He laughed bitterly. "My God. I never suspected— I never thought— And it was you all along. Hell, no wonder I couldn't get ahead, no wonder things kept going wrong. You almost ruined me!" he exclaimed. He passed a hand over his face, tried to pull himself together and after several minutes seemed to have calmed down enough to speak. "I'll have George total the repair bills and I'll expect a check before you leave—which you will be doing as swiftly as you can get your shit together—otherwise, I'll call the sheriff and this will really get nasty."
Margie paled, then nodded, and she and her husband exited the room. Once they'd left, Lex turned to face Faith. He swallowed. "Thank you."
Her throat burned. "You're welcome." She turned to go.
"Faith." Her step faltered and her breath hitched.
"I wasn't lying when I said I loved you."
"I never thought you were, Lex." That was the part that hurt the worst. She bit her lip in a futile effort to stem the tears stinging her eyes. A sadness so profound and so deep cut through her it almost sent her back to the sink. "You're just in love with the wrong woman."
She turned once more and walked away, and this time, thankfully, he didn't try to stop her.
* * *
13
« ^ »
"I'm very sorry," Trudy said with a melancholy smile. "I thought I was helping both of you. I'd seen the way you looked at each other and I thought it wouldn't hurt to give nature a nudge…" She shrugged wearily. "She'll change her mind. Just give it a few days."
Lex and Trudy stood on the porch, while Faith had gone ahead to the SUV. She'd abandoned her Zoe-wear and had once again dressed in a comfy camel-colored sweater and matching pants. Her lips were painted a soft raspberry, not the bright red she'd worn all weekend. She'd twisted her hair up on top of her head and anchored it with a clip of some sort, revealing the delicate skin at her nape. Need and affection broadsided him. She was soft and womanly … gorgeous, and he wanted her so desperately that he ached from the inside out.
He watched her bend down and pet Beano, and he managed a faint smile. At least she'd gotten over her fear of dogs.
The finale of the To Catch a Thief event had been a smashing success. The guests had been so thrilled with the way it had turned out that they hadn't noticed their star wore a strained smile, or that her pale brown eyes had darkened with pain. She'd finished out the role of Zoe, then shared a brunch and signed books. She'd done it all without complaint, but he knew that she felt every bit as devastated as he did.
When they'd stood in front of the crowd and taken their bows, he'd felt her tense the moment he'd moved into place beside her. He'd wanted to reach for her, bring her back to him. But he'd known she wouldn't welcome a touch from him, so he'd fisted his hands at his sides, and smiled because he'd had to, and all the while, he'd been frozen inside. Numb. Hollow.
"It'll be all right," Trudy told him. "You'll see. She just needs time," she repeated, as though saying it over and over would make it true. Trudy reached into her purse and handed him a check.
Lex took it and tore it in half, then handed it back to her. He hadn't been lying when he'd said she could keep the money. He'd manage somehow. He always did. And it should be considerably easier now that the Millers weren't trying to ruin him. He had Faith to thank for that, as well. He still couldn't believe it, couldn't believe they'd been so duplicitous, sneaky and underhanded.
Trudy gave him a sympathetic smile. "I knew you'd do that, so I gave another check to George, who has promised to deposit it." She looked around, inspected the premises with a fond yet critical eye. "It's a beautiful place … but it could use a new roof, and I hear you've had a bad year." She descended the steps. "Thanks, Lex. For everything."
Trudy joined Faith by the SUV and a mere thirty seconds later, they were gone.
His entire world suddenly dimmed around him, faded into colorless insignificance. A lump formed in his throat, but rather than succumb to the emotion, he forced it aside with anger and self-recriminations. Then, when he felt somewhat steadier, he hammered that cold hard fury into determination.
He would not lose her.
He would not.
He'd wait a few days, as Trudy had suggested. Then he was going to give Faith Bonner the hero she wanted … or die trying.
"I want that one," Faith said.
The clerk at the animal shelter looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "You sure? We've got some adorable puppies right over here."
Faith shook her head. "No." She smiled. "I'll take that one."
That one was probably the saddest excuse for a dog that had ever walked the planet. He was old and scrawny, with patches of fur missing, and he'd lost part of his right ear. He was a mismatch of color, reminded her of the old shag carpet she'd once had in her bedroom.
But his eyes were kind and weary, and he looked as if he needed her love more than any of the other animals in here. The puppies would be adopted—they were adorable, after all—but this guy was a hairsbreadth from being euthanized.
She wanted him.
They were a perfect match.
In short order, Faith loaded up her new friend into the front seat of her car, then, praying that he wouldn't puke on her upholstery, she drove to one of the pet-friendly stores where she could take her new animal inside to shop with her.
A couple of women with cute little toy breeds shot her pitying glances when they saw her ugly dog, but she determinedly ignored them. Her dog had character, mileage, which made up for cute. She'd decided to name him Roy. For some reason, the plain old-fashioned moniker suited him. She loaded her cart with dog food, a dog bed, toys—she doubted he'd play with them, but she wanted him to have them, anyway—and a couple of rawhide bones, then breezed through the checkout and, loaded down, aimed her car toward home.
