Falling For His Proper Mistress (14 page)

There was a silence.

Avery was looking at Guy expectantly. What did she expect him to say? That he wanted another sister? That he was glad to discover Erica's existence?

Hell, no. It only proved that his father had not been as inconsolable as Guy had foolishly believed all his life. So much for his resolve never to love a woman as faithfully as his father had loved his mother because he didn't want to risk the same heartbreak. He'd never been the kind of man who dug too deep into feelings, and he wasn't about to start now. It hurt too dammed much, revealed too much of what was missing in his life.

Except he couldn't for the life of him think of a flippant comment to make.

He turned away only to have Erica raise a questioning eyebrow at him from the other side of the kitchen, then glance meaningfully toward Avery. She was matchmaking! Erica had suspected his interest in Avery on the night of the oyster-and-champagne cocktail party, and it had become a certainty, he could read it on her face. Yet instead of irritation, Guy experienced a sudden unexpected bond with his half sister. And couldn't stop himself from winking at her.

Instantly Erica winked back.

“Okay, maybe it won't be so bad having another female in the family,” said Guy with feigned reluctance.

“Good to know you feel that way.” The sparkle in Erica's eyes outshone the radiance of the diamond solitaire on her ring finger.

Without intending to, Guy found himself seeking out Avery, and the approval in her sweet smile caused warmth to pool deep in his chest. For the first time since he'd come back to Jarrod Ridge he felt some degree of peace.

He had to remind himself that he wasn't the kind of man who indulged in emotion and soul-searching.

“The timer just went off,” he said. “Which one of you three is going to cut me the first slice?”

 

Wearing her dressiest outfit the following night, a gold satin Versace dress that had been a gift from her aunt and uncle for her twenty-fifth birthday, Avery arrived early at the ballroom—more out of habit than anything else. She'd taken care with her makeup, and barely limped in the gold ballet flats she wore.

Camera crews were setting up for a segment that was to be filmed for a television show.

Guy was nowhere to be seen, and Avery rather suspected he was caught up in the kitchens overseeing the chefs, making sure that every detail was perfect. She was learning that the laid-back, carefree persona he cultivated concealed a far more complex, intense man. A perfectionist.

The wine selections had already been made—a collaboration between herself, Guy and Louis—and Avery was pleased with how well they complemented the dishes. Guy had been pleased, too.

She had done the job Uncle Art had wanted her to do. She would be leaving with her pride intact. Her heart was a different matter. There would be a large chunk left behind at Jarrod Ridge.

But she'd have Guy's baby to fill the hole.

Erica and a woman Avery had never seen before were fiddling with the flower arrangements.

“The flowers look beautiful,” Avery told Guy's half sister. She smiled, and for the first time Avery saw a hint of Guy in her features. Her heart tugged. Would their baby have that look, too?

“Don't they?” Erica introduced Avery to the woman
standing beside her, a local florist, who was overjoyed to have been given the job for the fundraiser.

“I only opened my shop three months ago, this is an amazing break for my business.”

“Avery is right, the arrangements do look beautiful. I'm sure you'll get a lot of business.” Undetected, Guy had come up behind them. “Erica said from the start that you are very artistic.”

“Christian and I will be among those customers—for our wedding. And heaven knows I'm not easily impressed.” But Erica looked delighted with Guy's praise. “I'm so glad we're supporting local businesses.”

“It was a great initiative.”

Avery saw the glances Guy and Erica exchanged. There was understanding…and fondness. She couldn't help feeling pleased for Guy. The discovery of Erica's existence had been a shock—but both of them had gained so much.

The ballroom started to fill.

By the silver flashes of light Avery gathered that the beautiful group moving to one of the tables at the foot of the stage must be movie stars.

Gavin and Trevor came over to join them, both tanned and athletically built, with an appealing surf-and-sun openness that made them look so similar. Avery looked from one to the other, then to Blake and Guy. All four brothers were clad in tuxedos and looked devastatingly handsome. But only one held her heart….

“You know,” she announced, “Gavin and Trevor should be twins. They look far more alike.”

Erica was the first to agree. “Funny, I had a similar thought when I first arrived in Aspen.”

“Let's go settle down at our table,” Guy murmured to Avery.

The siblings had divided themselves among different
tables, to spread the effect of having hosts throughout the ballroom. Avery hadn't inspected the final table lists, but it made sense for her to sit with Guy. After all, they were working together, and it would be downright weird if she objected.

And her only reason to object was one she didn't want made public: she loved a man who didn't love her, and she was expecting his baby.

