Page 3 of Bachelor CEO

“His whole family buys their tires here. Havefor years. You his girlfriend?” Mrs. Bay set her magazine down for a minute.

Miranda shook her head. “No. I’m a newemployee.”

The woman gave her a once-over, and Mirandasquirmed. “Probably for the best. He does seem to go through women like water.”

“Uh-huh.” Miranda was grateful when Mrs. Baybegan reading an article. It was easy to understand why women would beattracted to Chase. Miranda had felt that initial quiver of interest herself,before she’d realized exactly who the tall blond guy approaching her was. ChaseMcDaniel wasn’t quite the boy next door.

He was a lot hotter and a lot sexier than helooked in the photos she’d seen on the Internet. His pictures had done himjustice, but came nowhere close to capturing the man in the flesh.

His hair was sandy-blond, like something youmight find on a California surfer. His ocean-blue eyes had sparkled, and hismouth…To be kissed by those full sensuous lips could only be heavenly.

His dress shirt hadn’t hidden the fact that hewas fit and toned, and the thought of touching his six-pack abs sent chillsdown her spine.

He hadn’t bothered to conceal his interest.His attentions had flattered her, as had his willingness to get his handsdirty. He wasn’t such a pretty boy that he was afraid of grease and grime.She’d found him highly attractive and extremely tempting.

She’d wanted to say yes to his offer of lunch,but no was the safer choice, and Miranda always erred on the side of safety. Atthirty-three, she’d given up everything in Chicago and had to make a success ofher new life in Chenille.

Flirting with Chase McDaniel,thirty-five-year-old heir to the McDaniel Manufacturing throne, would onlycomplicate matters.

She couldn’t let his cheeky grin sway her fromher destiny. She’d made that mistake before. She’d fallen fast and hard forManuel, a dark-haired smooth talker. Eventually she’d figured out his seductionwasn’t about her, but about what he could get from her company. She’ddiscovered that he was using her to win a big contract between her firm andhis. The knowledge he’d lied to her and hadn’t truly cared for her at all hadwounded her deeply.

“You’re all done,” Mr. Bay said, reenteringthe shop. He wiped his hands, reminding Miranda of Chase. “You’re good to go.”

Miranda dispelled the image of Chase’s smile.No need for her knees to wobble. She had a long weekend aheadof her, and unfortunately, she’d be seeing him again soon. Tomorrow, in fact.

The reality was he was a means to her dreamjob, and she wasn’t going to let her physical attraction to the man stand inthe way of finally getting what she wanted—a chance to shatter the glassceiling. She’d come too far to fail now, no matter how much he’d piqued herinterest.

Cursing under her breath at how unfair lifewas, Miranda went to pay her bill.

THE MCDANIEL LODGE on Lone Pine Lake hadbeen in the family since the mid-1950s, when Leroy had purchased the propertyon a rare whim.

As Chase climbed the back stairs, he realizedthat someday, this too would be his. He paused, his hand resting on the cedarrailing while he took a minute to gaze past the house to the shoreline.

Chase had been spending summers at Lone PineLake ever since he’d been born, and whatever stress he was feeling alwaysdisappeared the minute he stepped out of his car.

He could understand why his grandfather lovedthe lodge and why he spent most of the workweek here from Memorial Day to LaborDay. The lodge was like fine wine; it developed more character as it aged. Thehouse sprawled at the top of a grassy knoll and offered a panoramic view of thefour hundred feet of shoreline at the front of the property.

The entire estate consisted of ten acres, andbesides the lodge, two small guest cottages sat a short distance away. Thelodge itself had five bedrooms and slept fourteen. The cottages each sleptfour.

Chase inhaled, letting his lungs and sensesfill up with the earthen smells of crisp air and fresh pine.An eagle soared across the water, talons out as it descended to catch a fish.Lone Pine Lake, with its fourteen miles of shoreline, remained an untouchedgem. The houses surrounding the McDaniel estate also sat on acreage, and therewere no condos or high-rises anywhere on the lake.

He’d always felt at home here, even more sothan at his grandfather’s massive residence in Chenille, where Chase and hissiblings had grown up.

“You going to stand there all day?”

“Hey, Grandpa,” Chase said as Leroy camearound the side of the house with a fishing pole in one hand and a tackle boxin the other. There was a boathouse near the dock, but Leroy liked to keep hisgear on the screened-in back porch. “Was the fishing any good?”

“Nah. Still can’t convince me that there areany fish in this lake,” Leroy replied with a snort.

Chase laughed. The largest fish hisgrandfather had ever pulled from Lone Pine wasn’t even close to being a keeper.It was the family joke that the fish knew when a McDaniel lure was in thewater.

“I expected you a little while ago. You didn’thave any trouble, did you?” Leroy asked, thumping up the stairs, pole in hand.

“No.” Chase stepped aside to let him pass. Hisgrandfather was six inches shorter than Chase, and slowly shrinking with age.

Chase waited while Leroy put away his fishinggear, and then followed him into the spacious kitchen. Decades ago the househad been a hunting lodge, where a cook had prepared meals for many. The room’smost recent updating had been about eight years ago, three years before Chase’sgrandmother’s death. His grandfather had little use for thegleaming stainless steel appliances, preferring to simply microwave some soupor a frozen meal when he wasn’t eating out. The local country club was open tothe public and had the best food in the area.

Leroy reached into the big SubZerorefrigerator and removed a pitcher of iced tea. “Grab me a glass, will you?”

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