A Woman Worth Loving

by Jackie Braun

  Or at least it had until he’d watched them hug and he’d witnessed the expressions on their faces. Seth thought about his sister. He remembered what it was like to have someone younger seek his approval. LeeAnn had never disappointed him the way Audra must have disappointed Dane with her wild behavior. Lee had been an honor student, smart, thoughtful, determined. She’d had her whole life ahead of her when…

  He snapped his focus ruthlessly back to the present. Back to his job and to the woman standing before him—a woman, he reminded himself, who didn’t deserve his sympathy.

  “Rain doesn’t seem to be letting up,” Audra said, apparently taking his suddenly grim expression to be a reaction to the weather. “I can give you a ride back to the resort if you’d like. I owe you a lift after yesterday. Dane will keep my tea warm.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but my car’s parked not far from here.” He ran a hand through his dripping hair. “Besides, I’m already wet.”

  “Drenched,” she agreed, wringing some water from the wrist of her soaked jean jacket.

  “It’s a good look on you.”

  Seth wasn’t sure where the words had come from or how they had managed to slip past his lips. But they were out and, more galling, they were true. Audra looked incredible. Skin dewy from the rain, clothes molded to the lush curves of her body, hair a sexy wet riot of curls. He swallowed hard and wanted to hate her for it.

  “I look a mess.”

  She wiped her cheeks after she said it, fussed with her hair. He’d never seen this particular woman nervous before, and so he stepped closer, purposely crowding her space.

  He raised one hand and tucked a tangle of hair behind her ear, resting his palm against the cool curve of her cheek. With the pad of his thumb he wiped away the last smudge of her mascara. It came as an unwelcome surprise to find he was seriously thinking about kissing her.

  More than thinking about it, he realized as he leaned down and settled his mouth over hers. Heat stabbed through him, the intensity of it shocking Seth to his core. Stop, his mind ordered, and yet his other hand came up to caress her opposite cheek and he held on, moved in.

  Audra was the one to step away, forcing his hands to drop. He ran one of them over the back of his neck and tried to settle his ragged breathing. Seth wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment that had his chest feeling so tight.

  Amazingly, his voice was calm when he asked, “Should I apologize for that?”

  “No. It was…No.”

  Her gaze dropped to the floor and she tapped the toe of one expensive shoe in the puddle that had formed around her feet. Shy? Audra Conlan Howard Stover Winfield? What was the deal with this self-conscious act? he wondered. How long would this sudden vulnerability last before the thoughtless party girl had enough of contrition and sticky family dynamics and decided to kick up her high heels again? He wanted that Audra to reemerge. She was so much easier to dislike.

  As for this Audra, he could still taste her, and he still wanted to reach for her. So he backed up a step, physically and mentally moving a safe distance from the ledge upon which he’d just teetered. He’d have to watch his footing.

  Even though self-preservation told Seth to steer clear, he knew he needed to keep her close to get the exclusive he was after.

  “Maybe we could meet for a drink or something before you head back to the mainland today,” he said as he moved toward the steps.

  “I won’t be heading back. I’ve decided to stay on the island.”

  The screen door squeaked open as Dane returned carrying a fluffy towel in one hand and the requested cup of tea in the other.

  “Did I hear you say you’re staying?” When she nodded, her brother grinned broadly and asked, “For how long?”

  She smiled in return, the sheer wattage of her expertly bleached teeth and full lips reminiscent of the Audra he’d come to know so well while looking through his viewfinder. But the determination that sparked in her blue eyes was something Seth couldn’t recall ever seeing before.

  “I’m here for as long as it takes.”

  Despite the cold rain pelting down on his head, Seth was humming merrily as he hiked back to his rental car a few minutes later.

  “I’m here for as long as it takes,” Audra had said. That was exactly how long Seth intended to stay, as well.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “WHAT do you mean, no rooms are available?” Audra asked, trying to keep the frustration out of her tone. She hadn’t expected Ali to make this reunion easy for her, but neither had she expected her sister to stubbornly block every effort to reconcile.

