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Billionaire's Demands

Entangled Publishing, LLC

New York City, Present Day

"This was an apocalyptically bad idea. You do know that, right?" Camryn McBride watched her older sister, Keira, rush around the opulent kitchen of her penthouse apartment, snagging a seat on a high-backed barstool to settle in for the show.

Keira blew her bangs out of her face in a huff as she transferred hot puff pastries from a cookie sheet to a serving tray. "It was supposed to be a nice, ordinary family outreach."

"If either you or Nathan had a nice, ordinary family, that goal might have made sense." Camryn snatched one of the tarts. "Since Dad is probably bringing his latest bimbette, and Nathan's father is incapable of normal human relationships, I'm really trying to understand what your goal for the evening might be."

"Fine. I admit it. I was suckered in by that article we wrote in Home and Family last month, 'Happy In-Laws, Happy Couples.' And it made me realize that Nathan and I have been married for over six months and we still haven't had a family get-together." Keira exhaled another heavy breath. "And would you get over here and help me? I still need to finish the crudités."

The grin Camryn had tried to hold back wouldn't stay hidden. "I was wondering when you'd drop the 'I can do it all' attitude and ask for help."

"Cheeky bitch."

"That I am." Camryn reached for an empty glass on the bar and poured some chardonnay for her sister. "But I did work the kitchen of that hotel in Boston during my summers in college so I'd say I'm well-suited to help."

"How'd I forget about that?" Keira frowned as she repositioned several small mushroom tartlets.

"I've worked every day to put it out of my mind. The mess and disorder were my personal torture." Camryn handed over the glass of wine she'd poured to Keira. "What I really want to know is why you felt you needed a magazine article to help your marriage?"

"It's not that." Her sister dropped the empty baking sheet into the sink and took a sip of her wine. "I just feel that Nathan and I need to cultivate a broader relationship with our families. Before ... you know."

A scream worked its way up Camryn's throat and she fought to keep her voice low. "You're pregnant!"

"No." Keira deliberately waved the glass of wine in her hand. "No, I'm not. But we're talking about it. And I'd like our child to know his or her grandparents. And that's awfully hard if I don't even know them."

Camryn knew Keira had a point. While they and their younger sister, Mayson, were thick as thieves, their father had set a poor example of support and familial leadership. He'd been inattentive most of their lives, but he'd become increasingly absent in the last decade. Ever since they lost their mother to breast cancer.

"I told you the good stuff was in here." Nathan's voice intruded on the moment as he barreled through the swinging door of the kitchen. Keira's husband still wore his suit, but the lack of a jacket and the rolled sleeves of his dress shirt indicated a powerful man who'd relaxed for the day.

Where Camryn's gaze landed, however, was on the man who followed Nathan into the room.

Booth Harrison.

Nathan's half brother and the heir to the Harrison media empire also wore his suit, and damn him if the black wool wasn't immaculately pressed, even though it was nearly seven at night. The white shirt beneath his lapels was still a crisp white and his red tie drew the eye with subtle grace and power.

Booth Harrison was temptation in a double-breasted suit, one she'd diligently tried to ignore for nearly a year now, and she wasn't interested in traveling that road. The last year had seen both of her sisters married, and Mayson with a baby on the way. Camryn was happy for them, but she had no interest in following suit. Her life was neat and ordered, and love was messy. All that chaos and disorder didn't fit in her life. Even if Booth did look at her with a delicious hunger that made every feminine wile she possessed sit up and take notice.

Like now.

His blue gaze was dark with that hunger as a wry smile quirked his lips. "Is everything okay in here?"

Camryn leaned toward him, the pull of that magnetic gaze drawing her in. "You mean aside from the fact that my sister's probably about ten seconds away from wishing a plague of locusts on all of Manhattan?"

Booth never broke the contact, but his smile spread into an infectious grin. "That seems awfully harsh just to prevent one dinner party from happening."

"You know the McBride girls. We don't do anything halfway." The flirtatious words were out before she could stop them and she mentally cursed herself for the weakness. Get a freakin' grip, Cam.

Before Booth could respond, Keira's laughter broke the moment as she swatted at her husband. "Nathan! We've got company coming."

Camryn refocused on arranging broccoli and carrots in neat rows and off the tempting curve of Booth Harrison's lips as they both avoided staring at their lovesick siblings.

"I told you the good stuff was in here." Nathan leaned in and placed a smacking kiss on his wife's lips, as if proving his point.

"Newlyweds." Booth's tone was dark but the tease in his eyes was unmistakable. He poured himself a glass of wine before holding up the bottle. "Can I refill yours, Camryn?"

