His phone rang in the midafternoon. It was Darius.
“I’ve found her.”
“Great. Tell me where she is.”
“I think you need a plan. What are you going to do when you see her?” Darius asked.
“Tell her that she can’t leave again and that she’s mine.”
“That’s a horrible plan. Women need finesse,” Darius said. “Stay in your office. I’m on my way over there.”
Darius hung up before Lance could argue. Mitch walked into his office ten minutes later.
“What are you doing?” Mitch asked.
Lance had been pacing since Darius’s call. “Waiting for Darius. He found Kate but he thinks…He’s right I need a plan.”
“What are you going to do?” Mitch asked.
Lance knew there was only one thing he could do at this point. He loved Kate and he wanted her to be his wife. “I’m going to tell her we are getting married.”
Mitch nodded. “It makes sense. But I think you need to do it right this time. Kate’s loved you forever.”
“How do you know that?” Lance asked.
“Everyone knows that. I think you’re the reason she stayed with us in the lean years. You’ve always been the man for her.”
“I have?” Lance felt like he should have noticed this. No wonder Kate had reacted the way she had to his engagement to another woman. “I want to make this engagement the stuff of her dreams.”
“Do you know what her dreams are?” Mitch asked.
He didn’t. But he did know that Kate appreciated romantic gestures. The idea came to him then. He’d ask her to marry him in the formal dining room of the Texas Cattleman’s Club. He would fill the space with candles and flowers and make it as romantic as he could.
He wanted Kate to know from the moment she stepped inside that he loved her. He wanted her to feel like the years she’d spent waiting for him to find her were worth it.
Because they were to him.
“Will you do me a favor?” he asked Mitch.
“Another favor,” Darius said from the door. “You better hope we don’t all call them in on the same day.”
“Good, you’re here. Mitch?”
“Sure, I’ll help you out,” Mitch said.
“Great. This is what I need you to do.”
He told his brother and his best friend his plan, knowing that this was the way a man should get engaged. He should have his friends and family by his side, not be alone in a hotel room in a strange city.
Mitch agreed to go get Kate and bring her to the Cattleman’s Club. Darius agreed to go get the ring that Lance had ordered from a downtown jeweler. And Lance went to the club to make sure every detail was perfect when Kate arrived.
Kate worked out in the Ritz’s exercise room and then grabbed a bottle of water before heading for the elevator. She’d needed to get away, but going home to her parents hadn’t seemed right. She really didn’t want to travel anywhere so she’d packed a bag and come here.
She could be pampered, and order room service and forget about Lance Brody—except it wasn’t working. Not at all. She’d woken from her sleep missing his arms around her.
She couldn’t sleep without his chest under her cheek and the soothing beating of his heart in her ear. She wondered if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life in letting him go.
But at the same time, she knew there was no future for them unless she’d stood her ground.
And so here she was, on her ground and alone.
Being by herself wasn’t a big deal, but being lonely was. She felt bereft, like she didn’t know who she was or what she wanted.
Kate waited for the elevator feeling more out of place than she ever had before. And it wasn’t the opulent surroundings that made her feel that way. It was her own emotions.
Lance had been her constant for so long, and a big part of her had believed that he always would be. She didn’t know who she was if she didn’t love Lance. And that was a big part of her problem. Getting over him was going to take longer than a week and she wondered if, having loved him and been his lover, she ever could.
The elevator arrived and she got in, pushing the number for her floor. When she arrived there, she got off and saw a man standing in the hallway near her room.
From the back he was almost as tall as Lance and for a minute her heart stopped beating, thinking it might be him. But then she realized how silly that was. Lance didn’t know where she was.
As she got closer, she recognized the man as Mitch. He was on the phone but looked up as she approached.
He disconnected his call and put his phone in his pocket.
“I bet you are wondering why I am here.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Can we talk in your room?”
She nodded and moved past him to her door. She put her keycard in and then led the way into the bedroom. Mitch sat down in one of the guest chairs and she sat on the bed.
“Lance asked me to come.”
“Why?”
“He needs to see you.”
“And he couldn’t come himself,” Kate said. “You are your brother’s emissary a lot.” But she was elated. Lance had taken the only step he could to make their relationship work.
“I know, and I think it’s time I stopped speaking for him,” Mitch said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do back in DC to fix the mess his broken engagement caused.”
Kate nibbled her lower lip. “I’m sorry, Mitch.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. Lance was always the man for you.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know about that any longer. I’m not sure where we stand.”
“That’s why he sent me here. He needs to talk to you face to face and since you weren’t answering his calls, he figured an invitation from me would serve him better than another voice mail.”
“I didn’t mean to be childish,” Kate said. “I just needed time to think. I don’t know if you can understand this, Mitch, but when you love someone the way I do Lance, it makes you weak.”
“Give Lance a chance to make it up to you,” Mitch said. “Whatever he did to cause a rift between you, I know he’s committed to making it right.”
“I’m not sure he can. I want things from him…I guess you don’t need to know this.”
“I don’t suppose I do,” Mitch said. “But if you need to talk then don’t stop.”
She shook her head. She didn’t need to talk to anyone except for Lance. “Where is he?”
“At the Texas Cattleman’s Club in Somerset. You are invited to join him for dinner in the main dining room.”
“Okay, I don’t know where the club is.”
Mitch laughed. “I’m going to escort you there.”
“That’s okay, Mitch. I can find my own way. Just leave the address for me.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “What time do I need to be there?”
“At six.”
