Wedding His Takeover Target (12 page)

“You said you'd sign over the deed to me.”

Henry's mouth flattened into a straight line. “An'
I
won't go back on my word. I may not have the money you Jarrods have, but I've been in this city a long time. I have connections. You'll find it impossible to get your permits or even your trash picked up if you cross me.”

Great. Just what he needed. He'd made a potential enemy out of his only ally.

 

The men had been outside for over an hour. The sound of the back door closing had jarred Sabrina from her deepest sleep in years. Her face warmed as she recalled the cause of her near-comatose state. Gavin. Sledding. Multiple orgasms.

But she'd yet to hear the growl of the old tractor's engine. Knowing the pair of them, they'd probably started talking and weren't getting any work done. They must be frozen by now.

Juggling the thermos and a couple of mugs, Sabrina stepped onto the back porch. The snow had stopped and the sun was
making a weak effort to peep through the clouds, but the bite of cold still lingered in the air. A narrow path to the barn had been shoveled clear. Gavin must have done it. Her grandfather had given up shoveling more than a year ago. Like other chores, it had become her job. This year she needed to look into hiring a high school boy to do it.

She made her way to the barn, entered and pulled the side door closed behind her. Other than the horses crunching on oats in the stall, she heard nothing—no conversation, not even the radio her grandfather usually listened to while he tinkered in his small workshop. The two of them working in silence struck her as odd.

A small kerosene heater had warmed the interior to above freezing, but she sensed a chill in the air that had nothing to do with the weather. What could it be?

Your imagination, probably. Or maybe their frustration over not getting the machine running.

Her grandfather sat stiffly on the tractor's seat. He glanced at her, then he stared straight ahead at Gavin bent over the front of the plow blade with a wrench in his hand. Gavin had stripped off his coat and his shoulder muscles flexed beneath his turtleneck as he yanked on something. Desire trickled through her like melting snow sliding down the mountainside.

She cleared her throat, breaking the silence. “I brought coffee.”

Both men looked at her, but neither made a move in her direction. Gavin and Pops had never been short of conversation and yet they weren't talking.

“Is something wrong with the tractor?” she asked.

Gavin straightened. “One of the nuts is rusted. I'm having trouble breaking it loose from the bolt to attach the plow. If soaking it in motor oil won't free it I'll have to cut the bolt and wait until the store opens to get a replacement.”

She searched his face, seeking the man who'd held her and made love to her so tenderly last night. Instead she found no welcome in his expression. Confused and slightly hurt, she turned to her grandfather. “You've been out here a long time. Why don't you take a break and warm up?”

Pops swung down from the seat and made his way to her, stopping between her and Gavin. His eyes seemed to probe hers. “How're you this mornin'?”

A smile she couldn't hold back curved her lips, but then the odd undertone in his voice registered. What did it mean? Did he know Gavin had been in her room?
No. He couldn't.
They'd been quiet, and her last memory of Gavin had been of him kissing her good-night and telling her he was going upstairs to his room. She'd mumbled, “Okay,” through lips almost numb from his ravenous kisses, and then, oblivion. She didn't remember him actually leaving.

“I'm fine. How are your bones this morning?”

“Good enough.” The succinct answer wasn't like him.

Gavin joined them, but kept out of her personal space—unusual for him. He silently met and held her gaze. She wished she could read him well enough to know what he was thinking. But she hadn't even known him a week. Way too soon to be getting as serious or as intimate as they had. They'd skipped a lot of get-to-know-you steps in the dating game.

Too late to worry about that now. As Pops would say, that horse had already fled the barn.

“Pour me a cup, girlie.”

Blinking at the reminder of why she'd come out here, she filled the mugs. “I can call someone to clear the driveway if you don't think you can get our tractor working.”

Gavin accepted a mug. “If I can't get this bolt loose I'll have the Jarrod Ridge crew take care of it.”

“Don't want your damn charity,” Pops grumbled.

“It's not charity. It's a neighbor helping a neighbor,” Gavin countered tightly.

“Neighborly, huh. Is that what you call it?”

Alarm slithered over Sabrina and a sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She looked from one man to the other. The tension and antagonism between them was palpable. That could only mean one thing.

