Conquering King's Heart

by Maureen Child

  She missed Jesse, too. Missed his smile. His laugh. The feel of his arms sliding around her. The whisper of his breath against her neck.

  But if he was feeling the same things, why was he staying away from her?

  Bella shook her head, tried to dismiss her thoughts and smiled at a woman browsing through the racks. She went back to her work, all the time her mind whirling with possibilities, each worse than the one before.

  He’d gotten what he wanted, now he didn’t need to see her anymore. She shook her head, not liking the sound of that at all.

  Romancing her had simply been part of the plan, to wear down her defenses and get hold of her company. That one she liked even less. He couldn’t have been pretending, could he? Was anyone that good an actor?

  He was feeling guilty for stealing her company under false pretenses, so he couldn’t bring himself to face her. Hmph. She didn’t think so. Jesse King didn’t do guilt.

  “So what’s going on?” she muttered, her stomach twisting itself into knots.

  And why was she standing around wringing her hands about it? For heaven’s sake, all she had to do was go to him and tell him she wanted to know what was going on. They were partners now, weren’t they? In business and in life. If she had questions, then she’d take them straight to Jesse. This might have nothing to do with her, after all. It might be a family problem. Something she could help him with.

  Nodding to herself, Bella decided that as soon as these customers left the shop, she’d go to the King Beach office and make Jesse talk to her.

  The front door opened, the bell above it jangling, and Bella looked up. A man in a three-piece suit approached the counter. “Bella Cruz?”

  “Yes,” she said, giving him her best, I’m-the-owner-welcome-to-my-store-smile. “How can I help you?”

  He nodded, tucked one hand into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and withdrew an envelope. “I was instructed to deliver this.” He handed it over. “Have a nice day.”

  Then he turned and left. Before the bell had stopped jangling again, Bella had the envelope open and was pulling the folded, single sheet of paper from inside. She read it. Then read it again.

  Her insides iced over and a cold, hard knot of pain settled in the pit of her stomach. The letters on the paper blurred as tears swam in her eyes. Determinedly though, she blinked them back. She wasn’t going to cry. She was going to scream. Fury erupted, clawing at her throat, nearly choking her.

  This couldn’t be right, she thought, her gaze locked on a few, select words. Had to be a mistake. But then, a quiet, logical voice in her mind whispered, it explains a lot, doesn’t it? Why Jesse’d been avoiding her, for example. And as her thoughts raced, the sense of betrayal blossomed inside her until she thought she would explode.

  She’d wondered what was going on.

  Now she knew.

  But she couldn’t do a thing about it until her customers were gone. With that thought in mind, she plastered on a helpful smile, tucked the paper into the pocket of her skirt and went to work. The sooner she helped these women find what they’d come for, the sooner she could face Jesse King.

  If he thought she’d simply disappear, he was sadly mistaken.

  He was about to find out exactly what Bella thought of him.

  Ten

  A knock on his office door had Jesse frowning an hour later. Before he could shout, come in, the door opened and Dave Michaels stuck his head inside. He looked worried. Never a good sign.

  “Boss, there’s a problem.”

  “What? What problem?”

  “Oh,” Bella said, pushing past Dave to stomp into the office, “there’s more than just a problem.”

  Dave’s expression went from concerned to panicked. Jesse hardly noticed though, because his attention was focused on the absolutely infuriated woman standing in front of his desk. Bella’s eyes were flashing like danger signals and her mouth was flattened into a grim slash. She was practically vibrating with rage.

  “Thanks, Dave,” Jesse said, waving one hand to dismiss the man. “I’ll take it from here.”

  Obviously grateful for the reprieve, Dave backed out and closed the door behind him.

  Jesse stood up from his chair, walked around the desk and headed for Bella. Worry raced through him, but he squelched it. He’d fix whatever was wrong.

  She backed up, shook her head at him and held out one hand to stave him off. “Don’t you even come near me, you bastard.”

