Fortune's Proposal

by ALLISON LEIGH,

  Deanna felt queasy. Ross was Drew’s investigator cousin. And if he felt compelled to deliver his news to Lily in person…

  She looked back at Drew. He’d sprawled in one of the oversize chairs that filled the space, his long, jean-clad legs crossed at the ankles. But she knew the lazy-looking position was deceptive. She could feel the tension emanating from him from across the room. Could see it in the lines bracketing his lips and the long fingers that were silently drumming against the leather arm of the chair.

  Even though she’d spent plenty of time with Drew’s family, she nevertheless still felt like an intruder. But she also knew that only she and Drew would know the reason why, so she made herself cross the room and perch on the ottoman that was near his chair. “Are you all right?”

  His gaze slanted toward her. “Peachy.”

  Her lips tightened. Just sitting near him made her feel shaky inside, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed his sarcasm. “I was only asking,” she said under her breath.

  “I know.” He drummed his fingertips again. “Sorry.”

  She chewed the inside of her lip and managed not to close her hand over his restless one. He was wearing a brown shirt that was the same color as his eyes. She assumed he must have borrowed it from his brother because it wasn’t one that had been hanging in their closet.

  They’d already stayed nearly a week longer than they’d originally planned. Isabella had offered the use of their washer and dryer, which Deanna had by necessity taken up. She should have laundered Drew’s things as well, but something had stopped her.

  Washing his clothes, strangely enough, seemed even more personal than sleeping on opposite sides of the same bed.

  She looked down at her folded hands. She’d grown accustomed to the feel of the diamond ring on her finger, but she still hadn’t grown used to the sight of it there. It had been jarring from the first moment he’d slipped it on her finger. It was still jarring now.

  And frightening considering the pang of…longing…that was only increasing by the day.

  “Everything set for the job fair?”

  She nodded, glad of the distraction, even though she was vaguely surprised that he remembered it. As large an event as it was, she’d been handling all of the arrangements for it all along. His only involvement was to have been his scheduled “motivational” rah-rah session. “Chelsea said they’re expecting over five thousand people,” she told him. It would be a well-orchestrated zoo.

  “It’s the first year you’ll miss it.”

  She lifted her shoulder, again surprised that he’d realized that. “Chelsea and her department have things well in hand. They won’t miss me.” And the organizers handling the half dozen companies being represented at the fair wouldn’t, either. They cared about missing Drew, but had been slightly mollified by the celebrity athlete she’d been able to produce.

  “Hmm.” His fingers continued drumming.

  “Do you need this back?” She pulled his BlackBerry out of the pocket of her sweater and held it out. She’d been using his phone to handle all of the business calls rather than J.R. and Isabella’s house line.

  “Any emergencies at the office that I don’t know about and need to?”

  “No.” Aside from the employees’ anxiety caused by William’s disappearance and the media’s attention that had been deflected for the most part by the press release they’d issued, everything at Fortune Forecasting was at least running smoothly.

  “Then, no, I don’t need it.” He shook his head, and because she knew she still had plenty of use for it, she slid it back into her pocket.

  Her own cell phone was still turned off and shoved inside her purse. She’d listened to her mother’s numerous voice mails. And she’d sent her an email that she was in Texas with her boss…on business. Not that Gigi had bought that story, which she’d told Deanna in a long voice message immediately after. Gigi didn’t live under a rock, after all. She, too, had heard the news that William Fortune was missing. And she’d archly suggested that Deanna make “good use” of her time with her boss during his hour of need.

  Deanna had been furious enough to return that call, but the results had been typical—Gigi accusing Deanna of abandoning her when she needed her most, and Deanna feeling guilty. So she’d told her mother to find a counselor and not to call her again until she had.

  Since then, her voice mailbox had been unusually empty. Deanna still couldn’t decide if that was progress or not.

  A doorbell chimed and everyone jumped.

  Isabella quickly hurried out of the room and just as quickly returned with Ross Fortune on her heels.

