Heated Rush - Leslie Kelly [25]
Along the way, Sean had discovered a few other things he was good at, aside from entertaining wealthy females. And he’d outgrown his need to shock his father out of his life. If the old man cared to know the truth, he’d discover that businesses from any number of countries around the world hired Sean to interpret, to make deals, to negotiate, to see to it that local customs were followed. He was an international businessman, plain and simple.
Let the old man think Sean had whored his way into his first million. Sean knew it wasn’t true. And he no longer gave a damn about trying to convince anybody.
“So how much did you sell for?” Moira asked.
“Five thousand.”
She yelped. “Dollars?”
“Well, they don’t use Euros in Chicago, little sister.”
Her snort of laughter said her surprise hadn’t come because of how high the figure had been, but rather how low. “You’re losing your touch. She mustn’t have known who she was bidding on, Mr. International Man of Mystery.”
“Yes, that’s me, James Bond,” he said, a smile widening his lips as he thought of his first conversation with Annie.
“I was thinking more along the lines of Austin Powers.” Her snicker held no malice, just little-sister heckling. And maybe a hint of curiosity.
Moira didn’t know much about Sean’s life, which was exactly the way he wanted it.
Fortunately, their father didn’t seem to realize Sean wanted to protect Moira from the truth. That was one piece of blackmail that might have worked. Which was why he’d made Moira keep their frequent phone calls, friendly correspondence and occasional out-of-town meetings a secret from the man.
“How’s your mother?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Rich, miserable and hitting the martinis by noon. Yours?”
“Poor, happy, clean and sober.” Finally.
“Sounds about right. Money doesn’t buy happiness.”
Knowing his sister’s love of all things designer, he laughed. “No, but you wouldn’t last a day without your limitless gold card.” And neither would Sean’s stepmother. While his own mother, who’d once allowed herself to be bought out of her only child’s existence because of her screwed-up choices and lifestyle, now wouldn’t take a penny he offered and was perfectly happy living as a starving artist in San Francisco.
There was a lesson in that.
After chatting a few more minutes, Sean finished his conversation with his sister and hung up. Glancing at the clock, he sent up a mental thank-you to Moira for the call. At least she’d distracted him for a while.
But how was he going to fill the rest of the day, waiting to see Annie again? Yesterday had been hectic with business meetings—financial stuff only, not any kind of social business. Though he could probably have found plenty of women eager for his company on this trip, the only one he was interested in seeing was the sexy blonde who’d bought him for the weekend. The one he wasn’t going to see for another few hours.
Sean leaned back on the plush bed, knowing how he could fill that time if she were here with him.
Glancing around, he found himself wishing he’d stayed at another hotel—the one he usually frequented when in Chicago, which was older and had a lot of character. Though impeccable and tastefully decorated, this room was cold and impersonal.
And it instantly made him think of hot, sweaty sex.
He’d come here on impulse, having visited previously just after New Year’s. On that occasion, he’d been asked to come by a friend he’d met in Japan. That friend—Brandon—had wanted to give his girlfriend the kind of kinky fantasy women often whispered about but seldom actually went through with.
A night with two men.
Sean had agreed, with some preestablished rules about how far things could go. They’d gone pretty far, but not all the way. Which, he sensed, had been a great relief to Brandon.
“Better you than me, my friend,” he muttered. Because while the night had been incredibly erotic—and pleasurable—there wasn’t a chance in hell that Sean would ever share a woman he loved with another man. Not even to fulfill her own fantasies, selfish bastard that he was.
He didn’t share.