Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1) (28 page)

What a joke! He had always wanted to make a lot of money to prove to the world the poor Indiantown kid could be a success, was just as good as the rest of them. But he wasn’t good. He had treated Lily abominably, and still she came here today to try to explain. So what did he do? Made horrible unfounded accusations. And why? To protect his money? Right now, he would trade every penny for a second chance with Lily. His beautiful, innocent Lily.

What had Shaw’s ugly comment been?
You probably ruined it for the next guy to come along who just might
be
Lily’s Mr. Right.
The thought slugged Rhett right in the gut. Another Mr. Right for Lily? Another guy to taste those lips and hold her graceful body in his arms? Take her to bed? That last thought enraged him, and he felt his hands ball into fists without consciously thinking to move a muscle. Another man with his Lily? He felt nauseous.

Seeing Rob Shaw with Lily at the charity gala had caused Rhett enough grief, enough that he had grabbed Delia and fled. Enough that when they reached Delia’s house and she started her usual seduction routine, Rhett could only think about Lily. He had grabbed Delia and kissed her hard, started her motor running, and tried desperately to rid himself of the image of Lily with Rob Shaw. He had failed miserably, stepped back from a frustrated Delia, and under the shadow of her carping, retreated to his Navigator to make his escape.

Then today, seeing Aidan Cross slide an arm around Lily’s slender waist had made Rhett’s blood boil. Something inside him had snapped when he saw that hound dog’s arm slide around Lily, and he’d wanted to take a swing at Aidan. At Shaw. At Garrett, his best friend in the world. He didn’t deserve Garrett, who’d only been trying to help, and he damn sure didn’t deserve Lily.

Rhett had gone and let his anger ruin everything. His anger had turned him into the imbecile Lily accused him of being. How had he lost control? It wasn’t like him. He always kept a cool head and remained calm. Until he met a beautiful blond gardener. He knew what had caused the loss of control. An emotion he barely recognized. An emotion he had kept at arm’s length his whole life—since the night he’d lost the two people he loved with his whole young heart.

Now he had discovered love again for the first time in all these years—real love—and he’d lost everything in one blinding emotional crash.

Staring out at the ocean waves breaking against the beach, he cursed himself as ten times the fool. He dropped his head in his hands and absorbed the magnitude of his loss. Shaw had been right. Rhett would regret this loss for the rest of his life. He had tossed away the one woman who wanted him for himself.

The sound of footsteps on the deck stairs jerked his head up. Hope pounded at his heart until he realized the weight of the steps was too heavy for Lily. Why should she ever return? He swallowed hard and dropped his head back in his hands. Only one person would come to check on him tonight.

“If you’ve come to curse me or beat me up, I’m doing a fine job all on my own,” Rhett grumbled as Garrett took a seat opposite him on the deck.

“A few hours ago, I wanted to take a swing at you, but I got over it,” Garrett said softly. “Nothing I can say can top you knowing you finally lost her for good. That has to hurt. Bad.”

Rhett pulled his head up. He couldn’t see his friend’s face clearly with the moon at his back, but Rhett could feel his scowl just the same.

Rhett held up an empty glass. “I’m not drunk this time, if that’s what you’re worried about. I thought about it, you know, to dull the pain for a while, but I’d only feel worse tomorrow.”

Garrett nodded. “And for the record, I knew about Lily and her situation, and she swore me to secrecy.”

Rhett stared hard at his friend, wishing he could see his eyes.

“I know we’ve been friends for a lot longer, but I thought I was helping you. Now I think I should have said something. She wanted, badly, to explain everything to you herself.”

Rhett swallowed back the lump trying to form in his throat. “Is she all right?” he asked gruffly.

“She’s been better, I expect. She was pretty pissed at Rob for blurting everything to you, and I don’t think she’s speaking to him, but she’ll get over it pretty quick. They really
are
like brother and sister you know.”

Rhett flinched at the reproach in his tone. “At the charity gala, they looked like—” He sighed. “I jumped to conclusions.”

“Jealousy makes you see things differently.”

“Maybe.”

“Like a brother and sister,” Garrett repeated, “and she really
was
perfect for you. She and Aidan are just friends by the way. I think Aidan, in his own way, was trying to help, too.”

Rhett winced and lowered his head to his hands again. He resisted the urge to groan at the pounding pain in his chest where his heart used to be.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Sit here and lick my wounds until I die. What else?”

Garrett snorted. “That’s not the Rhett Buchanan I know.”