  His brown gaze traveled the room, landing on Lily, who’d gone stock-still at the sight of him, holding her arms around her waist.

  Everyone else rose to their feet, waiting…

  “His car’s been found,” he said bluntly.

  Jeremy moved next to Lily, as if he were afraid she might collapse. But all she did was pale. “And?” Lily’s chin was lifted, but she looked braced for anything.

  Ross looked only marginally better than his cousins did. His brown hair was rumpled and he had the same weary lines creasing his face. “And there’s no sign of William.” His voice was careful and Deanna caught the look that passed between him and the other men.

  Her stomach sank and she looked toward Isabella and was grateful that the other woman had sat down again. Deanna was certain that Isabella hadn’t yet confided her suspicion to her husband. And because Isabella hadn’t shared with Deanna that it had been a false alarm, she assumed that her hostess’s suspicion was probably even closer to certainty now.

  “Where was the car?” Lily asked. She was still standing upright, but her voice had gone thin.

  “Outside of Haggarty.”

  Deanna started at the name of the town. She remembered Darr mentioning it the day of the wedding. He’d said an accident had occurred near there.

  A fatal accident.

  Lily made a sound then and covered her mouth with her hand. A moment later, she seemed to crumple.

  Jeremy leaped forward, catching her in his arms before she collapsed right to the floor.

  Isabella cried out, jumping out of her chair and rushing to them.

  “She fainted. She needs to lie down,” Jeremy said tersely. “I have smelling salts in my medical bag.”

  “Take her to our bedroom. It’s the closest. I’ll bring your bag.” Isabella practically ran out of the room, leading the way for Jeremy to carry the tall woman out of the room.

  Deanna watched them go. Her heart was thudding so hard she could feel it inside her head. She didn’t even realize that she’d reached out for Drew’s hand until she felt his fingers curl around hers in response.

  “The police aren’t tying that other accident together with William’s.” When they were gone, Ross answered the question that nobody had asked but everybody had thought. “Yet.” His voice was grim as he looked from J.R. to Drew. “The other car had no signs of collision with another vehicle. They found no debris that didn’t come from the car where it ran off a curve and collided with several trees before going down the embankment, so the authorities over there still maintain that it was a single-car accident. William’s Mercedes, on the other hand, is at the bottom of an embankment some distance away. It’s heavily shaded by trees and brush. The only reason it was found at all was because of a couple who were hiking back in there over the weekend. It’s not a popular spot at all.”

  “I want to see the car,” Drew said abruptly. J.R. nodded.

  “So do I,” Ross agreed. “I also want to talk to the police in Haggarty and interview the couple who found the car. And I want to do it as soon as possible while everything is fresh in their mind.”

  “Then let’s go,” Drew said immediately.

  “J.R.?”

  J.R. turned to see Isabella walking back into the room. “How’s Lily?”

  “She’s coming around already. Jeremy wants her to lie down for a while, thoug
h. Her blood pressure is up and he’s threatening her with a sedative if she doesn’t behave.” Her liquid-brown gaze flickered over Deanna and Drew, then back to her husband. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  J.R. gave a quick frown, but went to her immediately and followed her out of the room.

  “Do you know how badly damaged Dad’s car is?” Drew asked Ross.

  His cousin shook his head. “The investigators were heading out to the site when I got the call from my contact at the Haggarty P.D., so there’s no official information yet. I want to get there soon while there’s still enough daylight left to see things for myself. We’ve already had rain since the accident, so who knows what evidence will be left to find after so many days.”

  J.R. returned in time to hear the tail end of Ross’s comment. “You and Drew can go. I’ve got something else I need to take care of.”

  “More important than finding out where the hell Dad’s gone?” Drew demanded. He gave Deanna an impatient look when she made a faint sound and squeezed his hand.

  “Right now, yes,” J.R. returned evenly. “I’m taking my wife into town to see her doctor.”

  Drew swore under his breath. “Sorry, man. Is she all right?”

  “She thinks she’s pregnant.”

