“Thank goodness,” Paul said with a relived sigh. “I figured it had to be something. I just knew she shouldn’t be that big already.”
“Really, Paul... Really?”
“What?”
Farrah shook her head, welcoming their banter to distract her from thoughts of her soon-to-be ex-that-no-one-knew.
Paul gave a dismissive wave and sat back down. “Francine’s body changing that much because she’s having twins is one thing. Gaining weight for no reason other than she decided to let herself go is something else.” Paul picked up his cup and took several sips.
“You act like she’s as big as a house or something.” Farrah turned her attention back to her computer, but couldn’t help grinning at the mental image of her sister’s rounded belly and the smile and happiness that seemed to accompany Francine everywhere she went these days.
Paul took a swig of his coffee. “Girl, Francine’s four months and she looks like she’s six or seven.”
“She’s five months and she’s the perfect weight for an expectant mother of twins,” she corrected, choosing not to look directly into Paul’s face.
Paul tilted his head slightly. “What’s wrong? Why do you seem a little...off?” he asked, frowning as he returned the cup to its former place.
Farrah’s hand automatically flew to her mouth as though her lips could tell the story all by themselves. Damn, you act like somebody’s parent. You notice everything, even the slightest change.
“Did you and Robert have a quickie before coming in today?” he asked, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows in a manner that sent a shiver of unease up her spine.
Farrah got up and went to close her door completely. “Keep your voice down. And no, we didn’t just have a quickie.”
Farrah returned to her desk and looked fiercely back at Paul, who was eyeing her suspiciously.
“What?” she asked holding out her hands and hunching her shoulders.
“You tell me,” he said in a serious tone she wasn’t used to hearing from him. Paul had once been very serious...too serious. He’d spent years fighting and hiding who he really was and he’d nearly lost himself in the process. Paul’s relationship with the Blake sisters and their family, as well as finding love and marrying his partner John in a lavish ceremony hosted by his new sisters, had kept Paul’s love for life alive and his heart light.
Farrah looked down at her bare left hand and slowly shook her head.
They both sat in silence for several minutes before Paul reminded Farrah of something that she already knew. “Everyone needs a go-to person to confide in, and I know that’s your sisters, but for some reason you’ve chosen to share this secret with me—”
Farrah looked up. “You know you’re like a brother to us,” she affirmed emphatically.
“Then talk to your brother. What’s wrong, Big Sis?” he asked, leaning forward, taking both her hands into his.
Farrah closed her eyes, took a deep breath and released it slowly. She slowly opened her eyes and said, “Robert kissed me after we left the doctor’s office.”
“So?” Paul said, with a bewildered expression.
“So!” Farrah said, pulling her hands free. “Have you not been listening to me all those times we’ve discussed this? Paul, the man’s kisses are earth-shattering. If we hadn’t been interrupted, I would have let him take me right there in the elevator...again.”
Paul grinned. “Earth-shattering!” A small laugh escaped before he clamped a hand over his mouth.
Farrah glared at him. Paul often enjoyed her rare moments of insanity. “It’s not funny. I mean, it’s like I’m under some type of spell whenever he trains those beautiful blue eyes on me.” Just the thought had certain parts of her body coming to attention. And right now, she couldn’t afford to have anyone getting that attention...she had work to do.
“Why are you fighting this thing between you two so hard? You want him and he’s obviously crazy about you.”
“Yeah, right now...maybe. We both know how quickly his interest in women can change, how his eyes begin to wander...not to mention everything else—his lips, hands, his...”
Paul’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls.
“Sorry, TMI. Besides, we’re too much alike and we want different things.”
“Do you? Like what? Because the way I see it, you want the exact same things. I mean, you both love what you do, you love to travel, and you spend money on crazy expensive toys—”
“Like what?” Farrah demanded, sitting up straight in her chair.
“Like that old-ass gun you spent fifteen thousand dollars on last month,” he said with a raised eyebrow.
“It was an antique that’s already increased in value,” she defended. “So it’s an investment.”
“Yeah, like the antique double ceiling fan that Robert bought for his office a couple of weeks ago. How much did he spend on that thing?”
“Ten thousand dollars, but it was a great deal. And it has also increased in value,” she explained.
“See what I mean. Something else you have in common, spending money on old...” She raised an eyebrow and he quickly amended, “I mean, antique stuff you really don’t need.”
Farrah stood and looked out her window at the view of downtown Houston. “Robert and I wouldn’t be together long-term and I won’t risk...”
“You won’t risk what...your heart?” In the silence that ensued, Paul left the chair and came to stand next to Farrah at the window and snaked his right arm around her waist.
Farrah laid her head on his shoulder. “Girlfriend, you have to be willing to risk everything if you want everything in return,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper.
Farrah rifled through a set of scenarios of how that would work, how she’d manage physical compatibility without mutual trust. Regardless of how she might feel about Robert, it just wasn’t enough. “No...not with Robert. He was crazy in love once and got his heart handed to him.”
