Rewind & Go: A Blue-Collar Billionaire Romance (Sander's Valley Book 1) (5 page)

The break-in that had left her with bruises and her mom dead had shaken her, but the reading of her mom’s will had sent her life into a tailspin.

She’d always known her mom had kept secrets. She just hadn’t expected them to involve her. Or to learn she’d been the reason her parents’ marriage had failed. The juicy details were waiting for her, though. Ronnie had her mom to thank for that. She’d confessed her sins in a letter, then stashed it in one of the many storage units her mom had rented around the country.

Ronnie didn’t want to learn the details of her parents’ troubled relationship. There was no point. They were both dead. Too bad she didn’t have a choice. Reading her mom’s letter had been a condition of her mom’s estate. One of many. Her mother had been just as demanding in death as she’d been in life.

“I didn’t mean to piss you off, Ronnie.”

“You didn’t. I was just thinking.” She reached behind the seat, retrieved her cell phone, and opened a web search. She needed a taxi. “To answer your question, I didn’t major in art. I can paint, but I’m not anywhere near as good as my dad had been. I opted for the practical side of the art world. I ended up graduating with have dual degrees in marketing and business. I run the auctions and deal with the financial part of the gallery. Mom had acted as a liaison for the artists and buyers.”

She shook her head. “I’m going to need to start looking for someone to replace her. I’ve been trying to handle her duties on top of mine, but I never realized how much ass-kissing and game playing she did. Artists are not easy people to deal with, and I’ve learned the hard way it’s not something I’m good at.”

“Aw, fuck, doll.” He pulled over and threw the truck into park. “I’m a goddamn asshole.”

He reached across the seat, unbuckled her, and pulled her close, burying her head against his bare chest. His scent seeped into her lungs, so familiar and strong. She dragged in a breath and held it, needing it inside her.

“You told me she was murdered, and I didn’t even say I’m sorry.” He ran his hands over her back. “I am. Dear God, I’m so sorry.”

She swallowed hard. “It’s okay. You never even met her.” Because Mom had hated the valley and refused to step foot into it.

He pressed his lips to her temple. “Doesn’t matter. She created you.”

She squeezed her eyelids shut. Moisture seeped out anyway. Kyle hit all her triggers and made her act like a fool. Crying didn’t do any good. “Thank you.”

“I’m also sorry for not being there for you.” He wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Hell, I’m sorry about a lot of things.”

“Me too.” Her voice cracked, and she hated the weakness. Damn if she could stop it.

She’d been on an emotional roller coaster with nobody to lean on. Kyle’s arms around her promised to protect her and make everything better. He couldn’t. She knew that. It didn’t stop her from linking her hands around his neck and wishing that life had turned out differently.

“Why did you come back?”

She pushed from of his embrace and looked out the rear window at the trunk sitting in the truck bed. “You know my mom was an artist too, right?”

She’d rarely talked about her mom growing up. It had always put a sad look on her dad’s face, so she’d made a point of telling stories about her tutors and friends instead. Kyle had never really asked too many details either.

“Yeah and that her work hangs in some major galleries.”

“She made things for my dad all the time. As part of her will, she asked me to take a collection of things to him.”

The loss of her entire family hurt. She dropped her head against the back of the seat and tried to breathe through the pain.

“She wrote the will before he was diagnosed with cancer?”

Kyle’s steady voice pulled her back from the edge. She glanced at him. He watched her intently, sympathy softening his expression.

“Yes, and I didn’t want her artwork to just sit in storage, so I figured I’d hang them in his cabin.”

He turned her face toward him and kissed her cheeks then her eyes. She hadn’t realized her tears had spilled over. “I think he’d like that.”

“I’m not so sure. They never really got along, but I have to honor my mom’s wishes. I did so for my dad when he died.”

“What did he ask you to do?”

“To give my mom a package. I did. She never opened it.”

He sighed. “I’ll help you hang them tomorrow, okay?”

“No, I’m not going up there. I can’t deal with it. I thought I could, but look at me.” She motioned to her face. “I’m getting teary-eyed just talking about it. I shouldn’t be breaking down in front of you.”

He cracked his jaw. His body tensed.

She’d hurt him again. Or pissed him off. She couldn’t help it. As much as she wanted it, she wasn’t always strong. Besides, he’d brought the topic up. He could deal with her weakness for the short time she would be with him. It didn’t matter what he thought of her anyway. She’d be gone soon.

She slipped from his arms and snatched her phone from where it had fallen on the seat. She really needed that taxi. And a hotel room far away from Kyle.

“If you can’t break down in front of me, then who has the right to comfort you?”

The reason for his irritation became clear. He hadn’t been upset to learn she wasn’t strong like her mother had been. He was jealous. His reaction struck her as odd. Why would he be jealous?

“Well?”

His command didn’t give her the chance to dissect Kyle’s mood. She couldn’t think objectively at the moment anyway.

“I have friends.”

“Where are they? Shouldn’t they be here with you, giving you support?” He pointedly glanced at her phone. “You didn’t speed dial or text any of them when your car broke down or when you decided to haul twenty pounds of your mom’s artwork up a mountain.”

She looked away. He caught her chin and turned her head to face him. “Why not, Ronnie?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know I came out here.”

“And why is that? Afraid of what people will think when you tell them your dad had lived here? That you spent your summers here?” He leaned closer. Anger glinted in his eyes. “With me.”

“You want the truth, huh?”

“Yeah, I want the fucking truth.”

He stared at her, the demand in his eyes clear, but the words got stuck in her throat.

He grunted. “I never would’ve thought you were a coward. I guess I never really knew you.”

She flinched, knowing it was the truth. She was a coward. Just like her mom.

