One Night, Two Secrets Page 7

  “Fine. I’m struggling, Hel. It’s harder than I thought not to make a bet. I keep thinking of the money we’ve got as our nest egg and how I could double it—I know I can’t do that. I know that one bet won’t be enough and that there’s no such thing as a sure thing, but at the same time I wake up at two in the morning and plot out ways to increase our money by placing bets.”

  She sighed. “I know it’s not easy for you. Would it help if I made a cost analysis?”

  It helped her. But she was an accountant and liked looking at a spreadsheet. Watching the way that her investments would grow soothed her. It always reassured her.

  He smiled at her, his real smile, and she felt the love she had for him swell inside. “No, honey, I don’t think a spreadsheet would help, but thanks. You’re so sexy I always forget what a nerd you are.”

  She mock-punched his shoulder. “Hey. I’m not a nerd.”

  “You are, but I love you,” he said, turning toward her and reaching out to pull her into an awkward hug because of the seat belts. “I love you more than you know, Helena. I don’t want to screw up again.”

  She reached down and undid both of their seat belts and then hugged him closer before putting her hands on his jaw and looking him in the eyes. “We are both going to screw up a million times during our life. The thing to remember is that I’m here when you do and I’m counting on you to be here when I do.”

  He kissed her then, and the passion that had always burned between them ignited. She remembered their first time, which had been in a car after the homecoming football game her senior year of high school.

  Someone drove by and honked and she pulled back as Malcolm waved at the car. “Guess we should remember we aren’t in high school now,” he said, laughing.

  “Guess so,” she said, as they both put their seat belts back on.

  Instead of putting the car in gear, he turned to face her. “I’m not going to give in to the impulse to gamble, honey. It’s hard and I definitely feel the struggle every day, but I never give in because I know that if I do, it’s the path away from you. And I don’t think my life would be anything without you.”

  She squeezed his hand. They’d get through this together, she thought.

  * * *

  As Alec drove back to his house after dropping Scarlet off, he heard the emptiness all around him. Normally that didn’t bother him, as he liked solitude, but as he went into his office and pulled up the files that his algorithm had compiled about Scarlet, he realized he felt lonely.

  But there was no reason for that. He texted his brothers to see if they were up for a game of pool or something but they both were busy with their women. Diego’s wife was in town and since she split her time between Texas and London, Diego wasn’t about to blow off an evening with her to hang out with his little brother.

  Mo and Hadley were in that honeymoon phase of their relationship, so even though Mo had texted back that Alec was welcome to join them for dinner, the last thing he wanted was to spend an evening feeling like a third wheel.

  Instead he sat down at his computer and started reading the files he’d collected on Scarlet. It was interesting to him how much of her life was available online. It went all the way back to her birth and childhood, as her mother had been a model and her father one of the richest men in the United States around the time she was born. He looked at all of the pictures of her online. She had grown up...well, in a very public way and he had to wonder if she’d come to Cole’s Hill to see if he was a private man.

  She didn’t want the spotlight to follow her child around. She knew how impossible it was to grow up that way.

  He couldn’t postpone his trip to Seattle. His client needed him and one of the things that Alec prided himself on was delivering what his clients required. But one of the main things he noticed about Scarlet was that she’d been left by herself a lot. And now she didn’t even have her sister, who had died not that long ago. He wasn’t the wisest man when it came to reading the opposite sex but he thought that spending a week away from her when she was feeling so vulnerable might not be the best idea.

  He didn’t want to make another mistake when it came to Scarlet. They’d seemed to really connect yesterday and she was expecting his child. They needed to find common ground.

  Deciding on a course of action, he got in his car and drove back to Scarlet’s house. The ride took only five minutes as they lived in the same gated community. When he rang the doorbell, he heard the sound of barking and then voices before the door opened.

  Scarlet stood there with the famous singer Siobahn Murphy and Billie, who didn’t look any friendlier than she had earlier. A miniature dachshund rushed forward and Alec bent down, holding his hand out to the dog, who sniffed it, then licked him and danced around his feet as he stood back up.

  “Alec, I wasn’t expecting to see you again before your trip,” Scarlet said.

  “I know. I’ve just been thinking that maybe we should spend some more time together and wondered if you’d like to go with me to Seattle,” he said. “I have a private plane so that’s not an issue.”

  “She has one, too,” Billie said.

  “Great. Either way. I have a nice house in Bellevue...” He trailed off, not sure what else to say.

  “Let me think about it. When do you need to know?” she asked.

  “In the next two hours. I was planning to leave in the morning,” he said.

  She nodded, then bent down to scoop up the little dog, who was standing on her back legs and looking up at Scarlet. He watched her closely, still wondering what had caused her to leave him so abruptly earlier. Had he rushed her? Was he rushing her now?

  Alec just wanted to do the right thing for her. She was pregnant, and she said the baby was his. He was beginning to realize she wasn’t the kind of woman who would have come to see him if she wasn’t positive he was the father. He wanted to get to know her. His online research had helped but that was her digital imprint; it wasn’t necessarily the true picture of her.

