A Worthy Heir

by Pat Ballard

  Stunned, Pam couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. Reese was busy negotiating a u-turn, but when he had the car headed back, he said, “Pam, don’t pay any attention to Sharon, she’s a spoiled brat.”

  “Easy going? Agreeable?” Pam choked. “I’ll show that emaciated bitch what agreeable is!”

  “Now, Pam—”

  “Oh, don’t ‘now Pam’ me, Reese. And if this is who you want to spend time with, then you don’t need to be defending her actions to me. You just go have a wonderful time with her. After all, ‘she got all dressed up just for you.’” Pam mimicked Sharon’s little-girl voice.

  As the car stopped, Pam got out and was about to let Sharon know just how disagreeable she could be, but Sharon had already wrapped Reese up in a welcoming hug. More like a seduction scene, Pam thought resentfully, as she headed for her car. But this wasn’t the end of it. She would let Sharon know that she couldn’t talk to, or about, her like that.

  As she drove by them, Reese was helping Sharon into the seat that was still warm from where Pam had just been. Jerk, she mentally called to Reese as she sped past them.

  Chapter 5

  Pam almost stumbled with tiredness as she unlocked the door to Bainbridge Hall. It was past midnight and she assumed everyone would be asleep. She leaned wearily against the door and closed her eyes just for a moment. She wondered if she had the strength to make it up the stairs to her bed. Working, shopping, and cleaning had really taken it out of her. What a day!

  Damn if she doesn’t look sexier in jeans and a T-shirt than in those new clothes she bought, Reese thought resentfully as he watched her from the shadows of the library. Should he go to her and apologize for this evening? The male part of him that was stirring in his lower body wanted him to go to her and take her in his arms and hold her—well, maybe hold her for a moment, then move on to other things. But his rational brain rebelled against that. She was, after all, still the enemy. So he watched her drag herself up the stairs and disappear into her room.

  Tonight had been a joke. Sharon was even more immature than he remembered. Over the last couple of years he’d deliberately let her believe they were more of an item than they were. He needed someone around Fiona who’d keep him informed of any crazy actions she might come up with. His conscience bothered him a little at times for using Sharon, but he’d always convinced himself that it was just business, so it was okay.

  But tonight she’d gotten on his nerves to the point that he didn’t know how much longer he could take her. He might have to find some other way of keeping tabs on Fifi.

  He had more of an interest in Bainbridge Corporation than he could let his grandmother know about. After all, his dad and grandfather had driven themselves to early deaths just trying to keep the company running, and even though he didn’t plan on doing the same thing, he felt a certain amount of loyalty to them and their hard work. But if Fiona ever found out that he had one moment of concern about the company, she’d hound him until she had him buried in the running of it.

  No. His entire being rebelled against that thought. He’d just have to find a way to let Sharon know he wasn’t interested in her sexually, but still keep her loyal to him as a friend. Would that be possible?

  The alarm persisted, pulling Pam’s muzzy brain into reality. In slow motion she reached a weary hand out to try and stop the offending clock, only to knock it off the bedside table, where it rolled under the bed to continue its shrill sound.

  “Well, this is just lovely!” she grumbled as she groggily rolled off the tall antique bed, landing on her hands and knees. She groped around under the bed but couldn’t reach the screeching noisemaker. Since it was a wind-up clock she knew the alarm would run down, but she’d have to have it in the morning, so she might as well just crawl under the bed and get it right now, her still half-asleep brain reasoned.

  Pam could barely squeeze under the bed. But, determined, she lay flat on her stomach and slid toward the hateful, still shrieking clock. Finally she captured the clock and snapped off the alarm. But as she tried to slide back from under the bed, she realized that the slight lifting that she had to do with her body in order to back up made her body too high and her rear end was catching on the bed. She couldn’t get out.

  Oh, hell! She was stuck! Sudden panic attack brought her fully awake. Go forward, her rational voice whispered. Belly-crawling forward, Pam’s head and shoulders were out from under the bed when she was suddenly overcome with giggles over the situation. In spite of her uncontrolled laughing, she became aware of a loud pounding on the door.

