Second Chance Girl
Page 17

“Yes?”
“I would like to apologize for what I said to you the other day. I was wrong to assume the worst about you. Upon further investigation, I have discovered you are exactly who you claimed to be. The mistake is mine and I take complete responsibility for it.”
Violet was careful to keep her mouth from dropping open. As apologies went, it was pretty good. Quick, to the point, with no waffling. If only the man delivering it weren’t so annoying. Or handsome.
“Great. Apology accepted. Now if that’s all...”
“It’s not.” His steady gaze locked with hers. “I’m not just saying the words, Violet. I mean it.”
When had she gone from Miss Lund to Violet? Miss Lund was safer. Miss Lund was stern and strong. Violet was more likely to be overwhelmed by a combination of English accent and sexy smile.
“I believe you. Thank you for the message.” She looked pointedly at the closed door. “I have to get back in there.”
“Of course. There’s just one more thing.”
“There always is,” she muttered.
He ignored that. “Would you do me the honor of having dinner with me tonight? If you won’t accept for my sake, then please do so for the sake of my grandmother who speaks very highly of you.”
Another nicely delivered little speech. He must have taken a class. And while she was tempted, she wasn’t foolish. Or forgiving of the fact that he’d spoiled a perfectly good memory of a fourteen-year-old girl being swept off her feet by a handsome almost-duke.
“Thank you. You’re very kind, but I’m busy tonight.” A lie, but one she was willing to live with. “I would suggest tomorrow, but I’m sure you have to get back to whatever airport you flew in to. Your estate awaits.”
His gaze remained steady. “It does,” he said slowly. “However, this dinner is important to me. I’ll still be in town tomorrow. Shall we say six at the Mountain Top Grill?”
Drat and double drat. She couldn’t even blame anyone but herself—still, who would have thought he would be willing to stay in Happily Inc to have dinner with her? Or not—the man could have business somewhere nearby. Or simply be handling things via email and conference calls. He wasn’t staying just for her. If she thought anything else, she was foolish. Or if he was, he was because of his grandmother. Not her.
“Six,” she agreed reluctantly.
“Of course. I’ll see you then.”
He turned and walked away. Violet watched him go and did her best to quell a sudden sense of foreboding. It was dinner. Just dinner. Whatever crush she’d maintained all these years had been on a different man. Or so she hoped.
* * *
CAROL STRADDLED MATHIAS, her thighs nestled against his hips. They were both naked and it was all he could do to keep from touching her full breasts as she raised her arms, locking her hands behind her head. As she moved, her breasts shifted and bounced, making his erection harder and more painful. She smiled at him.
“Take me,” she whispered as she leaned close. “Take me hard and fast until we’re both—”
What? Both what?
“Carol? Carol?”
Instead of answering she laughed and licked her lips, as if taunting him. Mathias reached for her, only to come awake—drenched in sweat and sporting the world’s hardest, most painful boner.
“Dammit all to hell,” he muttered as he threw off the covers. He continued swearing for several more seconds, then had to push Sophie away as she rolled over to investigate the cause of his bad mood.
“Not your problem,” he muttered as he stood. He was aroused and uncomfortable. The sex dreams with Carol were getting worse, he thought grimly. More detailed and not the least bit satisfying. Those damned images would stay with him all day. There was only one solution to the problem.
He left Sophie snoring gently in his bed, and walked into the bathroom. Five minutes later he was in the shower, the hot water pounding his body. Talk about humiliating, he thought as he grasped his erection and began to move his hand up and down his shaft.
It didn’t take long. The relief was medicinal at best, but at least the immediate problem was solved. As for what to do about Carol—there was an issue that had no resolution.
By the time he was showered, shaved and dressed, it was nearly daylight. Sophie reluctantly got up and he took her for an early walk. They had breakfast before driving to the studio.
Mathias had an order for custom light pendants. He began by matching the colors his client had sent him, then began the slow process of creating a perfectly formed pendant to their exact measurements.
Ronan strolled in about three in the afternoon. They hadn’t seen each other since Elaine’s visit, but having Ronan disappear was hardly news. Mathias had just finished the second pendant and left it to cool. His brother wandered over to study the two pieces.
While each pendant contained the same colors and had the same pattern, they weren’t identical. Mathias had reversed the swirl so they were more of a mirror image. He planned to create the third one to match the first so there would be added vertical interest when they were hanging next to each other.
“Nice,” Ronan said. “You were precise. I like the details.”
Mathias gauged his brother’s mood, based on the handful of words. For once Ronan wasn’t being a jerk, which was a pleasant change.
Ever since their father had blurted out the truth and screwed up their lives five years ago, Ronan had been distant. Before that, they’d been a team. They’d grown up as twins—or so they’d thought. Not anymore. Now Ronan was the half brother. Ceallach’s son, but not Elaine’s child.
After their father’s mild heart attack, he’d been hospitalized for observation. Ceallach had requested the “twins” come see him. When they’d arrived, he told them about his affair and how Ronan was only half brother with the rest of his sons.
Mathias hadn’t been able to take it in—he’d been devastated and had started to lash out at their bastard of a father. But Ronan had only listened in silence. Partway through Mathias’s rant, Ronan had walked out without saying a word. Mathias had followed. When Ronan had said he had to leave their home in Fool’s Gold, Mathias had gone with him. He’d known things would be different for a while, but he’d never thought all this time would pass and Ronan would still think of himself as anything other than a member of the family.
There were moments when Mathias wanted to remind Ronan that he’d had to deal, as well. He’d always thought they would return to being a team—if not twins, then at least close brothers. But Ronan had stayed distant to the point of doing much of his work at his own studio up in the mountains.
Whenever Mathias was asked why he didn’t want to fall in love and settle down, he used his father as an excuse. Ceallach was a jerk and what if Mathias was one, too? But the truth was far different. His inability to trust in love had little to do with his father and everything to do with his brother.
He and Ronan had been a team. They’d been a unit that had faced the world together. It was always supposed to be like that—only Ronan had changed the rules. Mathias knew in his gut that if he hadn’t gone with his brother, Ronan would have simply disappeared. All this time later Mathias couldn’t let go enough not to give a damn but he also couldn’t forgive.
Ronan crossed to his desk. On the way he passed the large recycling container filled with broken bits of glass. He picked up a piece easily identifiable as the head and neck of a giraffe. On that one, Mathias had been close.