Chapter 1

Marlee Dunn walked up to the reception desk and smiled at the grey-haired lady behind it. “I’m here to see Colton Dunn.”

The receptionist frowned. “Do you have an appointment?”

A deep male voice rumbled out of the office behind the desk. “She doesn’t need an appointment. Send her in, Sandra.”

The receptionist frowned sternly at her. Marlee gave her a polite smile and strolled around the reception desk and through the open doors. A tall, well-built man in a grey suit jumped up from his desk to meet her. He threw his arms around her and lifted her off the ground to spin her in a circle. “There’s my one and only baby sister. How was the flight?”

Marlee kissed him on the cheek warmly. “It was great, especially since you bought me a first-class ticket.”

He looked even better than she expected. His suit hid his muscled chest, but she felt his solid bulk through his clothes. He’d gotten bigger since she saw him last, and had clearly been taking care of himself. She would be able to give her mother a good report when she got home for sure. 

His blue eyes sparkled, and his gelled hair stuck up in the front. He threw his weight around the office with reckless confidence. He was king inside these four walls—and in the rest of this skyscraper office building of his. He had certainly done well for himself since he left home.

He set her on her feet. “I couldn’t let you ride in the cattle section, could I. Where’s your luggage?”

“I left it down in the lobby. I’m sure you don’t want it cluttering up your office.”

He waved his hand. “Forget it. You’re not going to be stuck around here long enough to clutter up anything. Take a seat over there. I just have to finish something up, and then I’ll take you to my place.”

Marlee made herself comfortable on a modern-looking couch by the window. Colton’s impressive office overlooked the city in three directions. She watched freight ships plowing into the river while Colton tapped on his computer.

In the middle of her reverie, another man entered the office without knocking or announcing himself in any way. He walked in like he owned the place. He cast the same commanding glance around the place as Colton did.

This man wore a black wool suit with a T-shirt underneath. She could not help but notice how the thin cotton stretched over his bulging chest, and his jacket sleeves pinched around the armpits. His thighs tightened inside his pant legs when he bent over to set a tablet on Colton’s desk.

He moved around the desk to stand next to Colton’s chair. His buzzed blonde hair stood up an inch taller on top than the rest of his close-cropped scalp, and sharp grey eyes flashed once at Marlee. He got as far as, “Take a look at these figures I just pulled up from the City Council....” before he stopped in mid-sentence. He straightened up and fixed his eyes on Marlee. “Well, what do we have here? You didn’t tell me you had a date, Colton.”

Colton stood up to block his view. “Don’t even think about looking at her, Ash. That’s my sister over there, so you’ll stay away from her.” Colton asserted.

Ash's eyes popped wide open. “Your sister!”

Colton scooted around the desk. “Yes, my sister. She’s here to spend Christmas with me, not to fend off your advances.”

Ash’s hand flew to his heart. “Colton, I’m hurt. You should know I wouldn’t make advances on your sister.”

Colton came to Marlee’s side. “You better not, or you’ll answer to me.” He turned to Marlee. “This is my partner in crime and my right-hand man, Ash Hobbs. He’s the most notorious bad boy on Broadway, so keep a safe distance. He could go off at any moment.”

Marlee laughed and held out her hand to Ash. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He bowed over her hand and closed his eyes. “I’m sure the pleasure is all mine.”

The minute he let go of her hand, he opened his eyes and gave her a once-over. Marlee understood that look from men. He swept her up and down, from her curly chestnut hair layered around her face, to her tight jeans tucked into the leg warmers wrapped over her Doc Martin boots.

On the way back up to her face, he followed the healthy curves under her tan leather jacket. He couldn’t fail to notice the cleavage hiding under her woolly scarf. His eyes widened again when he realized she caught him looking.

Colton instantly took control of the situation. “Ok. You’ve been introduced. Now show me your figures, and then I’m taking Marlee to lunch. I need to drop her off at my place so that she can get settled. Then I’ll meet you back here in time for the meeting.” Colton turned back to Marlee. “Sorry for the bad timing, but we have a big negotiation meeting with the city later this afternoon. The place is in an uproar, but you don’t want to hear all about that.”

“No, I would love to hear all about it,” she returned. “I barely know anything about what my only brother does for a living. I want to hear everything about everything.”

“Well, we don’t want you underfoot this afternoon,” Colton told her. “Once I get you taken care of, I need to concentrate on this meeting to the exclusion of everything else. You’ll be a lot more comfortable at home than here. After the meeting, we can live it up, and I’ll show you all around town.”

“I know,” Ash interrupted. “After the meeting, I’ll take you both out to dinner to celebrate knocking this contract out of the park.”

Colton narrowed his eyes at his friend. “If we knock it out of the park, you mean.”

“We will. Come on. What do you say? We’ll all want to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labors.”

“That sounds great,” Marlee replied. “Thank you.”

Colton frowned. “You better not be trying anything.”

“What could I be trying?” Ash asked. “I just offered to take you and your sister out to dinner. You deserve it, after the hours you’ve been slaving on this contract.”

