by Lucy Monroe
Her heart split a little wider. "I have to."
"No. We have to talk."
"What good will it do?"
"Carter left you standing practically at the altar, but you had lunch with him, don’t I even deserve a half an hour of your time to sort out our relationship?"
They didn’t have a relationship and he’d made that very obvious, but she couldn’t deny him. "I won’t leave just yet."
He nodded and left.
She considered following him, but wasn’t sure if her presence would be better or worse for the two brothers to speak. Only the voice she heard coming from the living room was not Carter’s deep tones, but the high pitched tones of a very angry woman.
***
"How dare you insinuate yourself into my son’s life?" Cassandra Sloane’s freezing question hung in the air between them as Phoebe came careening into the living room.
"Mrs. Sloane, what are you doing here?"
The distaste that came across the old biddy’s features was enough to send what was left of Rand’s patience packing. "I don’t know what she’s doing here, but she’s just about to leave."
"I am not leaving until you promise me you won’t steal your brother’s birthright!"
The sound of his father’s wife yelling was enough to shock Rand speechless.
Not so Phoebe. "Rand isn’t trying to steal anything. Carter wants him to have part of the company because they’re brothers and your husband should have left it both to them to begin with."
A look of bitter satisfaction filled Cassandra Sloane’s eyes. "He couldn’t. His father saw to that and it was only right. A man’s mistress doesn’t inherit, nor does her illegitimate son."
"Rand is Hoyt’s son too!"
"Yes, he is. He’s also my brother and this has nothing to do with you, Mother."
Rand hadn’t heard the elevator ding again, but his brother was there, glaring at his mother.
She turned on Carter, her mouth twisted like a prune. "You dare say that to me? Your father may not have left me anything, but it is your responsibility to support me off of the income from Sloane Electronics."
"I can support you off half the company just fine."
"You’re being stupidly sentimental. This man has no place in your life. He never has."
"He does now." Carter met Rand’s eyes. "If you want one, that is."
"Of course he does." It was Phoebe’s turn to step in apparently.
"Stay out of this, young lady. It’s none of your concern."
"I care about both Rand and Carter; that makes it my concern."
If she cared so much about him, why the hell was she leaving him three days early?
"Mother, the only person here who has nothing to add, is you."
"Oh really? You think I have nothing to add?" Mrs. Sloane’s tone was one shade shy of total hysteria.
Rand didn’t care what Mrs. Sloane had to add. He didn’t think she would be so angry if Carter didn’t mean what he’d said, which indicated he really did want a relationship with Rand. However, right now was not when Rand wanted to get into that. He was facing Phoebe walking out on him.
"Look, if you really want to give me part of your company, we can talk about it later, but right now is not a good time."
"You will discuss it with me though?" Carter asked, hope burning in eyes that mirrored Rand’s in shape and expression.
"Yes."
"If you’re so set on giving away your inheritance, why don’t you find your younger brother and give him part of the company too?" she demanded, rage riding her hard.
"Younger brother?" Carter asked, his voice faint.
"Yes!" She turned to glare at Rand. "You thought your father loved your mother? Not likely. Hoyt Sloane didn’t love anyone but himself. He had affairs and one of them bore fruit."
"I’ve got another brother?" Carter demanded.
"Yes, and I suppose you’re going to want to give him part of the company too!"
"Sounds good to me."
Mrs. Sloane looked ready to have an apoplectic fit. "You’re insane."
"Maybe, but unfortunately for you, I’m not certifiable and Sloane Electronics belongs to me."
Mrs. Sloane didn’t bother to answer but swung on her heel and headed to the elevator.
Carter looked at Rand. "Have lunch with me tomorrow. It looks like we’ve got more to discuss than the company."
So many emotions were swirling through Rand, he wasn’t sure what to do with any of them, but his brother was right. They did need to talk. "Yes."
Carter followed his mother, slipping into the elevator with an expression that said he was going to get to the bottom of the bomb his mother had dropped on them all.
When Rand turned back from watching his brother leave, Phoebe had gone back into the bedroom.
***
A strong hand closed over hers on the suitcase. "I thought we agreed no more packing."
"What’s the use of me staying?" she asked him, her emotions still too close to the surface to meet his gaze.
"I need you."
The words would have been all she wanted to hear just an hour ago, but now she knew they meant something very different than what she needed them to mean. "I can’t be a body in your bed anymore. I don’t know why I ever thought I could."
He spun her to face him, his expression fierce. "How can you believe that?"
She swiped at tears that had started the minute she started packing again. "How can I believe anything else when you tell me you don’t care if I go to Carter’s bed in three days' time?"
His body went completely motionless and if his complexion had been gray earlier, it was pasty now. "I don’t want you to go to Carter at all."
She took a deep breath, but it shuddered out again on tears she couldn’t seem to stem. "You don’t care who I sleep with when you’re done with me."
"Done with you?" he asked hoarsely. His face spasmed with some internal pain. "I’ll never be done with you."
She stared at him, entranced by the emotion burning in his gray eyes.
