Taming the Moguls

by Christy Hayes

  “Okay, I get that. Sort of. But why no sex?”

  Kevin could only smile at his brother’s rookie question. “You’re having a lot of sex right now, correct?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “After you have sex, is there anything Erica could ask of you that you’d refuse?”

  Lyle pursed his lips and glanced across the room. “Nope. Can’t think of anything.”

  “That’s why. Women have that power over men. It doesn’t go away no matter how many times you have sex.”

  “She’s here,” Lyle said.

  “Erica?”

  “No.” Lyle pointed over Kevin’s shoulder. “Shiloh’s here.”

  Kevin twisted around, gripped the back of his chair, and blinked. Twice. His wife and her two best friends from high school sauntered toward a booth along the back wall. Kevin ground his teeth when every male head in the bar turned to watch them move. Shiloh wore his favorite pair of jeans with heeled boots and a pretty white sweater. The sight of her looking so young and fresh made his mouth water. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet hit the floor. He walked over to their booth. He could tell by the way her eyes widened that she hadn’t expected to see him.

  “Kevin? What are you doing here?”

  “Having a beer with Lyle.” He jerked his head toward Lyle’s table. “What are you doing here?”

  “Melody and Tanna dragged me out of the house.”

  “You look really good for being dragged.”

  She ducked her head and looked at him from beneath her lashes. “Thank you.”

  “You want to join us?” Melody asked.

  Kevin glanced back at Lyle. As much as he wanted to spend time with his wife, he couldn’t ditch his brother. “I’d better not.”

  Tanna leaned her elbows on the table. “Lyle can come, too.”

  Kevin knew Lyle wouldn’t go anywhere near Tanna after her embarrassing attempts to get his attention in high school. “That’s okay. Shi, can I talk to you for a second?”

  She actually looked at her girlfriends before mumbling, “Okay.”

  He held her hand after helping her up from the booth, and led her through the half-empty tables, and out the main entrance. When they stepped around the corner, the music disappeared by half. “I want you to be careful tonight.”

  Her brow creased. “What do you think is going to happen?”

  “You’re out with two single women. In a bar.”

  “You’re out with a single guy. In a bar.”

  “That’s different,” he said.

  “No, it’s not.”

  He grabbed her arm when she tried to walk past him. “It’s not you I’m worried about.”

  “Maybe that’s the problem,” she said. “Maybe you should be.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

  “I don’t know, Kevin. I’m married, but my husband doesn’t want me. He’s at a bar with his brother. He’ll go home—not with me—and sleep on his brother’s couch or floor or wherever it is you’re sleeping. I’ll have a few drinks and go home to my parents’ house. Alone. Lonely. Frustrated. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove, but at least in high school you’d sneak over every once in a while.”

  The corner of his mouth tipped up. “You want me to sneak into your parents’ house?”

  She hadn’t expected him to call her bluff. “I wouldn’t kick you out if you did.”

  His whole body sobered. “It wouldn’t change anything.”

  “Yes, it would.” She turned around and caged him against the wall. “We’d both feel a whole lot better.”

  He yanked her around so their positions were reversed and ground his hips into hers. “I shouldn’t want you like this. I shouldn’t need you so damn much.”

  “But you do. And so do I.” She linked her fingers behind his neck and dragged his lips to hers. “Let’s go. Nobody’ll care if we disappear. I need you, Kevin.”

  Their bodies met and melded, jean against jean, heart against heart. She wore a perfume he hadn’t smelled since high school. It brought him back and took him under with the same frenzied pace she set with her lips. He would have taken her against the wall if Lyle hadn’t walked out and snorted. “Some things never change.”

  Kevin pulled back slowly, never taking his eyes from hers. “I’ve got to go.”

  Shiloh shoved her fists against his chest. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  He caught his jacket when Lyle tossed it at his face. Kevin jerked his arms inside and stared at his gorgeous wife, her chest heaving against her crossed arms. “Unlock your window.” With a wink, he strolled toward his brother’s car.

