Page 1 of Dating the Rebel
CHAPTER ONE
“WHATTHEHELLis he doing here?” The question exploded out of Miranda Fox just as she felt like exploding. Usually she enjoyed the size of her small office, the elegance of the brocade wallpaper and white-painted coffered ceiling, but right now it wasn’t giving her enough room to pace and nowhere to escape. If she walked out, she would have to pass him in the reception area. And the office was too many floors up for her to safely jump out the window.
And she wasn’t about to risk her life, or anything else, over Grant Snyder.
“He wants to become a member of Liaisons International,” the receptionist, who was also her younger sister, replied, as if it was obvious.
But it wasn’t. Nothing was ever obvious about Grant.
Miranda shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. He’s up to something.”
He had to be. Why else would he have flown from his office in London to show up at her business in Monaco? Sure, he co-owned a private charter plane company, so flying to him wasn’t much different than driving, but still...
There wasn’t even an airport in Monaco. He would have taken a helicopter or a car to travel from Nice to her office. Why take the time for a visit? Why hadn’t he just called her? Then she would have been able to hang up on him.
Oh...
That was why he’d made the trip instead of calling. But what was his real reason for the visit?
“Maybe it’s about Blair,” Tabitha suggested.
Blair was Grant’s younger sister and Miranda’s best friend since they were little girls.
Tabitha’s face twisted into a slight grimace of concern as she almost reluctantly continued, “Maybe something’s happened to her.”
Miranda shook her head again—with such force that the ends of her blond tresses struck her face and tangled in her long lashes. She could not even consider such a horrible thought, for so many reasons. One—she’d spent so much time worrying about her friend when she’d been a fighter pilot. Retired and flying planes only for the private charter business that she’d started with her brother, Blair was safe now. And because of Miranda’s business, Liaisons International, she was also happy. “No, if something happened to Blair,hewould never come to tell me.”
Unless it had been Miranda’s fault...
Then he would seek her out to lecture her just like he’d done when they were all kids. Like he was any better than she was...
Like he’d never gotten into trouble.
Hell, he was trouble—just the way he looked, so muscular, so big, so damn good-looking...
So charming when he wanted to be. He’d never wanted to charm her, though. He only ever wanted to warn her to stop messing up his sister’s life. Not that she’d ever really messed it up except for a detention or two or three in school. And now that they were adults, the most she’d ever done was talk Blair into taking a break from work and into joining her dating service.
Was that why he was here now?
But Blair and Matteo Rinaldi were happy and too perfect for each other to be having problems already. In fact, the billionaire had just granted an interview in which he’d revealed that he was happier than he’d ever been—thanks to Blair and Liaisons International.
So if Teo was happy, Blair was, too. And no matter how big a jerk Grant had been to Miranda, he’d only ever wanted his sister to be happy and safe, which was probably why he’d been such a jerk to Miranda. He’d been protecting his sister from her bad influence.
She hadn’t purposely gotten Blair into trouble, but she hadn’t always exercised the best judgment.
She had to know why he was here, so she drew in a deep breath and said, “I’ll see him...”
Tabitha grinned and eagerly nodded. “You’d be missing out big-time if you didn’t. I think he’s gotten even hotter than he used to be.”
Was that possible? While they’d talked on the phone when she’d called their business looking for Blair, she hadn’t seen him in person in years.
She’d been counting on the opposite—on her teenage mind having overexaggerated how damn good-looking he’d been. Like how, in her child’s mind, she’d remembered her father’s house as having been so large and elegant, but when she’d finally been invited back to visit him, it had been small and sad. Like he’d been.
Tabitha opened Miranda’s office door and slipped out, closing it behind her. But even through the thickness of the solid mahogany wood, Miranda could hear her sister giggling in response to a deep rumble that made her own traitorous pulse quicken with excitement. Then the door opened again, and she had confirmation.
It wasn’t just possible. It had actually happened—Grant Snyder had gotten even hotter. Unlike her father’s house, Grant was even bigger than she remembered. Taller. Broader. More muscular. His hair was a deeper gold, his eyes a darker blue, and that reddish beard trimmed so close to his skin only enhanced the rigid line of his strong jaw.Damn him...
Damn her...
