Present day
Liam Sanz had driven two days straight to get to California. He could have flown his jet, then picked up a rental car for the month he was going to be forced to stay at Emmett's house, but he'd needed the downtime to clear his head. His assistant had been frantic, unable to reach him in the more rural parts of the country, but he'd enjoyed the silence. There hadn't been enough silence in his life for a long, long time. Even when he was alone, there were still the damn ghosts to contend with. He drove down a long driveway toward a barely visible log house. The place stood surrounded by trees with a view of a lake behind. There were windows and stone steps, along with a heavy double wood door. Liam parked, then climbed out of his Mercedes. Emmett's house had been built just recently, nearly ten years after the death of his friend, but Liam had a feeling that Emmett had left detailed instructions on what it should look like. The place reminded him of Emmett, which was both good and bad. It was just a month, he told himself as he walked around to the trunk and grabbed his suitcase and computer bag. If he stayed in here for a month, per the terms of Emmett's will, the house would be converted to a place for cancer patients and survivors to come for free. Twenty million would be given to the town or charity or something like that. Adam hadn't paid attention to the details. All he knew was that Emmett had asked him for one last favor. Liam had failed his friend enough times to know that this time he had to follow through. He took a single step toward the house, then stopped as the front door opened. The lawyer's letter had promised quiet, an office he could work in and a housekeeper to take care of day-to-day necessities. Easy duty, Liam had thought at the time. Now, as a petite, pretty woman stepped onto the porch, he wasn't so sure. Next to Emmett, who was long dead, she was about the last person he wanted to see. "Hello, Liam," she said. "Eva." Her blue eyes widened in surprise. "You recognize me?" "Sure. Why not?" She drew in a breath. "It's been a long time. We've both changed." "I'd know you anywhere." Which wasn't exactly the truth. He'd kept tabs on Van over the years. It was the least he could do after he'd promised Emmett he would look after his sister. Liam hadn't been able to deal with her in person, but distance made things safer. Easier. The regular reports from his staff meant he wasn't the least bit surprised by her appearance. Although she looked more... feminine than usual. He'd known she'd been working in California on a temporary assignment with JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab), but not the details. He hadn't known she was here. She muttered something under her breath, then said, "Good to know." Her eyes were still as blue as he remembered. The same color as Emmett's eyes. The same shape. Other than that and an easy laugh, the siblings had had little in common. He hadn't seen her in years. Not since Emmett's funeral. And before that— He pushed the memory of her heartfelt declaration and his piss-poor handling of it out of his mind. Let's just say they'd both traveled a lot of years and miles, he told himself. She'd grown up, he thought as she walked down the stairs and stood in front of him. The baby fat was gone. She looked like what she was—a beautiful, sexy woman who was confident of her place in the world. Under other circumstances, he could have appreciated the changes, but not with her. Not with the promises he'd made. "Obviously you received the letter from the lawyer or you wouldn't be here," she said. "You're required to stay for a month. At the end of that time, there will be a brief but meaningful ceremony deeding the house to the town, handing over the keys and the money. "You and the other Samurai are free to mingle and catch up, then you're free to go." She glanced at the single suitcase and computer bag. "You travel light." "Makes it easier to move around." "But it doesn't give you many choices for that unexpected costume party." "Is there going to be one?" "Not that I know of." "Then I'm good." She tilted her head slightly, a gesture he remembered. Funny how he could still see the girl in the woman. He'd always liked the girl. He didn't plan to get to know the woman. He looked her over, then frowned. Was it just him or were her shorts way too short? Not that he didn't appreciate the display of leg, but this was Eva—Emmett's baby sister. And should her shirt really be that... revealing? "I'm staying here, too." Her voice was low and sexy, and had she been anyone else, he would have welcomed the distraction. "Why?" he asked bluntly. "I'm the