Carson knocked on the window dividing the front from the back, and the driver pressed a button that slid it open.
“I saw it, Mr. Adair,” the driver said.
“Let him follow us. I want to know who he is.”
“Yes, sir.” The driver left the window open.
When they reached the airport and drove to the tarmac and parked, Carson watched the other car turn around and begin to drive away. He dashed from the limo and ran as fast as he could with his limp, trying to catch a glimpse of a license plate. But the car sped up and disappeared around a corner.
* * *
Walking back to Georgia, he saw the limo driver unloading their bags from the trunk and led her to the waiting plane.
“Did you see who it was?”
“No.”
“He didn’t seem to care that you saw him.”
No, he hadn’t. That was bold. Well, he hadn’t cared whether he’d been seen in the parking garage, either.
“At least Kate is safe.”
“Yes.” Georgia smiled.
She liked Kate. Who didn’t like her? No one who knew her.
Georgia took a moment to absorb the posh accommodations of the private jet. There was even a bedroom in the back. The middle looked like a living room with a bar and there were rows of leather airplane seats toward the front. She chose a two-seater leather chair across from a sofa and buckled in. An attendant asked her if she’d like something to drink, and she declined. Her mood was somber. Was it seeing the man following them or something else? Like being on this plane with him.
He left her alone, picking up a tablet and searching through what books had been loaded. Not concentrating fully, he was more aware of how Georgia kept glancing over at him as she pretended to look through her ever-trusty catalog. She was itching to take him on.
Once the jet took off and ascended to a flight elevation, Carson released the buckle at his waist and resumed his halfhearted search for a book.
“Carson?”
He looked up from the tablet. Her tone was soft and tentative, as though she was really trying to keep calm.
“I need you to stop this game you’re playing with me,” she said.
She thought it was a game? Was it? It had started out that way, but now he wasn’t so sure. Now he thought he really wanted her to confess that her opinion of the Adairs was off.
“You didn’t like the spa?”
She wasn’t humored.
“It’s not a game to me,” he said.
“Stop spending money on me.”
“Kate paid for the spa.”
She angled her head in reprimand. “This has nothing to do with how much Ruby suffered. It’s...”
The date.
“I’m not your girlfriend,” she said.
Not yet. The thought came unbidden. And it wasn’t disagreeable. “What’s wrong with us being that way together? Let’s date and see what happens.” It had a dangerous feel to it, something he missed from the military. Dating Georgia could be his adrenaline rush. But if she walked away in the end, what then? How would he feel? It was a risk, but one he was willing to take. His heart pumped with renewed excitement.
He could tell that suggestion had stunned her. Why was she so surprised?
“Are you afraid?” he asked. “Is it your last relationship?”
With that, she looked away.
He went to her, sitting on the chair beside her. “Who was he?”
After a few long moments when he watched fleeting regret cross her eyes, she said, “An old friend. Drake Foerster. We met in college in an English-composition class. His degree was engineering.”
“And yours was English?” He smiled.
She smiled back but with only a hint. “He had a girlfriend at the time, and I wasn’t interested in getting involved. I dated every once in a while but only to have fun. Drake and I would study together in the library. We went for coffee, lunch, sometimes movies. We talked a lot. What I didn’t know until much later was that going to college was freeing for him. He grew up in a poor house, the typical tragedy. Dad left when he was born, mom was a drunk and a drug addict. Brother is in prison.
“Drake was on his way to a good life. It was after college that he told me that. By then we were very close. He said he broke up with the girl he was seeing in college. He was going to marry her but changed his mind. I guess she was too much like his mother. She was drinking too much, he said. And told him she didn’t want kids. It was important to Drake that he have kids and give them the childhood he never had.” She stopped talking and bent her knees up to wrap her arms around her legs on the oversize leather chair.
“He sounds ambitious.”
She nodded, but there was a general sadness about her, as though she mourned the loss of him.
“He had a rough childhood and changed his life by going to college,” Carson said. “Why did he wait so long to tell you about his past?”
“He told me some things, just left out enough to make it seem normal. I knew Drake in a way no one from his childhood did. I knew the man he tried so hard to be. And I fell in love with that man. Especially after I learned he was available. We made it clear to each other when we did start dating that cheating was wrong, and we respected each other too much to cause hurt.”
She gazed through the oval window across the plane, three times the size of those in a typical commercial plane. “I thought he was going to be my guy.” She turned a wry smile to him. “Maybe I should have considered how his childhood affected him.”
“How did it?” He stretched his arm across the back of the chair, Georgia’s head in front of his elbow.
“He was ashamed of where he came from. He was insecure. He didn’t like me going out with my friends and questioned me when I came home late from work. That was new from when we were friends. He called me constantly and if I didn’t answer he got upset.” She stopped talking, looking away again.
“What did he do when you went out with friends?”
“Nothing. He just said he wished I’d stay with him. But I could sense that it bothered him. We talked it over and he got better about it. He just had to learn to trust me.”
“So he did trust you.”
“Yes.”
“Did you trust him?”
“Oh, yes.” She nodded, lowering her legs.
