by Inara Scott
When she’d suggested cooking Ross a treat to celebrate his big presentation, she’d expected the kids to pick chocolate chip cookies or cake. It had therefore been a big surprise when Matt suggested they make a pasta Alfredo dinner. All three kids had agreed that it was his favorite meal, so, hiding her hesitation with a brave smile, Kelsey had picked out the easiest recipe she could find. Still, given the age and skill level of the chefs—herself included—even easy had proven challenging.
Carefully, she set down the bread and turned to examine the pasta, which was sitting in a colander in the sink. To her horror, what had once been a pot of nice firm strands of spaghetti had become a solid, pasta-shaped rock.
“Hmm.” She nibbled on her lower lip. Cooking had seemed like a good afternoon activity to keep the kids occupied, something they could all participate in equally, and it had been fun, as long as she managed to tune out Luke’s complaints and focus on the entertainment of grating cheese and measuring milk and butter. But now came the tough question of what to do with their creation, and whether they should take the final step of actually consuming it.
“Maybe some oil would loosen it up,” she offered, half to herself, half to the kids.
“Oh, that’s going to taste fantastic,” Luke drawled.
Through gritted teeth, Kelsey said, “That’s it, Luke. One more nasty comment and you’re headed to your room.”
“Fine,” Luke snarled back. “I’m going there anyway.”
He turned and marched up the stairs. Kelsey sighed. Despite all her efforts, at the end of day five, other than a few reluctant smiles and halfhearted laughs scattered throughout the day, he was just as bitter as he had been the day they met.
It was hard to believe that she’d spent a full week with the Bencher kids. Even harder to believe that she hadn’t made a total mess out of it, and had actually sort of enjoyed it. Marie was thrilled. She thought she’d finally found a way to bring Kelsey into her nannying empire. Buoyed by her success, she’d pressured Kelsey into learning to change Oscar’s diaper, and she’d been minimally successful. At least, Kelsey hadn’t passed out or vomited, which at the time seemed like a significant victory.
As if reading her thoughts, Julia shifted in her seat and frowned. “Kelsey, I don’t want you to leave.”
“You’ll have fun with Hope,” she said, as she had several times already that day. “Besides, I’m going to come back Monday, as long as it’s okay with your dad.”
“Promise?”
“I can’t really promise without talking to your dad,” Kelsey said. “But I can say this—if I don’t see you Monday, I’ll make sure to come back later in the week. I won’t go without saying good-bye.”
“Good,” Julia said, her fixed gaze promising that she’d make sure Kelsey kept her word. “Where is Daddy?” Julia asked, restlessly switching topics. “Shouldn’t he be home by now?”
The clock on the microwave read six fifteen. The presentation had been that morning and the kids had been impatiently awaiting Ross’s return for hours. Hopefully his failure to arrive home was a good sign, and not a bad one.
Kelsey heard the rumble of the garage door opening. She smiled with relief. “Listen, that’s him now. Let’s make him a plate.”
Julia’s eyes widened with excitement. Matt broke off one end of the bread in an explosion of crumbs and blackened crust. “Should I scrape off the burned parts?” he asked, brushing bits of charred bread off the counter onto the floor.
“No time,” Kelsey said. “Just go with it. It looks great.”
She grabbed a fork and cut off a section of the pasta and added a glob of sauce on top, sending up a silent prayer that she didn’t either poison her boss or go straight to hell for lying to the children.
“Quick,” Julia said, jumping off the stool and running around to the refrigerator. She yanked on the door and pulled out a beer. “Give him one of these, too.”
Kelsey stifled a smile. “Great idea.”
Carefully, she set the bread on the corner of the plate. Then she twisted off the bottle cap and handed the beer back to Julia. “It’s perfect,” she said, her voice a loud stage whisper.
Matt and Julia beamed. The back hall door, which opened into the garage, creaked, then swung wide.
“Daddy,” Julia squealed and ran down the hall.
“Give me a second,” Ross’s deep voice rumbled.
