shook it, her grip firm.
“Mrs. Kealoha, it’s nice to meet you,” she said, keeping a pleasant expression on her face. “I saw the new documentary on ranching and the impact on the environment from a naturalist point of view that you directed a few months ago on the network. Very impressive.”
The woman’s eyes widened fractionally before the smile blossomed even more.
“Why, thank you so much. That means a lot! It’s a new venture of mine, producing documentaries. It’s been quite a change from my normal undertakings. A little scary, but hey, change is good.” She stopped and smiled, her cheeks dimpling as she did. With a shrug she continued, “And not only did I direct it, I produced it,” she said, and Sinclair caught the way her husband’s hand tightened more on her waist and the pride in his blue eyes as he glanced at his wife as she spoke. “I’m very proud of the reception it has been receiving. I’m so happy you enjoyed it!”
“I did, very much. I rarely have time for television, but when I saw the reviews of your documentary, it was something I knew I couldn’t miss. And I was right. It was brilliant!”
Everything she said was true. The documentary had been riveting, and unlike many documentaries on the environment, it had been vibrant and at times even funny.
Sonia Kealoha was eating up the compliments with a big smile on her face. It didn’t hurt Sinclair in her end game; keep the enemy off guard.
“And as I’m sure you know, this is my husband, Key...Keanu, that is,” she said as the man came closer. He stuck out a hand for her to shake.
Okay, this is it, she thought. No way is he going to be as welcoming as his wife, or even the housekeeper, for that matter.
To say she was surprised with the honest warmth reflected in his blue eyes—eyes that were identical to the man she’d once referred to as a blue-eyed devil—was putting it past mild.
“Honey, I told you about Ms. Adams joining us for dinner, right?” the woman asked, upping the wattage on her smile a hundredfold.
He smiled down at his wife. The arm he had casually wrapped around her waist when he’d first come by her side tightened just a fraction, the long fingers massaging the indenture of her waist.
Hmm. Interesting, Sinclair thought.
She caught the passing glance between the pair. It was...a conspirator’s look they had exchanged.
Sinclair cataloged it. And promptly pushed it to the back of her mind for later contemplation.
“You mean the text you sent to the phone I left on our bedside table this morning? The phone that got trampled when I broke in one of the new horses? The phone I asked, since you were headed to town, if you could take with you to see about getting me a new one? That phone?” He said with a mischievous glint in his eye.
His wife’s feigned look of surprise didn’t even look real to Sinclair, and she didn’t know the woman.
Sonia bit her bottom lip, fighting the grin that Sinclair could see was tugging the corners of her generous mouth as she grinned unrepentantly up at her handsome husband.
She reached a hand up to pat his lean cheek. “Oh, baby, I forgot about that!” she replied. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?” she asked, and again she had the butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth expression on her pretty face.
If anything, her grin deepened.
Against her will, Sinclair found herself intrigued by the couple’s playing.
“Hmm. Maybe,” he said, his gaze catching on her mouth before sliding up to her face. “I’m sure I can think of something. We’ll talk about your punishment later tonight.”
“Am I in trouble?” she asked. But the way she said it... Sinclair fought against a blush. She felt like a voyeur.
“You might be.”
Sinclair caught the way Sonia’s eyes widened and the look her husband gave her made Sinclair’s blush break completely free.
She’d seen that same look on his brother’s face just two days prior, when