The Wife He Needs

by Brenda Jackson

  It had taken ten years to accept that losing the person he loved didn’t mean losing their memory, as well. To love someone and then grieve for them—that was a transition in life that a number of people went through. Just because he felt emotions for another person didn’t diminish what he’d once felt for the woman he’d loved and lost. It was about accepting that it was time to move on.

  The relationship he’d shared with Karen had been unique, what he’d needed at the time. Now he was ten years older, and a different type of woman appealed to him. A woman like Regan. He admired everything about her. Her sexiness, her overall view on life and her ability to have fun and encourage him to have fun, as well.

  Walker was right about a person’s heart expanding to include others, if one was willing to let them in. Garth was willing to let Regan in. He needed her in.

  It had taken fourteen long, tortuous days and nights to finally accept that. Now that he’d come to terms with the idea that Regan was the woman he loved, he knew it was time to act. There was a chance he would lose her if he didn’t do something about it. Even now, she expected him to give her information on that dating service and he didn’t intend to do that.

  He would do whatever it took to make sure she loved him in return. He would court her properly. Take her to dinners, movies, concerts—prove there was more than sex between them. He’d once told her she deserved a man who would love her, and it was up to him to prove that he was that man.

  He suddenly felt good. Totally rejuvenated. He would call her, something he’d wanted to do many times since returning, but he had fought against it. He would invite her to dinner tomorrow night. He would take her to someplace super nice.

  Garth heard his stomach growl. He had skipped lunch due to a conference call and needed to have dinner. Grabbing his jacket off the coatrack, he was about to leave when his personal assistant beeped him.

  “Yes, Helen?”

  “Your sister is here to see you.”

  A smile curved his lips as he replaced his jacket back on the rack. “Please send her in.”

  A smiling Charm walked in. This was the first time he’d seen her since he’d returned. Cash had told him she’d gone to visit Walker and Bailey in Kodiak. “So, you finally remembered you have a job that you needed to come back to?” he asked, grinning. It was a joke with him and his brothers that Charm worked in spells. They just weren’t sure when those spells would hit.

  “Oh, stop trying to be a big bad CEO,” she said, crossing the room to give him a huge hug. “I missed you.”

  “And I missed you, too. However, I do need to remind you that you’re on the company’s payroll and have an office here.”

  She waved a hand at him as she took the chair in front of his desk. “Whatever. How was Santa Cruz?”

  “It was nice,” he said, sitting down, as well.

  “And did you show Regan how much she was appreciated?”

  If only she knew how much, how often and to what extent he’d shown Regan, she wouldn’t be asking.

  “Yes, I did.” Then he decided to quickly change the subject. “So, how’s Walker, Bailey and the twins?”

  “They are great, and it was fun hanging out with them. I kept Bailey company while Walker flew to Anchorage. I even got to feed the twins. Walker IV and Westlyn are so cute.”

  Charm looked at her watch and stood. “I need to get going. I’m meeting Regan for dinner.”

  Garth, who’d been fiddling with a file on his desk, jerked his head up. “You’re having dinner with Regan?”

  “Yes. I haven’t seen her for a while and invited her to dinner. You want to join us? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

  More than anything, he wanted to see Regan again. He was about to tell Charm that yes, he would love to join them, when his personal assistant beeped him again. “Yes, Helen?”

  “There’s someone here to see you.”

  “Who?”

  “A woman by the name of Josephine Harris.”

  Josephine Harris?

  The woman from the dating service.

  He immediately glanced over at Charm. “Did you not cancel my membership with that dating service?”

  “I most certainly did,” Charm said. “Her being here is breaking that company’s policy and procedures. They are to handle any contact between the two of you. I wonder why she’s here.”

  Garth reached for his jacket to put it on. “I don’t know but I’m about to find out.” He then said to Helen, “Please escort her in.”

  Josephine Harris was a beautiful woman. He’d known that since he’d seen photos of her. She was sharp, sleek and sophisticated, and looked good in the outfit she was wearing. The two-piece ensemble had the word class written all over it.

  But she wasn’t Regan.

  As far as he as concerned, Regan had all those same qualities and more.

  “Josephine, this is a surprise.”

  He then introduced her to Charm and noticed that the two women shook hands and said all the niceties, but he knew his sister well enough to know there was immediate dislike on her end.

  He caught Charm’s gaze. “Don’t you have a dinner date?”

  “Yes. I guess I’ll be going. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  He nodded. “Okay and please tell Regan I said hello.” There was no need to tell Charm to tell Regan he intended to call her later. For now, the less Charm knew the better.

  “I’ll tell her.” She then turned to Josephine. “It was nice meeting you, Josephine.”

  “Same here, Charm.”

  The moment the door closed behind his sister, Garth returned his attention to Josephine. “Would you like to have a seat?”

  “Yes, thanks.” She sat down in the chair Charm had vacated and gracefully crossed her legs. Garth knew this was so he would notice. He had. Only thing, although they were a nice pair, he liked Regan’s legs better.