Pops knew Gavin had been in her room last night. Her lungs emptied.

Would Pops condemn her? Would he call her a slut the way her father had? Would he shake his head in disgust and stare at her with disappointment-filled eyes? Would he order her to get out because he couldn't stand the sight of her?

She gulped. Her parents had been more concerned with the embarrassment her unplanned pregnancy would cause them and the potential backlash on their careers than they had on the effect of the situation on her life.

Bracing herself, she searched her grandfather's face and waited. For condemnation, for understanding or…or anything. Instead, like Gavin, he offered no clues to his thoughts or feelings.

The one thing she'd wanted just days ago—to break up the camaraderie between Gavin and Pops—had fallen into her lap. Right after she'd decided she didn't want it anymore. Not when she might be falling for Gavin.

And that enmity could very well spread to her.

Now what was she going to do?

How could she make it right?

She didn't have a clue.

“S
orry it took me so long to get here. I was in the middle of something,” Gavin told Blake as he joined his brother in the Jarrod Ridge offices. Coming here still made him uncomfortable even without their father behind that desk dispensing orders and disapproval.

He'd received Blake's text message requesting a meeting hours ago, but he'd refused to leave the Snowberry Inn until he'd plowed the parking lot. Doing so would have meant Henry plowing it and possibly breaking a hip, and/or killing himself with that old tractor before the deed was settled. Besides, Gavin realized, he liked the old geezer and didn't want him to get hurt.

And then old habits had kicked in. He'd returned to the lodge to shower off the tractor grease and change clothes before putting in an appearance. Being dirty in the public rooms of Jarrod Ridge had always brought down their father's
wrath. On second thought, he should have come here filthy, just to make dear old Dad roll over in his grave.

Blake gestured to a chair. “What's the status on the land?”

“I have the situation under control,” he replied with a confidence he wasn't sure he believed. But damn it, he would not fail.

Blake grinned. “I remember saying that last month about me and Samantha.”

“Yeah, and your assistant turned the tables on you. That won't happen with me. I'm close to getting the property back from Henry Caldwell.”

“How close? Should I let the construction crew move on to another project?”

Frustration made his molars slam together. “If we do, then we'll lose them for months.”

“That's right. We'll have to wait until they finish their next job. But they're about to wrap the current project and can't afford to stand idle.”

Damn. He had to pick up the pace. Move the marriage forward. He weighed the idea, and surprisingly, it didn't repulse him as much as it once had. He also needed to get back on Henry's good side and marrying Sabrina would do it. The sooner, the better all around. “How'd you go about your wedding?”

“Excuse me?”

He eyed his brother. “Arranging a marriage, Vegas-style.”

Blake's eyebrows lowered. “Why?”

“I've been seeing Sabrina, Henry's granddaughter, and I'm thinking of proposing.”

“You?”

“Sure. Why not? She's beautiful. I enjoy her company, and the sex is good.” Damned good. Phenomenal even. But his brother didn't need to know that.

Blake started shaking his head even before Gavin finished speaking. “That's not a reason to get married.”

“No. It's three reasons. Three good ones.”

Blake gave him a pitying look that chafed. “You might want to hold out for love.”

“Who says I don't love her?”

“You haven't said you do, which means you don't.”

Because he didn't lie. “I'm not the kind of guy who shares personal stuff like that. But I care about her. A lot.”

And strangely, that wasn't a lie.

“Then take it slow and see what develops.”

“I don't want to wait.”

Blake frowned. “I'm not liking the smell of your urgency. This isn't tied to getting the land, is it?”

Gavin considered prevaricating, but Blake was too smart to be fooled. “Henry will be…encouraged to sign the deed sooner if I'm part of the family.”

“Don't do it, Gavin. Don't tie yourself to someone you don't love. It's not fair to you and it's disrespectful to her.”

“Says the man who seduced his assistant to keep her from quitting. I know what I'm doing.”

“Those sound like famous last words—words you'll regret, I might add.”

He brushed off his brother's concern. He didn't have a choice. “Like I said, I have the situation under control. Don't let the crew go. We'll be ready to break ground as soon as they finish their current job.”

