by Alina Jacobs
“He’s not here for you,” Karen said snidely. “Get over yourself, Meghan. Hunter would never want anyone like you. I mean look at you. That dress is a size too small, and your hair is a mess. No wonder you couldn’t hack it in New York City. Hunter wants an equal,” Karen insisted. “He wants someone who will make him look good. Not a fried-food-addicted harpy.”
Walter put his hand back on Meg’s waist.
Karen was wrong. Meg looked fuckable and fucking hot in that dress. And she wasn’t wearing a bra. I could make out the outline of her nipple…
“Don’t worry about him, Meghan,” Walter practically purred, his thumb rubbing little circles right where her leg met her hip.
I’m the only man who puts his hand there. I forced myself not to stab him with a fork.
“I have a private room reserved just for us. Enjoy your meal,” Walter said to us before leading Meg away.
“Honestly,” Karen said, “the nerve of some people. As if you care what she and Walter are doing. You’re a big important billionaire, and she’s some washed-up thirtysomething making a fool of herself going after an older man.”
Karen was wrong, though. I did care a great deal about Meghan and Walter, which was why I had chosen this table. The door to the private dining room opened as the maître d’ came back out. Meg was seated on the left side of the table. I knew from experience that Walter preferred to see who was coming in the door before they saw him. It was a weird intimidation thing he liked to do. That meant Meg was seated on the side, which, whenever the door opened, gave me a full view of her. And she had a view of me. I caught a glimpse of her annoyed face before the door shut.
“And have you decided what you want to eat?” the server asked.
“I’m not that hungry; I just want a salad,” Karen said.
“We’re both doing the tasting menu with the wine,” I told the server, which was the same thing that Meg and Walter were ordering. It was five courses along with a wine pairing. Every time the door opened, Meg was more and more irritated. We were halfway through the tasting menu when the door opened again. Karen had stepped out to take a phone call. Meg stomped over to me.
“You did this on purpose.”
“Did what?” I sipped my wine and then regarded it casually.
“You’re trying to ruin my date. You’re sitting here leering at me.”
“I’m not leering at you,” I told her, leaning forward and dropping my voice to a whisper. “If I were leering at you, your panties would be dripping wet.”
“Fuck you.”
“Why not just have Walter switch places with you?” I asked casually as she spun on her heel.
She paused. I watched her struggle for an excuse.
“Don’t even bother,” I said. “I know exactly why. I bet you asked nicely if you could switch, and he said no in, let me guess, a dismissive manner then tried to placate you. There’s a reason why a man like that is still single.”
“Yeah,” Meg said to me. “And I think that applies to you too. Guess I have terrible taste in men.”
23
Meghan
Walter put his jacket around me. The air coming off the water was chilly.
“Thanks,” I said. “I should have brought a jacket. I didn’t know we were going to be on a boat.”
“A boat?” Walter said in mock indignation. “This, Meghan, is a yacht! One of the biggest ones at the marina right now, might I add. Besides,” he said, running a hand down the back of my neck, “it wouldn’t have been a surprise if I had told you, would it?”
I didn’t really know what to do—I was starting to wish I hadn’t come. I had thought we were just going to be at a restaurant. I hadn’t really thought further along than pissing off Hunter.
Now I was stuck on a giant yacht in the middle of the bay. The lights of Manhattan twinkled in the distance. There was no one around on the yacht. Surely a boat this big needed a huge crew, but Walter must have sent them away.
He popped a cork off a bottle of champagne and poured me a glass.
I hated to admit it, but part of my fantasies of escaping Harrogate had involved things like fancy yachts and private jets, but the man in the fantasies had always been blond…
Forget Hunter. He’s trying to get in your head.
Walter dropped a raspberry into the champagne flute and held it out to me. “It’s imported from France,” he murmured as I sipped the champagne and made appropriately appreciative noises. “People think any bubbly alcohol they buy at a gas station is called champagne, but it has to be from a specific region.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” I interrupted. “Due to not signing the Treaty of Versailles after World War One, which stated that no signing member was allowed to use the name champagne, American winemakers can actually call their product champagne,” I rattled off, “but only if they started using the term before 2006, when the United States signed a new trade agreement with the European Union.”
Walter was taken aback. He had that same shocked expression that all the men I ever went out with wore eventually. All except Hunter.
“Oh. I didn’t know that,” he said finally. Because, I mean, what else were you going to say?
“Yep,” I said, “it was a fun factoid in a legal article I peer-reviewed recently.”
“You peer-review law articles?” Walter frowned.
“Just in my spare time.”
“You mean in between running the entire city of Harrogate,” he said slowly.
“I mean, sure,” I said with an anxious laugh, “if you want to put it that way.”
“Well…” Walter said after a moment. He shook his head and recovered his bearings. “You’re definitely the most intelligent woman I’ve ever been on a date with. By a long shot.” He toasted me.
I needed to rein it in. I was speeding toward thirty-five. Walter might be my last shot, or I was going to have to go back to Jim or John or… blaarrggg!