  “Pam!” Reese’s concerned voice called. “Are you okay? I heard your alarm going on forever!”

  She heard him, but the fact that Reese Bainbridge was standing outside her door and she was sprawled halfway out from under her bed just made the giggles worse. She was laughing so hard she lost her breath and could only make a wheezing sound when she tried to suck in air. Even though the doors to the house were thick, Reese was able to hear the noise she made. With growing concern, he burst through the door to find her halfway out from under the bed, her head resting on her arms and her entire body shaking.

  “What the hell?” he exclaimed and raced to her.

  Looking up to see Reese hovering over her only made Pam laugh harder, as she held the clock up for him to see. As if just showing him the clock would explain the reason she was lying halfway under her bed.

  But Reese didn’t see the humor in the situation. He grasped her arms and roughly dragged her out from under the bed, helping her to a sitting position on the side of it.

  The laughter died on her lips as she realized she sat in front of Reese Bainbridge with nothing on except her panties. She’d been too tired the night before to even put on her nightgown.

  “Beautiful!” she heard his roughened voice whisper, as he reached out and gently cupped a breast in his hand.

  Too overcome with emotion to respond, she watched in fascination as he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the treasure in his hand before raising his lips to hers and claiming them completely as he pressed her gently back on the bed. As his lips explored hers, his hand worked magic on his newly found wonder, before starting to slowly work its way down Pam’s body, seeking other pleasures.

  Every fiber, every blood cell, every particle of Pam’s very being was responding to this man. She had never been consumed with this kind of heat. Had never, in her wildest fantasies, thought that making love could feel like this. She wanted him to take her right now, right here, and the movements of her body were relaying that message to him.

  The scream from the doorway that Reese had left open in his rush to get to her rudely snatched them back from their brief glimpse of ecstasy, making them acutely aware of Fiona and Sharon gaping at them.

  “Sharon dropped in to have coffee with you before she goes to work, Reese,” Fiona stated, with a trace of triumph in her voice. The blue gleam in her eyes was almost blinding as she turned and walked away, leaving the open-mouthed Sharon rooted to the spot.

  “Reese?” The little-girl whine skirted down Pam’s spine like fingernails on a blackboard.

  “Could you excuse us, Sharon?” Pam asked, as she stood up from the bed, allowing the gaping woman full view of her naked upper body. “I’ve got to dress for work, and Reese was just helping me wake up.”

  “Oh!” Sharon exclaimed indignantly. She turned and fled down the hallway.

  “Serves her right, for that fat girl remark she made last night,” Pam said, as she escaped quickly to her bathroom, leaving an astonished Reese staring after her.

  He desperately wanted to follow her and finish what they’d started, but he knew he had to go to Sharon and calm her down. But what kind of an excuse was he going to give her for the position she’d caught them in? He had to think of something fast, or he’d lose his inside snitch, and wouldn’t be able to keep up with Fifi’s activities.

  As the hot water poured over Pam’s body, she started to relax a little. Well, on
e thing was for sure. She didn’t have to wonder if Reese found her attractive or not. His actions of a few moments ago eliminated any doubts of that. But that still didn’t mean he’d accepted her arrangement with Fiona. In fact, he’d probably be more adamantly against her than ever.

  That suspicion proved to be very evident when Pam entered the library that night. As she made her entrance in black slacks with a hot pink silk oversized shirt that still managed to cling to and emphasize her curves, the first person her eyes fell upon was Sharon, clinging possessively to Reese’s arm.

  “There you are!” Fiona exclaimed, obviously relieved to see Pam.

  Pam went straight to Tom and gave him a warm kiss on the cheek. “Hi, bro, how’re you feeling today?” she asked. Then on impulse, she went to Fiona and gave her a light peck on the cheek. “And how are you tonight, Fiona?” she asked in the same warm voice.

