Seductive Secrets (Sweet Tea And Scandal Book 3)

by Cat Schield

  Lia arrived in the formal living room five minutes before she was scheduled to meet Paul only to discover that he’d beaten her there. She had a fraction of a second to appreciate the way his charcoal-gray suit fit his imposing figure and to indulge in a little delighted swoon before he glanced up from his phone and swept a heated gaze over her.

  The possessive approval Lia saw there stripped her of her ability to speak or move. As often as she’d donned a costume and played the role of a princess, she’d never truly felt like one before. But now, as she basked in Paul’s admiration, she understood what it meant to be treasured.

  “You look gorgeous,” Paul said, walking over to her. Clearly cautious over the possibility that anyone could stumble on them, he limited his contact to a brief squeeze of her fingers, but even that fleeting touch sent Lia’s pulse into overdrive. “I’ll have to stay close tonight or my friends will try to lure you away.”

  “Oh.” His low murmur set the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “No.” She shook her head as the full import of his words struck her.

  “No?” He looked taken aback.

  She shook her head and rushed to explain. “I didn’t think I’d stand out in this dress.”

  Paul’s posture relaxed once more. A sensual smile curved his chiseled lips. “You stand out no matter what you wear.”

  With her skin flushing at his compliment, Lia slid a little deeper into infatuation. Even so, she recognized that the easing of Paul’s earlier distrust gave his approval greater significance. Still, there was no fighting the inevitable. She was falling hard for his man.

  He took her by the elbow and propelled her toward the door, his confidence muffling her concern. “Relax, you’ll be fine.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” she muttered grimly. “This is your world.” And she didn’t belong.

  Twenty minutes later, Lia’s mood had lightened. During the short drive to one of the most impressive mansions in Charleston’s historic district Paul had shared Ryan and Zoe’s inspirational path to love.

  Long before the pair met, Zoe had been in the middle of a scandalous divorce. To appear the wounded party and avoid having to pay her alimony, her husband had publicly accused Zoe of infidelity. Eventually the truth of her innocence came out, but by then her reputation was ruined and her finances were in tatters.

  Devastated and bitter, Zoe had joined a revenge bargain with two strangers, women who’d also been wronged by powerful men. To deflect suspicion, each woman was tasked with taking down a man she had no connection to. In Zoe’s case, her target had been Ryan and she was supposed to hurt him by damaging his sister’s political career.

  Zoe hadn’t counted on the romance that bloomed with Ryan or the difficulty in extricating herself from the vengeance pact. In the end, because Zoe hadn’t been directly responsible for the resulting scandal that harmed Ryan’s family, he’d chosen to put aside his anger, unable to imagine a future without her in it.

  Paul obviously approved of the union despite its rocky beginning, leading Lia to hope he could set aside his stubborn and judgmental nature when faced with true happiness.

  As soon as they went inside, the soothing strains of a string quartet enveloped them. Lush floral arrangements in warm shades of peach and pink decorated every room on the main floor. Lia inhaled the richly scented air as they strolled through the various rooms on their way to the rear garden where the ceremony would be taking place.

  Paul introduced her to several people before his best man duties called him away. He left her with Zoe’s former brother-in-law the race car driver Harrison Crosby and his fiancée, London McCaffrey. Lia appreciated the couple’s easy acceptance of her company as they sipped preceremony champagne before making their way to the area in the garden where the chairs had been set up for the wedding.

  The ceremony was short but beautiful. The bride wore a romantic confection of tulle embellished with lace flowers. Her groom stood beside Paul in a charcoal suit and pink bow tie, looking positively gobsmacked as she walked up the aisle toward him. They were emotional as they exchanged vows, bringing both smiles and tears to the thirty or so guests who’d come to celebrate with them.

  Lia was still dabbing tears from her eyes when Paul came to find her after the ceremony.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

  “It was a beautiful wedding,” she whispered. “They’re so obviously in love.”