“That Rhett is dead. This Rhett wants to be left alone, and he’s reconsidering the idea of going back to the house to retrieve his bottle of forty-year-old scotch and stay drunk for a month.”

“Bad idea.”

Rhett raised his head high enough to glance at Garrett. “You got a better one?”

“Damn straight.”

He waited several long moments. “And?” he growled.

“Fight for her!”

“Dumb idea. Waste of time." Rhett let his head sink back onto his hands. "I lost. Game over.”

“Wow. Those are words I never expected to hear coming out of
your
mouth.”

“Get used to it,” Rhett said, glumly. “I lost the only thing in my life that mattered.”

“So stop being a wuss! Quit feeling sorry for yourself and go do something about it,” Garrett snapped.

Rhett surged to his feet. “Do what, Einstein?” he roared. “What would you have me do? She hates me now!”

“Much better,” Garrett cajoled. “Mad is much better than self-pity, and I’ve heard all the self-pity I can take from you tonight.”

“Go away, Garrett.”

“My friend Rhett never passed on a fight in his life. The tougher the fight, the better he likes it. He never has a dumb idea either, and he
never
ever
loses.”

“I told you she hates me. She won’t let me near her again.”

“Hate is next door to love, and she just
might
hate you right now, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If she was acting indifferent, I might agree you’re screwed, but the way she ranted and raved tonight back at the nursery, it didn’t sound like she had put you out of her mind. Just the opposite. You were all she was thinking, and yelling, about.”

Rhett felt a stab of hope. “Really?”

“You’ve successfully dazzled some of the world’s greatest beauties in your career, my friend. So, go do it again.”

“The other women didn’t count, not like Lily does.”

Garrett let out a disgusted sigh. “Then spend some of your money on yourself for a change.”

Rhett frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that every other rich guy in the world is constantly buying himself toys. You don’t. You give all your money away. You’ve got more charities than United Way.”

“How do you know that?” Rhett asked warily.

“There’s not much about you I don’t know. You taught me that.
Know the ones you trust the best
. Now spend some of your money on yourself, Rhett. Go buy your heart back. Dazzle Lily. Send her presents so you’re always on her mind.”

Rhett shuddered out a long sigh. “You really think I have a chance?”

“You’re a fighter, and you’ll never know unless you try. Go after her. Game on, not over!”

Chapter 14

Tammy answered the phone Wednesday morning, and her gaze shot across the desk to Lily. “Um, hi, Rhett. Lily? Let me check.” She pressed the hold button. “Well?”

Lily glowered and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not here.”

“You know, if you just talk to him for a few minutes, he might stop sending all those.” She waved at the dozens of floral displays in the nursery office. “I sent an arrangement home with every employee last night, and a dozen more arrived this morning.”

Lily just glared. “No.”

Tammy sighed. “All the notes say exactly the same thing.
I just need to talk to you for a few minutes. Love, Rhett
.”

“Love, my ass.”

“Ouch! Well, then take all these vases to your cottage. There’s no room to move around in here, and this is a place of business.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t? Why not?”

Lily fought back a smile. “My house is full of roses.”

Tammy gaped at her and then started laughing. “How full?”

“Worse than this.” She waved her hand at the vases covering every open space on the floor and counters.

“When? How?”

“They arrive every evening after the nursery closes.”

“What do those notes say?”

Lily looked sheepish. “‘
I’m willing to beg
.’”

Tammy laughed harder. “No
Love, Rhett
?”

Lily shook her head, and her smiled faded.

“Aw, come on, Lil. Don’t go sour on me again.”

The arms crossed in defensive posture again. “Why are you standing up for him?”

Tammy came around the desk and sat beside her. “I’m not, honey. I’m on your side. And I admit I wanted to shoot him last weekend when you came back from the barbecue and told me what he did.”

“So, why are you forgiving him? He hurt me. He accused me of horrible things—of plotting to go after his money. He didn’t know me at all to accuse me like that, and I don’t want a man who
would
accuse me like that.”

“But would you want someone who loved you so much that seeing you on a date with someone else made him act a little crazy? Made him do and
say
outrageous things?

“That’s not what—”

“I think it is, and that’s the only reason I think you should hear him out.”

Lily turned away. “No, I don’t trust him.”

“Ah, you’re probably right.”

Lily jerked her head back around to stare. “I am?”

Tammy nodded. “Yep. If you got back together, and he saw you at another charity gala with a different man, he would probably do and say more ridiculous things. Especially if he thought or even suspected you cared about the other guy.”