She patted Roy's head. "You're going to like it here, Roy," she told him, amazed at how natural talking to the animal felt. "It's comfy and you'll have a backyard you can play in."
A vision of Lex's woods flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but admit that he'd probably like it better at Oak Crest. She could see his lazy hide lounging on the back porch there. Irritated, Faith shook herself.
Honestly, ever since she'd gotten home, she'd constantly compared her stately colonial to the worn but homey look of the lodge. Her bright white rooms, the brick fireplace, the Italian marble floors. Things that she'd once loved about her house no longer gleamed as nicely as they had before. She missed the warm cozy feeling of the lodge, the whisper of wind in the trees, the crisp clean air. Faith sighed.
But mostly she missed Lex.
All the way home, Trudy had repeatedly explained what had happened, had tried to make her see reason. Had told her everything George had shared about Lex's family history and financial situation. No wonder the place had felt so homey—it had been home to three generations of Ellenburgs. Love, loss and life breathed from every timber holding the place together, oozed from the very walls. Faith had been enchanted from the first moment she'd seen it, could feel that familial tug drawing her in.
But she realized now it had been Lex she'd been drawn to. He'd put every bit of himself into that place and she'd felt that presence the minute she'd gotten out of the car. She'd been doomed to love him before she'd ever laid eyes on him.
It was funny, Faith thought. All this time she'd thought she knew what made a good hero, what made a man a woman's dream come true. But she didn't know anything. Lex couldn't speak seven different languages. He couldn't deactivate a bomb, or kill a man in sixteen different ways in less than thirty seconds. He didn't know how to fly a plane, or any of those other things she'd had Nash Austin do over the years.
Lex was just a good man, with a good heart. He was loyal and, despite what had happened over the weekend, she knew he was honest. He cared for his uncle George, he provided jobs for people who needed them in a depressed economy, probably to his own detriment, and he wasn't opposed to washing dishes when the need arose.
<
br /> He was a hero, Faith had realized. Lex Ellenburg was the hero of her heart.
And he was in love with another woman—Zoe Wilder. But she could hardly fault him for that, now could she? Millions of readers had fallen in love with her kick-ass heroine. Faith loved her. How could she be angry with him for falling for Zoe, when so many had done the same? She couldn't.
So she'd wept. She'd wept for a life that might have been. Wept for a thousand nights she'd never share with him, nights she'd never spend in the lodge. The children they'd never have. The love they'd never make again. And when she'd cried all the tears she could cry, she'd gone to the pound and gotten Roy. He wouldn't make the kind of partner Lex would, but at least she wouldn't be alone anymore. She'd have company, something to care for besides the hero and heroine in her story.
She'd have to start a new book soon, but where she normally felt a rush of anticipation at the beginning of a new story, Faith couldn't seem to work up any enthusiasm for it. She was jealous of Zoe and, though Nash and Lex were nothing alike, the physical similarity was there, along with the achingly sweet reminder of the past weekend.
Lex had told her to remember, had stressed how important that was. She did. She remembered being loved so thoroughly, so completely by the man she'd fallen in love with that her heart broke every time she called his image to mind.
Which was frequently.
She remembered being loved … as Zoe, but not Faith.
Faith slowed as she neared her driveway. An older model pickup truck sat in her drive. She eased in beside it, then panic set in when she realized a man sat in the cab. She didn't have to see him to know that it was Lex. Every hair stood on end and her nape prickled with awareness. Her stomach dropped to her toes and a tingle raced down her spine. What was he— How did— Her eyes narrowed.
Trudy.
Lex got out of the truck when he saw her. A dark bruise stained the left side of his cheek and a cut split his bottom lip. Two fingers were splinted and wrapped with white medical tape. He winced as his feet hit the pavement.
Panic set in. What the hell? "What happened to you?"
"I'll explain in a minute." He looked into the front seat of her car and a familiar smile spread across his handsome face. He leaned against the window. "What have you got in there?"
Bewildered, Faith stared at him. "That's Roy."
His grin widened. "Roy?"
"No special meaning. I just liked it."
"I do, too. It suits him."
"I just got him," Faith said. "We're still getting acquainted."
He nodded, then his gaze shifted to the back seat. He smacked a hand against the hood of her car. "Let me help you get these things inside."
Before she could form a protest, he'd gathered the boxes from the back seat, leaving her to follow with the dog.
Faith scrambled to snap the leash onto his collar, then found her keys and met Lex at the door.
"Nice place."
Not compared to his, Faith thought. After being in his home, hers felt … sterile. But she thanked him anyway, then ushered him inside.
"Where do you want his food station?"
On your back porch. What the hell was he doing here? Didn't he have any idea how painful this was for her? How humiliating? "Er … next to the fridge will be fine."
Lex efficiently set things up, filled Roy's food and water dishes, before he finally stood. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against her counter. "He's a good dog. He has character."
Her eyes widened slightly and a reluctant smile slid across her lips. "I thought so, too." Her gaze drifted over Lex's battered face once more. "Now do you want to tell me what happened to you? What? Did Pooh play too rough?"
