The Ultimate Romance Box (6 Bestselling Romance Novels)

by Eckhart, Lorhainne

  “Stop it, Casey. I know you’re lying. You’re not too good at it.”

  “Unlike you.” Her voice quaked. “Some business emergency.”

  “It wasn’t a lie. That party was business. The whole thing was an act. All part of a stupid game.”

  “Oh, that much I got. Loud and clear. Which is why I quit playing.”

  “Not with you,” he growled.

  “Shhh. You’ll wake Josh.”

  “You don’t understand. I did it for my father.”

  She let out a fake giggle. “Your hands on her butt and your tongue down her throat was for your dad?”

  He raked his fingers through his hair. “Von Alston had a big contract up for renewal with Byrne Trucking. I was playing golf with my father. He tried to convince me I needed to do this pretense around Amber because her mother would like us to marry. When I argued with him his heart acted up. He’s already had two heart attacks, and when he fell to the ground on the golf course I got scared. He’s a stubborn bugger and refused to go to the hospital unless I agreed to play the Amber game. So I did.”

  “Very creative. But it’s not necessary, Drew.”

  Why had he ever let his father talk him into it? The contract got renewed. Amber moved on from her jockey to a Wall Streeter. Her mother was still pushing for Drew, but at least he could act like the rejected guy and go away. “You don’t believe me?”

  “Well, it’s a pretty convoluted story.”

  “I’m not making it up. It’s true.”

  “If it’s true I feel sorry for Amber.”

  “Don’t bother. Amber’s as tough as nails. She only wanted me in Saratoga to cover for her while she boinked some jockey. Just using me like I used her.”

  “Sounds like you make a perfect pair.” Her tone was flat.

  And the finality in it sent a cold loneliness through him.

  Drew had to make her understand. Had to bring back the Casey who’d wanted him. He knew she did. Hell, in that first month they spent together he could tell she was crazy over him.

  He considered telling her he loved her, but if she thought he was lying about Amber would she believe him? Her face was a closed mask right now. She’d probably just call it a ploy and shoot back with some cynical remark.

  Before he could decide how to get through to Casey the car stopped. Drew cursed. They had arrived at Parker’s residence.

  The driver spoke through the intercom. “Which of these buildings do I go to?” This morning Casey had been waiting at the end of the drive.

  As Drew tried to figure out how to describe the greenhouse to the driver, Casey grabbed the duffle bag at her feet and opened the door. “I’ll get out here.”

  Drew caught her wrist. “Casey, wait. I—”

  “Are we home, Dad?” Josh’s sleepy voice cut through.

  Drew turned to him, loosening his hold, and Casey pulled her hand away.

  “Almost, Josh,” she said. “You did a super fab job today, buddy. And, Drew, thanks so much for all your generous help. I’ll let you know when Randall calls about the mirrors. Goodnight.”

  Two barking dogs came running. Josh moved to the front of the limo and yelled after her. “Miss Casey, are we gonna rehearse in the morning? We’ve got to be ready for the next show.”

  “Take a day to rest. I’ll call everybody tomorrow.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Skipper and Reef escorted Casey through the dark to the L-shaped greenhouse. The oblong section was a beautiful glass-covered conservatory filled with flowers and foliage. She and Parker lived in the short end, which resembled a makeshift backwoods cabin.

  At the door her brother stepped forward and took her heavy duffle bag. “Long day, Casey. You must be tired. How’d it go?”

  “My kids did great. Made it to the next round. So I’ll be working my buns off this week to create a new dance for the challenge the judges gave us.”

  “Congratulations. Bet you go all the way to the finals.”

  “I can’t even think that far ahead.” She didn’t want to talk about her day. She wanted to be alone to mull over the totally surprising discussion with Drew.

  With a heavy sigh Casey sank into a wooden chair at the round garden table that occupied the center of their main room. Actually, their only room besides her own. Parker had cleaned out a storage area and put up a door, making a little private space for her.

