Mom for the CEO's Daughter. Susan Meier

Kara. “I’m making bricks.”

      “Let me help.” Kara grabbed the second bucket.

      “So your mum never took you to the beach on vacation?” Gabe asked.

      She sucked in a breath, annoyed with herself. She’d gone an entire year of working with Gabe Fulton without revealing the details of her not-so-happy childhood, and after ten minutes together at the beach she’d slipped up.

      “My mother was a single mum, remember? We couldn’t afford to go on vacation.”

      “That’s too bad.”

      Drat. Now he felt sorry for her. That was the whole reason she didn’t want to tell him about her childhood. She hated pity. She’d pulled herself up by her bootstraps and made herself a success. There was no reason to pity her. She wanted him to like her.

      “I work for the Gabriel Fulton, billionaire entrepreneur extraordinaire. It’s a dream position that every assistant wants.” She caught his gaze. “Most people wouldn’t feel sorry for me. Some might even call me lucky.”

      He laughed and she smiled. There. Not one wisp of pity in his silver blue eyes now.

      He grabbed the second, bigger bucket. “Time for more water.”

      Kara’s eyes followed the stretch of his body as he unfolded from his sitting position in the sand. His swim trunks caressed his perfect butt and left bare a temptingly touchable chest and sculptured abs. Tall and regal, with no-nonsense black hair, he ruled his companies with the skill and mastery of a king guiding an empire. The way he worked had attracted her more than his good looks, but the good looks certainly didn’t hurt.

      She watched him walk to the water, bend down, scoop up a bucketful and rise to come back.

      She dropped her gaze to the wet sand she was patting into a brick.

      She had a thing for him. He was finally noticing her. They were in paradise. This was her big shot to change their relationship from professional to personal. The bikini had broken the ice. Now she had to figure out how to melt it completely.