Blindsided by Love: The Bold and the Beautiful

by Hilary Rose

  “Sleep well, Caroline,” he whispered.

  “You too,” she said. “And thanks, Rick.”

  He smiled and tiptoed out.

  Chapter Seven

  In the shower the next morning, Caroline let the hot water rain down on her body, cleansing her, warming her and rinsing away any residual chill from the night before. As she soaked in the gentle spray, she thought she heard a muffled male voice, from somewhere in her hotel suite. And then she laughed at herself, so lost in the lavender scent of the hotel’s bath gel that she’d forgotten Rick was in the next room. Maybe he was watching the news on TV? Maybe he was checking in with the office? She thought back to the mornings they’d shared as a married couple in the Forrester guesthouse—a pleasant memory until the image of finding him with Maya brought her back to reality.

  Rick had spent the night on the sofa, didn’t intrude on her, didn’t make any moves or demands, was respectful of the space she’d asked for while she considered his apology and decided whether or not they might have another chance. She had no idea how she felt about him now, but she did enjoy having his company, for old times’ sake if nothing else. It had been months since a man had spent the night with her, and while her sleepover with Rick had been strictly platonic, it reminded her that she hadn’t joined a convent and that she wanted and needed male companionship in her life.

  She finished her shower and wrapped herself in the hotel’s fluffy white robe, sweeping up and enfolding her wet hair in a large towel, before stepping out to join Rick.

  “Don’t you look ravishing?” he said with a grin. “Like a Greek goddess.”

  She laughed. “Thank you. I do feel a lot better.”

  “Good. Your eggs and coffee await.” He eyed their breakfast and waved her over to sit beside him. “Dig in.”

  “Yum,” she said after a healthy bite of a buttery croissant. “So delicious and so fattening.”

  “Ha. Like you need to worry about your figure. Indulge. You’re on vacation.”

  “I most certainly am not,” she said, continuing to devour the flaky pastry. “I should be dressed and out the door instead of sitting here stuffing my face. Ridge wants us to walk production through every design for the fashion show.”

  “Ridge,” he muttered as he sipped his coffee. “Don’t ruin both our appetites.”

  Caroline nodded, careful not to say anymore about her boss—Rick’s boss too, for that matter—so as not to further enflame their hostility toward each other.

  But Rick wasn’t finished venting. “The way he issues his urgent executive commands makes me sick.”

  “No, it was nothing like that,” she said quietly. “We need to get the designs into production as soon as possible, that’s all.”

  Rick’s expression turned dark. “I should be not only involved in this fundraiser but running it,” he said, not bothering to disguise his bitterness. “Instead, my job for the day will be pedaling my mother’s lingerie line to a buyer in the North Pole or someplace equally irrelevant to the company’s success.”

  Caroline stopped eating as he continued to complain about his reduced status at Forrester Creations. She’d heard it all before, and she was weary of it. “Rick, I’m sure if you keep working hard and prove yourself, things will get better and you’ll move back upstairs. Ridge even said so.”

  “Is that what he told you?” He laughed scornfully. “Look, Caroline, you should be working with me on the designs for the fashion show, not Ridge. You were my designer before you left the company, my collaborator on Hope for the Future. We were a package deal and I shouldn’t have been cut out of it.”

  “You weren’t cut out of anything,” said Caroline, trying not to let irritation creep into her voice. “Ridge’s eyes were damaged in that fire and Hope said he needed my help. End of story.”

  Caroline didn’t like that Rick felt proprietary and possessive of her after one dinner together nor that he wasn’t showing the least bit of compassion for Ridge’s condition. They were divorced, no longer a couple, just two people moving slowly toward a friendship again—a friendship that may or may not progress into something deeper. Yes, it was nice of him to spend the night, to care for her, fuss over her, but his latest tirade about Ridge was a turn-off.

  “Hey,” said Rick, gazing across the table at her. “Are we okay or did I just create a problem? I can’t help it if I don’t like you having to spend so much time with King Ridge.”

