The Reluctant Heir
HelenKay Dimon
One person knows the truth that could ruin his familyFind Hanna Wilde. The order from Carter Jameson’s father will ensure his inheritance. But when Hanna returns to the Jameson estate the passion between her and Carter ignites!
One person knows the truth that could ruin his family.
And he’s just brought her home.
Find Hanna Wilde. The order from Carter Jameson’s father will ensure Carter’s inheritance. Though reluctant to do the man’s bidding, Carter needs to see the girl he never forgot. But when Hanna returns to the estate where it all began, she wants answers as much as she wants Carter. And as their passion ignites, she’ll get them. No matter what.
HELENKAY DIMON is a divorce lawyer turned full-time author. Her bestselling and award-winning books have been showcased in numerous venues, including The Washington Post and Cosmopolitan. She is an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award winner and has been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA® Award multiple times.
Also by HelenKay Dimon (#uddde015e-4550-51b0-9538-263ed8b1b05e)
Pregnant by the CEO
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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
The Reluctant Heir
HelenKay Dimon
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07676-0
THE RELUCTANT HEIR
© 2018 HelenKay Dimon
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Cover (#u2dcfb854-91d8-53d7-a162-d9adbab3ea10)
Back Cover Text (#udfed8aa8-c643-598a-b540-41ec3005372c)
About the Author (#u3e9b02b9-d04b-5788-9660-6f937d551c01)
Booklist (#u91f630a0-1131-5e5e-952b-431a1779dc9e)
Title Page (#u6eb9738b-4b84-5208-8061-7cde83c3e1e5)
Copyright (#ua0295119-717c-5e1e-984e-8f114b35606c)
One (#u206d5c74-fa65-571a-9075-98759350ac87)
Two (#u3004f314-ddfd-5654-b826-9fec19a74c51)
Three (#u9636311c-7bdb-592b-b770-aeafd15f1434)
Four (#ub569b38f-2ffd-50d9-b574-602cd307f6ea)
Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
One (#uddde015e-4550-51b0-9538-263ed8b1b05e)
This could not be happening.
Hanna Wilde disconnected the call with the dry cleaner next door and stared at her cell phone.
He was here, in Milton. Many miles and a few states away from his big fancy home—make that homes—in the Washington, D.C. area.
Not that he. Not the one who’d tracked her and tried to scare her months ago. Not the one who’d threatened and lied. No, the man in her building, on his way up to her apartment, was the son, not the horrible father.
Carter Jameson. Youngest heir to a vast real estate fortune. Grandson of a disgraced congressman. The boy whose family had employed hers back when they were kids.
Her unwanted teen crush.
Amazing how the last name Jameson could start a shake running through her that rattled right down to her bones. Her reaction arose out of anger, not fear. Though, if she were being honest, she’d have to admit to a mix of both.
His visit here meant his family had hunted her down and found her again. The last round of contacts started with letters from Carter’s father, Eldrick, then from his attorneys, all insisting she come in for a meeting. When she ignored those, the unwanted visits started. But she’d done what Eldrick ordered. She stayed away from Virginia and Carter and kept her mouth shut.
She’d already lost so much to the Jamesons—her father, her sister, her peace of mind. Now it looked like they were coming around again for one more shot.
She slipped her cell phone into her back jeans pocket and headed for the one closet in her studio apartment. It held her clothes, her cleaning supplies and, well, that just about constituted the entire list of what she owned. That and the photo album. If they were going to hound her it was easier to leave town for a while then go through it all again. She didn’t have any real connections here anyway, but the album was coming with her. It was all she had left of the past she tried so often to forget.
The knocking started as soon as she dropped to her knees. The rickety closet door with the broken slats screeched to a halt on the tracks. She usually shoved and pushed, half lifted the thing, to get it to open the whole way. But that would make noise and require her to move, and she seemed to be frozen in place.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. It was the only sound in the silent room.
Then the knocking started again.
“Hello?” A deep male voice, all silky and smooth, floated through the door.
She refused to fall for that sexy sound a second time. She wasn’t a teenage anymore. She knew better now...in theory. “What?”
“Hanna?”
He acted like he knew her but that had been years ago. Another time, almost another life.
“She’s not here.” She winced as she made the nonsensical remark.
For a second there was no response. Hanna scrambled to her feet and tiptoed to the door. She saw the shadow of Carter’s feet at the bottom. So, he still stood there, quiet now.
“Are you sure you don’t want to try another answer, Hanna Wilde? Maybe one a bit more believable?”
She couldn’t insist he had the wrong apartment. He remembered her name and he still had the same smiling lilt to his voice. This, the guy she’d been warned to stay away from was now hanging out in the hallway. Maybe he wanted to take a turn telling her not to disclose the misdeeds of his past. Either way, she refused to be blamed for being near him when he was the one who found her.
Taking a deep breath, she threw open the front door. Almost slammed it right into her own face but had the good sense to step back in the nick of time.
Her words cut off at the sight of him. A smile lit up his stupidly handsome face. He was tall, probably six-one or so, looming over her by inches even though there was nothing tiny or petite about her.
A billionaire born into a family of extreme privilege, the type of people who did whatever they wanted, without consequence. A long line of Virginia landowners who considered themselves Southern gentlemen, a bloodline that had been broken only by a Japanese grandmother—or so said the nasty whispers of their fellow rich people. The same grandmother who had gifted Carter with the striking combination of glossy black hair and near black eyes.
Carter was the youngest of the Jameson sons. The playboy with the carefree reputation. The one not defined by the rules as much as his older brothers because no one expected or demanded anything of him. He was the “extra” child, or that was the joke his father used to describe him. She knew about the nickname because she’d watched interviews with Carter’s old man, hating him as much on-screen as she had in person.
Carter had been living in California for almost a year now—after he’d breezed through her sister’s life...and destroyed it.
“It’s been so long.” He sounded genuinely happy to see her.
Hanna ignored whatever traitorous emotion started jumping around in her stomach at the sound of his voice. “What do you want?”
“That’s an interesting welcome.”
She could have sworn his eyes actually sparkled. She glanced at the ceiling, figuring it had to be a trick from the hallway lighting. But no, the dude’s eyes looked sunny and warm and welcoming.
This guy, the one who wined and dined her sister, made promises then left town, now acted as if nothing had happened. As if he’d lost touch with Hanna by accident, not because his father cut off all contact. He’d never really noticed her before, certainly not when she was younger and desperate for his attention, which still haunted her, but now he pretended to.
“Why are you here?” Her fingers dug into the wooden door. She held on to it like a shield, positioning her body half behind it, ready to slam it shut if he moved even an inch.
Later she would assess why just seeing him touched off a spinning inside her. Why, after all this time, her heart still sped up when he shot her an inviting look. The reaction struck her as self-destructive and wrong but realizing that didn’t make it stop. It also made her wonder if she’d really overcome those feelings of not being good enough as she’d hoped.
The longer they stood there, the more those sparkly eyes dimmed. They started to narrow a bit. “Hanna? Do you remember me?”
She snorted. Little did he know she used to dream about him. “Of course.”
His gaze wandered over her head, into the studio behind her. “Are you okay?”
“I was up until three minutes ago.”
He let out a long, labored exhale. The kind that telegraphed a this-woman-is-working-on-my-nerves vibe. “Let’s start over. My father sent me.”
