His Little Lanie

by Keri Ford

  “Best I understand his business practices, he probably has a dossier written up on all of us.”

  Lanie’s point exactly. “Which means if he knew you were there that night with your stepmom, then he already knows and he doesn’t care. Or he just doesn’t remember at all.”

  Cindy tugged her shirt straight. “I still maintain it’s best not to take any chances.”

  “That was for the best interest of our store. It’s not like he’s going to kick us out because you helped your stepmom have an affair with his dad.”

  “I did not help.” Cindy snapped, the flustering was really taking her over. “You’re right. It’s not about the business anymore. I just don’t want him to know. Or to bring it up or discuss it or be involved with that moment. From the second it happened and I was dragged out of that party, I wanted it to never come up again.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Less than a year away and Eriksen had forgotten just how much he hated Chicago traffic. He wasn’t even the one driving. The skies completely spoiled him. Sure the runway lines were a pain in the ass here, and don’t get in any hurry for permission to take off, but once he left the ground, it was all smooth sailing. But the traffic on the ground. He leaned over the luxury car seat and was grateful Hank told him to take his car instead of hailing a cab this far.

  After he left his old apartment and Tish’s presence, he would be in no mood to be hailing a cab with sticky floors and bad smells to get him back to the airport to take Hank home. The thought of being back in Lanie’s arms tonight put a smile on his face, but the sight of his old building swiftly took it away.

  The front doors were opened for him, and he headed up to their floor. Of course his key still worked. She’d had no reason to change the locks. Last he saw her, they hugged as friends over divorce papers with promises to catch up when he was in town.

  Until now that her lies were unraveling. All this time and the shit she claimed. Ballsy. Course, he’d known that about her. He just never had a reason to believe she turned it on him. This went beyond covering for Lanie. He understood that, but hell, Tish had dragged the lie on and pushed way further than she ever should have. After calls asking him to stop by anytime he was in town and to give her a call, he had no guilt for letting himself in the living room. He even got comfortable in his old chair. Damn it, why did he leave this with her? He was taking it when he left. It’d fit right in the corner of the living room at Lanie’s cabin. The worn leather would make for a nice compliment against the ironwork she’d woven through the house.

  That smile was back on his face with the thought of her in his lap in this oversized chair. Give him a cold winter night, fire roaring next to them, and a movie playing on the TV. They’d make a full evening of it.

  It would be late by the time he got home tonight. Possibly middle of the night. He should just go home—as she’d suggested, but he’d been determined to get straight to her. He was beginning to see there were fewer things he liked less than the days and nights he didn’t get to spend with Lanie.

  Not telling her family yet made that difficult. With the thought of that, he fixed himself a drink from his favorite bottle of sipping rum and settled back in his chair. The smoky honey, the richness of spice, slipped down his throat with a smoothness that had him closing his eyes and thinking of getting home to Lanie. Another fantasy spurred of him in this chair, drinking his rum while she walked his way, slowly undressing before straddling his lap. He was taking this bottle of alcohol too. It clearly gave him great ideas.

  Finally a key slid in the lock. Eriksen adjusted and sat up to clear his mind of Lanie to focus on the problem ahead. Tish stepped in. A woman so beautiful, so deceitful, for reasons he didn’t know. She toed her heels off and walked into the room as she rubbed the back of her neck. A familiar moan slid past her lips. Once upon a time, he would have been attracted to that sound. Not anymore. Her gaze lifted and she paused.

  Alarm landed on her features, but it quickly softened away with a light chuckle. “Eriksen. You scared me.”

  “Hank had business in town. I thought I’d stop by.”

  Whatever stress she’d had when she walked in melted off her, and she floated across the carpet with a grace that seemed practiced now that he saw it through unimpressed eyes. “I’m glad you stopped by. I’ve missed you. Are you staying the night?”

  So he heard from his mother, but a future, her missing him, all that wasn’t on the agenda and never would be up for discussing. “Not staying. Hank and I are going back to Happily tonight.”

