Lone Star Millionaire (20 page)

Thea laughed. “I didn't say it like that.”

“No. But the message was the same. I hope by not lecturing this time, she'll be more open to talking about it when I bring up the subject of the pregnancy test. Which I plan to in the very near future.” He frowned and worry lines bracketed his nose and mouth.

“Good instincts. Pick and choose your battles. Figure out which hill you want to die on.”

“Actually, I'd prefer not to die on any of them. But I suppose a single battle isn't critical as long as I win the war.”

“Well said, General Solo.” She saluted. His responding grin hit her in the midsection like a fireball. She backed away and rested her backside against Connie's desk.

“I—I'm glad you think I helped,” she said, hoping he
hadn't noticed her stammer. And especially hoping he didn't get that her reaction to him caused it. “But, really, I didn't do anything. There should be some kind of a medal for raising a terrific young woman like Kendra. I'm sure your older daughter is just as wonderful.”

“Gail,” he said.

She nodded. “She's in college and on her way, thanks to you.”

“I don't know how much is thanks to me. She's just a good kid. So is Kendra.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I always thought I was doing a good job as both mother and father. That they wouldn't miss their mother too much. After listening to my daughter, I realize I was wrong. She missed a lot.”

“It's not your fault, Scott. You shouldn't feel guilty.”

“No? I picked the woman who walked out so who else is there to blame?”

“You couldn't make her stay. Any more than—”

“What?” he prompted.

She'd been about to say any more than she could prevent her husband from dying. But this conversation wasn't about her. It was about a breakthrough with his daughter. Thea knew saying something about her own loss would completely shift the topic to her. Talking about herself could get awkward.

“I was going to say you couldn't make her stay any more than you could keep your girls from growing up.”

“Isn't that the truth?” A tender look stole into his eyes. “But I wanted to give my kids everything, every advantage. And I couldn't give them a mom, which is what they needed most.”

The words were like a stone pressing on Thea's chest. She'd made a choice to do everything humanly possible to ensure that a part of her husband went on. Now she was well on her way to keeping her promise. But she'd never stopped to consider the child's feelings. Scott's ex-wife was alive and
well somewhere and, if she had a change of heart, could be involved with her girls. But there was no way her child would ever know its father.

How profoundly sad was that? When she and David had first started trying to have a baby, she'd had dreams about parenting together. She so very much wanted to share the experience with him. But fate had other plans. Now she was in this alone. And Scott was alone, too. For a long time now. Why was that? A good-looking guy like him. Was he commitment-phobic? If so, she certainly couldn't blame him.

“Thea?”

“Hmm?” She looked up and noticed Scott was frowning.

“You drifted off there. Anything wrong?”

“No.” She took a deep breath. “I was just wondering—”

“What?”

“Feel free to tell me to jump in the lake. But I was wondering how a mother could simply walk out on her children.”

“There's the million-dollar question.” He lifted one broad shoulder drawing her attention there.

His light blue collared golf shirt molded to his upper body in a most intriguing way. He was alternately lean and muscular in all the right places. Her gaze slid to the sturdy work boots he wore and she tried to remember if she'd always thought the look was sexy. Or if it was more a matter of the man
in
the boots.

He sighed. “I was focused on how hard her leaving was on me and the difficulties of raising the girls alone. They seemed to be doing fine, so I took that at face value. I believed it because it was easier. I buried my head in the sand and left my backside exposed.”

And a very nice backside it was, Thea thought. Unfortunately, she'd noticed a lot more than his backside and had the spiking pulse and sweaty palms to prove it.

“You've obviously done a fine job with the girls, Scott.
And that's the last time I'm going to pump up your ego. It's entirely possible that Kendra hasn't missed her mother all that much. Until now. Graduation from high school is a big step. I still remember the emotional trauma.”

“Really?” He folded his arms over his chest. The movement showcased his superior biceps.

“Spoken like a man,” she said, shaking her head. “She's grieving the loss of a comfortable way of life as well as the familiar faces she sees every day.”

“But she'll make new friends in college.”

“She doesn't know that yet. All she can see is what will be gone. What's changing. Maybe this has triggered some emotional upheaval she hasn't felt until now.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Interesting theory. She's had bouts of rebelliousness here and there. But until yesterday, she's never done anything without running it by me first.”

“Reading between the lines, I'd say that behavior is an indication of something pretty important to her.”

