Kai laughed as he accepted his drink. “You have a point there. But I’ve been cool, I swear. Except for the first time, with the fireplace,” he corrected himself. Then thought some more. “And the time with the antlers.”
Jake threw up a hand. “I do not need to know about the time with the antlers. Sounds kinky. Have you done any other poking around? Online, say?”
“No.” Kai made a face. “She has such a common name I didn’t see the point. I did check the resumé she gave Max, and her drivers license. Everything looked legit. But maybe I should take it deeper.”
“Personally, I think you should just talk to her. But if it would put your mind at ease, yeah. Google her. Stalk her online. What could go wrong?”
Kai laughed and took a slug of his Scotch. There was nothing wrong with googling someone. Everyone did it. He’d once googled himself, just to see what came up. If Nicole had nothing to hide, she wouldn’t mind if he googled her. And if she did have something to hide, he wanted to know about it. For Max’s sake, of course. Not because he was more and more intrigued by her.
He spent the rest of the evening flirting with a botanist studying high-altitude wildflowers. After he stumbled out of the Last Chance into the chill of midnight, he walked a few blocks to clear his head.
Flirting had been fun, but it hadn’t chased Nicole from his thoughts. She was always there, percolating in the background with her clear blue eyes and her hopeful smile.
He pulled on his knit hat to keep the chill off as he walked. Quiet reigned in the little collection of homes that formed Rocky Peak. At this hour, everyone was snuggled into bed. Windows dark, vehicles tucked away. It was so quiet his own footsteps seemed obnoxiously loud. The only thing noisier was the stunning star scape suspended overhead. The sheer brilliance of the stars spoke as loudly as a marching band. Here we are. Glory be. Sing back to us.
Shaking off the silly thought, he spotted a bench in the little playground next to the elementary school. After he’d settled into it and his head had stopped spinning, he pulled out his phone. He didn’t have to wait to google Nicole. He could do it right here on his iPhone.
After sorting through many wrong Nicole Davidsons, he finally found someone that matched the Nicole he knew. She’d gone to elementary school in Bellingham, where she’d won a spelling bee at the age of eleven. There was even a photo of her with her trophy and her missing two front teeth.
She’d graduated from college in Eugene, Oregon. With honors. So far so good.
Then something sad. Her mother had died of cancer. The obituary was very brief and mentioned two surviving children, Nicole and her sister Bridget. Nothing about a spouse.
Kai tried to remember if Nicole had ever said anything about a sister, but drew a blank. Not that she had any obligation to talk about her sister. Still, it seemed odd, considering all the family stuff they’d discussed.
From his fuzzy brain he dredged up the name of her fiancé. Roger. What would happen if he googled Nicole and Roger? He snickered as he typed it in. Probably not much.
Boy, did he get that wrong. He quickly pulled up dozens of gossip items, an engagement announcement, and a thorough writeup of their breakup.
Roger was Roger Vance. He ran one of the country’s biggest hedge funds. Wealthy as fuck. He was thirty years older than Nicole. And there was tons of speculation about their relationship—none of it favorable to Nicole. She was painted as a clever, working-class gold-digger who’d wormed her way onto his fancy Queen Anne property and then lured him into her bed. She was referred to as “arm-candy,” as a fortune-hunter, as a wannabe trophy wife.
Shit. Maybe his “worst case scenario” had been right all along. Maybe she was looking for another meal ticket. It had almost worked with Roger Vance. If they’d married, she would be worth millions now. Instead she was laboring as a home health aide for a cranky old man. A cranky old man who just happened to own a lodge worth millions. Sure, the lodge had fallen on hard times. But that didn’t change its value.
Hadn’t she asked if Max had ever dated anyone else? Maybe she’d been digging for clues!
Jesus. What was going on here?
10
A call from Sunny Grove woke Nicole up at dawn. Birdie had gotten into a food fight with Lulu at dinner, then smuggled some cookies back to bed with her and launched a sneak attack in the middle of the night.
