Authors: Rebecca Gilise
“Well, it’s over with now. Anyway, I’m glad you’re back in residence. Just a couple of extra group photos and one of that son-of-Chucky horror of a ring bearer.”
“Yes, well, Chucky won’t stand a chance against you.”
“That’s true. Little brat. Anyway, will you be okay?”
“Fine, don’t worry about me. I’ll talk to Abe if I get bored. He’s with the minister.”
Miri looked across to see Abe standing in the church portico in conversation with the Reverend Pike. Both wore expressions of pained endurance, clearly wishing their duties were over.
“All right, now where’s that demon kid?” Bree slung her camera back over a shoulder and trudged off.
Miri gratefully retreated to a stone bench to watch from a distance. It really was something to see Bree managing Lilian Baxter, the mother of the bride, a woman of remarkable tenacity when it came to the arrangement and photographing of her daughter’s veil. Bree, of course, quickly took the upper hand. Every time Lilian advanced, Bree waved her away as if the poor woman was contagious.
“Well, that’s it for now,” wheezed Bree as she arrived back beside Miri to start packing up her gear. “I hope they don’t want divorce photos in six months. With Lilian in the family, it just might happen. Anyway, I’m off to the wedding breakfast venue for Round Two. You wanna come?”
“Actually, would you mind if I went home? I need to work. Besides, Carly said she’d call in late afternoon and might stay for supper. She’s got some ceramics ideas from last weekend’s Huntington Art Workshop.”
The good thing about Carly’s company was her constant chatter, and that’s what Miri needed right now. Lots of blah-blah to distract her for the rest of the afternoon. Besides, she had to get back to her normal routine, and what was more normal than talking to a friend and fellow sculptor about art?
“No problem. Hey, look who’s turned up. The
Chronicle
’s society reporter.”
“Hi, ladies, behaving ourselves?” inquired Abe cheerfully as he strolled up, his hands jammed deep in the pockets of his faded khaki pants. “Some wedding, huh? So, Miri, I have that piece about the mill ready for Monday morning’s edition.”
Miri made a small grimace. “I’m not sure about this. Do you have to do it?”
“Yep, the town needs to know that the mill is going to be demolished. They could start tearing the place down any day. This is an important issue.”
“They already know, and I still think it might be best left alone.” Miri gnawed and worried at her bottom lip. Provoking Nick could backfire on everyone. She’d seen a glimpse of his steel. He wouldn’t take kindly to interference in his business.
“If you want my opinion, do the article,” Bree chipped in, slipping an arm through Abe’s. “Can you drive me to the wedding breakfast so Miri can have the car to go home?”
“Sure, no problem. I’ll finish the piece this afternoon, and then you can check it before publication. Okay?”
Miri sighed, knowing she was outnumbered. And it was his job, after all. “I don’t want to see it. Just email it to Alex first.”
“You know that Alex won’t let this go without a fight. Be prepared,” said Bree.
“I know,” Miri answered, accepting the inevitability of Alex confronting Nick. It would be messy. Apart from anything else, she would have to see Nick again. Hopefully, any contact would be in the presence of Alex, or better still, an attorney when he signed the mill over to her.
Miri said her goodbyes and headed home. Although she needed to work on the drawings, what she really had in mind was to lie in a bubble bath for a couple of hours with a book.
But not a romance novel. Today she was feeling far too raw for that genre.
• • •
Fresh from a long soak in the tub, Miri had only just pulled on an old green cut-off tank top and her favorite denim shorts, frayed by so many washings that they now showed an indecent amount of her backside, when her cell phone rang.
“My precious,” came Alex’s familiar purring voice, “how are we today?”
“We’re okay, Alex. Thank you so much for having me stay. It helped a lot.”
“You are most welcome. Now we need to get together early this week for a discussion about our next steps.”
“Do we need next steps? Quite frankly, I’d hoped we could leave it.”
