A Tangled Engagement

by Tessa Radley

  She thought about Jay’s reasons for walking away from JJB Boots. He’d said something about needing to become his own man...not a boy in the shadow of his father. Was she in danger of having her growth stifled by her father?

  She’d always held her father up as an ideal—a role model. He worked hard, he’d built a successful brand, he struck fear and awe into the hearts of everyone who knew him. She’d long ago decided that the only way to gain his respect was to rise to the top in the family business.

  J.J.’s astonishment had turned to real horror, bringing Georgia back to the present. “Nancy would never leave me. I doubt she’ll even go through with this cruise nonsense, either.”

  “Oh, I’m going through with it. I’m booking that trip first thing tomorrow. I’m going to have fun!”

  Jay crossed to hug his mother. “Way to go, Mom!” Then he straightened, and said to his father, “Georgia’s right. You should think about having some fun, too. Before it’s too late.” Then he added, “Now, Georgia has a plane to catch.”

  “Don’t let her get away,” his mother called from behind them. “Keep that ring on her finger.”

  In the doorway, Jay paused, and said over his shoulder, “I have no intention of letting her get away.”

  * * *

  The SUV swept down Red Mountain, and Georgia felt like part of her heart would remain behind. This was the place where she had first realized how deep her feelings for Jay went...how much she loved him. This was where they had first made love.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the vibration of her phone.

  “Leave it!”

  Irritated by Jay’s peremptory tone, she ignored him and hauled the phone out of her purse to check the screen.

  “Oh, no! My flight’s been canceled. I’m going to have to call the airline to rebook.” Another thought struck her. “I’ll have to book myself into a hotel, too.”

  “You’re welcome to stay with my parents.”

  “I don’t think so—not after dropping that bomb that we’re not really engaged.”

  Jay steered the SUV toward the town center and threw her a mischievous look. “Maybe we can finally share that bottle of champagne I promised you if you bid on me.”

  “Never mind a bottle of champagne.... You still owe me the fantasy date I won.” Then she had second thoughts. “We’d better not do that today. Roberta would go nuts. She’ll want to leverage every PR angle. She’ll make sure our date takes place in some A-list restaurant and that we’re appropriately dressed in all things Kingdom with a photographer of her choice on hand to document it.”

  “God help us both.” Jay gave a theatrical shudder that had her laughing, even as he pulled the SUV into the forecourt of one of Aspen’s luxurious hotels. Within minutes, they were ensconced on a terrace with the mountains looming all around.

  Once the sommelier departed after a lively discussion with Jay, he turned to face her. “There’s something I need to discuss with you,” he said quietly.

  The energy that came off him in waves made Georgia feel decidedly on edge. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve resigned from Kingdom, Georgia.”

  “Resigned?” The bottom dropped out of her stomach. This was worse than anything she could have anticipated.

  A mix of emotions swamped her. Complex feelings of bewilderment, betrayal and a sense of being utterly abandoned when she’d least expected it. Her worst fears had come to pass. She’d known this would happen. Now it had.

  She was losing Jay...

  “Does Kingston know yet?”

  “I emailed him my resignation before we left my parents’ home.”

  Then on the heels of her inner turmoil, she said, “Does that mean you’re going back to JJB Boots?”

  He shook his head. “I think you know better than that. JJB Boots does not—”

  “Define you? Own you?”

  He nodded. “It took a while to break those bonds.”

  “Was it worth it?”

  He nodded, his eyes intent. “I will never regret it.”

  “Will you stay in New York?” She asked the question, though she dreaded the answer.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  Georgia had never considered leaving New York, never considered leaving Kingdom. But if Jay was not there...

  Something inside her shriveled up.

  Raising her chin a notch so that he wouldn’t see how devastated she was, she asked, “So what’s next? Another journey? Where to this time?”

  He gave her a smile that was all too familiar...and more than a little wicked. “Now, that rather depends on you.”

  “On me?”

  He nodded. “A couple of hours ago, you asked if I knew what I wanted. I do. I want you, Georgia. I would like to ask you to marry me—to spend your life with me. That’s what I most want.”

  Her throat closed. She had to choose between Jay...and Kingdom. She couldn’t have both.

  “You don’t need to give me an answer right now. Take all the time you need.”

  “I have to go back to New York—”

  There was a slight change in his expression, a tension in his body. Did he think she was trying to escape?

  “I have to tell my father I can’t marry Adam,” she said.

