Love Loyal and True

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  That bald truth hit him harder than if she’d full-out swung a two-by-four upside his head.

  He shoved away from the Range Rover and paced a few feet away, the empty glass in his hand hard against his thigh. How did she know that he feared being pushed aside and replaced when he hadn’t even wanted to fully acknowledge it himself? It was downright stupid and childish and fucking insecure, which is why he keep shoving it aside. Which only made him angrier whenever he had to face the guy and acknowledge he existed.

  But could she be right? Was he doing it to himself?

  “Can I ask you another question?”

  He snorted and swung around. “You haven’t asked for permission so far, why start now?”

  She smiled briefly. “How rich are you?”

  He lifted his shoulders uncomfortably, not wanting to brag when he knew she wasn’t so well off.

  “You’re worth millions, right?” she pried. “Is it all your money, or is it tied up in a trust fund?”

  “We each assume full control of our trust funds at thirty.” He tapped the glass against the side of his leg as he stared at her boots peeking out from beneath the hem of her blue dress. “And I’ve done well enough on my own, through hard work and investments.”

  “Then why don’t you give Grayson the money? No strings attached.”

  Loyal’s hand stilled as he lifted his head in surprise.

  Huh. Now that was an idea.

  He hadn’t even thought of that angle. Dad couldn’t insist on him being CFO if he used his own money. He also wouldn’t look like such a selfish bastard for saying no, and best of all, he wouldn’t have to work with his half-brother.

  “You know, I like that,” he said, warming up to the idea fast. “I really like that.”

  Roxanna smiled, and he was hit with a sudden urge to haul her into his arms and kiss her. Then he noticed a shiver shake her bare shoulders, and saw the goose bumps on her pale skin. Here he was all warm in his shirt, vest, and suit coat, while she was freezing in the November night air.

  He set his glass on the hood of his vehicle, then shrugged out of his coat and moved in to sling it around her shoulders. Her startled gaze rose, but got caught up on his mouth. He gathered her long hair back to pull it free, loving the cool silkiness of it against his skin. His breath hitched as her lips parted the tiniest bit and her tongue darted out for a quick sweep. The moisture left behind glinted in the light from over the door behind him.

  Releasing her hair, he gave a quick rub up and down her arms over his coat. “That better?”

  “Yes, thank you,” she breathed. Then she blinked and stiffened as her gaze met his for a split second before bouncing away. “We should get back inside.”

  Loyal inched closer. “I don’t want to go back inside.”

  He heard her hard swallow, heard the shallow rasp of her breath to match his, but when he tightened his grip on her arms and leaned forward, the hand not holding her wine glass flattened against his chest to hold him back.

  “Loyal, I can’t. We can’t.”

  He chose in that moment to believe she was only talking about them kissing outside the ballroom while his whole family waited inside for the election results. It wasn’t any worse than them having mind-blowing sex in the stables while his whole family was up at the house for the Halloween party, but he listened to his gut and didn’t push her.

  He reached for his empty glass, then stepped back to give her some space. She gulped down the rest of her wine while she straightened from the bumper.

  As soon as they stepped back inside, she started to slip his coat from her shoulders.

  “You can keep it until you’re warm.”

  She cast a furtive glance around and handed it over. “I’m good. And…um…about tomorrow—”

  “Yeah, about that,” he interrupted as he took the suit coat. “You close at six, so I was thinking I’d pick up takeout on the way over. Any preference?”

  “No. Loyal, I don’t—”

  “I’ll get Italian then. There’s a great place near my hotel.”

  Right outside the doors to the family suite, she swung around to face him. “You can’t come over.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because, you can’t.”

  He did an eyebrow raise and head tilt to let her know because wasn’t going to cut it.

  “I hired someone else.”

  He wasn’t coming over for the accounting and they both knew it. She wanted him, but like last night in her shop, she was running scared. So he called her bluff. “Liar.”

  Her gaze narrowed and her chin lifted as she insisted, “I did.”

  “Who’d you get?”

  “You wouldn’t know them.”

  “Gimmie a name.”

  Her gaze flicked toward the ceiling for a second. “Sheldon Cooper.”

  He snorted. “You do know they run The Big Bang Theory reruns all the time, right?”

  She gave a frustrated little growl that was surprisingly sexy, then her expression set with determination. “We can’t do this.”

  “Yes we can.” He’d go crazy if they didn’t.

  She shook her head, a hint of desperation in the movement. “I’m serious. Do not come over.”

  He leaned forward. She leaned back, eyes wide, pupils dilated. It took every ounce of will power he had not to touch her as he reached past to wrap his hand around the door handle behind her.

  “Like it or not, Roxanna, I’m coming.” A little thrill shot through him when her breath hitched, and arousal turned his voice husky and rough. “And I’m going to add up your numbers so perfectly, you’re going to beg me to do it again and again.”

  Then he lost his will power and pressed a hard kiss to her parted lips. When he opened the door, it nudged against her back, and she looked a bit dazed as she stepped aside.

  Good. Let her think about that until tomorrow.

