Authors: Susan Crosby

Tags: #Romance

The Groom's Revenge (5 page)

BOOK: The Groom's Revenge

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“Don’t let go,” she whispered.

He didn’t move his hands, although he wanted to soothe and comfort. To explore and arouse. To satisfy. Himself and her. Would she disappear if he did? Fly away on fairy wings?

She murmured his name. He heard the emotion behind it, the need that mirrored his. But there was too much at stake to respond to her needs or his own. The risks were high enough without adding to them.

“I’ll be in touch,” he said, pushing away from her, not looking back as he hurried down the stairs, then to the front door.

He turned the dead bolt, twisted the doorknob and pulled.

“Thanks for everything,” she said from behind him. She’d followed like a comet’s tail—undoubtedly to lock up after he left.

Nothing in his life had prepared him for Mollie Shaw.

He’d never known anyone like her, and probably never would again. He could barely remember being as trusting as she, as vulnerable. Yet once upon a time, he had been. The memory of that innocence made him hesitate now.

He started to turn. His foot bumped against something—The screeching leprechaun, silent now, his switch turned off, but oddly a reminder of his responsibilities to the young woman who waited, quiet and patient. The woman who surrounded herself with elves and fairies and other bits of magic. She’d known love. In that she was richer than he.

The glow of a streetlamp illuminated her face. She smiled, the warmth filling her eyes. Again came the fleeting feeling she might fade away.

“You’re a hard woman to resist,” he said, sliding his hands in his pockets.

A few beats passed before she responded. “I hope you’re not waiting for an apology. That would be a logical expectation, of course, but logic is only one component of my database.”

The spell was broken. “I love it when you talk techno,” he said.

Mollie laughed. She cupped his arm, letting her thumb slide under his shirtsleeve to caress his skin, the muscles bunching beneath. She wondered why he felt he had to resist her, but she didn’t ask. For now, it was enough that the attraction was mutual. “Have a safe flight home, Gray.”

He nodded, then he was gone.

She lingered at the front window until he drove out of sight, then she danced up the stairs and pirouetted into the bathroom to run a bath. She couldn’t stop smiling. She, Mollie Shaw of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was a hard woman to resist! Mollie laughed at the idea. While soaking in the tub, however, she considered his words a little more seriously.

What had she learned about him? What could make it hard for him to resist her?

Hmm. He seemed to be much more of a loner than she would have thought, given his important job and his worldwide recognition. Maybe
because
of it? Definitely a possibility.

What else? People generally wanted something from him, he’d admitted. But he found her easy to be with.

She would like to see him in action, in his own environment, so that she could compare him to the man she was coming to know and care about, beyond the surface of photos and news articles. He could spend three hours never crossing the line between teacher and student, then with one simple sentence, send her impression of him spinning. “You’re a hard woman to resist.” Those words clung to her heart. They would for a long time.

After climbing out of the tub she dressed in a cool summer nightie, then folded back her bedding and slid under the sheet. A few seconds later she plopped herself in front of the computer. Maybe he’d sent her an e-mail.

No mail.

Disappointment made her shoulders droop. She wondered how pushy she should be with him, given that he liked that she
didn’t
push him. On the other hand, she didn’t want to be passive in this relationship, either.

Relationship
. The word swirled, settled. She pressed her shoulders back and set her fingertips on the keyboard.

From MollieS: “I’ll miss you. Hurry back. M.” She hit the Send key, then swallowed her panic at what she’d done.

He responded in a flash. From GKMcGuire: “Come with me.”

Mollie straightened in her chair and read the words several times. Her fingers shook. From MollieS: “Why?”

From GKMcGuire: “You should meet my parents, so thai you can get an idea of what kind of party to plan.”

From MollieS: “I have to work.”

From GKMcGuire: “You don’t work seven days a week.”

She glanced at the telephone. Something this important needed to be discussed, not electronically communicated. And yet he seemed to open up with her more in this forum.

From MollieS: “I do the altar flowers for three churches or Sunday morning. The store reopens on Tuesday morning at 10:00, but I have to be here by 8:00 for a delivery.”

From GKMcGuire: “Which is plenty of time. Say yes. I’ll cancel my flight for tomorrow and have the company jet sent tc pick us up on Sunday morning, at whatever time you can make it. You’ll be back in time on Tuesday.”

Tiresomely sensible.
The label she’d given herself echoed in her head. She wanted adventure, and Gray was offering it. A trip to California. The chance to meet his family.

