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He wouldn’t call himself a research nut by any means, but he damn well knew how to find out about a person if need be. He had taken to the internet in the hope that he’d learn more about her, assuming she was some high-powered attorney.
What he’d learned had left him even more intrigued.
The Wildes were easy to research. He’d simply entered the name of the ranch and, presto, a virtual flood of information was at his fingertips. It had taken a while, but he’d eventually uncovered information about Sinclair.
Pictures of her on the Wilde Ranch had shown a young woman he didn’t believe could possibly be the sophisticated woman portrayed in both the smooth-toned voice mails she’d left on his phone and the succinct emails she’d sent.
Further stealth-mode investigation had showed that it was indeed the same woman. Not only was she on the Wildes’ website, there had been a hyperlink that directed him to her own website. Her bio had been impressive.
She appeared young, too young for the accomplishments listed in her biography. He’d frowned. Although young, she’d built quite a name for herself in her area of expertise in law.
Now working primarily as the lawyer for the Wildes, from what Nick had been able to learn from his internet search, she’d also had dealings in corporate law. She had interned with a prestigious law firm in Cheyenne, Wyoming, before returning home. She’d listed the Wyoming Wilde Ranch as home and he’d frowned, wondering if she had grown up on the ranch.
Just as on the A’Kela Ranch, Nick knew that many of the larger, successful ranches had generations of family members that worked and lived on the ranch. He’d guessed she was a family member.
He’d reached out and called her. In a voice low and sexy, feminine yet husky, she’d had him hard as hell, sitting up in his seat and listening intently to the low-toned voice smoothly inform him of her clients’ wish to settle this unfortunate incident with as little “fanfare” as possible.
It had taken a minute for the insult to register.
And now, after four months of cyber interacting, she was on her way to the ranch. All that cyber interacting had him on edge.
He felt his cock stir at the thought. Unconsciously he adjusted himself within his jeans. If she made him feel in person even the slightest bit as she had during their previous interactions—verbal heated conversations, sharply worded yet oddly arousing emails and voice mails... He shook his head.
Hell, yeah. Things were about to get really interesting around the Kealoha ranch.
* * *
As he told his brother about his dealings with Sinclair Adams, Key remained silent throughout the conversation, down to Nick’s informing his twin of the woman’s upcoming arrival.
After he finished speaking, he waited.
It hadn’t taken long.
“What?” Nick asked, mildly irritated and somewhat unnerved by his twin’s silence and sharp regard—two things he didn’t necessarily like linked when it came to his brother and his uncanny ability to know what was on Nick’s mind.
Key simply raised a thick brow and shrugged, coffee mug in hand, his gaze steady and intense.
“What what? I didn’t say anything,” Key replied. He brought the rim of his coffee mug to his mouth and took a casual sip, his eyes still focused on Nick.
Nick’s brows bunched.
“Nothing to say, bro?”
“What do you want me to say?” Key threw back the question, shrugging. “I have better things to do. Besides, you know my stance on that situation.”
Nick pushed away from the counter where he’d been lounging, feigning a nonchalance he was far from feeling, and just as casually as his brother, refilled his coffee mug.
“Better things to do? Like you and Sonia producing the next generation of Kealohas?”
Two could play the game. Just as Key had an eerie ability to know what was going on with him, Nick could do the same with his twin.
One of the many perks of being an identical twin and for that same twin to be his best friend.
If he wasn’t in such a mood, he’d laugh at the expression on Key’s face.
“How did you...” Key began, only to stop. He shook his head and barked out a laugh instead. “Never mind.”
Nick laughed along with his brother, breaking the tension. He then went on to tell him the details of Sinclair’s impending arrival.
* * *
After listening to Key cuss a blue streak, telling Nick what he thought of his lack of brains, to put it mildly, for not letting the family know “what the hell was going on,” the two men sat at the kitchen table.
Although he really wasn’t up for a “Dr Phil” moment, Nick had haltingly opened up, slightly, to his brother. He was glad when his brother finally reacted.
He’d spared Key the more embarrassing details. Hell, there was no sense in telling his brother what was going on with him. He wasn’t sure what was going on in his own psyche, anyway. And to go into confusing feelings for a woman he hardly knew...? No. That wasn’t going to happen.
He laughed even thinking about it. He could only imagine how Key would look at him. Nick had never really been the type of guy to share his thoughts that easily. Even with his brother, the closest person in the world to him, Nick was still, at times, the clam.
