Romancing His Rival

by Jennifer Shirk

  “Yoo-hoo!” cried a voice from behind. An older woman who resembled Mrs. Claus came barreling toward them. “Elena, how are you, dear?”

  Elena smiled politely. “Hi, Judy. I’m great.” Judy nodded, then began eyeing Lucas up and down expectantly. “Oh, uh, Judy Tavish, this is Lucas Albright. Judy owns the Drip N Sip in town,” she added.

  Lucas extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  Judy’s eyes grew curious. “Just move to town?”

  “Uh, no, here staying at the Harbor Light for a bit, taking in the sights.”

  “And taking out our dear Elena,” Judy pointed out with a grin.

  “Oh, no, Judy,” Elena rushed to explain. “It’s not like that. He is one of Scott’s friends.”

  And your friend, too, he wanted to add, banking down his annoyance at Elena’s way of making sure Judy knew they were definitely not a couple. Not that they were anywhere close to being one. But she didn’t need to blatantly advertise that fact, either.

  Judy pursed her lips. “Too bad. But I do happen to know quite a few nice fellas who would be perfect for you.”

  “Actually, Scott and I might be getting back together, Judy. But I’ll be sure to keep it in mind just in case.”

  “Oh, that’s good news,” Judy said, clasping her hands together. “So wonderful to have someone special around the holidays. I know how lonely you’ve been since your parents have been gone.” She patted Elena on the shoulder then looked up at Lucas. “Don’t forget to stop in for coffee sometime while you’re in town, Lucas. I’d love to get to know you better. There’s a free doughnut with your name on it if you do.”

  If by “free doughnut” that meant she wanted to try to fix him up, too, then he’d be sure to never get within a twenty mile radius of that place. “Thank you, Judy,” he said. “I’ll try to do that.”

  “Wonderful! I better be off.” She leaned in, lowering her voice. “I can’t leave Alice by herself at the store too long. She starts eating all the broken doughnut pieces and makes herself sick.” She waved and beamed at them before heading back down the main street. “Toodles,” she called behind her.

  “Did that woman actually say toodles?” he asked, suppressing a laugh.

  “I’m afraid so. One of the many colorful characters in town. Sorry. Scott’s not a fan of Judy. He thinks she’s a busybody. But she’s harmless and kind of sweet.” She glanced at him shyly. “I guess you’re about ready to head back to New York as soon as you can, huh?”

  “Not at all.” Surprisingly enough. He loved the city, but Cape Harmony people were kind of fun in their own silly way. And the town itself was charming and picturesque. Besides, if Elena grew up here, the place couldn’t be all bad. “So were your parents from here?”

  “My mom was,” she said as they turned a corner onto a side street of duplexes decorated with lights and wreaths for the holiday. “She met my dad through a friend. He was living in upstate New York at the time. But after a few dates, he got himself a job closer to town so he wouldn’t have to commute as far to see her.”

  “He knew pretty quickly, then, that your mom was the one, huh?”

  “He sure did. He brought her flowers every Friday after their wedding day. And they were married for over thirty-five years.” She smiled up at him in the crisp starry night. “They were each other’s best friend. I want that, too, in my marriage. I think it’s what made theirs so strong.”

  Lucas walked alongside her in silence, thinking about his marriage to Catherine. He’d never considered his ex-wife a friend even at their very best. Just spark and sizzle. He’d thought he’d loved her, that they had the same goals in life. But in the end she’d said she would have been happy if she’d just had him all to herself. He’d tried, but work usually felt more fulfilling. Truth was, the more time he’d spent with her, the more time he didn’t want to spend with her and the guiltier he’d felt.

  “You don’t sound convinced,” she said with a laugh.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Exactly my point. Your silence speaks volumes.”

  He rolled his eyes. “All right. I think you can be friends with a person, but I don’t believe it automatically translates into a good marriage.”

  “Oh, no, you’re wrong. It’s the most important part,” she assured him. “Friendship is why you want the best for each other.”

