by Jackie Braun
He sped off in a shower of gravel that had Dane hopping back to keep from being pelted. Not that it mattered. He’d already been knocked for a loop.
Regina Bellini was taken? She was off limits?
Anger came then, swift and lethal. She certainly hadn’t kissed like a woman who had already exchanged vows. She certainly hadn’t stopped him when he’d unhooked her bra or tried to remove her shirt.
Hell, no. Her hands had been right there helping his, her breathing just as ragged, her need just as raging and urgent. Then she’d had the nerve to act all aggrieved when she’d learned that Dane had a girlfriend. And, damn her, but he had felt guilty. With this very notable exception, all his dealings with the opposite sex had been based on mutual respect and honesty.
And, when it came to married women, honor. He certainly wouldn’t have had his hands all over her if he’d known she had a husband.
As Dane limped off in the direction of the nearest neighbor, he cursed Regina Bellini to perdition again. He didn’t care to be played any more than he cared to be made a fool of—and in front of Bradley Townsend of all people. The only bright spot he could see was that once he returned to Trillium, he wasn’t likely to run into her again.
Out of sight, out of mind.
CHAPTER FOUR
DANE had a million things to occupy his time, yet he sat at his desk staring out the window at the overcast sky. At least it wasn’t raining. The remainder of July and the better part of August had been unseasonably cool and wet—bad news for the resort’s bookings but a boon for its newly seeded golf course. It was still too soon for play, but guests had been allowed to take electric-powered carts along the black-topped paths for a tantalizing preview of what the following season at Saybrook’s would have to offer.
He was proud of what he, his sisters and Luke Banning had accomplished in such a short time. Already, Saybrook’s newly restored resort and soon-to-open Rebel Golf Course had been featured in newspaper articles and golfing magazines from coast to coast.
The buzz was bringing a lot of tourist traffic now that the weather had finally cleared, and that brought more work, none of which he minded. In fact, Dane welcomed the harried pace. Part of the reason he’d gladly worked himself to exhaustion for the past several weeks was he was trying to forget. Even busy, though, Regina Bellini haunted his thoughts.
Out of sight, out of mind? Hell, no. Not Ree. Although Dane felt as if he was going out of his mind, burning up with need each night as he laid awake in his bed and remembered the way she’d felt in his arms.
He’d been attracted to other women before. So, what was it about this one that made her so damned impossible to erase from his memory?
It was her sheer nerve, he decided, taking a sip from his tepid coffee. A couple of the maple trees snagged his attention outside the window. They were already starting to fire up, even though the official start of fall was weeks away. Their bright color reminded him of the lightning show the night of his accident. Nerve, he thought again. Regina had it in spades. Not the kind it took to hoist a shotgun and threaten his life. Uh-uh. The kind it took to kiss him with such contagious passion while conveniently forgetting to mention she had a husband.
He was scowling when Ali poked her head around the door to his office after a brisk knock.
“Hey, Dane.”
“What now?” he snapped.
“Something wrong?” Her brow puckered at his harsh tone and he instantly felt contrite. He wasn’t one to take out his irritation on others. Generally speaking, he wasn’t a moody person, although he had been lately, a fact both his sisters had commented on.
He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Sorry, Al. A lot on my mind.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Yet, bless her heart, even now she didn’t pry. Audra, he knew, wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily. He was thankful she was so busy with Lamaze classes and furnishing a nursery that she didn’t have the time to grill him about his breakup with Julie or his overall surliness following his accident.
“What can I do for you?” he asked in a more civil tone, throwing in a smile for good measure.
“Someone’s here to see you.”
It took an effort not to groan. Today was the official start of the long Labor Day weekend. The resort was packed with down-staters, other affluent guests from around the Midwest and even some East Coasters eager for one last getaway before the school year started back up in earnest and the weather began to turn inhospitable again.
“I don’t have any appointments scheduled.”
He had purposely left his afternoon free. He had a stack of paperwork that needed to be finished and postmarked before the end of the business day. He didn’t want to be interrupted. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know.” Ali came fully into the room now, closing the door behind her. “She wouldn’t give her name, but she said she knew you. She looks…well, nervous for some reason.”
It couldn’t be, Dane thought. Not here. Not now. And yet, he heard himself ask, “Long, dark hair, a little on the wavy side?”
Ali nodded.
“Thirtyish?”
“Uh-huh. And very attractive.”
Killer legs? But Dane kept that question to himself.
“Send her in.”
He stood as Ali left, an unpalatable blend of anger and curiosity pushing him to his feet. And then Regina Bellini walked into his office and he swore that even from across the room he could smell the subtle scent of her perfume and feel the heat from her skin.
She looked as lovely as he remembered: The heart-shaped face, the tumble of dark hair which she’d tamed with a clip, the nicely proportioned figure. Had she finally come to apologize? To offer some explanation for her completely outrageous behavior? It was galling, but Dane wanted her to. Even more galling, though, was that he still wanted her. Just looking at her, he felt it, that low tug and potent punch that he should have been well rid of by now considering how hard he had tried to exorcise it through dogged work by day and long runs along the beach each night.
