Kings of California. Maureen Child

      The words were out before he could stop himself and once they’d been said, Adam thought—why the hell not?

      Yeah, he’d surprised himself and judging from the expression on her face, he’d surprised Gina, as well. But damned if he’d expected this rush of something hot and needy pulsing inside him. She’d caught him off guard, that was for sure.

      Gina Torino was luscious. He hadn’t noticed the last time he’d seen her. But now, just looking at her made him feel something he’d thought himself immune to. And he was male enough to enjoy the rush of lust crowding his system.

      While she stared up at him out of golden eyes, he heard her father’s offer repeat again and again in his mind. And as desire pumped fast and fiercely through his bloodstream, he told himself maybe he should rethink his instant rejection of her father’s idea. It wouldn’t be too much a hardship to make Gina Torino his wife.

      And God knew he could hardly believe himself that he was considering this. But after all, it didn’t have to be forever. There didn’t have to be a baby. All he had to do was marry Gina and he’d get the land he wanted so badly. Then he’d divorce her with a good settlement and everybody’s happy.

      Was he as crazy as Sal? Possibly. On the other hand, Adam had always been able to look at a situation, see it from every angle and then make the moves necessary for him to come out on top. Why should this be any different?

      It wasn’t as if he was going into the deal with an idea to cheat Sal. The old man had come up with this bizarre plan all on his own. And Gina?

      Well, hell. His gaze swept her up and down in a heartbeat of time. He took in her bright, golden eyes, her full mouth tipped into a smile, her lush breasts pressing against the faded fabric of a denim shirt and her rounded hips and long legs encased in worn jeans. She was enough to make any man’s mouth water. And the fact that she was getting to him was enough to have him considering Sal’s proposal.

      “You look surprised,” he said when he realized that seconds of silence were ticking past.

      “Well, I am.” She brushed her palms against her thighs but it was clearly more about nerves than cleaning her hands off. “I haven’t even spoken to you in the last five years, Adam.”

      True. He’d never been a social type, like his brothers were. And in the last few years, he’d cut himself off even further from his neighbors. “I’ve been busy.”

      She laughed and somehow the rollicking music of it seemed to slice through him, cutting him so deep his breath caught in his chest. What was this? Lust he could deal with. Use to his own advantage. But he wasn’t looking to be intrigued or captivated by her.

      Yet he wanted her. And after years of feeling nothing, this rush of lust felt damn good. All he had to do was remind himself why he was considering this. The land. Marry Gina, enjoy himself, and when he was finished with her, they’d divorce and then this lust would be over with and he would have the land he required.

      “You’ve been busy.” Nodding, she shot him a smile. “For five years.”

      He shrugged. “What about you?”

      “What about me?”

      “What’ve you been up to?”

      Her eyebrows lifted and she tipped her head to one side to look at him. “Five years of news is going to take a little while to tell.”

      “So, do it at dinner.”

      “First a question.”

      “Of course.” Women always had questions.

      “Why?”

      “Why what?”

      “Why ask me to dinner?” She pushed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, arching her back a little, making her breasts push against the fabric of her shirt. “Why now all of a sudden?”

      Adam frowned a little. Figured she’d make him work for this. “Look, it’s no big deal. I saw you, we talked, I asked. If you don’t want to go, just say so.”

      She stared at him for a long moment or two, but Adam knew she wasn’t going to turn him down. She was intrigued. She was interested. And more than that, she was feeling the same sort of physical buzz he was. He could see it in her eyes.

      “I didn’t say that,” she said a moment later, proving that he could still read people pretty well. “I was just curious.”

      He gave her a casual shrug. “We both have to eat. Why not do it together?”

      “Okay…where are you taking me?”

      He offered the first place that came to him. It wasn’t as if he’d planned this all out. He’d come to the Torino spread looking to make a deal. Now, it appeared that he was going to make that deal after all—just not the one he’d counted on.

      Gina’s insides were doing a happy skip and dance. She couldn’t believe that Adam King had finally noticed her. And for a few minutes, that was the only thought she concentrated on. But finally, dumb ol’ reality crashed in. Why now? She had to ask herself the question. She’d known Adam all her life and up until five minutes ago, he’d never acknowledged her existence beyond the occasional “hi.”

      Since the death of his family five years before, Adam had pretty much been a recluse. He’d shut himself away from everything but his ranch and his brothers. So why all of a sudden was he Mr. Charm? A tiny nugget of suspicion settled in the pit of her stomach, but it didn’t do a thing to ease the thumping of her heart.

      “What about Serenity?”

      Ah. The almost impossible to get into place on the coast. He really was pulling out all the stops.

      “Sounds good,” she said, even though what she really meant was, sounds fabulous, can’t wait, what took you so long?

      “Tomorrow night? Seven?”

      “Okay. Seven.” The moment she agreed, she saw satisfaction glitter in his dark-chocolate eyes and the suspicion crowding her jumped up in her brain and started waving hands, trying to get her attention. Well, it worked. “Though I really would like to know what actually prompted this out-of-nowhere invitation.”

      His features tightened briefly, but a moment later, he gave her a small smile again. “If you’re not interested, Gina, all you have to do is say no.”

      “I didn’t say that.” She pulled her hands from her pockets and folded her arms across her chest.

      “Glad to hear it,” he said and reached for one of her hands, holding it in his, smoothing his thumb gently across her skin. He looked into her eyes, gave her a small smile and said, “So, I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow? You can tell me all about what you’ve been up to for the last five years.”

      When he let go of her hand, Gina could have sworn she could actually smell her skin sizzling from the heat he’d generated. Oh, she was sliding into some seriously deep waters here.

      Adam was charming. Friendly. Smiley. Flirty.

      Something was definitely going on here. Something he wasn’t telling her. And still, she wouldn’t turn down this invitation for anything.

      “I’ll be ready.”

      “See you then.” With one last smile, he turned around and walked with determined steps across the yard to the SUV he’d left parked near the house.

      Gina stood stock-still to enjoy the view. His excellent butt looked great in the dark blue jeans. His long legs moved with a deceptively lazy stride and the sun hit his dark brown hair and gleamed in its depths.

      Her heart actually fluttered in her chest. Weird sensation. And not a good sign. “Oh, Gina,” she whispered, “you are in very deep trouble, here.”

      Just being that close to Adam, having him focusing his attention