  On the other side of the reception desk, her twin blinked innocently. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Winfield. We have nothing to rent.”

  The use of her married name grated almost as much as her sister’s faux politeness. Audra wouldn’t be put off. She was on Trillium Island and she intended to stay until the air had been cleared. Too often in the past she’d taken the easy way out when obstacles presented themselves. Not this time. Ali’s respect and forgiveness were too important.

  Pasting a smile on her face, she asked, “Do you mean to tell me that every last one of the resort’s one hundred rooms, plus the lodge, plus the dozen cottages are rented out midweek, even before peak season? No wonder they made you manager, Alice.”

  A muscle ticked in her sister’s cheek and her eyes narrowed to dangerous little slits. Audra fought the urge to grin. Ali hated to be called by her given name. Audra remembered well the white-hot flash of temper the mere mention of it could inspire.

  Sure enough, her sister’s sedate composure slipped and she hissed, “Don’t call me Alice!”

  “Fine. Don’t call me Mrs. Winfield.”

  “Fine.”

  Ali took a deep breath and tucked a curl that had escaped from her ponytail behind one ear. Her tone was once again impersonal and professional when she said, “I didn’t say that the resort was full. What I said was that we have no rooms to rent to you.”

  “Why are you making this so difficult?” Audra asked softly and reached across the high countertop to squeeze Ali’s hand. “I came back because I…I want your forgiveness.”

  Ali snatched her hand away, her tone as sharp as her movement. “Some things can’t be forgiven.”

  “If you’d just give me five minutes to explain, I think you might see things differently.”

  Ali shook her head and exhaled. “I’m busy, Aud. I really don’t have time for this right now.”

  But the use of her nickname and her sister’s exhausted sigh gave Audra reason to hope she might change her mind eventually.

  “I know about the resort. Dane told me the owners have filed for bankruptcy and that it’s just a matter of time before it either closes for good or goes on the market. And then no doubt some off-island developer will try to swoop in and scoop it up.”

  The two brothers who currently owned Saybrook’s were fourth-generation islanders, and the business had been in their family since its very inception. The men were elderly now and not in the best health. One had never married and the other’s wife and two children had tragically preceded him in death. The brothers had moved to Arizona two years earlier. In their absence, the greedy manager, a shirttail relative of some sort, had padded his pockets nicely and all but run the place into the ground.

  The vultures were circling and yet Ali had the nerve to tip up her nose and say, “The resort is none of your concern.”

  Audra didn’t agree. Saybrook’s had played as much a part in Audra’s childhood as the cozy home in which she, Ali and Dane had grown up. In fact, many of Audra’s earliest and best memories revolved around this place, where their father had once been head groundskeeper and their mother had worked part-time as a maid.

  “None of my concern? How can you say that? We practically grew up here, Al. Mom and Dad met here. They were married in the rose garden and they celebrated every anniversary with a fancy meal in the dining room.”

  “That’s the past. It’s the
future that I’m interested in,” Ali replied stoically.

  “Dane mentioned that you were trying to get a group of local investors together to buy Saybrook’s. I think that’s smart. It is the backbone of the island’s economy. He said he’s willing to remortgage the house and he said you were planning to do likewise with the cottage Gran deeded to you. He said Mom and Dad have even offered to chip in some of their retirement savings.”

  “Dane has a big mouth.”

  “I have money,” Audra began, but Ali silenced her with a lethal glare.

  “Don’t you dare come in here throwing the bank account you all but prostituted yourself for in my face,” she snapped. “Dane and I will figure out a way to buy the resort without your help.”

  The words sliced deeply, but Audra swallowed the gasp their pain caused and managed to keep her tone from wavering when she said, “You’re talking about millions of dollars. And that’s just to buy it. What about regular operating expenses and staffing? What about renovations and repairs or maybe even expansion?”