But there had been times in his life, like now, where he’d felt a real need to break the mold. So he opened up a little, at least enough to tell Key that he wasn’t sure how to handle the situation with Sinclair. He’d known he’d have to come clean, if nothing else, to get a feel for his brother’s take on the situation.
As he spoke, Key listened, not saying a word. When Nick finished his succinct tale, Key stood from the table and slapped his brother on the back...hard.
“I’m sure you can handle it, bro. In fact, I know you will,” he stated, his voice emphatic, a tinge of humor laced in.
Nick sat back, puzzled.
His brother continued. “I’m so confident in your abilities that on behalf of the family I’m giving this to you.” The evil gleam in his brother’s eyes, blue eyes that matched his own, should have given Nick fair warning. “Consider this...‘situation’ solely your deal. Dad and I are out of it. I’m sure you’ll figure it all out.”
Again, his brother smacked him on the back.
“What the fu—” Nick bit off the curse, jumping up after his brother’s hearty smack on the back, toppling his chair as he rose. Swiftly he righted the chair and turned to face his brother.
“What the hell, man...that’s it?” he asked, staring at his twin as he calmly walked to the sink, coffee mug in hand.
“Yep. That’s it, Pika,” Key replied, snorting.
Whenever his brother used his nickname, it always set Nick’s teeth on edge. Not because he didn’t like his nickname... He’d been called Pika, which meant “strong” in the Polynesian language, since he was a boy.
Nicknames were nothing new. Key’s legal name was Keanu, but he’d been called Key for most of his life. It irritated Nick because he knew there were times when Key used the nickname simply to screw with him. Something both men considered their God-given right to do: give his twin a hard time.
Nick had always thought of it as good old-fashioned fun. Until he was on the receiving end.
Just as Key placed the coffee mug in the sink to rinse—no one wanted to deal with their housekeeper, Mahi, the longest resident of the ranch outside of the family, and his rants if the kitchen was left a mess—Sonia, his wife, entered.
She quickly spied her husband. A wide grin split her pretty face as she made a beeline for her new husband and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Hmm, last night was amazing, baby,” Sonia purred, her voice low, throaty and intimate, once Key released the death grip he had on his wife’s lips.
“It’s been way too long, baby,” she murmured as Key reached down and captured her lips again. Finally he released her, enough to glance down at her, keeping her within the circle of his arms.
“Yeah, it felt like forever,” Key agreed, his voice barely recognizable it was so low.
Key had been away on an overnight trip, so really it hadn’t been that long, Nick thought, shaking his head.
“Little Alek isn’t going to magically appear, you know. It’s going to take dedication and hard...” He paused and unashamedly pressed his wife close to his body, allowing her to feel which part of hard he was referring to. “Work,” Key murmured, stopping to give Sonia kisses down the line of her throat. “And work...” He paused again to capture an earlobe.
Nick wanted to throw something at the pair...maybe cold water. They were like two dogs in heat.
“And work,” his brother finally finished. His voice was so low Nick suddenly felt uncomfortable.
He felt like a damn voyeur and desperately wanted to get the hell away from the pair. Yet... Against his will, he was fascinated with their play. He watched as his brother bent to kiss away the frown that appeared on his wife’s brow before slanting his mouth over her lips.
“Oh, yeah?” she asked huskily when he released her mouth. Although she was obviously trying hard to keep the smile from her mouth, the dimple in her cheek flashed against her will.
“And who says she is going to be a he?” she asked with a shrug. “We could have a little A’kela in the cards for us,” she said. But the look in her eyes told the real story. Just like his brother, Nick knew his sister-in-law didn’t care either way, boy or girl.
Nick had to glance away; the intense look of love in his brother’s eyes was too much for him to see and not react. And right now he wanted to be pissed at his twin. Not want to hug him.
It was no secret that the couple was trying to have a baby. Neither was it a secret that if the baby was a girl, it would be named after their mother, and if it was a boy, it would be named after their father.
He turned back to the couple and caught the soft look in Key’s eyes and the small smile that graced the corners of his mouth as he steadily regarded his wife of six months.
Had he not loved his brother so much, and truly loved Sonia like a sister, he would feel real envy for the couple. Their love was so tangible; it wasn’t unheard of for one or usually both of them to be totally oblivious of anyone else in the room when they were around each other.
Deep and real.
He turned to leave and would have made it away had he not bumped into the chair he’d just righted, sending it crashing to the floor. He bit off a curse and picked it up.