“What happened between you? It seems like you loved him and he loved you.”
Biting her lip, she lowered her head and rocked a couple of times on the chair. This was a delicate topic for her. A troubling one.
“I loved him more as a friend than a lover. I couldn’t pretend otherwise. That hurt him. We haven’t spoken since.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Six months.”
So, things hadn’t worked out. That was life. She had lost a good friend. That’s what hurt most. The breakup had ruined their friendship, a long and true friendship. He brushed some of her dark red hair off her face, his fingers gliding over her soft skin.
“I’d rather not talk about that anymore,” she said.
“Okay.” He continued to run his fingers along her brow, the feel of her silky hair keeping him coming back for more. In a selfish way he was glad she’d been the one to break it off.
Still, he had the sense that there had been something else that happened between her and this Drake character. Maybe he’d have the guy checked out.
For now, he just wanted to kiss her.
Leaning in, he moved his fingers to her jawline and turned her toward him. Then he pressed his mouth to hers.
She flinched a little, drawing back. But he kept kissing her, determined to win her over, to rid her of the ghosts that still haunted her. He felt her tension ease and moved back.
“At the party,” Carson began, the kiss deepening his voice.
“Yes?” She sounded as aroused as him.
“When I kissed you...” He kissed her again, softly, briefly.
“Yes.” This she rasped on a
whisper. He wanted to hear her say that when they were naked together.
“Is that why you ran?”
“It was a game to you.”
He kept kissing her chastely. “No game. Let me show you how real this is, Georgia.” Waiting for her, seeing the passion burning in her eyes, he kissed her harder. When their breathing joined the whine of the jet engines, he scooped her up and brought her onto his lap.
Looping one arm around his shoulders, she placed her hand on his chest and bent back over his arm as he kissed her. She groaned when he trailed down her neck to the opening of her white scoop-necked dress. Her beaded silver sandals thumped to the floor and her bracelet slid up her arm.
When he returned to her lips, she was ablaze with lust that matched his. Instinct made him stand with her.
The attendant turned back toward the cockpit and serving station, discreetly sliding the curtains across the roof for privacy.
Chapter 8
Carson took Georgia to the back, where a small bedroom offered a double-size bed and slender storage areas built into the sides. He laid her onto the mattress and crawled over her, bending to kiss her more and stealing glances down her luscious body.
Putting one knee and then the other between hers, he spread her the way he yearned to see her. The hem of her dress slipped up her thigh. He ran his hand along the skin, all the way up, pushing the material to her hip.
“Your legs are so beautiful,” he rasped. Then kissed her reverently. “You’re beautiful everywhere.”
As he ran his hand up the side of her body and cupped her breast, he felt her begin to stiffen.
“Wait.” She pushed his chest.
Bewildered, Carson lifted himself off her and looked down at her scared face. Why was she frightened?
“Please, stop.”
Rigid with desire, wanting her with a ferocity that gnawed at him, Carson got off the bed. No sooner than he did that, Georgia scampered off it and hurried out of the room.
Standing there fighting raging passion, he was slower to follow.
* * *
Georgia was appalled over what had almost occurred on Carson’s jet. She unpacked her clothes from their trip, stuffing underwear back into the drawer. As she did, she noticed some were missing. She’d only taken what she needed to North Carolina. Was she mistaken? She sifted through them all again. Yes. She was missing two pairs. Had the maids taken them to wash? That must be it. She didn’t recall leaving them out, but what else could have happened to them?
Leaving her room, she made her way downstairs to look for Ruby. She had a lot to talk to her about. She still felt betrayed that her stepmother, who was her real mother in every way except biological, had kept details of her past from her. She seemed like a stranger now. How had she changed so much?
She also thought it might be time for her and Ruby to go home. There was really no reason for them to stay any longer. Carson could let them know if anything turned up on Jackson’s kidnapping. She couldn’t help him with that or the shooting and neither could Ruby. But she felt so much dread in making that a reality. Going home. That had her at odds with herself. The day at the spa with Kate had temporarily painted a rosy glow on the feelings for Carson that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere.
Downstairs, she walked through the house and found Ruby just entering the ranch house, laughing—no, giggling—as she closed the front door. When she turned, Georgia saw how flushed she was and felt her stomach turn. Was this the Ruby of pre-Reginald days?
“Oh, Georgia!” She rushed forward and flung her arms around her. “I heard you were back. I asked Hayden to drop me off early so I could spend some time with you.” She leaned back. “How was the trip? You didn’t call. Did you and Carson find anything?”
Georgia figured her expression said a lot.
Ruby stepped back and her face fell. “Nothing?”
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Hayden.”
“Those leads went nowhere?”
“Let’s go somewhere to talk.” Georgia found the living room empty and decided this was as good a place as any in this giant house.
She chose two armchairs before a big window and sat with Ruby.
“Nothing?” Ruby asked. “Nothing at all?”
This was the Ruby Georgia knew. The fragile Ruby. The loving Ruby. It softened her sense of betrayal.
“I’m sorry, no. We’re no closer than we were before we went there.”