  “Can we go to dinner now that Miss Kissy Kiss has arrived?” Reese’s voice was sharp with disdain.

  “Now, Reese, don’t be jealous, you had yours this morning,” Pam oozed sweetly, looking directly at Sharon.

  “What?” Tom’s voice cracked, but was lost in Fiona’s familiar cackle.

  “Dinner’s ready,” Suzy called from the doorway.

  As soon as the meal was over, Reese and Sharon left to “go out,” as Sharon announced, giving Pam a triumphant smile. Later, in Tom’s room, Pam’s brother turned his wheelchair to squarely face her.

  “Okay. What’s going on? Am I to understand that Reese Bainbridge kissed you? Or you kissed him? Pam, what are you playing at?” Real alarm sounded in Tom’s voice.

  “Just calm down, Tom. Nothing is going on between Reese and me. Trust me, he still hates us being here as much as he ever did.”

  “Well, his not liking us being here has nothing to do with him responding to you as a beautiful woman, Pam. And I don’t want you getting involved with him. You’ll just get hurt!”

  Pam placed a throw pillow in front and just to the side of Tom’s wheelchair. Sitting down on it, she leaned her head against one of his legs. She missed the reassuring hugs Tom used to give her when he’d sense she had a problem. Now this was the closest thing she could get to a hug from him.

  He reached out and stroked her hair. “Pam, talk to me. We don’t talk much since we’ve moved here, and I miss that. Why were you and Reese kissing?”

  Pam relayed the alarm clock story to Tom, and they were both in stitches from laughing at her ridiculous position under the bed.

  “But how does Reese Bainbridge play into this?” Tom finally asked, wiping the tears from his face.

  Pam had stopped her story just before the part where Reese had knocked on her door. She really didn’t want to go into detail about the events that followed.

  “Well, he heard me laughing and he came in and pulled me out from under the bed.”

  “And?” Tom persisted.

  “Oh, nothing, really, it was just one of those moments when things kind of got out of hand.”

  “Pam, you’re not telling me everything,” Tom said, cupping his hand under her chin, raising her head to force her eyes to his.

  “Big brother, you don’t get to know everything that goes on in my life,” she said, giving him her most charming smile.

  “Just don’t get hurt, okay?”

  “You might need to be more worried about Reese,” she said mysteriously, ignoring the little uneasy feeling that crept over her. “Now, tell me about your work,” she changed the subject. “Are you still enjoying it? Is your back pain still staying subdued?”

  “First, yes, the pain in my back is endurable most of the time. But I just can’t figure out what Fiona is up to. She has me in her office a lot, going over things that I don’t feel comfortable discussing with her.”

  “Why don’t you feel comfortable?”

  “Well, these are things that I don’t feel like someone in my position should be privy to. I mean she’s showing me some in-depth copies of the books, profits that are made and lost, and things like that.”

  “Maybe she just needs to share these things with someone who’s interested in the company. You know she can’t talk with Reese. Who else is there at Bainbridge Corporation that she can talk with? You know, someone on a personal level like you.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. But I still think it’s kind of odd.”

  “Maybe she’s grooming you to take over the company,” Pam suggested.

  “You’ll always be a dreamer, won’t you, little sister.”

  “Well, dreams do come true, you know. You just need to do a little dreaming of your own, big bro,” Pam admonished, getting up and putting the throw pillow back on the small sofa.

  “Leaving already?”

  “Yes, I think I’ll turn in early tonight, I’m kind of tired,” she answered, heading for the door.

  “Pam?”

  “Yeah, bro?”

  “Please be careful. I don’t want you to wind up hurt from this situation. I couldn’t stand it if you got hurt in the process of trying to fix my life.”

  Going back to Tom’s chair, Pam leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I’m a big girl, remember? I can take care of myself, and I’m not going to get hurt.”

  As Pam made her way to the stairway to go to her room, she became aware of voices coming from the library, and looked in just in time to see Sharon’s arms encircling Reese’s neck as he lowered his lips to hers.