  Chapter 19

  Finished with her final reading for the day, Roxanna said goodbye to Tessa at four, and went to pour herself a fresh cup of coffee as a new customer browsed the gemstone section. The Governor had won his senate bid last night, and the victory celebration had gone past midnight. She’d been exhausted when she got home, but the moments out back with Loyal replayed in her head and made sure she still didn’t get much sleep.

  Coffee was her last resort to keep her alert in case her unwanted self-appointed accountant showed up.

  Unwanted? Biggest lie you’ve told yourself yet.

  She stirred a dash of cream and sugar into her cup, and even the noise of the construction between her shop and Honor’s new next-door bakery faded away as Loyal’s sexy voice filled her head.

  “I’m going to add up your numbers so perfectly, you’re going to beg me to do it again and again.”

  Never in her life would she have imagined an accounting reference could sound so dirty and sexy. Last night, those words had made her weak in the knees and her panties damp. Thankfully, he’d opened the door and nudged her aside, because two more seconds, and she’d have grabbed his vest to drag him back out to his Land Rover with its huge back seat, tinted windows, and condoms in the glove box.

  She’d spent the rest of the evening subtly using Honor and Mae as shields, because every time Loyal’s dark gaze caught hers, she instantly remembered how amazing he felt inside her. How the heck was she supposed to combat that—especially when she couldn’t drink any more wine?

  All day today, every time she’d caught a glimpse of Asher next door, or when he’d come over into the shop to bug her, his dark hair had made her do a double-take. Even worse, every damn time the door chime sounded, Roxanna’s pulse leapt, and her gaze shot to the front of the store. The closer it got to closing time, the harder her heart thumped.

  “You’re going to beg me to do it again and again.”

  Damn him.

  Damn yourself. You’re the one who had to go after him outside.

  Yeah, she did only have herself to blame for that one. She
should’ve left it alone—left him alone.

  She took her coffee back to the register to ring up her customer’s purchases, then tidied up the counter and carried a stack of mail back to her desk. Her messy desk that was re-growing uneven piles of crap. She should clean it again, but figured it was a good deterrent should Loyal actually show up.

  Rigid, buttoned up Loyal would hate her disorganized mess.

  But no—if she ended up putting him to work, the room would be much too small with him watching while she cleared him a spot, so she was better off doing it now.

  Forty-five minutes later, in between two more customers, she had the desk all ready to go. She opened all the relevant files on her computer, left her password by the keyboard, and spun her chair to go finish out the end of her day up front.

  “Wow, look how—”

  Roxanna exclaimed and jumped as Asher spoke from the doorway. “Geez, you scared the crap out of me.”

  “You’ve been jumpy all day.”

  She avoided his gaze and rose from the chair to walk toward him with her empty cup. “Too much caffeine trying to recover from the late night. And I keep forgetting you can walk through the opening in the wall now and sneak up on me.”

  They were connecting the bakery and Lift Your Spirit to share café tables as well as cross-promote to customers. Until the glass doors were installed between the two shops, all Asher had to do was slip around the plastic sheeting over the huge-ass hole in the wall.

  He shrugged and grinned as he glanced behind her. “You cleaned the desk again. What are you looking for this time?”

  “Nothing, smartass. I am turning a corner and keeping up with things.”

  “Yeah, right,” he scoffed.

  She brushed past him. “I am.” From this moment forward. “What’s up, anyway? How’s everything going next door?”

  “Good. Mae’s crew is packing up for the day, and Honor and I are heading out, too. We’re going to grab drinks at Nick’s and thought we’d see if you wanted to meet us for dinner after you close. Mae and Ian are coming, too.”

  Roxanna glanced toward the front of her shop, half-expecting Loyal to walk in at any moment. She should go. It would serve him right if she wasn’t here when he showed up—then he’d know she was serious that nothing more could happen between them. But part of her didn’t want to be serious. Part of her wanted him to play with all her numbers tonight. Again and again.

  Her cheeks burned hot at the wanton thought. “Thanks, but I have a lot to get done here.”

  Asher joined her over by the tidy register counter and crossed his arms. “Like what?”

  “I’m switching out some inventory,” she said vaguely.

  “You did that yesterday.”

  “I have more to do.” She had a few items she could switch around to make it so she wasn’t lying. “And I’m going to work on my books again.”

  “You should’ve hired someone to do those by now.”

  She shrugged. His scrutinizing gaze made her nerves twitch.

  “You’re avoiding me because of Loyal,” he accused.

  Her stomach pitched as she shot him a frown. “I am not.”

  “Are, too. Last night you barely even talked to me.”

  She hadn’t talked to him because Loyal had been hanging out with him much of the time. But she’d been avoiding his brother, not him. “It was a busy night. You guys all had a lot going on.”

  The shake of his head said he didn’t buy it. “Listen, I know it’s been hard adding Honor into the mix, and I—”

  “I love Honor,” she insisted. “I am nothing but thrilled you found your special someone.”

  “I know, and she loves you now, too.” They shared a brief grin over that. “The thing is, I know it’s been different, and I just don’t want what happened between you and Loyal to make things weird. You mean too much to me for him to get in the way of our friendship.”

  Heaviness settled in her chest. She did her best to hold her smile as she reached out to grasp his forearm. “Same here, Ace. But we’re good. I promise.”

