Merger to Marriage (Boardrooms and Billi - By Addison Fox Page 0,13

mischief alighted in her dark eyes as their hands once again linked. “Mayson McBride.”

“So Keira is your sister?” As he took in her features, he realized he was the idiot for not realizing it sooner. While they were by no means identical, he could clearly see how Mayson and Keira favored each other. Both had wide, heavy-lashed dark eyes and high cheekbones.

Although there were commonalities in their facial structure, they were less similar in build. Where Keira’s petite frame was a bit past five foot, Mayson had to be around five foot eight, her slender frame long and lithe. Yet even with the physical differences, it was obvious they were sisters.

“She is. I’m the youngest of three. Camryn’s in the middle.”

He conjured up an image of the three sisters, something he’d seen in the press shortly after Nathan’s engagement was announced. Once again, he wondered how he’d been so blind at the wedding.

“I do owe you an apology. While I didn’t technically lie, I was misleading, and for that I’m sorry.”

“Why the lie?”

She hesitated briefly, but when she spoke, her voice was as firm as the dark gaze leveled on his. “It was an impulse at first, before things progressed as they did. And then it was just too late to try and explain after things got heated.”

“But why the lie at all?”

“Because I didn’t want to be Mayson McBride, sister of the bride and one of the leaders of McBride Media. The conversation would have turned all business-like and—” She broke off, her words fading in the crash of the ocean.

“I don’t know about that.” He couldn’t hold back the smile. “I wasn’t thinking of business that day.”

“Me either.” Her shoulders rose in a small shrug. “But that’s why I lied.”

He glanced down and saw he still held her hand in his and let it drop. “Maybe you can make it up to me by taking a walk down the beach.”

…

Waves lapped around her feet and Mayson reveled in the contrast of cool water while bright sunlight bathed her in warmth. The weight that had hovered over the center of her chest for the last two months vanished. She’d regretted using her middle name, and it was a relief to be done with the deception.

A quick glance at Holt’s profile—the strong jaw line and arrow-straight nose—had her breath catching in her throat. Good God, he was even more handsome than she’d remembered in her fantasies. His broad shoulder brushed against her as they walked, and the solid strength of him was as reassuring as it was a turn on.

The coincidence of finding him on the beach wasn’t lost on her. Of all the people she could have come across in her casual stroll around the grounds, she’d found the one man on the planet who’d barely left her thoughts.

If she were being fair, she could hardly blame him for the fleeting anger she saw reflected in his gaze. In all the hours she’d spent thinking of that night with him and how she might do it differently, she couldn’t ever imagine giving him her real name. Her real name meant business conversations, not sexy flirtations over rich red wine. Which was why she’d held back a bit of the truth.

“You enjoy photography?”

“I do. Anything visual keeps my attention. Give me spreadsheets or copy, and I’m fairly useless.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You’ve got quite a successful operation on your hands at McBride Media.”

“Which is all about the power of three separate talents working together.”

The years they’d spent reviving their family magazine company had been epitomized by teamwork. Mayson knew their success had been about a boatload of hard work, coupled with the fact the three of them had pooled their interests and talents.

“You and your sisters have certainly proven the value of teamwork, and the business community has noticed.”

She couldn’t stop the smile at the irony of his words. “That notice nearly had Nathan taking over the company.”

“Fortunately, he came to his senses.”

She risked another glance at his profile and almost stumbled as she caught his hard, piercing stare. “What about you? I didn’t get a real sense of what you do. We spoke of…other things.”

“Real estate, primarily. I’ve got other investments as well.”

“Are you working with Nathan on his Las Vegas property?”

Mayson knew her brother-in-law had taken on an aggressive expansion of his own business empire with the hotel and casino he was building in Sin City. It would make sense his business partner in the venture