The Unintended Fiancé (Captured by Love Book 4) (22 page)

“Stop patronising me, Brad. The longer I stay in this company, the more people in the industry see me as just your minion, always standing in your shadow. I don’t get the accolades someone with my skills deserve.”

“So because you think I ruined your business, you decided to ruin mine? Because I’m getting the recognition you want to get for yourself, you wanted to drag me down?”

Harry’s lips twisted into an ugly smirk. “You deserve to be cut down a peg or two, Brad, and Warren Oliver wasn’t doing a good enough job of it. He didn’t have the guts to go far enough.”

Brad chuckled with bitterness. “And did you think you went far enough, Harry?” he asked sarcastically. “Why sabotage me with the Delsant project? There were higher-profile jobs you could have used that would have knocked me to the ground if you played your cards right.”

Harry sneered. “Delsant was the easiest. Imagine my glee when I found out that Paula—who I know absolutely hates Erin’s guts just as much as I hate yours—was working there as a temp. That woman was as gutsy as me. Did she confess that she was the one who got me photocopies of the documents that contained Anthony’s top-secret ideas he’d hashed out with JMR? Whatever she said to you, she was my fifty-fifty partner in this. We made the decisions together. In fact, it was her idea to send that letter to Warren’s client just to put more pressure on you.”

“But you were the one who forged my signature.”

Harry shrugged, shutting his mouth.

Brad filled his lungs with a relieved breath as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Truth was, no one had spoken to Paula yet. He, Gavin and Erin had stayed up all night, discussing various scenarios and checking up all the facts in a different light, and reluctantly agreeing that Harry was the most likely culprit, with Paula his able assistant. But they didn’t have enough details to fully connect the dots, so they’d come up with a plan to smoke out Harry. Thank God making Harry talk was easier than he’d thought. Paula had nowhere to run now, either.

Despite this victory, it was still a sad day for him. The man he’d considered a friend had been betraying him all along. But it was time to move on now, and hand this case over to the proper authorities.

There was a short knock on his door, and in came Gavin and another friend, Carter Garrett. They’d been listening in from another room.

“Harry,” he said. “Meet Gavin Redford, a private investigator, and Detective Carter Garrett of the New South Wales Police Force. I believe Detective Garrett wants to have a further word with you.”

With an expressionless face, Harry rose to his feet, stood up straight, and went with Carter.

Brad slumped in his chair, covering his face with both hands. Finally, the end to the madness was in sight.

“Good job, Brad,” Gavin said softly.

“Thanks for your help, Gav. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Lucky for us Paula slipped up and told Erin about you
pulling
out of the Carmichael contract. We’d still be in the dark otherwise.”

He nodded.

“Maybe you should give yourself an early mark,” Gavin suggested. “It’s been a big few days for you.”

“Good idea. I think I’ll call Erin and see if she could leave work early. I just wanna make love to her and de-stress.”

Gavin laughed out loud. “I’m glad it worked out for the two of you. I’m never a believer in going back to your ex, especially when said ex is a very good friend. I think it’s a recipe for disaster. But I suppose the break-up period between you and Erin was pretty short, so it’s not as if you were revisiting an
old
flame.”

His raised an eyebrow. “Do I detect a hint of envy there, Gav? Who’s this girl that you think you can’t go out with again? I say never close the door on that possibility, no matter how long it’s been since you broke up.”

Gavin snickered. “What is it with you loved-up people? All of a sudden you want to talk about relationships all the time. I had enough of it when Carter fell for Cassie, although he should be the last person to push me into the love thing.”

“Why’s that?”

Gavin shook his head, smiling mysteriously as he stood up and walked to the door. “I’ll see you later. Say hi to Erin for me.”

Brad rubbed his jaw, pondering Gavin’s demeanour. Well, Gavin could expect a bit more prodding into his love life from Brad. Everyone deserved a second chance at love.

He laughed at himself. Was that really him thinking these thoughts? Damn, he really had it bad.

T
hree and a half months later...

“Elsa, what are you doing?” Erin asked, finding their housekeeper with a feather duster and swirling it around an intricate photo frame containing a close-up picture of Erin and Brad, cheek-to-cheek and grinning at the camera.

