“Nope. No photo shoot. They can’t have you.” Lexy slid her arms around him. “I have a great bed upstairs.”
“I want to tell you something first. I went to the auction. Bought everything. A total of 450 acres.” He smiled as her mouth opened in surprise. “When I talked to Matt Gunderson the other night, I realized I was jealous. Not that he was retiring at the top of his game, but because he seemed happy and settled and focused. I called him. He’s gonna help me look into whether it’s feasible for me to raise rodeo stock.”
“So you’ll be living at your grandparents’ ranch?”
“I haven’t figured out the details. I have to put quite a bit of money into the place. And that’s another thing—”
“Don’t even mention poker.”
Tanner grinned. “I so much as think about betting more than ten bucks and you have my permission to take away my credit card and wallet.”
“Okay, don’t think I won’t.”
“Alexis!” It was her father. Tanner looked over at him. Lexy didn’t.
“Daddy doesn’t look happy. You might be out of a job.”
“Oh, he can keep that.”
He pulled her close. “Then you won’t necessarily have to live in Oklahoma,” he said, his heart beating faster as she shook her head. “I can’t promise you a life of luxury, Lexy, but—”
“I don’t need one. I mean, I want to pay my debts, but I do have a very fat trust fund available in a couple years.”
“In the meantime, guess we’ll have to rough it, living on my investments.” He rubbed her back. “Doug says I still have a little over three million left. Probably doesn’t sound like much to you but—”
Lexy laughed. “Shut up and kiss me.”
Tanner touched her cheek and lowered his head. And made the whole world disappear.
Epilogue
One year later
“OH, DAMN.” Lexy saw the smoke and shoved aside her laptop. “Harrison, I’ll have to call you back,” she said, swinging her feet to the floor.
“Come on, Lex. We need to finalize the quotes today.”
“I’m burning down the house. I think that takes precedence.” She disconnected, dropped her cell on the kitchen table, grabbed a potholder and opened the oven door.
Smoke poured out, setting off the smoke detector. Coughing, she backed up. It figured that Tanner and J.D. chose that moment to come through the kitchen door. Tanner swept off his hat and fanned the air, while his father shut off the shrieking alarm.
After the noise finally stopped and Lexy managed to transfer the dish from the oven to the stove, Tanner peered at the barely recognizable burnt casserole and asked, “Was that dinner?”
J.D. smiled and stared down at his boots.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s called Chicken Surprise.” She sighed. “So, um, surprise. We’re going out to eat.”
“You could’ve just asked,” Tanner said, grinning.
Lexy glanced at J.D., who wisely stayed quiet. “Your son never learns, does he?”
“I’m staying out of it,” J.D. said and went to the fridge.
“Grab me a beer, too, Dad.” Tanner blinked, looking shocked. He always called his father J.D.
His dad froze for a second, then opened the fridge door.
As far as Lexy knew, this was a first. In fact, they seemed to be having all kinds of firsts, lately. J.D. had been coming around regularly, helping Tanner with the livestock and installing the new irrigation system. She and Harrison had smoothed their differences and were starting a small company of their own. He still worked for The Worthington Group, but it was great to see him do something independently.
“Alexis.” Tanner caught her hand. “Honey,” he said, tugging her toward him. “After the new house is finished, before we move in, can we hire a housekeeper? One who can cook?”
“If you insist.” She slid her arms around his waist and gave J.D. a private wink that made him chuckle.
Tanner leaned back to look at her. “Did you burn dinner on purpose?”
“No. I was busy,” she said, glancing at her laptop. “I forgot to set the timer.”
“I know you’ve got a lot on your plate.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And now that you’re going to Oklahoma City every other week, I think we need to talk about our schedules.”
“Not now, though, huh?” she said softly.
J.D. ambled out of the kitchen with his beer.
“Yeah, now, while J.D.’s here.” Tanner brushed her hair back. “I want to get married.”
Lexy blinked at him. They hadn’t discussed marriage. They’d moved in to his grandparents’ old house at the same time and hadn’t been apart even for a night ever since.
“Okay.” He cleared his throat, and tried to hide the hurt in his eyes. “If you don’t like the idea, we can keep—”
“Yes.” She squeezed him as hard as she could. “Yes, I want to marry you.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.” She hadn’t meant to hesitate. Her own father had called to extend an olive branch earlier and had thrown her off track for most of the day. “Tonight, if you want.”
Tanner smiled. “Don’t you want a big, fancy wedding?”
“I want you,” she whispered, gazing up into his handsome face. “That’s all I want.”
“I knew you were trouble, Alexis Worthington. The moment I laid eyes on you.”
“Trouble?”
“Making me fall in love with you like you did.” He kissed her. “I figured I was toast by the third day.”