Mitch left and Kate took a shower. She got dressed, taking her time with her hair and makeup. She hadn’t brought a formal dress with her but a quick call to the boutique downstairs fixed that. Soon she was dressed in a stunningly gorgeous cocktail dress and sexy heels.
And as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she realized that for the first time the outer woman matched the inner one. Regardless of what Lance said to her tonight, she was finally at peace with who she was.
Eleven
Kate gave her keys to the valet at the club and followed his directions to take the stairs to the entryway. She held her evening bag in one hand and fiddled nervously with the bracelet on her wrist.
She walked slowly up the steps in the heat of the Texas summer evening, feeling the weight of her hair against her bare back as she moved. A doorman opened the door for her as she approached and she smiled her thanks.
“Good evening, ma’am. May I help you?”
“I’m here for dinner with Lance Brody.”
The man smiled at her
. “Of course, right this way.”
He led her to the left of the anteroom and then stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The club was a converted mansion and though Kate had heard about it before, this was the first time she’d been inside.
She noticed red rose petals on the stairs in a path.
“Follow the petals, ma’am.”
She did, holding on to the banister for support as she climbed the stairs. She was speechless at the amount of planning Lance had done for this night. And she had a feeling that no matter what he said, she wasn’t going to be able to walk away from him.
She got to the top of the stairs and saw Darius waiting for her.
“Hello, Kate. You look very nice tonight.”
“Hi, Darius. What are you doing here?”
“Another favor for Lance. That boy is going to owe me big-time.”
Darius offered her his arm and escorted her to the main dining room. The room was lit only by candles, and fresh flowers had been placed on every table.
Darius led her to the table in the center of the room that had been set for dinner. He seated her.
“Lance will be here in a few moments. He wanted you to have this.”
Darius handed her a white envelope. Her name was scrawled across the outside in Lance’s spidery writing.
Darius walked away as she slid her finger under the flap of the envelope to open it. She pulled out a card which had a picture of the two of them from the Fourth.
Inside was a simple message.
I’m sorry. Your love is a precious gift and I’m blessed to have it.
She put the card down and turned to see Lance approaching. He wore a suit and looked so good in it. He was so handsome and sexy that she felt tears burn the back of her eyes because she knew that Lance Brody was her man, that he belonged to her.
“Hello, Kate.”
“Thank you for the card,” she said.
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry things got out of hand the way they did.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I think I expected you to catch up to all the feelings I’d had for you for so long. But that was expecting too much.”
Lance reached down and pulled her to her feet. He kissed her softly on her lips. “No, it wasn’t.”
He hugged her close in his arms and whispered in her ear. “I love you, Kate Thornton. I don’t know how I didn’t recognize it before this. But I can’t live without you by my side.”
She pulled back to look into his eyes. She needed to make sure that he believed what he was telling her, and she saw his love reflected there. She hugged him even closer and closed her eyes, afraid that she was dreaming this entire thing.
But Lance’s arms around her were solid and real, and his scent filled every breath she took.
“Have a seat, Kate,” he said.
She sat down and Lance got on his knee next to her. He took her hands in his and lifted them to his mouth to kiss them.
“Will you marry me, Kate?”
She stared down at him for a nanosecond before she said, “Yes!”
She stood up and Lance did, too. Kate threw herself in his arms and hugged him close to her, knowing that she’d found the man of her dreams.
Mitch and Darius congratulated them both, and Lance decided that they shouldn’t wait to get married. He wanted to go by private jet to Vegas that very night.
“I can’t get married without my best friend,” Kate said.
“That’s why I called her. Becca?”
Becca stepped into the room, smiling at her. “I’ve even invited your parents.”
Since Lance had thought of everything, there was nothing else to do but say yes.
Lance stood in the wedding chapel at the Bellagio Hotel, waiting for his bride. His brother was standing next to him, and his best friend was seated next to Kate’s parents.
He was filled with such joy and love for Kate that he knew this was the right thing to do. This was the way a man should feel when he thinks of his fiancée. And he knew that he’d asked the right woman to marry him this time.
The minister that they’d hired for the event smiled at him, and Lance felt a sense of rightness in his world that had long been missing. He and Mitch had been lucky in business and had the devil’s own luck when it came to finding new wells, but this was the first time he’d felt lucky in love.
The music started, and Darius and Kate’s parents stood up. Becca Huntington walked down the aisle first but then Kate stepped out and he stopped breathing. She was exquisite, this woman who was going to be his wife.
She walked slowly toward him and Lance couldn’t see anyone but her. The minister went through the ceremony but Lance was just waiting for the end, waiting to kiss her and claim her as his for now and forever.
They exchanged I do’s.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the minister said. “You may kiss your bride.”
Lance looked down into Kate’s face and saw the love shining there in her eyes. He took her mouth with his and kissed her, showing her how happy she’d made him and what this evening meant to him.
Darius and Mitch clapped as they made their union official.
“I love you, Mrs. Lance Brody,” Lance said.
Kate beamed at him. “Well, it’s about time,” she said, pulling him into another kiss.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3562-9
TAMING THE TEXAS TYCOON
Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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††King of Hearts
††King of Hearts
††King of Hearts
††King of Hearts
††King of Hearts
†What Happens in Vegas…
†What Happens in Vegas…
†What Happens in Vegas…
**The Mistresses
**The Mistresses
**The Mistresses
*Sons of Privilege
*Sons of Privilege
*Sons of Privilege
§Moretti’s Legacy
§Moretti’s Legacy
§Moretti’s Legacy
Taming the Texas Tycoon Page 10