The memory of her youthful crush vanished. Her stomach squeezed and twisted until she had to fight the urge to yell. “To tell me to stay away? Well, I did that. If he’s ticked off it’s his own fault, or yours, because you came hunting me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Whatever he wants this time, the answer is no.” She gave in and shoved the door. Put her weight behind it and let it fly.
Carter grabbed the edge before it crashed into his shoulder. “Whoa. What do you mean by this time? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Yep, his reflexes were just as solid as the rest of him. All muscle and long legs and perfect cheekbones... Man, she hated the Jameson family and their hot-male genes.
“You need to go.” She’d said it in a few ways now. Maybe this time would sink in.
“What did he do? My father. Your reaction is...telling.”
Carter could not be this clueless. It wasn’t just his father. It was him, too. He’d created a mess and had his big ol’ rich daddy sweep the problem away.
That was almost a year ago. Now Carter showed up, taking the never-happened part a bit too far. “Oh, please.”
“Hanna.” This time there was a bit more oomph behind his tone when he said her name. “We haven’t seen each other in, what, ten years?”
True, and it managed to feel like both forever ago and like yesterday. “Your point?”
“Normally, I need to see a woman more often for her to be this angry with me.” One eyebrow lifted. “Or can I assume my father is responsible for your mood?”
Oh, this younger Jameson was a smooth one. Calm, standing there in his slim black pants with his hands in his pockets. A short gray winter coat highlighted his trim waist and likely cost more than her beat-up car with its side view mirror held on with electrical tape.
He rocked back on his heels, as if they were having a friendly chat. She had to give him credit. Carter Jameson had never tripped through that typical gawky preteen stage. Nope, he went from young and cute back then to all grown-up and hot now. Confidence pounded off him. The mix of perfect genes and I-know-my-place-in-the-world control proved pretty compelling.
Too bad he was a lying sack of garbage.
“The threats.” She stared at him, watching confusion sweep through his eyes. Yeah, nice try. “The baby.”
The color left Carter’s face. Drained away, leaving him pale and listing to one side. “Oh, damn. Please tell me you didn’t date my father and get pregnant.”
She almost gagged. “What?”
“Look...” Carter held up both hands. “He’s... I don’t know, charming? At least that’s what women have said. I don’t get it at all but—”
“Stop talking.” She grabbed a handful of his jacket when her nosy neighbor from across the hall opened his door. After a quick wave to send the guy scurrying away, she pulled Carter into her apartment and shut the door, trapping them inside. Together. Which was her nightmare.
“I did not sleep with your father.” She practically hissed the words at him.
“Good.” Carter visibly blew out another breath as a bit of color returned to his cheeks. “You said something about a baby?”
She shouldn’t have mentioned it. She refused to travel down that heartbreaking road. “How did your father find me?”
“Uh...” Carter closed one eye as if he were trying to reason something out in his head. “Were you lost?”
She didn’t buy the act. This errand had a purpose and Carter was the only one of the two of them who knew what it was. “Skip to the part where you explain how and why you’re here.”
“Okay.” His frown came and went. By the time he made eye contact again he seemed to have gotten control of whatever emotions were churning inside him. His expression morphed into a blank and unreadable one. “It’s a long story, but suffice it to say, my father asked me to come and see you. Specifically, to give this to you.”
He held out an envelope. Another envelope just like the ones his father had handed her and sent to her with messengers before. The idea of being told to stay away when she already had done just that didn’t make any sense. But the idea of reading through more correspondence from Eldrick Jameson exhausted her. She refused to do it. She would not give him or Carter the satisfaction of ordering her around and getting their way a second time.
The envelope might as well have been on fire because there was no way she was touching it. Never again. “Put that away.”
He flipped it around in the air a few times. “You don’t want it?”
He sounded stunned at the thought. She almost laughed at the reaction. It was as if he didn’t know his father and the old man’s schemes at all. There were always strings when it came to dealing with a Jameson.
“Save us both some time and just tell me what it says.”
Carter shrugged. “How should I know?”
“You’re telling me you didn’t open it? You flew here or took a million-dollar taxi ride or whatever and you never gave in to the itch to crack open the seal?” That seemed to defy human nature.
“Gotta say it sounds like you want to know what’s inside.” When she didn’t say anything, his hand dropped. “He left the envelope for you and said he wanted you to have it. My job was to deliver it.”
“Why?”
“I figured you knew.”
Anger whooshed out of her, but frustration quickly settled in its place. She had no idea what was happening. From the apologetic sound of his voice, she wondered if he did either. “Are you serious? You really don’t know what this assignment your father gave you is about?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Carter moved around the small space, careful to dodge the corner of her dresser and the edge of her bed, to stand by the window. “I’m not sure how to ask this, so I’m just going to blurt it out. I apologize in advance for the delivery.”
“That sounds ominous and—”
“Did you have a thing with my father? Maybe not sexual but...something?”
The question sounded just as horrifying the second time. The words had changed but the idea still screeched in her brain. “I don’t want anything to do with your father. Never did.”
“That’s new.”
“Meaning?”
Carter shook his head. “Well, he’s been married four times and had a series of mistresses and girlfriends, so I guess some women like him.”
She shivered. “I don’t get that.”
“On that, we agree.” A smile tugged on the corner of Carter’s mouth as he took a few steps around her small space.
That cocky walk, the self-assurance. The way he stepped into a room and owned it. He was older now, more attractive in the way age and life experience molded and changed a person. Defined his features. That firm chin. The sexy smile.
The teenaged version of her had suffered from a debilitating crush that made her stammer and stare at her feet during the few times he’d talked to her. The grown-up version of her, the one who had experienced nothing but grief and anguish at the hands of the Jameson family, appreciated the way he looked but was smart enough to be wary. To not get reeled in.
“So, your father’s sole instructions were to find me and give me that.”
“Yes.” He held the envelope out again.
None of this made sense. She’d never said anything. Never tried to see Carter. Ripped up the damn check his father had given her as a payoff, but there’s no way the elder and famously impulsive Mr. Jameson had waited all these months to send Carter to try to pay her off again. Something else was happening here.
A terrible thought floated through her mind, freezing her to the spot by the door. “Is he with you?”
“My father?” Carter shook his head. “He’s not even in the country, as far as I know. He and the new wife live in Tortola. Since I haven’t heard from him in a few weeks, I’m assuming he’s back there.”
She noticed Carter didn’t sound upset about living that many miles apart. The family dysfunction was his business, but she did have a few seconds of silent celebration at the thought of being some distance away from Carter’s father. “Good.”
Carter eyed her, his gaze assessing her, as he leaned against the wall next to the window. “I’m guessing whatever happened between you two was bad.”
“The good news is you’ve done your duty. Daddy asked you to visit me and you did. Mission accomplished.” It was time for Carter to leave. She needed to make plans, figure out where she went from here.
“I still have the envelope, so I’m not convinced we’ve resolved anything.”
“The reality is I’m not related to the man, so I don’t have to do what he wants.”
Carter made a noise that sounded a bit like huh before he started talking. “Any chance you’re going to fill in the blanks and tell me what all of this is about?”
No way would she give up her small advantage by sharing anything she knew. “Hey, stud. You came to see me.”
“I guess shy little Hanna is all grown-up now.”
She reached out and opened the door. “And she’s done with this conversation.”
He pushed off from the wall and took the few steps that put him in front of her. “You know this isn’t over, right?”
