by Mollie Molay
“I have to apologize for not telling you this before I passed out,” he began as they strolled along meandering paths to the pool. “I should have told you I’ve had enough experience with the transfer of property titles in my building restoration business to know that the marriage clause in your aunt’s will doesn’t have a prayer of holding up. I spoke to a couple of people before I came over, and they agreed.”
Emily stopped short. “You’re not a lawyer, too, are you?”
“No, but we can hire a darn good one,” T.J. said, and grinned. “Noel Braude is a wealth of information. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to get him involved in the case.”
“That would be wonderful,” she answered with a sigh, “but I’m afraid I don’t have the money to pay him. That’s probably the biggest reason I tried to settle everything by myself.”
T.J. wanted to kick himself at the troubled look that came into Emily’s eyes. He should have remembered Emily had said she’d spent most of her ready money on buying him. He should have told her what he found out before he’d almost passed out at Emily’s feet. All that sun must have softened his brain.
“Not to worry, Em. The visit won’t cost you a dime. Like I said, Noel is on a retainer anyway. He’ll be glad to help out.”
Emily’s heart skipped a beat. There it was again, “Em.” The pet name he used at such odd moments. A name that warmed her heart and reminded her of the two people in her life who had truly loved her for herself. “What would I have to do?”
T.J. smiled down at her. “Not much, just trust me to do the right thing.”
Trust. Emily cringed inside. After her experience with Sean, trusting a man to do the right thing, let alone relying on a man she’d only known for a few days, wasn’t going to be easy.
They’d stopped at a corner of the kidney-sized pool. Stirred by a gentle breeze, a shimmering reflection of palm trees appeared on its surface. The scent of orange blossoms filled the air. To add to the romantic ambience, soft music wafted through the air from speakers hidden in the background.
T.J. smothered a sigh. Standing beside the pool with Emily close to his side seemed so right, he didn’t want the moment to end. Against a background of lavender and rose-colored oleander bushes, she looked lovelier than ever. Everything about Emily was perfect, he mused thoughtfully, the way she walked, the way she talked, the way her expressive eyes spoke for her.
He was tempted to throw caution to the wind, take her in his arms and kiss her until the growing need within him was satisfied. To taste her lips and inhale the scent of strawberries. To relive that first impulsive kiss and, above all, to make time stand still.
He couldn’t, not after he’d asked her to trust him. And not after he remembered it might be the right place but the wrong time for romance in their lives. Especially his.
A swimmer dove into the pool and sent drops of water into the air. The cold spray was just what he needed to break his mellow mood, T.J. thought ruefully as he wiped it from his forehead. There was the more important matter of Emily’s inheritance to take care of. He had to reconcile his attraction to her.
HIS LAWYER’S OFFICE was on the tenth floor of the Zenith Building in the Wilshire Boulevard corridor. His lawyer, the Braude of Weinstein, Braude and Collins came out to greet them as soon as Emily and T.J. were announced. “Took your time to get here, didn’t you?”
T.J. scowled. Unless his friend was gifted with a sixth sense, Noel couldn’t possibly have known he was coming. “How did you know I was on my way?”
“Your dad, bless him. We had a few contracts to go over this morning, and he filled me in on what’s going on. I figured you’d turn up here today.” He shook hands with T.J. “Mind introducing me to your lady?”
“Sorry. Emily, this is Noel, the Braude in the partnership. Emily is Miss Holmes to you,” he added, into Noel’s broad grin. Behind Emily’s back, he mouthed a request that Noel call him T.J. instead of Tom. Oddly enough, T.J. wasn’t too happy to make the introduction. Like Tim, Noel had a reputation as a lady’s man.
As they sat down. T.J. briefly wondered just how much filling in about Emily and her problem his father had done. The auction? The case of the mistaken identity?
With the way things were going, he’d be lucky to resolve Emily’s inheritance and send her on her way without giving away his true identity. He’d tried to be up-front with her at the time of their meeting, hadn’t he? She hadn’t believed him then, and she hadn’t mentioned it since. Still, he was treading on thin ice.