“Oh, no, my dear, we can’t do that. It must be dealt with, and quickly. Now, I understand Abe has the article on the mill’s demolition ready for publication.”
“Yes, but he’ll email you the draft beforehand.”
“That’s good. There are a few things that need to be included. Now, don’t worry about a thing. I’ll make a time later this week to catch up.”
“Fine. By the way, I never asked you what you said to Nick at the unveiling. What was it?”
“Oh, well, I congratulated him on buying the mill, and asked him if he was surprised at his bid being so close to yours. Just checking his reaction, of course.”
“And?”
“All he said was that can happen with sealed bids, and he didn’t want to discuss it further. If only I’d told him of my suspicions, none of this would have happened.”
“Please don’t blame yourself. You’ve been wonderful.”
“But I should have known what would happen with that big hunk of simmering testosterone. A man like Nick Brannagh is an experience, and only for the experienced. Not for unwary innocents. Now, would you like to come over for dinner again tonight? Bring Bree as well.”
Miri winced at being reminded that she was an innocent. But Alex was right. Her two love affairs hadn’t exactly prepared her for Nick. “Thanks, Alex, but I’ve got to keep working on the library sculpture drawings. They’re due in a week.”
The front door chimed. “Anyway, I have to go. I’m expecting Carly, and that’ll be her now.”
Miri snapped her phone shut and checked her watch. A little after two-thirty, so far too early for Carly, but then Carly did have a tendency to be time-challenged. Holding her hair up in a twist, a bobby pin in her mouth, Miri padded down the hallway in bare feet to wrench open the front door. It took three full seconds to recognize her visitor through the blinding afternoon sunlight.
It wasn’t Carly.
It was Nick, and he was staring at her like he meant business.
His gaze didn’t move beyond her face, the strength of his stare not allowing her any latitude to look away. Slowly extracting the pin from her mouth, she released her hair and put her hand on her hip, daring him to speak so she could slam the door halfway through his sentence.
“Are you all right?”
For a split second Miri was caught off guard, surprised that he was inquiring after her health. “I’m fine, so you can leave.” Now was a good time to shut the door in his face. But just as she stepped back, Nick brought his arm up and rested it against the doorjamb.
“If you don’t mind, I need to get back to work.” Miri’s limbs started to shake. Framed in the doorway, he seemed intimidatingly large.
Nick adjusted his arm against the door, his thick bicep straining the sleeve of his white T-shirt.
Miri tried not to look, certain he’d only done it for her benefit. But she couldn’t stop herself any more than she could stop the earth from turning on its axis. When she looked back to his face, she saw the flicker of acknowledgement in his eyes. Damn him.
“It’s obvious you’re not fine. I want an explanation,” he pressed, his eyes heavy with expectation. Clearly, he wasn’t going to make this easy.
“Surely you know!” Did he really want her to spell it out for him?
“No, I don’t know. Your cell phone has been off for two days, and no one’s been here. So what’s going on?”
All right, he would get his explanation. Then she would order him out. She would have closure.
She shrugged and stepped back. “All right. Come down to the studio.”
She walked ahead of him down the passage to her studio, sashaying her hips as payback for him catching her staring at his muscles.
Stopping just inside her studio, she turned to see him pause in the doorway and sweep his gaze over her sculpting equipment, books, and art supplies. When he finally settled his stare on Miri, she felt its cold inquiry. So different from their night together.
The night her heart had sung.
She moved to her easel, now regretting her decision to let him into the house, let alone her studio. Her sanctuary. Alex’s words spiraled in her head. He was an experience, and only for the experienced. Well, he had given her a lifetime’s experience of hurt, so she should feel confident to deal with him, right? Except she didn’t feel confident with her face as red as a poppy and him looking at her like this was all her fault.