housekeeper. The one you were promised. I'm here to make your life...easier." There was almost a challenge in the statement. "I don't need a housekeeper." "You're not being given a choice. I come with the property." "That's ridiculous," he said flatly. He happened to know she worked for a DC think tank and was currently on loan to JPL some private company, helping them develop a better solid rocket fuel. "Such language," she scolded gently, then smiled. "It's what Emmett wanted. We're both here because of him." He frowned. He didn't buy her story. Why would Emmett want his sister at the house for a month? But then, he'd asked all his friends to spend time here, so it was possible. Besides, it wasn't as if Eva would want to be in the same house as him. Not after what had happened on her seventeenth birthday. He'd hurt her. He hadn't meant to, but he had, and after the fact he'd been unable to figure out a way to make things better. Then Emmett had died and everything had changed. Or maybe he was making too big a deal out of all this. Maybe Eva didn't give a damn about what had happened...or not happened...between them. "Let's go inside," she said and led the way. They walked into a large entryway with a staircase and a stone floor. The place was welcoming and masculine. It might not be the house he would have built, but it wasn't going to drive him crazy with lots of frills and smelly bowls of dried flowers. "You'll get your exercise climbing the stairs. Your room is on the next floor." He glanced around. "You're down here?" She smiled. "No, Liam. I'm on the second floor, next to the master. We're only a wall apart." Eva deliberately widened her eyes and leaned toward him as she spoke. She wanted the invitation to be clear. After what Adam had put her through nine years ago, he deserved to squirm. She started down the hall before he had a chance to respond. "There's an office loft area," she continued. "You can use that. It's set up with Internet access, a fax. I'll be in the dining room. I like to spread out when I work. I tend to get really... involved." She emphasized the last word, then had to consciously keep herself from laughing. Okay, this was way more fun than she'd thought it would be. She should have punished Eva a long time ago. She made sure she swayed her hips as she climbed and bent forward slightly so he would be sure to notice her very short shorts. She'd worn them deliberately, along with the halter top that left very little to the imagination. It had taken her nearly two days to come up with the perfect outfit, but it had been worth the time. The shorts clung to her and were cut high enough to show the bottom of her butt. Tacky but effective. Her sandals had a spiked heel that was practically a weapon, but they made her legs look long—a serious trick for someone as short as her. The halter was so low-cut that she'd had to hold it in place with double-sided tape. She had fresh highlights, sultry makeup and long, dangling earrings that almost touched her nearly bare shoulders. If the guys back at her science lab could see her now, they would probably implode from shock. Around them she only wore tailored suits and lab jackets. But for the next month she was dressing as a sex kitten and she planned to enjoy every minute of it. She deliberately sped up at the end of the hall, then stopped suddenly. Liam ran into her. He reached out to steady himself or maybe her. She'd planned that he would, so she turned and held in a grin as the palm of his hand landed exactly on her left breast. He stiffened and pulled back so fast he almost fell. Eva tried to decide if she minded seeing him in a crumpled heap on the polished hardwood floor. "Sorry," he muttered. "Liam," she purred. "Are you coming on to me? I have to say, that's not very subtle. I would have expected better." "I'm not coming on to you." "Really?" She put her hands on her hips as she faced him. "Why not? Aren't I your type?" He frowned. "What the hell is this all about?" "So many things. I'm not sure where to start." "Try at the beginning. It usually works for me." The beginning? Where was that? At conception, where some quirk of the Houston gene pool had decided to produce a child with an exceptional IQ? Or later, when Eva had first realized she was never going to fit in anywhere? Or perhaps that long-ago-but-never-forgotten-afternoon when the man she loved had so cruelly rejected her? "We're spending the month together," she told him. "I thought we could have more fun if we played. I know you like to play, Liam." He swore under his breath. "This isn't like you, Eva." "How can you be sure? It's been a long time. I've grown up." She turned