The chance to spend a lot of time alone with him. On a private jet. No other passengers or flight attendants or anyone. Just them For hours. Could he resist her for that long?

From MollieS: “Okay.” She hit Send, then covered her face with her hands. What had she done? She didn’t have the right clothes to wear. She couldn’t afford new ones, even if she had time to shop. She was going to meet his
parents
.

From GKMcGuire: “Great. We can’t tell them you’re the party planner, because I think I’m going to keep it a surprise.”

From MollieS: “So, who am I?”

From GKMcGuire: “My lover?”

From MollieS: “Right. I’m sure your mother will take one look at me and decide to be worried I was tainting her baby boy.”

Gray tried to picture his mother’s reaction. Actually, Mollie was exactly the kind of woman his mother would worry about He hadn’t brought many women home, but the ones he had finaly into the McGuire expectation of sophistication and status. Mollie broke that mold with a clean karate chop down the middle.

From GKMcGuire: “I don’t live with my parents, but we’ll stay with them since the time is limited. They will make assumptions, but they won’t expect us to sleep in the same room. Can you manage that small lie comfortably? Naturally at the party we’ll clue them in on your role.”

From MollieS: “If you honestly believe they’ll think I’m your girlfriend, I’ll be happy to play my part.”

From GKMcGuire: “Then it’s settled. I’ll drop by the shop tomorrow and we’ll discuss details. I don’t want you to worry. You’ll fit in better than you think. G.”

He stayed on-line several minutes, in case she had something else to ask, but she didn’t. She was probably standing at her open closet, stewing about what to wear. If he thought she would accept the gift, he would take her shopping after work, but he understood and admired her pride. He wouldn’t put her on the spot by offering.

In the meantime he had to cancel a flight, order the company yet and invite himself and Mollie to stay with his parents, not rusting himself to take her to his apartment. The first two could be handled by computer. The third could, as well, but he picked up the phone instead, glancing at the clock, determining it was 9:30 p.m. in California.

“Good evening, Endicott,” Gray said when the butler answered phone. “Is my mother at home?”

“Of course, Mr. McGuire. Please hold.”

“Hello, darling. What a nice surprise.” Gretchen McGuire’s voice never varied in pitch. Happy or distressed, she sounded velvety smooth. “Have you come home?”

He touched a red-stained Popsicle stick to his mouth.
Home
. He wondered where that was, exactly.

Five

M
ollie glanced over her shoulder at the three women who were “Just looking, thank you” a little after noon the next day. She was exhausted and energized at the same time, having stayed up until almost 2:00 a.m. sorting through her clothes, trying to come up with a few outfits to wear on the trip. If she could get to the mall right after work, she could pick up a new pair of sandals plus an off-white cotton blazer that would dress up anything.

“Oh, how darling!” one woman exclaimed, lifting down a vine basket Mollie had decorated with dried roses and strawflowers on the outside instead of the inside. A wire-trimmed ribbon the color of the roses brightened the whole package She’d come up with the idea last month and had sold twenty of them, each a little different from the next.

Gray had won one at the ball, she remembered. He’d found her because of it.

The woman set the basket on the counter in front of Mollie “I’d like three more of these, two with yellow roses, if you can.”

“How soon do you need them?” Mollie asked. “I’ve got pink roses on hand, but I’ll have to order the yellow.”

“For next weekend. Is that possible?”

“No problem. I can have them ready Friday morning. Would you like them exactly alike in style or should I be creative?”

“Oh, can you individualize them? I didn’t realize you made them yourself.”

Mollie assured her she did, then she wrote down the order before ringing up the one basket for her to take. As she and her friends went out the door, Kelly Sinclair Fortune came in, her five-month-old daughter, Annie, squirming and giggling in her arms.

“Here’s my sweet baby girl,” Mollie cooed as she reached for the smiling, drooling infant, a blue-eyed blonde just like her mom. “You actually left your honeymoon haven to come see me, Kel?”

“Can’t eat dessert all day,” Kelly said, “no matter how scrumptious it is.”

“Your steady consumption of
dessert
, as you call it, must be nonfat. You’re down to prebaby form. Obviously, you’re loving married life.”

“Loving
is such a mild word for what I feel, Mol. You’ve just got to try it for yourself.” She handed the baby a teething ring. “She’s going to drool all over you.”

Marriage did agree with Kelly, Mollie decided, never having seen her so radiant. Five years older than Mollie, Kelly had been first her baby-sitter and then her friend, a relationship cemented by the commonalities of having single mothers and growing up in the same neighborhood.

