The Billionaire in Disguise

“If it comes to selling, if it’s what you have to do, I’ll buy the place myself.”

She laughed. “Yeah, right.”

Nathan cleared his throat and looked up, not wanting to sound arrogant but needing her to know it wasn’t an empty offer. That he could buy it tomorrow and come up with the cash immediately if he had to. “I’m serious.”

Her laughter died, the uneasy smile wiped from her face. She studied him, eyes no longer full of tears—her gaze was serious now. “You could actually buy this place, just like that?” she asked.

He shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. A year ago, hell, a few months ago, he’d have had no problem letting anyone know what he could afford, but since coming here … he just didn’t want to be that guy anymore. Staying on the farm had given him the break he’d needed, and it had also given him a fresh start, even if he was going to have to face reality and head home one day soon.

“Yeah, I could. But if I did I’d need a manager, so there’s no chance I’d evict you.”

Jessica smiled, but he knew she wasn’t sure what to say or how to take his words.

The Billionaire in Disguise

Soraya Lane

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Writing for Mills & Boon is truly a dream come true for SORAYA LANE. An avid book-reader and writer since her childhood, Soraya describes becoming a published author as “the best job in the world”, and hopes to be writing heart-warming, emotional romances for many years to come.

Soraya lives with her own real-life hero on a small farm in New Zealand, surrounded by animals and with an office overlooking a field where their horses graze.

For more information about Soraya and her upcoming releases visit her at her website, www.sorayalane.com, her blog, www.sorayalane.blogspot.com, or follow her at www.facebook.com/SorayaLaneAuthor

I am so fortunate to have an amazing support network,

and that includes some very special author friends.

From daily e-mail chats, text messages and writing

sprints, it all means so much to me.

Thank you Natalie Anderson, Nicola Marsh,

Yvonne Lindsay and Tessa Radley, for your constant

encouragement, support and friendship.

Contents

Cover

Excerpt

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

JESSICA FALLS LEANED against the wooden fence and stared out at the land. She hadn’t been home in almost two years, but there was nothing about her surroundings that wasn’t familiar to her. The horses grazing in the fields, the smell of the pine trees, the big house behind her—they were all things ingrained in her memory that she would never forget, no matter how long she lived.

But nothing was like it used to be. She wiped away tears that had escaped from the corner of her eye, despite her best efforts to blink them away, and forced herself to turn and go back to the house. She’d only just arrived back, but instead of going straight in she’d walked around outside and done her best to ignore reality. That she wasn’t going to have to live in the house alone, that her grandfather wasn’t really gone, that she hadn’t just lost everything that mattered to her.

Jessica moved slowly up the veranda steps, stopping when she reached the door and taking a deep breath. She eventually put her key in the lock and pushed the door open, listening to it creak as she stared into the dark hallway. She picked up one of her suitcases and wheeled it in behind her, moving slowly to the bottom of the stairs. It was quiet, too silent for her liking, but it was something she was going to have to get used to.

“Hello?”

She jumped and turned at the sound of a deep voice, not expecting anyone else to be on the property, let alone at her front door.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Jessica locked eyes with a man leaning against her doorjamb. Who the hell was he? She slipped her hand into her back pocket, feeling for her phone, ready to dial for help if she needed it.

“Ah, can I help you?” She didn’t care how handsome the guy was—she didn’t want company right now, and definitely not from some stranger.

“I saw you arrive before and I wanted to say hi.”

Jessica stood still for a moment, silent, before she realized who he was and felt like a complete idiot. She prized her fingers from her phone and pushed her hands into her pockets instead.

“You’re the guy renting the cottage, right?” she asked, wishing she hadn’t glared at him like he was some kind of intruder. Her granddad’s lawyer had told her all about the guest staying on the grounds, and she’d forgotten about him. “The jet lag must be getting to me.”

His smile was genuine when he flashed it, his eyes crinkling ever so at the corners to match the upturn of his mouth.

“Understandable. I only knew Jock a couple of months and I’m already missing him like hell, so I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.”

Jessica sighed, not ready to talk about it. She’d just traveled all the way from London without sleeping a wink, left her best horse behind without knowing if she’d ever be able to afford to bring him home, and everything was fast catching up on her. Not to mention the fact that she’d missed the funeral service of the one person in the world she really cared about, because she’d been stuck in a hospital on the other side of the world. Her granddad had been her only family since her mom had died, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was an orphan now. And the fact she hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye to him.

“Is there anything I can do for you? I’m not really sure what your arrangement was with my granddad, but you’re welcome to stay for as long as you want.”

It wasn’t that she particularly wanted anyone hanging around, but from the information she’d received to date, she was going to need the income from the cottage just to keep paying the bills. And from what she’d heard, this guy was paying a small fortune in rent. He wasn’t exactly hard to look at, either—brown eyes flecked with gold, dark hair that was a little too long and a smile that made her want to stare at his mouth way longer than she should have.

