The Billionaire's Bidding by Barbara Dunlop Page A

sure wasn’t what Alex had expected to hear. “You mean Katie McKinley’s boyfriend?”
    Nathaniel nodded.
    â€œSure,” said Alex.
    Nathaniel strummed a single staccato beat with his fingertips. “He’s on my radar.”
    Ryan jumped in. “Why?”
    Nathaniel’s mood became contemplative. “Don’t know yet.”
    â€œGut feeling?” asked Alex, knowing the answer already.
    Nathaniel’s gut feeling was legendary in the family. He made million-dollar deals based on nothing but a vague shimmer of a theory.
    His uncanny luck used to freak Alex out. But then Nathaniel explained his luck was, in fact, the sum total of several hundred subconscious observations, from facial expressions and stock trends to weather patterns and newspaper articles. He wasn’t sure himself how it worked. He only knew that it did.
    The phenomenon didn’t freak Alex out anymore, and he’d quit calling it luck years ago.
    â€œGut feeling,” Nathaniel confirmed. “Did you know McKinley Inns just hired him?”
    â€œCranston?” asked Alex, more than slightly bothered that he had to hear news like that from his cousin. “Doing what?”
    â€œOverseas marketing. VP Special Projects.”
    Ryan snorted. “ Special projects?”
    â€œPathetic,” Nathaniel agreed.
    â€œWhat’s his background?” asked Alex. And what was Emma thinking?
    Nathaniel shrugged. “Some kind of mediocre project manager for Leon Gage Consulting.”
    â€œDid they can him?”
    Nathaniel shook his head. “He quit.”
    â€œMcKinley actually headhunted him?”
    Nathaniel nodded. “Offered him a salary bump.”
    â€œThe guy’s a mooch,” said Ryan. “Takes a cushy job with the girlfriend’s firm…”
    Alex hated the thought of McKinley Inns supporting a do-nothing executive, particularly where nepotism was involved.
    Then again he wasn’t stupid enough to get between his fiancée’s sister and her true love, either. Of all the battles he wanted to take on at McKinley, this sure wasn’t on the top of his list.
    Nathaniel stood up. “That’s all I wanted to tell you.”
    Alex stood with his cousin. “You’re offended on an ethical level, aren’t you?”
    â€œNothing worse than a wussie who rides on his woman’s coattails. You should have a talk with this Katie person. Tell her to dump the bastard.”
    Alex scoffed out a laugh. “Right. Like that’s going to happen.”
    â€œShe’s got rotten taste in men.”
    â€œShe’s also got fifty acres of beachfront property on Kayven Island. She can marry her St. Bernard for all I care.”
    Nathaniel gave him a mock two-fingered salute. “Thanks for the visual there, Al.”
    â€œNot a problem, Nate. Everything still on track for the Kayven Island project?”
    â€œMinor problem with the dockworkers’ union, but I straightened it out. Everything still on track at your end?”
    â€œAbsolutely.” Emma had a ring on her finger, and they’d had very positive coverage in three major newspapers.
    Nathaniel slid his chair back under the meeting table. “In that case, gentlemen. I’ve got a girl and a plane both waiting on the tarmac at JFK.”
    Alex reached out and shook Nathaniel’s hand. “Thanks for the intel. On both fronts.”
    â€œAnytime.” Then Nathaniel nodded to Ryan. “Catch you later.”
    Ryan rose to his feet. “Have a good flight.”
    Nathaniel grinned and turned for the door, tossing his parting words over his shoulder. “Plane’s my new Learjet Sixty. Girl’s a licensed masseuse from Stockholm.”
    Alex crossed to his desk as the door clicked shut behind Nathaniel. “Guess he will be having a good flight.”
    â€œHow do I get his life?” asked Ryan.
    â€œMost people want his