BARELY MISTAKEN

by Jennifer Labrecque

  "Whatever it is, it won't come between us," Adam assured her.

  "I wouldn't count on that," Luke drawled from his vantage point on the sofa.

  "When Luke brought me home from the masquerade party," Olivia paused and looked at the floor, rubbing her hand over her brow. She looked up again, shoulders squared, her head held high. "Luke and I were … intimate."

  Her voice didn't betray how spectacular their intimacy had been.

  Adam frowned, once again taken aback. "Intimate? How intimate?"

  A blush stained her neck and face, but her head remained at a proud angle. God, he loved this woman. Once again, she glanced Luke's way. He silently nodded his encouragement. She shifted her attention back to Adam. "Very intimate."

  Luke barely refrained from preening. Adam's expression of stunned disbelief was priceless. His "ice princess" had thawed for someone else.

  "Did you know it was Luke?" He shoved the eye-patch onto his forehead.

  She shifted in the chair. "No. But I … care … for him."

  Adam turned to Luke. "You bastard. You knew how I felt about her. How could you?"

  Luke clamped down on the urge to knock the hell out of Adam. Yeah, he knew how Adam felt about Olivia and ached to say it. Unfortunately, that would only wound her. "I wanted her."

  And that didn't even begin to describe it. Even in the midst of confrontation, he hungered for her. A familiar ache settled in his belly. He glanced at Olivia. A response flashed in her gray eyes.

  Adam eyed him with haughty disdain, anger simmering below the surface. "That's the way it's always been, hasn't it, Luke? It's all about you and what you want and to hell with how it affects everyone else."

  An element of truth hit uncomfortably home. "I believe you're getting off the subject."

  "No, brother, this is just a subject you'd rather not address. All these years you've thumbed your nose. Flunking out at school. Vandalizing public property. Coming home drunk. Did you ever once stop to think how that made Mother feel? Did it ever occur to you it might be humiliating for our entire family? Let's see, how did you put it once?" Adam pretended to ponder the question. "Oh yes, being true to yourself. I call it being a selfish bastard."

  Olivia's face, so expressive and easy for Luke to read, reflected empathy. As if she related firsthand to Adam's scenario. Adam had just successfully sown powerful seeds of doubt in Olivia's heart.

  Luke faced the ugly truth. His father had disowned him, his mother had continued to love him, and he hadn't given it a lot of thought past that. "That was a long time ago."

  "Maybe the hell-raising, but you're still a law unto yourself, aren't you, brother? Luke Rutledge answers to no one except Luke Rutledge and the consequences be damned."

  While Adam spoke, Luke focused on Olivia's expression as she worried her lower lip with her teeth. Adam had painted a damning, albeit fairly accurate, picture of Luke. Each word brush stroked doubt onto Olivia's face.

  Luke remained seated, employing deliberate calm. "I'm my own man, Adam. I don't ask 'how high' when I'm told to jump, brother."

  Adam reddened at the dig, but recovered quickly. He shook his head in disgust and turned his attention to Olivia. "I understand he deceived you, darling. You thought you were with me. It's distasteful, but we'll get past it. It was just that once, when you thought he was me, wasn't it? You weren't intimate after you discovered Luke's true identity?"

  Too bad Adam hadn't tracked down Spanish Inquisition attire. He was certainly playing the role.

  It would be so easy for Olivia to save face. Technically, they hadn't physically consummated their relationship except for those first two times. Shame suffused her features. Luke felt her shame like a knife to the gut.

  He jumped in before she could speak.

  "No." He'd lie any day to erase her shame. He caught her eye, willing her to go along with his story.

  Her expression condemned him for lying. In an effort to protect her from her own self-condemnation, he'd given credence to every charge Adam had leveled his way. How many times in the future—if they still had a future, would she feel shame because of something he'd done or said?

  She turned away from Luke and up at Adam. "Yes. We were." She lowered her eyes. "Now you understand why I can't see you anymore."

  A part of him died inside at her subtle, yet telling, distinction. She couldn't see Adam again because she'd betrayed him. Not because she cared for Luke.