“I won’t get in your way, I just wanted to say hi,” he told her. “I’m Nathan.”

“Jessica,” she replied, holding out her hand and pressing her palm to his. “But I’m guessing you already knew that.”

“Not a day went past that Jock didn’t talk about you, so yeah.” He pushed his hands into his jean pockets and took a step backward. “I’ll see you around, Jessica. Take care.”

Jessica smiled and raised one hand in a half wave, wishing he hadn’t just surprised her so soon after arriving. Any other day she’d have been better prepared, would have remembered her manners and invited him in for a coffee just like her grandfather would have, but today was tough. Today was about coming to terms with losing everything. Tomorrow she’d try to start rebuilding, and figure out how the hell she was going to save the only place that had ever been home to her. Trouble was, she was used to being a loner, so it was weird having someone she didn’t know staying on the property.

She watched him go, the casual way he sauntered off toward the stables, hands still thrust in his pockets, as if he didn’t have a worry in the world. Everything felt like it was crashing around her, but she had to stay strong, needed to hold herself together, because that was what her granddad would have expected, and she didn’t want to let him down.

* * *

Nathan Bell gave the horse a pat and dropped to the ground, nudging his hat down lower over his head, crossing his ankles and shutting his eyes. The sun was warm but not too hot, and he was feeling lazy as hell. He knew Patch wouldn’t walk off on him, and he just needed to try to catch up on some sleep. Since Jock had died, his insomnia had come back, and right now he was beat.

He was always worse at night, the memories of finding his wife, the weight of what had happened, always seeking him out in the dark. During the day, he usually managed to keep them at bay, but forgetting what had happened was impossible.

He’d just drifted off, was falling into the sleep he’d been craving, when he received a sharp kick in the leg.

“Ouch!”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Nathan pushed his hat up and found himself staring straight up at Jessica. What the hell was he doing? What the hell was she doing? Her eyes looked wild, face mad as hell. At least it took his mind off his nightmares.

“I was sleeping, but I’m guessing you already figured that out,” he said, drawing one of his legs up and rubbing the spot where she’d kicked him. He had no idea what he’d done to make her so angry between now and when he’d met her.

“I mean what the hell are you doing here? And with my granddad’s horse?”

She was seriously pissed with him, that much was obvious, and he doubted he was going to get back to sleep anytime soon. Nathan tried not to smile—she’d looked pretty when he’d met her at the house, even with her tearstained cheeks, but she was gorgeous as sin all fired up and angry.

“Jock used to bring me here, as soon as he’d taught me to ride,” Nathan told her, wishing she’d back a step up instead of standing over him and glaring like he’d just stolen something from her. “And the last few weeks before he passed away he wasn’t up to riding, so he asked me to take Patch out for him.”

“I don’t believe you.” Her tone was cool as ice.

Nathan wasn’t going to engage, not when she was so mad with him. He stood up, reaching for her hand then stopping when she snatched it away before he even came close to connecting with her.

“I know that you’re hurting right now, but I’m not the one you should be angry at. I get that this was a special spot for you and Jock, because he told me so, and if he were here right now he’d tell you himself that you’re acting crazy. We rode up here almost every day together.”

A look passed over her face that he couldn’t read, but the anger disappeared from her eyes like a light going out. He understood that the place was special to her—the wooded hill area tucked away from the rest of the property was like a little slice of paradise hidden away from the world. Somewhere she was obviously used to enjoying in privacy. But he hadn’t done anything wrong, and grieving or not, he wasn’t going to let her take it out on him. If there was one thing her granddad had taught him, it was that just because you were grieving you didn’t have leave to behave badly.

“He told you that?” Her voice was softer now. “That it was our special place?”

“Yeah, he did,” Nathan replied. “Now why don’t you sit down and we can talk, if you’re done being angry with me?”

She didn’t apologize but she did look guilty, and he wasn’t going to rub salt into open wounds. He knew what it was like to lose someone.

“I didn’t think anyone else had been here, which I guess is kind of stupid,” Jessica said, wiping the corners of her eyes as she sat down across from him amongst the pine needles. “We started coming here when I was a girl, and it was kind of our thing. He always rode Patch, and I was on my old pony, Whiskers.”

Nathan nodded, sitting down beside her and stretching his legs back out. He watched as she grimaced, obviously trying to make herself comfortable, but he didn’t say anything.

“I hear you had a pretty good hideout, too. Something about a fort that you thought your mom never knew about up in the trees.”

Jessica met his gaze, laughed softly and shook her head. “Now I know you’re not lying,” she said, “because I still believe that no one else knew about that little hideaway.”

