Simon laughed and missed his point deliberately. “No CEO is ever unsuspecting.”
“Damn it, Simon, what’re you up to?”
“The less you know, the better off you are,” he said, knowing that his friend would try to argue him out of the plan quickly forming in his mind.
“You mean the less you have to listen to my objections.”
“That, too.”
Mick slapped one hand down hard on the arm of his chair. “You’re crazy, you know that? So what if she’s a Hawthorne? Her father’s a miserable old goat. She’s got nothing to do with him.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Damn it, Simon,” Mick continued. “She split with him years ago. Doesn’t even use her real name for God’s sake.”
“She’s still his daughter,” Simon insisted. “Don’t you get it? The daughter of the man who tried to destroy my family is now in charge of when I get custody of my own son. How the hell am I supposed to take that, Mick? What if she just decides to never approve my custody of Nathan?”
“You really think she’d do that?”
“She’s a Hawthorne.” As far as he was concerned, that explained everything. God, he was an idiot. He had actually begun to trust Tula. He’d felt for her. More than he had anyone else in his life. Now he finds out this? For all he knew, Jacob had manufactured Nathan’s mother’s will. Maybe he and his daughter were in this together. Conspiring to dangle his son in front of him only to snatch him back.
He sprang to his feet as if the thought of sitting still another moment was going to kill him. Turning his back on his friend, he stared out the wide window at the view of San Francisco that Tula had admired so the first day he met her.
But instead of the high-rises and the glittering bay beyond the city, he saw her.
Her eyes. Her smile. That damn dimple in her cheek. He heard her sigh, felt the ripples of satisfaction rolling through her body as they took each other.
It had been one night since he had been with her and he wanted her again so badly, it was gnawing at him. Had she planned that, too? Had she deliberately set out to seduce him just so she could crush him later and sit with her father to enjoy the show?
His guts tightened and a cold, hard edge wrapped itself around his heart. The nebulous plan still forming in his mind was looking better and better by the moment.
“If you screw this up, you could be risking your son,” Mick reminded him unnecessarily.
“No,” Simon said, glancing back over his shoulder at his friend. “Don’t you get it? A Hawthorne is in charge of whether or not I’m fit to care for my son. How could I possibly make that any worse?”
“Let me count the ways,” Mick muttered darkly.
“You’ll see,” Simon told him, warming to his plan even as it took final shape in his mind. “I’m going to seduce Tula—” again, he added silently “—until she can’t think straight. By the time I’m finished, she’ll support me getting custody of Nathan. And when I’m sure of that, I’ll go to her father and tell him that I’ve been sleeping with his daughter. If that doesn’t give the old man a stroke, nothing will.”
“What’ll it do to her?” Mick asked quietly.
For one brief second, Simon considered that. Considered how it would be when she found out that she’d been used by him. But he let that thought go as soon as he remembered that she was a Hawthorne and that her family was more than accustomed to using and being used.
“Doesn’t matter,” he ground out.
“Whatever you say.” Mick stood up and shook his head. “I’m heading home now, but before I go, one more piece of advice.”
“I’m not going to like it, am I?”
Mick shrugged. “Whoever likes unsolicited advice?”
“Good point. Okay, let’s have it.”
“Don’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Whatever it is you’re planning, Simon.” Mick locked his gaze with his friend’s and said in all seriousness, “Just let this go.”
Simon shook his head. “Hawthorne cheated me.”
“His daughter didn’t.”
“She lied to me. About who she was. Maybe about why she’s in my damn house.”
“You don’t know that. You could just ask her.”
Sending a warning glare at his friend, Simon said, “You don’t understand.”
“You’re right,” Mick told him, turning for the door. “I don’t. For the last week or so, you’ve been almost…happy. I’d hate to see you screw that up for yourself, Simon.”
He didn’t say anything as Mick left. Hell, what was there to say? There was an opportunity here. A chance to get back at Jacob Hawthorne while at the same time indulging himself in a woman he wanted more than he was comfortable admitting.
An image of Tula filled his mind and his body went hard and heavy almost instantly. Remembering how responsive she was in bed had him wanting her so desperately, he’d have done anything to have her that minute. Even that damned fight they’d had hadn’t cooled him off any. Instead, it had stoked the fires already inside him. He’d never enjoyed a fight more.
Didn’t mean anything though, he told himself. Yes, he’d admitted to liking her. But that was before he knew who she really was. Now he didn’t know if he could believe the person she’d shown herself to be. Maybe it was all an act. Maybe everything she had done since arriving at his house had all been part of an elaborate show.
If it was, he would have the last laugh. If it wasn’t…he shook his head. He wouldn’t consider that. Tula Hawthorne was a grown woman. She could make her own decisions. And if she decided to join him in his bed—and she would, again—that would be her choice.
She’d be fine.
He’d have his revenge.
And his son.
“He was a complete jerk,” Tula said into her cell phone, then caught the baby watching her warily. She didn’t care what some people thought about children and their awareness to the world around them. She knew that Nathan was sensitive to tone and her moods, so she instantly forced a smile, despite the sheen of ice that felt as though it was coating her insides.
