Billionaire's Bargain. Maureen Child
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her gaze locked with his and a rush of heat filled her stomach, swirled around for a heartbeat or two, then rose up in her chest.
Adam Quinn.
Her ex-brother-in-law. Funny, looking at Adam now, she could see the family resemblance between him and Devon. But she could see so much more than she once had. For example, Adam’s chocolate eyes met hers squarely. They didn’t shift around the room as Devon’s had, as if he were looking for someone more interesting to talk to.
Adam’s mouth was firm, and some would say grim, but Devon’s smile, she’d discovered, was used to disarm, deceive. Adam’s hair lacked the wave of Devon’s, but somehow the expert, somewhat shaggy cut suited him. Devon had boasted a dark tan, which had come from so much time spent playing on lakes or ski slopes while Adam’s skin was paler, letting her know that he was still more focused on his business than in entertaining himself.
He was taller than she remembered, Sienna thought. At least six foot two, and even wearing the elegantly tailored navy blue, three-piece suit, he looked more of a pirate than a businessman. Maybe, she told herself, it was because he carried an air of, not danger, exactly, but as if he were issuing a silent warning to stay out of his way or be mowed down.
And just watching him had her heartbeat speeding up. It happened every time she was around Adam. Sienna hated acknowledging that, even to herself. Devon’s brother was off-limits. Or should be. While Devon had been completely self-indulgent, Adam was too straitlaced. Too much the corporate raider for her. What she needed to do was find a man right in the middle of those two extremes. The problem was, Sienna didn’t think she’d ever meet a man who could turn her insides into a blazing inferno with a single look like Adam could.
Two years since she’d spoken to him. Seen him. And the internal fire was sizzling away. Ridiculous or not, she really wished she were wearing something more flattering than a long-sleeved white shirt and an old pair of jeans.
When she realized the humming silence between them had been stretching out interminably, she cleared her throat. “Adam. What are you doing here?”
He stepped out from behind Terri and the woman sort of skittered sideways to keep out of his path. Sienna couldn’t really blame her. Adam was intense.
“I need to talk to you,” he said, slanting the other woman a look. “Privately.”
Giving orders again. Sienna shook her head. The man hadn’t changed a bit. The last time she’d seen him, he’d begun their meeting by telling her exactly how to handle her divorce from his brother. He’d worked out a financial settlement that would have had most women flinging themselves at his manly chest, thanking him profusely. Instead, Sienna had told him what she’d told his brother. She didn’t want the Quinn money. She just wanted the marriage to be over.
Now here he stood, two years later, still trying to take charge. Well, she’d hear him out, then go back to her life. The sooner she could put out the fire slowly boiling her blood, the better.
“Terri,” she said, “would you mind?”
“Sure,” the woman said, but added, “If you need me, I’ll be right up front.”
Sienna stopped her smile before it could get too big. Good to have friends. Even though the thought of the older woman trying to rescue her from Adam was ludicrous. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Terri left, closing the door behind her. When she was gone, Adam asked, “What does she think I’m going to do?”
“Impossible to say,” Sienna admitted. “But you do look scary and she has an excellent imagination.”
“Scary?”
Well, she mused, he didn’t look happy about that. “To someone who doesn’t know you, yeah.”
“So I don’t scare you.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and watched her, waiting for an answer.
“No, Adam. You don’t.” But, she added silently, you worry me.
“Good to know.” Frowning, he glanced around what she called her “shoot room.” While he looked, so did Sienna, seeing it as he did.
This was by no means her dream studio, but it would do for now. The images that came to life here shone when the building itself didn’t. It was a plain room, really, the walls were a cool cream and unadorned. There were props stacked neatly on a series of shelves—everything from silly hats to baby blankets to old-fashioned slates that children scrawled their names on with chalk to be held in their photos. Right now, a sturdy table with the lemon yellow throw draped over a series of small pillows took up the middle of the set, with the lights focused down on where the baby had been lying. There was good light from the wide windows and when she had a night shoot, there were literally armies of lighting scaffolds scattered around the room.
Sienna studied him while he was unaware. To her, he looked way too good, and instinctively, she lifted her camera. Light and shadow played on his features, making him an irresistible target for her lens. In the late afternoon, she was losing the light, but there was enough to make him look almost dangerously alluring as he stood, half in shadow. She took two quick shots of him before he slowly swiveled his head to stare at her.
“I didn’t come here to pose for you.”
“I figured that. So why are you here, Adam?” She glanced down at the screen on her camera. Even the photo of him was hypnotic. Oh she was in bad shape.
“I need your help.”
Surprised, she looked up at him. That, she hadn’t expected. “Really? That’s so unlike you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“You’re just not the kind of man to ever ask for help.”
“Know me that well, do you?”
“I think so,” she said. As well as anyone could know him, she hedged silently. Sienna was willing to bet that not even his ex-wife could claim to know him completely. Adam Quinn kept his thoughts and his feelings to himself. He had the best poker face in the universe and trying to see past the shields in his eyes could give you a migraine.
After she and Devon were married, she’d met Adam for the first time and thought then that two brothers couldn’t have been more different. The fact that she’d also felt a quickening inside her for the quiet, stern-faced Adam was something that had embarrassed her at the time and was strangely even more mortifying now.
Tipping her head to one side, Sienna looked at him from across the room and wished she could flip the lighting on so his eyes wouldn’t be in the shadows. “I was sorry to hear about Devon,” she said abruptly, as a niggle of guilt pinged in the center of her chest. “I thought about calling you—after. But I didn’t know what to say.”
“Yeah.” He pulled his hands from his pockets and reached down to pick up a tiny stuffed rabbit she’d used in the photo shoot with little Kenzie Johnson. He turned the soft, brown animal in his hands. “I get it. Devon didn’t exactly treat you well.”
Regret jabbed at her in twin stabs with the guilt. As much as she’d like to completely blame her failed marriage on her ex-husband, she just couldn’t. Her mom always told her that it took two to make or break a marriage. So she had to accept her own share of the blame.
“It wasn’t entirely Devon’s fault,” she said. “I wasn’t what he wanted, either.”
One eyebrow winged up. “Awfully generous.”
“Not really,” she said. “Just honest. What’s going on, Adam? It’s been two years since I’ve seen you, so why now?”
He tossed the little rabbit onto the table, then turned to face her dead-on. “I had a visit today from Devon’s latest woman.”
That