slowly. "Don't you like the changes?" "You look great. You know that. So what's the point?" The point was she wanted him desperate. She wanted him panting, begging, pleading. Then she would give in and walk away. It was her plan—it had always been her plan. "I'm not going to sleep with you," he said flatly. "You're Emmett's sister. I gave him my word I'd look after you. That means taking care of you, not sleeping with you." She'd meant to keep her temper. Honestly she'd even written it on her to-do list. But it was simply impossible. "Take care of me? Is that what you call disappearing two seconds after Emmett's funeral? All of you left—all of his friends. I expected it of them but not of you. Emmett told me you would always be there for me no matter what. But you weren't. You were gone. I was seventeen, Liam. My father was a basket case, I was a total social outcast with no friends and you disappeared. Because that was easier than facing your responsibility." He put down his luggage. "Is that why you're here? To tell me off?" He had no idea, she thought, still furious and wishing she could breathe fire and burn him into a little stick figure, like in the cartoons. "That's only part of the fun." "Would it help if I said I was sorry?" "No, it wouldn't." Nothing would change the fact that he'd abandoned her, just like everyone else she'd ever loved. "Eva, I know we have some history. But if we're stuck here for a month, we need to find a way to get along." "Be friends, you mean?" she said, remembering how he'd said he would always be her friend, right after rejecting her. "If you'd like." She took a deep breath, then released it. "No, Liam. We'll never be friends. We'll be lovers and nothing else."The next morning Eva woke up feeling much better about everything. After leaving out food for Liam, she'd escaped to her room, where she'd had a bath and a good cry.Some of her tears had been about her brother, but a lot of them had been for herself. For the geek she'd been and the losses she'd suffered.After Emmett had died, their father had totally lost it. He'd been less than useless to her. Within a year he'd started dating nineteen-year-olds, and in the eight years since, his girlfriends had stayed depressingly young.She'd been on her own and she'd survived.Wasn't that what mattered? That she'd managed to get the help she'd needed to move forward and thrive?She turned on her clock's radio and rocked her hips to the disco music that blasted into the room.She was sorry she'd missed the disco years-the music had such a driving beat. Of course, she was a total spaz on the dance floor, but what she lacked in style and grace she made up for in enthusiasm.After brushing out her
"You had more than one?" he asked, frowning slightly. He knew only about her nose.She sat up and leaned toward him. "Breasts," she said in a mock whisper. "I had breast implants."His gaze involuntarily dropped to her chest. Then he jerked his head to the right and focused on the weight bench next to him."Why?" he asked, determined not to think about her body and especially not her breasts, which were suddenly more interesting than he wanted them to be."After I lost weight, I discovered I had the chest of a twelve-year-old-boy. I was totally flat. It was depressing. So I got implants. I went for a jumbo B—which seemed about right for my newly skinny self."She stood and turned sideways in front of the mirror. "I don't know. Sometimes I think I should have just gone for it and ordered the centerfold breasts. What do you think?"He told himself not to look, but it was like trying to hold back the tide. Against his will, his head turned and his gaze settled on her chest. Eva raised he
Liam spent a couple of hours in the loft office, working. He called his assistant back in Austin."They're building more roads in Pakistan," Raina Patmore told him. "They're looking at maybe an eighteen-month contract, but we all know those things take longer. And Sister Angie called. They want to take in another convoy of medical supplies."His business provided protection in dangerous parts of the world. His teams allowed building crews to get their jobs done and get out.The work was dangerous, often a logistical nightmare and extremely expensive.His corporate clients paid well for what they got.The corporate profits were channeled into funding protection for those providing relief efforts in places often forgotten.He'd grown up in the shadow of the Sanz Formation, a philanthropic trust that helped the poor.His critics said he could afford to be generous-he had a trust fund worth nearly a billion dollars. What they didn't know is he never touched it. A vow he'd made to himself.
