Forever After (Montana Brides, Book 3)

by Leeanna Morgan

  “It’s not lying,” Nicky replied. “It’s sort of embellishing the truth.”

  “You can’t embellish what doesn’t exist.” Cody threw his hands in the air, whacking his fingers against one of the glass pendant lights dangling above the kitchen counter. “Even the lights are out to get me,” he moaned, rubbing his hand against his jeans.

  Emily stalked around Cody, throwing dishes into the dishwasher. “Don’t scowl at me like that you big bozo. It wasn’t my fault you thumped your hand.”

  “I’m not scowling at you because of that. If Nicky doesn’t have another man interested in her, then inventing Mr. Perfect isn’t going to make Sam like her any better.”

  “You’re surrounded by men every day at work. There must be someone that wouldn’t mind pretending to be Nicky’s boyfriend.” Her big blue eyes frosted over. “Someone with a bit more imagination than you.”

  Cody’s eyes flashed fire and his mouth clamped tight. “I’ve got imagination,” he ground out. “But I’ve also got scruples. If Sam doesn’t like Nicky there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

  Nicky stamped her foot. “Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here,” she yelled.

  Emily and Cody both looked over their shoulders toward the patio.

  “Ssh. Keep your voice down,” Emily hissed. “These wooden floors and high ceilings make noise echo like you wouldn’t believe.” Giving Cody a pointed look, she said, “I’ve heard things going on in here that would make a grown woman blush.”

  “Don’t look at me when you say that,” Cody yelled.

  “Ssh.” Chorused Nicky and Emily.

  “Well it’s true,” he ground out. “Nothing improper has ever happened in this kitchen.”

  “Let me think,” Emily replied, tapping her finger against her lips. “I seem to recall a certain brunette called Jacinta Grey…” Cody’s neck turned red and his gaze flew out the window. “Wasn’t there a certain cocktail party here last month when things got a tad hot and heavy behind the…”

  “That’s enough,” he growled. “How did you find out about Jacinta?”

  Emily crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Next time you’re down here, you want to try smooching your dates against a wall that doesn’t contain the intercom system. You were just damn lucky your grunting only came as far as the office, and there was nobody else in there except me.”

  Cody’s six-foot-six frame lit up like a Christmas tree. He stared at the offending wall, presumably making a mental note to avoid that area for life.

  Nicky glanced between her brother and sister. “Can we please get back to my nonexistent love life and off Cody’s bountiful one?”

  “I’m not going to be part of your plan,” Cody said. “And if I was you I wouldn’t even attempt to fool Sam.” He turned the coffee machine on and grabbed some mugs. “You know where the beans and chocolate are. I’m heading back out to the barbecue for some intelligent conversation.”

  Nicky sucked in a deep breath, watching his retreating back. “I think he’s right.”

  “What?”

  “He’s right. I think we need to go to plan B.”

  “You can’t be serious? Plan A is fail proof. Take one emotionally rattled chief executive, the woman he’s seriously avoiding, one amorous suitor, and what do you have?”

  “Disaster.” Nicky sighed. “A complete disaster.”

  Emily tapped her fingers against the marble counter. “Are you sure? Cody’s got a warped brain when it comes to relationships, so I wouldn’t listen too hard to what he’s got to say.”

  “But he knows Sam. And he’s right. If Sam ever caught wind of our plan he wouldn’t speak to me again.”

  Emily shrugged her shoulders. “Okay. It’s your life. Plan B it is.”

  ***

  As soon as she woke up, Nicky consulted the clothing spreadsheet Emily had given her. She clicked on Monday and a picture of a pale pink dress popped onto the screen. Moving her cursor along Monday’s columns, various accessories appeared beside the dress.

  Reaching into her closet, Nicky grabbed a pair of cream strappy heels, a pink crystal necklace that Emily assured her would help unblock Sam’s negative energy, and a cotton cardigan that was so delicate it was almost transparent.

  She nearly missed the last column, positive it hadn’t been there when Emily had shown her the file. The last column was called ‘Daily Inspiration.’ Clicking her mouse over Monday’s entry, Nicky choked on a laugh. She read it again. ‘Smile, it’s the second best thing you can do with your lips.’