  “I’ll just—”

  “Oh, come in,” Siobahn said, holding her hand out to him. “I’m Siobahn.”

  “Alec Velasquez,” he said, shaking her hand and stepping into the foyer. He closed the door behind him as Billie shook her head and walked away.

  “Go think about if you want to go,” Siobahn said to Scarlet. “I’ll keep Mr. Velasquez company.”

  “Please call me Alec,” he said.

  Scarlet chewed her bottom lip. “Okay, but be nice.”

  “Of course I will be,” Alec said.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” Scarlet said as she turned to walk down the hall.

  “We can talk in here,” Siobahn said, leading the way into the formal living room.

  Friends of Alec’s parents had previously owned this house and he noted that nothing had changed since he’d last been here. He sat on the love seat and Siobahn took the armchair adjacent to him.

  “So you don’t know if you’re the dad?”

  Well, she certainly got right to the point. He wasn’t prepared to be grilled but given the fact that she was facing a lot of unknowns from him, maybe her friends were justified. But he still hadn’t had a chance to make things right with Scarlet before he started answering questions from her friends. “Uh... I felt like it was a legitimate question to ask. I mean there was only that one night and I hadn’t heard from her since then,” Alec said. “But after we talked I realized that’s not the kind of woman she is.”

  Siobahn leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “What kind of woman is she?”

  He didn’t want to talk about his feelings for Scarlet. End of story. He wasn’t that kind of chatty guy. He didn’t know how to put it into words. But for all her flashiness there was something sweet and, odd as it sounded, innocent about her.

  He chose his next words carefully, aw
are that her friend was ready to defend Scarlet if he said anything she didn’t like. He would be upset about this mini-grilling he was getting from Siobahn but he couldn’t fault her. He’d do the same for his brothers. He was quickly realizing that Scarlet had created a family for herself and their bond was stronger than any she had with her blood relatives.

  “She’s an enigma so I can’t even begin to say that I know her. But she seems honest to me.”

  “She is. She’s got a big heart, buddy, so don’t dick around with her,” Siobahn said.

  “I won’t,” he said.

  “Good,” Siobahn said, then stood up. “Just because she looks tough doesn’t mean she is.”

  Siobahn walked out of the room, and a few minutes later he heard Scarlet in the hall. “I’ll go with you,” she said as she entered the living room. “I’ll have Billie drive me to your house in the morning and then we can take your plane. I want to bring Lulu. Will that be okay?”

  “Who’s Lulu?” he asked.

  “My dog,” she said.

  “That’s fine. I’ll see you then,” he said.

  He left her house feeling much better this time. He didn’t overanalyze it but he knew that going to her had been the right thing for both of them. Neither of them was sure about this pregnancy or each other and they needed all the time they could find together to learn to trust each other.

  Seven

  Alec parked his Maserati in the garage at the airport reserved for him the next morning and then got out to open Scarlet’s door, but she was already standing there with Lulu on a leash when he came around the car. So he tried to be cool and pivoted to the trunk to unload his computer bag and one of Scarlet’s suitcases. The others were in the car that Billie was driving.

  He wasn’t sure if her friend and assistant was joining them, and frankly he hoped she wasn’t because he wanted to get to know Scarlet on her own. But he wasn’t in a position to make demands. He knew that so he was willing to wait and see what Scarlet had in mind.

  She wore a pair of moto-style leggings and a long T-shirt with a picture of Audrey Hepburn in her iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s role. She arched one eyebrow at him and he realized he had been staring.

  “You have great legs,” he said. “I’m not going to pretend I didn’t notice them and wasn’t staring.”

  She shook her head. “Are you always this blunt?”

  “Yes. Which is why I seldom socialize.”

  “I like it,” she said, walking toward him with her large bag on her shoulder and the little dog walking along beside her. “Once Billie drops off my suitcase, we can leave. I have a tiny crate for Lulu to stay in during takeoff and landing. She likes to burrow in her blanket in the crate.”

  “That’s fine,” he said. “I could have taken my truck instead of the sports car to accommodate your luggage.”

  “It’s okay. Is that all you packed?” she asked, gesturing to his computer bag.

  “I have a home in Seattle so I don’t need to bring clothing back and forth with me. And I keep a limited wardrobe on the jet, as well.”

  “I’m fascinated with your life,” she said. “What is it you do that requires you to have houses all over...? Is it just the United States or are you global?”

  They had stepped out of the garage and were standing on the tarmac when Billie pulled up next to them.

  “Global. Just leave your luggage on the tarmac and I’ll have it collected,” he said. “Do you need this bag with you during the flight?”

  “No,” she said.

  He nodded and turned to walk to the jet where the attendants were waiting. He employed a staff of five who rotated during the month. He had the two pilots and then three attendants depending on what was necessary on different flights.