Her hand tightened on the doorknob. “Sure feels like it.”
His smile returned as he nodded. “Goodbye for now, Hanna.”
Then he was in the hall and she slammed the door behind him. Her heart hammered in her chest as she tried to drag in enough air to breathe. She gulped and panted as she fell against the door, letting her back slide down when her knees gave out and she fell to the floor in a boneless heap.
“Now what?”
* * *
Carter walked out of the lobby and stepped into the cold upstate New York evening. Winter fell early and heavy here. There was talk of snow in the forecast and he wanted to be long gone before it arrived.
It was a little after five. The sun had set and clouds filled the darkening sky. He zipped his jacket to block some of the biting October wind. He glanced up at Hanna’s window and saw a peek of light behind the drawn curtains blocking his view inside.
She might not want to reminisce with him, but he possessed some vivid memories of her. Shy and pretty. She’d been a teenager on his family’s Virginia estate and had hidden behind her older, more outgoing sister. The Wilde girls. Back then he’d thought of himself and Hanna as friends. It wasn’t until he was older that he’d realized he’d held the sisters at a distance. He’d all but ignored Hanna, treating her as the child of the “help” and nothing more, just as his father insisted.
Carter shook his head, hating the reminder of his past and who he’d once been. The same history he’d run from and gotten dragged back into when his brother called him home, asking for help. Now Carter was the one who needed assistance. At the very least, a little information. He couldn’t do much more without that.
He grabbed his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and called Jackson Richards, the real hub of information at Jameson Industries and one of the few people in the world Carter actually liked and trusted.
“Hey, I need your help.”
“Nothing new there. You still working on your top-secret mission for your dad?”
Carter decided to ignore the question as he listened to Jackson typing in the background. “Ready for the list?”
“Wait, don’t you have an assistant?”
“I don’t actually work at the company. I’m happy staying on the Virginia property, far away from the family business.”
Carter’s preference for the Virginia countryside was a fact his father had once used to drive a wedge between Carter and his brothers. They were the business-minded ones. He was the disappointment. Carter had heard the refrain so often it rang in his ears even now.
He’d come back to the D.C. area expecting to check in on his brothers and help out with their ongoing fight with their dad about governing interest in the business, then go again. When that didn’t happen he’d settled in to the Virginia estate. It was a small act of defiance against his father, who had kicked him out of that same property almost a year ago and told him never to come back.
But now he needed some intel. “No one is as good at this stuff as you are.”
“Flattery won’t work.” Jackson cleared his throat. “For the record, expensive liquor will.”
“Done. As soon as I get back, I’ll come by with a bottle.” Carter moved out of the glare of the streetlight and leaned against the brick wall of Hanna’s apartment building. Cars buzzed by and people moved around him on the sidewalk, likely on their way to the bars and restaurants two blocks over. “I need all the information you can get me on Hanna and Gena Wilde. Sisters. Their dad used to work for our family at our Virginia estate.”
“Do you know what you sound like when you say estate like that?”
“I have an idea.” Carter glanced at his watch and made a quick decision. “You have three hours to gather intel.”
The typing stopped. “What the hell? I do have a real job, you know.”
A fair argument but a strange anxious feeling settled inside Carter. He sensed if he didn’t talk to Hanna again soon, this time armed with information, she’d slip away. And he didn’t want to go another ten years without seeing her again.
The wary blue eyes, almost baby blue. That wavy, shoulder-length, deep auburn hair that he ached to run his fingers through. The way her jeans balanced on her hips, giving him the tiniest glimpse of bare pale stomach as the edge of her long-sleeve T-shirt shifted around. He wanted to know more. To talk with her. To dig and see what had her on edge.
He guessed he’d trace most of her problems right back to his father. Carter had no idea what had her spooked or what game his father was playing, but something bigger than an envelope was happening here.
Carter took it out and studied it. No writing or clue to the contents. It was killing him not to rip it open. If he didn’t have an answer in a few days, he would. Until then, he could respect her privacy...but barely.
Jackson sighed into the phone. “Does this have something to do with your highly problematic father?”
“Doesn’t everything? Talk to you soon.”
Carter hung up before Jackson could complain or swear. He glanced up at Hanna’s studio a second time. “It looks like I’m not going anywhere just yet.”
Two (#uddde015e-4550-51b0-9538-263ed8b1b05e)
Hanna decided to get away. Not forever. Just long enough for the Jamesons to find another target. Her job was a temporary solution anyway. She cleaned houses and businesses. Worked part-time in the coffee shop. She could take time off but she had to do it without pay, which sucked. That choice would be a financial struggle but going round and round with the Jamesons could cost her the equilibrium she’d been fighting to gain ever since her sister’s death.
For the hundredth time, Hanna wondered if she should have just taken the money Eldrick offered her months ago to stay away from Carter. She’d tried to find Carter back then, and then the stay-away letters started. Then came the bribe.
The cash would have made rebuilding her life much easier. Saying no just made Eldrick double down on the threats of attorneys and lawsuits if she came near his family or talked about them with anyone. He thought it was her job to keep his family secrets.
Man, she hated the Jamesons and how they turned everything upside down. Irrational or not, that hate extended to all Jamesons...even, admittedly to a lesser degree, to the one she used to stare at as he played football on the lawn with his brothers. The one who turned her into a babbling fool every time he smiled at her.
Back then, of course. She was wiser now.
She dunked the mop in the murky water with a bit too much force. The wheels under the bucket spun around. Before she could catch it, the bucket tumbled and smacked into the coffee counter, sending the dirty water spilling over the sides.
Apparently, it was going to be that kind of day.
She sighed as she balanced the mop handle against the edge of the counter and wiped her hands on her faded blue jeans. A tingle at the base of her neck had her glancing up and turning around. The shadow moved in the glass front door of Morning Grind, the coffee shop she cleaned to offset part of the cost of her rent upstairs. Her breath hitched as the face came into view.
Carter.
Of course it was.
It was five in the morning and still dark outside, but she could see every inch of that amazing face. Watch his shoulders lift as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, likely trying to fight off the punishing cold that had settled in early this year, or so the locals told her.
She should let him freeze. Let him form a big Jameson ice cube right there on the sidewalk.
So tempting. But that would just give his father a reason to breeze into town, blaming and threatening her about something new.
She wiped her hands on her jeans again. This time not to dry them off but to beat down the nerves jumping around inside her. A strange mix of wariness and excitement hit her the second Carter pinned her with a crooked smile.
No wonder her sister had gotten reeled in. If the gossip site stories about him were true, a lot of women had trouble saying no to the guy.
Maybe the whole turning-otherwise-smart-women-into-giant-puddles-of-goo thing was an inherited skill. A family trait of some sort. If so, she needed to get over the affliction and fast.
Her hand shook as she turned the lock and opened the door a fraction. “What?”
“You need to work on your welcoming tone.” He grumbled something under his breath before talking at normal volume again. “I was hoping you’d be a bit happier to see me this morning.”
“Since you seem determined to stalk me, no. For the record, I’m not into that.” Or being unsure or off-kilter or vulnerable. None of those feelings worked for her, even though they all raced through her now as she tried not to notice how the wind brought a sexy rush of color to his cheeks.
“I wanted to apologize for just dropping in on you last night.”
Sure he did. “By dropping in on me this morning.”
