A Billionaire's Redemption by Cindy Dees

room throwing open closets and checking under beds and tables, anywhere a person could hide. Nothing seemed to be missing from the house. Television, stereo, silver and china were all in place. But the computer in the dining room was trashed. It looked like someone had smashed it open with a sledgehammer and pulled out its parts. The intruder had stolen the hard drive, if Gabe had to guess.
    He turned on lights as he went, chasing away the shadows. Finally, when he was convinced the house was empty of bad guys, he headed for the locked bathroom door.
    “Willa, it’s Gabe. The house is clear. You can come out now.”
    The lock clicked and the door swung open fast. Willa flew out and straight into his arms. He staggered a little as he caught her weight up against him.
    “Easy, baby. I’ve got you now. You’re safe.”
    “Oh, God, Gabe. I heard them, and the police wouldn’t believe me. And then there was all that noise like they were ransacking my house, and I was so afraid they were going to kill me, and—” She burst into tears against his chest.
    Which he realized abruptly was bare. Her tears were hot and wet against his skin. And he was wearing only a pair of thin, cotton pajama bottoms. Usually, he slept naked. And after that panicked phone call from her, he’d have raced over here in his birthday suit if he hadn’t happened to decide to watch a little TV after his shower, and happened to pull on the pajamas.
    For her part, she was wearing a skimpy tank top thing that outlined every contour of her perky breasts and taut nipples against his chest. Her waist was narrow, and her hips and tush curved sweetly under his hand as he ran his palm up and down her back to assure himself she was whole and unharmed.
    Her arms went around his neck and she all but choked him in her panic and relief. But he didn’t care one bit. No woman had clung to him like this in real need for as long as he could remember...no, not ever. And it made him feel ten feet tall.
    He released her momentarily with one arm to set aside the shotgun, but then he was holding her again, offering her his strength and safety as she sobbed against his chest. Finally, her tears subsided into wobbly sniffs.
    “Better?” he murmured into her fresh-smelling hair.
    “What would I have done without you?” Her breath moved softly against his skin as she spoke. “You saved my life.”
    “I don’t think it was as bad as all that. Only thing that jerk killed was your computer.”
    Willa did a strange thing then. She lurched away from him, pressing her fingers against his lips urgently. He stared down at her, surprised. She pulled out of his arms and headed down the hall toward the living room. He followed, confused.
    Wow. Those sassy little shorts showed the entire length of her long, sleek legs and the beginning swell of her tush to massive effect upon his lust. The girl should be a lingerie model with that kind of a body. Who’d have guessed she was put together like that under the boring church-lady suits she wore in her father’s campaign ads?
    She paused in the doorway of her makeshift office to take in the damage. With her standing in profile to him in that way, he couldn’t help noticing the way that thin cotton tank top clung to her high, firm breasts. Oh, yeah. Lingerie model all the way.
    She moved on to the living room. He watched, frowning, as she opened a drawer in a coffee table, reached inside, sighed audibly in relief and pulled out a small black box. It looked like an old-fashioned transistor radio. She poked at the buttons on the front of it, and then looked up at him with a tiny smile of triumph.
    “There. Now we can talk,” she announced.
    “What is that?”
    “White-noise emitter. It blocks any bugs and causes only static to show up on hidden cameras.”
    “And you have a white-noise emitter why?” he demanded, alarmed.
    “My father’s phone is bugged. I figured whoever was watching me at the mansion would watch me here, too. I