CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Vaughn rubbed his fists against his burning eyes. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours and was so exhausted he could barely concentrate. Yet hours after Annabelle had left his office, he still couldn’t stop thinking about her. He had financial statements to go through, he would have to put thousands of his personal money into the lodge to keep it afloat, and yet the only thing on his mind was Annabelle.
She never ceased to surprise him. From showing up here this morning, to covering any emotional reaction to his disappearing act the night before, to making sure he had food in the fridge, the woman simply blew him away. So much so he hadn’t had the heart to tell her he wouldn’t be home to share meals because he planned to live, eat and sleep at the lodge until the culprit was caught. He’d just have to arrange to have the contents of his full refrigerator delivered to him here. As for Annabelle…
He reminded himself he couldn’t afford any more distractions if he didn’t want to end up bankrupt, his dream gone up in smoke. Literally.
“The insurance adjuster thinks we’ll recoup enough to rebuild,” Nick said as he strode into the office.
Vaughn glanced up at his partner and friend. “That’s good news. In the meantime, I’ve arranged to liquidate some stock and CDs to cover us until the money comes through.”
Nick nodded. “I’ve done the same.”
Vaughn blinked, startled. “You already put in the amount of cash we agreed upon. I’m not going to let you—”
“Shut the hell up, will you?” Nick shoved his hands into his front pockets. “We may not be equal in all things, but I can damn well help out my partner in a crisis. It’s our investment,” he reminded Vaughn.
Not wanting to insult his best friend and too grateful to speak anyway, Vaughn merely nodded.
Nick headed for his desk and they worked in silence for a few minutes, until Vaughn couldn’t hold in his thoughts any longer. “What did you mean when you said we may not be equal in all things?”
Nick didn’t lift his head from the paperwork in front of him. “Never mind that.”
Vaughn thought back over the last few weeks. To things Nick and Mara had said and done, and to Annabelle’s accusations against Nick when she’d first come to town. “You can’t possibly think you aren’t my equal in all ways, Nick.” There weren’t many people Vaughn would give life and limb for, but Nick was one of them.
Nick tossed down his pen and glanced up. “Do you not realize? You’re a living legend. In the eyes of the ladies and this town, you’re the man.”
Vaughn couldn’t help but smirk at the ridiculous irony. He was a man who looked in the mirror and saw inadequacy day in and day out. Football had been his only salvation and those days were long gone. He didn’t know how to explain any of this to Nick though. “I’m nobody’s hero. Just ask Estelle and Theodore,” he said wryly.
Nick grinned. “Hell, if you thought or acted like you were God’s gift, I wouldn’t be in business with you. I wouldn’t consider you like a brother. Now can we drop this? I feel like a whiny kid and that does nothing for my self-esteem.”
Vaughn let out a laugh. “We’re a pair.”
“That we are.”
Both men turned at the sound of footsteps just outside the door. “Oh good, you’re both here.” Mara burst in, out of breath at a dead run.
Nick stepped forward, catching her before she practically fell. “I thought I told you to stay in bed,” he said, his gruff voice barely disguising his concern.
She rolled her eyes. “This is important.”
“Ever heard of a phone?” Nick growled.
“It’s not working,” Vaughn and Mara reminded him at the same time.
“Have either of you seen Annabelle?” Mara asked.
“Not me,” Nick said.
At the sound of Annabelle’s name, Vaughn cocked an eyebrow, on instant alert. “She went food shopping last I heard. Why?”
“Well, she came by my apartment earlier and she was very upset. She had this theory about the sabotage and the fire. It involved Roy.” Mara went on to explain Annabelle’s hunch regarding Roy, backing up her instinct with motive and opportunity.
Vaughn knew the man also had easy access to the job site.
“Why didn’t she come to me?” he asked aloud.
Vaughn didn’t think the theory was as far-fetched as Annabelle might believe. In fact, the more Vaughn mulled things over, the more he realized that Roy as the culprit made more sense than Laura, if only because he had opportunity. Then again, the man’s only crime they knew of was cheating on his wife, which was a far cry from arson.
“Annabelle didn’t go food shopping,” Mara said, interrupting his thoughts. “When she left my apartment a little while ago, she said she planned to talk to Roy. She asked me to watch her dog so she could come here.”
