His Million Dollar Risk

by Bielman, Robin

  His friend’s words cut through his preoccupation.

  “You’re not serious,” Connor whispered back.

  “Of course I am. You’ve known her for two weeks and fallen hard.”

  Connor cut him a brief glance.

  “Everyone can see it, not just me.” Clay’s eyes stayed on McCall and Lucy as he quietly spoke. “Let me check her out.”

  “She’s not after my money.”

  Clay stayed quiet. Connor’s gaze drifted to Charlie again. She’d been watching him, her brows furrowed like she wondered what had been so important that he and Clay had to talk during the ceremony.

  He flashed her a smile, hoping to erase the strain on her beautiful face. It worked. Or maybe it was the declaration of Mr. and Mrs. that the preacher called out.

  Applause sounded and the hundred or so guests rose to their feet to watch the bride and groom and wedding party march down the aisle.

  An hour or so later, after pictures had been taken and the married couple had danced their first dance, Connor searched the reception area for Charlie. He found her talking with Samantha near the open French doors that led out to the terrace. He snuck up behind her, put his hands on her waist, and kissed behind her ear. “Hey, beautiful.”

  One simple touch and she melted against him. “Hey.”

  “Mind if I steal her away for a dance?” he said to Sam.

  “Not at all. I was just about to go grab Dean. I love this song.”

  Connor didn’t recognize the music, but it was slow, the rhythm sultry, and he wanted Charlie’s body pressed against his. He led her to the center of the small square wood floor and took her in his arms. They moved in perfect sync, their hips in a subtle sway.

  “Have I told you how gorgeous you look?” He slid his hands from the sweet curve of her waist to the even sweeter curve of her rear end.

  Her breath hitched as she leaned into him more fully. Her arms tightened around his neck. “You look pretty good yourself.” Softness shone in her eyes that he hadn’t noticed before.

  “You okay?”

  “Never better,” she whispered and put her head on his shoulder.

  They danced as close as two people could be on a public dance floor, and he found himself lost in a wonderful, pleasurable bubble, Charlie the only thing that mattered in his world.

  He should tell her right now that he loved her.

  No, he’d take her outside where they could watch the sun set behind the mountains. He’d tell her he wanted to be the last face she saw at night and the first smile she saw in the morning.

  The song transitioned into a faster-paced tune. Charlie lifted her head and turned him inside out with those incredible blue eyes of hers. He ignored the music, the people dancing with quicker steps, and cupped her chin.

  Her arms relaxed and her soft, warm hands cradled his neck.

  He ran his thumb along her full bottom lip.

  Passion, friendship, lust, affection…love. He saw it all flicker across her face and knew his own expression mirrored the same. His lips grazed hers with the lightest of touches because if he dared take more, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

  “Let’s go outside,” he murmured. He clasped her hand and they made their way to the sundeck.

  An outdoor fireplace blazed and candles in large glass hurricanes cast a glow as evening settled on the horizon. Rose petals covered the wood planks. Other couples stood arm in arm, watching the sunset.

  Connor found a semiprivate spot near the railing. He hugged Charlie’s back to his front and looked over her shoulder at the breathtaking landscape of forestry extending as far as the eye could see.

  “These past two weeks have been amazing,” Connor said.

  A shiver vibrated through Charlie. “They have.”

  He quickly pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her. “Here.” He’d already ditched the annoying tie.

  “That’s really not—”

  “I take care of what’s mine.” He secured his arms around her once again. “What I feel for you, Goldilocks, I’ve never felt before.”

  “Oh, Connor.” She tried to wiggle out of his hold.

  “Let me finish. You’re beautiful and kind and funny and you’ve taught me some things about myself. I’m crazy about you. I—”

  “Wait!” She put all her weight into turning around to face him. “Please.” She blinked over and over again. Her breaths came out in quick pants. “Please let me tell you something I should have told you sooner.”

  He took a step back. His chest hurt like he’d just swallowed a Molotov cocktail. It’s nothing, his mind told the rest of body. It couldn’t be anything important.

  Because he loved her.

  …

  Charlie took Connor’s hands in hers. She stared into his fathomless slate eyes and almost cried at their lack of warmth.

  “I love you,” she said, and watched as something flickered back to life in his gaze. “I love you so much, but I—”

  “There you are,” a loud male voice said over Connor’s shoulder.

  He turned. “Bill,” Connor said.

  Two men approached, their strides confident. Charlie looked from one to the other. She didn’t know who they were, but the one on the left looked a lot like an older version of Dean Malloy. Which meant “Bill” was William Malloy, Dean’s father. Connor’s boss. The head honcho from World Heritage Fund.

  “Charlize Beckett?” the other man said.

  Her heart stopped. Seriously stopped, like it had never been there in the first place. She couldn’t catch a breath. Nor did she particularly want to.

  The way Connor’s lips twisted in confusion cut right through her.

  Regret spread under her skin like thick, black sludge.

  “Thought I’d track you down to meet the wonderful woman you told me about, but I’m confused.” Bill Malloy looked at Connor. Looked at his companion. Looked at her. “I thought I was meeting Ashley Morgan.”

