by Nic Saint
“Oh? how’s that?”
“I’m not on this ship just for a holiday. I’m actually… trying to get away from something that’s been unfolding in my life as of late.”
He nodded, placing his hand on the table between them, and as she slid her own hand and placed it on top of his, he reached up and tangled his fingers in hers. It felt good to feel the warmth of his touch like this, perhaps even more than the kiss had.
“I thought as much. Look, Chloe. You really don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel like it. I mean, you don’t know me from Adam and it’s fine. It’s all fine.”
“No, I want to. The thing is, I was involved in some sort of scandal back home. Some reporters wrote some lies about me and my family. There was a huge backlash, the result of which was that I lost my job and almost all of my friends.” She shook her head as she remembered how much her life had taken a turn for the worse in such a short space of time.
“That must have been terrible,” he offered solicitously.
“That it was. And it’s not over yet. My brother is demanding a retraction and apology and hopes to restore the damage that was done to my reputation. But before that can happen, the media circus will likely be even worse this time around.”
“So you decided to bow out and take a break from it all.”
“Something like that.” She shrugged. “I needed some time away.”
“I understand.” His fingers gently played with hers, and the contact was so good she felt something relax deep inside her chest, a spring that had lain coiled up so tight—a tension she hadn’t even been aware of. “We all have baggage, Chloe. All of us.” He shrugged. “And we all have to find a way to deal with it one way or another.”
She was glad she’d told him. Even though she hadn’t fully divulged all the details of her past, at least she’d given him a look inside her heart and the dark secrets that haunted her. It was enough for now. Quite enough.
He’d known she was carrying a lot of baggage, and it didn’t deter him from pursuing her. Instinctively he’d known she wasn’t on this boat for touristic purposes only. She was escaping her past, he’d seen it in her eyes, in the way she carried herself. And now he knew what her past entailed. He didn’t care. He respected her wish to keep some or most of it to herself. The fact that she had divulged this much was a testament to the trust she placed in him, and he wouldn’t press her for more.
God knew he had his own secrets. But he’d buried those secrets a long time ago, had left all that stuff behind and had never once looked back. He’d never told anyone what had compelled him to move to The Last Frontier to start anew, and he wouldn’t tell Chloe.
The past was gone, left behind, and as far as he was concerned, this was the last time they’d ever speak of hers. She’d come here to forget, to start life afresh, and that’s what he would allow her to do.
He squeezed her hand. “Let’s not talk about the past anymore, Chloe. From here on out, let’s simply look to the future and forget all about what went before.” He had this crazy, silly hope that her future and his would be linked together somehow, but knew it was a long shot. An impossibly long one, in fact.
“I—I don’t know if I can do that, Jackson,” she honestly intimated. “I mean, I still have my family, and they’re working very hard right now to set the record straight about what happened. If they’re successful, I might be able to return and pick up where I left off.”
“Are you sure about that? In my experience, it’s very hard to pick up where you left off once things have shifted. Even ever so slightly.”
She thought about this, and saw that he was right. In fact, she’d been thinking the exact same thing herself. Even if Roland managed to get her name cleared, there would still be plenty of people back home who would prefer to believe the sordid lies and ignore the truth altogether, figuring that where there was smoke there was sure to be fire.
A vicious story like the one spread about her and her brother was like toothpaste squeezed from a tube. It was very hard to get it back in. Or, as her mom said, like a branch torn from a tree. It would never grow back.
Her life, she now realized for the first time, would never be the same again. People would still stare—rumors would still swirl—and she would never gain the respect from her peers quite the way she had before.
She would always be Chloe Thornton. The girl who’d made love to her brother.
Her reputation, such as it was, would never fully recover.
Chapter 5
“I don’t think you’re wrong, per se. But I don’t think you’re right, either.”
“That true?”
His eyes twinkled, and she knew she was in trouble again.
“All too true.”
They were up on the promenade deck, taking a ramble from bow to stern and back the other way, and catching some of the action that was going down there. Several couples were milling about, all bunched up in thick coats and colorful knit caps. The day had been overcast and colder than usual, but still the fresh air did her a world of good. She couldn’t stay indoors for too long, easily feeling cooped up.
“I think I’m right and you know it. Spending a couple of weeks up north would do you a world of good. This cruise is all nice and good, but in a couple of days you’ll be home and before you know it you’ll be stuck in the same rut again. Take my offer, and you might get a completely new lease on life.”
She held the railing, pretending to mull his offer over, while in actual fact she had already made up her mind. “New lease on life, huh? What are you, a life coach or something? That a sideline career for you?”
His face grew serious. “I just think you need to get away from it all. And I mean really get away. Not just for a week or a fortnight but for a couple of months.”
She guffawed. “Oh! Now it’s a couple of months? Just now it was weeks!”
He grinned, and she thought the slight flush mantling his cheeks made him look even more ridiculously handsome. “Weeks, months, years, those are just details, right? What I mean to say is you need a getaway and I could use someone to help me with interior design.” He held up his hands. “Business partners. That’s all I’m saying. You design it. I build it. At least until you get back on your feet and feel ready to return to the lion’s den.”