If the truth came out now, she was sure to think he had been playing a game at her expense.
Impossible! No matter how he felt about her selling her property and the possibility the cottage might be torn down, Emily needed her inheritance more than she needed to know the truth about his identity.
“Now, from the way I understand it, Miss Holmes,” Noel began, “your aunt’s will states you have to be a married woman in order to inherit her estate?”
Emily nodded. “Yes, and please call me Emily.”
Noel made a notation on a yellow legal pad. “Thank you. Please call me Noel. Now, are there any other possible beneficiaries to the estate? A parent perhaps?”
“No,” Emily answered. “My paternal grandfather was my Aunt Emily’s brother. And I’m an only child of his only child, my father. I’m afraid we were a small family.”
“The blood tie makes it easier, Emily.” Noel made another notation, sat back in his chair and smiled his satisfaction. “According to the probate laws of the State of California, and as long as there are no other possible legatees, in this instance the entire inheritance passes to you as the only surviving heir. Married or not.”
Emily gasped. “I was sure Daniels had something to hide. But why would he tell me a lie?”
“Because the man probably had a motive of his own. While you are the legal heir in this case, he makes money another way. Under California law, where there is no will, or no clear legatees, ownership of an estate passes to the state. Daniels, or someone like him, manages to get himself appointed as executor. He not only gets a fee, it then becomes possible for him to buy the estate for himself after taxes are paid. In your case, Emily, you’re your aunt’s only surviving blood relative, so it’s not germane.”
“So why did he pick on me?”
“My guess is Daniels thinks he can get you out of the picture by claiming you’re not a legal heir. Or at least, to intimidate you into paying him a large fee for getting the estate settled in your favor.”
T.J. turned a pleased smile on Emily. “Why don’t you show Noel Wilbur Daniels’s business card, so he can see if it’s the same guy. It sounds to me as if Daniels makes a practice of preying on naive or vulnerable people.”
Emily dug in her purse, came up with the card and passed it across the desk.
“Yeah, that’s the guy,” Noel said after a quick look at the card. “It doesn’t come as a surprise to me to find he’s tried to put one over on you.”
He handed back the business card. “In case you were going to ask why he hasn’t been arrested for marginal practices, I’m sure Daniels has always managed to stay within the law by pushing its boundaries.”
T.J. got to his feet and leaned across the desk. “Let me get this straight. The property is Emily’s?”
“Sure thing,” Noel responded cheerfully. “Want me to take care of Daniels?”
“No way,” T.J. said firmly. “This is my show. I’ve got a score to settle with the man, and I can’t wait.”
“You might want to consider doing it without laying him out, or you might wind up in jail, T.J. I promised your dad I’d caution you against violence.” Noel laughed. “The way you look now, I don’t envy Daniels.”
Emily rose and put a warning hand on T.J.’s arm. “Daniels said he’s going to be out of town for a few days. I’m sure T.J. will have cooled off by then.”
When T.J. and his lawyer exchanged knowing smiles, Emily realized she should have known better
.
She glanced at T.J. and felt her heart race. She was in for trouble, for sure. And not just with Daniels.
Chapter Seven
True to his word, T.J.’s promise to help had been a promise kept. So far, so good, Emily thought as they waited for an elevator. It was what might come next that worried her. To add to her distress, the magnetic pull between her and T.J. was growing stronger by the minute.
The mirrored doors of the elevator reflected an attractive couple. With a start, her gaze met his in the mirror, and she lost herself in his warm blue eyes.
Maybe it had been the tingle that had danced up her spine when he’d walked onstage. She just hadn’t planned on falling in love.
“You’re awfully quiet, Em,” T.J. murmured. “I thought you’d be happy after Noel explained your rights to your aunt’s property. Something bothering you?”