  “So, Josephine, why are you here?” he asked, taking a seat behind his desk. “Didn’t the dating service notify you that I’m no longer a client with them?”

  “Yes, I was advised of that. However, I figured the least we could do was officially meet. So here I am. I believe we would have enjoyed our two weeks together.”

  Garth had a feeling she might have, but he would not have. He was glad the woman he’d spent two weeks with had been Regan. “Would we have?”

  “Yes, and I intend to prove it. I decided to come here to spend some time with you. I’ll be here for a week.”

  She’d decided?

  He needed to explain to Josephine Harris that any involvement they might have looked forward to at one time was no longer a possibility. Granted, he understood the mix-up hadn’t been her fault, but now his heart was elsewhere. And for her to assume she could just show up here unannounced, with the expectation that he would make time for her...for a week...was ludicrous.

  His brothers’ offices were down the hall. They might pop into his at any time and the last thing he wanted to do was explain Josephine Harris to them. He was hungry and decided he would set her straight over dinner.

  “How about having dinner with me?” he said.

  Her lips curved into a huge smile. Too late he saw she’d taken his invitation as something positive. She would find out soon enough it wasn’t.

  “I’d love to dine with you, Garth. Then you can tell me if I’ll be staying at the hotel for a week or at your place.”

  Garth stood and grabbed his jacket. Yes, he most certainly would be telling her that and a lot more.

  Twenty

  “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself in Santa Cruz, Regan.”

  Regan smiled over at Charm. Like Garth, Charm was known for her radiant smile. Unless she didn’t like you, and then she had no problem making that fact known. “Thanks.” And because Regan didn’t want Charm to ask her any more questions, she
decided to change the subject.

  “When are you going on your holiday shopping trip?” It was a known fact that Charm traveled to LA around Thanksgiving every year just to do holiday shopping.

  “Not sure. I just got back in town and Garth reminded me that I’m getting paid to do a job I’m rarely in the office doing. Like I don’t know the only reason they gave me that cushy office and job title was to keep me out of their hair. He told me to tell you hello, by the way.”

  Regan’s fork nearly slipped from her hand. “Did he?”

  “Yes. I just left his office before coming here and mentioned I was having dinner with you. I invited him to join us, but that was before...”

  Charm’s voice trailed off and Regan glanced up from her meal to study her. Charm was staring at something across the room, and the smile that had been on her face earlier was gone. “Charm? What is it?”

  “I don’t believe it. Garth just walked in, and I can’t believe he’s actually having dinner with her.”

  Regan felt her heart drop. “Her who?”

  “Josephine Harris. The woman who was supposed to join him in Santa Cruz.”

  Pain twisted in Regan’s chest. “But I thought he’d decided not to reschedule a meeting with her,” Regan said. At least that was what he’d told her.

  “That’s true. I canceled his membership with that dating service myself. But she showed up at his office today, right before I left to come here. He seemed annoyed that she’d showed up unexpectedly like that.”

  Regan took a sip of her wine. “Well, if they’re here for dinner, that means he’s no longer annoyed.”

  “Evidently not. They’re being escorted to a table. They can’t see us, but we have a good view of them. Look to your right.”

  Regan did and her heart felt crushed. “She’s gorgeous.”

  Charm rolled her eyes. “Yes, if you like the phony type. I bet everything on her is fake. Her boobs, her hair, her nails. I’m even questioning that outfit. Not all women choose to show off their assets like that.”

  At any other time, Regan would have found what Charm said amusing, but not now. Not when pain had taken over her body. She’d honestly thought she had a chance with Garth, even after two weeks with no contact, but she was being proven wrong. All it took was seeing how the woman clung to Garth while being led to their table.

  “Regan? Are you all right?”

  She looked back at Charm and wondered why she’d asked. Had the tears she was trying so hard to fight been forming in her eyes anyway? “I’m fine, Charm.”

  Even when she spoke the words, she knew they were a lie, and she had a feeling Charm knew, as well.

  * * *

  Garth arrived at the office early the next morning because he and his brothers had a meeting scheduled at nine. Over dinner he’d finally gotten through to Josephine Harris. He was not interested in her. The woman had honestly thought a lot of herself. Had placed herself on a pedestal so high he’d gotten a crick in his neck looking up at her.

  As soon as this morning’s meeting was over, he would call Regan and invite her to dinner tonight. He would have contacted her last night, but it was late when he’d gotten in, and after dealing with Josephine, he hadn’t been in the best of moods.

  A short while later, he entered the conference room and found his brothers all there. As was Charm. He didn’t recall inviting her to the meeting. And why did they all have serious looks on their faces?

  “Good morning, everyone.”

  He was quick to note the greeting had not been returned. “Is there a problem?”

  “We think so,” Cash said, sliding an envelope to the middle of the table.

  Garth lifted a brow. “What’s this?”

  “Why don’t you read it and see?” Sloan said, and his voice had a sharp edge to it.

