Marrying the Millionaire (7 page)

Kayla shot him a twisted smile.
“Thanks for the opportunity to come interview with you. Have a
great day.” She sounded grim.

“
You, too.”

After Kayla stepped outdoors onto the
porch, Richmond shut the door behind her.

Still trying to place where he’d seen
Kayla’s face before, he entered his living room. Standing to the
side of the wall next to the sofa placed beside a huge glass
window, he drew back the sheers and secretly watched the pretty
lady Kayla leave his home.

With her back to him, Richmond’s eyes
raked up and down Kayla’s lush backside. Dismounting the vertical
steps of his steep porch, Kayla’s head hung between her sagging
shoulders. Keeping her gaze toward the ground, she walked the long
length of the driveway, making her way towards the road.

I know I’ve seen you
before. But where? When?

Wracking his brain about where he’d
seen her before, he kept his eyes trained on her perfectly
proportioned backside. Small waist, her shapely, round butt made
the thin fabric of her dress twitch. The long hair snarled down her
back swayed in the bristling wind.

When Kayla reached the end
of his driveway, curving into a cul-de-sac, she rounded the gate
and began walking along the brown fence situated in front of green,
dense forestry.
Did she walk here?
he wondered, cracking his front door
open.

Footing past several acreages of empty
land to her right, Kayla stopped walking when she came upon a red
truck. She lifted her leg, kicked the bottom driver’s side door of
the truck, then kicked the tire. She flung her arms up in the air,
belatedly dropping her head on the hood.

Dumbfounded, Richmond shoved his hand
in his pocket, checking for his keys. Good, they were there. He
flung open his front door, jogged down the porch stairs, and hopped
in his ivory Range Rover with peanut butter leather seats. In a
hurry to pick up Isabelle from her playdate with Sandella, and to
find out what was wrong with Kayla’s truck, he backed the SUV out
of the long driveway.

Steering the Range Rover toward
Kayla’s broken vehicle, he briefly wondered if he’d made a mistake
by not hearing her out. By not giving her an opportunity to explain
herself. Had he been a jerk?

Clenching the steering
wheel, Richmond slowed the truck once he reached Kayla. Apparently
hearing the humming sounds emanating from the SUV’s engine, Kayla’s
head slowly lifted from her hands as she stood slouched against the
hood of the truck.
Poor thing had a flat
tire
, he thought, suddenly feeling sorry
for her.

Guilt from not hearing her out
threatened to build inside his heart. “Bad day, huh?”

Nibbling her bottom lip, Kayla
threaded her fingers through the hair on top of her head. She
fixated her gaze on the trees beyond his truck and nodded.
Refocusing her eyes back on his face, she folded her arms across
her firm breasts as her face went grim.

“
To say I was having a bad
day would be an understatement.” She sniffed. “My son, CJ, made me
late for the interview. While I was taking a shower, he decided he
wanted to go play in the tree house in the back yard. It took me
forever to find him. When I finally did find him, I started running
and fell in the grass. Got all dirty. Then I got a freaking flat
tire,” she held up a finger, “which made me even later for my
interview. Yes!” She threw her hands up in the air and stomped her
foot. “Yes! I’m having a shitty ass day, Mr. Richmond Spaulding!”
Frowning, she fisted her hips.

My God. She’s been through
pure hell this morning.
“Hop
in.”

“
Huh?”

“
I said, hop in. I’m on my
way to pick up my daughter, and you look like you could use a
relaxing ride to get rid of the tension you’re feeling.”

Kayla shook her head. “Thanks, but I
need to stay here and figure out how I’m going to get my tire
fixed.”

“
I’ll change your tire when
I return from picking up my daughter, Isabelle, from her playdate.
Come on, get in.”

Kayla gave a half-smile. “Really?
You’ll really change my tire for me?”

She thinks I’m a pompous
jackass. Can’t blame her.
“Yes, really.”
The corner of Richmond’s lip hitched. “Now get in before you have
me late picking up my daughter.”

Kayla hastened to the passenger side
of the car, flung open the door, and hopped in. Buckling her seat
belt, her rich, brown irises twinkled against the sun streaming
through the window. An unfamiliar swoop tugged at his heart.
Suddenly, he felt like a complete jerk.

Admiring Kayla’s striking beauty and
unrelenting tenacity, Richmond gassed the SUV down Spaulding Drive,
passing his resort-like equestrian to the left. Reaching the end of
the long road named after his family, he halted when he reached the
stop sign, then turned left. As he cruised down another long road,
silence loomed inside the SUV.

Where in the hell have I
seen you before?

Richmond brought the truck to a stop
when he reached the traffic light at the end of the road. Across
the street from the traffic light sat the Balfour Resort &
Hotel, owned by one of his wealthy clients and good friend. Behind
the tall, luxurious building, the glistening blue ocean stretched
wide, edging along a pristine sandy beach.

Waiting for the light to change, he
pulled his gaze from the ocean, then transferred it to pretty
Kayla. She looked tense.

“
I’m sorry you’re having a
bad day,” he expressed, breaking the silence.

Kayla’s eyes peered into his. Her sexy
lips broke into a leisurely smile.

Your
brown, round squirrel eyes look familiar.

“
Thanks. I know you must
think I’m a nutcase, especially considering this is your second
time having to come to my rescue.”

Second time?
Huh?

Holding her gaze, Richmond wracked his
brain, trying to figure out what on God’s green Earth she meant by
that comment.

Kayla shook her head. “You don’t
remember me, do you?”

Her sensual voice stirred an emotion
in him he couldn’t identify with.

The light flashed green. Gripping the
steering wheel, he pulled out onto Ocean Drive, making a left. “You
look familiar, but I can’t place your face.” He stole a quick
glance at Kayla, then looked back at the road.

