Tempting The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 13)

by Christina Tetreault

  At the sound, he turned away from the fireplace, a bunch of kindling in his hand. “Something wrong?”

  Yeah, I love you. If she told him and he didn’t feel the same, it’d make the next several months of living together awkward. Perhaps at some point she’d risk it and tell him the truth but not tonight.

  “Just wishing we bought some Schnauzer doodle cookies. They looked good.” A little humor was just the thing to lighten her thoughts.

  “We can go back tomorrow and grab a Boxer Biscotti too. Or you can order online and have them shipped to you.”

  “Maybe we should wait until you have a dog to feed them to,” she suggested.

  Josh went back to arranging the wood while she focused on the chess pieces. If she had any hope of winning, she needed to keep her mind on the game, not Josh’s cute ass or the way she felt about him. Her cell phone on the coffee table rang before she settled on her next move.

  A glimpse at the screen confirmed the caller. “It’s my sister.”

  Had her mom enlisted Juliette’s help in convincing her to postpone the wedding because of the possible storm? Courtney dismissed the notion as quickly as it came. If her mom had enlisted anyone’s help, it would be her brother’s. Before she picked up the device, Josh’s phone rang too.

  After checking it, Josh looked back at her. “Be right back. It’s Ben.”

  She didn’t know who Ben was, but with Josh gone for the moment, she’d see what her sister wanted.

  “Welcome to the club.” Juliette skipped a proper hello.

  “Most people start a conversation by saying hi. Some even ask how the other person is doing,” Courtney replied. “What club are you welcoming me to?”

  “The being interviewed by Aimee Trainor one. Your little heart-to-heart was on the show last night.”

  Courtney rolled her eyes. That was one club she didn’t care to be a part of.

  “My favorite part was your response when she brought up Josh’s past. Reminding her of how similar Trent had been before meeting Addie was brilliant. It really drove your point home.”

  She was glad Juliette approved. At the time she hadn’t considered how Trent might feel about having his past brought up. If she could redo the interview, she would’ve left his name out of it. “Since when do you watch her show?”

  “Usually I don’t, but Tory called and let me know about it. She saw it while at the airport. I couldn’t resist checking it out on the website.”

  On the positive side, Courtney doubted Trent had seen it. Her cousin detested anything and everything about the Star Insider. His wife never watched it either, so unless someone told him, he’d never know she mentioned him Thursday night.

  “What are you up to tonight?” Juliette asked, thankfully moving away from the interview. “Allison arrived this morning, and Leah’s in Providence. I thought we could have a girls’ night out since you don’t want a bachelorette party. The four of us can spend the night in Boston. Check out the Excalibur.”

  She loved her sister, but their ideas of a fun night out were vastly different. Even if Courtney was around, she might have come up with an excuse to avoid going out with Juliette and their cousins, because dance clubs weren’t her favorite places. She visited them occasionally with her sister or her friends. Often she was ready to leave after about an hour or so.

  “Josh and I are up in Bar Harbor until Tuesday.”

  “Oh. As in Bar Harbor, Maine? What are you doing up there?”

  Unless it involved a tropical beach location, her sister preferred to be in and around the city. While Bar Harbor might have a downtown area, it wasn’t anything like downtown Boston or New York.

  “Josh has a house up here.”

  “Really? That seems like an unusual spot for him to own a home. Anyway, then I won’t see you until the wedding. I’m heading back to New York on Tuesday for a few days to take care of some things. I’ll be back sometime on Friday afternoon. The wedding is still on, right? Mom’s all worried about the storm we might be getting. When I saw her yesterday, she said she would talk to you about postponing.”

  “She called. And Josh and I decided to wait until Sunday night and see what the forecast looks like.” Courtney watched Josh enter the room. Before his cell phone rang, he’d been smiling. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but he wasn’t frowning either. He simply looked deep in thought.