“Honey,” Anna’s sympathetic voice came over the phone. “You’re the one who always reminded me that most men are jerks at one point or another.”
“Yes, but at that point?” Tula said in a hiss, still smiling for Nathan’s sake. “Seriously, Anna the glow hadn’t even begun to fade and he turned on me like a rabid dog.”
“Well, I hope you gave it right back to him.”
“I did,” she said, remembering their fight last night. It had completely colored everything that went before it and that was saying something.
Sex with Simon had been even more amazing than she had imagined it could be. But to have it all ruined because Simon had donned his metaphorical suit right after was just infuriating.
“Nothing I said got through to him though, so it hardly matters that I fought back,” she mused, plucking a windblown brown leaf from the blanket and tossing it into the air. “He was so cold. So…”
“Believe me I know,” Anna assured her. “Remember how awful Sam was in the beginning?”
“That’s different.”
“Really, how?”
Tula laughed halfheartedly. “Because this is about me.”
“Ah, well sure. Now I see.”
Another laugh shot from Tula’s throat helplessly. “Fine, fine. You suffered, all women suffer. But my suffering is happening now.”
“Okay, there you’ve got me.”
“Thanks. So. Advice?”
“Plenty, but advice isn’t what you need, Tula. You already know how to handle this.”
“Really, how’s that?”
“Get Simon ready for Nathan and then come home. Where you belong.”
Where she belonged.
For so many years, the tiny house in Crystal Bay had been just that. Tula’s haven. The one spot in the world where she felt as if she’d carved out a place for herself. Bu
t now, thinking about going back to her old life of work and friends sounded somehow…empty.
Her gaze turned on the baby laying on a blanket spread over the grass of Simon’s backyard. She didn’t know if she could go back home. Her small house would now be crowded with memories of a baby that had brightened it so briefly. She would hear Nathan’s cries in the night, find his toys tucked under the couch. She would wonder, always, how he was, what he was doing.
Just as she would wonder about Simon.
The bastard.
How dare he make her care for him and then become just…a man? How could he have experienced what they had shared and then turn his back on it all so mechanically? How could he simply flip a mental switch and shut off his emotions as easily as turning off a lightbulb?
Or maybe she was reading too much into him. Giving him too much credit. Maybe he didn’t have any emotions. Maybe that suit that so defined him had stunted any natural human feelings. Hadn’t she warned herself the very first day she had met him that he was too much like her father? Too caught up in the world of corporate finances for her to be interested in him?
She should have listened to herself.
Then she remembered the look on his face as he had stared down at Nathan, knowing the baby was his son. His features had been easy enough to read. The man was capable of love. He simply wasn’t interested in it.
At least, not with her.
“Yoo-hoo?”
“Huh? What?” Tula shook her head and said, “Sorry, sorry. Wasn’t listening.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Anna said wryly. “You’re not ready to come home yet, are you?”
“I can’t. The baby and—”
“No.” Anna’s voice was soft and filled with understanding sympathy. “I mean, you’re not ready to walk away from Simon yet, are you?”
Tula’s shoulders slumped in resignation, though her friend couldn’t see it. “No, guess I’m not. That makes me some kind of grand idiot, doesn’t it?” Then, without waiting for her friend’s response, she answered her own question. “Of course it does. Why would I think I could have feelings for a man so much like my father? Why didn’t I stop myself?”
“Because sometimes you just can’t, honey.” Anna laughed. “Look at me! I took that mural job Sam offered me because I needed the money. I even told him to his face that I couldn’t stand him! Now look where I am…married and pregnant. Sometimes, the heart just wants what it wants and you can’t do anything to change it.”
“Well, that’s not fair at all.”
“And so little is,” Anna commiserated. “Now, back to my original question with this phone call…do you still want me to come to the city this weekend? Do the mural on Nathan’s wall?”
Tula thought about that. Knew Simon would probably hate it—he of the beige-with-cream-trim designing skills. Then Tula looked at the baby, waving his little arms at the naked tree branches high overhead. And she knew that if she couldn’t be with him, then at least she could leave behind a physical reminder of her presence. One that both Nathan and Simon would see every day.
“Yeah, I do,” Tula told her friend. “Nathan’s room needs some brightening up.”
“Great! I’ve already got some fabulous ideas.”
“I trust you,” Tula said, then added, “I’ve only got one request.”
“What’s that?”
“Paint in the Lonely Bunny somewhere, will you?” She reached out and smoothed her fingertips along Nathan’s cheek. “That way it will almost be like I’m still here, watching over him. Even after I’m gone.”
“Oh, sweetie…”
She heard the sympathy in her friend’s voice and steeled herself against it. Tula didn’t want pity. In fact, she wasn’t sure what exactly she did want. Beyond Simon, of course, and that was never going to happen.
It would have been easier to seduce Tula if they hadn’t already been to bed only to have the fight that had left both of them furious.
But Simon was nothing if not determined.
