Bossing the Billionaire: Billionaire Brothers Kent - Ryder's Story (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (10 page)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Peggy hurried up the driveway to Barbara’s house and rang the
doorbell. What Barb could want to see her for at six o’clock on a Friday
evening, she couldn’t tell.

After all, she’d already seen her friend this morning. They’d picked
up groceries together at Samuel’s store. Then she shrugged. Whatever it was
must be important because Barb had sent Theresa’s little boy to get her.

When over ten seconds passed and the door didn’t open Peggy rang the
doorbell again. Still nothing. Then, frustrated at the wait after she’d worked
herself into a sweat hurrying over there, she tried the knob. Her eyebrows
lifted in surprise when the door swung open.

Peggy pushed it open wider and peered in. “Barb, I’m here.” There
was no answer so she stepped into the foyer. “Barbara.” Her second call echoed
in the house but again, there was no answer. Peggy gave a soft hiss of annoyance.
Knowing Barbara, she’d made this arrangement and then forgotten all about it.
She was probably tucked away in bed, lost in a good book, not remembering that
she should be expecting a visitor.

“Barbara,” she yelled a third time and then she was walking down the
hallway, intent on finding her friend, grumbling as she went. She was marching
past the dining room when she stopped short. Good heavens.

She turned and stared at the dining table, a piece of furniture
Barbara hardly used because she always hung out in the kitchen. This evening
the usually bare table was elegantly decorated with a collection of red and
white scented candles clustered in the center of a circle of tiny bowls filled
with rose petals. On one side of the table were covered dishes from which
wafted the delicious aroma of food and on the other side were two tall-stemmed
glasses and a dewy silver wine bucket from which the top of a bottle stuck.

“That little devil.” The words left Peggy’s mouth in a soft whisper,
a mixture of annoyance and pleasure. Barbara Bonner was something else. Her
friend was giving her a taste of her own medicine, playing the same trick on
her that she'd played on Blake and Ryder. That was what you got for letting
your friend in on your secret.

And then, like she guessed would happen, there was a knock at the
door. She didn’t have to open it to know who was standing on the front porch
and, poor thing, he was probably as much in the dark as she’d been.

Or was he? Peggy’s eyes narrowed as she thought about that. What if
Ted had been in on the plan? If so, she would kill him. But she wouldn’t make
him see her suspicion. No, she would greet him as friendly as always, but she
would be watching him like a hawk. He’d never been able to keep a secret. His
face would tell the whole story.

But when Peggy went to the door and threw it open she could tell by
his reaction that he knew absolutely nothing about the affair.

As the door opened and he saw her standing there his eyebrows shot
up. “Peggy? I thought…where’s Barbara? I got a message that she needed to see
me right away.”

“Yeah, you and me both.” Peggy wrinkled her nose. “Our good friend
is playing tricks on us.” She stepped back and held the door wide. “Come on in.
I’ll show you.”

When they got to the dining room and Ted saw the spread he gave a
low whistle. “Looks like she’s getting ready to receive a very special man this
evening.” Then he gave a slight frown. “Barbara’s got a beau? How come I didn’t
know that? After Gordon passed away I thought she'd given up on men.”

Peggy glared at him, not believing he could be so slow, and then she
punched him on the arm. “She hasn’t got a beau, you dolt. That’s for us. That’s
why she invited us here.”

His brows lifted. “For us?” And then, as the realization sank in,
his face relaxed into a smile. “For us.”

Peggy almost punched him again. “Don’t get too happy about that. I
don’t know if I like Barb fooling me like this. It’s not right-” She stopped, again
remembering she’d been the one who tried the trick first. She was the last
person to be chastising her friend for using her sneaky little trick.

“Well, we might as well see what she fixed us. Have a seat.” Peggy
knew she wouldn’t win any prizes for congeniality but she was in no mood to be
nice to Ted. He might not have been part of the planning of this rendezvous but
she had to be annoyed with someone. Barbara wasn’t here so he was the easiest
target.

“So are you going to sit or not?” she bit out, when it didn’t look
like he was moving fast enough.

“Hold your horses, little lady. Let me get the chair for you before
you bite my head off.” Ted was pulling out the chair as he spoke and his look
of reproach made Peggy feel a tiny thread of remorse.

“Sorry,” she said, her voice not so bold and forceful this time. “Barbara
just threw me upside down, that’s all. I shouldn’t take it out on you.” She
slid onto the chair then glanced up at Ted, hoping her look was sufficiently
apologetic to appease him.

“That’s all right,” he said. “I know how you feel. She threw me upside
down, too.” Then he grinned. “In a good way.”

After that they settled into a comfortable silence as Ted lifted the
covers from each of the dishes and began to ladle a little of each onto Peggy’s
plate. “I know exactly what you like,” he said, “and how much. I’ve watched you
eat at enough events to have this down pat.”

“You’ve watched me eat?” Peggy didn’t know if she liked the sound of
that.

Ted gave a nervous laugh. “Well, not like a stalker or anything. I
just notice you a lot.”

Her gaze narrowed. “You notice me? A lot?”

By this time Ted was looking like he was sorry he’d opened his
mouth. He closed his lips tight and dumped a much too generous portion of mashed
potatoes on her plate and then he made his escape to the other side of the
table.

Peggy almost felt sorry for him. She could be such a contentious harridan
when she was ready. She’d just apologized to the man and here she’d gone and
spoiled it so soon. She drew in her breath and closed her eyes, willing herself
into a better mood. When she opened her eyes Ted was staring at her, a look of
concern on his face.

“Are you all right?”

She smiled at him. “I’m fine,” she said then patted the seat beside
her. “Now I know we’re not going to have dinner with you sitting all the way
over there. Why don’t you sit right here?”

