Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer by Rachel Lyndhurst Page A

myself.”
    “Your car is buried somewhere in the snow and needs rescuing. You’ll get a fine if
     you just abandon it, and I’m sure you want your wheels back so it can get fixed. Also,
     your furnace won’t have repaired itself overnight unless you have very special mechanic
     fairies in downtown Passion Creek. And getting big fat Princess into a pet carrier
     and down to the vet’s is a two-person job. Agree?”
    Piper sighed and nodded. He was right—she was up to her neck in practical problems.
     She should be gracious, not stupid, and accept his offer of help. “So what’s your
     plan?”
    “Today we need to dig out your car, and tomorrow we have to take a certain somebody
     to the vet, start getting you photographed for the launch campaign, and attend an
     art gallery event. We’re completely booked.”
    “Hm.”
    “And somewhere in between we need to get you something to wear, unless you’ve already
     been shopping.”
    She could feel herself bristle. “I’m sure I’ve got something I can wear that won’t
     completely shame you.”
    “It’s not me, Piper, I like you with no clothes on, but there’s a good chance there
     will be a lot of cameras and a few famous names around. It’ll be less intimidating
     if you blend in with the rich list.”
    He was right, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. Big fancy social occasions
     hadn’t featured highly in her life and she hated things like weddings at the best
     of times. The whole thing was going to be stressful enough without having to endure
     people looking down their noses at her for not being smothered in designer labels.
     “Okay, I give up, you take over. My brain can’t cope with all this.”
    He smiled and bit down onto the hot toast he’d just buttered. “You won’t regret it,
     I promise.”

Chapter Eight
    Piper felt dizzy as she slumped down into her own sofa for what seemed like the first
     time in weeks. It hadn’t been that long, of course, but her normal, boring life had
     been superseded by a whirlwind of activity and new experiences with a man who quite
     literally took her breath away. Not only was he the sexiest, most charismatic male
     she’d ever encountered, he was equally infuriating and exasperating in the way he
     went about everything. Matt was the ultimate “can do” person.
    Nothing seemed impossible to him.
    Piper figured it was a characteristic of high achievers with high intelligence. He
     must’ve been super smart to be a self-made billionaire by the age of twenty-eight,
     if he wasn’t lying about his age. And she didn’t think he was lying about his age.
     He was totally fit and there wasn’t a hint of gray in those lustrous black locks.
     A few delicious laughter lines around the eyes, but definitely under thirty.
    He’d sent a twenty-four-hour furnace specialist to her condo and settled the bill
     without her even knowing what had been done and how much it had cost, and now she
     and Aspen, fresh from the operating room, were warm and snug. The car had been recovered
     from a snowdrift by another of Matt’s many contacts and was in the garage having its
     ignition coils and spark plugs replaced. It was terrifying to think she could have
     been frozen solid inside that car if she hadn’t been rescued.
    Being pampered, preened, and photographed by the hippest studio in the county had
     also been a revelation. She’d been made to feel like a film star and the end results
     had been incredible, even though they’d had to work at top speed to get enough shots
     in time for the PCB No. 68 campaign. There was a memory stick full of photos of her
     wearing some of her best jewelry pieces, too, all sultry and sophisticated—right up
     there with the best of the glossy magazine ads. She could never have afforded to have
     it done on her own. Things were certainly going better than she had ever imagined.
    She glanced happily at a big pile of flashy-looking shopping bags and boxes piled
     up in the