“Yeah. When I listened to her, I got that impression.”

Thea knew men were action-oriented, and Scott more than most. She wondered how many fathers would have taken her advice and actually listened to their daughters. She met his gaze across the space separating the desks and realized he was certainly more than just another pretty face. In addition to his good looks, he was thoughtful, introspective and boyishly charming. The triple threat.

She had a vague sense of relief that she hadn't gotten the catering job. He was the first man she'd noticed in a long time and the sensation wasn't the least bit comfortable. She didn't want to notice a man. It was act one in a play she wouldn't audition for.

Obviously Scott had dropped by to thank her for the advice. And the courtesy was very nice. But she was grateful she wouldn't have to see him again after this.

“I appreciate the 4-1-1 about Kendra.”

“Hmm?” he said, obviously puzzled.

“Information. That she's communicating,” Thea clarified.

“Yeah.” He blew out a long breath.

She straightened away from the desk. “I'm glad things went well with the two of you. Now I have to get to an appointment.”

He stood up. “And I have to get to work.”

“Kendra said you're a building contractor?”

“Matthews and Sons Construction. My father is retired now, but my brother and I run the company.”

“Aren't you doing that big housing project over in Northbridge?”

He nodded. “And I have a crew there waiting for me.”

“You shouldn't keep them waiting any longer. Thanks for stopping by, Scott.”

“Actually, I didn't come by just to give you an update. I want to hire Thea Bell to toil for me. Will you cater my daughter's graduation party?”

Talk about burying your head in the sand. Thea hadn't seen that one coming. Or maybe she just hadn't wanted to see it. Now what was she going to do?

“Y
ou want to hire me?”

“That's what I said. You sound surprised.”

“That's because I am.” There was an understatement, she thought.

“Why?”

“I guess because you acted as if I committed a mortal sin when I treated your daughter like a grown-up.”

“I may have overreacted,” he admitted. “I might have come off a tad abrasive.”

She couldn't resist needling him
a tad.
“Might have? You acted as if I was working black-ops catering with your teenager behind your back. I got the impression that my integrity was questionable in your opinion.”

“Now that you mention it…” His expression turned sheepish. “I made some phone calls. You'll be glad to know your integrity checks out fine.”

“What a relief. I was worried.”

When he turned all the amps in his grin on her, Thea couldn't breathe. She began to straighten the already neat stack of receipts on Connie's desk, but the distraction didn't do much to take the edge off her reaction to him. He was offering her a job. The fact that she was even hesitating to take it spoke volumes. When she was dealing with Kendra, there had been no question about her doing the party. Now that she would be dealing with Kendra's father, everything was different. And it shouldn't be.

Thea had catered events for both women and men. She'd done functions for corporate CEOs—
male
executives. This man was no different.

And that was when she recognized the lie.

She liked Scott and that made him different. It made her as nervous as a dieter in a doughnut shop, which was why she wanted to turn him down flat.

Then she looked head-on into the intensity of his gaze and her stomach did that whole stop, drop and roll thing. From another lifetime she vaguely remembered this feeling. It was another good reason to refuse the job. But what did that intensity in his expression mean? Did he find her attractive? It had been too long since she'd wondered or cared about such things and she couldn't tell. Her feminine instincts, too long turned off, were now unreliable. He probably didn't care about her one way or the other and she was being a ninny.

“Earth to Thea. It didn't take this long to build the Suez Canal. So what do you say? Will you take the gig?”

“Do you have a date in mind?” she hedged. “I need to check my schedule.”

“She's graduating the middle of June, assuming there are no unexpected surprises with her grades. But she's always been an honors student, so I don't expect that.” He thought for a moment. “I think a Saturday night would work best.” Moving closer to her, he glanced down at the large, desk-
blotter calendar. “How about June nineteenth?” he said, pointing to the date.

She noticed the strength in his wide wrist and tanned forearm. She watched the muscles there bunch and ripple, making it difficult for her to take a deep breath.

“I'll check my day planner.” She unzipped her briefcase and pulled out the leather-bound calendar. After opening it, she found the date and tried not to let him see her relief when she spotted a conflict. Loophole. She met his gaze. “I'm holding that date open for someone.”

“Holding it?” He frowned. “I'm going to take a shot in the dark here. Do you have a signed contract? A deposit?”

“Not yet, but I promised to try and keep that date free and I feel an obligation to the client.”

