She's No Angel (15 page)

That didn’t stop him from pounding on the door and rattling the hinges anyway. His heart thudded unsteadily inside his chest.

Lexi wasn’t the first woman he’d ever pissed off. But she was first one whose anger mattered. He didn’t want her furious with him. He didn’t want her walking away without at least letting him explain.

And now that he knew about her history...of course that report would feel like the worst betrayal. Would put everything he’d said and done in the worst possible light. If he’d been thinking clearly he never would have given it to her. But he’d wanted her to understand that he was trying to find the best way to make everyone happy...and failing miserably at it.

Until faced with the possibility of losing her, Brett hadn’t realized just how terrifying the prospect would be. He no longer gave a damn what happened with the resort. He cared about getting Lexi back.

She had to at least listen.

Where was she?

Maybe she’d gotten into an accident. She’d peeled out of the parking lot spitting gravel. Driving while enraged and distracted could get her killed.

Brett paced restlessly across her front porch. Or maybe she’d run to her parents. Or brother.

He nervously bounced the keys in his hands, trying to decide what to do. Should he leave and try to find her or wait for her to return?

He wasn’t used to uncertainty and the longer he stewed and stalked the easier it was to turn his anxiety into anger and point it directly at her.

She’d walked away.

Just like his dad. The thought was a lightning bolt out of the blue. Brett hadn’t thought of his dad in years. It was wasted energy and he’d learned long ago that wishing for something unattainable only led to disappointment.

Although Lexi’s flight away had little in common with that situation. His dad had been a selfish bastard who didn’t care about anyone but himself. Brett had been nine when he disappeared. No phone calls. No Christmas cards.

When he was eighteen, a freshman in college, Brett had gotten up the courage to find him. He’d scraped together a little money and hired a private investigator. He’d needed to know. For himself and for Hunter.

He’d expected to find nothing more than a grave somewhere. Instead, he’d discovered a middle-aged man with a good job, a nice family and a house that wasn’t crumbling.

Brett had been so angry. And then hurt and betrayed.

That same combination of emotions snaked inside him, a poisonous mixture that he didn’t like and never wanted to experience again.

He was about to leave,
screw this
echoing ominously through his head, when Lexi’s SUV pulled into the drive. From his vantage point in the shadows of her porch, he watched her approach.

Somewhere she’d found some clothes, probably from Sugar & Spice. She moved slowly, picking her way up the path. She silently studied him, her deep brown eyes distant and wary. She paused at the bottom of the steps, her hand wrapped around the post of her porch.

She was waiting for any reason to bolt.

“You can’t just leave, Lexi.” His voice was harsher than he’d expected. It was filled with every ounce of betrayal and hurt that he didn’t want to feel and didn’t want her to hear. “You need to listen to me.”

Her mouth tightened and she tossed the long tail of her beautiful blond hair over her shoulder. “I don’t need to do anything, Brett.”

The bright lick of anger heated her eyes for the briefest moment before it was extinguished, replaced by the damnable mask of indifference she’d perfected. But not even she could deny the flush that flamed up her skin.

Brett took a step towards her. She moved back.

“It’s pretty obvious you got what you wanted.”

Her knuckles tightened on the post. Brett could see the white ridge of them and his stomach rolled.

“You’re right, I got exactly what I wanted. You, Lexi. Until tonight have I mentioned the resort to you? Have I tried to change your mind? Have I asked you to speak to your father?”

Slowly, she shook her head. But he could see in her expression that the admission wasn’t enough. Her wary hesitation cut deep. Brett’s back teeth ground together.

“You fascinate me, Lexi. You’re such a puzzle. Sweet and giving and sexy as hell. You...don’t make sense.”

Her eyes widened and her body fell backward as if his words had hit her square in the chest.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m used to logical. Easy. In my life things are what they appear. And it’s easier that way. I know exactly what to expect. There are no surprises.”

Brett’s voice dropped low. The words were rough when they exited his raw throat. “I don’t like surprises, Lexi. They’re not usually good. I read the dossier because I wanted to know everything I could about you.

“That first day, I was intrigued when I walked into your store. I was impressed with the way you handled that witch...and me. And then at your parents’...I couldn’t forget the image of you crouched in front of me in that tiny black dress trying to clean chocolate off my shoes. When Bowen sent me the info the next morning I couldn’t resist.”

“You didn’t know who I was at first?”

“I already told you I didn’t.”