“Not at all, I was just thinking.” She hoped he wouldn’t ask where her thoughts had taken her. Certainly not in an empty elevator with its enforced intimacy. And not when she wasn’t sure of the answer.
Resolutely she stared at the gold carpet, but every inch of her skin was aware of him and the scented tang of his cool, masculine aftershave.
Her sensual reaction to T.J., when she’d seen him at the building site, had come as a surprise. Her reaction to his open shirt and suntanned muscles had been a greater surprise. After her failed engagement, she’d told herself men came in last on her most-wanted list. And yet, here she was practically joined at the hip with a man who set her mind on fire by just looking at her.
It had to be some kind of magic that was robbing her of her common sense.
The elevator halted, taking on a noisy family. She welcomed the distraction of a two-year-old waving adorable kisses. And her older brother making faces at himself in the mirrored elevator doors.
She glanced at T.J. A smile lingered on his lips, his body relaxed. He was a man comfortable in his skin. To add to her dilemma about the direction their unusual relationship seemed to be headed, her conscience began to bother her. What if he and Daniels actually squared off over her aunt’s will, and he got hurt? Getting him involved was her fault.
“Perhaps we should say goodbye now,” she said when the elevator reached the lobby.
He swung around and stared at her. “Where did that come from?”
She dodged the little boy racing out of the elevator. His father took off after him, but his mother stopped to apologize. “No problem,” Emily smiled. She turned to T.J. “Now that your lawyer has explained my rights, I’m sure Daniels is too smart to give me any more trouble.”
T.J. took Emily by the arm and held her back until the rest of the elevator cleared. Before anyone could get on, he punched the buttons that closed the door and sent the elevator back to the top floor to an empty terrace garden.
“No way are you going to see that man alone. As far as I’m concerned, I’m not through with him. He’ll keep preying on innocent people if someone doesn’t stop him.” He looked grim and went on. “I’ve made up my mind that that someone is going to be me. In case you don’t know me by now, I always finish what I start.”
The fighting look in T.J.’s eyes told Emily she had little chance of winning the argument, but she still had to try. “So do I,” she answered. “I’m twenty-eight years old, and I’ve been taking care of my own affairs for a long time. And that includes settling with Daniels.”
If he hadn’t been so taken by Emily’s declaration of independence, T.J. would have been amused by two hardheaded, well-meaning people behaving like dogs arguing over the same bone.
Not that he questioned Emily’s effectiveness as a librarian. He didn’t. It was just too bad she didn’t realize a library was a quiet, secluded place where she was on her own turf. Being street smart was something else.
He watched her lean over to smell a gardenia. Her auburn hair swung forward, hiding her face. His gaze lingered on the soft pale skin at her throat. As if suddenly aware of his gaze, she turned back to challenge him with a defiant look.
He eyed her resolute expression, but in no way did he intend to back off. Allowing Emily to tackle Daniels by herself would be tantamount to sending her into the lion’s den with predictable results. His conscience and his growing awareness of Emily’s attraction wouldn’t let him.
“Real or not, I’m in for the duration,” he answered amiably. He threw his arm around her shoulder and tried to lighten up the moment. “Come on, Em. The way I was raised, men take care of their wives. I signed up to be your husband, and I intend to remain your husband until this is over.”
No sooner had he announced he was Emily’s husband than T.J. began to wish he hadn’t been so noble. He had to remember his natural mother had given him and his brother away like unwanted gifts. Based on that unhappy memory, and with Emily’s avowed wanderlust, she didn’t fill the requirements he had in mind for a wife. Not when she reminded him of his mother. No matter how much he was attracted to her.
Considering how he felt about marriage, he should have referred to himself as a friend. Friendship would have been a better operative word. When the right time came, he would have room to gracefully maneuver his way out of the role his brother had thrust on him.
Surprised at the road his thoughts were taking, he caught the inquiring look in Emily’s intriguing hazel eyes. If he really thought of himself as her friend, he asked himself, why was his arm still around her shoulders? And why did he want to ask her not to leave at the same time she was trying to say goodbye? And why was the need to feel her lips under his one more time robbing him of the little common sense he had left?