  “That would be me,” Charlie said weakly. The mess of all messes had landed at her feet and while it would be easier for the ground to swallow her, she never shied away from her mistakes.

  The mixture of tension and anger rolling off Connor killed her. But if there was one thing her father had blessed her with, it was the fortitude to never be weak in front of others.

  “I’m also Charlize Beckett.” She looked at the unknown man. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  “We met last year at your father’s sixtieth birthday party, but I’m not surprised you don’t recognize me. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight. Howard Davis.” He extended his hand.

  “Reporter for National Geographic.” Now she caught some resemblance to the old Howard. And realized her stupidity. She should have at least considered the possibility that since WHF operated in some of the same circles as Natural World, she might run into someone she knew.

  Connor sucked in a breath like he’d just put two and two together. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Pain, betrayal, hostility—she saw them all.

  “I apologize for the misunderstanding,” she said to Mr. Malloy. “It’s a long story. But rest assured Natural World’s piece on Route 66 is going to garner your organization some very positive feedback. It’s been a pleasure to see the work up close and I’m in awe of all that you do.”

  “Thank you,” Bill said before he looked at Connor with concern and affection. “We’ll catch up later.” He and Howard gave her a polite nod and walked away.

  Caught in a lie was never good. Caught in a lie that made the man she loved look foolish magnified the fib hundredfold.

  She stood frozen to her spot, not sure if she should speak first or let Connor. When after a few seconds neither one of them had made a move or sound, she shifted and stared at his profile.

  Jaw tight, lips flat, he didn’t so much as glance her way.

  “I’m sorry.” She put her hand on his arm.

  He jerked it away. “Not here.” He took off down t
he deck. She followed behind, trying to keep up with his brisk pace. They took the stairs down to the lobby, took another flight of stairs up to the second floor of the lodge, and entered their suite.

  She slipped Connor’s jacket off her shoulders and laid it over the couch. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I’d like to explain.”

  He stood across the room and jammed his fingers through his hair. “Your father is Thomas fucking Beckett isn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jesus Christ.” He paced around the furniture like an animal trapped in a cage.

  Charlie’s heart hurt. Every beat hurt like it was being pounded into the ground with a mallet.

  “We weren’t supposed to meet like this,” she offered. “And I didn’t plan to fall in love with you, but I did.”

  His pacing stopped. “Don’t even go there,” he said in barely contained anger. “Who is Ashley Morgan?”

  “She’s my best friend. She was supposed to be your reporter. At the pool, when I told you I was with someone it was her. But that night her appendix burst, so she asked me to do the story.

  “I’d been trying to prove to my father I could handle more than the fluff pieces he gave me and this was my chance. I had every intention of telling you my real name when we first met in the lobby, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it after I’d already made a fool of myself. It was stupid, but I can’t change what I did.”

  “I trusted you,” he ground out.

  “And I didn’t break that trust. I am Charlie. I am that girl. Nothing I said or did was a lie, Connor. The only thing I didn’t do was tell you the truth about my given name.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know what to believe.” With a defeated sigh, he sat on the couch across from her. Elbows on his knees, he dropped his head into his hands.

  “Believe in us. Please.”

  “You could have told me numerous times.” He looked up. “I told you about my family and my mom and you didn’t say a word.”

  “I didn’t know how.”

  “You rarely stop talking and you didn’t know how? How about, ‘This is really hard for me to say, Connor, but that lying piece of shit you hate so much is my father.’ Huh, not too difficult to get out.” He pressed his shoulders back, flexed his hands.

  Anger percolated inside her, but she couldn’t keep her posture from shrinking. Connor’s rising to do battle was a war she didn’t wanted to play. “I had a job to do, too. If I’d told you the truth, there’s no way you would have continued the interview with me.”

  “You got that right.” His cold tone sent goose bumps over her arms.

  “So can you really blame me?”

  His eyes narrowed in defiance. “I don’t see anyone else in the room.”

  “Connor. We can figure this out,” she said softly. She didn’t want to lose the best thing that had ever happened to her. She’d get him to see this wasn’t a make-or-break situation.

  He got to his feet. “I already have. Pack up your stuff and be gone by the time I get back. I’ve got a wedding to get back to.”

  “Wait. Please talk to me.”

  “Time for talking is over. I’ve no idea who you really are and have no plans to be made a fool twice.” He brushed by her as he grabbed his tuxedo coat off the couch.

  Tears pricked the back of her eyes. “You had the real me the whole time,” she said to his back.

  “No.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not sure that I did.”

  When the door shut behind him, Charlie sank to the floor and cried.

  Chapter Twelve

  Women had lied to Connor his whole life. Told him what they thought he wanted to hear. There was always an angle. Meet his mother. Snag an invitation to a special event. Sleep with him. Hang onto him for his money.

  Charlie had done it to get her father’s notice.

  Her bastard, sack-of-shit father who knew damn well his reporter had fucked up on the piece about his mother, but refused to admit it. Would he get Charlie to twist the story on WHF once he found out who Connor was? Insist she drag his personal life into it? And Jesus, she knew about the lawsuit between his mom and her dad and had still stayed quiet. His stomach churned, the back of his throat burned.