“I thought I’d tidy up some more before your guests arrive.”

With a shake of her head, Erin took the fluffy cleaning material from Elsa’s hand. “And you’re here as one of our guests. No work for you today.”

“But this is why I came early,” Elsa protested, “so I can help with whatever needs to be done for the housewarming party for this beautiful, big new home of yours.”

“You’re such a workaholic that you’re as bad as Brad,” she said, chuckling. “You can put your feet up today. The party organisers and caterers are taking care of everything, even the cleaning up.”

“Did I hear my name mentioned?” Brad asked, bounding down the stairs.

“Elsa had this in her hand,” Erin said, holding up the feather duster. “I said she’s such a workaholic like you.”

Brad grinned at Elsa before pulling Erin to him for a hug. “But I’m not as bad as Elsa anymore because you distract me too much,” he murmured in her ear.

“Are you complaining?”

“I most certainly am not,” Brad said, giving her a lingering kiss on the lips.

Elsa sighed theatrically. “You two are so sweet. I better go see if those party people need any help with the setting up, so you two can do some more lovey-dovey stuff in private before the others get here,” she said, walking towards the back of the house. “By the way, I want you to know that I’m happy to do nanny duties when the babies come.”

Erin’s mouth formed into an “O”, blushing.

Brad laughed out loud. “She’s as bad as my mother. But she’s right. We should do some more lovey-dovey stuff before the others arrive. We still have a few rooms in this house we haven’t made love in yet, including this foyer right here.” He nuzzled her neck.

Erin giggled, thrilled that Brad hadn’t freaked out at the mention of babies. Perhaps her suspicion that he was going to propose today was correct? She kept telling herself not to be stupid, that Brad couldn’t possibly be ready to get engaged for real so soon. But he’d been acting strange lately, insisting on being responsible for organising this housewarming party and not being forthcoming with all the details. It wasn’t like Brad to be so hands-on with things like this, especially when he was busy with the new Carmichael contract he’d been awarded just last month.

She was so happy for him about that. The Carmichaels—who’d apparently been so disappointed when he’d pulled out of their Pyrmont project—had instantly picked him for their upcoming development in the South Coast. Now Brad was back in competitive mode with Warren, ensuring that the South Coast designs would be better than the Pyrmont ones Warren was working on. It was a healthy, friendly competition this time around, though. Gladly, the animosity between the two men had gone.

“Ahem, excuse me.”

Erin blushed at having been caught canoodling with Brad by Lisa, the party organiser.

“Sorry, Brad. Could I just talk to you for a second?” Lisa asked, clearly embarrassed at having to interrupt.

“Sure.” Brad gave Erin a brief back rub before disappearing with Lisa.

See, this was what she was talking about. Why couldn’t Brad have discussed things with Lisa in front of her? What was he hiding?

She grinned, walking back upstairs to perhaps try on another pair of earrings that might go better with her light yellow dress. She didn’t need to, but the last thing she wanted was to overhear Brad and Lisa’s conversation and ruin Brad’s surprise.

And what if it’s not a proposal he’s planning today, Erin?

Oh, she’d be disappointed, but not unhappy. It was just so hard to switch off the fountain of hope that kept on gushing when the suspicion had entered her head.

Well, she’d know what he’d been concocting soon enough.

*****

E
rin caught Jade, Cassie and Marilyn whispering in a corner. Hiding a smile, she approached them. Were they discussing something she shouldn’t hear?

“Well, Gavin’s been grilling Leo for a while now,” she heard Marilyn say.

Oh, they weren’t talking about Brad’s “surprise”.

She rolled her eyes at herself. Seriously, this continuous searching for signs that Brad might be proposing today had gone far enough. Dessert had been consumed ages ago, the party was winding down and the organisers were getting ready to leave. If Brad had had an announcement to make, he would have made it already by now.

Besides, it appeared that Brad’s “surprise” was simply that he wanted to prove to her that she could rely on him to take the time to properly organise a non-work-related event. He hadn’t wanted her to think that his business would always take priority over something as significant as the two of them celebrating the move into the house of their dreams.

