“Romantic dinners in the Overlook.” She gestured around them. “Or private, personalized feasts at Quintessential Chef. Who wouldn’t want to come here for a small wedding or a lavish blowout affair?”
Her youthful enthusiasm made him feel ancient and too serious by contrast. It came as a surprise that her liveliness appealed to him. Like a bracing breath of fresh air in the morning. Or a caffeine jolt from a double espresso coffee. Her idealistic smiles and fun-loving ideas invited him to play and dream along with her. The part of him that he’d shut down in order to focus on his career awakened, and he found himself enjoying their exchange. A little too much.
Yet here he was, leaning in, ignoring common sense so he could focus on the woman across from him. Not the employee across from him, he noted as candlelight painted gold highlights in her lustrous red hair and added a mysterious bronze glint in her hazel eyes.
The freckles dusted across her nose gave her a girl-next-door look. Her earnest manner and playful smile buffed smooth the rough edges of his impatience and mellowed him. She moved her hands as she talked, prompting him to wonder: if he grasped them, could she speak?
The thought of touching her made his chest tighten. The sudden pain caused his cautious nature to flare. He shouldn’t be thinking about her like someone he wanted to get to know personally. Just like he shouldn’t have encouraged her to order the dessert she’d raved about. Even now her tongue flicked out to swipe a smear of chocolate off her lower lip, tempting him to pay the bill and hustle her up to his suite.
Of course he couldn’t do that. This was a business dinner, a chance for her to pitch him her ideas. And they were all good ones. Her vision to promote the resort as Instagramable was exactly the sort of fresh idea he liked to see from his employees. He refused to jeopardize his professionalism or his career because she stirred his libido.
But it was more than just lust that she’d aroused. Isabel intrigued him. He admired her business sense even as her fanciful imaginings confounded him. Despite their opposite views, he wanted to hear her opinions even if he disagreed with them.
“I feel as if I’ve lost you,” she said, noticing that his attention had wandered. “You don’t believe that The Opulence is the perfect romantic destination.”
“The hotel is successful because of its exceptional spa, first-class restaurants and outstanding reputation for events.”
“But there’s magic here, as well.” She studied him for several seconds, her eyes narrowing in keen appraisal. “There’s a spot I highly recommend to our couples. I’ll just have to prove to you that it’s the perfect spot for a romantic first kiss.”
Wait. Prove it to him? How?
“You’re wasting your time.”
Women had been trying to find his softer side—without success—since he was old enough to date. Most of the time he wasn’t interested enough in them to want to explore past the surface. Sex was one thing. He believed in satisfying a woman in bed, leaving her breathless and sated before he slid back into his clothes and headed for the door. Lingering to snuggle and exchange confidences only led to attachments and took his focus away from work.
Romance meant tapping into his emotions and he had no intention of going there. He’d been raised by a father who valued hard work above all else and cynically avoided showing any emotion beyond annoyance and contempt for his troublesome son. Shane’s mother had died when he was eight. He remembered crying at her funeral and how his father had shut him down, telling him to get over it. His mother wasn’t coming back and she wouldn’t be proud of him for being such a weakling.
“In terms of romance,” he said, “you’ll find me a hard sell.”
From the expression on her face, he saw his mistake. By declaring he was immune, he’d just thrown down a gauntlet.
“What?” he demanded, anxiety and excitement blinking awake inside him.
Her delightful smile took up the challenge. “This is going to be interesting.”
* * *
Following the bombshell of his father leaving Teresa shares of Christopher Corporation stock, Liam had traded several texts with Matt Richmond, but hadn’t yet gotten his best friend on the phone to spill all that had happened regarding his father’s will. Because of their similar fortunes and lifestyles, Matt had become someone Liam felt comfortable talking to about business as well as personal issues he might be having.
Which was why Liam wished he had his friend around to talk to about his chaotic emotions where Teresa was concerned. Instead, Matt was unreachable after deciding to extend his quick trip to the Big Apple into a romantic getaway to a destination unknown. Liam didn’t want to envy Matt. The Richmond Enterprises CEO deserved to be happy. But Liam couldn’t stop comparing his own failed love life to Matt’s happy one and wishing he had better luck with women.
Why had Linus given Teresa shares when he could’ve bequeathed an equally generous amount in cash or property? Hell, if his father had given her the winery and villa in Tuscany, the yacht moored in the Cayman Islands and the vacation house in Bali, Liam might’ve been furious, but he could’ve let those things go and wiped Teresa St. Claire from his mind.
Instead, Linus had made it so that Teresa couldn’t divest herself of the shares without giving a year of her time to the company’s board. The ridiculous codicil put Liam in an untenable position of having to work side by side with a woman he didn’t trust.
A woman he desired.
Someone who made him second-guess his perceptions about what he’d believed all his life. Someone who made him question his mother’s stories about her failed marriage.
He’d opened himself up to the idea that the connection he felt toward Teresa might have potential. So he’d arranged to spend a perfect evening with her on the yacht. Expensive champagne, a gourmet dinner. A heartfelt apology over how he’d been so suspicious of her. All so he could set the stage for a romantic invitation to stay with him during the Richmond retreat. At the same time, he wanted Teresa there while he read the will, knowing it would be emotional.
He hadn’t taken the step lightly. The move would reveal that she was important to him. That he trusted her. All that went up in smoke after the shocking discovery of his father’s bequest. While Liam had been falling for her, she’d been lying to him. She’d played him for a fool, and it was long past time for Liam to accept that her innocent act was exactly that.
He’d believed her when she’d claimed that her relationship with his father had been strictly professional, but Linus’s gift of twenty-five percent of his shares in Christopher Corporation told a different story.
And demanded further investigation.
His phone rang as he slid behind the wheel of his car. Liam sent his attention flickering toward the screen, where his mother’s face had appeared. Ever since his father’s death, Catherine Dupont—she’d returned to her maiden name after the divorce—had been avidly curious about her ex-husband’s will. She’d received a significant settlement at the time of their divorce, but as Christopher Corporation continued to flourish and grow, she’d resented that her financial situation remained stagnant while Linus grew wealthier by the day.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d heard from your father’s lawyer?” Catherine scolded him as soon as he’d greeted her.
Liam wondered how she’d found out. He’d been dodging her for nearly a week, still processing the document’s shocking revelation, and wasn’t prepared to deal with his mother’s reaction when she heard what happened or to