An uneasy feeling trickled along Vaughn’s nerve endings. He strode to the window and glanced out to the parking lot. “Damn. Her car’s there. Where’s Roy scheduled to work this morning?”
Mara checked her clipboard. “Pre-fire he was overseeing the repairs to the last round of sabotage. Today things are so off schedule, he could be anywhere.”
Vaughn began barking out orders. “Nick, check the north section. I’ll take the main section. Mara, you stay here. And call the police. My gut tells me not to blow this off as some sort of asinine theory.”
* * *
Annabelle found Roy in the main section, working with the men who were repairing the damage. He stood by a stack of boxes he was opening with a box cutter. She stepped carefully into the construction area, grateful she’d worn her suede fuzzy boots instead of heels. As she marched in, all appraising eyes turned her way.
Used to attention, she trained her gaze on her target. “Roy, I’d like to have a word with you.”
He glanced around at the stares of the other men. “Take a break, boys. The pretty lady wants to talk to me.”
The room emptied out. “What can I do for you?” he asked, stepping too close to her.
The stench of cigarette smoke and body odor assaulted her, but she didn’t want to risk offending him by backing off. “I just thought you and I could finish our conversation from this morning.”
“I don’t have anything else to say.” He folded his arms across his chest.
“That’s not like you. How about we talk about your son?” She chose his favorite topic, knowing he couldn’t stay silent for long.
“What about him?” Roy asked warily.
“I thought we could revisit how much he’d benefit from Vaughn taking that coaching position.”
Roy tossed the box cutter onto a windowsill and Annabelle breathed easier. He rolled his head from side to side as he contemplated her topic. Finally, he nodded. “So I’m not the only one who thinks it. Vaughn’s life is football. He ought to make coaching a full-time job.”
“So you thought you’d make your point, right?” she asked gently, hoping Roy was more delusional and misguided than violent. “You thought if you could just get Vaughn frustrated enough to give up on the lodge, he’d come to his senses and coach.”
Roy narrowed his gaze.
“I know, Roy. When I saw you smoking, it all clicked into place.”
“You’re just a dumb broad and you don’t know what you’re talking about.” He spat on the floor by her feet.
She stepped backward. “Unfortunately for you, I do. What do you think would happen if I gave the police the cigarette butt you crushed outside Cozy Cups and they compared it to the one they found at the fire’s point of origin?” she asked, hoping she sounded sure of herself when she was anything but.
For one thing, she hadn’t picked up Roy’s butt this morning, and for another, she had no idea how a fire marshal determined what started a blaze. She didn’t even know if they’d found the actual cigarette butt at the lodge. The only thing she was suddenly certain of was Roy’s guilt.
His current pale coloring confirmed her already strong hunch. “Talk to me, Roy. Because you seem like a decent man. You love your son and you want what’s best for him. Nobody can fault you for that.”
His hands shook as his bravado and arrogant demeanor began to falter. “I didn’t mean for it to go so far.”
“I know you didn’t.” She reached out a hand but he didn’t take it.
“Do you really understand? ’Cause all I meant was for little things to happen. Like missed deliveries, people not showing up for work. Even cutting the wires before the inspection was ingenious, wasn’t it?”
“I’m not sure I’d call it that,” she murmured.
Roy wasn’t really listening. Though his expression was sheepish, his eyes glittered with barely veiled pride at his plan. “I knew I could get the place up and running again after that damage, but I figured I wouldn’t have to. That Vaughn would see he was meant to coach and that the lodge was nothing but one big hassle and not worth the headaches.”
Annabelle nodded. “But it didn’t work, did it? Vaughn was more dedicated to his dream than you thought, so you decided to torch the whole thing and end it once and for all?” Her mouth ran dry at the thought.
“Hell, no!” Roy said, actually affronted.
From the corner of her eye, Annabelle saw Vaughn approach and quietly enter the room. She couldn’t signal him to remain silent so she kept focused on Roy and prayed Vaughn would stay in the background.
“What really happened last night? Tell me so I can help you.”
Roy’s hands waved fast and furious as he tried to explain. “It was supposed to be a small fire. Just a warning. A final frustration. But the wood’s dry and it caught faster than I thought. By the time I got to my car to call the fire department from my cell phone, the north side was nearly gone and the fire engines were roaring in.” He shook as he explained. “I never meant for it to be so bad. I felt so guilty and—”
Vaughn chose that moment to move forward. His boots creaked against the floorboards.