  Some of the nervous energy twisting her stomach into knots disappeared. It was just like Emily to add a funny quote to lighten her mood. She needed it. The next two weeks were a last ditch effort to show Sam how perfect they were for each other. If it didn’t work, she’d be heading back to Denver and forgetting Sam Delaney ever existed.

  Nicky glanced at her watch and nearly dropped her clothes. She had sixty minutes to have a shower, get dressed, scoff some toast and make it into work. Sixty minutes until show time.

  Sixty minutes until her lips started doing the second best thing in the world.

  ***

  Sam glared at the bunch of flowers sitting on Amanda’s desk. Roses, daisies and lots of green leaves sat in a tangled mass of color waiting for Nicky. The courier had dropped them off fifteen minutes ago. He’d tried to read the card, but Amanda had been quick. She’d read his mind faster than he could read the card and whisked the offending note out of sight.

  If he breathed deeply he could smell the rich perfume of the roses wafting through his office, reminding him what an idiot he’d been last week. So he kept to shallow breaths and pretended the bouquet wasn’t there.

  He bent his head, determined to put a long-legged blonde out of his mind. He had work to do; a contract on a new apartment complex in Billings to negotiate, a retirement village in Great Falls to plan, and a senior management team meeting to prepare for. A bunch of flowers wouldn’t distract him. Not even one with ten pink roses.

  With a satisfied grunt he knew the guy wasn’t a keeper. Ten roses. He must be a cheapskate. Someone with romance on their mind would have sent an even dozen. And they would have been red. Deep red with no frilly daisies watering down the message.

  His ears twitched with the ping of the elevator. High heels clicked along the polished floor. Concentrate, he told himself. Concentrate as if you’re performing open heart surgery and not rescheduling a contractors meeting. He could hear the smile in Amanda’s voice as she handed the flowers to Nicky. He heard the surprise in Nicky’s voice when she accepted them. He also heard the silence as she read the card.

  Sam waited for Amanda to ask who had sent them. From his vast experience of the opposite sex he knew that women were naturally inquisitive, born to dip into the personal lives of the people around them without hesitation. He waited. And he waited some more.

  He didn’t care about who had cut Nicky’s hair, he didn’t want to know about the incredible book Amanda had finished at the weekend and left on Nicky’s desk. And he didn’t need to know how hot it was supposed to get this afternoon. He wanted to know who had sent the damn flowers.

  He looked up, trying mental telepathy to push Amanda’s mouth into asking what he wanted the answer to. His heart lurched. He took a deep breath, ignoring the heady perfume from the roses, concentrating entirely on the beautiful woman in the corridor.

  Nicky’s blue eyes shone brightly from her happy face. Her pale pink dress floated around her sun kissed body in a whisper of silky fabric. With the flowers in her arms she looked like she was ready for a wedding.

  He choked.

  “Sam? Are you all right?” Nicky rushed into his office, a concerned frown on her face.

  “I’m fine.” He loosened his tie. “Water went down the wrong way.”

  She looked at his desk, her frown turning into a mischievous grin.

  He glanced down. There wasn’t a glass in sight. Damn. He always had a glass of water sit
ting on his desk. Always. He felt his cheeks redden at the amused gleam in her eyes. “Nice flowers.”

  Nicky smiled. “They are lovely.”

  He couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t going to tell him who’d sent them. He wouldn’t let her out of his office until she told him. He needed to know. There had to be a sub clause in her employment contract, some important personal disclosure section he could enforce.

  Before he could think of a suitably impressive, roundabout way to ask, his mouth blurted out, “Who are they from?” Another lick of heat scorched his cheeks. Holy hell, at this rate he’d have a serious case of sunburn by the end of the day.

  Nicky gazed at him with a stunned expression on her face. She hadn’t thought he’d ask the one question that had been gnawing a hole in his heart since the courier arrived at work. He could see her weigh up what she was about to say.

  She swallowed. “A friend sent them.”

