Spotlight & Giveaway: Breaking the Playboy’s Rules by Melanie Milburne

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Melanie Milburne to HJ!

Hi Melanie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Breaking the Playboy’s Rules (Wanted: A Billionaire Book 2)!

Hello! Great to be here!
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

This is Book Two in my Wanted: A Billionaire trilogy. I wrote the trilogy during our first eight week lockdown. It was a wonderful way to spend a lot of time with all three sets of characters, and I have to say, probably the easiest period of writing in my career. No distractions!
 

Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:

I wanted to set up for the reader the way Millie feels about Hunter Addison right from the get-go. They had a disastrous blind date set up by mutual friends and took an instant dislike to each other, mostly because of their particular circumstances that fateful night, which coloured how they saw each other. Interestingly, in the couple of months since their blind date, there had been nothing in the press about his sexual antics. Maybe Millie’s immunity to his attractiveness that night had bruised his overblown ego. Not flipping likely. Men like Hunter Addison had industrial strength egos. Trying to put a dent in his ego would be like trying to crack a brazil nut with a feather boa. Not going to work.

What inspired this book?

My editor asked me to write a heroine-led trilogy, so I had a great time coming up with three girlfriends who lived in a flat together in London. I had a strong sense of Millie from the start and Hunter revealed himself to me as we went.

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

The process of getting to know a character is a little like getting to know a person in real life. I find it’s best to spend some blocks of time with them, asking them questions and seeing how they answer. I often have an idea of how a character will be, how they will act, etc and then they decide they want to be different. It is kind of weird, I know, but as soon as I give them names, they really do become real to me.

What was your favorite scene to write?

I really enjoyed writing most of the scenes in this book but I did really love writing the opening ones. Here’s a snippet of where Millie finally asks Hunter to act as her mother’s divorce lawyer.

Millie met Hunter’s gaze. ‘Because I’ve heard you’re the best.’
One side of his mouth came up in a half-smile, as if he found her comment mildly amusing but of zero important to his estimation of his competence. One of his muscled arms was draped casually over the back of his chair, one ankle propped over his strong thigh, just above the knee. Unlike her, he had cool and calm and collected down to a science. ‘And here I was thinking you were after a one-night stand with me.’ His voice was deep and smoky, his smouldering eyes doing a slow appraisal of her face and figure.
Millie face a stiff smile, showing no teeth. ‘Sadly, no.’
A single eyebrow rose again, his eyes glinting. ‘Sadly?”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

The scene where Hunter introduces Millie to his disabled sister Emma. It is a delicate balance portraying characters with disabilities without cliché, as well as their carers.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I am always tweaking my style on each book- that’s how the writing journey works for me. Constantly challenging myself to write a better book each time. But mostly, it’s my normal style.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

Apart from the simple enjoyment of a happy ever after romance, I would like readers to take a moment to think about those who love and care for siblings with disabilities. It is a lifelong commitment that is so important and yet so unnoticed and undervalued in the community. To me, Hunter’s love for his sister Emma made him one of my favourite heroes of all those I’ve written.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I am currently working on a twin duet. I’m taking a lot longer writing it than I normally would but that’s the festive season for you! I have Book Three of the trilogy out in March – One Night in New York and then my matchmaker novel- The Billion Dollar Bride Hunt out in June.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Giveaway- Book one and two of the Wanted: A Billionaire trilogy.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Hunter whisks Millie away on his luxury yacht to Greece. If you were to be whisked away, where would you like to go?

 
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Excerpt from Breaking the Playboy’s Rules (Wanted: A Billionaire Book 2):

