of coming within ten feet of Sterling Hamilton. She saw all of his movies, some more than twice, and purchased any magazine if his face appeared on the cover.
In fact, Colby thought, as she rubbed some Colby bath oil onto her skin before slipping into her outfit, it had been Cynthia's constant chattering about Sterling Hamilton's sex appeal that had given her the notion to approach him with the idea of an endorsement.
A few minutes later, Colby entered the sitting room of the suite where Sterling sat lazily reclining on the sofa scanning a magazine.
Sterling looked up. His gaze swept over Colby's appearance. Somehow she seemed to have gotten prettier since their meeting earlier that day. He noted she was no more than five feet four inches tall and had what he considered one helluva voluptuous figure. It was an enticing contrast to the figures of the women he usually dated. Most of them thought too much meat on their bones was a crime. They were totally obsessed with their thinner, willowy frames.
He thought there was something blatantly sexy about Colby Wingate's small waist, curvy childbearing hips and her nicely rounded behind. And with her full breasts and shapely legs, all her feminine attributes were enough to make any man take a second look.
So he obliged himself and took a second look before getting to his feet.
“You made excellent time, Colby. But I only asked you to get out of the tub. You didn't have to get dressed on my account.”
Colby glared at him. For some reason he appeared even taller than he had in Edward Stewart's office. She suddenly felt rather small in the room with his six feet three inches of towering height. If he thought he would use his height to intimidate her, then he had another thought coming. James was just as tall, so tall men didn't bother her one bit. But, she thought as she continued to glare at him, although his height didn't bother her, his penetrating stare did. She had been fully aware of his close scrutiny of her when she had entered the room. She had seen his gaze make a slow journey down the full length of her body and had wondered just what he thought he was looking at. She knew most men preferred pencil-thin, size-five women. Pencil-thin she was not, but she felt completely comfortable and satisfied with her size-ten figure.
Placing her hands on her hips, she asked. “What do you want, Mr. Hamilton?”
Sterling's gaze again roamed over her figure before he brought his eyes back to hers, with mesmerizing intensity. His perusal caused an unexpected quickening of Colby's pulse and made her feel momentarily light-headed. She struggled to control her body's reaction to him.
“I asked what you wanted, Mr. Hamilton,” she repeated nervously and with a little less force.
Sterling walked over to her slowly, with the ease of a predator stalking his prey. His dark eyes were sharpened and held Colby transfixed in place. She couldn't have moved if she wanted to.
He reached out and tipped her chin so he could see even deeper into her eyes. “I'm glad you asked because I have every intention of telling you exactly what I want, Colby Wingate. I want you to have my baby.”
“No,” Colby murmured in a choked whisper. Her head began spinning at his words. And to make matters worse, her body began aching in a very private place. What was wrong with her? She took a step back and out of his grasp. Finding her voice, she replied, “We've gone over this before and my answer is still the same. We can't always get what we want.”
Sterling chuckled. “But I usually do.”
She tilted her chin. “Usually isn't the same as always.”
“That's true. Then maybe I should rephrase my statement so there won't be any misunderstanding. I always get what I want. Eventually.”
Colby swallowed again. “Not this time.”
Sterling's gaze penetrated hers. He noticed the color of her eyes had darkened even more. There were traces of fire in them as her gaze challenged his. He gave her just as good a glare as she was giving him, and wondered when the last time was that a woman, any woman, had gotten under his skin like she was doing.
He moved in closer and lowered his face over hers until their lips were less than mere inches apart. His hand cupped the center of her back. “On the contrary, Colby. Especially this time,” he whispered hoarsely. “I'll get everything I want…and more.”
Colby saw his intent and quickly twisted away from him. She walked swiftly to the door and opened it. “Please leave.”
“I will if you really want me to, but if you really love your brother and care about what happens to him and his company, you'll let me stay.”
Colby drew in a deep breath. Her throat became congested with fear and uncertainty. “What do you mean by that?”
“If you'll allow me a few minutes of your time, I will tell you,” he said, returning to the sofa to sit down.
Colby eyed him narrowly. If there was something concerning James and Wingate Cosmetics, she wanted to hear it. “All right,” she said, closing the door. “You got five minutes. No more and possibly less.” She took a chair opposite the sofa. “I'm listening.”
A soft chuckle escaped Sterling's throat. Although he didn't want to, he actually liked her. She was an amusing change from most of the women he came in contact with. He couldn't remember the last time a woman had acted as if he'd crawled out from under a rock.
“We could have shared the sofa. I don't bite.”
“Your bite is the least of my worries, and you're down to four minutes, Mr. Hamilton. My patience is wearing thin.”
Sterling laughed. “So is mine. And I prefer you call me Sterling, or anything else you may find endearing.”
Colby gave him a withering glance. “There's nothing about you I find endearing.” She knew to him this was just a game. A game she wasn't interested in playing. Women threw themselves at him constantly, and she had no intention of being one of them. He was way out of her league.
Sterling reached for a briefcase on a nearby table that Colby noticed for the first time. He leaned back against the sofa and proceeded to review a stack of papers he took out of it. He didn't bother to look up as he began speaking.
“After you left Edward's office I made a few calls and found out some rather interesting information regarding your brother's company.”
Colby cocked an arched eyebrow. “Such as?” she asked blithely.
He looked up and wished he hadn't. Heat surged through his body just from looking at her. He quickly looked back down at the papers he held in his hand. What was wrong with him? You would think Colby Wingate was the first woman he'd been around in a long time, but that wasn't the case. He'd just flown in from Paris, where he'd been surrounded by numerous beautiful women on the set of his latest movie. What was there about her that drew his gaze to her tempting mouth time and time again? He shook his head and took an exasperated breath.
“I'm waiting for an answer, Mr. Hamilton.”
He looked up again and met her gaze, grateful he was a little better in control. “Such as the fact that Wingate Cosmetics is about to be faced with a hostile takeover attempt by Morton Industries.”
Colby sat up straight and stared at him with openmouthed shock. “What? Are you sure?” she asked in a whisper.
