Hot Commodity (Banks / Kincaid Family #1)(16)

She frowned at his hand.

"And you must be Olivia," he added when she refused to play along. "I hear you were married last night. Well, that’s quite a coincidence because I was too. But I don’t think the new Mrs. Banks likes me much. So far, she’s cried, glared, snapped and given me the silent treatment. And she seems averse to my name," he added after seeing her cringe at being labeled Mrs. Banks. Tilting his head to the side, he studied her a moment. "Which makes me wonder, why don’t you like my name? How do you even know who I am?"

She looked up quickly. Too quickly. "I don’t." Then she snorted derisively and rubbed her hand against her forehead. "Trust me, if I’d known you were Cameron Banks, there’s no way in hell I would’ve even talked to you last night."

"But you know something about me," he insisted. "You know my middle name and you know about…way too much about my wife. How do you know so much? There’s no way I would’ve told you that last night."

No amount of alcohol would get him to open up about Sienna.

She shook her head to agree. "No," she said and closed her eyes. "No, you didn’t tell me. I...my mother did."

He arched a brow. "Your mother?"

This time, her head bobbed up and down.

He didn’t remember a mother lingering around in any of his hazy visions from the night before. There’d been a cop once, but no mothers.

"Who’s your mother?"

She opened her eyes and looked regretful as she whispered, "Vivian Helbrock-Donovan-Roark."

He stared at her hard. Finally, he frowned. "Who?"

Her lips parted; she looked at him as if he was insane. "Vivian Donavan," she said a little more forcefully as if he should really know this one. "The owner of Helbrock Enterprise."

When he merely shook his head, her jaw dropped even farther.

Something in his brain clicked. "Helbrock, you say? You mean that big-time canning company in California?"

Her shoulders slumped in relief and her head once again did the up and down.

"Your mother owns that?"

Closing her eyes, she bit her lip and continued to move her head in a nod.

"And her name is Vivian Donovan," he concluded.

"Yes," she whispered, looking stricken like she expected him to lose his temper at such an announcement. "My mother is Vivian Helbrock-Donovan-Roark."

Cameron shrugged. "Never heard of her."

Her eyes flew open. "What?" she blurted out, staring at him with that disbelieving gawk all over again. "But...but that’s impossible. She’s told me about you. All about you. She...she even gave me a sheet full of information about all the companies you’ve bought and sold."

Cameron wrinkled his face in confusion. "Huh? Why would she do that?"

Olivia didn’t answer. Instead, she looked like she was on the verge of another major crying fit. "You’ve seriously never met her before?"

He felt like he should apologize for answering, "No."

She looked so crushed, he actually wanted to give her a sympathetic hug. Of course, if he put his hands on her—good intentions or not—he’d probably turn into some kind of lecherous octopus and play how-fast-can-I-undress-the-blonde-babe, going straight for her—

"I can’t believe it," she said to herself, her shoulders curling in around her body as she started to rock back and forth. "She’s never even met you before and yet...and yet…"

"And yet what?" Cameron urged softly.

"She wanted me to marry you," she choked out.

Cameron pulled back. He blinked, waited for the punch line of her joke, and when it didn’t come, he cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"





Five



Olivia sat huddled inside Cameron Banks’ shirt on the king-sized bed in his sister’s guest bedroom. Her 'husband' had spent the last half hour grilling her about Vivian until she’d spilled the entire sordid truth. When she was done, he merely stood there and stared in appalled silence with his eyebrow permanently quirked.

"So you married me for my money?" he finally said.

"No!" she screeched. "I chose you because I thought you had to be the polar opposite of this Cameron Banks guy Vivian wanted me to marry."

But Cameron only shook his head. "Now, wait. Explain to me again. How did your mother think my marrying you would make her wealthier?"

The way he stressed 'mother' and 'her' made her realize he didn’t buy her story. His wary scowl told her he sensed something underhanded taking place. He blamed the trickery on her, though, not Vivian.

Olivia tried once again to explain her mother, though she knew a woman like Vivian was intellectually impossible to comprehend.

"She’s heard about your reputation, and she’s studied your business acumen." Olivia shrugged. "I guess she assumed that with a man like you as her son-in-law, a whole new world of opportunities would open for her. All she’d have to do is mention you’re family and, presto, everyone will want to do business with her because—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Cameron cut in. "A man like me? What does that mean, ‘a man like me’?"