Just A Little Bit Married
Teresa Southwick
How to ruin a perfectly good divorceThe last time Rose Tucker saw her ex-husband, Lincoln Hart, he was fleeing their newly minted marriage. Now the man she fell in love with at first sight has returned to say those three little words: "we’re still married!" And while the lawyers fix the clerical glitch, the handsome millionaire offers a way to help his not so ex-wife save her business.The pretty interior designer can hardly wait to say, “I don’t.” But in the meantime, Rose can’t afford to turn down her husband’s job offer. So she agrees to decorate Linc’s new luxury condo. While Rose draws up plans for his home, he has designs on her heart. And if he gets his way, the new towels will say his and hers.
How to ruin a perfectly good divorce
The last time Rose Tucker saw her ex-husband, Lincoln Hart, he was fleeing their newly minted marriage. Now the man she fell in love with at first sight has returned to say those three little words: “we’re still married!” And while the lawyers fix the clerical glitch, the handsome millionaire offers a way to help his not-so-ex wife save her business.
The pretty interior designer can hardly wait to say “I don’t.” But in the meantime, Rose can’t afford to turn down her husband’s job offer. So she agrees to decorate Linc’s new luxury condo. While Rose draws up plans for his home, he has designs on her heart. And if he gets his way, the new towels will say His and Hers.
“Don’t expect me to forgive you,” she said.
“I don’t.” But seeing her again, remembering that they’d once been two halves of a whole, made him wish she could. “I just thought you should know about the divorce.”
“It is kind of important,” she agreed. “Chances are I would have found out the hard way pretty soon.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve been dating someone and it’s getting serious.” She turned away and walked over to the couch, absently rearranging throw pillows. “Lately he’s been hinting about getting married.”
Linc had absolutely no right to the feeling, but that didn’t stop the blast of raw jealousy that roared through him. “I guess it would have been awkward to apply for a marriage license and find out you were still married.”
“You think?”
He detected the tiniest bit of defensiveness in her voice and decided to take a shot. “You never told him you’d been married before?”
“We were married for fifteen minutes.” Ten years ago her eyes took on shades of gray when she was annoyed, and they looked that way now. “It was a long time ago. I’ve been busy. It didn’t seem important.”
“The thing is, you never checked to find out about the divorce,” he reminded her.
“Neither did you.”
“Fair enough. I’ll take care of it now...”
* * *
The Bachelors of Blackwater Lake:
They won’t be single for long!
Just a Little Bit Married
Teresa Southwick
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
TERESA SOUTHWICK lives with her husband in Las Vegas, the city that reinvents itself every day. An avid fan of romance novels, she is delighted to be living out her dream of writing for Mills & Boon.
To my sister-in-law, Rose Boyle.
I borrowed your name for the heroine in this book because shes as smart and sweet as you.
Thanks for marrying my brother, sole sister!
Contents
Cover (#u020f2dd3-0237-5db9-8d50-6a4d091704ce)
Back Cover Text (#u08fc7b26-e924-57a2-b2d0-e0cb3e9ed8e1)
Introduction (#u29b69f92-1344-5539-ae11-be36925f6235)
Title Page (#u1ae8c288-689d-5962-8fcd-8da86cdde0d1)
About the Author (#u89fe5bce-f44c-5368-828b-0609a650a481)
Dedication (#u8440d2af-0066-5e76-a043-4e04c193f7a7)
Chapter One (#ud2654e70-087d-5796-bc85-1573a604e38a)
Chapter Two (#uf5b123bf-3e57-5675-a029-50de71314546)
Chapter Three (#ubef37685-7910-5165-88bb-625dd97295f1)
Chapter Four (#ua056c0df-13df-51d9-b1d4-04e1fb17a620)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u47d1e089-baa1-55be-9aa5-91ac3764f12a)
“Rose, this might come as a shock, but we’re not divorced.”
Lincoln Hart looked around the room to make sure there was nothing pointed, heavy, or sharp enough to take out an eye, bash in his skull or maim a fairly important body part. Satisfied, he studied the woman he hadn’t seen in ten years and realized Rose Tucker was even more beautiful than she’d been then, when she took his breath away every time he saw her. When he was so in love that being apart from her was almost a physical ache.
Rose. Even her name was lovely. She was more polished than the young woman he’d walked away from. And more hostile, but he couldn’t blame her.
After what he’d just said she was going to hate him even more than she had a decade ago, and she’d hated him quite a lot then.
“What? Not even a hello?” The hostility in her dark blue eyes wavered to make way for surprise, then suspicion.
“I thought it best to lead with the headline, make sure you got the information before slamming the door in my face.”
“You’re telling me we’re still married? I don’t believe you. What kind of game are you playing now? What in the world would you have to gain by pretending we’re still married?”
“I’m not pretending. And I’m as thrown by this as you are.”
“I doubt that.” She put a hand to her forehead as if feeling dizzy.
Linc reached out and curved his fingers around her upper arm to steady her. “Let’s sit down.”
Apparently his touch snapped her out of it because she yanked her arm away. He half expected her to take a swing at him and wouldn’t blame her if she did. This whole mess was his fault from start to finish. If there was anything at all positive about his screwup, it was that his family knew nothing about his brief, whirlwind marriage.
His brothers, Sam and Cal, would rag on him relentlessly, which was bad enough. Katherine and Hastings Hart, his mother and her husband, and his younger sister, Ellie, would be disappointed in him for the way he’d handled the situation. But none of that mattered now. He and Rose had a problem and it was all on him.
“We should probably sit—”
“Don’t be nice to me, Linc. We both know that’s not who you are.”
“What I did to you was lousy, Rose, but that’s not who I am.” He wasn’t the man she thought she’d married, but he wasn’t a complete jerk, either.
They stood in the postage-stamp-sized living area of her apartment, which was upstairs from her small interior design studio in an old, redbrick building on one of Prosper, Texas’s, side streets. The fact that this one-room place had charm was a reflection of her skill as an interior designer. The paint was pale gold except for one olive-green accent wall in the living room. The kitchen and living areas were set apart by the clever placement of the love-seat-sized sofa. Wall hangings, knickknacks, lamps and throw pillows added color without being stuffy and formal. It was homey and warm. He liked her taste very much.
“You must have questions,” he said.
“How do you know we’re not divorced?” She tucked a strand of long black hair behind her ear.
“My lawyer passed away after a short illness and I had to hire a new one to handle my personal affairs. He insisted on looking over all of my official documents. There was a marriage license but no divorce decree. After researching the situation, he discovered that the papers were never filed with the court.”
“How could that happen?”
It was hard not to cringe at her bewildered tone, especially since he’d assured her he would handle everything. “I hired a half-price lawyer and got what I paid for—half a divorce.”
“Why would you do that, Linc? Your family is worth millions and Hart Industries must have a platoon of the best and brightest legal minds around. It doesn’t make sense that you would get an attorney from outside the company, especially someone incompetent. The Harts don’t do things like that.”
Leave it to Rose to zero in on the core of the problem. It wasn’t something he wanted to talk about, but she had a right to know. “I’m not a Hart.”
“Excuse me? You’re what now?”
“Hastings Hart isn’t my father.”
“No way.” She shook her head.
“It’s true. Hastings and Katherine confirmed it. I found out right after we got married.”
“How?”
“My biological father came to see me. He confessed he had a...thing with my mother.”
“You told me your parents were deliriously happy,” Rose said with equal amounts of accusation and defensiveness in her voice.
“That was their story. Turns out there was a rough patch. My older brothers were born nine months apart—twins the hard way, she always said. The fact is she had her hands full raising them and Hastings wasn’t around much. He was traveling, working long hours to build Hart Industries into something he could leave to his sons.”
“So she turned to another man and had an affair?”
“He and my mother were legally separated and headed for a divorce, so technically it wasn’t an extramarital affair.”
“And you never knew? Never suspected?” There was skepticism in the questions.
“No. They worked through their problems and he promised to give me his name. Both of them agreed there was no reason for me to know.”
“And your biological father was all right with the arrangement?”
