LITMIR.BIZ

      One

      Colton King never saw the fist that slammed into his jaw.

      He shook his head to clear it, then blocked the next punch before it could land. The furious man who’d stormed into Colt’s office only moments before took a step back and ground out, “You had that coming.”

      “What the hell?” Colt dropped his packed duffel bag to the floor. “Had it coming?”

      Colt did a fast mental review and came up empty. He didn’t know this man and he couldn’t think of a single other person who wanted to hit him—at the moment. His always-temporary relationships with women invariably ended amicably. Heck, even he and his twin brother, Connor, hadn’t had a good argument in weeks.

      Yeah, he’d had angry clients show up at the Laguna Beach, California, offices of King’s Extreme Adventures if they didn’t find the monster waves they’d been promised. Or if the dead man’s run on a mountain was closed due to avalanche.

      Colton and Connor arranged adventure vacations for the wealthy adrenaline junkies of the world. So, sure, there had been more than a few times when a customer was mad enough to cause a scene. But not one of them had ever punched him. Before now.

      So the question was, “Who the hell are you?”

      “I called security!” A woman announced from the doorway.

      Colt didn’t even glance at Linda, the admin he and Connor shared. “Thanks. Go get Connor.”

      “On it,” she said, then vanished.

      “Calling security won’t change anything,” the guy who had just punched him said flatly. “You’ll still be a selfish bastard.”

      “Okay,” Colt muttered. Not the first time he’d heard that, either. But a little context would be helpful. “You want to tell me what’s going on here?”

      “That’s what I’d like to know.” Connor stepped into the room to take a stand beside his twin.

      Colt was glad to have him there, though he could have taken the guy who’d gotten in one lucky sucker punch. But probably not good business to have a fistfight here in the office, and having Connor around would help him leash his temper. Besides, fighting wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted. “You took your best shot. Now tell me why.”

      “My name is Robert Oaks.”

      Oaks. Long-buried memories raced through Colt’s mind in a blinding rush. A ball of ice dropped into the pit of his stomach and his body went utterly still. He studied the stranger glaring at him and in those narrowed green eyes, he saw...familiarity.

      Damn it.

      The last time he’d looked into eyes like those had been nearly two years ago. At the end of a week in Vegas that should have been ordinary and instead had been...amazing. One specific memory rose up in his mind and Colt wished to hell he could wipe it away, but he’d never been able to pull that off. The morning after he and Penny Oaks had gotten married in a tacky chapel on the strip. The morning when he’d told her they’d be getting a divorce—right before thanking her for a fun week and then leaving her in the hotel room they’d shared.

      He didn’t want to think about that day. But hard to avoid that now, with the man who had to be her brother standing in front of him.

      Robert Oaks nodded slowly as he saw realization dawn on Colt’s face. “Good. At least you remember.”

      “Remember what?” Connor demanded.

      “Nothing.” He wasn’t getting into this with Connor. Not right now, anyway.

      “Oh, nothing. That’s great.” Oaks shook his head in disgust. “Just what I expected.”

      Anger stirred. Whatever was once between him and Penny was just that. Between the two of them. He wasn’t interested in what her brother thought. “Why are you here? What do you want?”

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