  “Something wrong?” he asked. “Or are you just tired?”

  “Just a bit frazzled, bro. Could use a cup of your chamomile and lavender tea.”

  “You got it.”

  Casey shucked off her red stiletto heels, grateful Parker was one of those rare men sure enough of his masculinity that he wasn’t afraid to be nurturing. She hoped he’d find the right woman one day because she knew he’d be a great father.

  As she watched him brew the tea made from dried herbs grown in his garden, her mind whirled with thoughts of her upsetting conversation with Josh’s father.

  We came so close to something real, Casey.

  What we had was so good.

  What did he mean? Was he saying he wanted a real relationship with her? Certain things Josh had said in passing told her the boy thought Casey was his dad’s girlfriend. Would he think that if Drew had other women? But would Josh know? Or was Drew merely concealing his latest exploits from his son?

  Aargh. She almost wished Drew hadn’t opened up on the subject. Telling her that story about his father and saying Amber didn’t mean anything to him. Making it sound like he really did care. It only confused her. Prolonged the torture.

  It would be better if he’d just show up at the studio with another woman on his arm. Get it over with. That way she could simply wash her hands of him and be done with the whole mess.

  Before tonight she thought she had washed her hands of him. And yet here she was, once again agonizing over whether or not there was still a chance for the two of them to share the kind of love she’d always dreamed of. The kind she once thought they’d had—before Amber’s party reminded her of his true nature.

  No. Getting involved with a chronic womanizer was a recipe for pain.

  Parker set a mug of hot tea in front of her. As Casey breathed in the fragrant steam and took a sip she considered asking her brother why he believed Drew was in love with her. Could Parker’s hunch be right?

  But Casey wanted so desperately for Drew to be in love with her that she didn’t dare get her hopes up. Didn’t dare venture into that dangerous territory. Because if she got slammed to the ground again she wasn’t sure she had anything left in her to pry herself off the carpet one more time.

  ***

  When Casey’s cell rang at two a.m. she knew immediately who it was. “Hello, Drew.”

  “Casey. We didn’t get a chance to finish our discussion.”

  “Hold on a sec.” Casey didn’t want to have this conversation here in her little room where only plasterboard separated her from where Parker slept.

  Through the dark she tiptoed out of their living area and into her brother’s glass house of plants. She hadn’t slept at all, and the spicy scent of dianthus had a refreshing effect. That and the bright half-moon overhead. She heard an owl hooting outside, the peaceful swooshing of trees, and crickets trying to hang on as autumn settled in.

  Firm in her resolve, Casey took a seat on a crate next to a dracaena and started right in before Drew had a chance to muddle her thoughts again. “So, Drew, I know you’re an alpha male who needs a lot of women, and I have no right to judge your lifestyle, but I do have a right to choose my own. And I don’t want to be romantically involved with that kind of man.” There. She said it.

  “But I’m not seeing anyone else.”

  “That won’t last.”

  “Listen, Casey. I know what I did with Amber was pretty stupid, and I’m sorry. I don’t blame you one bit for being angry with me.”

  “I’m not angry anymore.” Only devastated. Why did she have to be the kind of person whos
e wounds took so long to heal?

  “You don’t believe my story about the party, do you?”

  Memories flooded her mind of Drew in the Von Alston’s backyard, his body draped around Amber’s. “About your father telling you which women to sleep with?”

  His voice pitched higher. “I haven’t sleep with Amber. Well, yeah, I have, but that was a long time ago. And it never meant anything.”

  “I’m really not interested in—”

  “Just hear me out.”

  “Drew, we’ve been over this.”

  “Both my dad and Amber’s parents would like me to marry Amber. That’s never gonna happen, but it doesn’t hurt to put on an act now and then to keep them happy. And that’s all it was.”

  “Sounds very manipulative.”