  Wanting to escape before she was seen, she turned quickly and stumbled over a decorative spittoon that stood beside the library door. She managed to grab the doorjamb and not fall, but when she looked up, she was looking directly into Reese’s surprised eyes.

  “She’s sneaking around, spying on us, Reese!” Sharon’s accusing voice shattered the silence.

  “In your dreams,” Pam shot back at her. “I don’t give a damn what you and Reese do!” And she turned and fled up the stairs to her room. She slammed the door hard enough that she was sure they heard if from the library. At least, she hoped they did.

  She sat numbly on the side of her bed and stared at nothing. She realized she was sitting in the same spot where Reese had briefly made love to her this morning. Love? Ha! He’d groped her, that’s what he’d done. And now he was down in the library kissing that airhead! Well, that just proved what kind of womanizer Reese Bainbridge was. But she’d known that, hadn’t she? And she really couldn’t care less about Reese and his women!

  Then why did it hurt so much to see him kissing Sharon?

  “No. No I won’t even go there!” she said out loud, as she headed for the bathroom to take her shower.

  But she spent a restless night, turning and tossing and trying to escape the image of Reese, kissing other women at times, then coming back to her and making her weak with his experienced touch.

  Reese sat in the library for hours after he’d finally gotten rid of Sharon. Should he try and explain to Pam that he’d been giving Sharon a kiss of consolation, because he’d finally convinced her they could only be friends?

  It really hadn’t been that hard to convince her, after he offered to pay her for the extra work of “keeping an eye” on Fifi. He’d convinced her that his main concern was because Fifi was getting older and he was afraid for her health and mental well-being. He felt like a genuine jerk, but some things just had to be done, and this was one of them.

  So, hopefully, Sharon would accept their arrangement and stop trying to seduce him every time they talked. Hopefully. She didn’t do a thing for him in that area.

  Pam, on the other hand, did a hell of a lot for him in that area. And he’d been about to lose control of himself this morning in her room. Thank goodness, Fifi and Sharon had interrupted them. All he needed was to get weak enough to make love to Pam.

  Because he knew that once would never be enough. Especially after the way she’d responded to him this morning.

  Or was she just faking it? Was that part of her game? To get him into the sack and get him besotted wi
th her so she’d really have a toehold on his inheritance?

  He kept forgetting that she was the enemy! He was really going to have to get a hold of his feelings for her. And that was going to be one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

  No, he wouldn’t explain anything to Pam. She didn’t deserve an explanation. She was, after all, the enemy in his house.

  Chapter 6

  Fiona Bainbridge stood and gazed out of her office window at the black thundercloud looming over the Dallas skyline. Slowly approaching, like her own personal storm. She felt a little knot of panic as she stared out the window.

  Time was such an enemy sometimes. And time was running out. She had to hurry if her plan was going to come together. And it would come together. She would see that it did, no matter how much time it took.

  The knock on her office door brought her out of her reverie.

  “Come in,” she called, and watched as Tom Spencer carefully maneuvered his wheelchair into her office, careful not to bump the fine woodwork that surrounded the door.

  Tom was such a good man. How had anyone allowed a company do to him what hers had done? Negligence. Pure and simple. Well, she was about to right that wrong.

  “How are you this morning, Tom?”

  “I’m fine, Fiona, and you?”

  “Tom, I’ve made arrangements for you to have your back surgery next week,” Fiona said, not answering his question.

  “But Fiona, I told you I needed time to save money for the extra expenses the insurance won’t cover,” Tom reasoned. “And I don’t have that yet.”

  “Consider all costs covered,” Fiona said, finality in her voice.

  “Why are you doing this?” Tom asked.

  “I think I had forgotten, if I ever knew, how honorable some people can be. You and Pamela have reminded me of what honor is. I like you and Pam a lot. I’m finding out that you have a fine business mind. And that sister of yours,” here a smile spread across her wrinkled face, “that sister of yours just tickles the hell out of me!”