Paul gasped and Farrah raised her head and met his gaze. “Meeks told Francine all about it, and I’m her sister so of course she eventually told me. After that, he swore off love completely and proudly clipped on his playboy badge.”
“What crazy fool let him get away? He’s gorgeous and rich. She had to be blind, deaf, intoxicated and stupid,” he proclaimed. “And not exactly in that order.”
Farrah giggled, lifting the image from her mind. “I don’t know about all that, but after he found out she was only after his money and was sleeping with someone he thought was a friend at the same time, he ended it and vowed to have no more serious relationships. All he wanted to do was party. And unlike Meeks, he doesn’t even care about having an heir. He’s leaving all of his money to charity,” she said in a wistful tone.
“But—”
“How can you expect me to risk my heart with a man who’ll never risk his?” Farrah said, extracting herself from his hold and returning to her chair.
Paul leaned against Farrah’s desk and watched as she turned to her computer and began reading over some legal documents.
“Ignore me if you want, but that won’t change a thing. That’s just one more thing you two have in common, you know—having experienced a broken heart in college. Need I remind you of Jimmy Long and declaring, I’ll never fall in love again?” he said in a dramatic interpretation of a Southern belle—with a hand over his heart for effect. “After you found out he was only dating you because you fit his family’s idea of the perfect mate, someone beautiful from a good family that was on the same social and financial level as them, when all the while he was still seeing his real girlfriend from the other side of the tracks.”
Yes, Jimmy Long had put up such a really good façade that even her family had fallen for it.
“Whatever happened to him?” Paul asked.
“He
married her and I hear they have three kids. His family finally came around, I guess.”
“Well, good for them—now back to you.”
Farrah turned and gave him a defiant look. “I was twenty at the time. What the hell did I know about love? Anyway, I didn’t say I’d never fall in love again. I said I’d never fall foolishly in love again. Big difference.”
“Is there really any other kind?” Paul asked, frowning down at her.
Farrah ignored his question as she continued, “In fact, I plan to love and get married one day to—”
“To someone weak that you can control and loves you more than you love them,” Paul said.
Farrah flinched, but then had to laugh. There was a little truth hidden in those words.
“You’d be bored silly. Safe from heartbreak and no real passion. Not like the out-of-control passion that you feel for Robert. That same passion Francine and Meeks have for each other. Hell, what I feel for John.”
Out-of-control is right; if you all only knew just how out of control I’d been. Thoughts of their first night together came to mind.
Robert having her in the private elevator, taking her fast and hard in the living room of their suite before finally gently making love to her until dawn in one of the biggest beds she’d ever seen. The feeling of contentment that engulfed her as she lay in his arms and wanted nothing more than to stay there forever.
Farrah released a wistful sigh and turned back to the documents that required more of her attention than her lack of a love life did at the moment. “Is everything set for New York?”
Paul scowled and picked up his cup. “I can take a hint. Of course everything’s all set. Do you think you’ll find what you need when you get there?”
“I hope so. We’re running out of leads and we’ve got to find evidence that Ted Jefferson Jr.—or whoever hired Alexia—planted those bogus documents in the first place.”
Ted had presented the court with twenty-year-old drawings nearly identical to the ones Robert had developed and filed their patent on. An investigation revealed a set of those same drawings had been buried in the Blake & Montgomery archived records—which presumably had been planted there by their former employee, Alexia. Everyone with system access passed the polygraphs with flying colors.
“How did she even manage to plant the documents in the first place?” Paul asked, frowning.
“That’s just it. We haven’t been able to figure that out.” Farrah slammed her fist against the desk. “We have records of everything in the archived database and while there was a listing for a new system authored by Ted Jefferson during the year in question, the records directed us back to the bogus files we found.”
“Wait, those documents are what...at least twenty years old?” he asked, his frown deepening.
“Yeah, and Dad was leading the company then. He knew everything that Ted worked on, and he approved his budget. He’s certain that with the technology they were dealing with back then, there’s no way Ted could have created anything that Robert could have used to help develop the type of complicated technological designs that he has now.”
“So there’s no evidence that the system was tampered with?”
“Not that we’ve been able to find yet.” Farrah sat back in her chair.
“What kind of proof will you need exactly?” Paul asked with a deep scowl.
“Mainly, we need to show that Robert’s designs were his own and weren’t based off anything that anyone else started a million years ago.”
“Too bad Senior’s no longer in the land of the living. I bet your dad could get the truth out of him. He owes him.”
Ignoring Paul, Farrah continued her rant. “And I don’t give a damn what Ted Jefferson Jr. thinks. Both he and that traitorous little witch can kiss my—”
Paul sucked in a quick breath. “Calm down, girlfriend.”
“It makes me furious that we have to keep defending ourselves over such crap, like we’d stoop to something so low—not to mention hang on to the incriminating evidence. We all know what a brilliant mind Robert has, especially when it comes to computer systems. He doesn’t need some old fart’s road map to come up with his amazingly innovative design ideas. How dare they try and tarnish his reputation!”