The corner of his mouth lifted even higher, showing off that arresting smile. “Now that you mention it, I guess this visit wasn’t all that well thought-out either.”
She studied him, letting her gaze wander over that mouth before giving him full-on eye contact. The cute, self-deprecating act held a certain charm, but she knew it was just an act. No longer a carefree boy, he was a man who possessed power and money. In her experience, the Jamesons used both of those as a weapon against others.
Then there was the more obvious problem. “How did you know where to find me at this time of the morning?”
His mouth opened and closed twice.
She cleared her throat. “I’m waiting.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
She knew stalling when she heard it. Heck, she excelled at that sort of thing. He couldn’t fool her. “Feel free to use words.”
He made a strangled noise that sounded like hmm. “I’m going to be honest with you.”
“That would be nice.” Not that she’d believe whatever he said, but it would be interesting to see what subterfuge he tried to use on her.
He unzipped his coat, just enough for her to see the V-neck of the blue sweater underneath. “I had a friend back at the Jameson office look into you.”
Look into? Creative word choice. “You mean, investigate me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
That was kind of her point. “So, you had one of your employees not investigate me.”
“I don’t actually work for Jameson Industries.”
“Uh-huh.” It was as if he didn’t know his own last name or for some reason thought the verbal gymnastics would work on her. Either way, she wasn’t buying it. “I often call up places where I don’t work and get people to scurry around, looking stuff up for me in the middle of the night.”
“It does seem to lack credibility when you say it that way.”
“Is there another way to say it?”
She hated to admit that she was enjoying this steady back-and-forth that had her mind clicking.
After months of reeling and mourning, she still kept to herself, not letting anyone she met move past the acquaintance stage and into the friend stage. Not dating. She blamed her time away from the friendship and dating pool as the reason for the adrenaline surging through her now.
Not a new round of attraction. Nope, that could not happen.
“I called in a favor, but that’s not the point.” He held up a hand when she started to respond. “Initially, I assumed coming here and handing you an envelope would get the job done. When it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, I decided I needed to know more about you.”
She folded her arms in front of her. “Because that’s not heavy-handed at all.”
“I wanted to know more about you. About who you are now.” With that, his eyes wandered—not far and not too obvious—but he did give her a quick once-over.
She hated that her stomach tumbled in response. She vowed to ignore the effect seeing him after all this time still had on her. The weird bubbling giddiness, the feeling of not being good enough or pretty enough. All those sensations she’d felt as a teen still battled inside her, which she found truly ridiculous. Getting older should have made her immune to him and all those stupid insecurities.
Guilt swamped her. He’d abandoned her sister and her own failure to stick up for Gena, to hold the line and not feel anything for him, was nothing short of a betrayal to her sister. Gena had talked about Carter leaving and his father sniffing around, trying to figure out what Carter had meant to her. She’d warned Hanna to be careful and not trust them.
Hanna tried to hold on to all of that advice and mistrust, to funnel what had been her sister’s pain and her own frustration, into a defensive shield against Carter. To question every word he said and bury that leftover attraction down deep, but it kept bubbling back to the surface.
Some of the lightness left his face. “You’ve changed.”
The words and his seemingly innocent delivery had her anger spiking. Heat raged through her. After all those years of ignoring her, he pretended he had some insight into her then and now. “Did we know each other well enough for you to make that assessment?”
“I remember the Hanna who would run around the Virginia property and get into everything. Climbing fences and trying to play on the equipment.” He shoved his hands in his dark gray jeans pockets and focused that intense stare on her.
She didn’t flinch. “You mean the same Virginia property I wasn’t allowed to visit after my dad died?”
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
Years before Hanna lost her sister, she lost her father. Her parents had long been divorced but her mom had been listed as her father’s heir and tried to go to the cottage he lived in on the Jameson estate. Her mother never talked about what happened during the visit, but she came back with clothes and a few personal items and that was all.
Hanna knew more existed. Her father had kept a journal. He’d been a faithful employee at the estate for decades. He’d built a life there, had friends and people who worked for him and respected him.
He died on the job at that stupid Virginia estate and her mother had gotten excuses and two duffel bags filled with dirty shirts.
Carter shrugged. “Okay. Visit Virginia now.”
He seemed as surprised to have said the words as she’d been to hear them. “Sure, I’ll just use the key I don’t have and go into the house I’m not allowed to visit in the state I don’t live in.”
“Maybe the envelope is an invitation to visit.”
“You think after all this time your father is willing to hand over my father’s property and wrote to tell me?”
“I can’t explain my father’s actions, but I can offer to help now. If you don’t want anything to do with him or the envelope, then deal with me. Come back to Virginia and get whatever you need.”
Temptation tugged at her. She could go to the property and maybe get some answers to all those questions about her father’s death. About how a man so skilled could fall off a ladder and die. But that meant trusting Carter and possibly running in to Eldrick. It meant owing them, and she’d vowed never to do that.
Breaking eye contact, Carter glanced around. His gaze moved over the tables with the chairs stacked on the tops, and the shelves of merchandise. It hesitated on the espresso machine. “You must have vacation days.”
If he’d looked into her background, he already knew the answer. But, fine. They could play this game.
“I’m not a full-time employee.” She lifted her chin because she was not going to hide who she was or what she did to earn a living. “I clean houses and buildings. It’s what I do so that I can eat.”
“Sure. Okay.”
“Sometimes I also take shifts here, usually nights and weekends when the college kids who work here would rather go out.”
He shrugged again. “Makes sense.”
The casual acceptance threw her off. He came from inconceivable wealth. Growing up he only ran with other kids from the same background. He’d segregated himself as if money did matter. Went to a private boys’ school, then off to an expensive college. Spent the last year playing in California. She knew because his photo showed up on gossip sites now and then with this beautiful woman or that one on his arm. And it always pricked at her.
“I’m not ashamed of what I do.” She wanted to be absolutely clear about that.
“You shouldn’t be.”
Okay, he said that but nothing in his past or looking at him now suggested he actually believed it. “I work hard. I don’t get to play much, and I certainly can’t just hop off to Virginia.”
“Then open the envelope.”
He made it sound so simple, but it wasn’t.
“Your father is trying to manipulate me. He’s done it before. Sends letters and expects me to jump to his commands.” And she had...sort of. When she’d emerged from the fog surrounding her sister’s death she’d made a promise. She would never again let Eldrick intimidate or scare her. That meant not letting him in to her life. Not letting him in her door or reading his letters.
Carter sighed. “Tell me why and I can try to help.”
“No.” Part of her still believed Carter knew and this was some sort of game. He was the one who had a relationship with Gena. He’d lured her in with promises of a future then left. Everything that came after—the threats and bribery attempts by Eldrick—related back to Carter. How could he not know?
But that expression seemed so genuine. The offer of coming to Virginia opened a door she’d thought she’d closed. The possibilities whirled around in her head until she had to lean against one of the tables.
“I’m staying at the Virginia estate, so I can pack up whatever may belong to your dad and get it to you. Or, hear me out.” Carter held up a hand. “Come to Virginia yourself. Get whatever property, whatever closure, you need.”
She snorted. It came out before she could stop it. “Because you know so much about closure.”
“I’ve been hunting for it for years where my father is concerned. If I can’t find it for me, maybe I can at least hope you get it.” A new emotion moved into his eyes. Behind that determination something else lingered. A note of sadness, maybe. “My father isn’t in the country. My brothers don’t go to our estate except for special events. I’m there, but I’ll stay out of your way.”
