“What did you say, dear?”
“I said the sun is a bitch,” she said quickly, hoping her aunt would think the flush on her face was from the heat. “You were gone quite a while. How did you do with your errands?”
“Fine.” Miranda’s gaze dropped. “I ran into an old friend while I was out and we had lunch together.”
Holly noticed the blush on her aunt’s cheeks and raised a brow. “That old friend wouldn’t happen to be Daniel Smythe, would it?”
The color spread on Miranda’s face. “Well, yes, actually it was. How did you know?”
Everyone in the family, and most of Red Rock, were talking about Miranda and Daniel. The wealthy oil man had “accidentally” bumped into Miranda and Holly at a restaurant in Red Rock and the sparks flying between the two had been obvious, though Miranda seemed reluctant to admit there was anything going on between them other than a few casual dates.
“Just a guess.” Holly sat and reached for the towel on the chaise lounge. “It’s hot out here. Why don’t we go inside?”
“Holly, dear.” Miranda sat on the chaise lounge beside Holly. “There’s something I need to talk to you about. I was going to wait until Ryan was out of the hospital, but both your uncle and I decided I should tell you now.”
The serious tone of Miranda’s voice made Holly draw in a slow breath. Did they want her gone? Had she done something to upset them? She had stayed longer than she’d planned, but they’d been so insistent, so—
“It’s about your inheritance.”
She blinked, stunned by the words. Inheritance? What inheritance? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re a Fortune, Holly,” Miranda said firmly. “Your father may not have done right by you, but you’re part of this family. Your share of the money left by your grandfather is ten million dollars.”
She must have heard wrong. She must have. Still holding the breath she’d sucked in, she blinked twice and simply stared at her aunt. “Ten…million…dollars?”
“Yes, dear.” Miranda smiled. “Ten million.”
“But…but…” Blood rushed to her head. She had to grip the sides of the chaise lounge or she was certain she’d slide right off. “But I’m not really,” she sputtered. “I mean, I am, but I’m not even, I mean, my mother wasn’t—”
Ten million dollars! She couldn’t speak, couldn’t even comprehend that much money.
“My brother was your father.” Miranda covered Holly’s hand with her own. “You belong in this family. I’m only sorry we missed so many precious years.”
The sincerity of her words and the tender touch of her hand brought tears to Holly’s eyes. “I didn’t come here for money,” she said around the lump in her throat.
“The money was yours whether you came here or not.” Miranda had tears in her eyes, too. “But we so wanted to meet you and welcome you into the family. We’re so happy Mr. Blackwolf found you and brought you to us.”
Guy. In spite of the bombshell that her aunt had just dropped on her, Holly felt her chest tighten at the mention of his name. As amazing, as wonderful, as incredible as Miranda’s news was, Holly felt there was something missing, an emptiness without him that no amount of money could ever replace or fill. Emotions welled up inside of her and though she tried, it was impossible to stop the tears.
“Holly, what’s wrong?” Her brow furrowed, Miranda slipped an arm around her niece. “This is supposed to be happy news. Have I said something to upset you?”
Miranda’s kindness only opened the floodgates wider. Embarrassed by her pitiful outburst, but unable to speak through the steady stream of tears and the thickness in her throat, Holly shook her head, then dropped her face into the towel in her hands and began to sob.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Miranda soothed and held her. “Whatever it is, just let it out.”
And so she did. She let the years of disappointment wash through her, the hurt and rejection, the pain of lost love. And when finally there wasn’t anything left inside her, she rested her head on her aunt’s shoulder and felt the warmth and love she’d so desperately missed all her life.
“There now,” Miranda murmured as she tucked a strand of hair behind Holly’s ear. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
With a deep sigh, Holly sat, then drew in a long, slow breath. “Yes,” she whispered, then cleared her throat as she looked into her aunt’s blue eyes. “Yes, I do.”
Miranda smiled and took Holly’s hand. “Let’s go inside out of the sun, dear. We’ll have tea and cookies and you can start at the beginning.”
Holly nodded, then walked hand in hand with her aunt into the house. She wasn’t certain where the beginning was, but something deep inside her told her that this was it.
Guy flew in barely an hour ahead of the summer storm currently pounding Seattle, unloaded his passengers, grabbed his check and headed for home. Two weeks on a private charter with three stuffy executives from a Fortune 500 computer company was enough to drive a man insane. If he never heard the term “B2C” or “value added service” again, it would be three weeks too soon.
Ignoring the rain, he pulled his Jeep Cherokee into his parking spot at his apartment complex, cut the engine, then stepped out of his car directly into a deep puddle. He swore, reached into the back seat and snatched his bag, dropped it, then swore again when half of the contents spilled out onto the wet concrete.
He had to go down on his knees to retrieve a can of shaving cream that rolled under his car, then he scooped up two T-shirts that had also landed in the puddle right beside his brand-new Steve Martini paperback. Muttering fiercely, he stuffed everything back into his bag and stalked toward the stairs leading to his apartment.
He definitely was not having a good day.
But then, he hadn’t had even one good day in the past two weeks, he thought sourly. Not since the night he’d left Texas.