Paul’s smiled widened. “Man, you’ve got it bad...his reputation.”
“I said our reputation.” Farrah checked her desktop clock and picked up a set of files that sat in the center of her desk. “I don’t have time for this. I have to get over to the law library and check on the Plan B options that Trey and his team sent over.”
“Plan B?” Paul asked, his slim lips pulling into a frown.
“In case we can’t find a way to prove our innocence.”
“Hell, we don’t need a Plan B. We’re going to find whoever is trying to screw us and put a stop to this madness,” Paul stated.
“I agree, but we have to be prepared. We all have a lot of time and money riding on the outcome of this case. Including you, mister. Last time I checked, you had a great deal of stock in the company, too.”
“Yeah, well, remember, I already have the best thing that money could never buy—the ability and the guts to marry the love of my life.” Paul snapped two fingers on his right hand before walking out the door.
Unable to fight back the overwhelming feeling of loss in that moment, Farrah simply whispered, “Something I’ll never have...not with Robert, anyway.”
Farrah blinked back the sting of tears in her eyes.
Chapter 5
Robert had finally pulled into the garage of his office building after having made several stops to visit clients on his way back. He’d parked his black Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe in his spot, only a few short spaces away from the empty location where its white twin usually held ground, when his cell phone rang. Robert smiled, recognizing the number of the only woman he’d ever really trusted—his foster mother, Penny Hilton—but it faded quickly. He pushed the button to activate his car’s Bluetooth.
“Momma Penny, everything all right?” he asked, nervous for her response.
“Of course. You worry about me too much,” she said with a small laugh.
Penny Hilton, or Momma Penny as Robert called her, had become Robert’s foster mother after his parents died in a boating accident when he was ten years old. The African-American widow had happily taken young Robert in when no other relative had come forward. Momma Penny had been his nanny since the day he was born and later the family’s housekeeper when he’d started school. She was his only family and he her only child. They adored each other. Robert’s parents’ unique approach to child rearing, followed by their sudden deaths, made it difficult for him to connect and trust people. Momma Penny helped him to find some semblance of security.
“Only because you’ve recently been released from the hospital. Pneumonia is nothing to play with at your age, so take your medicine and follow the doctor’s instructions.”
“At my age,” she huffed.
“You know what I’m saying. How’s the new nurse working out?” he asked, hoping she’d let that reference to her growing years slide past.
“He’s just fine, although having a male nurse still seems strange to me, you know.”
“Yes, I know.” Robert grinned, checked his watch and settled into his seat. This conversation was going to take a few minutes and he didn’t want to risk losing the connection by leaving the car and going into the building. “But he comes highly recommended.”
“So did the last one. What happened to that lovely nurse the agency sent over, anyway? Sonya something. She was very pretty and I liked her. I know she really liked you, too,” she said with a smile in her voice that he couldn’t miss.
“And that was the problem—she liked me too much,” he murmured, more to himself than to his mother. Robert t
hought back to the night he’d returned home from a late business appointment only to find lovely Nurse Sonya waiting for him at his townhouse. A major problem since she was supposed to be stationed at his mother’s place over forty miles away.
“What are you doing here and how the hell did you get in?” Robert demanded as he stood in the doorway of his bedroom.
“I got the address and key from Momma Penny. I waited for your housekeeper to leave and I let myself in,” Sonya explained, batting her eyes and playing with her hair. “Momma Penny’s fine. Sound asleep, in fact, so I thought I’d come take care of you. Tuck you in, so to speak.”
Sonya had stolen Momma Penny’s copy of the key to his house and evidently had snooped around to find the security code to his system and let herself in. She was waiting in his bed wearing a short and very sexy nurse costume. Had that happened a few years earlier, Robert would have loved playing games with the pretty nurse—even if she had been duplicitous in her attempt to gain his attention—but these days he had no interest in such behavior. He’d fired her on the spot.
Robert knew he’d earned a certain reputation when it came to women. He had fallen in love once, only to have his heart battered and tossed back to him with the gift wrapping still intact. He’d found out that his college sweetheart was only after his money and was sleeping with someone he’d thought was a good friend. A friend whom he’d met as a boy after changing schools when he went to live with Momma Penny. Someone that personally knew Robert’s struggles to adjust to the world when his parents died, leaving him with a trust fund and no one, except a woman who wasn’t a blood relative, to give him the unconditional love that his parents were unable to provide.
When Robert found out that Momma Penny and not his mother had been the one to bring him home from the hospital, and had been the one to stay on with the family just to keep his parents from sending him away to boarding school—the same fate relegated to them as children—things began to make sense. His mother and father’s hands-off approach to parenting and ultimately their deaths had made it hard for him to trust. So the betrayal of his best friend and his sweetheart had cut deep. Their disloyalty took away the one thing Robert had yet to be able to recapture—his ability to trust his heart to another woman.
Seducing the Heiress Page 4