He recognized her desperation. He’d felt it once. He’d been just as determined and it had all been for nothing. He’d lost and the morning he’d buried his seven-year-old son, he’d vowed he would never care about anyone ever again.
The door of the Hair Barn opened and a teenager with a camera walked in. He marched over to Kerri’s station, aimed and took a picture.
“The local paper?” Nathan asked when the kid left.
“Uh-huh. I’m guessing one of the other customers called the paper to say you were here. I’m doing this for Cody, but there are other lives on the line. This town is dying, and opening the research facility again will bring it back to life.”
He swore under his breath. He didn’t give a damn about the town or her or her kid. He just wanted his permit to build his towers. The ones with his name on them so he could show the world what he’d done and who he was.
Kerri turned him back to the mirror, rubbed something sticky into her hands, then through his hair. She smoothed and squished and then whipped off the cape and stepped back.
“I’m done.”
He studied himself. The cut was good. Damn good. Unless the crap she’d put on his head gave him a rash, she’d been totally professional.
He stood and reached for his wallet. “How much do I owe you?”
“Seventy dollars, plus tip.” She smiled as she spoke.
His gaze strayed to the sign hanging over the mirrors. The one that said a man’s haircut was seventeen-fifty.
He handed her a hundred-dollar bill. “Keep the change.”
She took the money without blinking. “I will.”
“I can sue you,” he said. “Drag you into court.”
“Interesting. There is the problem of perception,” she told him. “And oral agreements. I’m not a lawyer, of course, but for all intents and purposes, you’re here to firm up the final details. We have a picture to prove it. Do you think after all the promises you made, if you back out and the town takes you to court, we can get punitive damages?”
Shit. Who was this woman?
He sucked in a breath. “You use me, I use you.”
It was as if someone had turned a light on inside of her. Her eyes brightened, her skin flushed and he half expected her to glow.
“Use away,” she said. “Pictures, interviews. I’ll tell the world you’re a god. I’ll even sleep with you if you want.”
He looked her up and down, then smiled slowly. “I just might take you up on that.”
CHAPTER THREE
KERRI PULLED into the driveway in front of her tiny garage and wondered if maybe offering to sleep with Nathan King had been a mistake. He was just cold-blooded enough to take her up on the idea, if only to prove her determination had limits. Which meant she was going to have to prove him wrong by saying yes.
The man was good-looking enough to be appealing under other circumstances, assuming she was into tall, dark and ruthless. But he wasn’t her type. She preferred a man who had a heart. Like Brian, she thought as she got out of her car and waited for Nathan to pull up behind her and do the same.
Her late husband had been perfect—or at least perfect for her. Funny, caring, giving, loyal. Oh, sure, he’d been male, so there were times when he’d made her crazy, but not crazy enough to ever regret marrying him. She knew she’d gotten lucky when they’d met and fallen in love—something she wasn’t expecting to happen again. Lightning didn’t strike twice. Besides, all she cared about these days was getting Cody better. There was no time or energy left over for anything else.
“A strange man in the middle of the day. What will the neighbors think?” Nathan asked as he followed her up the steps and into her small two-bedroom house.
The rental was much like all the other places she’d found over the past few years. Run-down and cheap. The latter was her only requirement. Unfortunately, it usually came attached to the former.
Kerri smiled at him, then led the way into her kitchen. “The neighbors all know who you are. They’re going to think the truth—that you’re here to talk about the money you’re giving to Dr. Wallace’s research facility.”
“I’m here to talk about our deal.”
“Same thing.”
She motioned to the chairs flanking the narrow table in the corner. “I’ll make coffee. It’s that or water. I save the milk for Cody. He needs it more than you do.”
“I didn’t realize there was a milk shortage.” He shrugged out of his jacket and sat at her table.
“There isn’t. Have you priced milk lately? Do you know how much a boy Cody’s age can drink in one sitting?”
“No—to both.”
Right. Because it would never occur to him to check the price of anything. She would bet that he had someone to do his grocery shopping for him. She focused on that because it was a whole lot easier to think about than to remember that Nathan had already been through what she was desperate to avoid—the loss of a child.
“Coffee is fine,” he told her.
She nodded, then dumped the old grounds in the trash, put in a filter, new ground beans, water and flipped the on switch. Unable to put off the inevitable, she turned to face him.
Even sitting, Nathan was a big guy in a relatively small room. She had a feeling he was one of those people who used up an unfair amount of air. He had to be, because it was oddly stuffy in here.
“I’ll have my lawyer draw up the paperwork,” he told her, his expression determined. “Everything will be explained in detail, including the fact that you won’t tell anyone about our deal. You and your son will be available whenever I ask, to do whatever I ask. Charity events, press functions. From now until the zoning commission meets in six weeks. In return, I’ll give Dr. Wallace and his lab fifteen million dollars.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I have terms.”
He glared at her. “No, you don’t. This is not negotiable, Ms. Sullivan.”
“Of course it is. Everything is. And if you’re going to use your money to get me to sleep with you, you should probably call me Kerri. It makes things more special.”
He stood. There was no mistaking his temper. Anger burned hot and bright in the room, making her think that if she could harness a little of that energy, she could cut down on her electric bill.
“I am not using my money to get you to sleep with me.”
“That’s what you said. Before. At the salon.”
“You offered.”
“I was making a point. I will do whatever it takes to get Cody better. Even deal with the devil.”
“You mean me?”
“You’re not the devil.” She tilted her head and stared at him. “You’re a powerful, egotistical man who is too used to getting his way and doesn’t care about other people very much, but you’re not the devil.”
The anger turned icy. “How flattering. Have you considered that you may want to hold off on insulting me until after the money has been transferred?”
She smiled. “You’re not going to change your mind. For what it’s worth, I am grateful.”
“That’s not immediately obvious.”
“Would you be more comfortable if I fawned?”
“No.”
“Then think