Kelsey steeled herself to look at him. When he came into view, he had a laptop case over one shoulder and a bag of groceries tucked under his arm. Kelsey knew instantly that something was wrong.
“Look, we made dinner,” Matt said, holding up the plate. “Alfredo.”
Ross set down the bag on the counter and looked over at his son. With his crisp white shirt, tie, and dress pants, he was every inch the successful businessman. But his shoulders drooped as if a heavy weight had been set upon them, and dark shadows shaded his eyes. With obvious effort, he smiled. “Hey, no kidding. That’s my favorite.”
Julia held out the beer. “You probably want one of these,” she said, nodding wisely.
“You have no idea,” he agreed, tipping it back and taking a long drink. “Where’s Luke?”
“Upstairs being a jerk,” Matt said.
“Matt, language,” Ross warned.
Matt shrugged. “What? It’s true.”
Ross shook his head. Kelsey had the feeling he didn’t have the energy to fight about it. “Try to have some sympathy,” he said. “Luke’s having a hard time with the move.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “I’ll say.”
“You haven’t tried your dinner,” Julia said, jumping up and down. “You have to eat it.”
Ross rumpled her hair. “I will, pumpkin, I promise. I just need to change my shirt first. Alfredo can be messy, if I remember right. And I don’t want to hold anything back.”
“Matt, I think we left the downstairs a mess,” Kelsey said, hoping to create some interference for Ross. “If you get started on cleaning, I’ll come down and help. Julia, you need to put away your puzzle. I bet by the time you get the basement cleaned up, your dad will be ready for dinner.”
“But I want him to eat it now,” Julia whined. “I don’t want to clean up.”
“Do what Kelsey says,” Ross ordered. “I’ll come down after I get changed.”
The children reluctantly headed toward the basement. Ross took another swallow of beer.
“Meeting didn’t go well?” Kelsey said softly, as soon as Matt and Julia were out of earshot.
“Oh, he offered me the contract,” Ross said. He continued staring in the direction the kids had just gone.
She paused. “And that’s not good?”
“Long story.” He blew out a breath, then gave a short, cynical laugh. “Or a short one, I guess. I tried to dance with the devil and got burned.”
“Herriot being the devil?”
“Of course.”
She didn’t know a thing about construction, or whatever it was Ross did, exactly, but she couldn’t imagine any better role for Armand Herriot than the devil. “I’m sorry.” She hesitated, then said, “Do you want me to stay for a little while? The kids have been bugging me to watch the movie Shrek. We spent most of the day at the pool and didn’t get to see it.”
She wanted so much to touch him. To find some way to comfort him. She watched as he drank the rest of the bottle. He didn’t respond to her question, but continued staring down the hall, rubbing his chin lightly with one hand.
“You know,” he said finally, “that would be great.”
…
“Say good-bye to Kelsey and then head upstairs,” Ross told Matt. “Remember, it’s her last day.” He’d just carried a sleepy Julia to her bed and turned out the lights. Thankfully, the memory of the grim events of the day had been dulled by a couple of hours of cartoon donkeys and ogres, some truly awful Alfredo, several beers, and the close proximity of Kelsey on the couch beside him while they watched the movie.
He did
n’t want to think about what her replacement as nanny meant for the two of them. There was only so much a man’s brain could handle at one time, and he’d reached his limit at about 10:00 a.m. that morning.
“But…” Matt glanced over at Kelsey. “Didn’t you tell him about the climbing wall?”
She grimaced. “You were supposed to let me ask him about that,” she said, shooting him a guilty look.
“Oops.” Matt didn’t look the least bit repentant. “Sorry.” He ran over and gave Kelsey one of his trademark tackle-hugs, and then skipped up the stairs and disappeared from view.
“Climbing wall?” Ross raised one tired brow. He had been wondering how long it would be before Kelsey suggested something along those lines.