“He was a lawyer on the partner track at an ultraconservative law firm that specialized in divorce. Sleeping with a client and getting her pregnant would have caused a scandal that might have cost him his career, so keeping it secret was fine with him.”
“Yet he told you all those years later. Why?”
“Midlife crisis, I guess. He never had children.” He stopped, waiting for the anger to roll through him so he could continue the act and pretend he was reconciled to the ugly secret. “No one to carry on the family name got to him, probably.”
“You don’t know?”
“It was a short conversation. At that moment I didn’t know whether or not he was lying.” Turned out the guy was the only one who hadn’t lied. “Hastings and Katherine confirmed.”
“And you haven’t talked to your father since? Asked him why he finally came forward?”
“No.” The man ruined his life. Sharing DNA didn’t make that okay. “The narcissistic bastard only thought about the fact that he had a son, not what the revelation would do to that son.”
“Oh, God. Linc—” Shock and resentment were replaced by pity in her eyes and that wasn’t much of an improvement. “I guess it hit you hard.”
“Let’s just say finding out your parents lied to you about Santa Claus is nothing compared to learning your father isn’t who you thought.” Linc had had no idea who he was and his only thought was to protect Rose, even from himself.
He remembered that time as if it was yesterday. She’d been hired for the summer at Hart Industries in the real-estate development branch of the company he was taking over. They fell madly in love, had a whirlwind romance and he swept her away to Las Vegas, where they got married. It was the best time of his life and he’d never been happier. Then everything went to hell.
He shook his head and met her gaze. “You thought you married a Hart but I’m not one.”
Understanding dawned in her eyes. “You think that was important to me?”
Intensity rotated through him and was nearly as powerful as what he’d felt ten years ago. He recalled the anguish and pain in her voice when she’d pleaded with him to tell her why he was leaving. What she’d done. It was an understatement to say he hadn’t been thinking clearly. He left the Harts, too, and stayed away for a long time. “It mattered to me.”
“So you had to split from me and got a half-price lawyer to do it.”
“I didn’t feel it was right to use a Hart attorney since I wasn’t really part of the family. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I walked away from everyone.” He backpacked through Europe, although it would be more accurate to say that he drank his way from one country to the next. “After two years I came back.” But he never forgot that he was the bastard son who always needed to prove himself.
“And your father? The biological one?”
“What about him?”
“What’s he like?”
“Good question. Like I said, I don’t see him. And if it’s all the same to you I don’t want to talk about him. I only brought it up for context.”
“Don’t expect me to forgive you,” she said.
“I don’t.” But seeing her again, remembering that they’d once been two halves of a whole, made him wish she could. “I just thought you should know about the divorce.”
“It is kind of important,” she agreed. “Chances are I would have found out the hard way pretty soon.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve been dating someone and it’s getting serious.” She turned away and walked over to the couch, absently rearranging throw pillows. “Lately he’s been hinting about getting married.”
Linc had absolutely no right to the feeling but that didn’t stop the blast of raw jealousy that roared through him. “I guess it would have been awkward to apply for a marriage license and find out you were still married.”
“You think?”
He detected the tiniest bit of defensiveness in her voice and decided to take a shot. “You never told him you’d been married before?”
“We were married for fifteen minutes.” Ten years ago her eyes took on shades of gray when she was annoyed and they looked that way now. “It was a long time ago. I’ve been busy. It didn’t seem important.”
“The thing is, you never checked to find out about the divorce,” he reminded her.
“Neither did you.”
“Fair enough. I will take care of it now. Mason, my new lawyer, will handle the details and send the papers to you for your signature. Then it will be behind us.” At least the paperwork part. His feelings were a lot more complicated than he’d expected.
“Okay.” She frowned. “How did you know where I was?”
“How does anyone find anyone? I looked you up on the internet.”
Also he’d checked her out, found out what she’d been doing all these years. First college, then five years working with a prestigious design firm in Dallas before opening her own business not quite two years ago. And it wasn’t doing well. If she was, she’d still be located in Dallas, not thirty-five miles away, where office and living spaces were combined and cheap.
She ran everything herself, no hired help and therefore no payroll. There were a few flooring, window-covering and paint samples in her downstairs studio, but not what you’d see in a larger, successful company.
Her reputation was good, but her business was going down with a whimper. Unless someone gave her a high-profile opportunity.
“Look, Rose, there’s another reason I came to see you.”
“What else could there possibly be? Isn’t the fact that we’re not legally divorced enough?”
“This is a good thing. Trust me.”
“Seriously? You have the nerve to ask me to trust you? Getting involved with you was the worst mistake of my life.”
“Right.” He refused to react, to let her know the arrow hit its mark. “You have no reason to trust me. And that doesn’t bode well, because I want to offer you a job.”
“Doing what?”
“Decorating.” He moved closer. “My condo in Blackwater Lake, Montana.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“Because the town is about to be on the rich-and-famous radar when a new hotel, condo and retail project opens. The hotel is entering the last phase of construction and will need decorating. I know the developer. Use my condo for your résumé and dazzle them. I’ll put in a good word.” Linc pitched her the rest of the details, then asked, “What do you think?”
“I think I want to know what your angle is.”
“No ulterior motive.” Except giving her business a helping hand might earn him some redemption points.
“I don’t need your charity.”
“That’s not what this is.” He slid his fingertips into the pockets of his slacks. “I don’t deserve a favor, but I’m asking for one. Just think about it.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re good at what you do.” He pulled a card from his wallet and set it on the coffee table. “Call me in a few days with your decision. And before you think about not calling, you should know that I’ll contact you.”
“Okay.”
Linc was reluctant to leave but decided not to push his luck. The weird thing was he’d never planned to offer her a job. That changed when he saw her.
Accepting his proposition would mean traveling to Blackwater Lake with him and he really wanted her to do that. For old time’s sake. For her business. To make things up to her so he would feel better about what he’d done.
Ultimately the reasons were about him, which did, in fact, make him a self-centered bastard like his father.
* * *
“What do you mean you’re married? More important—why do I not know this about you? And don’t even get me started on why I wasn’t invited to the wedding.”
Rose stared at her BFF, Vicki Jeffers. After Linc left she couldn’t stop shaking. He was a ghost from the past and she’d barely held it together when he showed up out of the blue. She’d really needed to talk to someone and begged her friend to come over. Apparently her shocked and shaky tone had convinced the other woman to break a date. So Rose told her story and the other woman was now staring at her as if she had two heads.
“I’m not married so much as not quite divorced.” She took another sip of the wine Vicki had brought. It was a nice vintage, more than Rose could afford. The business she’d launched eighteen months ago wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Paying her bills was a challenge and left no room in the budget for an expensive bottle of cabernet.
“So you’ve been married for ten years.”
“Not technically,” Rose objected.
“Yeah, technically,” Vicki countered. “Because if you’re not divorced, you’re still married. And you just said that happened almost ten years ago.”
“It ended after a nanosecond, so not really married that long.”
“Might not feel that way but legally you’ve been his wife all these years.” Vicki sighed and held up a hand. She was sitting at the other end of the couch and tucked her legs up beside her, settling in for a marathon heart-to-heart. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
Rose blew out a long breath as the highs and lows of that emotional time tumbled through her mind. “It was the summer before I started college. I got a clerical job at Hart Industries. Lincoln Hart had just finished his master’s degree in business and was taking his place in the company his father started.” Although now she knew Hastings Hart wasn’t his biological father.
“So... What? He hit on you? Used his position of power to sexually harass you?”
“Why would you think such a thing?”
“Because I’m a lawyer,” Vicki said.
“A very cynical one.” Rose shook her head. “He was a perfect gentleman. The truth is we fell madly in love and got married.”
“And you never saw fit to say a word about it when we met at school? I thought we shared all of our secrets.” There was just a tinge of hurt in her friend’s brown eyes. Vicki wrapped a long strand of silky blond hair around her finger and stared accusingly. “But you kept the secret that you were Rose Hart.”
