One Night, Two Secrets (One Night Book 2; Velasquez Brothers Book 3 Page 15

  “How are you going to deal with any of that? I’m the one with the numbers,” Billie countered.

  “Text them to me. Billie, I think I’m going to be a mom.”

  “You are going to be a mom,” Billie said, coming over and hugging her. “And you’re going to be great. Be right back.”

  Billie left the apartment and Scarlet picked up her phone and looked at the text messages. She hadn’t heard from Alec since she’d left him that night. What was she going to say?

  Tell him how you feel, Tara’s voice whispered. That’s the one thing we never did in our family.

  Her sister was right. It was time to do the opposite of everything that she’d learned to do in order to protect herself from being hurt. It was time to be honest about her emotions and admit she needed Alec in her life. That she wanted the family that fate had dropped in her lap.

  Fifteen

  Ethan’s law offices were in one of the new towers that had just been completed on the outskirts of town near Hadley’s loft. Normally he took care of all of his business with Ethan at the Five Families Clubhouse or the Bull Pen. But Ethan had insisted that to get everything he wanted in the new deal with Scarlet, he was going to have to come into the office.

  So he’d postponed a trip to Michigan to see one of his new clients and was now on his way to the lawyer’s office. It had been three days since his conversation with his dad and Alec had been working nonstop to get everything in order so that when Scarlet came back to Cole’s Hill he’d be able to focus on her. That was why rescheduling the client trip wasn’t ideal. What if she was able to come back sooner than he thought? He definitely wanted to be here when she arrived.

  But when he got to Ethan’s office, Hadley was waiting in the parking lot and she looked upset.

  He couldn’t ignore his future sister-in-law, and Ethan would understand if Alec was late.

  “You okay?”

  “No, I’m not. Thank goodness you’re here. I think there’s a mouse in my loft,” Hadley said. “I’ve texted Mo, but he said you were on your way to Ethan’s. Could you go and check it out?”

  “Sure,” he said. “I thought you weren’t living there anymore.”

  “I’m not but I’ve been working to get it ready so I can rent it out, and I have someone coming to look at it in like thirty minutes,” Hadley said. “I swear, I can handle anything but a mouse. They are small and fast and I’m getting the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.”

  “I got this. I’ll go check it out and then figure out how to catch it,” Alec said.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Should I tell Mo to still come?”

  “Yes. He’s going to have to figure out how to humanely dispose of it. Also, if there’s one in the loft you should check your studio.”

  “I didn’t even think of that,” Hadley said. “Here are my keys. The front door code is 0322.”

  He nodded, taking her keys and walking toward the entrance to the lofts, which was around the side of the building where Hadley had her art studio. There was also a coffee house and a martial arts dojo. Ethan’s offices were in the new high-rise adjacent to the lofts.

  He keyed in the code and as soon as he stepped inside he saw the rose petals on the floor. They stirred memories of the night he’d been planning to ask Scarlet to marry him. He still couldn’t believe it had gone so wrong. He followed the trail to the elevator. Obviously one of Hadley’s neighbors had the same idea that Alec had and he hoped it worked out better for them than it had for him.

  He took the elevator up to the residential area and when he got off he noticed the trail of rose petals continued down the hall ending at the door to Hadley’s loft. He was starting to worry that his brother might be waiting for Hadley, and if there was one thing he didn’t want to see it was his brother trying to be sexy for his fiancée.

  He knocked on the door. “Mo? You in there? Uh, Hadley is downstairs. She thinks there’s a mouse up here.”

  The door opened slowly and he saw that the petals made a path through the entire loft to form a giant heart in the middle of the floor. He stepped inside and turned as the door closed behind him.

  His heart raced as he saw Scarlet standing there watching him. She wore a flowy dress that fell to her knees and had a V in the front. She looked so good it was hard to not go right to her and pull her into his arms. He noticed the tiny changes that pregnancy had made to her body and he smiled at her as she stood there.

  “So... Turns out I’m not Mo,” she said.

  “I’m so glad. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing my brother trying to be romantic with Hadley,” he answered. He had a feeling that this was a good thing. Her being here in Cole’s Hill before Ethan had even sent back his counteroffer seemed like really good news to him.

  “Me, too. That would have been awkward,” she said, twisting her fingers together, and he realized she was nervous. “But I wasn’t sure you’d come if you knew it was me. Seems that I’m the kind of girl who likes this stuff.”

  She gestured to the rose petals and the heart she’d made in the middle of the empty loft. Inside it, spelled out in rose petals, was a message.

  Do you believe in second chances?

  “I do,” Alec said, gesturing at the rose-petal message and answering her question. “I never got to say it that night but I love you. I have absolutely no idea how to raise a kid but my folks did a pretty good job with my siblings and me so we can call them for advice. And Bianca has a new baby so you’ll be in good company... I just want a chance to do this together. That’s what you’re saying, right?”

