Chapter 1

The sound of tires screeching and an engine roaring had Hannah Sawyer jolting to attention in the parking lot. From silence to thunder, and in less time than it took her to blink.

Before her, her brother and his dick of a best friend’s company gleamed in the sunlight. And by company, she meant it. This wasn’t just a ‘building’. It was a complex. A whopping five million square feet of reflective windows that made her eyes burn as the sun reflected upon the shades, where military-level secrets and hot shit technology combined to create cars that belonged on episodes of the Jetsons. In fact, she thought even George would be amazed by what went down in these hallowed walls.

Before she could shake her head in surprise—yet again—that her older brother was co-owner of this insanity, she glowered as a bright, cherry-red car squealed to a halt at the front doors.

The squeal was followed by a rip-roaring holler that she immediately recognized.

Aidan, her brother was cool and calm. Not exactly staid, because still waters certainly ran deep, but very chill. In comparison to his business partner, James Arias, he was boring as hell.

Hannah loved her brother. He was a confidante, always had been, and they’d been close since they were little despite the five-year age gap. This company was a vital part of him, and his work took up most of his days. Sure, he had his little thrills, things that would have any man getting giddy, like season tickets to his favorite teams—with private boxes and front row seats where it mattered most. But at heart, he was a geek.

James Arias, however, worked on a whole other scale.

Bland, boring… no. Those were not words that would ever describe James. Mainly because he was an adrenaline junkie par none. Throw in the fact he could buy and sell the President of the United States, was renowned for his engineering flair and his ability to throw a wild party… well, everyone looked uncool in comparison to James.

Not that she approved.

The guy was a jerk.

It didn’t matter how many holiday dinners he attended at her parents’ house. Once a jerk, always a jerk. Even if said jerk looked ridick cute in the fugly sweater she’d bought him last Thanksgiving—a Reindeer complete with a nose that glowed thanks to a battery pack he had to smuggle in his jeans’ pocket. Sure, he’d been game to wear that monstrosity, but it didn’t mean she had to like him.

He was bad news. Always had been.

She’d been crossing the parking lot toward the building when the new-model Arias car had slalomed onto company property. Only James would have no shame when handling what she knew was a prototype. That information alone told her that, even as she jumped at the squeals the car was making, she’d be crossing paths with him far sooner than she’d intended.

When he leaped out of the car, a huge grin on his face from the adrenaline of speeding around land belonging to him—which meant he could do whatever the hell he wanted, when he wanted—she had to admit, the bastard was cute.

And when he clamped eyes on her, the astonishment on his face didn’t make him look a doofus. If anything, he looked even hotter. His hair was like gold. Seriously. Gold. She couldn’t make up the color if she tried. It was so many shades of bronze and blond, silvery highlights and dark copper strands, that it should have looked like he’d spent a good ten hours a week in the salon. But he’d had gold hair for as long as she could remember. Plus, no stylist was so crazily good.

Even when it came down to looks, nature had been kind to the dick. Not only did he have hazel eyes that could cut through a woman’s defenses before she could do little more than giggle, he was tall—closer to six-two than six-five—had the body of a gym bunny, and constantly wore suits that were like a female version of porn.

In fact, scratch that, he was walking porn.

There, she’d said it.

But if looks hadn’t been enough of a blessing, then there were the five billion blessings he’d had in his bank account since he’d gained control of his trust fund.

She couldn’t complain too much about that. With that trust fund, he’d plowed nearly two-thirds of it into her brother’s whacko genius brain, and Arias was the result. Though the investment had been all him, he still gave Aidan a fifty percent share.

The jerk could be generous.

She’d never said he was all bad, but neither was he as great as everyone thought.

“Hannah?” His voice was like molten chocolate. “Is that you?” He squinted against the sun, and she realized she was mostly in shadow, that was why he couldn’t recognize her.

Despite her agitation, she’d been ready to snarl at him, wondering how many women he’d had to have kissed of late if he’d forgotten what she damn well looked like, but her being in shadow enabled Hannah to forgive him.

Barely.

She nodded at him. Tightly. Unbending enough to smile at him slightly, she murmured, “Yep, it’s me, James. How are you?”

They hadn’t spoken since Labor Day weekend. There was a very good reason for that.

His eyes were filled with flames that scorched her as he raked his gaze over her. She felt every single ounce of that perusal, and though she wanted to reject it, wanted to fail to respond to it, she couldn’t.

Everything female within her clenched down in response. Hard.