  It was his turn to frown. Nicky couldn’t lie, even if her life depended on it. She wasn’t telling the entire truth, he knew that much. His gut twisted tight, imagining just how much involvement this ‘friend’ had in her life. ‘Friends’ didn’t send each other roses. ‘Friends’ didn’t bring a guilty flush to a woman’s cheeks. ‘Friends’ didn’t dress up for a date in a tight red sheath that stirred a man’s blood to boiling.

  Nicky backed out of his office, colliding with the door frame. “Oops. Gotta go. Bye.” With a tight smile she turned on her four inch heels and bolted down the corridor.

  So much for his apology. He doubted whether Nicky even remembered last week’s conversation about marriage and commitment. If the radiant smile on her face meant anything, it meant she’d found someone else to whisper sweet nothings to.

  ***

  Nicky gripped her flowers in one hand as she rushed out of Sam’s office. She closed her office door and sank into her chair.

  Emily was bad. Really bad. She looked so sweet and innocent. All red hair and freckles wrapped up in designer chic. But even Pippi Longstocking couldn’t have triggered the same amount of mayhem that Emily managed to create in other people’s lives. Grabbing her cell phone, she dialed her sister’s number and waited.

  “You’ll have to make it quick,” Emily said. “My class starts in three minutes.”

  “I only have one word for you. Flowers.”

  “Positively inspired last minute addition to our plan,” Emily gushed.

  Nicky dropped her head into her hands. “You’re nuts. Sam nearly fired me on the spot for…well, something…I really don’t know what. But he wasn’t happy.”

  “Awesome,” she squealed. “I’ve got to go, the lecturer’s arrived. I’ll call you tonight.”

  Nicky looked down at her phone, hoping she’d made the right choice in asking her sister for help.

  A light tap on her door dragged her wandering mind back to work. “Come in.”

  Amanda stood in the doorway, a vase full of water clutched in her hands. “I thought this might come in handy.” She walked across the room. “Where do you want it?”

  Nicky’s gaze moved around the room, settling on a low table in front of the sofa. She grabbed a pair of scissors and walked over to Amanda. “We’ll put them on the table.”

  Nicky snipped the ribbon holding the bouquet together and placed the flowers in the vase. Amanda jiggled them around until they looked just right.

  “I wish someone would send me roses,” Amanda laughed. “The most affectionate thing I get in the mail is a discount off my utility bill for paying by automatic draft.”

  Nicky pulled a rose from the bouquet and smiled. “Now your wish has come true.”

  “I knew today was my lucky day. And talking about today, Sam wanted me to remind you about your meeting with him in an hour.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Amanda sniffed the rose, smiling at the sweet fragrance. “In that case, my work here is done. Thanks for the rose.”

  Nicky started her computer. The day that had begun with a hiss and a roar was quickly turning into a fizzer. She had a disturbing feeling that she might be heading back to Denver just to get away from one stubborn male and a psycho sister.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sam ran across the footbridge, feet pounding against the wood. He breathed deeply, the cold morning air hitting his lungs, shaking his brain cells awake. This was the Bozeman he loved. A sky so blue that it hurt his eyes, mountains that reached into forever and only a handful of people in sight.

  The three mile circuit around the Village had become an addiction, a chance to clear his head, plan for the day and vent his frustrations. This morning it left him feeling restless and edgy. Nicky would be presenting her recommendations to the board of directors this morning. In another week she’d be heading back to Denver and out of his life.

  He waved to Mrs. Moody, one of the oldest residents in the subdivision. Each morning she bustled out of her townhouse dressed in her baggy sweatpants and sneakers, collecting her newspaper as he ran past her driveway. He was sure she had a radar attached to her mailbox, telling her when he was within striking distance.

  It was a pity he didn’t have a radar of his own, attached to a cattle prod to zap some common sense into him. Nicky complicated his life. She short-circuited his intelligence. Drove him insane with frilly outfits that had no place in a construction company.

  Hell, half the male population must have oogled her legs at some point over the last few days. A woman didn’t go from wearing black pants to miniskirts without a reason. Especially a woman like Nicky. Flirty little numbers didn’t go too well with the professional image she’d created. No matter which way he looked at it there was only one explanation.

