Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw someone in a coat hobbling on the grassy shoulder less than a hundred feet from him. His heart began to thud as he drew nearer. The woman's jet-black hair tumbled in disarray; dark curls blew wildly in the wind.
“Katherine,” he whispered under his breath. He pulled to the shoulder, traveled a few more feet and braked to a stop. Dashing from the car, he ran toward her.
The fear in her eyes when she glanced up stopped him. One of her heels had been broken off.
“It's me, sweetheart. Jared."
The fear in her eyes quickly dissipated.
He reached her side and drew her against him. She shivered against his body.
He enfolded her in his arms. She felt like ice. He picked her up and carried her toward the car. He settled her in the passenger's side, took his coat off and wrapped it around her. Climbing behind the wheel, he started the car and turned the heater full blast. Her hands felt icy cold. He began rubbing them vigorously finally blowing on them. His mouth closed on her fingertips. She pulled her hands back and laid them in her lap.
He couldn't resist the need to touch her, make sure she wasn't hurt. Reaching out, he began massaging her arms, shoulders and back. “Did Paul… hurt you?"
She laughed, but the sound contained no mirth. “He didn't hurt me. He tried to kiss me. I hurt him. He's wearing my self-defense moves all over his body. Two courses worth."
Jared sighed with relief. He silently thanked whoever taught those classes. If Paul had hurt her, he'd have gone after him and ripped him apart with his bare hands.
“I can put a little hurt on him, too, so he'll leave you alone,” he suggested.
She shook her head. “I keep trying to tell you, I don't need you to rescue me. I'm a responsible adult and I want to take care of my own problems."
“But you're glad I drove up tonight?"
She glanced at him, a reluctant smile formed on her lips. “Yes. I thought Matt and Grace would be worried sick."
“They were, but I told them I'd find you."
“Thanks. All they need to know is I had car trouble and Paul tried to help. He'll get the part back on my car first thing tomorrow morning."
Jared shook his head. “Paul dismantled your car?"
“He wanted to get me alone and talk.” Another bitter laugh tore from her throat. “Do you know what that despicable, two-timing jerk told me?"
Jared thought about Carl's pictures in the glove compartment. “About Ann Young?"
Her eyes narrowed. “Who's Ann Young?"
He swallowed hard. She's going to be mad at me again.
Jared explained about seeing Paul with the other woman and hiring his friend, Carl, to investigate.
She folded her arms, took a deep breath and exhaled audibly. “I thought we were friends."
“We are,” he said.
“Really? You knew about Paul before we went to your office dance and you didn't tell me?” Her hands flew up. “Let me guess. It's a guy thing!” She gave him a disgusting glare.
“It isn't a guy thing. No way in hell would I protect that slimeball. I didn't think it was my place to tell you about it. I wasn't even sure if you'd believe me."
“Do you have proof?"
“Carl took some photos.” He pointed to the glove compartment.
“Paul doesn't know about these?"
“No."
She grew silent and snatched the handle on the glove compartment. It fell open. She retrieved the envelope and slammed it shut again. “I've earned these."
“Don't do this to yourself.” He put his hand on the envelope. “I never wanted you to see these."
Her lips tightened to a slit. “Can I have them or not?"
He removed his hand from the envelope.
“I'm sorry you found out this way.” He turned the heater off and moved closer to her.
“I hate secrets, Jared.” She shook her head. “I lived too many years with a man who lied and kept secrets from me.” Tears glistened on her lashes.
Her slim shoulders shook.
“Oh, Katherine, please don't cry.” He pulled her to him.
As if that one act of kindness opened a dam, her body was racked with sobs. He bent his head and placed a kiss on top of her hair. Tenderly holding her, he let her cry, wishing he could take away every hurtful thing that had ever touched her heart.
“You want to know the funny part?” She sniffed and Jared reached for tissues and gave them to her, releasing her from his embrace for only a heartbeat.
“I want to hear anything you want to talk about,” he whispered near her ear.
“Paul was convinced you and I had slept together. Isn't that a laugh?"
