Scandals from the Third Bride

She wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself. “I don’t want to have anything to do with you, Cade,” she said.

“You can look at my house plans for a minute. There’s no commitment in looking. Come back over here, Katherine.”

She turned to glare at him and he stood, impassively waiting until it seemed ridiculous and childish to refuse to look at his blueprints. She crossed the room to stand a few feet away from him.

As she gazed at the drawing of the house, she was again amazed by his success, which was greater than the news articles or the magazines had indicated.

“This is the dinning room and I want a mural on this wall,” he said, pointing with his index finger. “One of the other walls will have mullioned windows that will prevent a clear view of the outside, so I want a landscape.”

She examined a drawing of a room with a cathedral ceiling and an enormous stone fireplace that had a medieval flair, and she could imagine a scene of a European countryside on one wall. He wanted six murals. Her usual price popped into mind and she suspected that she could easily get more from Cade. She tried to stifle any thoughts about the income and what she could do with it for her company. What a windfall the job would be if it had been anyone else who wanted to hire her!

Cade shifted papers and she watched his well-shaped hands as he carefully smoothed a print. She could remember those hands on her body, moving over her seductively, magic hands that had set her aflame. Everything he did provoked memories that were too vivid. Attempting to focus totally on his plans, she leaned over the table to peer at the drawings. Cade moved closer beside her and turned over a page to look at the next drawing. “Here’s the kitchen and dining area and I want a painting in here.”

“Why are you showing me these pictures? The answer is no,” she repeated, wondering if he ever heard “no” any longer.

“You’re letting your emotions rule your judgment because you’re turning down good business. My house will get attention and it would be advertising for you,” he said, turning to study her. He stood only a couple of feet from her and she drew a deep breath. Why couldn’t she handle being near him? When she was so angry with him, she hated to discover that she was still incredibly attracted to him.

“This is one time I don’t want the business,” she said, wishing her racing pulse would slow.

“Let me show you the other rooms,” he said, shifting pages around. He leaned over the table to point with his finger. “I want a mural on this wall. You can select the subject. Of course, I have to approve what you propose before you do it.”

“You don’t trust me, either.”

“Yes, I trust you. I want to see what you have in mind. I’m the one who’ll have to live with it. Give me a price, Katherine,” he said softly. “You have to be enough of a businesswoman and professional to look at what I have and give me a bid. Don’t say no over old hurts. There is surely some point where it would become worth your while.”

As he stared at her, their clash of wills was offset by her attraction, and she guessed he felt it, too. “No, there isn’t because I don’t want to work for you in any manner,” she said tightly and turned to walk away. For one fleeting second she was tempted to fling some impossible price at him, like five hundred thousand per mural, and see if he would back down. The money was a temptation because she was ambitious, but she put the possibility out of mind.

She walked to the balcony door, opened it and stepped outside without allowing herself to think about what the job would mean to her. A cold gust of wind whipped around her and she wrapped her arms around her middle.

“All right,” he said. She turned to find him standing in the doorway, leaning one shoulder against the jamb as he faced her. “I’ll make you an offer.”

She shook her head. “There’s no point in it.”

“I’ve told you that I want six murals. How’s eight million dollars for all of them?”

She lost her breath as if she had received a blow. Stunned, she stared at him. “Eight million dollars?” she gasped over the amount. She couldn’t imagine such extravagance.

“That’s too much!” The words were out before she thought.

“No, the price isn’t too high if I get what I want,” he replied smoothly. “I’ll pay all your expenses, of course.”

Again, he had shocked her profoundly. Never had she commanded such a price for her paintings. Her head spun over the amount and what she could do with it.

“You surely can use the income for something,” he remarked dryly.

“Yes, I can,” she said, barely able to get out the words. “Cade, I can’t believe you’d pay so much to get my art. You can hire perfectly good painters who will do a fine job for you for vastly less.”

“Maybe I owe you, Katherine,” he said quietly.

“A payoff,” she snapped, her temper rising, but there was no way to get the amount that he had offered her out of mind. Her plans for the future of her advertising company flashed, impossible to ignore. His murals would enable her to do what she wanted years sooner than she had expected. “Eight million for six murals,” she repeated as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

He crossed the balcony to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Even though her pulse jumped, she shook her head at him. “No, no. You’re not buying my body with that offer.”

“I’m only standing here with my hands on your shoulders,” he replied in a husky voice that made her forget the money and the murals and everything except Cade. Wind blew locks of his black hair and she remembered how it felt to run her hands through his hair. His hands were warm and he ran them up and down her upper arms, sliding his fingers slowly, lightly in a provocative touch.

“You’re more beautiful than ever,” he whispered.

“Stop, Cade. We’re not going back there,” she said, but her heart thudded and she trembled, aching for him as if it were yesterday when she had last seen him.

He ran his finger across her lower lip. “Beautiful, Katherine.”

Tingles spiraled from his touch and her lips parted. The moment she realized her reaction, she twisted away to walk around him. “Let’s go inside.”

He followed her in and closed the door. “You know you can take the money, invest it and retire.”

“Never!” she exclaimed, frowning at him as he joined her at the table again. “My work is my life. I thrive on painting and would never consider quitting.”

He tilted his head to one side. “I know you took art classes, but I don’t recall that you had any burning ambition.”

“I threw myself into work to get over being hurt when you left, and then I discovered that I like success. All my life I’ve competed with my brothers. I want to make more money than they do, and now I might be able to do so.”

“You’ll have to go some to top your brother Nick. If you accept my offer, you might pass Matt.”

She studied the drawings spread in front of her.

“Here they are,” he said, leaning slightly over the table to spread more drawings out. “Here’s each room that I’d like to have murals in. I don’t have any idea what to put in these rooms. It’s up to you to select the picture.”

“I usually furnish the ideas about three quarters of the time,” she said. “Occasionally, someone knows exactly what he wants,” she answered without thinking about what she was saying to him. The amount of money dazed her. She turned to him. “You can afford to toss out eight million to get these murals?”

“Yes, I can. I’ve been fortunate.”

She had been adamant that she wouldn’t work for him, but his offer was impossible to refuse. She would be certifiable if she turned him down. She could do his murals without succumbing to his charm, she promised herself. And she knew there would be charm. He had melted her heart before when he had been rough and a boy and without means. Now he would be irresistible.

She moved along the table, spreading papers and looking at precise line drawings of floor plans, but she was doing it merely as an excuse to buy time while she mulled over his offer. Could she do the murals and resist Cade at the same time? Maybe he would go back to California or wherever he worked most of the time. As swiftly as she thought about it, she dismissed it. No matter what he said, she knew he would oversee the project.

Eight million dollars for his murals. The offer was temptation with no way to refuse. Yet she could not keep from wondering how badly he wanted her. Curiosity tempted her. With her heart pounding, she looked up at him, wondering if she dared raise the amount. If he refused, she would back down instantly. “I’ll do your six murals for ten million,” she offered.

Holding her breath and frightened by her own audacity, she saw amusement flash in the depths of his dark eyes, which surprised her. She had expected almost any other kind of reaction from him. “A few minutes ago you told me that I proposed too much.”

“I was in shock over your offer. Now, I’m thinking about business.”

“Then we’ve got a deal,” he said, and she let out her breath. “Ten million it is.”

Ten million! Her reputation would be instantly established by the price. Soon, she could do the ambitious projects she had only dreamed about before.

“How do you want payment?” he asked. “How’s half now and half when you finish?”