A Perfect Husband

Giving in to Temptation…

Determined to escape her family’s history of fal ing for men afraid of commitment, Lilah Cole has a plan. She’s devised a marriage checklist to help her find the perfect husband.

And her bil ionaire boss fil s every requirement. Too bad it’s his wild brother, Zane Atraeus, who fil s her fantasies.

Handsome, dangerous and sexy, Zane is not marriage material. But Lilah’s supposed relationship with his brother sets off a media storm. With Zane running interference, there’s no way Lilah can avoid him. So what’s a sensible girl to do but surrender to seduction?

“Give That Back.”

Lilah made a lunge for the pad. Zane

evaded her reach.

“Why do you need it so badly?”

“Those sketches are…private.”

He handed her the pad, but used it to draw her closer.

The relief that had spiraled through her when she thought he hadn’t checked out the drawings dissolved. “You
looked.
”

“Uh-huh.” He drew her close enough that her thighs brushed his and the sketch pad, which she was clutching like a shield, was flattened between them.

“And you would be drawing and painting me because…?”

Lilah briefly closed her eyes. “You saw the painting in my apartment.”

“Because then you could avoid admitting that you’re attracted to me. And have been ever since we met two years ago.”

Gently, he eased the sketch pad from her grip. “You don’t need that anymore.” He tossed the pad aside. “Not when you have the real thing.”

Dear Reader,

The final story of The Pearl House trilogy centers on two people who have deep

issues with relationships and wildly

opposing agendas. Both Lilah Cole and Zane Atraeus are a little extreme by nature, but with some very likable quirks.

Desperate to escape the embarrassment and undeserved notoriety of being her bil ionaire boss’s dumped date, al Lilah wants is to put that mistake behind her and get back on track with achieving her five-year marriage plan. Until she runs headlong into the object of her secret fantasies for the past two years, the dark and

dangerously unreliable Zane Atraeus.

As powerful y attracted as Zane is to Lilah, he has trust issues with women who are on the hunt for wel -heeled husbands, although he is fascinated and drawn by her

methodical approach and, actual y, just can’t seem to leave her alone.

Short term
is Zane’s middle name, but as time goes by, he finds himself wanting to convince Lilah that despite his terrible track record with commitment, he just could be the perfect man for her.…

I hope you find when you read it, that I real y did have the most fun writing Lilah and Zane!

Fiona

Fiona Brand

A Perfect

Husband

Books by Fiona Brand

Harlequin Desire

*
A Breathless Bride
#2154

*
A Tangled Affair
#2166

*
A Perfect Husband
#2178

Silhouette Romantic Suspense

Cullen’s Bride
#914

Heart of Midnight
#977

Blade’s Lady
#1023

Marrying McCabe
#1099

Gabriel West: Still the One
#1219

High-Stakes Bride
#1403

Silhouette Books

Sheiks of Summer
“Kismet”

*The Pearl House

Other titles by this author available in ebook format.

FIONA BRAND

lives in the sunny Bay of Islands, New Zealand. Now that both her sons are grown, she continues to love writing books and gardening. After a life-changing time in which she met Christ, she has undertaken study for a bachelor of theology and has become a member of The Order of St.

Luke, Christ’s healing ministry.

For the Lord. Thank you.

Each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the
city is pure gold, transparent as glass.

—
Revelation
21:21

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

One

Dark hair twisted in a sleek, classic knot… Exotic eyes
the shifting colors of the sea… A delicate curvy body that
made him burn from the inside out
…

A sharp rapping on the door of his Sydney hotel suite jerked Zane Atraeus out of a restless, dream-tossed sleep.

Shielding his eyes from the glare of the morning sun, he shoved free of the huge silk-draped confection of a bed he’d col apsed into some time short of four that morning.

Pul ing on the jeans he’d tossed over a chair, he dragged jet-lagged fingers through his tangled hair and padded to the door.

Memory punched back. An email Zane had found confirming that his half brother Lucas had purchased an engagement ring for a woman Zane could have sworn Lucas barely knew.
Lilah Cole: the woman Zane had
secretly wanted for two years and had denied himself.

His temper, which had been running on a short fuse ever since he had learned that not only was Lucas dating Lilah, he was planning on
marrying
her, ignited as he took in glittering chandeliers and turquoise-and-gold furnishings.