  “You have high expectations in relationships.”

  “I don’t think so. Not if you’re of one mind with that person and are truly partners in life.”

  “Well, I can honestly say, my ex-wife and I are better friends now than when we were together. Face it. Some people just work better as a one than as a two.”

  “You think you’re better off as a one?”

  “I do.”

  Elena’s eyes flickered with mild surprise. “But don’t you ever get lonely?”

  “Not at all. I was much lonelier married than I am now.”

  She gasped. “I can’t imagine. That’s awful.”

  “Not really. I took that time to myself and rethought my priorities in life and where I wanted to focus them.”

  “You mean you focus on your job instead?”

  “Correct.” He forced a smile because she looked so troubled. “Elena, trust me, I wasn’t good at marriage but I happen to be very good at marketing. That’s what I want for my life.”

  A frown tugged between her brows. “So you’re saying you’ll never get married again?”

  Lucas thought of the pain and the mess marriage had created in his life. In his father’s life. How trapped Lucas had felt by his wife’s expectations, and the devastation at learning he’d failed someone. And himself. Things were a lot simpler being single. “No, I won’t get married again,” he answered truthfully.

  “Don’t say that. Maybe there’s a chance if you meet the right woman. And who knows, you might meet her sooner than later and when you least expect it.”

  He turned and gazed at her, not liking the way her words fell into his heart like a key finding the perfect keyhole. But he refused to entertain the notion further and was relieved when she looked away, stopping in front of a white duplex that had garland strung along its front porch railing.

  “Well, this is the end of the line for me,” she said brightly.

  He glanced at the duplex then back to her. “You’re ditching me?”

  “I’m afraid so.” She smothered a laugh. “This is where I live.”

  “Oh.”

  She looked back at her house with a frown. “Yeah, I guess it’s not really impressive, huh? I didn’t have time to decorate as much as I normally do.”

  “No, it’s not that…” His disappointment had nothing whatsoever to do with the appearance of her home. In fact, just like the woman herself and the rest of this town, her condo was sweet and charming, which was actually the real problem.

  He wasn’t ready to end their time together yet.

  She flipped up the collar of her coat and rubbed her arms. “Will you be able to find your way back to the hotel okay?”

  He was tempted to tell her no to get her to stay with him a little while longer, but she looked almost frostbitten. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for taking pity on me and keeping me company tonight.”

  “Sure. It was fun.” Then she took a step forward and kissed him on the cheek.

  The kiss was warm, quick, and completely platonic, but the way his body reacted he would have thought she’d French-kissed him for a full ten minutes. “What was that for?” he said more gruffly than he’d intended.

  She shrugged. “You did say we were friends now, right? Friends can kiss each other on the cheek.”

  Yeah. And he was pretty sure that in some parts of the world, friends invited friends into their homes and had wild passionate sex with them, too. Unfortunately, they weren’t in that part of the world—and his depraved little mind should not be having those kinds of thoughts anyway. Not with his friend’s fiancée.

  Almost-not-quit
e-yet-fiancée.

  But he took a step back anyway, not trusting himself. “Good night, Elena. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She shook her head. “No, actually, tomorrow’s my day off.”

  Her day off. So…he wouldn’t see her at all. Which was a good thing. A very good thing considering how much the thought of not seeing her was beginning to really bother him. Good grief. The last thing he needed in his life was to get mixed up with Elena. Logically, he knew that. But there was a race between logic and libido going on, and libido seemed to be wearing brand-new running shoes.

  “So I guess I’ll see you Monday and we can get down to work then,” she added.

  Work.

  Yes, and that was a good reminder of why he was even here in this town. Of what he really wanted from her. He was here to work on the ad they’d be creating together so he could become a partner at Bold Mine Advertising. How could he have lost sight of that in less than forty-eight hours? He needed to get back to work, focus and do what he did best. What he really could succeed in.