IT WAS THE first time in her life Millie had asked a man to meet her for a drink and now she was going to be late. Seriously, embarrassingly, late. But this was no ordinary date. This meeting with hotshot celebrity divorce lawyer Hunter Addison was not for herself but for her mother.
Her mother collected ex-husbands like some people collected coins. And, sadly, it was going to take an eye-watering amount of coins to get rid of husband number four—money that Millie could ill afford to lend her mum right now. Hunter Addison wasn’t the cheapest divorce lawyer in London, but he was reputed to be the best.
And, for her mum, Millie wanted the best.
Millie walked as quickly as she could towards the wine bar where she’d asked Hunter to meet her after work. She hadn’t spoken to him in person, only via text message. The thought of talking to him on the phone after their disastrous blind date two months ago was too confronting. So too was the prospect of meeting him again in person but this wasn’t about her—it was about her mother’s welfare. She could not bear to see her mother screwed over by yet another self-serving, narcissist ex.
Millie pushed open the front door of the wine bar and stepped inside, quickly scanning the room for any sign of Hunter. Couples and small groups were sitting at the various tables in the front section but there was no sign of a man sitting by himself. Of course, it would be incredibly rare for a man as good-looking, wealthy and sophisticated as Hunter ever to sit in a bar by himself. He had a reputation for being a fast-living playboy. Hardly a week went past when he wasn’t snapped by the paparazzi with yet another gorgeous supermodel-type woman draped on his arm.
Interestingly, in the couple of months since their blind date, there had been nothing in the press about his sexual antics. Maybe Millie’s immunity to his attractiveness that night had bruised his overblown ego. Not flipping likely. Men like Hunter Addison had industrial-strength egos. Trying to put a dent in his ego would be like trying to crack a brazil nut with a feather boa. Not going to work.
‘You’re late.’ A deep and crisp male voice rich with censure spoke from behind her.
Millie spun round and, even though she was wearing vertiginous heels, she had to crane her neck up, up, up to meet Hunter Addison’s whisky-brown eyes. It was hard not to feel a little flustered coming face-to-face with such arrant masculinity. Such heart-stopping male perfection. Broad-shouldered and tall, with a lean and athletic build, he exuded strength and potency. At a virile thirty-four, he was in the prime of his life and it showed.
And every female cell in her body sat up and took notice. ‘Yes, I know. I’m sorry but—’
‘Something wrong with your phone?’ The smile that wasn’t really a smile matched the cynical gleam in his eyes.
Millie mentally counted to ten, trying to control her desire to snap out a biting retort. What was it about this man that made her feel so prickly, on edge and so…so combative? Her experience around men was limited. She had only ever had one lover and, since her childhood sweetheart Julian had died three years ago after a long battle with brain cancer, she hadn’t dated again.
Well, apart from the wretched blind date with Hunter, which had been an unmitigated disaster from start to finish. But then, she had wanted to sabotage it. She had done everything in her power to give him the cold shoulder and hot tongue routine. She was not going to be set up by friends to ‘move on’. She was not going to be flirted with and charmed by a man who hadn’t heard the word ‘no’ from a woman his entire life.
But now she needed Hunter’s help and she had no choice but to swallow the choking lump of her pride. And boy, oh, boy did it taste sour.
Millie straightened her shoulders and forced herself to hold his gaze. ‘There was, actually. I forgot to charge it overnight and it ran out of battery just after I left work. Then there was some sort of security incident involving the police on my way here and I had to take a six-block detour.’
In flipping sky-high heels and a tight-fitting pencil skirt, she wanted to add, but managed to restrain herself.
It was hard to tell if he believed her or not. His expression was now largely inscrutable and yet there was something about the way his eyes drifted to her mouth for the briefest of moments that made the backs of her knees tingle.
‘Come this way. I have a table in the back where it’s more private.’ His tone had a commanding edge that made her want to insist on a table out front instead. He probably thought she regretted giving him the brush-off. He probably thought she wanted a rerun of their date.
But no. No.
This was not a cosy little tête-à-tête. This was not a date in any shape or form. This was a meeting to convince him to act for her mother. But she found herself—meekly, for her—following him to the table in the quieter back section of the wine bar.
Hunter waited until she was seated before he took the chair opposite. She was conscious of his long legs so close to hers under the small table and kept her knees tightly together and angled to the right to avoid any accidental touching. Millie was also conscious of the way her heart was beating—deep pounding beats that echoed in her ears as if her blood was sending out a sonar warning. Danger.
Hunter picked up the drinks menu and handed it to her across the table. ‘What would you like to drink?’
Millie took the menu and gave it a cursory glance before handing it back. ‘Just mineral water, thank you.’
