Ensnared (The Accidental Billionaires #1)(7)

I shuddered as I remembered Eli saying he admired me. He might be an arrogant prick, but he hadn’t seemed the least bit daunted.

“I’m not very attractive, because I hate fussing with clothes and makeup,” I mused. “Brooke was always way better with people than me. I was the geek who wanted to get out into the woods and explore.”

“There’s plenty of things to like about you,” Aiden grumbled. “And I’m not just saying that because you’re my sister. But some men are put off by women who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.”

“So I have to act helpless?” I asked, horrified at the thought.

The idea of being some kind of shrinking violet was never going to feel good or right to me.

“Hell, no,” Aiden answered as he reached for his water bottle and took a long slug. “You don’t need to be anyone except yourself. So tell me about Stone. Why are you afraid of him?”

I grabbed my diet soda and drank some before I answered, “I’m not afraid of him. I just think he’s a jerk. I was trying to acquire a piece of property out near Lucifer’s Canyon, so I could make sure one of the wildlife corridors stays intact. I sent an offer and made an appointment. But he wasn’t willing to sell.”

“So you’re mad because he didn’t want to sell you some acreage?”

“No. I was pissed because he made me drive all the way to his offices, wait an hour until he’d see me, and then turned my offer down flat. He could have had somebody call me and let me know he didn’t want to sell. But he was curious about why I wanted to buy it. The jackass took up a ton of my time because he wanted to ask a question. Who does that?”

“Damn billionaires think they run the world,” he said with a grin as he put on his sunglasses.

I couldn’t help but smile back at him. My family handled our sudden wealth with as much humor as possible. It’s the only thing we’d ever had to lighten our decidedly heavy burdens when we were younger.

“I don’t think I could ever do that to somebody, money or not,” I told him.

“Do you want me to have a talk with him?” he asked. “If you’re sure you don’t want to speak to him, I can get him to leave you alone.”

I was raised by my three older brothers, so I was accustomed to hearing all of them trying to protect me in some way or another.

“No,” I answered, my voice sounding somewhat panicked. The last thing I wanted was one of my brothers threatening somebody like Eli Stone. We might all have money now, but Eli had a lot more friends in high places. “He’ll give up eventually. And I can handle myself.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Of course. That’s why I haven’t answered him.”

“He’s persistent,” Aiden observed. “And you must have made one hell of an impression if he’s still calling months after you met.”

“I don’t think I did,” I explained. “Honestly, I don’t understand what he wants. I think it’s some kind of game for him.”

“His message sounded pretty sincere. He didn’t sound like a stalker.”

I had to admit that my brother was correct. Every time Eli left a message, he sounded as cool as a cucumber, and businesslike, almost like he wanted to schedule a meeting. If I didn’t recall every word he’d said to me the day we met, I’d have a very hard time believing he even saw me as a female.

“Aiden, he could have almost any woman he wants. Why would he want me? Why would he even want to play a cat-and-mouse game? Do you think he’s twisted?”

“Did it ever occur to you that he might just like you?”

“No,” I admitted. “He’s Eli Stone.”

“He sounded like a guy who was asking you out to dinner. And no man is too good for my sister. Not ever. You’re beautiful, intelligent, driven, and empathetic. What in the hell else could any guy want? You can’t blame the man for his persistence. I kind of like the fact that he knows that you’re worth the work.”

I sighed as I leaned my head back against the lounger. My brothers always gave me an ego boost. In their eyes, Brooke and I would always be perfect. “Maybe he makes me uncomfortable because he actually seemed to find me attractive.”

Brooke and I had always been careful about sharing too much with any of our brothers, because they had a tendency to insert themselves into any situation they judged as bad for their two sisters. But my relationship with Aiden had changed somewhat since Brooke had left California for good. I wasn’t sure if Aiden was realizing that we were all grown up now, or he was just mellowing out as he got older.

We’d become a lot closer, and we talked about a lot of things I’d previously only shared with Brooke. Granted, there was no way I was discussing my sex life—or lack of it—with any of my brothers, but we did talk more about personal stuff.

Not that he or any of my brothers didn’t think they always knew what was best for their little twin sisters, even though I’d already graduated with a doctorate, finished a fellowship, and was now on the job hunt for a position as a scientist. And Brooke was married and living across the country.

I was pretty sure that some of their high-handedness would probably never change, no matter what Brooke and I did.