He rose, ending the meeting before his brother could ask more probing questions, and made his way to the door. The idea of whisking Sabrina off to Vegas was growing on him. No fanfare. No money down the drain. No witnesses. But he wasn't doing that until he had a prenup. For that he needed Christian, the family attorney and soon-to-be brother-in-law.

But first, he needed a ring and a pitch she couldn't refuse. Until he proposed and Sabrina accepted, the rest was a moot point.

 

“You win,” Sabrina said after the waiter discreetly backed away from the table, leaving her and Gavin to their after-dinner coffee. In normal circumstances, a highfalutin place like the riverside restaurant wasn't her style. But with Gavin seated across from her at the candlelit table the evening seemed magical.

“How do I win? Aside from the great company,” Gavin asked in that deep, rumbling voice of his that sent a shiver down her spine.

Her cheeks warmed. She didn't know where to begin. From the moment he'd shown up at the inn's front door wearing an immaculately fitted black suit and carrying a dozen red roses every single minute had seemed like a fairytale.

“You got me to a restaurant with a wine list the size of a telephone book and no prices on the menu and made me love it. The food was amazing. And this…” She flicked a hand to indicate the linen-draped table set in an intimate alcove overlooking the Roaring Fork River and the landscaping beyond the window decorated with twinkling white lights. “I don't know how you managed to get reservations on short notice when most people wait a month to get in, but this is so…perfect. The flowers, the wine, that decadent tiramisu…everything.”

He smiled a little, but he seemed tense. “I'm glad you enjoyed it. I want nothing but the best for you. For us. From here on out.”

Her heart hiccupped at the serious look in his eyes. She swallowed. “What do you mean?”

Gavin reached across the table and captured her hand. Her pulse did its usual skip on contact. She loved the strength and
gentleness of his hands and the warmth of his skin on hers. He caressed the heart of her palm with his thumb, stirring up a fizzy sensation low in her abdomen.

“Sabrina, I want to go to sleep with you in my arms like we did last night and wake up with in you in mine every morning.”

A thrill shot through her. At the same time, fear tickled her nape. But she'd promised herself seven months and she'd take it. A finite period of pleasure would be safe. But part of her—an itty bitty part—had begun to want more. She struggled to catch her breath. “I'd like that, too.”

His fingers tightened. “I don't want to have to sneak around to be with you, and I don't want to upset Henry. I respect him too much for that. Him catching me coming out of your room this morning made us all uncomfortable.”

Understatement of the year. Pops hadn't said a word, but the tension had hung over them like a dark cloud all day. “I thought you were going back to your room as soon as I fell asleep.”

“You asked me to stay, and I didn't have the strength to refuse.” Before she could correct him Gavin shifted, reaching into his suit coat pocket with his free hand and withdrawing a small black velvet box.

That couldn't be what she thought it was.

“Marry me, Sabrina, then we can share as many nights like this as we want.” He flipped open the lid, revealing a pale blue stone set on a woven gold band.

She gasped. This couldn't be happening. Not to her. She wasn't ready.

“The stone reminded me of your eyes. Bright, clear and beautiful. And when the light catches it right, there's an inner fire that ignites. From the moment I saw it, I knew it belonged on your finger and that I wanted to be the one to place it there.”

No one had ever said anything as romantic to her in her life. Her head reeled and her pulse pounded in her ears. She lifted a shaky hand to her chest. “It's—Gavin, the ring is beautiful, but we haven't even known each other a week.”

His gaze remained steadfast. “Long enough to know we're as perfectly matched as two people will ever be.”

Wanting to say yes was wrong on so many levels, but the tiny word danced on the tip of her tongue. And that was
crazy.
It was too soon to make such a momentous decision. Hadn't she sworn never to fall in love again because she didn't think she could survive the hurt of losing someone special? And wasn't Gavin still a rich guy?

But he is so much more than that, an insistent voice in her head argued. He's fun and sexy and smart. He made her feel alive and special. She'd been wrong about him on so many levels. He didn't act as if he were entitled to anything he wanted, and he didn't treat her as if she was less worthy because she was less wealthy.

Stop it. Just say no. Or ask for more time.

But what if she did and she lost him forever? Was she willing to risk that? No. And what if this moment was the one that she'd remember for the rest of her life? She fought to clear her head and use logic. “We barely know each other.”