"I'm not sure there's enough alcohol." She couldn't hide the answering smile. "But we can try."

The heavy peal of the lobby buzzer had Keira and Nathan pulling apart to go and greet their guests and, within moments, Camryn was alone with Booth.

"Speaking of trying, there are a few other things I can think of that fit the bill."

Camryn looked up from the celery she'd switched to, surprised to see him standing close beside her. "Oh? Like what?"

"Let's go get a drink after dinner and I'll tell you."

The offer was tempting and the large, sexy man next to her made it even more so, but Camryn held back. Booth had given more than a few hints in the last several months that he was interested. She was interested, too, but their circumstances prohibited a fling. Add on their family connections and it was just ... messy.

"I have an early meeting tomorrow."

"So do I. And besides" — he took a sip of his wine, his eyes unreadable before he set the glass back on the counter — "don't you always have an early meeting?"

"Most days."

"I didn't take you for an in-bed-at-nine sort of gal."

"I'm not."

"So what's wrong with the drink?"

"It's redundant."

"How so?"

She held up her glass, the move intended to be a joke but the tone that left her lips rang flat to her ears. "What would you call this?"

"Foreplay."

* * *

The word was out and Booth couldn't hold back the burst of satisfaction that settled in his chest at her widened eyes and the slight O of her mouth.

Served her right.

The damn woman had had him crawling the walls for months. Her prim features and black power suits drove him crazy with the overwhelming desire to muss her up. Her sharp mind and quick wit had him intrigued and thinking of her so often it was maddening.

The only reason he'd held back was Nathan. Although his half brother didn't usually inform his dating decisions, going after Nathan's new sister-in-law had the risk of being ... complicated.

"If by foreplay you mean watching our siblings host a train wreck, then you and I have vastly different interpretations of the word."

He moved up into her space, his gaze dropping to the pulse point evident at her throat.

Ahh, he thought with some satisfaction. The lady doth protest too much.

"Oh, I don't know. You're a beautiful, interesting woman." He reached forward and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, intrigued even further when she remained stock-still. "I think we can put our creativity to good use and come up with some mutually enjoyable outcome to the evening."

"A fling will be messy with our family connections." Hearty laughter echoed outside the kitchen and she glanced toward the door as if the noise punctuated her point. "And clearly we've got a lot of connection."

"I thought I was talking about a date."

She took another step back and he could practically see her crawl inside herself. The bright, vivid smile and warm gaze faded as she took a few steps away from him. "A date or a whole lot more can't happen. Not with the family we now share thanks to your brother and my sister."

Her absolute unwillingness to consider it — especially since he'd seen the very real interest in her gaze — had him rethinking his tactics. "So you simply walk away?"

"It's clean. Easy. And we avoid a mess that would include awkward family moments." She waited a beat before smiling broadly. "Sort of like this one."

Whether it was the taunt or something more, Booth didn't know, but he couldn't resist pushing a bit harder on all the neat, pristine order that surrounded her like a shield. "Sometimes it's fun to get messy."

Her dark-brown eyes were serious as they held his. "And sometimes all you're left with is a mess."

* * *

Sometimes all you're left with is a mess.

Camryn's words were still rattling around his mind a few hours later as Keira handed mugs of coffee around the table and Nathan cut slices of cheesecake. The view had Booth smiling to himself in the midst of his roiling thoughts. Who'd have thought his brother could be so damned domestic? And, if Nathan's broad grin was any indication, he was strangely happy about it. Things didn't look messy between the newlyweds. In fact, if he wasn't careful, Booth knew he might start wishing he were in the same boat.

He shook off that thought to refocus on the conversation. His father and stepmother had remained polite and quiet throughout dinner, but West Harrison's stoic facade was beginning to show cracks after four bourbons.

"Gotta keep the advertisers happy." West pounded a fist on the table, rattling his small plate of cheesecake. "Ad dollars keep the media business running."

"West, I understand, but the product has to be editorially superior." Keira's voice was respectful, but no one at the table missed the thread of steel that wove through her words. "That's why we've remained diligently focused at McBride Media on creating strong products advertisers line up to be a part of."

"My girl knows what she's talking about, West." Keira's father spoke up, his words layered equally thick with alcohol.

"That's quite a change, McBride. I thought all you ever wanted was to sell the company off. Now you've let your daughters get a hold of it instead."

Despite the liquor, Andrew McBride was quick on the rebound. "And the three of them have done a damn fine job with it."

West wasn't deterred by Andrew's show of support. "Beefing up a bunch of fluffy magazines."

Booth laid a hand on his father's arm. "Dad. McBride Media has won several major journalism awards in the last few years. They've beaten us out of several, as I recall."