Why? Hannah wanted to rail at her body. Why him?

Of all the men, in all the world, why James Arias?

With his cocky, risk-seeking missile nature, and more money than sense, he wasn’t an easy man. He wasn’t a comfortable one either. And all she’d wanted, for as long as she could remember, was someone comfortable. Someone who, sure, could rile her up between the sheets, but in life? No way. She wanted security. Steadfastness. Not this insanity. Not a man who made her question everything she knew and held dear.

Who, without even being a part of her everyday world, could make her destabilize everything she’d been working toward. The thought had her gulping.

The past week had been… tiring. Well, that was an understatement. She was exhausted, and jet lag wasn’t the source of the kind of fatigue that made her feel shaky in the early winter sun.

“I’m fine. How are you?” he asked, but his voice was husky, and his gaze was still raking over her like she was hot coals and he was being burnt by the embers.

The trite trivialities made her sigh. “I’m okay, I’m here to see Aidan,” she replied. When he flinched, she realized she’d put that point across a little too well.

But it was imperative he realize she wasn’t here to see him.

She wasn’t one of his bunnies that flocked to him whenever he appeared, like he was a magnet and they were rusty iron filings.

He couldn’t just click his fingers and she’d appear.

No way.

She had too much self-respect. Too much pride.

So what, they’d kissed.

A kiss did not mean anything, she reassured herself, as she’d done a thousand times.

And just because the man made her panties reject all laws of physics and spontaneously combust whenever he was in her line of sight, well, that didn’t mean a damn thing either. No, James might be a part of her life because of Aidan, but that was it.

There was nothing between them.

And maybe if she repeated that mantra a thousand times she’d finally start believing it.

“He’s in his office,” he told her, eying her like she was a sundae he wanted to dive into headfirst.

Hannah wanted to snap at him, demand he stop looking at her like that, but instead, she let out a sigh. There was no stopping him from doing a damn thing. He did what he wanted. Always had, always would.

“I know. I called before I came” she said.

James frowned at her words. His lust-filled gaze snapping away to be replaced with concern and curiosity. It wasn’t the first time she’d noticed she was one of the few who could make him look past business. Though he was a risk junkie, he was shrewd. Very, very shrewd. His business acumen was beyond belief, and his head was always in the game. But not with her. Never with her. It was like he was just a regular Joe, except regular Joes didn’t have access to million-dollar prototypes that they drive like joyriding yahoos.

“Why are you here?” he asked, breaking into her thoughts. “Washington’s a long way from Florida.”

Like she was unaware of that… “My jet lag confirms the fact it’s a long way between the two states, James. I don’t need you to tell my body clock that,” she declared dismissively. Her reasons for being here were none of Aidan’s business, never mind James’. She didn’t have to tell him a damn thing.

His frown deepened. “You haven’t slept yet?” Did his voice have to get huskier at that question?

“No. I came here straight from the airport.”

His eyes widened for a second then instantly narrowed. When his jaw tensed, his lips flatlining, she knew he was pissed. “You drove,” he stated flatly. “What the hell were you doing driving here? You should have brought a cab, or at least told Aidan. He’d have sent a car, Hannah. Fuck. You put yourself in danger, it’s a wonder you didn’t crash.”

“I’m okay, James,” she repeated tiredly, not at all in the mood for this kind of conversation. She didn’t need his protection. Didn’t need him at all. Well… She shook her head at the thought. Need and want were two different things, weren’t they?

“I just wanted to see my brother,” she continued.

“You drove while jet-lagged, Hannah. That’s beyond irresponsible.”

“What are you? My father? Damm, James, what I do or don’t do with my life is none of your business,” she spat.

The steel was back in his eyes. Not because he was back in business mode but because he was pissed. Majorly. “Giving a shit about whether you live or die is none of my business?” He pursed his lips. “I don’t remember you being so… challenging the last time we were together.”

Irritation flared through her at the pointed reminder. Like she needed him to bring that up. “We said we wouldn’t discuss that, and though I rarely hold you at your word, I’d like to think that this is one occasion where I can have faith in what you say.”

For a second, she knew she’d floored him. He reared back, his leg bumping into the low-slung monster of a machine behind him. She tried not to feel satisfied by his reaction, but there was no point in lying to herself—she was. Very satisfied.

He looked hurt, and though it wasn’t kind, she was glad.

James was so, so… fickle.

Volatile.

Dangerous.

