As Barnes’s gaze inventoried the room once more, Regina eased farther into the background. Damien’s libido kicked into gear as he saw the emotions shift on her face. The same wave that had washed over her when she was defending his helpless mother.          She was so passionate when it came to protecting others. Or when she was so pissed off that she forgot to be a polite little lady. The temper churning in those chocolate eyes shouldn’t turn him on. Luckily, Barnes couldn’t see it.“But I understand Kennedy Mill is special,” the man said, a small grin stretching his full lips. “And this house would fit me just perfect. I figured, after everything I heard about Damien, we could come to some sort of… compromise.”“I see,” Damien said, not giving the other man any clues. “What sort of…

          Damien hated being at the local country club. Right now, he preferred solitude. But his brothers had insisted on a nice dinner before they both left. Lucas would be away for quite a while as he got ready for the racing season. Joshua was headed out to start preparations for moving back home. It would take him some time, but the move was a definite.          The will said nothing about Damien hiring someone to run the plant, so he was still abiding by the letter of the law. Theodore’s law. The cause of all the tension, especially between him and Regina.          The wife he’d tried at the first opportunity to get rid of after persuading her to have sex with him. Brilliant! How could one woman make him feel so out of control and alert at the same time?          H

          Sad as that might be, it was the truth. From the time she was young, Regina had dreamed of having someone who would want her for herself. Not because she fulfilled a role as their daughter. Not because of the money she could provide. Not because of the services she had to offer. Someone who wanted Regina Duquesne… well, just because.          Damien wanted her for a lot of reasons. But when he held her in his arms, she felt as if he wanted her for herself. She simply wanted to feel that one more time. There were too many reasons why she couldn’t have him forever.          A knock sounded on the door to the outer hallway. Regina stared at it for a moment, a feeling of inevitability settling over her. Just as she rose up on her elbows, the door opened. Damien stepped inside, then closed the door with a firm click.

          She’d seen it so often, Regina wished she could tell him he wasn’t the only one but didn’t want to risk scaring him off by getting too deep. Instead, she settled for something simpler, to help Damien ease up a little.  “You haven’t spent much time in a sickroom.”          His eyes widened slightly before his face resumed an emotionless mask.“Does it show that much?”          Sighing, Regina sank into her chair on the opposite side of the bed. Why had she thought he would make this easy on either of them? She smiled down at Iris, the woman who’d become a surrogate mother to her before the older woman’s accident. Her heart ached with the guilt of her involvement.“It’s alright, you know… It’s often hard for family a

          Life often moved in directions Regina never expected. She had spent a lifetime going to movies and restaurants alone, hanging out in coffee shops and bookstores on her days off.          But as she looked around the dinner table a month later, she finally understood that she was no longer alone. That’s what family was for. And she had claimed the people around her as hers, for as long as they would let her.“I have an idea,” she said, gaining the attention of the table.          Everyone was in their usual places, one end full now that Joshua had rejoined them and Lucas had been able to clear a brief few days for his appearance at the fair. Briar and June peeked through the door from the kitchen.“I think we should go to the fair. Together.”“The fair?” June said