  “Yes. That’s it. I love you, too, Alec. I’ve been so afraid to admit it because love and I aren’t exactly on good terms so there might be times when I might panic and freak out but I want you to know I’m always coming back.”

  He could live with that. “I’m going to follow you.”

  He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her with all the pent-up desire and emotion that had been building inside him for the last six weeks. “God, I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too,” she said.

  He patted his pocket and the ring box that he still had in there. He’d been carrying it around as if by doing so he’d bring Scarlet back to him. “I want to ask you to marry me, but there’s no hurry. I know it’s going to take time for you to feel safe living with me and our child, but know that’s what I want.”

  “I’m going to say yes, but not today,” she promised him. “I want to say yes when we both can believe that I mean it.”

  “I’ll believe you,” Alec told her. “You’d never make a promise you couldn’t keep. Isn’t that why you left?”

  She nodded and then let her breath out in one long gasp. “Yes. I’ll marry you!”

  He carefully lifted her in his arms and hugged her as tightly as he could. “Thank you.”

  He took the ring box out of his pocket and put the ring on her finger. He’d picked out a princess-cut diamond and then had two smaller stones put on either side of it. He wanted to take her home and make love to her but it turned out his entire family was waiting outside Hadley’s building when they exited.

  “So, did you catch anything upstairs?” Mo asked.

  “Just the love of my life,” Alec responded.

  Epilogue

  One year later

  Alec was sitting on the patio of the new home they’d had built just outside Cole’s Hill, holding his tiny daughter, Tara Maria, in his arms while Scarlet lay next to him on the sun lounger. It was a gorgeous morning and the baby preferred to be outside so they spent most of their time outdoors.

  Scarlet had decided to continue filming her reality TV show, and her fans were completely over the moon at the pregnancy and the baby. Alec was always monitoring their online footprint to ensure their privacy. He had been careful so that he and the baby were onl
y filmed in the periphery. She had successfully launched her wedding subscription box, along with one for expectant mothers, and was planning one for new moms later this year. He was proud of how hard she worked and that her public seemed to be accepting her new, more mature persona.

  “So are you ever going to set a date for the wedding?” she asked him.

  He glanced over at her. Since that day he’d asked her to marry him, he’d never brought it up again, knowing when she was ready she’d say the word. They’d been dividing their time between New York and Cole’s Hill and probably would until Tara Maria was ready to start school.

  “Are you ready?”

  She nodded as the baby started to cry for her feeding. Scarlet breastfed her while he watched. His wife and his daughter. He’d never seen anything more beautiful and he’d never expected that having a family would enrich his life as much as it had.

  “Then let’s set a date. Kinley is dying to plan it,” Alec said. “She pestered Nate into asking me about it last night at the Bull Pen.”

  They continued to discuss the details, and when Tara was fed and sleeping they took her into the nursery, which Scarlet had decorated in a soft floral theme. Then he carried his soon-to-be wife to their adjoining bedroom and made love to her, knowing he’d achieved a happiness he’d never dreamed he’d find.

  * * *

  One by one,

  the Velasquez men

  are falling in love!

  Find out

  what’s in store

  for Inigo Velasquez

  in

  One Night to Risk It All

  by USA TODAY bestselling author

  Katherine Garbera.

  Available December 2019

  from Harlequin Desire.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Rancher’s Wild Secret by Maisey Yates.

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Desire story.

  You want to leave behind the everyday! Harlequin Desire stories feature sexy, romantic heroes who have it all: wealth, status, incredible good looks...everything but the right woman. Add some secrets, maybe a scandal, and start turning pages!

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  Rancher’s Wild Secret

  by Maisey Yates

  One

  The launch party for Maxfield Vineyards’ brand-new select label was going off without a hitch, and Emerson Maxfield was bored.

  Not the right feeling for the brand ambassador of Maxfield Vineyards, but definitely the feeling she was battling now.

  She imagined many people in attendance would pin the look of disinterest on her face on the fact that her fiancé wasn’t present.

  She looked down at her hand, currently wrapped around a glass of blush wine, her fourth finger glittering with the large, pear-shaped diamond that she was wearing.

  She wasn’t bored because Donovan wasn’t here.

  Frankly, Donovan was starting to bore her, and that reality caused her no small amount of concern.

  But what else could she do?

  Her father had arranged the relationship, the engagement, two years earlier, and she had agreed. She’d been sure that things would progress, that she and Donovan could make it work because on paper they should work.

  But their relationship wasn’t...changing.

  They worked and lived in different states and they didn’t have enough heat between them to light a campfire.

  All things considered, the party was much less boring than her engagement.

  But all of it—the party and the engagement—was linked. Linked to the fact that her father’s empire was the most important thing in his world.