When his face brightened and he hurried over to do her bidding she
knew she’d done the right thing. The truth was, she’d been cantankerous for one
reason and one reason only. She was beginning to like Ted and she’d been doing
everything in her power to resist it but it wasn’t working. He was growing on
her and she didn’t like it. What made it worse, it looked like she wasn’t the
only one who knew about it. Barbara had noticed it, too. Why else would she
have gone to all the trouble of setting up this dinner date?

As Ted pulled out the chair beside her Peggy gave a soft sigh of
resignation. Did it make sense to even fight this? After all, life was too
short to decide to be lonely or unhappy just for the heck of it. If her
happiness was to come through Ted then so be it.

And so, long after the sun had gone done and they’d finished their
meal, they relaxed on the sofa in the living room and talked about old times in
Pequoia. And when Ted slid closer on the sofa, slipped his arm around her
shoulder and leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek she did not pull away.

Because somehow she had a feeling that after all these years this
was meant to be. 

***

If Blake had had any complaints about business being slow in the
early part of the month she had no such complaints now. She didn’t have enough
hands to keep the telephone company workers fed. In fact, she’d had to hire a
couple of high school seniors who were saving up for college. They were
grateful for the cash and she was more than grateful for the help.

And, more than anything, she was grateful that the telephone company
had finally decided to provide service to Pequoia. That was the cause of the
influx of workers and the drastic increase in business at Beaumont’s. They were
busy putting up telephone poles and were even planning on setting up a cell
phone tower in the area. And it was about time.

Things had been so busy lately that Blake was up before dawn and
didn’t get to bed till past midnight. And in the midst of all that busyness she
still found the time to miss Ryder. She was missing him so bad it wasn’t funny.

When Ryder left he’d made no promises but she’d thought…hoped…he
would have come back. He’d made friends in Pequoia and the ladies from the
sewing circle, Moonwalker and even Ted would ask about him from time to time.

But as her mind dwelled on the stranger who had come to mean so much
to her she smiled to herself. Who was she kidding? It wasn’t the sewing circle
ladies she wanted him to come back to see. It was her.

But it had been almost three weeks since Ryder left town and with each
passing day her hopes of seeing him again grew-

“Sorry to bother you, Blake, but there’s someone here to see you.”
The teenager’s voice ripped her out of her reverie.

Feeling guilty that she’d been in her office cum store room
daydreaming, Blake got to her feet and came around the desk toward him. “Who is
it, Chris? Is it Penelope?” She glanced at the clock. Only three o’clock in the
afternoon. She wasn’t expecting the bookkeeper until four.

“No.” He shook his head and his long brown hair fell over his eyes.
He brushed it away. “It’s a man, and he looks sort of important.”

She frowned. “A man?” She wasn’t expecting any man. And then, as if
her heart knew something she didn’t, it jerked in her chest. Could the man be
Ryder?

The thought made her hurry past Chris and head out toward the
restaurant. As she pushed through the swinging doors there was a smile on her
lips. She couldn’t help it. There was no way she could hide the fact that she
was glad to see him.

When she saw her visitor she froze in her tracks. The man who was
staring back at her wasn’t Ryder at all. It was Jerome.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding out.” He looked around the
room, pretty much deserted since the lunch crowd had packed up and gone back to
their work. Then he turned his gaze back to her. “Did you think I wouldn’t find
you? There’s no place on earth you can go where I can’t track you down.”

For a good few seconds Blake stood there, speechless. The audacity
of the man, to hunt her down and now to be staring at her with that sickly smirk
on his face. She felt like slapping it off but before she went and did
something stupid, something she could get locked up for, she folded her arms in
front of her and straightened her back, deliberately making use of her height
advantage. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. “How did you find me?”

“Ah, that’s for me to know and you to find out.” Looking pleased
with himself he put his hand up to push away the lock of blond hair that had
fallen into his eyes. He’d always complained that it was a pain and yet he
insisted on keeping his hair long. That was another of his shortcomings.
Vanity.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him. “Did you have me followed?”

He chuckled. “You know I’m good at keeping secrets. I’m not going to
tell.”

“Okay, forget about that. It’s not important. The real question is,
why are you here in Pequoia? You have no business coming to Beaumont’s.”

“Oh, I’ll be leaving your…establishment in a minute.” He glanced
around with a look tinged with disdain. “I just thought I’d pass by to let you
know I’d be in town for a while.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean? What business do you have in
Pequoia?”

He tilted his head and smiled. “With the coming of the telephone
lines the opportunities are boundless for real estate.” He shrugged. “Things
can only go up from here.”

And then, right before her eyes, the self-satisfied look on his face
dissolved and he transformed into the guileless, earnest Jerome she’d fallen in
love with. “Let’s put all that aside. There’s a business opportunity for sure,
but I didn’t come here for business. I came to see you.”

“Why?” The question was blunt and cold. Now that she knew the real
Jerome she wasn’t going to fall for his tricks.

“Because I still love you. And you love me, too. I can feel it.” He
took a small step forward but the look she gave him made him halt.

“Get out of here.” She said the words through clenched teeth. “Leave
and never come back. I’ve had enough of your games.”

He had the gall to look hurt. “I came because I need you, Blake. I
can’t live without-”

“Get the hell out.” She released her arms and clenched her fists at
her sides. “I don’t want to hear another word from you. They’re lies. All lies.
Get out of here before I call the police.”

It took that threat to make him back away. It looked like he was
turning to go but then he stopped. “This isn’t over,” he said, his voice soft
and almost menacing. “I’m not leaving town without you.”