The name had a nice ring to it, but she’d never even had a chance to change the last name on her driver’s license. “Linc abruptly ended things and said he would handle the divorce details and a lawyer would contact me if he needed anything from me. No one did, so I thought it was done.”
“And you didn’t wonder why you never heard anything about signing the settlement papers?”
“What did I know about a divorce?” And if she was being honest, there’d been a lot of denial going on. And she’d been so hurt. The pain of not being with him was almost more than she could bear. So many awful feelings. The shock of being dumped without an explanation. Overwhelming bewilderment. Now she knew what happened but still didn’t understand why he had to leave her. She would have done anything for Lincoln Hart—or whatever his name was. “I was practically a baby.”
“You weren’t too young to get married.”
“He swept me off my feet. I couldn’t say no to him. And he—”
“What?” Vicki’s eyes narrowed. “Did he do something?”
“Not what you’re probably thinking. He was incredibly sweet and understanding.” Not to mention sexy and handsome and completely irresistible. Unfortunately the “sexy and handsome” part hadn’t changed. But he was totally resistible to her now. “I was a virgin.”
Vicki nearly choked on her wine. “How is that possible?”
“You make me sound like a weirdo. I was only eighteen.”
“And crazy in love,” Vicki reminded her. “You just told me that you couldn’t say no.”
“To marriage,” she amended. “My mom drilled into me that a man has no need to buy the cow when he gets the milk for free. And if you give it away, he’ll just mosey on down the road to another cow. That’s what happened to her. Unfortunately when my father moseyed, she was stuck with a baby.” Rose pointed to herself. “Yours truly.”
“Ah.”
“She was determined that the same thing wouldn’t happen to me and never let up with the warning not to sleep with a man until I had a ring on my finger. I thought I got really lucky that the man of my dreams was determined to marry me. Of course I couldn’t say no.”
“So he married you to...” Vicki tapped her lips. “Pop your cherry?”
“That’s what I believed for ten years.” Rose recalled every word of what he’d said before walking out of her life. She remembered him telling her that he couldn’t be with her because he wasn’t in her league. She’d thought that was about him having more money than God and her not fitting into his world. Now she knew he’d been talking about himself because his father wasn’t who he’d thought. “He had a crisis of identity.”
Vicki rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can see how that could happen. Must be tough figuring out which billions belong to you or your brothers when you’re a Hart.”
That’s just it. At the time he’d recently learned he wasn’t biologically a part of the family. But she didn’t feel comfortable revealing that.
“Things aren’t always what they seem.” Rose knew that statement was cryptic, but it wasn’t her secret to share, not even with the friend who was like a sister to her.
“A case could be made,” Vicki said pointedly, “that he proposed because he was after one thing. Correct me if I’m wrong, but he got what he wanted, then said adios.”
“You’re not wrong.” But there was more to it.
“And you’re not divorced? Seems to me someone from the legal department at Hart Industries should be canned over this.”
“You’d think.” Rose shrugged. “It’s probably not a stretch to say that my vow of chastity could have impacted the haste of his proposal. But, I am my mother’s daughter.” Although she’d made up her mind to be different from Janie Tucker and not play the victim card for the rest of her life.
“So, how was it?” Vicki sipped the last of the wine in her glass. “Seeing him again, I mean?”
“It was surreal. He hasn’t changed, other than being ten years older. But it looks good on him.” And she hated that. If he was fat, bald and irritating the trauma of having her heart ripped out and handed back would have been worth it. But her luck wasn’t that good.
His eyes were still a mesmerizing shade of dark blue. He was tall, lean and broad-shouldered. Walking, talking animal magnetism that was so powerful she could hardly remember what she’d said to him. “And, darn him, like all men he just looks better. Call me shallow, but this would be so much easier if he looked like a troll.”
“Very annoying of him.” Vicki shifted her position on the couch. “Were there still sparks between you?”
Not unless anger counted. Or maybe it never went away. It had been hard, but ten years ago she pulled herself together and patched the hole Linc left in her life. There was a good possibility that anger had filled up that empty space. “Nope. No sparks.”
“So, he came to personally inform you that your divorce never happened.” Her friend tilted her head. “That means your tenth wedding anniversary is coming up soon.”
“Since we haven’t lived together, I don’t think there will be an exchange of gifts.” Sarcasm was good, Rose thought. It was a sign that she was rebounding.
“I wonder what you give for ten years of marriage.”
“A divorce, hopefully.” Yay her. A pithy comeback. She was on a roll.
Vicki shook her head, still trying to take in the situation. “How could you never tell me about all this?”
“Haven’t you ever done something that is so completely mortifying and humiliating that you didn’t want anyone to know about it ever?”
“Of course.” Her friend grinned. “But nothing this spectacular. And you know all of my mortifying and humiliating escapades. Yet you kept this to yourself.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, no. Don’t give me those big, blue Kewpie-doll eyes. You’re only sorry you got caught. I want to know why I didn’t hear about this until crisis time.”
“At first I just wanted to forget. Start college and put it behind me.” She’d thought not talking about it would make the pain go away but she’d been wrong. Time had been the cure. “You and I met, and clicked, but I didn’t really know you that well. Then the longer I didn’t say anything, the more I didn’t know how to bring it up. Besides, I thought I was quietly divorced and no one ever had to know.”
If no one knew, it wouldn’t hurt as bad, right?
“Speaking of that... It’s probably a good thing that you found out. Otherwise, when you and Chandler went to get a marriage license, that could have been a shock,” Vicki commented.
“That’s what Linc said.”
“Good. He knows you haven’t been pining for him.”
If she’d never seen him again Rose would accept that as true. But the rush of emotions when she’d answered her door and instantly recognized him stirred memories of that brief, shining moment when she’d had everything she ever wanted. Had there been pining going on and she wasn’t aware of it?
Vicki set her empty glass on the coffee table. “How did Chandler take this ‘being married and not divorced’ thing?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“You haven’t told him yet?” Her friend looked more shocked about that than any revelation so far.
“No.”
“Keeping important details to yourself is starting to form a disturbing pattern. Why haven’t you told him?”
“It just happened a few hours ago,” Rose protested.
“You called me. It’s not a stretch that you could have clued Chandler in on this.”
“I needed to wrap my head around it before dumping this kind of news on him. And—” Rose loved her friend, but this rational side could be annoying. Mostly because Vicki was right. “The situation got even more complicated.”
“I don’t see how.”
“Linc offered me a job decorating his condo. A very high-profile project that will generate a lot of attention and publicity.”
“There’s more, right?” her friend asked suspiciously.
“If it goes well, there’s a chance I could get more work in the area. These guys—the Holdens—are building a hotel and resort, all of which will need decorating. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Obviously you didn’t say no.”
“You’re a lawyer. If someone offered you a case that was the equivalent of this, would you walk away from it? No matter who was doing the asking?”
“I see your point,” Vicki reluctantly agreed.
“This could be really lucrative. A career maker.” She filled in even more details about the development and the area with luxury homes cropping up. “We both know if I don’t get a break Tucker Designs is finished.”
“Maybe not—”
Rose’s look stopped the words. “I’m going down, Vee. You’re my attorney. You’ve seen my financials. I don’t even want to think about that loan from the small business association. And then there’s my mom. She raised me completely by herself and worked so hard all her life to take care of me. Waitressing isn’t easy and I’d like her to be able to cut back. Enjoy herself more. You know?”
“Yes, but—” Vicki stopped and shook her head.
“How do you think Chandler would take it?” Rose asked.
“Let me think about this.” Vicki hummed the Jeopardy theme. “You tell the man you’re all but engaged to that you’re going to Montana with the man you married ten years ago and aren’t quite divorced from to do a job in order to save your business.”
Rose nodded. “Yes.”
“I think any man’s head would explode given that scenario.”
“That’s what I figured, too.” This was what Rose really wanted to talk to her friend about. She’d revealed her history with Linc because it had a direct bearing on her decision. As Linc would say—context. “What do you think I should do?”
It didn’t take Vicki very long to come up with an answer. “Tell Chandler and don’t take the job.”
Rose nearly choked on her wine. That’s not what she’d expected. “What? I thought you understood.”
