Terms of Engagement

“You might still marry Jaycee and ruin her life,” she lied.

“Impossible, now that I’ve met you.”

Kira’s breath quickened. Dimple or not, he was still the enemy. She had to remember that.

“Do you really think I’m so callous I could marry your sister when I want you so much?”

“But what are you going to do about Jaycee?”

“I told you. She became irrelevant the minute I saw you standing inside my office this afternoon.”

“She’s beautiful … and blonde.”

“Yes, but your beauty affects me more. Don’t you know that?”

She shook her head. “The truth isn’t in you. You only date blondes.”

“Then it must be time for a change.”

“I’m going to confess a secret wish. All my life I wished I was blonde … so I’d look more like the rest of my family, especially my mother and my sister. I thought maybe then I’d feel like I belonged.”

“You are beautiful.”

“A man like you would say anything …”

“I’ve never lied to any woman. Don’t you know how incredibly lovely you are? With your shining dark eyes that show your sweet, pure soul every time you look at me and defend your sister? I feel your love for her rushing through you like liquid electricity. You’re graceful. You move like a ballerina. I love the way you feel so intensely and blush when you think I might touch you.”

“Like a child.”

“No. Like a responsive, passionate woman. I like that … too much. And your hair … it’s long and soft and shines like chestnut satin. Yet there’s fire in it. I want to run my hands through it.”

“But we hardly know one another. And I’ve hated you …

“None of the Murrays have been favorites of mine either … but I’m beginning to see the error of my ways. And I don’t think you hate me as much as you pretend.”

Kira stared at him, searching his hard face for some sign that he was lying to her, seducing her as he’d seduced all those other women, saying these things because he had some dark agenda. All she saw was warmth and honesty and intense emotion. Nobody had ever looked at her with such hunger or made her feel so beautiful.

All her life she’d wanted someone to make her feel this special. It was ironic that Quinn Sullivan should be the one.

“I thought you were so bad, no … pure evil,” she repeated.

His eyebrows arched. “Ouch.”

If he’d been twisted in his original motives, maybe it had been because of the grief he’d felt at losing someone he loved.

“How could I have been so wrong about you?” Even as she said it, some part of her wondered if she weren’t being naive. He had dated, and jilted, all those beautiful women. He had intended to take revenge on her father and use her sister in his plan. Maybe when she’d walked into his office she’d become part of his diabolical plan, too.

“I was misguided,” he said.

“I need more time to think about all this. Like I said … a mere hour or two ago I heartily disliked you. Or at least I thought I did.”

“Because you didn’t know me. Hell, maybe I didn’t know me either … because everything is different now, since I met you.”

She felt the same way. But she knew she should slow it down, reassess.

“I’m not good at picking boyfriends,” she whispered.

“Their loss.”

His hand closed over hers and he pressed her fingers, causing a melting sensation in her tummy. “My gain.”

Her tacos came, looking and smelling delicious, but she hardly touched them. Her every sense was attuned to Quinn’s carved features and his beautiful voice.

When a musician came to their table, Quinn hired him to sing several songs, including “La Paloma.” While the man serenaded her, Quinn idly stroked her wrist and the length of her fingers, causing fire to shoot down her spine.

She met his eyes and felt that she had known him always, that he was already her lover, her soul mate. She was crazy to feel such things and think such thoughts about a man she barely knew, but when dinner was over, they skipped dessert.

An hour later, she sat across from him in his downtown loft, sipping coffee while he drank brandy. In vain, she tried to act unimpressed by his art collection and sparkling views of the city. Not easy, since both were impressive.

His entrance was filled with an installation of crimson light by one of her favorite artists. The foyer was a dazzling ruby void that opened into a living room with high, white ceilings. All the rooms of his apartment held an eclectic mix of sculpture, porcelains and paintings.

Although she hadn’t yet complimented his stylish home, she couldn’t help but compare her small, littered apartment to his spacious one. Who was she to label him an arrogant upstart? He was a success in the international oil business and a man of impeccable taste, while she was still floundering in her career and struggling to find herself.

“I wanted to be alone with you like this the minute I saw you today,” he said.

She shifted uneasily on his cream-leather sofa. Yet more evidence that he was a planner. “Well, I didn’t.”

“I think you did. You just couldn’t let yourself believe you did.”

“No,” she whispered, setting down her cup. With difficulty she tried to focus on her mission. “So, what about Jaycee? You’re sure that’s over?”

“Finished. From the first moment I saw you.”

“Without mud all over my face.”

He laughed. “Actually, you got to me that day, too. Every time I dined with Jacinda and your family, I kept hoping I’d meet you again.”

Even as she remembered all those dinner invitations her parents had extended and she’d declined, she couldn’t believe he was telling the truth.

“I had my team research you,” he said.

“Why?”

“I asked myself the same question. I think you intrigued me … like I said, even with mud on your face. First thing tomorrow, I will break it off with Jacinda formally. Which means you’ve won. Does that make you happy? You have what you came for.”

He was all charm, especially his warm, white smile. Like a child with a new playmate, she was happy just being with him, but she couldn’t admit that to him.

He must have sensed her feelings, though, because he got up and moved silently toward her. “I feel like I’ve lived my whole life since my father’s death alone—until you. And that’s how I wanted to live—until you.”