“I fully intend to try marriage someday,” Mollie said, coming nose to nose with Annie, who dropped the teething ring to tug Mollie’s hair into her mouth. “And having a few of these little precious gems.”

“She’s a wonder.” Kelly plunked the diaper bag on the counter, then scooped up the teething ring. “So, what’s happening with you? You never call. You haven’t once accepted my invitation for Sunday dinner with Mac and Annie and me. I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine. Honestly, I am. Doing better every day. Business is picking up so much that I’m going to hire an assistant.”

“You’ve met a man.”

Startled speechless, Mollie stared at her friend.

“A, you’re considering hiring someone—which means you want some time off now and then. B, you’re glowing.”

Mollie felt her cheeks flush, much as they had been for the past few days just being around Gray. But she couldn’t tell Kelly about Gray, because she would tell Mac, and he might mention it to someone else in the Fortune family. And Mollie wasn’t ready to share Gray with them yet

Actually, what she wanted to do was to take out a full-page ad in the
StarTribune
, run an announcement on every TV channel and maybe even hire a plane to tow a banner Gray McGuire asked Mollie Shaw to be his girlfriend.

Okay, so it was only a pretend girlfriend. But his mother was going to assume they were lovers—

Kelly waved a hand in front of Mollie’s face. “Cripes. He must be something.”

Annie stuck her fingers in Mollie’s mouth, saving her from answering.

“What’s his name? What does he look like? He’d better treat you well.”

“Slow down. You don’t have to be big sister, okay? I’m not ready to introduce him to you because he might think I have plans for him, and it hasn’t reached that point. You’ll meet him as soon as I think it won’t scare him off.”

“You always could keep a secret.”

“You used to say that like it was a compliment, Kel.”

Kelly grinned. She lifted Annie into her arms as the door opened and an elderly couple came in. Mollie greeted them by name, then headed to the refrigerator case to get the small bouquet she fixed weekly for them to take to their daughter’s grave.

As soon as they left, Kelly looked at Mollie as if she wasn’t going to take no for an answer—no matter what the question was. “We came to invite you to dinner tomorrow. Mac will be there, of course, plus Chloe and Mason.” She cocked her head. “Speaking of Chloe and Mason—do they seem all right to you? Are the wedding plans still full speed ahead?”

“I haven’t spoken to them in a couple of weeks. Do you think something’s wrong?”

“Nothing I can put my finger on.” She tugged her hair out of her daughter’s fist “So, how about dinner?”

“I’ve got plans for tomorrow.”

“With the mystery man?”

“Yes. And that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

The front door opened.

“Top of the momin’ to ye!” Yarg shrieked.

“I’m going to decommission you,” Gray threatened placidly as he walked by the plastic creature, who winked as if on cue.

Mollie waited to see if Kelly and Gray acknowledged each other, hoping not. Kelly hadn’t attended the charity ball, so there was a chance she didn’t know who he was. When neither showed any sign of recognition, Mollie looked meaningfully at Gray. “I’ll be right with you, sir.”

Sir
? Gray glanced at the blond woman holding the baby. “I’m in no hurry,” he said in return, catching the flicker of gratitude in Mollie’s eyes before he moved to examine the items she’d chosen to display in her new hutch.

“Well, we want to get home to Daddy, don’t we, sweetheart?” the woman said to the baby as she grabbed a canvas bag, then leaned across the counter toward Mollie and lowered her voice a little. “I want all the details, and soon. Promise you’ll call or I’m gonna sic Mac on you. And you know Mac can pull answers out of anyone.”

Mac Fortune? Gray wondered. Mac was the oldest son of Stuart Fortune’s brother, Emmet. Mac’s wedding had netted Mollie her first job as a wedding planner, which had led to the upcoming nuptials of Chloe Fortune and Mason Chandler, the fairy-tale-princess event yet to come.

After the woman left, Mollie came around the counter and thanked him.

“Friend of yours?” he asked.

“Kelly Fortune. We grew up together. I was afraid you’d met already.”

“Afraid?”

“I’m not ready to share you with my friends yet.”

There was nothing coy in her expression, just the truth of her words, which he respected and was glad of, even as he also wondered why she wanted to keep him a secret.

“I’ve probably become too independent since Mom died, but I don’t want to lean on anyone. My friends mean well, but they tend to offer advice freely.”

“You told me you always listen to advice.”

Her cheeks pinkened. “Yours was relevant to my business, and you have the qualifications to do so.”