The idea of taking a look at her father’s possessions, of figuring out once and for all if something else happened that sunny afternoon when he died, tugged and pulled at her. But the offer also tripped the silent alarm in her head. The internal warning wail almost had her wincing.
“I can’t just walk away from my responsibilities.” Like some people.
“You’re not the only one who is sick of my father’s constant maneuvering.” Carter hesitated for a few seconds before continuing. “I can help you with whatever he wants from you, but if you don’t want that I still can make sure you get access to the house you once lived in. Stay a few days and do what you need.”
Common sense battled with curiosity. She’d never bought the story about her dad’s death. Being there might let her take a peek and move on...or she could uncover the truth, and she owed her dad that.
But there was still the problem of the newest envelope and whatever Eldrick intended to threaten her about now. “What makes you think your father wants something? I know why I think it, but what do you know?”
“The man doesn’t make a move without an ulterior motive.” Carter shook his head. “Look, the easiest thing to do would be to open the envelope. But it’s your life, not mine. You want to keep your secrets? Fine.”
He actually sounded like he did get it. That eased some of the tension zipping through her.
“I don’t want to be manipulated by my father either. Honestly, I’m only here because my brother, you probably remember Derrick, only gets the family business if certain conditions are met. My brothers have a list of things we must do for that inheritance to happen and this is what I have to do.”
She didn’t like that at all. “You mean me. I’m your ‘thing to do.’ How flattering.”
Carter frowned. “I don’t really understand why or what any of this means or how you fit in, which is likely how my dad wanted it.”
He didn’t exactly speak about his father with love and respect. That piqued her interest, made her want to ask questions, but she refrained. Getting sucked into a big Jameson family mess was not on her agenda today...or ever. “So, you need me to open the envelope.”
“I don’t need anything. My brother does. But if Derrick had seen the look of panic on your face last night when I mentioned Dad, Derrick would have torn up the envelope and told you to never worry about any of us again.”
If true, she liked Derrick way more now than she did when she was a kid and was kind of afraid of him. “And you?”
“We both know you and my dad have unfinished business of some sort.” When she started to deny it, he interrupted her again. “I’m not asking what it is, but I’m giving you a chance to do some exploring on your own, without his knowledge or interference. To come back to his home turf of Virginia and figure it all out, then decide if you want to confront my dad.”
She never wanted to see the man again. She’d tucked away in this corner of New York, far away from the bribery and warnings specifically to avoid having to see him. “What do you get out of all of this?”
“Honestly?” He winced. “The idea of going behind my dad’s back and letting you on the property where he didn’t want you to be gives me an odd satisfaction. Plus, I liked your dad. You deserve to go through his things and visit the place you stayed one last time.”
“You sort of sound reasonable.” Which immediately made her skeptical.
Carter took in a long, deep breath. “My offer is for housing and food, if you want it.”
So smooth. He knew exactly what to say to get her thinking. There was no way he could have guessed from his investigation into her background that there were doubts swirling in her head about that Virginia estate and what really happened to her father there. This offer might be her one chance to look around without a bunch of people following her or chasing her off the property. She might be able to uncover the truth.
The only problem? Nothing ever turned out to be free.
“Who did you say would be at the property?” Not that she was conceding. This was all part of a big plan Carter’s dad had worked out. She was sure of it and equally determined not to be a pawn. But if she could get the upper hand, then maybe...
“I’ll be in the main house. I’m living and working there.”
Her stupid heart jumped. She had no idea why that deep voice affected her. She should know better, learn from her sister’s mistakes. “I thought you didn’t work for the family.”
His head dipped to the side for a second. “It’s a complicated story.”
“It always is.” Because there was nothing easy about the Jameson family.
“Does this mean you’re coming back with me?”
He looked far too satisfied with himself. That didn’t sit right with her at all. She had the sense that once Carter thought he’d won, he would become impossible.
“I didn’t say that.”
He smiled. “You kind of did.”
That look. His face. It was so handsome it bordered on annoying. “You leave and I’ll think about the offer.”
“Not exactly a people person, are you?”
Not the first time she’d heard that. She’d been tagged as the quiet sister. Not as pretty or outgoing or charismatic but steady. She got a little tired of playing the role of forgotten sister.
She’d grown up and grown apart from Gena. Hanna moved away and worked as an administrative assistant. Had a good job. Friends. A life. When Gena’s world came crashing down after Carter, she’d begged for help and Hanna came rushing in. She pushed aside the mix of jealousy and hurt that swamped her at the idea of Gena and Carter together when Gena had known all about the old crush. But she’d arrived too late to save her sister. Even now as she tried to rebuild her life and find a job to replace the one she’d lost, the guilt over not doing enough or the right thing still beat down on her every day.
He rocked back on his heels. “You do know I’m not getting anything out of this, right?”
No way did she believe that. “You poor thing.”
His gaze slipped back to the espresso machine. “I’d settle for something with caffeine in it.”
“You could open a bag and suck on a bean.”
He laughed and the rich, genuine sound washed over her. He moved and it mesmerized her. He spoke and her brain replayed every word.
“I would have been disappointed if you’d offered to make me coffee,” he said.
“I’m happy we understand each other.” She glanced at the clock and dread pummeled her. Employees would start showing up in about fifteen minutes and she still had to deal with that puddle on the floor. “I need to get back to work.”
“Here.” Without another word, Carter went over the counter and grabbed the mop. “I can take care of the spill.”
She would have been less surprised if he’d made a cup of coffee magically appear in his hand. “You’re going to clean something? You...?”
“I have skills.”
She could feel her mouth drop open and her eyes bulge. “With a mop?”
“I’m not my father, Hanna.”
The words shook her out of her stupor because she was starting to believe him. “That’s the only reason you’re still standing here.”
That and his eyes. And those impressive shoulders. That cool voice. Okay, she might have let him inside the shop to look at him for a while. She hadn’t expected him to offer a way for her to settle the past.
No, Carter Jameson was not what she expected at all. Problem was she didn’t have a defense against this Carter and that made him potentially more dangerous to her than Eldrick.
Three (#uddde015e-4550-51b0-9538-263ed8b1b05e)
Carter walked into Jackson’s Jameson Industries office two days later without knocking. Since he carried sandwiches and everything else they needed for lunch, Carter doubted Jackson would mind the unscheduled intrusion.
He’d volunteered to pick up the food because he needed a distraction from his phone and its lack of messages.
There was exactly one reason for his frustration: Hanna. She still hadn’t gotten in touch with him. No call. No message. No text. He’d made a point of giving her his contact information after making his big come-to-Virginia offer, convinced she wouldn’t refuse...and yet, nothing.
The hours ticked by and he tried to forget her and their odd meeting, write off her apparent mix of disdain and disinterest. Not dwell on the secrets she hid and her relationship, whatever it was, to his father. Not think about how she’d grown up, about her legs or the gentle sway of her hips as she’d tried to rush him out her door. That face. Those curves.
Yeah, he definitely needed to find something else to think about.
Carter glanced up as he shut the office door behind him. Jackson sat at his desk, studying the contents of the file with such extreme concentration that it looked as if he expected to be tested on the details. Carter got three steps across the room before Jackson started talking. He didn’t lift his head but his voice rang out loud and clear.