  “They came through a lot to get here,” he murmured, his gaze following the bride and groom as they greeted friends and accepted congratulations. “I think it’s made them stronger as a couple.”

  Struck by both his sentiment and the show of obvious affection for his friends, Lia exclaimed, “Paul Watts, you are a romantic!”

  He frowned at her accusation. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “Don’t deny it.” A happy glow enveloped her. “Here I expected you to have a suspicious view of the whole love-and-marriage thing and you go all mushy on me.”

  “I’m not mushy.”

  She ignored his growled denial. “I never imagined you’d be a fan of love and such.”

  “Calling me a fan is a little over-the-top,” he protested, taking her by the elbow and turning her toward the house where the reception dinner and after-party were taking place. “And why is it so surprising that I believe in love?”

  “Love requires a leap of faith,” she explained, having mulled this topic often in the last few days. “You’re so logical.”

  He looked thoughtful as he considered her point. “It’s also about trust,” he said, indicating he’d also given the matter some consideration. “Trust of yourself and of the other person.”

  “But you’re not exactly the trusting sort,” she reminded him.

  “That’s not completely accurate when it comes to family and friends.”

  His single-minded, fierce protectiveness of those closest to him was sexy as hell. She was used to being alone and never considered what it might be like with someone to count on. Lately, however, Lia had pondered the immense sense of security those closest to Paul must feel. She’d never doubted that he was someone who could be counted on to aid and protect, but until now hadn’t considered what being the beneficiary of such attention might be like.

  That afternoon in her camper, encircled by his strong arms, she’d experienced a sense of well-being unlike anything she’d ever known. At the time she’d put the sensation down to their lovemaking and her joy at being inside the familiar refuge of her camper.

  But maybe it had been just as much about gaining Paul’s trust. Watching him with his family had offered her insight into his protective nature. He wanted nothing but the best for those he loved. When he’d begun to open up to her in small ways, she’d been thrilled to be gifted with this show of faith.

  “So what you’re saying,” she clarified, “is that once given, your trust is complete?” The power of that took her breath away. “What if someone does something that goes against your principles?”

  She was thinking about how Ethan had plotted to introduce her as Grady’s granddaughter and the hit Paul was taking to his integrity in going along with the scheme. Yet the animosity between the brothers originated with Ethan. Paul obviously loved his brother and hated their estrangement.

  “As much as I wish everything was black-and-white, it’s never that simple.” Paul stopped beside their assigned places at the dinner table and drew out her chair. “Now, can we drop all this serious talk and have some fun?”

  With a nod, Lia abandoned the topic and focused her attention on enjoying the delicious reception dinner Dallas had prepared and marveling at the change in Paul as he socialized with his close friends, trading good-natured quips and contributing his share of funny stories that stretched back to their grade school days.

  The depth and breadth of connection these people shared
highlighted Lia’s isolation. An ache grew in her chest that she recognized as longing. She wanted to belong. To feel the snug embrace of camaraderie. To be in on the private jokes and accepted into the club.

  But this was an exclusive group of people, and not just because they’d been friends since childhood. Each one possessed an easy confidence born of privilege. In contrast was Lia as she sat beside Paul, listening attentively while speaking little, a huge fraud in the dress she couldn’t afford.

  As the waitstaff set plates of wedding cake before all the guests, Lia excused herself and headed to the bathroom. On the way back to the dining room, Dallas appeared in her path. As Lia gushed over the delicious dinner, she immediately sensed that Paul’s cousin wasn’t paying the least amount of attention to her compliments.

  “Is something wrong?” Lia asked, uneasiness sliding across her nerve endings at the older twin’s somber expression.

  “You and Paul...” Dallas began, her voice scarcely rising above a whisper. “I saw what happened between you when you were putting the paddleboards away.”

  Cheeks flaming, Lia thought back to those stolen moments. It was her fault that they’d been caught. She’d begged him to kiss her.

