Off Limits Lovers

by Reese Ryan

  “Do I look like the kind of man who needs to resort to murder to get things done?” his father seethed.

  “That isn’t a denial, Mr. Perry,” a local investigative reporter pointed out. “Did you have anything to do with the death of your employee Vincent Hamm? My source suspects that he discovered fraud going on at the company and was killed before he could go public with the information.”

  “Then your source is a damn liar. Because those accusations are preposterous.” His father’s face was flushed. He pointed in the woman’s face aggressively.

  “Stop talking and go inside the building right now. She isn’t the FBI. You don’t have to answer her questions,” Roarke yelled at the television. He realized that his father couldn’t hear his armchair quarterback pleas, but he uttered them just the same.

  Roarke picked up his cell phone and called Angela. The phone rang until the call rolled over to voice mail. He sent a text message to his father in all caps.

  STOP TALKING TO REPORTERS NOW. BEFORE YOU TALK YOURSELF INTO A CIVIL SUIT OR A MURDER CHARGE.

  “I’ve gotta get down there before his mouth gets him into an entirely new set of charges.” Roarke turned to Annabel, who continued to watch the spectacle with wide eyes. “Stay as long as you’d like. But if you leave, you’ll need a key to lock the door behind you.”

  Roarke rummaged in a drawer and produced a spare key, handing it to Annabel.

  “I know you probably have a busy day planned, but I’d really love to see you later this evening.” He kissed her again. “This time, dinner is on me.”

  He tucked her hair behind her ear, remembering how it had looked spread across his bare chest earlier that morning.

  “I’ll be here,” Annabel said, the same sadness in her voice. “And I’ve been giving you the best Houston has to offer in fine-ish dining. I expect the same effort, sir.”

  Roarke chuckled. It alleviated the aggravation he was feeling about his father’s impromptu press conference.

  “You’ve got it. We can talk then.”

  He hurried into his bedroom and got dressed before returning to the kitchen, giving Annabel one more kiss and snagging an apple on his way out the door.

  * * *

  Annabel sat on the barstool in Roarke’s kitchen, feeling more comfortable than she’d ever been at Mason’s condo. They’d been engaged for nearly a year and she never earned an official drawer at his place.

  That should’ve been her first clue Mason was trash.

  Everything felt more open and different with Roarke.

  Last night had been incredible and she’d loved waking up in his bed and joining him in the shower. She’d loved making breakfast for him and talking about their day and their respective businesses.

  She enjoyed being with Roarke. But as soon as his father’s case was over, he would return to Dallas. Then their time together would be over.

  Unless I can find a way to keep him in Houston.

  But her life and new business were here in Houston and his life and his law practice were in Dallas. It’d taken a family crisis and a paternity test to drag Roarke back home. Not even his sisters had been able to convince him to return to Houston.

  So what hope did she have of convincing him to stay on the chance that what was happening between them had the potential to be genuine?

  She paced the floor, wearing one of Roarke’s T-shirts, her feet stuffed into his oversize slippers.

  Annabel glanced at the television and smiled, an idea brewing in her head.

  Perhaps there was a way to convince Roarke he could stay in Houston and keep doing the work he loved.

  It was a risky plan, but it was her only chance of convincing Roarke to stay. And if she had any chance of making the plan work, she’d have to make a deal with the devil himself.

  Seventeen

  Ryder Currin was fully aware that his daughter was an adult who had every right to spend the night wherever she pleased. Still, it bothered him that she had been mysteriously spending nights with a friend. Out of his three children, Annabel had always been the one who was most open about her love life. So it was especially perturbing that she’d suddenly become cryptic about what she was doing and whom she was doing it with.

  He certainly didn’t need to know all the hairy details. But he wanted to know that his little girl was somewhere safe.

  His earlier calls to his daughter had gone unanswered. He was about to try again when his executive assistant buzzed him to say that Annabel was there to see him.

  “Annabel. Nice of you to show up before I sent the cavalry out to rescue you.” Ryder frowned, his elbows on his desk.

  “Don’t be so melodramatic, Dad.” She kissed his cheek before unceremoniously plopping onto the leather seat in front of his desk, the way she’d been doing since she was a kid. In some ways, very little had changed. “Besides, it’s not like you were home, anyway. You were on another one of your hot dates with Angela.”

  “I know I’m a fairly laid-back guy, but let’s not forget that I’m the father here.” He pointed a finger.

  “And let’s not forget that I’m not twelve.” She shook a finger and mimicked his voice.

  He couldn’t help laughing. Annabel had mastered turning the tables on him and her late mother. She made them laugh so hard they’d nearly forgotten why they were scolding her in the first place.

  Still, Annabel was a good kid. And she was a smart, generous, giving adult whom he was proud to have as his daughter. So he’d often given her a little more latitude than he’d given his older son, Xander, or his younger daughter, Maya. Still, as always, Annabel was pushing the boundaries.

  “Okay, Ms. Adult. Let’s have an open, honest conversation about our love lives. I’ll go first.” He cleared his throat and for a moment, he felt a little green around the gills. “Last night I realized my relationship with Angela Perry... This isn’t just a fling. We’ve gotten very serious. Annabel, I love her. I can see a future for us together.”