He rested his hand under her elbow, and the contact sent a shiver of awareness through Avery. Oh, heavens, would this wretched wanting ever stop?

It grew worse when she discovered that she had been seated beside him. His thigh brushed hers as he sat down, and she was conscious of his dinner-jacketed arm beside her bare arm. She shifted a little away—the seat on her other side was the only one at the table not yet occupied. To her surprise she found a familiar face on the other side of the empty seat.

It broke the ice.

“Nancy!” She turned her head. “Guy, this is Nancy who rescued me…and called you.” When the excitement settled, Nancy introduced the older couple beside her as her parents.

“We've been coming to this event for years,” said Nancy's mother. “But this is only the second time Nancy's been with us.”

“I've been working in Boston.” Nancy rested her fingers on her mother's arm. “But I decided I missed home. So I came back to Aspen.”

“I'm back after years, too—” At the arrival of the white-jacketed waiter, Guy broke off.

Avery chose a spinach-and-bacon salad as a starter, while Guy had wild mushrooms. The wines she'd selected worked well as an accompaniment and she couldn't stop herself from
giving Guy a triumphant smile as he kissed his fingertips in appreciation.

He leaned toward her. “We make a good team.”

“Glad you've got confidence in me.”

“I have every confidence in you.”

“You didn't to start with.” She tossed her head and gave him a mischievous smile. “Are you ready to eat your words?”

Then she froze.

Beyond Guy a man was wending his way through the tables, a man she'd hoped never to see again. Avery whispered, “What's he doing here?”

A desperate look around showed that the only empty seat was the one right beside her.

Guy glanced up as the newcomer stopped beside their table, and cursed.

“W
hat are you doing here, Jeff?” Guy demanded.

Jeff stuck his hands in his pockets and swaggered forward. “Already forgotten that you ordered me to come?”

Avery gasped.

Guy placed a steadying hand on Avery's arm and felt her tremble.

“I arranged our meeting for Monday afternoon—not tonight.” A fierce emotion filled Guy. Jeff had come to cause trouble. Guy didn't doubt it.

Jeff had tried to pressure her to sleep with him, and Guy no longer had any choice but to break his partnership with Jeff, and walk away from the years of friendship they'd shared.

He believed Avery trusted that she'd told him the truth.

Avery came first.

Stunned, Guy looked at her. He took in the doll-like features, the blue eyes, the tendrils of blond hair that had
escaped her upswept hairstyle. Why had he never realized how important she'd become to him?

Because he hadn't wanted any commitment.

Hadn't wanted the pain—the loss and loneliness—it might bring. Yet when Avery departed for California there would be a chasm in his heart that no one else would be able to fill.

The empty feeling had a name. Grief. He was already missing Avery. But this was different to his father's experience. His father hadn't had a choice in losing his Mom. He did.

And he wasn't going to let Avery go.

Or the baby.

They were his…and he was going to keep them both safe. In any way he could. It was about far more than sex, about sating his senses with her. It was about waking with her beside him in the morning, sharing a joke with her. Simply knowing she was in the same room as him brought him joy. That could only be love.

He loved her.

He narrowed his gaze on his business partner.

Jeff glared back.

“You shouldn't have come tonight, Jeff,” he said quietly. “I would've listened to your side of the story on Monday.”

Avery clambered to her feet. “Excuse me, I need the bathroom.”

Guy gave her a few seconds to get a head start. Then turning to Jeff, he said, “Maybe you're right. Let's talk now and finish it. Come.”

Without a second look, Guy rose to his feet leaving his erstwhile friend to follow.

Avery was standing in the pre-function lobby off the ballroom. In the light of the chandeliers overhead, Guy could see that her face was pinched with strain. Placing his
hand around Jeff's arm, Guy marched Jeff over to where she stood.

Her blue eyes went wide.

“Jeff, first, I think you owe Avery an apology,” Guy said as they reached her.

Avery's lips parted in astonishment.

“I have nothing to apologize for,” Jeff blustered. “She got what she was asking for.”

Avery started to object, but Guy was too quick. He stepped forward until he stood nose to nose with his business partner. “Then why have you all but disappeared off the face of the earth since I tried to call you to confront you with what Avery told me? Why did it take an e-mail from me saying that our business partnership was over before you had Vivienne contact me to set up a meeting for Monday?”

Beside him, Avery gasped.

“She lied to you,” said Jeff heatedly.

“I haven't even told you what she accused you of, so how can you know that she lied?” Guy asked gently.

