The Texas Millionaire's Runaway Wife (13 page)

Her brows cinched together as she pursed her lips. “It isn’t bad,” she said as she straightened her spine. “I only wonder what happened to that guy. I kind of liked him. You’re great, I’m sure you are. Maybe not the nicest person in the world, but I’m sure you have plenty of power and a lot of respect. How could you not? But do you have friends? Outside of your family, Stephen, who are you close to?”

The door opened and the sunlight temporarily caught him off guard. Or maybe it wasn’t the sunlight.

He didn’t answer her accusatory question. No need. He knew who he was. He knew where he was going and what he wanted to accomplish with his life.

So why did her words leave such a gnawing feeling in his stomach?

The reporters swarmed the front stairs and he plastered on a smile. He didn’t see them, though.

In the sunlight Cassie shone like a goddess. The gold and reds in her hair dripped with light and warmth. Her skin smoothed under the intense afternoon rays and as her hand tightened on his he felt an intense need to protect her.

To bed her. To hold her captive as his alone. He looked around. He didn’t want to share her with the world.

Andrew thought the PR from their wedding would make for good press as he took over Giles’ business, but Stephen suddenly felt the need to protect Cassie. It felt as if introducing her to the press in this way he’d be exploiting her.

“Mr. Sands, Anna Peppado from WFAA, can I ask you a few questions?”

Stephen leaned in. “Cassie, do you want to do this?”

He said it low, low enough that she alone would hear. Then he leaned in for her answer, shielding her face from the flash of cameras and the shining lights. The mob of press closed in and he held his hand out to steel them. “Cassandra?”

Her face said it all. Panic, fear, uncertainty. She didn’t want to be here. Didn’t want to introduce her relationship to the world on the stairs of his office building. They’d had a whirlwind romance to begin with, then he’d married her in Vegas in a little chapel where they’d both been slightly too drunk to remember everything that happened.

And now, for the first time possibly, he wanted to protect Cassie. “Cassie?” he asked again.

She tried to smile. “If it has to be done.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. Do you want to do this?”

His eyes searched hers. He knew the answer. She didn’t need to speak what her vulnerable and terrified face shone without question.

Uncertainty filled her eyes as she seemed to question whether he truly wanted to protect her. He squeezed her hand tighter and nodded, hoping she’d speak freely.

A slight shake of her head followed. “No,” she whispered fiercely. “Not like this. Not here, like this.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“Sorry folks.” He turned to the mob. “I know we set this up for this afternoon, but we’ve got some urgent family business we have to attend to and will have to schedule this for another time. If you’ll excuse us, we must be going.”

“Mr. Sands! Mrs. Sands!” The rush of voices filled the air and echoed back from the building as Stephen pushed through. He held tightly to Cassie’s hand as they made it to his car, the reporters and journalists tight on his heels.

Cassie leaned close and asked, “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

They got in his car and started it, slowly backing out.

The crowd didn’t want to move, but did as they saw he wouldn’t back down. Camera flashes blinded him, but he did his best to shield them both as he put his car into gear and pressed forward. “Ready, Cass?”

She smiled, radiantly. “Yes.”

“Let’s go!”

He pressed the accelerator and his Mercedes SL-Class shot ahead and out of the parking lot before anyone else had a chance to step in front of it.

“Where to?”

“Anywhere,” she said, laughing as she kissed his hand.

Chapter Ten

They skidded to a stop in front of Just Desserts and Stephen turned off the car. “I thought you might like to check on things before we go to dinner. I mean, I know I told you earlier that you could come here, but I wanted you to know I really mean it. It wasn’t right for me to ask you not to.”

Cassie felt stunned by the change of events. This afternoon he’d been all for showing her off to the world. For cementing their relationship across television and print. Now, he parked his beautiful car in front of her Cooper Street bakery and seemed to be offering her a chance to still be a part of her dream. “Thank you,” she said, finally.

