Just One Scandal

by Phillips, Carly

  He was constantly aware of her. Cooking in his kitchen and sharing meals, curled up on the sofa in the family room, reading on an iPad or staring at the screen as if she had a lot on her mind, and sleeping across the hall from him. Her light cinnamon scent lingered everywhere she went, keeping him in a perpetual state of arousal. Especially after that kiss.

  The memory of her sweet mouth had kept him hard as a rock and wide awake, knowing he’d turned her away. Ending things before they went further had been the right thing to do. Telling her they’d sleep together eventually hadn’t been. And if he needed proof of why, the development project specs that came in his email from the architect he was working with reminded him.

  Beck had made the deal with Kenneth Kingston, Linc and Chloe’s father, who’d passed away a couple of months ago. He’d come to Beck with the proposal on the land deal and offered a piece of Kingston Enterprises as collateral if he couldn’t come up with the payment for closing. Kenneth had died before that time came, and Linc had been in the dark about his dad’s dealings.

  On finding out, Linc had exploded, and Beck would be lying if he said he hadn’t made it extra hard for his nemesis in the process. Linc had come up with the money, and not wanting anything to do with him, he’d left Beck to handle the deal.

  Beck had only recently heard that Kenneth Kingston had been suffering from dementia and hadn’t been of sound mind when making deals in his last couple of months. No wonder Linc had been pissed, and Beck didn’t blame him for keeping the information to himself. To make it public would jeopardize the Kingston empire.

  Clearly Chloe didn’t know anything about Linc and Beck’s dealings, personal or business. Getting involved with her would cause all sorts of drama in her life at a time when she needed her family. Besides, Chloe, the jilted bride, was a woman who intended to settle down, and Beck was a man intent on living his life without attachment. No attachment, no possibility of more loss.

  This morning, he’d left Chloe asleep or so he assumed, considering he hadn’t seen her before walking out the door. She was definitely falling into a state of, if not depression then definite moodiness, and needed someone to give her a kick and get her moving again in whatever direction made her happy.

  So far she hadn’t confided much about her life except for her frustration working within the confines of Linc’s design needs. That didn’t give him much to go on in how to help her.

  Each night over dinner, he’d ask prodding questions about how she spent her day, and she’d always avoided a specific answer.

  His cell rang. His brother’s name flashed on the screen, and Beck answered immediately. “Tripp. Any news about Dad?”

  “Nothing yet but it’s early. I doubt they’ve even taken him in yet. Relax.”

  Beck released a ragged breath. “Okay, yeah. What’s up?”

  “One of my nurses had her Page Six app open, and guess what she was reading about? Your jilted bride,” Tripp said before Beck could answer.

  He closed his eyes and groaned. “Shit. The woman can’t catch a break.” It had been a week since her non-wedding, as she liked to call it. “Why are they still focusing on her?”

  “Because her fiancé has been out with another woman, and he hasn’t skimped on the PDA. People are wondering where the jilted bride has gone,” Tripp said.

  “Because she hasn’t left my apartment,” Beck muttered.

  “Exactly. Look, I have a patient to see. I have to go. Whoever hears from Mom first, call the others. Talk to you soon.” Tripp disconnected the call.

  Knowing he wouldn’t get anything done here, Beck decided to go home and wait for the call from his parents. He walked out of his office, pausing by his assistant’s desk.

  “I’m leaving for the day. Cancel my afternoon appointment. Call me for emergencies only,” he said to Ronnie.

  “Yes, Mr. Daniels.” She looked up from her computer and smiled.

  “Thanks.” He headed toward the elevator when he heard his name and turned to see Natasha Banks, a family friend since childhood and now his in-house designer for Beck Realty, walking toward him, iPad in hand.

  Natasha had been close friends with Tripp and Whitney when they were younger and had remained close with them all ever since.

  “Beck. Where are you going so early?”

  “Home to wait on word about my father. He’s having a procedure done and I’m useless here.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” Reaching out, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Is there anything I can do? Would you like some company?”

