“Excuse me?”
“Gina’s been calling you one for days and I’ve been defending you, but I can see now, I was wrong.”
“How am I the bad guy here?” Jackson asked, defending himself since it was clear as hell nobody else was going to do it. “I wanted to marry her.”
“Not because you love her.”
“What’s love got to do with anything?” Jackson prowled the dark room, shooting the occasional hot glare at his brother, so comfortable in his own house. “Love just complicates things. You get in so deep you don’t know which end’s up. Who the hell needs that?”
“Everybody,” Adam mused, taking a sip of his drink.
Jackson stopped and scrubbed both hands over his face.
“I wanted this to be simple. To live with Casey and our daughter. To be together. Happy.”
“How’s that workin’ for you?”
“Not well.”
“Tell you anything?”
“Yeah,” Jackson said, dropping into the closest chair.
“It tells me I’m in deep trouble here. Hell, I’ve been in deep trouble since the night Casey walked into the hotel bar and smiled at me. I knew it then. I’ve just been fighting it. Tonight just caps it. I walked into the house and she was gone and I felt like I died. Like there was no air in the world.”
“Congratulations,” Adam said softly. “You’re in love.”
“Damn it.” Jackson looked at his brother. “I didn’t plan on loving her, you know.”
“Hell, none of us plans it,” Adam said, giving him an understanding smile. “But you should know…she didn’t leave just because of you.”
“What else happened?” Jackson took a breath and held it. What else could possibly have gone wrong in a few short days?
“The day after you took the flight to Paris, Marian went to see her at your place.”
“Ah, God. What did she do? What did she say?” Jackson jumped to his feet.
“I got all of this from Gina,” Adam said on a sigh. “And let me warn you, none of the King women are big fans of yours right now.”
“Great.”
“Seems Marian tried to buy Casey off. Apparently she offered her a nice little nest egg if she’d leave and agree not to marry you.”
“I should have been there. Shouldn’t have left. I wanted her to think. To miss me. Backfired big time. I’m the one who missed her.” Jackson let out a sigh. “I already know she wouldn’t take the money.”
Adam scowled at him. “Damn right. According to Gina, Casey told Marian what she could do with her money, said that you and Marian deserved each other and that she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
“We deserve each other? What the hell…why would she—how could—” Jackson had never been more furious. Or more frustrated. Things were happening. Beyond his control. Beyond his ability to fix them. Arrange them into the right kind of order. What the hell was going on with his world?
“You should have called me.”
“Casey didn’t want us to.”
“You’re my brother.”
“And I have to live with my wife, who’s completely on Casey’s side in all this, so no thanks.”
Jackson though, hardly heard his older brother. His mind was too busy, racing down several different paths, trying to find the one that would lead him to Casey. Trying to figure out how he could dig himself out of the mess he was now in. She’d taken off, but where would she go? She said she loved the beach, right? So he’d start there. A lot of beach in this country though. This could take awhile.
“I’ve got to find her. Explain. Talk to her. Maybe the airport in Sacramento. She probably wouldn’t want to stay around here and her old house is gone. She’s not with Dani, so she’s probably headed off somewhere new. Somewhere she thinks I won’t be able to find her. Somewhere on the beach.”
“That narrows it down.”
“Gotta start somewhere.”
“Not going to be easy.”
Jackson looked at his older brother and smiled grimly.
“Nothing about Casey is easy. And you know what? Easy’s overrated. I’ll find her. You can count on it. And when I do, I’m dragging her back home with me. Where she belongs.”
He was halfway across the foyer when Adam’s voice stopped him. “Jackson.”
“I’ll call you from the road, Adam. I’m wasting time here.”
“Jackson, stop.”
He did. And when he looked over his shoulder at his brother, Jackson felt the first faint fluttering of hope inside. “You know where she is.”
Adam sighed. “If you screw this up, Gina’s gonna kill me for telling you.”
“I’ll kill you if you don’t.”
“I guess we men have got to stick together sometimes,” Adam said with a half smile. Then he jerked his thumb at the stairs. “Gina gave Casey your old room on the second floor.”
Jackson didn’t even pause long enough to thank him. He hit the stairs at a dead run, moving through the darkness on memory alone. He’d grown up in this ranch house. He could find his way blindfolded. And now, knowing that Casey was waiting for him, he knew that nothing could have kept him away.
Outside his old room, he paused, taking a ragged breath and letting it slide from his lungs in an effort to calm himself. But he was as calm as he was going to get, so he turned the knob and slowly opened the door.
Moonlight shone through the windows in slants of silvery light that illuminated the woman asleep on the bed. Her short, blond hair was tousled, the deep red duvet was pushed down to her waist and he smiled when he noticed she was wearing one of his T-shirts to sleep in.
Maybe there was still hope. Maybe she still loved him. Maybe he could bring himself back from the edge he’d blindly walked out on.
Crossing the room with quiet steps, he listened to the sound of her breathing and felt his own smooth out and begin to move in time with hers. She was here. She was safe. And he was in love for the first and last time in his life.
Casey dreamed of him and in that dream, she caught his scent and inhaled deeply. When he called her name, she turned toward him, even in sleep, reaching for him.
Then he kissed her and the dream was so real, she tasted him, savoring the feel of his lips on hers. So warm, so soft, so…Her eyes flew open and she gasped. “Jackson? How did you—”
He was sitting on the edge of the bed and when he grabbed her before she could scoot back and away, he pulled her across his lap and wrapped both arms around her. She knew she shouldn’t lean into him, but she’d missed him so much, pined for him so deeply that the feel of his heartbeat racing in time with her own was too much to resist.