  “Please stow the luggage and then we’re going to need to figure out the best place for a dog crate,” he said. “It needs to be stabilized during takeoff and landing.”

  “Yes, sir. Will you be accompanied by the two ladies?” Marg, the head flight attendant, asked.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  “Not a problem,” Marg said. “I’ll take care of everything. We have your desk set up, as well. Will you be needing us to adjust anything?”

  “Thanks, Marg. That’s great. Whatever you’ve set up is fine.”

  He boarded the plane and immediately went to his desk. But the last thing on his mind was work.

  He wanted her. His body was still half-aroused from earlier and sitting so close to her in his sports car had made it worse. He’d driven too fast to burn off some of the adrenaline but she’d simply laughed. The scent of her perfume had surrounded him, egging him on to drive faster. He’d never been one of those men who needed to strut around a woman, but he wanted to with Scarlet. Sure, he could have taken the truck, but the Maserati was a status thing, and she came from a world of immense wealth, so he wanted her to know he wasn’t after her money.

  Was he after her?

  He had told himself and Scarlet that he wanted to get to know her better because she was pregnant with his baby—Scarlet wasn’t the kind of woman to lie about that—but another part of him knew that he did want her for himself. And he’d never been comfortable with that sort of longing. He’d grown up one of five kids. Sharing was practically in his DNA. Of course, as an adult he had things that were his, but he always felt greedy when he craved something or, in this case, someone. He wanted Scarlet and it felt so much more intense than just hooking up again.

  There was something other than just lust coursing through his veins and he didn’t want to acknowledge or examine it. But he was by nature someone who had to figure it out.

  “Billie said to give you her regards,” Scarlet said as she entered the jet. She bent over to unleash the dog and her honey-blond hair cascaded down over her shoulders. The little dog stood on its back legs and rubbed its face in her hair.

  She stood up and their eyes met, and something passed between them. He felt the zing all the way to his groin. No surprise since he’d been turned on since he’d seen her this morning.

  “She doesn’t like me, so I appreciate you making it seem like she does,” he said.

  She laughed, throwing her head back. “She thinks she’s subtle. Can you believe that?”

  “No. She must know she comes across as a bulldog who will protect you at all costs,” Alec said.

  “Do I need protecting?” she asked, walking toward him. Lulu ran ahead of her and jumped up on one of the seats.

  “No,” he said, his voice low, gruff and huskier than he wanted it to be. “Not from me.”

  * * *

  The thing about addictions, Scarlet thought as she sat next to Alec as the jet took off, was that they were hard to resist. She should have said no, she wouldn’t come with him to Seattle. She shouldn’t have agreed to be alone with him again until she sorted out what exactly the feelings she had for him were. But honestly, right now, after seeing the way he was watching her and hearing that gravelly tone of voice, all she could think about was how his body had felt against hers and how good it had felt to be straddling him earlier.

  For the first time since she’d realized she was pregnant, something made sense. Sex was normal and logical. It didn’t have to be complicated. And technically, if she were with Alec, it wasn’t breaking her self-imposed rule of hooking only up once with a guy because she’d thought he was Mauricio the last time, right?

  She’d started the rule to avoid the situation she was in right now. She couldn’t take the chance of falling into the trap of commitment. She’d seen it destroy both her mother and sister.

  That makes no sense, even for you. As usual, the voice of her sister nagged her.

  Shut up, Tay. I don’t want to be logical.

  Obviously.

  Lulu was curled up and sleeping in her travel crate, which meant there w
as nothing to distract Scarlet from Alec. He had his legs loosely crossed. When the flight attendants asked if they would like something to eat or drink, he glanced over at her with one eyebrow arched.

  “I’m good,” she said.

  “Me, too. I’ll let you know if we need anything,” Alec said.

  The attendants left to go to the crew quarters and they were alone.

  Danger, danger, don’t do something stupid.

  Tara had been so irresponsible in life that Scarlet knew the voice she often attributed to her sister was simply her own subconscious warning her off. But it comforted her to think her sister might be watching over her.

  How dangerous could he be?

  You wouldn’t be having this conversation with me if you didn’t fear something about him.

  Fear.

  Was that true? Was that what this was?

  “Are you comfortable?” he asked. “Do you need a blanket?”

  No. She needed him naked and underneath her, so she could feel more in control of everything. He had surprised her and taken the upper hand... Yeah, that was it. She wanted to be on top again. It wasn’t anything more than that. She didn’t have to fear addiction—this was her first time with Alec. She could have him guilt-free and then go back to figuring out the baby situation.

  Yeah, right.

  Go away, Tay.

  Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

  “So, tell me more about what you do,” she said. “Billie pulled up some information on you, but I’d rather hear your story from you.”

  “Hmm... I’m not sure where to start,” he said. “My job is kind of boring.”

  She glanced around the plane and remembered his cars and home. “But it pays well. It’s nice to know that money can be made by other means than just being Insta-famous.”