  Alone.

  “All right,” he said, backing down the sidewalk. “See you Monday.”

  “Wait, Lucas!” Elena called out. Grinning, she pointed the opposite way down the street. “The hotel is that way.”

  So much for focusing.

  “Thanks.” Then he headed in the correct direction and, thankfully, farther away from Elena, and most importantly, her unrealistic beliefs about love.

  He had no business with either.

  Chapter Nine

  Elena had carefully looked over the revised contract that Lucas’s boss had emailed her this morning with the changes Lucas suggested, signed it, and sent it right back. Everything looked in order and, since Lucas was involved in the process, she had a certain amount of trust going into it.

  Imagine that. She actually trusted Lucas Albright.

  Lucas was turning out to be quite a surprise to her. She had a good time at dinner with him on Saturday. He was funny and engaging and didn’t seem bored with her or the town at all. But maybe he was just being polite. After all, they would be working together. She still couldn’t believe that. Funnily enough, she did feel better knowing he would be with her on this project all the way through. A far cry from what she felt about him just a little over a week ago.

  After the email went through, she got up and walked over to the only window in her office. It had snowed a few inches in the afternoon yesterday, and there was still a light coating on the boardwalk. Normally, she loved snow in December, but looking at it now put her in a foul mood, since it prevented Scott from coming down and seeing her.

  At least it wasn’t work that kept him away this time. It seemed Mother Nature was against their getting back together, too. Scott talked about dinner next weekend, but seeing each other so infrequently was not going to help her case of having him propose again before the end of the month. She needed to do something quick. But what?

  After a few knocks on her office door, it opened a crack. “You busy?” Lucas asked, popping his head in.

  After she waved him in, the first thing she noticed was that Lucas didn’t quite look his normal self. Oh, he was as good-looking as ever in his casual yet confident way, however, based on the dark circles under his eyes, it looked like he had one hell of a bad night’s sleep—or was coming down with something.

  “I’m not busy right now. Kinsley hired a new receptionist for the front desk so I could be free to take on more of Kinsley’s responsibilities. She wants a second in command around here. Which really means I have more responsibility, but less to do,” she added with a laugh.

  “Great.” Lucas grinned as he shut the door behind him. “You’ll have more time to work with me then. Did you get the contract this morning?”

  “Got and signed it. Your boss should have it by now. Everything looked great with your changes. Thanks again for that. And for encouraging me to ask for what I deserve.”

  “You’re very welcome.” Lucas cocked his head, staring at her as if he could see right through her. “So what’s wrong then?”

  Elena wanted to laugh. She didn’t know how Lucas was able to read her face so well. “I should be asking you the same question. You look horrible, you know.”

  His mouth quirked. “You don’t mince words, Elena. I’ll give you that,” he said, taking a seat in front of her desk. “Honesty is a rare trait.”

  “Did you not sleep well? Is your room all right?”

  “My room is fine. I just spent the good part of the day working on some other projects I have lined up for the beginning of next year. Now what’s your story?” he asked. “You look like someone peed in your hot chocolate.”

  She made a face. “Nice visual.”

  “Trust me, you can’t see yourself.”

  Was she really so transparent? She couldn’t remember Scott being so observant. Maybe she needed to work on her poker face more. Being by herself most of the time limited her need to worry about things like that. She was out of practice.

  He was still looking at her, and the feeling was…strange. She wasn’t sure what was happening between them—newfound friendship or something more—but it worried her. “I don’t know. I’m beginning to think that this is all a mistake.”

  He sat up, his eyes wide. “What do you mean? I thought you said you signed the contract and sent it. You can’t bail on me now.”

  “No, I know. I wouldn’t do that. It’s just our plan. I don’t know if it will help Scott and me get engaged again. He was supposed to come down yesterday, but that never happened.”

  Lucas’s face brightened. “He didn’t come down to see you?”

  “Don’t look so thrilled,” she said with a wry grin.

