Under the Millionaire's Influence

by Catherine Mann

  “Thank you, son.” She backed away toward the hall. “I believe I’ll go call Bitsy from my old bridge club. I hear she’s happy with the retirement home….”

  Her voice faded as she made her way to the stairs.

  Well, hell. She hadn’t even bothered to say she loved him back. His parents really were a mess in the emotional department. No wonder he was so screwed up when it came to giving Starr what she needed.

  What she deserved after being so horribly used by that clan of hers.

  Except after her years with Aunt Libby, perhaps Starr had some things she could teach him in the emotional arena in exchange for the things he’d taught her in the bedroom.

  What a sweet deal, now that he thought of it. It wasn’t as if he were expected to be freaking Shakespeare shouting over a megaphone. These sorts of things were private. Awesomely private.

  The time had come for him to accept the truth. He would take Starr any way he could have her, even if it meant curbing his travel.

  Now that he’d made the decision, he didn’t want to wait another minute in laying claim to his woman for life, and he knew just the thing to romance her artist’s eye. Mind set, David reached for the family portrait over the fireplace, pulled it back to reveal a small safe and punched in the code. Making her happy would make him happy. She deserved that and more. He opened the creaking safe door to a small fortune.

  He loved Starr. Always had, he just hadn’t recognized the feeling since he’d had precious little example to compare it to at home.

  But no more living in the dark, thanks to Starr. She’d thrown wide the windows to let in the light and he intended to do his best to persuade her they should spend the rest of their lives standing in the sunshine. Together.

  But first, he needed to clear the beach of the traveler caravan, once and for all.

  Starr juggled everything in her hands, wondering why she’d tried to carry so much at once. But then that was pretty much the story of her life. She always tried to take on too much, her eyes bigger than her stomach.

  A big dreamer. Today, though, she hoped she could make all those hopes come true.

  Under one arm, she carried a memory book she’d made, but it wasn’t of she and David. In the stack of folders, she’d found an extra accidentally included one containing family photos of David as a baby. The photos of David’s father were sweet, as well, the proud papa, a happy husband. Things may have gone bad in the Hamilton-Reis household later on, but at one time, they’d been better.

  Starr couldn’t help but think of how she’d been dating David as his mother had been grieving the loss of her husband. That couldn’t have been easy. And in that little revelation, Starr was able to ease up on some of her anger. She might not like the idea of a clingy mother hanging on to her son, but at least she could understand on some level.

  Under her other arm, she held the cat plate. She’d bought a reproduction for herself, doggone him and his gold credit cards. And finally, she held a cat carrier with an orange tabby inside.

  For the first time, she trudged up the steps of David’s house by herself.

  She rang the bell and waited and waited. Nothing happened. She started to turn away—

  Behind her, the front door creaked open. She spun around to find David’s mother standing there, and surprise, surprise, the older woman looked rather rumpled, bringing to mind her front-porch visit of just a week ago. As much as Starr resented the way she’d been treated over the years, she had to get along with this woman. At least David would know Starr had tried.

  Starr thrust the kitty carrier toward her. “I remembered you used to have a cat back when I first moved in. This one isn’t all fluffy like the Persian cat you used to have, but pound pets are usually really grateful for the love. And it matches this amazing collector’s item plate.”

  “Um, my dear, I’m not sure what to say.” Alice Hamilton-Reis looked around her for others, no little surprise on her face.

  “It’s probably best you don’t say anything. I just wanted to bring you a get-well gift since you’ve been feeling under the weather.” Starr passed the album and took a deep breath since things were going to get a bit stickier now. “David gave me these photos to organize into this gift for you.”

  “David gave it to you?”

  The pathetic hopefulness in her voice softened up a hard spot in Starr’s heart. She figured David would forgive her the slight fudge with the truth.

  “Yes, ma’am. You know that David and I have been friends—and more—for a long time now. He means a lot to me, which makes you a special person in my life, too. I hope that you will accept this memory album as a peace offering, a fresh start for a new relationship between you and I—for David’s sake if nothing else.”

  The older woman took the album, staring at the wedding photo of herself with David’s father. Mrs. Hamilton-Reis had clearly loved the man. Maybe the loss of that love had simply devastated her so deeply she didn’t have much to offer anyone else.

  Alice Hamilton-Reis’s fingers shook as she traced the posed picture. “This is truly lovely, the way you’ve matted the portrait. Thank you.” She smiled, albeit begrudgingly. “You have a good eye for mixing colors. I’ve always liked the flower bed you planted around the carriage house.”

  The woman obviously still adored her prize tea roses, but it was nice to hear she could see the beauty of a rambling cottage garden, too. Starr set down the cat and plate with hope in her heart.

  A shriek sounded in the distance.

  She pivoted, searched, finally peered around the corner of the house to find…Her relatives were all outside their campers, clustered around David—and a pair of police officers. Ohmigod. How had she missed that as she’d walked across the lawn? Likely because she’d done her best to keep her eyes averted from the problem.