“Hello, Dane.”
He unclenched his jaw long enough to nod and say, “Regina.”
She smiled, but he didn’t return it. Instead Dane came around his desk and leaned negligently against its edge. All the while, his heart tripped like a jackhammer.
“What brings you here?”
“I…” Her voice trailed off and she glanced away. When she looked at him again, though, she reminded him of the woman who had been so adamant about protecting her property when they first met. The same steely determination flecked her dark gaze. “I’m here on business,” she said and he swore her small chin jutted out in challenge.
In stark contrast to the passion and heat that had bubbled to the surface during their last encounter, though, her voice was cool and controlled as she spoke now. Even so, he detected nerves in the way she moistened her lips.
“Business. Is that so?”
“Yes. I have a proposition for you.”
The word ricocheted around in his libido for a moment before it registered that she was dressed for success in a slim-fitting black power suit whose skirt hem ended just above her knees. In place of the gun, she held a briefcase.
“Well, then, you should have made an appointment,” he replied.
“I would have, but, under the circumstances, I wasn’t sure you would have agreed to see me.”
“You would have been right.”
As he spoke, she worried her lush bottom lip, the same lip he’d once nipped with his teeth. Dane was more than annoyed to find his imagination hadn’t embellished the attraction. He’d managed to convince himself during the past several weeks that the sizzle he felt during his time with Ree hadn’t been as intense as his memory had made it out to be. Or, if it had been, it likely was the result of his near-death experience and the knot on his head.
His head was fine now. But as she stood within arm’s reach of him, looking spit-polished and professional, he st
ill wanted her. He still wanted a married woman. Knowing that, he resented her all the more.
“Well, I’m here now,” she said, tilting her head to one side in question.
Needing something to do with his hands, Dane retrieved a fountain pen from the desk blotter behind him and levered it through his fingers, a trick from his accounting days. “And I’m busy.”
Ree nodded, her gaze following the pen as it flipped over his knuckles. A pair of slim dark brows rose. “So I see.”
Dane’s fingers grew still.
“Sorry you wasted a trip over from the mainland, but then you of all people should know that folks don’t appreciate uninvited guests just dropping in.”
She tucked an errant curl behind one ear and shifted her weight to her other foot. “I’m really sorry for the way things ended that day in my kitchen. After what had gone on between us, I…I was rather surprised to discover you were engaged or seriously involved or whatever term it is that you want to use. I’m afraid I didn’t handle the situation very well.”
Anger flared so abruptly Dane nearly snapped the pricey pen in two. She still thought she had the corner on acting aggrieved? Well, he was only too happy to disabuse her of that notion right now.
“Then I’m sure you know how I felt when Townsend informed me of your marriage.”
It was petty and beneath him, but, damn, if he didn’t enjoy the way Regina’s mouth fell open in surprise and crimson splotched her cheeks. She recovered quickly enough. Under other circumstances, he might have admired her ability to take a well-deserved clip to the chin and still stand facing him with her shoulders unstooped and her nose tipped up.
“Paul and I—” she began before breaking off midsentence. She shook her head then and seemed to reconsider what she had been about to say. Finally she said simply, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself.”
Dane crossed his arms over his chest. That was it? That was all she was going to say on the subject? She offered no explanation and only a bare-bones apology.
His tone was caustic when he asked, “How far would you have allowed things to get before you remembered you were another man’s wife?”
“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I wanted to tell you, but then…”
He nodded. “Yeah, then.”
“Well, what about you? How far would you have let things get before mentioning—what was her name again?—Julie?”
Guilt nipped, but it was anger’s bite that he really felt. “It’s not the same and you damned well know it. Julie and I were never even engaged.”
Like a dog with a bone, though, Ree wasn’t giving up. “Well, committed, then. Obviously you’re in a serious relationship if everyone, including Bradley Townsend, thinks you’re headed to the altar.”
“It wasn’t a relationship recognized by the state and the Church,” he snapped. “We were just dating.”
She blinked. “Were?”
“That’s right. Past tense. It’s over,” Dane said. “I told her what happened and we decided it was time to end things and move on with our lives. Some of us try to be honest.”
“I wasn’t being dishonest intentionally,” Ree stated quietly.
“Oh? Do you often forget to mention that you’re married?”
Ree felt heat flare in her cheeks again. “It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
It had been heaven, but how could she tell him that now? How could she explain that she was in a loveless, long-over marriage to a man who preferred uncovering the past to creating a future with her? Surely telling Dane that would only make her appear more pathetic than she already felt.
Paul Ritter didn’t love her, and any tender feelings she’d had for him had long since withered and died. After those forbidden kisses with Dane, Ree could admit that she’d never enjoyed that kind of passion with her husband. What exactly did that say about the vows she’d once spoken? What did it say about Ree? She had long believed she was above the temptation that had doomed her mother. Apparently that had only been because she hadn’t encountered Dane Conlan. One evening with him and she’d all but begged him to make love to her, the consequences be damned.
