“Need help with the zipper?” He didn’t try to hide the evidence of his arousal.

“I’ve got it.” She zipped up the back without a hitch.

“You would. You don’t need anyone, do you? No wonder marriage didn’t suit you.”

That stopped her in her tracks. She shoved a lock of hair awkwardly off her face. “You don’t know anything about my marriage.”

“No. I don’t. Anything I should know?”

Damn. On the one hand, he was curious. On the other, he didn’t want to know anything at all about Anna and another man. He shifted in the sand, uncomfortable.

“He left me.” She said it quickly, and for once her fire seemed to dim. “I guess you’re right. He left me for someone totally different. Said he wanted someone quiet and nurturing. More submissive.”

“I’m sorry.” The hurt in her eyes tore at his chest. “He was the wrong man for you, because you sure aren’t cut out to be submissive.”

“I guess, like you said, marriage doesn’t suit me.”

“Hey.” He reached for his pants. “Don’t let a bad experience get you down. You just need someone who appreciates you for who you are.”

“I don’t think there’s anyone that crazy.” She tried to sound lighthearted, but it didn’t fool him.

“You’re a woman in a million.”

“Yeah?” She tossed her hair and narrowed her eyes. “Is that why you’re willing to pay four million to get rid of me?”

He couldn’t help laughing. She was right, of course.

At this point he was offering her far more than what the gems, the cookbook and the land were worth. What would it take to make this woman see sense?

It might help if he could keep his damn hands off her for a whole day.

Why was he making love to the daughter of his father’s lover? She was the last woman on earth he should be interested in.

He shook his head. Anna Marcus was definitely having a disturbing effect on him. He’d actually experienced a surge of relief that the jewels were legally hers, otherwise he’d have felt like he was cheating her out of them. And the cookbook, too. He’d originally intended to gloss over that, to have her leave without knowing what the clause in the will really meant.

But he couldn’t do it.

Since he’d gotten to know her again he had a powerful urge to protect her interests and safeguard her rights, even at the expense of the estate-not to mention his own sanity.

No doubt it was just his sense of honor. His father had raised him to do the right thing.

She slipped her feet back into her sandals. Pink soles peeped at him for a tantalizing second as she put them on, before he dragged his eyes away.

He needed to back off and play it cool. The more he came on strong, the more she fought him.

The worst part was how much he enjoyed that. Anna’s fire lit an inferno inside him in a way he’d never experienced with any other woman. He loved the way she stood up to him. That she didn’t fawn and simper and pander over him like so many women who saw him as some kind of trophy, not as a man.

Anna saw him as a man, all right.

And despite his duty to the estate, he couldn’t help seeing her as a woman. A savvy businesswoman who refused to be cheated, a loyal and caring woman who wanted to see her mother’s memory honored, a passionate and sensual woman who called to something stronger than principle and pragmatism.

He could tell she loved the estate, too, that she felt a deep connection to land and the trees.

He snapped his attention away from the hot burst of feeling rushing through his chest.

It was time to be practical. “I’ll send Tom over with the gems when I get back. Then the ball is in your court.” He settled back in the sand with his hands behind his head, trying to look like he didn’t care much one way or the other.

“Good.” She shot him a dirty look that only tickled his libido.

As she stalked back down the row of trees in her unsuitable shoes, he heaved a deep sigh, which brought him no relaxation whatsoever.

He just wanted to put things back the way they should be. The estate whole and entire. The family secrets buried safely where they belonged.

Why did it have to be so hard?

If he didn’t get rid of Anna soon, rumors really would start to fly, and once they got out there’d be no putting that genie back in the bottle. He should be doing everything in his power to make her leave-right now.

Instead, all he wanted to do was run his hands over her silky skin and trace the proud angle of her chin with kisses. To make bone-shaking, earth-tilting love to her again.

And again.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, inadvertently getting a bunch of gritty sand on it. He had sand all over him from head to toe and was lying naked and alone in his own orange grove.

What was wrong with this picture?

Relax. It’s a fair offer. More than fair. She’ll come to her senses, take the money, and go.

The thought made him more uncomfortable than ever.

