by Tara Wylde
I squeeze his hand and laugh. “When that box of stuff you bought from this place arrived, I was just wrapping up a meeting with the owner about this event. She was very impressed by where you shopped and thought the items you sent me were an excellent choice. She’s a fun lady. I think you’ll like her.”
Garret releases my hand and slings his arm over my shoulder, pulling me close. “I do like her.”
I look up at him. “You know Donna?” A sudden thought blasts through my mind. “You own The Sex Project, don’t you?”
Garret’s teeth flash as he leads me to the door that leads to the giant open area where the event is taking place. “I have a quarter interest in it. I bought that when Donna and her husband decided they needed more space and moved to this location. They’re shrewd business people. Not only did the money I used to buy into the business cover the cost of the loan and the profits they lost because they had to stay closed until they were settled in, but it also supported the business for a few months before people finally came to terms with the new location.”
Despite the large space, the event is already packed. Long tables with the items that were donated for the silent auction run along three sides of the perimeter of the room. A massive buffet table occupies the fourth wall. One section has been roped off to serve as a dance floor.
Posters containing stats, photos, and personal stories are scattered about the room.
I lean closer to Garret and tip my head back so he can hear me. “If this goes well, and earns as much money as Donna hopes, she plans to do some different, themed events, like mystery dinner theatre and a ball. At one point she was even thinking about hosting a bachelor auction.” I bat my lashes at Garret.
“Don’t even think about it,” he says in a low tone. “I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. Not the kind that’s willing to get up on a stage and shake his money maker in exchange for actual money.”
“But you’re gorgeous. You’d make all kinds of money.” Of course, it’d be coming out of my bank account. No way would I let any other woman ‘buy’ Garret. There are plenty of other attractive, single men in the world. This one is mine. I’m already sharing him with the memory of his dead wife. There’s not enough room in the relationship for anyone else.
“You figure out how much you think I’d earn on the auction block, and I’ll promptly donate twice that amount to charity. Okay?”
I laugh and wrap an arm around his waist. “Nothing I love more than a compromise that I can get behind.”
“Erin!” Tracy’s voice interrupts our conversation. “Just the girl I was looking for.” Her gaze moves from me to Garret. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
“Garret.” He shakes her hand. “Tracy? Right?”
“You got it.” Tracy smiles at him. “So glad you managed to make it out here tonight.” Her gaze flits from his arm around my shoulders to mine around his waist. “And even happier that you’ve been so good to Erin. And on that note, do you mind doing some mingling on your own for a few minutes while I borrow Erin? There’s a potential client here that she should speak to.”
Garret nods easily and gestures to the buffet on the far side of the room. “The two of you do whatever it is you’ve gotta do. I’ll just find myself something to eat.”
It takes all my willpower not to dig my heels in as Tracy leads me to a small table where a group of pretty girls, all of whom are wearing way too much makeup, are seated at a table, waiting to talk to me.
I glance over my shoulder at Garret, who has already started to fill a plate and looks pretty content, but I can’t shake the feeling that has suddenly come over me, the one that indicates my entire world is about to blow up in my face.
Chapter Forty-Two
Erin
Head pounding and ears ringing, I finally leave the girls’ table nearly forty minutes later. The group has recently launched a cosmetics and fashion blog and are interested in how to promote it. It took some time, but I did finally convince them to come in next week for a consultation appointment. I have my doubts that the meeting will develop into an actual paying gig. I suspect that the girls are trying to get as much free information from me as they can, but sometimes those types of situations morph into a very lucrative contract for me when the start-up begins earning money and the business owner remembers the help I provided.
“Erin Burkley.” Donna’s strong voice has no problem carrying over the ambient chatter. “I’m so disappointed in you.”
“What?” Eyes wide and heart pounding, I spin around to face her. It’s no secret that my company handled the promotion for this event. If there’s a problem, I’d rather deal with it now than have word spread that she wasn’t happy with the work I did.
Donna grins at me. “Oh, you can relax. You and Tracy did a fantastic job promoting this thing. I couldn’t be happier.” Thankfully she uses the same loud voice as she did when she called me out. It helps unwind any damage her first statement did.
Looking immensely pleased with herself, Donna sashays close. “You didn’t tell me you knew Garret.”
My face flames. “Until two seconds before we walked into the door, I didn’t even know that he knew you, much less that he was a part of your business.”
Donna laughs. “I’m not surprised. When it comes to business things, Garret keeps pretty much to himself. I’ve known him his entire life. His grandmother and I went to school together and were good friends, and I still don’t know much about his professional life.” She reaches out and squeezes my hand. “I’m just so happy that you and he found each other. It’s high time he started moving on from his wife.”
The familiar knot of clotted emotions that I get whenever Garret mentions Maddie swells in my guy. “You knew her too?”
