Bed of Lies

by Paula Roe

  She had something she had to do—if it wasn’t too late.

  Of course, she had as much chance of making it past security and up to Jackson and Blair’s executive floors as she had winning the lottery. After three messages and twenty minutes, Beth had to face the fact that Luke had more important things to do than return her calls.

  She left the way she came, completely ignored by the scattering of reporters milling around the entrance.

  After a ninety-minute drive, Beth checked the house, even though she didn’t expect him to be there. Standing still in the cool, long entrance, breathing in the scents and memories, she forced herself to pretend that everything was fine, that this place was still hers. But of course, it wasn’t. And whether she chose to accept it now or in three months—nearly two, now—when her lease expired, the result would be the same.

  It was never really hers to begin with.

  With that final thought, she finally managed to wrench herself away.

  As she locked the door behind her, her phone rang.

  “Beth. It’s Luke.” As if she wouldn’t know that deep voice reverberating in her ear. It was burned in her memory. “I’m at your store. Where are you?”

  “At the house. What are you doing there?” Her heart began to thump harder.

  “Stay put. I’m coming to you.”

  It felt like twenty hours by the time his shiny silver car pulled up in the driveway, time enough for every possible, painful scenario to play out in her head and twist her stomach into knots.

  Then he was out of the car and everything fizzled away at the sight of his tall, dark figure dressed in an expensive suit—just like on the first day she saw him.

  Her throat was so dry her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She swallowed thickly. There was no way she was going to cry. She’d remained dry-eyed at her mother’s funeral and through Ben’s betrayal. Even in her darkest moments, five bucks away from poverty, she’d kept it together.

  “You didn’t need to come out to see me,” she finally said.

  “I didn’t want to talk over the phone.” His expression was unreadable.

  Oh. “You flew down to Melbourne to find Ben,” she blurted out.

  “I did.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I made you a promise.”

  Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, making it hard to breathe. Until he said gently, “Is that why you’ve been calling me, Beth?”

  Her chin went up as she summoned all her nerve. “I wanted to apologize.”

  “For what?” He looked confused.

  “When you told me about my mother. I…shut you down. I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t need to apologize for that,” he said. “Some people handle grief by pushing away those who care about them.”

  “You…care about me?” she said faintly.

  “You know I do.”

  She was sailing on unchartered waters here and suddenly that nerve left her. She glanced down and spotted his raw, torn knuckles. With a faint exclamation, she nodded to his hand. “You didn’t hit anyone, did you?”

  “I was fixing that broken step on the front porch.” He flexed his fingers.

  “Oh. I thought you might have decked a reporter.”

  A wry smile twitched his lips. “Only in my dreams.”

  He looked so gorgeous, so noble, that Beth wanted to touch him. She even took a step forward, her hand raised until she realized her folly and instead, laid her palm on the throbbing pulse at her throat.

  “I had a long talk with Rosa,” he said. “I took your advice and bared my soul.” Beth thought she saw a glint of something before his expression dropped back into cool impassiveness. “She doesn’t blame me for Gino.”

  “Of course not.” Beth shook her head.

  He paused, waiting. Finally she said, “I read in the papers you have the full backing of your Board of Directors.”

  His smile was brief. “Don’t believe everything you read.”

  “But it’s true, right?” At his nod, she added, “So that’s good. Now you can move forward, put all this behind you.”

  He gave her a long, searching look then said slowly, “And how are you doing?”

  “I’m…okay.”

  “Just okay?”

  Beth hesitated, the faint, familiar taste of fear clogging her throat. Why should this be easy? If anyone was to attempt to mend things, it should be her.

  But who knew it could be this difficult?

  “I wanted to thank you for everything. I know I didn’t handle a lot of it well, but I just wanted to…well…”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I mean, you didn’t have to help me, to put yourself out like that. But you’ve done more than enough and—”

  “You really don’t get it, do you, Beth?”

  For a second he watched her with curious intensity, then said, “I never wanted to force you from your home. You should move back in.”

  As if she could ever live there again without thinking of him. As if she could sleep in her bed without remembering the feel of his skin or him making love to her.

  A sudden burst of longing jolted her so hard she ached.

  Anyone else would’ve taken her silence for refusal. Not Luke. With a scowl he said, “You still want me out.”

  “No, I—”

  “Look.” He placed his hands on his hips, classic spoiling-for-a-fight stance. “I know I can’t promise you the kind of anonymity you’ve been used to. The fact is, I’m part of the Corelli family and they’ve always attracted attention. But I do know we have something good—something damn amazing, actually, and I would like to continue that.”

  She stared at him for a second before finally finding her tongue. “You’re asking me to move in with you?”

  “Well—” he gave her a sudden grin “—technically, you haven’t yet moved out.”

  She was speechless. Literally speechless.

  “Is it so hard to believe I care about you, Beth?” he asked quietly. “That I’d want to help you without any ulterior motive? Hey.” He suddenly looked alarmed. “You’re not going to cry, are you?”

  “No.” She blinked and smiled weakly.

  “You are.”

  “Fine, I am. It’s the shock, okay? I’ve been trying to wrap my head around everything and then you go and do—” she sniffed “—something like this.”

  “Beth. Cara. Don’t cry.”

  “No, let me finish. I was— Oh, I still am kind of angry at you for going through my things—”

  His mouth thinned. “And I’ve apologized for that.”

  “I know. And I probably would have done exactly the same in your situation.” She took a deep breath then gave a watery smile. “Damn, this is difficult.”

  “So let me make it easy for you. Come back, Beth.”

  Misgiving tugged at Luke as the seconds ticked by and she remained still, just stared at the ground, shaking her head. Stubbornly, he waited, as if by staring at her he could will her into an admission.