  “Either way, I’ll call you.” Or maybe she’d send out a group text message to the entire family, letting them know whether or not the wedding was on. She’d worry about it once they decided. “Have a safe drive back to New York.” After ending the call, she turned the ringer off on her phone. If anyone called, they could leave her a message.

  “Was Juliette calling to tell you about the weather too?” Josh asked as he finished arranging the wood and lit a match, then sat down on the other side of the coffee table.

  Courtney shook her head, even though Josh’s attention was focused on the flames and not her. “She wanted to share her thoughts on my interview. The Star Insider aired it today.”

  Clearly, something other than their chess game or next weekend’s weather was on his mind. She watched his face and waited. When several seconds passed and he remained silent, she spoke up. “Who’s Ben?”

  Josh exhaled and looked at her. “He’s my agent.”

  “What did he want?”

  “To talk about a role. The studio is doing a sequel to Over The Edge. I already told Ben and the producers I’m not interested in doing it. This is the second time he’s tried to change my mind. He’s not happy I’m not taking on a new project for a while.”

  His answer didn’t jive with his apparent mood change. “Was that all he wanted?”

  “Yeah.” Standing, he walked toward the fireplace. “But while I was on the phone, I got a text message from Naomi. She wants to meet on Monday.”

  Yep, that explained the change in Josh’s mood. “What did you tell her?”

  Raking a hand across his face, he walked back to where he’d been sitting. “Nothing yet. My first instinct was to ask when and where. I even started to type that back. But I decided to wait and see what my lawyer thinks first. After I talk to David, I’ll answer her.”

  “She just asked to see you. She didn’t mention why?” If she were in Naomi’s position, she would’ve provided a reason for such a meeting.

  “Nope. She didn’t mention the custody agreement or our lawyers. She only asked to see me.”

  Talk about frustrating. And if Josh replied asking why, his ex-girlfriend would know he’d read the message, meaning she’d expect an answer to her request before Josh spoke his lawyer. “Do you think David will get back to you soon?”

  It was a Saturday, and people had lives. For all she knew, David might have children and spend his weekends coaching their basketball teams or attending gymnastic competitions.

  “Don’t know. On the weekends sometimes he responds right away and other times it takes hours. He’s got three sons and coaches their hockey teams.” Josh retook his seat across from her. “Either way, I’ll probably hear from him sometime today.”

  For Josh’s sake, she hoped his lawyer called him sooner rather than later.

  “Assuming he doesn’t tell me it’s a bad idea, I’ll meet with her.”

  She understood why the lawyer might advise against it or perhaps suggest Josh only meet with her if both their lawyers were present. “And if he recommends you don’t see her, what are you going to tell her?” He couldn’t ignore the text message indefinitely.

  “Not sure exactly,” he admitted, shaking his head. “But we should probably plan to leave tomorrow instead of Tuesday. I’m sorry.”

  “We can come back here some other time. Maybe Adalynn can come with us.” Much like at his condo in Boston, one of the bedrooms here was clearly intended for his daughter. Located across the hall from the master suite, the room was painted lilac and contained a toy store’s worth of stuffed animals and a large barn complete with plastic horses.


  “Yeah. I know,” Josh replied.

  Whether they could come back didn’t change the fact that Josh would rather stay here and enjoy having Courtney all to himself. But if Naomi wanted a meeting, he couldn’t ignore the request. Too much was at risk. Her decision to seek sole custody had happened with no warning. It was anyone’s guess why she wanted to see him. She couldn’t make any changes to the temporary custody agreement in place without going before a judge, so that was out. He’d invited her and Adalynn to the wedding because he wanted his daughter there—not that he expected them to come. Naomi wouldn’t need to see him to tell him they wouldn’t be there.

  “Check.” Courtney moved her bishop into place.

  He should have seen that coming. If he’d been paying closer attention, he would have. But since he’d read Naomi’s text, he couldn’t think about much else. “You got lucky.” Josh moved his king out of danger. Even though he hadn’t heard his phone, Josh pulled the device from his pocket and checked for a text message from David.