Nicole heard the smothered amusement in the attendant’s voice, but apparently Lulu hadn’t thought it was at all funny.
“She’s requesting an immediate transfer.”
“Oh no.”
“Yes. And you know what a hard time we’ve had finding roommates for Birdie. We’re going to have to switch her to a private room for a while.”
Nicole stuck her phone under her pillow and let out a not-so-silent scream. Why did Birdie always have to get into trouble? Private rooms were so much more expensive than shared rooms. Crap.
When she’d gotten a grip on herself, she brought the phone out again. “Is there any way to talk to Lulu about it? I’m sure Birdie didn’t mean any harm. Lulu must know that.”
“Maybe after a few days but right now her parents are insisting on an immediate move.”
“What about another roommate? She gets lonely on her own.”
“She definitely does better in a shared room,” the attendant agreed. “We’ll see who else moves in, maybe there will be a better match. Sorry, Nicole. I know this makes things tougher for you.”
About twice as tough, to be exact. Birdie’s disability payments only covered a certain amount, and she’d always had to supplement with her own income.
At least she still had some of the money from Roger’s diamond engagement ring. He’d allowed her to keep it—probably out of guilt. She’d sold it and put all the money into an account meant for Birdie.
Sometimes she missed the way it made her hand sparkle. Like a fairy wand granting wishes.
“Okay,” she said, resigned. “Maybe being on her own will convince Birdie she should be nicer to her roomies.”
“She tries.”
“I know she does.” Now she felt guilty for blaming Birdie for her mischievous nature. She did try…until she forgot to try. “Please keep a close eye on her. If she starts getting depressed, let me know and I’ll come down for a visit. I’m overdue anyway.”
“Will do. Take care, Nicole.”
Nicole hung up and lay back in bed. Mornings were always chilly in the dorm, and she loved snuggling under the duvet while the sky slowly lightened outside the window. Staring up at the ceiling, she traced patterns between the knot holes in the unfinished planks.
Oh Birdie. She could barely remember a time when Birdie hadn’t been her three-o’clock-in-the-morning worry. Because of Birdie, she’d become interested in nursing. Because of Birdie, she’d assumed the role of guardian and responsible adult after their mother died.
Other things in life never seemed as dire. Job, school, relationships, even Roger—she’d never obsessed over those things the way she did over how best to care for Birdie.
And most of the time, she worried that she was getting it all wrong.
Did Birdie need special treatment or did she need to feel normal? Would she be better off at home or in a facility like Sunny Grove? Should she be surrounded with people or kept more sheltered?
Why was there no instruction manual for situations like this?
Birdie herself was no help. Every time Nicole asked her opinion, she agreed happily with anything. She didn’t think beyond her present moment. It was part of the damage her brain had sustained.
Sometimes, during Birdie’s most frustrating moments, Nicole had to remind herself. At least she’s still with me.
Without Birdie, she’d be utterly alone.
The worst part was that everyone had an opinion, and they were all over the map. Different doctors offered different advice, as did therapists and counselors and social workers. Mom had insisted that she live at home, but after she’d died, Nicole couldn’t aff
ord to pay for live-in help, so Birdie had moved into a facility like Sunny Grove, but not as nice.
Then…Roger.
He was like a fairy tale prince swooping in and solving her biggest worry in life. But it was all bullshit. She and Birdie had moved into Roger’s Queen Anne mansion for three months, until Roger decided Birdie had to go.
“You can’t just kick her out!” Nicole had screamed at him—the first and only time she’d lost her cool with him.
“Of course I fucking can. It’s my house. She keeps chasing the cat with her wheelchair.”
“She’s just having fun. She’s not doing any harm.”
“She comes into my office whenever she feels like it.”
“Lock the door.”
“I shouldn’t have to. She should know better.”
“She has brain damage, Roger.”
