Tempted by the Billionaire Next Door Read online

  He’s the one man who’s off-limits...

  But could he be her Mr. Right?

  When Jessica Steyn learns her delicious new neighbor is actually her best friend’s brother, billionaire bad boy Dylan Nel, she’s torn. After all, she’s just become his sister’s surrogate! Acting on their attraction would complicate things, but they’re soon growing closer. Overcoming Dylan’s troubled family history—and Jessica’s pregnancy—seems impossible, but could the answer to their heartaches be just next door?

  Jessica had been acting strangely from the moment he’d answered the door that morning, and Dylan couldn’t quite figure out why.

  Was it because of the way things had ended between them the day before? Maybe, he thought. But then he remembered the way things had crackled between them when he’d saved her from falling. The way his body had reacted to her body’s proximity, and the shame he’d felt when she’d pulled away.

  She was pregnant, for crying out loud. There was no circumstance in which that didn’t make her off-limits. He needed to remember that, he thought, when his heart stuttered as his eyes rested on her.

  But damn it, there was just something about her that pulled him in. That made rational thought not matter, and made hope flare when it shouldn’t. And it had nothing to do with her relationship with his sister.

  He told himself to pull back, to control himself, and went over to talk with her.

  Dear Reader,

  Jess and Dylan’s story started because I loved the idea of the billionaire next door. I’m probably not the only one, though I am fortunate enough to be in a career where I can give this fantasy the effort it deserves. Naturally, it would be in some form of romance, so this story is exactly how I imagine things would play out if I was living next door to a billionaire...

  Okay, maybe not exactly. I doubt that I would have been best friends with said billionaire’s sister, nor would I have been connected to him in any way through the baby I was carrying. So perhaps it’s for the best that—for me at least—billionaires next door only exist on paper!

  I hope that you enjoy Jess and Dylan’s story. It’s about family and friendship, about love and loyalty, and will hopefully remind you of all the wonderful relationships you have in your life. Writing their story definitely has for me, including the relationship I have with my readers: you all mean so much to me!

  If you’d like to say hi, you can find me on Twitter (@theresebeharrie), Facebook (Therese Beharrie, Author) and my website (theresebeharrie.com).

  I’m so happy to share Tempted by the Billionaire Next Door with you!

  Happy reading!

  Love,

  Therese

  TEMPTED BY THE BILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR

  Therese Beharrie

  Therese Beharrie has always been thrilled by romance. Her love of reading established this, and now she gets to write happy-ever-afters for a living, and about all things romance in her blog at theresebeharrie.com. She married a man who constantly exceeds her romantic expectations and is an infinite source of inspiration for her romantic heroes. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and is still amazed that her dream of being a romance author is a reality.

  Books by Therese Beharrie

  Harlequin Romance

  Conveniently Wed, Royally Bound

  United by Their Royal Baby

  Falling for His Convenient Queen

  The Tycoon’s Reluctant Cinderella

  A Marriage Worth Saving

  The Millionaire’s Redemption

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

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  For Grant, my best friend.

  And Jenny, for taking the squirming, questing and searching journey of friendship with me. I can’t imagine doing this without you.

  Praise for

  Therese Beharrie

  “I really enjoyed this book. It had a gutsy, sympathetic heroine, a moody hero, and the South African setting was vividly drawn. A great debut novel. I’ll definitely be reading this author again.”

  —Goodreads on The Tycoon’s Reluctant Cinderella

  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 THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM SWEPT AWAY BY THE ENIGMATIC TYCOON BY ROSANNA BATTIGELLI

  CHAPTER ONE

  JESSICA STEYN HADN’T deliberately sought out the half-naked man who’d entertained her over the last week. But she couldn’t deny that watching him had fast become her new favourite hobby.

  She watched as he bent over to pick up another stack of logs—watched as the muscles of his naked back rippled, the lightest sheen of sweat defining them even more—and conceded that it was definitely top-notch entertainment.

  Guilt poked at her, but she ignored it. It wasn’t her fault that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Nor was it her fault that he’d made a routine of cutting up the trees in his yard. Every day at noon he emerged from the house—wearing an old T-shirt that inevitably got tossed aside about five minutes into his task—and hacked the trunks he’d cut down the day before into logs. He then placed them in a pile, before carrying them over to an enclosed area where he’d set them down and start all over again.

  So, ever since she’d noticed there was a routine, every day at noon she would settle in front of the window that overlooked his property to enjoy the show.

  Thank goodness she’d discovered him, she thought as he gulped down a bottle of water. Water that dribbled over his chin, creating an enticing path down the column of his throat, between his pecs and the impressive ridges of his abs. Her heart rate immediately skyrocketed, and she thought that maybe she needed a glass of water, too.

