by Deanna Chase
“Sure, man. No problem.” Without missing a beat, Brian moved toward the front door. Just as he opened it, he said, “Let me move the SUV into the driveway then I’ll help you out.”
“But what about your date?” Silas asked then grimaced when he met Shannon’s stormy gaze. “Never mind.”
“What date? Who is this man?” Gigi asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
Shannon threw her hands up. “He’s my date, Mother. But we can reschedule.”
Brian glanced back at her, giving her a reassuring smile, and then disappeared outside.
“That man is your date?” Gigi asked Shannon, her expression calculating. “Is he the reason you won’t come home to Los Angeles?”
“Los Angeles isn’t my home,” Shannon said, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. Her mother only heard what she wanted to hear.
Gigi waved a dismissive hand, barely sparing Levi a glance as she gracefully lowered herself into the overstuffed chair. “Aren’t you going to offer me a drink?”
Shannon lost it. “It’s your house, remember? Besides, someone needs to get your luggage. I guess that’d be me, right? Silas shouldn’t go outside. Not after the circus that was just here. They could still be out there waiting. So if you want a drink, the kitchen is that way.” She pointed to the back of the house. “Just in case you forgot where it was.”
Gigi’s eyes narrowed, and she gave her daughter a disapproving frown. “Shannon, there is no reason to be rude.”
I could say the same to you. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them. Fighting wasn’t going to do anything but give her a migraine. “Where is the key to your rental?”
Gigi held a key fob out to her daughter even as she turned her attention to Silas. “I hope you enjoyed your little weekend escape. But you know it’s time to get back to work.”
Silas glared at her in icy silence.
She sighed. “Don’t pull that television-star-diva crap on me, Si. We both know how that’s going to end.”
Levi cleared his throat.
Silas and Gigi both turned to look at him.
“Do you need something?” Silas asked, the icy mask suddenly replaced with concern as he rested one hand on Levi’s forearm.
Levi glanced down at Silas’s hand before gently removing it. “I just need help getting outside. Then you two can have your conversation in private.”
Silas’s shoulders hunched, and Shannon knew he’d felt that silent rejection deeply. Despite his flirty, extrovert persona, he’d always been sensitive. He probably knew he’d messed up when he called Levi the lawn guy. But Shannon knew exactly why he’d done that. He hadn’t wanted Gigi to get the idea that Levi was someone he cared about. Or even someone that he had potential to care about. It was safer for Levi if he wasn’t on Gigi’s radar at all. He’d be either dismissed or used in whatever plan she had to control Silas. But Levi couldn’t know that. Not after only knowing Silas for a couple of days.
Brian strode back in. “Okay, ready, Levi?”
Levi nodded.
Silas held out a hand. Levi hesitated for a moment but then took it and the one Brian held out for him before hauling himself up while standing on his good leg. The pair of them let him lean on them as he hobbled out on one leg.
Gigi turned to Shannon. “What’s going on there?”
“Levi and Silas are just friends, Mom. They went hiking today, and Levi sprained an ankle. There’s really nothing to talk about.”
“They went hiking?” Her voice rose a few octaves, and she sat up straight in the chair, color rising on her angular cheeks. “Silas risked his physical health by going hiking? I told you how detrimental it would be to his reality show if he were to end up flat on his back for a few weeks. The activities we already have planned would be out of the question!”
Shannon ignored her rant and went back into the kitchen. The dinner she’d made was still warming in the oven. So much for a romantic dinner for two. The pesto salmon wouldn’t taste nearly as good if she had to share it with her mother. Shannon’s stomach lurched with the idea of eating anything.
Frustrated, she turned the oven off, pulled the pan out of the oven, and then grabbed a glass and the nearest bottle of wine. After taking a swig right out of the bottle, she poured some into the glass and took it to her mother, who’d followed the boys outside and was standing on the porch, staring at Brian’s SUV. Or rather, she was staring at Silas, who was standing next to the passenger door and talking to Levi through the open window.
Nosy much? Shannon contemplated downing the glass of wine, but instead pressed it into her mother’s hand and took off for the rented Mercedes sitting next to the SUV in her driveway.
“Let me do that for you,” Brian said, meeting her at the trunk of the rental car.
She glanced over at him. “You don’t have to do that. It’s nice of you to take Levi home. I’m sure the last place he wants to be is here with Bellatrix.”
Brian chuckled. “No worries. Levi and Silas are working some things out, so I have a few minutes to spare.” He gave her a small smile. “I’m sorry our date was interrupted.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Shannon said. “I had no idea she would show up tonight. She threatened to come up here, but since she hasn’t been here in over a decade, I thought it was mostly bluster. Besides, Silas’s deadline to fall into step was tomorrow. I figured we’d get at least one more threatening phone call before she pounced.” She tugged an oversized suitcase out of the trunk. She grunted when she realized the thing weighed more than she did.
“I’ve got this one. You get the two smaller ones,” Brian said.
Shannon retrieved the rest of the luggage, and together they hauled it inside.
“Where do you want this?” Brian asked.
Shannon cringed. Where was she going to put her mother? She really had no choice, did she? “Upstairs. The room on the right.”