The captain let out a huge horn blast and took a sharp turn, or as sharp as you could in a multimillion-dollar luxury yacht the size of a navy ship. I careened against Walter, who grabbed me.
“Apologies,” the captain’s voice said over the intercom. “There seems to be another boat drifting into our lane that we narrowly missed.”
A bright light panned out over the water onto the deck. I squinted as something large and shadowy slowly pulled alongside us. The light moved, and in the glare was—
“Hunter!” I screeched. “What the hell are you doing? You’re going to cause a wreck!”
The captain sounded the horn again as the other, much bigger yacht almost scraped the side of Walter’s boat. He cursed. “What the hell?”
“We’re just taking Hunter’s new boat out for a spin!” Karen called out to me.
Yes, she was still here.
“Really, Hunter?” I said as he stared at me smugly. “This is a low point, even for you, don’t you think?”
“I don’t see how!” he shot back.
“You think a boat is going to impress me?” I crossed my arms.
“He bought it to impress me!” Karen shrieked at me. “He’s even named it after me.” She pointed at the paint that was smearing on the side of the boat.
“Let me guess, Hunter,” I drawled, “you paid one of your little brothers in Pokémon cards to scrawl that on there in washable paint?”
Karen ran to the side to look over.
“An innocent mistake,” Hunter said smoothly.
“What’s not so innocent is how you just happen to be wherever I am whenever I’m on a date,” I yelled across the water.
“It’s fate,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“You’re stalking me!” I insisted.
He smirked at me. “Please. You’re happy I interrupted your date. I saved you. I always save you. You hate all the dates you’ve been on. None of them can compare to me.”
“I’ve called the coast guard,” Walter roared at Hunter.
“And don’t wo
rry, Meghan,” he assured me. “I’m calling the police too.”
“Er… no need. I have it under control.”
“I care about you,” Walter told me, “and Hunter is unhinged. Just like his father.” He glanced across the railing and the water that separated us from the other couple.
Wrong thing to say. Hunter’s jaw was tight. His nostrils flared slightly. “I am nothing like my father, and I am nothing like you! You stole my company, you neglected your children, and now you’re trying to manipulate Meg.”
“I assure you I have no ulterior motive,” Walter said sincerely.
“Don’t believe him!” Hunter warned.
“I can take care of myself,” I retorted.
“But you don’t have to when I’m around,” Walter said. He shot another triumphant glance at Hunter then wrapped his arms around me, leaning in… was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to?
Another bright light shone at us.
“This is the United States Coast Guard,” a bored voice said over a staticky loudspeaker. “Yes, we have the authority to pull your boat over, and let me remind you that attempting to bribe a member of the military is a federal offence and will result in jail time, not just a fine. You all need to move your boats. Ma’am?”
I peered down. The kid looked like he was barely twenty.
Do I really look that old?
“Ma’am, do you need a ride back to shore?” the baby-faced coast guard asked.
“She’s fine.”
“I’ll take her back,” Walter and Hunter said at the same time then glared at each other.
“Actually,” I said, setting down my champagne glass and checking to make sure I had my clutch, “I would like a ride.”
“And you just climbed down the ladder off the side of the boat like a raccoon?” Susie asked in horror.
“The wind blew up my skirt, and the kid got an eyeful,” I said ruefully. “Then I screamed and dropped my purse while I was trying to fix my skirt. That’s why I don’t have my keys.” I made a helpless gesture.
“I have the early-morning shift,” Susie said, finishing her coffee. “There’s microwave kettle corn in the cabinet and hot chocolate. You know where the shower is.”
“Thanks for letting me crash here.”
“Hey, my dog likes the company. Can you let her out for me before you go to bed?”
I saluted Susie then puttered around the kitchen, preparing a snack. Before I showered, I decided I should take the dog out. I poked the slightly overweight elderly German shepherd that Susie had had since forever. The dog smacked her mouth and yawned.
“Out, out!” I told her. “I’m not cleaning up after you.” I grabbed one of my friend’s jackets and clipped Laika in her harness and followed her as she padded outside. Susie lived in a small cabin adjacent to the old, abandoned farmstead. There was a graveyard on one end, and an overgrown field abutted the Svenssons’ property on the other.
“You better protect me,” I warned the dog as she eagerly led me into the abandoned property. “And no, do not take me to the cemetery; we’re going the other way.” It was the middle of the night and chilly. It was also a little creepy.
There were random flashes of light from around the property. I hadn’t been out here in ages, and I walked apprehensively behind the dog.
“Maybe we should go,” I whispered to her. Then I heard an angry male voice, and a child started screaming.
24
Hunter
“I’m sorry, you bought a whole entire boat?” Garrett said with a scowl as soon as I walked through the door of the estate house.
I sighed. “It was part of my plan.”
“What plan includes buying a whole entire yacht?” Garrett fumed.
“It wasn’t even a new yacht, Hunter,” Archer added.
“You bought a pre-owned yacht?” Mace made a face.
“It was from one of the Richmond brothers,” I said, shrugging off my suit jacket.