  Keep it light, she told herself. Keep it positive. Don’t say anything that will cause turmoil for Forrester Creations, not with so much riding on the success of the fundraiser. Keep the peace between him and Ridge whatever you have to do.

  “No problem,” she said, finishing off the last remnants of the croissant and getting up from the table. “But I really should get moving. So should you. You need to go home and change clothes.”

  “The guesthouse is just around the corner, remember?” he said, stepping closer. He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted it up to meet his eyes. “I love seeing you in the morning, Caroline. You’re as beautiful in that bathrobe fresh out of the shower as you are dressed up in a Forrester Creations original.”

  “I must look a mess, but I’m grateful for the compliment. Thanks again for taking such good care of me, Rick. It was above and beyond the call of duty.”

  “It’s not a duty to take care of you,” he said earnestly. “I just hope you’ll let me do it on a full-time basis like I used to—and soon.” He looked like he was about to kiss her, then restrained himself. “And hey, I was a good boy all night, right? I didn’t even try to sneak into your bedroom and crawl under all those blankets with you. You can trust me again.”

  He smiled hopefully. She knew he was serious about wanting her to trust him—and not just about spending the night in her hotel suite. He wanted her to know that there would be no more screw-ups, no more lies, no more sneaking around behind her back, only honesty.

  “I’m very proud of you for staying on that sofa all night and showing such fortitude,” she teased. “See you later at the office.”

  *

  Ridge’s back was to the door, his desk chair facing toward the wall, and he was listening to Bach, when he heard Caroline arrive for their meeting.

  “Good morning, Ridge,” she said, planting herself in the chair opposite his desk. “Perfect timing! You can educate me about this music you’re listening to. I’m clueless, I admit, but I did take your advice to heart yesterday and I do want to learn. So which composer is it? I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know.”

  When he didn’t answer, she prattled on. “Okay, never mind about the music. I’m here for the meeting with production whenever you’re ready. Can’t wait to move the process along and see the models in the designs, so let’s get the party started.”

  “The party. Right. Like the night we ran into each other in New York.” Ridge turned to face her, adjusted his sunglasses and pressed a button on the remote control in his hand to shut off the music. He didn’t have to see Caroline clearly to know that she looked radiant, glowing with the dewy-eyed excitement of a new bride—or, rather, a divorcee who had just reconciled with her loser of an ex-husband. How could she have taken Rick back so quickly? Rick Forrester wasn’t worthy of Caroline and yet she’d let him just breeze back into her life—into her bed—as if he’d done nothing wrong, as if they’d never broken up, and it was more than mystifying—it was galling. When Donna had placed the call to Caroline’s cell phone for him early that morning and Rick had picked up instead, his heart had sunk. And then the guy had taken such pleasure in telling him Caroline couldn’t talk because she was in the shower and they were running a little behind schedule after their late night and they were about to have breakfast together … Well, it disappointed him, to put it mildly. And he had to be honest with himself: it made him jealous.

  He had no logical reason to feel jealous, he knew that; jealousy was nonsensical, completely irrational. And yet he hadn’t stopped thinking about Car
oline since they’d run into each other at Luc’s opening, and his preoccupation with her had only grown now she was back at Forrester Creations. From the minute she’d walked into his office, so buoyant and feisty and full of life, it was as if she’d turned on a light switch inside of him. She was so sexy with her high-energy enthusiasm, her clever ideas and her unique ability to understand exactly what he’d been trying to accomplish with his designs. She’d given him a lift, given him someone whose company he actually looked forward to, given him hope that there was happiness for him once he emerged from behind dark glasses and drawn drapes and lonely nights. Until she’d reappeared in LA, he’d lived strictly in his own head, brooding. He had his routine: get driven to work, handle whatever business needed handling, be driven home at the end of the day and sit in the house. By necessity, RJ spent more time with Brooke since the fire—what good was a father who couldn’t watch his son play soccer or throw a ball around with him or be the kind of active dad he’d been before the blindness? So he was mostly alone when he wasn’t at the office, and his nightly entertainment consisted of listening to music and trying not to descend into self-pity. He didn’t want to be one of those poor-me types, not at all. But he did tend to dwell on his loss of vision, on his promise to himself that, should the condition persist, he would not be a burden to anyone, especially not a woman. And then Caroline Spencer gave him something else to think about. He had this crazy romantic notion that when his sight was eventually restored, he’d tell her how he felt about her and she’d admit she’d been feeling the same way and they’d have a future together. Rick wouldn’t be happy about it and there would be friction in the family, but Rick wasn’t happy about anything and never would be.