  “Wow.” His daughter nodded pensively. “Have you talked to Xander or Maya?”

  “No,” he admitted. “You’re the reasonable one, so I thought I’d float the whole thing past you first.” When she didn’t respond, he added, “I thought you liked Angela.”

  “I do. And I think you two are good together. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

  Her lukewarm reception wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for.

  “Well...” Ryder sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “I want to know exactly what’s on your mind. Even if you think I don’t want to hear it.”

  * * *

  Annabel wanted to be happy for her father, and on the surface, she was. But her parents had shared such a special relationship. And a part of her couldn’t help mourning the loss of it.

  Her parents’ relationship had by no means been perfect, but it’d been damn close. It was the kind of relationship she hoped to have someday. The kind she honestly believed was possible with Roarke.

  Though she was happy for her father, it saddened her to think of him leaving her mother’s memory behind.

  “I honestly am happy for you, Dad. You’re a great father and a genuinely good person. You deserve this, and I know things will work out between you and Angela because you don’t do anything half-heartedly.”

  “Thank you, Annabel. Your blessing means a lot to both of us.” He smiled gratefully. “Now, your turn. What’s with all of the sudden secrecy? It isn’t like you.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry about that.” She walked over to the office windows and peered out of the four-story building at the surrounding tree line.

  “So what is it that you don’t want to tell me? Have you and Mason gotten back together? Is that where you’ve been spending these mystery nights?”

  “God, no.” She recoiled at the very thought. “Mason was a complete s
nake. I’m glad he’s out of my life and gone from the company.”

  When she turned back to her father, he seemed genuinely worried. He walked over to where she stood. “If not Mason, then who? You just ended your engagement and a two-year relationship.”

  Annabel met her father’s gaze. “Roarke Perry.”

  “I thought he was supposed to be your attorney.” Her father raised an eyebrow.

  “He is,” she confirmed.

  He dragged a hand through his dark blond hair. Lines spanned his forehead and his lips twisted in a deep frown. “Didn’t you two just meet at the charity gala? The night you went to the beach with your mystery friend.”

  “Yes, but he was a perfect gentleman, and I slept in my own room. Not that I owe anyone an explanation either way,” she quickly added.

  “I’ve always trusted you to make your own decisions, but I have to be honest, I’m concerned Roarke is taking advantage of you. You just got out of a long-term relationship. You’re vulnerable right now, sweetheart. Then your attorney makes a pass at you...” He shook his head and sat in one of the chairs by the windows. “Sounds shady to me, pumpkin.”

  “The truth is, he didn’t pursue me. I’m the one who pursued him.” Annabel sat across from her father, trying to hide her amusement that he was shocked by her confession.

  “So this is a rebound relationship, then.” Her father frowned. “Another reason to use caution. Those can get real ugly, real fast. One person is always more invested than the other. Someone inevitably gets hurt. And, Annabel, I don’t want that someone to be you.”

  “I know this seems sudden. But I’m sure of my feelings for Roarke. I’ve never felt like this about anyone.”

  “Annabel...” Her father huffed, unconvinced. “It always feels that way when a relationship is new.”

  She moved to the chair beside her father and took his hand. “Dad, this isn’t a silly infatuation. Roarke is amazing. He’s bright, and he’s funny. And sometimes he’s way too serious because he genuinely wants to make the world a better place. And it isn’t just something he’s saying because it sounds cool. He rejected a much easier life and higher-profile jobs with impressive salaries because he’s committed to what he’s doing.”

  “Sounds a bit too good to be true, darling.” His tone was apologetic.

  “Because he’s sweet and generous and kind? I happen to know for a fact that men like that exist. I was raised by one.”

  “I appreciate the compliment, sweetheart. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is all happening too fast.”

  “Isn’t that what your parents thought when you met Mom in Kenya and fell head over heels for her in just a few weeks?” Annabel met her father’s skeptical gaze.

  His mouth twisted in a sad smile. “Things were different for your mother and me. For one thing, she hadn’t just broken up with a man she’d planned to marry in a few weeks.” He gave her his best wise fatherly look.

  “But you were both about the same age as Roarke and I are now. You two had a whirlwind affair and then decided to get married. Everyone in her village, including her parents, thought she was crazy to suddenly fall in love with and marry some Western man who lived on the other side of the world.” Annabel recounted every bit of the tale of her parents’ love affair. A story they had told her many times when she was a little girl. “And your friends and family thought you’d lost it for falling in love with a total stranger in Africa and bringing her here to Houston to make a life with her.”

  “Your mother never felt like a stranger. From the moment I laid eyes on her...” He shrugged. “There was something so familiar about her. And those mischievous dark eyes of hers... It was like they could see right through me. I swear, sometimes it felt like she knew what I was thinking before I did.”

  “Exactly.” Annabel smiled, tears stinging her eyes. “But she never regretted that choice, Dad. Not even for a minute.”

  “Neither have I.” He gave her a pained smile.