“Are you ever going to tell me why you needed the information?” Jackson asked while flipping pages.
Carter froze in midstep. “Did we start a conversation before I entered the room? Because I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
With a long, exaggerated sigh, Jackson finally lifted his head. After a quick look up and down, he frowned. It was the kind of once-over Jackson did before he launched into a Jamesons-are-impossible speech. The same kind of look that made Carter self-conscious, and he was rarely that.
After the prolonged visual inspection, Jackson rested his elbows on the desk in front of him. “The Wilde sisters.”
“Oh, right.” Knowing this topic could lead to trouble, Carter tried to deflect. A shrug usually worked, so he went with that. “That was nothing.”
“Uh-huh.” Jackson closed the file almost in slow-motion before lounging back in his big leather seat. “I’ve worked for this family for years. I’ve investigated many people and businesses. It’s never nothing and it usually causes trouble that rolls downhill to my desk to fix.”
Carter started to shrug a second time, then stopped because Jackson would notice multiple shrugs and take it as a sign of...something. “I just wondered what happened to them.”
“Right. So, your dad sends you on this errand. You go and while you’re there you just happen to need emergency intel on the daughters of the man who used to be the caretaker of your family’s Virginia property. A man who died on the job, though you know that part.”
Carter dropped the bag filled with food on the edge of the desk and sat down across from Jackson. “See? Perfectly reasonable.”
“That’s not a word I would ever use to describe your family.”
The bag rustled, making a crinkling sound, as Carter unloaded the sandwiches and what looked to him like two child-sized bags of chips. “Do people really only eat seven chips at a meal?”
He threw one of the bags in Jackson’s general direction. Instead of catching it, Jackson stayed still. The chips crunched as they landed on his keyboard. The only reaction he gave was the slight lift of an eyebrow. Carter took that to mean Jackson was not ready for a new topic.
“So, when you asked me about Hanna and Gena—and yes, I remember their names because I remember everything—that was just a coincidence?” Jackson asked.
“I sense you’re not going to let this go.”
“Want me to give you a list of all of the other people who worked at the Virginia property?” Jackson ripped open the bag of chips and shoved two in his mouth.
The room filled with the sounds of munching, shuffling and sandwich unwrapping. But Carter knew it was only a brief reprieve. Jackson had an annoying habit of holding on to a question and unloading it later, just when Carter relaxed his guard. “It’s kind of freaky how much you know about our family.”
“I like to be ready.”
“For?”
Jackson handed over one of the two water bottles sitting by his phone. “Anything. It’s a good trait in an employee, so feel free to give me a raise.”
“If I had that power, I would.” Hell, he’d sign over part of his interest in the company and bolt. The day-to-day monotony of desk work didn’t appeal to him. And being here reminded him that his father thought he wasn’t worthy to even have an office.
If Derrick didn’t need him and if his sister-in-law-to-be Ellie’s pregnancy eased into a safer rhythm, he might. Of course, then he’d miss seeing what would happen as his other brother, Spence, tried to negotiate a new stage of his relationship with his fiancée, Abby. And that was just too funny to miss.
Poor Spence had it bad and Abby was not the type to make it easy for him. Carter loved her for that. Loved both of the women his brothers managed to convince to date them. They were smart, beautiful and strong. Very different from each other, but perfect for Derrick and Spence.
Which for some reason got Carter thinking about Hanna. She had the smart, beautiful and strong combination down. She also looked at him like she wanted to backhand him with a mop handle, so it was good he wasn’t interested. Not in anything permanent anyway. There was no way to have a few private, discreet hookups just for fun with his family nearby. Someone always seemed to be watching. And sometimes it was the guy sitting right in front of him.
Jackson. Friend, invaluable asset to Jameson Industries and all-around smart-ass.
“Stop acting like you’re not management.” Jackson finished unwrapping the sandwich and crumpled the paper underneath it. “You could write me a check tomorrow. In fact, you should. You know, just because.”
Carter knew Jackson was kidding but he’d hit on a sore spot. One Carter couldn’t exactly laugh off since it guided everything he’d done for the last year. “My father ran me out of the family and the business a year ago, remember? No power to do anything here.”
Jackson swallowed the bite he’d been chewing. “When did you get so dramatic?”
“You weren’t here, but he did.” Carter grabbed for his food. He fiddled with the paper, trying to untuck the edge, but finally gave in and ripped it open. The smell of tuna fish salad hit him a second later.
“I missed the actual office fight between you two, but I do remember the fallout. You refused to talk. Derrick was pissed because your dad refused to listen to your ideas about what to do with the Virginia property.” Jackson shook his head as he whistled. “It was a hell of a welcome back from my vacation.”
“I believe the exact phrase Dad used was that my ideas were beneath the Jameson name.” The dismissive tone echoed in Carter’s brain. No matter how he tried to write off his father and erase the memory, it kicked up every now and then. “He pointed out that I was an embarrassment and should go out and prove myself or not bother to step in his office again.”
“That is some interesting Jameson tough love.” Jackson took another bite, almost devouring half the sandwich in only a few minutes.
Carter glanced at the tuna fish, then to his unopened bag of chips. The idea of food suddenly didn’t appeal to him. He blamed the office and the city. Being this close to what his father viewed as the center of his power made Carter want to be anywhere else. To not be a Jameson or have to deal with the steady stream of disappointing everyone. It was easier to be away and just be Carter, not the rich kid who didn’t live up to the family standard.
He dropped the sandwich and then pushed the paper away from him. “He deactivated my key card to the building and told security to kick me out that afternoon. Derrick undid the orders, or so he said when he called and asked me to come back, but I was done by then.”
“Eldrick couldn’t make a phone call without having three people help him.” Jackson swore under his breath. Not that he was quiet about it or tried to hide his anger at Eldrick. “But yeah, that will teach me to take three days of vacation. By the time I got back you were driving across the country and the office had descended into chaos.”
Jackson’s controlled outburst eased some of the frustration coursing through Carter. There was something comforting about having Jackson on his side that made talking about his father tolerable. “Your timing was terrible. You take three days off a year and you picked those days.”
Jackson did what he often did when talking about family business: he shook his head. “All kidding aside, your father is an ass.”
Among other things. “Very true.”
“You have a second chance, you know.” Jackson made a show of taking a drink and wiping his hands on his napkin. Drew out the suspense but didn’t deliver a punch line.
Carter didn’t shy away from asking. “Meaning?”
“Derrick liked your ideas about converting the Virginia property. He had me look into the legalities of changing the property’s legal use and run some numbers on the financial feasibility of trying your solution.”
For the business retreat and possible private club and party event facility? That was news to Carter. “What?”
“Like you, Derrick doesn’t often agree with your father. He has always been pretty clear that his memories of living at the estate as a kid weren’t great.”
“It was fine, if you liked yelling.” Carter thought about the big redbrick mansion, stately with the columns surrounded by acres of rolling hills. The pool, the pond, the outbuildings. As much as he loved the house and the outdoors and the open space, it was hard to ignore the bad memories that lingered over every inch of the land.
He’d been a teenager when his mother got cancer. Only a few months older than that when she went into the hospital, then to hospice to live out her final days, where Dad served her with divorce papers. Eldrick couldn’t allow her the simple dignity of dying in peace. No, he thought his girlfriend was pregnant and he needed to move on. His girlfriend wasn’t and now he was on wife number four and Carter doubted the man was one ounce more faithful to this one than he had been to Carter’s mother.
