The Tycoon's Charm: The Tycoon's Paternity Agenda / Honor-Bound Groom. Michelle Celmer

the metal detector, they must not have gotten many women dressed in jeans and work shirts visiting. And, of course, because she was wearing her steel-toe boots, the alarm began to wail.

      “Empty your pockets, please,” one of them told her.

      She was about to explain that her pockets were already empty, when a deep voice ordered, “Let her through.”

      She looked up to find her brother-in-law waiting just past the security stand, and her heart took a quick dive downward.

      Ex-brother-in-law.

      Without question the security guards ushered her past, and Adam stepped forward to greet her.

      “It’s good to see you again, Katy.”

      “You, too.” She wondered if she should hug him, but figured this situation was awkward enough without the burden of unnecessary physical contact, and settled for a handshake instead. But as his hand folded around her own, she wondered if he noticed the calluses and rough skin, not to mention the short, unpainted fingernails. She was sure he was used to women like Rebecca, who spent hours in the salon getting pedicures and manicures, and all the other beauty treatments she neither had time nor the inclination for.

      Not that it made a difference what he thought of her nails. But when he released her hand, she stuck them both in her jeans pockets.

      In contrast, Adam looked every bit the billionaire CEO that he was. She had nearly forgotten how big he was. Not only did he look as though he spent a lot of time in the weight room, he was above average in height. At five feet nine inches, few men towered over her, but Adam was at least six-four.

      He wore his dark hair in the same closely cropped style, although she could see strands of gray peppering his temples now. Of course, as was the case with men like him, it only made him look more distinguished. There were also worry lines at the corners of his eyes and across his forehead that hadn’t been there before. Probably from the stress of dealing with Rebecca’s illness.

      Despite that, he looked good for a man of forty.

      Katy was only seventeen when her sister married Adam ten years ago, and though she had never admitted it to a soul, she’d had a mild adolescent crush on her gorgeous new brother-in-law. But neither she nor her parents would have guessed that the charming, handsome man intended to steal Rebecca away from them.

      “How was your trip down?” he asked.

      She shrugged. “The same as it always is.”

      She waited for him to explain what she was doing there, or at the very least thank her for making the long drive to see him. Instead he gestured to the shop across the lobby. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”

      “Sure. Why not?”

      Other than the shop employees, everyone seated inside wore business attire, and most had their nose buried in a laptop computer, or a cell phone stuck to their ear. But when Adam entered, everyone stopped what they were doing to nod, or greet him.

      Good Lord. When the man entered a room, he owned it. But he was the boss, and it was obvious people respected him. Or feared him.

      She followed him to the counter and he spouted some long, complicated-sounding drink to the clerk, then turned to Katy and asked, “What would you like?”

      “Plain old black coffee,” she told the clerk. She didn’t care for the frou-frou blends and flavors that had become so popular lately. Her tastes were as simple as her lifestyle.

      With drinks in hand, he led her to a table at the back of the shop. She had just assumed they would go up to his office, but this was okay, too. A little less formal and intimidating. Not that she had a reason to feel intimidated. She didn’t know why she was here, so she wasn’t really sure what she should be feeling at this point.

      When they were seated, Adam asked, “How are your parents? And how are things at the ranch? I trust business is good.”

      “We’re good. I don’t know if you heard, but we went totally organic about two years ago.”

      “That’s great. It’s the way of the future.”

      She sipped her coffee. It was hot and strong, just the way she liked it. “But I’m sure you didn’t ask me here to talk about cattle.”

      “No,” he agreed. “There’s something I need to discuss with you. Something…personal.”

      She couldn’t imagine what personal matter he might have to discuss with her as anything they might have had in common had been buried along with her sister. But she shrugged and said, “Okay.”

      “I’m not sure if Becca mentioned it, but before she was diagnosed, we had been having fertility issues. Our doctor suggested in vitro, and Becca was going through the hormone therapy to have her eggs extracted when they discovered the cancer.”

      “She told me.” And Katy knew that her sister had felt like a failure for being unable to conceive. She had been terrified of disappointing Adam. Her entire life seemed to revolve around pleasing him. In fact, Becca spent so much time and energy being the perfect high-society wife that she’d had little time left for her family. Adam’s schedule had been so busy, they hadn’t even come for Christmas the year before she got sick.

      If it had been Katy, she would have put her foot down and insisted she see her family. Even if it meant spending the holidays apart from her spouse. Of course, she never would have married a man like Adam in the first place. She could never be with anyone so demanding and self-centered. And especially someone who didn’t share her love for the ranch. But according to her parents, practically from the instant Becca left the womb, she had been gunning to move to the city, to live a more sophisticated lifestyle.

      Sometimes Katy swore Becca was a doorstep baby.

      “She was so sure she would beat it,” Adam continued. “We went ahead with our plans, thinking we could hire a surrogate to carry the baby. But, of course, we never got the chance.”

      “She told me that, too,” Katy said, pushing down the bitterness that wanted to bubble to the surface. Harvesting the eggs had meant holding off on treating the cancer, which just might have been the thing that killed her. Katy had begged Becca to forget the eggs and go forward with the treatment. They could always adopt later on, but Becca knew how much Adam wanted a child—his own flesh and blood—and as always, she would have done anything to make him happy.

      It would have been easy to blame Adam for her death, but ultimately, it had been Becca’s choice. One she had paid dearly for.

      “I’m not sure what any of this has to do with me,” Katy said.

      “I thought you should know that I’ve decided to use the frozen embryos and hire a surrogate to carry the baby.”

      He said it so bluntly, so matter-of-factly, it took several seconds for the meaning of his words to sink in.

      Baby? Was he saying that he was going to hire some stranger to have her sister’s child?

      Katy was beyond stunned…and utterly speechless. Of all the possible reasons for Adam asking her here, that particular one had never crossed her mind. How could he even consider doing this to her family?

      She realized her jaw had fallen and closed her mouth so forcefully her teeth snapped together. Adam was watching her, waiting for her to say something.

      Finally she managed, “I…I’m not sure what to say.”

      “So we’re clear, I’m not asking for your permission. Or your approval. Out of courtesy—since it’s Rebecca’s child, too—I felt I should tell you what I plan to do.”

      He wasn’t the kind of man to do things as a “courtesy.” He did nothing unless it benefited him. She was guessing that he’d consulted a lawyer, and his lawyer had advised him to contact Becca’s family.

      “I also thought you could give me some advice on the best way to break the news to your