  The cold air brought back the doubts. She was doing it again, drawing him in like a drug. He could handle it, he told himself as he climbed inside the SUV. He wouldn’t spend the night in her father’s house. He’d just go and have a little fun like he used to before life got complicated.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Lyle asked.

  Kevin blew out a breath as he stared out the window. “I have no idea.”

  Chapter 20

  Tommy had thought about leaving the file where Patrick left it, but then anyone could walk inside Golden Mountain Sports and read Gretchen’s life story. And possibly his. How deep had Patrick’s investigator dug?

  So Tommy had scooped up the file and stuck it in his bag. He wouldn’t deal with it at work. He had inventory to order for both the restaurant and the ski shop and a waitress to interview. Real life—real responsibilities—came before everything else. No matter how much he wanted to know about her child and, even though he felt damned to hell, the quiet divorce. He’d buried Gretchen, and his misery over losing her, for ten years. The least he could do was set it aside for a few hours and get through the day. By the time he pulled into his drive that night, his bag—the file—felt like a beating heart in the car seat beside him.

  He tossed his bag onto the foyer table, walked into the kitchen, and opened a beer. He took his time pouring it into a frosted mug before retrieving the file and setting it on the kitchen table. He pulled out a chair, took another sip, and flipped the file open. Gretchen’s picture was first, a head shot from Holcomb. Her half smile, a shadow of her dimples just beginning to blossom in her cheeks, her eyes so serious and staring into his had his fist clenching in his lap. By God, he wanted her. He’d never wanted a woman the way he wanted Gretchen. He loosened his grip and set the picture face down.

  The next sheet read like a resume. Her date of birth, her parents’ names, and next to her mother’s was the word deceased and the year she died. Her father was listed as the retired president of Bickford University in Illinois. Tommy felt relieved to discover his mother’s name hadn’t made it into the report.

  The date of Gretchen and Ryan’s marriage made him narrow his eyes and think back to when he’d first heard of the nuptials. His mother had thrown it in his face when he kept asking if she knew where Gretchen was and why she’d moved off campus. What he’d desperately wanted to know was why she’d left without a word. He’d been so worried when her roommate said she’d moved out. He couldn’t understand why she left so suddenly and why she hadn’t told him. Of course, by then she wasn’t speaking to him at all. On a deep breath, he pushed the memories aside and continued reading. Another date caught his attention. Son, Alexander Edward, born just shy of eight months to the date of their marriage.

  She was pregnant when they’d married.

  A detail his mother had neglected to mention. A detail she must have known.

  Tommy sat back and closed his eyes while his brain tried to sort through the events chronicled in the file. He obsessed about the details. How long had she been cheating on him with Ryan Lowry? The dates listed didn’t answer the question but explained the outcome. How could Gretchen have been so certain the boy was Ryan’s? She and Tommy had been burning up the sheets since the moment they’d given in to passion. She’d married Lowry, but could the boy have been Tommy’s?
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  He flipped through the papers and found what he was looking for: a picture of Alex Lowry in a local newspaper article about him winning the second grade spelling bee. He was the spitting image of his father, legendary Chicago quarterback, Ryan Lowry.

  Tommy stood so fast the chair tumbled and crashed onto the tile floor. Tommy didn’t even notice. He stalked into the den and stopped by the wall of windows to stare at the woods under the glow of the moon. How had she found time to be with Lowry when every second Tommy wasn’t at practice, they’d been together?

  They’d been so careful with birth control. Gretchen had even insisted he use a condom the first time when they’d been so overcome with desire he couldn’t have told her his name. Of course, he couldn’t blame her. He’d spent the first two years of college trying to exorcise Gretchen from his mind by sleeping with every woman on campus.

  Ryan Lowry was no different. He’d amassed quite an impressive collection of notches on his bedpost by the time he married Gretchen. Why hadn’t she insisted he use a condom?

