Melting the Millionaire's Heart (7 page)

“It’s not my only car. I drove it to the airport because I don’t like to leave my BMW in long-term parking while I’m out of town.”

“Don’t you have a chauffeur to drive you around?”

He shook his head. “I don’t go for all of that crap, tons of servants, a private jet, stuff like that. It just draws attention.” He put the car in gear and headed for his estate.

“You don’t like being noticed for your wealth.”

“Something like that. I didn’t grow up with it, and no one else around here has money, so I don’t like to lord my money over people. It sets me apart.”

“Is your brother really autistic, or was that a lie, too?”

The quiet words hit him like a punch in the belly. He turned to stare. “Of course he is. You think I would lie about
that
?”

She shrugged and looked away, out the passenger window. “It doesn’t really make any sense, but then again, I didn’t think you would give me a fake name, either. Maybe you just made up the whole thing to draw me out on Horizons.”

“I told you why I did that,” he said, trying but failing to keep the edge out of his voice. “It was a horrible mistake, I know that now. I understand why you’re mad.”

“Damn right it was horrible. Why didn’t you tell me the truth before we went to bed together? Did you think I was so stupid, I didn’t even deserve the truth?”

“That’s crazy! It had nothing to do with you. Everything to do with me.” He took a deep breath. “People treat you very differently when they find out you have a lot of money. I guess I wanted to play that role for a little while, the regular guy who could be taken on his own terms. Just for himself, not for what I could do for somebody.”

“Like give a school a million dollar donation?”

“Or buy a girl a diamond bracelet or a new car.”

She jerked around to face him. “I’m not after your money. I didn’t ask for a damn thing from you!”

“Because you didn’t know I had money.”

“So you think I’m some kind of gold digger?” she accused, shifting in her seat to face him more fully.

“Not now. But last night, I didn’t know. I’d just met you, remember?”

“And now that you know me?”

He took a deep breath. “I have no reason to think you’re a gold-digger, no.”

She scoffed and turned back to look out the passenger side. “That’s damning me with faint praise, if you ask me.”

“I’ve known you less than twenty-four hours. I’m supposed to trust you one hundred percent?”

“I trusted you. I went to bed with you, remember?”

“After you gave me an earful about what a jerk I was.”

“What a jerk
Ryan Langford
was! I didn’t know he was you.”

“I get it. So you wouldn’t have insulted me to my face if you’d known who I was, but you still would have felt exactly the same way. You judged me and my motivations unfairly without ever having met me.”

“Maybe not.” She glared at him.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I thought Ryan Langford was an ass. Now that I know you let me go to bed with you and never thought you needed to tell me who you really were, I
know
you’re an ass!” She whipped a hank of hair that had gotten in her mouth out of the way and looked out the window again. “If you ask me, my assessment was right on target.”

“Fine. Whatever. You’ll have to excuse me if I’m not all that happy with you right now, either.”

She didn’t answer, and he let it drop. He couldn’t say a thing to make the frustration burning in his stomach go away, to make her understand his point of view, or bring back the look of affection and desire she’d had when she looked at him last night. After a few minutes of ironclad silence, she switched on the radio, pushing buttons until she found a jazz station. Thelonious Monk ended and Ella Fitzgerald’s rich voice filled the car, asking some lucky guy what he was doing New Year’s Eve.

Kayla stiffened. The song went on, so badly out of step with the vibe between them that he wanted to switch it off, but some urge to punish himself made him leave it on. His hurt deepened with every note of romantic optimism Ella belted out.

Kayla had accused him of inventing his brother’s condition. That was low. The injustice of that chewed at him until he couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “My brother has been through hell,” he said in a low voice. She turned to look at him as he spoke. “He couldn’t be taught in a regular school. He didn’t learn to ride a bike or swim until he was nearly twenty. He couldn’t fit in, make friends, or date, when all around him, everyone he knew did those things.
I
did those things. You think that was easy, for him or me? Yet he was never angry at me, not
once
.” He jabbed a finger at her. “He wasn’t jealous either.
I
was eaten up by guilt. Look, I’ve had a charmed life compared to my brother’s, but the guilt I feel is nothing compared to what he’s had to deal with. And you thought I’d invent that to get laid?” He took a deep breath to steady himself. Damn, her charge about Jake had struck a nerve.

“I’m sorry. I apologize for any insult to your brother,” Kayla said after a moment. “He sounds like a great guy and obviously you love him very much. But I can’t apologize to you for that and mean it. You lied to me, so you can’t be surprised when I doubt you. A little lie, maybe I could overlook. But this?” The crack in her voice broke his heart. “You let me go to bed with you thinking you were a different person. I can’t trust you.”