He swallowed convulsively, suspicious moisture making those eyes seem darker than they were. "I thought my heart was rock-solid, but you taught me I can still bleed. If you leave me, I’m going to hemorrhage."
"I don’t want to go. I love you," she admitted, knowing only that she had to tell him, at least once.
His arms tightened and she found herself wrapped up against him as close as two bodies could get without making love. "I loved Susan."
"I know."
"It hurt to lose her and our son, more than I thought I could ever hurt, but when you threatened to walk out, I took a body blow that felt like it was going to kill me. When Mrs. Sloane and Carter showed up, all I could think of was getting rid of them so I could work things out with you."
Was he saying he loved her? His heart was beating fast against her ear. Was it a heart that had turned from stone to living, pulsing flesh?
"But the deal..." It had been all that mattered a few minutes ago.
"I want new terms for our deal."
She pulled away, blinking back the tears and trying to see him without the haze of their moisture in her eyes. "What terms?"
"I want you for a lifetime."
"I thought you didn’t want to get married again, or are we even talking marriage here?"
"We’re talking marriage." His eyes softened, warmed with silver lights she’d never seen before. "I decided six years ago that love, marriage, and fatherhood were unattainable dreams in my life. Dead dreams."
"That changed?" she couldn’t help asking, her hopes, her own dreams, pinned on his answer.
"Oh yeah."
"Say it," she pleaded.
He leaned down and kissed her oh, so softly. "I want to sleep with you every night for the rest of our lives, but I want so much more than that, baby. I want your friendship. You’ve been the most important person in my life for four years and I didn’t even realize it."
"That
sounds like you love me," she said with unconcealed awe in her voice.
"Love you. Adore you. Want you. Need you. Phoebe, when I took you to bed the first time, I knew you were orange blossoms and white roses. It didn’t stop me from making love to you that first time, or any time after."
"You wanted me."
"I loved you."
"But you kept yammering on about the deal."
"It took me a while to figure out that the risk of letting you walk away was greater than the risk of begging you to stay."
Begging? To a man like Rand, admitting he needed her was probably as close to begging as he’d ever come.
"I love you, too." She’d been dying to give voice to her love since the first kiss and now she could say them as much as she liked. He wanted to hear them. "Oh, I love you so much!"
His lips caught hers and his mouth swallowed the words.
They made love with a fierce passion that superceded even what they had known before and her completion sent her into a dead faint. When she opened her eyes, he was looming above her, a look of masculine triumph glowing with the love in his eyes.
"So, are you going to marry me, or what?"
She smiled, too exhausted to laugh. "Wasn’t that enough of a yes for you?" she asked, meaning the time they’d just spent making love.
"I need to hear the words, baby. I’m a businessman. I want a verbal contract."
"Yes."
***
Two weeks later, Rand walked into their apartment just after Phoebe got off the phone to her aunt.
"I’m seriously considering eloping. What do you think of flying to Vegas?"
He laughed before leaning down to give her a very satisfying kiss. "Your aunt giving you a hard time about the wedding, baby?"
"Not a hard time, not really. It’s just that she wants to do everything. She wants to hire a full orchestra for the wedding reception."
"So?"
"So, the one she wants isn’t available for two months."
"Tell her I’ll take care of it, but we aren’t changing the wedding date."
It had shocked Phoebe at how well her aunt had taken news of her upcoming wedding, but even more unbelievable was the way Aunt Emmaline and Rand had become partners in crime in putting on a wedding fit for royalty. Rand had told her she shouldn’t be so surprised, both he and her aunt saw Phoebe as a princess.
She’d rewarded him with a type of lovemaking she’d learned that he loved almost as much as he loved her.
"How did things go with Carter?" she asked.
"He agreed to be my best man."
"You’re kidding!"
"He didn’t mind at all when I asked him."
"I’m not surprised he said yes, you fiend. I’m surprised you asked!"
Rand sat down on the couch and pulled her into his lap. "He wants to give me half of his damn company."
"You said no."
"You know me well."
"I love you."
"He doesn’t take no very well. He threatened to just sign the shares over to our first child."
"What are you going to do?"
"We’re working out terms. I’m willing to consider him giving me a portion of what existed before he took the company over from our father." He sounded disgusted, but then Rand had rarely run into another person in his life with as much stubborn determination as he had. "It’ll have to be a three-way split too."
"Did Carter find your other brother?"
"Yes. His mother knew all along where Colton was."
"His name’s Colton?"
"Yeah, Colton Denning."
She brushed Rand’s cheek. "How do you feel about having another brother?"
"I’m not as surprised as Carter was. Maybe I should be, but there was something broken inside my father for him to treat my mother and Carter’s mother the way he did."
Yes. The man had been selfish beyond belief, but Phoebe didn’t say that out loud. "So, you and Carter are working out terms with him?"
"We’re trying. He’s damn stubborn."
At that, she couldn’t help it. She laughed. "As stubborn as the man I love?"
Rand’s smile flashed and she rejoiced in how frequently she saw that beautiful expression now. "Maybe, but not stubborn enough to stand firm against both Carter and I."
"What does he do?"
Rand started laughing and she didn’t understand why until he answered. "He owns a mining company."