In the late afternoon sun, Stephen looked more like his old self. Not the guy she’d first met at the wedding, cocky and flirty, more the one she’d gotten to know over the past year. She could see it in his eyes. For the first time since she’d seen him again, Stephen’s eyes shone with a bright, curious intensity. They slid over her face and rounded across her shoulders, settled onto her breasts. Her nipples tightened in response.

His perusal, the memories of their past year made her want to fall into bed with him. Feel his arms wrapped around her again. Her skin ached with the memory of his touch. They fit perfectly together, her nestled into the cradle of his arm, their thighs intertwined.

She’d sworn they wouldn’t make love, that he’d have a lonely few years if he stayed married to her. And while Cassie didn’t make a habit of breaking her promises, she wanted more than anything to break that one.

Clearing her throat brought his eyes back up to hers. “I won’t be long. I won’t make us late for tonight.”

“Take your time, we’ve still got several hours.”

Cassie unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to kiss him. She reached her hand down and stroked his thigh as their kiss intensified. Stephen groaned and his hands settled into her curls.

In a low, sultry voice he said, “If you keep that up, we might not make it to dinner.”

She clasped his face and let her thumbs stroke the sandpapery stubble of his jaw line. Catching his eye, she nibbled his lip before saying, “Are you sure you don’t want dessert first?”

His hand cupped the back of her neck and he nipped her ear before whispering, “I thought we weren’t having sex.”

It was the cold water she needed. Him speaking aloud the thing she wanted so much to ignore. With that, she opened the car door and stepped out. Leaning into the now open window she assured, “I’ll be back soon.”

****

Milo, the college kid who worked the front part time greeted Cassie when she walked in the door, but with a line formed, Cassie didn’t stop to talk. She headed back to her kitchen.

Hard at work, Graciella piped the final rosettes onto a beautiful quinceañera cake. It was lilac and white, delicate, looked nothing like the girl it was intended for. She’d obviously been humoring her
abuela
when the woman ordered the cake. The night was supposed to be about the girl, Mariana, but Cassie wondered if the grandmother even remembered that.

That’s why Cassie wanted to make Mariana something special. While they’d talked, she’d noticed a ring the girl wore. Nothing exceptional, but obviously important to her. Mariana touched it off and on during their entire conversation. As they left the shop, Cassie asked.

“It was my mother’s,” Mariana told her. And her mother wasn’t around.

Cassie got to work. She drew out the design, two knots locked together, a single ruby in the center and decided to make Mariana her own personal cake.

“Graciella, when you finish that one, will you work on this please?” It was going to be a four-inch round black forest cake with thin sponge layers, brandied tart cherries and a thick dark chocolate ganache surrounding the entire cake. The design would be hand painted gold and a ruby made entirely of hand molded and etched sugar. It wasn’t a huge job, but also not one she’d trust with just anyone.

Her long time assistant and friend looked at it. “Sure, not a problem.”

“Just have it ready to go with the
quinceañera
cake. A tag on it for Mariana.”

That’s what Cassie loved about Graciella. It didn’t matter what she asked, she knew Graciella would take care of it.

“Can I ask you something?” Graciella asked as she moved over a workstation to start Mariana’s cake.

“Always.” Cassie pulled up a stool and peeled the paper away from one of the rejected cupcakes.

“Are you happy?”

Cassie didn’t need clarification; she had been with Graciella too long to not know exactly what her friend was thinking. “He’s a good man.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Thoughts of Annie finally having help came to mind. “Yes. I am happy.”

Looking up from the dry mixture she’d begun sifting together, Graciella examined her for a moment, then went back to work. “I know you’re taking time off from the bakery, and this is your home. Was that your decision?”

“No. But I know it’s in good hands, or I never would have agreed.”

That seemed to satisfy. Graciella had gotten to know Stephen the same way Cassie had, through the store. He’d come in several times a week, sit with them all, laugh over their confection-of-the-week. When Cassie found out the truth she had to break it to her staff as well.

Telling them she was back with him hadn’t been easy. Even harder that they were going to make a go of it, and that Cassie wouldn’t be working the way she normally had.

Listening to the whirr of the blender Cassie fell into deep thought. He’d been such a big part of the bakery over the past year and yet didn’t even try to come in today. She knew his feelings for her staff were more than just friendly customer-type feelings, they’d become their own little family over that time.