When T.J. reached to brush her cheek with the tip of his forefinger before he kissed her, Emily’s resolve to send him away vanished into the warm breeze. Sean’s kisses had never been like this. This was a kiss of a man who was real, genuine. A man who cared about her.
His touch was magical, warm and gentle, his breath a sigh against her cheek. When his lips met hers, she became lost in a velvet haze of desire. She drank in T.J.’s kiss with a hunger she’d never known she possessed and returned it with all the stored-up passion in her. If it was wrong, she didn’t care. In his embrace, she forgot that she’d tried to send him away, couldn’t even remember why she’d wanted to.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware there had been a question in T.J.’s eyes before he kissed her. Was it the same question that lingered in the back of her mind? Were they wise to let emotion get in the way of rational thought?
Considering how they had met and that they would soon part, were they doing the right thing in going beyond a business agreement?
She’d read somewhere that danger was an aphrodisiac. With a shock, she realized it was true. Her reaction to T.J.’s sensuous persona was a rush of excitement, a desire to lose herself in the male mystery she’d seen in his eyes.
Whatever the reason behind the rush of passion she was experiencing, she mused as she leaned into his embrace, there was no place she’d rather have been than here in his arms.
When Emily made no move to pull out of his embrace, T.J. told himself he’d meant to kiss her only once, and as a test. Just once, to satisfy the growing hunger that had exploded within him. Instead, her fervent response drew him to a place where questions didn’t require an answer. A place where two people acknowledged how they felt about each other in the most natural of ways.
Throwing caution to the winds, he deepened the kiss, held her so close he could feel the beat of her heart. To his pleasure, her kiss tasted of an intriguing combination of mint and strawberries.
He’d meant only to taste, to remain firm in his resolve to move on when he’d helped Emily get her heart’s desire. Instead, these moments with her in his arms was all he seemed to care about. He told himself that tomorrow would have to take care of itself.
When Emily finally broke away and gently fingered the lock of hair that fell into his eyes, he read a tenderness, a look of genuine affection, in her g
aze. His heart thundered, his senses whirled, mental warning bells rang. Was her touch an omen? A warning he was pushing boundaries? Boundaries he’d set for himself?
Emily was the forever type no matter what plans she’d made for herself. He wasn’t, at least, not yet. She was the type he’d vowed to stay away from. But how to tell her the truth after kissing her like this without looking like a fool? He swallowed hard and cursed himself for biting off more than he could chew.
Shaken by the sound of faraway church bells measuring the time, T.J. swallowed hard and met Emily’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Em, I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
For a moment, she looked shaken; her bewildered expression tore at him. How could she believe him, or even trust him when he kissed her one moment and apologized the next? He was relieved when she smiled faintly and put a finger against his lips.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. It was just a goodbye kiss, wasn’t it?”
He couldn’t come up with an answer. Maybe she was right. Maybe, in this crazy world he’d found himself since he’d met up with Emily, this was the way to say goodbye. No. He had to be honest with himself. If he kept this up, he would be saying a lot of things and none of them would be a goodbye.
He resisted the temptation to ignore the sound of the church bells, to forget precious time was passing. He told himself this was not the time and the place for embraces that had no chance of going anywhere. For two people who had nothing in common but an auction receipt, things were getting out of hand.
He’d vowed not to marry until he found a woman who was a “keeper.” A woman who would love him, stick by him and the children they would have. A woman who would help create happy memories for their children to cherish, not the memories of being left that still haunted his dreams.
He had to be sure Emily was that woman. That she hadn’t meant she wanted to pursue a dream that didn’t include him.
If that wasn’t reason enough for him to cool it, she was apparently convinced he was his brother, Tim. If she ever had to face the truth, it would be over with them, anyway. Love had to be based on trust. He knew that as surely as he knew the sun would rise in the morning and set in the evening.
