“That’s fine, Mama. We’ll share. I told her you wouldn’t go to any trouble.”
Mrs. Dalton frowned in irritation, and in that moment, Jade could see she really was the female version of Harley. Her dark brown hair was pulled back, showing the silver streaks that ran through it like elegantly placed highlights. She had the same high cheekbones, the same piercing blue eyes and the same devious smile. “It’s no trouble,” she fussed. “I don’t get company very often.”
“No, really, Mrs. Dalton. Don’t worry about me. At the moment, I just want to get out of these heels, find a bed and pass out on it. I’m exhausted.”
“Okay,” she agreed reluctantly. “Harley, why don’t you show her around and take her upstairs to your room. If you need anything, you just come and get me.”
Harley nodded, picked up their bags and headed toward the grand staircase. Jade followed him, taking in the artwork and decor as they climbed the curving stairs and went down the hallway.
“My room is in the west wing of the house,” he explained. “We’re down here to the left.”
He nudged open the door with his shoulder and stepped inside. Jade followed him into the large, bright room with its king-size bed. It had a pale blue duvet that matched the paintings on the walls. Most of the furnishings were white and oversize, but fit well within the space. There was a desk and television on the wall opposite the bed.
Harley placed both bags on the bed and then flopped down onto the mattress beside them. “The closet is there—” he gestured to a door “—and the bathroom is over there.” He pointed toward a second one.
Jade kicked out of her high heels and sighed in relief as her feet sank into the plush carpeting. It had been a long, stressful evening and her body was starting to feel the effects. She peeked her head into the bathroom and found a Carrara marble palace awaiting her, with a large soaking tub and a tile-and-glass shower big enough for two.
“I think I’m going to take a bath,” she said.
“Enjoy,” Harley answered, as he kicked off his own shoes and reached for his laptop bag. He took out his computer, and then his handgun, which he placed on the nearby nightstand. Thankfully, all his things had been in the car with them tonight. She had no doubt that her intruder would’ve taken or destroyed Harley’s notes and files to set back the progress of the investigation.
He still seemed preoccupied and on edge, and Jade understood. While everything that happened tonight was traumatic for her, it was different for Harley. Even if he didn’t see the situation as some sort of failure on his part, which it wasn’t, it was more than likely going to fire him up. He was already pouring everything he had into the investigation, but with the stakes raised, he wouldn’t rest until he had the answers.
Jade closed the door to the bathroom behind her and did her best to leave her worries, and his, outside the marble oasis. She started the hot water, pouring in some rose-scented oil she found on the counter. She stripped out of her clothes and jewelry and pulled her hair up on top of her head in a messy bun before dipping in her toe and climbing into the bathtub.
She was exhausted, both emotionally and physically, and this was exactly what she wanted. Her little house offered most of the things she needed, but not a soaking tub. It made her miss the one she’d had in her house with Lance. One more thing to add to the list of things that she’d lost over the past few years.
When Jade lay back and closed her eyes, she found she couldn’t relax as easily as she’d hoped. She was worried. Not about the investigation. Not really even about the break-in. Yes, there was a threat from an unknown source, but she had no doubt that Harley would do everything he could to protect her. That was actually the problem. He would do anything. That scared her.
When they’d found her home in disarray, she’d noticed something change in Harley. A switch had flipped inside him and any ideas she might have entertained about him settling into the quiet life of a CEO went out the window. He was instantly in combat mode, pushing her behind him and searching the house, pistol drawn, to make sure the culprit wasn’t still there. When he was satisfied, he’d called the police and put away his weapon, but she could tell he was still wound tight.
She appreciated his efforts, but the excitement in his eyes worried her. Her bad boy from high school had always enjoyed living on the wild side. The military fed right into his need for adrenaline. His money and success might offer him fewer opportunities for adventure, but he still enjoyed the rush of danger. Jade supposed he couldn’t go from jumping out of airplanes and interrogating suspected terrorists to filing paperwork, and still be fully content with his life.
She knew that much. She’d known it when she’d walked away from him all those years ago, and she knew it when she’d invited him into her bed a few days ago. That was why she’d gone into this whole situation with caution. Harley was older and wiser, but not everything had changed. The quiet, peaceful, secure life she craved was never going to be okay for a man like him.
Jade took a deep breath and tried to let the hot water and the scent of the oil relax her and chase away her anxieties. The bottom line was that keeping emotionally distant from Harley was hard, but necessary. She had enough going on in her life without dealing with the inevitable heartbreak of falling for him. Whether he ended it or she lost him in a dangerous twist of fate, she would end up alone and hurt, and she couldn’t go through that again.
When the water started to go cold, she gave up on her brain winding down into relaxation and decided she needed to just go to bed. Maybe then she could get a break from her own thoughts for a while.
