Heart Robber (Lifestyle by Design Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  TITLE PAGE AND COPYRIGHT

  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 THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  OTHER BOOKS BY MIRANDA P. CHARLES

  CONNECT WITH MIRANDA

  WILL TO LOVE CHAPTER ONE

  WILL TO LOVE CHAPTER TWO

  RAY OF LOVE CHAPTER ONE

  Heart Robber

  (Lifestyle By Design Book 2)

  By Miranda P. Charles

  Copyright © 2012 Miranda P. Charles

  All Rights Reserved

  Published by: March Dynamics Pty Ltd

  http://www.mirandapcharles.com

  Other Books by Miranda P. Charles

  Will To Love (Lifestyle by Design Book 1)

  Ray of Love (Lifestyle by Design Book 2)

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, locations, organisations and events described in this novel are either products of the author's imagination, fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any event, locale or person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Jessa Allen was vaguely aware she was staring with undisguised interest at the most attractive man she had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. But it was just that - vague. If someone shoved a mirror in front of her so she could see her dreamy eyes, dilated pupils and slightly open mouth that was almost drooling, she would have blushed darker than beetroot red.

  She wasn't the type to openly gawk at handsome men. She was more subtle and reserved than that. But this hunk that exuded masculinity with jet black hair and mischievous gray eyes affected her with unexpected potency. She hadn't even noticed that she'd stopped mingling with the other guests who attended Megan Carson's charity fund-raising event. From the moment they were introduced to each other by the host after dinner, she had been stuck to his side, unable to move a single step away from his magnetic force.

  "In so many respects, I just got really lucky," Rob Granger said with a self-deprecating smile that pulled her attention to his lips. "I still remember the moment when I realised how quickly my business had grown. I got a big jolt. So I decided I better treat it more seriously. Anyway, enough about my business." Rob changed the subject. "It must be fun writing for a magazine as popular as Lifestyle by Design."

  "Oh, it is," she answered distractedly. For the umpteenth time, she wondered what it would be like to be kissed by those full, sexy lips.

  "If I wasn't running a marketing consultancy firm, you know what kind of work I'd love to have?" Rob asked with a twinkle in his eye.

  "What?" She gave herself a mental shake and tried to focus on what was coming out of Rob's mouth instead of what it would feel like against hers.

  "I was thinking it would be great to have a job where not only do I get to interview owners of top restaurants, tourism businesses and high-end professional services in Australia but I also get to sample their offerings so I could write about them. Imagine getting paid to do that." Rob paused as if he remembered something. "Oh, that's right. That's what you do," he teased.

  She laughed. "I must admit I do have a great job. That's why when the opportunity arose, I didn't hesitate to move from Melbourne to here in Sydney."

  "I read your article on David's on this month's edition of Lifestyle. Sounds like a great restaurant to try out."

  "Yes, you really should go there one time. Their food's great."

  "Maybe you and I can go."

  Huh? Jessa was momentarily speechless, unable to believe what she'd just heard. "Sorry, what did you say?"

  "I said maybe you and I can go have dinner at David's. Are you free, say, Tuesday?"

  "Uh, yes, that would be great." She was thankful she was able to respond without showing the astonishment she felt. Men like Rob didn't look twice at someone like her.

  She came to Megan's charity event to support a good cause, not to get a date, but she was definitely not complaining! To think that before tonight, she was feeling melancholic that she was still single whereas her three closest friends had all found someone special. Then, the most gorgeous man at the function asked her out to dinner. Who would have thought?

  "Rob! There you are!"

  They both looked to see Megan approach them with a lady who must be in her early sixties.

  "Sorry, are we interrupting something?" Megan asked.

  "No, of course not," Jessa answered.

  "I just want to introduce Rob to the lady from whom he bought the box of wine," Megan said with a big grin. "Rob, this is my future aunt-in-law, Bonnie Smithson. She donated that box of wine you won at the auction."

  "It's great to meet you, Bonnie. Thank you for donating the wine. They're one of my favourites.

  "Well, thank you for bidding for them, Rob. Just make sure you don't drink them all in one sitting," Bonnie said with a hearty laugh. "Now I heard you run a successful business. How old are you?"

  "Thirty-two."

  Bonnie shook her head in awe. "So young." She proceeded to tell them the story of how she and her husband George almost became bankrupt twice while trying to build their business just as Jessa's attention was caught by her friends Clarise and Faye motioning for her to come over to them.

  She dragged her feet away from Rob to walk towards her friends.

  "Hey, girls, what's up?"

  When Jessa moved to Sydney to take up a senior writing and editing role at Lifestyle by Design magazine four years ago, she instantly bonded with her work colleague Clarise Carson, and Faye Summers, Clarise's best friend. These two women plus Victor Michaels, the head graphic designer at the magazine, were now her best and dearest friends.

  "You tell us, Jess," Faye said teasingly. "You seem to be busy with a certain someone tonight."