“Which is why she needs to be somewhere with doctors around.”
That was when he’d found Sunny Grove, which was extremely expensive but at least he paid for it. Until Nicole ended their engagement and started paying the fees herself.
Birdie was on the waiting list for a more affordable facility, but who knew how long that would take. A private room at Sunny Grove would drain her savings in no time.
Nicole did a quick calculation. The money from the engagement ring would run out in three months. Three months.
She had to make this sale go through. She had to get Max, and now Kai, to want to sell the lodge. When Felicity arrived with the offer from the Summit Group, they had to be primed to see the benefits of a big investment in the property they’d held for generations.
A pang in her jaw made her realize that her entire body was tense from the stressful direction of her thoughts.
She forced her muscles to relax, one by one.
Stress reduction.
I have my stress handled.
She smiled as Kai’s voice filtered into her mind. She smiled a lot when she was with Kai. There was something so direct about him, so strong and magnetic, that she sometimes forgot to be on her guard around him.
She thought of Kai holding an armful of plastic deer head, looking up at her with that outraged expression, and laughed. He’d caught the deer, and she had no doubt he would have caught her, too, if she’d fallen off the ladder. He made her feel safe, which made no sense because she knew he still saw her as a possible threat.
But that was because of his protective nature—something she appreciated. She didn’t mind him looking out for his father and his family’s legacy. She admired that.
Too bad it made them enemies.
Nestling deeper under the covers, she drifted into a half-dreaming, half-waking state in which Kai strode toward her across the wide lawn of the lodge. His t-shirt clung to his rippling muscles. It must have been raining because the wet shirt was completely see-through, revealing each flexing ridge and valley of muscle. His stormy eyes smoldered with heat as he closed in on her. He wanted her. He wanted to throw her across a bed and do incredibly naughty things to her. He wanted to make her scream. He wanted to get her wild and wet and trembling.
And she wanted all those things too. And more.
Then he was sweeping her off her feet, his hot gaze burning into her, causing her to melt into his arms. His mouth hovered over hers, sensual and tempting. Kai’s kiss would be a whirlwind sweeping away all her boundaries, her fears, her worries. Whisking her to a place of pure sensation.
No.
She shook herself awake and sat up in bed.
No.
This was nothing but a dangerous fantasy. She’d done the whole “white knight riding to the rescue” thing. That was Roger’s whole pitch—‘I’ll take care of you. You don’t have to worry about a thing.’ But it had been a huge mistake. No man was going to swoop in and solve her problems. That was her job.
Kai could be a good distraction though. Of that, she had no doubt. No man had appealed to her as much as Kai did in a very long time. Maybe ever.
Fix her problems? No. Give her a good orgasm? Absolutely.
Smiling at the idea, she slid out of bed and went to brush her teeth. Fantasy orgasms with Kai had to stay where they belonged—in her imagination. She had a mission to complete.
11
Nicole was in the midst of getting the blood pressure cuff set up when her fantasy came true—sort of. She and Max were in the family section of the dining room, where the Rockwells took their meals. Max sat in his favorite spot, overlooking the berry garden that Amanda had planted. She’d just noticed that the cuff needed a spritz of sanitizer, so she was hunting through her bag for the little spray bottle of alcohol.
One other group still lingered over their coffee; everyone else had already left for their morning adventures. Max’s plate held the remains of buttermilk pancakes, which he should probably not be eating. Her bowl of oatmeal was almost empty.
Mundane details, which got swept away as Kai strode into the dining room.
Just like in her fantasy.
In a white t-shirt, just like her fantasy.
It wasn’t wet, but then again she did have a very active imagination.
His hot gaze drilled into her, just the way she’d dreamed. But there was something more there, something beyond heat. Something unsettling. She didn’t have time to figure it out, because he was at their table with just a few strides.
And then he was touching her arm and his mouth was hovering over hers — just like in her dream.