“I do. But I also saw your face when you talked about Lincoln Hart.” There was sympathy in her friend’s expression. “I’ve known you for a long time and you’ve never looked like that before. Tell me I’m nuts but whether you’re willing to admit it or not, you have feelings for the man.”
“Of course I do. All of them bad.”
“Take it from me. Accepting that job will dredge up more feelings and all the crap comes up, too. Just leave it alone. You’re doing fine. Don’t give him a chance to hurt you again.”
“He can’t.”
“Okay.” Vicki’s tone was full of “if you say so but I think you’re wrong.” “For what it’s worth, my advice is to talk this over with Chandler. I’m sure he’ll tell you the same thing. Do not take this job.”
“Wow, don’t hold back. Tell me how you really feel.”
“I always do.” Her friend smiled. “And just so you know, I want to look over those divorce papers before you sign anything. This time things will run smoothly or you’ll know why.”
“Thank you, Vicki.”
“So you’re not mad at me?”
“Why would I be?” Rose protested.
“For telling you what I thought. I know you didn’t want to hear that.”
“I count on you.”
“So we’re okay?” her friend asked.
“Absolutely.”
That was completely true and Rose valued this woman’s opinion more than she could say. But she was going to break the unbreakable rule about automatically taking your best friend’s advice. Rose just hoped there wouldn’t be an “I told you so” in her future.
Chapter Two (#u47d1e089-baa1-55be-9aa5-91ac3764f12a)
“So you’re really moving to Blackwater Lake, Montana?”
Linc was standing by the side table in his office, where there was a bottle of exceptional single malt Scotch, and glanced over his shoulder. It was precisely six thirty and Mason Archer, his attorney, stood in the doorway. Right on time.
“Would you like a drink?” Linc asked.
“Yes.” The other man walked closer, passing the desk piled with papers, and went directly to the conversation area with its leather furniture and sleek glass-and-chrome coffee table.
After handing Mason the tumbler of Scotch, Linc said, “You know my sister, Ellie, lives there, right?”
“I do.”
Linc grinned because there was no missing his friend’s clipped tone. “Don’t take her rejection personally.”
“How do you take it when a woman says there’s nothing that could compel her to have dinner with you?”
“That was a bad time. She’d been burned and swore off men,” Linc said. Mason had worked for Hart Industries while Ellie was still there. The man once had a thing for her but that was before she met her husband. However, bringing it up never failed to get a rise out of his friend. Linc liked to get a rise out of him because it almost never happened. “Trust me, it wasn’t personal.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it? You’re a lawyer who makes arguments for a living. It’s like air to you.”
“Knowing when not to argue is just as important. Ellie is happily married and has a child. I’m glad for her.”
“So you’re over her,” Linc persisted.
“There was never anything to get over.”
“If you say so.”
Mason sighed before taking a sip of his drink. “There are many, many other clients I could work for.”
“You’d lose a lot of money if you left me,” Linc reminded him.
“The peace and quiet would be worth it.” Tough words but the other man was smiling.
“You’re going to miss me when I’m in Montana.”
“Tell me again why it is that you’re going,” his friend said.
“I’m buying in to my brother-in-law’s construction company. It needs an infusion of capital to expand in Blackwater Lake. The town is one of the fastest growing places in the country and there’s a lot of opportunity.”
The one at the top of his list was getting out of the Hart family shadow. He’d insisted on being treated as an employee of the company and not an heir apparent, like his half brothers. In the last ten years he’d worked his ass off, partly to prove himself to them and partly to stay too busy to think about how his personal life had imploded. The other day he’d seen the anger and resentment in Rose’s eyes but that was better than having her grow to despise him because he wasn’t a Hart.
He didn’t tell her because she would have said she fell in love with the man and not his last name. But the truth was it would have been like marrying the prince who would be king, then finding out he’d been switched at birth for the peasant who owned a pigsty. Walking away saved her from having to deal with that. It was the right thing to do but that didn’t get him off the restitution hook for how he’d treated her.
The upside of keeping too busy to brood over lost love was making a lot of money. And he was going to take that money to Blackwater Lake and build more success on his own terms.
Linc remembered telling Rose that it was about to be on the “rich and famous” radar. A place for her to build success too but he had yet to hear from her. It was amazing how much that bugged him. And it’s not like he hadn’t known there was a better-than-even chance she would tell him to stick his offer where the sun didn’t shine.
“Opportunity in rural Montana?” Mason drained the rest of the Scotch in his glass. “There’s nowhere to go but up when you’re in the sticks.”
“It has an airport now.” A thought popped into Linc’s mind. “You should think about opening a law office there.”
“I’m not licensed to practice in Montana.”
“You could be. It’s probably not a big deal to make that happen.” Linc sat on the leather love seat. “There’s no competition right now. Could be a good move for you, my friend.”
“Not so bad for you, either.” The attorney’s tone was wry.
This man was an outstanding lawyer. Principled, meticulous, conscientious and smart. They’d met while working for Hart Industries, then Mason had opened his own law firm. When Linc’s personal attorney passed away Mason was the guy he wanted. “I’ll admit having legal counsel close by would be convenient, but your success and happiness are a concern.”
Mason laughed. That was worth mentioning because it didn’t happen often. He was far too serious. Linc figured a woman would find him good-looking and wondered what Rose would think. For a split second there was a white-hot flash of jealousy. Not unlike the feeling he’d experienced when she’d mentioned dating someone and that it was getting serious. Again he had a flicker of annoyance at her not getting back to him about the job offer.
“Seriously?” The other man set his empty glass on the silver tray beside the Scotch bottle. “My happiness?”
“Blackwater Lake is a great place. Nice people. Beautiful scenery. Lots to do all year round with the lake and the mountains. You could have a hand in shaping its growth in a positive way. And do something good for yourself at the same time.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you once call it Black Hole, Montana?”
“That was a different time.”
Linc remembered it well. Ellie had called him, upset because she was pregnant and things were not going well between her and the baby’s father, Alex McKnight. The man had eventually won over Linc as well as Sam and Cal. He married Ellie and they had a daughter, Leah, who was two. Moving to the small town in Montana was the best thing ever, she often said to him. Now he was going to see whether or not she was right.
“So, Mason, before we grab dinner, you’re probably wondering how the meeting went.”
“I’m assuming you’re talking about the one with your wife,” the attorney clarified.
That took Linc by surprise. The wife part. It had been ten years and as Rose had pointed out, they were married for fifteen minutes. Not nearly long enough to think about her being his wife. Regret about that coiled inside him. And in the decade that had passed no woman had gotten close to him again. Ellie had said more than once that he used women like cocktail napkins and threw them away because he’d never fallen in love. The truth was exactly the opposite. Because he’d loved so deeply and had to let her go he wouldn’t ever risk it a second time.
“Linc?”
“Yeah. Right. How did it go with Rose.” He shook his head to clear it and thought for a moment. “Better than I expected.”
Mason waited, then finally said, “Care to give me the highlights?”
“She didn’t throw anything.”
“You were at her place.” It wasn’t a question.
Since Linc hadn’t given him the when and where, he asked, “How did you know?”
“She didn’t want to break any of her stuff.”
“Ah.” He hadn’t thought of that when picking the venue for his bombshell. His only thought had been that the last thing she’d ever said to him was that she never wanted to see him again. There wouldn’t have been a meeting if he’d tried to set one up. Surprise had been the only option. And it worked, sort of. He’d expected to feel nothing and got a surprise of his own at the flood of emotion, the explosion of memories that was like being pelted with hail.
“And after she didn’t throw anything?” Mason prompted. “What did she say?”
“She didn’t believe it.” Linc had revealed everything to his attorney, including the fact that Hastings Hart was not his biological father. “I explained what happened and convinced her it was true. Of course she wanted to know how the divorce screwup happened.”
“You get what you pay for.” There was an ironic tone in the other man’s voice.
“I already told you that was before your time. Rose seemed...sympathetic after I told her about what happened.”