“Mm-hmm. Not well. She and Garret were working so hard to get their professional lives in order that they basically worked around the clock, but she was a lovely person, always quick to help out whenever needed. She liked to laugh. Oh, and all it took was one look to know that Garret was head over heels in love with her. Most marriages don’t work out, especially when the people involved are practically babies when they tie the knot, but I think that Maddie and Garret would have been a couple who defied the odds. If she’d lived, they would have stayed together forever.”
Her words don’t make me feel any better about Garret. How am I supposed to be with a man when he and everyone he knows is constantly comparing me to his wife, who apparently qualified for sainthood?
“I’ve spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying about Garret. He took her death hard. Practically became a hermit.”
“Did he?” And now he’s seeing me, his first relationship since the loss of his beloved wife. That can’t be good.
“Yes. I’ve tried setting him up with lots of girls that come into the store, but I never have any luck. He’s always polite, but he also always has a new excuse as to why he’s blowing them off.” Donna shakes her head in exasperation. “So how did the two of you meet?”
“Um, we live in the same apartment building. We bumped into each other in the elevator and just hit it off.”
“It must have been fate.” Donna clutches her heart. “How sweet. And how long have you been together?”
“A little over a week.”
Donna sighs happily. “Make sure you savor every moment of this time. There’s nothing quite like love when it’s brand new, is there?”
I shake my head.
Donna considers me for a moment. “You know, now that I think about it, you’re a lot like Maddie was. I think the reason I didn’t put the connection together right away was because you look completely different from her.”
“Is that so?” The clot of emotions grows, making my stomach burn with nausea. I can’t take any more of this. “Um, Donna, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to find Garret now. We have … a lot to talk about.”
I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Donna’s grin grows even wider, encompassing her entire face. “I’m old, bu
t I remember how that goes. Run along to your handsome young man. And if there’s anything you want from the shop, all you have to do is ask. Enjoy yourself.”
The place has gotten even more crowded than it was when Garret and I arrived. It takes a while before I finally track him down. He’s standing in front of a table, eyeing a painting of the sun setting over the Arizona mountains.
“Garret.” I reach out and touch his elbow.
He glances at me and grins. ‘You’re back!” He pulls me to him in a tight hug that has everyone around us smiling affectionately.“I was getting really lonely without you.” He nods at the painting. “What do you think about this? I thought if I bought it, I could hang it in my study. It’d give me something pleasant to look at while I wait for that damn computer to start working again.”
“It’s a nice painting.” I tug at his wrist. “Garret, can we talk?”
“Uh huh.” He releases me and bends over the piece of paper in front of the painting. “Just let me write down my bid.” He scrawls something which I’m too upset to pay attention to before straightening and turning to me.
“Okay, I’m all yours.”
“Not here.” The last thing I want is half of Tucson to witness my heart breaking. “Let’s go outside and get some air.”
Garret nods and follows me through the thick crowd and out the door. I spot a small gazebo near the building and lead Garret to it.
I settle in one of the Adirondack chairs that are chained to the floor and Garret hooks a hip over the side railing. “Why so serious? You should be happy. Based on the number of people in that place, whatever you and Tracy did to promote this thing did the trick.”
I link my fingers together to prevent them from shaking and rest them on my lap.
“I can’t do this, Garret.”
His back goes ramrod straight and his eyes hone in on me with hawk-like intensity. “Can’t do what?”
“I can’t see you anymore.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Garret
I hear what Erin is saying, but I can’t make my mind process the words. “You’re breaking up with me?”
This is completely out of the blue. I thought everything was going great between us. I thought that Erin was starting to fall for me as hard as I’ve already fallen for her.
She nods, the gesture driving a knife through my heart. “I have to.”
She has to? Just half an hour ago, she was holding my hands and giving me all sorts of signals that if she hadn’t fallen in love with me, then she was right on the edge. And now she has to dump me. What the hell could possibly have happened in the little time she was away from me?
I jump on the most obvious answer. “Tracy doesn’t like me.”
Despite her miserable expression, Erin laughs. “Tracy is ready to give you superhero status. Not only have the two of us been together longer than I’ve ever seen another man, but you made my sex life perfect. She adores you.”
So, Tracy hasn’t spent the last half hour bad mouthing me. There aren’t any ex-girlfriends for her to run into. I haven’t noticed anyone here that should have anything negative to say to me.
“Erin, I need to know what the hell brought this on.”
Erin wipes at her eyes. “I just want to make a clean break. Can’t we just say that we had a good time and go our separate ways?”
She wants to make a clean break of things? We live in the same building, which I own! No matter how we handle this, we’re going to run into one another. That’ll be easier if I knew why she suddenly decided to dump me.
“No,” I say firmly. I don’t know if I’ll be able to convince her to come back to me, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least know why I’m getting dumped. “I want to know what happened. Why you suddenly want to call things off. I thought you and I were a good thing.”
Erin sniffs and lifts her head. The tears shining in her eyes almost weaken my resolve to make her confess all. Almost.