  And for her to keep that promise, she had to get over Loyal and move on.

  “Okay.” Asher pulled her in for a quick, tight hug, then backed toward the plastic sheeting covering the opening between the two shops. “You’re sure about tonight?”

  “I’m sure.” She forced a smile. “Lots to do.”

  “You know where we are if you change your mind.”

  “Have fun.”

  Honor called goodbye through the opening as they left, and everything got quiet once they locked up. She filled her last hour cleaning the coffee area, vacuuming the carpet, and switching a few things in her front displays to keep from lying to her best friend. She might have also been keeping an eye out for Loyal.

  Six o’clock came.

  Then five after.

  And ten after.

  Finally, she locked the front door, flipped her sign, and headed to the back to shut off the lights. All the while, she told herself she was happy he’d listened to her. Thrilled. It made her life so much easier.

  Twenty minutes past six, she turned off the light for the storage room and office, and yanked open the door to go upstairs. She was not disappointed in the least that he hadn’t showed. She wasn’t angry either—she was relieved.

  Except, suddenly there he was, coming through the outside door from the back parking lot, carry-out bags in each hand. She pulled up short, her heart lodged high in her throat as excitement woke up her whole body with an electrifying shot of adrenalin.

  Loyal smiled when he saw her. “Hi.”

  She still wasn’t used to smiles instead of scowls. The flash of his white teeth through his dark stubble, and the way his eyes crinkled as if he was genuinely happy to see her made it hard to catch her breath. His dark gaze took stock of her black pencil skirt and form-fitting charcoal cashmere sweater. The heat in his gaze telegraphed to her body and spiraled down to settle low in her belly.

  He wore business casual, as usual. Slim khakis, light blue shirt tucked, pants belted, with a dark brown vest. His usually styled hair was mussed, as if he’d run a hand through it a time or two. He should look nerdy, or stuffy, or something other than deliciously sexy.

  “I didn’t think you were coming,” she said, striving for indifference.

  “Yeah. Sorry I’m late. Josephine’s was swamped.” He let the door shut behind him and lifted the bags in his hands. “You want to take this upstairs, or sit at one of your shop tables?”

  If she took him upstairs, she might as well take him straight to the bedroom. She absolutely could not do that. Not after her conversation with Asher. In fact, if she had any smarts at all, she’d tell him he was too late and she leaving to meet his brother and Honor at the pub.

  Instead, she stepped back and held the door open for him to enter the shop.

  She’d have to make do with half-smarts tonight.

  As he passed by, the delicious smell of Italian spices almost covered up that faint scent of his cologne she loved so much. Almost. She took a discrete inhale and savored all the aromas in the air.

  Loyal glanced right, into her dark office-storage area, then paused for a longer look to the left through the hanging beads leading into her reading room. Like in the store, she kept a Himalayan salt lamp lit twenty-four seven, and the orange glow was bright enough to make out her table and chairs, plus the large chaise lounge against the far wall.

  But he didn’t stay there long enough for her to feel the need to explain, and as he moved on to set the bags on one of the tables, she followed to flick on the bright lights over the coffee station. There would be no leaving it to ambient lighting to give a romantic feel.

  “You didn’t have to do this,” she told him.

  “This is just one of many apologies I owe you from the past six years.”

  Her heart warmed at those words, but she said, “The other night was apology enough.”

  Loyal started taking containers fr
om the bags. “If that was an apology, then it definitely wasn’t enough.”

  Heat flamed through her when she realized he thought she’d been referring to their time in the stables. “I meant on the bench,” she clarified. “You apologized on the bench.”

  “I’ll apologize anywhere you want, Roxanna.”

  How about right here?

  But when he lifted his gaze with the husky statement, she swallowed hard and shook her head as much for herself as for him. “You have to stop that.”

  He stared at her for a moment, then set down the container in his hands and stepped around the table. “Why? There’s no use denying the chemistry between us. Lord knows I’ve tried from the day we met.”

  The words shocked her enough that a few seconds later, she found herself backed up against the coffee station. He trapped her with a hand braced on each side of her against the counter. Then he dipped his head until his stubble-rough cheek rasped against her smooth one.

  All rational thought scattered as his warm breath fanned her ear.

  “We’re both consenting adults here. What’s the harm in indulging?”

  His lips brushed her ear before sliding across her neck, to the underside of her jaw. Roxanna started to tilt her head to give him better access, then she desperately latched on to one last shred of common sense.

  Leaning back, she drew her hands up to push against his chest. The urge to let her fingers explore the hard planes beneath his shirt and vest had her clenching them into fists.

  “The harm would be to me,” she said softly, eyes closed as she wrestled between pulsing desire and self-preservation. “You have nothing to lose, Loyal, but I could lose everything.”

  He went still, and she opened her eyes when he eased back a few inches to see her face.

  “Tell me what that means.”

  She searched his expression to see he genuinely didn’t understand. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her gaze and admitted, “You have the power to break my heart—in more ways than one. If we do this and it goes bad—when it goes bad, because you don’t do relationships—I will lose not only my best friend, but the family I’ve come to love as my own.”