Since he’d left Holly.
What an idiot he’d been to think he could just walk out of her life and that would be the end of it. He’d known that he’d miss her, that he’d think about her often. After all they’d been through, of course he’d think about her. And the more he tried not to think about her, the more he did think about her. Not a waking minute went by that she didn’t invade his thoughts. And his dreams. Lord. When he did manage to fall asleep, his dreams about her were hotter than a Texas summer.
What he hadn’t considered, what he hadn’t expected, was how damn much it would hurt. His insides felt scraped raw, his gut was twisted in knots and his chest felt as if a concrete post had been dropped on him.
He stood in the rain, barely felt the moisture as it seeped through his chambray shirt. As the realization hit him, he might have been standing in a blizzard and he wouldn’t have noticed.
He was in love with her.
He stood stock-still in the parking lot, scrubbed a hand over his face, then laughed. Where had that come from? He couldn’t be in love. He’d never been in love. He didn’t know a damn thing about being in love. He was bone-tired, that’s all. He’d been flying all over the West Coast with those businessmen for the past two weeks. Maybe he was coming down with something. He felt light-headed, off balance.
Dammit to hell. He was in love with her.
Mind-stopping, wildly, moon-eyed in love with Holly.
It was one thing to be an idiot, it was another to be completely stupid. Of course he was in love with her. He probably had been from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her.
Panic filled him, pounded in his brain.
He’d spent a lifetime never convinced that love truly existed. Lust and physical love, sure. But romantic, hearts and flowers, poetry kind of love? No way.
And now here he stood in a pounding rain, and like a lightning bolt, was struck with the realization that love was not only real, but it also had bit him square on the butt.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins. He turned and splashed through puddles back to his car, jumped in and jamm
ed the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life. He could be in the air in an hour and make it to Texas in maybe four hours. Or jump a commercial flight and be there in three.
He stopped. Was she still in Texas? he wondered? He’d heard from Flynn that her half brother, Jonas, had been arrested for suspicion of poisoning Ryan. But Jonas had been released on bail, and nobody in the family really believed he’d done it.
But Flynn hadn’t mentioned Holly, and Guy hadn’t had the guts to ask.
So was she back in Alaska then? Back at work, back to her life?
Oh, hell.
He dragged a hand through his wet hair. Who was he kidding? She wouldn’t want to see him now. And how could he blame her? He’d walked out on her. She’d been disappointed by every person she’d ever cared about and he was no better than the rest of them. Lord knew, she had plenty of reasons to never even speak to him again.
At least ten million.
He was certain that she’d been told about her inheritance by now. How the hell could he come waltzing back into her life? Gee, Holly, I know I dropped you like a hot potato, but now that you’ve got ten million dollars I’m back, and by the way, I really love you.
Oh, yeah. She’d really believe him.
Dammit, dammit, dammit.
Still swearing, he cut the engine and got out of his car again, slammed the door behind him as he headed back to his apartment.
He’d get drunk, he decided as he trudged up the stairs. A bottle of whiskey would cut the edge and make him forget, if only for a little while, that he lost the first and only woman he’d ever loved because he was a donkey’s behind.
He dug his apartment key out of his pocket and opened the door, then froze.
Someone was in his apartment.
The lights were all on, he heard the sound of people talking—the television, he realized, and the most incredible smell was coming from his kitchen.
What the hell?
Cautiously, quietly, he set his bag down and walked slowly toward his kitchen.
Holly.
His heart slammed in his chest. Through the counter opening between the living room and his kitchen, he could only see the top half of her. She stood at his stove, a wooden spoon in her hand as she intently stirred the contents of a frying pan. She wore a chef’s white apron over a black tank top. Steam rose from the sauce bubbling in the frying pan.
“Holly?”
She glanced up at sound of his voice and smiled. “Hi. You’re just in time. This will be—heavens! You’re dripping wet!”
“Huh?” He glanced down at his clothes, realized his shirt and jeans were soaked through. “It’s raining.”
Now that was certainly smooth. The woman he’d been fantasizing about, the woman he’d just now realized that he desperately loved, the woman he thought he’d never see again, suddenly turns up in his kitchen and he gives her a weather report.
“Is it?” She turned her attention back to the stove. “Well, why don’t you change your clothes? Dinner’s almost ready.”
He actually started to say okay, even started to turn, then shook his head to clear the fog that seemed to have rolled into his brain.
He swallowed hard, cleared his throat. A mere six feet and a kitchen counter was all that separated them and it was all he could do not to leap at her and drag her into his arms. But confusion, not to mention fear that this was not what he hoped it was, kept him rooted to where he stood.
“Holly,” he asked carefully, “what are you doing here?”
The spoon paused, then she continued stirring. “I’m making you dinner, what’s it look like? I hope you like linguine and clams in an artichoke and red roasted pepper sauce.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. I mean what are you—” He stopped, eyed her with suspicion. “You’re cooking?”
She shrugged one smooth, bare shoulder. “Nothing too fancy. I’m a little out of practice. Would you like a cheese pastry puff before you change?”