“But now I don’t know what to trust, Brett. What was truth and what was a lie.”

Brett growled low in his throat, frustration getting the better of him. “Lexi, I didn’t lie to you about that.”

Slowly, she shook her head. “You need to leave.” Her words were cold, but he could hear the hurt beneath them. He could see it in the way her shoulders slumped forward and her arm wrapped protectively around her waist.

Slowly, he walked forward. The echo of his shoes against the worn boards was the only sound between them.

Stopping, Brett looked straight into her eyes. He reached for her, running a single finger down the slope of her jaw. Lexi pulled back, but she didn’t drop her gaze.

Instead, she let him see just how shaken and upset she was. The force of her emotions slammed into him, overwhelming him. He didn’t know what to do with them.

Finally, she whispered, “We both knew this couldn’t last. Maybe it’s better this way.”

He knew he should agree, but he didn’t want to. But what argument could he make?

Tangling his fingers in her hair, he pulled her to him. She resisted, her neck stiffening to try and hold them apart, but he wouldn’t let her. If he’d known tonight was the last time he would touch her, he would have paid more attention, given her more pleasure, made more memories.

Bringing their mouths close, he kissed her. The heat that was always there flashed between them. Lexi gasped and opened for him. There was a bitter edge to the kiss, a sadness that he didn’t want to think about or examine.

Both of them panted and still he pulled away, leaving her with one thing to remember. For her sake, he hoped she believed him.

“This had nothing to do with the resort.”

15

S
HE
DIDN
’
T
BELIEVE
him. She wanted to, but that almost made it worse. She was such a naive idiot. When would she learn?

Men like Brett Newcomb didn’t want her for herself. How could they?

Lexi tried not to let it hurt, but of course it did. She tried not to let the hurt show, but she couldn’t even manage that.

No stranger to pasting on a smile and pretending, she went through the motions for a couple of days. But her friends noticed. Willow dropped by and asked her where Brett was. No one had seen him around town. Apparently, when he’d left her house, he’d also left Sweetheart.

Lexi wasn’t entirely certain what to make of that. Not that it really mattered. Brett was gone and somehow she had to find a way to get over it. Over him.

But it hurt. Much more than learning Brandon had used her. With Brandon her pride had been damaged. Brett had crushed her heart.

Three days after Brett disappeared, Hope showed up at Sugar & Spice’s back door. They fell into the normal routine, Lexi pulling out a container of lemon bars stashed beneath the counter.

Her friend was surprisingly quiet today, sitting at the table and munching in silence. Her eyes were heavy on Lexi’s back as she dipped apples into a large vat of caramel.

Lexi fought the need to squirm under her friend’s scrutiny. Hope saw too much and knew her better than just about anyone, which made keeping up the charade difficult.

Finally her friend said, “I’m here.”

Lexi shot a quick glance over her shoulder and then returned to the safety of her work. “I know.”

“No. I’m here. Whenever you want to talk about it.”

“Nothing happened.”

Disbelief buzzed in the back of Hope’s throat.

Lexi slammed an apple down onto the wax paper a little harder than she’d intended. “We had sex. I found out he was pushing the resort for a huge amount of money. And that he had a fat dossier with information on me, including my elementary school grades and my medical records from New York. He left.”

Hope whistled low under her breath. “That asshole. Didn’t see that one coming.”

Neither had she. That was the problem. She should have. Unlike with Brandon, Brett had told her exactly who he was and why he was in town. He’d made no attempts to hide his ulterior motives. And still she’d fallen for him. Hard.

“Brandon used me.”

Hope’s mouth twisted. “No one likes to be used.”

“But I got over it. I mean, what I worried about more than anything was him printing what I’d told him about Gage, but when that didn’t happen I stopped worrying.”

“This is different,” Hope said, the words a statement not a question.

Slowly, Lexi nodded. She didn’t want it to be different. She didn’t want to walk into her little cottage, her private sanctuary for the past several years, and fight disappointment because she knew he wouldn’t be there. She didn’t want to catch herself watching the sidewalk outside her store, hoping that he might be there.

She didn’t want to wait for him to come back. Because that wasn’t going to happen. She’d told him to go and he’d left.

Sure, after she’d calmed down and thought about what he’d said, some of his statements had rung true. No, he’d never asked her to intervene with her dad or the town council. But that could just be because she’d beaten him to the punch.