Jeff pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the beads of sweat that had popped out over his forehead.

“You're not going to let a little bitch like her ruin what we've built up together?”

“Watch yourself!” Guy's tone was as dangerous as a lash. “And she didn't ruin anything. You did that all by yourself.”

“You don't really mean to dissolve our partnership.” The bluster had evaporated.

Avery's hand touched his sleeve. “Guy, you don't have to—”

“You don't need her.” Jeff spoke right over Avery. “Surely you don't intend to be ruled by a piece of—”

“Don't say it.” Even Jeff knew better than to argue with the lethal softness.

Guy rested his hand on Avery's waist and drew her close.

“We're both waiting for your apology, Jeff.”

Jeff looked from Avery to Guy and his shoulders sagged. “I'm sorry.”

Avery tipped her head up. “He told you he didn't—”

“No,” Guy cut across Avery's words. “He didn't have to. I know you told me the truth when you said that he arrived at my apartment pretending that I'd asked him to pick you up, and fed you a pack of lies. You need to believe that I never sent Jeff to you as a birthday gift. I had something else planned.”

A flicker of curiosity lit her eyes, and she opened her mouth to say something. But Jeff spoke first, “I'd been drinking. Sometimes I do really stupid things when I drink.”

Guy remembered that years ago when he'd first met Jeff he'd sometimes gotten into sticky situations at parties. It had stopped soon after. He'd thought Jeff had simply grown up. He'd never suspected that Jeff had a problem.

“But why lie to me?”

“I made a move on Avery, and I knew that if she told you, you would get rid of your share in Go Green. I never intended for that to happen.”

Guy gave a laugh of disbelief. His fingers itched to yank Jeff by the collar and shake him like a dog. Avery would not appreciate such violence. “That's it?” he asked. “That's all you can come up with?”

“I'm sorry.” Jeff seemed to shrink still further. “Give me another chance. You can't end our partnership. I'll resume the counseling I gave up a few years ago.”

“I'm glad to hear that, Jeff,” said Avery. “You need help.”

“Our business relationship is over,” said Guy.

Jeff looked utterly miserable. “You don't need to dissolve the partnership—I'll agree to it. I'll sell out my share.”

“That's certainly an option for us to discuss Monday afternoon. But I can't talk now, I have some things I need to say to Avery first.”

“I don't think I should come back into the ballroom—I've lost my appetite. I'll find a hotel in town.”

“Just stay out of the resort bars,” Guy said.

“Here,” Jeff passed him an envelope. “It's a contribution to the fundraiser.”

Guy nodded. The friendship he'd shared for years with Jeff would never recover from his deception but the man faced a tough road to rehabilitation. Guy had stared down enough of his own demons since his father's death, to know he wouldn't want to be in Jeff's shoes. And, if he played his cards right, he'd get to keep Avery. He could afford to be generous. “Thank you. I'll see you Monday, we'll deal with Go Green then.”

Jeff shook the hand he'd offered. “I'll understand if you don't invite me to the wedding.”

“There isn't going to be a wedding—so you won't miss anything.” Avery said from beside him, then walked away.

A sense of helplessness filled Guy. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

There wouldn't be a wedding—they both knew that. Avery had never expected it—hell, she'd even told him that.

 

Avery settled herself down in the seat that had been intended for Jeff, so that the chair she'd been sitting on before created a no-man's-land between her seat and Guy's. She needed that dividing space right now.

Pushing her untouched plate away, she turned to Nancy and started to chatter about the coming ski season.

Inside she was seething.

How dare Guy tell Jeff that he loved her? Pretending he'd never doubted her, and that he'd accepted her word? Then without missing a beat, shaking the man's hand? She'd half expected him to slap Jeff jovially on the back.

Men. Avery had stifled the urge to yell at Guy like a fishwife. To be honest, she'd wanted him to floor Jeff.

“Avery, we need to talk.”

She'd been so engrossed in her murderous thoughts she hadn't heard him come up behind her. To buy herself time before responding, she leaned sideways and reached for her half-full wine glass and took a long sip of the apple juice it contained to fortify her for the “talk” he wanted.

He slid into the vacant seat beside her, the seat she'd deliberately left open. Putting his arm around on the chair back behind her, he leaned forward.

“I wish I could've spared you that unpleasantness.”

Before she could respond Erica was beside them. “Sorry to interrupt…Guy you should be up on the stage. The bidding is about to begin. Have you forgotten you pledged to prepare a meal for two?”

He turned his head to his half sister. “Give me one minute.”

