His Seductive Proposal: A Touch of Persuasion / Terms of Engagement / An Outrageous Proposal. Maureen Child

ultimately he saw Wolff Mountain as a trap, one that had robbed him of his childhood. And though he might visit from time to time, he was never going to settle in one place.

      They entered through the back of the house, treading quietly in deference to sleeping servants. When they entered the room where Jacob kept watch, he stood up and stretched. “I was about to give up on you.”

      Kieran grimaced. “Sorry. The time got away from me. It’s a beautiful night.”

      Jacob’s gaze settled on Olivia. He was a quiet, intense man, and his piercing eyes, like the X-ray machines he used, seemed to see right through her. “You need to watch out for my brother,” he joked. “We used to call him the ‘were-Wolff,’ because he loved roaming the woods at night.”

      She blushed, feeling as if Jacob could see exactly what she and Kieran had been up to. “I enjoyed the walk,” she said. Her red cheeks were probably a dead giveaway, but she kept her expression noncommittal.

      In the wake of Jacob’s departure, an awkward silence bloomed. Kieran’s jaw was rigid, and hunger still tightened the planes of his face. “Will you come to my room?” he asked.

      She shook her head, backing away. “I need to get some sleep. Cammie will be up early. Good night.”

      Her retreat was embarrassing to say the least, but she needed distance. His masculinity dragged her in, demanding a response, and for tonight, she needed to regroup and figure out how to protect her vulnerable heart.

      Late the following morning Kieran’s cousin Annalise arrived. She blew in on a burst of wind and rain, her laughter contagious and her genuine welcome hard to resist.

      “So glad to meet you both,” she said, squatting in Prada pumps to hug Cammie.

      She was tall, dark-headed and gorgeous. And when she looked at Cammie, she was clearly shocked.

      Olivia squirmed under her assessing gaze, but refused to be lured into saying something she would regret. “How was the family vacation?”

      Annalise hugged her cousins, as well. Kieran and Jacob had showed up to eat lunch with her before going back to their construction project at Jacob’s clinic. Gareth had gone home to see Gracie. “Daddy and the boys are still fishing in Wyoming, but I reached my fill of tying lures and fighting mosquitoes. Plus, I had to get home to see Kieran. It’s like a sighting of the Loch Ness monster. You don’t want to miss it.”

      “Very funny.” Kieran suffered her teasing with an easy grin, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they walked to the dining room. “Admit it, brat. You just had to come home and meet my guests.”

      She wrinkled her classically beautiful nose. “You got me.” She gave Olivia a rueful glance. “It’s a well-known failing of mine,” she said, patting Cammie’s head as she seated herself at the table. “Whenever we were little, the guys tortured me by pretending to have secrets I wasn’t privy to. I’d badger them unmercifully, until half the time they admitted that they had made it all up.”

      “It must have been hard being the only girl.”

      “You have no idea.” She paused, expression concerned. “Where’s Uncle Victor?”

      “He had a rough night,” Jacob said. “But he hopes to be with us for dinner.”

      Over a lunch of cold salads and fresh fruit, Olivia watched Annalise interact with her family. There were three more males not present, the brothers Annalise spoke of, as well as Vincent Wolff, who was Victor’s twin. Clearly Annalise was close to Kieran and Jacob. She teased and kidded them with open affection.

      The six young cousins had been raised in isolation in this huge house after the violent deaths of their mothers. It was no wonder they had formed a bond. Tragedy had marked this family and shaped its face.

      When the meal was concluded, the men were itching to get back to work. Annalise turned to Olivia, her face alight with enthusiasm. “Why don’t we go swim in Gareth and Gracie’s pool?”

      “A pool?” Olivia looked askance at the window where lightning flashed and water rolled down the panes.

      “Indoors, silly.” Annalise laughed.

      Kieran frowned. “Does Cammie know how to swim?”

      “We’re from southern California. Of course she does.” Olivia noted Kieran’s response, as did Annalise. He had reacted with a parent’s automatic concern. Olivia wondered how long it would be before someone in Kieran’s family came right out and demanded to know if Cammie was a Wolff.

      The pool was amazing. Built to resemble a natural tropical lake, it featured a waterfall, twittering parakeets and water that was heated just enough to be luxuriously comfortable.

      Cammie loved it. She swam like a fish, and soon she was all over the pool. Gracie joined them soon after they arrived. The small redhead had a quiet smile and a look of contentment about her that Olivia envied.

      At one point, Annalise threw back her head and laughed in delight. “I love having women here,” she exclaimed, beaming in her gold bikini that seemed more suited to sunbathing at a resort on the French Riviera rather than actually getting wet.

      Gracie nodded. “Me, too. After our honeymoon, Annalise was gone, and I have to confess that I was lonely sometimes for girl talk.”

      “How long have you two been married?” Olivia asked.

      “Less than two months. I’m still getting used to this amazing house.”

      Gareth’s Western-themed home was spectacular, though not as large as Wolff Castle, of course. And Olivia had glimpsed Jacob’s more modern house through the trees. She frowned. “Why has Kieran never built his own place?”

      Annalise shrugged. “Doesn’t need one. He’s here less than a dozen nights during the year. Two days at Christmas if we’re lucky. Other than that, he’s always on the go. The constraints of our situation were hard on all of us kids growing up, but Kieran chafed at them more than anyone. At the first opportunity, he struck out for freedom and has never really looked back. You can’t cage a man who wants to roam.”

      Was that pity Olivia saw in Annalise’s eyes? Olivia hoped not. It was bad enough for Olivia to acknowledge to herself that a future with Kieran was impossible. She didn’t want or need anyone’s commiseration, no matter how well meant.

      When Gracie hopped out of the pool to dry off and get back to her painting, Olivia spoke quietly to Annalise, all the while keeping tabs on Cammie’s high energy stunts. “Kieran has asked me to go to New York with him overnight. He thought you wouldn’t mind keeping Cammie. Did he volunteer you too freely?”

      “Of course not.” Annalise straightened one of the flimsy triangles of her bathing suit top. Though she was the complete antithesis of Olivia’s mother in looks, she possessed the same star quality. A woman no one, particularly no man, could resist. She smiled. “Cammie is a delight, and I’d be happy to look after her.”

      Standing next to her, waist deep in silky water, Olivia felt frumpy and large, though Kieran certainly seemed to have no complaints about her less than reed-thin figure. His appreciation for her… assets was flattering.

      She signed inwardly. “Just one night, and we won’t be late the following day, because Cammie and I will have to catch the red-eye back to the West Coast. That reminds me, I need to shift our tickets one day later.”

      “Why don’t you take the family jet? Did Kieran not offer?”

      “He has. Several times. But I prefer to make my own travel arrangements.”

      “Because you don’t want to feel beholden to him?”

      “It’s not that. I’ve tried to raise Cammie away from the over-the-top lifestyle my parents enjoy.”

      “How’s that workin’ out for you?”

      Olivia shook