Before his mother’s death and the shock and the ripping sensation of having all his safety nets stripped away, life hadn’t been so great either. Dad used his wife and sons as public props while bouncing between ignoring them and screaming at them in private. He was demanding and difficult and manipulative. He liked to pit Derrick and Spence against each other. It was a miracle the brothers managed to maintain any meaningful sibling relationship, let alone establish the strong one they had.
As soon as he graduated, Carter escaped and shuffled off to college, only visiting when ordered home, which amounted to little more than once a year at the holidays. Even when Derrick had moved back home with the thought of taking over the family business, he’d skipped the mansion and moved to D.C. Insisted the commute to the office would be prohibitive, which was true but not really the reason he avoided the place.
As the years rolled by, the brothers rarely used the space for weekend getaways or events. For the most part, the big house and the grounds stood empty. Eldrick lived there on and off, depending on whether his then girlfriend or wife, or whomever he was sleeping with at the time, had any interest in the country.
A skeleton staff ran the place. The only event Carter could remember attending there in the last few years was Derrick and Ellie’s engagement party. Ellie had insisted the party would replace some of the bad memories of growing up there with good memories. It was a nice thought, but Carter didn’t think it had worked.
“Which is why you should repurpose the house and grounds.” Jackson tipped the small bag and dumped the remaining chips and crumbs on his desk blotter. “Talk to Derrick. Of course, all of this depends on if you intend to stick around.”
The tone. Jackson might not be related to them, but he shared Derrick’s ability to convey a get-your-act-together message with a few words.
“Are you trying to lure me back into the family?” For the first time in a long time, Carter entertained the idea and it was all due to his brothers. The idea of fitting in, of being a part of something that didn’t depend on his father’s whims, appealed to him even though he was not a set-down-roots kind of guy. But maybe he could let something matter to him. Maybe.
Jackson picked up a chip and pointed it at Carter. “Forget your dad. You and your brothers support each other. I understand how that works because it’s how it is with me and Zoe.”
“Ah, yes.” Carter smiled at the thought of Jackson’s fraternal twin. She looked like him with brown hair and blue eyes, only female and much prettier. Petite and fiery. She was one of the most determined people Carter had ever met. “Your baby sister. You are eight minutes older, right?”
Jackson’s mouth flatlined. “Pretend I don’t have a sister.”
“But I love her.” Like the sister he never had, but Carter didn’t say that part out loud. Not when he enjoyed Jackson’s reaction to the joke of potentially tying him even more tightly to the Jamesons through his sister’s dating choices.
“Get over it,” Jackson said in his most grumbly voice.
The fact was, they all viewed Jackson and Zoe as family. And some days, when his resistance was down, Jackson admitted that the feeling was mutual. Well, one time he had. He’d gotten drunk one New Year’s Eve and let that slip. Now he denied it.
Carter decided to take pity on Jackson. “You do know if I made a pass Zoe would kick me in the balls, right?”
Jackson snorted. “Who do you think taught her that move?”
“Figures.”
Jackson grabbed the chip bag in front of Carter and opened it, dipping his fingers inside. “But back to the Virginia house. I’m telling you that when Derrick is in charge—and I’m hoping that happens soon because I dread the idea of Eldrick dropping back into the office again—you should run it by him. You might be surprised by how much support you get.”
“Is there anything you don’t know about this family and the business?”
“Nope.” Jackson popped one of Carter’s chips in his mouth.
“We’re lucky to have you.”
Jackson stopped chewing long enough to smile. “That’s what I keep telling you all.”
* * *
She should run and keep running.
That thought raced through Hanna’s mind as she stepped out of the cab she really couldn’t afford in front of a gate meant to keep her out. She stared up at the high wall that circled and protected the Jamesons’ expansive Virginia property. This was how rich people lived—cut off from others, safe from having to touch or talk with anyone but their own.
For years, on and off, she’d lived behind that wall when she visited her father during those weekends, school holidays and a handful of weeks in the summer when he had visitation. During those times, she’d slip through the gate. Not this one, of course. The one around the side meant for staff. Never really welcome or accepted inside, her presence had been tolerated so long as she stayed quiet and knew her place.
Despite all the rules, her father insisted he enjoyed working here because he was part of something. That living at the estate, having the responsibility of managing the grounds, gave him purpose. He’d felt at home there.
He’d also died there.
That’s why she’d taken Carter’s suggestion and showed up. Before they talked, she’d convinced herself she needed to move on and rebuild. Not look to the past. But now the need for answers gnawed at her. Real ones, not the ones passed through Eldrick’s fancy lawyers years ago. For the first time since she lost Gena, Hanna felt like she might be able to control some part of her life.
Her mother had collected the death benefit check along with Eldrick’s short explanation. After years of fighting over custody schedules with her father, when it came to his death, her mother mourned. She also never believed the Jameson line about Dad falling off a ladder. Neither did Hanna.
Standing there, lost in a haze of memories, she heard the rumble and crunch of tires. She watched a dark sedan slow down as it drove by. The driver stared at her, and at the scuffed duffel bag with the broken strap sitting at her feet. She stared right back, watching until the car turned a corner and headed for one of the other estates that dotted the hillside.
“I hate being here.” She mumbled the truth to herself as she slipped her cell out of her front jeans pocket. Her finger hesitated over Carter’s number just as it had every time she started to call over the last few days.
She’d shown up unannounced, but she first called the Jameson office in D.C. pretending to be a business contact looking for him. The person who answered said he wasn’t there, so she took a shot that he’d been telling the truth when he said he lived and worked at the estate now.
It was just one of many chances she was taking. Carter didn’t refer to his dad in glowing terms. They seemed to share a distrust of the older man, but family was family and she still had a tangled past with Carter that made her wonder how far he’d come from the entitled boy who once caught her watching him work out in the gym at the estate and laughed at her interest.
Being near him now was such a risk. She’d tried to move on, not think of herself as the second-best Wilde sister, but memories of Carter and the attraction that still seemed to beat inside her had the power to flip her back to that insecure mental place.
She stared at the screen until the numbers blurred. Shifting and typing again, she started texting.
I agree to the terms we discussed. I stay in the cottage and you leave me alone.
She winced at the tense tone but hit Send anyway.
Carter shot back a text response almost immediately.
How could I say no to that charming agreement?
“They were your terms, but fine,” she grumbled as she thought about what to write next. She couldn’t exactly admit she thought his family had something to do with her dad’s death. That would shut down all access, and this access onto the property only just opened for her thanks to Carter’s offhand suggestion.
Before she could come up with the right response, another text popped up from Carter.
When are you coming so I can be ready?
She wished she could be ready.
Why, are you going to change the sheets for me?
She bit her lip as the Sent notification appeared on her screen. Then a wave of panic hit her. She didn’t mean to sound flirty or interested or even happy about any of this...even though she kind of was. The whole trip over she thought about Carter and that sexy smile when she should have been thinking about her dad and Gena and how good it would feel to finally beat the Jamesons at their own game.
And bed? Why did she mention a bed?
I thought we established that I know how to clean. I actually have many skills.
She absolutely did not remember conceding that point. And the skills comment could not be flirting. If they started a game of mutual flirting her control would fizzle. But he had looked cute with that mop in his hands...
You used a mop without hurting yourself.