"It looks like the three of you have one thing in common at least."
"Yeah, Luna Island."
She was willing to bet they had more than that, but she wasn’t going to spend too much time thinking about it right now. She had better things to do...like make love with the man who had banished the loneliness in her life.
She’d been used to losing, but Rand had taught her that not only could she win, but she could have the greatest prize life had to offer.
The forever after kind of love with a man who wanted and needed her as much as she wanted and needed him.
She leaned down and lost herself in his kiss.
Enjoy this excerpt from Lucy Monroe's exciting new Northern Fire series from Grand Central Publishing (Forever Romance). Cailkirn, Alaska: where the winters are cold, but the men aren't.
Wild Heat (Out April 28, 2015 in digital and print)
CHAPTER ONE
"We're all going to die."
Caitlin Grant's head snapped up at the high pitched tones of the small boy in the seat beside her.
He looked up at her with an earnest brown gaze that dared her to disagree. The urge to hug him and tell him everything was going to be all right like Caitlin's gran used to do for her was strong. Children should not be afraid.
"Shh...sweetheart," his mother comforted from his other side, her tone more worried than confident. Still, she rubbed his short nappy hair in a tender gesture. "It's going to be fine, Joey. You heard the captain. It's just turbulence."
"The plane is shaking, mom. This can't be good." Joey sounded so adult and so childish at the same time.
Caitlin felt her lips curving into her first smile in months as she laid a hand on his forearm. "We're coming into Anchorage. It's usually choppy on these flights, but it'll be fine."
"You've been on a shaky plane before?" the boy demanded.
Caitlin nodded, one bright red curl slipping from its clip to brush her cheek. She pushed it back impatiently. "Many times."
She should have used more hair product this morning. Taming her wild red curls was a science. Fighting the near irresistible urge to get up and go to the bathroom so she could smooth her hair uniformly back into the clip, despite the captain's instructions to remain seated, Caitlin tucked the errant strands more firmly behind her ear.
"This is really bad." Joey's tone indicated disbelief for her calm assurances.
Doubt in her judgment was something Caitlin was very familiar with. Whether it was the way she chose to wear her hair, or the orchestra she hired to play at their annual outdoor fete, her ex-husband had frequently expressed concerns about Caitlin's questionable choices, opinions and taste. She'd learned not to defend herself because arguing always made it worse.
But Joey wasn’t her ex and Caitlin couldn't ignore his worry.
Taking a deep breath, Caitlin forced further reassurance from a tight throat. "I've been on planes that shook worse than a baby's rattle and made a lot more noise."
How ridiculous for it to be so difficult for her to add support to her own assertions.
"Really?" Joey asked hopefully.
Caitlin managed another smile. "Really."
"And you didn't die?"
She actually had to suppress the urge to grin at that. Schooling her expression into lines of seriousness, she said, "No."
His mother wasn't as adept at hiding her reaction, doing a poor job of hiding her chuckle with a cough.
Joey didn't seem to notice. "Cool."
A burst of raucous laughter from the rows behind them surprised Cai
tlin enough to draw her gaze. She knew that voice, though for a second she couldn't place it. It was just a reminder of Cailkirn, a sound that that brought forth feelings of safety and regret in competing measure.
She turned and tried to get a good look at the man whose laugh had drawn her attention. Stylishly cut dark hair topped a handsome face and surprised recognition mixed with the other emotions his voice had engendered. Rock Jepsom's younger brother.
The last Caitlin had heard, Carey had taken off for Hollywood with his inheritance and no intention of returning. Ever. Just like Caitlin, except her inheritance had barely covered the cost of university.
Carey had had a couple million to support his dreams. He sure didn't look like he was coming back broken like she was. In fact, he was surrounded by a group who were clearly in the industry.
Caitlin had spent eight years living the life in LA and she could recognize actors and production people as easily as she could a knockoff Chanel bag.
What were they all doing heading into Anchorage? It was unlikely they were all here for a shoot, because even though a lot of movies purported to be set in Alaska, but few actually were. In fact, it was something of a joke among residents how often the media got it seriously wrong in their attempts to portray America's largest state. But who knew, maybe they were here for a shoot. Stranger things had happened. She certainly never thought she’d be moving back to Alaska.
Not that she had any intention of asking. Caitlin wasn't the extrovert she'd been when she left Cailkirn anymore. She was a lot more judicious about who she spoke to and why. The fact she'd chosen to interact with the small boy beside her was as surprising as Carey's presence on the plane.
"They're all laughing. They're not afraid," Joey said, sounding like he was trying to process what that might mean.
"I imagine they are used to flying, sugar," his mother said.
Caitlin nodded. "I'm sure they are and they know just like I do that we're all going to be okay."
Joey's smile was worth her foray out of her self-imposed shell.
His mother's silently mouthed, "Thank you," caused an unfamiliar furl of warmth inside her as well.
Maybe Joey wasn't the only one who needed to know they were going to be okay. Maybe Caitlin needed to remember she was okay too. That she'd taken the steps she needed to get her life back. She wasn't running away from anything now, just returning to safety and the one place maybe she really belonged.
