Scandals from the Third Bride. Sara Orwig

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      “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?”

      She inhaled deeply. “You’re one surprise after another,” she admitted. “Why would you pay so much up front?”

      “I’m certain you’ll deliver, so why not? You can put the cash to use right away. I can write you a check now for the first half, or Monday morning we can go to a bank and have the funds transferred to your account.”

      “Let’s go to the bank Monday morning,” she said, unable to believe such a thing was actually happening.

      “Let me show you the rest,” he said, stepping close beside her and pointing to blue lines on another page. “This is a recreation room. It’ll have a pool table. This is an interior room, so I want something in here, too, that will bring in the outdoors. I want the mural along this wall,” he said, drawing his finger in a line across the blueprint. “Something festive.”

      “I’ll give you several choices and if you don’t like any of them, I’ll do more.”

      “Fair enough,” he said and she realized she would be working with him constantly until he approved the murals she would paint.

      “Then this room,” he said, reaching for another sheet and brushing against her arm as he pulled the blueprint in front of them. “This is an exercise room. Do something to liven it up. Something cheerful. Nothing is more monotonous than a treadmill, so give me a picture along this wall that I can enjoy viewing.”

      She knew she would have to give thought and planning to what she would paint. She couldn’t make any suggestions at this point and she was certain he didn’t expect her to.

      “Then over here,” he said, reaching beyond her and brushing against her again. Catching a whiff of his aftershave, she could see the faint dark stubble of his beard that was beginning to show as he leaned forward, close in front of her. Did he even notice when they touched each other? Was he doing it deliberately or without thought? She couldn’t keep from noticing and tingling as if the contact had been a caress.

      “There’s no woman who should have a say in this?” Katherine asked, wishing she could take back the personal question the moment it was out.

      He straightened and focused intently on her. “I told you before that there isn’t a woman. The only person who has a say in this is me.” He rested his hand on her shoulder again, but this time, he rubbed it slightly, touching a lock of her hair. “But as long as you brought it up—”

      “Cade, I’m taking this job when I never intended to, but I want us to leave the past out of it. I don’t want to go into personal things. Let’s work as if we were two strangers who met tonight for the first time.”

      “If I’d met you tonight for the first time, I’d be flirting with you every minute of the evening,” he said solemnly, his gaze drifting lazily over her features. His fingers trailed along her jaw.

      Ignoring him, she turned back to the blueprints. “All right, we’ve looked at the dining room, the exercise room and the rec room.”

      “I want murals in my bedroom, a utility room and the kitchen dining area. That should cover it.”

      His bedroom. Her stomach grew fluttery at the thought. If only he would return to work in another city instead of staying at his Houston house, but she expected him to stick around to see what she was doing. She wished his bedroom wasn’t one of the rooms.

      “How soon can you start?” he asked. “I’d like to have them started right away.”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