  "None of that matters, darling. It hurts that it happened, but it wasn't your fault. I know how Luke can be. He deceived you and then I'm sure he was relentless pursuing you." He cast a malevolent glance at Luke. "Regardless of how much damage he caused along the way, I forgive you. We'll put it behind us."

  "But, Adam, I can't—"

  "Yes, you can. Together we can. I had thought to do this under different circumstances but…"

  An intense foreboding filled Luke as Adam dropped to one knee. Adam reached in his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. "Olivia, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

  * * *

  Olivia reeled as if Adam had struck her. She'd anticipated scathing anger. She'd braced herself for denigration. Had he called her a whore, she wouldn't have been surprised. But this—Adam Hale Rutledge kneeling before her in a marriage proposal—rendered her speechless and more than a bit horrified.

  "Put me out of my misery. Say yes. We can build a good life together, Olivia. We have the same interests. We want the same things. We'll work together to make Colther County a place our children will be proud of." An emerald-cut diamond mounted in a platinum setting dazzled her. But Adam offered up so much more than a beautiful ring. He dangled a glimpse of a family life she'd dreamed of, yearned for. Blood rushed to her head.

  "I don't know what to say."

  "Try no. A simple no would do," Luke drawled from the sofa.

  Luke. For the space of a heartbeat, she'd forgotten about Luke. Stricken, she looked at him, his blue eyes pinning her with accusation. He knew.

  Adam sneered over his shoulder at Luke. "Haven't you done enough harm already?" Adam faced Olivia and rose to his feet. Olivia had the inane thought that he looked absolutely ridiculous in his swashbuckler outfit with that patch sitting on his forehead like a third eye. "Olivia, I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. I wanted to spare you the ugly truth, but I had no idea he'd go so far. Luke has used you, my dear."

  Olivia sank back info the arms of the chair. She didn't like the sound of this. The implacable mask that was Luke's face knotted her stomach. "He's lying, Liv. He's the one that wants to use you."

  She looked from Adam to Luke and back again. Her heart racing, she clenched her hands into fists to still their trembling. "One of you explain, please." How could her voice remain so calm when she felt so frantic inside?

  "Tell her the truth, Adam," Luke urged. His voice, low and calm, reminded her of a dangerous lull before an impending storm.

  "Luke came to me a week or so ago with a proposition. He had the inside track on a proposed shopping center development—one of his construction contacts. Apparently your father is sitting on prime development property. He wanted me to use my influence with you and he'd handle your father. Of course I told him absolutely not."

  Time hung suspended as the bottom dropped out of her world. It made a sad sort of sense as to why a man like Luke would be interested in her. Much more sense than some mystical soul connection. "Why didn't you mention this to me?"

  "Because I never thought he'd sink so low. I never thought he'd take it this far. I thought he'd approach your father and leave it at that. I suppose he wanted to double his chances by going through you."

  "He's lying, Liv. He's the one that came to me." Luke's voice rang calm and steady.

  She wanted to believe him. She ached to believe him. "You could seduce me, sleep with me, yet you couldn't tell me Adam was using me? You didn't think I needed to know?" A shattering heart and crumbling self-esteem tended to make her testy.

  "I d
idn't think you'd believe me." Luke shrugged, his face tight with anger at her challenge. "Much like right now."

  Like a clip from a bad movie, she recalled Luke urging her to let him take her to see Pops. Luke and Pops sitting on the front porch. Tendrils of doubt stole through her, wrapping around her heart.

  "Call him, Olivia. Ask your father. Ask him if either one of us ever mentioned selling his land," Adam urged her.

  "Liv, your heart already knows if you'll just listen to it."

  "What can it hurt to call your father?" Adam argued.

  In the chaos running through her mind, it seemed a reasonable solution.

  Olivia hit the speaker on the phone and dialed the number. The ring echoed through the small room. Please let him tell her that Luke had never mentioned selling the land. "Pops? It's Olivia."

  "Hey, Olivia. How's the new wing coming along?"

  "Fine." Olivia cut to the chase. "Pops, has Adam ever mentioned you selling the farm?"

  "Adam who?"

  "Adam Rutledge. He came to the house with me once."

  "Not that I recall."