Granted, he hadn’t scooped her into his arms the way he had in her dream, but that was understandable. She was no lightweight and this was a public dining room. She’d probably knock over a few water glasses if she got swept off her feet. Besides, that was her imagination going wild, whereas this—crazily enough—was reality.
Kai’s mouth, inches away. Firm lips, surrounded by a subtle grain of stubble. The fresh smell of the outdoors clinging to his skin. That scar, that slightly broken nose, those fierce stormy eyes. His body heat, that electric chemistry, that magnetic pull.
“I need to talk to you.” His low voice sent shivers up and down her spine. Her nipples responded too, peaking under her sweater.
“Sure, right after I take Max’s—”
For some reason her mention of Max made his face tighten. “This can’t wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
His eyes flicked toward Max, and she got the message. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Max.
She bent over her patient, who was twisting his neck around to see what was happening behind him. “Sorry, big guy. Looks like something urgent came up. I’ll be right back. Just hang tight and think peaceful thoughts.” She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
Max scowled.
So did Kai.
Suddenly their family resemblance really stood out.
“Fine, but don’t be too long,” grumbled Max. “All this waiting around is hell on my blood pressure. Bet my readings are going to skyrocket when you finally get around to taking them.”
“Then we’ll do some extra meditation sessions today.”
“Threats don’t work on me, chickie.”
With a smile, she bent down and kissed Max on the cheek. For a grouch, he had a good sense of humor.
As she straightened up, she caught Kai’s gaze and flinched as if he’d tossed a flame-thrower at her. He looked furious.
Was this about the plastic deer? The spa proposal? Tofu chili? She followed him out of the dining room feeling like a delinquent being called into the principal’s office.
He led the way to the long, narrow room where the rental skis were stored. Its walls were lined with benches where skiers could gear up. A set of double doors let onto the back lawn, but generally no one used them in the summer. She’d only been in here once, on her initial tour of the lodge. Even now it smelled of ski wax and damp wool.
He closed the door with a firm click and faced her.
“Why didn’t you mention that your ex
-fiancé is Roger Vance?”
She stared at him blankly. This was about Roger? “Um…because why would I? It’s over.”
“Roger Vance is almost sixty.”
“He’s fifty-six,” she corrected.
“And you’re twenty-eight.”
She took a moment to be touched that he remembered her age. “And you’re thirty-two. Is this just a math lesson or do you have a point to make?”
“Roger Vance is extremely wealthy. He was on the Forbes list once.”
“Yes, but apparently it was due to a clerical error. He never made it again, which bothered him to no end. You should have heard him rant about—anyway, yes, you’re right. He’s very wealthy.”
“And old.”
“He always preferred the term ‘silver fox.’”
But Kai still wasn’t smiling. “You lived on his property before you got engaged to him. You didn’t mention that part either.”
She folded her arms across her chest as familiar ripples of resentment coursed through her. “There’s a lot I didn’t mention. He’s allergic to chocolate. He’s very close to his chauffeur. He cheats at Hearts. Why don’t you come on out and say whatever it is you’re thinking?”
His jaw flexed, the only movement in his stony expression. “Okay, I will. I’m wondering why you broke up. And if it had anything to do with a prenup.”
All color drained from her face, then came flooding back.
“Bullshit. You don’t want to know why we broke up. You want to know if I specialize in preying on old men with big properties. You want to know if I’m getting my gold-digger claws into your father.”
Finally, a crack in his granite expression. “I didn’t say that. I’m just looking at the data and connecting dots and—”
“Want to know why we broke up?” she burst out, unable to listen to another second of his veiled accusations.
“Ye—”
“Because he wouldn’t accept me as I was. He wouldn’t accept my sister. He kicked her out of the house and didn’t care how much that hurt her. When she hurts, I hurt twice as much. Ten times.” Her words were stumbling over themselves in her passion. The harsh look on his face had vanished, and he was listening with complete and close attention.
The Rebel Page 8
