The Billionaire's Voice (The Sinclairs #4) (3 page)

Seating himself on the living-room couch while he waited for Tessa, Micah rubbed his forehead as he remembered how he’d been determined to ignore his doctor’s advice. The last thing he needed was time away from his company. Then, he’d had another debilitating incident even worse than the last. That had been enough to make him consider taking a short trip away from the city.

I’ve gone without an episode for years. Why now?

According to his doctor in New York, the reasons were endless: his stress over his youngest brother, Xander; too much caffeine; too little sleep; too much travel; not eating right; etc., etc. Even though it had nearly killed him to hand over the daily running of his company to his executives, he’d done it. There was no denying that his temper was getting short, and that he wasn’t concentrating well. When his long-ago-and-never-thought-about episodes had returned with a vengeance, he’d finally admitted that he needed . . . something.

Leaning back on the comfortable old sofa, Micah confessed silently that just flying himself here had been a release that he hadn’t experienced for a long time. He’d recently acquired a Cessna, and piloting himself to Maine had reminded him how much he missed the exhilaration of being alone, just him and an endless expanse of sky.

Finding Tessa here had been another plus, but he was cursing his unruly cock as it pressed against the unyielding denim of his jeans.

She’s just as beautiful as I remember!

As if he’d ever forget her staring at him like he was some kind of apparition when he’d stepped out of the shower at Jared’s guesthouse, the first time they’d met? Her expression had turned from one of terror to mortification, then finally curiosity as she’d surveyed his body. Shit, he still got wood just thinking about her fascinated gaze.

For some reason, Tessa had intrigued him from day one, and his preoccupation with her intensified after every encounter they had.

He’d gotten very little opportunity to talk to her during Evan’s wedding. Micah had been the only Sinclair cousin who had made it to Amesport for the official union between Evan and Miranda “Randi” Tyler. Julian had been in the middle of shooting a film out of country, and Xander was in no shape to travel. Regrettably, Micah had needed to leave right after the reception, and had only exchanged a few words with Tessa that day.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about her.

He thought about her too damn much for his liking.

Being back in Amesport felt good, real. He’d tried lying to himself when he’d bought Randi’s old home and much of the surrounding area, adamantly putting the notion in his brain that it would be a good buy from a business perspective.
Okay, yeah,
it probably
would
be a good investment since the town was growing. Maybe if he wanted to commercially build up the area he’d bought, it might even be reasonable. His cousin Jared had married a woman who had a steadily growing business in Amesport, and Randi’s special-learning-needs school would probably open next year. Eventually, the town would expand and grow. The speculation would make sense. But that
wasn’t
the reason he’d bought up the land. He was bullshitting himself, trying to rationalize the unreasonable. In reality, his reasons were far more personal.

His cock went stiff again as Tessa came out of the bedroom looking breathless and rumpled.

On her, the just-rolled-out-of-bed look was incredibly sensual. He wondered if that’s how she’d look after she came for him, and the desire to find out was nearly overwhelming.

Micah groaned inwardly as he noticed the perfectly modest shorts and the red T-shirt she was wearing. Her hair was probably still drying, but the plump curls were already visible, making him want to bury his fingers into the blonde, disorderly, spiraled locks to see if they were as soft and silky as they looked. On closer scrutiny, he didn’t see any makeup on her face, but her skin was glowing. The light-green eyes looking at him expectantly nearly did him in. The feeling that he’d seen her face before he’d ever met her hammered at him once again. She’d always looked familiar, but maybe he just fucking
wanted
to know her.

He wanted Tessa Sullivan—had from the first time he’d seen her, and the desire to bury himself inside her was getting impossible to ignore. Hell, he thought about her all the time, and she haunted his very dirty dreams even though he barely knew her. Honestly, he knew that
she
was one of the reasons he was here. He needed to get over his crazy obsession with the petite blonde, spend enough time with her to realize that his fantasies were nothing like reality. Micah was convinced that once he got to know Tessa, his fascination with her would stop tormenting him all the way to New York.

The way she was staring at his lips was oddly erotic, even though he knew exactly why her gaze was fixed on his mouth. He cursed himself for getting turned on by an action that was strictly necessity for her.

“I’m ready. I don’t really have much. I stored my stuff in Liam’s garage and just brought what I needed. I knew I wouldn’t be here forever,” she told him softly.

Micah signed as he spoke. “You gave up your apartment?”