  “You can’t convince him to stay one night?” She pouted and looked ridiculous as she perched on the corner of the coffee table in front of him.

  “I’m ready to get back too.”

  She sighed. “You’re just going to make me come there to see you, aren’t you?”

  “No.”

  She brightened.

  Before she got any ideas, he shut it off. “We don’t have a reason to see each other.”

  She glanced around the apartment and dodged his gaze. “Then what are you doing here?”

  “I have a question.”

  “You made an awfully long trip for just a question.” She’d turned her seductive tactics back on. “Were you questioning whether or not we have reason to see each other? Because I’m open for discussing that possibility. We were always good together.”

  He felt gross in his own skin, so he got right to the point. “The night Hank’s boat sunk, why did you tell Lanie Lange there was alcohol on board?”

  That alarm fired back through her gaze, and as quick as it was gone before, she masked it once again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do. Lanie Lange dragged me to shore—not you—and you told her there was alcohol on board to encourage her to leave.”

  The manipulative tactics he’d seen her display in work churned through her and God, he’d always been a pawn for her—but to what end? Her lips parted and he waved her off.

  “If you’re concocting a lie or going to feign innocence, save it. I finally remembered that night for myself. As much as you like to remind me, you weren’t the one who pulled me to shore. I know why Lanie left. So I’m asking again, why did you lie to her about alcohol on Hank’s boat?”

  She sat primly, and for the first time, he suspected he saw the real Tish. She removed her daytime earrings and piled them on the coffee table by her hip, then added her other jewelry. She’d walked him through the process of perception through her image, and not once had Eriksen clued in that her every last move and breath was part of an act.

  One she was still trying to play as she let her hair down and crossed her legs. “I wanted Hank.”

  He laughed. “Then you shouldn’t have been dating me.”

  Now she was laughing, but it wasn’t in the unbelievable way he had. “I didn’t want him in my bed. I wanted him at my conference table.”

  What? “We were in high school.”

  “But not forever. We were seniors then. Hank and I had been preparing for our futures since birth. His mother had been prepping him to take on one of the companies. Mine had been preparing me with ideas to consider. You had already made plans to work with your grandpa after graduation where you’d hopefully become the next Rault pilot. You were the obvious choice to get to Hank, and opportunity practically dumped you in my lap.”

  “So dating me was an introduction.”

  “And a connection. Everyone knows Hank will swoop in and do whatever he can for the people he cares about. That circle of his is very small, as you know. It’s you, Jacob. Your grandfather for a while. He probably still is, just when you took over as pilot and your grandfather retired, I don’t see him much since Hank set him up on a hut on a beach as thanks for years of employment. I suppose Violet and their twins are under his care now since we know those are Jacob’s kids and they got married.” She lifted her hand and began ticking off on her fingers. “He would probably stretch to your parents and Jacob
’s parents too. Violet’s mom, or whoever the woman was, is dead so she’s not relevant anymore. You know how Hank talks about his umbrella of people. Any fool would know he would take that umbrella with him as he took on his father’s businesses and started his own. He’s always been exceptionally protective of people in his circle.”

  Eriksen went cold. So much information about his friends—hell, people who were his family were just ticked off like items in a file. And some of this stuff was recent. Jacob didn’t even find out the twins were his kids until a few months ago. Tish had not been to town in all that time.

  She wound her hair to a pony tail and secured it with one of the bands she kept around the house. “You look surprised.”

  “I am.” And why? That was the real question. All this new light on Tish and Eriksen had to consider the very real possibility that even just the way she breathed was calculated for strategic purposes. “I didn’t think you cared enough about anyone to go through so much effort to keep tabs on people.”

  “It’s no effort at all. Just a phone call every now then to the sweetest lady back home.”

  His mother. A throb began at the base of his skull, and he found he didn’t even want the rum to numb it. He was going to have to do something about his mother and her affection for Tish, but damn if he knew what. Course, now situations were completely changed. They were no longer parting on polite terms.

