Deceiving The Groom (4 page)

He went to the kitchen and filled a cup with steaming coffee waiting in the pot. It was just as well. He’d broken his number one rule. He’d slept with a woman in his house—Lexi’s house. Last night should never have happened. It was better that it went no further. Footsteps sounded behind him and he turned, pot still in hand.

A smile flipped his scowl. “Clai—” The smile faded as Mrs. Ruiz’s round face greeted him. “Oh…good morning, Mrs. Ruiz.”

“Good morning, Liam. You look like you were expecting someone else?”

Liam turned and roughly plonked the pot back on its base. “No, I wasn’t expecting anything.”

Mrs. Ruiz’s brows rounded slightly, then she gave him her pursed-lipped expression that told him he was going to need his coffee extra strong this morning.

“We need to talk. About Lexi.”

Liam sighed, a deep ache settling into his chest. He slid onto a sleek stainless stool at the counter. “Of course.”

Mrs. Ruiz remained on the other side of the bench. “Now, when I returned here from my daughter’s house this morning, I was very disturbed.”

Liam’s eyes widened. Had she seen the dress on the kitchen floor? Claire sneaking out the back door?

Crap, had she heard them at some point in the early morning?

It’d been a long night. He had no idea what time he’d finally fallen asleep. Liam stroked the stubble on his cheek. Just what he needed, a lecture on the proper behavior for someone raising a child. He’d been stupid letting this happen in Lexi’s home.

“From the moment I arrived, Lexi has not obeyed a single instruction I’ve given her,” Mrs. Ruiz said in her true nanny admonishment style.

A low chuckle rippled from Liam, then burst into laughter.

“Do you find this funny, Mr. Channing?”

Mrs. Ruiz straightened to her full but still rather dismal height. A red flush crept up her neck.

Liam smothered his laugh. Damn, now he really was in trouble. “No, no. I assure you I take everything to do with Lexi seriously. Just when you said disturbed, I expected—” Liam shook his head. “Never mind. Tell me what she’s done now.”

She adjusted the sides of her cardigan and her nose lifted. “The child still sits in her room in her pajamas, refusing to dress, refusing to brush her teeth, refusing to comb her hair or do anything else she is told to do.”

Liam glanced at the stairs that led to Lexi’s room and the guest rooms. A familiar hopelessness washed over him. “Okay. I’ll talk to her. I’ll make sure she listens in the future.”

Mrs. Ruiz shifted dropping her hands. “I’m afraid that will not do this time. I can’t work this way. It may be best to look for someone else.”

“No,” Liam said. “Don’t give up on Lexi.”

The flush continued to rise in Mrs. Ruiz’s cheeks and she looked down like she was studying the flecks in the counter top.

“I know she can be a handful, but please appreciate what a difficult year she’s had.” Liam’s voice lowered. “I’m trying to restore stability to her life. I can’t do it alone.”

Mrs. Ruiz’s chest rose. “Mr. Chan—”

“I’ll raise your pay. How much do you want? Money is no object. How’s a twenty-five percent increase sound?”

Mrs. Ruiz gave a great whooshing sigh and raised her palm. “Okay. I’ll stay. For now. On one condition.”

Liam put both his hands on the bench. “Anything.”

“I need for you and Lexi to both understand that this is my job. I am an employee and as such, I must maintain professional boundaries.”

Liam nodded. “I understand.”

Mrs. Ruiz’s face softened and she met his gaze. “I hope you do because I cannot be a surrogate parent to the child. It would not be right for her to form such a dependence on me.” Her color rose. “Remember, I will be taking leave as soon as my daughter has her baby. I cannot always be available. If you want a stable maternal presence in her life you shouldn’t look for an employee, you should look for a wife.”

Liam lurched back. A wife? Marriage? His head spun. The idea of marriage had lost its appeal when his father had walked out on them. But then he’d never considered having children and could now not imagine life without Lexi. He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Mrs. Ruiz, I’ll certainly think about what you’ve said.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Liam. Now you had best go attend to Lexi.”

Liam rose from the stool and took the stairs wearily to Lexi’s room to see exactly what he could do to repair the damage.

Liam knocked and opened the white paneled door to his niece’s room. The bed was stripped bare to the floral mattress. Sheets and blankets stretched across the room. Corners were held up on bed posts, furniture, and some edges were even shut in drawers to hold them up. Liam dropped to his knees, and crawled to the edge of a draping sheet. He lifted it and twisted a brow at the girl in teddy bear pajamas surrounded by her toy army. “I thought we agreed that we would always play Castles and Dragons together?”

Lexi snatched up a doll from the pile and brushed its hair like it had offended her. “This isn’t Castles and Dragons, it’s just Castles.”

