That had been the day he’d decided he was keeping her.

“Even though I hired you as a favor to Jackson, I kept you on because you’re doing a hell of a job. You’ve earned the right to be here.”

Kay looked down at her shoes, clearly embarrassed by the praise. “Thanks. I’ve been enjoying it. This is certainly the most unusual job I’ve ever had.”

“Good. I’m a lot of things, but I hope I’m never boring. So, did we get word yet about our bid for the Alexander Foundation youth project?”

Kay was suddenly very interested in the pattern of the carpet. “Yes, sir. Unfortunately, we were outbid.”

“We were outbid? Damn it.” Nick pounded his desk in frustration. He’d started the Alexander Foundation to help kids who hadn’t been lucky enough to grow up with parents like his. He’d been searching for months for the perfect piece of land to build his retreat for troubled youth.

Not that he hadn’t always wanted to help others, but watching his little brother fall head over ass in love had made him start thinking about the future. Being a bachelor had always suited him. His brothers, Bennett and Elliott, seemed to feel the same way. They had the freedom to do what they wanted and when they needed a fix of family time, they had a blast playing uncle to Jackson’s two boys, Chris and Jase.

Marriage and parenthood were things he’d considered to be on a distant horizon. He knew he’d want them one day, but that day had never seemed particularly close.

Lately though, as he spent more time with Jackson and Ridley, he wondered if that time was finally here. Actually, if he was honest, it was spending time with his future sister-in-law, Raina Winters, that had him thinking differently.

Their one-night stand earlier in the year had rocked him down to the core. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since. But she obviously hadn’t felt the same way—she’d avoided his calls and emails afterward. They’d been forced to spend more and more time together lately as Jackson and Ridley planned their wedding. He’d hoped their forced interaction would cure him of his obsession, especially since they seemed to annoy each other at every opportunity.

Unfortunately, as time went on, he fell deeper in love and she became more and more indifferent.

“I’ve already starting working on the bid for the next site on our list,” Kaylee assured him. “I know we’ll find something soon.”

“Great. I was really hoping to get this project off the ground before winter, but I guess that was too good to be true.”

“It’s an amazing project. It’s going to help a lot of kids. You might want to be careful, Mr. Alexander. You’ll tarnish your image as a happy-go-lucky playboy. People might actually start taking you seriously.”

Nick tried and failed to crack a smile. “We can’t have that, can we?”

Normally it wouldn’t bother him to joke about his playboy status. He’d always done whatever he wanted and hadn’t cared if other people liked it or not. It was only in recent months that his lack of relationship experience had been a problem and his reputation had stood in the way of him getting something he wanted.

Someone he wanted.

All he could do was hope she’d finally thaw toward him a little. She didn’t have his cell phone number, but she knew she could always reach him at his office.

He could only hope, anyway.

“Any messages?” he asked. Most of his family called him on his cell phone, so he doubted there were.

“Oh yes, just one.” Kay raced back out to her desk and then reappeared a few moments later. “Your brother wanted to remind you that you were supposed to come over and look at his investment portfolio today.”

“Which brother?”

Kay looked up from the paper. “Huh?”

Nick smiled. “Which one of my brothers? I have three.”

“Oh. Right! Sorry, it was Jackson. Actually, it was Ridley who called but she told me to say the message was from your brother,” Kay said sheepishly.

“No worries. I know firsthand how hard it is to say no to my future sister-in-law.”

“Yeah. Ridley is awesome. Anyway, I’ll bring in that new bid when I’m done with it.” She nodded at him and then turned to leave.

Just before she reached the door, Nick called out, “Kaylee? Just out of curiosity, did you happen to hear who won the bid?”

She stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn. “Yes, sir. It was Steven Silvestre. Again.” She rushed out and pulled the door closed behind her.

*   *   *   *   *

RAINA PARKED BEHIND Jackson’s car and sat staring at the house for a moment. Her phone let out a chirp. Recognizing Steven’s ringtone, she immediately answered.

“Hey, there you are! I’ve been trying to get in touch with you since yesterday.”

“I know, I’m so sorry about that. Negotiations aren’t going well here. I meant to call you last night and then just passed out when I got back to my hotel.”

She’d always loved Steven’s voice, perfectly smooth and well-modulated. At thirty-four, he was just so much more mature than the other guys she’d dated.

“I’m sure you were exhausted. I know you’re working really hard on this deal. I just missed hearing your voice, that’s all.”

There was an awkward pause as if he didn’t know how to respond.

“Well, I’ve missed you, too. I’m flying back in tomorrow. Let me have the honor of taking you to dinner. You pick the place. We haven’t had time to really talk in a while. There’s been a lot going on.”