practically hanging over the counter to get in on their conversation.

‘Daisy?’ The man raised his scarred eyebrow at the blonde.

Luce definitely recognised that expression. But from where? A conference? A lecture? Somebody’s ex? Hell, maybe even from TV? One of those reality shows about real life in a hotel? Except Luce didn’t usually have time to watch such programmes. But the subconscious was a funny thing. Maybe his image had been imprinted on her brain, somehow, in eerie preparation for this moment.