He felt her tense up and rubbed the muscles in her back. “You're a very beautiful, desirable woman, who-"
She interrupted him. “Is a terrific mother and will do anything to make sure Matt's happy.” She pushed away from him and sniffed again, offering him a rueful smile. “This has been one helluva Christmas so far."
He stared at her hurt, determined smile and felt a moment of despair. She was going to leave him. Classify him as “one of them,” take Matt, and leave. If he didn't explain, it would all be over before it started.
He slammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel and drew a deep, frustrated breath. “About the other night, I'd like to explain more-"
A sudden tapping on the window made them jump. A policeman stood beside the car, tapping his flashlight against the glass. Jared rolled the window down.
“Let's move along.” The officer shined the beam into the car. He focused the light on Jared and snickered. “Mr. Randall, what's wrong? They run out of rooms at the nearest hotel?"
He grimaced at Katherine's shocked and hurt expression. He'd never wanted a woman like he wanted Katherine, but he'd never settle for a cheap, one-night stand in some damn hotel. Not with Katherine. He'd never take advantage of her loneliness and seduce her. He wanted to comfort her, protect her, cherish her… love her.
Why'd it have to be Sergeant Sinclair who stopped? He had to have recognized Jared's car. He was the one who blabbed to Carl every time Jared breathed wrong. Carl probably asked him to watch out for him because of Paul. Carl and Sergeant Sinclair were partners on the police force until Carl retired and became a private detective. And Jared's foster father. He groaned again.
Katherine hiccupped and wiped her face with tissues.
Sergeant Sinclair shined the flashlight beam on her. “You all right in there, young lady?"
She angled Jared a venomous glare and faced the police officer. “Yes, I am. I was just bawling about the troubles I've had this Christmas, but things are bound to get better.” She smiled faintly. “They can't possibly get any worse."
Chapter Twelve
Katherine sat, clothed in the darkness of her bedroom. She bit her bottom lip so hard she tasted blood. Sunrise was in two hours. She'd tried to confront Paul last night when she got home, but he'd pulled a disappearing act again. After several phone calls to his hotel room, she'd finally reached him at three in the morning and demanded that he fix her car. Ripping him apart was long overdue.
She turned toward the sound of the door opening. “Did you reconnect the battery cable on my car? Will it crank?"
Paul flipped the light switch on and shut the door. “Yes, to both questions.” He narrowed his gray eyes. “I don't know why you insisted that I fix it before your mother and Matt get up."
“I don't want them involved in this mess,” she snapped.
He removed her keys from his pants pocket and tossed them to her. She caught them and laid the envelope she'd taken from Jared in front of Paul.
He glanced down at the envelope then back up at her. “Why were you sitting in the dark?"
She plunged the keys into her jeans pocket. “Trying to figure out what I ever saw in you."
He quirked a black eyebrow at her. “Really? You couldn't keep your eyes off me the first time we met. Lust is a
powerful aphrodisiac, especially to a virgin."
Her stomach churned. Again, he didn't call what they had together love. He was right. She knew now that they never loved each other. She remembered staring at his almost naked bronze body. It had glistened in the sun as he dived into the swimming pool. He had looked like a Greek god to her. It was her first taste of the unknown, crossing that threshold of sexual curiosity, and she had mistaken it for love. She had mistaken a predator for someone who really cared about her.
She clenched her jaw, removed the sexually explicit photographs from the envelope and spread them on the table. They revealed a collage of deception. “I want you to leave this house immediately and not come back."
He took his coat off, crossed the room and plopped into a chair opposite her. His eyes glittered with angry amusement as he fingered the pictures. “I have no intention of leaving, other than to see Ann when I get the urge.” He shoved the photos into the envelope and threw them back on the table. “I gambled Jared didn't have any proof."
Her jaw dropped open. “Jared? Did he talk to you about your seeing another woman?"
Paul chuckled. “Jared didn't talk to me. He ordered me to tell you, or he would."