Lily frowned. “So you think this is all because Rhett was jealous?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. You forget he also called me deceitful and a liar and threw me out of his house.”

“You
did
deceive him, and you swallowed your pride and went to the barbecue for a chance to talk to him and explain. You did it because you thought he was worth it. Now he’s swallowed his pride and wants a chance to explain. He thinks
you’re
worth it.”

Lily considered that for several moments, then shook her head. “I still don’t want to talk to him. He’ll just say more things to hurt me.”

Tammy stood and retrieved the phone. “Sorry, Rhett. I can’t find her right now.” Her eyes flashed at Lily. “Uh, sure thing. I’ll tell her.”

“What’d he say?”

“What do you care? You didn’t want to talk to him, remember?”

“Stop kidding around, Tammy. What did he say?”

“He said to go outside and look up.”

The two girls stared at each other for a second and then scrambled for the door. Out on the gravel driveway, they turned their gaze skyward. Puffs of skywriter smoke stood out against an azure blue sky as a small two-engine prop plane puffed out an exclamation point.

PLEASE LILY!

“Ohhh,” Tammy gushed, “that is so romantic.” She turned to Lily, but only saw her back as she strode for the cottage.

“All right! You made this mess, now help me clean it up,” Tammy barked across the greenhouse.

Rob’s head jerked up from the
Tentia
cuttings he transplanted. “My mess!”

“At least, you didn’t ask,
What mess?
” she said, striding over to the potting bench. Her hands went to her hips.

“How do you figure
I
made the mess?” he said sullenly.

“You and Lily don’t speak to each other unless it’s about work. She won’t talk to Rhett at all. Garrett told me to leave him out of it, and we need to buy another nursery property to hold all the cut flowers Buchanan keeps sending over. This can’t go on!” She threw her hands in the air. “And now, he’s got skywriters sending messages.”

Rob’s eyes widened. “For real?”

She nodded. “Don’t bother getting up. There’s too much wind today, and she never gave the
PLEASE LILY!
in the sky a second glance.”

He sighed and stared at the cutting in his hand. “She’s simmering like a volcano ready to erupt. She has a right to be mad because I shared her personal information about the trust fund, but I’d do it again. The guy made idiotic accusations, and I had to stop him. I couldn’t have him thinking or saying those things about Lily.”

Tammy patted his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up. I’d have said that and more. You know I would. She’s just frustrated Rhett has the upper edge now.”

“Upper edge?” He stared blankly. “I don’t get it.”

“He knows she liked him. He knows she wanted to keep seeing him, and he knows she wanted to explain everything to him. And lastly, he now knows she’s got her own money and wasn’t after his.”

He frowned. “It’s all true.”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Lily’s got no secrets now. Rhett didn’t want her, when he thought she was poor, so she doesn’t want him to suddenly want her because she’s rich.”

“You lost me again.”

“She thinks he should have taken a chance and loved her without knowing whether she was poor or rich. He should have loved her for herself. Which is ironic since that is exactly what
he
wanted.”

“Oh.”

“Love should have made him want Lily, no matter what. At least, that’s what I think she is thinking.”

Rob sighed heavily. “She has never been this upset before. I hate it.”

“She’s mad at the situation, not at you. She thinks Buchanan is finally after her under false pretenses. He didn’t love her enough on her own.”

“So what do we do?”

“Nothing. Buchanan’s on his own. He’s going to have to fix this himself, and only he can do it now.”

“But I thought you said
I
had to fix this mess.”

She gave him her devilish grin. “You do. You and I have to come up with a way to force those two together so he has a chance to plead his case.”

“How will we do that?”

“I’m working on it. Are you in?”

He nodded. “Sure, anything to get things back to normal around here. And speaking of normal, when’s the special code enforcement hearing?”

“She got the notice of hearing today, which didn’t help her frame of mind any. It’s scheduled for next Tuesday morning at nine. We called the Jupiter Town Council office and were told that Lily and the attorneys filing the injunction against her grandfathered status for a “residence occupying a commercial property” would each get an opportunity to plead their case before the Code Compliance Special Magistrate at that time. Tallahassee is leaving the issue up to local government, on the question of Lily’s grandfathered status, since she is the only business owner affected.”

“Has Lily changed her mind about getting an attorney?” Rob wanted to know.

Tammy shook her head. “She said she’d be wasting her money and doesn’t need one with the Code Enforcement Department manager coming to the meeting to stand up for her grandfathered status. Lily said he promised to be there.”

Rob looked grim. “So it’s a pack of attorneys against Lily.”

