Blinded by Desire
Arabella Sheen
Back Cover Copy
Is Jason ready to give love a chance, and can he capture Beth’s heart?
Jason Andre is a successful billionaire architect who thinks he can get what he wants when he wants.
Beth Ashton is a feisty redhead with an up-and-coming career as a landscape designer. And she wants nothing to do with Jason.
From the outset, sparks fly between them. She excites him and he infuriates her.
When Jason’s light aircraft crashes and he loses his sight, Beth steps in and does exactly what she promised she wouldn’t do…she works for him.
Are Beth and Jason destined to love or is passion and desire the only thing on offer?
Chapter One - Excerpt 3
Jason had driven the sleek, black Porsche to Clifton Hall. Fast cars and beautiful women were only a few of the many pleasures he indulged in. He was a man who played and worked hard.
Having had a difficult day battling building inspectors and fellow architects, Jason was in no mood to spend an evening chit-chatting over dinner with relatives.
He had grown-up with his sister on one of the Greek islands. And as much as he loved seeing her, the idea of spending a weekend in the English countryside with the landed gentry was, in his opinion, a waste of time.
Comparing the quality of brandy or the seat of a horse wasn’t his form of entertainment. He preferred to work. Or if he wasn’t at work, he was entertaining one of the many women who were eager for his company.
Jason lived life in the fast lane, and he considered his time too precious to be away from the buzz of the metropolis.
There was always a mountain of work waiting for him at the office. And knowing his associates couldn’t work at his pace, he was aware charts and papers would still be on his desk for him to look at on Monday.
No―he really couldn’t afford to be away from the business for any length of time. But he'd recently been on a visit to Clifton Hall, and having seen its newly landscaped gardens, he wanted the same, if not better, for his house in Greece.
The gardens were being revamped by the relatively unknown firm of Ashton Landscaping. And if Jason knew anything about landscapers, which he did, he realised the firm would soon be in demand.
Their work was top quality. And having seen the work for himself, he wanted Ashton Landscaping for his project in Greece, and he wasn’t prepared to wait. He was ready to do and pay almost anything to achieve his goal.
This weekend, Jason intended to persuade Ashton to work for him, and he was determined to get this new designer on his team, and nothing was going to stop him.
“Charles, one day when I’ve finished with the Porsche, I promise you’ll get first refusal.”
Jason saw a flash of desire and a glint of longing shining in his brother-in-law’s eyes.
“Thanks, Jason, I’ll look forward to the occasion and I hope it will be sometime soon.”
“Um…don’t hold your breath.”
Charles took another large gulp of whisky, “Anyway, what’s dragged you away from the city? You rarely leave the city for rural life.”
Jason shrugged his shoulders. “Sophie somehow got wind of the fact I’m in need of a gardener. She has recommended Ashton, and from what I’ve seen of his work, he’s doing a reasonable job.”
“Yes. We’re very pleased with the…landscaping firm.” Charles raised a brow, and looked at Sophie. It had been a questioning look, and Jason wondered why.
“Ashton has a style which I quite like.” Jason said in a casual manner. “And although I like his style, I’ve yet to be convinced it’s what I’m after.”
He tried not to sound too enthusiastic, and was paying his cards close to his chest. He didn’t need to be convinced about the gardener’s capabilities. And he was in no doubt that he wanted Ashton as a designer. But until he got what he was after, he wasn’t telling anyone he was prepared to pay a high price to get Ashton Landscaping to work on his project.
“You've stirred my curiosity. What is it you need to be convinced about?” Charles asked.
“Lots of things,” Jason said. “However, my main concerns are the differences and difficulties of creating a garden for a villa in the arid climate of Greece, and the humid weather of the English countryside. It’s a whole different ball game when temperatures soar above thirty degrees.” Jason brushed back a fallen lock of hair from his brow as he spoke. “I’m not sure if this designer of yours is up to the challenge. Ashton might not know how to plant in heat.”
And then, from behind a screen a woman appeared. She walked steadily toward the sofa and stood squarely in front of him.
He rose to confront her.
They were face to face, and she looked like a woman on the warpath. Tension was in the air. Invisible sparks of instant awareness were flying between them, and Jason was in no doubt that a storm was brewing.
Red hot daggers were shining in her eyes, and without being told, he knew she was seething with rage. For some reason, this woman before him was furious, and he wondered why.
With her hands planted firmly on her hips, she asked, “Why would Ashton not know how to plant in a Mediterranean climate? Would you care to explain your remark to me…Mr. Andre?”
Her soft voice was deceptively quiet. And even though she had spoken in hushed tones, Jason realised, she might just as well have shouted the questions at him. He’d heard her loud and clear. She was furious about something, and he was curious to know what.
If he’d wondered what the weekend would bring, he now knew.
A tigress was his first thought on seeing her. A sexy tigress. And he wanted what he saw.
Blinded by Desire
Copyright © 2012 by – Arabella Sheen
ISBN: 9780957569829
Publisher: priceplacebooks
Electronic Publication: May 2012
Cover: Fantasia Frog Designs
eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
About Arabella Sheen
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| Arabella Sheen - Author |
Arabella Sheen is a British author of contemporary romance and likes nothing more than the challenge of starting a new novel with fresh ideas and inspiring characters.
One of the many things Arabella loves to do is to read. And when she’s not researching or writing about romance, she is either on her allotment sowing and planting with the seasons or she is curled on the sofa with a book, while pandering to the demands of her attention seeking cat.
Having lived and worked in the Netherlands as a theatre nurse for nearly twenty years, she now lives in the south west of England with her family.
Arabella hopes her readers have as much pleasure from her romance stories as she has in writing them.
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Blinded by Desire
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