“Ah, you’re so romantic,” she said, grinning back. She touched the groove in his cheek. “I love you, Tanner.”
He picked her up. “I love you so much sometimes it hurts.”
“No, we’ll never let love hurt.” She shook her head. “Never.”
“You’re right. Never,” he murmured and kissed her breathless.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from UNEXPECTED TEMPTATION by Samantha Hunter.
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1
LUKE BERRINGER STARED through the bars of the adjoined jail cell at one of the most beautiful women he’d ever known. If he hadn’t been at her house that afternoon right before it had blown up, and if he hadn’t found her in time, neither one of them would be standing here now, waiting for the police to sort it all out.
But he had been there, and now they were both holed up in jail, since she kept insisting that he was a stranger and that she was someone else. She was playing the innocent—the victim—when in truth, Nicole Brooks was anything but innocent. He’d prove that if it was the last thing he did.
Luke looked at his watch again—except it wasn’t on his arm. It was in a property bag being held by the police until he was released, which should be any minute now.
His cousins, the other members of Berringer Bodyguards, should get him out of here soon.
Nicky might not be as lucky, he thought, watching her pace next door.
There were a few subtle differences between Nicky and her new identity, Vanessa Grant. Most people wouldn’t notice.
Luke notic
ed, but he could still see the real Nicky underneath Vanessa’s softer persona.
“I have to say, I like this look on you. But a schoolteacher, Nicky? You never cared for kids—this score must be really something for you to put on this kind of performance day in and out.”
She turned on him.
“Stop. Calling. Me. Nicky.”
“The cat will soon be out of the bag, why pretend? You might as well get used to these accommodations. You could be here for a while.”
She shook her head and made a small, feral growling sound before she walked to the bars, curled her hands around them very tightly and looked at him hard.
“The way I see it, Mr. Berringer, if that’s even your real name, you’re behind bars, too. At least I’m here as a victim. It’s you they’re investigating. Convenient that you happened to be there right before the place blew. That you knew exactly how much explosive was in the house, what kind and that it would go off right at that second. But why? That’s what I want to know. Why would you want to kill me? I don’t even know you.”
Luke vaulted across the cell, his hands curling over hers, holding her there as she tried to pull away.
“Oh, you know me. You know me very well. Intimately, even. The same way I know you. I know how you feel, how you taste and how you cry out when you—”
“Stop!” she spat, and pulled her hands free. “You know nothing about me, especially not that.”
Her eyes flashed, cheeks blooming with color as she heaved breaths, drawing his attention to the fit of her blouse.
“Had a little work done there, too, hmm? You look...smaller on top.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. He laughed.
“Still very nice, but you know, less showy. I guess you’d want to draw less attention in your new position. Apparently, it didn’t work, since someone wanted you to go boom right along with your house. I saved your life. That’s one fact you left out. Believe me, after the evidence I handed over to the detective, you’re the one in trouble here, sweetheart. And I couldn’t be happier about it.”
Her expression changed and gone was the fierce, angry woman. In her place was a shaken, clearly exhausted one who faced him with eyes full of tears.
“Why are you doing this? You did save my life, but you act like you hate me. And you don’t even know me. You clearly have me confused with someone else. This Nicky person, whoever she is.”
Luke felt a pinch of sympathy—and a fleeting moment of doubt—before he capped it off. Nicky was an expert at manipulating emotions, hers and others’, with precision. It was why she was such a good con artist and thief.
“I don’t hate you. I want you to pay for what you’ve done. To me, and to others. Innocents.”
She looked at him, pensive, wiping the tears away.
“What is it exactly that you think I’ve done?”
So this was the game she wanted to play? Fine. He had nothing better to do at the moment. Sitting down on the bare-bones cot on the other side of the cell, he took a deep breath before speaking.
“You stole very sensitive computer code, obviously with the intention of selling it to the highest bidder. I have to figure that plan fell through, since you’re here in Florida, trying to make another score. Also, the programming has never surfaced since.”
He paused before continuing. “You slept with me and almost convinced me that we had something. Enough of something that I didn’t watch you as closely as I should have. You took advantage of that and of me. You set me up, and you set up Marcus Yates, who killed himself after I accused him of being the thief. So, we’re both guilty, Nic. You and I both caused someone else to take his own life. But you were the one who orchestrated it all, and you don’t get to walk away from that.”
The words came out calmly, smoothly, and she listened, transfixed.
“That’s awful, but I never did any of those things. I’ve been a teacher here for eight years. I’ve never even met you let alone slept with you, and—”
He put a hand up. “Please. I really don’t want to hear it. You played me once, shame on you. If I let you play me again, well, you know how that goes.”
