The moment she set her head on the pillow, though, her eyes fluttered closed and she was lost….
Sometime later, she heard a knock and then footsteps brushing the carpeting and finally a softly whispered, “Hailey?”
Feeling as if she were floating in a dream, she couldn’t seem to open her eyes. She sensed someone standing over her…heard a clink on the nightstand…smelled the inviting fragrance of a spicy tea…knew when he leaned closer…felt his lips brush her cheek.
“Sleep well.”
Instinct turned her and before Bryce could retreat, she sleepily snaked her arms around his neck. “I need to thank you for saving my life.”
“You’re welcome.”
He started to pull away, but she didn’t let go.
“You don’t understand…” Pulling herself up against him, she hugged him tight, then kissed him. “Really, I need to do more than say the words.”
And kissed him again, this time pouring her emotion—her gratitude at being alive—into the embrace. He struggled to free himself, but she wouldn’t let go. She needed the contact, the proof that she was very much alive.
Groaning, he finally gave in and swayed down into her, pushing her back against the bed. The robe opened and he lay against her bared flesh.
“Hailey, this isn’t a good idea.”
“I need to thank you…to feel normal…”
Heat curled through her and she pressed her hips upward until she felt him harden against her flesh. Eyes closed, she rubbed herself against him, then moved his hand down her side and over her leg to the vee between her thighs. Hesitating only a second, he explored her wet warmth.
Incredible sensations flowed through her. She moved against his hand, couldn’t undo his pants fast enough. He was stroking her now, his fingers inside her echoing the rhythm of his tongue in her mouth. She wanted this…wanted him…wanted to prove that she was still alive.
Ready for him, she freed him from his clothing and led him to her opened thighs.
“Not yet,” he whispered, placing one hand over hers and showing her what he wanted her to do to him.
Hailey flushed as she manipulated him, his quick intake of breath exciting her as much as his exploring fingers. She watched his face, waited for his expression to change, anticipated the moment he was ready.
The immediate pressure at her entrance was sweet and life-affirming. Exactly what she needed, what they both needed, she thought as he pushed against her, and she pulled at his hips until he went in so deep that he filled her.
Needing him…needing every sensation that she could gather…she rubbed her breasts against his chest…wrapped her legs around his hips and lost herself in the act as he moved faster and harder until he brought them both to climax. Every inch of her flesh shuddered with release.
It was only after she floated down from the high, his weight pressing her into the bed, that she realized that while sex made her feel alive, it didn’t make her feel any safer.
She had to be honest, had to admit that someone had tried to kill her tonight.
What if he tried again?
Chapter Six
“My brother and one of my best friends get married and don’t even invite me to the wedding? What’s up with that?” Grania McKenna demanded after Hailey opened the door to Bryce’s apartment the next morning.
“Spur of the moment?” Hailey threw her arms around Grania who hugged her back, then, expression puzzled, pulled away to take a better look.
“I didn’t even know you two were seeing one another.”
“We weren’t.”
Grania frowned. “Then Bryce was serious when he said the marriage was strictly business?”
“Business for him, personal for me,” Hailey said, pulling her friend inside and closing the door. “Bryce saved Danny.”
Grania looked every bit a McKenna with spiked short auburn hair that set off her creamy complexion, freckled nose and sparkling green eyes.
“Danny? What does he have to do with anything? I don’t get it, Hailey. Bryce said you were married yesterday, then you had some kind of trouble last night and that now you needed a friend.”
Had he now? What was Bryce up to? Hailey wondered.
“Did the two of you have a fight or something? On your wedding night?”
“No, not exactly.”
Hailey hoped Grania didn’t bring up any intimate questions. As it was, after last night, she could hardly look at Bryce. She’d forced herself on the man and then had fallen asleep again. When she’d awakened at dawn, he had already escaped to his own room. Now they were both acting like nothing had happened between them. Nothing really had, she told herself, other than a physical release they’d both needed. They’d had gratitude sex. That’s all it had been.
“Grania?” Bryce called from the kitchen. “Come on in. Coffee’s ready.”
“Doughnuts?” Grania asked, sweeping past Hailey.
“Of course. I know what puts my little sister in a good mood.”
Grania looked back. “I want details. All of them.”
Not knowing what exactly her new husband had told his sister, Hailey hid her discomfort. “I think you’d better ask Bryce.”
“Now that doesn’t sound good at all.”
Grania made no bones about getting the details from Bryce. And Bryce didn’t seem in the least uncomfortable admitting he married Hailey to get financial backing from James Croft and in return paid off Danny’s gambling debt.
“I don’t believe it! How could you?” Grania demanded of him.
“We’re both adults.”
“Marriage is supposed to be about love and commitment.”
“I am committed.”
“For the wrong reason!”
“Thank you for your opinion, but it’s my life.” Bryce moved closer to Hailey and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Our lives.”
Grania stared at Hailey, who itched to move away from Bryce. She kept getting hit with flashes of the things they’d done to each other the night before. The things they would probably never discuss. Or do again, more was the pity.
