Page 2 of How To Tempt The Off-Limits Billionaire

No wonder she was confused about love and what it was supposed to be. Until she could make sense of the concept, she intended to avoid men and relationships.

Ro glanced at her watch, thinking that she had a little time before she was due to meet Radd and Digby on the back lawn of their six-star hotel. In summer, when the bright days slid into light, balmy evenings, the hotel staff served sundowners and cocktails to the guests sitting under the huge oak trees dominating the wide swathe of bright green lawn. The fragrance from the graduated rose garden—white to pink to red blooms—drifted over the prosperous guests lounging in comfortable deck chairs and on outdoor settees, content to listen to a string quartet play the classics while watching the light changing on Table Mountain, the famous Cape Town landmark looming over the hotel.

The Vane had recently been voted one of the best hotels in the world, and Ro was proud of her brothers. They’d worked so hard to make the hundred-year-old hotel—one of the many business enterprises they owned—a destination venue.

It was strange to think that her biological parents had met in this hotel, were married in the chapel on the grounds, had their wedding reception in the opulent ballroom upstairs. It was odd to think of Gil and Zia at all, and she was still wrapping her head around the fact that she carried the genes of the world’s most famous decadent couple.

Ro crossed her legs and looked down at the harlequin floor, feeling, as she frequently did, like she was standing in a small bucket on a storm-tossed ocean.

Six months ago, she lived a normal, very middle-class life. She worked as a kindergarten teacher, had an active social life with Kelvin, had lunch dates with her girlfriends and juggled the bills every month. Now, in a foreign country and far away from her support structure, she relied on her brothers and their fiancées for support and friendship.

And, thanks to a bulging portfolio of property, art, cars, stock and cash, she was ridiculously, stupendously, insanely wealthy. With one call to the trust’s lawyers, she could have tens of millions of dollars transferred to her account and she could buy anything, anywhere, at any time.

Like many people, she’d dreamed of winning the lottery but, honestly, abruptly acquiring a fortune wasn’t nearly as much fun as she’d expected it to be.

It should be simple but it wasn’t, especially since she had to keep her identity a secret. On hearing about her parentage and inheritance, she’d traveled to Cape Town and applied for a job at The Vane hotel. She had wanted to learn about her biological brothers before revealing who she was, thinking that if she didn’t like them, she was under no obligation, legal or otherwise, to reveal their connection.

Digby, on hearing that she was a kindergarten teacher, hired her to look after Olivia, his interior decorator’s niece, so that Bay could renovate certain rooms of this hotel. She’d come to know Digby, then Radd, and on finding them as lovely and honorable as Jack was reputed to be, revealed that she was their sister.

But they were the only people who knew and, as a kindergarten teacher and an ex-employee of this hotel, she couldn’t be seen tossing money around like confetti without attracting questions and attention.

“Ro-Ro!”

Ro jerked her head up, a smile hitting her face as she watched one of her favorite people in the world, a two-foot-high fairy, barrel across the lobby toward her, pigtails bouncing.

Livvie threw herself into her arms and Ro caught her, swinging her up onto her knee and returning the little girl’s rambunctious hug. Over her sweet-smelling head, Ro scanned the lobby, looking for Bay or Digby, Liv’s soon-to-be parents. She didn’t see either, but she did see Tall, Dark, Ripped and Handsome—dressed in chino shorts and a white expensive linen shirt—heading in her direction.

Ro’s gaze slammed into his, her breath hitched and her stomach was invaded by a colony of squirrels on speed. She felt the heat in her cheeks and her womb, and the world faded as the man, six-four, muscles on muscles, headed her way. Her eyes drifted over him, taking in his designer clothes and the sleek watch on his strong wrist. It might be, she suspected, a limited edition Patek Philippe. Or something else ridiculously expensive and exceedingly rare.

He was a study in black and brown, rich, luscious and lovely...

Warm brown skin, black eyes, high cheekbones and a closely cropped beard. Then his eyes moved to Livvie and blindingly white, even teeth flashed as he smiled.

Ro grabbed the edge of the bench, hoping she wouldn’t tumble to the floor. She couldn’t—not only was she holding Livvie, but she’d also make a fool of herself in front of some of the world’s most discerning guests.

She shouldn’t be fascinated by anyone, Ro told herself, her thoughts frantic. She was nursing a battered heart, her life was a mess, she had decisions to make and she did not need the complication of being attracted to a sexy, stunning man.

“You must be Roisin,” he said when he stopped a few feet from them. His voice was deep, dark and sinful, and Ro felt her skin prickle.

“It’s Rosheen, actually, but I prefer to be called Ro,” she corrected him as she stood up. She took a deep breath and held out her hand for him to shake. “And you are?”

“Muzi Miya-Matthews,” he said, his huge hand swallowing hers. “I’m a very old friend of Digby’s.”

Her head swam and she took a deep breath, not wanting him to know how much he affected her.

What had they been talking about? Ah, right. He was the wine entrepreneur and CEO; she’d heard Dig mention him.

“I would’ve thought we would cross paths before,” Muzi said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his chinos, the action pulling his shirt tight across his acre-wide chest, “but life has been a little hectic lately.”

Ro stroked Livvie’s thigh. He ran, she recalled, one of the oldest premier wine and spirits companies in the country and was regarded as one of the country’s best vintners. Muzi Miya-Matthews was a force to be reckoned with in the wine industry, so she had to wonder why he was babysitting Olivia. Especially when Digby and Bay knew that they could call on her, and did, whenever they needed childcare help.

She raised her eyebrows. “You and Livvie?”

Muzi held out his hands and Livvie tumbled from Ro’s arms into his, squealing when Muzi pretended to drop her. Actually, it was Ro who squealed. Livvie just laughed.

Muzi looked at her, obviously amused, as he held Livvie like he would a rugby ball, tucked under his arm. “Sorry, it’s a game we play, the girl is fearless.”

Yep, she knew that. Looking after Livvie required an eagle eye. Or ten. “Bay has only been in Digby’s life for a couple of months, but you two seem to have a strong connection?”

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