Touch of Heaven Read Free

rang as he climbed into his sleek black Bentley luxury sedan parked in front of the day spa. He reached inside his breast pocket, removed the Bluetooth BlackBerry handheld and stabbed the talk button.
    â€œMayne,” he growled.
    The phone line was filled with a low, knowing chuckle. “I take it things didn’t go too well with Miss St. James this morning.”
    Warrick scowled. “What do you think?”
    Stephon Fuller, who had served as vice president and chief operating officer of Mayne Industries for the past seven years, laughed. “That bad, huh?”
    â€œWorse.” With an impatient flick of his wrist, Warrick turned the key in the ignition. The engine purred to life, dumping a frigid blast of air into the car. Although it was barely ten-thirty in the morning, the temperature had already soared to a sweltering eighty-five degrees, which made him question his sanity for returning home at the height of summer. The heat, coupled with the oppressive humidity, was an entity most Houstonians learned to live with, like bumper-to-bumper traffic and underachieving sports teams.
    â€œHow did the conversation go?” Stephon asked dryly.
    Warrick snorted. “I don’t think you can call what Raina and I had a conversation. For one thing, it lasted all of five minutes. Once I told her what I wanted, she basically told me to go to hell.”
    â€œDamn.” Stephon pushed out a deep breath. “Looks like you underestimated just how much that spa means to her.”
    Warrick frowned. The only thing he had underestimated was how beautiful Raina St. James had become over the past twelve years. When she’d appeared in the lobby that morning, he hadn’t recognized her at first, and for several stunned moments he’d found himself at a complete loss for words.
    He had never seen Raina as anything other than his younger sister’s sidekick—a skinny, aloof girl with a mouthful of braces who was a constant presence at his family’s house. The woman who’d approached him that morning was a Nubian goddess poured into a stretchy tangerine dress that clung to her shapely hips and thighs and revealed a mouthwatering expanse of long, curvaceous legs. Her gleaming golden-brown skin looked kissed by the sun. Her shoulder-length dark hair was fashionably cut in long, breezy layers that accentuated the sensual contours of her face. She had a slim nose, high cheekbones, and dark, slanted eyes that had always struck Warrick as feline. But had her lips always been so full and lush, so damned tempting? And had her voice always been so low and throaty?
    The moment he’d seen her, he’d been caught off guard by the sharp jab of lust that speared through his groin. His reaction to her had been visceral. Powerful. Not at all what he’d expected to feel for a woman he had spent the past twelve years hating.
    â€œDo you think she wants more money?” Stephon asked, breaking into Warrick’s thoughts.
    â€œI doubt it. She doesn’t even know what I’m offering. I wrote it on the back of a card, and without giving it a second glance, she tore up the card in my face.”
    â€œOuch.” Stephon chuckled ruefully. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for you to make the sales pitch—in person or otherwise. You should have sent me or another company rep.”
    â€œIt wouldn’t have mattered who presented the offer,” Warrick said darkly. “As soon as Raina found out I was the buyer, her response would have been the same.”
    There was no doubt in his mind that Raina’s staunch refusal to even consider his offer was out of pure spite. After all, he was offering her more than the property’s appraisal value. More than enough for her to open a bigger, better day spa in a new location.
    Not that she’d given him a chance to explain any of that.
    â€œSo what’s our next move?” Stephon asked, a note of impatience in