“Hailey, why didn’t you tell me about Danny needing money?” Grania asked. “I would have helped you figure something out.”
“Danny called when I was at the party for Croft the other night. Bryce found me right after the call. I was so upset. I had no idea of how I was going to put my hands on a hundred thousand dollars. Bryce came up with the solution.”
“A hundred thousand…?” Grania aimed her disapproval at her brother. “So you forced her to marry you?”
“He didn’t force me to do anything,” Hailey said, remembering the way Bryce had made her touch him. She felt her ears grow hot.
“Then what do you call it?” Grania asked.
“A business deal,” Bryce said. “Many marriages are based on something other than love, finances being the most common reason.” He checked his watch. “Speaking of which, I need to get to a meeting. I’ll be gone for a couple of hours. Will you be here when I get back?”
His sister stared at him. “I guess I will.”
“You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to,” Hailey told her, glaring at Bryce. She knew exactly what he was up to. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“What am I missing here?” Grania asked.
“Hailey almost drowned last night. An attacker threw her into the river and I had to go in after her.”
“What? Who?”
“We don’t know, but Reilly’s on the case. I have to go or I’ll be late.”
He gave Hailey a swift kiss on the cheek, making her heart thud the moment his lips touched her flesh. Her mouth wanted the feel of his, the fullness of his tongue inside. The fullness of his sex inside her, too.
Bryce said, “Don’t let her get you into any trouble.”
Did he mean her? Or Grania? Whichever…Hailey flushed at the bawdy thoughts she couldn’t keep at bay. Kissing his sister on the cheek the way he had her, Bryce sw
ept out of the room. Seconds later, Hailey heard the front door open and close.
Taking a big bite of doughnut, Grania washed it down with a swallow of coffee. Then she said, “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Pick something.”
“This marriage. How could you do it?”
“I had to. For Danny.”
Grania shook her head but didn’t say anything. Hailey was certain her friend wanted to give her the tough-love speech, but for a woman who normally put everything on the line, Grania was holding back.
Finally, she said, “I can’t believe Bryce. If he wasn’t my brother, I would—”
“Don’t blame him. I’m so grateful that he helped Danny out of a tough spot. If Bryce hadn’t come up with the money, I would have had to sell my house. If I could have.”
“Bryce could have loaned you the money.”
“He didn’t owe me anything, Grania. As far as a loan is concerned—” Hailey shook her head “—I couldn’t have accepted. This way we both got something we needed.” She poured herself a cup of coffee, saying, “I understand why Bryce wanted a wife right now…but I don’t understand why he said he would never marry for love.”
“I told you about the prophecy.”
“Come on, Bryce doesn’t seem like the kind of man who believes in curses.”
“Bad things have happened to the McKennas, Hailey. To us. Mom just left the house one evening never to be seen again. She vanished into the rainy night. Dad hired private investigators, but they never got a lead on where she might have gone. There was no trace of her or of her car, and Bryce took it the hardest. He felt responsible.”
“Responsible? How?”
“I don’t know. He was away at school, so what could he have done? He would never explain. Maybe it has something to do with his being the oldest. He has always taken on extra responsibility for all of us. What I do know is that he was brokenhearted and swore he would never marry, would never fall in love, because he never wanted to be responsible for putting someone else in danger.”
A fact that softened Hailey toward Bryce. She’d been angry with him because of his attitude toward Danny. She’d thought family was simply not important to him. She’d been wrong.
What else had she been wrong about?
JAMES Croft was already waiting when Bryce entered the restaurant.
“Well, good morning,” Croft said, shaking Bryce’s hand. “You look like you’ve had a night full of action.”
Thinking Croft had somehow found out about the river incident, Bryce said, “You know what happened?”
“I have a good idea. It might be years since I got married, but I still remember I didn’t sleep much that first night.”
A woman who looks like that—he’s crazy if he slept at all.
Bryce forced a smile when he heard Croft’s thoughts concerning bedroom action. Indeed, that had taken up most of Bryce’s night. Not the doing, which had been spectacular if short, but the hours afterward he’d spent torturing himself. He’d never meant to break his pact with Hailey. Apparently she’d been feeling needy after the scare she’d had, and he had gone right along with it. She would be all right, he told himself. He wasn’t in love with her. She was safe from the prophecy. Neither of them had spoken of what had happened between them, and he’d felt a little awkward around her this morning. Hopefully, an apology would ease the tension.
Realizing Croft was staring at him as if waiting for something, Bryce tried tuning into his thoughts, but as usual, he couldn’t force the issue. He heard what he heard when the fates deemed. “Sorry, I guess I am a little worn out.”
“No problem. I already ordered for us. I hope you are a steak-and-egg man. Red meat will give you energy.”
“Sounds perfect.” The man was so controlling, he even had to tell him what to eat. Hiding his irritation under yet another forced smile, Bryce opened his briefcase. “I hope you’re in the mood to sign a contract.”