He made a soft sound of amusement and a sharper glint appeared in his eyes. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve gone teetotaller on me?’
Millie could feel a hot blush stealing over her cheeks. She had drunk three glasses of wine during their date, as well as a lethally strong cocktail, in an effort to get through the ordeal. The day of their disastrous date had been the anniversary of Julian’s death, and each year she struggled to get through it—which was why her friends had organised the blind date with Hunter, hoping it would distract her and help her to move on. It had distracted her all right. Everything about Hunter Addison was distracting, back then and now. Especially now.
But it wasn’t grief that had made that day so hard for her.
It was another G-word. Guilt.
Millie aimed her gaze to a point above his left shoulder rather than meet his probing gaze. ‘No. I just don’t feel like alcohol right now.’
Hunter signalled the waiter and ordered Millie’s mineral water and a gin and tonic for himself. Once the waiter had gone to fetch the drinks, Hunter leaned back in his chair with a casual ease she privately envied. He was dressed in a smart grey suit and snowy-white business shirt, the top button undone above his loosened, finely checked grey-and-white tie, giving him a chilled out, laid back air. He was devilishly handsome with short black hair, a straight nose and a sculptured mouth—the lower lip fuller than the top one. His late-in-the-day stubble shadowed his chiselled jaw and around his mouth, and he had a well-defined philtrum between his nose and top lip.
A sensual mouth…
Millie sat up straighter in her chair, shocked at her errant thought. She wasn’t interested in his mouth. She was interested in his professional expertise. And the sooner she engaged it, the better. But right now it was almost impossible to get her brain into gear, to be logical and rational and stay on task. Every time he looked at her, flutters and tingles erupted in her flesh, as if he had closed the distance between them and touched her with one of his broad-span hands.
One thing she knew for sure—she must not let him touch her. That would take her pretence of immunity way out of her skill set.
‘So, here we are. Again.’ Hunter’s gaze went on a lazy perusal of her face, and something in her stomach turned over. And the way his voice leaned ever so slightly on the word ‘again’ made the roots of her hair tingle, as if tiny footsteps were tiptoeing over her scalp.
Millie licked her suddenly too-dry lips. She smoothed her skirt over her knees with her hands and tried to ignore the way her pulse was leaping. ‘I feel I should apologise for how I behaved the last time we met.’
She chanced a glance at him and found him looking at her with studied concentration. Was that his lawyer face? The steady and watchful legal eagle quietly assessing his client. Reading between the lines of what his client said and what they did. But she wasn’t his client. Although, she wasn’t exactly a friend asking a favour either, was she? They had disliked each other on sight…or at least she had made up her mind she would dislike him.
She swallowed and continued. ‘I wasn’t in the best mood that night and I fear I might have taken it out on you.’
‘You fear?’ The edge of sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable.
Her chin came up and her gaze collided with his. ‘Well, you were hardly Mr Dream Date yourself.’
Something shifted at the back of his gaze, as if he was mentally recalling that night and didn’t like what he saw. A dull flush slashed high across his cheekbones and his lips twisted in a self-deprecating smile. ‘Point taken. My charm button was on pause that night.’
As apologies went, it wasn’t the most gracious, but then, she had been the one who had acted with the most appalling manners that night. He had been a little broody and distant, but she had been downright rude. She’d been annoyed at the matchmaking attempt of her friends, who had been at her for over a year to get out more. Beth and Dan were well-meaning, but they didn’t know the real reason she found the prospect of dating again so difficult.
Julian had been sick for six years before he’d finally succumbed to his illness, diagnosed just before he’d turned eighteen. The treatment had been gruelling, the first operation changing his personality from loving and kind to grumpy and short-tempered. But Millie had hung in there, hoping month after month, year after year, that things would get better. They hadn’t. The thought of breaking up with him had not only crossed her mind, it had taken up residence and patiently waited for a good opportunity for her to raise it with him. It had never come. Julian had always been too sick, too depressed or in one of those rare but wonderful phases when the cancer seemed to be in remission.
How could she have destroyed him by saying she wanted out?
Millie was pulled out of her reverie when the waiter appeared with their drinks and it was a moment or two before she and Hunter were alone again. Millie picked up her glass for something to do with her hands. She took a sip and covertly studied him. There should be a law against men looking so hot without even trying. He exuded male potency and she wondered what it would be like to be in bed with him, those gym-toned legs entwined with hers. Her mind ran wild with X-rated images of his naked body in full arousal.
