“The hunk that just left is his older brother, James Dyson.”
Carrie’s mouth fell open. If the situation weren’t so damn unsettling, Sienna would have laughed. “James Dyson? As in Dyson Media Corporation? Richest man in Sydney? Richest man in the whole of Australia?”
“The very same.”
“The richest man in the country wants to have sex with you, and you’re sitting here looking like the Grim Reaper has just paid a visit? What the hell, girl?”
Sienna stood, chewing on her thumbnail as she began pacing the studio. She hadn’t thought about this for so long. She’d put it behind her and moved on. There were other things to focus on. But then James had turned up and bang. Six months of repressed pain and anger was back with a vengeance.
“Sienna?”
She sighed, her stomach a churning mess. “Okay. I met James at Clinton’s first exhibition. That one in Paddington. You were in Europe at the time.”
Carrie nodded. “I remember you mentioning it.”
“He arrived an hour before the opening. I was helping set up. Clint had left to buy us coffee and this incredibly hot guy arrived.” She frowned. The memory troubled her, even after everything that had happened. She shouldn’t still get so turned on by James after what he’d done back then…and today…
“It was instant lust for me.” Her throat tightened. “And with the way he looked at me, it was for him as well. We started talking, and he was funny and smart. Not just sexy. We flirted. A lot. I’ve never had the skill, but with him it just seemed to come natural. There was a connection I felt—we felt—on a deeper level. One that seemed to release my inner…inner…” She floundered for a word.
“Sexy kitten?” Carrie grinned.
“Let’s go with that. We flirted and chatted, and before I knew it, we were hinting at maybe…y’know…maybe seeing each other after the exhibition.”
Carrie raised her eyebrows. “Seeing each other? Considering how you grew up, Sienna Roberts, you’re still so sweetly innocent sometimes.”
Sienna rolled her eyes. “Bite me.”
Carrie laughed and then grew somber again. “Okay, so you two met once and hit it off. What happened?”
“Clinton arrived back and introduced us. ‘Sienna, this is my brother, James, the only member of my family I could convince to come tonight. James, this is Sienna, the only person in my life who believes in me.’”
“Whoa.” Carrie blinked. “That’s some introduction. And Clinton is…was a Dyson? Whoa. Again.”
A knot twisted in Sienna’s stomach. “It was. The second Clint finished introducing us, everything changed. James didn’t talk to me for the rest of the night. He also didn’t say good-bye to Clint when he left.”
Carrie frowned. “So he’s a prick? Jealous of his brother?”
“At the time I thought so.” Sienna sighed. “I didn’t know anything about Clinton’s family at first. It was a few months after he moved in before he told me who he was, but he didn’t want anyone else to know. Remember how he never used his last name? He was a rich kid who was trying to discover who he was. Part of that discovery was art school. You rarely saw his work, locked away in the darkroom as you were, but he was talented. His life drawings were… Well, he had an amazing gift for capturing people. His charcoal sketches were awe-inspiring. I posed for him a few times when he was trying new techniques, and I was always struck dumb by his talent. One nude sketch he drew of me almost moved me to tears.”
“You posed nude for him, Si?” Disbelief rippled across Carrie’s face. “Really?”
Sienna shrugged. “We painters and drawers aren’t quite so worried about posing naked as you photographers, Carrie. I paid my way through my first year of art school by being a life-drawing model.”
Carrie puffed out a breath. “I guess so. I still have trouble stripping off in front of Richard, though. And we’ve been married for a whole four months now. And I thought you knew how Clinton felt. Stripping in front of a guy that wants you without sex being on the table is kinda dumb.”