  And Emerson was a part of that empire.

  In fairness, she cared about her father. And she cared about his empire, deeply. The winery was her life’s work. Helping build it, grow it, was something she excelled at.

  She had managed to get Maxfield wines into Hollywood awards’ baskets. She’d gotten them recommended on prominent websites by former talk show hosts.

  She had made their vineyard label something better than local.

  Maxfield Vineyards was the leading reason parts of Oregon were beginning to be known as the new Napa.

  And her work, and her siblings’ work, was the reason Maxfield Vineyards had grown as much as it had.

  She should be feeling triumphant about this party.

  But instead she felt nothing but malaise.

  The same malaise that had infected so much of what she had done recently.

  This used to be enough.

  Standing in the middle of a beautiful party, wearing a dress that had been hand tailored to conform perfectly to her body—it used to be a thrill. Wearing lipstick like this—the perfect shade of red to go with her scarlet dress—it used to make her feel...

  Important.

  Like she mattered.

  Like everything was put together and polished. Like she was a success. Whatever her mother thought.

  Maybe Emerson’s problem was the impending wedding.

  Because the closer that got, the more doubts she had.

  If she could possibly dedicate herself to her job so much that she would marry the son of one of the world’s most premier advertising executives.

  That she would go along with what her father asked, even in this.

  But Emerson loved her father. And she loved the winery.

  And as for romantic love...

  Well, she’d never been in love. It was a hypothetical. But all these other loves were not. And as far as sex and passion went...

  She hadn’t slept with Donovan yet. But she’d been with two other men. One boyfriend in college, one out of college. And it just hadn’t been anything worth upending her life over.

  She and Donovan shared goals and values. Surely they could mesh those things together and create a life.

  Why not marry for the sake of the vineyard? To make her father happy?

  Why not?

  Emerson sighed and surveyed the room.

  Everything was beautiful. Of course it was. The party was set in her family’s gorgeous mountaintop tasting room, the view of the vineyards stretching out below, illuminated by the full moon.

  Emerson walked out onto the balcony. There were a few people out there, on the far end, but they didn’t approach her. Keeping people at a distance was one of her gifts. With one smile she could attract everyone in the room if she chose. But she could also affect a blank face that invited no conversation at all.

  She looked out over the vineyards and sighed yet again.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  A smile tugged at the corner of Emerson’s mouth. Because of course, she could keep everyone but her baby sister Cricket from speaking to her when she didn’t want to be spoken to. Cricket basically did what she wanted.

  “I just needed some fresh air. What are you doing here? Weren’t you carded at the door?”

  “I’m twenty-one, thank you,” Cricket sniffed, looking...well, not twenty-one, at least not to Emerson.

  Emerson smirked. “Oh. How could I forget?”

  Truly, she couldn’t forget, as she had thrown an absolutely spectacular party for Cricket, which had made Cricket look wide-eyed and uncomfortable, particularly in the fitted dress Emerson had chosen for her. Cricket did not enjoy being the center of attention.

  Emerson did like it. But only on her terms.

  Cricket looked mildly incensed in the moonlight. “I didn�
��t come out here to be teased.”

  “I’m sorry,” Emerson responded, sincere because she didn’t want to hurt her sister. She only wanted to mildly goad her, because Cricket was incredibly goadable.

  Emerson looked out across the vast expanse of fields and frowned when she saw a figure moving among the vines.

  It was a man. She could tell even from the balcony that he had a lean, rangy body, and the long strides of a man who was quite tall.

  “Who’s that?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Cricket said, peering down below. “Should I get Dad?”

  “No,” Emerson said. “I can go down.”

  She knew exactly who was supposed to be at the party, and who wasn’t.

  And if this man was one of the Coopers from Cowboy Wines, then she would have reason to feel concerned that he was down there sniffing around to get trade secrets.

  Not that their top rival had ever stooped to that kind of espionage before, but she didn’t trust anyone. Not really.

  Wine-making was a competitive industry, and it was only becoming more so.

  Emerson’s sister Wren always became livid at the mere mention of the Cooper name, and was constantly muttering about all manner of dirty tricks they would employ to get ahead. So really, anything was possible.

  “I’ll just run down and check it out.”

  “You’re going to go down and investigate by yourself?”

  “I’m fine.” Emerson waved a hand. “I have a cell phone, and the place is heavily populated right now. I don’t think I’m going to have any issues.”

  “Emerson...”

  Emerson slipped back inside, and out a side door, moving quickly down the stairs, not listening to her sister at all. She didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to see who the man was for herself.

  Maybe because his arrival was the first truly interesting thing to happen all evening. She went in the direction where she’d last seen the figure, stepping out of the golden pool of light spilling from the party and into the grapevines. The moonlight illuminated her steps, though it was pale and left her hands looking waxen.