He pulled a checkbook from the back pocket of his jeans. “I'm willing to sign on the dotted line right now and put my money where my mouth is.”

Of course as soon as he mentioned it, her gaze went straight to his mouth. Some subconscious part of her wondered how his lips would feel against her own and the thought made her shiver. What was that about? Fear? Awareness? Weather-related? Darned if she knew. But the reaction told her she should refuse his deposit and tell him if the date opened up, she would let him know.

He met her gaze and assumed a puppy-dog expression to ratchet up his persuasion. “Kendra would be very disappointed.”

Drat. That was the only thing he could have said to win her over. Thea couldn't let down a teenage girl whom she suspected had been let down one too many times already.

“All right, Scott. You win. I'll do the party.”

He grinned again, showing his straight white teeth and very attractive smile. She thought of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf and couldn't help feeling she'd just stepped alone into the woods on her way to Grandma's house.

 

Scott looked at his daughter biting into her enchilada. “Thanks for throwing dinner together, sweetie. I planned to get home early, but there was a problem at one of the sites.”

“That's okay. Do you like it?” she asked, about the meal.

“It's great.” And that was no lie. “When did you get to be such a good cook?”

“Thea gave me the recipe when she catered my friend's birthday party. She said it wasn't hard to make and almost impossible to mess up. I guess she was right.”

Thea Bell. He'd had trouble getting her off his mind since leaving her office that morning. And that wasn't at all like him. He'd dated here and there, but nothing serious. And it had been a long time, so he wasn't used to thinking about a woman. Normally work was the only thing that took his mind off the ups and downs of his kids. But he'd found Thea was one smart cookie and pretty intuitive. She'd been right about the fact that he should listen to his daughter instead of lecturing.

But there was still the matter of that pregnancy test and it was too important to ignore. He so badly wanted to tell Kendra to do as he said, not as he'd done. He didn't want her to learn the same lessons he had learned in the school of hard knocks. But how could he get through to her? How would Thea approach this potential minefield?

He started to say there was something he wanted to talk to her about, then checked himself. That would be his daughter's signal to shut down.

He looked across the dinner table and decided to try a different tack. “This is nice. Having dinner together.”

“Yeah. Nice.” Warily, she met his gaze.

“I don't stop to appreciate it enough. And I should,” he added.

“Why?”

“Lots of reasons. Because I enjoy spending time with you.
And because when your sister was a baby, I hardly ever got to share a meal with the family.”

“It's not that big a deal, Dad,” she said. Her expression and tone told him she was ready to shut him down in a nanosecond if necessary.

“Yeah, it is. In those days, I was going to college at night and working during the day.”

“But it's Grandad's company.”

“That didn't mean I could slack off,” he explained. “If anything, he was harder on me because we were related.”

“I know the feeling,” she muttered.

He refused to be sidetracked by even a mumbled verbal projectile. “The point is that between work and school, I put in a lot of hours away from home. It cost me time with you guys.”

She pushed her plate away. “What are you really trying to say, Dad?”

So much for his different tack. He put his fork down. “Okay. Here's the deal. I made some choices that sent me on a path in life,” he said, recalling what Thea had said. “I love you and your sister very much and wouldn't trade either of you for anything. But it was a path that took away my carefree youth. I don't want to see that happen to you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Here we go.”

“About the pregnancy test,” he said. There was no subtle way to do this.

“I don't want to talk about it.” She started to get up.

“Sit, Ken. I need to know. Was the test positive?”

“You saw the stick,” she said, her hostility simmering. “Don't you know?”

“Thea said the results are inaccurate if it's been sitting for a while.”

She'd known right off the top of her head what the stick was and how to interpret it. Along with the rules that would
affect the damn plus or minus sign. He'd had no idea. It must be a female thing.

“Look, Dad, I really don't want to talk to you about this.”

“Believe me, I don't like this any better than you. But I need to know if you're pregnant or not.”

Her cheeks turned pink, and she stared down at her plate. “Not.”

The weight he'd felt on his shoulders lifted and inside he was pumping his arm and hollering hallelujah with an exclamation point. Outside, he struggled not to react at all.

“Okay. That's good.” Now part two of the conversation that was every father's worst nightmare. This was even worse than the birds and the bees talk that had led to an explanation of menstruation. At times like this, he was still angry as hell at his ex-wife for walking out. The hurt had disappeared long ago. But the resentment…he would carry that scar forever.