He was secretly glad he’d brushed up on his ASL. There was no question as to
why
he’d done it. Micah wasn’t going to lie to himself anymore, or deny that his dick got hard over seeing Tessa. Truth was . . . he wanted to be able to communicate with her without looking awkward, and he just wanted to get over whatever madness Tessa Sullivan had driven him into. He was sick of his cock popping up like a jack-in-the-box every damn time he thought about her.

Now, he knew seeing her in person wasn’t helping. It was making his embarrassing condition even worse.

She nodded. “I wanted to save money over the summer, and rentals are outrageous. The price triples during tourist months.”

Micah knew she cleaned for his Sinclair cousins—who lived out on the exclusive Amesport Peninsula—during the winter months when the restaurant she owned with Liam was slower. Obviously, she was also willing to watch homes while the owners were absent. “Don’t you have to drive to the restaurant every day?”

“Not every day after the summer months,” she answered. “Our open hours are shorter, and we’re closed more days. We have staff that we want to keep even though they’ll work less hours. Liam handles most of the management at the restaurant during the winter, and he’s anal about the way things are run there. I just work the busy days, and cover for other staff when they need me.”

“So where will you go if you leave here? Are your parents still alive?”

“No,” Tessa answered sadly. “They’re both gone, but Liam lives in my parents’ old home. I’ll move back in with him. I have to try and earn more money this winter. We need to have the restaurant renovated.”

Micah had already run into Tessa’s obsessively protective brother. He could understand why she didn’t look happy about being housemates with her only sibling. He’d been to Sullivan’s Steak and Seafood for dinner, and the food was spectacular. However, the shack near the end of the pier was badly in need of repair, so he could also understand why Tessa was saving.

“You were hoping to stay here for the winter, weren’t you?” He automatically signed as he spoke.

“Hoping,” she confided. “But I knew the house could sell at any time.”

“Do you have more jobs lined up?” he asked curiously.

“Just the cleaning services on the Peninsula, but I think I can find more jobs. I just started looking.” She fidgeted, and her eyes looked troubled.

Micah stood. “Then don’t leave, Tessa. Stay here. It’s not like I’ll be here long, and I’ll need somebody to watch the property.” The words left his lips impulsively, but Micah knew he’d never wanted anything more. Tessa wanted work, and he wanted to give it to her . . . in more ways than one.

What faster way was there to get to know a person than if they were living in a house that he owned, that he could visit whenever he wanted? It was a perfect situation, and Micah wasn’t the kind of guy to miss out on an opportunity.

Life was too damn short, and he wanted to shake off his desperation to fuck Tessa Sullivan once and for all.

CHAPTER 2

“What? Stay here? Why?” Micah had signed it. He’d spoken the words. Still, Tessa couldn’t quite believe that she completely understood what he was asking her to do.

“I want you to stay. I’ll be here in Amesport for a few weeks, but I’ll put myself up in Jared’s guesthouse. You can still function as a caretaker. I could use some help finding my way around. I don’t know the area or the property. And I’ll need someone to watch my property when I leave.”

Oh, God. I can’t stay here now that the house belongs to him.

Not only was it ridiculous to think he needed help, but she knew Liam would go ballistic. Her brother had mentioned that he thought Micah found her attractive, and he’d made it totally clear to her that she needed to stay away from this particular Sinclair. She’d rolled her eyes at her brother and walked away.
Like some billionaire Sinclair was going to be sexually into me?
She had been a little concerned that Liam was delusional. Micah might flirt, but Tessa had no doubt that he flattered every woman he came in contact with, even the deaf ones.

“I’m willing to pay you very well,” he remarked casually. “Now that the property belongs to me, it’s my responsibility to pay a caretaker. It’s a lot of land. I’ll need somebody who will stay on after I go.”

He named a monthly figure that made Tessa go weak in the knees. Even if he only kept her through the winter, it would help her do a lot to improve the restaurant. It had been in their family since her grandparents had started the eatery decades ago. The restaurant meant everything to her.

“My brother hates you,” she admitted.

Micah grinned. “I know. But I’m not asking your brother. I’m asking you.”

Liam wasn’t her keeper, but he thought he was. She wasn’t afraid of rebelling and doing as she liked. She was more concerned about not hurting her only sibling in some way. Her brother had been by her side when she’d gone deaf, and then again after their parents died. He hadn’t been thrilled when she moved out of town to take care of Randi’s house, but she knew he was ecstatic about one thing—her giving up her own apartment. It meant she’d eventually have to move back home with him after the house sold.

It’s time for Liam to stop. I’ve been able to handle my situation for a while now. He has to realize that I don’t need him to keep sacrificing his life for me.