He crawled all the way in and sat in front of Lexi at the highest point in the makeshift tent. “I see…”

Liam breathed in through his nose. He still hadn’t got the hang of this discipline thing. How do you even begin to know how hard to push a child who’s in so much pain? “Lexi, Mrs. Ruiz told me you weren’t listening to her this morning. Is something wrong?”

“No, I’m fine.” Lexi tossed the brush across the tent.

“Well, Mrs. Ruiz is here to help us. You need to listen to her.”

Lexi squeezed her hands and clutched them against her chest. “She’s not my mom. I don’t have to listen to her.”

Liam swallowed over the mass that formed in his throat. If she’d said anything but that he would’ve punished her. Her words robbed him of direction. He rubbed his palms over his knees. His voice was horse when he spoke, like the lump wouldn’t let words pass. “I know she’s not your mom…”

Lexi’s chin dropped.  Liam leaned forward and stroked her small, tense arm. “But she is here to help look after you so we need to show her the respect she’s due.”

Lexi remained silent. Liam lifted her into his lap. She rested her head on his chest and her hands unclenched. “Lex, does this behavior today have anything to do with having company on our special night? Are you upset that Claire visited?”

Lexi shook her head. “No, Claire’s nice. I like her. It just made me sad.”

“Why?” Liam stroked Lexi’s riot of un-brushed curls.

She shrugged. “I don’t know… It just reminded me of before. With Mom and Dad.”

That lump was back and this time it was out to kill him. Liam closed his eyes and pressed his lips into her apple-scented hair. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry your mom and dad can’t be here. I miss them too…” Liam rested his cheek on top of her head. “But we have each other. I know I’m not your mom and dad, but I love you.”

Lexi wrapped her arms around Liam’s neck and squeezed. “I love you too, Uncle Liam.”

The back of his eyes burned and he gave her another squeeze, then pulled away. “Now Miss, you get your clothes on, and hair brushed before Mrs. Ruiz comes up here and puts
me
in the naughty corner.”

She wiped her eye with her fingers and giggled. “Okay.”

“I think she needs an apology from you as well.”

Lexi’s chin scrunched and her lower lip pushed forward. “Fine.”

“That’s my girl.” Liam scuffed her curls.

She crawled out of the tent and Liam followed. He gave her a small, closed-lipped smile and left her room. The door clicked behind him and Liam rubbed his forehead. He took a deep breath which filled him to his stomach, and gave a silent prayer that love was indeed enough to heal all wounds.

Chapter Four

Claire downed the Chardonnay like medicine, gasping at the tingle when she took a breath. Her wet hair was pulled tight, twisted in a towel on top of her head. She filled the glass again and gripped the stem, then tossed back the dry wine. Yes, drinking in the morning. She’d reached an all new level of class. The thought repulsed her but she moved past it. The agitation rippling through her demanded something. If it took drowning it at the bottom of a wine bottle to give her peace, so be it.

Claire set down the glass and unwound the towel from her head. After two showers she still couldn’t shake the dirty feeling that clung to her. What had she done? And with the man who’d been the death of her father, taken everything from them…

She’d never been good at separating sex and emotion. It should’ve been easy to keep her distance, make him wait, lure him in. She rubbed the towel ruthlessly over her damp hair. Would the plan even work now that she’d put out so easily and then disappeared? Even if he was still interested, sneaking out without a goodbye was rude, hurtful even.  

Liam’s face flashed through her mind—the way he looked at her, the way he touched her. She tossed the towel into the laundry basket. Why’d he have to be so damn sexy? Why’d
he
have to be the first guy to make her feel good again?

The plan was off. She couldn’t go through with it.

Claire reached for her cell phone and dialed the number, tapping her fingernail frantically on her wooden bedside table.

The phone clicked and the ring tone went silent. “Hello?”

“Geoff, I need to talk to you.”

His pause stretched on. “Okay, I’m just shutting the door.”

Claire waited, hearing a click. “I’m not doing it. It’s not happening. Deal. Is. Off!”

“Claire, you need to calm down. Remember the goal.” Geoff had his lawyer voice on and she wished she could hit him for it.

“Getting even isn’t enough.” Claire took a deep breath. “I’m not sure he’s the man I thought he was, there must be more of an explanation.”

Silence stretched and Claire knew he was controlling his temper.

“Fine then, don’t do it for revenge—do it for Penny.” His voice lowered. “I don’t wish to see another child raised by my mother any more than you do.”

“Then help me, Geoff. For God’s sake, you’re a family attorney, help me get custody!”

“I am. In the best way I can. You know I can’t go against Mother directly.”

