ScandalandSin (6 page)

“Hey, Dad,” Griff said, sliding onto the
fourth chair at the table. “Good to see you.”

“Dax invited me to have a beer with him.
But now that you’re here, I’ll take off so y’all can talk business.”

“No, Dad, don’t go.” Rye looked from each
of his brothers back to his father. “I want to tell you what happened today
too.” He took a swallow of his beer and set the bottle on the table. “Miss
Alaina May came in the office this morning.”

“Is that the hot redhead who came in when I
was leaving?” Dax asked.

“The same. She wants to buy Stevens House
and turn it into a bed-and-breakfast. She wants to hire us for the work. I
turned her down.”

“You did
what
?” Dax jerked forward
in his chair. “How could you do that? That job would bring a shitload of money
into the business.”

“You really want to work in that house?
With our family’s history?”

“I agree with Dax,” Griff said. “What
happened there was a long time ago. It shouldn’t interfere with a job that’ll
keep our employees busy for months.”

“I haven’t told you everything about Alaina
May.” Rye once again looked at everyone at the table. “She’s Alesia’s sister.”

Dax and Griff glanced at each other, then
at their father, before turning their attention back to their brother. “Look,
Rye, I hope this doesn’t sound heartless to you,” Dax said, “but the fact we’d
be working for Alesia’s sister shouldn’t make a difference in the job.”

Before Rye could demand what the hell Dax
was talking about, their father spoke. “I agree with Dax. You and Alesia broke
up three years ago. I’m sorry you were hurt. We’re all sorry you were hurt, but
don’t let what happened with her keep you from accepting a great job.”

Kenneth sounded just like Walt. He could
understand Dax wanting to accept the job. Dax never dwelled on anything that
happened before yesterday. He always said life was made for living now, not in
the past. Griff was more levelheaded. “What do you think?” he asked his
youngest brother.

“I agree with Dax and Dad. It’s a good job,
Rye. With new housing construction down, this will keep our employees busy all
summer.”

“Y’all really think we should work for
Alesia’s sister?”

“We’ll have a contract,” Dax said, “and
we’ll collect part of our fee up front. Yeah, I say we go for it.”

Griff nodded. “So do I.”

The Coleman brothers had decided a long
time ago that majority ruled. If Dax and Griff wanted to accept this job, Rye
would go along with them. He would treat Alaina as their customer and nothing
else. There would not be a repeat of what happened between them today.

“There’s no guarantee Bella will even sell
that house to Alaina,” Rye said. “But if she does, I’ll tell Alaina tomorrow
that she’s hired a construction firm.”

Chapter Five

April 11, 1937

I had to go to the drugstore to pick up
cough syrup for my mother. She’s had a bad cold for two days that’s settled in
her chest. I saw
him
when he left the bank. He strolled down the
sidewalk with his head high and an arrogant expression on his face. He knows
everyone looks at him, everyone envies him and his position.

Almost everyone. There is nothing about
him I envy. I loathe every hair on his head.

I followed him. He seemed to be heading
to the drugstore too. That will give me the perfect excuse to bump into him.
Perhaps I can strike up a conversation and find out what he plans to do about
Laura.

* * * * *

Alaina sat cross-legged in the middle of
the library floor. Cobwebs hung in every corner, but she could picture how the
beautiful room would look after the refurbishment. Floor-to-ceiling
bookshelves, large windows to let in lots of sunlight, cozy chairs where her
guests could sit and read, a huge fire in the stone fireplace. She knew exactly
what kind of floor covering she wanted, exactly what color paint and wallpaper,
the decorations. Coleman Construction could do that for her.

She’d spoiled everything by telling Rye she
was Alesia’s sister.

Rye never would have known if she hadn’t
told him. She favored Alesia, despite their different hair color, but not
enough for Rye to immediately recognize her. Her mother had remarried when
Alaina was sixteen. Her stepfather had legally adopted her, so Rye wouldn’t
have known her by her last name. The only way he would’ve known of her
relationship with Alesia was by Alaina telling him.

Not wanting to start their business
dealings by holding anything back, she’d decided to be honest with him from the
start.

Big mistake.

The one person she wanted most to work on
this house wouldn’t speak to her, much less make love to her again.

Her tummy quivered when she thought of the
way Rye had touched her yesterday. Neither of them had planned it. The step had
cracked, she’d lost her footing and he’d caught her. She could’ve pulled away
from him and nothing would have happened.

But she hadn’t wanted to pull away. She’d
had a crush on the good-looking teenager when she was barely a teenager
herself. One look at the handsome man had her heart fluttering in her chest.
Curiosity and old feelings—and hormones—had played a part in her surrendering
to him.

He’d taken her against a wall. She still
hadn’t gotten over how hot it had been.

Orgasms were rare for her during sex,
especially ones as powerful as she’d experienced with Rye. She’d usually get
right to the peak, yet wouldn’t be able to get over it. Rye had not only pushed
her over the top, but had done it twice.

She longed to feel him inside her again.

She’d hire another construction firm to
refurbish the house, but it wouldn’t be the same. She wanted the best to do it,
and she knew that would be Rye’s company. Plus with his company working for
her, she’d have the excuse to see him every day.

A vehicle pulled up to the back of the
house. With her lousy luck, it was probably a deputy sheriff coming to arrest
her for trespassing.

“Alaina?”

Her heart stuttered in her chest when she
heard Rye’s voice. She scrambled to her feet and dusted off the seat of her
jeans. “In the library,” she called out.

He stepped through the doorway, looking
absolutely edible in tight, faded jeans and a dark brown T-shirt that matched
his eyes. She loved the thick mustache over his upper lip. It had felt
incredible when he’d kissed her.