“I mean, I knew when we started this that it wasn’t going to be hearts and flowers. I’m not stupid. The council has no intention of approving the rezoning or permits. Eventually he’d have left and moved on to another project. My store is here. His job is somewhere else. It wasn’t like we had a future.”

Lexi felt the burn of tears. She hated herself for the weakness, but couldn’t stop it. To cover it up, she began flinging apples into the caramel with more force than finesse. Which wasn’t like her. She prided herself on the quality of her product.

Hope’s hand settled over her own, stalling the haphazard process. Lexi looked down at the mess she’d made. Ribbons of caramel trailed across the floor, counter and tray. It spread like a molten pool beneath the apples she’d just ruined.

“Fudge,” she said, the single word choking in the back of her throat.

Her friend settled her hip against the counter, pulling both of her hands into her grasp and forcing her to turn and look at her.

“You’re in love with him?”

Hope stared at her. Her friend’s eyes were filled with compassion and it was her complete undoing.

Silent tears slid over the edge, tracking down her face as she nodded.

Hope enveloped her in the comforting hug she desperately needed. Guiding her across to the table, Hope pressed her into a chair. She handed her a cold bottle of water and one of the lemon bars.

“Eat.”

Lexi tried to protest, but Hope wouldn’t hear it.

“You look like you’ve lost five pounds in the last few days.”

Which didn’t really surprise Lexi, since not even chocolate had been appetizing. She’d barely eaten anything, forcing herself to sample her product for no other reason than testing its quality.

Her relationship with Brett was affecting her work, which was something that had never happened before. In the past, baking and cooking had been her refuge, where she could be alone and find peace.

But he’d even taken that. Her kitchen reminded her of him. Her store reminded her of him. Hell, even her treadmill reminded her of him. Brett had taken all of her coping mechanisms and smashed them to bits.

So that Hope would stop hovering, Lexi forced herself to chew and swallow. The pastry was good. She was objective enough to taste the complex flavors that burst across her tongue. The crust was light and flaky. And the lemony treat turned to a solid ball in her stomach the minute she swallowed.

God, she was a mess.

“What are you going to do?”

Lexi grimaced. “I’m going to get through today, go home, go to bed, get up and do it all again tomorrow.”

Hope frowned. “I meant about Brett.”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“What exactly do you think I should do, Hope? Run after him? Why? It wouldn’t change anything. He used me. And even if he didn’t, it was a fling. An affair. And it’s over.”

The creases across Hope’s forehead deepened. She opened her mouth, but Lexi cut her off.

“I’ll be fine, Hope. I knew it would end. I’m not going to deny that it hurts, but eventually, I’ll get over it.”

Maybe if she said it enough, one day she’d be able to make the promise a reality.

* * *

B
RETT
WAS
UTTERLY
at a loss. He’d been home for a week, but his nice, modern apartment no longer felt right.

Driving out of Sweetheart had bothered him—more than he’d ever expected. In the short time he’d been there he’d come to appreciate the place.

He’d miss the people. Even the nosy Mrs. McKinnon. Maybe especially her. There was a sense of belonging that he’d never found anywhere else and now that he was gone, he noticed the loss. Hell, he didn’t even know his neighbor’s names. That had never struck him as strange before Lexi, but it did now.

Brett wasn’t entirely certain when the plan had begun to form. Perhaps it had been a kernel rolling around in the back of his brain for days, waiting to pop fully formed to the forefront on the flight home. Either way, he knew exactly what he had to do—for Sweetheart, himself and Lexi.

He was not looking forward to his upcoming conversation with Bowen, but there was nothing for it. Everything hinged on whether or not he could get his boss on board.

Setting his laptop into the docking station, he settled back into the desk that had been his for years. Firing up his machine, he opened the redesigned plans he’d been working on at the inn.

The excitement he felt was hard to dismiss. These plans were so different from the first drafts. There was pride, an emotion he hadn’t really experienced in a while when thinking about his work. When had he lost that?

He stared at the bold lines of the drawings. He hoped what he was about to do would convince Lexi that the resort had nothing to do with what they had. But even if it didn’t, he wouldn’t regret the decision he’d made. It was the right thing to do—for everyone.

He just needed a bank to agree and accept the seed money he had put aside as a down payment on some prime lakeside real estate.

Assuming he could talk his boss into selling.

* * *

T
WO
WEEKS
AFTER
Brett left, Lexi walked into the town hall for another meeting. The building was older, built in the early fifties. It probably could have done with a face-lift. The facade was nice enough, but there were still cracks, peeling paint, broken fixtures and chipped linoleum.