The finality of the words made his heart sink. He’d met a great girl, but now she thought he was some kind of pathological liar. He’d made a million dollars, but he couldn’t convince one woman to give him another chance. “I’m sorry,” he said, knowing it was hopeless.

Music swelled from the speakers as Ella worked up to her big finish. Kayla made a noise that might have been a sniffle, but he couldn’t tell for sure. She’d turned away from him, her stiff shoulders forbidding. He gritted his teeth against the misery. Remorse, sadness, and a trace of lingering anger ate at him, made worse by the swooning romanticism of the song that filled the car. It hurt, but he wouldn’t let on. He didn’t care what other people thought about him, and he never showed weakness. He arrowed a look at Kayla’s profile. If she couldn’t stand listening to this song at this moment, let her turn it off. But she didn’t. She left the station on to play one romantic ballad after another all the way back to his home.

Chapter Six

“Kayla, are you sure you’re okay?” Carolyn asked. She pulled her to the side of the classroom, a line of worry between her brows. A screen divided the reading group corner from the rest of the classroom, giving them some privacy to talk as the other kids worked on their coloring.

“I’m fine, why do you ask?”

“Because we have reading group in minute, but you just told the kids we were doing math. I know we’ve only been back to school for a couple of days, but I had to call your name five times before you heard me, and your shoes don’t match.”

Kayla looked down at her feet with a sigh. Sure enough, she wore a beige ballet flat on her left foot and a gray one on her right. “I suppose that’s what I get for buying the same pair of shoes in two different colors.”

Carolyn’s worried gaze seemed to see straight through her. “I think it’s actually what you get for letting a good man get away. Have you thought about calling Ryan?”

Kayla groaned. “Don’t bring that up again.”

“Kayla, you’ve been mooning over him ever since New Year’s! It’s been more than a week. You need to give him a call and talk it over.”

“Remember what happened the last time I took your relationship advice?”

“Well, let me think.” Carolyn tapped her chin in a mocking gesture. Her brows lifted. “Oh, I remember! You had the best sex of your life with a multimillionaire you fell head over heels for.”

Kayla frowned. “That’s one way to look at it.” She fell silent for a second. “Another way is that I was used and taken advantage of by a liar.”

“You are truly a glass half-empty kind of a person, you know that? Look, I know he wasn’t completely honest with you—”

“That’s putting it mildly! He lied about his identity. He knew I didn’t like him, and he let me believe he was somebody else until he could get in my pants!”

“Keep your voice down!” Carolyn said. “Sex education isn’t part of the curriculum here. I still think you’re being too hard on the guy. Everybody is dishonest every once in a while. I lie sometimes. You lie. What’s so unforgivable about what he did?”

“Because when most guys lie, it’s in response to a question like ‘Do these pants make my ass look huge?’ or ‘Do you think my sister’s hotter than I am?’ or ‘Who’s better in bed, me or your ex-girlfriend?’ You know, understandable, face-saving lies. Most men don’t lie when they’re asked, ‘What’s your name?’”

Carolyn threw a hand up in the air. “Can you blame the guy? You’ve hated the way Dr. Dunne makes us suck up to donors ever since you came here. And from what you told me, you spent a lot of time going on about how this Ryan Langford must be such a jerk. No wonder he didn’t want to tell you who he was! Face it, you judged Ryan Langford before you even knew him. The guy obviously cares about special-needs kids. He donated five million dollars. Besides, you said the night you spent with him was the most romantic night of your life.”

It
had
been. She’d spent more than one lonely night since then staring at the ceiling, wondering if it would ever be that good with anybody again. Her mother, with whom she spoke daily, could sniff out the romantic troubles of her daughters like a pig after truffles. Well aware her daughter’s bleak mood hid something, she’d asked one well-intentioned question after another, but Kayla had kept her lips firmly sealed. No way would she discuss her one-and-only disastrous foray into casual sex with her mother.

“So?” Carolyn said. “If he’s so great, isn’t he worth one more try? Successful, good-looking guys who are great in bed don’t come along every day, sister.” Her face fell. “Trust me, I’ve been looking. I’ve
never
met a guy like Ryan.”

“I’m pathetic,” Kayla said. “No woman should have the best sex of her life during a one-night stand at age twenty-seven. The long downhill slide of the rest of my life is going to be brutal.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way, Kayla. Call him.”