“That’s so disappointing.” Ruby’s head hung low.
Georgia gave her time to recover before saying, “Tell me what’s going on between you and Hayden.”
Ruby sniffled, fighting back tears. The subject of Hayden helped to brighten her. “He’s been taking me places. It’s still very innocent. He is such a gentleman. You don’t have to worry, Georgia. In fact, you worry too much about me.”
“What do you like about him? He’s the Adairs’ neighbor.”
Ruby studied Georgia a bit. “Yes, I know. I never dreamed I’d take an interest in someone like that again. But it just happened. And I’m not even sure it’s going to go anywhere.”
“Does he spend a lot of money on you?”
Ruby laughed lightly. “He’s taken me to dinner and to some museums and even an amusement park. Nothing too extravagant. In fact, he’s rather frugal with his money. I get the impression he isn’t as wealthy as the Adairs.”
That made Georgia feel marginally better. Maybe Ruby wasn’t turning into her old self.
Someone came through the front door. Carson had gone to AdAir Corp to help Whit. Maybe he had arrived home.
The burst of excited anticipation made her tense. So did the way she looked toward the living room opening and the rush of heat when Carson appeared.
But he looked stressed, as though he’d had a rough day. If she lived with him, she’d get up and make him feel better.
“Hi,” she said instead.
The way she greeted him smoothed the hard lines on his face, and he grinned. “Hi.” He turned to Ruby with a nod.
“We were just talking,” Georgia said. There were still some things she needed to discuss with her stepmother.
“Meet me in the kitchen when you’re finished,” he said.
“Okay.”
He looked at her a moment longer, the heat of it warming the room, at least to her it had warmed. Considerably.
When he disappeared from the doorway, Ruby fanned herself with her hand. “Well. It seems I’m not the only one who’s been basking under a man’s sun.”
“Nothing’s going on between me and Carson,” Georgia said.
“Mmm. That’s not obvious, Georgia. I just saw the way he looked at you and you at him. There’s plenty going on there. More than what’s going on with me and Hayden. He lost his wife, so he’s taking things very slow. You and Carson look like you’ve been intimate already. Have you?”
“No!” Georgia feared she sounded too defensive.
“It’s okay, Georgia. He isn’t Reginald.”
No, only his son. “Why didn’t you tell me about Loretta’s husband?” she asked, needing to get to the bottom of this.
That gave Ruby some pause, the excitement over her stepdaughter finding love doused. She studied Georgia’s face. She must see how it bothered her because she blinked rapidly a few times and stuttered incoherently before finding her voice. “That was so long ago, Georgia. It had nothing to do with you and me and your father.” She shook her head. “I was a little wild, I suppose. I didn’t see it that way back then. I just always looked for opportunities to have fun.”
“Sleeping with your best friend’s husband was fun?” She couldn’t keep the disgust out of her tone. Discovering her stepmother—her mother in every way that mattered—had not been the woman she’d idolized in childhood and respected and loved in adulthood was still a shock.
“Oh, Georgia.” Ruby reached over, coaxing her for her hand.
Georgia didn’t offer it to her. She needed an explanation.
Ruby let out a disgruntled breath. “No. It wasn’t fun. It was a mistake. At the time, Loretta was already finished with her husband. She’d asked him to move out and he’d been in his own place for several months. The divorce was in process. She didn’t love him. She was the one who ended it. I found out later that he slept with me to hurt her. As for me? I have no excuses. I had always found him attractive. I convinced myself that Loretta wouldn’t care. He was available. But she did care. Even though she didn’t love him anymore, the idea that I would sleep with someone she had been married to destroyed how she felt about me.”
Georgia leaned back against her chair, growing more relieved.
“I was devastated when Loretta told me she never wanted to speak to me again. People say it was Jackson’s kidnapping that changed me. It wasn’t. It was that and losing Loretta’s friendship. She taught me how to be a better person. I think that’s why Reginald fell in love with me. It wasn’t a game anymore. It was real. And it was good. For a few months.”
Until Jackson had been kidnapped.
“Loretta said she’d like to talk to you sometime,” Georgia said.
Ruby looked at her, a happy gleam lighting her eyes. “She did?”
Georgia smiled. “She wants you to call her.”
“She does?” Ruby didn’t believe it.
Georgia nodded. “I have her number.”
“Oh.” Ruby looked across the room, contemplating what it would mean to reunite with her old friend. “We’d have a lot of repairing to do.” She turned back to Georgia. “But I’d like to try.”
Georgia only nodded, happy she’d talked to Ruby but still plagued by what could happen to her and Ruby. Before coming to San Diego, she’d been convinced that she and Ruby should tread carefully around anyone with money—particularly the Adairs. Now Ruby was enjoying a rich man’s attention, and Georgia was enjoying Carson’s. What did that say about her? That she was a hypocrite? Or had she just been wrong all this time?
* * *
Carson found his sister in the kitchen in her pj’s and a robe. Her long, dark brown hair was tangled and her blue eyes bloodshot. She poured a fizzing soda into a big, ice-filled plastic cup. Beside that, there were three slices of pizza on a plate. Cold.
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