Her Man Friday Read Online Free Page B

Yeah, right.
Mistress
was more like it. He'd learned enough about Schuyler Kimball, playboy billionaire, to know the man would never have a woman like this in his employ without sampling her personal wares on a regular basis. Oh, sure, the job title was a nice, convenient cover, and giving her a regular paycheck for such a role might make the arrangement more socially acceptable. But there was no way Leo would ever believe that the job description for Miss Rigby's position was anything other than sexual.
    "I appreciate Mr. Kimball's accommodating me this way on such short notice," he said aloud, reluctantly slipping back into Leonard mode.
    She waved a hand as she typed a few instructions into the computer. "Oh, Schuyler doesn't even know you're here. He's been in Bermuda since Thursday and isn't expected back until next week. And even if he were here, he never troubles himself with this kind of thing. It would fall to me anyway."
    Which went a long way toward explaining how someone was robbing him blind, Leo thought. Aloud, he only said, "How much time does he spend here at the estate?"
    "Not as much as he'd like," she said as she scanned the computer screen and typed in some more instructions. "He travels quite a bit for the company, and even more for his personal enjoyment. And he has a half-dozen private residences, all over the world. Between his work and his mood swings, he could be anywhere on the planet at any given time."
    "Don't you have a hard time keeping track of him?"
    Evidently having concluded whatever mumbo-jumbo she had to complete to get the system up and working, Lily Rigby straightened. And Leo tried not to become suicidal over the fact that when she did, her jacket draped down over the creamy swells of her breasts again.
    "We're frequently in touch via the phone or e-mail," she said.
    "Why don't you travel with him?" Leo asked the obvious. "Wouldn't that make things easier?"
    She turned and offered him a knowing smile.
    "Well. I'm really needed here at home far more than I am wherever he is. And besides, I don't want to cramp his style, do I?"
    Leo smiled back, a bit less knowingly. "Don't you? I'd think that would be part of your job description. If not cramping Mr. Kimball's style, then certainly organizing it."
    She lifted her shoulders and let them drop again, obviously unconcerned about that. "There are a lot of women in Mr. Kimball's life," she said in as matter-of-fact a tone as Leo had ever heard, surprising him. "They frequently travel with him. And they often misunderstand my role in the scheme of things. It gets a bit awkward."
    Wow, he thought. She was a really understanding mistress if she let Kimball flaunt his other girlfriends so blatantly in front of her. Just how much was the guy paying her anyway? Then again, maybe a cool disposition was exactly what a man looked for in a mistress, precisely so that he could maintain a variety of relationships. Well, a cool disposition
outside
the bedroom anyway, he amended.
Inside
the bedroom, however…
    Leo let his mind wander freely over that one for a moment, until the images parading through his head became far too explicit, enough so that his baggy tweed trousers began to feel much less baggy. With a none too courteous nudge to his libido, he returned his attention to the matter at hand. Unfortunately, that meant he was looking at Lily Rigby, and those illicit ideas began to creep right back into his brain.
    "Naturally," she continued easily as she circled to the front of the desk, clearly oblivious to his salacious intentions for her, "I do travel with Mr. Kimball from time to time. But he and I have both come to the conclusion that I'm generally needed here at Ashling more than I'm needed with him on his travels. I e-mail him his daily agenda, and, as I said, we speak frequently on the phone. Modern technology has made jobs like mine infinitely more manageable."
    Oh, Leo didn't know about that. He didn't want Miss Rigby selling herself short.