  He took a seat at the empty head table, grateful to be alone for a moment. He looked around the room, but couldn’t focus on anything. It was like he sat behind a giant film of plastic and could only make out the blurry edges of movement.

  Had Charlie lied about wanting to write children’s books, too? Was her hobby a convenient way to keep her secret at a distance?

  Every minute with her flashed through his mind. They’d been stellar minutes, the best he’d ever had.

  He started to get up. It was a dick move telling her to leave like that. He should at least make sure she got a ride to another hotel or the airport or wherever she planned to go.

  But he couldn’t. She stripped away his control when close, and he didn’t want to see her. No woman had hurt him as much as she just had.

  “Champagne?”

  Connor glanced up at the waitress holding a bottle of bubbly in her hand. “Sure.” He grabbed his glass off the table and handed it over. Lifted the next closest glass while she poured and gave her that one, too.

  She smiled. “Is that an invitation?”

  He blinked, and she came into focus. He should say yes and tell her to meet him later. What better way to get Charlie off his mind?

  “No. Just thirsty.” He wouldn’t get over Goldilocks for a long fucking time no matter what he did.

  “If you change your mind, I’m off at ten.” She handed him the second glass.

  Hearing someone take the chair next to him, he downed the champagne before turning to say hello. For the rest of the evening he planned to be the perfect groomsman. His problems weren’t anyone else’s and this evening was meant to be special for McCall and Lucy.

  “Since when do you down champagne?” Clay said, putting a scotch in front of Connor. He tipped his own glass in cheers before taking a drink.

  “Pretty girl offered it so I said okay.” Connor chased down the expensive wine with the aged whiskey.

  “And since when do you notice pretty girls?”

  “Since just now.”

  “Where’s your beautiful date?”

  Yeah, there was no comparison between the waitress and Charlie. “She’s leaving.” He ran his thumb across the rim of the crystal tumbler.

  Clay got comfortable in his chair. Great. Mr. Badass Navy SEAL wanted to talk. When had Connor given off the vibe he liked to chitchat?

  “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Clay said, calm, cool.

  Connor laughed. And maybe that had been his friend’s intention. There are people you can talk to. People you can trust besides your family.

  He trusted Clay with his life.

  “I just found out Charlie is Charlize Beckett. She’s Thomas Beckett’s daughter. The prick owner and publisher of Natural World.”

  “I know.”

  WTF? Connor sat taller and leveled his friend with a glare. “How the hell did you know? And why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It’s my job to know who’s getting close to the top brass at WHF. And given that we’re friends, I take extra steps.”

  “How long have you known?”

  “Since I met her in New Mexico.”

  The muscles in Connor’s back clenched. “You should have told me.”

  Clay’s sharp as steel eyes studied him. “There was no reason. She was doing her job.”

  “And then she was doing me.”

  “And you were the happiest I’ve ever seen you.” Clay kept his assessing gaze in place. “I didn’t know you were going to turn it into another week. But when you did, I did some more digging. I found nothing to indicate she was working some angle on the story on her father’s behalf.”

  Connor scratched the back of his head. “Doesn’t change the fact that she lied.”

  “Tru
e. But I’ve watched the two of you this weekend. She got past your defenses. You going to let a stupid thing like her name get in the way of that?”

  A lie is a lie, Connor thought. “It’s more than that. I can’t get past who her father is and what he’s doing to my mom.”

  Clay nodded. “You can’t blame her for the actions of her father.”

  “Maybe not, but I can’t deal with the constant reminder.”

  “Then I guess you’ve made your choice.” Clay lifted his drink off the table.

  “Yeah, I have.”

  …

  Charlie tiptoed into her townhouse after midnight. The familiar scent of strawberries took a tiny edge off her misery. The comfort of home after hours of heartbreaking travel warmed some of the cold places inside her.

  She flicked on the light in her bedroom and dropped her bags. Like a robot, she went through the motions of showering and putting on her pajamas. When she finally crawled into bed the clock read 1:24.

  Was Connor asleep? She’d wanted to text him several times since leaving the lodge to apologize again. He’d been about to tell her he loved her and that had to be worth another try.

  But she didn’t have his cell number. She’d never thought to ask for it considering they were together 24/7.

  Things were over.

  “Charlie?” Ashley poked her head into the room. “Everything okay? I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow. Well, later today.”

  Charlie pulled the covers up to her chin and shook her head.

  Ashley rushed to her side. “What happened?”

  “I blew it.” And then with big fat tears rolling down her cheeks, she told Ashley everything.

  “I’m sorry,” Ash said, now snuggled up beside her. “But if Connor can’t see what an amazing person you are, then he doesn’t deserve you. You told one little fib that in the scheme of things is nothing. It’s on par with ‘Did you eat some vegetables today? Why, yes, Mom, I did.’ See? Totally inane.”

  “Your mom isn’t Sandra Swanson.”

  Ashley sighed. “I see how that complicates things, but it’s only a problem if you guys let it be.” She sank a little further into the covers. “And I guess he’s letting it be.”