"Awards, bah," West grumbled. "I'm talking about business. Nathan would never have gone after the company if it wasn't in such dire straits."

"I went after a healthy company and when I saw the light I decided to invest in it instead of take it over." Nathan's sharp voice cut off any further discussion. "However, I can't argue with my father's well-made point about advertisers. They do make the world go round."

As softballs went, Nathan's was awfully soft, but Booth knew it was more than that. In years past, Nathan would have no sooner defended West than look at him. Marriage had changed his brother. For the better, as far as Booth could tell. Nathan was still as fierce as ever, but he'd lost the "win at all costs" attitude. That attitude had made him a wealthy man, but he'd paid a personal price. Booth was glad to see his brother come out the other side.

"Speaking of fluff ..." West's gaze grew sharp once more as his focus shifted to Camryn. "What's this I hear about you looking to buy out the last, lingering properties at Morrison Magazines?"

"The company's been on life support for the last few years and they've finally indicated a willingness to sell their flagship title, Magnificent." Camryn set down her coffee cup. "I've had my eye on them for a while."

"Company should have shut its doors a long time ago." West said. "What do you want with an old, tired title?"

A warm grin flashed across her face. "Let's just say I think the magazine's got great bones. And it complements our current portfolio perfectly."

"Camryn's been a great champion of expansion wherever we can. It's been a dynamic growth strategy." Nathan snagged the conversational torch and once more, Booth couldn't deny how much his brother had changed for the better. Their father was a difficult man and in the past Nathan wouldn't have held back his disdain or frustration at West's insistence in dominating a conversation. Whether it was their strained business relationship or Nathan's position as West's illegitimate son, Booth had never fully understood, but it was good to see a different side to his brother.

The table grew quiet once more and Booth glanced surreptitiously at his watch, amused when his gaze snagged on Camryn doing the same. He'd already declined both dessert and coffee, prepared to make his departure, when Camryn beat him to the punch.

"I'm afraid I've got an early meeting in the morning." She added a small yawn to the comment.

Booth lifted his eyebrows as their gazes caught once more, but couldn't resist using the moment to his advantage. "I do as well. Why don't we share a cab?"

They made a hasty departure and it was only after the two of them were settled in a cab fifteen minutes later that Camryn rounded on him. "Smooth move, Booth."

"I'm full of them, but in this case, it was a matter of self-preservation. Keira and Nathan's little dinner experiment had run its course and leaving was the only way to put an end to it. Everyone was following on our heels with their own excuses as we left."

"It was still more than a little obvious." Camryn snagged her phone from her purse and gave it her full attention, effectively ending their conversation.

"Now you're going to ignore me, too?"

"I'm waiting for an e-mail."

"At nine thirty?"

She dropped the phone into her lap. "Don't tell me you turn it off when you leave the office."

"No, but I do attempt to turn it off when I'm talking to another human being." She had the decency to look contrite and Booth took that as a good sign. Despite his outward irritation, he couldn't help but wonder if the "checking e-mail" routine was a sign of something deeper.

She'd said little during dinner other than the moments when she was directly questioned, content to let her sisters shine during the meal. The fact Mayson and Keira were both newlyweds and Mayson had a baby on the way meant they had a lot to discuss, but it still struck him as curious that Camryn seemed to deliberately fade into the background.

Her voice broke into his musings. "Do you agree with what your dad said? At dinner?"

"When he finally got the stick out of his ass he said a lot of things. Refresh my memory."

"The part about advertisers. About keeping them happy."

"He does love his ad revenues. The businessman in me agrees with him. But the newsman I am in my heart of hearts knows the ad dollars have to come second. We're beholden to the people who read our products, not those who run ads in them."

A small smile ghosted her lips. "The CFO in me is protesting."

"So have that drink with me and we can debate it."

"You don't miss an opportunity to go after what you want, do you?"

Booth leaned forward, the light scent of her surrounding him as he breathed her in. "Never."

* * *

The small spark of electricity lit once more under her skin but Camryn fought it. She would not let herself even think about going down this path.

She refused to hope again. Even if she could feel the heat of his body through the material of her coat.

Or the way those delicious sparks of heat arced between the two of them.

"I'm afraid I can't do drinks tonight. I really do have an early meeting."

"Fair enough."

The quick acquiescence had a small spark of sadness blooming in her chest. This was the exact reason she didn't need to get involved with her sister's brother-in-law. Even if it might have been nice if he'd argued a bit ...

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Excerpted from Billionaire's Demands by Addison Fox, Rima Jean, Laura Anne Gilman. Copyright © 2013 Frances Karkosak. Excerpted by permission of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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