  He was a pretty decent distraction in an otherwise boring day. Now that her friend and boss, Anja, was away with her husband, Chet, on business, Jess’s days were mostly free. Apart from watching Mr Sexy-Next-Door.

  And, of course, thinking about the child she carried.

  Before her mind could take that detour—about how this child made Jess feel as if her life was actually worth something for the first time—she thought about how annoyed she was with Anja for not telling her that there was a Mr Sexy-Next-Door.

  She’d been helping Anja manage her yoga studio for almost two years now, and this was the first time Jess had seen him. Though, to be fair, it was also the first time Jess had stayed at Anja’s house for longer than a few days. But she still expected Anja to tell her about the man. Perhaps not as her boss, but as her friend.

  And definitely as her best friend.

  But all thoughts of that vanished when the top log of the stack Mr Sexy had set down started to roll. He’d already turned away, so didn’t see the snowball effect of that one log. Jess pushed out of her chair, a wordless cry of warning on her lips, but it was too late. The l
ogs had rolled under his feet and she watched in horror as he fell to the ground, twisting his body so that he landed on his hip.

  Before she knew it, she was out of the front door. She had to turn back when she realised she hadn’t locked the house and, after she did, she ran as fast as her swollen body would allow to her temporary neighbour’s house. She said a silent prayer of thanks when she found his gate open and then she was kneeling beside him, her hands running over the chest she’d admired only minutes before.

  She ignored how the grooves of his muscles, his abs, felt beneath her hands and focused on identifying whether anything was broken. She realised that he’d turned over onto his back then, but it only made her pause for a second. Then her hands were on his ankles, his calves, but, before she could feel his thighs or hips, two large hands gripped her wrists.

  ‘I’m not opposed to having a beautiful woman run her hands over me, but maybe we should leave that particular area for when we know each other better.’

  Jess felt her face burn and quickly pulled back. But her balance was off and she landed on her butt. Her hand immediately went to her stomach, but she dropped it just as quickly. Not because his eyes had followed the gesture, and the way the interest there had cooled reminded her of the dismissive looks her parents had used to give her, but because she was fairly certain the baby was fine. She hadn’t fallen very hard. Though she really had to remember that pregnancy had made her clumsy.

  ‘I’m assuming that response means you didn’t knock your head on the way down.’ She debated not saying anything else, but she knew she would worry if she didn’t ask. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yeah, I guess so. Well, as okay as you can be when someone witnesses a couple of logs trip you.’ He moved to push up to his forearms, but she crawled forward and set a hand on his chest, pushing him back down.

  ‘You should stay still until we’re sure you’re really fine.’

  ‘I am sure. I’m fine.’

  Realising he was the stubborn sort, Jess pressed a hand against his hip and nodded when he winced. ‘You’re not fine. I’m calling an ambulance.’

  Before she could move to her feet, he grabbed her wrist again. This time, she felt the heat of his hand on her arm. Felt the callused bumps at the base of his fingers rub against her skin. She wasn’t sure why it sent a flush through her body, but she stilled and then gently pulled her arm out of his grip.

  His expression didn’t change, though something in his eyes flickered. ‘I really am fine. I’ll probably have a bruise on my hip tomorrow—and my ego will probably need to be resuscitated since it was murdered so cruelly—but I promise you, I’m fine.’

  He sat up then, and she let him. ‘Besides,’ he continued with a smile that made the flush in her body go hotter, ‘if I’m not fine, maybe you’ll come to my rescue again.’

  ‘Unlikely,’ she replied, ignoring the way her lips wanted to curve at his words. ‘I just happened to be looking out of my window when you fell.’

  It sounded legitimate, she thought, and almost patted herself on the back when she saw he’d bought her excuse. Good thing, too. She wasn’t sure how she could explain the real reason she’d seen him.

  ‘I appreciate you wanting to help me. Are you a doctor?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Nurse?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘So, you just ran over when you saw me fall without any medical skills whatsoever?’

  ‘I was a lifeguard when I was a teenager.’ A choice her parents had disapproved of heartily. Funny how they’d chosen to be interested in something so insignificant when they’d ignored everything else in her life. When they’d ignored her. ‘I have first-aid experience, and falls were the first thing they taught us to deal with.’

  ‘I stand corrected.’ His smile was more genuine now, less cocky, and yet it had the same effect on her body.

  Or maybe it was the fact that he still didn’t have a shirt on, and she was being treated to her afternoon entertainment close-up.

  She almost lifted a hand to check whether she was drooling.

  ‘Well, now that I know you’re okay I should probably be off.’ She took a long time to get to her feet, and cursed silently when she saw how smoothly he did it.

  ‘How can I repay you?’

  She snorted. ‘For what? Rushing over here and embarrassing us both?’

  ‘Why would you be embarrassed?’