Roy lurched around, took one look at the man he admired staring at him as if he were pond scum, and all Annabelle’s hard work drawing him out vanished in an instant.
In the second it took for Annabelle to look from Roy to Vaughn and back again, Roy had reached for his box cutter and pulled her tight against him.
She froze at the realization a frightened man had a blade against her throat.
“I never meant it to go this far. I swear I didn’t.” Roy’s voice shook, and Annabelle didn’t know whether it was his sweat or tears she felt against her skin.
Vaughn raised both his hands in blatant supplication. “Do not do anything stupid, Roy.”
“You mean don’t do nothing dumber than what I’ve done so far? Tell me you didn’t hear everything. That this bitch didn’t set me up by bringing you here.”
“I didn’t!” If anything, she’d gone out of her way to avoid telling Vaughn until she was sure.
“Shut up.” Roy pulled her tighter against him. “I gotta think and I can’t think when you’re talking. It’s like my wife. Talk, talk, talk.”
“I agree with you on nagging women, Roy.” Vaughn looked paler than Annabelle felt at the moment. “Come on. We’ve known each other a long time and you’d never intentionally hurt anyone.”
She felt Roy nod, but he was tense and his knife was still against her throat. She shut her eyes and assessed her situation. Her legs were too close to Roy for her to get a good kick in. She had one arm locked between her body and Roy’s.
“I’m so sorry,” Roy muttered. “One day I think you’re incredible for all you do for my kid and the next I’m so jealous I could spit because Todd loves you and can’t stand being around me.” He’d begun to ramble.
Vaughn still stood, hands in front of him. “That’s not true and you know it. All kids go through a period when their parents embarrass them. I remember it, don’t you?”
Roy was silent.
“And I understand Todd because I’m dyslexic, too. Did you know that?” Vaughn asked Roy, admitting his biggest weakness to this man. “And I’m sure that’s why he thinks he can talk to me. But it doesn’t leave you out in the cold, Roy. You’re his dad.”
“I am, aren’t I?” Roy asked, sounding almost dazed.
With the man’s focus on Vaughn, his idol, Annabelle took a deep breath for courage and with her hand, she grabbed him by the balls and squeezed hard.
He yelled in pain and Annabelle let her body go slack so she fell out of his arms and to the floor at the moment he let her go.
* * *
Vaughn’s gaze never left Annabelle’s and though she caught him off guard, he dove for Roy, knocking him to the floor and wrestling him for the weapon. He’d taken control of both the box cutter and Roy at the same time the police barged in. They quickly took over, leaving Vaughn free to go to Annabelle.
She glanced over his shoulder to where the police were subduing Roy with handcuffs and reading him his rights. “Don’t hurt him,” she called as the police led him away.
“Don’t you think you ought to be worrying more about yourself than Roy?” Vaughn asked her as he pulled her to her feet. “And what the hell were you thinking by confronting him alone?” he asked her, all the fear he’d felt on seeing Roy grab her descending upon him.
“I know how much damage he caused, but he isn’t dangerous. He just needs psychiatric help.” She stared at him, those deep blue eyes begging him to understand.
He doubted he could invest that much faith, but he wasn’t about to argue over it either. “You call holding a box cutter to your throat not dangerous?”
“I think he just panicked. And I—”
“Didn’t believe in me enough to come to me with your theory? You didn’t think I’d trust you or your instincts?”
She shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t want to burden you with a crazy notion that might not be true. You had enough to worry about, what with the police suspecting Laura, her asking you for money, and the lodge still at risk.” Annabelle sighed and lifted her hand to her neck.
For the first time he realized she’d been grazed by Roy’s blade. He reached out and touched a finger to the reddened skin bruising her flesh.
“He hurt you.” The thought caused anger and a primal feeling of possessiveness to sweep through him. As if no one had the right to touch this woman but him. Ever. Such an instinctive desire to protect and to cherish was as alien to him as love.
Love.
Love?
“I’m really okay,” she said, unaware of the emotional turmoil taking place inside of him.
“Vaughn?” Nick interrupted, coming up beside them. “The cops want a word with you and Annabelle.”