She pushed those thoughts away and concentrated instead on the reason she had come. “If you could just spare a few minutes of your time. Please.”
He heaved a sigh. “Five minutes. That’s all I’ve got right now.”
It wasn’t a lot of time, but she hoped to God it would be enough to make Dane Conlan an offer he couldn’t refuse. And so without preamble, she said, “I want Saybrook’s to buy my grandmother’s house and the Peril Pointe property it sits on, with the understanding that the house cannot be razed.”
His brow furrowed and she knew her offer had caught him off guard. She hoped it also had him intrigued.
“Why are you selling?”
“The short answer is that I can’t afford the taxes any longer, and I don’t want to see it turned into another uninspired chain resort or batch of cookie-cutter condos.” She swallowed hard, embarrassed when tears stung her eyes.
“Townsend?”
Ree nodded. “And half a dozen other developers who have since knocked on my door.”
Something akin to sympathy flickered in his gaze, but his tone was implacable when he said, “Saybrook’s isn’t in the market for more property at the moment.”
Ree struggled to remain hopeful. “But will you at least consider it?”
Even though she had known Dane only briefly and he had left out the fact he had a girlfriend, she’d done some research on Saybrook’s. It wasn’t snooty, as she once had assumed. It was a top-notch resort once again thanks to the Conlans and Luke Banning. Word around town was they didn’t believe in cutting corners. They delivered quality, both in accommodations and in service. If Ree had to let the house go, she wanted it in the hands of someone who would take care of it, maybe even cherish it. She was hoping that the man who had once admired the stately Victorian’s quarter-sawed oak banister would do that.
When he said nothing, she decided to change tactics. Forget pleading, now she would deal. “I’ll offer it to you for ten percent less than what Townsend Development is offering me,” she said.
His brows rose. He was interested she decided, even though he asked blandly, “What would we want with a house on the mainland?”
“I’ve given that some thought.” Lowering herself onto one of the chairs angled in front of his desk, she flipped open her brief case. It had been a graduation gift from her grandparents, but today was the first chance she’d had to actually use it. She hoped that was a good omen. Pulling out a file, she held it to Dane, but he didn’t reach for it. He glanced meaningfully at his watch instead.
“Summarize it for me.”
“Okay. I’ve done a little research on your resort and the services and amenities you offer your guests. I think you could turn my home into a high-quality, high-demand bed-and-breakfast with a private beach. I was thinking you could call it something like Saybrook’s on the Pointe.”
If Dane’s interest was piqued by her proposal, it didn’t show. He looked…bored.
“We specialize in the unique. There are dozens of Victorian bed-and-breakfasts in town.”
“None with my view. You said so yourself,” she persisted.
“Yes. Over breakfast.”
Ree felt her color rise at the reminder, but she moistened her lips and plowed ahead. “You could offer high tea.”
“We do that here in Saybrook’s dining room.”
“The property is prime real estate. It’s…it’s prime real estate,” she repeated, running out of arguments.
Dane straightened and she knew the meeting was over even before he walked to the door and opened it for her. “I’ll run it by my sisters and Luke and get back to you.”
She wanted to merely nod and walk out, keeping some of her pride, but desperation forced her to ask: “When do you think that might be?”
He shrugged. “We’re a little
busy right now. A month, give or take.”
“I need an answer sooner than that.” She cleared her throat. “My taxes are due…soon.”
“That’s not my problem.”
Regina sucked in a breath and expelled it slowly. “No. It’s not your problem,” she agreed. “It’s mine. Well, thank you for your time.”
After she’d gone, Dane closed his eyes and slumped against the doorjamb. He’d thought it would feel good to be the one yanking the rug out from under her feet this time. Why did he feel like he was the one who’d just landed on his rear?
Then matters got even more complicated when he opened his eyes to find his sisters standing in the hallway staring at him.
“Who was that?” Audra asked.
He straightened and on a shrug, said, “No one of importance.”
“What did she want?” This from Ali.
“Nothing.”
“Hmm. Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Audra tapped one neatly manicured finger against her lips. “No one of importance stopped by for nothing.”
“That’s right,” he snapped.
“And yet you still have your boxers in a knot. Very interesting.”
“Let it go, Aud,” he warned softly.
She merely grinned. “Let what go, big brother?”
Dane walked back into his office on a curse. “I’ve got work to do,” he said before closing the door on his sisters’ smiling faces.
Dane didn’t want to think about Ree, but he stewed over her and her dilemma for the remainder of the afternoon.
Not my problem, he’d told her, and it wasn’t. But it might be good business. That’s the only reason he was thinking about her offer, he assured himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d looked so damned desperate and heartbroken when she’d left.
So that evening he invited his sisters and their husbands over for an impromptu barbecue. They were just finishing up a platter of ribs when he mentioned Ree’s proposition.
After he outlined the particulars of the deal, Audra asked, “So Nobody of Importance wants us to buy her house?”