  Garth wondered what the hell was going on. He picked up the envelope, opened it and read the document. He snatched his head up and saw four accusing pair of eyes staring him down.

  “Regan is resigning.”

  “Apparently, and we want to know why,” Sloan said in an irritated voice.

  “What happened during those two weeks she stayed with you in Santa Cruz?” Maverick asked angrily.

  Cash’s gaze snapped around to Maverick. “Regan was with him the entire time?” he asked, making it obvious that this was the first he’d heard of it.

  “Yes, she was with him the entire time,” Charm said, in a disgusted voice. “I suggested he ask her to join him there as a way to show how much he appreciated her.” She then turned her attention back to her oldest brother. “So, what happened in Santa Cruz, Garth?”

  Garth narrowed his gaze at his four siblings. What they were asking was none of their damn business. But because he knew how much Regan meant to them, he would tell them what they wanted to know.

  Placing his hands on the table and leaning on his arms, he faced them down. “Since the four of you want to know something that’s really none of your business, I will tell you exactly what happened with me and Regan in Santa Cruz. I fell in love with her.”

  * * *

  From the shocked look on his siblings’ faces, his response hadn’t been what they’d expected.

  “You fell in love with Regan?” The question was asked from four sets of lips.

  “Yes, I fell in love with her. I honestly believe I fell in love with her last year at the Westmoreland Charity Ball, but it took me this long to accept it.”

  “Hell, I suspected something was up,” Cash said, a grin replacing his scowl. “You were acting so territorial that night and I figured it had to be for a reason.”

  “I suspected the same,” Sloan said and Maverick nodded to agree.

  “Not so fast,” Charm said, tossing her hands in the air as if she wasn’t buying what he’d said as easily as her brothers. “If you love Regan, then explain last night.”

  Garth frowned. “Last night?”

  “Yes, last night. Regan and I were having dinner at the Riverview when you and that Josephine Harris woman arrived.”

  Garth drew in a deep breath. “Damn.” He recalled how Josephine had clung to him walking into the restaurant, wanting to make it seem like they were an item.

  “Who is Josephine Harris?” Maverick wanted to know.

  “The woman from the dating agency,” Charm answered.

  “What dating agency?” Sloan asked.

  Garth ignored his question. Instead he kept his gaze trained on Charm. “I took Josephine Harris to dinner to tell her I didn’t want to see her again.”

  “Well, it didn’t look that way from where Regan and I sat. The woman was practically all over you. I would not have known that seeing you and the woman together bothered Regan if I didn’t know her so well. And then when she called me this morning to say she was resigning and to make sure you got her note, that’s when I put two and two together.”

  Garth straightened and shoved the envelope into the pocket of his jacket. “This meeting is canceled.”

  He then walked out briskly.

  * * *

  Regan stood back and studied the Christmas tree she’d just decorated. Granted, Thanksgiving was still two weeks away, but it didn’t matter to her. She loved the holidays, Christmas especially. Besides, she needed to do something to keep her busy, to keep her from thinking about Garth. She checked her watch. He should have gotten her resignation letter by now.

  She had cried herself to sleep last night, after calling herself all kinds of fool for thinking it would be easy to win him over. And what was even more pathetic was that she hadn’t even gone after his heart. She’d figured desire would be the foundation and that one day he would eventually fall in love with her. She’d been willing to take that chance.

  But things hadn’t worked out that way, and it was time to move on to protect her heart. After all that tim
e they’d spent together and what they’d shared—if Josephine Harris could easily walk in and erase it from his mind, then the woman was welcome to him.

  He wouldn’t need a pilot until the end of next month, which gave him plenty of time to look for her replacement. She would call Harold Anders later today and accept his job offer. Also, later today she would call her father and let him know of her decision to resign. For the first time in over forty years, a Fairchild would not be the corporate pilot for Outlaw Freight Lines. She would make both of those calls later. Right now, she wanted to stand here, sip her coffee and stare at her beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

  Her doorbell sounded. She frowned, wondering who would be paying her a visit. She hoped it wasn’t Charm. Last night she’d come close to spilling her guts.

  Leaving the living room, she went to the door. “Who is it?”

  “Garth.”

  Garth? What was he doing here?

  If he thought he could talk her out of resigning, then he was wrong. But more than anything, she would not let him think the reason she was quitting had anything to do with him...even if it did. She had her pride.

  She opened the door and pasted a cheery smile on her face. “Garth? What are you doing here?”

  “May I come in?”

  “Sure.” She stepped aside to let him in.

  He’d been to her house before, many times, when he’d been kind enough to pick her up for the airport because of bad weather. This was the first time she’d noticed how his tall, muscular frame seemed to take up a large portion of her living room.

  “That’s a pretty Christmas tree.”

  She followed his gaze. “Thanks.” She then looked back at him. “Why are you here, Garth?”

  He pulled an envelope out of his coat pocket. “About this. We need to talk, Regan.”

  She lifted her chin. “Why? I resigned. There’s nothing to talk about. I got a better job offer, and I’m taking it. End of story.”