Billionaire's Contract Engagement / Money Man's Fiancée Negotiation. Michelle Celmer

hand. “It was so nice meeting you, Celia.”

      She walked toward Evan’s father and the two went in the direction of the restaurant, leaving Celia and Evan standing in the middle of the lobby.

      “We’re on the top level,” Evan said evenly. He gestured toward the elevator and Celia strode in that direction.

      They rode up in silence, the tension so thick Celia felt like the entire elevator would explode before it stopped. It was all she could not to tap her foot in agitation as she waited for the doors to open.

      When they finally did, Celia stepped out, glanced down the hall and then back at Evan.

      “My key,” she said pointedly. “What room am I in?”

      Evan sighed and pointed at the end. “We’re in the two-bedroom suite on the end.”

      Her mouth fell open. She reached forward and snatched the key card from his grasp. Then she spun on her heel and stalked down the hall. The hell she’d share a room with him. He could go find other accommodations or he could bunk with his brother. They’d probably have a lot to talk about. Maybe they could compare notes on Bettina.

      She jammed the card into the lock, listened for the snick and then shoved it open. She stepped inside and slammed the door in Evan’s face.

      Her feet were killing her, she was angry as hell and she was hungry. And she needed to figure out how to get off this damn island.

      She kicked off her shoes and then sat on the edge of the couch next to the table with the hotel directory and a telephone. Surely the front desk could make arrangements for her departure.

      The sound of the door opening had her on her feet again, and she glared indignantly as Evan walked in and shut the door behind him. He held up another key card in explanation.

      He looked tired and resigned.

      “Look, I know you’re angry.”

      She held up a hand. “Don’t you dare patronize me. You have no idea how furious I am. Angry doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

      He blew out his breath and ran a hand through his hair. He tossed his suit coat onto the arm of the couch.

      She pointed to the door with a shaking finger. “Out. I won’t share a suite with you. I don’t care how many bedrooms it has.”

      “I need a drink,” Evan muttered.

      The man wouldn’t even fight with her, and by God she wanted a fight.

      “You never had any intention of listening to my ideas, did you?”

      He stopped on his way over to the liquor cabinet and turned back around to stare at her. He had the audacity to look puzzled.

      “I’ve been such an idiot. I can’t believe I fell for this crap. How this was the only time you could fit me in. Blah, blah, blah. How naive does that make me? How stupid does it make me?”

      He held up a hand and took a step in her direction. “Celia …”

      “Don’t Celia me,” she whispered furiously. It galled her that she could feel the prick of tears. He would not make her cry. She was through letting men make her cry.

      She needed to pull it together and be professional. A really nasty, vivid curse word, one that she’d learned from her brothers burst into her mind. It was certainly appropriate under the circumstances.

      Screw professional.

      “I have had it with men who manipulate me because of my looks. Here’s a clue. I can’t help the way I look and it doesn’t give you the license to use me or make assumptions about my character. And it damn sure doesn’t give you the right to use me to lie to your mother because your fiancée humiliated you by dumping you for your brother. Here’s another clue. Crap happens. It happens all the time. Get over it.”

      Evan’s hands closed over her shoulders. She tried to flinch away, but he held tight. There was honest regret in his eyes, but there was also determination. Stubborn determination.

      “Sit down, Celia,” he ordered in a low voice.

      She gaped at him.

      “Please.”

      It was the please that did it. Or maybe it was how tired and resigned he sounded. Or maybe it was the bleak light that entered his eyes. Or maybe she was just a flaming idiot who deserved everything she got for being sucked into this in the first place.

      She sank onto the sofa, her entire body trembling as he took a seat beside her.

      “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t expect you to believe I didn’t do this maliciously or to hurt you. I swear, I didn’t.”

      She cast a sideways glance at him.

      He sighed. “Someone really did a number on you, didn’t they?”

      She turned away, refusing to give him confirmation.

      “Celia, look at me.”

      He waited, and she stared ahead. Still, he waited. Finally, she gave in and turned to look at him.

      “I completely and utterly messed this up. I freely admit it. I expected to have time to discuss this with you before we ran into my family.”

      She struggled to control her temper. He obviously wanted a reasonable discussion when she was feeling anything but reasonable. What she really wanted was to crack his skull on the coffee table and leave, but then she’d be without a room, and if anyone was sleeping in the hallway, it wasn’t going to be her.

      “First, this has nothing—and I mean nothing—to do with you landing my account. You’re going to have to do that on your business and advertising savvy. I’m not putting my entire company in the hands of a woman based on her looks or anything else. Can we at least be clear on that?”

      She swallowed. “That’s not how it looks to me, Evan. It looks to me like I got played for the fool and that you led me here on the premise of listening to my pitch when you never had any intention of this being about business. Tell me this much, have you already signed with Golden Gate? You owe me that much honesty at least.”

      Evan gripped a handful of his hair and closed his eyes. “You’re pissed. I get it. You have every right to be, but will you please listen to my explanation. If afterward you want me to take a flying leap, I’ll be more than happy to accommodate you. You’ll never hear from me again.”

      “I think you know I don’t have any other choice,” she said helplessly.

      “I’ll try to make this as short and as concise as possible.”

      She nodded.

      “I didn’t have any intention of coming to this damn wedding. I couldn’t care less if they live happily ever after and I have even less interest in being here to wish them well along that path to happily ever after.

      “Then my mother called and she begged me to come. She was worried that I wasn’t over Bettina and that’s why I wouldn’t come. The woman has a heart of gold, but she obviously knows nothing about me or she’d realize that Bettina was nothing to me the moment she left me for what she perceived to be the better catch.”

      “Harsh,” Celia murmured.

      “Is it? I’m only speaking the truth. Bettina was calculating. She hedged her bets and went with Mitchell as soon as he was named my father’s successor in the family jewelry business. To her it seemed a more glamorous life. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when she realizes how wrong she is.”

      Celia’s lips curled in amusement. “Not feeling a wee bit vindictive, are you?”

      He gave a short laugh. “I may not harbor any love for the woman, and I may not be a bit sorry that she’s out of my life, but she is a manipulative cat, and I won’t be sorry to see her suffer for the choice she made.”

      “So