Sympathy was so much more palatable than pity. And he would never be sure whether or not his standing in a financial dynasty mattered to her because he’d taken that choice out of her hands. It was impossible to know for sure if she fell in love with him, or the him that was part of the Hart family fiscal package. But in the last ten years he’d learned women were attracted to money even when it came from a bastard.
“What did she say?”
Linc met the other man’s gaze. “That I should have told her what was going on.”
“You have no idea how hard it is for me not to say ‘duh.’”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you just did.” Linc sighed. “No one is disputing the fact that I’m an ass.”
“It’s not too late to change.”
“Sometimes it is.”
“You’re ten years older and wiser,” Mason reminded him.
“True. But age and wisdom can’t undo what I did to her. Only reparation can do that.”
“It’s true that I haven’t worked for you long, but I’m sensing something.” Mason’s attorney expression returned. “Did she mention retaining legal counsel?”
“No.”
“She should,” Mason pointed out. “To protect her rights.”
“I have no intention of treating her unfairly in the divorce settlement.”
The other man’s eyes narrowed. “Then what did you do?”
“I offered her a job.”
“Doing what?”
Linc hadn’t shared his research on Rose. “She has an interior-design business and it’s not doing well. She needs some help.”
“So, you’re giving her money?” There was no approval or judgment in the other man’s voice, he was just seeking clarification of facts.
“No. I want to hire her to decorate my place in Blackwater Lake. With the possibility of future high-profile projects to strengthen her résumé and get more work.”
Mason thought that over, then nodded approvingly. “Smart move. Keep her happy to avoid an ugly and public divorce. In the long run a goodwill gesture could be less expensive than a lawsuit for retroactive alimony. Alienation of affection.”
“This has nothing to do with dodging back–spousal support. She’s entitled to a generous settlement.” Pain and suffering came to mind and Linc winced. He hated that he was the one who’d hurt her. “But you should know that she hasn’t agreed to my offer yet.”
It had been long enough and Linc was beginning to wonder if Rose planned to ignore his proposition. He wasn’t sure what constituted a decent length of time to allow her for consideration, but time was almost up. He’d give her another twenty-four hours, but if there was no word, he planned to make good on his promise to contact her.
“You’re a good man, Linc.”
“Don’t tell anyone. No one would believe you but it could be bad for my business reputation if that rumor got out.”
“There’s this handy thing called attorney-client privilege and it means I’m not allowed to reveal your confidential information.”
Even if Mason swore on a bible, Linc was pretty sure Rose wouldn’t believe him. Leaving her had ripped out his heart and if she hurt even half that bad it made what he’d done unforgivable. So, the longer it took for her to get back to him, the more determined he became to hire her. If necessary he would sweeten the deal. Somehow...
His cell phone rang and he picked it up, checking the caller ID. What a coincidence. Before it sounded again, he answered. “Rose.”
“Hello, Linc. I’ve been thinking about what you said.”
Her voice was businesslike with just a hint of sultriness in the slight lisp. It took a lot of self-control to hold off on a hard sell. “And?”
“I’d like to discuss it in more detail.”
“Okay. I’ll meet you for dinner. In say...” He looked at the watch on his wrist. “An hour?”
“Tonight?” She sounded surprised.
“Yes. I’m free.” He met Mason’s gaze and shrugged.
“Tomorrow at my studio would be fine,” she said.
Did she have a date? With the guy she was “almost engaged” to? A knot tightened in his gut. “Do you have plans?”
“No, but—”
“Then I’ll pick you up in about an hour,” he said. “What do you say?”
There was hesitation on the other end of the line that was just about to turn awkward. Then she said, “I’ll meet you at the diner. There’s only one in Prosper so you can’t miss it.”
“Okay. See you then.”
After he ended the call Mason cleared his throat. “So, I get bumped for dinner with your wife. Should my feelings be hurt?”
“Come on, Mason. We both know lawyers don’t have feelings.” He grinned at the other man. “You said yourself this was a smart move. I have to close the deal on my goodwill gesture.”
And if this was a little more than goodwill that would just be a secret not even his attorney knew.
* * *
Rose didn’t know what to make of the fact that Linc was able and, dare she say it, eager to have this meeting on such short notice. She hesitated to say he dropped everything but it kind of felt that way.
She’d intended to be at the diner first but got a call about a potential job and had to take it. She wanted to be the one watching him make the long walk past the counter and swivel stools to the booths and tables at the far end. In a perfect world they would both have arrived at the same time, but why should her world start being perfect now? A world where she was in control and not nervous about what the man who’d walked out on her was up to.
Now she was late and moving toward a table in the back, where he was sitting and staring at her.
If only she knew what he was thinking. On the upside... She was ten years older and less likely to give a rat’s behind what Lincoln Hart was thinking. It had taken her a long time to get to a place where she didn’t care and no matter what Vicki thought, she really didn’t.
She slid into the red-padded booth seat and met his gaze across the gray Formica table. “Sorry I’m late.”
“No problem.” There was a nearly empty coffee mug in front of him. Apparently he’d been here long enough to drink it.
Rose waited to feel guilty about keeping him waiting, but couldn’t quite manage. “I had to take a work call.”
“Of course,” he said reasonably. “I hope it wasn’t a crisis situation.”
As opposed to sitting across from the man who once broke her heart and trying to pretend that same heart wasn’t pounding so hard it might give out?
She shook her head. “No crisis.”
“Good.”
Again she cursed the unfairness of him looking even better than he had ten years ago. She didn’t remember his eyes being such a dark shade of blue or that his shoulders were quite so wide. Could be the white dress shirt he was wearing, with the long sleeves rolled up to midforearm. It was a look she’d once loved on him and that thought didn’t do much to slow her pulse.
“So I’m glad you called,” he said.
“Hmm?” She blinked, suddenly realizing she’d been staring at his chest while her mind skipped down memory lane, very close to the point where she wondered how he looked without a shirt now. “Right. My call. Thanks for meeting me.”
“You wanted to discuss the job offer.”
“Yes.”
Before she could say more, the waitress came over to take their orders. Rose had been hungry until seeing Linc put knots in her stomach the size of a Toyota. But she figured a half-sandwich-and-salad combo would work. He asked for a burger and fries so obviously his appetite was totally unaffected by seeing her. That was irritating.
When they were alone again she asked, “Where is this condo again? The one you need decorated?”
“Blackwater Lake, Montana. It’s a picturesque town that’s being compared to Vail and Aspen in Colorado.”
“And what are we talking about? Paint? Furniture? A theme?”
He nodded. “Everything. Flooring, fixtures, carpet. Right now it’s just a shell and the builder left it that way at my request.”
“It’s my understanding that you can’t get a mortgage unless the flooring is installed.”
“I don’t have a mortgage.”
Of course he didn’t. His family had buckets of money. Whether or not he was a Hart by blood, clearly Linc was one of their own. Rose refused to wonder what it would have been like to be married to him and not have to worry about the money to pay her rent. It would be dishonest to say she hadn’t been dazzled by the glitz and glamour of the Hart name and all it represented, but that’s not why she’d fallen in love with him.
“So you’re talking about cupboards, sinks and everything?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re not living there yet.”
“No,” he replied.
Rose waited for him to fill in the blank of where he did stay but that didn’t happen. “Are there accommodations in this picturesque place?”
“I’ll handle that and pay all of your expenses.”
There was a question she just had to ask because it would be stupid not to. “What’s in this for you, Linc?”
His easygoing expression didn’t waver. “I get a beautifully decorated condo. What else would there be?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. You led me on once and even married me to get what you wanted, so I’d just like to know if I should be worried.”
“I can’t stop you. But I give you my word that I only want to take advantage of your decorating expertise to make my place a serene and comfortable space to live in.”
“So this time you’re not planning to get me into bed and have your way with me under false pretenses?”
His gaze narrowed, a sign that the barb drew a little blood. “There were no false pretenses the first time.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“There’s nothing I can say to change that.” His mouth pulled tight for a moment. “But let me add this—I researched your company and it’s in trouble. Decorating my place is more than a job. It’s an opportunity for the kind of publicity that you can’t afford. I feel badly about what happened and this is my way of making it up to you.”