  “You two were...” Dallas looked horrified. “Kissing.”

  Lia threw up her hands as if to ward off the undeclared accusation. “It’s not what you think—”

  “You’re first cousins.”

  “We’re not.” Stricken by Dallas’s accusation, Lia blurted out the denial without considering the wisdom of spilling the truth before she’d spoken to Paul and Ethan about it.

  Dallas frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  Lia clutched her evening bag to her chest, struggling with the dilemma she found herself in. “There’s a problem with my DNA test results,” she declared in a breathless rush, sick of all the lies. “Ethan and Paul know, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

  “What sort of a problem?”

  “I’m not your long-lost cousin.” Lia crossed her fingers and hoped that Ethan and Paul wouldn’t be angry with her for jumping the gun. “We just found out that there was a huge mix-up.”

  Dallas looked appalled. “Why haven’t you told anyone?”

  “Because Grady has rallied since he thought I was his granddaughter and we’ve been waiting for him to be fully on the path to recovery before saying anything.”

  “He’s going to be so upset,” Dallas said. “He’s been obsessed with finding Ava’s daughter.”

  Lia hung her head. “We know.”

  “I can’t believe Paul would let this go on.”

  “He’s not happy about it, believe me.” Lia grabbed Dallas’s hand. “Please don’t tell anyone. We’ve agreed that I’m only going to stay another few days.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then we come clean about the mistake and I get back on the road.”

  Dallas stared at her in silence while emotions flitted across her face. “I don’t understand any of this,” she complained at last. “Why do you have to leave?”

  “I was never going to stay,” Lia reminded her, repeating what she’d been saying all along. “I like traveling the country too much to stay put anywhere.”

  “But Grady loves you. We all do.”

  “He loves his granddaughter,” Lia said, her heart aching at the thought of moving on. Never before had she grieved for her lack of family ties. “I’m not her.”

  “What about Paul?”

  “What about him?”

  “You’re obviously the woman from his reading. The one he’s supposed to fall in love with.”

  “No.” Lia ignored her pounding heart. “He’s not in love with me. Attracted maybe, but we’re too different to ever work.”

  “I think you might be exactly what he needs.”

  “Are you listening to yourself?” The laugh Lia huffed out fell flat. “A moment ago you were worried he and I were doing something creepy and wrong.”

  “That’s when I thought you were our cousin,” Dallas said. “Now that I know you’re not, I heartily approve of you two.”

  “There is no us two,” Lia corrected, her desperation growing by the second. “Please don’t speak about this to anyone. Not even Poppy.”

  “But we tell each other everything.”

  “I know, but for now the fewer people who know, the better. And everything will come out in a matter of days.” Seeing Dallas was still waffling, Lia gripped her hand. “Please.”

  “Fine,” Dallas groused. “But you really should think about staying. For Paul’s sake. And yours.”

  As Lia returned to Paul, she debated whether to tell him about her conversation with Dallas. She hated to let secrets and subterfuge get between them, but worried that he would keep his distance if he discovered that his cousin had caught them. With her time in Charleston growing short, she selfishly wanted to soak up his company and if he thought his cousin knew about their deception, that would preoccupy him to the exclusion of all else. She would just have to ensure that they were more careful around his family.

  “Is everything okay?” Paul asked, his green eyes roaming her expression.

  “Fine.” Lia slid into her seat and hid her disquiet beneath a weary smile. “Just a little tired.”

  “Do you want me to take you home?”

  Home. The word sent a spike of electricity through her. She knew he meant his grandfather’s estate, but her home was a nineteen-foot camper parked north of the city. A few days from now she’d be hitting the road once more.

  “Or maybe back to your house,” she said, pushing aside all thoughts of leaving and the disquiet it aroused. “I’d love to spend some time alone with you.”

  “It’s like you read my mind,” he murmured. “Let’s go.”