She sucked in a sharp breath, damning herself for comparing him to Mark who was controlling but safe, determined but capable of relenting. Everything James wasn’t.

That had always been enough for her. Always. Ever since she’d met Mark at her firm, Haywardy & White, she’d always been attracted to his rather contradictory nature. Though he was her boss, Mark was strong and assertive, but at the same time, he could laugh and smile at himself. Those self-effacing traits made him quite charming.

But no matter how charming he was, it wasn’t enough. Well, not to beat James. Not anymore.

Not that he had to compete. Well, not before.

With her own thoughts irritating her, she snapped, “Don’t look at me like I’ve just told you I’ve drowned your puppy, James. You know exactly what I think about you.”

He was quiet a few seconds. “Actually, Hannah, I think you’ll find I don’t know. Well, didn’t.” His nostrils flared with evident irritation. “Do you care to tell me why you have that pretty shitty opinion of me and my word?”

“You’re reckless, James. I could deal with you being reckless with your own life, but my brother is too close to you. He’s like Icarus and you’re the sun. One day, he’s going to get burned and it’s not going to end up with him being partner in a billion-dollar company.”

His eyes narrowed in irritation. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Hannah exhaled and replied, “I didn’t say it’s a bad thing. I’m proud of him. I’m well aware that he earned his place here, and that it wasn’t handed to him just because you’re friends. You’re partners. That’s good. It’s the other stuff that concerns me.”

“It’s amazing how you have such a crap opinion of me when you’re thousands of miles away for most of the year.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Pray tell how you managed to make such assumptions about me from a distance? Reckless, am I? How do you know, Hannah?”

For a second, she just stared at him. Astonishment whispered through her veins as she realized he truly had no idea what she was talking about.

It was either because he was so used to being fawned over that he believed his own press, or he simply had no idea what he was like.

But the latter… was that even possible?

She waved a hand at the car. “That’s the Arias Orion, isn’t it?”

James seemed surprised at her knowledge if his wide eyes were anything to go by, at any rate. “Yes. It’s our newest model.”

She sighed yet again, “I know. Aidan’s always so excited about his projects that they bleed into our conversations when we call each other.” Pursing her lips at him she explained, “I also know that that is the single model in existence. It’s the prototype. And yet, though it’s worth a small fortune, and though the technology wrapped up inside it has far-reaching consequences, you’re driving it around like a joyrider.” She sneered at him. “But then, once a joyrider, always a joyrider, I suppose.”

For a second, he just gawked at her, then, to her irritation, he flung his head back and laughed. She stood there watching him, enraged fury throttling her as he mocked her. Unable to stand it for much longer, she started to step away, but the sound of her heels against the concrete jerked him out of his humor and he grabbed her arm to halt her in her tracks.

“Oh no, you can’t just throw that at me and not allow me to defend myself,” James remarked.

“I don’t have to do anything. You asked me a question, and I answered. You think you can buy everyone off, James. That your money makes you infallible. Well, that might be the case, but people like you… it’s the poor bastards around them who get burned. My brother means the world to me. He always has. You hurt him, and I’ll…”

When he’d dragged her to a halt, he’d pulled her closer to him. In her irritation, she hadn’t noticed. Until now. They were so close, she could feel his breath on her mouth. His body heat was immense. It seemed to glow from him, enshrouding her in the blaze. She felt hot, flushed. Her cheeks would be pink, she knew, and she hated that. Had always hated her reaction to him.

She. Could. Not. Be. Bought.

But the shitty thing was, he didn’t have to buy her. He’d never had to resort to anything so debase. She had a nasty feeling that she’d always react to him. It didn’t matter that she and Mark were dying a death together, and it didn’t matter if she suddenly met a Christian Grey who’d sweep her off her feet. She’d met so many men in her line of work. So many different kinds. Eclectic to disciplined, artists to entrepreneurs. None of them caused the same reaction in her. No way, no how.

She just had to be in the same room as James, and all of a sudden, her heart rate soared.

How she hated that.

Hated. It.

Some days, she felt sure she hated him. Because for a man who lived so far away, whose frame of influence extended to her brother and no further, he was in her thoughts too much. Affecting her world and her life in ways she’d never signed up for.

Almost as though his thoughts were similar to hers, he breathed, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

And then, he bowed his head and kissed her.

Right there.

In front of his building, employees, guests and visitors alike, James Arias kissed Hannah Sawyer like there was no tomorrow, and God help her, she loved it.