  Now she couldn’t take her eyes off it. “Here, Mrs. Hamilton-Reis. You don’t have to decide now about the cat. Just think it over. If you don’t want the cat, I’ll take it, but I really hope you’ll enjoy her.”

  She’d read a lot about how much a pet could do to help alleviate depression in someone battling loneliness.

  Starr charged down the steps toward the fray. “David? David! What’s going on?”

  Her petite mother ran to her, arms extended, flitting like a bird. “Oh, sugar, thank goodness you’re here. You can straighten all this out before suppertime. Your boyfriend here thinks we’re criminals. You know we would never hurt anyone.”

  Other than leaving a kid to suffocate in an RV. Or ripping people off with crap items. Or stealing from an old woman who took in cast-off children. Starr suffered through the hug before crossing to David. “What’s the matter?”

  He peeled her mother’s hands off Starr’s arm. “The police have questions about a series of debit-card scams in Dallas. They believe your family is responsible.”

  She didn’t doubt for a second the Ciminos en masse could pull something like that off.

  Frederick clapped a hand on David’s back. “Young man, surely you can use some of your connections to help us out here.”

  David shook his head. “Actually, my connections are the ones who tracked this down and reported it.”

  Starr gasped. Gita grabbed her daughter’s hand again like a last-minute lifeline. Starr had to look in her mother’s eyes and deny the connection that had only hurt her. At least Mrs. Hamilton-Reis—in her own halting way—had admitted when she’d been wrong. Whereas Gita was still incapable of admitting she’d made mistakes. Starr turned to David and realized he was worried about her reaction.

  His gaze met and held hers as if gauging her feelings. Did he really think she would be angry? Great gracious, she’d been waiting all her life for someone to help her take them on. Aunt Libby had tried, but she’d had so many children with problem families, there hadn’t been much of her to spread around.

  Heavens, she wasn’t in the least angry. She hooked a hand in the crook of David’s arm, physically choosing him over the
parents who’d only hurt her. “I appreciate David’s help. We don’t want anything questionable going on around Beachcombers.” She lowered her voice, but added a wealth of steel. “You lost me the day you left me to roast in the RV for hours on end until the cops finally discovered me and took me to a hospital. I almost died, you know. But I won’t regret it, though, since your criminal carelessness brought me here.”

  She needed to vocalize her stance to ensure all the Ciminos knew where she stood, even as she felt the flex of muscles in David’s arm under her touch at the mention of her parents’ neglect. Essie scrambled away first, realizing the jig was up.

  Gita and Frederick backed away more slowly, eyes and noses narrowed. Undoubtedly they would get away with community service hours. They were slippery that way. But they were also savvy enough never to pull a scam again in a town where the cops caught their scent.

  Such as Charleston.

  Relief flowed through Starr’s veins as old worries slid from her shoulders. David had accomplished so much more than banishing her relatives from her land. He’d helped her see what she really wanted from her life. For the first time, she was brave enough to dream about a future that included love. Laughter.

  Starr squeezed David’s elbow again as she watched her relatives load up in the Cimino gypsy caravan for what she felt certain was the last time she would ever see them. He looped an arm around her shoulders as the cop cruiser escorted the rickety vehicles onto the main road.

  She tipped her face up to his, smiling. “Thank you.”

  “You’re more than welcome. I’m sorry it took me so long to get it right, but I swear they will never hurt you again. I just wish I could have been there to help you when you were a defenseless ten-year-old locked in that damn camper.” His embrace grew so tight it bordered on painful.

  She hugged him back, realizing right now the event hurt him more than it did her. “It’s okay, David. I’m okay. It’s in the past and thanks to you, they are in my past.”

  “Damn straight,” he rasped, his voice more than a little raw.

  He started to lean down to kiss her when a screech split the air. He jerked upright. “What the hell is that?”

  She fidgeted, embarrassed and grinning and so in love all at once. “Uh, I believe that’s your mother’s cat.”

  “My mother’s cat?”

  They both turned and, sure enough, there stood David’s mother on the side veranda observing the whole ordeal—tabby cat in her arms, tucked under her chin. Alice showed that animal more affection than Starr had seen her give any human, but at least the woman was smiling for a change.

  It was a start.

  David tucked Starr closer to his side. “I assume it’s no coincidence that animal resembles the one in the gallery plate.”

  “You’re an observant man. I thought she could use some companionship.”

  “I would kiss you senseless right now for being so thoughtful in spite of everything, but my mother’s watching so that would be rather weird.” He skimmed her hair away from her face. “Although that’s a temporary situation. She and I had a discussion this afternoon about her going to a retirement village.”

  Shock rooted Starr to the spot. She couldn’t have heard him right…. But searching his eyes, she saw that she had. There was more to this than he was saying, but regardless, she sensed that he’d done this for her. And from the way his mother held the cat that had come from Starr, maybe there was hope for all of them after all.

  Starr settled deeper into David’s embrace. “Well, from the look of things, I imagine you’d best make sure they take cats at the place.”

  “Money’s no object, remember?”

  “Of course, Agent Money Bags.” She arched up to brush a quick, quite circumspect kiss across his lips. “Although if we’re going to keep things low-key with your mother around, you should probably stay right here for a while until your body calms down.”