She wondered how it would feel against her
pussy.

Right now, that mustache framed lips that
were tight with disapproval, or perhaps disgust.

“Good morning,” she said softly.

“I talked to my brothers last night,” he
said without returning her greeting. “They both agreed we should take this
job.”

Alaina blinked. His comment surprised her.
“They did?”

“Yeah.”

“But you still don’t want to?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want. Majority
rules with me and my brothers. They say it’ll be a great job for our
employees.”

“You don’t believe that?”

He looked away from her. She saw his chest
rise and fall with his deep breath before he looked back at her. “Yeah, it’ll
be a great job for our employees. New construction is down around here, so this
job will keep them busy for months.”

“I hear a ‘but’ after that sentence.”

“I don’t want to work for Alesia’s sister.
Her betrayal was a long time ago, but it taught me to be cautious where women
are concerned. I know about Alesia’s reputation, and your father’s. I can’t
help but think you’re exactly like your sister and father after what happened
here yesterday.”

His words hurt, but they also made her
angry. He’d given her earth-shattering orgasms, but that didn’t mean she had to
accept his bullshit. He had no right to judge her based on what her father and
sister did in the past. “I’m nothing like my sister or my father.”

“You’ll have to prove that to me.”

“I don’t have to ‘prove’ anything to you,
Rye.”

He stared at her and she stared right back.
She refused to back down when she’d done nothing wrong.

“We need to take the keys back to Bella,”
he said after several moments of silence.

“Okay.” She noticed he’d said “we” need to
take the keys back. “Are you going with me to her house?”

“I called and told her we’d be there by
nine-thirty.”

“Thank you for doing that.”

He gave her a single nod, then turned and
left the room, leaving her to scramble after him.

Outside, she started toward her car. Rye’s
voice stopped her before she could open the driver’s door.

“What are you doing?”

“You said we’re going to take the keys back
to Bella.”

“We are. You’re riding with me. We’ll go to
my office after we see her. We have a lot to talk about.”

She wasn’t sure if it would be smart to
ride in the same pickup with an angry lion. From the stern look on his face, he
wasn’t about to take a no from her. “Let me grab my purse.”

He had his pickup started and the air
conditioner running when Alaina slid onto the passenger seat. She didn’t try to
strike up a conversation with him, suspecting he’d either not answer her or
grunt out a one- or two-syllable response. She stared out her window, watching
the wildflowers. The bluebonnets were in full bloom. Seeing them always made
Alaina smile. She hadn’t noticed any around Stevens House. Planting bluebonnet
seeds this autumn was a definite must.

She had to remember to ask Bella how many
acres went with the house. She wanted to create walking paths for her guests
through the gardens and trees. Right now, the only gardens around that house
were of cactus and weeds. It would take a lot of time and effort to make the
grounds beautiful. Alaina looked forward to every moment of pulling weeds and
planting seeds.

If
Bella
sold her the house.

Positive thinking. She
will
sell the house to me. She
has
to.

Fifteen silent minutes later, Rye pulled up
in front of Bella’s house. Alaina didn’t wait for him to come around and open
her door since she doubted he would today. Nor did he place his hand on the
small of her back when they climbed the steps as he had yesterday.

Alaina began to feel like a contagious
disease.

“Am I supposed to let you do the talking?”
she asked once he’d rung the doorbell.

“I’m here because Bella knows me. You can
do your own talking.”

The maid once again answered the door. For
the first time today, Alaina saw Rye smile.

“Hiya, sexy,” he said to Susan.

She blushed all the way to the roots of her
hair. “What would your mother say if she knew you were flirting with someone
old enough to
be
your mother?”

“She’d say I have good taste.”

Susan laughed. “I still say you are a
devil, Rye Coleman.” She opened the door wider. “Come in. Mrs. Olinghouse is
waiting for you.”

Bella sat on her throne, a delicate china
cup poised at her mouth. She looked at Alaina over the rim of her cup, then
past Alaina to Rye. She gave a small nod.

“Ms. May. Mr. Coleman.”

“Thank you for seeing us, Mrs. Olinghouse,”
Rye said.

“You looked at the house?”

“Yes,” Alaina answered, even though Bella’s
attention was still focused on Rye. “It will be breathtaking after the
remodel.”

One white eyebrow arched. “That’s assuming
I agree to sell it.”

“Yes, of course.” Alaina swallowed the
sharp retort she wanted to make. The old biddy must love to make people squirm.

Bella waved her free hand toward the couch.
“Sit. Would you like tea or coffee?”

“None for me.” Rye took the same spot on
the couch where he’d sat yesterday. “Alaina?”

“No, thank you.” She perched on the edge of
the couch close to Rye, but not close enough to touch him. “Are you going to
sell the house to me, Mrs. Olinghouse?”

She didn’t flinch when Bella Olinghouse
turned those sharp gray eyes on her. Alaina saw no reason to be coy. She knew
what she wanted and this woman could give it to her.

“You’re rather impulsive, aren’t you, Ms.
May?”

“No, ma’am, I’m not. I’ve thought long and
hard about this. I want to buy your house. I know with the Coleman brothers’
help, I can turn it into the most beautiful bed-and-breakfast in North Texas.”

“You’re very ambitious. Or naïve.”

Alaina caught herself before she gritted
her teeth. She didn’t want Bella Olinghouse to see any kind of weakness. “I’m a
hard worker. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. I’ll work right alongside
the Colemans in that house. I’m not very good with power tools, but I can use a
hammer or screwdriver and I’m a great painter.”