Emeralds, Rubies, and Camouflage (12 page)

And Myra.

She wasn’t rich, or beautiful, or important. She was a working single mother of average intelligence and less than average bank account. The only difference tonight was she was dressed the same as every other woman at the party. Lily had made sure that Myra wouldn’t feel out of place.

“You’re wonderful company,” Myra assured him, dragging her gaze from where Holt stood across the room,
talking to a group of people. “And fun too. Thank you for asking me to dance.”

Beck was a good dancer and he’d kept her laughing most of the evening but she hadn’t been the best of companions. Instead she’d been mooning over Holt all night.

He looked so handsome in his tuxedo, his hair freshly trimmed. Even with his scars he made every other man seem lacking in some way.

Beck wore a smug, all-knowing
expression. “You and my brother seem to be at cross purposes. He’s scared. You’re scared. At the rate you’re going it’s going to take decades before I get to be best man at your wedding.”

“Best man?” she echoed. “No one has talked about marriage, Beck.”

“No one has had to. But I’ve never seen my brother act this way before which means he’s falling for you. I think you’re falling for him too.
Am I right?”

It was stupid to deny her feelings at this point. “I am but he doesn’t want me. At least not enough.”

Beck threw back his head and laughed. “Honey, he wants you all right. He just needs a little nudge in the right direction. How about we give him one?”

“I’m terrified to ask what you have in mind. I’m not the most adventurous person on the planet. And I don’t want to push Holt into
something he doesn’t truly want.”

Beck guided her off the dance floor and onto the terrace that overlooked the white sandy beach and the Gulf of Mexico. The moon shone brightly in the nighttime sky and cast silvery shadows on the surface of the water. The warm breeze wrapped around her, the air heavy with the scents of salt and hibiscus.

“Why did you bring me out here?” Myra asked, leaning against
the ornate wrought iron railing and staring out into the deserted strip of sand. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked but there wasn’t a human to be seen.

“Holt’s been watching us all night. Once he sees that I’ve brought you out here he’ll follow. The question is only how long he’ll be able to hold out.”

“I don’t think this is going to work.”

But if it did…

“Trust me. I know my brother.”
Beck consulted his watch. “I give him five minutes. Tops.”

It would be the longest five minutes of her life.

*

Holt was going
to punch his brother in the stomach and then give him a right hook to the jaw. Beck had been flaunting his flirtation with Myra all damn night. Dancing with her. Holding her hand. Whispering in her ear and making
her smile. Generally monopolizing her every move all evening.

Holt was damn tired of it. In fact, he was furious.

Not that he didn’t realize he was being manipulated. Beck was doing this to make Holt jealous. The problem was it was working. Too well. He was ready to do bodily damage to his older brother for simply spending time with the woman Holt wanted for himself.

“Are you going to let him
do that all night?” Dane Braxton followed Holt’s gaze as Beck disappeared out to the terrace with Myra.

“It’s complicated.”

Holt’s friend chuckled and took a sip from his champagne. “You sound like me. I went kicking and screaming into love and commitment. Turns out I actually like it. Parenthood is pretty cool too.”

“I’m not afraid of commitment,” Holt denied, his gaze still on the door to
the terrace. They were still out there. Alone. In the moonlight. He didn’t think Beck was serious about Myra but what if she fell for Holt’s brother? “I came back–”

“Yes, we know,” Dane cut him off. “You came back injured and you’ve been clinging to that for almost three years. Using it as an excuse to live half a life. You once told me that if you didn’t do something meaningful then you were
disrespecting those that didn’t make it. Do you think they’d be proud of how you hide in that big house, throwing away a good woman with both hands? Are you proud of it?”

“Dane?” Holt finally turned his gaze to one of his best friends in the world. People were worried about both Myra and himself but they needed to mind their own business.

“Yes?”

“Fuck you.”

With Dane’s laughter ringing in
Holt’s ears, he strode across the room and through the open terrace doors, scanning the area for Beck and Myra. He didn’t see them but he could hear Beck’s low chuckle and Myra’s throaty whisper.

And that pissed him off even more.

Rounding a hibiscus bush, he found Beck and Myra leaning against the rail, their heads close together. Holt stood a few feet away until his brother finally noticed
him. A slow smile spread across Beck’s smirking countenance.

“Did you come out for some fresh air, Holt? It’s a nice evening, isn’t it? A little humid compared to London but I have to say I really missed the beach.”

“I’d like to talk to you, Myra.”

Holt pointedly ignored his brother, instead letting his gaze wander up and down the woman who had haunted his every waking moment for weeks. Just
looking at her made the blood pump harder in his veins and his heart gallop in his chest.

Wearing a white silk gown that skimmed her perfect hourglass figure, Myra was easily the most beautiful woman in the room. The dress bared her shoulders and a bit of cleavage with a smattering of freckles as if someone had sprinkled pixie dust on the creamy flesh. She was wearing her hair down tonight so
it hung to the middle of her back, the copper color shining in the candlelight.

She was also staring at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

He could hear the hurt in her voice, the hurt he’d put there. He needed to make it up to her but he didn’t have a clue where to start.

“We can’t talk here and we need to.” Holt paused. “Please.”