  “No, thanks. I just need to be alone.” Except he wouldn’t be by himself. Chloe would be at his apartment. And suddenly being with someone else while he paced didn’t seem so bad.

  “Okay, well… I’ll check in on you later.” She squeezed his shoulder and smiled. “Send your dad my best.”

  “I will.” He strode over to the elevator and headed home, where a blue-eyed beauty waited for him.

  * * *

  Chloe sat across from her newfound sister, Aurora, and her adorable baby daughter, Leah, who was about ten weeks old. When Aurora had called and asked if she could come visit, Chloe had immediately agreed. She didn’t think Beck would mind her having someone over, and Aurora was worried after the mess of Chloe’s non-wedding the week before. She admitted to herself she’d been hiding out at Beck’s, but she wasn’t any closer to deciding her next step.

  She and Aurora had spent the morning talking, and Chloe had shown her the clothes she’d had sent over, keeping the mood light. She didn’t want her family any more concerned about her than they already were, so she deliberately hadn’t given Aurora anything concerning to report back to her brothers or mother.

  “I love your new clothes,” Aurora said. “I can’t wait to lose the baby weight and be able to get nice clothes that fit.” Aurora patted Leah on the back until the infant gave a burp that would make any of their brothers proud. Aurora laughed. “She’s a pro at that.”

  Chloe grinned. “Give her to me.” She gently accepted the baby, cuddling her in her arms and breathing in the delicious scent of her shampoo. “Mmm. You’re a sweet girl,” she cooed into the infant’s ear.

  “That’s because she’s not keeping you up all night screaming,” Aurora said wryly. She pulled her long blond hair into a ponytail and yawned.

  “Do you want to take a nap in my room? I can watch her for a little while,” Chloe offered.

  Aurora shook her head. “I’ll nap when I get back home. Your mom said she’d take her for a little while this afternoon.”

  Her mother was a saint, taking a pregnant Aurora into her house and giving her a home and family. A saint because Aurora was her husband’s illegitimate child.

  “Mom loves Leah,” Chloe murmured. Melly, her mother, treated Leah like she was her first grandchild and Aurora as if she were her daughter.

  Everyone in the family wanted to give them a soft place to fall because Aurora’s life had been hard. She’d just turned nineteen last week, and Chloe didn’t know how Aurora had managed to get by prior to Linc finding out about her and traveling to Florida to meet and bring her home.

  “Why won’t you come back to the house?” Aurora asked. “Your mother wants you to stay there, and I’d love to have you around.”

  “You’d love an extra set of hands for the baby, you mean?” Chloe laughed.

  Aurora rolled her eyes. “It would help but that’s not what I meant.”

  “I know and I appreciate you wanting me there.” Getting to know Aurora had been wonderful these past months.

  Aurora shifted in her seat. “Linc isn’t happy you’re here.” She swept her arm around, indicating Beck’s apartment. “He says it’s because you don’t know Beck at all and you belong with family.”

  Chloe sighed. “Please tell Linc I’m staying with Beck because he’s not family, and he won’t try and strong-arm me into decisions I’m not ready to make. I know he loves me but I’m fine here. I have time and space to think about w
hat I want to do with my life … without anyone pressuring me.”

  “I will. But what do you mean you need to think about what you want to do with your life?” Aurora wrinkled her nose in confusion. “You already have a job. You just need a place to live.”

  “I guess this sudden change has shaken me out of my comfort zone. I’m not getting married, and it’s forcing me to reevaluate what I need to make me happy. Can we leave it at that?”

  Chloe bit down on the inside of her cheek. Lying didn’t come naturally to her, but she didn’t want to put Aurora in an uncomfortable position by telling her she was unhappy in her job with Linc, nor did she want anyone to know about the contest she’d entered and the possibility of a new career if she won. Whatever changes Chloe decided to ultimately make, she had to face her brother on her own.

  “Sure. I can understand that.”