Eight

The sound of footsteps on the cottage steps roused Anna from a deep night’s sleep. Not really footsteps, more like loud thuds. She sat up, heart pounding.

“Who’s there?”

She squinted against morning sunlight as the bedroom door flung open.

Who else?

Naldo stood in the doorway, fury hot in his eyes. He brandished a tabloid-size newspaper. “What do you mean by this?”

“Get out of my room!” She clutched the covers around herself, more out of instinctive self-defense than modesty.

“I’m not going anywhere until you explain this article.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He flung the paper down on the rumpled bedcover and rapped the page with the back of his hand. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Still sleepy, she squinted, then rubbed her eyes, trying to focus on the tiny newsprint. De Leon Heir in Legal Wrangle was the rather small heading of a short article on page eight.

She picked up the paper and held it closer.

An intriguing wrinkle appeared in the long and illustrious history of the De Leon family, when the late Robert De Leon left a small tract of estate land to an employee. As the De Leons have clung to every acre they own since the 1500s, this has raised eyebrows all over the county. An inside source confirmed that Robert De Leon’s long-rumored affair was in fact with this employee, forty-eight-year-old Leticia Marcus, who worked on the estate as a cook for fifteen years before her recent death in an automobile accident.

Anna bit her lip as fresh grief flooded her.

The situation might be further complicated by the estate’s recent venture into the retail market. Some say the late Ms. Marcus was the mastermind behind the award-winning products that are seeing strong sales across the nation. Ms. Marcus’s daughter has been in town for several days, and seems to have no immediate plans to relinquish her claims on the estate. Is the great De Leon empire under siege?

She realized her jaw had fallen open, and she snapped it shut.

“Why did you do this?” Naldo leaned over her, his voice low and menacing.

“Do what?” she rasped. “I had nothing to do with this.”

“It had to be you. You’re the only person with ‘insider information’.”

Anna blinked. Naldo De Leon was in her bedroom-uninvited-accusing her of spreading libelous rumors. He hadn’t even asked, he assumed she was the source. White-hot rage streaked along her nerves. Did this man’s arrogance have no limits?

“You said you’d like to tell the papers what kind of man my father really was.” His low voice joined his eyes in an aggressive confrontation that wreaked havoc on her stubborn streak.

She let go of the covers and crossed her arms over her chest. “What if I did give them the information?”

Naldo’s brows lowered. “Do you have any idea what this means?”

“Sure. People will know the truth. It is the truth, remember?”

“It is private, proprietary information about my father’s personal life. The De Leon name appears in the paper only for announcements of births, marriages and deaths, not on the gossip pages.”

He straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin.

Anna exploded into a chuckle. Yes. His arrogance really did have no limits. “Oh, come on. There must have been articles about the new line of products.”

“Yes. Of course. But a public relations firm in New York handles those. Naturally your mother’s name was never mentioned in connection with them.”

“Naturally,” she returned sarcastically. “Perhaps you can call them in to ‘handle’ this too?” She smiled sweetly.

Naldo inhaled deeply, obviously using every last ounce of self-control not to take her by the shoulders and shake her. “So you admit it?”

“I don’t admit a thing.”

She could see Naldo’s powerful chest heaving under his dark shirt. Any minute now, steam was going to start rising out of his artfully tousled black hair. “You are impossible.”

“Me? You’re the one who’s broken into my house and marched into my bedroom uninvited! I’m in my pajamas, for crying out loud.” She indicated her pink cami. “If anyone is ‘under siege,’ it’s me. Could you maybe show a little common politeness for a change?”

Naldo blinked. She saw his Adam’s apple move, then he drew himself up to his full height and nodded brusquely. “You’re right. I should have knocked. But I want a full explanation of this. The De Leon family does not take scandal lying down, of that you can be sure.”

His dark gaze trapped her focus for several intense seconds. A heady mix of unreadable thoughts and emotions seemed to swirl in those dark, penetrating eyes, and in her mind. Then he turned and left.

She collapsed back against the pillow, heart thumping.

A full explanation? She didn’t have one, but she was going to get one. She heard his car engine with relief. At least he wasn’t waiting for his explanation at the bottom of the stairs.