The Billionaire's Voice (The Sinclairs #4) (2 page)

CHAPTER 1

The Present . . .

One thing she really hated about being deaf was that the only sounds she could ever hear when she was alone were her own thoughts.

Tessa Sullivan let out a contented sigh as the hot water from the shower pulsated over her naked body. Having just finished her morning run, there was no better sensation than feeling her taut muscles relaxing as the single jet above her head released a steady spray of warmth. Even though she’d gotten overheated during her jog, the cleansing heat still felt glorious.

“I’m out of shape,” she mumbled to herself, remembering how badly she had been panting after her three-mile jaunt. Skipping some of her exercise routine over the busy summer had really cost her. Tessa sighed as she realized it was going to take her a while to get back to her pre-summer distance running.

Strangely, she
still
talked to herself, even though she couldn’t hear. Old habits died hard, and she’d always chattered away, even as a child, whether anyone was listening or not.

Maybe she spoke out loud because it made her feel less isolated. Being deaf was lonely sometimes, and even if she couldn’t hear herself speak, her ramblings kept her company.

She soaped her body in silence, letting herself absorb a sense of peace that flowed over her soul, an experience that was occurring more and more often lately. For years, she’d lamented the loss of her hearing. Now, she was finally beginning to accept the fact that voices and noise weren’t part of her life. Tessa knew she’d always miss the sense of sound, but she’d finally realized that being deaf hadn’t changed who she was.

I’m still . . . me. I’ve just learned how to interpret the world around me differently.

Every person had a voice, whether or not she could remember how that individual had sounded before, or even if she’d never met them before she’d lost her hearing. As she watched a person speak or sign, she could hear that unique voice, a sound in her head and a feeling she identified with a certain individual.

She rinsed her hair leisurely, glad that summer was finally over. The restaurant that she owned with her brother, Liam, would be slower, but she looked forward to the less frantic pace of the fall in Amesport. Labor Day had just passed, and the atmosphere of the Maine coastal town would change from one of tourist madness back to the small, friendly town she adored. Summer was fun, crazy, and frantic from all the visitors; fall was a season that most of the locals loved because many of the tourists had gone home.

The house still hasn’t sold.

Selfishly, she was glad that Randi’s old home hadn’t sold over the summer, though she felt guilty for having those thoughts. Her friend needed to eventually sell her house, even though she’d married a billionaire. In the meantime, Tessa was enjoying the solitude of playing caretaker for the small, single-family ranch home on a few acres of property outside of town. It gave her some much-needed space from Liam, her protective sibling and business partner.

I’m going to need to talk to Liam . . . again.

She’d gone deaf over six years ago, but her brother still treated her like she was delicate, fragile. He blamed himself for her lack of hearing, even though it had been far from his fault. He seemed determined to keep her safe, but his machinations went way too far. Tessa felt suffocated. She was twenty-seven, far too old to need a babysitter. She knew Liam meant well, but he was going to have to let her go eventually. He’d given up enough to take care of her, stay supportively by her side for so many years. It was time for him to live his own life again, and way past time for her to take control of her own.

The water turned off soundlessly as she pushed the handle and stood in the enclosure for a moment to wring out her hair. As she stepped out, Tessa reached for the clean towel she’d tossed on the hamper next to the shower, only to find that it wasn’t there.

A shriek of startled fear left her mouth as she turned and saw a very large, very male hand holding out the missing sky-blue towel. Her eyes flew to his face as she screamed, recognizing the intruder.

“Oh, my God. What in the hell are you doing here?” she asked Micah Sinclair as he slowly released his grip on the towel when she reached for it shakily, not bothering to hide the heat in his dark-brown eyes as he stared shamelessly at her nude body. Finally, she jerked on the material hard, freeing the towel from his reluctantly loose grip.

A fiery blush flooded her face and body as she quickly wrapped it around her, wishing she’d grabbed one of the larger, fluffier ones in the closet for her shower, but she didn’t want to use Randi’s nicer stuff. As it was, the threadbare cotton piece of linen she’d chosen barely covered her ass and other private areas she didn’t want exposed. She had no choice but to look at Micah—even though she was mortified—if she wanted to know his response.

His eyes were both hungry and mischievous, a combination that was nearly irresistible.

“I could ask you the same.” He answered slowly, signing with American Sign Language—ASL for short—as he spoke. “Not that I mind. Now we’ve both seen the other one naked.”

Deep, silky smooth, and sinful.
That was how she
heard
Micah’s
voice
. She had since the minute she’d met him.

Tessa was good at reading lips, but she found it much easier with people she knew well. Although Micah wasn’t exactly a stranger, she’d
always
been able to understand him, for some reason. She’d been able to pick up the majority of his words from their very first encounter, which had been in a very similarly embarrassing way—except
he
had been the one standing in a bathroom naked, a tantalizing sight that Tessa had never been able to erase from her brain—no matter how much she tried. “I’m caretaking the house,” she told him hastily, trying to pull the towel more snugly around her body. “I moved in several months ago. After Evan and Randi’s wedding. What are you doing here?”