Sex with her late fiancé had been difficult due to the ravages of his illness and his limited stamina. She had cared for Julian rather than loved him and had allowed him to find quick pleasure in her body without insisting on her own. It had made her annoyed with herself rather than him, knowing he couldn’t help being so ill. Since his death, she’d had fleeting thoughts about sex, but had never gone any further than occasional self-pleasure. Somehow, over the years with Julian and since his death, she had begun to associate all things sexual with disappointment, dissatisfaction and faint tinges of despair.
But now, sitting opposite Hunter, all she could think about was how it would feel to have his body thrusting within hers. She was pretty sure he would never leave a partner dissatisfied or disappointed. His sexual competence was an aura that surrounded him. Every time he locked gazes with her, she felt a jolt of electricity shoot to her core. She wriggled in her seat, her lower body restless, agitated, hungry, her cheeks feeling as hot as fire.
A slight frown settled between his ink-black eyebrows and, though he picked up his drink, he didn’t take even a token sip. ‘One wonders, if you had such a miserable time on our blind date, why on earth would you want to repeat it?’ Hunter said, holding her gaze with his steely one.
Millie pressed her lips together. ‘I don’t. I wanted us to meet to discuss something…else.’
One of his eyebrows rose in a perfect arc. ‘Go on.’ His eyes never left hers—steady, strong, searching, sharply intelligent.
She ran the tip of her tongue over her parchment-dry lips, trying to ignore the way his gaze drifted downwards, as if he found the shape of her mouth fascinating. She drew in a breath and it shuddered through her chest like air in a damaged set of bellows. ‘I want to engage your professional services.’
His eyes flicked to her left hand, where Julian’s engagement ring still sat. Truth be told, Millie didn’t especially like the ring, but she continued to wear it out of guilt. She knew Beth and Dan had told Hunter about Julian’s death for he had mentioned it on their blind date. She had refused to discuss it with him and had abruptly changed the subject. ‘You’re not married. I’m a divorce lawyer. Not sure how I can help, unless there’s something you’re not telling me?’
There was a whole lot Millie wasn’t telling him, or anyone else for that matter. She had a reputation among her friends as being a sniffer dog for other people’s secrets. The thing was, she wasn’t all that good at keeping them, unless they were her own secrets. She knew the tells of someone trying to keep something hidden, because for years she had being keeping things hidden. And doing a stellar job of it too.
She had not been in love with Julian. And, worse, she had actually felt something akin to relief when he had died three days before their wedding. She played the role of tragic heroine so well. Heart-sore and unable to love again after the tragic loss of her childhood sweetheart. Still wearing his modest little engagement ring after all this time. Still grieving her one and only love. Her soul mate.
But she was a big, fat fraud.
An imposter. Because, while she definitely grieved for the loss of a dear friend, Julian had not been the love of her life.
Millie leaned forward to pick up her mineral water, sat back again and looked at the ice cubes rattling against the glass for a moment. ‘No, I’m not, but my mother is.’ She brought her gaze to meet his and continued, ‘Will you do it?’
Hunter held her gaze for so long without speaking, she had to moisten her dry lips again. His eyes followed the movement and something behind her heart fluttered like a trapped insect. ‘Why me?’ His tone was curt, business-like, but his darkening brown eyes belonged in the bedroom. The flutter in her chest travelled to her stomach—soft little wings beating against the walls of her belly, sending an electric tingle down the backs of her legs.
Millie leaned forward in her chair to put her glass of mineral water back on the table. She was going for cool and calm and collected, but inside she was trembling with strange, unfamiliar sensations. Smouldering heat coursed through her body. Her heartbeat accelerated, her skin prickling and tingling behind the shield of her clothes. But pride wouldn’t allow her to tell him the truth about her mother’s situation.
That was another of her well-kept secrets. Diamond heiress Eleanora Donnelly-Clarke was practically penniless after multiple divorces. Millie’s mother had been blessed with stunning beauty but had severe dyslexia. Each of her exes had taken advantage of her literacy and numeracy issues, and ex number four was about to do the same. If it wasn’t for the trust fund Millie’s grandfather had set up for Millie, both she and her mother would have gone under by now. But Millie had her own jewellery business to run and couldn’t afford to carry her mother too much longer, especially in the event of another costly divorce—hence her appeal to Hunter.
Millie met Hunter’s gaze. ‘Because I’ve heard you’re the best.’
One side of his mouth came up in a half-smile, as if he found her comment mildly amusing but of zero importance to his own estimation of his competence. One of his muscled arms was draped casually over the back of his chair, one ankle propped over his strong thigh, just above the knee. Unlike her, he had cool and calm and collected down to a science. ‘And here I was thinking you were after a one-night stand with me.’ His voice was deep and smoky, his smouldering eyes doing a slow appraisal of her face and figure.