  Surprised, he stared at her. “Now just a minute…”

  “It was all a game, wasn’t it?” she said, her voice cold, tight, pitched low enough that he had to strain to hear her. She wasn’t shouting or shrieking. Trust Bella to be different from every other woman he’d ever known. The few times he’d faced down a furious woman, they’d railed and screamed at him, and one had even tossed a vase at him.

  Not Bella, though.

  And the icy cold had him more worried than heat would have.

  “What are you talking about?” He took a step toward her, but she shoved her hand out again as if trying to use telekinesis or something to hold him back.

  “This,” she snapped, reaching into a pocket of her skirt, “I’m talking about this.” She dragged out a sheet of paper, crumpled it in one fist and then threw it at him.

  Jesse snatched it out of the air, scanned it quickly and felt his heart sink. “What the hell?”

  “Don’t recognize your own handiwork?” she sneered. “Allow me to explain. That is an eviction notice. Giving me three weeks to vacate the property. The property you own.”

  “Bella, you have to know this is a mistake.”

  “No, I don’t. It’s all there in black and white,” she snapped. Her face was pale and the two bright spots of color on her cheeks stood out in sharp relief. “It’s all perfectly clear, Mr. King.”

  “I’m not evicting you.”

  “Really?” She tipped her head to one side and glared at him. “Because that paper makes it all pretty official. My lease is up in three weeks and you want me out. All very cut-and-dried.”

  “I didn’t order this—” Jesse broke off, let his head fall back and closed his eyes as he silently cursed his business manager to hell and back.

  When he’d first bought Bella’s building from the late owner’s family, he’d told his business manager to leave her alone until the end of her lease. Well, her lease was up in just a few weeks and apparently, his manager had kept track. Jesse hadn’t even thought about her damn lease in weeks. Turns out, he should have been paying closer attention.

  “Okay, let me explain.”

  “There is nothing you can say to me that will explain this.”

  Getting angrier himself by the second, Jesse defended himself. “I told you, this is a mistake. Yes, I admit that eviction plans were drawn up a few months ago, but I told my business manager not to do anything until your lease was almost up—”

  “Congratulations, he follows orders exceedingly well.”

  “I never really planned to evict you, Bella. I wanted a chance to convince you to come on board with my company. And I just…forgot to inform my manager.”

  “You forgot?” Her eyes were wide and horrified. “You forgot to tell someone not to evict me?”

  “Yeah, I grant you, that sounds bad. But in my defense I’ve been pretty busy the last few weeks. With you.”

  “So it’s my fault.” She shook her head in amazement.

  “Okay, calm down, Bella. We can talk about this, straighten it all out.” He walked toward her again, but stopped when she snarled at him.

  “If you touch me now, I swear to God, I’ll get violent.”

  Judging by the look in her eyes, he believed her. A wise man knew when to back off. So Jesse stopped stock-still and met her gaze squarely. “I’ve said it a million times now. This is a mistake, Bella. You can’t believe I’d want you thrown out of your store.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Dammit Bella, I…care about you.�
��

  “Don’t choke on the words,” she told him.

  This was not going well. He should have known. Should have kept a closer watch on his business manager, but he’d had so many balls in the air lately, it hadn’t been easy keeping an eye on everything. Which she would never accept as an explanation, and he didn’t blame her.

  He reached up, grabbed his hair with both hands and gave it a yank out of pure frustration. “This doesn’t make sense. Think about it. Hell, you just agreed to join my company, why would I do this to you now?”

  She laughed shortly, but there was no humor in it and her eyes only gleamed darker. “That, I grant you was a mistake. You messed up there, didn’t you? You should have had me sign the papers before you sent your little man with his eviction notice. Bad move there, Mr. Corporate Raider.”

  “Are we back to that now? I thought we were past that. I thought we understood each other.”

  “I thought a lot of things, too,” she told him. “I thought you were more than you seemed. That there was a heart in there somewhere. But it looks like we both made mistakes.”