“Hey, Nick, I didn’t see you there!” Sonia said, a deep stain of color washing over her sienna-colored skin as she realized he’d caught them in an intimate moment.
He grinned widely.
“Not like I haven’t seen you two like this before...disgustingly lost in the moment,” he grumbled playfully, not sparing her. She was family. The Family That Teased Together Stayed Together was his motto.
“In fact, I don’t think I’ll be able to look at the hot tub or the pool again in the same way after last week,” he said. He hadn’t really seen anything. But he’d hazarded a guess that, knowing his brother, something illicit had taken place in the hot tub. Without a doubt. He’d bet his last dollar on the fact they’d gotten busy there.
He brought his attention back to the pair.
His sister-in-law’s eyes opened wide and her head jerked, looking up at Key. Key leaned down, allowing his mouth to hover near her ear.
She blushed even harder at whatever his brother whispered in her ear, halfheartedly slapping away the hand that rested on her butt.
“Key!” she admonished, voice low, yet Nick clearly heard the sensuality in it. “Stop it, we can’t... I have work to do,” she stammered, but when he leaned down to whisper something else in her ear, her eyes widened and she bit the lower rim of her lip.
“Really? We can try that?” She gnawed on her lip, as though considering whatever it was his brother had proposed. “Okay...I’m game if you are. I can do edits later today,” she said, the blush growing. “Or tomorrow,” she finished and, giggling, allowed his brother to lead her away.
Leaving Nick to stare after them, shaking his head.
Freaks.
The grin returned to his face, but soon thoughts of Sinclair filtered back into his brain and how he’d deal with her.
And from the look of things, he’d not be getting any help from his family in “handling” the situation.
Which was perfectly okay with him, considering how...deviant he knew he could sometimes be.
He chuckled at the thought.
Good. He was flying solo. That had always worked best for him. It was best for others, even family, who probably didn’t know just how wicked he could be.
It was time to work on his plan.
Chapter 3
Nick pinched the high bridge of his nose and pulled his glasses away from his face, frowning deeply.
“What’s the problem, old man? Sight not as good as it used to be?”
Startled, believing himself alone, his thoughts still on Sinclair, Nick glanced up and away from the computer screen to see his foreman standing in his office doorway, arms folded over her breasts, eyebrow raised.
“Hmm... Last time I checked, you weren’t that far behind me in age, Alli-oop,” he replied sardonically, a small grin threatening to break free. “What’s up? Come on in,” he said, waving Ailani Mowry inside his office.
“Don’t want to interrupt,” she drawled, yet pushed away from the doorway and ambled inside his office nonetheless.
“Hell, it’s not like I’m getting any work done, anyway,” he growled. Although he wasn’t about to disclose the true reason for his malcontent, he couldn’t keep the irritation away from his voice.
He glanced at the monitor and realized Sinclair’s picture filled the entire screen. He could only imagine Ailani’s reaction if she saw that image as his screen saver. Like he needed that.
Swiftly, casually, he minimized the screen and maximized the previous screen he’d been viewing: a PDF showing the projected budget revenues for the upcoming quarter.
No sooner had the spreadsheet appeared on the screen than Ailani was standing beside the desk, peering over his shoulder.
“Looks like we’re going to be up in revenue significantly for the upcoming quarter,” she commented and, without asking, grabbed for the small chair near the desk. She dragged it over closer to his chair, her eyes never leaving contact with the monitor.
He glanced over at her as she peered at the screen, completely ignoring him and the chair. Ailani and he shared history. No two ways about it, she was a beautiful woman, even as she “hid” her beauty.
More often than not she was seen wearing her long thick hair in a tight French braid tucked beneath the battered pink cowboy hat she’d worn since the beginning of time.
Many had thought the two of them would end up together. But despite growing up together from the time they were children, and the short stint where they’d shared a romance, the two had maintained a platonic relationship.
He continued to watch her as her eyes darted over the graph. When she turned to face him, although her eyes were hidden behind the tinted glasses she typically wore to shield her sensitive eyes, he caught the scrutiny.
“So, tell me. What were you really looking at with such intensity when I walked in, Pika?” she asked, a smirk creasing the corner of her small mouth. “And don’t tell me it was this projection. It’s not even the one from this quarter,” she noted, crossing her arms over her ample breasts and waiting.
His eyes flew to the screen. Sure enough, instead of the PDF showing the budget for the upcoming quarter, it was the one from the last quarter.
Damn. His head was most definitely not in the game.