  “Are you okay, Ridge?” Caroline asked gently, bringing him back to the matters at hand. “Your eyes … are they hurting today?”

  Yes, he thought, they’re burning and I can hardly stand it, but what’s really burning is the fact that you slept with Rick. “Everything’s just great,” he growled. “Have Donna get everybody in here.”

  *

  Caroline thought the meeting went well, except that Ridge barely said a word. He left it to her to make the presentation of the line-up of designs, which she was happy to do if it was helpful to him. She just worried that his lack of engagement in the discussion, his total withdrawal, was about something she’d done, and she couldn’t figure out what it could have been. When he left the office after Pam brought him a sandwich for lunch, Caroline grew even more concerned.

  “He had a doctor’s appointment,” Pam said when Caroline asked about his disappearance. Ridge’s aunt wore her customary strand of pearls and pastel sweater, her blond hair curled in a style circa 1950. She tended to turn even trivial statements of fact into dramatic bombshells by her over-the-top gestures and theatrical tone.

  “That explains it,” said Caroline. “The foul mood. He really must be in pain.”

  “I’m sure,” said Pam. “But he was still handling business stuff. He asked me to set up calls with some of the top donors that are coming to the fundraiser, so he must be well enough to work from home this afternoon.” She smiled and then said suddenly, “Oh, what the heck,” and grabbed Caroline in a bear hug.

  “What’s this for?” Caroline asked with a laugh.

  “Not to be nosy,” Pam whispered, “but I understand congratulations are in order.”

  Caroline extricated herself from the hug. “Congratulations for what?”

  Pam giggled. “Oh, I get it. So I’m supposed to keep it under wraps until you kids make an announcement. I won’t tell anyone, cross my heart and pinky swear.” She hooked her little finger through Caroline’s in a symbol of secrecy. “But Donna, on the other hand, has very loose lips. I wouldn’t trust her to stay quiet for long. She probably told Ridge, since they were the only two here early this morning.”

  Caroline shook her head at Pam, mystified. “Told Ridge what? What announcement? And why are you congratulating me?”

  “Well, not just you, of course. You and Rick,” she said. “Congratulations and welcome back to the family.”

  “I’m sorry, Pam, but I still—”

  “Still don’t want to everybody to know, I get it. I just have to say that you two were a cute couple the first time and you’re a cute couple the second time. Just promise me you’ll have a big fancy wedding for number two. No more spur-of-the-moment ceremonies at family holidays.”

  It dawned on Caroline that Pam and Donna must have heard about her dinner with Rick and assumed it meant more than it actually did—like a second wedding, which was quite a leap.

  “I think I understand now,” said Caroline with an amused smile. The rumor mill worked overtime at Forrester Creations. “Yes, Rick took me to a lovely restaurant last night. He wants to work things out between us, but for now we’re just … old friends.”

  “Yeah, right—old friends who spend the night together in a hotel room.” Pam nudged Caroline in the ribs and winked at her.

  Now Caroline was truly taken aback. “How did you know about that?”

  “Like I said, Donna and Ridge were the only two in the office early this morning. Ridge asked Donna to call your cell—something he wanted to talk to you about before the meeting, I guess—and Rick answered your phone and said you were in the shower. We all put two and two together and … ta da! Another wedding in your future!”