  Her sister’s posture became even more rigid. “I’ve thought about all that. I am the manager here, remember. I know what is required to run Saybrook’s.”

  “Then you know it will take more money than you and a handful of well-meaning islanders can swing. I’ve made some smart investments over the years. Hate me all you want, but let me help you.”

  “No.”

  Audra opened her mouth to argue, but out of the corner of her eye she spied Seth Ridley sitting in the lobby. She didn’t want to continue such a private discussion while he was within earshot. She liked just a little too much the anonymity she had with him. He didn’t know she was filthy rich and reputed to be wild in bed, and yet he seemed to like her all the same.

  As the saying went, there were some things money couldn’t buy. Audra knew for a fact that love and respect topped the list. Glancing at the taut line of her sister’s lips, she added forgiveness.

  “I’ll let it go for now, but the least you can do is rent me a room. Put the resort’s bottom line ahead of your dislike for me.” She raised her eyebrows in challenge. “That’s what a smart businesswoman would do.”

  Ali glared at her for a long moment before finally clicking a few keys on the computer.

  “What do you know?” she said tightly. “It seems that we do have something available after all.”

  “Wonderful. What floor?”

  “Actually, it’s not in the hotel.” Ali smiled then. “Or the lodge.”

  That left the cottages, which numbered one through twelve. The first cottage was visible from the main building. On a nice day and in a pair of sensible shoes, it was within walking distance. But the grounds were still muddy from the morning rain and, after freshening up at Dane’s, Audra was once again outfitted in a pair of high heels. She would drive. And she had no intention of schlepping her bags back out to her car and then unloading them once she reached her destination.

  “That’s fine, but someone will need to bring my luggage out to cottage one.”

  “Cottage one? Actually, I’ve booked you in number twelve,” Ali said.

  The one farthest from the resort. “Out of sight, out of mind?”

  “One can hope.”

  Before Audra could reply, Seth was standing beside her. Like her, he’d changed into dry clothes and the clean scent of soap clung to him, making her think he’d indulged in a long, hot shower. She swallowed, mouth going dry at the mental image that thought inadvertently conjured up, and she fought the urge to brush her fingertips over her lips in memory. The man certainly knew how to kiss.

  “Hello, again,” he said with an easy smile.

  He seemed blessedly unaware of the sudden hitch in her breathing, but Ali’s gaze narrowed suspiciously as she watched Audra worry the strap of her eel-skin handbag and mentally root around for something suitable to say.

  All that came to mind was “Hi.”

  “This is twice in one day that our paths have crossed.”

  “Well, it is a small island.”

  Audra directed the comment to Seth, but raised her brows meaningfully when she glanced back at her sister.

  “Checking in?” He motioned toward the small mountain of designer luggage stacked onto the bellman’s trolley parked next to her.

  “Yes. I am.” And she handed her credit card to her sister for processing.

  “I thought you told me you were staying in a hotel on the mainland?”

  “I was.” Again Audra smiled at Ali. “But I changed my mind. Now I’ll be in one of the cottages.”

  “Maybe you’ll reconsider my dinner offer then, too,” he said smoothly.

  For some reason, Seth’s obvious flirting while Ali looked on had heat suffusing Audra’s cheeks. How many years had it been since she’d actually blushed in the company of a man? And yet she couldn’t help it now. It wasn’t just Seth. She knew what Ali thought of her. After all, hadn’t her sister just accused Audra of selling herself for the sake of a flush bank account?

  That had never been the case, not intentionally anyway. But all that was in the past. Audra decided she needed to stay focused on the woman she was now and the woman she was determined to become.

  New and improved.

  New and improved.

  New and improved.

  She chanted the refrain silently and even so she didn’t firmly refuse Seth’s invitation. Instead, she foolishly stammered, “I…I…er…That is…”

  “You don’t have to decide right now,” he interjected with a grin, saving her from further embarrassment. “Just promise me you’ll think about it.”

  She nodded. Then he turned his attention to Ali.

