Bride of Fortune

by Leanne Banks

  “What do you mean by hottie?” Adele asked, dismay oozing into her voice.

  “Ricky Martin is a hottie.”

  A long moment of silence passed. “Are you sure you’re not a teenager?”

  Lisa giggled. “Do you think my dad is a hottie?”

  Adele stood and sighed. “I’m sure that many women think your dad is a hottie.”

  A hedge, Jason thought with a grin. He wondered if his too-smart-for-her-britches daughter would catch it.

  “But what do you think?”

  “I think he’s an intelligent, fascinating man who loves his daughter very much.” She paused. “I’m new at this. Are you stalling?” she asked, and the smile in her voice brushed over him like an intimate stroke.

  “Yes, she is,” Jason said. “And she’s very good at it. Thank Miss O’Neil for reading the book and say good-night.”

  “Thank you for introducing me to Junie B. Jones and goodnight,” Adele interjected in a cheeky voice before Lisa could.

  Lisa giggled. “She doesn’t always follow instructions, does she?” she asked her father.

  “No, she doesn’t,” he said, tossing Adele a glance of mock disapproval.

  “Thanks for reading with me. G’night, Addie.”

  “Addie?” Jason opened his mouth to protest the familiarity, but Adele shook her head. “Sweet dreams, sweetie.”

  Adele left the room, and Jason bent down to kiss his daughter’s soft cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug, and he felt a corresponding squeeze around his heart. Not a day went by that he didn’t thank his lucky stars for Lisa.

  “I like her,” Lisa said, pulling back. “She’s better than the blonde.”

  Jason kissed her again, cut the light and walked down the hall. He found Adele touching a decorative woven blanket that hung from the wall. It struck him that she was a tactile person. He wondered if she was also a tactile lover. He couldn’t help wondering what kind of lover she would be. He intended to find out.

  “It’s from my grandmother’s native tribe,” he said of the blanket as he moved closer to her.

  “It’s beautiful. It must be wonderful to have all these things you can see and touch that show your family history.”

  Jason hadn’t ever thought about it. “It’s all I’ve ever known,” he said, and realized that as an orphan, Adele had missed out on that. “Do you have anything that belonged to your parents?”

  Adele shook her head. “The bracelet I wore in the hospital when I was born. So, all I got were their genes,” she said, and shrugged with a smile. “Speaking of genes, your daughter is incredible.”

  Jason noticed the change of subject, but let it slide. “She can be a challenge. I didn’t intend for you to have to read to her.”

  “I didn’t mind at all. In Minnesota I would sometimes read to kids staying in the hospital.”

  He reached out to touch her hair. “I see she talked you into letting your hair down.”

  “Yes, it seems that both of you are a little fascinated by my hair.”

  “Tell me how she did it, so I can repeat it,” Jason said, continuing to stroke her hair.

  “How she did what?” Adele asked, giving him a glance that combined wariness and curiosity.

  “How she got you to let your hair down,” he said, feeling the heat that curled in his belly every time he was around this woman.

  Adele closed her eyes for a moment, then met his gaze. “She’s cuter than you are.”

  He chuckled and gave her hair a gentle tug. “Is that your way of saying I’m not a hottie?”

  Adele’s eyes widened. “You overheard!” she accused.

  “You never answered her,” Jason said.

  “You are so confident that I’m sure the streets of Pueblo are lined with women who have told you in one way or another that they think you are a hottie. You don’t need to hear it from me.”

  Adele was right about one thing. He didn’t need to hear it from her. He’d rather her show him how she felt. Stifling a sigh, he shook his head. “Lisa was right. You don’t follow instructions well. Come outside and look at our Arizona sky,” he urged her, guiding her out into the backyard.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, looking up. “Away from the city lights, the stars look so bright.”

  “There’s an observatory in Tucson. Maybe we can go sometime.”

  Jason saw her rub her hands over her arms and stood closer to her. “You’re not accustomed to our change in temperatures.”

  “It’s so warm during the day.”

  “But it really cools down at night. Have you satisfied your curiosity?”

  “Some,” she said, peering at him from beneath her eyelashes. “You’ve surprised me.”

  “How?”

  “You really are a good father.”

  “What did you expect?”

  “I expected you would have a nanny.”

  “I do,” he admitted. “I’m a single father with a demanding job, so I don’t try to do everything all the time. But you’ve met Lisa. I won’t miss out on her growing-up years.” He held her with his gaze. “But enough about me. You’ve had your turn. Now it’s my turn to satisfy some of my curiosity about you.”

  Jason felt her tense slightly. “Okay,” she said, but that one word was brimming with reluctance.

  “Why aren’t you married?”

  “I’m not sure getting married is a good idea for me. I don’t plan to have children so—”

  “No children!” he echoed in amazement. “But you love children. You’ve chosen a career where you protect children.”

  “Yes,” she conceded, “but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m great parent material.”

  Her comment turned his head around. “Why not?”

  Adele gave a heavy sigh. “Because I don’t know how to parent.”

  “None of us do,” Jason told her.

  “But you had role models,” she said. “I didn’t. In those moments when you have to make a split-second decision, you have training and instinct to fall back on. I don’t have either of those.”