“You scared about ten years off my life tonight,” he whispered. “When I got home and you weren’t there…”
“I had to leave,” she said and remembering why gave her the strength to push out of his arms and scramble back onto the bed. She folded her arms over her chest and held on tight. Just looking at him melted everything inside her. Her heart ached for him. And a voice in her mind whispered, reminding her to be strong. To not settle for less than love.
“I know.” Jackson reached out, smoothed her hair, then let his fingertips trail down the side of her face with a touch so light she might have still been dreaming.
He took a breath, looked around the room and asked, “Where’s Mia?”
“Sleeping in Emma’s room.”
“Good,” he said. “Good.”
“Jackson—”
“No, let me talk first, okay?” He shifted on the bed, getting comfortable, but he didn’t reach for her again and Casey wasn’t sure what to think about that. “I thought when I left,” he said softly, “that you’d miss me so much you’d cave in and marry me. I figured I’d teach you a lesson.” He laughed a little, but there was no warmth in the sound. “Turns out, I’m the one who had to learn.”
She scooted back, higher against the pillows. Keeping her gaze fixed on Jackson, Casey tried desperately not to let
a small bubble of hope become so big that its popping might destroy her.
“I missed you. I missed looking at you, listening to you laugh with Mia. I couldn’t sleep,” he added with a shake of his head, “because you weren’t there to hog the blankets.”
“I don’t—”
“When I closed my eyes, I saw you. When I walked down the streets in Paris, all I could think was, I wished you were there.”
As if he couldn’t stand still another minute, he pushed off the bed, walked across his old room to stand beside the window. Moonlight fell on him and Casey couldn’t tear her gaze from him.
He turned his head to look at her. “I didn’t want to fall in love, Casey. Never planned on it. Never was interested. Love makes life messy. Gives the one you love too much power over you.”
She held her breath, waiting, hoping.
“The thing is,” he said, “I fell in love anyway. You slipped up on me. You came into my life, knocked it all around, and it shocks the hell out of me to know I like it better that way. I don’t want to go back to my old life, Casey. I want a life with you. With Mia and with our new baby.”
Joy rippled through her with such staggering force, Casey thought for a moment she must still be dreaming. Surely it was impossible to be this happy. To have everything she’d ever wanted right in front of her.
Walking back to her side, Jackson sank onto the edge of the bed beside her and looked deeply into her eyes. “Marry me, Casey. This isn’t a merger—I’m not trying to build my fortune here. You, Mia and the baby are my fortune. The only one I’ll ever need.”
“Jackson…”
“It isn’t convenience, either,” he said, talking faster now, wanting to say it all. “This is love, Casey. I can’t live my life without you in it. So maybe it’s simple after all. I love you. I need you. And if you don’t marry me…”
“You’ll what?” she asked, already moving toward him, a smile in her eyes.
“I’ll…keep asking. I’ll tell you I love you every day. Until you’re so sick of hearing it you’ll marry me just to shut me up.”
“I’ll never get sick of hearing it,” she assured him, sliding onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, trailing her fingers through his thick, soft hair. “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
He buried his face in the curve of her neck. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Jackson. So very much.”
He held her fiercely, squeezing her until she lost her breath and didn’t care if she caught it again.
“So is that a yes?” he demanded.
“It’s a yes, Jackson.” She grinned at him, her heart whole, her soul singing. Everything was just as it should be. She was in Jackson’s arms and the future looked bright.
“Of course it’s a yes. I love you.”
“Thank God,” he whispered and held her even tighter.
“Welcome home, Jackson,” Casey said, losing herself in the magic of love.
Epilogue
Eight months later…
They named her Molly.
She looked just like her big sister. Just like her cousins.
And her mommy and daddy couldn’t have been happier.
Jackson leaned down, kissed Casey and released a breath he felt as though he’d been holding for months.
“You’re amazing,” he said, smiling down at the woman who had made his life absolutely complete.
“As long as you keep believing that, honey,” she said, cupping his cheek in the palm of her hand, “everything’s going to be great.”
“After seeing what you did in here today, I’m convinced,” he said. He looked tired, but then, they’d been in labor and delivery for the last nine hours. He’d never left her side and Casey couldn’t believe how much easier everything had been because she’d had the man she loved with her through it all.
The King brothers and their wives had already been by, cooing over Molly, promising to keep Mia happy until her parents came home. And now, it was just Casey and Jackson. Molly was asleep in the hospital nursery and the glow of having accomplished another miracle was riding high in Casey’s heart.
“I love you,” Jackson said, amazement still shining in his eyes as he pulled a small, blue velvet jeweler’s box from his pocket.
Casey eyed it warily and even managed a smile. “The last time I saw a box like that, it caused all kinds of trouble.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, gorgeous,” he said with a grin just before he bent down and dropped a kiss on her mouth. “I’m a married man, desperately in love with my wife.”
“Well, in that case…” She took the small box from him, flipped the lid open and gasped. A huge, square-cut sapphire glittered on silk and from either side of the deep blue stone two diamonds winked at her. “Oh, Jackson!”
He took the ring from the box, pushed it onto her right-hand ring finger and said softly, “The sapphire is because it reminded me of your eyes. The twin diamonds are for our girls. The gold ring…that’s eternity. With you. Thank you, Casey. For finding me. For loving me.”
She lifted her face for his kiss and felt, as she did every day of her life, that her dreams had finally come true.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-1664-2
FALLING FOR KING’S FORTUNE
Copyright © 2008 by Maureen Child
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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**Summer of Secrets
**Summer of Secrets
**Summer of Secrets
†Reasons for Revenge
†Reasons for Revenge
†Reasons for Revenge
††Kings of California
††Kings of California
††Kings of California
‡The Guardians
‡The Guardians
Falling for King's Fortune Page 14
