He shot me a playful grin that made my heart trip. “Welcome to the neighborhood,” he said jokingly.
“Thanks,” I said uncomfortably. “Now tell me what you want from me to leave that piece of property alone.”
He took his time answering, and the silence seemed to stretch out forever.
I gulped down the last of my tea while I waited for him to answer.
Was he playing with me?
Or did he actually have some kind of proposition?
Probably the former—since I really didn’t have much to offer him in the way of services. I could guarantee that Eli Stone had set Seth up with his gaggle of business attorneys. Why in the hell would he need an environmental attorney?
“If you’re playing with me, this encounter ends right now,” I said tersely.
“I’m not,” he said emphatically. “I’m just wondering how to explain what I want.”
“If it’s acceptable, I’ll write up the contract today,” I offered.
“It’s not exactly the contract I’m thinking about,” he said thoughtfully.
God, I was jittery, and I wasn’t used to feeling that way. I was pretty certain that it wasn’t the extra-large chai I’d just consumed, either.
It was him.
Maybe it was the way he studied me.
Or the way his steely gray eyes never left my face.
I couldn’t read him, and that completely pissed me off. As an attorney, I’d gotten very good at judging exactly where a defendant’s mind might be, and what their motives were.
“Just name your terms,” I said irritably. “I’ll work out the details.”
I forced myself to meet his eyes in what I thought would be a battle of wills, and then was sorry that I had even glanced his direction.
My breath hitched as I fell into a stormy gaze that wouldn’t let me go.
I was stunned at the possessive way he eyed me.
I was confused about the emotions I saw there.
And I was mesmerized by the carnal desire that flared up in his steely irises like a bolt of lightning as he held me still with a single look, unable to rip myself away from his fixed stare that was holding me in place.
Heat exploded between my thighs, and I knew I was blushing like a damn teenage girl with her first major crush. My brain was begging my body not to react, but my stupid body wasn’t listening.
His voice was hoarse and beguiling when he finally said, “I need a woman, Riley. And that woman has to be you.”
CHAPTER 5
RILEY
Dear Mr. Sinclair:
After careful consideration of your offer, I feel I have to decline . . .
“Dammit!” I cursed with disgust as I took my hands off the keyboard of my laptop.
I’d been trying to write this simple email all damn day, but I hadn’t been able to complete it.
It would really be relatively easy to get the sanctuary for the least terns. Just what I wanted.
Problem was, it would come with a personal price.
I hadn’t accepted Seth’s offer outright. I couldn’t. I’d told him I needed time to think about his proposition.
However, I knew myself, and I couldn’t just let go of the opportunity to get what I’d been fighting to achieve for months now. The least-tern situation was critical, and there were so few locations where they could safely nest anymore. The fact that they’d turned up in Citrus Beach was nothing short of a miracle. How could I blow off an opportunity to give the critically endangered species a safe place to reproduce?
I was almost relieved when I heard the doorbell ring. I needed some kind of distraction.
“Jade!” I exclaimed as I opened the door. “You’re home.”
Eli and Jade spent a lot of time in San Diego, and I generally didn’t see them around their house next door until the weekend.
She laughed as she walked in the door. “Weird, right? It’s strange to be here on a Monday. But Eli wanted to stay to go over some stuff with Seth. And the research facility can function without me once in a while. I have plenty of competent scientists there to carry on in my absence.”
I cringed a little inside as I asked cautiously, “Eli isn’t planning to confront Seth about the sanctuary, right?”
I really, really wanted to avoid family conflict for them. It was obvious that Seth adored Jade.
She shook her head as she plopped down at the table near the sliding-glass doors. “No. Not since you told me that Seth made you an offer. I’m dying to find out if the terms can be worked out.”
I’d been stewing about Seth’s proposition for days. I’d just texted Jade last night about the possibility of working out a deal with her brother. But I hadn’t counted on her showing up today to discuss it.
I went into the kitchen and started making some tea. “Do you want coffee or anything?”
Jade held up her hand. “No. I’m good. Eli already took me to Maya’s Bistro this morning for one of Skye’s amazing croissant breakfast sandwiches. I had tons of coffee.”
I knew Jade’s sister-in-law, Aiden’s wife, had done a complete overhaul on her café. I’d been wanting to get in there since it reopened right at the end of the summer. “How’s business for her?”
Jade beamed. “Excellent. It’s so adorable now that it’s been completely remodeled, and the food is nice and trendy. But delicious. I can only imagine what a success it will be in the summer.”
“I’m glad,” I answered sincerely as I added cream and sugar to my tea. “I’d love to get there soon.”
She nodded. “You should. Her sandwiches are all a work of art.”
I took a seat across from her at the table. “Okay, so about Seth’s proposed deal . . .”
“Tell me. Can we save the property?” she asked breathlessly.
I shot her a small smile. Jade was so passionate about preserving species. Her cutting-edge work in her laboratories with DNA was way above my head, but her vision was always very clear. “We can. But the deal is pretty . . . unconventional.”
“What does he want?” Jade asked.
“Me,” I answered flatly.
Jade’s eyes became round and befuddled. “I don’t understand.”
I sighed. “I don’t exactly understand it well myself. But according to your brother, if he’s losing millions on this property, he wants to find more big investors, and wheel and deal for other potential real estate to build the resort on. Which means he has to mingle with some of the San Diego elite. He’s had plenty of invitations to exclusive parties and fund-raisers, but he put a halt to attending them once he realized that he was getting mobbed by ambitious women or their mothers. He wants me to accompany him for a few months as his fake girlfriend. It would give him more opportunity to talk with some potential investors and real-estate moguls.”
“Seriously?” Jade croaked.
I nodded. “He was completely serious.”
“Oh, Riley,” she said softly. “That puts you in a pretty uncomfortable situation, doesn’t it? There’s a good chance you’ll end up face-to-face with your ex-fiancé, right?”
Yep, there is, and Jade doesn’t know all the reasons why I want to stay out of that crowd, either.