  “Those are just the family jewels in my pocket.” He hugged her tighter with a secretive smile on his face. “Meet me on the pier at midnight and I’ll let you check them out.”

  Music from Beachcombers drifted on the ocean breeze. Starr owed Ashley big time since she was closing the bar for her tonight. But her romantic younger sister had been more than happy to help her out. It felt strange to openly acknowledge the possibility of a relationship with David, but the time had come for them both to step into the light.

  Speaking of which, he stood at the end of his family’s dock, a lone bulb streaming light down over him. After all these years, he still stole the air from her lungs. Tall and dark and lean. As a scared, neglected gypsy child, she hadn’t believed she deserved someone like him.

  Now, thanks to his steadfastness, she knew she totally deserved his love.

  “David.”

  He leaned back against the wooden railing. “Starr.”

  Just the simple speaking of their names carried a wealth of emotion. He extended a hand. She linked her fingers with his and stepped into his embrace.

  For countless laps of the waves against the moorings, she stood in the warmth of his arms, enjoying the wealth of colors in the moonbeams streaking across the deep purple water.

  She nestled her head under his chin. “What’s this about family jewels?”

  His laughter rumbled against her back. “I’ll get to that in a minute. I have a few things I want to tell you first, things I should have figured out a long time ago.” She felt his neck work in a long swallow. “I’m willing to cut back on the travel so you can have the home you need. You need those roots and I’m damn sorry I didn’t see that before. The house is ours for you to bring light inside.”

  She squeezed her eyes tight against the tears threatening to pop free. She’d waited so long for this. She rubbed his hands over her stomach. “I’m not averse to taking a few road trips with you now and again. I think I would like to get an art degree and seeing the artists’ work for real would only help my studies.”

  “I think that’s an incredible idea. I’ve learned to see my home through new eyes because of you. Hell, I’ve learned to see life through new eyes because of you. Home has a definite new allure with you in it. And you’ll be next door to Beachcombers whenever work calls.”

  She stared down at their clasped hands and let words slip free she hadn’t dared share with anyone before, but then she’d never had David in her life for good before. “I have to confess to being a little jealous of Ashley when she graduated.”

  “Yet you still gave her the degree first.” He turned her to face him and cupped the back of her head. “You’re a helluva woman.”

  “She needed it more.” The choice had been clear if not easy.

  “Like I said, helluva woman. Is it any wonder I love you?”

  “You love me?” She’d thought so, hoped so, but hearing him voice it meant more than she could have even imagined.

  “Of course I love you. I asked you to marry me, didn’t I?”

  “Uh, no. You didn’t. I would have remembered that.”

  “Damn, I’m messing this all up.”

  She rather liked jumbling the brain of this normally suave man, although it wouldn’t hurt to give him some encouragement. “Feel free to try again, because I love you so very much this is something I definitely want to hear.”

  “You love me, too, huh?” Grinning, he dipped his hand into his suit coat pocket and pulled out a green velvet bag. “Hold out your hands.”

  She cupped her fingers and he poured out a hefty assortment of jewels—two necklaces, a bracelet and three rings with emeralds, diamonds and sapphires. “Uh, wow?”

  He laughed that wicked way of his. “Family jewels, remember?”

  She threw back her head, joining in his laughter that tickled up her spine and always would. “And to think I had another sort of family jewels in mind.”

  David pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “You do make me smile, babe, and we’ll get to those later if you’re still of the same mind.�
� He grazed down over her mouth, lingered for a sweep that had her toes curling in her flip-flops before he continued, “Seriously, these are just some of the heirlooms slated for my wife. I thought about the way you said you would redecorate the house and it occurred to me that you might have an idea for resetting some of these stones into an engagement ring. A one-of a-kind look for the unique woman who stole my heart.”

  “Oh. Really wow. And holy cow, yes. Yes to your love and yes to making an engagement ring that showcases our very unique love.” She looked down at the jewels in her hands and tears stung her eyes. He really was trying to meet her halfway, seeing who she was and accepting their differences. And it was working.

  A sigh of relief racked through him before he smiled down at her again. “Thank you for those generous gifts you brought over for my mother. I’m not so sure she deserved them, but the way you compromised means a helluva lot to me.”

  “She brought you up.” She stared into his deep blue eyes so full of love for her she knew she would never mistake it again. “That’s gift enough for me.”

  “Like I said, you’re generous. And about that cat plate, you bought it for yourself.”

  “I have my own money, buster.” She slugged him in his muscle-hard arm. “You seem to have forgotten that along the line somewhere.”

  He locked those steely arms around her, where she knew they would stay forever. “Before we see it coming, you’ll be the millionaire in our relationship.”

  “Bet on it.” She savored his confidence in her.

  He dropped kisses onto her face, along her jaw, accenting every word with the taste of his passion. “Either way, I’m totally and completely under the influence of your charms.”

  ISBN: 978-1-55254-940-7

  UNDER THE MILLIONAIRE’S INFLUENCE

  Copyright © 2007 by Catherine Mann

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.