Tammy nodded. “Looks that way, but she’s not worried. And it’s not like she’ll be losing the nursery.”

“It will feel like that to her if she’s forced to move. This is her childhood home, the only home she’s ever known.”

Now, it was Tammy’s turn to frown. “You don’t think she’d sell out because she lost the cottage, do you?”

“I honestly don’t know what she’ll do. I’ve never seen her this upset before.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to work fast.”

Lily quietly closed the greenhouse door behind her and stood for a moment to acclimate her eyes after the bright sunlight outside. Rob sat hunched over his potting table as he so often did now, sticking new cuttings he intended to offer through their interior lines. He didn’t look up as she approached, and she could hardly blame him.

Their parting after the barbecue had been acrimonious at best with each saying things neither one had meant. He accused her of being stupid for falling for Rhett Buchanan, which now in hindsight seemed quite true, and of being selfish and narrow-minded for getting mad at Rob for standing up for her. She had called him a controlling buttinsky.

Neither had spoken to the other since, and after four days of avoiding each other and walking on eggshells, she realized how badly she missed his company and the ability to share her thoughts with him.

“Are you just going to stand behind me and stare, or step up to the table and say what you came to say,” he said softly without turning around.

Startled, she stepped forward. “Sorry, I was just planning what I wanted to say.”

He put down the cutting he trimmed with his scalpel and turned to face her, his expression solemn. “I’m just glad you’re going to say anything to me after four days of the silent treatment. I hope you’re going to say I’m like a brother to you, and you hate fighting with me.”

She felt her bottom lip quiver with relief, and she hugged him. “Oh Rob, I’m sorry.”

He squeezed her tight. “Me too, Lil.”

She pulled back and smiled, her eyes welling with relieved tears. “That’s exactly what I was going to say. I hate fighting with you.”

He grinned. “How would you know? We’ve never fought before.”

She swiped at a lone escaping tear. “I guess you’re right. About everything. We
are
like brother and sister, and that
did
give you the right to step in with Buchanan.”

He held up a hand. “I went too far and said way too much. I’m sorry. I just got so mad at his accusations.”

She gave him a wry smile. “I know. Me, too. You only told Rhett what I had intended to tell him myself.”

“Except for the part about your trust fund.” He hung his head. “Sorry.”

“He would have found out anyway. It’s what he does and how he operates. I’m just surprised he didn’t already know. I probably would have told him myself if he’d ever given me the opportunity to explain.” She let out a disgusted sigh. “But when he accused me of trying to marry him so I could cheat on him with you or Aidan, I got so angry I didn’t think he deserved to know anything about me.”

“And then I went and blabbed,” he said with chagrin.

She pulled him into another hug. “Forget it. The important thing is we’re back to being us.”

He gave her a crooked smile, then chuckled. “You and me cheating on the side. How did I come out ahead in that deal?”

“How did Buchanan come up with an idiotic idea like that?” She exhaled on a derisive laugh. “He thought I was too stupid to come up with anything better.”

“Nah,” Rob said and shook his head. “Jealousy put that idiotic idea in his head. Jealousy does that to guys, makes them think with anything but their head.” He sat back down at his bench. “So what
are
you going to do, Lil?”

“About what?” She wouldn’t look at him. She knew what he was asking.

“About Buchanan?”

“What’s to do? It’s over. I had my chance to talk to him, and instead I found out how he felt. He wasn’t really jealous, and he’ll give up. Then there’s no reason for us to talk to each other ever again.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

“Why not?”

“When was the last time you were up at the office to pick up your messages?”

She thought for a moment. “I don’t know, several hours. I had a bad headache from working the Vermeer digger this morning, so I laid down at the cottage for a while after lunch.”

“You might want to wander up to the office.”

“Why?”

Rob’s lips quirked as though he were fighting a grin. “Well, I’m told a landscape crew showed up right after lunch with a truckload of annuals. They replanted the beds in front of the office and told Tammy the work was on the house.”

“That’s crazy! Who would do that?”

Rob raised his brows. “Want to go look?”

“Yes, I do,” she said indignantly. “No one plants our landscape beds but us.”

They hopped in the golf cart outside the greenhouse and sped for the nursery office. The cart careened around the corner, and Lily gasped. Rob hit the brakes.

The enormous annual bed in front of the nursery office had indeed been replanted. Against a dark-green background of dwarf jasmine were bright yellow marigolds arranged in two-foot-high letters spelling,
Give me a chance
.

Too stunned to do anything else, Lily stared.