Her studio felt filled with his presence. And infuriatingly, he kept his eyes locked on hers, giving her no chance to organize her thoughts. Well, if he was going to stare like that, she might as well give him something to stare at. Taking a step back, Miri leaned against her easel, pulling her shoulders back so that her tank top lifted to reveal more skin. Not intending to leave the house for the rest of the day, she hadn’t bothered with a bra. A lucky decision on her part. All that skin on display and him knowing her breasts were bare under her tank top would tempt him like hell. She smiled a fraction, willing his eyes to drop.
But she should have known his gaze wouldn’t move an inch from her face. Nick just stood there like a great big pine tree, looking at her while she felt increasingly ridiculous in her shorts and top. It was just like their first meeting at the mill when she’d worn her silly business outfit. He’d seen through her act then, and he could see through her now.
For an eternity the silence hung between them, until Miri felt as if she would burst. “Well, what do you want to know?” she finally snapped at him.
“You were ill when you left the hotel. What happened?”
“It’s simple. You’re a cheat and a liar, and I found out. It made me throw up in your bathroom. That’s what happened.”
That got his attention. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Oh, am I going too fast for you? The mill sale. You know, that thing you cheated on.” Miri almost recoiled at the hatred in her voice.
“Miri, what crazy idea have you gotten in that head of yours?”
“How
dare
you,” she shot back, knowing her words sounded like a cliché from some old Hollywood movie. He obviously thought so, too, as he shook his head in resignation.
He sighed and walked to the sofa. “Do you mind if I take a seat?”
She did mind. She minded a lot. Damn him for sitting. Damn him for being in her studio. Her most precious place.
He leaned forward and rested his forearms along his knees. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“You already know, so spare me the pretense.” There was no doubt about it. The man could put on an act.
“Just tell me.” His look was less patient now.
She swallowed and found a steadiness in her voice that surprised her. “All right, I’ll spell it out. Alex’s business analyst found out that you knew the other bids before the deadline date. No wonder I lost. You knew my bid in advance and beat it by two thousand. Is that explanation enough for
you
?”
Nick’s face turned to granite, his voice shorn of any lingering patience. “I have no idea what the hell you are talking about, but I assure you I do not act unethically or illegally, nor do my staff. Is that explanation enough for
you
?”
The controlled vehemence in his voice made her flinch, but Miri wanted him as angry and wretched as she was. She plunged on. “You
liar
. You told me I’d soon get the hang of the property business. Now I know what you meant.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Everything Alex has told me about you is true!” she sneered.
She drew a sharp breath of fear when his jaw tightened and a muscle jumped in his cheek. “Her?” he ground out. “You’d believe that over-painted, fucking country club joke.”
“Don’t you dare talk about her like that. If it wasn’t for Alex, I would never have found out about you.” She stabbed a finger toward the door. “Get out!”
Slowly he pushed up from the couch, his expression furious. Miri took a nervous step back. Whatever his intentions, it didn’t include leaving. He moved toward her, stopping so close she could see his chest expanding and contracting as he breathed heavily in his anger. Saw the muscles and tendons of his strong neck, the neck that she’d kissed and buried her face in when he’d held her close. Heat flashed and coursed through her body.
Miri could feel him staring down at the top of her head. She needed to escape before she gave in and sank into his arms. So easy and so dangerous. All she had to do was walk out the door, get in her car, and drive to Alex’s or Carly’s. While she thought about her getaway, the seconds stretched, her mind scrambling for courage to leave.
Finally, Nick stepped back, and she felt his gaze sweeping over her body, taking in her high-cut shorts, lingering on the bare skin below the tank top before resting his gaze on her erect nipples tenting the thin cotton of her top.
His interest speared a throb of need so hard between her legs, Miri shook under its power. A few minutes ago, her outfit had been a weapon to taunt him. Now it made her vulnerable, her arousal so obvious he couldn’t miss it.
She stared at his shoes.
Nick fastened her chin in his hand and tipped her head back to look into her eyes. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but if this is some crazy regret thing about what we did, you don’t have to feel that way. Our night together meant a lot to me.” His voice was softer now, and Miri felt herself leaning into the touch of his big warm fingers under her chin.