The Billionaire's Bauble (8 page)
David enjoyed watching the color bloom in Sloane’s cheeks. She said things that made him smile, that made him laugh, and he couldn’t resist her charm. When she had come downstairs in that little green dress and entered his kitchen like a goddess, he swore he heard his heart do double time. The woman stirred him physically and mentally. What could be more natural than flirting outrageously with such a woman?
“Let’s eat on the deck tonight. The weather is warm, and the fresh air will help our appetites,” he said as he led Sloane, plate in hand, to a redwood deck overlooking one of the property’s many water features. The pond’s surface, cluttered with white, pink and yellow lotus flowers, held koi as well. The colorful carp splashed, and the sound echoed up to the deck where he and Sloane now sat enjoying their dinner.
“Where is everyone?” she asked, and he thought he might hear trepidation in her voice.
“I gave everyone the night off.”
“What? Really?”
“No, actually I told them to give
me
the night off, and I’m only assuming the worst of the lot. They tend to work long hours, so I don’t blame them if they ran for the closest bar or restaurant instead of the offices at Grant Oil.” He smiled at her as he poured himself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. “Would you like a glass? We have established you’re old enough.”
“No. I better not,” she said smiling at his reference to their first meeting. “I took a pill before I napped, and I don’t think I better mix the two.”
“A wise choice,” he offered and tried to look at her less rapaciously. That wasn’t easy. As she forked salmon into her mouth, David watched her divine tongue and wished he were the fish.
She didn’t waste any time with resuming her earlier line of questioning. She took a drink of her tea and said, “David, can we talk?”
“I thought that’s what we were doing, between bites, of course.”
Here it comes, he thought, and he exhaled, waiting.
“David, tell me something about your childhood.”
“Okay, but you go first. Tell me why you came all the way from New York to the furthest point in the United States for college? Fairbanks is not for the faint of heart. It seems an odd choice for a farm girl from the East.”
Sloane’s easy smile faltered a bit, and he wondered if he had struck a nerve just as she had with him. He didn’t want this evening to turn too serious, but he had to admit he was as curious about her as she seemed to be about him.
“I came here to get far enough away I wouldn’t be followed.” She twisted the ring on her finger, and he deduced the habit was a comfort to Sloane.
“I grew up on a farm with a wonderful family. My mom and dad are still married, and the farm has given us all a comfortable life. My parents are supportive, kind, the best people you’ll ever meet.” She stopped.
“I would love to meet them someday, Sloane,” and he meant it. Any two people who could produce such a lovely woman must be terrific folks.
“Thanks, but that’s not what I meant. I meant that
if
you met them you’d see how great they are, how fun they can be.”
“They sound a lot like you.” He didn’t mean to lay it on so thick, but this woman had bewitched him. He wasn’t playing up to her. He wasn’t in the habit of saying anything he didn’t mean.
She took another bite of food, chewed thoughtfully, then said, “I came here because I ran away from a boy who loved me.” She looked at him, waiting for his response. He nodded.
“I was engaged to my high school sweetheart, a student at the local community college, my whole life laid out like an easy game of pick-up sticks, and I ran away from it, from him.” She stood up and walked to the railing. David stayed put. He knew if he followed her he would hold her, kiss her, and then he wouldn’t know why she’d run from home. He needed to know.
She ran her forefinger along the rail and looked out at the pond for a moment before she turned to him and said, “I broke his heart, David, and he didn’t deserve it.”
Her voice sounded small, forlorn, but she looked him square in the eye.
“I’m sure you did the right thing. You must’ve had good reason.”
“I did. He wasn’t my soul mate.”
The words hit David like an axe to heartwood. He sat silently, almost dreading what she might say next. He didn’t even know why he feared her words, but something in his head flashed danger.
“I believe that every person has a partner, a soul mate. Peter wasn’t mine, and I know I wasn’t his. Don’t get me wrong. We were as compatible as hens in a house, but it was friendship, loyalty, trust. It was puppy love and then commitment. It was what was
expected
.” She paused thoughtfully. “He captained the football team, and I led the cheers. We went to every dance and prom together. We shared family holidays. We’d been together so long, marriage seemed the next logical step, but I couldn’t do it. I had to leave. That’s why I’m here, sort of.”
“Sort of?” He knew he shouldn’t encourage her further, but he said it anyway. She walked back to the table and sat down gracefully, placing her napkin delicately in her lap.
“Well, when I met you at Hal’s. By the way, I never go to bars. I was just there because it was the last week of finals and we had to get out, to shake loose. I went as a, pardon my language, designated cock blocker.”
He spit out his wine, he was so surprised.
“I’m sorry,” she said and rushed to give him her napkin.
As he wiped his face, he couldn’t help but laugh. “I have never heard that phrase, but I assume it means you made sure no one got too drunk or too friendly, right?”
“You got it.” She seemed surprised at his cognizance. “That was my occupation that evening. I don’t drink much, and I can be tough when I need to be.”
“I bet,” David grinned into her now pensive face.