  “Bella—” She was still coldly furious and that worried him. If she were yelling or shouting or calling him names, Jesse thought, he’d have more of a chance of reaching her. As it was, the ice in her eyes made it plain that she wasn’t going to listen to a thing he said.

  But he was certainly going to try.

  Hell, he cared about her. A lot. Maybe more than cared. Maybe it was love. Maybe he’d fallen in love and hadn’t even realized it until it was too late.

  Jesse staggered. God. He really was an idiot. Was he really going to lose her just when he realized how much he needed her? No way. No way was he going to let her walk away from him now. He had to tell her. Say the words he’d never said to anyone before. Then she’d believe him. She had to.

  “Bella, I love you.”

  She blinked and then choked out a laugh. “Getting desperate are we? Pulling out the big guns?”

  Not the response he’d hoped for. Or the one he’d been counting on. “Dammit, I mean it. You’re the only woman I’ve ever said that to.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe that, right?”

  “Yes!” How could she not believe him? How could she not see that she was killing him?

  “Well, I don’t,” she said, her voice even lower now. “Why should I? I agreed to join King Beach and you disappeared. I haven’t seen you in days. Because you’d gotten what you wanted.”

  “That wasn’t it,” he said, wishing to hell he knew a way to get out of this mess. That he knew what words to say to convince her. “I was thinking. About us. Our…future.”

  She gave that short, sad laugh again and it tore at something deep inside him. “We don’t have a future, Jesse. We never did. All we ever had was a night on the beach three years ago. Because all the rest of it,” she added, her voice dropping now to a husky whisper, “wasn’t real. These last few weeks. The time we’ve been together, it was all an act.”

  “No.” He lifted his chin, met her stormy eyes and willed her to believe.

  She didn’t.

  “All the romance,” she said. “The seduction. The lovemaking, the laughter. All of it. You never wanted me. You wanted my business. It was all a game.”

  He felt the sharp slap of shame and hated the feeling. He’d dreaded this moment, had hoped to avoid it. Would give anything to be able to tell her she was wrong. But he wouldn’t win her now by lying.

  “That’s how it started, yeah,” he admitted, and watched the resulting pain flash in her eyes. He felt like the bastard she’d called him. “I heard Nick Acona was after your business, and—”

  “So you deliberately came after me to best your friend?”

  “That was part of it…” he hedged.

  “All of it,” she corrected.

  “But that’s not how it is now.”

  “Sure,” she said with a short nod. Her mouth twisted and pain shimmered in the depths of her eyes. “I believe you. It wasn’t a game. And I believe you love me. Why not?”

  “Bella, dammit.” He took one step toward her and stopped. If he got too close, he’d reach for her and it would kill him if she wouldn’t let him touch her. His heart ached, his throat was tight and dry and Jesse felt as if he were fighting for his life. And losing.

  He shoved one hand through his hair again and wished for the right words. Finally though, he simply had to start. “I admit I started seeing you in the beginning because I wanted your business. I wanted to beat Nick out. But I wanted you again, too. You haunted me for three years!”

  Her mouth worked, but she didn’t say anything, she just stood there, watching him, and Jesse felt like a bug under a microscope.

  “Everything changed. So damn fast.” He laughed a little, shook his head and scrubbed one hand across the back of his neck. “Hell, Bella, I stopped thinking about just your business weeks ago. And I forgot about the blasted eviction notice because I was spending so much time with you, nothing else mattered.”

  Her expression stayed blank. The hurt remained in her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I know.” He took the eviction notice and ripped it in half. Then ripped those halves again. Tossing them to the floor, he said quietly, “Forget about this, Bella. Stay in the damn shop. Stay rent-free! And forget about King Beach taking over Bella’s Beachwear. I don’t want your business. I just want you. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You already have.” Bella looked at him and felt her heart break. Nothing he said now could change the fact that he had deliberately set out to seduce her business out from under her. How could she ever trust that he was telling her the truth?