She didn’t let on how she really felt about his proposal. In her heart she’d already accepted it, but playing hard to get had never hurt anyone. “Business partners, huh? You make it sound so enticing. Is that how you get all the girls to do your bidding? By offering them to go halfsies in your building empire?”
He smirked. “The last girl I got up there ran away screaming when she realized there wasn’t a shopping mall or fitness club within a hundred mile radius. A real city girl, that one.”
“I’m a city girl. Never lived anywhere else my entire life.”
“And look what that did to you.”
She wavered again. Though the prospect of living out in the middle of nowhere for a while appealed to her, as did the notion of sharing house with this sturdy hunk for the unforeseeable future, she wondered how she would react to being without her creature comforts.
“Look, I’m not telling you to commit or sign an agreement or anything, Chloe. Way I see it? You come out with me and see how it goes. You don’t like it? I’ll pay for your return ticket to New York. No hard feelings. If you do? You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
“I would live with you? I mean, in the same house?”
He rubbed his beard. “Yeah, I thought that might be a problem. I can set you up in the place I’m building right now. I mean, it’s not completely finished yet, but it’s inhabitable, with bathroom, living room and kitchen ready for use.”
It was the escape clause she’d been searching for, she knew. She wouldn’t mind sharing his place, but if for some reason or another they didn’t get along, or if things grew awkward between them, she could live in the other place. Heck, if she loved it up there, she co
uld buy her own house and perhaps start her life over. It would be quite a novel experience for her. She’d never been away from her family for more than a couple of weeks. Still lived at home, even.
She turned to him, excitement making her giddy all of a sudden. Was she actually going to do this? Was she really this crazy? She knew she was. She placed both hands on his chest. “You know what? I’ll do it.”
His eyes went wide. “You will? Hey, that’s great!” Abruptly, he picked her up from the deck and squeezed her tight, releasing a holler of mirth. When he put her down again, he looked as excited as she was feeling. “You won’t regret this, Chloe. You’ll see. It’s so lovely out there and the people are so nice.”
“They won’t give me a hard time cause I’m not from around there?”
“Nope. Sure won’t. They’re the nicest bunch of folks you can possibly imagine. You’ll have plenty of friends before you know it.”
“I can’t wait,” she said with heartfelt sincerity. She’d been craving friendliness, she now realized. After the way she’d been treated back home, she desperately longed for a friendly face and the joy of gabbing with a dear friend about all and nothing in particular.
“I’ll make the arrangements—not to worry. The moment we step off the boat you can consider yourself my guest.”
She pressed her hand on his arm. “Thank you for this opportunity, Jackson. Really. I think it’s what I need right now. Some time away from it all. Time to lick my wounds and figure out what I want to do with my life.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to do just that.”
He whooped again, and she laughed, feeling joyful and excited for the first time in a very long time. In fact she couldn’t remember feeling this excited even before the incident that had sent her life into a tailspin. And even though her mind said it was probably nuts to follow this complete stranger into the middle of nowhere, her heart said otherwise. She knew she was doing the right thing. She simply knew.
She looked at his tall form and his sincere smile and felt her heart light up again. She briefly thought back to the simple kiss they’d shared, and suddenly felt an urge to continue the experiment. Then, realizing she would soon be sharing a house with his man, a shiver of anticipation coursed through her veins.
Sharing his house and, perhaps, his bed?
Chapter 6
Harlan de Montesquieu sat at his desk and stared before him, contemplating recent events. He’d just gotten word from one of his detectives that Jack Thornton was about to release a media campaign that would rain down hellfire on the HdM concern and might even topple the juggernaut Harlan had built.
Not only had Roland fond evidence linking him to the late Colombian drug lord Contador Bashar, but he was finally launching a campaign to clear Chloe Thornton’s name, besmirched in one of Harlan’s media blitzes, and name the source of the original sordid story as none other than Harlan himself.
All in all, it looked like a lousy week was ahead for the mogul. Once he’d been a real ladies’ man, but the years hadn’t been kind to Harlan. With his bushy eyebrows and fleshy, jowly face, he bore more resemblance to a toad than George Clooney. His hand automatically stole to the cigar box he kept on his mahogany desk, and he picked one of the fine Cubans from it, then lit it with the panther-shaped lighter and brought it to his lips, drawing the aroma deeply into his lungs.
No, things had definitely looked a lot better when he still had the upper hand. He now wondered if he hadn’t overdone things by releasing the Chloe pictures to that befriended journalist. It had enraged Roland, and been the impetus to send the man to Colombia in the first place, intent on destroying Harlan once and for all.
He blew out a plume of smoke, and looked up when his eldest stepped into the room.
“Dad. You’ve got to let me handle this,” Ty burst out the minute he set foot inside the office.
“What’s there to handle, son? They’ll claim we’ve got ties with Bashar. We’ll deny the whole story, dismissing it as a bunch of hooey, and we’ll all live to fight another day.”
Ty’s eyes widened. “They’ll bury us, Dad!” he exclaimed. “They’ve got genuine proof linking us to Bashar’s operation. The DEA will be all over us.”