“The thing is, Ken, I'd have to be an idiot not to know you've had sex.”

She looked at the table, refusing to meet his gaze. “I so don't want to talk to you about this. If you're going to force me to stay, can you just give me the Cliff's Notes on this lecture?”

“I'm not going to lecture,” he said. “This is a dialogue.”

“Meaning I have to talk?”

“That would make it less like a lecture,” he pointed out. “Let me start by asking how you felt when you did the test.”

She looked as if she wouldn't answer, then let out a sigh as she glanced up. “Scared,” she admitted.

“I bet. Believe me, I understand. But you dodged a bullet. You get another chance to get it right. By ‘it,' I mean birth control.”

“I don't need another chance.”

“If you think you're immune from the consequences of unprotected sex, I've got news for you—”

“I know, Dad. I got the message when my period was late.”

“Then are we talking abstinence here?” he asked, his inner parent doing the dance of joy.

“Yes. I don't ever want to do ‘it' again.” Her eyes filled with tears.

He reached out and covered her hand with his own. It pleased him when she didn't pull away because he couldn't stand seeing her cry. Everything in him wanted to fix it—like he'd always done when she was a little girl. “What is it, Ken?”

“He was a creep. I can't believe I was so stupid.”

“What?”

“In health class, the book said to use a condom because it's not only about not getting pregnant. I asked him to, but he said it doesn't feel as good. He said if I loved him I'd—” She met his gaze and said, “You know.”

Yeah, he knew. Damn it all to hell, he knew. He tamped down the urge to put his fist through the wall. “So you did?”

She nodded, rubbing at a spot on the wood table with her thumb when she couldn't meet his gaze. “Then he dumped me. He went back to his girlfriend.”

“Son of a bitch—” Anger swelled like a mushroom cloud inside him. “Who is he? Josh Hammond?”

“No. We broke up a long time ago. You don't know the guy.”

“How can I not know him? I always screen your dates.”

“Not always,” she said.

He didn't have the reserves to deal with what he didn't know about his daughter. “I'll tear him apart. What's his name?”

“No way. I'm not telling you,” she said, horrified. “I'd die. I'd have to go into the Witness Protection Program or something.”

He blew out a long breath. “Okay. No names. For now. But you can't blame me for wanting to beat the crap out of him.”

“I don't. But here's the thing, Dad. After I knew I wasn't
pregnant, what bothered me most was how stupid I'd been. How I'd misjudged him.”

“Don't feel like The Lone Ranger. I think that happens to everyone when a relationship goes south.”

“Like you and Mom?”

He'd felt betrayed for putting everything he had into making it work when she couldn't have cared less. After that, relationship abstinence looked pretty good. And still did.

“Yeah, like me and your mom.”

Kendra shook her head as if she still didn't understand. “But I've known this guy since kindergarten. How could I have been so wrong? Worse, how can I trust my judgment ever again? How can I go to UCLA, which is like a small city, and tell the good guys from the bad ones?”

Scott felt the Aha! light come on. On top of what Thea had said about leaving the familiar behind, this was part of his daughter's problem with going away to school.

“You don't have to know,” he said. “Don't trust any guy. And above all, don't sleep with any of them.”

One corner of her mouth quirked up. “That doesn't help.”

“It's good advice. Haven't you ever heard the only man a girl can trust is her dad?” He grinned. “Seriously, Ken, I've said this before. You shouldn't be—”

“Intimate until I'm in love or think I am,” she quoted in a singsong voice. Who knew she'd been paying attention? “The problem is, I thought we were in love. I didn't know he wasn't.” He opened his mouth to say something and she held up her hand. “Don't worry. The false alarm scared me. I'm never sleeping with a guy again.”

He could tell her that in time she'd meet a nice guy who would appreciate the truly remarkable person she was. He could say that when she grew up, it would be easier to tell nice guys from the ones who were only after one thing. He could advise her not to judge all men by the one idiot. But he was a father, so he didn't.

He patted her hand and said, “My work here is done.”

“Yeah, Dad,” she said, and rolled her eyes. But she was smiling.

“I guess it's time to change the subject.”

“Oh, yeah,” she agreed.

“I have some news. I talked to Thea Bell this morning about catering your graduation party.”

“And?” Her blue eyes brightened.