Millie gave a stiff smile, showing no teeth. ‘Sadly, no.’
A single eyebrow rose again, his eyes glinting. ‘Sadly?’
Millie’s heart rate shot up as if she were drinking rocket fuel instead of mineral water. She sat straighter in her chair. She had to do everything she could to keep her body from betraying her in the presence of his sensual charm. Everything, including keeping her wayward gaze away from his sinfully sculptured mouth. ‘In spite of what Dan and Beth think, you’re not my type.’
Hunter gave a slow smile that did serious damage to her determination to resist him. ‘Nor you mine, but they seemed to think we’d be a match made in heaven. I wonder why?’ His question was idly playful, rhetorical, even slightly mocking. Strike that—definitely mocking, drat the arrogant man.
‘They’re under the misguided impression that a fling with you will somehow help me move on from the loss of my fiancé,’ Millie said in a tone so starchy and prim, she could have been lecturing young Victorian ladies on etiquette. ‘But I’m afraid they have seriously over-estimated the extent of your charm.’
He gave a wry laugh, but then his expression gradually lost its teasing playfulness, his eyes becoming dark and more serious. ‘I guess you’ll move on when you’re ready to.’
Millie lifted her chin and held his gaze. ‘I’m not ready.’ Would she ever be ready? When she’d been young and first fancied herself in love with Julian, getting married and setting up a home together was all she had wanted. But, when the hammer blow of his diagnosis had come, everything had changed. Her dream relationship had become a nightmare in reality.
Hunter’s eyes moved between each of hers in a pulsing moment that ratcheted up her heart rate. Time stood still—so still she could hear the roaring echo of her heartbeat in her ears. He was a top-notch lawyer. He spent hours listening to clients, making sense of the things they told him, both true and false and all the shady spaces in between.
Could he see the truth behind her lie?
His eyes went to her mouth, lingering there for a heart-stopping moment, before coming back to her gaze. ‘So, about your mother’s divorce.’ The subject change nudged her out of her thoughts. ‘I should warn you, I don’t come cheap.’
Millie tried to ignore the little niggle of panic about her bank balance. She was a moderately successful jewellery designer in an increasingly competitive market, but exorbitant legal fees were going to put a considerable dent in her savings. ‘I can afford you.’ She injected her tone with pride, her chin elevated.
Their gazes were locked in a power struggle for a beat or two but then he suddenly frowned. ‘Why would you be the one paying your mother’s legal fees?’
Millie lowered her shoulders in a despondent sigh. ‘Because my mother’s soon-to-be-ex spent a lot of her money in a get-rich-quick scheme that fell flat. Plus, she just found out he has a mistress on the side. Mum will pay me back once she gets back on her feet.’ If she got back on her feet.
He studied her for another long moment that felt like an aeon. ‘I’ll do a deal with you. I’ll give you a discount if you have dinner with me tomorrow night.’
Millie’s mouth fell open. ‘Dinner?’
One side of his mouth tilted upwards. ‘You do eat occasionally, don’t you?’
‘Yes, but I thought, given what a disaster our last dinner was—’
‘Maybe I want another chance to stun you with my charm.’ A teasing glint appeared in his gaze.
‘You said it yourself—you’re not my type.’
‘That doesn’t mean we can’t have a pleasant dinner together and clear the air after the last time.’
Millie wondered what motive was behind his invitation. Had her previous immunity to him presented him with a challenge he couldn’t resist? She’d often wondered since that night, if they had met up on any other date other than the anniversary of Julian’s passing, if she would have been quite so immune to him. In spite of her unfriendly behaviour that night, she had noticed his traffic-stopping good looks and superbly toned body. She had desperately tried not to notice but a woman would have to be brain dead and without a pulse not to be impressed by how gorgeous he was in the flesh.
In the flesh…
Her mind swam with images of him naked and her pulse shot up again. She schooled her features into a mask of cool indifference, as if his invitation was nothing to get excited about. No point feeding his morbidly obese ego. ‘I’ll have to check my diary.’
‘So, check it.’ He nodded his head towards her bag where her phone was housed, his tawny eyes containing a challenge. Resist me if you can.
Millie sent him a sideways look, picked up her bag and took out her phone. She gave her phone diary a cursory glance, knowing full well there was nothing scheduled for the following night.
Her mind was going up and down on a seesaw. Should she or shouldn’t she meet him for dinner? He said he would give her a discount on her mother’s legal fees. Was this his bargaining chip? The more time she spent with him, the more intrigued by him she was. She had never met a more confident and self-assured man. A man who set goals and went after them with a single-minded purpose. Exactly the sort of man she needed to help her mother get out of this latest financial hole. She put her phone back in her bag and clicked the fastening closed with a definitive snap. ‘I’m free, as it turns out.’
‘Good. Where do you live? I’ll pick you up at seven.’
‘Erm, that’s not necessary. I can meet you, like I did the last time.’