  She’d met a man. Not just any man. A man that brought out her feminine side. A man who sent her roses, and cards, and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. He probably wrote poetry too.

  Mr. Wilkin’s dog yapped from behind the gate on his owner’s front porch. Sam ignored the black Labrador and kept running, digging deep for the final sprint home.

  All week he’d treated Nicky like any other employee. He’d ignored Amanda’s glowing reference to Nicky’s secret admirer and kept his coffee breaks to a minimum. He’d even started using the stairs so he didn’t bump into her in the elevator. Fat lot of good it had done him. She had him so tongue-tied that whenever he was around her he couldn’t string two words together.

  And he loved her. Or maybe he realized he’d loved her two years ago, only he’d been too thick to realize it.

  He slowed down, shortened his stride until he came to a stop outside the Lofts. Whatever he felt about Nicky wouldn’t make any difference. She wanted stability, permanence, marriage. Everything he couldn’t promise.

  Meeting with the company’s lawyers yesterday had brought him crashing back to earth quicker than forked lightning. The date of Patrick’s court appearance had been set. Sam felt sick at the thought of what lay ahead for Patrick’s wife and family.

  “Sam?”

  He looked over his shoulder, surprised to see Cody jogging toward him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Emily’s getting her apartment photographed for the realtor today. She needed someone to hang a door and fix a leaky pipe in the bathroom. Guess who drew the short straw last night?”

  “That’s what you get for living close to town.”

  Cody shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not all that bad. She promised me food. I wanted to see you before I head out to the ranch.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  Cody stuck his hands in his pockets. “It could be.”

  “Has Jacinta finally realized the grass is greener in someone else’s paddock?” Sam joked, knowing Jacinta wouldn’t be going anywhere. Cody’s latest girlfriend had lasted longer than most of the other women in his life. Longer than any of Sam’s girlfriends ever had.

  “It’s not Jacinta that’s giving me sleepless nights; it’s that pesky sister of mine.”

  “Nicky?” Holy hell.
That would make two of them.

  “No,” Cody muttered. “The other pesky one. Emily’s been trying to get me to hook…” His voice disappeared to nothing. Cody glanced over Sam’s shoulder, a hunted expression on his face. “How’s your week gone?”

  “Fine.”

  “You’re sure?” Cody asked. “You haven’t been…you know…harassed?”

  Sam stared at Cody, wandering what was going on. If Emily was involved, anything could be on the agenda. “Why would I be harassed?”

  “Thank God.” Cody braced his hands on his hips, breathing a sigh of relief. “Emily had this crazy idea of making you jealous by inventing a boyfriend for Nicky. They wanted me to corner someone to be a stand in Romeo. How dumb can two women get?” He looked at Sam. “Oh, shit. You didn’t know, did you?”

  “You’re joking.”

  Cody shook his head.

  Sam couldn’t believe it. Nicky wanted happily-ever-after. She’d lectured him about honesty, integrity and respect. And here she was trying to manipulate him into turning into a green-eyed fool. And the worst thing was that he’d fallen for their games without needing another man in sight. How stupid could he be?

  Cody pushed his hands through his hair. “I feel like an idiot now. Look Sam, Nicky really likes you. My two sisters are totally nuts. I’m not saying I agree with their methods, but they had good intentions.” He folded his hands across his chest. “You like her, don’t you.”

  Sam shook his head. “Who?”

  “Nicky, you blockhead. What’s going on between the two of you?”

  “Nothing,” Sam muttered. “And when I get my hands on her, there’ll be a whole lot more than nothing going on. Thanks for the warning.” He turned around and stormed into the foyer of the Loft, intent on teaching a blue-eyed blonde a lesson she’d never forget.

  ***

  Nicky stared at her reflection in the metal elevator doors. A blur of cream lace and silk wavered in front of her, disappearing completely when she pushed the button to take her to the third floor.

  She looked back at the doors. If she took a small step to the right, the ripple of steel made her shadow look three feet tall and four foot wide. Perfect. At least Sam might pay attention to a rectangle walking into his office. She moved to the left and turned into an albino worm. Even better.