  “Oh, I’m not. Sorry.” He shook his head. “So, why couldn’t he come down?”

  “Didn’t you venture out at all yesterday? It snowed like crazy.”

  “Actually, I didn’t notice. I never left my room the entire day.”

  “You didn’t? Not at all? Oh, Lucas, you should have texted me.”

  He shrugged. “Like I said, Elena. I’m good on my own. I actually prefer it.”

  That scenario sounded anything but good to her. In fact, stuck inside alone all day sounded… Well, it sounded like her day, but she was miserable while Lucas on the other hand seemed perfectly content. She and Lucas were so different, which, considering how much he’d been on her mind lately, was actually a good thing to remember. She’d been too preoccupied with Lucas, which she supposed, under the circumstance of them spending so much time together, was only natural. But it worried her. She needed to move things along ahead of schedule before her feelings got any more mixed up.

  “Well, Scott couldn’t travel down in that weather, and now I have to wait a whole week to see him. If that. At this rate, he’ll never want to propose to me this month. This is not going as I planned at all.” She worried her lip. “I…I need your help.”

  “Help? I thought I was already going to help. At Scott’s Christmas party.”

  Elena threw her hands up in the air. “Are you even listening to me? It’ll be too late.”

  “Too late? What’s going to happen? Will you turn into a pumpkin on December thirty-first?”

  “That’s not funny. I feel like I’m losing control of myself.” My feelings. “I just need you to do something before then.” Before I ruin my own plan and end up alone with just the company of Chef Rick’s shortbread cookies and boxes of my parents’ belongings for the rest of my life.

  Lucas rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know… We should really work on the ad before I say anything.”

  “Please, Lucas!” She said, clasping her hands in prayer position. “I actually worked a little on the sketches yesterday. Wait until you see what I came up with. But I want you to talk to Scott first.”

  He stared at her a long moment with an unreadable expression. She knew she was being a pain, but her future depended on being with Scott. It was what felt right. Or at leas
t…what seemed right. She was desperate to have him talk to Scott and could only hope Lucas held at least a shred of compassion for her plight.

  “Okay,” he finally relented. “It’d probably be better if I went back to New York anyway. I can talk to him in person.”

  Yay! She jumped up out of her chair. “Oh my gosh, you’re the best,” she said, rushing over and hugging him, trying hard not to notice how nice he smelled—a mixture of the hotel’s lemongrass soap and something male and uniquely Lucas. “Thank you so much. Are you going to leave now?”

  “No. We will leave this afternoon.”

  We? She slowly drew back, thinking she must have misheard him. “Wait. You mean you’ll leave this afternoon, don’t you?”

  He shook his head with a smirk. “No. You’re coming with me. If I go back to New York, I need you so we can jointly work on this campaign and make sure it all comes together. I’m on a deadline, too, you know.”

  “B-but I can’t. I don’t know if Kinsley will be able to let me leave or not. I can’t just take off on her.”

  “Talk to her. After all, your vacation in the mountains was cut short, no thanks to me. I’m sure she’ll let you make up that time in New York City.”

  Lucas had a small point. Maybe she could go up to New York, get a little work done, see some sights, spend time with Scott…

  Yes, actually, the more she thought about it, the more she admired Lucas’s brilliant thinking. This was the perfect way to spend more time with Lucas. Scott! She meant Scott. This was the perfect way to spend more time with Scott.

  It was going to be so romantic. Maybe they could take in The Rockettes show together and watch the Christmas light display on the Saks Fifth Avenue building. All things she’d wanted to do but didn’t have the time last year because of her schedule at the hotel, his work, and all the wedding planning she’d done.

  “I’ll talk to Kinsley,” she told him. “Then you promise to talk to Scott for me?”

  “As much as I don’t agree with this dire necessity you seem to have placed on marriage to Scott, I do promise that if you give me a few hours of your time on this campaign today, then I’ll definitely have some great things to say about you to Scott.”