Luke was suddenly tired. He closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t want to play the game anymore. He wanted this to be done.
She didn’t say anything else, and he started to drift off into a mental fog when a noise had him bolting upright. The detective was unlocking his cell.
“Mr. Berringer, you’re free to go.”
“What? Are you kidding me? He’s probably the one who tried to blow up my house!” Nicky exclaimed.
“No evidence of that, Ms. Grant. In fact, Mr. Berringer is a bona fide bodyguard—professional security—and he did save you. We’re just waiting on a few confirmations concerning your statement and then we’ll let you out, too.”
“But—”
Luke smiled, suddenly reenergized as he headed out of the station. Nicky was still looking at him as if she couldn’t believe it.
He waved smartly to her before he left and grinned at the outraged look she gave him. She was gripping the bars so tightly he could see her white knuckles from a distance.
Tough.
He had no doubt that the police would find that none of her story was true, and she wouldn’t be out anytime soon. Luke would be happy to testify at her trial.
Finally. Justice.
His phone rang as he proceeded down the long hall to the exit. It was his cousin, Garrett, calling to check in. Luke made his way out into the parking lot in front of Tampa Police Headquarters, filling his cousin in on what had happened.
People passing by slid wary looks in his direction, and he couldn’t blame them. He was dirty, scraped up and reeked of smoke and sweat. None of that was important.
“Garrett.”
“Luke. So, they spring you yet?”
“Yeah. Thanks for the speedy response.”
“Sure. Though Jonas thought we should let you simmer in there for a day or two, for kicks.”
“Funny. Did you find anything?”
Luke had his cousins do the background research on Vanessa Grant. It was likely that she had developed a sturdy fake background, maybe even one that the police couldn’t break through. Garrett would dig deeper.
“Sorry, Luke. You’re not going to want to hear this, but Vanessa Grant looks legit—work history, fingerprints, adoption certificate, all match her picture. She was in the foster system for seven years, then adopted, graduated high school, went on to college. It’s all here. I’ll give you that she does look a lot like Nicole Brooks, but she was a new teacher back when you were with Nicky. They have school year photos that show her in them at the time. It’s not her.”
Luke paused and closed his eyes. Could it be possible? Was this some kind of mix-up? No. He’d seen her. Close up. He knew.
“Gar, how many elementary teachers do you know who are targeted with several bricks of explosives? Obviously, someone other than me is after her, and there has to be a reason for that.”
“Well, you have a point there. Still, if this is a cover, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. She’s living out in plain sight, not trying to hide anything, and it has been the case for over a decade.”
“That does sound airtight,” Luke said, trying to figure out how Nicole could have made this happen. There was no way even she could be in two places at the same time. An accomplice? Had she reeled in another innocent to help her accomplish her plans?
That was possible. It was possible that Vanessa Grant was being used by Nicole all this time and never knew it. Perhaps now, Nicky was done with her, or considered her a threat. A loose end.
It would explain why someone wanted to blow her up. That meant she was still in danger. He ran the theories by Garrett.
“That�
�s possible. So what are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure. Wait. Follow her. See what happens. If she’s Nicole, she’ll slip up. If she’s not, the people who are after her will make another play, I imagine. Then I can find out who they are and maybe find Nicky in the process.”
“Be careful, Luke.... This job is hard enough when we know where the threats are coming from.”
“Gotcha. I’ll be in touch,” he said, ending the call.
Luke knew his cousins still had some doubts about if he was over his past troubles yet. He was. Mostly.
He’d once ruled the tech world, owned a massively successful software company and had more money than he’d ever need—until everything had fallen apart, thanks to Nicky. He didn’t miss the work or the wealth. It had taken Luke a long time to get his head on straight, but he’d done it. He liked his life now, and he enjoyed working with his cousins.
But he needed to do this one, final thing to really be able to move on with his future.
He needed to bring Nicky to justice—and that was even more the case if she had put yet another innocent in the line of fire. Whether Vanessa Grant was really innocent or not, he still had to find out for sure.
* * *
VANESSA STARED AT the dingy cell wall. Every bone in her body ached, and she was dirty and tired. They kept saying she could leave soon, but she’d been here all day. Probably because of Luke Berringer, who was now free as a bird while she was still locked up like a criminal. It made no sense.
It was all very unreal and dreamlike, except for the scrapes and bruises she received from being pushed out of the way of the explosion by Berringer. He was clearly deranged, pursuing some imaginary woman who had ruined his life. Yet the police had let him out the door. A bodyguard? She couldn’t believe it.
But then again, she’d read an article once about people with “hero complexes” who would stage a disaster so that they could save someone and get attention. However, this man didn’t want her thanks; he was trying to get her arrested. He said they’d been intimate.
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