He handed the packet to Croft, who barely looked at it before slipping it into his own briefcase. “I can do this later.”
“I thought you would have a lot of questions for me.”
“Let my lawyer look over the paperwork first. I’m sure he’ll have a few.”
“Then it’s settled?”
“Nothing is settled until the papers are signed. Let’s talk about something else.”
Bryce clenched his jaw and hoped his frustration didn’t show. He’d done everything he could to win over Croft. He’d even taken advantage of an old friend. And now Croft wanted to talk about something else?
“So when are you leaving for Lake Geneva?” the man asked.
“This afternoon,” Bryce said. “Why? Can your lawyer expedite the process if I stick around for another day?”
“I don’t think that’s going to be possible. I have a few things to take care of tomorrow. And then I’d like to come back to Lake Geneva myself in a couple of days, have your new wife take me to look at some properties. Will she be up to that?”
Despite her experience and what had gone on the night before, Hailey had seemed to be herself that morning.
“I don’t see why not,” Bryce said.
“Including Widow’s Peak?”
The man was obsessed with a place he’d never seen. What was that about?
“That would be up to Hailey.”
“Did she get the Anderson brothers to agree to let her handle the sale of the estate?”
Seeing that the very idea lifted Croft’s mood, Bryce said, “Things in real estate don’t necessarily work that fast, but I’ll do what I can to help speed up the process.”
Chapter Seven
“Croft wants to see Widow’s Peak,” Bryce told Hailey when they hit the outskirts of Lake Geneva late that afternoon.
Croft had been on Bryce’s mind the whole drive, Hailey thought. Or maybe he’d chosen to talk about something that left no room for what had happened between them the night before. It was just as well even though she couldn’t put it out of her mind any more than she could being thrown in the river. Every time she touched the cell phone he’d bought to replace her ruined one, she was reminded of what could have happened if Bryce hadn’t followed her.
As difficult as it was to switch gears from almost drowning followed by her foolish seduction of Bryce, she had to get her mind back to her normal life, Hailey thought. And somehow, she put up a good front.
“I don’t even know if the estate will be for sale yet,” she said.
“You probably should call Ray as soon as we get back in town, see if he’s talked his brother into letting go of the property.”
“I’ll make a follow-up call, certainly, but I don’t want to pressure Mike. He was less than thrilled that I felt…well…things in the house.”
“Felt what? You mean a spirit?”
His skeptical tone made her clench her jaw. She took a big breath and said “His aunt…for one.”
“There was more than one?”
A shiver shot through Hailey as she thought about how she’d had to force herself to go inside. “I sensed something dark and very scary the moment I stepped foot on the porch.”
“Dark and scary how?”
“I think someone died there.”
“That shouldn’t be a surprise,” Bryce said. “The house is more than a century old. Back in the old days, before we had so many hospitals, people died at home.”
“True. This felt different somehow…I can’t explain it.”
“It’s possible your mood affected you. Your brother had just gotten a death threat and you were worried about him. That could have been preying on your mind.”
“I hope you’re right, Bryce. I hope nothing terrible happened at Widow’s Peak in the past.”
“If you find out it did, please don’t share that with Croft.”
Her jaw clenched again. Now he was trying to tell her how to run her business? That wasn’t going to fly.
She couldn’t help her stiff tone
. “There’s a little thing in real estate called disclosure.”
“That applies to things like a furnace that doesn’t work properly or electrical problems or black mold, not to stigmatization due to anything that happened on the property.”
Bryce actually sounded indignant, Hailey thought. As if he had a personal stake in the issue. Which, considering James Croft’s interest, she guessed he did.
She asked, “How would you feel if I sold you a property where I knew something terrible had happened and didn’t tell you?”
“But you don’t know anything about what might have happened at Widow’s Peak for certain.”
“I know what I sensed.”
“What good would it do to tell Croft that other than make him think negatively about the estate? Maybe make him not want to buy it.”
Maybe make Croft not want to sign with Bryce? Hailey frowned. Of course, Croft—his reason for fighting her on this. How far would he go to make this deal? She was beginning to think he cared so much about money that he would do anything.
“How does Croft even know the estate will be to his liking?” she asked.
“He won’t know until he sees it. He wants what he wants and he usually gets it.” Bryce’s words were thick with tension. “So I would appreciate your doing whatever you can to make it happen.”
“I understand you want Croft on board, Bryce, and I’m certainly willing to help you if I can, but surely if it doesn’t go through, it’s not the end of the world.”
“The deal has to go through.”
“Having money is great,” she said, “but not when it changes a person so that that’s all that matters to him.”
Bryce didn’t respond. Hailey sensed a shift in atmosphere. He closed himself off from her and focused on the road ahead. Suddenly she realized he’d gone straight through town and was heading for Williams Bay.
“Wait a minute!” Hailey protested. “You passed up my place.”
“What, did you need to stop for something?”
“Um…it’s my home.”
“Not anymore.”
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