want to fall in love again? He wanted Valerie and their unborn child.
“I’ll make a note of your objection.” Thad tried to keep his voice flippant to cloak the anger that sometimes swelled, inexplicably, with the pain. “Anything else?”
Kevin stared at him a moment longer. “No, I’m leaving. But I wish you’d listen to me. This thing is destined to lead you into trouble.”
“Mr. Winters?”
A sultry voice pulled their attention to the open door, where the woman from the picture stood, both hands fidgeting with an oversize leather handbag.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I’m a few minutes early, but something has come up, and I can’t stay long. I hope you don’t mind. I tried to call first but only got a recording.”
Thad stood and tried on a welcoming smile. “No problem. My secretary’s gone for the day. You must be Ms. McKinney.”
“Yes.”
He half expected her to tell him to call her Macy. But she didn’t. “Ms. McKinney” was entirely too formal for what they planned to discuss.
Fine. It was better to keep things as formal as possible, he reminded himself. “This is my partner, Kevin Brodey.”
Kevin’s face, always an open book, showed heightened interest and a certain reluctant appreciation. He strode to her and shook her hand, and for some reason, Thad noticed that Ms. McKinney wore no fingernail polish, a simple detail that set her apart from the others who had applied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. McKinney.”
She smiled hesitantly and nodded, but her gaze darted to Thad, then took in the balloons, candy and flowers that adorned half the room.
“My partner here was just leaving.” Thad shot Kevin a meaningful look.
Kevin made a face at him from behind the woman and managed to haul himself out of the room.
Thad closed the door to ensure the privacy he wanted. “Please, have a seat. Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
The way Ms. McKinney’s hands were shaking, she looked as if she could use something warm in her stomach. As a matter of fact, she looked as though she could use a lot more than coffee. Such as several weeks of healthy meals and someone to make sure she ate them. The woman in the photograph had a gleam of laughter in her eye and a healthy flush to her porcelain skin. But Ms. McKinney in the flesh looked tired and drawn. Dark circles underscored large eyes, hollows accented high cheekbones, and despite the classy sheath dress and matching jacket she wore, Thad could tell she was too thin.
What had happened to the woman in the picture? Was she ill?
“I don’t have time for coffee, thank you.” She hovered near the leather chair across from his desk, but when her gaze met his, it was as direct as any business associate’s and far more piercing. “Actually, I’m not sure I should be here. It’s certainly not what I want.”
Thad cleared his throat, taken back by her honesty. “Then why did you come?”
“Why would anyone come?”
“You need the money.”
She nodded.
“For what?”
A faint, bitter smile curved her lips. “Is it important? Do you have to approve of how I’d spend it?”
Thad crossed to his desk and sat down, steepling his fingers in front of his chin. “One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money.”
“No one knows that better than me. I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Winters, I need to raise $98,523, and I need it right away.”
The exactness of the figure surprised him, as she must have known it would. “For what?”
She smoothed her dress. “That’s my business.”
Thad’s eyebrows rose. This gal was certainly different than the rest. Some of the others had eagerly gushed over the new house or car they would buy. One had hoped to sway him by claiming she’d donate half the money to charity. A couple of others had offered to do him sexual favors he hadn’t asked for and certainly didn’t want.
But then, it was difficult to find a healthy-minded individual to do what he was asking. He’d anticipated as much, which was why he insisted on certain precautions.
“I have to protect my investment,” he said, studying her. “Part of that includes understanding your attitude toward the remuneration.”
“Investment? Remuneration?” She made a sound of disgust and dropped her head into her hand.
Her damning judgment, though unspoken, told Thad she was probably the most normal woman he’d ever find, but it stung him enough to bring him to his feet. “I’m sorry. I can already see we wouldn’t make good partners on this. I won’t keep you.”
Surprise and something akin to fear flashed across her face. Had she expected him to beg her, in addition to paying her so handsomely? Evidently she didn’t understand what the money was for.
“Wait.” She held up a hand. “I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Could we try this again?”
Thad remembered the two interviews he had scheduled for tomorrow and the many women he’d already rejected. They were calling him incessantly and sending him things, hoping to change his mind. He had to find someone quickly, while he could still withstand the onslaught.
And despite their bad beginning, Ms. McKinney struck a chord in him. There was something about her eyes.
“Please,” she murmured.
“Fine,” he heard himself say. “Why don’t you sit down this time?”
She perched on the edge of her seat, her purse in her lap.
“You said on the phone that a friend of yours gave you my number.”
“Yes, Lisa Shriver. She got it from her doctor, a Dr. Peters.”
Dr. Peters was an old friend, and one of Thad’s few confidants. They’d discussed Thad’s intentions at his last physical, three months ago. Evidently Dr. Peters had decided to help him, after all. “And you called because you need ninety-eight thousand dollars?”
“And change.”
“For something you won’t tell me.”
“It’s not a big secret. It’s just my business. If we decide to…to work together, I want my personal life kept as separate from yours as possible. I’m sure you understand.”
He did understand, and he felt the same way, which was a point in Ms. McKinney’s favor. “What do you do?”
“I’m in my second year of med school. I want to be a pediatrician.”
“Now I know why you need so much money.”
A faint smile reminiscent of the one in the photograph flitted across her face, then her gaze fell to the floor. “So, would you like to explain the details of what you propose, or have I lost any chance of…of being the one you select?”
Thad sat on the corner of his desk so he wasn’t hovering over her. “Let’s just say I’m willing to spend a few more minutes together before I decide.”
Her hands knotted, but when she looked up at him, her unique beauty, and that mysterious something that haunted her eyes, struck him again. “I’m usually not difficult to get along with,” she said softly. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
Thad winced, surprised that even the dream of graduating from med school could bring this proud woman to her knees. “I’m not looking for an apology, Ms. McKinney.”
“Macy.”
Maybe they were getting somewhere at last. “Fine, Macy then. And please, call