  “What’s this I hear about the cottages being available? When I checked in nearly a week ago I asked for one, but the clerk told me they wouldn’t be rented out until the Memorial Day weekend.”

  “Special circumstances,” Ali said.

  “Ah.” Seth smiled charmingly. “Maybe you could extend those special circumstances to me. I’ve decided to stay on the island a while longer and I loved the look of them when I was walking the grounds that first day.”

  Audra got the feeling it was only because of the way she had hemmed and hawed over Seth’s dinner invitation that Ali agreed to the man’s request.

  “Why not?”

  A few clicks of the computer keyboard later and the deed was done. Her sister smiled and tilted her head mockingly in Audra’s direction as she handed Seth the keys to cottage number eleven.

  Seth could have kissed Ali Conlan. Everything was working out even better than he had anticipated. He would have a ringside seat to Audra’s accommodations, giving him the ability to snap shots of her comings and goings—and record any visitors she entertained.

  His stomach clenched suspiciously at the thought of men waltzing in and out of her door, and he mentally shook his head. Audra might seem different right now, reserved in a way he never would have expected her to be, but he had enough photographs of her out partying with the Hollywood crowd to know that the woman standing next to him was no candidate for the abbey.

  Interestingly, she had rebuffed or ignored every effort Seth had made to flirt with her. She had broken off their kiss with all of the shyness of a virgin and just a moment earlier she had fidgeted like a schoolgirl when he’d asked her out to dinner. For the third time.

  Maybe Audra was a better actress than the folks in Hollywood gave her credit for being, he thought. After all, she almost had Seth believing that his invitation had her good and flustered.

  As he returned to his room to repack his belongings, Seth recalled parts of the two conversations between Audra and her sister on which he had unabashedly eavesdropped. Today, she claimed to want forgiveness. Yesterday, she had claimed to have changed.

  Well, the sister wasn’t buying it and neither was he. Sure, people sometimes did one-eighties after a cataclysmic event, and being strangled unconscious certainly qualified as cataclysmic. But such change
s didn’t last. Eventually, Audra would tire of acting contrite. The party girl was in there somewhere, and Seth planned to watch for her return through the viewfinder of his camera.

  It was nearly four o’clock in the afternoon and Audra had already unpacked four of her suitcases, leaving only two small bags containing toiletries and lingerie to be put away in the drawers of the larger bedroom’s bureau. She dived into the latter and had a fistful of unmentionables in each hand when she heard the knock at the cottage’s front door. She stared at the frothy bits of lace for a moment before hastily stuffing them into the top drawer.

  She had little doubt as to her visitor’s identity. Housekeeping had already been out to deliver fresh linens. Dane had plans for an early dinner with a woman he was dating. As for Ali, she would just as soon have her spleen removed with a rusty butter knife as look at Audra. That left the occupant of cottage number eleven.

  Sure enough, when she opened the door Seth stood on the weathered wraparound porch, a sexy smile on his face, a can of cola in each hand.

  “I took a chance that you’d like diet,” he said, offering her one.

  “Thank you.” She smiled in return. “I’m trying to decide if I should be insulted or not that you’ve got me pegged as a diet pop drinker.”

  “Pop?” His brow wrinkled.

  “That’s what we call it here in Michigan and I think some other parts of the Midwest.”

  She said it easily, even though for the better part of the past decade she’d referred to all carbonated beverages as soda and had gone so far as to enlist the services of a voice coach to help rid her of what husband number two had called her “annoying Midwestern twang.”

  Of course, Camden Stover had excelled at manipulating her emotions and undermining her self-esteem, which had made it easier on her conscience when her savvy divorce lawyer had gleefully stripped him of a hefty chunk of his assets in court, despite the prenuptial agreement he’d had her sign.

  Ali might consider the money payment for services rendered during the less-than-two-year union, but at the time it had seemed more like hard-earned combat pay. Now, though, Audra regretted it. She should have just walked away.