“And you agreed?” Of course he'd agreed, that's what Jared thought Paul had talked to her about. No wonder Jared was so surprised when she didn't recognize Ann Young's name.
Paul shrugged. “I agreed so he'd get off my back. I had no intention of letting him tell me what to do."
Why hadn't Jared defended himself? Why hadn't he told her he'd put pressure on Paul?
She could kick herself across Texas. She accused him of protecting Paul. Once again, she'd been wrong about Jared.
Paul shook his head. “Nothing's changed, Katherine. I still want you back as my wife."
She laughed, allowing all her bitterness and anger to spill from the sound. “Why don't you hold your breath until I agree? You don't love anyone but yourself. Every time I think of what I've put up with since you came to visit this Christmas, I get furious. I gave you every opportunity to prove you'd changed-not for me, but for Matt. He deserves a father, but you aren't a father. You're nothing but a sperm donor. Now that my eyes have been opened, there is no way I would want Matt to emulate you."
“You think Jared is father material?” he snarled. “Haven't you figured it out yet? All that attention he showed Matt was to get you into bed."
Like the colors of a kaleidoscope swirling from one symmetrical pattern into another, the times Matt spent with his pal Jared tumbled in her mind. Because of Jared's past, he understood how Matt felt and showed him more love than Paul ever had. If Jared had befriended her son in order to get her into bed, he wouldn't have hesitated to take what she had offered. He said he had stopped because she might be hurt emotionally. Paul would have taken her and never batted an eye at the consequences of his decision.
She lifted her chin. “Yes, I think Jared is father material because he loves Matt."
Paul bolted out of the chair and snatched papers from his coat pocket. “I didn't want to do it this way, but you've given me no choice.” He threw them on the table, sat across from her again and leaned closer.
She reached for them.
His lips twisted into a sneer. He laced his hands together and rested them like paperweights on the documents. “I'm calling the shots here. Not you."
Hatred flowed from his eyes and washed over her.
She folded her arms and raised her chin a notch. “Then shoot, and stop wasting my time."
He pointed to the calendar hanging on the wall. “Today is December seventeenth. There are seven days left before Christmas. You pick one as our wedding day."
She laughed. “It would take you and an army to make me."
He shook his head. “Oh, you'll do it. Because, you'd do anything to protect Grace and this precious house her family's owned for generations."
Her throat went dry. He'd thrown her a curve ball. Some strange tension started to rise inside her. What was he up to? She thought he would try to hurt her through Matt. Even with Paul's money, she knew he could never win in a custody battle. But she had no reason to suspect he would attack her mother. Except that no form of coercion was beyond him. Katherine had underestimated him.
He placed the papers in front of her. “How about a foreclosure notice and confiscation of every asset your mother owns? You think that might do the trick?"
Katherine tried to hide the trembling of her hands as she analyzed documents. If lightening had struck her, she couldn't have been more stunned. She mentally added the mountain of debt bearing her father's signature.
“Let me save you the trouble.” He leaned back, stretched his legs and laced his hands behind his head. “Including the mortgage on this house and signature loans, the debt's total over three hundred fifty thousand dollars. I bought up your father's loans and I'm calling them in. You got that kind of pocket change to pay me back? If you do, you could file papers with the court, prove it, and stop me,” he goaded.
She clenched her teeth and shook her head. Even if she did have the personal assets, she wouldn't want her mother knowing about the outstanding loans.
He grinned. “I didn't think so."
“You went to a lot of time and money to set this blackmail up.” From the date on the documents, she knew he'd purchased the loans right after her father's death. “Why spring this now? You don't give a rat's behind about Matt or me."
His hard gray eyes mocked her. “Money, power, my father's approval, revenge for you defying me and leaving me. You pick which one you think is more important to me."
She wanted to refuse to play his game, but it didn't take a mental giant for her to figure it out. She hoped he choked on her answer. “You'll never have the same level of respect and approval your father has for your brother William. He's earned it."
Paul chuckled and straightened. “Oh, but I will. You're going to help me beat my saintly brother."