  Jay hadn’t asked her to choose, of course. But she knew she had to be clear in her own mind about what she wanted. She didn’t ever want to feel regret. Or to feel she’d been coerced into making a choice she wasn’t ready to commit to.

  Could she do it?

  She didn’t even have to weigh up the pros and the cons.

  Because she wanted Jay more than she wanted Kingdom. The contentment, the laughter, the feeling of being valued that Jay brought to her life.

  It was a shock to acknowledge. And it had happened slowly, so slowly that she’d never even noticed he had become more important to her than her very reason for being.

  The sommelier came back, bearing a bottle of champagne and two flutes. He filled their glasses with a flourish before retreating.

  Jay lifted his glass to her. “Here’s to you, Georgia.”

  “And you.” Her glass chinked against his. “I—”

  Her phone rang. She set her glass down to pick it up and glanced at the screen.

  “Bingo.” She glanced across at Jay as illumination struck. “It’s my father. Do you want to guess why he’s calling?”

  She didn’t wait for an answer but pressed receive.

  Her father’s voice was loud in her ear. “Jay has resigned.”

  “I know,” she said.

  “You know?”

  “I’m with him right now. And Kingston, there’s something I need to tell—”

  “So what are you doing about it?”

  The look she shot Jay said it all.

  “Kingston—”

  “Roberta says you’ve been in Aspen. What kind of crazy, irresponsible move is that?”

  She rolled her eyes at the interruptions. “Think of it as business.”

  “Business? What do you mean?”

  “We should open a store here.”

  For the first time, there was a pause.

  “Do a cost analysis,” her father commanded.

  Georgia remembered saying something similar that first day they’d driven through the town. It made her feel distinctly uneasy. She was nothing like her father.

  “Kingston, I’m not going to marry Adam Fordyce.”

  “I’ll hire someone first-rate to manage—” There was an abrupt pause. “What did you say?”

  “I’m not going to marry Adam.”

  Her father actually snorted. “Of course, you are—we’ve agreed to it.”

  “I haven’t agreed. And as the bride, I’d say I have some choice in who I marry.”

  “Don
’t be silly now, Georgia.”

  He was still treating her like a child. But then she had never fully stepped out of that role. She’d kept him on a pedestal as a way to avoid having to create an intimate relationship. She was no longer a girl, it was time to become her own woman.

  “I’m not being silly at all. I’m perfectly sane. Probably for the first time in my life. And I’m going to marry Jay.”

  At that, Kingston exploded. Georgia held the phone away from her ear.

  There was a wild joy in Jay’s face. He threw his head back and laughed, then raised his glass to her in acknowledgement.

  Finally, when her father paused to draw a breath, she said into the phone, “My mind is made up. And I’m taking a week’s vacation—maybe even two weeks.”

  She shot a look at Jay to assess his reaction.

  He just grinned.

  She was done arguing with her father. “Disinherit me if you like—I’ll only quit. Then you won’t have as much time to play golf.”

  Georgia’s heart was pounding in her chest as she killed the call and smiled across at Jay. “That was far easier than I thought it would be. He needs to face reality. He can’t run my life anymore—because I’ll be spending it with you.”

  Jay raised his champagne flute, his face alight with admiration. “To you, Georgia. My fiancée.”

  But he hadn’t finished yet.

  Leaning forward he brushed his mouth against hers and murmured, “I knew from the moment I met you that there was no one else like you. How I love you.”

  There was so much pride in his voice that her heart melted like honey in the sun. She wished she could remember that first moment they’d met. But it didn’t matter, because she’d grown to love the man who challenged her more than any other, who understood her, who matched her. He was her future.

  Epilogue

  It had been an hour since the crash of the phone hitting the desk told Marcia Hall the call had come to an end. It had been awfully silent in the massive adjoining corner office since then. Marcia was starting to feel a little concerned about her boss.

  From the parts she’d overheard, the call had not gone well.

  She rose to her feet and made her way to the watercooler beside the group of sofas across from her workspace. Through the wall of glass windows, the predicted storm clouds were closing in, darkening the sky outside. She was a little worried about Roberta and Georgia flying in these awful conditions. She poured a glass of water—chilled to the exact temperature her boss demanded—and made her way through the adjoining door into his office. It was more than an office. It was the archive of his life. The photos on the walls documented his meetings with stars and fashion icons.

  He sat there, staring at the blotter. His gaze lifted as she stopped before the desk.

  “That stupid girl turned Adam down!”

  When he spoke of any of his daughters like that, it upset her. “Don’t work yourself up, Kingston. We don’t want another trip to the hospital.”

  “Bah.”