“Do you think your friends would advise you against this trip?”

Her eyes danced merrily. “Hmm. I’m only guessing, of course, but I think they just might try to talk me out of flying to California with a handsome, sexy man I met only three days ago. A man who, according to the tabloids, dates a new woman every week. Stunning blondes, exotic brunettes—”

“Beautiful redheads?”

“I’m not beautiful,” she said quietly, seriously, her eyes searching his.

“I’m apparently an expert in the matter.”

“You’re just being kind.”

Kind
—a word he hadn’t heard before in reference to himself. The descriptions usually involved words like
grim
and
focused. Solitary. Distant.
No one had called him handsome or sexy until just a minute ago. He didn’t have any illusions. Money and status were powerful draws for most people. “I’m not being kind, Mollie.”

She clasped her hands together. “It doesn’t even matter, does it? We’re doing business together, right?”

He hesitated only an instant. “Right. What time do you think we can leave tomorrow?”

“Six-thirty.”

“In the morning?”

She grinned. “I asked Tony to deliver the baskets, so all I have to do is put the arrangements together.”

“Which means you’ll want to get to bed early.”

“You think I’m going to be able to sleep? I’ve never flown before. I’ll be way too excited to sleep. But I do need to go shopping right after work and pick up a couple of things for the trip.”

“Do you mind if I tag along?”

“I don’t mind. As long as you don’t try to buy me anything.”

“Not even dinner?”

“Oh. Well. Dinner. That’d be okay.”

“You don’t have to worry about dressing up for my parents, Mollie.”

She crossed her arms. “That’s such a male reaction.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed—”

“You’re a man.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Oh, I noticed.”

He didn’t know how to respond to a flirtatious Mollie, so he pulled a floppy disk out of his pocket and held it up. “I’ve brought another program to install on your computer.”

“Like I don’t have enough to learn already?”

“This one will do your taxes for you.”

“Really? Are you going to install it now?”

“I thought I would. Is that a problem?”

“Um. You kind of need to ignore the condition of my apartment It kind of looks like a tornado swept through.”

Gray doubted that. Her shop and apartment were like well-tended gardens and just as colorful. Not to mention home to a legendary leprechaun.

He told her he’d see her later, then he climbed the stairs. A tidy living room greeted him. He kept walking, needing to see what she considered messy. The kitchen sparkled. The bathroom still smelled like a bouquet—and her. He breathed in the scent for a minute—still unable to identify it—then he moved on to the bedroom.

Chaos. Clothes strewn on both twin beds—hers wasn’t even made. Drawers pulled open, with feminine...
stuff
spilling out. He absorbed the dazzling and colorful sight. His experience with the opposite sex had never resulted in his living with one. He found the scene endearing. She was more nervous than he’d thought. Perhaps he should reconsider throwing her into the lions’ den so soon. His parents could be formidable with people of their own kind. With an innocent like Mollie...

The thought faded. He didn’t want to look too closely at his motivations for subjecting her to his parents. They would be courteous, if a little intimidating, but he expected to keep her within his protection throughout the short trip—

The concept of his being her knight in shining armor startled him.
Knight
. The word jarred him. This wasn’t a game of Dungeons and Dragons It was someone’s life. An innocent someone’s life. If she knew his intentions—

The words had begun to haunt him. He was too used to making a plan and following through without a second thought. And his intent to bury Stuart Fortune—to ruin him—hadn’t kept him from a peaceful sleep, not for a minute.

His conscience was clear. This was payback, plain and simple. And Mollie’s gains would more than balance any temporary embarrassment or hurt. He would see to that.

As he turned to go back into the living room, a bit of sparkle caught his eye—the glittery box with the birthday cake and candles on it...open.

“Is that all you’re getting?” Gray asked as Mollie headed for the store exit hours later, her stride determined. “Sandals and a jacket?”

“That’s all I came for.”

He’d watched her gaze linger on a few other items—a long, flower-printed dress in shades of green, a jade necklace, a pin that looked like the fairy on her counter bell. He’d been assaulted by an unreasonable urge to see her try on the things she liked, to see her eyes light up as she modeled them for him. Instead he’d pushed that fantasy aside at the same time that he shoved his fists in his pockets.

He had entered her financial data into her computer. He knew exactly how much money she made. Not enough for luxuries.
Soon, though, Mollie. Soon.

“I suppose you make a list to take to the grocery store, too, so that you avoid impulse shopping,” he said, holding open the door.

BOOK: The Groom's Revenge

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