  She should have been relieved. She wasn't. "Did Luke mention anything about the farm when we were out the other day?"

  "No. No, I don't reckon he did."

  She sagged with relief, even though she was no closer to getting to the bottom of the matter.

  "Not that day. He didn't mention it until he stopped by last night. Something about a plan to sell the farm and invest the money. I'm not quite sure. I'd had a touch of the Turkey—for medicinal purposes. My arthritis was acting up again. Told him I wasn't interested in any investments. Say…"

  Pops continued to talk but Olivia didn't hear past the roaring in her ears, filling her head.

  "Thanks, Pops," she interrupted. "I'll call you later." She pushed the button and disconnected the call.

  "This is a setup, Liv. I went to warn your father. Bennett was drinking but I hoped some of what I said would get through to him." He offered a wry grimace. "Apparently the wrong part did. I know it looks bad, but you've got to listen to me, baby."

  "Which is exactly why he seduced you," Adam jumped in. "He doesn't want you to think clearly. Think about it, darling. Luke has no scruples. He's the one that deceived you and seduced you. He's the one who admits he's a law unto himself. His rules are the only ones he adheres to. He's the one who takes what he wants, does as he pleases and to hell with everyone else."

  His words held a painful, numbing logic.

  "I'm sorry I didn't stop him sooner. Did he profess undying love for you?" The thinly veiled sneer in Adam's voice salted her wounds. "Ah, I can see by the look on your face he did. What do you think would've happened once he had what he wanted from you? I'll tell you. He'd have left you with nothing except a ruined reputation and a healthy dose of humiliation. He'd strip you of your respectability and think nothing of it, Olivia."

  Every doubt she'd faced and overcome, charged at her in full battle armor, battering her psyche. All of it had been a lie? Not just his feelings but the shift in her self-concept?

  Adam took her hand in his. He poised the diamond ring above her finger with his other hand. "Let me put this ring on your finger. Let me share my name with you."

  Olivia felt as if she were pinned to the shore, helpless to move as an enormous wave gained momentum. On the verge of drowning, she looked to Luke in mute appeal, desperate for him to refute the case against him before the wave crashed over her head. Convince me once again she begged him mutely.

  Luke's eyes—those brilliant, beautiful cerulean eyes that had sparkled with wit, devilment, appreciation and seduction—gazed back at her now, the flat eyes of a dead man. He shrugged. "The game's up. It's true. I'll leave now."

  He stood, a cold smile etched against the hard line of his mouth. "Don't bother seeing me to the door. I know the way."

  Although her mind screamed in protest, she sat without movement as he strode to the door.

  He paused in the doorway. "Welcome to the family, Liv."

  The front door clicked with the impact of a gunshot. Adam began to slide the ring onto her finger. Olivia pulled her hand away very, very carefully. She felt hollow and brittle, as if she were a shell made of glass in danger of shattering into a million pieces. "I can't—"

  "Don't say anything." He pressed the ring into her palm and curled her fingers around it. "Keep it, and think about it."

  "I don't need to—"

  Adam held up his finger. "Shh. This has all been something of a shock to you. I don't want you to make any rash decisions. Take a week to think about it. Consider the life we could build together. I find Luke's methods deplorable, but, while you're thinking about things, consider I could pull some strings and perhaps find a buyer for your father's land. If I invested and managed the profits for him, he'd never have to worry about money again. Just a thought. Now, why don't you run and change and we can still make dinner?"

  Olivia's stomach roiled at the very thought. "I need some time alone. Maybe tomorrow night." She and Luke probably wouldn't keep that date now, she thought on a rising tide of hysteria. She edged toward the front door, the smell of Adam's cologne and hair gel adding to her nausea.

  Annoyance flashed across Adam's face. Olivia was far too numb to care. "Of course, darling. I'll call you tomorrow." He gentled her against the front door, sliding his soft lips against hers. A shudder shook her.

  "Good night, Liv."

  Only Luke called her that. She couldn't bear to hear it on Adam's lips. She pushed him away.

  "Don't call me that." Her directive came out much sharper than she'd intended. Her lips felt brittle and tight as she tried to smile. "Sorry. I prefer Olivia. Good night, Adam."

