Winning Back His Bride

Struggling for indifference, Michael slid his hands into his pockets. How the hell could he still want her after all this time? After what she’d done? But he knew. He’d never quite been able to stop wanting her. Or stop missing the feel of her in his arms at night. And he was having trouble getting the “hands off” message from his brain to the appropriate body parts. At least he could explain that. It was a purely physical reaction to a strikingly beautiful woman.

Everything else was more complicated. He’d told himself it was just business, but two meetings with Geneva had shown him that seeing her every day would be an unexpected complication. He didn’t like complications.

But sometimes to get the job done you had to piss people off, even if that person was yourself. Success didn’t come without a price and he was determined that the cost wouldn’t be more than he could pay.

Geneva shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“My sister’s a team player.”

Questions simmered in her eyes. “And, pray tell, why is her wedding a team event?”

“Let’s call it one part of the marketing strategy. A celebrity wedding will generate media attention and get the word out to our target buyer. I paid the idea guys a lot of money for their expertise and it would take a special kind of stupid to ignore them.”

“What aren’t you telling me, Michael?”

If he didn’t know better, he’d think that was concern in her eyes. But he did know better. “I need to secure the rest of the financing for Sullivan Towers. We have enough to break ground and build a shell, but not to finish. That would make it a very public failure. Been there. Done that. Don’t want to go there again.”

She caught the corner of her top lip between her teeth. “If you’re talking about the wedding, I had reasons for calling it off—”

“It’s not about you.” He wouldn’t let it be. And he didn’t want to hear her excuses now any more than he had then. Her actions had told him everything he needed to know. “That’s ancient history.”

“But it was my public failure, not yours.”

“Yes, and your failure will help me get my financing. The press will dig into everything about Teri and me and you. They write about everything we Sullivans do and the public reads it.”

“I remember,” she said.

“The only thing that generates more publicity than a high profile wedding is one that doesn’t happen.” Their fiasco had fueled a reporter feeding frenzy. “The day you walked out we were the lead story on the news, beating out the president’s summit on the global economy.”

“Yeah. For months afterward they hounded me for a comment.”

Which she’d stubbornly declined to make. He respected her discretion even though he didn’t want to respect anything about her. “I got the same treatment. So imagine a Sullivan business venture combined with a Sullivan wedding… Picture the headlines—millionaire developer gains luxury high-rise and loses sister to matrimony. Wedding to be planned by his runaway bride. The perfect storm of publicity.”

“I see your point,” she said.

“I thought you would.”

“But I can’t do it.” She folded her arms beneath her breasts.

He couldn’t stop himself from noticing the interesting things the movement did to her curves and memories of soft skin and twisted sheets jumped into his mind. He forced himself to look away. When he glanced around the room, he saw that it was empty except for him and Geneva. Where had everyone gone? More to the point—when had they gone and why hadn’t he noticed? Damn it.

Clearly she didn’t want to be here. Tough. He didn’t want to be here, either, let alone asking her to do anything more than her job required. But he and Teri were determined to make Sullivan Towers a success and that meant doing the hard stuff.

His sister had no qualms about working with Geneva. Her reservations had been for him. But he’d assured her that he had no leftover feelings. It had been a year and Geneva didn’t matter. If they could use public failure and turn it into a success, he’d lead the way.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Michael. I just don’t want to cause you problems.”

“That’s ironic coming from you,” he snapped.

Something flashed in her eyes, but she didn’t respond.

“Teri is the only family I have left. If you choose to believe anything, believe this—I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

He’d been eighteen and Teri just ten when their parents died. But they’d pulled together and moved forward. And that’s the way they would make this project an unqualified success.

Geneva worried her lip between her teeth as she studied him. “Michael, clearly this has been in the works for a while. Why didn’t you mention this to me that day in your office?”

He shrugged. “I had other things on my mind.”

No way would he tell her that seeing her again and acting as if he felt nothing had taken all of his concentration. Everything else had slipped his mind.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “The bottom line is that I need to presell forty percent of the high-rise units to secure the last of the financing before we break ground. We’ll leave no stone unturned and take advantage of the press, publicity and media exposure wherever we can find it. You’re part of that whether you like it or not.”

“And if I refuse you’ll fire me?”

“That’s not the kind of publicity I’m after.” Was she hoping he’d let her go? Put distance between them? Bailing out was what she did best, but he wouldn’t let her get away with it this time. The project was the highest profile development he’d ever done and he was dedicating it to his parents. He’d do whatever was necessary to make it happen, including using her. “Look at it this way. You owe me, Geneva.”

She stared at him for several moments, doubts swirling in her eyes. The uncertainty was still there when she nodded and said, “Okay.”

“Okay what?”

“Maybe there really is something I can do to help you get what you want and make up for what I did. I’m willing to take a chance. Because, God knows you have your faults, Michael. A good many of them. As do I. But you’d never do anything to hurt your sister. Not even for business.”

That was true. If Teri had the slightest doubt about this aspect of the marketing plan, he’d find another angle for the media attention.

“Then we have a deal.”

“We do. And for now I’ll assume you’re not trying to lull me into a false sense of security, then—” She drew her hand across her neck, miming slitting her throat.

Get her? A shaft of heat lasered through him and again he did his best to ignore it. He straightened and looked down at her. “To still be angry enough to get even with you over what happened a year ago requires a great deal of energy and passion. I’ve focused both on opening Sullivan Towers.”

“You’ve made that abundantly clear.”

“Good.” And speaking of passion, it was time to put his back to work before he forgot to forget and remembered to remember everything about her. He walked toward the door and said, “I’ll be in touch.”

Touch.

Like the exquisite sensation of her bare skin beneath his hands, her lips responding to his own. Those memories gave a whole new meaning to the words I’ll be in touch.

His intense reaction irritated the hell out of him. He didn’t want to want her, but that made no difference to his testosterone. And with so much at stake, he couldn’t afford any weakness.

He didn’t have to like the idea of working with her, but he wouldn’t let her become a distraction. Since he didn’t have a choice, he’d make the most of a bad situation. He’d make sure his sister had the best and if that meant hiring Geneva as the wedding planner and watching her every step of the way, he’d do it. That would never make up for Teri not having her father and mother there to give her away, but Michael intended to create a wedding day she would never forget. And he wasn’t above using the situation to his advantage. Since a year without Geneva hadn’t taken the edge off his attraction, perhaps overexposure would do the trick. Might be just what he needed to get her out of his system.

The best part was that she wouldn’t like it.

CHAPTER TWO

“HI, TERI.” Geneva cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder, then swiveled her office chair around to look out the window. “Thanks for calling me back.”