Hope, just a glimmer, had him releasing the breath he’d been holding. He took a step toward her, kept his gaze leveled with hers. “I thought you said you couldn’t cook.”
“No, I said I didn’t cook.” She took a taste of the sauce, furrowed her brow, then reached for the salt shaker. “Big difference. No, you don’t.” She pointed the spoon in her hand at him when he took another step toward her. “Out of the kitchen. We saw what happened the last time you got too close to an oven.”
Holly also knew what would happen if he got too close to her. Her knees would buckle for sure and she’d throw herself in his arms. As it was, her heart was pounding so hard she was certain he could hear.
If she was going to get through this, she needed him to keep his distance. She was putting herself out on the edge as far as she could possibly go. If he came around that corner, if he touched her, she’d crumble.
When he stopped, she mentally breathed a deep sigh of relief. Desperately she needed to not only keep the conversation light, but to keep it going, if only for a few more moments.
“I hope you don’t mind that I asked Flynn to call your office for me this morning to find out when you’d be coming home.” She knew she was rambling now, but she didn’t care. “Oh, and I also told your apartment manager, Mr. Wendall, that I was your sister visiting from Texas and that you said it was all right to let me in. He’s such a nice man.”
“Mrs. Wendall,” Guy said as he slid onto a bar stool, “thought the same thing until she caught him in the laundry room helping Mrs. Potter from 12A fold her clothes.”
In spite of her racing pulse, Holly glanced up in surprise. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Well, it seems he’d just taken those clothes off the woman, if you catch my drift.”
“Mr. Wendall?” She tried to imagine the semibald man who looked more like a roly-poly bug than a seducer, getting frisky in the laundry room. “Wonders never cease.”
“Which brings us back to you being here.”
Once again, Guy turned his intense wolf-gray eyes on her. Holly’s heart jumped into her throat.
“I was in the neighborhood?”
He lifted a brow.
She sucked in a breath. “I…I—” Love you. But the two little words caught in her throat right next to her heart. She swallowed hard. “I—”
The timer went off on the oven.
She ignored it.
If she was going to do this, it had to be now.
Still, she didn’t move.
His gaze stayed on hers as he started to rise from the bar stool. “You, ah, want me to get that?”
“No!” She put out a hand to stop him. “Stay where you are.”
Both brows came up now, but he eased back down.
Panic gripped her. This was a bad idea. A bad, bad idea. What had she been thinking when she’d planned this?
But it was too late to back out now. And even if she could, she knew in her heart that she wouldn’t, that she didn’t want to. And if it made her the biggest fool that ever lived, then so be it.
She sucked in a deep breath, held it, and turned toward the oven to shut off the timer.
“My God!”
Behind her, Holly heard the crash. She whirled, gasped at the sight of Guy on the floor, spread across the kitchen doorway, his legs caught in the bar stool he’d just fallen off of.
“Guy!” She hurried to him and bent down beside him. “Are you all right?”
“What are you wearing?” He stared hard at her as he struggled to sit. “Definitely not a tank top.”
“It’s a teddy.” Her cheeks burning, she tugged at her apron in an attempt to cover the black lace lingerie she had on. “I—I thought you might like it.”
“Like it?” Eyes wide, he fell back on the floor again. “Good Lord, woman, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
The burning on her cheeks spread to her face and down her neck. What had possessed her to put on high heels and a black teddy under an apron and surp
rise him like this? she thought in despair. But she knew the answer to that.
Love. Love turned a person inside out and upside down and definitely made them think and do foolish things.
And she was the biggest fool of all.
When he started to laugh, she narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips tightly together. “What’s so funny?”
“You—you…came here,” he managed to say between laughs. “To me.”
That did it. It was one thing to reject her, quite another to make fun of her. She’d bared herself to him, body and soul, not only to prove to him how much she loved him, but because she’d been so certain that he loved her back. Well, if he didn’t love her, and he didn’t want her, then fine.
“Listen up, Blackwolf.” She stood, hands on her waist, too angry to care that she was nearly naked under this silly apron. “This was obviously a mistake. A big one. I flew halfway across the country, bought this ridiculous piece of fluff and cooked for you, buster.” When he started to rise, she dug a heel in his chest and shoved him back down. “The next time I fall in love, I’ll make sure it’s not with an egotistical, arrogant, self-serving son of a—”
She hadn’t known that a person could move so fast. One minute she was standing over him, letting him have it, the next thing she knew she was on the floor underneath him.
“God, you’re beautiful when you’re mad.” When she tried to slug him, he grabbed her hands and pinned them to her sides. “Kiss me.”
“Like hell I will.” She wiggled under him, but the close contact of their bodies only aroused her, so she went still. “You’re all wet. Get off me, you jerk.”
“I thought you loved me,” he murmured and brought his face close to hers.
“No, I don’t.”
“But you just said you did.”
There was amusement in his eyes, which only infuriated her all the more. She struggled once again, almost desperate to escape him now before she begged him to take her, right here, right now, dignity be damned. “Well, I don’t love you anymore, so get off me.”
“You love me, all right. You just said you did and I won’t let you take it back.”
Fortune's Secret Daughter Page 13