Finally the temper she knew him for leaked through. Well he was about to meet hers.

“Yes, because you’re too afraid of having your precious trust fund cut off.”

“Even if I represented you for nothing, it’d still cost a fortune. You’d still have to demonstrate you’re a better guardian. That you could provide a more stable environment, that you’re a better choice than the woman who has raised her from infancy!”

“Ha, I raised her.”

“Not in the eyes of the court. You were both under Mother’s guardianship. And then there’s your past…”

Her breath stopped. “That’s not fair.”

“It never is, Claire. No matter what you do, to even have a chance it’s going to take money–money you don’t have. Trust that we’re doing this for you and Penny.” He’d employed his reasonable lawyer tone again.

“What about you, Geoff?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, don’t play the selfless hero. You’re doing this for me and Penny? And all you’re asking is for is half of a five-million-dollar con that you expect
me
to pull off?”

Geoff’s voice hissed down the line. “No, Claire, I’m pulling off the con. All
you
have to do is follow my instructions.”

“Screw your instructions,” she spat, emotion thick in her voice.

“Who are you going to put first, Claire? The man who ruined your life, or Penny?”

Geoff’s tone softened and for a moment she could almost believe that he was a loving cousin. “Can you do it? Can you do it for Penny?”

Claire drew a shuddering breath, trying to harden her insides. “I suppose I have no choice.”

She drew the phone away from her ear, pressed end, and tossed it onto the bed. Maybe she was crazy for contemplating something so drastic, but Penny needed one person in the world who would fight for her.

She went to the cedar wardrobe in the corner of the attic room she rented from Mrs. Rose and withdrew her tight white business dress. It hugged her bottom just enough to make sure men noticed, yet not enough to look like she was trying too hard. She paired it with black pumps and her black purse and black jacket. She considered winding her hair into a bun but remembered the way Liam had touched it and changed her mind, letting it hang loose.

It was time to go catch the beautiful bastard.

Liam knew the moment she stepped into his office. Her delicate fragrance wound around him like a caress, the scent imprinted in his mind. He remembered it on her bare skin, a flower on a breeze. He looked up from his paperwork. She stood in his doorway, shoulder leaning against the frame, one leg crossed over the other, hip tilted in a way that made him want to reach out and grab her, show her what she’d missed that morning.

He was once again left with a sense of helplessness, the feeling he was no longer the master of himself. He met her gaze, ready to dismiss the reckless thoughts driving him. But her expression stopped him. Her dress said business, her stance said casual, but her eyes, they said something else…

Claire gazed back at him and her chin dipped. Her gloriously lashed eyelids drooped as they framed her startling blue eyes. Liam dropped his pen onto his desk. “I guess you’re here for the keys?”

Her small smile faded. “Yes, but actually I came to apologize.”

Liam stiffened. She wasn’t getting ready to give him the its-not-you-its-me speech, was she? He could do without it. “No apologies necessary.”

Color flushed her cheeks. Damn it, it only made her prettier.

“Well, I’d like to anyway. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left without saying goodbye.”

Liam rested his elbow on the arm of his chair. “Don’t worry yourself, Claire. Last night was a mistake. It should never have happened in Lexi’s home. And you’re hardly the first person who’s walked out on me without explanation.”

Claire’s brow wrinkled adorably. She stepped forward and rested her hands on the back of a chair. “Well, then I guess they must be as messed up as I am.” Her hand flew to her chest like her words had escaped of their own violation.

She looked down at the carpet beside the chair leg. “What I mean is—it was rude, and I just—” She puffed air through her lips. “I mean, I haven’t done anything like that in a very long time and last night was intimidating.”

“You find me intimidating?” Liam sat forward.

Claire met his eyes. “No, you overwhelm me. Being with you overwhelmed me. The way you made me feel last night overwhelmed me.”

The words sunk into his skin, stopping his heart. He was disarmed by her words and the gentle way she spoke them.

Liam stood and circled the desk, drawing Claire firmly against him. Her eyes went wide, she swallowed.

“I don’t think anyone has ever been so bluntly honest with me about their feelings.” He cupped her cheek and brushed her lip with his thumb. His mouth descended on hers, cutting off the little gasp that escaped. He moved his lips against hers, like he was drawing in her essence. Her skin slid under his fingers, soft and yielding. She returned his kiss, clutching and squeezing him.

The curves of her body rubbed against him, robbing him of control. He pulled away shakily and looked down. Claire’s eyes were half closed and moisture glistened on her bottom lip. Her breasts rose with her rapid breaths. She clung to him like she wanted him as ferociously as he wanted her.

Liam glanced through the windows of his office. His receptionist, Jenifer, sat at her desk, back to them. He looked at Claire and his whole body sighed.