She followed him to the second floor to the master bedroom. The cottage was only a two-bedroom house. The only place to put her mother was in her room. Silas already had the spare. That left Shannon on the couch.
“This is your room, isn’t it?” Brian asked.
Shannon nodded and stared at the bed. Her cheeks flushed with heat as she remembered changing the sheets that morning just in case the date turned into more than dinner. At least she didn’t need to do anything to prepare for her mother to sleep there. Well… she might need to remove a few things from her nightstand. If her mother found them, she’d die of embarrassment.
Brian gave her his trademark mischievous grin. “My door is open if you need another place to sleep. I have a really comfortable bed.”
“That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?” she asked, returning his grin even as she shook her head.
“What? I was talking about my guest room. But if you prefer to cuddle, I can make room for you in my king-size bed.” He stepped in close and ran his thumb over her cheek. “In fact, I think that sounds like the best idea I’ve had all day.”
“Tell me something, Brian,” Shannon whispered.
“Anything.”
She tilted her head to the side and studied him. “How many times have you thought about getting me into your bed today?”
“Probably about twice as many times as you thought of getting me into yours,” he said with a laugh.
“So… that’s what you spent most of the day thinking about then?” she teased.
“You got it.” He brushed a soft kiss over her lips. “Call me when you get a chance or if you just need to vent. Once your mother is out of your hair, we’ll reschedule. And let me know if Friday is still on.”
“Friday is still on,” she said. “Even if she’s still here bothering us, I’m going. It’s the bet, right?”
“I was going to let you bend the rules a little considering the extenuating circumstances.”
Shannon shook her head. She wasn’t going to let her mother ruin this too. “Nope. Rules are rule
s. Where are you taking me?”
“A Touch of Magic,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “Special couple’s massage. You up for it?”
She swallowed hard, imagining him naked under the massage table’s sheet. “You’re serious?”
“Yep.” His eyes glinted as he continued. “They started something new for date night packages. Catered romantic dinners on the patio, massages and one other service of the couple’s choice.”
She laughed. “You mean like pedicures or facials?”
“Sure. Or body scrubs, wraps, meditation. I’ll let it be your choice.”
Most of the tension that had arrived with her mother vanished as she imagined relaxing at the spa later that week with Brian by her side. “You’re something else. You know that, right?”
“Something annoying? Ridiculous? Extra?” he asked, barely holding back his own laughter.
“Something special,” she whispered and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him again.
Chapter Thirteen
Brian sat at his breakfast counter, nursing a cup of coffee. His head was killing him, and he silently berated himself for having one too many glasses of wine the night before. After he’d gotten Levi home and set up on his couch with everything he’d need from water to snacks, Brian had gone home, and instead of eating dinner, he drank it.
The scene at Shannon’s house had been something out of a bad romantic comedy. The paparazzi mess was one tier of crazy, but Shannon’s mother was a whole other level of insanity. The woman was everything about his life he’d been happy to leave behind in southern California. She was selfish, rude, pretentious, and was obviously tearing Silas up. Shannon hadn’t been thrilled to see her, but Brian could see that Shannon had years of training in handling the woman. She’d be all right. Brian just wished there was something he could do to make the situation better for both of them.
His smartphone went off right at the same time as his office line. He groaned, pressing a palm to his forehead. When was the painkiller he took going to kick in?
He glanced at his smartphone and promptly ignored it when he saw Cara’s name flashing on the screen. And he seriously considered letting the business line go to voicemail, but he didn’t like doing that. If there was one thing he was good at, it was running his business and staying accessible to his business partners.
“Brian Knox,” he said into the phone while rubbing one temple.
“Brian!” his father barked. “What in the hell do you not understand about laying low until this deal is done?”
Brian pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it as if it could tell him why his father was so pissed. When he heard his father ranting again, he put the phone up to his ear and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Have you not gone online yet this morning? It’s everywhere,” his father said. “Open GNT. That will give you the worst of it.”
“GNT? The gossip blog?” Brian asked. The site’s official name was Gossip n Tea, and it seemed to break all the juiciest celebrity news first these days. “Why would I want to go there?”
“Because you’re in the headline. Seems the ex-southern California playboy has found love with Silas Ansell’s big sister.” He’d taken on a mocking tone, indicating that his father was reading straight from the headline.
Brian’s stomach rolled with unease as he pulled the webpage up. Sure enough, the headline indicated that he and Shannon were an item, and below it they’d inserted a picture of the two of them holding hands outside of her house with Silas at the SUV, talking with Levi. It had been taken when Shannon walked him back out to his SUV after bringing in her mother’s luggage. “Son of a…” He let out a growl. “I thought the paparazzi had already left.”
“You know better than that, son,” his father said, sounding annoyed. “That’s not all. There’s big news of Silas Ansell suing for emancipation, so this story isn’t going to go away any time soon. I’m assuming his sister is the woman you told me about? The one you’re bringing to Brittany’s wedding?”
“Yes.” How had news gotten out about Silas? Lorna would never betray a client’s trust. Not to mention that, according to Shannon, Silas had decided against suing his parents and instead was just going to wait it out until his birthday. “It’s not true, Dad. Silas isn’t suing his parents.”