“There isn't time,” Erica protested. “Not now.”

Guy raked his hand through his hair and gave an impatient sigh. “Okay.” The blowtorch force of his gaze landed on Avery. “And don't even think of running out on me again. Do you understand?”

She nodded, still furious, but glad that she'd been spared a public confrontation.

Guy followed Erica onto the stage.

Avery still couldn't believe Guy had shaken that jerk's hand. She was glad he was gone.

The first item to be auctioned off was a case of French
red that went for a staggering sum of money. A weekend in one of the private, fully staffed, Jarrod Ridge lodges with a balloon ride and other trimmings went next.

Guy was up a few minutes later.

Back in New York Guy had promised to prepare her a feast in person. It had never come to pass. And now it never would. But a couple of complete strangers would enjoy his ministrations.

Gathering up her bag, Avery said goodbye to Nancy and her parents, and pushed her chair back. Skirting the edge of the ballroom she left the glamorous event.

She couldn't bear to watch.

 

The Sky Lounge was deserted.

For the baby's sake, Avery ordered a cup of hot chocolate rather than coffee or tea and retreated to a high-backed armchair in the corner by the floor-to-ceiling window. Kicking the ballet flats off, she tucked her feet beneath her, taking care not to put too much weight on her ankle, and stared out through the glass at the pinpricks of lights that twinkled in the darkness outside.

The day after tomorrow she would be gone.

She placed a hand on her stomach.

“Then it will be just you and me, baby,” she whispered.

A picture of Guy as he'd looked on stage, debonair in a his perfectly fitted tuxedo filled her mind. That was how she would forever remember him. The bartender set her chocolate down on the round table in front of the armchair and Avery smiled her thanks as she picked it up.

Fleetingly she wondered how much Guy's donation had sold for. Cradling the mug in her hands, she pictured the lucky anonymous couple he would entertain and feed.

Avery grew still.

Was that it? Was it easier for Guy to cook for complete strangers than for a lover? Cooking for a lover implied caring. Guy didn't do caring—it smacked too much of commitment. She'd fallen for a man who was as far removed from her family dream as it was possible to get.

Then she remembered his over-the-top concern for her at the hospital.

That hadn't been the reaction of a carefree, commitment-fearing man.

Some men fuss when they're worried.

She stared thoughtfully at the frothy cream on the top of the hot drink. Even the receptionist in the doctor's rooms had noticed Guy's concern about her. And his every action since had shown his concern and caring. Why?

Thank God you're safe.

That's what he'd said to her after he'd climbed in behind her in the spa and held her like he never intended to let her go. Avery took a sip of the drink, barely tasting it. Was it possible that Guy really did love her? He'd told Jeff he did but she'd been too angry to take it in.

Yet he'd never told her.

Perhaps he was one of those men who couldn't talk about love. Her head drooped. Then she rallied. It wouldn't be the same as the love she felt for him…but it was a start. She could work on it.

Like the shifting of the brightly hued splinters of a kaleidoscope the fragments of a new vision were forming.

Had Guy been irrationally afraid she might die?

His mother had died…

In the same hospital? Could it be that he'd envisaged his worst childhood nightmare recurring?

He'd never had a chance to say goodbye to his mother….

And she'd walked away from him in New York without saying goodbye.

What had he said just before he'd gone up on stage with Erica?
And don't even think of running out on me again. Do you understand?
And what had she done? She'd promptly walked out and retreated here to the Sky Lounge. She'd left.

Again.

Horror filled her. Guy would believe she didn't care. If Guy truly loved her that would hurt, maybe cause him to withdraw behind the lighthearted mask that she was starting to detest.

Hastily she slipped her shoes back on and rose to her feet, only to stop in her tracks at the sight of Guy coming toward her.

 

The expression of apprehension on Avery's face caused Guy to rethink his plan of sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to his suite so they could have uninterrupted time for the talk he was determined to have with her.

Then he threw caution to the winds. He beckoned. “You're coming with me.”

To his surprise, instead of arguing, Avery trotted over to him as quietly as a lamb.

“I shouldn't have left.” The words bubbled from her. “I told you I was staying—then I didn't.”

Guy shot her a puzzled look, but capitalized on her momentary meekness by grasping her hand in his. Her fingers tightened around his own.

“To hell with it.”

She squeaked as he lifted her high into his arms, and strode out of the Sky Lounge ignoring the stunned expression of the bar staff.

It didn't take them long to reach the elevator to the private
suites, and once inside the silence was electric. Guy gazed into her eyes. “We are going to talk.”