“Damn, Claire. You should go. I don’t think I can control myself around you right now.”

The haze over her eyes cleared and she stepped back, smoothing her hands over her dress. He smiled. He loved to see that bemused look on a woman, especially this one. “Dinner tonight?”

Claire’s bottom lip caught between her teeth and she shook her head. “I’m not sure. I’ll let you know if I can.” She turned and gave him a tight smile over her shoulder before slipping out of his office.

              Claire plunged the pin deep into the corset, nicking her finger. A crimson drop bloomed on her skin. She jammed the finger between her lips before it could spoil the pristine lace of the wedding dress she’d painstakingly sewn by hand. Her spectacular show stopper—one of a kind and all hers.

She knelt next to the gown she was applying the finishing touches to and fished for a plaster bandage in her handbag. The flashing cell phone inside caught her attention. She had put the blasted thing on silent but
he
still called. She turned it off and found a bandage. Time was running out. She had managed to avoid Geoff for five days, she wouldn’t be able to for much longer. Five days that seemed to be breaking her apart and making her question every piece of herself. She’d avoided Liam too, not sure how she could continue pretending. The image she tried to reinforce of the monster who’d ruined her life wasn’t holding up. Yet she couldn’t forget what had happened to her family because of him. They’d just lost her mother giving birth to her sister, something none of them dreamed could happen with modern medicine.

Then they lost everything else.

She wound the bandage around her finger. Liam couldn’t deny what he’d done. She’d seen the evidence herself—his signature an inky scrawl on the papers that had doomed them. Claire scrunched the rubbish and put it in her small pile of cut threads and slithers of fabric.

It’d been a nightmare opening her store across the street from him. Watching him stop and look over at her store, not yet open, but with her working away inside. She could see him hesitate from her position in front of the window. All she could do was hold her breath, stuck between the dread that he would come over, and the fear that he wouldn’t.

She placed three pins between her lips and went back to the mannequin. In two weeks her bridal boutique would be in business. She’d waited so long for this. Too bad it all felt so tarnished. The front door rattled and Claire jumped. It could only be him. A pin slipped from her mouth.

She took the remaining pins and began squeezing them into the fabric. “Just a moment.”

Footsteps approached behind her and cool hands grasped her shoulders. “Hello, Claire.”

She shrieked at the familiar but unexpected voice, dropping her pins. She spun around. “Geoff! What are you doing here?”

Geoff grinned down at her in a mischievous way that said all was well between them, but she knew how quickly it could turn. “I came to see my new offices of course.”

He adjusted the tie she guessed was worth more than her entire wardrobe. His gold blonde hair was slicked back to his ears.

“I wasn’t expecting you for another week…”

Geoff narrowed his eyes, the same blue as hers. He looked more like her brother than her cousin. By some wicked turn of fate he even managed to score her longer-than-should-be-legal eyelashes. Unfortunate for the female population who failed to see beneath his handsome exterior to the greedy self-serving brat she knew he was. A greedy self-serving brat she loved nevertheless. He was, after all, the closest thing she had to an ally these days.

“Well, what did you expect?” He gripped her shoulders again and his narrowed gaze became an outright scowl. “I haven’t been able to get through to you in days. I had to make sure the dirt bag hadn’t hurt you.”

A pang of defensiveness surged through her. She pushed his hands from her shoulders.

“Is everything okay here?” The commanding voice rang through the shop front.

Liam stood in the doorway. His head almost brushed the top of the frame when he stepped in. The room seemed to shrink around him. His shoulders held a tension she hadn’t seen before. It made him seem bigger, dangerous.

Geoff stepped back, faltering for a moment then recovering to don his aura of superior confidence.

Claire rushed forward and placed her hand on Liam’s arm. “Liam, this is my cousin, Geoff.”

Liam’s shoulders relaxed and the air in room seemed breathable again. Geoff stepped closer and extended his hand to Liam. “A pleasure, Liam. I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like we’ve already met.”

Liam took the offered hand and squeezed it, his face lined in question. Geoff winced slightly but maintained his Cheshire smile.

Liam’s gaze flickered to Claire. “All favorable I hope?”

Geoff turned to Claire. “Absolutely, in fact I’ve heard of little else since she arrived in town. You’re her hero.”

Claire flushed hot and she shot Geoff her most polite glare. “Geoff…”

Her embarrassment was amplified by the look of raw male satisfaction that pulled Liam’s lips into a smug bud. 

Geoff held up his palms. “Okay, no more embarrassing my little cousin.” Geoff extended his arms to both of them, and gently guided them towards the front door. “Now let me take you both to lunch.”