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Prologue
“Do I have to be on my deathbed for you to come home?”
Rick Lambert winced, his mother’s words hurting more than a punch below the belt.
“You know I’ll never return to Lexington. Never. But ...” He offered her his most charming smile. “For you, Mom, I’ll do anything. Even jump on a plane at the last minute and fly around the globe, like I did last week.”
When his sister Denise asked him to walk her down the aisle of the small church in St. John, he didn’t hesitate to join the family. Delighted to attend her wedding and meet her groom, Damien Booker, Rick answered with an enthusiastic yes, but he couldn’t agree to go home, despite his mother’s tears.
Arlene Lambert didn’t return his smile. “How long will you let the past destroy our present? How long will you allow your enemies to keep us apart? I’ve missed you, son.”
Rick sighed. Almost fifteen years had passed since that fateful night. He’d never seen Chloe again. To avoid coming across her picture or name, he’d deleted his accounts on all social media and had run away. Eventually, he’d moved on with his life.
Now, he was wealthy and powerful. No one could attack him and get away with it. Would he let this old wound make his mother suffer forever?
“I’ve missed you too, Mom.” He wrapped his arms around his mother’s shoulders. “I’ll come back for you anytime, but not to Lexington. They falsely accused me.” His hand fisted, and his pulse raced as the events of the past resurfaced from the deep recesses of his heart. “They treated me like a bad boy, and I made sure to behave like one when I left. If you’re ready to move and live with me, I’ll buy a big house in Florida.”
“Where in Florida?”
“How about Fort Lauderdale?
“Would you move right away?”
“In a couple of months. I need time to transfer my business interests, but I have one condition. Promise me you won’t tell your friends in Lexington that I’m coming back.”
“I promise. We don’t have to live in the same house. I’ll be satisfied if I can see you once a week.”
“But I’d like to see you every day. I’ve missed my mom, her hugs, and her cooking.” He smiled and squeezed her hand.
Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “My dearest Rick, my wonderful son.”
Chapter One
“Can I bring you anything else?” Madison Howell asked the sweet lady sitting in first class, next to the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in her entire career as a flight attendant.
“No, thank you. You’ve been so helpful.”
“How about you, sir?”
With dark, curly hair, blue-green eyes, a straight nose, and a chiseled jaw, the man commanded attention, the mustache and light beard lending him a stern appearance.
“Nothing for now. I’m good.” The crisp tone of his voice reminded Madison of an ice cube falling on her hand. “Thank you,” he added, a charming smile erasing his previous rebuttal.
She stopped in her tracks, staring at the two dimples in his cheeks and his parted luscious lips.
Geez, how could a man slip so easily from serious and foreboding to charming and sinfully attractive?
“Just call if you…”
Averting his gaze, the man continued browsing on his phone and dismissed her without another glance.
“Did you see him? Mr. Heartthrob?” Laurie asked when Madison returned to the galley.
“How could I miss him? But he didn’t glance at me twice.”
“No flight attendant will ever accuse him of making a pass at her, that’s for sure,” Carmen added. “Not like the jerks we have to serve sometimes. Just because their companies pay for their first-class tickets, they act high-and-mighty and expect you to accept their lewd advances.”
“This one is accompanying his mother. I read their names, Mrs. Arlene Lambert and Mr. Rick Lambert.”