“It’s totally safe,” she said, the words tumbling out in a rush. “It’s a popular place with tons of kids and safety instructors. There are foam mats on the ground, and special climbs for the kids that aren’t too difficult. They’re never more than twelve feet off the ground and—”
He raised a hand to stop her. “I thought Hope was coming on Monday.”
“She was—or can be, if you want. But I didn’t get to take the kids climbing this week so I talked to Hope about it and she said if it’s okay with you, I can come back Monday and take the kids there. She isn’t into it herself, and Marie can get her a one-day temp job and have her start Tuesday. Matt was really excited about it and I didn’t want to disappoint him.”
He didn’t have the energy to fight about climbing walls, or anything else Kelsey might have planned. “That’s nice of you. I’m sure Matt is thrilled. It’s fine with me as long as everyone does whatever safety checks they require and it doesn’t mess things up for Hope for the rest of the summer.”
“Wow,” she said. “You really must be in a bad mood. I thought you’d never agree to that.”
He tried for a smile, but it fell away. Kelsey picked up her bag and started toward the door. He thought about letting her go, but knew he couldn’t. She was slipping on her shoes as he approached from behind. Her T-shirt was cool under his fingers. His thumb found the skin of her neck and she froze.
“Ross…” Her voice trailed away.
He touched her neck with his mouth. “Can you stay?” he asked. “Just a little bit longer?”
Her body was still. He felt her heartbeat under her skin.
“Yes.”
She turned around slowly, and the kiss was as necessary as it was inevitable. Their bodies seemed to fall into each other as though they’d never been apart. For the first time that day, he forgot everything.
After a long moment, she pulled away. “You need to check on Matt,” she said.
He nodded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
…
Ross waited until the kids were asleep before he went back downstairs. Kelsey must have exhausted them at the pool, because even Luke didn’t protest when he turned off the lights and closed the door, and within a few minutes, he was snoring away.
He found Kelsey in the kitchen, sitting on one of the barstools by the center island. She was reading a magazine and swinging one long leg underneath her, in a strangely enticing, unselfconscious motion.
Would there come a time when he didn’t look at her and feel her fresh, pure sensuality like a punch to his gut?
“Would you like a glass of wine?” he asked, walking over to the cupboard and taking out a bottle of merlot. “I think I need one.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
Part of him wanted to make love to her that instant, but another part wanted to stop and enjoy what felt like a stolen, secret moment. He opened the bottle while she watched, her eyes dark and soft.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” she said. “But you can.”
It took only a moment under that strangely understanding gaze for the interview with Herriot to come flooding back. Words threatened to spill out in a jumble of confusion and frustration. He’d needed to talk to someone about it all day, but there was no one he could call. Though they had tried to be supportive, no one in his family had ever really understood why he and Jenna had made the decision to come to Colorado in the first place. The last thing he wanted was to give them a chance to say “I told you so.” He had friends back in New York, but they didn’t want to get a self-pitying call from him, complaining about how hard things were out in Colorado.
So, as he poured two glasses of wine, he found himself describing the resort he wanted to build, the contemptuous response after he’d presented it to Herriot, and the bargain he had been offered. Meanwhile, his gaze kept slipping to the curve of her neck and the tawny skin at the base of her throat. His lips ached to kiss that spot.
“Herriot wants to use me,” he said, distracting himself from the endless length of her legs by imagining the older man’s eyes gleaming as he presented Ross with his Faustian bargain. “He wants to use my name to make a deal with some old guy who doesn’t want to sell his land. Then he’ll turn around and develop the land into an exclusive resort for rich jerks like himself. If I agree, my business in Colorado will take off. If I refuse, he’ll see that I’m shut out of the market for good.”
Kelsey winced. “That’s horrible.”
“He’s not a nice man,” Ross said simply.
Her brow furrowed. “But wait—I know Herriot’s rich, but he doesn’t own the state. Why can’t you just ignore him and do your own thing?”