  Damn it, what difference did it make? They had sex, she got pregnant, they got married. And Tommy was left in the dark to start over with a broken heart. The pain felt so sharp, so new, so real he wanted to run into the woods and howl at the moon like the coyotes. No wonder he’d fled school and home and everything before settling in the valley where his father had made a life and a family. His father’s passing had finally shocked him out of his depression and forced him to get on with his life.

  How dare she do this to him again? How dare Gretchen waltz back into his world and make him feel again? He didn’t want to feel anything—not anger, not pity, and certainly not the stirrings of the most potent attraction he’d ever felt. Damn her.

  Chapter 21

  Shiloh stomped back to her friends and scooted into the booth.

  “What happened?” Melody asked.

  Shiloh tipped the beer to her lips and took a fortifying sip. “Kevin’s got me so frustrated.”

  “What did he do now?” Tanna asked.

  “He says we can’t live together and we can’t have sex. I’ve thrown myself at him twice now, but…He just told me to keep my window unlocked. So does that mean he’s going to sneak over like he used to so we can have sex?” She closed her eyes and dropped her head onto Tanna’s shoulder. “I’m so confused.”

  Melody asked, “What man doesn’t want to have sex?”

  “I know, right?” Shiloh lifted her shoulders. “We were about to go at it outside before his stupid brother interrupted, as usual.”

  “Lyle still single?” Tanna asked.

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Urgh! This is just so frustrating. How much longer am I going to have to live with my parents? I feel like a child again. Mama’s making my meals and doing my laundry. I just sit around all day feeling sorry for myself. I quit my job in Denver. I’ve got to go back and get my stuff because I only threw, like, three outfits into my bag when I left. The thought of going back to Denver alone…”

  “Are you going to let him in?” Melody asked. “If he comes over and tries to climb in your window?”

  “I shouldn’t, but damn it, I can’t go much longer. It’s been weeks.”

  Tanna let out a mirthless laugh. “Weeks? Some of us haven’t had sex in months.”

  “I’m not used to waiting. It’s killing me. Why won’t he sleep with me?”

  “I don’t get it,” Melody said. “He’s the one who lost his job, accused you of cheating, and left you stranded on the side of the road. Why are you begging him to sleep with you instead of the other way around?”

  “He thinks we should wait until he’s back on his feet. I don’t want to wait. I’m tired of waiting.”

  Melody’s mouth quirked into a smirk. “So turn the tables and make him wait.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He told you to unlock your window, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So don’t unlock it. Let him climb up there and then don’t let him in.”

  “But I want him to come in. I need him to come in.”

  “He needs to understand how unhappy you are. What’s going to change if he’s making all the decisions and getting some booty? He shouldn’t be able to have his cake and eat it too.”

  Shiloh took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She understood Melody’s logic, but she didn’t know if she could go through with it. “But then I’m punishing myself.”

  “No pain,” Tanna said, “no gain.”

  Melody pointed at Shiloh. “I’d make him suffer. Wear something sexy, get him all worked up, and then refuse to let him in.”

  “If I wear something sexy and get us both worked up, I’m going to want him to come in. I love Kevin. I want to have sex with him. What good will it do if I turn him away?”

  “Do you want Kevin to let you live with him at Lyle’s?” Melody asked.

  “Yes. I don’t care if we sleep on the floor. I want to be with him.” Shiloh sat back against the cushion and rapped her fingers on the table. “I’ll have to think about this.” She looked around the dingy bar. “I’m happy we’re back home. I didn’t like living in Denver.”

  “I thought you loved it,” Tanna said. “You went on and on about your house and how great it was to be in a big city.”

  “I wanted it to be great, but Kevin was gone all the time. I didn’t know anybody.” She shrugged and looked at the table. “I didn’t want everyone thinking I was miserable.”

  “We thought you were having the time of your life.”

  “That’s what I wanted you to think. I guess the joke’s on me because now we’re home, broke, and separated.”

  “None of that is your fault,” Melody said.

