Escape for Valentine's: Beauty and the Billionaire / Her One and Only Valentine / The Girl Next Door. Caroline Anderson

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      “Point taken.” Hunter tried a turn with Kristy, and she easily followed his lead. But it wasn’t the same as dancing with Sinclair. It was nothing at all like dancing with Sinclair.

      “So, what are you going to do?”

      “For tonight—” Hunter took a deep breath and made up his mind “—I’m going to switch rooms with you and Jack.”

      Kristy and Jack were on a different floor of the hotel. And Hunter knew deep down in his heart that the adjoining door with Sinclair would prove too much of a temptation.

      “You’re a good man, Hunter,” said Kristy, her eyes softening.

      “Can I have that in writing? It might sway your husband.”

      “I’m talking about your moral code, not your business savvy.”

      “Nice.”

      “But that’s none of my business.”

      “The push and pull has been going on a long time,” said Hunter. “Jack, Gramps, the investors gripe and complain, but they take the dividends all the same.”

      “Your investments make dividends?”

      “And capital gains, each and every one of them.”

      Kristy shook her head in obvious confusion. “Then why—”

      “Because they think the odds are catching up with me, and they’re sure I’m taking the entire flagship down one day.”

      “Will you?”

      “Not planning on it.” He danced her toward Jack and Sinclair. He might not be able to hold Sinclair in his bed tonight, but he could at least hold her on the dance floor until the clock struck midnight.

      Nine

      When Hunter had squeezed her hand in front of Kristy and Jack, down in the lobby and said, “See you in the morning,” Sinclair knew it was all for show. So she brushed her hair, put on fresh perfume, and changed into the purple negligee from La Petite Fleur. She’d even touched up her face with a few of the Luscious Lavender cosmetics.

      So, when the knock came from the adjoining hotel room, she was ready. Pulse pounding, skin tingling, anticipation humming along her nervous system, she opened the door.

      “Hey, sis,” sang Kristy. Then she tossed a command over her shoulder, “Avert your eyes, Jack.”

      Sinclair’s jaw dropped open.

      “I brought a nice Chardonnay.” Kristy waved an open bottle in the air. “You got some glasses?”

      Kristy breezed past her, and Sinclair met Jack’s eyes.

      “Jack,” Kristy warned.

      “Sorry,” he called, lowering his gaze.

      Sinclair turned to her sister. “What on earth—”

      “You might want to shut the door,” said Kristy.

      “Where’s Hunter?”

      “We traded rooms.”

      Sinclair swung the door shut, battling her shock. “I can’t believe you would—”

      “It was his idea. He asked me to do it.”

      Why would Hunter ask to trade rooms? “Did you threaten him?” Sinclair asked suspiciously.

      Kristy poured two glasses of wine. “Yeah. I did, so he backed off. Does that sound like Hunter?”

      “No,” Sinclair admitted. Hunter refused to back down from Jack and his grandfather. He sure wasn’t going to back down from Kristy.

      Kristy rounded the small coffee table and flopped down on one of the armchairs. “He traded rooms, because he doesn’t want to hurt you. I admire that.”

      “He’s not going to hurt me.” Hurting was the furthest thing from what would happen between Hunter and Sinclair tonight.

      Kristy took in Sinclair’s outfit. “Well, he’d sure be doing something with you dressed like that.”

      Sinclair glanced down. “What? So we bought a few things at La Petite Fleur.”

      Dressed in a snazzy workout suit, Kristy curled her legs beneath her.

      “And where do you see this thing going?”

      “I haven’t thought about it,” Sinclair lied. She’d pictured everything from an “hasta la vista, baby” to a tear-stained goodbye, to a white dress and a cathedral.

      “You work for him.”

      “I know. Don’t you think I know?”

      “Reality check,” said Kristy. “Hunter’s not a one-woman man.”

      “Reality check,” Sinclair countered. “I’m not a one-man woman.”

      “Not before now.”

      “Do you honestly think I’ve fallen in love with him?” She hadn’t.

      “Not yet,” said Kristy. “But you’re taking an awfully big risk. You’ll have to work with him afterward no matter what. With all the money he’s invested in Castlebay, he’s going to have to spend one heck of a lot of time at Lush Beauty. He needs this to work. And if your past becomes a problem, guess who’s going to be gone?”

      “You think Hunter would fire me?” Talk about extrapolating facts to the worst-case scenario.

      “I think he might have to make a choice.”

      Sinclair took a long swallow of her wine, hating the fact that the scenario was possible.

      She spun the stem of her glass around her fingertips. “What does Jack think?”

      “Jack thinks Hunter’s playing with fire. He’s been reckless and impulsive before.”

      Sinclair tipped up the glass for another swallow. Reckless and impulsive, everybody seemed to agree on that, including Hunter.

      “And it was his idea to switch rooms with you?” Sinclair confirmed.

      Kristy nodded.

      Sinclair played around with that little fact. Switching rooms meant Hunter thought it wouldn’t last. Chivalrous of him to back off, really. Telling, but chivalrous.

      “Did you get my message from last night?”

      “I did.”

      Sinclair couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice. “Why didn’t you call me?” At least then she would have known to give Hunter a heads-up.

      “I’d СКАЧАТЬ