Page 38 of To Steal a Heart

With a sinking heart, Arden followed Crew’s trail of vision straight to Zachary Kipling, who was standing tall and stately in a linen suit. When he saw her, a warm smile of recognition filled the distinguished man’s face.

“Come on,” Crew encouraged. He made a beeline for Zachary, dragging her behind him.

“Hello,” Zachary began when they reached his side.

Crew cleared his throat. “Mr. Kipling, I’m sorry for the intrusion. This is—”

“Arden,” Zachary said as he reached out and enfolded her hands in his. “It’s wonderful to see you.”

“It’s great to see you too,” Arden said woodenly.

Crew’s face fell. “What’s going on?” He looked at Arden. “You know him?”

“Of course,” Zachary answered smoothly as he turned his full attention on Arden. “To what do I owe this honor? Did you come to talk about the scholarship?”

Arden glanced at Crew, who had a befuddled look on his face.

She swallowed the tightness in her throat. “Actually, I’m writing a novel that’s set here in Carmel. I was hoping that I could talk to you about it and perhaps get a tour of your estate.”

“Absolutely. I’m happy to help however I can. My wife, Evelyn, couldn’t make it tonight. She’s out of town visiting her sister. She gets back the first of next week. We would love to have you over for dinner.”

“I would like that.” Arden could feel Crew’s confusion. This was a complete disaster! Why had she waited to tell him the truth? Now he would surely hate her. He’d planned this surprise for her benefit, and now the cruel joke was on him. She wanted to burst into a puddle of tears—part frustration and part sorrow.

Zachary released her hands and turned to Crew as he extended his hand. “Zachary Kipling,” he said in the way of an introduction.

Crew clasped hands with him. “Crew Bronson,” he said stiffly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Arden noted that Crew’s jaw was hard as glass. He wasn’t taking this well.

Zachary smiled at Arden. “Crew is welcome to join us when we have dinner together. Any friend of Arden Chasing is a friend of mine.”

At that, Crew’s face turned dark. He gave her a condemning look.

“Did I say something wrong?” Zachary asked.

“No,” Arden replied lightly.

“It was nice meeting you,” Crew said with a curt nod to Zachary. “If you’ll excuse me.” He turned on his heel and strode away.

Arden’s heart dropped.

“Excuse me,” she said to Zachary. “I’ll give you a call.”

“Sounds great,” he said as he looked in the direction Crew had gone.

Arden took off after Crew. She caught up with him as he was handing his ticket to the valet attendant. The look of fury on his handsome face congealed Arden’s blood. She caught hold of his arm. “Let me explain.”

Disgust carved over his features. “You lied to me.”

The attendant, a young guy in his mid-teens, looked wide-eyed between Crew and Arden before scurrying away to retrieve the SUV.

“I’m sorry.” Arden’s voice lost air as her words got strangled. “Can we talk about this?” She winced at the hurt in his expression. Tears rushed to her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she squeaked. “I should’ve told you the truth.”

“Yes, you should have.” He swore under his breath as he ran both hands through his hair. He paced two steps forward and then back. “I thought we had something real.”

“We do.” Wings of panic flapped like a trapped bird in her stomach. “I’m crazy about you.”

The attendant pulled up with the SUV. Arden felt a sliver of relief when Crew opened her door and helped her inside before going around to pay the attendant and slide behind the wheel.