Before she could answer, the classroom phone rang. Relieved, she escaped to answer it. Her pang of relief was short-lived when she recognized the number on the read-out. Dr. Dunne. “Please come down to my office. A special visitor is requesting a tour of the school. I’d like him to observe your classroom in action.”

She glanced at the wall clock. “My reading group starts in five minutes. Can’t someone else do it? What about Eve? She’s the PR liaison.” Let the happy newlywed play tour guide. She caught a glimpse of her dark-circled eyes and downturned mouth in the glass of the framed picture on the wall. She stuck her tongue out at her reflection.

“This visitor has specifically requested you as his guide.”

“But—”

“Now, please. I don’t want him kept waiting.”

Kayla sighed. “All right.”

She told Carolyn to take over for her and headed for Dr. Dunne’s office, anxiety eating her stomach. Who would request her specifically? Surely it couldn’t be…
no
. Why would
he
want her to show him around? She smoothed down her pencil skirt and avoided the urge to check her hair in the bathroom mirror.

Yesterday, their first day back from winter break, she’d learned that Ryan had donated five million dollars to Horizons. The number made her head spin. Dr. Dunne had been apoplectic with joy. Despite the lancing pain she felt every time she heard Ryan’s name, she’d celebrated the news, too. Horizons would be able to do so much good with that money—hire more teachers, take on more kids, offer more scholarships, and hire more therapists and specialists to help kids with complex problems.

She passed Eve, who was coming out of Dr. Dunne’s office. “You can go right in,” the blonde said, with a grin so high-wattage Kayla blinked. “I’m done with them.”

Kayla smiled. Odd, but she no longer had the urge to bare her teeth at her former rival. She’d never really like the woman, but she didn’t truly dislike her anymore either. Ever since New Year’s Eve, she’d known Eve had done her a favor by taking Steve away.

A low hum of male voices came from Dr. Dunne’s office. Something in the timbre of the sound sent a shiver of recognition up her spine. In the doorway, she froze. Across from the headmaster sat Ryan Langford, slouching in one of Dunne’s vinyl chairs, his feet crossed at the ankles. The two were involved in a genial conversation.

“Hi,” she said. Not an impressive opening gambit, but it was all she could manage through her tight throat.

His gaze, rising to meet hers, was carefully impassive. He stood and shook her hand, and even that innocuous grasp of his fingers electrified her. She murmured some polite nothings, sure they made no sense given the riot of emotions inside her. She smoothed her skirt, but stopped. It was no more wrinkled than it had been when she’d smoothed it five minutes ago.

“I won’t perform the introductions, as you two already know each other,” Dr. Dunne said with a smile, pushing his spectacles up.

Her gaze snagged on Ryan’s and she knew they were both thinking about exactly how well they knew each other.

Passionately. Intimately. Gymnastically. Biblically. Heat rose in her cheeks and between her thighs in equal measure. A half-dozen memories of that night crowded into her mind. She wasn’t alone. She knew the look that came over Ryan’s face just then. It was the same look he’d had the first time he’d seen her bared breasts: rapt, hot, and intent.

She smiled at Dr. Dunne, her grin even more forced than the one she’d given Eve. “I suppose we should get started.”

“Of course!” Dr. Dunne said, standing up. He walked around his desk, but Ryan stopped him.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, Dr. Dunne, I’d like Ms. Johnston to give me a private tour.”

“A private—?”

“I’d like her and the kids to be able to speak freely, and I’m afraid she wouldn’t be able to do that if you were present.”

Dr. Dunne practically scurried back behind his desk. “Of course, Mr. Langford. Whatever you prefer. I’ll be here in my office when you’re done.” Lord, the man had no dignity. His fawning made her want to smack him.

“Thank you for accommodating me,” Ryan said. “I know it’s an unusual request.”

When they got out into the hallway, out of earshot, Kayla turned on him. “No need to fall all over yourself thanking him. Dunne would let a roller-skating monkey give you the tour if you wanted one. You just gave the school five million dollars.”

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his khakis, unperturbed. “Is there a roller-skating monkey available? Maybe it would be friendlier than you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll get Eve.” At his snort, she unbent slightly. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out. She’s the school’s PR person. I’m sure she’s available if you don’t like my company.” She started for the office, but Ryan caught her arm.

“No, I want you.” Something in his voice caught at her and she turned to look at him. “To do the tour, I mean.”

She relented but pulled her arm free.

“So that’s the infamous Eve, huh?” he said, looking through the large window of the office next door. Eve sat peering at her monitor, her dark brows and roots giving the lie to the golden hue of her hair.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not impressed. Steve could have done better. As a matter of fact, he
had
done better.”