So it was pity.
The words made her feel both better and worse. There was some satisfaction in calling him on the crap he’d pulled but he really had all the power. Her business needed help and no one else was offering. “Okay, then. I’ll put together a contract with a rough estimate of my time and a price. You can decide if it’s acceptable.”
“It will be.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“I don’t have to.” He took a sip of coffee and met her gaze over the rim of the mug.
She knew he was a successful executive and didn’t achieve his level of affluence by making bad deals. “What if the charges are inflated?”
“I have trust.”
“That makes one of us because I don’t trust you.”
“You’ve made that really clear. And I completely understand.” Again with the irritating reasonableness. “I’m happy to pay whatever you want to charge for your services.”
“You do realize I’m not a hooker.”
Even though it had been a quickie marriage in Vegas that’s the way he’d made her feel ten years ago. Her words produced barely a flicker of an eyelash but she knew they’d hit their target again. Well, too darn bad. And the exhilaration she felt right now was proof that she’d deliberately provoked him. Not smart to cut off her nose to spite her face but she just couldn’t help it. That’s not something she would have said to any other client and she had better try to rein in the sarcasm because there was no telling how far he could be pushed. “I’ll rephrase,” he said. “Whatever your interior-designer fee is I will pay it, along with travel and living expenses while we are in Blackwater Lake.”
“You’re going, too? It can all be done in email—”
“I have business there anyway.”
Of course she’d suspected he probably would be going but when he put the words out there the reality of it all really sank in. If she was going to back out it would have to be now.
Control was an illusion because she really had little choice. No way her business was going down without a fight. She met his gaze. “Agreed.”
“Excellent.” He looked decidedly pleased and that was irksome.
Which was why she added, “I’m glad you decided to have this meeting in person. I felt it necessary to emphasize how much I don’t trust you and wanted to see your reaction to my terms.”
“And?”
“You fooled me once, but this time I’m in the driver’s seat.” Although it was kind of a pathetic seat since she had very little bargaining room.
The waitress returned with a tray bearing food and she set plates in front of them. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Ketchup,” she and Linc said together.
“You know each other pretty well.” The woman smiled and pointed to the condiments next to the napkin dispenser. “It’s already on the table.”
Linc met her gaze when they were alone. “So, you haven’t forgotten that I like ketchup with fries.”
“If memory serves it was practically a religious experience,” she said.
“Yeah. Nice to know some things don’t change.”
And some do when the man you’d loved with every fiber of your being treated you like a mistake. Anger flared again but she willed it away. Losing control with Lincoln Hart was not an option. “Where does the divorce stand?”
“My attorney is working on it.”
“Are you paying full price this time?” Darn. The sarcasm just popped out of her mouth. Apparently he didn’t bring out the best in her.
But Linc smiled. “With what I’m paying Mason he could put a child through college and multiple postgraduate degrees as well as buy several vacation homes and probably a boat.”
“Does Mason have a child?”
“He’s not married. And before you remind me that vows aren’t necessary to produce a child, I’ll just say no. He doesn’t have any kids.”
“So one can assume that the dissolution of our marriage is progressing at an appropriately acceptable pace?”
“It is.” He took a bite of his hamburger and chewed. After swallowing he said, “Is there some reason you want to accelerate the process?”
“Nothing has changed since we last spoke.” She pushed lettuce around her plate without eating any. “I just don’t like loose ends.”
He set down his burger and wiped his hands on a napkin before pulling a business card from his wallet. He set it on the table and slid it over to her. “This is my lawyer’s contact information. Feel free to get in touch with him anytime and ask anything you want. Or have your attorney get in touch with him.”
“Okay.” She picked up the card and put it in her purse and made a mental note to pass it along to Vicki. “As long as everything goes smoothly I’ll be happy.”
“How do you define a not-smooth divorce?”
“You disappearing without explanation would put a speed bump in the divorce road.” This saying the first thing that popped into her head was becoming a bad habit that only seemed to happen with Linc.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be around until the papers come.”
That would be an improvement over last time, but doing better than he had ten years ago wasn’t setting a very high bar.
In the meantime she had a job. That was the good news. Unfortunately she would be working for the man she was just a little bit married to. Did that make her nervous?
Did beavers build dams?
Chapter Three (#u47d1e089-baa1-55be-9aa5-91ac3764f12a)
“So your dad wasn’t using the private plane today?”
Linc stared at Rose, sitting across from him in the cushy leather airplane seat. They’d taken off and reached cruising altitude, and there was a steady hum in the pressurized cabin of the Gulfstream jet. They were on their way to Blackwater Lake and hiring a jet for transportation was the most efficient way to get there. Comfort didn’t hurt, either. And there might be a little bit of trying to impress her going on.
“If you’re talking about Hastings Hart, he’s not my father. This aircraft doesn’t belong to his company. And you should let it go. I have.”
“Really? It doesn’t feel that way to me.” She tapped a finger against her lips. “Is the jet yours?”
“Not yet.” It would be soon. But her comment had him curious. “In what way do you think I haven’t let the paternity thing go?”
“You’re awfully defensive. You were a grown man when you found out the truth and never suspected before that, which means you were loved and there’s a bond. That doesn’t just go away.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Right. My bad.”
Hell, how could she understand? He didn’t, and it had happened to him. But his defensive response only served to sharpen the wary look in her eyes that never disappeared. It was as if any second she expected him to jump out of the plane and skydive so he could be anywhere but here.
It was on the tip of his tongue to say he’d left for her and she didn’t understand, but that retort didn’t work a moment ago and wouldn’t now. “I don’t remember you being this annoying.”
“Probably because I wasn’t,” she said cheerfully. “We were firmly in the adoration stage of the relationship. And your abrupt departure didn’t give me a chance to trot out the real me.”
“Well, this is going to be fun. A guilt trip from Texas to Montana.” They’d settled on her giving him four weeks to get the job going, then periodic trips back when necessary. So, for the next month he was going to let her say whatever she wanted to get off her chest. Redemption wasn’t going to come without a price, he reminded himself.
“Suck it up, Linc. My attitude has been ten years in the making.”
It was going to be a long flight if he didn’t get her off this. And he had just the thing to ask. “What does your boyfriend think about you flying off with your husband for a job?”
Her smug expression slipped and she had no stinging comeback, which was a big clue that there was a ripple in the relationship pond.
“Rose?”
“What?”
“Did you tell—” He stopped. If she’d told him the guy’s name he couldn’t remember?
“Chandler,” she said.
“You did tell Chandler about this job in Montana, right?”
She looked out the airplane window and shifted in her seat before meeting his gaze. “Yes, but before you ask, I didn’t tell him about our past.”
“Practically engaged and keeping secrets already? Tsk.”
“Don’t judge. You don’t know me.”
He’d known her once and she was an open book. Sweet and innocent. Generous and loving. There’d been no cynicism in her then and the fact that she had it now was another black mark on his soul. Another sin to lay at his feet.
However, he couldn’t deny that the idea of trouble in paradise was damned appealing. “Should I read anything into the fact that you kept the details of our venture to yourself?”
“You can jump to any conclusions you want. I can’t stop you and you’re quite good at it.” Her look challenged him to deny the statement.
Okay. Battle lines drawn. She was on the offensive so that’s where he’d go, too. “What exactly did you tell him? You must have said something. He’s bound to notice that you’re not around. I certainly would if you and I were involved.”
Every day for the last ten years he’d noticed that she wasn’t there.
“I told him that I was going to be very busy.”
He couldn’t tell whether it was guilt or defiance in her tone. A little more pushing couldn’t hurt because he’d already damaged her and he had little left to lose. “Too busy to see him?”
“Yes.”
“And he’s okay with that?”
“I’m so lucky. Chandler is a sweet, understanding man. He’s supportive of my career.”
“A real saint.”
He knew couples made compromises. His mother and Hastings compromised the truth about Linc for their relationship. But unquestioningly letting the woman you loved fly to Montana with another man, even one she was divorcing, seemed wrong to him.