  Shiloh was grateful for her friend’s support, but she knew the truth. “It’s not all my fault, but I’m not blameless. I wanted too much, too soon. I could always talk him into anything, and I used that to get what I wanted. I hated living in the apartment, so I thought we’d be happier in a house. I wasn’t any happier, so I came up with decorating and remodeling plans. All the while, Kevin was stressed out about work and paying for everything I wanted.”

  “So you screwed up,” Tanna said. “I’m maxed out on my credit card and working to pay it off. I learned my lesson the hard way. Sounds like you’re in the same boat.”

  “I guess,” Shiloh said.

  “I still think you need to make him suffer.” Melody hailed the waitress from the bar. “You can do this. All you need is a little liquid fortification.”

  ***

  Kevin parked along the main road and walked by the light of the moon toward Shiloh’s house. He could have cut through the woods, like he used to when he was a teenager, but the call of a coyote had sent him straight to his car. Or her car. It smelled like her. Just as her scent had fused into his skin, it had somehow penetrated the leather seats of her sedan, and it taunted him whenever he got behind the wheel.

  With every step, he knew he should turn around. He said no sex. Sex clouded his mind, made it impossible to say no to whatever she wanted. But she hadn’t made any demands. She hadn’t balked when he told her he’d been fired. She didn’t even flinch when he said he’d put the house on the market. The only thing she wanted was him. And by God, he wanted her too. He always had.

  He remembered listening to his dad talk about how one look at his mom was all it took. Your mother had me, boys, hook, line, and sinker, from the moment I saw her. Kevin chalked his attraction to Shi up the same way. One look, one wink from those impossibly blue eyes, and he’d been a goner, too.

  Shiloh’s dad’s truck was in the carport next to her mom’s sedan. Kevin’s car sat off to the side. His stomach tightened the way it used to when he’d sneak over to Shiloh’s house and throw pebbles at her window. The first time he sneaked inside, he’d been just shy of seventeen. They’d giggled so loudly he felt sure her dad was going to burst into her room with a shotgun.

  Her dad hadn’t caught the
m then, but the threat lingered. Kevin approached the house and the trellis that had barely held his weight as a teenager. He looked at Shiloh’s window. She’d left the curtains open, but the lights were out. On a deep breath, he tested the bottom rung of the trellis with his boot. When it held, he climbed.

  The roof creaked when he scrambled up and crawled across it. He clung to her windowsill with one hand and attempted to lift the window with the other. It didn’t budge. He tugged harder, assuming the Robinsons’ last paint job had sealed the window tight. The window moved up a fraction, but no more.

  When Shiloh appeared on the other side of the window wearing a sexy black teddy, his mouth fell open. He stopped to appreciate the view. When he got his tongue to work, he whispered, “Help me with the window. It’s stuck.”

  “It’s not stuck,” she said from the other side of the thin glass. “It’s still locked.”

  One glance down told him she hadn’t turned the latch. “Unhook it. I’m freezing.”

  She stepped back instead of stepping forward, and he could only stare. Her fingers moved to the hem of her lingerie, and she lifted it an inch, swaying her hips to some music only women heard when seducing a man. Kevin’s mouth went dry, and he forgot all about being cold. She turned around, stuck her sweet ass in his face, and played peek-a-boo with her nightie. His jeans became three sizes too small. When she turned around with a devious smile, he motioned to unlock the window, but she just kept moving, back and forth, round and round. One thin black strap fell from her shoulder. She lifted the second and let it fall. The thin satiny material clung to the tips of her breasts.

  Kevin swallowed. His fingers slipped from the sill, and he had to slap the roof behind him to keep from sliding off. “How much did you have to drink?”

  She shook her head and slid the material down to her hips. He had two pulse beats to stare at the glory of her chest before she slowly, playfully turned around. With her palms over each cheek, she slid the material over her butt and stood in nothing but a thin black thong. He was a hair’s breadth away from breaking the glass.