Lex grinned. "No, nothing like that."
"Then what?"
"I got beat up in Hero class."
"What?"
"I got beat up in Hero class," he repeated, to her absolute astonishment. "If you want a hero, then I'll be a hero. I'm taking karate—and getting my ass kicked by a dozen eight-year-olds every day, I might add—and I've signed up for a couple of foreign language classes at the local community college. The bomb thing is going to be a little tricky. Curiously, you can find all sorts of Web sites on how to build them, but hardly any on how to deactivate one." He grimaced. "Flying lessons are a little out of my price range right now, but I'm working on it."
Faith shook her head. Hero class. Karate and foreign languages, bombs and flying lessons? What on earth?
Lex moved toward her and before she knew what he was about, he reverently traced a path down the side of her face. "Let me be your hero, Faith," he said softly. "I'll do whatever it takes, whatever you want me to do." Those ice-blue eyes searched hers. "I love you, remember?"
She swallowed tightly, fought the overwhelming urge to believe him, to sink against him. "You love Zoe, not me."
He shook his head, brushed a lock of hair from her brow. "Zoe's a great heroine, a fantastic character. She's entertaining … but she's not you. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you and I've been in love with you ever since. She's a character," he repeated. "And a good one, no doubt. But she's not you." He paused. "Any more than I'm Nash. But for you, I'll try to be. I'll be whoever you want me to be, so long as I can be yours."
Faith stilled as what he was saying finally took hold in her whirling brain. He loved her … and was willing to turn himself into a badass like Nash because that's what he thought she wanted. But she didn't want that. She wanted him. Just him.
She moistened her lips and lifted her gaze to his. "I don't want you to be anyone but yourself. You're right—Zoe and Nash are characters, but they're not real. Until I met you, I thought I knew what made a hero … but I didn't. Being able to speak different languages, learning karate, flying a plane. Those are not the characteristics of my hero," Faith told him.
A hopeful glint lit his gaze and he sidled closer. "What are the characteristics of your hero?" he murmured, his voice deep and rough with longing.
She looped her arms around his neck. "Oh, he's tall, dark and handsome. He's honest and loyal, intelligent and funny." She peeked at him beneath lowered lashes. "And he's sexy as hell."
Lex's warm hands settled at her waist. "Oh? What else?"
A grin played at her lips. "He's not much of a fighter—I hear little kids have been beating him up. But he's got the heart of a lion … and he owns a little lodge up in the mountains that I absolutely love."
His eyes twinkled. "He sounds like a great guy."
"He can be a little arrogant at times," she admonished playfully. She paused, her gaze tangled with his. "But I love him, anyway."
Lex stilled. "You do?"
Faith felt a smile slide across her lips. "I do." He kissed her then, long and deep, until her knees weakened and desire pooled in her loins, and nothing but a bright future lay spread out before them. Breathing hard, he finally tore his mouth from hers. "I love you, too … remember?"
She most certainly did—and she would never forget.
* * *
Epilogue
« ^
"You need to come inside," Lex admonished softly. He bent and brushed a kiss over Faith's cheek, rubbed a hand over her rounded belly. "Mothers-to-be have to stay warm, and I know a really good way to heat you up fast," he murmured suggestively.
"I'm almost finished with this scene," she muttered distractedly. Her fingers flew across the keys of her laptop. "Besides, I'm perfectly warm. Roy is in my lap and Beano is on my feet," she said, gifting Lex with an ironic smile. "As for heating me up fast, you know all you have to do is crook your little finger and I'm yours." She shook her head. "Masculine wiles. It's an appalling trick … but very heroic."
Lex chuckled. Whatever worked. He just wanted her. All the time. Couldn't get enough of her, and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he never would. He and Faith weren't into anything kinky, but he could understand the driving need for intimacy with the one you loved. Not just physical intimacy, ei
ther. There were other kinds. Sharing laughs, confessing fears, a touch of her hand, a certain telling glance. Those were the things he loved about being in love. And he couldn't have picked a better woman to fall in love with, a better partner to share his life with.
Word of Faith's successful To Catch a Thief party spread and he'd been booked practically every weekend since with similar events. He'd completed all the necessary renovations to the lodge—even a few that weren't necessary, but wanted—and he'd added an additional five employees to his staff. It gave Lex the time to do things he enjoyed, such as mingling with guests … and lingering in bed with his wife.
After a moment, she exited the file and lowered the screen. Then she nudged the dog from her lap and stood. "Okay, I'll come in now." She stared at the mountain. "It's just so pretty out here," she sighed. "The view is amazing."
Lex's gaze skimmed her gorgeous profile, and happiness and contentment—and desire, always desire—expanded in his chest. "That it is," he said softly.
She blushed adorably. "Thank you."
"I know a way you can thank me."
Her eyes twinkled and she gave a soft sigh. "I'll just bet you do." She turned and started to the back door, then paused when he didn't readily follow. A sexy grin curled that lush, carnal mouth. "Come inside, badass, and tell me all about it."
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UNFORGETTABLE Page 13