  She finally glanced up, wide-eyed and begging understanding. Those long elegant fingers skimmed her throat again. The gesture touched him more than he ever thought possible. “I won’t settle for just casual sex, Luke.”

  “Neither will I.”

  He went to her and took her hands, gritting his jaw as he felt an uncharacteristic tremble in his. His legs, his hip, bumped into hers, and suddenly all he could hear was the roar of his heartbeat echo in his ears. With a thick swallow and a silent prayer, he looked into her face. The wide-eyed expectancy tempered with caution only made his blood pound harder.

  “Beth. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think I love you.”

  “You think?”

  He cleared his throat then tried again. “I miss you. You’re all I can think about. And I want you in my bed and my life. Come back, okay?”

  “Luke…” Lord, the look on her face was killing him a thousand times over. “It would never work. My pa
st, your career—”

  “You know what? Screw that.” He grabbed her arms, deadly serious. “They’re just excuses, Beth, and you know it. If we want to make it work, we can. I want you. I want nights staring out at the stars. I want to make love to you with the taste of wine still on your lips. I want your bra draped over the shower curtain, your face cream dominating the sink…I want to eat lasagna on your battered kitchen table.”

  His voice dropped lower, almost shaky. “And if you can’t see that then you’re not the smart, fearless person I thought you were.”

  He paused, totally vulnerable, totally exposed. The seconds ticked by as Beth searched his face, her wide green eyes staring right into the deepest part of his soul.

  And slowly, he saw those eyes fill.

  “You want everything I thought you’d run a mile from?” she asked, her voice shaky and uncertain.

  He took her left hand in his, bare hope shredding his confidence. He’d never been this nervous before, never pinned his hopes on just one little answer.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Beth choked back a laugh as her eyes spilled over, her hands going to her mouth. Then she curled her arms around his neck and melted against his heat, giving in to the urgent need to touch him, hold him, because maybe this was just a dream and it would all be gone when she woke up. But this was real, as real as Luke’s warm gaze washing over her, and the faint residue of the past deflating like a long-forgotten party balloon.

  “Say it again.”

  “I love you, Beth.” He pulled back slightly. “Unless it’s Taylor?”

  “I haven’t been her in a long time,” she replied firmly. “Taylor Stanton was my past. Beth Jones is my life now.”

  His warm breath on her mouth was real. The soft, deep words curling around her heart were real.

  And the shot of pure pleasure sending her thoughts haywire was definitely real. She inched her lips up to his but gave a soft murmur when he leaned away from her kiss.

  “And?” Luke prompted.

  “And what?”

  “Say it.”

  She felt herself flush. “I was getting to it. I love you, too.”

  He tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “I was wondering when you’d come to your senses.”

  “Were you now?”

  “That’s a fact. I was waiting in hope.”

  “For how long?” Her eyes searched his.

  “Tomorrow was your last day—until Ben showed up.” He grinned. “Then I was going to storm into your store and talk you around.”

  “Talk, huh.” Beth harrumphed. “More like demand.”

  “Woman, I hope you’re not going to nag when we’re living in sin.”

  Her protest was laughingly silenced with Luke’s mouth. When he finally drew his lips from hers, Beth knew she had been well and truly kissed.

  “I love you, Beth. Even when you’re yelling at me and picking fights, I love you. I want you to say it again.”

  After that kiss she was willing to admit to anything. “I love you, too. And I’m sorry—”

  “Shh…” He put a fingertip to her lips. “You’ve said it already.”

  She drew his hand firmly away. “I was wrong not to trust you. I let my past and the people in it influence my judgment instead of thinking for myself.”

  “Ah, Beth. I made mistakes, too.” He still couldn’t get used to saying the words, so he said them again with emphasis, in between kisses. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

  She laughed, a wonderful sound that filled every part of him with joy.

  “And I’d like to be with you if and when you decide you want to meet your sister. You don’t have to be alone.”

  She looked into his eyes, saw the fierce fire behind those dark depths and her breath caught.

  “I’m not alone anymore. And I would love to have you with me.”

  Luke ran his hand across her cheek, nuzzled her shoulder and began to chuckle softly.

  Beth tilted her face to his. “Something funny?”

  Luke grinned. “For once, the press got something right.”

  “Hmm?” Beth was placing soft kisses on each corner of his mouth.

  “Yeah. Today I am lucky.”

  She laughed with him. “And,” she added with a devilish light in her eyes, “I’ll make sure I remind you. Every single day.”

  Epilogue

  What the small wedding lacked in size, it more than made up for in emotion. The bride glowed in a simple off-white satin slip, and the groom wore a fine dark gray wool suit with a snowy cravat and a deep blue silk shirt.

  In the backyard of the Corelli estate, the guests gathered under a canopy designed to keep the airborne reporters at bay. Private security saw to the horde of uninvited press on the grounds.

  Beth’s friends mingled, talked and drank with the Corellis like any ordinary family gathering in the early December morning. And when the happy couple spoke their vows, not a dry eye was present. The celebrant pronounced them man and wife and they kissed long and hard. Rosa beamed, Connor and the rest of Luke’s friends laughed and cheered. Even Marco couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

  But the person who was smiling the most was Luke. The gaming commission had publicly announced its verdict earlier on in the week—cleared of all charges. Of course, as Jackson and Blair’s newest vice president, that may have held some sway.

  He glanced down at Beth, all aglow and grinning, and his heart caught, all thoughts of work scattering on the summer breeze. No, that definitely wasn’t the best thing. Because today, he wasn’t just getting a wife: in seven months, he’d be a brand-new father.

  And finally, everything was perfect.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781459220669

  Copyright © 2012 by Paula Roe

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