She crossed her arms, skeptical.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m trying to decide how to take that.” Whenever he said something nice, her anger wavered.

“Take it as it was intended, as a sincere compliment,” he said quietly.

She took a deep breath. She could do this, be a professional. They didn’t have to be at each other’s throats. “Thank you.” She looked him up and down with new eyes. Since that night, she’d wondered if he’d displayed any obvious signs of wealth that she’d missed, but even now, knowing who he was, she couldn’t discern any hint of his success. He wore khakis that could use a good pressing and a plaid button-down that he should have worn tucked in with a nice leather belt, but hadn’t.

“Did you get in any trouble with Dr. Dunne? You know, because you missed the event?”

She shook her head. “All was forgiven when your donation came in. Thank you for not letting what happened between us affect the donation, by the way. I appreciate that.”

His eyes darkened. “I would
never
let personal feelings stand in the way of helping kids who needed it.”

“I know that now. I’m sorry I thought otherwise.”

“Apology accepted.” His voice lowered, turning husky. “And I owe you an apology as well. Again. I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again because I mean it. I’m sorry I lied to you about who I was.”

She nodded. She had so much she wanted to say.
Can I trust you? Why did you lie? Were you laughing at me?
Maybe my doubts don’t make any sense, but I can’t help having them. I don’t want to be hurt again.
She couldn’t say any of it.

“Apology accepted.” She took a deep breath and looked around. “What part of the school would you like to see first?” she asked, hoping he’d let her change the subject.

“Actually, I don’t care about the facility that much. A building’s a building. Let’s meet some kids.”

She smiled, pleasantly surprised. “All right. Let’s go to my classroom.”

“What do you teach?”

“Technically, third grade, but as you probably know, we do things differently at Horizons. Kids are grouped by ability level, not age, except for homeroom. For subject area work, we work across grade levels. If a twelve-year-old is reading on the first-grade level, he reads with other kids on the first-grade level, not other twelve-year-olds who may be reading far above him. We also work in small groups. Math is done in groups of four, for example, also organized by ability.”

At her classroom, she pushed open the door. Immediately, Caleb, a boy with severe ADHD, popped out of his seat and ran to her. He threw his arms around her hips in a hug. “I love you, Ms. Johnston.”

“I love you too, Caleb,” she said, bending and returning his hug. “Please return to your seat and finish your math.”

In the far corner, Carolyn looked up from the
Captain Underpants
book she was reading to a group of kids, her eyes widening as she guessed the identity of Kayla’s companion. She flashed a thumbs-up.

Hoping he hadn’t noticed, Kayla steered Ryan to a different corner, where a counselor led three students in a social skills group. “Hi, Pam. This is Mr. Langford. He wanted to get a better look at Horizons, to find out how we do things. Mr. Langford recently—”

Before he could finish, Pam rose, eyes shining. “You don’t need to introduce him! He’s just given our school five million dollars. How could I not know who he is? Thank you so much for your generosity.” Her heavily mascaraed lashes batted rapidly as she scanned Ryan from head to toe. Her smile froze as she took in his decidedly low-key clothes, but her high-beam grin returned after only a split second, brighter than ever. He shook her hand and returned her greeting politely, but his subdued tone told Kayla that he didn’t like the fuss the woman was making over him.

Surprising, because Pam was a cute young girl with a blond bob and a chest that entered a room well before the rest of her. He hadn’t been kidding when he said his wealth brought out the mercenary in some women. When she’d told Carolyn about the whole New Year’s Eve debacle, even her best friend hadn’t been able to quit talking about his money. He must get this all the time. Kayla had been outraged that he’d thought she might be after his money, but maybe he had good reason to suspect many of the women he met.

Pam edged closer to him and he sent Kayla an oblique look that she had no trouble reading:
Help.

She compressed her lips to keep from smiling. “Can you tell Mr. Langford about what you’re doing with these kids, Pam?” she asked, trying to steer the woman away from her determined flirtation.

“Of course. We’re working on social skills, teaching these kids what kind of things make for a good friendship. Today, we’re talking about honesty.”

“Ah.” Ryan looked at Kayla, shifting uncomfortably. “Honesty is important in a relationship. I’ve learned that the hard way.”

Pam looked back and forth between them, obviously sensing some hidden meaning to his words. Kayla was a bit confused herself. Relationship? Surely he wasn’t talking about
them
. They didn’t have a relationship. They’d just had a disastrous, glorious night. Before she could make any sense of it, Caleb popped out of his seat again.