  Nine

  The morning after Ryan and Zoe’s wedding, Paul was up at dawn, retracing the walk along the beach he and Lia had taken the previous night before he’d dropped her off at the Watts estate. Her mood after leaving the wedding had been reflective, but when he’d asked her what was on her mind, she’d stopped his questions with a passionate kiss.

  They’d made love for hours while the moon rose and spilled its pale light across his bedroom floor. He marveled how being in her company kept him grounded in the moment, his thoughts drifting over her soft skin, his focus locked on her fervent cries and the way her body shuddered in climax beneath him.

  He’d been loath to take her back to his grandfather’s house. Although they’d been together for hours, the time passed too quickly. He wanted to keep her in his bed. To wake up to her sweet face and bury his nose in her fragrant hair. Alone atop the tangled sheets that smelled of her perfume and their lovemaking, he’d spent the rest of a sleepless night staring at the ceiling and probing the dissatisfaction that dominated his mood.

  What became crystal clear was that he didn’t want Lia to leave. Not that night. Not in a few days. Maybe never.

  Now as he looked out at the water this morning, he flashed back to the tarot card reading. The reversed Hermit card, indicating his time of being alone was over. The Lovers in his near future. The final outcome card promising happiness and joy. But there had also been the possible outcome card of the bound woman who Lia said represented confusion and isolation. He had a choice to make. Either maintain his current priorities by giving all his time and energy to his business or take a more balanced approach and open himself to the potential of love.

  Appalled at himself for remembering all that New Age nonsense much less giving it the slightest bit of credibility, Paul returned home, showered and then sat down in his home office to lose himself in work. Although he had staff to follow through with the day-to-day business of protecting their clients’ data, Paul liked to keep his skill level up to date. As fast as they plugged one hole, the criminals found another to get through.


  The morning passed in a blur. He’d left his phone in the kitchen to avoid the temptation to call Lia. Around noon his stomach began to growl so he went into the kitchen to make some lunch.

  Ethan had messaged him, asking how the wedding had gone and inviting him for an afternoon of fishing. The offer delighted Paul. It had been a long time since he’d hung out with his brother and he missed the fun times they’d had.

  After a quick text exchange to accept, Paul headed west to James Island. Ethan lived in a sprawling four-year-old custom-built house that backed up onto Ellis Creek and offered direct access to Ashley River and Charleston Harbor. With its white siding and navy shutters, reclaimed heart pine floors, white woodwork throughout including kitchen cabinets and built-ins, the home had a more traditional style than Paul expected from Ethan.

  A mix of antiques and new furniture filled the rooms, offering a comfortable but conservative feel. Only one room had a purely masculine vibe and that was the entertainment room on the lower level. The room’s dark brown walls and red ceiling were the backdrop for a large projection screen, sports-related art and pool table with red felt.

  It was in this room Paul found his brother waiting. Because Ethan liked to entertain, the room’s location on the creek side of the garage with direct access from the driveway meant that Ethan’s friends could come and go from the party spot without traipsing through his entire house.

  “So I’ve been thinking,” Paul began, accepting the beer his brother handed him from the beverage cooler built into the wet bar.

  “When are you not thinking?” Ethan countered. He flopped onto the leather sectional and took a long pull from his bottle.

  Ignoring his brother’s jab, Paul rolled the bottle between his hands and paced. “Grady is progressing, but he’s far from back to full health.”

  Ethan’s eyebrow rose. “And?”

  “We’re due to tell everyone there’s been the mix-up with Lia’s genetic test in a few days and I’m just worried it’s too soon and that he’ll regress.” For the hundredth time Paul wished Lia hadn’t had such a profound effect on Grady’s health. If she’d never come to stay at the estate, Paul could continue to pretend that he was perfectly content, never knowing how right he felt in her company, never knowing the all-consuming hunger or the raw joy of making love to her. She’d twisted his perceptions and made him question beliefs that ruled his life. Yet he couldn’t get over the sense that she was the missing piece that made him whole.