Wrapped in a towel, she stepped out into the bedroom and found Harley sitting at the desk with his laptop. He wasn’t frowning at the screen this time, though. There was a glint of interest in his eyes that caught her attention. That was different. It made Jade wonder what information he’d managed to uncover this late, after such a long and miserable night.
“I believe I’m going to have to think outside the box with this case,” he said. “If I can’t get the Steele family to contact me, I’m just going to have to go directly to them.”
“What do you suggest?” Jade asked, as she unzipped her bag and pulled out something to sleep in. “I can’t imagine you could just stroll up to their front door or march into their offices downtown.”
“Normally, you’d be right.” Harley turned his laptop around to face her.
She tugged on an oversize Clemson T-shirt from her undergraduate years and walked over for a closer look. It was the website for the annual Steele Tools charity ball, scheduled for Friday night at the Steele estate.
“Isaiah just sent me the link for this, along with more background on Morgan. This is the one night of the year that you can stroll right up to their door and go inside, as long as you pay for a ticket. As the community outreach representative for the company, Morgan will be at that party, I have no doubt. As will the rest of the family. All I have to do is dust off my tuxedo and lay out the required donation to get that ticket.”
“You’re going to look suspicious going by yourself,” Jade said.
If the family had been deliberately avoiding him, they probably had people on the lookout for attendees that didn’t belong. She had no doubt he would look handsome, but a single man typically wouldn’t go to a party like that alone. Especially a man who looked like Harley, fresh from the front lines. “You’re going to need a date if you want any chance of getting in the front door.”
Harley stopped and looked at her with conflict in his gaze. He knew she was right, she could tell, but he didn’t like it. “I can’t take you to the party,” he said.
Jade couldn’t hide her pout as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Why not? You said if you put me in a pretty dress you could take me anywhere.”
“That’s absolutely true. But you know I’m trying to not involve you in the case. I’ll be there to ask que
stions and try to get an in with the Steeles. Is that really how you want to meet your potential family? Accidentally bumping into your birth mother in line at the bar?”
She hadn’t thought about it that way, but the more she considered what he said, the less it mattered. “Actually, I think this might be better. It would take the pressure off to just be there and observe them, without this big announcement about me being their daughter hanging over my head.”
“And you think you’ll be able to keep your cool and not say anything? Pretend like they’re nothing to you even as I try to corner Morgan into a private discussion? If her parents aren’t cooperating, it’s critical that I get her on board to help.”
Jade nodded confidently. “I can. And even if I couldn’t, you have to take me, Harley. You can’t leave me by myself. You said yourself that it’s too dangerous.”
“I can leave you here. You’re perfectly safe with my mother,” he countered.
“Well, then who else are you going to drag to a black-tie party on such short notice?”
Finally, after she’d chipped away at all his excuses, he relented, although he still had a wary look in his eyes. “Okay, you’re right. I don’t have a lot of options here. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but Jade Nolan, will you go to the dance with me?”
* * *
Harley felt incredibly out of place in the department store. Like a bull in a china shop, he tried to stay in the corner and out of the way, but he was just too large a man in such a tiny dressing area. The dressing rooms themselves were down a narrow hall, but he was waiting just outside of them where a three-paneled mirror offered a view of your every angle whether you wanted to see it or not. The room was also had a small counter where a chic woman dressed all in black assisted the ladies and rehung outfits that they passed on. Every time a woman went in or out, he had to press into the wall so she could pass between him and the clerk.
“Do I have to be here for this?” he said loudly, making the clerk roll her eyes at him. He didn’t care.
“Yes.” Jade’s voice drifted to him from over the wall partition. “You’ve generously offered to buy me a new gown, so should get some say in what I wear to the party.”
Yeah, that’s what she’d said as she lured him into the department store. After perusing rack after rack of beaded and silky gowns, Jade had led him to the dressing area so she could try on a few of the selections. Somehow the idea of seeing Jade model a bunch of slinky garments was better in his mind than it was in reality.
“Fine,” he growled. He didn’t understand why a place selling dresses that cost more than his first car couldn’t have a bigger fitting room area. He should’ve just hired a personal shopper to handle this, but Jade had told him he was being silly. It was bad enough that he was buying her a dress, she’d said. Jade hadn’t wanted to accept, but he’d insisted she needed something nice enough to blend in with the other rich partygoers. Since she didn’t have anything suitable, she could choose between staying home or letting him buy her a dress.
Only then had she relented. But she wasn’t going to let him go overboard. She’d insisted she would just pick out something off the rack, whatever that meant.
He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. Hopefully, one of the dresses she’d selected would work. Harley couldn’t imagine going through all this a second time at another store.
“Are you going to come out in any of them?” he asked.
“As soon as I find one worth showing you, yes.”
