Bed of Lies (14 page)

Fourteen

I
t was Thursday and Beth sat behind her office desk, staring at yesterday’s newspaper spread out before her. She had deliberately given Laura errands to run that morning so she could be alone to read the article again.

Now that she was, she felt a tremble chase up her spine and settle in her neck.

De Rossi Reinstated: Inquiry Still on Table.

Jackson and Blair’s board had finally come out and publicly backed Luke. A spokesman, someone called Connor Blair, had declared that the company was “looking forward to rigorously defending Mr. De Rossi from these vicious rumors when he gives his statement to the Queensland Gaming Commission in two weeks’ time.”

She stared at her second cup of untouched coffee, at the edges of steam curling over the rim. What a difference three days made. A home gone, a heart broken. A mother who’d held on to a secret for years and a possible sister.

That is, if she ever got the courage to actually pick up the phone and call.

She glanced back down at the paper. Luke was moving forward, moving up. His Board of Directors had finally come to their senses and was focusing on clearing his name. She, on the other hand, had had that moving company’s quote on her desk for two days. Just the thought of going back there, to her home, to the place she loved above all else and packing up every memory while Luke watched, was still too heartbreaking to contemplate.

There was a soft knock on her door and she glanced up to see a pale Laura.

“What’s wrong?”

When Laura swung the door wider, Beth sucked in her shock.

He was leaner and minus the glasses, but everything else about Ben Foster was the same-familiar cargoes, worn Nirvana T-shirt, steel-capped boots. And with his expression a mix of shame and contrition, he looked all of fifteen.

“Hi, Beth,” he muttered with a halfhearted wave.

“Hi, yourself.” She rose and nodded for Laura to close the door behind her. “So. You’ve come back.”

“Yeah.”

Beth felt the weight of a hundred years press down on her shoulders. “Oh, Ben. What on earth were you thinking?”

He shrugged, still unable to meet her eyes. “It was a ton of money.”

“But it wasn’t yours.”

“I know.”

She shoved a hip against the desk and crossed her arms with a sigh. “Did you spend it all?”

“No.”

“So you’re going to give it back?”

“Yeah.” His hands went into his pockets and he finally looked up.

His torn expression, the way he held his body as if waiting for her to yell at him, dissolved the dozen reprimands on the tip of her tongue.

She had nothing left. No outrage, no anger, nothing.

It had just been one of those days.

“What made you change your mind?” she finally asked.

He scratched his head. “Your guy.”

She frowned. “What guy?”

“The suit who turned up at the Crown Casino. Your guy.”

“I didn’t send a guy.”

“Well, he was under the impression he was working for you.”

Beth blinked. “What was his name?”

“Didn’t say. Tall dude, dark hair. Italian-looking. Expensive clothes.”

Beth’s heart did a flip. “And what did he say?”

Ben shrugged. “A few things. Doesn’t matter. But he convinced me to do the right thing and come back. I transferred the money back into your business account an hour ago.”

“What about what you spent?”

“It’s all there, Beth. Every last dollar.”

How?
Beth frowned but let that go. “You know the bank’s probably notified the police. There’s bound to be an inquiry.”

“Yeah.”

Police. An inquiry.
She sucked in a breath. Publicity? And yet Luke had plowed right on in, even with the probability of exposure.

To help her. Despite her walking away.

What did that mean?

An overwhelming urge to find out jerked her straight. “I have to go.”

“Okaaay?” Ben nodded, confused.

“Sorry.” She grabbed her purse from the desk, slammed the drawer firmly shut. Then she put a hand on Ben’s arm and looked him square in the eye. “Thank you for coming back, Ben. I appreciate you doing the right thing.”

She had no time to think about his sudden flush, the awkward shuffle as he studied his feet with misplaced intent.

She had something she had to do—if it wasn’t too late.

Of course, she had as much chance of making it past security and up to Jackson and Blair’s executive floors as she had winning the lottery. After three messages and twenty minutes, Beth had to face the fact that Luke had more important things to do than return her calls.

She left the way she came, completely ignored by the scattering of reporters milling around the entrance.

After a ninety-minute drive, Beth checked the house, even though she didn’t expect him to be there. Standing still in the cool, long entrance, breathing in the scents and memories, she forced herself to pretend that everything was fine, that this place was still hers. But of course, it wasn’t. And whether she chose to accept it now or in three months—nearly two, now—when her lease expired, the result would be the same.

It was never really hers to begin with.

With that final thought, she finally managed to wrench herself away.

As she locked the door behind her, her phone rang.

“Beth. It’s Luke.” As if she wouldn’t know that deep voice reverberating in her ear. It was burned in her memory. “I’m at your store. Where are you?”

“At the house. What are you doing there?” Her heart began to thump harder.

“Stay put. I’m coming to you.”

It felt like twenty hours by the time his shiny silver car pulled up in the driveway, time enough for every possible, painful scenario to play out in her head and twist her stomach into knots.

Then he was out of the car and everything fizzled away at the sight of his tall, dark figure dressed in an expensive suit—just like on the first day she saw him.

Her throat was so dry her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She swallowed thickly. There was no way she was going to cry. She’d remained dry-eyed at her mother’s funeral and through Ben’s betrayal. Even in her darkest moments, five bucks away from poverty, she’d kept it together.

“You didn’t need to come out to see me,” she finally said.