  “I’m glad neither of you listened to your well-meaning friends and family. Because they turned out to be terribly wrong.”

  “Okay, Annabel.” He squeezed her hand. “You’ve made your point. A little time with a lawyer and you’re starting to sound like one.”

  Maybe she had learned a thing or two from Roarke.

  “But what do you really know about this man? Angela always speaks of her brother in glowing terms, but she could easily have a blind spot where he’s concerned. Besides, he’s been living in Dallas for years. There could be a whole other side of him Angela knows nothing about.”

  “Roarke is a really good guy, Dad. If you spent even a little time with him, you’d recognize that.”

  “And whose fault is it I haven’t had that opportunity?” He narrowed his gaze and released her hand.

  “I know, I know. But the relationship between us is complicated. To be honest, neither of us has admitted that we’re actually in a relationship.”

  “So you two are just hooking up, then?” Ryder’s gaze hardened. “What happens when he’s finally gotten Daddy Warbucks off and he hops a 747 for Dallas again? Where will that leave this relationship that’s not a relationship?”

  “That’s why I’m here. I have an idea that would resolve our long-distance problem.”

  Her father sat back in the chair and crossed one ankle over his knee, his hands clasped over his abdomen. “I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna regret saying this, Annabel, but tell me about it.”

  Eighteen

  Roarke had gotten up early and retreated to his office to prepare an amicus brief for the Texas Supreme Court on behalf of a small nonprofit organization he represented.

  The organization was filing a civil suit against a company that had defrauded them. However, another agency’s criminal case against the organization had gone all the way to the state supreme court. So the nonprofit had been invited to file a friend-of-the-court brief to provide the deciding judges with a more sweeping view of the issue before them.

  A sudden smile broke across his face as he remembered that Annabel was still lying in his bed naked, her hair wrapped in a colorful silk scarf.

  For the past week, Annabel had spent most nights in his bed. Waking up to her sweet face and lush curves was a luxury he’d come to treasure.

  They’d spent their evenings cooking together or watching television. Sometimes they worked together in companionable silence in his office. It was a life he could easily imagine settling into.

  But they’d spent the past week actively avoiding the talk they both knew they needed to have.

  What would happen when his stay in Houston came to an end?

  It was something, it seemed, that neither of them wanted to consider.

  Roarke’s thoughts were interrupted by an email alert from Mason Harrison. It shouldn’t have surprised him that an arrogant bastard like Mason Harrison would wait until the very last day to reply to their demand that he repay Annabel and her family in full for everything they’d lost in the planning of their wedding.

  Roarke had expected to hear from the man’s lawyer, requesting to negotiate the amount. Instead, the reply came directly from Mason. He agreed to compensate Annabel for the full amount under one condition. That he got to make his apology to her in person.

  Roarke rubbed his whiskered chin. He didn’t like it. Why wouldn’t a man as savvy as Mason hire a lawyer? Why wouldn’t he negotiate the terms? And what was with the personal apology?

  Roarke minimized the email. He’d discuss it with Annabel when she awoke.

  He returned to writing the amicus brief, thankful that the past week had been relatively calm. There hadn’t been any new bombshells regarding the dropped fraud charges against his father or the still-open investigation of Vincent Hamm’s murder. But rather than being encouraged by it, Roarke felt sure it was the eye of the storm. They were being
lulled into a false sense of calm.

  Perhaps by design.

  The sound of the shower running pulled him from his thoughts. Since that morning in the shower together, it was the vision that played over and over again in his mind whenever he heard the water running. For a moment, he contemplated joining her.

  His cell phone rang and he answered. “Good morning, Dad,” Roarke greeted his father. Thankfully, they’d come to an agreement that he’d stop running his yap to reporters and practice the simple art of stating No comment or Please refer all questions to my lawyers.

  So far, so good. Maybe there was hope for Sterling Perry after all.

  “Good morning, son.” Sterling sounded hesitant. He cleared his throat. “I’m calling you with a proposal.”

  “What kind of proposal?” Roarke sat back in his chair.

  Sterling cleared his throat again. Another sign that there was something suspicious about his father’s request, whatever it might be.

  “You know that we’re opening a chapter of the Texas Cattleman’s Club here in Houston?”

  “Yes. What of it?”

  “I have a twofold request. First, I’d like you to join the club. I’ll sponsor your membership, of course.”

  “Why would you do that? Besides, I live in Dallas. If I was going to join the club, why wouldn’t I join there?”

  “Because of the second part of the proposal. Now, just hear me out before you go turning it down.”

  Roarke dragged a hand through his hair and nodded. “Okay. Let’s hear the rest.”

  “As part of the club’s outreach to the community, I’d like to start a legal fund for those who can’t afford representation. But rather than hiring random lawyers who may or may not be very good, we would use the fund to pay an annual salary of a single lawyer. You.”

  “You want me to become some sort of outreach lawyer at the club?” The proposal didn’t sound like anything his father might have thought of. So where was the request coming from? “Besides, I thought the new president of the club hadn’t been named. I doubt that Ryder Currin would go along with such a plan, should he be named president.”