“… but there I was, and there you were. And the way you looked at me, the way I felt . . . It gave me hope. It made me think that somewhere in this world I would find my soul mate.” Sloane looked at him with such open admission, her heart bared, it almost hurt to look at her. This woman wanted a soul mate, and she thought he might be the one.
Ludicrous. He had never even been in love. How could he be anyone’s soul mate? He didn’t even understand the concept. His disbelief must have shown in his eyes because she suddenly looked wilted, like he’d stepped on her story and made fun of it with his silence, with his skeptical glance. He felt like a cad.
“Sloane, when I met you that night, I was blown away, too.” What did he just say? He meant to tell her he doubted her logic, but instead . . .
“I had never met a woman who reeled me in and made me feel good about being caught.”
She gasped, open-mouthed, then shook her finger playfully at him.
“I didn’t reel you in. You did it to me. You stared at me for hours. I had to give you a chance.” She smiled coyly, and his heart raced again. If she kept this up, he was going to have to make love to her just to regain his composure.
Sloane sat with her hands laid flat, palms down on either side of her plate. She said, “Listen, I always say too much. My daddy told me I need to shut the barn door once in a while.”
“I like the way you speak, the things you say. I typically don’t listen as well as I should, but with you it comes easy,” David admitted.
He wanted to keep speaking. He wanted to tell her everything she wanted to know. If he stopped talking now, he would have to carry her upstairs and take that beautiful green dress off her alluring body.
Sloane sat trying to appear relaxed, good natured. She held her palms flat, making sure they didn’t shake like Jell-O. Inside, she was quaking with what she had said. She’d practically announced she believed him to be her soul mate, and he didn’t run away. He didn’t leap over the table and declare her his true love either, but he also refrained from leering at her like the big bad wolf come to dinner. He took a punch well, she decided.
He sat there, and his mouth moved like it had bees inside. She wondered what he was trying to work up the nerve to say. She guessed.
“David, I’m sorry that my accident brought back bad memories about your mom. How old were you when she passed?”
He looked down at his plate, and Sloane could see a tick work its way into his square jaw.
“The last time I saw her I was 11 years old. I was away at boarding school when I found out about the car wreck. I came home for the funeral, but it was closed casket. My dad said the accident was bad, awful, so . . .” He shrugged his shoulders cavalierly, and Sloane’s heart almost broke. She could see the stricken little boy despite the decades that had passed.
“Where’s your dad? Does he work with you at Grant?”
David laughed but it sounded like nails on a chalkboard, grating, derisive.
“He died, too, about five years ago. We were never close. He remarried and divorced a few times over the years, and I attended school then college far away from his various families. I’m his only child, but I had stepbrothers and stepsisters I never knew along the way. Grant Oil is my dad’s real legacy, and I’m still trying to make him proud.”
Resignation shone in his sable eyes, and Sloane wanted to hug him. She stood up and went round the table. She stood behind him and put her hands on his shoulders, so hard, so strong. “You’ve had the weight of the world on these for a long time.” She rubbed them gently, trying to relieve the stress she felt pent within him.
He looked up, over his shoulder at her and said, “Thank you.”
His simple gratitude almost undid her. She wanted to massage every inch of his body, take away all his pain. Sloane wanted to make love to him, to show him how much she already cared. She dropped her hands and returned to her chair.
“So you live in this big, giant mansion all alone? Why?”
“What do you mean, why? I just explained my parents are dead, and I don’t have siblings.”
“Yes, but you’re a handsome, successful man. I would expect you to be married, to have children.” Sloane wanted to bite her own tongue, but David shook his head side to side.
“Never,” he said, and Sloane’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
“Never happened or never going to happen?” she pressed.
“Both,” he said, and his jaw set.
“Why?” she said, and she could hear the surprise in her voice.
“I’ve never been in love. I tried living with a woman once, but she ran out on me, and I hardly noticed.”
“She wanted your heart and you denied her?” Sloane guessed, and by the way he lifted one shoulder, she understood he didn’t really know.
“I was too busy, too preoccupied with Grant Oil. I spent all my energy turning a million dollar company into an industry giant. Lexi loved the money, the house, the travel—like most women. Loved me? Maybe. But I never loved her.” David’s eyes burned intensely, and Sloane felt like he was telling her he’d never love her.
Sloane couldn’t handle any more. She felt like she might vomit. She rose from her chair and said, “Excuse me. I need to use the powder room.”
“I’ll clear these dishes,” he said, and they both bustled away.
Sloane wet her cheeks and combed her fingers through her hair. She looked in the mirror and told herself to be strong. She’d put everything out there and so had he.
He didn’t want happily ever after.
Sloane could hear her mother saying, “People only know what they know.” Sloane’s stomach calmed.
Sloane’s mom was always smart about people, about feelings. Sloane wished she had half her mother’s wisdom. David had never seen true love, a happy family, a commitment that lasted. Sloane had. How could he know how wonderful, how utterly possible happily ever after could be? He may have all the money in the world, but without love. . .