  The sound of the door opening was followed by footsteps as Beck strode into the room where they were sitting. “I see we have company.”

  His gruff voice sent tremors of awareness rushing through Chloe’s veins. Baby in her arms, Chloe rose to her feet. “Beck, this is my sister, Aurora. Aurora, meet Beck Daniels, the guy who graciously took me in.”

  At the sight of him, Aurora’s eyes opened wide, and Chloe couldn’t blame her. The man was always an exceptional example of the male species.

  Today, though, he appeared distracted and disheveled. His long hair looked like he’d been running his fingers through the strands, and though dressed for work in a pair of black jeans that hugged his firm thighs and a dress shirt rolled at the sleeves and unbuttoned, showing his tanned chest, his entire appearance was off. She hadn’t known him for long, but the look in his eyes also spoke volumes, making her wonder what was bothering him.

  Aurora stood and extended her hand, shaking Beck’s. “It’s nice to meet you. And I can see now why Chloe would rather stay here. With you.” Glancing at Chloe, Aurora grinned.

  Chloe closed her eyes and groaned. She’d forgotten how easily thoughts slipped from Aurora’s brain straight out of her mouth. Somehow she’d been living with the man and had pushed their kiss to the back of her mind. Otherwise she’d be shifting between being eternally mortified and always aroused at the thought of when they slept together. Because he’d made it clear the time would come.

  But she didn’t need Aurora stoking a banked flame. She shot her sister a warning glare, but Aurora merely shrugged. “What? I’m just calling it like I see it.”

  Beck let out a laugh, and even that reverberation from deep in his chest was sexy.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Aurora. I needed a good laugh this morning, so thank you,” Beck said.

  Aurora treated Chloe to a pleased smile. “I think it’s time to take Leah home. Now that she’s fed, she’ll sleep the whole car ride and be wide awake when we get back. Just in time for your mother to take over.”

  “You make sure you get some sleep while Mom’s got her,” Chloe said, handing Leah back to her mother.

  Aurora packed up her baby bag and let the driver know she was ready to leave. Because Aurora hadn’t yet learned to drive, Linc had insisted she have a driver at her disposal so the baby would be safe in a car seat as opposed to using a ride share app.

  Chloe shook her head, wondering how the younger girl was really handling all these life changes. She’d have pushed for answers, but who was she to question when she didn’t want to answer things for herself?

  Aurora said her goodbyes and headed out to the elevator.

  Chloe waited until the door closed and walked back into the apartment, finding Beck still in the family room.

  He stood by the window, hands in his pockets, staring out at the view. She strode up and joined him, looking out in silence. If he had something to say or share, she hoped he’d trust her enough to do it.

  Just when she’d almost given up, he forced out a heavy groan. “My father has a procedure this morning. A colonoscopy and I’m waiting to hear how he made out. I couldn’t focus on work, so I came home.”

  Hmm. “Isn’t that normally a routine test?” she asked, hoping that’s all it was for Beck’s dad.

  He shifted on his feet and turned to face her. “Yeah. But he looks like he’s lost weight, and my parents were avoiding the subject until they had no choice but to tell us.” When he dipped his head, she could almost feel the weight on his shoulders.

  “When are you supposed to hear something?” she asked.

  He glanced at his gold Rolex. “Soon.” His shoulders were stiff, and she had the sense there was much more to the story than what he was telling her.

  “How about I make some coffee and we can wait together?”

  He met her gaze, gratitude in his green eyes. “I’d like that.”

  A few minutes later, they were settled in the kitchen, sitting on the barstools at the counter, coffee mugs in hand.

  “So distract me,” Beck said. “When I was in school with Linc, you were the youngest Kingston sibling. How did Aurora come to be family?”

  Chloe took a sip of her hot drink. “Well, that’s a complicated story. After my father passed away a couple of months ago, Linc found a pile of cashed checks in his desk. Monthly checks from a bank account no one knew about written to a woman who’d been his secretary almost twenty years ago. Linc did some tracing and uncovered one of Dad’s dirty secrets.”