She shivered, but she wasn’t really cold. The warmth in Micah’s eyes was enough to heat the small home for an entire Maine winter. But there was something about him that looked . . . different.

Micah Sinclair was usually cocky, a trait that the Sinclair men shared. Not rude, exactly, but Tessa was starting to think it was a behavior that every Sinclair male had acquired at birth. Every one of them exuded almost an obnoxious confidence that could also be perceived as arrogant.

Silently, her eyes moved over him, taking in every detail. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans that had softened and faded with age, and hugged his body lovingly. The T-shirt he was wearing probably dated back to his college days, the blue fabric sporting the logo of an Ivy League school. It wasn’t his clothing that seemed . . . off; it was something else that seemed different. It wasn’t strange to see him in comfortable clothing. Other than his formal dress for Evan’s wedding and Hope’s winter party, Tessa had noticed that he wasn’t a fancy dresser, even though he was no less wealthy than his brothers or cousins.

Usually, he appeared to be a rugged, outdoorsy kind of guy. Probably because that was exactly what he was: an extreme-sports mogul. But today he wasn’t exuding the same barely containable energy he usually did.

He looks . . . exhausted.

She studied his face again, noticing the weary look and the dark circles beneath his eyes.

“I bought the house,” he announced suddenly.

Tessa was glad Micah had signed along with his statement, because she’d been so preoccupied with his eyes that she hadn’t looked at his lips. “This house?” she squeaked.

He nodded.

“How is that possible? Randi didn’t tell me, and she and Evan are away in the Orient for a belated honeymoon.” Her friend would be gone for several more weeks, and she hadn’t texted Tessa for several days. Surely Randi would have let her know the house had sold so she could get out before the new owner arrived.

Micah grinned at her, making him suddenly seem much more approachable. “It was a quick deal. Evan and Randi are under the impression that I’m not taking possession for a while. They wouldn’t have wanted you to leave.”

“Then why are you here?” she asked, feeling uncomfortable standing in the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her body while she conversed with the hottest guy she’d ever met.

Honestly, it was pretty humiliating.

He shrugged. “Spontaneous trip. I decided to check out the property once the deal closed.”

Tessa knew instinctively that his decision to come here wasn’t completely on a whim. She might not be able to hear, but her other senses and her instincts were sharp, and she could feel that something wasn’t quite right. “And did you check out the property?” she asked, feeling awkward.

“Not all of it. I didn’t just buy this place. I purchased several other parcels that are connected to this property. That’s a lot of acreage to see.” He paused before adding, “I’m actually rather glad I decided to check out the house first. My timing was excellent.”

He was teasing her, but she still blushed all over again. “I’m not glad you’re here. I’m naked,” she replied bluntly.

“Unfortunately for me, you aren’t anymore.” His grin grew broader, and his eyes caressed her devilishly.

He’s flirting.

The thought made her feel dumbfounded, even though she was sure that Micah probably flirted with every woman he met. Men didn’t look at her as a sexual creature. She was deaf, disabled as far as most males were concerned. Guys might like her as a friend, but they did not look at her like she was the hottest female on the East Coast. Except . . . for some reason . . . this man did.

“I need to get dressed,” Tessa mumbled, trying to make her way around Micah Sinclair’s muscular body blocking the entrance to the small bathroom. The air in the room was getting electric with sexual tension and it made her uncomfortable, especially since the real attraction was probably all coming from her.

He caught her bare upper arm and tilted her face up to look at him. “Tessa?”

She felt her heart skitter as she inhaled his intoxicatingly masculine scent. He was too close, so close that she could feel the heat of his body, pressed up against his hip.

“Yes?” she choked out, wanting to escape the small room that suddenly felt much too warm and much too small.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.” He didn’t sign this time, but she caught his words.

“If what you’re saying is true,
I’m
the one invading
your
privacy,” she reminded him, her gaze staying on his lips because he wasn’t signing. “I wish I had known the property had sold. I would have left right away.”

“You’re not intruding. In fact, seeing you here is the best thing that’s happened to me in a while.”

Damn. He must be desperate for entertainment if seeing me here in his new property is actually a good thing.

Not knowing what to say, she scrambled around him and pulled her arm from his grasp. “I’ll go as soon as I can,” she told him hastily as she darted out of the bathroom.

“I hope not.” Micah smiled at her departing figure, his soft, low comment going unheard and unnoticed by the fleeing woman.

In some ways, it had been instinct that had brought Micah here to Amesport. Granted, rest and relaxation had been the doctor’s orders, but when his physician had told him that he needed a total hiatus, the first place he’d thought about was all of his new property in Maine.

When he said he’d acquired a lot of acreage . . . he meant it. Much of the wooded property on this side of town, outside the city limits, now belonged to him. The empty lots along the coastline had been the most difficult and expensive to purchase. They had been owned by an out-of-town contractor who had wanted to build on the coastline when the economy improved. All it had taken to change the man’s mind was more money and some bargaining discussions. After watching the guy, Micah knew just how much to offer to make him cave in and give up the property. Buying Randi’s old house away from the coast had been an afterthought, a way to help Randi and to give Micah a home that could one day house a caretaker for the massive amount of acreage he now owned.