Page 127 of You Found Me
Rachel’s polite smile fractured a little. “Donovan. Please. Can I have a quick word?”
He drained the last of the hot cider out of the container into a waiting cup. “This one’s empty, Lucy. I’ll ping Dad for a fresh one if you can hold the line for a few?”
“Oh, I can handle a line.” Della’s expression turned coy. “Can you handle the snow bunny?”
He flicked a glance of irritation at Rachel. “I got this.”
Della gave Rachel a wink. “Just remember to give him back in the same condition you found him.”
“Right.” Rachel’s cheeks turned a shade of pink that made the icy anger in her eyes stand out. “I like your outfit too, by the way. Disheveled barmaid isn’t a look I can pull off, but you make it look natural.”
Della’s sunny expression didn’t even twitch. “No, I can see Prissy Ice Princess is much more your style.” Della leaned around Rachel. “Next!”
Someone nearby laughed.
Rachel’s flush deepened.
Ward picked up the empty container and carried it to the waiting cart at the back of the booth. It was wrong how much he'd enjoyed that. “Make it quick.”
Rachel cleared her throat. “Of course. I know you’re busy. I just wanted to stop by to give you this.” She opened her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I realized I’ve never made you an actual offer, so you don’t know what you’re saying no to. I think this will give you a much clearer picture of how serious I am.”
She handed him the note card. It looked like an invitation to a garden party on fancy paper embossed with roses and vines. He flipped it open.
The number she’d written on it certainly got his attention. He eyed it, then her. Confidence flowed off her. She was so dead sure that a line of zeros was all it would take. Hell, she probably had a contract in that bag, along with pens and a notary stamp. “That much?”
“Yes.” Rachel stepped closer, her eyes big. “That much. Think what you could do with that money. You have a new business. Businesses need cashflow. I can give you that.”
Those eyes had power to move men and mountains back in the day. They didn’t do a damn thing to him now. He knew what made her tick: agendas and empty promises. “Are you under the impression that I’m broke? Or do you just think I’m an easy mark?”
Her hand came up as if to touch his arm, but whatever she saw on his face stopped her. “My offer ismorethan fair. That’s how much that house…and our shared history…means to me.”
He shifted another empty container to the stack. “Funny, I got the impression neither one meant anything to you at all when I left. You couldn’t even be bothered to pick up the phone.”
“That’s not true. You know it’s not true. I was…”
“It didn’t take you long to move on, though, did it? What was it, six months? Eight? Happened so quick, I figured he was the backup plan in case I wound up with a life you didn’t think youwanted. I guess that was a good call on your part. I doubt you ever pictured yourself a military wife.”
“I know things didn’t…I know I was…” She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. When her gaze settled on him again, she looked more sincere, less sales. It was still an act, he realized. Maybe it always had been. “About what happened…what I did, or didn’t do, I should say…I’m sorry. I should have said that a long time ago. I should have called. I should have…well, I should have done a lot of things.”
She made a little noise that might have been a sigh, or a laugh, with a sexy little jiggle of her shoulders.
Was she actually hitting on him? With his girlfriend standing right there?
No.
It was a sales tactic. Nothing more.
He leaned against the cart. “You know, I think you did exactly the right thing. I admit at the time I was pissed, but I’m over it.”
“That’s not fair, Donovan.” Nowtherewas the snappy, imperious tone he remembered. “I was young, and stupid, and I didn’t know what to do. You know my family. You know the pressure I was under to live up to their expectations. You know how hard it was. How…impossible.” She stepped closer. “I loved you, and your mother. Your house was more of a home to me than my own. Youknowthat.”
“Yeah, Mom was good at that.” He looked back down at the card.
Rachel turned her head, her gaze fixed on Della as she worked the line. “Did you know you’ve been here a month? The whole town’s talking about how it’s the longest you’ve ever stayed. They all think you’re settling in for the long haul with that pretty California girl you brought home, but I don’t. I’ve seen how you look at her.”
“How’s that?”
“Like she’s a project or a chore.” Rachel shifted to put herself in between him and Della and looked up at him with calculating eyes. “Those big city lights are calling to her, and you’re trying to make her stay.”