A Brother's Generous . . . Offer by Catharina Shields Page B

cleared her throat and shook those
painful memories from her mind. Instead, she thought about the
twins and hoped to finalize this deal in a few hours. She’d
otherwise have to call their nanny, Laura, to stay on a while
longer.
    Something in one large framed portrait
made her squint with interest. It was a portrait of a beautiful
white yacht. There were at least ten completely nude young women
waving at the photographer, but that wasn’t what caught her full
attention.
    She rose from her seat and calmly
walked over to that portrait, eyeing the name on the yacht. It was
christened “Eyleen”. She blinked big, surprised eyes, reading her
name on a luxury boat. Then her attention was drawn to the only man
on it, and her plump, glossy lips tightened.
    He was very tall, well built, and
dressed in a Cuban shirt and white slacks. His black hair glimmered
blue in the bright sunlight, and he wore black Ray-Bans over his
eyes, but even they couldn’t hide his identity from her. Never from
her.
    Her lips tightened as her eyes shot
fire. She felt betrayed. She immediately turned around to leave,
but then she suddenly froze in her tracks when she spotted the
tall, bronze figure of the man from the photo. He was calmly
leaning in the doorway staring at her for god knows how long. When
he caught her attention, he smiled.
    “ Hello big sis.”
    She felt rattled and unsure of herself
now. That always happened when she was around him, and she hated
it. He smiled at her with twinkling sterling blue eyes before he
pushed from the jamb and entered. His hair was, as always,
haphazard and wild, but what rattled her so was his lack of dress.
He was only wearing a tiny black Speedos, and a white with black
towel draped around his muscular neck.
    “ Ryan,” she returned with a
polite, cool smile. She gave him a brief nod of her head. “What a .
. . surprise.”
    “ Really?” He quirked black
brows. “How sweet.” He smiled. “Nice one I hope.”
    “ Yes. Surprise,” she merely
said. “Tell me, did you plan this?”
    He arched a brow as he looked over at
her cool, serene face. “I apologize for the charade, but somehow I
was convinced if you knew who you were coming out to see, you
would’ve changed your mind.”
    She smiled a little cool. “Well,” she
began, “now I’m here, and understanding I’m a half hour early,
perhaps you’d like to dress first?”
    “ Why?” He smiled with a
curious frown. “I’m in my own house.” He shrugged. “Want something
stronger than that?”
    “ No thank you. I don’t
drink when I’m working, and you know why I’m here—”
    “— I know why you think you’re here,” he
said as he headed toward the large, elegant bar. The thing took up
half the wall. Once behind it, with his broad back to her, he
poured himself a glass of strong drink.
    She popped brows. “I’m here for
business, right?”
    “ Oh yes,” he said with a
strange tone as he grinned over his shoulder, and she arched a
brow. “But don’t worry, Eyleen. It’ll be more than just mutually
satisfying for us both. I guarantee you that by the time you leave
here you’ll leave with a smile.”
    “ Good,” she said, although
she looked a little wary.
    He sent her another mysterious smile
before he turned from her again, and she briefly heard ice cubes
tinkling in a glass. “Sorry to hear about your divorce,” he said
before he turned to look at her. “I hear he skipped off to
Australia or something?”
    He came from behind the bar with blue
eyes twinkling as he bent his head to sip his drink, walking toward
one of the opened French doors with billowing curtains.
    “ Argentina, actually,” she
corrected him. “And even with that grin, I’m sure you mean it too,”
she drawled, but she couldn’t help but admire her brother’s tall,
very tan physique—and the large bulge in his trunks.
    She flustered a moment when she
discovered where she’d been peeking, but then it dawned on her that
he was heading outside