  Her eyes lit up with wonder. "You wouldn't believe this, girls. I don't believe it myself. But that sexy man, Rob Granger, asked me out to dinner."

  "Okay, before I say what I have to say, why are you so surprised?" Clarise asked with a hint of challenge in her voice.

  "Clarise, I know you only have eyes for Will but have you seen Rob?"

  "Yes, and?"

  "He's gorgeous!"

  "Sure, and?" Clarise's impatience was obvious.

  Jessa turned to Faye who was looking at her with a censuring look. She shook her head at them fondly. "You know what I mean. Men like Rob who look like they belong on the pages of a magazine don't usually go for someone pretty average like me."

  Faye put her hands on her hips and Clarise folded her arms across her chest. Both glared at her.

  "Okay, granted I'm not unpleasant to look at, maybe I'm even pretty to some people, but you have to admit I'm still quite average. In the looks department, I'm not in the league of women such as you two." She smiled at her stunning friends with a tinge of envy. They were truly hot. And so were their boyfriends.

  Clarise and Faye stared at her like she was growing horns.

  "Jessa Allen, are you kidding me? We obviously still have a lot of work to do with your self-esteem issue!" Faye said incredulously.

  "Hey, I'm just stat
ing a fact. The last two guys I went out with were blind dates introduced by Aunt Evelyn. I hardly ever get asked out. So when a seriously gorgeous guy asks me out, I'm shocked. Thrilled, but shocked."

  Clarise shook her head in disbelief and exchanged a look with Faye. "We need to do the JAB again. I'll get Victor." Faye nodded gravely.

  Jessa sighed, resigned at what was about to happen. She watched as Clarise walked towards the bar area where Victor was chatting with a group of people. Before Clarise got to Victor, her boyfriend, Will Matthews, stopped her for a quick kiss and a hug. His reluctance at letting her go was obvious. He watched her longingly until she reached Victor before going back to his friends.

  Jessa felt a certain sadness mixed with envy envelope her. She wanted that, too - wanted someone to love and look at her like that, like she was the only woman in the world.

  At twenty-eight she had had two boyfriends. They were nice enough, but the relationships she had with them didn't have much passion. It didn't take long for the little spark that was there to die down. There was nothing to fan it to flames.

  When Clarise came back with Victor, Faye dragged them all inside the house into the quiet living room, away from the party going on outside the manicured gardens of Megan's future parents-in-law.

  Jessa's palms started to sweat. She knew her friends meant well. It got irritating sometimes but she loved them for it. But they hadn't been and wouldn't be able to convince her that she was as much of a man-magnet as they were.

  Her life story had proven that to her. She was always surrounded by people more attractive and vibrant than she was. She had learnt to accept she would never command attention like her younger sister did, or her school friend Iris, or her previous flatmate Anna, or her three best friends who were now ready to put her through another round of JAB - the Jessa Allen Booster. They believed she had low self-esteem issues when it came to men and relationships. Well, sure, she probably did. But for good reasons.

  "Wouldn't Megan mind that we're in here when she has a function going on outside?" she worried.

  "I could call my sister right now and she would be happy to join us for the JAB," Clarise said, knowing Megan wouldn't mind at all. "The charity auction is finished. Everyone's in party mode now."

  Jessa took a deep breath. "Okay, then."

  "Why don't we do it differently this time? I'd like to try something different." Faye had a determined look about her that she often had when she was ready to whip someone's ass with her words.

  "Sure," Clarise and Victor responded readily while Jessa winced.

  Faye was a lovely person with a sharp tongue that could cut you with its honesty. She would tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear. As a senior career consultant at one of Australia's leading career consulting firms, this trait had been very effective and beneficial to her clients.

  "Don't worry, Jess. I'm not going to bite you. I just want you to answer me this," Faye said in a quiet voice that commanded a no-bullshit answer. "Why do you think you're so average that it was such a surprise to you Rob asked you out to dinner?"

  "Why?" Jessa repeated with a surprised look. This wasn't the usual Jessa Allen Booster. The JAB typically had her friends taking turns telling her where they thought she was beautiful and attractive to the point that she got embarrassed enough she would pretend to agree with them so they would stop. Now Faye wanted her to talk about the ugly truth? Okay, not so ugly but definitely not so beautiful either.

  "Yes. Why, Jessa?"

  "Well … because men as good-looking as Rob tend to get attracted to women who are as attractive as they are. You know, the model types."

  "And apart from your height which is admittedly a little too short for the runway, why do you think you're not attractive enough to be a model?"

  She snorted at Faye's reference to her height. Whichever way you look at it - five foot three or one hundred sixty centimetres - she undeniably didn't have a model's height.

  "I need an answer, Jess."

  "I don't look like one."

  "And why is that?"

  "Why don't I look like a model?"

  "Yeah."

  "What do you mean? I just don't look like one."

  "So tell me exactly why you don't look like a model, Jessa."