“So did I, then I spoke to Donna.”
“Donna! This is because of something Donna said?” I’m starting to feel like I’ve somehow ended up in the middle of the Twilight Zone. Donna has always loved me. I would have bet every dollar I have that she’d support my and Erin’s relationship, not rip it apart.
“She told me about Maddie.” Erin’s voice is so soft, I can barely hear her words.
A small lightbulb goes off in my head and I slide off the rail and walk across the gazebo and kneel beside her. “This is about Maddie?”
Erin nods. She can’t stop the tears, which stream freely down her cheek and soak her collar. “I know that this isn’t your fault, but every time you or anyone else mentions Maddie, they always comment on how wonderful she was. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve started thinking of her as Saint Maddie.” Erin shudders. “And I’m sorry, Garret, I really am, but if you and I stay together much longer, I’m going to fall in love with you, but I can’t live under Maddie’s shadow. It’s better, for both of us I think, if we end things here and now.”
I pull Erin close. She resists for a second before melting into my body. I reach up and stroke her hair, soothing her at best I can.
“Oh, honey.” I kiss the top of her head. “I can’t even imagine getting involved with someone who lost a spouse. I know it’s tough, but I can promise you, not once have I looked at you and thought you were Maddie.”
Erin sniffs. “Really?” My shoulder muffles her voice.
“Really,” I assure her. “And Maddie was pretty wonderful, but trust me, she wasn’t a saint. She had plenty of faults. I loved her with all my heart, and will always love her, but the great thing about love is that it expands, there’s always more to give. I can … I do, love you.”
Erin jerks out of my arms. Her eyes are huge as she stares at me. “You do?”
“Yes.” I stroke her cheek. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to say it back to me. I just wanted you to know that.” Sensing that she’s wavering in her original decision, I decide to push just a little bit harder. “I promise, that if you stay with me, I’ll do everything I can to make sure that you feel like your own person, and if for some reason you start to feel overwhelmed, just let me know and I’ll try to make things right.” I slide a finger under her chin, tipping it up so we can lock eyes. “So, what do you say?”
Erin flashes me a watery smile. “I guess I can try it your way, see how things work out.”
“Outstanding!” The weight of the world melts off my shoulders. I stand up and tug Erin to her feet before wrapping my arms around her and kissing her for all I’m worth.
“How ‘bout we blow this place?” I say when we break for air. “And take this back to my bedroom?”
“I’d say that sounds like a great idea. I just have to let Tracy know that I’m taking off.”
I follow Erin back into the crowd, but decide to hang by the front door, rather than fighting through the amassed horde. Luckily I’m tall enough that I can look over most of the people and watch her progress.
It doesn’t take her long to find Tracy. The two have an animated conversation, hug, and then Erin spins and hurries back to me.
She grabs my hand. “I’m all set. Let’s go.”
Just as we turn toward the door, it swings open and two uniformed police officers step through. One looks at me, glances at something in his hand, and elbows his partner. They both make their way toward me.
“Garret Holden?” The first one asks.
“Yeah.”
“You’re under arrest.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Garret
“I still don’t understand why I’m here.”
I pace from one side of the tiny interrogation room to the next and eye the detective who is sitting at the cheap table that fills up the middle of the room.
He sighs and looks at the paper in front of him. “You’ve been hauled in because we have evidence of tax evasion, money laundering, and insider trading.” It’s the fifth or sixth time he�
��s repeated this list of crimes since he joined me in this room. They don’t make any more sense to me now than they did the first time he rattled them off.
“I haven’t done any of those things. I’ve always been very up front about telling the government how much money I make and where it comes from.”
“So you say. But we have information that says otherwise. One of the officials at the IRS reported some serious inconsistencies the past few years that you filed tax returns. This led to an investigation, which in turn led to an inspection of your bank accounts, business dealings, and a search of your computer. Tonight, we obtained a warrant to inspect your computer. Our computer expert has just started combing through your files, but he’s already found data that supports the original tip.”
Anxiety burns my stomach lining. I’ve always kept diligent records and never done anything illegal with my money. If anything, I’m more honest than most people when it comes to filing tax returns and claiming deductions.
“Mr. Holden. I have to tell you that the evidence we’ve already collected doesn’t look good. If there’s anything else on your computer, it’s better for you to tell me now, before our guy finds it, then to wait until they do. If I have advance warning I can work with you, come up with ways to minimize the punishment you ultimately get. But you’ve got to work with me.”
My mind keeps going back to all the trouble I’ve been having with my computer the past few days, trouble that started right about the same time I started seeing Erin. And today, when I told her my computer had stopped working completely, she wasn’t too concerned. In fact, that was when she distracted me, first with her body and then with the news that she had plans for the evening.
Is it possible that she’s the common link? Could she be some sort of secret corporate spy who was sent to destroy my life? Granted, it sounds ridiculous, but then again, people do say that truth is stranger than fiction.