He dismissed Mick’s warnings that seemed to repeat over and over again in his mind. After all, Mick was married. He and Katie had been together since college. They fit together so well, it was hard to believe they hadn’t started out life joined at the hip. So how could his best friend understand the tension, the stubborn refusal to back down once a position was taken? How could he know anything about the sexual heat that flared during an argument?
How could he ever understand the enmity Simon felt for the Hawthorne family?
Simon knew exactly what he was doing—as he always did. And the fact that Mick disagreed wasn’t going to stop him.
This plan of his was going to kill two birds with one impressive stone, he told himself. Not only would he be able to indulge himself with Tula—something he hadn’t been able to stop thinking of—but he’d also have the revenge on her father that he had been dreaming of for three years. It would absolutely fry that old man when he found out that his daughter had been in Simon’s bed.
But first things first. Before his plan could get into motion, Simon had to start making arrangements for when he had custody of Nathan. He wouldn’t have Tula to care for the baby while he was at work, so he would need someone responsible for the job.
He didn’t let himself think about the fact that when that day came, Tula would be out of their lives.
Nine
An hour later, he was home early again and didn’t even stop to admit that since Tula had come into his life, he’d found less and less reason for hanging around the company. Instead, he seemed to be drawn to this old house and the woman inside it.
Simon found Tula in the backyard, watching Nathan squirm on a blanket beneath the winter sun. She turned to look at him and he could actually see her freeze up. A part of him regretted being the cause of that. He was too accustomed to her easy smile and ready laugh. Seeing her so wary, so cold, gave him a pause that none of Mick’s not so subtle warnings had managed to do.
But he reminded himself that she was a Hawthorne and had never bothered to mention it. How much did he owe her anyway? Besides, he had a plan now and once Simon picked a direction, he didn’t deviate. That would indicate that he doubted himself and he never did that.
Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his slacks, he walked down the flagstone steps that led to the landscaped yard. Each step was slow, deliberately careless, letting her know that though she might be angry, he was just fine.
Liar.
His brain shouted out that single word and he recognized the truth in it. But damned if he’d let her know.
“Isn’t it a little cold out here for him?” Simon asked, nodding at the boy who was wearing a shoulder-to-toes zip-up blanket sleeper.
“Fresh air’s good for him,” she said stiffly. She countered, “You’re home early.”
He grinned, pleased that she’d noticed. “I am. I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh, can’t wait,” she said, sarcasm coloring her tone. “Our last conversation went so well.”
Good, he told himself. She was still bothered. He liked knowing that what they’d shared had hit her as hard as it had him. And more, he wanted to share it all again. A lot.
He took a seat beside her on the blanket and hid a smile when she scooted away a bit. As if she didn’t trust herself too near him. He knew just how she felt.
At the moment, all he really wanted to do was grab her and hold her and—
“What can you possibly have left to say that you didn’t say last night?”
“Plenty,” he admitted, drawing one knee up and resting his forearm on it.
“Let me guess,” she said, her blue eyes snapping with banked fury. “You’ve found a way to blame me for global warming? Or am I a spy of some kind, sent to ferret out all of your secrets and feed them to your enemies?”
He just stared at her. Was that last statement for show or was she actually trying to tell him why she was really there? “Is that a confession?”
“O
h, for heaven’s sake, Simon,” she snapped in a whispered hiss. “You know darn well it’s not. I’m just trying to guess how you’ll insult me next.”
He wondered, but let it go for now. “As a matter of fact, I don’t want to talk about you at all,” he said. “Now that we’re committed to getting me ready to take over custody of Nathan, we have to find a competent nanny.”
“A nanny?” she asked in the same tone she might have used to ask, You want to hire an axe murderer?
He nodded, pleased with her reaction. Even if he was confused about her motivation for being there, with him, he knew for a fact that she loved Nathan.
“I’ll still have to work, so when you leave, I’ll need someone here with the baby. I think a live-in nanny would be the best way to go, don’t you?”
“I don’t know,” she said, glancing down at the babbling baby. “I hadn’t really thought about someone else caring for him on a day-to-day basis.”
Actually, Simon didn’t much care for the idea of a stranger in his house taking care of his son while he wasn’t there. But he couldn’t see any way around it, either. No matter how his plan ended up working out, Tula wouldn’t be here for him and Nathan to count on.
He really didn’t like the thought of that, but refused to explore the reasons why.
“He can’t go to work with me,” Simon said abruptly, watching her reaction.
“No, I suppose not.”
“Is there a problem?”
Her gaze flicked to his, fired for an instant, then cooled off again until those beautiful blue eyes of hers shone like the surface of a frozen lake. “No. No problem.”
“Good,” he said. “So I’ll call the employment agency and have them send people over. Are you interested in interviewing them or would you prefer I do it?”
She looked torn and he was forced to admit silently that he felt the same way. Funny, this conversation about hiring a nanny didn’t have anything to do with his plan. It had only seemed like a reasonable way for him to open communications with Tula again. Besides, theoretically, a caretaker for Nathan had sounded accept able enough.
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