While this abode had originally started as being Brad’s vision alone, he’d included her in the decision-making process when they’d reconciled, saying he wanted her input because she’d be living in here too. Brad had happily incorporated her design wishes to the plans and made her feel that this was truly
their
home, not just his.

So it was time to let go of the hope that she and Brad would get engaged tonight. They’d get there eventually, hopefully. Not just today.

“What’s up, girls?” she asked.

“We’re just talking about how Gavin hasn’t stopped questioning Leo since they got here,” Jade said.

She glanced around surreptitiously and found Gavin still sitting with the guy that Natasha—Cassie’s future sister-in-law—had arrived with. “I would have thought that Carter would be the one interested in knowing more about his sister’s date, not Gavin. Although I suppose Gavin’s like a brother to Tash, isn’t he? Since Gavin and Carter have been best friends since they were kids?”

“Well, I don’t know about treating each other like siblings,” Cassie said. “Tash told me she and Gavin dated for about ten months five years ago.”

“Oh, really? I wonder why it didn’t work out? You think Gavin’s jealous of Leo?”

Cassie shrugged. “Carter seemed to think that whatever Tash and Gav had in the past was now well and truly over. I just think it’s funny how Gavin’s still chatting with Leo, even though Tash had tried a couple of times to steer her boyfriend away from Gavin.”

“Yeah, it’s interesting,” Marilyn said. “You know, I think we should find some bachelorettes for our remaining bachelors. I’m afraid our Captured by Love game might not have any new winners for a few more months. I might need to tweak the game a bit so we can continue raising money for charities.”

The three laughed at Marilyn.

“What so funny, ladies?” Brad asked, joining them.

“We’re just talking about love and money, Brad,” Marilyn said. “Remember that our charities are waiting, so don’t take forever, okay?” she added with a wink.

“Hey, isn’t Erin and I moving in together proof that I’ve renounced the single life? Isn’t that good enough for whoever bet on me to win?”

“Only your mother bet on you, and unfortunately, the three previous winners had set up a precedent. There has to be an engagement.”

“Oh,” Brad said in a tone that proved to Erin she wasn’t going to be his fiancée today.

She exhaled her disappointment and berated herself for being greedy. Brad loved her, and they were living together. That was enough for now. She shouldn’t be expecting more than what he was ready for.

“I can’t believe only my mother bet for me,” Brad said. “How sad.”

The women laughed.

“But you didn’t want anyone putting money on you at all!” Jade said.

“True,” Brad said with a grin.

“Erin, look up!” Vivian shrieked from behind them.

Erin twisted around and looked questioningly at Brad’s mother, who looked like she was going to hyperventilate.

“Look up!” Vivian repeated in a higher octave.

She did. For a long moment, all she could do was stare in shock. Then her eyes filled with tears, blurring the message floating in the sky. She hadn’t heard the small plane through the music and conversation around her, but it had obviously been flying overhead for a while, having already skywritten, “Erin, marry m.” It was now finishing off the letter “e”.

She looked at Brad, who promptly fell to one knee. “Sweetheart, I’ve been racking my brains for the perfect words to say to you today. And all I keep coming back to is I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

She smiled at him and touched his face. “I love you too, Brad. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

With a dazzling smile, Brad dipped his hand in his pocket out pulled out a ring.
Her
ring. He still had it!

She laughed, happy tears streaming down her face. “I’m glad you didn’t get rid of it.”

Brad shook his head and put in on her. “Your finger is the only place where it should be.” Then he got up, cupped her face and gave her a lingering kiss.

Applause rang all around them, with Vivian literally whooping with delight.

Brad chuckled, turning to his mother. “Mum, did you know I was waiting for the pilot to finish the last letter before asking Erin to look up?”

“Oh, sorry,” Vivian said. “I panicked that the wind might blow the whole message away before Erin saw it. I never thought you could be so romantic, son.”

“Neither did I, Mum,” Brad said, looking back at Erin and giving her another thorough kiss.

“We better let them congratulate us, honey,” she murmured against his lips when Brad refused to let go of her after a good few seconds of kissing.