Black Sheep Billionaire (1 of 2 free samples)

---

COPYRIGHT
Black Sheep Billionaire by Jennifer Lewis. Copyright 2008 by Jennifer Lewis.
All Rights Reserved. Sharing not permitted.

---

Next

BLACK SHEEP BILLIONAIRE

Jennifer Lewis

For LBC, also known as Lynn's Book Chat, and its fabulous members Abbey, Donna, Kitty and the eponymous Lynn. I hope we all enjoy chatting about books for another ten years!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
http://www.dailylit.com/books/black-sheep-billionaire/acknowledgments


ONE

"Have you gone mad?" A deep male voice rang off the high stone walls of the old house.

Lily Wharton whipped her head around.

Recognition flashed through her, hot and sharp, at the sight of that hard, handsome face. Declan Gates.

She fought a mad urge to laugh. She might have known Declan would skip over all pleasantries and cut right to the point.

"I'm pruning the roses. As you can see, they're a little overgrown." She gestured at the head-high tangle of thorns around them. She'd been so immersed in trying to tame the old rose garden that she hadn't even heard his car.

"That doesn't explain what you're doing here, on the grounds of my house." His aggressive gaze made her skin prickle.

His strong jaw, proud nose and high cheekbones had changed little in ten years, but this new Declan wore a tailored suit, his jet hair slicked back. His broad shoulders and solid chest hinted at hard muscle beneath his fine clothing.

Fierce excitement swelled in her chest. He'd come back. "I've been trying to contact you for months. I was sorry to hear about your mother's death."

One black brow lifted.

Lily colored slightly at the knowledge that he'd caught her in a lie. The town of Blackrock, Maine, had heaved a collective sigh of relief when the witch on the hill had finally passed.

"I don't know how many messages I left for you. Your office told me you were in Asia, but you didn't return my calls. I couldn't bear to see the house left empty and forgotten."

"Ah, yes. I'd almost forgotten that it was your family's ancestral home."

His pale eyes shimmered in the sun, sparking a trail of memories. She'd fought so hard not to fall under his spell all those years ago, when the unspoken hatred between their families made even friendship a crime.

Even now a familiar sting of attraction made her skin feel tight.

All her plans and the very future of Blackrock rested on this man's goodwill. She was counting on his natural sense of honor and his deep instinct for right and wrong.

But Declan Gates had never been nice.

Heat crept up her neck as she recalled the once-familiar growl of his motorcycle engine. The sound had roared over the town and echoed off the cliffs, making the townspeople gnash their teeth and curse him and his family.

He hadn't cared.

He wasn't bothered by anything so conventional as propriety or other people's feelings.

The last time she'd seen him--ten years ago--he'd thundered right up her driveway and banged on the door. She'd tried to get rid of him fast, before her mother came home. Before he noticed he still made her pulse quicken, and stirred panic mingled with longing in her heart. He'd said he was leaving Blackrock. That he'd never come back. And for ten years he'd been as good as his word.

But now she needed him.

His eyes drifted over the front of her striped oxford shirt, along the length of her grubby khakis. Unwelcome heat gathered under his predatory gaze.

"You haven't changed a bit, Lily."

The way he said it, she wasn't sure if it was intended as a compliment or an insult.

"You haven't, either." She swallowed.

"That's where you're wrong."

She tightened her grip on the pruning shears as his words sank in. Ten years was a long time.

One thing hadn't changed. His eyes still seemed to see right through her. To strip her bare of pretensions with their stark intensity.

She inhaled sharply. "This house was chiseled out of the rock more than two hundred years ago with nothing but primitive tools and sweat. Since it's high on a cliff you can see it from everywhere. It's the face of the town. It's not right that it should be left to fall into a ruin."

He stared up at the wide stone walls. "This house used to be black. How did you get it clean?" His voice rang with genuine curiosity.

"I power-washed it. It scoured off all the soot the coal-fired boiler at the mill belched out for decades."

He turned to her. "You felt it was your duty to blast away the sins of the past?"

"I would have asked permission if you'd returned my calls. Blackrock is falling apart, Declan. I hoped that if I cleaned the house it would show people that we can make a fresh start."

She hesitated for a second, then screwed up her courage and took a deep breath. "I want to restore the house and live in it, and I'd like to buy the old mill, too."

Darkness flickered in his eyes. "They're not for sale."

"Why?" Alarm stirred in her heart. "There's nothing for you in Blackrock anymore. The old Gates mill has been closed for a decade, you have no family there, you're successful and have your own life--"

Declan laughed. "What do you know about my life?"

Next