Bidding on Her Boss

Bidding on Her Boss
Rachel Bailey

What happens when an ambitious employee buys her boss at a bachelor auction? Find out in this story from USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Bailey!Florist Faith Crawford has a brilliant plan–win her company's CEO at a bachelor auction and use their "date" to show him her designs. But her plan backfires when the focus of their meeting shifts from flowers to a floor-tilting kiss.For Dylan Hawke, it's time for damage control. Promoting the talented Faith is a no-brainer, but fraternizing with her is strictly forbidden. Dylan must remain professional–the fate of his business rests in the balance. Too bad Dylan won't rest until he gets another kiss…

As Dylan drew away, Faith tried to catch her breath.

It seemed he was doing the same. Except she wasn’t sure she’d ever get her breath back again—that kiss was unlike anything she’d experienced before. In fact, if she just leaned forward a little, she could experience it again…

And then the enormity of the situation hit her.

She’d just kissed her boss.

Or he’d kissed her—she wasn’t sure about the details of what had just happened. All she knew was she’d never been kissed with that much hunger. That much passion. That much mind-numbing skill. That it had been her employer, someone she shouldn’t have been kissing in the first place, was a cruel twist of irony. If she’d screwed up her well-ordered plan, or caused him to not take her seriously, she’d never forgive herself.

“Faith,” he said, his voice a rasp. “I’m sorry. That was completely out of line.”

Honesty compelled her to point out the truth. “You weren’t there alone.”

* * *

Bidding on Her Boss is part of The Hawke Brothers trilogy: Three tycoon bachelors, three very special mergers…

Bidding on Her Boss

Rachel Bailey

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

RACHEL BAILEY developed a serious book addiction at a young age (via Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck), and has never recovered. Just how she likes it. She went on to earn degrees in psychology and social work but is now living her dream—writing romance for a living.

She lives in a piece of paradise on Australia’s Sunshine Coast with her hero and four dogs, where she loves to sit with a dog or two, overlooking the trees and reading books from her evergrowing to-be-read pile.

Rachel would love to hear from you and can be contacted through her website, www.rachelbailey.com (http://www.rachelbailey.com).

This book is dedicated to Sharon Archer, who is not only an amazing author, but is also a brilliant critique partner and very dear friend. Sharon, thank you for being on this journey with me.

Acknowledgments (#ulink_9430ddf8-9c7b-5cc6-899b-d121de3d6514)

Huge thanks to Charles Griemsman for his editing and support with this book—Charles, it’s always a pleasure to work with you. Also, thank you to Barbara DeLeo and Amanda Ashby for the brainstorming and help, and to John for always supporting my dreams.

Contents

Cover (#u95818271-e1fd-5626-bc82-366412afc024)

Introduction (#u7a92bd97-a159-5f17-bbd8-cada824b5864)

Title Page (#u9efd6f56-aefd-5773-873e-fff780d21164)

About the Author (#u40cd6dfc-15d5-5e7d-a7b3-285686e05ebf)

Dedication (#udb87d8b4-3c56-540d-aa0a-0cdd6208d8c2)

Acknowledgments (#ulink_4cff857b-cb4d-56a7-af37-8c00c015c6bb)

One (#ulink_b8cfbfdb-0dba-539f-9be5-cea0a6e86f0f)

Two (#ulink_b67e9ca0-4e25-56c5-bf5c-88ee9f4be3ee)

Three (#ulink_bb78c5bf-0cdf-5f57-b672-69cad7bde863)

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Five (#litres_trial_promo)

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Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

One (#ulink_00dce5bd-3e40-5751-a91d-42bfd28d69da)

Dylan Hawke had done a few things he regretted in his life, but he had a feeling this one might top the list.

The spotlight shone in his eyes, but he smiled as he’d been instructed and gave a sweeping bow before making his way down the stairs and onto the stage. Applause—and a few cheers that he suspected were from his family—greeted him.

“We’ll start the bidding at two hundred dollars,” the emcee said from the front of the stage.

Dylan sucked in a breath. And so it begins. Step one of rehabilitating his image—donate his time to charity. Now that his brother was marrying a princess, Dylan’s own mentions in the media had skyrocketed, and he’d quickly realized his playboy reputation could be a disadvantage for his future sister-in-law and the things she wanted to achieve for homeless children in LA.

“What do I hear for Dylan?” the emcee, a sitcom actor, called out. “Dylan Hawke is the man behind the chain of Hawke’s Blooms florists, so we can guarantee he knows about romancing his dates.”

A murmur went around the crowded room as several white paddles with black numbers shot into the air. He couldn’t see too much detail past the spotlight that shone down on him, but it seemed that the place was full, and that the waiters were keeping the guests’ drinks topped off as they moved through the crowd.

“Two fifty, three hundred,” the emcee called.

Dylan spotted his brother Liam sitting with his fiancée, Princess Jensine of Larsland. Jenna—who had been hiding incognito as Dylan’s housekeeper before she met Liam—gave him a thumbs-up. This was the first fund-raising event of the new charity, the Hawke Brothers Trust, which Jenna had established to raise money for homeless children. Now that she and Liam were to be married, they planned to split their family’s time between her homeland and LA, and the trust would utilize the skills she’d gained growing up in a royal family. It would be the perfect project for her—she’d said it was something she could sink her teeth into.