Ross stared down at the glass in his hand, swirling the dark-red liquid before tipping the last of the glass into his mouth. “I wish it were that easy, but all my experience is on the East Coast. I’ve got teams of guys out there who are ready to drop everything to work for me, suppliers who trust me and are willing to cut me good deals, and real estate agents who come to me first when they’ve got a hot new property.” He shook his head. “Out here, I’ve got nothing. It will take me years to build new connections. Meanwhile, Herriot will be talking about me behind my back. He’s going to have all of his suppliers and agents convinced that if they work for me, they’re going to lose his business. Obviously, he can’t get to everyone, but he can make it really, really hard for me. For a long time to come.”
Ross imagined the frustration of going out for contracts, spending the time and money to put in a bid, only to discover that Herriot had poisoned his reputation in the market. He’d known starting over in Colorado would be hard; he hadn’t expected it to be impossible.
“That’s horrible.” Kelsey shuddered. “When he closed the Grand Hotel in Winter Park, I knew he was a jerk. I had no idea he was this much of a jerk.”
“What was the Grand Hotel?” he asked.
“Oh, it was a beautiful place. A little run-down, not very fancy, but there were families who had been going there for generations. It was close to the slopes, affordable, and had huge rooms. Herriot ripped it down to the studs and built a glamour palace in its place. No one can afford it anymore. At least, no one without a seven-figure income.”
Ross refilled his glass. “Herriot claims Stagefeather owes a bunch of back taxes. He could lose the land if he doesn’t find a way to come up with some money.”
Kelsey took a delicate sip of her wine. “What if you get him a good deal for his land?” she said, though her voice held more doubt than conviction. “Would you feel okay about it then?”
“I wish,” Ross replied. “But I always tell Luke, it isn’t what you do in life that matters. It’s how you do it. Could I look my kids in the eye if I tricked this man? Could I look myself in the eye, knowing we were going to build some amusement park for rich people on the land he loved?”
She blew out a breath. “I suppose it does sort of suck, when you put it that way.”
“Understatement of the year.”
“If you don’t mind my asking,” Kelsey said, “why did you leave New York? It sounds like you had a really good business going, and the kids told me all of their cousins and their grandparents are back there as well.”
Ross gave a shor
t laugh. “Sounds crazy when you put it that way, doesn’t it? The short answer is that Jenna looked for a job for a long time back home, and didn’t find anything. This was a big step up for her.”
“And the long version?”
He dragged his fingers through his hair. “The long version? Honestly? Jenna and I both screwed up—big—when we were kids. We got pregnant too young and married too young. Somewhere down deep we’ve both been looking for a fresh start. This was the first chance we’d had to start over and be somewhere no one knew us.”
He’d had no idea it would feel so good to admit it. Say it out loud. Somehow the desire that had made him feel slightly guilty when he talked about it with his family sounded reasonable when he explained it to Kelsey. “My family is great, but as far as they’re concerned, I’m still the same guy I was back in high school, and Jenna’s the same girl. They can’t see that we’ve changed. My brother Brit thinks I’m some kind of playboy, with a different woman every night.”
Kelsey laughed. “Wow—a playboy? He doesn’t know you at all, does he?”
He found it unexpectedly comforting to hear her, of all people, say that so lightly and easily. The absurdity of it struck him and he chuckled. “He’s just jealous because I got to take Jenna to the prom and he didn’t.”
“Surely he has to see how successful you’ve been, and what a good dad you are.”
“I could be the richest man in the world, but he’ll always be my older brother.” The wine was starting to go to his head a little, a dim buzz beginning in the back of his brain, and Kelsey’s body was calling to him with the power of a siren’s song. Before he knew it, he had moved from his spot by the counter and was behind Kelsey, his hands on her shoulders. Gently, he rubbed the tight muscles he found there. “Jesus, how bad have the kids been this week?”
“It’s not the kids. I’ve been running a lot lately with the backpack.” She gave a soft moan of pleasure. “That feels amazing.”
“Patented move,” he said, trailing his hand around the neckline of her shirt.
“Maybe you are a playboy.”
She leaned into his touch in a way that made his groin tighten.