turned back to Adam. âThen perhaps youâll bring Lauryn to cocktails on Monday evening. The club is closed then, isnât it?â
âWeâd like that,â Adam accepted without consulting Lauryn. But she didnât care about his high-handedness. He was going to get her into a house her mother had probably visited and introduce her to people her mother had probably known. While they were on the island maybe she could convince him to show her his place and she could walk her motherâs path.
âLovely. See you at eight.â Mrs. Ainsley glided off with the grace of the queen.
Adam sat quickly, followed by the arrival of their meal. After the waiter departed Lauryn looked at her companion. âYouâre very sneaky.â
A mischievous smile slanted his lips, making him look like a bad boy inviting her to come out and play. The dormant rebel in Lauryn raised its head, but she quickly reined in her naughty urges. Sheâd given up her penchant for bad boys.
âI know what I want and Iâm not ashamed to go after it. Helene is one of the biggest gossips in the Greater Miami area. By the time we announce our engagement it will be old news.â
She gaped at him. âNeed I remind you that I turned you down?â
âYouâll change your mind.â He lifted his wineglass in a silent toast. His eyes held a challenge. âOr Iâll change it for you. Weâll be good together, Lauryn. In bed and out.â
Tendrils of desire wound through her. And that, Lauryn realized, was the crux of her dilemma. The answers she wanted were right at her fingertips, but only if she broke the promise sheâd made to her father and herself before the ink on her annulment had dried.
Next time, sheâd vowed, sheâd marry for all the right reasons.
And the business alliance Adam proposed didnât even come close.
He almost had her.
Adam didnât know why the idea of drinks with the Ainsleysâ stuffy crowd excited Lauryn, but heâd seen the flash of interest in her eyes and the heightened color on her cheeks earlier at lunch.
He rinsed the last of the shaving cream from his face, patted dry and then padded naked into his bedroom to dress for a Friday night at the club. He fed off the pulse of the music, the flash of the lights and the energy of Estateâs guests. Knowing he provided a good time for hundreds of people each night and was financially rewarded for doing so filled him with satisfaction.
Work. He lived for it. Why couldnât his familyâspecifically his brothersâsee that? But they viewed his life as one big party and treated him like a perpetual frat boy.
He made it halfway across the room before the mental image of Lauryn in his bed stalled his steps. Hell, he couldnât be attracted to her, could he? Before Brandonâs suggestion, Adam had never had a sexual thought about his accountant. Or any employee, for that matter.
Lauryn had done nothing to light his fire. She was cool and withdrawn. She didnât flirt. Even though heâd spent an hour with her today, he didnât know any more about her than he had before lunch except that the smiles he used to make other women melt didnât affect Lauryn Lowes.
But he had to admit something happened when he touched her to quicken his pulse and heat his blood. Was his interest piqued solely because sheâd said no?
Shaking his head to clear the image of her pale skin spread across his black sheets, he headed for his closet. Any anticipation he might feel for seeing her again could be attributed to moving closer toward his goal. The marriage would be strictly business. Not pleasure. Although he was beginning to suspect Lauryn had a good body beneath her shapeless clothing and that he could derive a great deal of pleasure from exploring it.
All right, so he wanted to see her naked, but that was only because he was curious to know what she was hiding and why.
And if