"Not much to tell.""It's tough, isn't it?" She leaned against the counter opposite his. For once, her eyes weren't bright with humor or challenge. "Being who we are and trying to get involved. The money thing, I mean."Because they both came from money. Because they'd been raised with the idea that they had to be careful, to make sure they didn't fall for someone who was in it for the wrong reasons.Without wanting to, Liam remembered sitting in on a painful conversation between Emmett and Eva. He'd tried to escape more than once, but his friend had wanted him to stick around to make sure Van really listened."Guys are going to know who you are," Emmett had told her. "You have to be smart and not just think with your heart."Eva had been sixteen. She'd writhed in her seat as Emmett had talked, then she'd stood and glared at him."Who is going to want me for anything else?" she demanded. "I'm not pretty. I'll never be pretty. I'm nothing more than a giant brain with braces and a big n
Eva sat up and took Sloane's hands. "I love and admire you, but you are desperately wrong."I hope so, for your sake."But her friend sounded worried as she spoke. Eva appreciated the show of support. They were never going to agree on this topic. Better to move on.She released Sloane's hands and grinned. "So Derrick is right next door. Whatever will the two of you get up to late at night?"Sloane flushed. "Lower your voice," she whispered. "He'll hear you.""Oh, please. He wouldn't hear a nuclear explosion if he was focused on something else, and when I walked by his room, he was already booting his laptop. We're safe.Don't you love how I got the two of you into the house while everyone else is far, far away?""I guess," Sloane said with uncharacteristic indecision. "I know something has to happen soon or I'll be forced to back the car over him. He's such a sweetie. And you know I really like him, but I don't think I'm his type."+Eva groaned. "He doesn't have a type. He's a nerd.
Eva arrived home from dinner with her team feeling just full enough, with a slight buzz.They'd taken the shuttle van into town and that had meant no one had to be a designated driver.Wine had flowed freely. Well, as freely as it could given no one drank more than a glass, preferring the thrill of intellectual discussion to the mental blurriness of too much alcohol.+But just this once Eva had passed up the wine and gone with a margarita. That was fine, but she'd ordered a second one and was absolutely feeling it as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.As she reached the landing, she was two doors and was reminded that it was also the same floor with Liam's bedroom.What an interesting fact, she thought as she paused and stared at the firmly closed door. He was in there. By himself, she would guess.So what exactly was he getting up to?She was pretty confident he was stretched out on the bed, watching TV or reading.But this was her buzz, and she could imagine him waiting for her
It was a perfect night for viewing the stars, but she wasn't in the mood. Not even on her brand-new telescope. She hurt too much and it was hard to say why.Maybe because Liam was right. If Justice was that important to her, she wouldn't stay away from him for six months. But she had, and it had been relatively easy.Too easy. If she were really in love with him, wouldn't she be desperate to be with him?Finding the engagement ring had shocked her. She hadn't known what to think about his proposing.She'd been happy, but a part of her had known that it was time to put off the inevitable. That closure with Liam was required.She'd known about Emmett's friends coming to stay at the house. She'd taken the consulting job in California, hired on as the caretaker of the house and had waited to confront the man who was holding her back.Once she got her revenge on Liam, she would be fine."That's what's wrong," she whispered to herself. "I'm still waiting to punish him. Once Liam is reduced
Eva paid the driver, then carried the bag of Chinese food into the house. "Dinner," she yelled in the general direction of the stairs, not sure if Liam would come down or not. She was gratified to see him walk into the kitchen a couple of minutes later."Why aren't you out with the nerd brigade?" he asked as she pulled a couple of plates out of the cupboard."Nerd brigade?" She smiled. "They'd like that. It sounds very military. They're all going to a club downtown and I'm not in the mood. Plus, I knew you were lonely, so I stayed home to keep you company.""I'm not lonely."He sounded annoyed as he spoke, which made her want to giggle. Liam was really easy to rile. It was that stick up his butt-if he would just let it go, he could be a regular person.Of course, his macho I'm-in-charge attitude was part of his appeal."Can you reach those?" she asked, pointing to the tall glasses some idiot had put on the top shelf. She could never have left them there.While he got them for her, she