  He had no idea why, but it bothered the hell out of him that Adele truly didn’t believe she had the potential to be a good parent. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “I’m not used to this attitude.”

  “You’re used to women whose priority is to get married and have children. That’s wonderful for them. It’s just not for me.”

  “You have your career questions answered, but what about the personal ones?”

  She looked unsettled by his question, then shrugged. “That’s the great thing about life. You don’t have to get all the questions answered at once.”

  He felt impatience burn and shimmer throughout him. He lifted his hand to slide his fingers through her hair and cup her jaw. “Then why do I want all my questions about you answered at once?”

  She went very still, her gaze wrapped in his. “I don’t know,” she said in a voice so low it was almost a whisper. “I promise I’m very boring.”

  “I think you’re lying,” he said, and lowered his mouth to hers. Her lips were cool from the night air, but he felt the promise of warmth inside. He had the sense that this was a woman he could trust. This was a woman whose will and passion might just match his, but her passion was just out of his reach. He could taste her slight reticence and wanted to burn it away.

  “This isn’t wise,” she whispered against his mouth.

  “It’s part of the curiosity,” he told her, sucking on her bottom lip.

  “But you’ve already kissed me,” she said, her voice breathless. “You’ve answered that question.”

  “I’m still curious,” he said, and slid his tongue into her warm, silken recesses. He explored her mouth, challenging her to respond. He tasted hesitation, then something inside her seemed to break free, and she kissed him back.

  She met him stroke for stroke, and her breasts brushed against his chest, teasing him. Sliding his hands down to the back o
f her waist, he urged her against him.

  She tasted and felt like pure feminine passion, and he was hard with wanting. The desire went deeper than sex, but he couldn’t comprehend another way to express it. She drew something incredibly elemental from deep within him. She opened her mouth to him, tugging sensually on his tongue, sending a flash fire of raw desire through him.

  Skimming one hand upward, he cupped her breast and rocked his lower body in the notch of her femininity. Her little moan was like gasoline on the fire, and he felt the edge of his control fray.

  Devouring her mouth, he pushed his hands down to her bottom and tugged her skirt upward. He slipped his fingers inside the silk of her panties and stroked her bare skin. “You feel so good. But I want more,” he muttered, and touched her intimately. Touching her there with his hands only succeeded in making him want to be inside her, stretching, pumping.

  Adele shuddered and turned her mouth from his, gasping for air. Pushing against him, she stumbled backward.

  Jason instinctively reached out to steady her, but she held up her hand and shook her head. Her eyes dark with arousal and a sliver of fear, she continued to shake her head. “I told you this wasn’t wise.”

  Still throbbing with his need for her, Jason stepped toward her to reassure her.

  “No,” Adele said. “I didn’t come here tonight to be seduced.” She bit her lower lip, swollen from his kisses. Even that small evidence of their passion aroused him further. “Although, I realize you may not have been able to tell that by the way I responded to you.”

  He noticed she wasn’t denying her response, and that was one more confirmation that she would match him. “My daughter is inside sleeping. I didn’t intend to seduce you tonight.”

  “Not tonight, but sometime?”

  He raked his hand through his hair. “It’s inevitable that we will make love, Adele. There’s something unusual between us.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “It is not inevitable. We’re two rational adults. We might have gone a little crazy a few moments ago, but we both have a choice in the matter. Just because we went a little crazy once, doesn’t mean we have to do it again.”

  “Once?” he prompted, reminding her of the first night they met.

  She shrugged. “Okay, well I figured that other time you kissed me was some sort of local custom.”

  Jason swallowed a chuckle. “You’re not going to try to rationalize this, are you? I thought you were more honest than that.”

  She looked at him, her gaze shimmering with passion, agreement, fear and reluctance.

  “I want to know you,” he said, “in every way. I won’t be satisfied until I know you in every way. You are the same way. I can feel it when I touch you. Can you honestly tell me you’ll be satisfied in choosing to not know me?”

  She took a careful breath. “I’ll have to be.”

  Five

  “Ten kinds of crazy,” Adele repeated to herself over the next several days. She was ten kinds of crazy if she got sexually involved with Jason Fortune. The man seemed to bring things out in her she hadn’t known existed. Longings inside her that alternately screamed and whispered. The desire wasn’t the worst. She had felt desire before, although it had never overwhelmed her. No, it was the whispered reminders of secret dreams she’d abandoned years ago that bothered her most.

  Jason belonged. In every way that Adele had ever wanted to belong, he belonged, yet stood on his own. She was drawn to him both for his strong sense of self and equally strong sense of family. He exhibited an incredibly powerful balance of individuality and connectedness. She secretly envied that balance, because she sure as heck knew she didn’t possess it. He held an important place in his family’s minds and hearts. He was also a protector in the same way she was, and Adele knew on a deep, gut level, that Jason was strong enough to protect her. She’d never met a man like him.

  Embarrassed by her abandoned response to him, she’d been reluctant to face him again. Fortunately, he’d been out of town on business Monday. Today, however, she’d been summoned to meet him in his office. He was taking her to the hospital construction site.