  Deanna exhaled. Thank goodness.

  “If she is, I’m not taking any chances with her.”

  Drew was nodding. “Of course.” He clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. A faint smile had mercifully replaced the drawn lines on his face. “A baby, huh? That would be some good news around here about now.”

  J.R. looked a little pale beneath his bemused expression, but he nodded. “That’s for sure.”

  Ross was smiling, too. “Going to have to get used to the idea of you changing diapers,” he drawled.

  “Well, first, we need to make sure nothing happens this time,” J.R. said. He headed out of the room again. “Call me with whatever you find, though,” he added before he left.

  “This time?” Ross looked at Drew, who shook his head.

  “Isabella had a miscarriage several months ago,” Deanna provided quietly. Because J.R. had opened the door, and Isabella herself had said that it wasn’t really a secret, she didn’t feel too much like she was divulging a confidence.

  “How do you know that?”

  Drew’s incredulousness stung. Just because all she was to him was his assistant and fiancée-for-appearances’-sake didn’t mean everyone else saw her that way. “I have gotten to know Isabella a little since we’ve been here,” she reminded.

  “Women talk,” Ross summed up, fortunately not seeming to share Drew’s surprise at all. “We’d better take separate vehicles to Haggarty. I might be there longer than you’ll want to stay. It’s rough terrain. Make sure you take one of the four-wheel drives.” His gaze ran over Deanna. “And wear boots if you’ve got ’em.”

  She started, watching the man leave the room. He assumed she’d be accompanying them.

  Drew’s brooding gaze trapped hers. “Do you want to go?” He sounded doubtful.

  It would be a simple matter to tell him that she didn’t. She had enough Fortune Forecasting matters to take care of for him to easily fill the rest of the afternoon.

  But she didn’t for the simple reason that—no matter what they found or didn’t find—she wanted to be there for him.

  And that desire had nothing to do with being a good assistant.

  She lifted her chin. “Do you want me to go?”

  His eyes narrowed. “What are you mad about?”

  “I’m not mad.” Irritated, maybe, that he so easily thought of her only as his assistant. Which was an irritation in itself—but with herself—for being foolish enough to think otherwise. “Yes or no? Your cousin is waiting.”

  His lips thinned. “Yes,” he snapped.

  “All right, then,” she snapped back.

  “Go find some boots.”

  “I have tennis shoes and I have the high heels I brought to go with that dress for the wedding.” She wiggled her feet. “These will have to do because I am not raiding Isabella’s closet.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she hasn’t offered and it wouldn’t feel right,” she hissed under her breath. “So are we going to go or not?”

  He gave her a strange look, as if she’d grown a third eye, but nodded. “We’re going.”

  Deanna could say she wasn’t mad about something, but everything Drew knew about women told him otherwise as she sat beside him in the truck they’d borrowed from Molly’s Pride.

  Aside from the telephone calls that Deanna fielded while they followed Ross’s truck out of town, and the messages that she tapped out on Drew’s BlackBerry, she didn’t say more than a half dozen words directly to him.

  If that wasn’t a woman pissed off about something, what was it?

  And as they drove, Drew found it easier to puzzle over the workings of his assistant’s mind than it was to think about what they might find once they reached their destination.

  “No, Maggie, you’ll have to tell Horning that Drew’s unavailable for an interview right now.” She was on the phone again, this time with one of the secretaries. “He knows exactly why Drew’s out of town, which is why he’s calling. And I know what he can be like, but don’t let him bully you. Yes, I know I could call him for you, but you can handle it. Just apologize for the inconvenience, but be firm. We’ll reschedule an interview when we can. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. Yes. Call me back if you need me.”

  Drew glanced at her when she hung up. “John Horning is a pain in the neck.” And right now, he had even less desire to talk to the man than usual.

  “I know that and you know that. But he’s also one of the most popular investigative reporters in San Diego. He’s not going to be that easy to avoid if he’s intent on getting a statement from you beyond the press release we issued. He’s obviously following the story—he’ll learn soon enough that your dad’s car has been found.” His BlackBerry rang again and she answered it.