  Tish leaned on her crossed leg. “She told me to keep your grandmother’s ring for now. She has the greatest confidence we’ll work it out and get back together so long as I still have it.”

  Damn it. “You know us getting back together is never going to happen.”

  “I do now.”

  “Why did you agree to the divorce in the first place? You didn’t fight it at all. You wanted it as much as I did.” He rubbed his head. “You called our seperation a relief because neither of us were happy.”

  “I didn’t anticipate Hank pulling out of my business. I had what I needed from you, I was making Hank money. After you left, he began the steps to pull out too.”

  “Oh, I see. Hank realized what a snake you are and pushed you out, and you thought to use me to get back in. That’s clearly not going to work, so you can give the ring back now.”

  “I think I’ll still hold on to it. As it was a gift, I’m legally allowed to keep it. It’s my leverage, you know. Your mom is so gracious and sweet. We talk for an hour at least every time I call. So long as I have that ring, she’ll keep me all filled in on the details.” She sighed. “And after today, well, the information I’m fishing for is not your concern.”

  “I’ll have a discussion with Mom and cut you off.”

  Tish’s grin only broadened as she fluttered her lashes. “But Eriksen, I saved your life and there’s no way to prove otherwise. Your mom feels indebted to me, and I will use that leverage for as long as I want.”

  Eriksen got his answers though he was a little sick for having them. He lifted the rum. “I’m taking this.”

  “I’m not sure you need it. You’re looking a little green now.”

  He ignored that remark. “And someone will be back to get my chair.”

  She remained seated. “Pleasure seeing you again. And my offer still stands.” She leaned forward. “Anytime you want to stop by for a little personal enjoyment, I’m available.”

  “I’d rather cut my dick off.” With that, he left. He mentally shoved on autopilot, got out of the building, and collapsed in the car. The ride to the hangar passed in a blur until they pulled up to the private airspace. He found Hank already on board, computer opened and surrounded by paperwork.

  He looked up. His sleeves were rolled back, signaling he’d been settled in working for a while. “How did it go?”

  Eriksen was still just numb. Too numb to get in the cockpit just yet. “I don’t think she’ll be coming to Happily anytime soon. At least, not in an attempt to get me back.” He dropped on one of the oversized seats in the cabin. “I made it plain it wasn’t ever going to happen, and apparently doing that cut off her access to you, so now she’s not interested.”

  “I’m sorry man. I suspected, but I wasn’t sure. Sometimes it’s a shitty hand, being friends with me.”

  “But sometimes it’s not too bad.” And as a friend, even though it was humiliating, he should warn him. “Anyway, she’s pumping my mom for gossip. I don’t know what she’s looking for, but it has something to do with you.”

  “I have nothing left for her.” Hank poured himself a drink of the rum Eriksen brought and cheered with it. “That’s why I was here.”

  “What was your business with Tish?”

  “Ending it.”

  “Good.”

  “It’s been one hell of a headache selling off my stocks, but knowing this, I’m glad I did it.” Hank sipped and his face pinched. “One of these days I will remember that if you’re holding a dark bottle it’s rum, not scotch.”

  “On the subject of remembering things, just because I’m dating, friends with, or related to someone, that doesn’t obligate you to get into business with them.”

  “I know. But as your friend, I wasn’t going to leave you to her either. When she hit me up for an idea after you were married, I signed on then so I could keep a look. She wanted to make a name for herself outside her parents. It was a risk that ended up paying off. But if it had failed, it would have ruined her financially and by extension you too. In the end, I didn’t do much besides make a lot of money.”

  Still a hell of a risk that Hank shouldn’t have been taking on his behalf. If Eriksen got into trouble, he sure as hell didn’t want to drag his friends down with him. In the future, he would be more aware of that and make sure it didn’t happen again. He’d just have to tell Hank to keep his nose out of it and figure out how to. “Just don’t get into any business with any of my girlfriends again. I’d rather it all go to shit without dragging everyone with me. I understand where you’re coming from, I do, but I’m not friends with you for a safety net. I don’t need you there for that.”