He put the truck in drive. They peeled out. “Fine. Keep your damn secrets.”

“They’re not my secrets. They’re my mom’s. She told everyone that I went to a private boarding school for the summer. She’d also been quite adamant that she didn’t know where my father was. According to her, he left when he found out she was pregnant and never came back.”

He muttered a curse but didn’t respond otherwise. Several minutes passed in silence before the car stopped. He turned the key, and the ticking of the diesel engine filled the chasm her words had caused.

Finally, he laid a hand over hers. “Tell me everything.”

His firm yet gentle tone forced the words from her mouth. “My mom told so many lies over the years. It got to the point that she couldn’t admit the truth without confessing all of her deceptions. That would’ve made Mom lose the respect of the art community. At least, that’s my opinion.”

She sighed. “By the time I was old enough to question things, I was told that too much time had passed to make amends and to let it be, that it was none of my business anyway.”

“If it wasn’t for your mom, would you have told people you’d spent you summers here?”

She frowned. “Of course. I don’t regret spending time here with Dad. My parents were both flawed, but I loved them.”

“Look at me, Ronnie.”

She did. His command was one she couldn’t deny.

“Do you regret me?”

“No.”

He closed his eyes on a sigh. “That’s all I need to know.”

He got out and walked around the hood of the car. Her door opened. He lifted her out, but instead of setting her on her feet, he swung her into his arms. She let out an oomph and automatically linked her hands behind his neck.

“What are you doing?”

He closed the door. “Carrying you.”

The hungry, possessive look in his eyes sent her pulse racing. She sucked in a breath and held his gaze, trapped by a side of Kyle she’d never seen before. He looked as if he wanted to devour her.

The dome light cut out and left them in darkness. She tightened her hold on him. “Where are we?”

He started walking without answering.

She glanced around but couldn’t make out much. It was too dark. “Kyle?”

He twisted his hold on her and opened a door. They stepped through, and it closed with a click. “We’re home, Ronnie.”

“Home?” She scanned the room, but it was as dark as outside.

With an easiness that only came from familiarity, he carried her through the darkened space and took the stairs. He knew the way.

“You brought me to your house?”

He paused midstep. “You’re not afraid to be here with me, are you?”

“Of course not.”

He brushed his lips over hers. “Good. The place is a little rough and kinda messy. Don’t judge me in the morning for it. Only girl who’s ever seen the inside of my house is my mama.” He snorted. “And Mindy.”

His words sent a primitive thrill through her. She slid her fingers into the short strands of his hair and kissed him. He groaned and let her lead him into a dance she’d never found another man to match. Only Kyle could turn a simple kiss into a raw display of lust and love.

Oh God.

She pulled back. His heated gaze held hers, and she saw the confirmation she’d chosen to ignore. He still loved her, maybe always had.

The regret and guilt choked her. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, unable to bear the evidence of her selfish act. She hadn’t freed him to find love by walking away. She’d damned him to live alone. It didn’t matter who he’d screwed in the years they’d been apart. None of those women had touched his heart. She’d bet hers on it.

He massaged her bottom and started walking again.

Another door opened and Kyle’s scent swept out. His bedroom. A quick scan of the space confirmed her guess. Rumpled sheets covered his king-size bed. A single pillow lay in the middle. Wide-eyed, she glanced at him.

“I figured we’d try something new if you’re up for it.”

Her breathing quickened. Excitement tensed her muscles. “What’s that?”

He carried her to the bed and laid her in the middle, her head on his pillow. “Make love in a bed.” He ran his palm over her chest, pebbling her nipples with the stroke. “
My
bed.”

She licked her lips. “We never did make it to one, did we?”

“We almost did once.” He glanced at her. The question hovered in his eyes—did she remember?

“But Levi barged in to tell you about some baseball game.” She shook her head. “And didn’t leave until he gave you a byplay of the innings you’d missed—”

“Because I’d sneaked away to be with you.” He fingered the hem of her shirt. “You always made me so damn horny. I walked around with a perpetual hard-on all summer long.”

She chuckled. “I know, and I loved it. I couldn’t wait for June to come. I knew you’d be hard and ready for me.”

He reached under her skirt and lazily stroked her cleft. Arousal flowed with the first brush of his fingertip to her sex. She didn’t even think to deny him. His touch felt too familiar. He’d been her first lover, her first boyfriend, and the first guy she’d ever walked away from. Not her last. She’d broken quite a few men’s hearts in her time. Then again, hers had been stomped on just as much.

He rubbed his thumb over her clit. The familiar pulse in the bundle of nerves redirected her thoughts to the living, breathing man who’d always hovered in the back of her mind. “I always wondered why you never asked if I’d cheated on you.”

The gentle swipe of his finger stilled at the opening of her core. He shifted his gaze to hers. A challenge hovered in his direct stare. Why?

“Dad watched you.” Even though she’d never asked him to keep an eye on Kyle. She hadn’t minded getting the updates, however. Her life during those months away from Kyle had been lonely. Only her studies and obligations to attend her mother’s social events had kept her from wallowing in depression.

“Doesn’t prove anything. You and I both know how easy it is to sneak in a quick fuck.” He leaned closer, the tip of his finger dipping into her opening. “Give me the real reason.”

“I trusted you.”

“Why?” He whispered the question.

“Because I loved you.”

“Loved.” He turned away, taking his tempting finger with him. He rubbed circles on her inner thigh instead. Her mind hazed a little on a surge of reawakened lust. “I loved you too.”

She almost wished she’d said something different, but she hadn’t. The past couldn’t be changed. She’d moved on. Her relationship with Kyle had become a memory, nothing more.