He held his hand to his chest. “Cross my heart, I won’t tell another soul.”

She leaned back and stared at the horses, and Nathan did the same.

“Patch must be so old now. He was perfect for my granddad, like they understood exactly what the other was thinking. I’ve never seen anyone else ride him, not ever.” She sighed. “That’s why it hit me so bad, seeing you. He’s been on the farm since I was a little girl.”

Nathan chuckled. “Yeah, which is why he’s perfect for me. He’s content just to take things slow and teach a newbie the ropes.” He paused, watched her, wished he didn’t feel so uncomfortable being so close to her. “We came up here a lot, the two of us, just to ride and chat, talk about anything and everything. It was as good for me as it was for the old man.”

Jessica groaned when she turned to her side, and he waited a second before saying anything more. It was none of his business, but he’d heard so much about her, knew about what had happened, and she was clearly in pain. Jock had been a good friend to him, a mentor, and he missed him more than she could ever imagine. Which meant that he wanted to help Jessica, if he could get past his own demons long enough to do so.

“Sounds like you were close friends. I shouldn’t have reacted so badly. I’m sorry.”

Nathan frowned at the grimace she was sporting. “From what Jock said, you’re supposed to be resting for the next few months, right? As in no getting back in the saddle?” Maybe he wasn’t so good at keeping his thoughts to himself.

Jessica didn’t shoot him the dagger-filled look he’d been expecting, but she did meet his gaze. “It’s stupid, I know, but I just needed to get out in the fresh air and ride. Take it easy, just not in the way my doctor prescribed.”

“It’s not stupid to want to ride, but you need to let your body heal.” He paused. “After what you went through...”

“You know all about my fall? What happened?” she asked.

He nodded. There was no point pretending otherwise. “The whole country knows all about it. They played the footage from the Badminton Horse Trials over and over on the news, the headlines were screaming about the downfall of New Zealand’s eventing golden girl and the best horse this country has ever produced.”

Fresh tears were visible in her eyes now, ready to fall. Maybe a simple yes would have been enough—he knew how much she loved her horse, from what Jock had told him, and the equine’s career was most definitely over, forever, even if hers wasn’t.

“And now my horse is stuck back in the UK, and I’m all useless and back here on my own.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I wish I’d never taken him over, that I’d just campaigned a European horse. I know it sounds stupid, but he’s the most incredible animal and I miss him.’

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Jessica shrugged and stood up, grimacing as she moved. Nathan jumped to his feet and held out a hand to help her, which she took, taking a moment to steady herself. The warm touch of her palm gliding into place alongside his took him by surprise, even though he was the one to initiate it.

“Just a leg up into the saddle would be great,” she told him, stopping to give Patch a pat before reaching for the reins of her own mount. “God only knows if I’ll ever be able to get up from the ground again on my own.”

Nathan bent and took her knee into his palm, counted to three then hoisted her up in the air. She landed gracefully in the saddle, her back beautiful and straight despite how much pain she must have been in. He knew she’d had a back injury, as well as doing some pretty major damage to one of her legs, but he didn’t want to pry.

“Nathan, I’m sorry for the way I acted before. I’m not usually so horrible.”

He chuckled. “Good, because otherwise I’d have to think your grandfather was a liar. He made you out to be the perfect granddaughter.”

Jessica laughed and he found himself grinning straight back at her. There was something so broken about her, so fragile, but at the same time seeing her sit up there in the saddle showed how strong she was, too. She was torn apart, emotionally and physically, but definitely not broken. Kind of like him. Only being around her was forcing him to come out of his shell, to be the stronger one, when recently he’d felt so lost, so weak.

“What’s that old saying about rose-tinted glasses?” she asked, still smiling.

Nathan laughed. “Mind if I ride back down with you, or do you want some time alone?”

“Sure thing. It’s about time I started saying yes to company instead of pretending like I’m better off on my own.”

Nathan tried to mount as gracefully as he could and failed terribly, but thankfully Jessica was either too polite to say anything or she actually hadn’t noticed. He might be able to stay in the saddle, but that was about the extent of it.

“Not bad getting to ride alongside world eventing’s number two rider,” he joked.

“Well it’s a title I’m fast going to lose, so you’d better take the chance while you can.”

She was attempting to make fun of what happened, he got that, but he knew she was heartbroken over the accident. Jock had opened up to him about a lot of things, especially about Jessica, and he knew he had to tread carefully. The only thing her grandfather hadn’t made clear was how beautiful she was in real life—the photos in the media didn’t do her justice. Every time he’d seen her interviewed she’d either been wearing a helmet or had her hair pulled back into a tight bun, dressed in formal riding attire. But with her long blond hair loose, and wearing jeans and a T-shirt, she looked like a different woman. Only he had to keep reminding himself who she was, that she was Jock’s granddaughter. Nathan wasn’t ready for anything more than a bit of fun, and that wasn’t a category that Jessica Falls belonged in. Not ever. If he hadn’t been so close to her grandfather, he would have let that be her decision, but it wasn’t. Jock had been too important to him, which meant he wasn’t going to even think about Jessica like that.