  Jessa turned to Clarise and Victor for a bit of help but they simply appeared riveted at the conversation going on between her and Faye. They were content to let Faye run this the way she wanted. She couldn't blame them. Faye had helped them work on some of their issues just by being blunt, direct and relentless.

  She squirmed in her seat. What did Faye want to hear? What else could she say? She was simply not attractive enough.

  "My face is not that pretty," she said.

  "Really now? Do you remember the magazine we were looking at the other day? The one where this girl had a make-over? Wasn't it you who said she went from drab and daggy to hot and sexy?"

  "But that's different! She had some professional help. And who knows? Maybe they airbrushed her picture or something."

  "Haven't we encouraged you to have a make-over, Jess? We're more than ready to bet you'd be surprised at the result."

  "What good would that do?" she scowled. Every once in a while she would dress up, especially when she went to important client meetings and special occasions, like tonight. But she didn't see the point in having a make-over. It would be a waste of time, money and effort.

  "See, this here is the problem," Faye said with an exasperated sigh and a sweep of her arm at her.

  "What?" she whined.

  "You don't make an effort because you don't believe it's worth it, right?"

  "Hmm," she replied cautiously in a non-committal way.

  "Why isn't it worth the effort?" Faye asked in a demanding tone.

  "Who'd notice anyway?"

  "Ah! So how come Rob asked you out, huh?"

  "That's why I'm so surprised by it!"

  She couldn't believe they were having this conversation. Rob asking her out was a big surprise. It wasn't something that happened all the time. She wasn't like Faye or Clarise who never lacked male admirers.

  A thought occurred to her. "Hey, I think I know why Rob asked me out. It seems I'm the only single girl here tonight."

  Loud groans came out from all of her three friends.

  "Look, guys, that's just the way it is," she said with a shrug. She wasn't very pretty and there was nothing she could do about that. It certainly wasn't a crime. She couldn't understand why her friends wouldn't accept it.

  "Jess, the only reason why we're always at you about this is because we want you to see what we see," Faye said as if reading her mind. "Quite frankly, it's annoying when you mope around and say you want to find 'The One' but you hold yourself back with your lack of self-confidence about your looks. You're not just brains. You're beauty and brains. You are attractive. We have eyes, you know, so we know what we're talking about. We just don't know what you see when you look at yourself in the mirror."

  Tears sprung to her eyes. She was lucky to have friends who see her as beautiful. But there was nothing special about her straight, long black hair, hazel eyes and petite frame. She was simply plainer than what they said she was. Wasn't that the reason why Jasmine, her pretty younger sister, attracted four guys she had huge crushes on that Jasmine even ended up dating all of them? Or why her big infatuation Michael chose to go out with her previous best friend even though she was the one who had the guts to approach him at the bar? All Michael could say to her was 'your friend's really beautiful'. That said it all. She wasn't. She knew it from when she was a kid.

  She stood up and threw her arms wide open. "Group hug."

  "Oh, Jess!" her three friends cried at the same time as they gave her big bear hugs.

  "Are you okay?" Victor asked.

  "Of course, I'm okay. Listen, there are only very few people in this world who are truly gorgeous inside and out. For some bizarre reason, I'm lucky enough to be best friends w
ith three of them. As equally bizarre is the fact that one of the hottest men I've ever seen had asked me out. I'm not going to question that and ruin my fun. I'm just going to enjoy the fact that it happened. I certainly don't get that everyday."

  Clarise and Faye looked at each other.

  "Jess," Clarise said gently, "just thought I'd let you know Rob just recently broke up with his girlfriend. He's not looking for a serious relationship at this point, just some fun. He said as much to Will earlier today."

  "Oh." She was surprised at the pang of disappointment that hit her. She had learnt long ago not to get her hopes up with any first dates but she felt a connection with Rob she couldn't quite put a finger on. It's my attraction to his face and body. He's too good-looking, she thought to herself.

  "Yeah," Clarise continued. "I mean, you can still go out with him and enjoy being taken out to dinner. He seems like a nice enough guy as long as you don't expect anything more than just to have fun with him."

  "Well, it's not an issue with me. I wasn't expecting someone like him to fall for me anyway. It'll just be great to have dinner with someone seriously gorgeous."

  ~~~~~~~

  "When do you go back to Melbourne, Rob?"

  "Next Saturday," Rob answered Will Matthews, his long-time friend. They've known each other since their early teens, having went to school together. When he moved to Melbourne five years ago, they kept in touch and remained close friends. "But I'll be back here again pretty soon, probably in three weeks' time or so," he continued. "I'd really like to establish a strong client base here. I'd like to target some of the larger Sydney-based corporate firms."

  "Well, let me know what I can do to help you," Will replied. "You've been a big help to me for my Melbourne branch. I already have some high profile clients lined up to use my company's travel services because of your marketing strategy."

  "Thanks … I'll definitely … let you know," he responded in a distracted tone, his attention shifting elsewhere.