  Nothing. Still. What the hell is taking you so long? If his lawyer didn’t respond soon, he’d call him again.

  “Are there updates on next weekend’s weather?” she asked.

  He switched over to the weather app and opened the link for the extended forecast. “Hasn’t changed.”

  “Figures.” Courtney’s hand went toward her knight, but then she pulled it back. “Maybe—”

  The ding alerting him to a new message cut off the rest of her statement. “David says meeting with Naomi is up to me. He doesn’t see any harm in it.” He pulled up the text from Naomi prepared to ask when and where Monday. Like earlier, he paused. “What do you think?” Not only did he value her opinion but, unlike him in this situation, she could make a decision without her emotions getting involved.

  She looked up long enough to answer him. “Go see her.”

  Josh hit Send.

  Courtney propped her chin on her left hand while she studied the board, drawing his attention to the ruby masquerading as an engagement ring on her finger. Not that he expected it to happen, but if a miracle occurred on Monday and Naomi announced she’d changed her mind, how would Courtney want to proceed? She’d agreed to help him so he could get joint custody back. If they settled the matter, he no longer needed her help. She might call off the wedding. He’d seen plenty of acquaintances do it. He’d even seen some go back and forth from being engaged to not being engaged. Mark Walden, an actor he’d worked with on two films, and Selena Cruise had broken off their engagement twice before finally getting married. Three months later, they filed for divorce. Both times Mark and Selena called it quits, the media had a field day speculating on the reasons. He’d rather avoid that if possible for several reasons. But Courtney might be willing to tolerate the attention to avoid having to file for a divorce later.

  Or maybe not? She valued her family’s opinion. What would they think if she canceled less than a week before the wedding?

  It doesn’t matter. Whatever did or didn’t happen on Monday, he intended to do everything he could to keep Courtney in his life permanently.

  Fifteen

  Courtney had checked the weather more times since her mom’s call on Friday night than she normally did in a month. Each time she did, she hoped for an update stating the nor’easter would only bring heavy rains or it wouldn’t hit them at all. After all the rushed planning, she had no desire to reschedule everything. As of this morning, it appeared the weather gods didn’t care about what she wanted. Fingers crossed that something had changed since then.

  During the drive back from Maine, she’d refrained from using her phone to log on to the internet. Reading in a moving car usually made her nauseous. She couldn’t use that as an excuse any longer. So while Josh brought their overnight bags to the bedroom, she removed her laptop from her briefcase.

  After powering on the device, she brought up the website for Channel 10 news. She didn’t have to click on the menu link in the top right-hand corner to bring up the forecast. It remained the top story on the channel’s homepage. “Okay, meteorologist Belinda Fredericks, give me some good news.” She pressed the play button on the screen.

  Unfortunately, she got the opposite. The meteorologist predicted the storm would arrive late Friday night and continue throughout the day Saturday. At the moment, the storm team at the news channel expected winds up to or greater than 35 mph and anywhere from two to three feet of snow. Before ending her report, Belinda recommended everyone make sure they were prepared for the weekend storm and the likely power outages it would cause throughout the area.

  With a groan, Courtney rubbed her temples as a mental list of everything she needed to change, rather than a list of things they might want to stock up on from the store, formed. No doubt about it, tomorrow would be a busy day.

  “What’s the latest?” Josh entered the kitchen and went straight to the refrigerator.

  “Not good.” She accepted the bottle of cranberry lime seltzer water and twisted off the cap. “Lots of snow and blizzard-like conditions all starting late Friday night. I don’t think we really have a choice. Postponing makes the most sense.”

  She sipped her drink. She’d call her parents first, followed by Scott and Paige. Then she would try calling her uncles, starting with Uncle Mark since he was conducting the ceremony. After that, she’d send a group text message to the rest of her family and the handful of friends she’d invited. Tomorrow, she’d contact the chef at Cliff House, followed by everyone from the florist to the band. Talk about a major pain in the butt.