  Good question. ‘Because clearly you were fine and I panicked over nothing?’

  ‘You panicked?’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘It was a hard fall, okay? I was worried.’

  She couldn’t tell what had changed on his face, but something had. And it made his already too perfect features seem even more appealing. ‘So, I’m repaying you for being worried. It’s not often that people care.’

  ‘No, it isn’t,’ she agreed, feeling the words hit a little too close to home. ‘But I don’t need to be repaid. You’re fine. Right?’ He nodded. ‘So, I’ll be seeing you.’

  She turned to leave and managed to get a few steps away from the gate before his voice called out, ‘Which window?’

  She turned back. ‘What?’

  ‘From which window did you see me fall?’

  ‘That one.’ She nodded to the window on the second level of the house next door, grateful that the chair she’d been sitting on—or the chips she’d been eating while watching him—wasn’t visible.

  ‘That’s my sister’s house.’

  It took a moment for her mind to process the new information. ‘Your sister?’ she repeated. ‘You’re Dylan?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, his forehead creasing. ‘Who are you? And why are you staying in my sister’s house?’

  ‘I’m Jess. Jessica,’ she added quickly. ‘I’m staying at the house while Anja and Chet are away.’

  His features tightened. ‘Away where?’

  ‘Sydney. They wanted to get Anja’s new yoga studio up and running before the—’ She caught herself before it was too late. She couldn’t tell Dylan about the baby. Anja would kill her. And she didn’t need to upset one of the few people who cared about her. ‘Does she know you’re here?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Oh.’

  There was a long stretch of silence before either of them spoke again. And then she asked, ‘You’ve been back for at least a week. Why haven’t you come over? Or tried to call her?’

  He frowned. ‘How do you know how long I’ve been back for?’

  Jess felt her eyes widen, her cheeks heat, before she managed to reply with something other than I’ve been watching you. ‘I heard the garbage truck pick up your bin earlier this week.’ She held her breath and hoped he’d buy the somewhat lame excuse.

  ‘And how do you know that I haven’t tried to call her?’

  ‘She...would have told me.’

  He studied her. ‘How exactly do you know Anja?’

  Something about the way he asked it put her back up. ‘I’m her PA.’

  ‘She let her PA stay in her house?’ There was barely a pause before he continued. ‘She would tell her PA if her brother called her?’

  Jess straightened. ‘Yes. Your sister and I are also friends. Good friends.’ She kept her hand from going to her stomach—to the proof of the bond that she and Anja shared—and forced herself to calm down when an inner voice questioned why she was responding so defensively. ‘I didn’t realise it was you when I came over.’

  ‘But you knew I lived next door?’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied, but it got her thinking about why it hadn’t occurred to her that Mr Sexy-Next-Door was actually Anja’s brother. ‘I knew you lived next door, but Anja didn’t tell me which next door you lived in.’

  ‘And you never asked?’

  You’re not exactly a topic of conversation either of us readily bring up. �
�It didn’t matter.’

  ‘Because my sister doesn’t talk about me?’

  ‘Because you weren’t here.’

  Though both answers were true, it seemed as if Dylan cared more about the option she’d offered. Because when he’d given his option his face hadn’t tightened the way it had after she’d spoken. Hurt hadn’t flashed across his face, quickly followed by a blankness she couldn’t help but feel was desperate.

  ‘Why are you here?’ she said after a moment, unable to help herself.

  ‘I live here.’ There was a beat of silence. ‘This is my home.’

  ‘It hasn’t been,’ she reminded him, still compelled by reasons she wasn’t quite sure of. ‘Not for the last two years.’

  ‘No, it has been,’ Dylan replied softly. ‘But even the best of us run away from home sometimes, don’t we?’

  Her heart stalled, reminding her of the old car she’d seen just that morning, spluttering down the road in front of Anja’s house. Why did it feel as if he was talking about her? To her? As if he instinctively knew that she’d turned her back on the place she’d once called home? As if he knew that she’d run from the parents who hadn’t cared enough to even try to make her believe that they wanted her to stay?

  ‘When are they coming back?’ Dylan asked gruffly. Jess shook her head, ignoring the need to push for more answers. To find out why telling her he’d run from home had clearly upset him. It was none of her business.

  ‘The end of the month.’ Though Jess had a feeling it would be a lot sooner once she told Anja that Dylan had returned. ‘How long have you been back?’

  ‘You were right,’ he replied. ‘About a week.’

  So he’d been chopping up wood since the day he’d returned, she thought, and forced away the sudden disappointment that came from knowing she’d no longer be able to watch him. How could she, knowing who he was?

  Older brother of her best friend. Uncle to the child she carried.

  ‘Do you know where I’ve been?’

  ‘The UK?’ He nodded. ‘Yeah, Anja told me you’ve been away for...business.’