  “He’d had an affair?” Beck easily guessed.

  She nodded. “One of many, but after following the trail, it led to finding out we had a sister. To make a very sad story short, my father had gotten Aurora’s mother pregnant. When she refused to have an abortion, he paid her to stay away and raise the baby on her own.” Chloe shivered at the callousness of her dad’s actions. It still galled her.

  “So Linc found Aurora and her mother when he went looking?” Beck asked, hand under his chin, clearly interested in the story.

  Chloe wrapped her hands around the mug and shook her head. “He found Aurora. Suffice it to say my father paid her mother to live a fun lifestyle while she left her daughter in foster care. And before you ask, yes, my father knew and left her there, too.” Her throat swelled as she told the bare basics of her sister’s story, which was so sad it broke Chloe’s heart.

  As if he understood, Beck reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  The warmth of his touch sizzled through her, and it was all she could do not to lean into him. “Thank you.” She managed a smile. “But when Linc found out about her, he did everything he could to find her and convince her to come to New York with him. And when he finally tracked her down, he discovered a very pregnant young girl.” Chloe shrugged. “And here we are.”

  Beck let out a low whistle. “She’s lucky Linc found her.”

  “At the time, she’d just started to get her life together, but we’re all happy she decided to come to New York and get to know us,” she said.

  He smiled. “I could tell how you felt when I saw you two together.” He drummed his fingers on the counter and lines appeared on his forehead, letting her know his mind was drifting back to worry about his own family.

  Before she could come up with another topic of conversation, he spoke. “So what else have you been doing to keep busy while I’m at work? Have you gotten out of the house at all?”

  She forced a smile. Like Aurora, she didn’t want Beck to be concerned about her, so she placated him the best she could. “I’m keeping busy,” she said vaguely, and when she caught the disappointed look in his eyes, she knew she had to elaborate. She just wouldn’t include telling him about her contest entry.

  “I did the same things as usual. I watched television, read a book, and checked out social media, ignoring the gossip sites. And no, I didn’t go out. There’s nothing I really need right now.”

  She hated being part of a family that generated interest, but wealth tended to do that. Although Linc and Jordan’s engagement had hit the media, her pregnancy was still under wraps, and they planned
on an intimate ceremony soon. They hadn’t wanted to upstage Chloe’s wedding by marrying quickly.

  “I get ignoring the gossip shit. Nobody deserves to be put under a microscope.” He glanced away then asked, “Are you okay? About what happened with the wedding?” It was the first time he’d asked her about her emotional state, and she couldn’t help but be honest.

  She ran her finger around the rim of her mug. “I’m sad about losing the life I thought I wanted. I’m not upset about Owen. I’m better off without him.”

  He grinned. “Glad to hear it. That’s an important distinction to make. It’ll help you heal quicker.”

  She nodded.

  “What about going back to work for Linc? Wasn’t your honeymoon a week?” he asked.

  “Two weeks. Nobody expects me back yet.” And now that she’d entered the contest, she wanted to perfect her submission.

  “Aren’t you getting bored at home?” He took a drink of his coffee, and her gaze was drawn to his soft-looking lips. Lips that had kissed her with talent and expertise, arousing her beyond belief.

  “Chloe?” he asked.

  Caught staring and knowing what she’d been remembering, she shook her head and hoped she wasn’t blushing. “I’m fine. Taking some rest and relaxation is good for me. Just like a honeymoon, huh?”

  The ring of Beck’s phone interrupted any possible reply.

  Shooting her an apologetic glance, he answered, obviously eager. “Mom. What’s going on?”

  Chloe gripped her mug tight as he listened to whatever his mom had to say, praying for good news. She couldn’t decipher much from the grunts and uh-uhs she heard.

  “Okay, Mom. I get it. I love you and tell Dad the same. I’ll check in later.” He listened some more and then said, “I’m fine. I swear. I’ll talk to you soon.” He disconnected the call and met Chloe’s gaze, his own expression somber.