The Millionaire's Secret Wish by Leanne Banks Read Free Book Online

his eyes than a twenty-one-gun salute. “You have to care about something to fear it,” he told her in a too-calm voice.
    “So there’s nothing you want from them?” she asked, unable to fathom the possibility. She would have given her eyeteeth for a brother or sister. “Nothing at all?”
    “Nothing,” he said definitively, then paused and frowned. “Except…”
    “Except what?”
    He closed down. “It’s business,” he said.
    Frustrated by the walls Dylan put up around himself, she sighed. Another childhood memory floated through her mind. He had always dared her to step a little further. “Well there’s only one thing I can say at this point. I triple dare you to go to the cocktail party,” she told him, drawing on the saying they’d used as children.
     
    Dylan stared after her, taking in the sight of her backside as her taunting words reverberated in hismind. Irritated, vaguely seduced, he dismissed her dare. When they’d been kids, he had always been the one to dare her. Had the accident made her more adventurous? he wondered. Or perhaps she had become more adventurous since they’d parted company in college. For all the time he’d known Alisa, he’d lost a lot of growing time with her. The loss gnawed at him.
    She wasn’t nearly as acquiescent to him as she’d once been. She didn’t look at him with hero worship in her eyes anymore. She looked at him with a woman’s curiosity and fascination, and the change both unsettled and drew him. He was accustomed to women who were intent on his comfort and satisfaction. Alisa seemed more intent on knowing him and challenging him. Despite her current vulnerability, she’d grown much stronger during their years apart.
    He thought about her dare again and swore under his breath. The notion of spending more than thirty seconds in the presence of his half siblings turned his stomach. However, the blond witch who’d invaded his house and thoughts had a point. He did want something from the Remingtons, and if showing up at a cocktail party could help him get what he wanted, he would do it.
     
    Six-thirty, he’d told her, Alisa thought as she fanned through the closet in her apartment. Her mind was humming with thoughts of Dylan. He was important to her. No way around that fact. She didn’t understand it, and didn’t have all the facts, but she had a lot of feelings and intuition. She didn’t know why it was so important to her for him to gain some sort of connection with his half brothers and sister. Some might say it was none of her business, but she had this strong gut feeling and she couldn’t ignore it. Alisa had learned that not having all her memories and facts in place meant she needed to rely on her gut.
    She’d also figured out part of the reason he irritated her. With the exception of the time he’d kissed her, when Dylan looked at her, she felt as if he were seeing her as the little girl she’d once been. He was protective of her, and while she appreciated the sentiment, she didn’t like the idea of being seen as the goofy little girl who’d followed him around. The image didn’t suit her at all. Alisa may not have a handle on her past, but she believed she’d been a strong person, and if she hadn’t been as strong as she wanted to be before, she was darn well going to start now.
    She found three black cocktail dresses and arranged them on the bed to make a selection. None of them wowed her. Returning to her closet, she fanned through again, this time finding a dress wrapped in plastic with the tag still attached. She lifted the plastic and took a second and third look. She suspected the dress was an impulse purchase and she’d been torn as to whether to return it or not.
    The white dress was a fitted, above-the-knee chemise in classic white. The only thing that prevented it from being a nice, regular dress, were the two horizontal slits in the material covering the chest, clearly designed to expose a hint of skin and cleavage.