And the truth was, Nathan didn’t know if he’d ever be able to commit to any kind of relationship again after what had happened to his wife, which meant nothing could ever happen between them. But it had been a while since he’d had any female company whatsoever, and Jessica wasn’t exactly hard to be around, or to look at, even if she was grieving. And looking was entirely different from letting anything happen.

CHAPTER TWO

“SO TELL ME what you’re doing in New Zealand.”

Jessica slowly rubbed her horse down, paying careful attention to brushing his sweat marks. She would usually have been more vigorous, but her back was starting to ache and she didn’t want to push her body too hard, especially since the most strenuous activity she was supposed to be doing was moving from the sofa to the kitchen. The pain was bearable most of the time, unless she overdid it, and then it would hit her like a ton of bricks.

She glanced over at Nathan, watching as he stroked Patch’s face. The horse was leaning in to him like they were old friends, and she felt terrible all over again for being so rude to him when she’d found him on the trail. She’d had no right to accuse him of...she didn’t even know what.

“I needed some time out from my job and I’d heard how beautiful it was here,” he said, looking up but still scratching Patch.

“So you just jumped on a plane and ended up in New Zealand?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, something like that.”

She’d been joking, but it seemed she wasn’t far off the mark. “So is it everything it’s made out to be?”

Nathan put down the brush he’d been holding and walked out of the box stall. “I did the whole touristy thing when I first arrived, but then I found this place a few months ago and I still haven’t left.”

Jessica untied her horse and nodded to Nathan to do the same with Patch.

“So you’ve been holed up here with just an old man and some horses for company?” she joked.

Nathan laughed. “Something like that. I’ve been working my way through a stack of DVDs, staying out of trouble.”

“Sounds like exactly what I need to be doing.”

“Says the woman who’s out riding horses instead of resting up on doctor’s orders.”

She smiled as they walked through the barn leading the horses out into the open. It was nice to just chat with someone, feel relaxed, even if she did feel guilty for being happy without her granddad around. Her emotions were all over the show right now, and so was her mood, but there was something about Nathan that was drawing her to him.

After letting the horses loose and watching them trot across the field, Jessica and Nathan walked side by side in the direction of the barn again, and Jessica slung her halter and lead rope over her shoulder. At least being home had calmed her, made her feel connected to something again. She was always more settled when she was around horses.

“So it’s a different pace of life for you here?” she asked.

“Yeah, you could say that.” He looked across at her, his expression more serious, the smile that had braced his lips earlier completely gone. “I had a job I thought I loved, but I was so caught up in working every waking hour that I lost sight of what was important.”

Jessica sensed a sadness within him, something that she couldn’t quite figure out. There had to be a reason he’d flown halfway across the world, just leaving behind whatever he had in the UK, which meant she was either right about him hurting, or he’d done something he regretted. Or maybe she was just overthinking the whole situation.

“What type of work did you do?” Jessica asked.

“I was a banker,” he said. “I managed a private hedge fund, and I was more married to my work than I was to...” His voice trailed off. “To anything else in my life.”

She waited for him to continue but he didn’t, leaving her wondering exactly what he was referring to.

“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked.

Jessica glanced toward the driveway, saw an unfamiliar black vehicle approaching the house. Great.

“I have a feeling that’s the lawyer,” she said, fighting the urge to get back on a horse and flee in the opposite direction. “Which means I have to face up to reality instead of hiding away for the next few days.” She hadn’t expected him to turn up on her doorstep quite so promptly—a day to settle in would have been nice.

“Anything I can do?” The concern in Nathan’s voice was matched by his gaze, his bright blue eyes telling her that he genuinely cared.

“How about you come over for a drink tonight.” The words left her mouth before she’d even had a moment to think.

The worry lines turned into smile wrinkles when he looked at her this time. “Why don’t I grab something for us to eat and bring it over? You can’t have much in the pantry, and I doubt you’ll have time to get groceries. Lawyers take forever to go over wills.”

Jessica braved a smile. It wasn’t the will she was worried about—she knew her granddad had left her everything—it was the debts she’d inherited that the lawyer would be wanting her to deal with. Debts he’d been more than eager to contact her about even when she’d been in hospital.

But she did kind of want to see Nathan again. “Dinner sounds great.” Her stomach was rumbling just at the thought of food, even though she’d hardly been interested in eating since her accident, and then since Jock had died.