“Ask me anything.”

“I don't even know you well enough to know what to ask. What about your job and your insistence on leaving Aspen?”

“I'll make Aspen my home base. That way you can be here for Henry.”

“Where would we live?”

“For now, I have to live on Jarrod property.”

“I can't leave Pops alone at night.”

“I'll arrange for someone to stay with him.”

He made it sound so easy. “Why are you in such a rush?”

“I don't want to miss another day with you.”

If a heart could actually melt, hers would be a soggy puddle beneath her feet right now. So much for her resistance to his charm.

“I'll charter a plane and first thing in the morning we'll fly to Vegas.”

Shock knocked her back in her chair. “Vegas?”

“In another week you'll be too busy for a vacation. We'll find a little chapel and get married and be back before Henry misses us.”

A cold rock settled in her stomach, squashing all her warm, fuzzy feelings. “You want to elope? Tomorrow?”

“Why wait?”

“We're moving too fast.”

“Do you love me?”

The abrupt and unexpected question stunned her speechless. She'd been trying very, very hard not to let her mind wander down that dangerous, slippery path. Her stomach churned, and her thoughts swirled wildly. Did she love him? The weight of the answer settled on her like a cold blanket of heavy snow. “I—I am falling in love with you.”

He closed his eyes, squeezed her hand and inhaled long and slow. His emotional reaction to her confession touched her deeply. Then he met her gaze again with determination-filled eyes. “Marry me so we can be together.”

He hadn't said he loved her back. But from what she'd learned of his childhood, of his mother's death when he was four and his father's overbearing nature, she suspected words of love wouldn't come easily to Gavin. She'd have to work on that.

“Gavin, even if I accepted your proposal, I wouldn't elope. I did that the first time.” The hand in her lap clenched and
released. Should she tell him? Yes. If their relationship had a future, then it had to be based on total honesty.

“There's something you need to know. The reason I was in such a hurry to get married the first time is because…because I was pregnant. I—I was still in high school when I found out. My parents gave me the ultimatum of getting rid of my baby or getting out of their house. In their circle, unmarried daughters didn't have unplanned babies.” She searched his face, trying to read his reaction, but failed to see so much as a flicker of emotion.

“I told Russell, and when he came home from boot camp we eloped. I haven't been home since. I went with him when he reported to Fort Bragg. I was angry at my parents for not being there for me when I needed them, and I didn't tell them until after the ceremony, but I'll always regret not inviting my grandparents. Pops and Grandma were hurt by my selfishness, and I won't do that to Pops again, not after all he's done for me.”

Gavin's eyes filled with compassion. “What happened to your child?”

Loss welled in her chest. “I miscarried shortly after Russell was deployed. The doctors don't know why. It just…happened. They said it shouldn't happen again, but we didn't try. We wanted to wait until Russell got out of the military. And then he—then he was gone.”

He gave her hand another squeeze. “You had to go through that alone?”

“Losing my baby, yes. But Pops was there for me after Russell.”

“I'm sorry. What about now? Do you want your parents at the ceremony?”

They wouldn't care enough to take the time away from their precious university. “They're probably too busy to fly out.”

“Then it will be just Henry and us.”

“What about your family?”

“That's up to you. As far as I'm concerned, as long as you're there I don't need anyone else.”

Yet another of Cupid's arrows scored a direct hit to her heart. Pops would be happy to know he was right when he'd told her that when the right one came along love would hit hard and fast. She hadn't believed him. After all the pain she'd been through she'd believed herself immune to love. Apparently not. Her feelings for Gavin were far different from the slow-building affection she'd had with Russell.

“Could we wait a little while?”

“Would you be comfortable staying at my place every night until the wedding?”

She sighed. “No.”

“Do you really want to sleep alone?”

He did have a point. “I'd rather be with you.”

He removed the ring from the box and extended his hand, palm up. Tremors started deep in her belly. Why was she being such a coward when she could have more than she'd ever dreamed of—a passionate marriage to a man she loved and a chance to take care of Pops.

“Say you'll marry me, Sabrina,” he encouraged without one hint of impatience. “On Monday we'll get our marriage license, and I'll set something up as soon as I can at the resort and we can be together. Possibly even as soon as Monday evening.”