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“Do you want me to take you home?”
Home. The word sent a spike of electricity through her. She knew he meant his grandfather’s estate, but her home was a nineteen-foot camper parked north of the city. A few days from now she’d be hitting the road once more.
“Or maybe back to your house,” she said, pushing aside all thoughts of leaving and the disquiet it aroused. “I’d love to spend some time alone with you.”
“It’s like you read my mind,” he murmured. “Let’s go.”
Nine
The morning after Ryan and Zoe’s wedding, Paul was up at dawn, retracing the walk along the beach he and Lia had taken the previous night before he’d dropped her off at the Watts estate. Her mood after leaving the wedding had been reflective, but when he’d asked her what was on her mind, she’d stopped his questions with a passionate kiss.
They’d made love for hours while the moon rose and spilled its pale light across his bedroom floor. He marveled how being in her company kept him grounded in the moment, his thoughts drifting over her soft skin, his focus locked on her fervent cries and the way her body shuddered in climax beneath him.
He’d been loath to take her back to his grandfather’s house. Although they’d been together for hours, the time passed too quickly. He wanted to keep her in his bed. To wake up to her sweet face and bury his nose in her fragrant hair. Alone atop the tangled sheets that smelled of her perfume and their lovemaking, he’d spent the rest of a sleepless night staring at the ceiling and probing the dissatisfaction that dominated his mood.
What became crystal clear was that he didn’t want Lia to leave. Not that night. Not in a few days. Maybe never.
Now as he looked out at the water this morning, he flashed back to the tarot card reading. The reversed Hermit card, indicating his time of being alone was over. The Lovers in his near future. The final outcome card promising happiness and joy. But there had also been the possible outcome card of the bound woman who Lia said represented confusion and isolation. He had a choice to make. Either maintain his current priorities by giving all his time and energy to his business or take a more balanced approach and open himself to the potential of love.
Appalled at himself for remembering all that New Age nonsense much less giving it the slightest bit of credibility, Paul returned home, showered and then sat down in his home office to lose himself in work. Although he had staff to follow through with the day-to-day business of protecting their clients’ data, Paul liked to keep his skill level up to date. As fast as they plugged one hole, the criminals found another to get through.
The morning passed in a blur. He’d left his phone in the kitchen to avoid the temptation to call Lia. Around noon his stomach began to growl so he went into the kitchen to make some lunch.
Ethan had messaged him, asking how the wedding had gone and inviting him for an afternoon of fishing. The offer delighted Paul. It had been a long time since he’d hung out with his brother and he missed the fun times they’d had.
After a quick text exchange to accept, Paul headed west to James Island. Ethan lived in a sprawling four-year-old custom-built house that backed up onto Ellis Creek and offered direct access to Ashley River and Charleston Harbor. With its white siding and navy shutters, reclaimed heart pine floors, white woodwork throughout including kitchen cabinets and built-ins, the home had a more traditional style than Paul expected from Ethan.
A mix of antiques and new furniture filled the rooms, offering a comfortable but conservative feel. Only one room had a purely masculine vibe and that was the entertainment room on the lower level. The room’s dark brown walls and red ceiling were the backdrop for a large projection screen, sports-related art and pool table with red felt.
It was in this room Paul found his brother waiting. Because Ethan liked to entertain, the room’s location on the creek side of the garage with direct access from the driveway meant that Ethan’s friends could come and go from the party spot without traipsing through his entire house.
“So I’ve been thinking,” Paul began, accepting the beer his brother handed him from the beverage cooler built into the wet bar.
“When are you not thinking?” Ethan countered. He flopped onto the leather sectional and took a long pull from his bottle.
Ignoring his brother’s jab, Paul rolled the bottle between his hands and paced. “Grady is progressing, but he’s far from back to full health.”
Ethan’s eyebrow rose. “And?”
“We’re due to tell everyone there’s been the mix-up with Lia’s genetic test in a few days and I’m just worried it’s too soon and that he’ll regress.” For the hundredth time Paul wished Lia hadn’t had such a profound effect on Grady’s health. If she’d never come to stay at the estate, Paul could continue to pretend that he was perfectly content, never knowing how right he felt in her company, never knowing the all-consuming hunger or the raw joy of making love to her. She’d twisted his perceptions and made him question beliefs that ruled his life. Yet he couldn’t get over the sense that she was the missing piece that made him whole.
“So you want her to stay longer?” Ethan asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Grady is happy.” Paul spoke with deliberate care. “Because he thinks his granddaughter is back.”
“I thought you were worried that he’d get too attached.”
Paul let out a frustrated sigh, hating that he found himself trapped between a rock and a hard place. “That ship sailed the moment we didn’t tell Grady the truth.” He paused and drank his beer, picturing his grandfather by the pool the day before, the amused fondness in his gaze as he watched what he thought to be his three granddaughters.
“I don’t know,” Ethan muttered, sounding more like Paul than Paul at the moment. “The longer we let this go the more we risk the truth coming out. Grady might never forgive us if he thinks we tricked him.”
Paul couldn’t believe the way the tables had turned. Usually he was the one sounding the alarm. “He’ll never know.”
“He’ll never know?” Ethan echoed, looking doubtful. “What’s gotten into you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were dead set against her pretending to be Ava’s daughter at all. Next you’ll be suggesting she should stay permanently.”