“The Richmond brothers?” Mace was appalled. “You need to have that whole thing sanitized before we take the kids out on it.”
“Absolutely not; we are not taking the kids on a boat ride.”
“Then why did you even buy it if no one can use it?” Garrett asked.
“I’m not going on a boat,” Blade said stubbornly. “The last time we were on a boat, Weston made Greg lose his watch, then we had to spend all New Year’s in the freezing-cold water looking for it.”
“And to think,” I said, “if you had come to celebrate New Year’s with your family here in Harrogate, that never would have happened.”
“What,” Garrett said slowly, “are you going to do with the boat?”
I shrugged. “Park it in the marina?”
“This is fucking ridiculous, even for you.”
“Stop swearing in front of the kids,” I told him then turned to my siblings.
“All right, suit up, everyone. Meet on the terrace in ten,” I ordered.
“But we just moved the fence,” Bruno complained.
“This is a family activity.”
“I’m not changing,” Calvin insisted. “I don’t want to get another set of clothes dirty.”
“My god,” Garrett said. “He sounds just like Weston.”
“Hey!”
“I’m ready to go!” Davy piped up. He was dressed from head to toe in black with black face paint around his eyes.
“What’s in your pocket?” Archer asked with a frown as another kid brought me my fence-moving clothes. I had them well trained.
“I’m going to feed the alligators!” Davy said in excitement.
Garrett’s lip curled up. “Is that why you bought all that cat food, Hunter?”
The fence moving was going as smoothly as it always did.
“Let’s try to get it done in less than twenty-seven minutes,” I told my brothers.
“We should be paid for this,” Isaac complained as he switched out the battery on one of the drills.
“Who pays for your food, your laptops, and your cars?”
“I don’t have a car,” Isaac grumbled.
“Not with that attitude,” I told him. “Less complaining, more drilling.” I checked the laser to make sure it was straight then gave the all clear. The fence moved another inch. Something tugged on my tactical pants.
“I think I saw something!” one of the toddlers said loudly.
I peered at him in the dark. “What’s in your mouth?”
“Davy has snacks!”
“Oh, for f—” I bit back a curse then snapped, “Spit it out!”
“It’s mine!” Jacob shrieked. “It’s my snack.”
“Cat food tastes like fish sticks,” Davy told me happily.
“You’re letting them eat cat food?” Garrett demanded, standing up.
“Their breath is going to smell,” Parker complained. “Also,” he continued, “if you can buy a yacht, why can’t you just buy the land?”
“It’s the principle of it!” I barked at him.
The toddler shrieked like he was being eaten alive. Then the other two started. I clapped my hands over my ears against the high-pitched, eardrum-shredding screeching.
“Stop!” I bellowed. “Stop before someone hears you!”
“Intruder! Intruder!” Davy yelled, pointing.
“Fuck!”
“That’s a bad word! That’s a bad word!” Davy badgered as I turned to gaze at the woman I most wanted in the world but just not right now.
“Deputy Mayor!” I announced, trying to subtly motion my brothers to turn off all the lights and scram.
“Hunter, what on God’s green earth are you all doing out here in the middle of the night?” She surveyed the scene.
Johnny hobbled up to her and held out his hand, showing her a mess of gooey, half-chewed cat food. “Do you want a snack? Is she not an intruder?” he asked me.
“Of course Meg is not an intruder,” I told him through gritted teeth.
“Are you here
to play the fence-moving game?” the toddler asked brightly.
Meg raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I said in a rush.
“Really? Because it sure looks like you’re practicing a little adverse possession.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“I can have surveyors out here tomorrow,” she told me. “If that fence is not on your property line then, oops, guess you’ll have to move it back.”
“I’m not moving any more fences!” Isaac declared.
“Now, Meg,” I said, turning on the charm, “can’t we just keep this one between us, you know…” I lowered my voice and leaned closer in to her, letting my breath caress her neck. “Like that car you stole.”
“I didn’t steal a car,” she hissed back.
I breathed in the scent of her hair. She always smelled like wildflowers and country air. “And I didn’t move a fence,” I replied. “Nor did I”—I continued my hand-creeping up to rest on her hip then her lower back because I would be damned if Walter was the last man who touched her there tonight—“spend a thrilling evening breaking into your house with you.” My hand came back around, drifting against the line of her panties under the dress. “Though if you want me to come into your house again later, that can be arranged. It seems you’re close by.”
Her eyes were dilated in the dark. If my little brothers weren’t here, I probably would have had her right there against a tree.
She swallowed then looked down and yelped.
“Stop feeding that dog that cat food,” I scolded my little brothers.
“And on the next item on my list…” Art said, turning the page in his notebook.
“It’s not the alligators, is it?” I asked, trying to hide my annoyance. I didn’t know how Meg stood it. I could barely go buy a sandwich without people coming up to me to give me their laundry list of complaints that they wanted me to absolutely promise I was going to address or they weren’t voting for me as mayor, and they were going to tell everyone in their bridge club not to vote for me either.