  Josh lowered the bottle from his lips as he sat down next to her. “Must be the day for bad news. My mom called while I was in the other room. She’s already in town. Arrived earlier this afternoon.”

  They’d discussed his mom only once. He’d admitted that the word diva was one way to describe her. Since he’d shared that he didn’t want his mom at the wedding, Courtney assumed they didn’t have a close relationship and never mentioned her. Instead, she inquired about his dad and younger sister, neither of whom she’d met.

  “She wanted to come by tonight and meet you. I told her we have plans with your cousin,” Josh explained while he peeled the label off his bottle. “I’m not up for a visit with her tonight. She insisted on tomorrow instead, even suggested you invite your parents to join us.” He crumbled the label into a ball and raised the bottle toward his mouth. “If you want, I can give her another excuse when I call to tell her the wedding won’t be happening this weekend. I’m fine with that.”

  She’d met plenty of divas. One more wouldn’t make a difference. “Nah. Let her come.” Courtney picked up her cell. “I’ll call Mom now and let her know about the weekend. I’ll invite her and Dad to come over tomorrow.”

  Josh put his hand over Courtney’s before she pulled up her mom’s contact information. “How do you feel about me inviting Evan and Shannon tomorrow?” His sister had arrived in the city yesterday and was staying with Evan. And the more people around, the less attention his mom could send Courtney’s way.

  “Sure.”

  While Courtney called her mom, he sent off text messages to his siblings. He’d hoped Courtney would say another time would be better. During their conversation, Josh had toyed with telling his mom they were booked solid all week. But knowing his mom, she’d ignore him and show up at their door anyway. She’d done it numerous times. When she visited, he preferred as much warning as possible so he could get his head in the right place—an impossible feat tonight so he’d lied when she asked about coming over. All day his thoughts had gone back and forth from why Naomi wanted to meet with him to whether the wedding would happen on Saturday. At least he had the answer to the second question. All things considered, postponing the wedding was the logical decision, even if he hated it.

  Tapping his fingers against the countertop, he watched as Courtney shared the news with her mom. Her hair hung loose, and she was wearing a dark red sweater. The combination brought him bac
k to the first time he saw her sitting by the pool. That afternoon she’d been wearing a modest crimson bathing suit, and her hair had hung past her bare shoulders. He remembered thinking she reminded him of a sexy librarian. Courtney wasn’t the type he usually went after; actually, his usual type had been sitting at the table next to her when she’d caught his full attention. It hadn’t strayed once since then either. Even during the short time between their last night together in Hawaii and the afternoon she’d walked into his brother’s office, no one else had interested him. Instead, his thoughts had routinely traveled back to her.

  She kept her conversation short. “Mom and Dad are busy tomorrow.” Rather than put the device down, she took a sip of water as she brought up another contact. “I’m going to call Scott and Juliette to let them know. While I’m at it, I’ll call my uncles too. Everyone else can get a text message.”

  While she did that, he’d watch some television and send some messages himself. “I’ll be in the family room.”

  He got responses to all the messages at the same time. His brother, minus his girlfriend, and his sister would join him for their mom’s visit. It didn’t surprise him that Gemma wasn’t coming. Evan hadn’t introduced their mom to his girlfriend yet, and he planned to avoid it for as long as possible. The texts from his dad and aunt were similar to each other. Both had been following the weather and had expected they’d postpone the wedding. They’d said to just let them know when it would be.

  Josh scrolled through the various I Love Lucy episodes. They’d finished season one and started on season two sometime last week. Halfway down the list, the title “Vacation From Marriage” caught his attention. He remembered the episode. The characters had agreed to temporarily live as if they were all single again. By the end of the show, both couples had reached the conclusion they were happier married. He’d never pictured himself married. Even when he’d been with Naomi, his longest relationship to date, thoughts of proposing had not surfaced. He’d cared about her, but he’d never had any desire to marry her. And after dating as many women as he had, he’d guessed love wasn’t in the cards for him.