Chapter One

Alex, good to see you at last,” Joseph said, wrapping his arm around his son’s shoulders and leading him into the den.

“Hi, Dad. Sorry I haven’t made it home in a while. The contract in Spain took a lot longer than I thought. Of course, I’m not complaining, because those beaches were hot, and the women — even hotter.”

“Now, son, there’s more to life than gallivanting all over the world and picking up pretty ladies who don’t have a lick of brains or an ounce of heart,” Joseph admonished.

Alex gave a hearty laugh. He knew his father wanted him and his brothers in shackles — the old ball and chain. He was more than a little suspicious that Joseph had something to do with Lucas’s marriage. Lucas wasn’t complaining, though, and he shouldn’t have been. His wife, Amy, was a true gem, and their daughter was about the cutest thing Alex had ever seen.

“Dad, you know I’m too young to tie the knot. I neither need nor want a woman in my life telling me what to do. I like having many different women to wine and dine. You don’t want to break the hearts of all the single women in Seattle, do you?” Alex asked.

“Son…”

“What were the principles our country was founded on, Father?”

“Well…”

“It’s obvious, Dad. Freedom. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“Are you honestly trying to suggest that the Founding Fathers meant freedom from obligations to posterity?” Joseph worked hard to sound indignant.

Alex knew his father too well to be taken in, so he continued in his joking vein. “Who was it who said, ‘Why should I care about posterity? What has posterity ever done for me? But seriously, Dad, you keep on pushing on me the happiness that Lucas has with Amy and their little Jasmine. But I’m not Lucas.” And that was true.

“Lucas was a playboy like you, Alex.”

“It was always obvious that he’d fall from grace someday, give up the good life and all that for your idea of happiness, the simple pleasures of home and hearth. The two of us are brothers, yes, but not twins like you and George. We’re completely different human beings.” Even when they were children, Lucas had been much more connected with his friends, more of a social animal. Alex was a loner, a guy who liked new challenges and new places, with no regrets at all for his wanderlust and his way of life. “And your ideas, Dad, which seeped through to the poor boy somehow, are from the last century — the last millennium, for heaven’s sake. The world has progressed; people have changed.”

“For the better?” Joseph asked, suppressing an inner smile.

Alex hesitated. “Sometimes.”

If Alex had known what his father had planned for him, he’d have gotten the heck out of Dodge. He’d have found an emergency in a foreign country that couldn’t wait, and then have had his pilot fire up the jet. He loved women, many women — of all shapes and sizes. He loved the way they smelled, the look of a flawless diamond pointing right to the heart of them — their core — and especially the way they felt while lying naked in his arms.

“OK, I quite understand. You like the single life, but you should know you’re breaking your mother’s heart. She wants grandchildren to fill up these cold hallways, but offspring never think of their poor parents. After all, we only sacrifice everything to raise our kids, bandage their wounds and love them unconditionally. There wouldn’t be any reason to want to give back to us, I suppose,” Joseph said with a melodramatic sigh.

Alex had to smile at his father’s antics. He and his brothers were used to the whole guilt-trip special with house whine, since Joseph had it perfected and memorized.

“You know that I appreciate everything you and Mom do for me. Still, it doesn’t mean I’m going to let you put an emotional shotgun to my head and force me down the aisle in a tuxedo while a decked-out and unblushing bride waits with a leering grin. I’m smarter than Lucas,” he said with a wink.

He watched as his father chuckled — a gleam in his eye that had Alex more than a little concerned. At that very moment his dad was thinking, The harder they fight, the more satisfying it is when they fall. Alex was in deep trouble — he just didn’t realize it.

“All right, then. Enough marriage talk,” Joseph conceded. “We have that fundraiser banquet this weekend, and I need you to attend. Neither of your brothers can, because of previous engagements, and it would look bad for the corporation if at least one of my sons didn’t show up to our own fundraiser.”

Alex groaned inwardly. He really hated these auctions, but still, he’d do it. The only reason he despised the events so much was because the people in attendance were boring — with a capital B — and the real reason people went to these “charitable” shindigs was to rub elbows with each other and be seen in the latest fashions from Paris and Milan.

So much more money could be raised if the people simply donated what they spent on clothes and jewelry to wear for those grand parties. Why go through all the motions of a fundraiser?

He was well aware, though, that millions of dollars could be raised in one night because so many of the patrons wanted to be seen handing over their hard-earned dollars. Good publicity and a boost to the ego.

“Let me know when and where. Of course, I’ll do it.” Alex knew he sounded as if he were being dragged to the guillotine instead of an evening filled with great food and dancing. On a positive note, he’d most likely not leave the event alone. And sad to say, it had been a while. As much as he liked the world to think he was a nonstop party boy, he’d slowed down in the last few years. Not that he’d let any of his family know that — his father would surely be hearing wedding bells — heck, the old man would be ringing them himself — if he had even the slightest inkling.

He was just finding the women more and more shallow, their tinkly laughter starting to annoy him, their smiles as fake as their breasts and Botox faces. But Alex shook the thought off as he smiled with confidence at his father. He was sure bringing a woman home for a night of no-holds-barred sex would cure him of his moodiness and lack of interest in beautiful socialites.

“It’s being held at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel on Friday night, starting at nine,” Joseph said.