Come to think of it there was something else he wanted to know. “Is Chandler aware that you’re a married woman?”
“Oh, please. I’m not—”
“Don’t deny it. We’ve already gone over this. There’s no divorce, so technically we are still married.” He folded his arms over his chest and couldn’t quite keep the “gotcha” out of his voice. “You didn’t tell him.”
“I don’t remember you being this annoying, either.” She stared at him and must have realized he wasn’t backing down because there was a lot of resignation in her sigh. “No. I never told him about the marriage.”
Why? he wanted to ask. Was she afraid that would destroy their relationship? A man who truly loved her wouldn’t give a tinker’s damn about this. Linc remembered how it felt to love her. In the same situation, if she’d dropped this bombshell on him, he’d have hired the best divorce attorney on the planet to dissolve the union so he could marry her. Making her his was more important than anything. Correction: it would have been, if he was Chandler.
“On the upside,” he said cheerfully, “since he doesn’t know about the marriage it saves you the trouble of having to break the news that you’re not divorced.”
She huffed out a breath. “Not only are you annoying, you’re a smart-ass.”
“Is that any way to talk to the man who’s funneling work your way?”
“We both know you’re not the typical client. Other than my expertise on decorating you have an agenda. I haven’t figured out what it is yet but we both know there is one.”
“You’re even more creative than I knew.” He knew how smart she was and shouldn’t have been surprised she’d guessed. “I look forward to seeing what you come up with for my condo.”
“Do you take anything seriously?”
“Of course.”
“Like what?” she demanded.
“My business.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it. What about your family?” There was a gleam in her eyes now. “Come to think of it, I have no idea what you’ve been up to and you know an awful lot about me.”
“Because you’ve been very generous in sharing details.”
“My mistake,” she said. “Let’s even the playing field. Tell me about your personal relationship.”
“What makes you think I have one?”
She gave him an “oh, come on” look. “I guess a specific question would be better. And before you give me an evasive answer, consider that there’s still a lot of flight time left and I can be persistent.”
“Okay, I’ve been warned. What would you like to know?”
She gave him a thoughtful look for several moments. “Since you left me, have you been close to needing a marriage license?”
“Since you, marriage has not once entered my mind.”
He’d never let a woman that close because it wasn’t fair to lead anyone on. Marriage wasn’t a step he would ever take again.
“Hmm. That brings up more questions than it answers.” Rose tucked a long strand of shiny dark hair behind her ear as she studied him. “Is that because of what happened with your parents?”
“Hastings isn’t my father.”
“He still parented you with your mother. Is it that? Or was marriage to me so bad? Did I break you, Linc?”
Leaving her did, but that wasn’t her fault. It was the only way he could think of to protect her from the mess that was his life. Eventually he had put the pieces back together and if they didn’t quite fit, that wasn’t on her.
“You know better than anyone, Rose, that I’m a bad risk.”
“At least you’re taking responsibility.” There was a flash of what looked like sympathy on her face before she shut it down. “But ten years is a long time. I don’t quite know what to make of the fact that you’re alone.”
“Let’s just call it a public service.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he said, “Want a drink? The bar is stocked. Let’s go check out the galley and see what we can find.”
“Don’t think I didn’t see how you just tried to distract me from your love life. And I’ll admit it worked, but only because I’ve never been on a private plane before.”
“I’d never have guessed, what with your cool, sophisticated demeanor.”
“Don’t let that fool you. On the inside I’m giddy with curiosity and excitement.”
Until this moment Linc hadn’t realized how much he’d missed teasing her. And her honesty. He didn’t know any woman who wouldn’t have pretended that a lift on anything but a commercial flight happened every day. Her excitement at a new experience was charming and brought back memories of his eagerness to introduce her to all the pleasures life had to offer.
Including sex.
He’d given up the right to her body and the tempting curves in front of him now. Settling for drinks and hors d’oeuvres on a jet paled in comparison but that was all he could hope for. And the remainder of the flight passed quickly with a bottle of wine and snacks that had Rose moaning in ecstasy while he questioned how much pain he could handle on the road to redemption.
The Gulfstream landed at the recently opened Blackwater Lake Airport. A Mercedes SUV was waiting and he stowed their luggage while Rose let herself into the passenger seat. He got behind the wheel and drove into town, pointing out the highlights along the way.
“This is a very small place,” she commented, sounding less than thrilled.
“You’re observant. I always said that about you.”
“Oh—” She pointed out the window. “The Blackwater Lake Lodge. That’s the first hotel I’ve seen. It looks nice.”
He drove past and left the city limits. “Right now it’s the only hotel in town.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Then why didn’t you stop?”
“Because we’re not staying there.”
“Linc—” There was warning in her voice. “This is where we talk about how much I don’t like surprises. You promised that you’d handle accommodations.”
“And I have.”
“If you’re planning to pitch a tent and expect me to camp out, it would be best if you turned around and put me on the first plane back to Texas.”
“Where we’re going there are great views and a lot of square footage.”
“Wilderness doesn’t count. Somewhere in this town there must be a roof and indoor plumbing,” she warned.
“There is. Trust me.”
“I thought we were clear that I don’t trust you.”
He was going to do his damnedest to change her mind about that.
* * *
Rose was uneasy after Linc bypassed the Blackwater Lake Lodge and kept driving. Finally he turned right and pulled into a long driveway leading to a big house at the top of a rise. The sun was just going down behind the majestic mountains, but there was still enough light to see that the grounds were stunning. A carpet of perfectly manicured green grass was surrounded by flowers and shrubs.
He stopped the SUV by a brick walkway leading to gorgeous double front doors with oval glass insets. “I think this will fit your definition. There’s a roof and indoor plumbing. The rest of it isn’t bad, either.”
“This can’t be your place because you said it’s a condo and currently unlivable.” She left her seat belt buckled. “What’s going on? You said you’d handle expenses and accommodations but—”
“This is my sister’s place. She lives here with her husband and daughter.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re married and need a place to raise their child.” His tone was wry.
“No. Why aren’t we at a hotel?”
“As we established there’s only one in town and I couldn’t get a reservation. Late spring is nice here in the mountains and it’s becoming a popular tourist destination.”
Rose studied him. He was looking awfully darn pleased with himself, but it felt like he’d pulled one over on her and she didn’t like it a bit. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but—”
“And here’s my sister now.” He pointed to the open front door.
Rose saw a little girl run outside, followed immediately by a man and woman. Linc exited the car and came around to her side to open the door. His family didn’t look intimidating but what did she know? These people were related to him.
Rose got out and muttered under her breath, “You should have warned me about this.”
“If I did, would you have taken the job?”
That was a good question. Probably she would have but he hadn’t given her the chance to decide. Again.
“Linc!” His sister threw herself into his arms.
He grabbed her and lifted her off the ground in a big hug. “Hey, baby sister. You look good.”
“You, too.” Then she smiled at Rose. “Hi. I’m Ellie McKnight.”
“Rose Tucker.” She shook the woman’s hand as the two men greeted each other.
“This is her husband, Alex, and this munchkin is their daughter, Leah.”
“Nice to meet you.” Rose smiled at the little girl observing the hectic scene from the safety of her handsome father’s strong arms. “She’s beautiful.”
“Just like her mom,” Alex said proudly.
Ellie took the child and said, “Honey, why don’t you help Linc bring their bags inside.”
“Right.”
“Rose, welcome to our home.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality, but if it’s too much of an inconvenience I can find something—”
“Absolutely not. It’s been too long since I had a good visit with my brother. We’re happy to have you and I’m glad you agreed to stay with us.”
It would probably be rude to say she hadn’t agreed to anything because he hadn’t shared the trip details with her. So, she kept that to herself. Linc, however, was going to get an earful.
Ellie led her past the living and dining rooms into the huge kitchen–family room combination. There was a river-rock fireplace on one wall with a big flat-screen TV above. Leather sofas and cloth-covered chairs formed a conversation area in front of it and the thick, neutral-colored carpet was littered with pink toys and dolls. When her mom set her down, Leah plopped herself in the middle of it and started playing.