  “Well, it’s the only way to handle a father who’s a world class manipulator. And stubborn as hell. But I love the tough old bird. And I owe him. He started our trucking business, and even though I was coerced into taking it on, it’s been awfully good to me. Each day I count my blessings for that. I live a privileged lifestyle. I can treat my son to special things. I can do all sorts of things. Like buy a dance studio.”

  “You know how grateful I am for that. And I fully intend to pay my share of rental for—”

  “Save it. That’s not why I said it. I just want you to understand why I have a tendency to give in to my father’s demands. And in this case, geez, he was still pushing me while he lay on his back holding his heart.”

  Casey heaved an exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry about your father’s heart condition, but where are we going with this?”

  “I never meant to hurt you, Casey. I want another chance. We came so close to something great, something real.”

  Tears came. She blinked and felt them tickling her cheeks. Was she a fool to turn him down? She wanted so badly to have him back, to have the dream romance she’d always fantasized about.

  But hadn’t she learned by now? This was Jeff all over again, only much worse. Jeff had only been a small taste of love; this was the full-blown, mature, deluxe version that would leave her shredded when he tired of her.

  And wasn’t that what he’d told Madame Lumina? That all his women get to be tiring after a while. “Why did you lie to me, Drew? Why didn’t you just come out and tell me you had to play act with another woman for your business?”

  “Oh, right. Like you wouldn’t have crucified me for that.”

  “Don’t make assumptions about who I am or how I’d act.”

  He let out a snort. “Like you’re not doing that to me? You’ve decided I’m an unreliable player who can’t sustain a relationship.”

  “Well, you can’t deny you’ve blazed a trail.”

  “Like you’re so perfect.”

  “I don’t pretend to be. Look, Drew, we agreed to just be friends and business partners. No more. Let’s keep it that way.”

  In the moment of deathly silence that followed, a voice inside her screamed, Idiot! This is your last chance! You’ll lose him forever.

  But then Drew spoke in a tone so cold it literally made her shiver, “You’re right. I don’t need this crap. Anything more than being friends and business partners would end up being a big pain in my butt.” He signed off without a goodbye.

  Casey padded back to her room, muffled her face against her pillow, and cried until dawn.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Between building codes, contractor’s delays and unexpected repair problems it looked like the North Cove Performing Arts Academy would not open for another couple months. The daily meetings with Casey that Drew used to look forward to were now something he avoided. Whenever possible he took care of things without her and had his secretary call Casey with updates or questions.

  He continued to provide transportation and after-performance dinners for her dance group’s trips to New York City, mainly because he wanted to make sure Josh traveled with a safe driver and had a proper meal. But he no longer joined them. The silent response on Casey’s end told him she got the message loud and clear. She’d probably call it one of his games. Too bad. Drew wasn’t about to follow any woman around like a hound dog.

  And being with her just plain hurt too much.

  To everyone’s surprise the dance group made it all the way to the finals on Got Moves. Even though their season would not be televised until January, word got out. Regional papers and even the TV news carried stories about the kids they dubbed “Casey’s Cove Corps.”

  All of a sudden Drew’s shy, anti-social son was a celebrity. The North Cove Dance Academy’s email was so clogged with messages from fans in the live TV studio audience that Casey had to set up a Facebook fan page just for the Cove Corps. Drew was proud as hell of Josh, but he could also see the pressure building now that everyone was watching.

  Today Josh would be performing with Casey’s dancers at a Halloween pumpkin festival on one of the biggest farms in the North Fork. Drew planned on spending the day with him there, even though it meant seeing Casey. But between the crowds and festival activities, he would likely be able to scoot around her.

  How ironic. This awkwardness because of their emotional involvement was the very thing that had made Casey balk when Drew had first suggested buying a building to house her studio. He remembered assuring her it wouldn’t be a problem. But back then he’d been so certain the one having trouble letting go would be Casey, not himself.

