To the best of my knowledge, there isn’t a how-to guide that a guy can use as a kind of blueprint when he asks an attractive woman to marry him and bear his first-born child simply so that the guy can gain controlling interest in the family company. But I don’t need a book to tell me I’m messing this entire situation up.

Caitlin’s green eyes grow so huge, they seem to take over her entire face. She touches the base of her throat, her dark green nail polish striking a sharp contrast with her pale skin. The tip of her tongue moistens her lips. I stare at the damp skin, wondering what it will taste like. Hoping I get the chance to find out.

“Excuse me?” she whispers.

As much as I don’t want to explain the situation, I know I don’t have much of a choice.

“Have you heard of my brother, Evan?”

“He’s your twin, right?” Her brow furrows as she searches her memory banks for information about Evan. “He was arrested a few years ago. Assaulting an officer or something like that.”

I grimace and nod. “That and drunk driving, which is what started the whole thing, and then resisting arrest. I’m pretty sure there was also a contempt of court and one or two other charges as well by the time they threw his ass into a prison cell.”

And then there was what I found when I took over Caldwell Industry. I’d never reported it. I should have, but every time I picked up the phone to talk to the authorities, I remembered the expression on my mom’s face when the judge read Evan’s final sentence. The pain and shock of knowing what he was capable of when he was blind drunk and angry had almost destroyed her. There was no way I could live with what would happen to her if she ever found out what he was really like.

Sticking to the bare minimum, I give Caitlin the details of what I’ve just learned about my father’s will. I fully expect her to bolt long before I finish the story—it’s what I’d do if I were in her shoes—but she doesn’t. She hears me out.

“That’s insane. You’d really go through such a huge-life changing thing like getting married … having a child, just for two percent of one company. Isn’t owning forty-nine percent of it enough? Will the two percent you get really make you that much richer?”

I move the hand that’s on the back of her chair and catch hold of her ponytail, playing with the soft ends. “It’s not about the money.”

“Really?” Skepticism flashes in her almond-shaped emerald eyes. “’Cause from where I’m sitting, this sounds like a money thing. That or a pissing contest between you and your brother, one with really high stakes.”

“I can see how you’d think that, but my brother, he didn’t do a very good job with this company when he had the opportunity to run it. He wasn’t the best boss to the employees.” If I could bring myself to tell her all that he’d done she’d have a better understanding of what she was dealing with, but I can’t. I’ve never told anyone. “The only way I can protect them from being put through that kind of stress again is by making sure that I maintain a controlling interest in things.”

Caitlin rubs her temple. “And how the hell did I get dragged into this scheme? You saw me in the elevator and thought, hey, she looks like just the kind of sap that makes for a perfect bride and mother?”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, despite the tension in the room, I can’t help myself. I laugh.

Something about the fact that she’s able to be witty and poke a little fun at the situation causes something in my chest to relax and warm. Something that feels just a little, I’m almost afraid to think it, like hope.

“Not quite, though I certainly noticed you. You’re too pretty not to be noticed.”

She blinks. “Really?”

Whoa! She honestly has no idea that she’s attractive, even dressed in an ugly suit and wearing minimalistic makeup. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her about my little fantasy while we were traveling together, but my instincts warn me that those words will be too much for her and she’ll bolt.

“Really,” I assure her. I stroke her cheek with the back of one finger, enjoying the way my knuckles slide over her silky skin. “You’re very pretty.”

For a split second, her eyes glaze over, like she’s falling under a spell, but she gives herself a shake and leans away from my touch.

“Why me?” she demands, her tone firm.

“Janet told me about your financial situation.” I wince inwardly, wishing I’d thought of a way to be more tactful as she pales. “She said that you were considering becoming a surrogate mother in order to earn some more money. She thought you’d find this option to be more appealing.”

Caitlin leaps to her feet, the sudden movement sending her chair toppling over backwards. “I can’t do this.”

“Caitlin, wait.” Before she can bolt past me, I grab her hand, pulling her so close to my side our body heat mingles. “I know this is a lot to ask, but don’t write me off right away. I think that this is a situation that, as long as we approach it with cool heads and reasonable expectations, we’ll both get what we want … what we need. So give it some thought, weigh your options. Then, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get together tonight and see what you think.”

I fully expect her to tell me to go to hell. I think that’s what she expects to say, but when she opens her mouth, the words “I’ll consider it, but that’s all I can promise” tumble past her lips.

“Thank you,” I murmur.

Rather than releasing her hand, I lift it and bow my head. Knowing she’s expecting a chaste, old fashioned kiss on the palm or knuckles, I rotate it at the last second, touching my lips, followed by the tip of my tongue, to the sensitive spot on the inside of her wrist. My eyes hold hers captive the entire time. She gasps and a flush stains her cheekbones. After a second, she tugs her hand free and bolts from the room.

The salt from her skin tickles my tongue as satisfaction wings through me. Her reaction soothed me, assured me that I’m not the only one being blindsided by unexpected lust.