Moments later the men joined them and Alex informed his wife, “Bags are by the stairway. I wasn’t sure where you wanted everyone.”
“Thanks, honey. I think Linc and Rose might want to catch their breath.”
Rose doubted that would happen, at least for her. Since the moment Linc had showed up in her life again she felt as if she’d had the air knocked out of her. Then on the plane he’d confessed that after her he’d never again considered marriage. What did that mean? Had it been awful with her? Resentment pointed her in that direction, but when he’d said it there was a wistful, sad look on his face. And now he’d brought her to stay with his sister. This must be how Dorothy felt when the tornado dropped her in Oz. Rose was definitely not in Texas anymore.
“Can I get you something to drink? Are you hungry?” Ellie asked. “I’ve got some appetizers to put out and we’ll have dinner in a little while.”
“I hope you haven’t gone to any trouble,” Rose protested.
The other woman waved away her concern. “It’s cheese and crackers and Alex is going to grill. Very easy.”
Linc looked at her. “How about a glass of wine?”
“That would be nice. White?”
“Done,” Ellie said. “And Linc will want a beer.”
“I’ll take care of the drinks, sweetie,” her husband offered.
Rose stood beside Linc on the other side of the huge kitchen island and watched the attractive couple work together. A smile here, a touch there. A closeness and intimacy she’d never had the chance to form with Linc. Envy and regret mixed with her lingering anger at what he’d done to them.
When everyone had drinks Ellie held up her wineglass and said, “Let’s drink to me.”
Linc grinned and said, “Now why would we do that?”
“Because I talked you into moving to Blackwater Lake, which makes me pretty awesome. You’re going to thank me for this.”
Alex touched his longneck beer bottle to his wife’s glass. “I thought you were awesome even before your brother bought his condo. And I thank my lucky stars every day that you came into my life.”
Rose wanted to hold on to her envy and dislike of these two, but she was powerless. They were so cute, so friendly. She tapped her glass to theirs. “I think you’re awesome for wanting to put up with your brother as a full-time resident.”
There was a funny look on Linc’s face when he joined the toast. “To my favorite sister.”
“I’m your only sister.”
“I knew there was a reason you had to be my favorite because you’re a pain in the neck.”
“Takes one to know one,” Rose said, meeting his gaze as she took a sip of her wine.
“I like her,” Ellie said enthusiastically to the two men. “Linc told me you’re friends. How did you meet?”
“At work,” Linc said, jumping right in.
It took Rose a couple of beats to realize Ellie was clueless about their relationship, the fact that they were married and Linc had left her. Women had a way of picking up details, especially personal ones, so if his sister was clueless it was a good bet that the rest of his family was, too.
“Did you decorate Linc’s offices in Dallas?” Ellie persisted.
“No,” Linc answered for her again.
Rose didn’t miss the fact that he looked more than a little uncomfortable about the turn this conversation was taking. Apparently when he was handling accommodations he hadn’t factored in the part where his sister would be curious about them. It wasn’t often that someone got what was coming to them so quickly or that the wronged party was around to see. He was getting what he deserved and she was a witness, so karma would have to forgive her for gloating.
She was waiting for more questions, but Leah chose that moment to toddle over and grab her mother’s jeans-clad leg. She started to whine and, when picked up, pointed to the crackers-and-cheese plate on the island.
“Someone’s hungry,” Ellie said, quickly kissing the rosy-cheeked little girl before handing her to her father. “I don’t want her to fill up on snacks. Honey, if you could put her in the high chair and feed her that would help. It would be better if she eats before we do.”
“Gotcha, little bit,” he said, tickling his daughter to make her giggle.
“While you do that, I’ll show Linc and Rose to the guest wing so they can freshen up.”
The three of them grabbed the bags and took them upstairs, following Ellie to the end of the long hall.
“So, it’s a guest wing,” Linc said. “Aren’t you the grand one?”
“No. Just awesome.” Ellie grinned at him, then pointed out the two large bedrooms connected by a bathroom. “Rose, I’m putting you in the one with the window seat that faces the backyard and mountains. Dallas is flat and I thought you might enjoy a different view. Linc, you take the other one.” A piercing wail came from downstairs. “I’d better go help Alex. Hungry and tired is not an attractive combination on my daughter. See you two in a few.”
Alone in the hall Rose met Linc’s gaze. “So, your sister doesn’t know we were married.”
“No.”
“You kept me a secret—”
“No.” He took her arm and tugged her into his bedroom, then shut the door. “Not a secret.”
“When you withhold significant life details from your favorite sister it kind of falls under the heading of secret.”
“That was a complicated time.” He didn’t look happy.
Tough, she thought. “You were ashamed of me.”
“No.” His voice was sharp. “Not you. It was all me. My bad. Then I took a long break from everyone and everything. After that there was no point in saying anything.”
“So now we’re in Blackwater Lake and staying with your sister. Arrangements that you made and didn’t see fit to share with me.”
“Look, I know you’re miffed—”
“That’s way too nice a word for what I’m feeling,” she snapped. “But there’s a silver lining.”
“What’s that?” There was a wary look in his eyes.
“You didn’t think it through about how to explain me.”
He nodded grimly. “I thought you were enjoying that a little too much.”
“Actions have consequences—even after ten years. Especially if you keep secrets.”
“Look, Rose, I was a jerk.”
“Was?” She folded her arms over her chest.
“I apologized for it and I’m handling the divorce,” he continued, ignoring the dig. “I groveled.”
“Yes, you did.” She would give him that.
“Ellie and I are close. She’s the one who convinced me to come back after I left—”
“And you don’t want your favorite sister to know how big a jackass you are,” she mused.
“I’m not comfortable with the jackass part,” he said, “but essentially you’re right. I’d consider it a big favor if you would keep the details of our relationship just between us.”
Rose was loving this. Confident and unflappable Lincoln Hart was insecure and uneasy. “You know, this is a very unfortunate time for you to find out that what they say about reaping what you sow is true.”
“Could you be a little more specific?” Tension tightened his jaw.
“I don’t trust you,” she reminded him.
“So you’re going to rat me out to my sister?”
Rose shrugged, then walked through the connecting bathroom and closed the door behind her. This was too sweet. She was charging him an arm and a leg for this decorating job, which was pretty great all by itself. But now she had leverage and that was priceless.
Chapter Four (#u47d1e089-baa1-55be-9aa5-91ac3764f12a)
The morning after their arrival at his sister’s, Linc waited a decent length of time for a sign that Rose was finished in the bathroom they shared. He’d been a gentleman; ladies first. But the longer it went on the more certain he was that this was revenge.
He knocked lightly on the door. “Are you going to be finished in there sometime in the next millennium?”
“Come in,” she answered sweetly.
He did and there she was, putting on makeup and wearing nothing but a satiny pink robe that tied at her small waist and outlined her breasts. For several moments staring was his only option because he was pretty sure he’d swallowed his tongue. Her legs were smooth and tanned. He knew that because a lot of leg was showing due to the fact that the robe stopped way above her knees. Her feet were bare and the pink-polished toes did things to his insides that had never been done before.
Without looking away from the mirror Rose said, “One would think you’d never seen me put on makeup before and we both know you have.”
It was true. He had seen her do this ordinary thing that women do, but now this was so much more intense and he wasn’t sure why. Rather than directly address her comment he said, “I didn’t know you were such a bathroom hog.”
“You didn’t stick around long enough to find out anything about me. Lucky you. Maybe you dodged a bullet.”
He settled a shoulder against the doorjamb. “Putting a finer point on the situation, I didn’t dodge you. We’re still married.”
“Only on paper.”
Meaning there was no hanky-panky of the physical kind going on. But looking at her now, leaning forward to brush mascara on her long, thick lashes and watching the way her breasts strained against that pink satin material made him want to scoop her up, carry her to the bed and engage in hanky-panky for a week.
If he didn’t know how soft her skin was, how it smelled and tasted, the temptation might have been easy to ignore. But he did know. He’d never forgotten and more than once since leaving her he’d nearly caved, every time barely stopping himself from begging her to take him back.
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