  Her gaze slid toward him a moment later. She pressed a button, then held the phone toward him. “It’s on mute. You can handle this call yourself. It’s Stephanie Hughes.”

  He waved off the phone. “Get rid of her.”

  Deanna made a face. She pressed a button and put the phone back to her ear. “I’m sorry, Ms. Hughes. Unfortunately, Drew is unavailable right now. Can I give him a message?” She suddenly winced and held the phone out from her ear.

  Drew could hear the strident, feminine tones spewing out of the phone, every third word an expletive and every fourth, Deanna’s name.

  He exhaled roughly and grabbed the phone out of her hand. “Steph? It’s Drew. I told you things were over a month ago. It had nothing to do with Deanna then, but considering the way you’re talking about her, it does now.” He hung up while the woman was still swearing at him, and tossed the phone onto the console. “Sorry about that. She heard about the engagement from a clerk at Zondervan’s.” Where she’d probably gone to find out the value of the bracelet Deanna had procured as an exit gift from Drew. In the month that Drew had seen Stephanie, he’d been hard-pressed to decide if she was more interested in his connections or his money. Either way, he’d gotten tired of the woman even more quickly than usual.

  “I gathered that.” Denim rustled as Deanna crossed her jean-clad legs and looked out the window beside her.

  Ross was slowing ahead of him, and Drew did the same.

  “Has she been calling a lot?”

  The ends of Deanna’s hair slid over her shoulder. “Only this once. You’ve had calls from Erin, Sonya, Mindy and Alexa, though. Several, each, actually. Oh, and Belinda, too.” She gave him a bland look. “She left you quite an…inventive…message on your voice mail. I saved it for you.”

  He actually felt his neck get hot. “I met her a few weeks ago. She’s a model.”

  “A lingerie model.” She’d looked back out the window, sounding bored. “Yes. I heard t
hat part, too. Unintentionally.”

  He could only imagine what else she might have heard. Belinda Reeves was nothing if not verbal about what she wanted. Namely, him, in some definitely adventurous ways, which she’d made more than plain when he’d met her at a friend’s beach house. “I haven’t slept with her.” He hadn’t ruled it out, but realized now that the possibility had lost its appeal.

  Primarily because he couldn’t get his assistant out of his head.

  Deanna didn’t even budge. “That’s none of my business.”

  “If not yours, then whose? You’re my fiancée.”

  At that, her head did turn. Her hazel eyes were cool. “So you do remember.”

  “Do you think it’s something I’m likely to forget?” His hand tightened around the steering wheel. Every freaking time he walked into the bedroom they were sharing, it was the only thing he could think about.

  She wore his ring. They were sleeping—more or less—in the same bed.

  It was making him insane.

  She was the only woman on the planet he’d ever wanted and not done something about it.

  Which was why he’d been spending as little time around her as was humanly possible.

  “Look,” he began carefully, “I know this hasn’t been easy on you. I’ve dumped everything from back at the office on you and—”

  “I don’t care about that.”

  “And you’ve obviously had to field more personal calls than I expected. I’m sorry about that, too.”

  “It’s nothing I don’t deal with in San Diego.”

  His patience was thinning and he exhaled roughly. “Then what’s the burr you’ve got under your blanket all about?”

  “Nothing that I’m not smart enough to get over,” she said coolly.

  Which was no answer at all.

  He tried another tack. “Have you talked to your mother?”

  She gave him a suspicious look. “Not in the past few days. Why?”

  He shrugged. Given the temper on her face, he figured now wouldn’t be the best time to admit that he’d called Gigi Gurney himself several days earlier. She’d been positively simpering when she’d realized who he was, and had girlishly giggled and promised that, of course, she was willing to go to counseling if that would make her little Deedee happy. He’d felt in need of a strong bolt of coffee afterward just to get the woman’s overblown, cloying sweetness out of his head.