“
I’m not surprised you
don’t remember me, considering we met at the cemetery.” Glancing at
him sideways, she placed her elbow up on the door of the car, then
fisted her cheek. “The day of my grandfather’s funeral, I was too
weak to walk. You jumped out of a limo, ran to my side, picked me
up, and placed me in the back of a black Cadillac. Thanks for
helping me…again.”

Jesus Christ.
A vivid image of him hefting a crying woman into
his arms at the cemetery the day he buried his wife came crashing
into Richmond’s mind.
It’s her.
Remembering that horrible, wet, raining day, the
day he’d said goodbye to his loving wife, Salina, he shuddered
inwardly. His mind steadily rewound back to that day.

On that miserable, rainy day, while
riding in the back seat of the limo with Isabelle, he’d spotted
Kayla standing beneath a green tent, wearing a white dress. As
she’d tried to walk across the mushy green grass, her shoulders had
rocked violently and she’d stumbled.

For a reason he never understood, he’d
jumped out of the limo and rushed to her side. He’d hefted her in
his arms, stalked across the cemetery, and eased her onto the back
seat of a black Cadillac. Reliving the day as if it were yesterday,
Richmond swallowed.

Whoa. This is the woman I
often wonder about.

“
I remember you,
Kayla.”

Richmond shifted his weight
in his seat and stole a good glance at Kayla. Capturing the sensual
glow swooning in her eyes, an ambivalent feeling spread through his
bones. On that stormy day, Kayla had beckoned him to her, just as
she’d done a few moments ago. What the hell? Their meeting twice
like this made no sense. None whatsoever. Should he reconsider
interviewing her?
No. Hell no.

Richmond steered the SUV up to the
local neighborhood park. Right as he cut the engine, his cell
buzzed. He slid the phone from the clip attached to his hip.
“Hello?”

“
You got a moment?” private
investigator Donald McQuade questioned.

“
I’m in the process of
picking up Isabelle from her playdate. What’s up?”

“
Briefly,” Don cleared his
throat, “I have some news regarding Salina’s death. If you have
time, I need you to stop by my office later on this
evening.”

Richmond’s heart clenched. Gazing out
the window, he spotted Isabelle at the top of the sliding board,
about to slide down. His good friend’s wife, Sandella, stood at the
foot of the sliding board with her daughter Logan by her side,
waiting on Isabelle to do her thing. God, he loved his daughter
Isabelle with all his heart and soul. Just as he had her mother,
Salina.

Don continued. “I think I may have a
lead as to who killed Salina.”

Trying to remain calm in
front of Kayla as she sat looking out the window beside him,
Richmond’s shoulders tensed.
I’ve been
praying for a lead involving Salina’s murder.
“I’ll be there around six.”

“
See you later.” Don ended
the call.

What did Don find
out?

“
I’ll be right back,”
Richmond told Kayla, then shoved the door open. As he walked across
the lawn of the playground and headed toward his pumpkin, his pulse
pounded harshly at the base of his throat.
Don has a lead in Salina’s murder investigation.

“
Daddy!” Isabelle ran up to
her father, then hugged his left leg.

Excited about seeing his
baby girl, Richmond lifted her in his arms and held her to his
chest. “Did you have fun with Mrs
.
Sandella and Logan?”

Smiling, Isabelle put the tip of her
finger in her mouth and nodded. “Yes, Daddy. Mrs. Sandy pushed me
on the swing, and she slid down the sliding board with me and
Logan. She let me feed the birdies, too, Daddy.”

Holding one-year-old Logan on her hip,
Sandella used her free hand to stroke Isabelle’s curly ponytail.
“She had a blast, Richmond. Anytime you need help with Isabelle,
please give me a call.”

Richmond grinned at baby Logan. “Hi
there, little one,” he spoke to Sandella’s daughter. “Again, thank
you, Sandella. I’m sorry to have imposed on you at the last minute.
Hopefully, I’ll find someone to help me care for Isabelle very
soon.”

Sandella shook her head. “Richmond,
you didn’t impose on me. That’s one of the good things about being
your own boss. You can leave work whenever you feel like it. Any
good nanny prospects yet?”

“
No.”

Sandella’s eyes traveled to Richmond’s
truck. “Who’s the woman in the car?”

The woman I helped at the
cemetery. How ironic?
“Oh her, she’s one
of the candidates. She got a flat tire on her way to interview for
the position, so I brought her here with me. I’m going to fix her
tire when I get back home.”

Sandella nodded, then tossed her hair
behind her shoulder. “I see. She’s very pretty. Are you going to
hire her?”

Yes, she is pretty.
“No.”

“
Why not?”

“
I don’t think she’d make a
good fit for Isabelle. But hey, thanks again for watching my baby
girl for me. I know you have to get back to the bakery, so I won’t
keep you. Tell Braylon I said hi.”

Still holding Logan on her hip,
Sandella gripped the handle of her daughter’s stroller. “I will. As
soon as he gets some time off, I’m going to make a good home-cooked
meal and invite you and Isabelle over for dinner. Feel free to
bring a date if you’d like.”

Richmond chuckled. “I’ll be coming to
dinner by myself. My dating days are way behind me. I’ll never find
another woman like Salina. They don’t exist.”

Smiling, Sandella waved a fingered.
“Never say never.”

Richmond smiled in return.
“Never.”

Sandella and Richmond parted ways. As
Richmond headed back toward the truck with Isabelle perched in his
arms, his mind reverted back to the private investigator he’d hired
to find Salina’s killer.

Thank God Don has a lead
on who killed my wife. I’m going to wring the bastard’s neck for
murdering Salina when I lay eyes on him.