“Okay. I’ll stay.” She said the words before she could stop them. Really, she
did
want to stay, and not just for the job.

Tessa desperately wanted to know what had really brought Micah here to Maine, and why he was looking so weary. Something was wrong. She could sense it. Unfortunately, her curiosity almost always got her into trouble.

“Good.” He smiled, looking relieved.

“I could cook for you free of charge,” she answered mischievously.

“I don’t expect you to cook.”

She winked at him. “I like to eat and you’re paying me well, so I’ll cook when you’re around. Are you hungry?”

He nodded slowly. “Honestly . . . yeah. I didn’t have anything except coffee this morning. I was eager to get up in the air. We’re supposed to have thunderstorms later and I flew myself in a Cessna.”

Why am I not surprised that he’s a pilot?

Really, flying was probably one of his tamer activities.

She busied herself by moving into the kitchen. Micah followed her. He took a seat at the small table after he asked if he could do anything and she refused his help. Working in a kitchen was something that came as naturally to her as breathing. Turning her back on him to make coffee, she wondered what he was thinking. If there was one thing that was still disconcerting about being deaf, it was the isolation she felt when someone was in the same room unless she was looking at that person directly. As she worked, Tessa realized that the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. In a way, she could
sense
Micah’s presence, and she didn’t feel alone even though she couldn’t see him. It was an unusual sensation, and one she really hadn’t experienced since she’d lost her hearing.

Focusing on the task at hand, she had breakfast ready quickly. She didn’t notice what Micah was occupying his time with until she had put their coffee and plates on the table.

“That’s private,” she growled, snatching a piece of paper from his fingers. “Do you always read other people’s mail?”

He looked up at her. “Only when it has the logo of my charity on the correspondence. Technically, it’s my mail, too.”

It didn’t take her long to bury the letter in a kitchen drawer and slam it closed. She should have tossed the silly offer a week ago. The missive
did
have the Sinclair Fund’s name on the letterhead, but she was still ticked that he had picked it up and was in the process of reading it when she’d taken it away from him.

“It’s addressed to me,” she told him defensively, folding her arms across her chest.

“I should have recognized you,” he said, eyeing Tessa curiously now. “You’re Theresa Sullivan. I could never place your face, but I knew I’d seen you before. I’ve seen you skate.”

It was no surprise that he hadn’t known where he’d seen her previously. Almost nobody connected her previous life with the one she lived now. The Olympic gold medalist in figure skating from almost a decade ago was long gone. Who would know her now? The disabled deaf woman who helped run a broken-down restaurant in a small coastal town was very different from the eighteen-year-old young woman who’d once shined as a rising star. There was no fancy costume, no heavy makeup, and her hair was a tangled mess that she rarely bothered to try to contain in any sense of style anymore. She looked nothing like she had when she was skating competitively.

Tessa turned her back to him again, nervously fiddling with cutlery and napkins before setting them on the table.

“I’m not that woman anymore,” she finally replied, seating herself across from him.

“Of course you are. You’re still Theresa Sullivan, right?”

“Tessa,” she told him tersely. “Everyone I know has always called me Tessa.” Legally, her name
was
Theresa, but she’d only used it in competition and on legal documents.

“Okay, Tessa,” he answered, still staring at her with a calculating look that almost scared her. Micah was no fool, and she knew he could sense her anger and frustration. “Are you going to do it?” He locked eyes with her for a moment, his expression curious.

Was he joking? “I can’t. I’m deaf. I haven’t skated since I lost my hearing.”

The letter requesting her to perform in a reunion of past Olympic medalists had saddened her. She’d never be able to be the same woman she’d been ten years ago. Honestly, she wasn’t certain how the Fund’s committee had even learned of her whereabouts. Liam had shielded her, made sure to keep her out of the media. Outside of her circle of friends and some of the townspeople, nobody knew she’d once been one of the most accomplished figure skaters in the world. The small town of Amesport had kept her secret. It had grown over the last ten years, but the original residents had stayed silent, respected the fact that she was healing. Once she’d recovered, Rick had dumped her, and she’d come back home for good, her accident had been old news, and it really hadn’t mattered anymore.

Micah shrugged as he took a slug of coffee and then dug into his eggs, bacon, and toast. “You could still do it.”

She picked up her mug, but froze as she read his response. “I can’t perform. I haven’t skated in years, and I can’t even hear the music. The Sinclair Fund obviously doesn’t realize that I can’t hear.”