  She set the glass down on the leather mat in front of him. “Here, have a sip of water.”

  He glared at the glass.

  “She’s taking a vacation.” He looked dumbfounded. “She’s not coming back to New York tomorrow. She doesn’t even know how long she intends to be gone.”

  Marcia suppressed a smile of glee at the news that Georgia wouldn’t be flying in this weather. “Kingdom is not a prison. She’s allowed time off.”

  Kingston let out a growl. “Her refusal to marry Fordyce puts me in a goddamned uncomfortable predicament.”

  Marcia couldn’t have stopped the smile that split her face if her job had depended it.

  Had Georgia finally realized what had been there in front of her all this time? She hoped so. No point telling her boss that his predicament was one of his own making. Instead, she said, “Kingston, she’s a grown woman. Let her go... Let her make her own decisions.”

  “I need her here. With me. With Kingdom.”

  “If you don’t let them go, you may have no Kingdom.” Nor any family, either.

  He laid his head back. “Marcia, this isn’t how my plan plays out.”

  “Sometimes life has a way of upsetting those rigid plans.” Then more softly, she said, “You need to learn to let go, Kingston.”

  His eyes were closed, and he gave no sign that he’d heard her.

  “What the hell am I supposed to tell Fordyce? How will I ever face the man over the negotiating table again?”

  So, this was about loss of face rather than about the loss of another daughter. “I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

  From the outer office came the sound of a ringing phone. She glanced toward the door, and then back at the man she’d worked with for almost three decades. The man she knew better than anyone else in the world. He was as deaf to reason as he was blind to the truth.

  Marcia Hall shook her head and went to answer the phone that wouldn’t stop ringing.

  The show must go on.

  * * *

  The fate of Kingdom lies in the balance.

  Find out what happens next as Takeover Tycoons continues with Roberta’s story, coming soon from

  USA TODAY bestselling author

  Tessa Radley

  and Harlequin Desire.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Married in Name Only by Jules Bennett.

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  Married in Name Only

  by Jules Bennett

  One

  “I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

  That statement alone added to the already sickening feeling in the pit of Paisley Morgan’s stomach. As if life hadn’t knocked her down over and over, now she stood on the other side of Lucas Ford’s desk as he continued to glare at her like she had nerve walking in here.

  Well, she did have nerve. After dumping him years ago and never speaking to him since. But that was all in the past. Wasn’t it?

  He leaned back in his leather desk chair and remained silent, and she couldn’t help but second-guess just how much her bold move twelve years ago had affected him.

  Had he not moved on? Found someone else to drive insanely wild with desire just from one piercing blue stare? Had he ever thought of her? Because there hadn’t been a day she hadn’t questioned her decision to let him go.

  Paisley had bigger issues to worry about than their past and what Lucas ma
y or may not be feeling seeing her show up unannounced. Like the fact that her biological father could be Sterling Perry—the man loathed by nearly the entire city of Houston for his scheming, stealing and money laundering. Not to mention he was arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud.

  “What makes you think Sterling is your father, and why should I help you?”

  Paisley gripped her clutch in one hand and the letter from her late mother in the other. “I have reason to believe he’s my dad and I need you to investigate to see what you can find out.”

  Lucas stared at her another minute, giving her a visual lick as he came to his feet. He was still just as ruggedly sexy as she remembered, but those shoulders had gotten broader, the creases at the corners of his eyes deeper and the strong jaw firmer.

  Lucas Ford could always make her breath catch as a young woman and it was no different now, even though years had passed since she’d seen him. Her body responded just the same. There were some memories that were too alive to be pushed into the past. Those vivid moments were always part of her everyday life, no matter how she’d tried to move on.

  “What’s this reason you have?” he asked.

  Paisley swallowed and glanced down to the letter in her hand. She didn’t bother unfolding the paper as she tossed it down onto his desk. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her emotions in check. Now was not the time to fall apart. Remaining strong in front of Lucas was imperative, especially considering he hadn’t seen her in over a decade. Vulnerability and tears wouldn’t get her what she wanted; what she needed.

  And Lucas was her stepping-stone to finding out the real truth since the obvious choice of her birth certificate had been left blank on the father line.

  If there had been any other way than to contact Lucas...

  He reached for the letter, opened it up and shoved one hand in his pocket as he read. She knew every word written in her mother’s flawless, delicate writing. It was the content that had Paisley so unsettled and questioning everything she’d ever known and what kind of future she’d ultimately have.

  Lucas’s eyes darted back to her. “You believe this? Your mother wasn’t the most—”