Ruby’s eyes go wide, and the pink in her cheeks deepens to red. “An auction?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were just—a collector. A buyer.”

“With a showroom and a building?” I crack a smile just to see what she’ll do. She’s still too surprised to do anything other than stare at me. “No, I do a lot more than just collect. I have an auction space in my building, and a showroom for individual pieces I have for sale. I don’t curate everything into the auctions.”

Ruby furrows her brow, looking down at the tile beneath our feet. It’s warm, the heat collected from the previous days radiating upward, and while she’s thinking I extend her the courtesy of looking around. As I suspected, there’s a pool at the far end of the patio. I’d love to stretch out on a lounge chair right now and watch the light reflect off the waves. It would be far more relaxing than waiting to see what Ruby’s next move is.

The look on her face when she turned around and came back toward the house was pinched and tight, with none of the heat from in the town car. I don’t know what the hell happened. Maybe she’s embarrassed about what she said, and she thinks the only way to keep this professional is to walk it back by acting cold.

“The other company—the man I met with never recommended an auction.”

“That man is not very good at his job. And unless you were ready to contact Sotheby’s, which I suspect you probably weren’t, there was no reason for anyone to suggest it to you. It’s far more work to host an auction.”

“Then why are you offering to do it?” She looks back into my eyes, her expression overflowing with suspicion. “Why would you want to spend your time on something you’ll make less money from?”

“How do you know I’ll make less money?”

“Won’t you make more if I just—” She smiles, a bitter laugh on her lips. “If I just accept your offer and give you everything?”

Do I tell her the truth? My heart hammers against my chest as the seconds tick by. I could make up some convoluted story about how it’s possible that because of the aggressive marketing I’ll do for an auction, I may earn more from the seller’s commission, but if she finds the time and the courage to research this further, she’ll know it’s a lie.

It’s just that it doesn’t make any fucking sense for me to offer this. And I know it.

“Yes.”

Ruby’s mouth drops open an inch. “Then why?”

The reasons that rush through my mind have nothing to do with making the kind of profit I normally aim for—that I’ve been spending the last near-decade of my life aiming for. 

Again, the truth tumbles out. “Because of the way you looked when I offered you a hundred thousand yesterday.”

Her eyes flash with anger. Shit. “Because you feel sorry for me?”

“I don’t feel sorry for you.”

“Then what the fuck?” The red spots high on Ruby’s cheeks darken even more. 

“Does it really matter?” I step closer to her, a single step, and she sucks in her breath. “Does it really matter why I’m offering to do this for you? Isn’t it more important that your parents get the money that they need?”

Her jaw works. “Of course it is.”

“Then why put up a fight?”

“Because...” She looks to the side, bites her lip. When her eyes meet mine again, they’re shining with a layer of tears that she refuses to let fall. “I can’t stand it. I can’t stand the thought of you going through everything here that was supposed to be mine. I especially can’t stand the thought of you doing all this extra work because I—because you pitied me yesterday. Or you thought I was gullible enough to take that offer. Or—” Something changes in her expression. “Are you doing this because it’s a splashier way to make money? Is that it? You just want to take revenge on me for not letting you walk away with everything yesterday?”

I have to shove down the growing irritation in my chest. Ruby is obviously tired. She’s obviously upset. “I don’t need the money.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “You don’t?”

“No. It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference, at least in this instance, whether I buy it all or help you by arranging an auction. Not to me.”

Ruby presses her lips together. “Why not?”

“Ruby, I have all the money I could ever need. My father was a multi-billionaire. I might have undersold his role in the banking industry before, but trust me when I say that he was highly successful. When I turned twenty-one, he gave me the startup money for any business that I wanted, with the caveat that I paid it back to him, with interest. I could have paid him back tens of times by now.”

I don’t say it. If I’m right about the look on her face, I don’t have to. Of course I’m a billionaire in my own right. 

She’s silent, her eyes wide, so I keep going. “You need the money, even if you hate it—and even if you hate me for being the one to get it for you.” I straighten my back. “Anyway, I’m not doing this without some strings attached.”

“What strings?” Her voice is soft, disbelieving.

“I’m going to need access to this property for the next several weeks.”

“Why?”

It comes to me in a flash, the idea fully formed. It’s not conventional at all. The awful truth is that even though Ruby has completely changed her attitude since we got in the car, I still want her badly enough that I’m willing to do just about anything to stay by her side. Even if that means dragging this out—just a little bit. Even if this means an upfront payment I would never offer anyone else. Even if this means taking all of this into my own hands—something I haven’t done since I founded the business.

“Because I’m going to handle your family’s estate personally. I’m going to go through this entire house by hand, selecting the items for the auction.”

“What is wrong with you?” Ruby asks the question with a bewildered look on her face. “If this is just—if you don’t need the money, I don’t understand why you would…”

I can’t resist any longer. I just can’t. I step forward and raise both of my hands to her face, tilting her chin up so that she has to look into my eyes. “I haven’t told you what the catch is yet.”

Her breaths are shallow, and under my touch her skin is warm, verging on hot. “What’s the catch?”

“I’m going to need your help.” Her lips part, just a little, but she doesn’t push my hands away. “I need you to be here with me, at least some of the time.”

It’s underhanded as hell, and I know it. I have the seed of an idea in the back of my mind, but the real reason I want her with me is because I can’t get enough of her. And more time together will give me more chances to show her that I’m not the scumbag she seems to think I am. Although....maybe I am, because I’m about to twist the knife.

“That’s the deal,” I say into the silence. “Take it or leave it. But I’m not coming back a third time to bail you out.”

There’s a pause, but it’s not very long.

“Okay.” She gives a little nod. “Okay. I agree.”

“Good.” I drop my hands from her face and turn back toward the house. “We’ll start on Wednesday, as soon as you’re done with work.”