An implacable light appeared in his unwavering gaze. ‘Let’s not do anything like we did it the last time. I’ll pick you up and take you home.’
Millie decided against making an issue of it and gave him her address, then added, ‘How soon can you meet with my mother? I know you’re awfully busy and—’
‘I’ll clear a space first thing tomorrow morning. Eight a.m.’
Millie let out an audible breath of relief. ‘That soon? I don’t know how to thank you. But would you mind if I came with her for…support?’
‘That’s fine. Bring any necessary documentation with you—financial records of joint assets or debts, bank statements, tax returns, that sort of thing—plus a list of any questions you’d like to ask, and any relevant information about the other party. It will help speed up the process. How long has she been separated from her husband?’
‘Only a couple of months.’
‘How long have they been married?’
‘Four years.’ Millie waited a beat and added, ‘She’s been married three times before. They’ve all ended in divorce.’
Hunter didn’t seem at all shocked, but then, she figured he dealt with this sort of thing day in and day out. People who had once passionately loved each other fighting it out as bitter enemies in court over the division of assets. He had taken her account of her mother’s soon-to-be-ex’s reprehensible behaviour with such implacable calm, as if he heard similar stories every day of the working week. She wondered if that was why he was such a freedom-loving playboy. Maybe he found the notion of long-term love nothing more than a Hollywood fantasy. Dealing with warring divorce parties would be enough to turn anyone into a romance cynic.
‘Which of her ex-husbands was your father?’ he asked.
‘None of them.’ Millie looked at the loosened knot of his tie rather than meet his gaze. ‘He died a couple of months before I was born. I think it’s why she’s been so unlucky in love since. She tried to replace him but could never find someone good enough to fill his shoes. It’s why she’s always kept his name. It’s the one thing she didn’t get talked out of relinquishing by any of her subsequent husbands.’
Hunter uncrossed his ankle from where it was resting on his bent knee and leaned forward to pick up his drink. ‘Life can be tough on some people.’ He took a small sip of his drink and put it down again.
‘Yes, it can…’ Millie looked at her left hand where Julian’s ring sat. Barely a day went past when she didn’t think of him. Not because she still loved him, but because of how unfair life had been to his mother and him. Julian’s life had stopped at his diagnosis—the life he had planned, that was. So too had his mother’s, all her hopes and dreams for her only child shattered by that devastating diagnosis. The gruelling treatment and multiple surgeries had taken away Julian’s potential, reducing him to a frailty that had angered and frustrated him in equal measure.
And Millie had been chained to his side through all of it, trapped by a sense of duty that, to this day, she couldn’t free herself from feeling. Because she hadn’t been honest about her feelings for Julian—platonic feelings, not romantic love.
Hunter’s phone rang and he grimaced as he checked the screen. ‘I’ll have to get this. Sorry.’ He rose from his chair and added, ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ And then he wove his way through the other tables, presumably to go outside to take the call in private.
Millie couldn’t see the street from this section of the wine bar, so sat finishing her drink, wondering if she had done the right thing in asking him to help her mother. He was the best man for the job, but it would mean regular contact with him for her, as her mother’s supporter. Some divorces were simple and clear cut, but none of her mother’s divorces had been, and Millie had no expectation this one would be any different. Hunter was a disturbingly attractive man and she wasn’t half as immune to him as she’d thought.
He’s not your type. The words so helpfully supplied by her conscience were not as reassuring as they ought to be. Right now, she didn’t care if he wasn’t her type. She couldn’t stop imagining what it would feel like to have that sensually sculptured mouth pressed to her own. She suppressed a little shudder and put down her empty glass.
Don’t even think about it.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A spark she can’t forget…

A Greek getaway to remember!

Millie refused to enjoy her blind date with outrageously attractive lawyer Hunter. After the pain of her last relationship, how could she let herself? But when her mother needs his help, Millie must face Hunter again. This time, she can’t deny he makes her heart race…

For their second meeting, Hunter turns the full force of his charm on Millie. He’s normally a closed book—he’s learned to keep his family commitments private. But sweeping Millie off to Greece to explore their unmatched chemistry is breaking all of his rules…

Book Links: Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Melanie Milburne read her first Harlequin at age seventeen in between studying for her final exams. After completing a Masters Degree in Education she decided to write a novel and thus her career as a romance author was born. Melanie is an ambassador for the Australian Childhood Foundation and is a keen dog lover and trainer and enjoys long walks in the Tasmanian bush. In 2015 Melanie won the HOLT Medallion, a prestigous award honouring outstanding literary talent.
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