Congratulations.
I’m sighing at you right now.
She could almost hear him and the idea made her laugh. She smothered the sound as soon as it escaped her. But she didn’t type fast enough. Another text flashed across her screen.
Trying again...when are you coming?
This time she switched to calling because, really, she wanted to hear his voice for this one. The element of surprise was on her side. She intended to enjoy that.
He picked up on the first ring. His deep, rich voice filled the line. “Hello, there.”
The whole shivering in her stomach thing hit her again. It was unnecessary. She needed her reaction to Carter to stay...flat because she needed to keep her defenses strong against him and remember what happened to Gena when she didn’t. She struggled to find that tone when she responded.
“I’m here now. Unlock the gate.” When he gasped, she hung up.
This round to her.
Four (#uddde015e-4550-51b0-9538-263ed8b1b05e)
Carter refused to admit he jogged to the gate. It was a quick walk and he only picked up the speed to avoid being rude. He couldn’t just leave Hanna hanging out front. He wasn’t a complete jerk, after all.
As he walked down the long drive, he spotted her peeking between the bars of the electric front gate. She wore jeans and a purple Henley, both formfitting to the point where his brain power kept blinking out.
The temperature was cool but not cold like it had been at their last meeting in New York. A bag and what looked like a rolled-up jacket sat at her feet. That’s all she had. A few things in an oversize duffel. Carter had no idea if that was a statement on how little she owned or on how short of a time she planned to stay. Either way, his brain had turned traitor on him because he was stupidly excited to see her. He could feel his mouth curl into a smile as his gaze wandered over her hair and that ponytail. The second he recognized the unwanted excitement racing through him, he tried to tamp it down.
At his worst in those days after his father kicked him out, he’d run into Gena and they spent a weekend together. It had been fun but meaningless for both of them. Flirty but nothing more.
He hadn’t felt a shot to the gut when he saw Gena like he did when he saw Hanna again, which had a weird vibe both because they were sisters and because Gena was dead.
He smiled, trying to forget the twisted road that brought them to this place. “You’re here.”
She watched his hands as he punched in the code and the electric gate rumbled open. “You don’t sound surprised.”
“You have to admit I offered you a pretty good deal.” He let the gate roll past him, then gestured for her to step inside. “Free housing and food with no expectations in return.”
He felt the need to say that. To be clear he wasn’t his father. He’d been trying to make that distinction with people his whole life.
“You’re a prince.”
“I’ll take that as a thank-you.” Because he was pretty sure that was as close as he’d ever get to gratitude.
“Should I be coming in this way?”
It had taken her less than ten minutes to lose him in conversation. “Huh?”
“I’ve always used the door on the side gate.”
“The...” Right, the service entrance thing. His father had always been very clear on separating the help—his words—from those the family invited for a visit. “You can use whatever entrance you want.”
“That’s an interesting change.”
“Is it?”
She shook her head as she reached down and grabbed her bag and jacket. “Never mind.”
Without saying a word, he took the bag out of her hand and balanced the strap on his shoulder. It didn’t weigh much, which renewed his curiosity about what she’d packed. “I know it’s strange to come back to a place you used to think of as home. It took my sister-in-law-to-be’s high-risk pregnancy to lure me back to the area. Little else would have worked.”
For a second Hanna didn’t say anything. She gnawed on her bottom lip as she eyed her bag, but then she seemed to snap out of the haze surrounding her. “I read about that. Derrick’s fiancée, right?”
Finally, a topic Carter could handle without trouble. He stepped back, closer to the house, and Hanna followed. He waited until she was out of striking range, then hit the button to close the gate behind her.
It rattled to a close as he guided them toward the main house. “Things have evened out a bit with her health but the pregnancy is still risky. Derrick is an embarrassing wreck. He’s driving Ellie, that’s his fiancée, and us, right to the edge. It’s taking all I have not to order him to stay home from work, but Ellie would kill me because then she’d be stuck with him.”
“I don’t remember that much about Derrick. He seemed pretty disconnected from the house by the time I started visiting.”
“He was mostly away at college by that point. He’s five years older than me.” Carter was thirty and Hanna a year younger. Carter knew most of the basics about her because Jackson had included those in the file, including the truth about Gena’s car accident. The police and medical examiner had termed it a suicide. Hanna never contested the finding, which made Carter think it must have been right. A finding that had crashed through him on a rush of guilt and sadness when he’d read it.
Carter needed to talk with Hanna about all of it, but he didn’t want to scare her off. There were so many secrets hovering between them and as much as Carter pretended not to care about what his father did or said these days, that unopened envelope sat on his dresser, taunting him. While it was true he’d offered her the chance to come and fight whatever demons she had, he’d also wanted her to come for him. Bigger than that, he wanted her to confide in him. He wasn’t sure why that suddenly mattered, but it did.
Something in her called out to him. She seemed lost and a bit broken. He understood exactly how that felt and wanted to help.
The curiosity about whatever secret bound her to his father also drove him. The need to know the answer grew each day. Nothing in the background search on her provided a hint, and Carter would never ask his father. Doing so might bring him back to Virginia, and he didn’t want to deal with his father at all.
Gravel crunched under their feet as they walked. Without any warning, she stopped and stared at him. “I’m not staying in the main house.”
He balanced his foot on the bottom step leading up to the front porch that spanned the front of the house. “I remember, but—”
“No.”
He blew out a long breath, trying not to let frustration overwhelm him. “Maybe you could let me finish a sentence.”
She nodded. Almost looked like she smiled, too, but if she did it flashed then was gone just as quickly. “Fair enough.”
“Until ten seconds ago I wasn’t sure you were coming because, clearly, you are unfamiliar with how a phone works.” When she started to interrupt, he held up a hand to stop her. “My point being, if I had known I would have had the cottage cleaned and aired out. Since your arrival is a surprise, and a welcome one so don’t get all grumpy on me, I thought we could wait in the house while I have the place readied for you.”
“First, I did call you.”
She had to be kidding. “Ten minutes ago, from the front gate, but go on.”
“Do you want me to text you a message right now?”
That tone. She was messing with him. No question.
“I can imagine what that message would say.” But it was tempting to let her try. Everything she did and said intrigued him, made him want to know more.
That time she did smile. Even let it linger. “Second, I clean for a living. I can handle the cottage... I want to handle it.”
Maybe it would make her feel closer to her father’s memory, but the idea still struck him as wrong. He wasn’t hiring her. He was trying to help her, though it was pretty clear she planned to fight him with every ounce of life inside her. “You’re not here to work.”
“I actually am.”
Damn, she was exasperating and he kind of loved that about her. Not many people outside of his family challenged him. Most bought into the supposed power behind the Jameson name, which was why he sometimes used a fake last name. He wanted people to know him for him, and that included her. “I mean, for me. You don’t work for me.”
“You gave me the speech about how no one would bother me. I don’t want people skulking around the cottage.”
He wasn’t the type to be knocked speechless but he didn’t have a comeback for that one. “Skulking?”
She shrugged, looking disinterested...except for the way she twisted her coat in her hands. If she tightened that death grip even a fraction she’d likely rip the material. He found her reaction interesting. Here she was, all cool and annoyed on the surface. Underneath it looked like something very different was happening. Maybe it was the stress of being back or that stupid envelope. Part of him hoped she was fighting off the same attraction that threatened to overwhelm him.
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