“At least if I have to go out and act as if I actually care about the newest and greatest fashions, I’ll be in a great place. I always enjoy myself there.”

The Fairmont was spectacular, inside and out. It was listed on the National Register of Historical Places, and the owners had done a fantastic job of bringing in new designs without taking away from its history and grandeur. Alex enjoyed doing business there, and he knew the food would be top quality. He was anticipating his favorite dish, the hotel’s famous Cedar Plank Smoked Salmon.

“Also, could you please keep an eye out for Jessica Sanders? I know it’s been many years since the two of you have seen each other, but her father, John Sanders, is one of my oldest business associates. She’s going to be there alone, as her father’s out of town on business. Do you remember little Jessica?”

“Dad, what have I told you about matchmaking? I can choose my own dates,” Alex grumbled, ignoring the question while losing his normally endless patience. He didn’t want to be set up, especially not with Jessica.

If he had to say it again and again, so be it: a committed relationship or marriage just wasn’t in the cards for him — and in no way did he want kids. He idolized his gorgeous niece, but the family thing was for Lucas, not him. He was still young at thirty-two, and he wasn’t ready to trade in the Lamborghini for a minivan. He shuddered at the thought. That was one reason for his reaction to his dad’s request. Here was another: it was Jessica. They had history together — a strange sort of history — one preferably left buried in the molten depths of the earth.

“I haven’t done any such thing. I know you’re more than capable of finding your own dates,” Joseph grumbled. “Too many, if you ask me,” he added under his breath, but Alex still heard him.

“Dad…” Alex warned, but Joseph was just getting started.

“I didn’t ask you to take her to the fundraiser. I simply asked if you’d keep a lookout for her and say hello — maybe ask for a dance. She’s been away from the Seattle area for a long time and her father said she isn’t used to huge events. She normally avoids them, but this fundraiser is important to her. I know you two haven’t seen each other in years; here are a couple pictures so you can recognize her.”

Alex reached for the photos; he didn’t want to encourage the old man, but his curiosity got the better of him. Wow. She was pretty darned attractive now that she was all grown up. He searched his mind for his last memory of her, trying to recall how many years it had been.

It was like banging on one of those old-time televisions. The fuzzy snow and static stopped and suddenly the last time he saw her started playing in his head.

She’d been sixteen, and more the type of girl the guys had thought kinda cute. Fun to hang out with, but not a girl they asked to the prom. Her hair had always been in a tight ponytail, her clothes rumpled, and shiny braces adorned her teeth. She looked twelve instead of sixteen, and her attitude had told the rest of the world to back off.

Her father had been a wealthy man, so Alex hadn’t understood her desire to dress herself down and try to hide. Most of the rich girls he knew were flashing diamonds and rubies by the time they were ten — when they could sneak out of the house with them, that was. But Jessica didn’t even own a pair of designer jeans.

He recalled she hadn’t been very social, always choosing to sit on the sidelines while everyone else was out having a good time. While he’d been splashing in the water during one of the school’s outings, she’d been on the beach, covered up, and reading a book.

Still, he remembered one time when her parents had been at the house and she’d joined his brothers and him for a game of flashlight tag. After about an hour, Alex had been thrilled he hadn’t been caught yet, taking pride in outwitting his brothers, but he was also impressed at the way shy little Jessica had managed to elude all three of them.

He’d heard a slight noise, and jumped from behind the tree he’d been trying to find a way to climb, when the two of them collided, flying to the ground. She’d landed right on top of him, and he’d discovered for the first time that she had curves hidden beneath her baggy clothes.

Without thought, he’d grabbed her head, pulling her mouth to his. By the time he heard Lucas calling for him, his head was in a fog, and his heart thundering. He slowly opened his eyes to gaze into her shocked ones, then he’d watched in fascination as her cheeks flooded with color.

He couldn’t remember any of his past girlfriends ever kissing with so much passion and enthusiasm. He wanted to pull her back to him and try again — see whether the kiss was really that good, or if he was just imagining it to be.

Before he got the chance, she mumbled an apology, stumbled to her feet, and ran off. He remembered lying there for several moments, his teenage body on fire for a girl he’d never looked twice at before that searing moment. Lucas caught up to him, and Alex dismissed it from his mind, as teenage boys often do.

For the rest of his senior year, he’d started noticing her, finding himself stealing glances, but he’d never approached her again. She’d brushed him off, and he really didn’t like the feeling. Then college had started and life got busy.

He hadn’t run into her again, though he’d heard she’d become a do-gooder, and hadn’t thought about it since — or he’d thought he hadn’t thought about it — but gazing at her pictures, seeing the woman she’d grown into, suddenly had his body tightening again as it had that night so many years ago.

She was softer now, more inviting — stunning, actually. One of the pictures was of her and her father. She had her head thrown back in laughter, while her eyes were rounded, causing a sparkle to shine through the still photography.

Maybe a reunion with the girl he’d once known wouldn’t be so deadly. Alex wondered whether she remembered him. It would be interesting to find out.

“I do remember Jessica. It’ll be a pleasure to say hello, take her for a spin around the dance floor, and catch up on old times,” Alex finally muttered, completely unaware of the knowing look in his father’s eyes.

Alex’s curiosity was piqued, and his father was patting himself on the back. Little did Alex know what was to come…