What if Stephen had been really hurt by her leaving?

Was it possible?

Could he really have fallen in love with her? Could she have really broken his heart when she left?

It seemed unlikely. Yet, it would explain the way he acted toward her now. It would explain so many things about how he’d acted since she came back.

The whirr stopped and Cassie looked up to see Graciella studying her face. Then, almost as if reading Cassie’s mind, she said, “We all liked him, Cass. I don’t know why he lied the way he did, but we all liked him. If you really do have feelings for him, really love him, you need to talk to him. Find out the truth. Don’t just keep whatever’s inside your head to yourself. If I can’t be there, he has to be.”

That had been a running thing between them. Cassie fought so hard to keep her composure on the outside that often Graciella was the only person to know the truth of whatever was going on in her life.

“What if he doesn’t want to hear it?”

Graciella scraped the batter from the bowl and into the four small tins she’d laid out. “What if he does?”

The bitterness and anger she’d been feeling slipped away as she left the kitchen.

This might not be a marriage to last a lifetime, but Cassie could be happy in the time she had with Stephen. She’d spent all this time protecting her heart; she didn’t have to be that person all the time. What did that get her? Nothing but pain and too much frustration for one personal to deal with alone. It was a lot to think about. Could she really talk to him?

“Bye Milo, have a great day!” she called as she opened the front door. Cassie paused, taking a moment to look around. This had been her home away from home for so long. Yet, it had never felt so full of life and love before Stephen invaded it. It had become the place she wanted to be, not because she had work to do, but because he would be there, too.

“Have a good evening, Cassie. And congratulations on the marriage. Graciella told me. He seems like a really nice guy.”

Cassie smiled. “He is. Have a good night.”

She walked down the stone walkway toward Stephen’s waiting car and slowed as she approached. He was turned away from her, on the phone. She heard the name Tatiana through the open window and her heart skipped a beat. Tatiana. His ex-girlfriend.

I’ll see you soon,
he said to her.

It had only been a month, but what if they’d reconnected? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d left a guy only to find him in the arms of an ex shortly after. In fact, it seemed a running pattern. The biggest difference was the she was married to this particular guy.

Her stomach tightened. While Stephen may have loved her at first, she realized, it did not seem likely he’d wait around for her, especially after the way she left. And, in fact, this was basically a business arrangement. Perhaps her leaving had given his a chance to realize that his ex was truly the right woman.

Tatiana.

Unexpected jealously rose as Cassie imagined him kissing another woman.

He turned and saw her approaching. He looked shocked at first, guilty, then masked it with a smile as he turned off his phone. “How’s the store?”

Cassie did her best to squash the jealousy and opened the car door. “It’s good, busy. It hasn’t burned down without me there, so that’s a good thing.”

“I was wrong to ask you not to be here. Once you get settled in, I’d like to see if we can find a way to work it out so you can still be here sometimes. Maybe not as much as before, but not cut off entirely either.”

Cassie nodded. She couldn’t get Tatiana out of her mind. “Are we ready?”

His eyebrows cinched together, but he didn’t argue. “Sure.” He threw the car into gear and they were on the road. “You said you don’t need long to get ready, so I was thinking...”

“Yeah?”

“We had that one spot we liked to go to off the Trinity, have you been since we got back?”

She hadn’t. But her mind couldn’t stop thinking about Tatiana. “No, not once.”

“Would you like to go now?”

Mistress. That’s the word that came to mind. She was his wife, and yet she felt like his mistress. Like he maybe had a great relationship going with this Tatiana woman and now wanted to keep Cassie on the side until it would be feasible to divorce her. The thought made Cassie sick. “No, I don’t think so, Stephen. I’d like to just head to the house.”

She didn’t look at him, didn’t need to. She could tell from the way the car sped up that he wasn’t happy with her response. But how could he do this? Tatiana. Tatiana. The woman’s name screamed money. Tatiana Sands. Much better than Cassie. God, she felt like such a fool.