  Rick answered my cell? Caroline thought. She did remember hearing a male voice while she was in the shower, but she’d assumed it was—Why would Rick do that? Why would he pick up her phone unless … unless he saw Ridge’s name on the caller ID screen and decided to stick it to his least favorite person by overinflating his importance in Caroline’s life? Or was he marking his territory because Ridge had claimed her as his co-designer and had demanded so much of her time since she’d come back to Forrester Creations? There was no use speculating on what Rick’s motivation was, but the fact that he didn’t tell her about the call, not even when they were discussing the fashion show, was troubling. Maybe he just forgot to tell her—a small lapse—but if he was all about honesty this time around, he had a funny way of showing it.

  A larger question formed in Caroline’s head. Did finding out that Rick had spent the night with her, as innocent as it was, bother Ridge enough to make him treat her so coldly in the meeting and, if so, why? Why would he even care, other than that he thought Rick wasn’t good enough for her? It couldn’t be more than that, could it?

  How would she feel if she heard Ridge was suddenly back together with Brooke or Katie? She had to be honest with herself and admit that Ridge intrigued her. No, it was more than that. He had crept into her consciousness. Even with the beard and scruffy hair, even when he was glowering at her, even when he barked orders at her, he fascinated her, made her want to spend more time with him, be around him. Maybe she’d always felt that way, even before her return to the company, and she’d never acknowledged it, but it was there—that pull, that connection between them. Never did she feel so much pleasure coaxing a smile out of anyone, and when something she said or did elicited a break in his wall of gloom, she felt like celebrating.

  There’s only one way to find out what’s really going on here, she thought. “Pam, you said Ridge would be working from home this afternoon, right?”

  “After his doctor’s appointment. I’m supposed to take some papers over for him to sign. I do that nowadays—help him with documents. I read them to him and then make sure he puts his signature on the right line. Poor guy. You just know he hates not doing everything himself.”

  “Tell you what,” said Caroline. “I’ll take him the papers this afternoon. I have to go over a few details with him from today’s meeting, so it’s just as easy to do it in person.”

  “Sure. Why not,” said Pam. “And when you’re done with business, you can go find Rick and have the night to yourselves, you lovebirds.”

  Rick. Caroline tried not to let his phone interception rile her. Even if she
demanded an explanation, he’d just say he’d taken Ridge’s call for her in case it was important and that he’d forgotten to tell her about it. No point in even getting into it with him. Keep the peace and avoid conflict before the fundraiser. That was what mattered. Still, his lack of transparency did not go unnoticed.

  Chapter Eight

  Caroline was gathering her things and was about to leave for the day when Pam called.

  “Eric wants to see you ASAP. Can you stop at the house before you take the documents over to Ridge? He said it’s important.”

  “Of course,” said Caroline, who missed seeing Eric around the office. She was sorry to hear he hadn’t been well. “Are you sure he’s up to having visitors?”

  “He’s a little weak,” said Pam, “and he can’t go gallivanting around the world the way he was doing for a while, but he’s better. He just has to rest up, watch his diet and take his meds. He really does want to see you. I guess it’s about the fashion show. He’s supposed to sit this one out, of course, but he’s chomping at the bit to be involved. His only contribution will be a speech that he’ll write and Thomas will deliver, sort of a dedication to Stephanie and a vote of confidence in Forrester Creations. Since he doesn’t know the first thing about computers—he can barely work the remote on his TV—I’m supposed to go over with my trusty digital recorder while he reads the speech for me to transcribe. Maybe he wants you to help him pull it together?”

  “Happy to do it,” said Caroline.

  *

  Eric Forrester, the patriarch of the family and the co-founder of Forrester Creations with his wife Stephanie, had been like a father to Caroline when she was married to Rick and working at the company the first time around. He was always kind to her, generous and caring, a man she revered. He ran the company with fairness as well as firmness, and his designs were legendary. But what really set him apart for her was his ability to skillfully and sensitively handle the temperaments of his two very different sons, Ridge and Rick. Ridge was the product of his enduring marriage to Stephanie, Rick of his more complicated involvement with Brooke, and both men were forever jockeying for the seat of power at the company and the top spot for their father’s love—the title of favored son in every way. Now that Eric had stepped back from the day-to-day operations at Forrester Creations, the seat of power belonged to Ridge, but Rick was obsessed with seizing it for himself and their acrimony was a source of anguish for Eric.