  Pain was so sharp and thick inside her that she could hardly draw a breath. He’d said I love you. And just hours ago, she would have given anything to hear those words from him. Now it was too late. Now he used those words too easily in an attempt to gloss over what he’d done.

  She’d lost everything.

  In one fell swoop, it was all gone. Dreams. Hopes. A future with the man she loved. It was all dust, blowing out to sea.

  “Besides, I was never really yours to lose,” she whispered, realizing the stark truth.

  “I don’t accept that,” he told her and in his blue eyes, she read a determination to fight.

  Well, it was too late for that.

  “You have to accept it, Jesse,” she said, shaking her head and backing away from him. Her fury was gone. The righteous indignation that had spurred her to come here to witness the destruction of everything she cared about had faded away. All that was left now was the pain.

  Stepping back from him was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, but if she didn’t pull away now, she’d never be able to live with herself. “It’s over. All of it.”

  “Bella, if you’ll just listen—”

  “No.” She headed for the door, never taking her eyes off him. “I’ll move out of the shop. I’ll be gone before the end of the month.”

  “I don’t give a damn about that shop. You don’t have to move out,” he snapped.

  “Yes, I do.” Her hand closed around the doorknob. She glanced back at him over her shoulder and knew she’d keep this picture of him in her mind always. Backlit by the sun glancing off the ocean behind him, his hair was golden, his eyes in shadow and his jaw tight and hard.

  Everything in her wanted to run to him, throw her arms around him and pretend for one more day that what they’d shared was real. That what she felt was reciprocated. That, for once, she had someone who loved her.

  But if it wasn’t real, then none of it mattered.

  Sighing, she told him, “You won’t be getting my business. Because I am my business and you’ll never have me. You don’t deserve me, Jesse.”

  His features tightened and his body flinched as if she’d struck him a physical blow.

  “Bella,” he said softly, “give us a chance. Give me a chance.”

  “No more chances. I shou
ld have known this was how it would end,” she said sadly. “You’ve never made a commitment to anything in your life. I get that now. And I know that’s why you would never commit to me.”

  “You’re wrong,” he argued. “I’ve made plenty of commitments and if you’d just listen—”

  She interrupted him. “Jesse, you drifted into owning your company. You hired someone else to build your ‘green’ house. All you had to do was show up and live in it. You pay someone to recycle your trash. You pay people to run the Save the Waves foundation. Don’t you get it? You hire people to make commitments for you, so you never have to bother.” She shook her head. “That’s not how I want to live my life.”

  “Bella, don’t go.” Three words that sounded as though they’d been forced from his throat.

  It was too little, too late.

  “If it helps, I won’t be signing with Nick Acona, either.”

  “Bella…”

  “Goodbye, Jesse.” She opened the door, left the office and closed it behind her with a quiet snick of sound.

  Two days later, Jesse was still stunned.

  No one had ever told him off the way Bella had.

  No one had ever been so right about him.

  He’d wanted to argue with her, to refute everything she’d said to him, but she’d pegged him perfectly.

  He had gone through life looking for the easiest route. He’d stumbled into a business that suited him, and only when it was placed right in front of him had he made the effort to grow it successfully. He did take a backseat in the running of his ocean foundation. He’d found good people to run it, then salved his conscience by writing hefty checks.

  And damn it, she was right about something else, too. He could put two trashcans into every cubicle at the office. The janitorial staff would probably thank him profusely for making that job a little easier.

  It was a hell of a thing when you got a wake-up call from the woman you loved and she was telling you that you didn’t deserve her.

  Even worse, he thought, when she was right.

  Bella had made him take a good, hard look at himself and Jesse hadn’t liked what he’d seen. He’d wanted to go to her house that night. To face her down, admit that everything she’d said to him was right on the money. To even, as hard as it was to swallow, beg her to hear him out. But he’d known that she would still be way too furious to listen to anything he had to say. And who could blame her?