After an eternity of waiting, he finally heard a door down the corridor unlatch, and a moment later, Jade emerged from the dressing room in a crimson beaded gown. It had a plunging square neckline that highlighted the delicious curves of her small, firm breasts and her long, graceful neck. The cap sleeves left most of her arms bare, highlighting the stark contrast between her pale skin and hair and the blood-red fabric. The beaded and sequined design crisscrossed over the dress and down to the floor, where it just barely pooled at her feet.
She looked—in a word—stunning.
Harley felt his chest tighten as he stared at her. She was every bit the elegant lady he suspected she really was. She felt like she’d never fitted in, but he was certain that was only because she hadn’t grown up with the family she was meant to have. Even with her blond hair up in a clip, and her feet bare, she looked ready to walk down a grand staircase into the elegant party she was about to attend.
He would be more than proud to have her on his arm. In fact, he was more than a little worried that she’d be too beautifully conspicuous for them to attend the gala unnoticed.
And he wanted to whisk her into the dressing room and violate every rule the department store had. Being escorted out by security would be worth it if he could get his hands on her at that moment.
Clearly oblivious to his thoughts, Jade examined herself in the three-way mirror and finally looked up at him with concern wrinkling her forehead. “I’m not sure about this one,” she said. “What do you think?”
“I love it,” he said. And he meant it.
Jade narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “You’re just saying that because you’re tired of shopping. I could come out in a trash bag and you’d be ready to buy it.”
“That’s not true,” Harley argued. “That’s hardly a trash bag. The color is beautiful on you, and the cut is very flattering.”
“This is an Elie Saab,” the clerk said, as she swooped in to help Jade make her choice. “He’s right, it really does look lovely on you.”
“See?” Harley challenged.
Jade just shook her head and turned to the mirror again. When he saw the back of the dress, he felt as though his lungs had turned to stone in his rib cage. He couldn’t breathe as his gaze ran over the bare expanse of her skin and the low dip of the fabric. It begged him to run his fingertips down her spine.
He could envision them dancing at the ball together as she wore that dress. Her body pressed against his, Harley’s palm flattened to her bare lower back. He hated dancing. Had no interest in it normally. But that dress could change his mind.
“I don’t know,” Jade said. He could still hear the doubt in her voice. “It’s a pretty dress, but is this what I want to be wearing to meet what could be my family for the first time?”
Harley had been wondering if there was more to her indecision than just a fashion choice. They’d looked at twenty dresses before she chose a few to try on. Now it seemed as though they were closing in on the real issue. Jade would look lovely in anything she wore, but she wanted to make a good first impression.
With a sigh, he walked up behind her and pressed his palms into her shoulders. He looked at her through their reflection in the mirror with a sincere expression. “This party is just our chance to make first contact. We don’t have to tell them who you are if you’re nervous. But if they really are your family, Jade, they’re going to love you no matter what you have on. Whether you wear this beautiful dress or the trash bag you mentioned earlier, they’re not going to care, because you’re amazing.”
He watched in the mirror as Jade’s eyes started to tear up. She nodded slightly and then blinked them away. “You really like this one?” she asked, with a more confident smile painted on her face.
“I do. I’d be happy to buy it for you. I’d also be very happy to help you take it off.”
Jade turned to face him. “Well, if all goes well at the gala, you might just get that chance.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist, seeking out the bare expanse of her back. Her skin was cool to his heated touch, making a chill run through his whole body at the contrast. He took a deep breath to wish away the surge of desire suddenly racing through his veins. “You mean after dangling this tempting fruit in front of my face, you’re going to make me wait until after the Steeles’ party to taste it?”
Her dark eyes were focused on his a
s another smile curled her lips. “You won’t have to wait for a taste, but I’m not letting you mess up this dress before I even get a chance to wear it.”
“I’ll just have to get you naked then,” he said. “To preserve the dress.”
A loud “ahem” from the salesclerk distracted them both and severed the sexual tension building in the tiny dressing room lobby.
“This is the one,” Harley insisted. “Ring it up.”
Jade nodded and pulled away from his embrace. “I’ll change and be right out.” She gave him a sly wink before she rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.
Lord, he wanted that woman.
Harley had never experienced anything like it in the years they’d been apart. He’d met and wooed his share of beautiful women. Smart women. Strong women. Talented women. They were each appealing and alluring in their own ways, but not one of them held a candle to Jade. He was drawn to her on every level—chemical, physical...even on an emotional level. And it was dangerous. If he wasn’t careful, he could give himself up to this pull she had on him.
And then what?
He wasn’t sure. That wasn’t his plan when he’d first kissed her. He’d wanted to overdose and get Jade out of his system. Instead, he’d become an eager and willing addict.
No, he wasn’t sure what the future held for the two of them, but for the first time, he was anxious to find out.
Ten
The house was dark and quiet when they returned from the department store with Jade’s new dress. She’d expected Mrs. Dalton to be in the living room, reading a book or watching television, but she was nowhere to be found.
From Mistake to Millions Page 11