After a long day at the shop, she was exhausted, and would rather be at home, but her dad had asked her to come so...

The low rumble of voices drifted up the stairs from the basement, greeting her. She descended into the wide-open space and what looked like the entire adult population of Sweetheart.

She hadn’t asked what was on the agenda, but maybe she should have. Large crowds usually meant something controversial, but no one had mentioned anything to her.

Lexi moved through the crowd, smiling and passing out generic pleasantries as she went. Her goal was the front of the room where her dad would be preparing to start the meeting, but she didn’t make it.

The loud boom of her father’s voice rose above the buzz. “Would everyone take their seats?”

General shuffling ensued. Out of the crowd someone grasped her elbow. When she turned, Lexi realized it was Hope. Greeting her, Hope patted the open seat beside her.

Lexi sank down and then almost immediately popped back up. At the front of the room, Brett Newcomb stood talking to her father.

Her heart stilled and then began to race. Her body flushed hot and then went icy cold.

“What is he doing here?” she hissed at Hope.

As if he’d sensed her scrutiny, Brett’s gaze jerked up and somehow managed to zero in on hers. She felt the punch of his cool blue gaze straight to the center of her soul. Her mouth went dry. Without realizing what she was doing, her tongue darted out to lick across parched lips. And heat kindled deep inside his eyes.

But then he looked away, taking all the warmth with him. Lexi fought against the feeling of being dismissed. Unneeded and unwanted.

Clenching her jaw, she shifted in her seat. He wasn’t there for her. If he had been then he would have let her know he was back in town.

It was well and truly over. Lexi wasn’t certain why that realization had surprised her, considering she hadn’t spoken to Brett in weeks. But it did. Until that moment she hadn’t realized she’d been harboring a hope that he’d come back for her.

Instead, he was here for the resort, reinforcing everything she’d thought about his intentions in the first place.

“We’re suspending our regular agenda tonight to focus on a request for rezoning that’s been brought before the council.”

Brett stood tall and silent at the front of the room, an expensive and impressive business suit highlighting his beautiful body. He looked amazing. And Lexi wanted to leave, but she couldn’t do it now without making a scene.

Something she’d avoid at all costs. Most everyone in this room knew—or thought they knew—what had happened between her and Brett. She would not give them any more grist for the mill.

So she was stuck, staring at the screen erected behind Brett and her father instead of at the man himself. A logo she’d never seen bounced around the blank white background—Sweet Heart Consortium, with the heart made of two entwined letters she couldn’t identify.

A hush fell over the room as the lights dimmed. Brett stepped forward. The logo disappeared and a beautiful rendering of a building popped into its place.

Lexi gasped. She recognized it. It was the same computer-generated drawing he’d shown her that last night. Several people around her clapped. Brett waved his hand as if to silence everyone.

The design was just as perfect as she remembered. All rustic browns with pops of blue and green. The structure blended into the surroundings, using banks of windows to reflect back the setting around it.

Large pines and oaks towered behind the rendering. The lake sparkled. And the blue sky was drenched in sunlight. This resort looked sophisticated, integrated and relaxing.

How had he convinced Bowen to accept the design?

She listened silently as Brett clicked through slide after slide. He showed detailed architectural drawings and talked about green technology. Romantic touches. Providing space for both couples and families. Expanding their brand to cater to different clienteles at different times of the year.

Lexi listened, but her brain had hit saturation point and she was having trouble taking it all in.

Brett’s presentation ended. The logo appeared again on the screen, bouncing lazily. The lights popped back on and he stood at the front of the room, his feet planted wide and his hands loose at his sides.

He appeared completely relaxed. At ease with being in front of the crowd and presenting this new concept to everyone.

But she knew better. She could see the tension in the tight lines that bracketed his mouth, the vein that pulsed just beneath his jaw.

“I’m happy to answer any questions.”

One of the council members inquired about the expected timeline.

“That depends on approval and funding. By our calculations, construction could take anywhere from nine to twelve months after we break ground.”

A single question kept bouncing around her brain, just like the logo behind Brett. “What’s this consortium? What happened to Bowen?”

His cool gaze swung to hers. He paused for several moments. The dark edge of his tongue swept across the tempting surface of his bottom lip.

“Bowen is out.”

“What do you mean?”

“He sold the land.”

Lexi’s gaze searched his. There was something he wasn’t saying. She could see the hesitation deep inside his eyes.