“All right,” Colton replied. “As long as it’s just dinner.”

“And maybe a drink afterward,” Ash added.

“What’s wrong with that?” Marlee asked. “I want to get out and see the city. I don’t want to be stuck in your apartment for three weeks.”

“Great. Then it’s all settled.” Ash headed back to the desk. “Come on. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Colton hesitated one more second. Then he shook himself and returned to Ash’s side. The two men bent over the tablet while Marlee went back to looking out the window. She got so interested in the sights spread out below her; she didn’t hear a thing until Colton tapped her elbow. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

Marlee looked around. Ash had gone, along with his tablet. “Where’s your friend?”

“He went back to his office. He’ll work straight through lunch, so we have every scrap of information in hand when we meet the City Council.”

Marlee followed him to the elevator and out of the building. “What’s this contract you’re working on?”

“Just another transportation contract,” he replied. “We negotiate on behalf of the shipping companies bringing freight into the Harbor. Most contracts don’t require this much rushing around. This one’s different, though. The City wants to impose some new restrictions, and the shipping companies want the City to front up with some concessions to make shipping easier, not harder. On top of that, City wants them to pay an additional duty on every container that comes in. Meanwhile, the shipping companies want the City to pay them a percentage of their profits to encourage trade. It’s a big jumbled morass of competing charges and demands.”

Marlee gazed at her brother in awe. “And you’re in the middle of all that? It’s amazing. How did you ever work yourself up to this?”

He chuckled. “By the sweat of my brow, little sister. By the sweat of my brow. No, seriously. It’s not that complicated when you learn the ropes. Besides, the thornier the negotiation, the more we get paid. That’s why we put in so many extra hours. We have to know what we’re talking about when we walk through that door.”

“By ‘we,' I assume you mean you and Ash.”

Colton twisted two fingers together. “We’ve been like this ever since we left business school. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and he says the same thing about me. We’re the two chocolate cookies in the Oreo sandwich,” he chuckled.

“So what’s the filling?”

“Anything that makes money. We tackle it together, and we don’t leave it alone until we kick its ass.”

Marlee nodded. “I can believe it, looking at the two of you. You’re at the top of your game, as well as being at the top of this building of yours.”

Colton waved his hand aside. “That’s nothing. I’m just happy you’re here. There’s nothing like family. It gets lonely living out here on the opposite side of the country from the rest of you.”

Marlee squeezed his hand. “Mom and Dad miss you, you know. Heck, we all miss you, but they’ll be glad when I tell them how well you’re doing. Now if you would just get married, they’d be in heaven.”

Colton laughed and held the elevator door open for her. She collected her suitcase from the lobby and met him by the front door. “Now what do we do? Are you going to hail a cab to take us there?”

He stared at her. “A cab?”

“Yes, a cab. It’s freezing out there, and I don’t want to wheel this suitcase all the way to your apartment.”

He gave her one more incredulous stare. Then he snorted with laughter. “We’re not taking a cab. We’re going in that.”

He pointed to a black limo parked in front of the building. He took hold of Marlee’s suitcase and pushed his way through the door. He left her standing there with her mouth open like an idiot. That? They couldn’t be going in that.

A blast of cold air rushed through the door behind him. It tossed his jacket aside, but he squinted into it and wheeled the suitcase to the limo. The driver got out, and the trunk popped open. The driver hoisted the suitcase into the back, and Colton propped open the passenger door.

He came back in and hooted. “Man, it’s cold out there! Come on. The heater’s on. You’ll be warm in the limo.”

He didn’t give her any chance to argue. He grabbed her hand and tugged her through the door. The wind hit her like a freight train, but he kept her moving and shoved her into the limo. The next minute, he ducked in behind her and slammed the door.

He threw himself back in the seat. “Whoo! That wind cuts like a knife.” He glanced over at her. “Are you all right?”

She couldn’t stop staring at everything around her. She was NOT riding in a limo through the streets of New York with her gazillionaire brother. It just couldn’t be happening. She knew he was rich, that he fought his way to the top of his game—but not this. He couldn’t be this rich.

He didn’t break in on her thoughts again until she shuddered and shook her head. “I had no idea, Colton.”

He looked out the window. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, okay?”

Marlee’s head shot up. “Why not? You should be proud of yourself. You earned this.”

“I don’t want them to think I’m getting big in the head or anything. I don’t mind you knowing. I wouldn’t want them to think I’d changed or anything.”

“You have changed, Colton,” she insisted. “You’ve changed for the better. You’ve played the game, and you won. Anybody would be proud of you. I’m proud of you.”

“I want them to think I remember where I came from, and for them to feel I’m still their little boy.”

Marlee couldn’t help but laugh. She hopped over to the other seat and hooked her hand through his elbow. “You’ll always be their little boy, and you’ll always be my brother. We’re all proud of you, and I’m more proud of you now than I ever thought possible. You’re a big success, and I’m glad I get to be the one to visit you like this. I missed you.”

He squeezed her arm. “I missed you, too. It’s been too long.”