“They won’t,” assured Harlan. “Not if they know what’s good for them.” He’d had the drug enforcement agency in his pocket for years, the power of a well-placed bribe having helped him reach the position he now held.
“But what about our space operation? How are we going to explain we kept a bunch of scientists locked up and slaving away in an underground silo in Nevada?”
“Conjecture,” shrugged Harlan. “Nothing but rumors and innuendo.”
Ty hit his fist in the palm of his hand. “They’ve got proof now, Dad. They’ve got Sumner, remember? They got him out of there and he’s willing to testify.”
“Son, do you really believe anyone is going to listen to that old coot? He’s clearly as mad as a hatter. We’ll spread a story about how he went nuts in Colombia. Jungle fever. Never underestimate the power of a well-told lie.”
Ty looked doubtful. “I don’t know, Dad. I have a feeling this triple attack won’t go away by our usual tactic of denial and counterattack. People might refuse to believe one story, but three? No matter how strongly we deny the charges, some of that mud will stick.” He gritted his teeth. “I should have killed that SOB Roland when I had the chance.”
Harlan cocked an eyebrow. “He almost killed you, if I’m not mistaken.”
Ty threw him a dirty look, his rage bubbling very near the surface now. “I can take on Roland Thornton any day.”
“Well, you did and you lost, so there’s that. Now, if there’s nothing else, I have a lot of work to do.”
Ty’s face displayed a sly smile that surprised Harlan. He recognized it. His son was up to one of his old tricks again. So the boy still had an ace up his sleeve.
“I just got off the phone with Nicholas Parcel.”
“The guy you’ve got following Chloe Thornton around?”
Ty, who could never be accused of not being thorough, had placed surveillance on each and every member of the Thornton brood, and when Chloe had left on her cruise, had sent one of his best men to trail after her.
“You’ll never guess whom the little bitch ran into on that ship.”
Harlan frowned. He didn’t like not being the one holding all the cards. “Who?”
Now it was Ty’s turn to keep the old man dangling. He studied his fingernails, all buffed and immaculately trimmed. “Just the guy who’s going to save us a lot of trouble.”
“Christ! Are you gonna tell me or what?” suddenly Harlan exploded.
Ty’s grin flickered as he told his father what had transpired on the Frontier Monarch.
Harlan’s eyes went wide. “That’s impossible!”
“It’s possible. In fact it gets better. She’s on her way over there right now.”
“You mean, she’s going to live with him? In Heartford?”
“Yup. Apparently they took quite a shine to each other. Parcel tells me they couldn’t keep their hands off each other those last couple of days.”
Harlan eyes darkened at this little piece of information. “The bitch!” he spat.
“Couldn’t agree more with you there, Pop. Thing is, this gives us the leverage we need to force Thornton to call off the dogs, don’t you think?”
Harlan nodded slowly. “I think it does. It would never do for one of Thornton’s to be associated with…” His voice trailed off as he ran through the ramifications of this unexpected twist in his mind. He instantly saw the snag. “What if they get married?” The prospect actually sickened him and his mouth twitched into an expression of contempt.
“Thornton will have to comply. No question.”
Harlan agreed, but realized his son hadn’t seen the complete picture the way he had. He eyed him fixedly. “But so will we,” he said softly. “Don’t you see? It would change everything.”
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Ty jerked his head up, the truth dawning on him. “Fuck, you’re right. We can’t allow this to happen, can we?”
Harlan shook his head slowly, his eyes shifting as his mind raced. “No, we can’t.” With the rapidity that had been the hallmark of his success, he finally said, “We allow it to play out for now. As you said, it will give us the short-term leverage we need. Then, once Thornton calls off the dogs, we nip that romance in the bud.”
He raised a hand to point to his eldest and most cruel of sons. “You will handle this personally. Go over there and make sure you’re in position when I give the order.”
Ty’s face fell. “Come on, Dad. You can’t be serious. Fucking Alaska? I’ll freeze my nuts off!”
Harlan grinned. “Just make sure you keep them exercised then. I’ve heard Alaskan women are pretty hot.”
“About as hot as the snow queen from that movie Frozen,” grumbled Ty, but knew better than to challenge his old man. Besides, Harlan knew Ty had some unfinished business with Chloe Thornton he wouldn’t mind returning to. Suddenly he felt a whole lot better about his future prospects. An avid poker player, he’d known he couldn’t prevent Jack Thornton from landing him a hard blow, and though HdM would have survived, it was better to stop his old enemy in his tracks before he even got started.
He now had an ace up his sleeve that would compel Jack to revise his plans altogether. He picked up the phone connecting him to his old rival, and when he heard the gruff voice of Thornton Sr. smiled like the victor he knew he was.
“Jack? Harlan. Thought I’d give you a heads-up on one of my pet projects.”
He tapped the ashes of his cigar into the human skull shaped ashtray and smirked widely.
Harlan’s threat proved efficacious. Jack Thornton, head of the family and Thornton Enterprises, sat stunned for a couple of minutes after the other had disconnected the call.
This simply couldn’t be, he thought. Life simply didn’t get this weird—and downright bizarre. And yet it apparently did.