  Now as Drew and Josh prepared to leave for the festival, his formerly quiet son yammered on about his plans to explore a haunted corn maze with ten-foot tall stalks after the performance. When Drew could get a word in, he said, “You head on out to the carport. I’m going to check on Grandpa and let him know where we’ll be.”

  Drew sauntered to his father’s wing and found Andrew Sr. parked in front of the TV with a bottle of Jack Daniels on the end table next to him. Not good. After telling him where they were going, he added, “Why don’t you come along with us?”

  “With you and the kid?”

  “His name’s Josh. And everybody else at the festival will be applauding him when he dances. Maybe it would be nice if his grandfather did, too.”

  “I wouldn’t want any son of mine doing that ballerina stuff.” Andrew Sr. turned back to the television.

  Drew picked up the remote, switched off the TV and stepped in front of it. “You are a heartless, selfish prick. For your information, it takes balls to go onstage and risk complicated moves only a supreme athlete could achieve. My son has performed them on a TV show millions will see. And the best part about it? He loves doing it. You know why I say that, Dad? Because I never loved any of the things you forced me to do. I might have, if you would’ve left me alone instead of pushing me and pushing me so hard I used to lay awake half the night before a Little League game, terrified I might strike out or make an error and you’d be ashamed of me.”

  His father waved him off. “You coddle that boy. Sure, I was tough, but that’s what made you the man you are today.”

  “The man I am? Such a man that at the age of thirty-two I still do everything my father says. Even if it ruins my life.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Remember the stupid nonsense with Amber Von Alston? Sometimes I think you faked those heart pains on the golf course just to get me to do it.”

  “Oh, that.” He chuckled.

  “Were you faking it?” Drew stepped in, his face close enough to his father’s to silence his laugh.

  “I don’t remember. What difference does it make?”

  “Difference? The difference between me being happy or miserable. I finally fall in love with a woman and I leave her hanging so I can go play games with Amber. And she saw me at Amber’s party, Dad. So I lost her. I lost the only woman I ever wanted.”

  His father watched Drew a moment. “Is she one of Amber’s friends?”

  “No. She worked for the caterer Julia hired. A horrible coincidence.”

  “Got invol
ved with a waitress, huh? Where’d you meet her?”

  “She sometimes works as a waitress, but she’s Josh’s dance teacher.”

  “The one who’ll be running that artsy place you’ve been working on?”

  Drew nodded.

  “She gonna be there today?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’d like to meet her.”

  “You already have. When she was waiting out front by the car a few weeks ago.”

  Andrew Sr.’s eyebrows came together as he thought about it. “That skinny, mousy-haired thing?”

  “Yeah. Her.”

  His father stood. “All right. I suppose it’s time I got a look at what’s going on with these two boys I got.”

  ***

  Since Casey’s group would be one of two competing for the final prize on Got Moves this Thursday Casey thought it best to keep them sharp with a Saturday performance in addition to their rehearsals. She stood with her dancers near a platform that served as a stage in the huge barn already filled to capacity with folks from North Cove and other nearby towns eager to see the Cove Corps. She gathered her dancers for a group hug, a ritual they shared before every show.

  Paige put a hand to her queasy tummy. “I think it’s worse when people in the audience know you.”

  “Yeah,” Emma said. “Like my little brother will probably call out my name and jinx me.”

  “That’ll be after I slip and land on my butt.”

  “Face it. We’re going down.”

  “Stop it, you guys.” Casey patted their backs. “Just focus on the dance as we rehearsed it, and you’ll do great. And don’t worry about whether or not we win the final prize. What you’ve already achieved is amazing. I’m so proud of all of you.”

  Casey understood too well the fear of things going wrong. Of seeing your luck go south even after you’ve given it your best. Life wasn’t always fair. She’d learned that lesson, but wasn’t about to dampen their dreams with even a trace of her cynicism. The same cynicism that was giving her cold feet over the elaborate performing arts academy Drew was building.