“Not now. She was hurt and shook up. I’ll bring her by to talk to them later.”
“But I’m fine,” she insisted.
He ignored her protests and grabbed her hand. “We’re going home.” He wanted—no, needed—to see for himself how fine she was.
* * *
Annabelle had never seen Vaughn in such an intense, dark mood before. And though she won the argument and they gave their statements to the police before leaving the lodge, she let him take charge afterward. Despite that she was more than okay, he insisted on leaving his car and driving hers back to his house for her. If she didn’t know better she’d think the incident with Roy had shaken him up more than it had her.
They drove home in silence and Annabelle assumed he was contemplating the unexpected resolution to his problems. A man he’d trusted had turned on him.
But at least now he was free to finish the job at the lodge without worrying about sabotage or delays—and without the need for further crisis management from her. Beyond a statement that they’d succeeded in catching the culprit as they’d anticipated they would all along, Annabelle’s job here was complete. If Vaughn wanted basic PR for the lodge, she’d be happy to continue working on his behalf, but she didn’t need to do that from here. Her heart squeezed tight as she accepted the fact that it was time to go home.
They walked into the house and Vaughn kicked the door closed behind them. Because things had wrapped up so quickly, she hadn’t had time to run a few more ideas by him and she wanted him to know there was so much more he could do to make his dream for the needy kids a success.
He’d been so quiet, so withdrawn, she hadn’t looked at him straight on since they’d arrived here and was almost afraid to do so now.
“Listen, I had one more idea I’d like you to let me implement,” she said, talking fast and not turning to see his face. “Since I doubt the college will release the names of its students for a mailing, I’ve put together a letter and a brochure suggesting your hotel for their lodging needs during the school year. You can ask the college to mail it with their welcome package to the families. And mention it in their welcome emails.”
When he didn’t answer, she forced herself to turn and face him, possibly one last time. He stood leaning against the wall, studying her in silence. He still had that dark, brooding look, and she couldn’t see past the mask he’d put in place or read the emotions deep inside.
Her heart pounded fast and furious and her chest hurt at his lack of expression. Was he pulling back because their work and time together was over and he didn’t know how to tell her to leave?
Without any clue from him, she grasped on to her business proposition. “If you don’t like the college letter idea, we can just call it a day—”
With a low growl from deep in his throat, he stepped forward and, shocking her, he pulled her into his arms.
Once again Annabelle didn’t argue with the man. After all, these were probably the last moments with him that she’d have. So when his lips came down hard on hers, Annabelle shut her eyes and gave herself up to sensation. She wanted to feel everything he did to her and imprint it on her memory, to last her for years to come.
He brushed his lips back and forth over hers, tantalizing and arousing her with each seductive caress, but the teasing wasn’t enough. She thread her fingers through his hair, tugging his scalp and pulling him closer until he backed her up against the wall. His body flush with hers, her breasts pressed hard against his chest while his solid erection thrust between her legs.
She sucked in a breath and rolled her hips from side to side so his hard cock created friction that built waves of desire, rocking her body. He thrust his tongue inside her mouth, mimicking the action they both so desperately desired while his hands wreaked havoc with her breasts. Over her shirt, beneath her shirt, she couldn’t keep track of all the sensations buffeting her body.
She wanted him now and began to tug on his jeans in an effort to free his cock so he could thrust inside her and fill her the way she wanted. Needed.
“Slow down, baby,” he murmured as his lips slid over the sensitized skin of her cheek.
She shook her head. “The hell with slow.” She reached between them and pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor.
His heavy-lidded gaze met hers before traveling lower. As he took in the lace covering her breasts and taut nipples, his pupils dilated and his eyes glazed over. She had him now, and while he watched, she reached up and released the front clasp of her bra, then slowly, teasingly parted the cups, revealing her full, aching breasts for him to see.
“You think you can tempt me into moving at your pace?” he asked in a voice gruff with desire.
She straightened her shoulders, thrusting her breasts toward him. “I don’t know. Can I tempt you?”
He cupped her breasts in his hands, his warm flesh palming her heavy mounds, and then he lowered his mouth, encircling one nipple with his tongue. His touch reverberated between her thighs, the emptiness inside her more engulfing than ever before.