Myra looked uncertainly at Beck
but he nodded his encouragement. Maybe Holt wouldn’t bust his jaw after all.

“Fine. Where do you want to talk?”

Frustrated, Holt looked right and left but there was nothing but wall to wall bodies. There wasn’t a place private enough here for what he wanted to say.

“Are you ready to leave? We could talk at home.”

Or even in the limo. It was an hour drive back to the house. He’d put up the
partition and they’d have complete privacy for their discussion. He’d done his duty by showing up and shaking hands. He was ready to leave.

Myra sighed and tucked her small purse under her arm. “Actually I am tired. Thank you, Beck, for taking such good care of me tonight. I had a lovely time.”

Beck’s eyes glinted with mischief as he lifted Myra’s hand to his lips. “You are most welcome. Anytime
you want to go dancing give me a call.”

Beck wouldn’t be able to dance with two broken legs.

Myra giggled at Beck as Holt placed a hand under her elbow and guided her across the large ballroom toward the exit. They were almost home free when Dane and Lily seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

“Myra, we found you.” Lily hugged her friend and then linked her arm with Dane’s. “My mom and dad just
called and they were hoping they could keep Amelia and Nicky for the night.”

Myra’s look of dismay almost made Holt laugh. Apparently she’d been counting on Amelia’s presence as a buffer between the two of them.

“I guess that’s okay,” Myra finally answered. “Are your parents sure they want both of them?”

“They say it’s actually easier when they have both since the kids play so nicely together.
So I can tell them yes? Dane and I will go pick them up in the morning since we’re taking my parents out for breakfast. We’ll just drop Amelia off after that.”

Lily had her phone out and was pressing a few buttons. Holt silently thanked whoever was watching over them that he would have all night if needed to talk to Myra.

After a brief discussion of overnight logistics for the kids and a tension-filled
wait for the limo to pull up to the front of the building, Holt finally had Myra alone. He rolled up the dark privacy window between the two of them and the driver. It wasn’t soundproof but if they kept their voices down the driver wouldn’t see or hear them at all.

She sat next to him as stiff as a statue, her head turned away. He’d planned to hold off their discussion until they returned home,
but that was an hour away. They couldn’t sit in silence like this for that long.

“Myra, we need to talk.”

Her head swiveled so she was looking at him and he could see that her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

He was such an asshole.

‡

M
yra was damn
tired of the emotional wood chipper Holt was putting her through. It wasn’t enough that he’d walked away after making love to her three weeks ago. And it wasn’t enough that he’d basically ignored her all evening from the silent ride in the limo to the
party to the rest of the evening that had only been bearable because of Beck.

Now he wanted them to retrace a path they had already been down. She didn’t need another rehashing of why they couldn’t be together. She relived it every night lying wide awake in her empty bed.

It hadn’t been easy to act naturally around Amelia when Holt was there too but she’d done it for her daughter. Amelia adored
Holt and she would miss him when they moved on. Leaving him would be like tearing out her own heart but he’d left Myra little choice.

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and she summoned all the courage she had inside.

“Before you even start I want you to know that I’m looking for another job. I think it’s best for both of us. Beck said he has lots of connections and that he can put me in the
right place at the right time.”

He sucked in an audible breath. “How long have you been thinking about this? You never said anything.”

Their gazes collided and her eyes burned with tears. It was her own damn fault she was in this mess, falling for the wrong man. “We haven’t
said
much of anything to one another since that night unless it’s about business and even then you try to leave me notes.
Fiona says she has never seen you spend this much time at the office and we both know why that is. It’s better for both of us if I find a new job.”

“I don’t want you to go.” Instead of shouting, his words came out hoarse and tortured. She was sure he believed what he was saying. But she also knew something else to be true.

“But you don’t want me to stay either. I make life more difficult for
you.”

He opened his mouth as if to rebuke her statement but then snapped it shut again. An ache in the vicinity of her heart made it hard to breathe as Holt clearly struggled to answer her charge.

“Don’t bother saying anything, Holt. Your silence speaks volumes.”

He turned away so she couldn’t see his face but his hand trembled when he placed it on hers.

“You think I don’t feel anything for
you, but you’re wrong. If anything I feel too much.”

That anger that Lily had advised her to let loose flared to life. She was so tired of his bullshit and being yanked back and forth. Shaking with fury, she snatched her hand away.

“How could something be too much? That’s just an excuse. You know what?” she goaded, her ire boiling over. “I can’t wait to get another job so I can put you and the
last several weeks behind me. I’m sure it won’t be long before I forget all about you.”

Holt swung back to her, his blue eyes dark with an emotion that stabbed at her heart. She’d said things she didn’t really mean and now she’d pushed him too far. She opened her mouth to tell him she didn’t mean it but his arm snaked out and dragged her so she was sitting on top of him.

His thighs were hard
underneath her and his arms were like steel bands. She barely had time to take a breath before his lips came crashing down on hers.

There was no thought of resistance.

They’d both been thinking about this for twenty-one long, frustration-filled days. And nights. Each day they’d become more exhausted and worn down until it had all erupted tonight. Beck had been right. Holt would come for her.
She just hadn’t known what it would mean.