  The door had barely closed behind him before she raced down the hall. She didn't bother to turn on the light as she dropped to the cold tile floor. Hanging her head over the toilet, she retched.

  * * *

  13

  « ^ »

  "How about a beer?" Dave slid into the scarred wooden booth across from Luke, his face a mottled shade of blue and red in the neon glow of Cecil's beer signs. "Cynthia tossed me out for a few hours. PMS. What the hell's wrong with you? That time of the month for Olivia too?"

  In the last few hours, Luke had nursed too few beers and smoked one too many cigars. All without any interference, thanks to his general surliness. Now he found himself in the unusual mood to spill his guts.

  So, he did. The whole miserable tale.

  "Let me get this straight. You took the fall for your brother, a son-of-a-bitch in sheep's clothing if I ever met one, so that he could marry the woman you love? Why don't you put that beer down and we'll step outside so I can knock some sense into you? That's the damn dumbest thing I've ever heard."

  "You don't understand Olivia."

  "Yeah? Well, neither do you. She's a woman. We're men. We're not supposed to understand them."

  Actually, it might be better if he didn't understand her so well. Then he wouldn't have seen how much she wanted what Adam could offer. He wouldn't have seen the doubt eating at her when Adam described how Luke embarrassed the family. Then he would've charged full-speed ahead and done what he'd always done. He'd have fought for her and taken what he wanted. And eventually she would've hated him for it.

  "If you had seen her face when Adam was painting the picture of what their life would be like … for one instant… And as much as I hate to admit it, he's right about two things. First, he can give Olivia the one thing she craves that I can't—respectability. Second, I am a selfish bastard. I've never given much thought to how I affected other people's lives. Maybe it's time I did."

  "So, now you're a regular Sydney Carton?" Dave clutched his baseball cap to his chest and assumed a dramatic pose. "'It's a far, far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before.'" He slammed the cap back on his head. "You know, it doesn't end well for Syd. He dies in the end."

  And so would he, a little bit every day. Each time he sa
w her. Thought of her. He swallowed a mouthful of warm, flat beer.

  Dave shook his head, still mystified. "Your brother's a jerk. What happens when he gets his land? I don't think it's gonna do much for Olivia in the respectability department when he ditches her."

  Luke managed a grim smile. "I plan to have a little talk with Adam. There won't be any land deal. I've got dirt on Adam and the Colonel. Graft involving a state politico is a fairly big deal. The first time I see Olivia and she doesn't look happy as a clam in sand, I'll ruin them." In a heartbeat and without hesitation.

  Dave lowered his voice and leaned across the booth. "Graft?"

  Luke nodded. "It was too easy to find out. The Colonel's so damn arrogant, he considers himself untouchable and didn't cover his tracks very well."

  "How will you know if they make Olivia's life a living hell?"

  "I'm returning to the bosom of the family. I'll be there for Sunday dinners, holidays, weddings. And I'll know." In the end, it was the only way to give her what she wanted.

  "You've got it all figured out, don't you, big guy? Did it ever occur to you that Olivia deserves to make her own decisions?"

  "She did. You weren't there. You didn't see her face."

  "With all the correct facts."

  Luke passed a weary hand over his bristled jaw. "I saw her. She struggled and she tried, but she's never going to get past measuring herself against the world's public opinion. And it'd only be a matter of time before I became an embarrassment."

  Dave snorted.

  "Trust me, it's better this way."

  "I think you're one can shy of a six-pack," Dave sighed in resignation. "But I know that look and I'm not changing your mind, am I?"

  "Nope. From now on, Olivia's like a sister to me." The words threatened to choke him. Maybe he was one can shy of a six-pack.

  * * *

  "So, you're sure you don't want to marry Adam?" Tammy twisted around to eye Olivia from a counter stool. "You know it's not every day that a Cooper has the chance to marry a high and mighty Rutledge. Adam seems much more your type than Luke."

  "Luke's not even a remote possibility." Olivia pasted on a smile. Neither was Adam. She'd taken his week and stretched it to two and then three. Each week she turned him down. Each week he told her to take more time while he painted a rosy picture of the two of them as Colther County's leading couple.