“Doesn’t matter. You know how the rumor mill works. As long as there is something to talk about, they’ll report it even if facts don’t line up. I need you to get down here today. Manchester has lost his mind over there, and we have a mess to clean up.”
A strong sense of déjà vu washed over him. Hadn’t they already had this conversation? “We already talked about this. I don’t care what Manchester says or does. I’m not going anywhere. I have commitments here.” It was the complete truth. He was giving a drum lesson to Levi later that day, unless the teenager decided to stay home and rest his ankle. He’d have to wait and see.
“You’re about to care. The man is threatening to file a fraud suit against both of us if we can’t get him to back down,” his father said.
“Fraud? What? Why?” Brian was so perplexed he couldn’t even seem to form coherent thoughts.
“It’s a totally bogus lawsuit, but the man has more money than Warren Buffet. If he wants to waste some of it to make our lives hell, that’s what he’s going to do. The Knox Corporation can withstand the blow if it comes to that. Can yours?”
The answer was unequivocally no. His company could not withstand a drawn-out lawsuit, no matter how frivolous. He just didn’t have the kind of reserves that the Knox Corporation did. Brian was mostly a one-man show with a few customer service reps who were individual contractors. “So what do you propose? You want me to come down there and beg him not to sue me? That’s not going to work.”
“You need to get down here and work something out with Cara so she’ll call him off. That’s what you need to do. And you need to stop ignoring her calls. I’m setting up a meeting for tomorrow morning. Get on the next available flight. Your mother and I will be expecting you.”
Brian let out a sigh of defeat. “Fine. I’ll text you my flight information.”
“Good. And Brian?”
“Yeah, Dad?”
His father cleared his throat. “Have you ever had a relationship with Cara? Physical or otherwise?”
“No.”
“I see.” His father paused before adding, “You don’t deserve this, and I’m sorry I ever bought into the idea that you and Cara would be a good match. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We’ll work it out. See you tonight.”
Stunned, Brian didn’t say anything at first. Then he mimicked his father, clearing his own throat, and said, “Thanks.”
After Brian ended the call with his father, he picked up his smartphone and frowned when he saw that Cara had called three times and left numerous texts. They were all a version of her begging him to call her. She said it was important and she couldn’t believe he’d done this to her. The entire thing was crazy, and he wanted to throw his phone against the wall. But that wouldn’t solve anything. Instead, he took a deep breath and called her back.
“Brian!” Cara practically screamed into the phone. “What are you trying to do to me?”
“I’m not doing anything to you, Cara. Why is your father threatening to sue me and my father? You don’t honestly think that’s the best way to get my attention, do you?” He was spitting mad, and he knew chewing her out probably wasn’t a good idea. But dammit, his dad was right; he didn’t deserve this.
“You’re making me look like a fool,” she whispered into the phone, sounding as if she was moments away from crying.
“How? I don’t understand. So our families made a few mentions about us becoming a power couple. That has never translated into us being a couple. One date to a wedding doesn’t suddenly morph into a relationship.”
“I know that,” she said, sniffling. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I was asked to be interviewed for Cali
Style recently, and the article came out today. I might have talked about you a little. Now I look like the biggest fool in Los Angeles. You could have warned a girl.”
“You mentioned me in an article?” he asked, confused. “Why?”
“Well, I was going up there for the wedding and I thought… You know what I thought. I might have alluded to things I now know you were never interested in. I mean, it’s always been a given that we’d give it a go at some point, right? You offered to let me stay with you for goodness sake. What was I supposed to think?”
“That a friend was offering you a place to stay so that you didn’t have to drive an hour to get to the nearest available hotel?” Brian felt like he’d entered an alternate reality. She couldn’t be serious, could she? He’d known she was a little spoiled and self-centered, but she’d also been sweet and kind. As far as he’d been concerned, she was harmless. Man, he’d called that one wrong, hadn’t he?
“That’s just… Well, that’s not what happened, and now I’m going to be the laughing stock of my social circle. You’re just going to have to help me make this right.” She sounded resentful and defensive now. The fact that he hadn’t backed down from his indignation was likely the reason that she was pushing back. More arguing on the phone wasn’t going to get him what he wanted. “Fine. I’ll be there tonight. We can talk tomorrow after I meet with your father.”
“You will?” her tone was hopeful now, as if he’d asked her on a date instead of confirming that they’d figure this mess out.
“Yes. And by the time I leave, we’ll have put this behind us, with you going your way and me going mine. No more talk of marriage or dating. It’s just not going to happen.”
“Because of Shannon Ansell,” she said bitterly.
“No, Cara, because I’m happy living in northern California in a tiny magical village, and you will always be part of the social fabric of southern California. We just don’t fit,” he said.
“But we could. I like Keating Hollow,” she said.
It was a lie. She might like it for a short retreat or a romantic vacation, but Cara Manchester would hate living in the redwoods. Her beloved social circle was in Los Angeles. Not that any of that mattered. He just wasn’t interested. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said again. “So we can untangle this mess with your father.”