One other problem was that the event was taking place in New York City. Tessa was comfortable right here in Amesport. She didn’t want to travel to New York.

Chewing on his toast, he stared at her for a long time before answering, “I didn’t think you were the type of woman to give up easily.”

He was calling her a quitter, and that pissed her off. “I’m retired from the sport. I had no choice. Deaf people don’t do skating performances.” She took a sip of her coffee, irritated that he was making it sound like she had any other option than to give up her skating career.

“The Fund is offering a very lucrative deal, and it’s for a good cause.”

Tessa felt tears of disappointment spring into her eyes, but she blinked them away as she sipped her coffee and then set the mug back on the table. It wasn’t like she didn’t
want
to do the appearance; it wasn’t possible. They were offering good payment that she could desperately use, and all profits from the event were going to a children’s charity that she really wanted to support.

A single tear escaped as she picked up her fork and attacked her eggs. Eating slowly, she avoided looking at his face.

She couldn’t do it . . . period! Tessa didn’t want to look at Micah and see his disappointed expression. It was clear to her that he really
did
think she could simply hit the ice and skate again. Maybe
he
had confidence in her, but she had none in herself when it came to doing the impossible. And she was almost angry at him for making it seem like performing again would be no big deal.

Maybe
he
could do anything, and thought nothing of risking his life by jumping from places that weren’t made to be launch sites.

Maybe
he
was cocky enough to think that he was invincible.

She . . . wasn’t.

The last thing she needed was to feel like a failure . . . again. Not when she was only now regaining control of her life.

Most of the time, she could forget who she’d been before she’d lost her hearing, but that stupid offer from the Sinclair Fund had temporarily brought it all rushing back with a vengeance. After her hearing loss, she’d put aside all thoughts of skating again. What was the point? It was a career path that she could never follow, and forgetting had been the sensible thing to do back then. She’d lost her fiancé over her handicap, and she’d taken a lot of emotional blows since she’d left Boston and the man she’d once worshipped.

After Tessa’s father had passed away, her mother had needed help in the restaurant. When her mom had gotten sick, soon after her dad’s death, and then died only a year later, Tessa had been thrust into the role of restaurant owner quickly. Liam had come home for good, giving up a well-loved, lucrative career to be here in Amesport with her. Back then, she’d needed her brother, had clung to him like a lifeline. Now, he was “helping her” until he drove her nearly insane.

It’s time to move on. I’m finally content with my life now. I can’t go back. I don’t want to go back.

Finally, she answered, “You don’t understand. You have no idea what it’s like to suddenly lose everything you’ve ever known, everything you care about.” She’d been incredibly isolated, suddenly handicapped, and unable to do the thing she’d loved most in the world.

She’d had so many losses over the course of five or six years that she hadn’t been able to take another blow. She’d never had time to recover. Losing her hearing, her fiancé, her skating career, her father, and then finally her mom, all in a relatively short period of time, had nearly killed her.

Over time, she’d learned to function in a world with no sound. She was finally at peace with her condition. The last thing she needed was to reopen old wounds. She’d come too far to slide backward now.

There wasn’t really a deaf community in her area, and she’d already had friends, so it had just been a matter of learning to connect with them again. The need to be able to communicate and not feel so isolated had been almost an obsession. She’d learned to read lips as quickly as possible when she was with Rick, and she’d become an expert at it from years of practice. ASL was easier, but other than Liam, her parents, and her best friend, Randi, nobody knew sign language. Becoming very, very good at lip reading had been her only option. And she
was
good at it, so good that some people didn’t even notice she was deaf if she was having a face-to-face conversation with them.

Liam had told her that her speaking voice sounded almost identical to her pre-deafness voice. Her friends had claimed the same thing. But Tessa would never really know if they were pacifying her, or if what they said was the truth. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them, but all of them had kind hearts, and what person who cared about her was going to tell a deaf woman that she talked strangely?

Slowly, she’d lost touch with most of her old friends in the area, feeling different from all of her former friends. It hurt to be different, but she’d learned to live with the distance between herself and old friends; most of them were still acquaintances, and they were kind to her.

Tessa startled as she felt the warmth of Micah’s large, strong hand cradling hers. Her eyes flew to his face.

“I’ll help you, Tessa.” The look on his face was intense as he spoke. “You don’t have to do it alone.”

“I can’t do it at all,” she mumbled, unable to pull her hand from his. That simple contact warmed her, and the need for human connection was gnawing at her soul.

“Yes, you can. We danced, and you’re still just as graceful as you ever were. You can feel the rhythm of music somehow. You must.”