The overstuffed opulence was a far cry from the exotic but spare Mediterranean decor of his island home, Medinos. Instead of soothing him, the antiques and heavily swagged drapes only served to remind him that he had not been born to any of this. He would have to have a word with his new personal assistant, who clearly had a romantic streak.

Halfway across the sitting room the unmistakable sound of the front door lock disengaging made him stiffen.

Lucas Atraeus stepped into the room. Zane let out a self-deprecating breath.

Ten years ago, in L.A., it would have been someone breaking in, but this was Australia and his father’s company, the mega wealthy Atraeus Group, owned the hotel so, of course, Lucas had gotten a key. “Ever heard of a phone?”

Closing the door behind him, Lucas tossed a key card down on the hal table. “I phoned, you didn’t answer.

Remember Lilah?”

The reason Zane was in Sydney instead of in Florida doing his job as the company “fixer” and closing a crucial land deal that had balanced on a knife’s edge for the past week? “Your new fiancée.” The tantalizing beauty who had almost snared him into a reckless night of passion two years ago. “Yeah, I remember.”

Lucas looked annoyed. “I haven’t asked her yet. How did you find out?”

Zane’s jaw tightened at the confirmation. “My new P.A.

was your old P.A., remember?” Which was why Zane had chanced across the internet receipt for Lucas’s latest purchase. Apparently Elena was stil performing the role of personal shopper for his brother in her spare time.

“Ahh. Elena.” He glanced around the room.

Comprehension gleamed in his eyes.

Now definitely in a bad mood, Zane turned on his heel and strol ed in the direction of the suite’s kitchenette. A large ornately gilded mirror threw his reflection back at him

—darkly tanned skin, broad shoulders and a lean, muscled torso bisected by a tracery of scars. Three silver studs, the reminder of a misspent youth, glinted in one ear.

In the lavish elegance of the suite, he looked uncivilized, barbaric and faintly sinister, as different from his two classical y handsome half brothers as the proverbial chalk was from cheese. Not something he had ever been able to help with the genes he’d inherited from the rough Salvatore side of his family, and the inner scars he had developed as a homeless kid roaming the streets of L.A.

He found a glass, fil ed it with water from the dispenser in the fridge door and drank in long, smooth swal ows. The cold water failed to douse the intense, unreasoning jealousy that seared him every time he thought of Lucas and Lilah, the picture-perfect couple.

An engagement
.

His reaction to the idea was as fierce and surprising as it had been when he had discovered Elena admiring a picture of the engagement ring.

The empty glass hit the kitchen counter with a control ed click. “I didn’t think Lilah was your type.”

As gorgeous and ladylike as Ambrosi Pearls’s head jewelry designer was, in Zane’s opinion, Lilah was too efficiently, calculatingly focused on hunting for a wel -heeled husband.

Two years ago, when they had first met at the annual bal of a charity for homeless children—of which he was the patron—he had witnessed the smooth way Lilah had targeted her escort’s wealthy boss. Even armored by the formidable depth of betrayal in his past, Zane had been oddly entranced by the businesslike gleam in her eyes. He had not been able to resist the temptation to rescue the hapless older man and spoil her pitch.

Unfortunately, things had gotten out of hand when he and Lilah had ended up alone in a private reception room and he had given into temptation and kissed her. One kiss had led to another, sparking a conflagration that had threatened to engulf them both. Given that he had been irritated by Lilah’s agenda, that she was not the kind of woman he was usual y attracted to, his loss of control stil perplexed him. If his previous personal assistant hadn’t found them at a critical moment, he would have made a very big mistake.

Lucas, who had fol owed him into the kitchen, scribbled a number on the back of a business card and left it on the counter. “Lilah has agreed to be my date at Constantine’s wedding. I’m leaving for Medinos in a couple of hours. I was going to arrange for her to fly in the day before the wedding, but since you’re here—” Lucas frowned. “By the way, why are you here? I thought you were locked into negotiations.”

“I’m taking a couple of days.” A muscle pulsed along Zane’s jaw.

Lucas shrugged and opened the fridge door.

The shelves were packed with an array of fresh fruit, cheeses, pâtés and juices. Absently, Zane noted his assistant had also stocked the fridge with chocolate-dipped strawberries.