She stared at Paul. “How is marrying me again going to accomplish that?"
“My father's retiring at the end of next year. He hasn't announced it yet. When he does retire, he'll be forced to bring one of us into the company to run it."
Another curve ball zinged her way. She would have bet his father would never retire. He'd always insisted Paul and William make it on their own and prove themselves by working in the private sector. Malcolm Cahill refused to let them ride on his coattails by working for him. The global corporate structure he built and ran himself seemed to be his whole life.
“Like you, Katherine, one area I excel in is business. It's important to my father. I'm in line for the presidency of the biggest financial institution in Houston. My competition for that position is less qualified than I am, but the conservative Board of Directors prefer a family man."
“You need us to secure the promotion?” she said quietly.
He nodded. “I told the Board we're getting remarried and I'm bringing you and Matt back after Christmas. Naturally, my father thinks this proves I've settled down.” He thrust his fingers through his hair. “Dammit, you owe me."
“What the hell for?"
Paul's face grew red, and he snapped the pen he held in his hand. “Because of what you cost me when you left me!” he shouted. He leaning across the table, whispered, “You owe me, Katherine."
I sure do. And I sure as hell will pay you back, in spades.
She glanced at him. Malcolm Cahill wasn't stupid. “Won't your father get suspicious?"
He shook his head. “No way. He doesn't think anyone knows he's retiring. He's ill, Katherine. I paid his doctor dearly for that confidential information."
And Paul expected her to pay dearly to save her mother. “Give me a few days to make my decision."
“No.” A look of triumph flashed in his eyes. “What you're going to do is tell me our wedding date."
She craned her neck and glanced at the calendar, pushing the date forward as far as she dared. “Friday after
noon, December twenty-first."
He reached in his pants pocket, retrieved the emerald pendant she'd rejected earlier and threw it on the table. “Wear it.” The corner of his mouth tilted up as he lifted the receiver. “My father's an early riser. The second thing you'll do is confirm we're getting remarried."
He dialed the number and handed her the phone.
Katherine took a deep calming breath as it rang and her former father-in-law answered.
“Hello,” Malcolm said.
“It's Katherine, Malcolm.” Her voice sounded unsteady, her arm shook.
He laughed. “Katherine, what a pleasant surprise. My son tells me he's come to his senses, you've agreed to become his wife again."
She coughed to clear the lump in her throat. “Yes, sir."
“What day is the ceremony?"
“December twenty-first,” she whispered.
He chuckled. “Congratulations. I can't wait to see you and Matt after Christmas. You make sure that son of mine treats you right this time. If he doesn't, you let me know. Promise?"
Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the phone. “I intend doing just that."
Stunned, she listened to the dial tone after Malcolm Cahill had hung up.
Paul snatched the receiver back. “When do you want us to break the good news to your mother and Matt?"
Us! Her jaw dropped open. Never. “I think it needs to come from me first."
He studied her closely. “Maybe you're right. When?"
She needed to stall Paul until she could figure out how to diffuse his threat. “I-I need time. Mother won't believe it, if I don't break it to her gradually. I'll talk to Matt over the next couple of days."
His chin lifted. “Don't stall, Katherine. It won't do you any good."
“I'm not,” she lied. “You want people to believe we're in love.” The word almost choked her. “That takes time."
He lifted the phone again and grinned. “Let's break the wonderful news to your lover."
Her knees shook. She didn't want to tell Jared. If he suspected anything was wrong, he'd attempt a rescue and his Superman routine would make matters worse.
If her mother found out about the debt her father ran up during his illness, she'd be devastated. Katherine's eyes burned. He must have thought he could take out the loans to pay for his exorbitant medical expenses. When he got well, he would have time to take care of the mess. He would have done that without his wife ever knowing, too, because he wouldn't have wanted to worry her. Her dad had always taken care of her mom in that exasperating, charming, wonderful way. Yes, he'd always taken care of her mom, and at the end, it was the last thing he'd asked of his daughter.
The Mistletoe Affair Page 16