  Hank winced and toyed his pen in his fingers. “I get it.”

  At least they could all wash their hands of her now. “I’m sure she’s happy to have her stocks back.”

  His grin was the darkest that Eriksen had ever seen. “I sold them, but not to her. Knowing what I do now, I’m glad I decided to be a dick about it. I wanted to make sure she understood I wasn’t coming back for anything.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Sold my controlling interest to her parents.”

  Eriksen laughed.

  “I’m sure she’s ripe and pissed now. She wants to get a foothold in Happily, but she can’t do it through me anymore. That leaves Brett Maple.”

  Eriksen was laughing again. Before Hank officially set foot in Happily to revamp the place, Eriksen had flown him to town for a meeting with Brett. They got as far as the driveway for a fifteen minute chat. The idea of Tish trying to work that angle was laughable, though the circumstances and rumors of Brett killing his wife certainly were not. They graduated school with Brett. It was a little wild to even consider the computer geek had the potential for it, but questions were unanswered and the body was still missing. “Have you heard at all from him?”

  “Not a damn word. He owns seventy-five percent of the waterfront property on Maiden Lake. He has millions of dollars of potential if he just sold the property as it is. Or if he would invest in it, the income would be astronomical and overflow into town. I offered to do all the legwork for a quarter of the profit, but he’s not interested.”

  “To be honest, I’m still not sure what your interest in Happily is. There’s thousands of small towns across the country.”

  “But not a lot of them offer a big lake, mountains, and all within a reasonable distance to big cities. Three hours from Atlanta. Two from Knoxville. It’s actually closer for people in Charlotte to go to Happily than for them to go to Carolina Beach. We’re far enough away to be a vacation, no
t so far it’s expensive to get here. We’re ripe for second vacation homes and family cabins at the lake.”

  Eriksen was positive there was something more driving Hank to make this kind of investment beyond geographical. It was more than a gut feeling. Hank was always quick to focus on the positives with this project but never mention the drawbacks.

  Hank crossed his ankle over his thigh and sat back for another sip of rum. “Now that you’ve moved on with Lanie, I don’t have to worry about Tish anymore.”

  Eriksen wouldn’t comment on that part.

  Hank wasn’t letting him off the hook either. “Don’t try denying it. I mentioned your name in front of her and her reaction gave you away. How long?”

  “Couple of weeks.”

  “About what I figured. Started about the time I heard you two on the lake together.” Hank finished the last of his tumbler and dropped it in a cup holder and groaned. “I have already gotten into Lanie’s business though.”

  “The Trademark. She told me. I understand that was to protect her interests, not mine.” Christ, this was getting complicated. “I feel like an ungrateful ass now.”

  “Hold that thought. I didn’t go help Lanie for your sake or really hers. I did it for my own interests. I didn’t want Tish meddling into my stakes, so I’m trying to catch all the loose ends that I can before she tries to grab them.”

  “You really think there’s that much going on with the tail she would take interest in it?”

  “I think she’s desperate, even more so now, and I’m not going to underestimate her. The tail thing with the girls is whimsical, but it’s not without opportunity if you market it the right way. Since Tish gets information from you mom, I know she’s aware of the tail already.”

  “Lanie won’t like that.” The fierce protective burn in his chest was sudden and intense. “It’s not a gimmick to her.”

  “I know. And Tish can make it into one. Hell, I could. With the right staff and right things in place, you could take that tail and use it for every guest that rents the cabins. It wouldn’t have to be much. Ease some kayaks up on the bank in the middle of the night and drop a tail souvenir with it. Guests wake to an unexpected breakfast on the dock. It could be used to gift extra perks of things I’m planning to offer. Staying at the cabins becomes more than a luxury getaway, it also comes with a unique surprise to guests. Now you’ve got a genius word-of-mouth campaign going. What parent wouldn’t want their kids to wake up to a surprise? Hell, we do that now several times a year with Santa and the Easter Bunny.”