He bit her nipples with his teeth, then with his silken tongue slowly lapped at the same place he’d grazed. Different textures, different feelings, but one thing never changed. He took his time, until her hips bucked and she writhed with the need to have him fill her hard and fast.
“You made your point,” she gasped. “You have way more control than I do.”
He raised his head, his dark gaze meeting hers. “That wasn’t the point I had in mind.”
She leaned her head against the wall, trying not to weep or beg. “Then what was it?”
“That I can’t resist you. All of you.” He picked her up in his arms and carried her down the hall to his bedroom.
After laying her on the bed, he pulled off first one boot, then the other. Next, he slid his hands beneath her short skirt, letting his palms skim her thighs as he hooked his fingers in her panties and pulled them down and off her legs.
“I’m really not into slow, either.” He stood beside the bed and undressed quickly before rejoining her on the mattress where she’d propped herself against the pillows. Then, as if to prove his words, he moved between her thighs and lifted her, unveiling her to his heated stare.
Her own gaze was just as hot as she took in his erection. Long and hard, the head of his penis was poised at her moist entrance. She pulsed there, dewy and empty, her desire for him surpassing the physical. She was in love with him. But she feared if she said the words aloud, she’d scare him away for good.
She was an open, honest person, as she’d told him from the beginning, and she didn’t plan to leave without making her feelings known. But she wasn’t about to frighten him off before she’d expressed those feelings in the ultimate act one more time.
His hands pushed her skirt up higher. His palms then encircled her thighs, his deep stare never leaving hers at the same time he thrust deep, giving her absolutely everything she physically needed.
Emotionally she wondered if she was always destined to lose.
Buried deep in Annabelle’s body, looking down at her beautiful face, Vaughn understood that he’d never made love before. Not like this. The distinction between that and sex had never been so great. But he knew he couldn’t handle that emotion at the same moment the rest of his life was in pure upheaval.
He pulsed inside her, feeling her slick walls around him. He needed her now and she was here, alive, unharmed and all his. Lacing his fingers through hers, he raised her arms above her head and eased himself out of her body, then in. Out and in. Until they picked up the rhythm that was all their own and he lost himself in everything that was uniquely Annabelle.
Afterward they slept, woke and ordered in dinner, and slept together once more. He couldn’t call it fucking. He wasn’t ready to label it anything else. To Vaughn’s relief, not once did Annabelle look for any sort of deep discussion or insist they dissect their feelings.
As she slept beside him, he felt the clock ticking away. Now that Roy had been arrested, there was no need for Annabelle to remain in Greenlawn. Though he’d need her expertise to get the lodge up and running, there was no unknown crisis to contemplate dealing with the next morning. She could treat him like any other client and return to work from her Manhattan office. The thought caused his stomach to twist in tight knots.
If he’d read the emotion in her eyes correctly, there was every possibility that with one word from him, the right word, Annabelle would stay by his side. But he needed to have the courage to believe. Believe someone like Annabelle could invest in him for the long haul and not be disappointed in the end. Obviously, much of his past still haunted him, but Annabelle wasn’t just anyone and his heart told him to trust in her. He just didn’t know if he could believe that deeply in himself.
* * *
Annabelle dressed and stood beside a sleeping Vaughn. Her bags were packed and loaded in her car. The animals, including the cat who loved to sleep on Vaughn’s pillow, waited for her to start the long drive back to Manhattan.
Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she leaned down and brushed a kiss on his forehead. A deep sleeper, he rolled over but didn’t wake up. She smiled and studied his profile for the last time.
He was such a good man. He’d even bared his greatest embarrassment to Roy in an effort to make the man understand why Todd would bond with Vaughn more than his father. He’d done it to save Annabelle’s life. She’d loved him before and she loved him even more now.
Unlike the other relationships where she’d invested emotion but gotten nothing back in return, Annabelle couldn’t regret a minute of her time with Brandon Vaughn.
But during their brief relationship she’d learned much about herself, not the least of which was that no matter how much she loved, she wasn’t going to follow in Lola’s footsteps. She wasn’t about to spend her life pining for a commitment from someone who felt too unsure to provide one.
She reached out and stroked his cheek. “I love you.”
She thought he smiled or maybe she just wished he had. Either way Annabelle had enough self-respect to walk away now with her head held high.
She could survive without Vaughn, even if she wished she didn’t have to.