Chynna owes everything she has to her older sister, Melinda. So when Melinda asks her to sneak into Trent Payton's office one night to retrieve a file she left behind, Chynna can't say no.
When Trent unexpectedly returns to the office, catching Chynna red-handed, he offers Chynna a choice — agree to his terms or face arrest for burglary. His request seems simple enough — accompany him to a party, pretend to be in love with him, and he'll forget all about the incident.
Trent just needs an escort for one night, to convince his mother that her attempts to marry him off to an heiress of her choice won't work. Finding Chynna in his office offers him the perfect opportunity.
Imagine their surprise when they find it easy to pretend to be in love — so easy that it's difficult to stop when the night is over...
Chapter One
Chynna Braden stopped and listened, her heart beating wildly. Had she heard an elevator stop? She waited in the gloom of the empty room, but she didn’t hear another sound. She was all alone in an executive office at Kane Haley, Inc., and it was definitely after hours. The building was deserted.
She squinted into the dim light. Did they call this breaking and entering? Well, entering, anyway — entering handsome director of legal services Trent Payton’s office when she shouldn’t even be on this floor.
"Oh, Melinda," she muttered, half in despair, half in amusement. Her irrepressible sister always managed to put her into sticky situations like this. It happened all the time. Melinda got into messes and Chynna got her out of them.
"Just look for a green folder with a plastic clip at the top," Melinda had told her, anxiously wringing her hands. "If you can manage to bring that folder to me, you’ll save my life!"
"And risk losing my own in the process," Chynna murmured after bumping into a sharp corner and bruising her knee. She clicked on the little flashlight she’d brought along and shined the feeble beam around the walls, looking for the filing cabinets. A ray of light fell on a picture of Trent Payton with Kane Haley, the owner and president of the accounting firm and she paused for a moment, studying it.
The two had been college roommates, from what she’d heard, and they looked like men who had a strong bond of affection between them. They were both tall, dark-haired, and good-looking, but something in Trent appealed to her in an inexplicable way. Something in his eyes, something in the way his mouth twisted, something in his face, all told her he didn’t trust life to be fair — that he didn’t give his heart easily.
But it was silly for her to be thinking that way. She’d seen the man from a distance, but she didn’t know him at all. And from what her sister, who had worked as his administrative assistant for a short time, had told her, he was as vain and arrogant as they came. Still, there was something in his eyes.…
A small clicking sound made her jump, but it was just the air-conditioning system coming on and she collected herself. She had to get this done!
Quickly, she moved toward the wooden filing cabinet, hoping the drawers weren’t locked. The first drawer pulled open with no problem, but the orderly files didn’t include any hint of green. She tried the second drawer, then the third, and finally hit pay dirt. There it was, right at the back behind the tightly packed folders.
She reached out to take it and her fingers actually touched the clip for a fraction of a second. And then a larger, darker hand grabbed hers. Her flashlight went flying and she let out a shriek.
"Looking for something, Melinda?"
The lights came on and the room spun as she whirled. Her gaze rose, taking in the impeccable Italian suit, the crisp white shirt, the extravagantly wide shoulders, the smooth, tan skin…and finally stared up into Trent Payton’s cool blue gaze.
There was certainly nothing appealing in his eyes now!
