A Cinderella Affair

She stilled. He loosened his grip, letting his fingers rest complacently. He noted the erratic thumping of her pulse and wondered briefly if she were afraid of him. If so, he definitely wasn’t winning any brownie points. He took a deep breath and tried to regroup.

Women loved his smile. They said it made him seem more human, more approachable than his brothers. So he smiled.

She arched an eyebrow. “You can either let my arm go or I can scream for security. Which do you prefer?”

He pulled his hand away as if he’d been burned and watched in amazement as she stood. Never once in all his years of wooing women had his signature smile not worked.

Then, because she was about to walk away, he hurriedly stood and moved in front of her, being careful not to touch her this time. “I thought we were going to talk about the house. You haven’t even heard why I want to buy it.”

Camille rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, an action that lifted her heavy breasts upward until he could see even more of the creamy mounds above the rim of her blouse. Adam swallowed. Hard.

“You said you buy houses and then sell them. That’s your job so I assume that’s what you plan to do with my father’s house. If so, I am not interested.”

Damn, she was sexy when she was angry. Adam had visions of having a knock down, drag out argument with her then scooping her up into his arms and releasing all that frustration in the bedroom. She would let loose then, he knew it instinctively. She would be uninhibited, passionate and seductive. His head pounded as the blood rushed from there to his groin. She would be magnificent.

“Are you not interested because you dislike me or because you dislike your stepmother?”

She gasped as if he’d struck her and took a step back.

He instinctively reached for her, catching her elbow before she could pull away. “Camille, I’m just trying to have an intelligent conversation about this deal with you. In all fairness you really haven’t given a valid reason for not wanting this deal to go through.”

“It’s my property. I don’t have to have a valid reason,” she taunted.

Adam sighed. He never worked this hard to get a woman into bed. He’d never had to. That probably made him callous and arrogant where women were concerned and up until now he hadn’t given that a second thought. But he readily admitted that Camille Davis was beginning to try his patience.

“Why don’t you tell me why you really want to hold on to this house. You have no intention of living there, so what—do you want it to be like some sort of shrine to your father’s memory?”

She did pull away from him then. “You don’t know anything about me or my father. You’re just used to getting your way. Well, it’s not going to happen this time.”

Before Adam could say another word he was watching the enticing sway of her hips as she walked out of the restaurant. Damn, that woman infuriated him. And made him hard as hell.

Chapter 2

“So who is she?” Trenton Donovan asked gruffly.

Adam shifted on the couch. They were in his oldest brother, Linc’s office, on the top floor of the Gramercy Casino. Max had obviously called this little meeting and so was sitting in one of the deep leather chairs across the room while Trent stood near the window, his hands thrust into his pockets as he glared at Adam. Linc was sitting behind his desk being uncharacteristically quiet. But then, Adam sighed, he’d only been in here for about five minutes.

After being left standing like a fool in the middle of the restaurant Adam had ditched the idea of returning to his condo on the outskirts of Vegas and decided to get a room at the hotel. Of course he had no difficulty getting one and as he’d retrieved his key from the clerk at the front desk he’d also received a message to come to Linc’s office immediately.

So that’s why he was here. Not by any choice of his own because if he had his choice he’d have been in a nice comfy room with a big bed and a beautiful, if high-strung, woman.

With that thought he frowned oblivious to his audience’s extreme pleasure.

“Wow, she’s that bad, huh?” Max asked. “So where does the deal stand?”

Adam dragged a hand down his face and attempted a casual response. “She’s not that bad and the deal isn’t dead.” He had no idea why he’d said that. It was a blatant contradiction to what Camille had told him just before walking away.

“She changed her mind?”

“Who is she?”

Trent and Max spoke simultaneously and Linc chuckled. “Give him a second to get his bearings, guys. He looks like he’s had a pretty eventful dinner.”

Normally Adam and Max tended to side against the two older Donovans. Tonight it seemed that all three of them were against him. He didn’t miss the unspoken words that had the other Donovan men watching him carefully. “What’s up? She’s Randolph Davis’s daughter just like she said. And she’s not entirely sold on the idea of getting rid of her father’s house. But I plan to change her mind,” he said decisively.

It was Max’s turn to frown this time. “How do you plan to do that? She looked quite decided when she left the conference room. I don’t know why you even offered to put her up for the night. Meeting with her again tomorrow is most likely not going to change anything.”

Adam swore and the three pair of eyes that were already watching him closely moved in on him.

“We’re not meeting with her tomorrow?” Max asked.

“Yes. We are.” Adam stood. He hadn’t gotten around to setting a time and place for tomorrow because he’d been so into the simple conversation he and Camille were having. She’d been the one to bring up business and she’d been the one to end their evening. He hadn’t been given much of an opportunity to say anything and at this moment that was really pissing him off.

“Camille Davis. Her name sounds familiar,” Linc said as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin.

“You may have heard of her company, CK Davis Designs,” Adam said absently. He went to the small bar on the other side of the office and fixed himself a drink. His mind whirled with all the things he hadn’t had a chance to say to Camille. He’d already decided he was going to say his piece, and since he was putting her up in this hotel for the night, she was going to go through with their meeting tomorrow. She wouldn’t be happy to hear that but he didn’t rightfully care. This was business. He should never have let the personal interfere, no matter how desirable and totally kissable she appeared.

“She’s the C.K. Davis? That’s a multi-million-dollar company. Her stocks are through the roof and the winter line she’s debuting in a couple of weeks is reputed to be her best yet. She’s a definite powerhouse in the fashion industry.” Max had stood and was now pacing the floor. “She’ll never sell that house. She doesn’t need the money so there’s no reason for her to sell. At least the stepmother is greedy so we have something to work with there, but the daughter is going to be trouble.”

“Calm down, Max.” Adam took a long swallow of his brandy. “I’m going to close this deal.”

“If she’s a designer and she’s rich I could probably dig up some dirt on her. That’ll make her cooperate.”

Adam tossed Trent a searing look. “Don’t you dare! Your secret security skills are not required in this instance.” Trent always wanted to investigate somebody. He was an ex-Navy Seal and therefore tended to look at every situation as if it were a military deployment.

Trent shrugged. “I’m just trying to help.”

“Investigating someone’s personal life is not helping,” Adam argued.

“Funny, you didn’t always feel that way,” Linc added.

Adam sighed. “That was different. You were sleeping with Jade and she was staying in our parents’ house. We had a right to know everything about her.”

Linc stood. “No. I had a right to know everything about her, not you.”

Max interrupted. “For crying out loud, you and Jade are happily married. Can we please try to focus on the matter at hand?”

Adam turned to Max. “We could focus on our business matters if you hadn’t brought them into the mix. You know how they are.”

“Hey, we’re family,” Linc objected. “Whether or not we’re all in the same business doesn’t matter. If one needs help that’s what the rest of us are here for.”

“But I don’t need any help,” Adam insisted.

Linc crossed the room and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “If you’re going to try and convince a woman to change her mind you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

“I usually don’t have any problems where women are concerned,” Adam said absently.

Linc grinned. “Then that tells me that this is an unusual woman. In which case you might need more than our help.”