“I didn’t want to talk over the phone.” His expression was unreadable.

Oh. “You flew down to Melbourne to find Ben,” she blurted out.

“I did.”

“Why?”

“Because I made you a promise.”

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, making it hard to breathe. Until he said gently, “Is that why you’ve been calling me, Beth?”

Her chin went up as she summoned all her nerve. “I wanted to apologize.”

“For what?” He looked confused.

“When you told me about my mother. I…shut you down. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that,” he said. “Some people handle grief by pushing away those who care about them.”

“You…care about me?” she said faintly.

“You know I do.”

She was sailing on unchartered waters here and suddenly that nerve left her. She glanced down and spotted his raw, torn knuckles. With a faint exclamation, she nodded to his hand. “You didn’t hit anyone, did you?”

“I was fixing that broken step on the front porch.” He flexed his fingers.

“Oh. I thought you might have decked a reporter.”

A wry smile twitched his lips. “Only in my dreams.”

He looked so gorgeous, so noble, that Beth wanted to touch him. She even took a step forward, her hand raised until she realized her folly and instead, laid her palm on the throbbing pulse at her throat.

“I had a long talk with Rosa,” he said. “I took your advice and bared my soul.” Beth thought she saw a glint of something before his expression dropped back into cool impassiveness. “She doesn’t blame me for Gino.”

“Of course not.” Beth shook her head.

He paused, waiting. Finally she said, “I read in the papers you have the full backing of your Board of Directors.”

His smile was brief. “Don’t believe everything you read.”

“But it’s true, right?” At his nod, she added, “So that’s good. Now you can move forward, put all this behind you.”

He gave her a long, searching look then said slowly, “And how are you doing?”

“I’m…okay.”

“Just okay?”

Beth hesitated, the faint, familiar taste of fear clogging her throat. Why should this be easy? If anyone was to attempt to mend things, it should be her.

But who knew it could be this difficult?

“I wanted to thank you for everything. I know I didn’t handle a lot of it well, but I just wanted to…well…”

“You’re welcome.”

“I mean, you didn’t have to help me, to put yourself out like that. But you’ve done more than enough and—”

“You really don’t get it, do you, Beth?”

For a second he watched her with curious intensity, then said, “I never wanted to force you from your home. You should move back in.”

As if she could ever live there again without thinking of him. As if she could sleep in her bed without remembering the feel of his skin or him making love to her.

A sudden burst of longing jolted her so hard she ached.

Anyone else would’ve taken her silence for refusal. Not Luke. With a scowl he said, “You still want me out.”

“No, I—”

“Look.” He placed his hands on his hips, classic spoiling-for-a-fight stance. “I know I can’t promise you the kind of anonymity you’ve been used to. The fact is, I’m part of the Corelli family and they’ve always attracted attention. But I do know we have something good—something damn amazing, actually, and I would like to continue that.”

She stared at him for a second before finally finding her tongue. “You’re asking me to move in with you?”

“Well—” he gave her a sudden grin “—technically, you haven’t yet moved out.”

She was speechless. Literally speechless.

“Is it so hard to believe I care about you, Beth?” he asked quietly. “That I’d want to help you without any ulterior motive? Hey.” He suddenly looked alarmed. “You’re not going to cry, are you?”

“No.” She blinked and smiled weakly.

“You are.”

“Fine, I am. It’s the shock, okay? I’ve been trying to wrap my head around everything and then you go and do—” she sniffed “—something like this.”

“Beth.
Cara.
Don’t cry.”

“No, let me finish. I was— Oh, I still
am
kind of angry at you for going through my things—”

His mouth thinned. “And I’ve apologized for that.”

“I know. And I probably would have done exactly the same in your situation.” She took a deep breath then gave a watery smile. “Damn, this is difficult.”

“So let me make it easy for you. Come back, Beth.”

Misgiving tugged at Luke as the seconds ticked by and she remained still, just stared at the ground, shaking her head. Stubbornly, he waited, as if by staring at her he could will her into an admission.

She finally glanced up, wide-eyed and begging understanding. Those long elegant fingers skimmed her throat again. The gesture touched him more than he ever thought possible. “I won’t settle for just casual sex, Luke.”

“Neither will I.”

He went to her and took her hands, gritting his jaw as he felt an uncharacteristic tremble in his. His legs, his hip, bumped into hers, and suddenly all he could hear was the roar of his heartbeat echo in his ears. With a thick swallow and a silent prayer, he looked into her face. The wide-eyed expectancy tempered with caution only made his blood pound harder.

“Beth. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think I love you.”

“You
think?
”

He cleared his throat then tried again. “I miss you. You’re all I can think about. And I want you in my bed
and
my life. Come back, okay?”

“Luke…” Lord, the look on her face was killing him a thousand times over. “It would never work. My past, your career—”

“You know what? Screw that.” He grabbed her arms, deadly serious. “They’re just excuses, Beth, and you know it. If we want to make it work, we can. I want you. I want nights staring out at the stars. I want to make love to you with the taste of wine still on your lips. I want your bra draped over the shower curtain, your face cream dominating the sink…I want to eat lasagna on your battered kitchen table.”

His voice dropped lower, almost shaky. “And if you can’t see that then you’re not the smart, fearless person I thought you were.”

He paused, totally vulnerable, totally exposed. The seconds ticked by as Beth searched his face, her wide green eyes staring right into the deepest part of his soul.