  His secretary waved her in his door. “Go on in. He’s down the hall. He’ll be back in just a couple of minutes.”

  Adele walked into his office and immediately felt the essence of the man who spent hours here. Although she’d been in his office before, Jason had dominated her attention. Alone, she stole the opportunity to drink in everything she could learn of him.

  A desktop computer occupied one corner of his large walnut desk. Assorted files were stacked neatly on the other side with a spreadsheet on top. A leather date book and complicated telephone that looked as if it would do everything but make coffee testified to a busy schedule.

  Two photos of Lisa greeted him throughout his day. Adele felt a tug inside her. His daughter would be there on those occasional rough days when he looked at those photos and found his reason for doing all that he did.

  Adele glanced at the wall and walked toward a large colorful Native American print. A group of Indians looked as if they were gathered in celebration.

  “Saguaro Wine Festival by Michael Chiago,” Jason said from the doorway, drawing her attention from the print.

  Adele felt her heart dip at the sight of him. He wore his dark suit with ease, and his crisp white shirt contrasted with his tanned skin. The expression in his assessing amber eyes made her heart dip again. He had held her and touched her. He wouldn’t forget it. Nor would she.

  She cleared her throat and forced her attention back to the print. “What is Tohono O’odham?”

  “In the eighties, the Papago decided they wanted to be known as Tohono O’odham. It means desert people. My cousin, Shane, feels strongly about using the Tohono O’odham name, but Tyler and I still think of ourselves as Papago because that’s the name we grew up with.” He walked toward her. “Did you know saguaro wine was the first wine made in America before the Europeans arrived?”

  She hazarded a glance at him and saw the slight grin on his face. “And they actually make it from the cactus?”

  “From the fruit of the saguaro.”

  “I don’t believe I’ve ever had saguaro. We don’t seem to have a lot of them in Minnesota.”

  “It tastes like a combination of fig with a hint of strawberry.”

  “And the wine?”

  He chuckled. “Let’s just say it packs a punch.”

  Beside the large print was a smaller picture of a cave on a red-rock plateau. “And this?”

  “Lightfoot’s Plateau,” he said with a thoughtful expression on his face. “The cave within the plateau is believed to be able to provide guidance in the ways of the heart. It’s a spiritual place that used to belong to my grandmother’s family. Others own it now.”

  She heard the disapproval in his voice. “And you’re not too happy about that,” she ventured.

  “None of my family is pleased. We want it back.” His gaze embodied rock-hard determination. “We will get it back.”

  Adele didn’t doubt it. She wouldn’t want to be the opposition in a battle with the Fortunes. They were a formidable group. Geez, just trying to keep her wits with Jason was enough for her.

  He looked at her. “But that’s for another time. Now we visit the hospital.”

  Adele joined Jason in his Jaguar as he drove to the construction site on the outskirts of town. Situated on several acres, Fortune Memorial Children’s Hospital was on its way to becoming a sprawling, modern, fifteen-story complex.

  Adele felt a stirring sense of satisfaction knowing that she would help make the operation of the hospital successful. “It’s very impressive,” she said. “And it’s not even finished yet. How proud does it make you feel to look at it?”

  He met her gaze, and the light in his eyes drew her like a beam in the darkness. “This will be our greatest accomplishment.”

  He barely helped her out of the car before Tyler was calling his name. A wide grin split Tyler’s handsome f
ace as he gave each of them a construction hat. “I’m ahead of schedule,” Tyler said triumphantly. “We’re halfway done.”

  “Have you told Mom and Dad?” Jason asked.

  “I thought I’d save the good news for when I see them tonight, just as they start to apply the matrimonial screws to me again.” He turned to Adele. “Is my brother giving you enough trouble?”

  Adele couldn’t help smiling. “More than enough,” she said and waved her hand. “The hospital looks great.”

  “You haven’t seen nothing yet. Wait till—”

  “Mr. Fortune,” a worker called. “Problem here.”

  Tyler shrugged. “Duty calls. Jason will have to do the tour. Stay away from the west side of the building. Some men are working on the fourteenth floor, and I don’t want you to catch any falling hammers. I’ll try to talk to you before you leave. Later,” he said, then walked back to the site.

  “Later,” Jason said to his brother, then took the construction hat from Adele’s hand and put it on her head. “Stay close and watch where you walk,” he instructed.

  “It looks like both you and Tyler are very safety conscious about the site,” she said, noticing the fences and warning signs posted throughout the site.

  “Fortune Construction has an excellent safety record. We’ve never been investigated by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and we plan to keep it that way.” He frowned as if something disturbing occurred to him. “If it’s humanly possible, there will be no injuries with this project.”

  The attitude was consistent with Jason’s protectiveness. It extended to both his family and his employees. She wondered at his tone. “Has something happened to make you concerned about the possibility of accidents?”

  He stopped and looked at her. “No. Why do you ask?”

  Adele shrugged. “I don’t know. Something in your voice.”

  Hands on his hips, he glanced away, looking as if he were debating something. He rubbed his chin. “A few weeks ago I had a crazy dream with a lot of powerful images. One showed blood at the construction site.”