Fallling for the Prodigal Son (14 page)

"Now that you know what was so funny ..." Lucy said, her voice low and husky with desire.

Sterling sat back on the sauna bench and pulled Lucy onto his lap, her legs straddling his. A heated rush of longing surged through Lucy. All she could think of was how much she wanted Sterling Matthew, wanted him right now. She gently ran her thumb over his lower lip. He had such a beautiful mouth, she thought. She shifted her position on his lap and watched as his eyes darkened with desire.

"I want you, Lucy Lou," Sterling rasped. "I want you."

Chapter 15

The next evening, the B&B's courtyard was strung with paper lanterns and twinkly Christmas lights. Elle and Edwin's guests mingled and noshed on cake and champagne beneath the lush canopy of trees and a clear starlit night. It was Sterling's birthday, to Lucy's surprise. He'd been full of surprises here in California.

As far as she could tell, Sterling had spent the entire day in his room. When Lucy had walked past his door around lunch time, she'd heard the stern rumble of his voice. On the phone with the bankers again, probably, she mused.

Lucy spent the day meandering through the B&B's wooded property, drinking in the peaceful beauty and trying to make sense of what had happened between herself and Sterling the night before. The sex had been great. No, make that amazing. Too amazing, which was why Lucy was determined not to let it happen again. Of course, she had said that yesterday, too. She was going to have to broach the subject of the camp soon, before the afterglow wore off of Sterling. He'd definitely been attracted to her last night—and the night before, in San Francisco—but Lucy had no illusions about her womanly appeal to a man like Sterling. He could have any woman he wanted, anytime he wanted. She had a limited window of opportunity in which to close the Plan B deal.

Case in point: Sterling was deep in conversation with Sreenivas Balakrishnan, but that hadn't prevented several women from positioning themselves around the two men, obviously jockeying for Sterling's attention. Even dressed casually, as Sterling was at the moment, in khakis and a blue button-down shirt, he radiated sexuality. He was one of those people who was simply at ease in his skin. He knew who he was, Lucy thought, had always known who he was. People like Sterling Matthew were born into exactly who they were meant to be. How easy that must be, she thought. Gliding through life effortlessly. She'd expended more effort getting through childhood than Sterling would probably ever have to put forth in his entire life.

Lucy was surprised by the little flame of jealousy that flared in her chest. But was she jealous of the women flirting with him ... or of his life? Lucy couldn't say. She certainly didn't want other women flirting with him at the moment—or him flirting back. She needed to keep him on the hook until she could get him to reverse his decision on the camp. But that was business. She hadn't expected that sharp, visceral stab of jealousy in her gut.

She smoothed out her navy blue skirt. She had packed for a business conference, not a party. She'd paired the skirt with a pale yellow silk shell, but even that was hardly party-worthy. Oh well, she thought. Tomorrow it's back home, back to normal life. Normal life was good. She missed Douglas and Gina. She missed the camp. The kids had an irrepressible energy that everyone involved with the camp fed off of.

How could Sterling not see that? Not see how much good the Inn did with the Kids Kamp? You can't put a price on that sort of thing. What was that old advertising campaign? A mind is a terrible thing to waste? Well, a life is a terrible thing to waste. Those kids deserve a chance to make something of their lives. It's not their fault that they weren't born with silver spoons—or entire place settings—in their mouths. It's not their fault that their parents are uneducated or addicts or, like Lucy's mom, a love-addled woman who chased after the wrong men year after year. Lucy had deserved a chance to make something of her life. Douglas and Derrick Jones had deserved that chance, too. John Matthew had given them that chance. And they'd make good on his bet, as lots of campers had. What had Sterling done with his life so far? Skiing, seducing his way across Europe, spending money. Considering all the opportunities he'd been born with, that wasn't much.

Lucy watched Sterling for several minutes more. Despite the women's best efforts to get his attention, though, Sterling ignored them. Lucy chuckled inwardly. What on earth could he and Sreenivas be talking about that was more engrossing than attractive, available women who were all but stripping off their clothes and wildly waving their arms to get his attention?

She strolled over to the buffet table to get a piece of birthday cake. A petite young woman with short dark hair and dark eyes was standing there, contemplating chocolate versus yellow cake. The cake had been baked half and half, and decorated with a pale yellow frosting. A pile of charred candles lay next to the plates.

"Tough decision," Lucy said.

"Maybe I'll just have both," the woman said and plopped two slices onto her plate. She held out the cake server to Lucy.

"That sounds like the right decision." Lucy scooped up a slice of each, as well. "I'm Lucy Wyndham, by the way."

The other woman swallowed her first bite of cake. "Pleased to meet you. Cassandra Centeno. Are you a guest or a friend of the birthday boy?"

Lucy laughed, covering her cake-filled mouth. "Technically, I'm an employee of the birthday boy."

"Oh, where do you work?"

"I'm the marketing director at the Chesapeake Inn. It's a small resort in—"

"St. Caroline, Maryland."

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at Cassandra. "You know it?"

"I attended their camp for kids when I was a teenager. Small world, eh?"

"Really small world," Lucy replied. "So did I." Lucy could practically hear the gears turning in her own head. "What do you do out here?"

"I'm a marketing assistant at the convention center. But I think I'm
going to move back east soon."

"Closer to family?"

The young woman nodded. "And my younger brother is starting his senior year of high school this fall. I want to be around to help him with his college applications."

"Do you have a card? I'll be happy to keep my ears open for any opportunities."

"Oh gosh, that would be such a help," Cassandra replied as she fished in her purse for a business card. "Here."

"Have you two ladies left me any cake?" Sterling was next to Lucy all of a sudden, eyeing what was left of his birthday refreshments.

"Sterling. I'd like you to meet Cassandra Centeno. Cassandra was a camper at the Inn—how many years ago?"

"Twelve," Cassandra replied. "I was sixteen. I must say, your Inn's camp changed my life. And introduced me to yoga, also, I might add."

"Really?" Sterling asked. "How so?

"Well, there was a yoga teacher in St. Caroline who came to the camp every morning and taught us ten or fifteen minutes of yoga."

Sterling directed a questioning look in Lucy's direction.

Lucy nodded. "The camp used to do that. It helped the kids relax and acclimate to their new surroundings."

"Really? That was thoughtful of you all."

Lucy could hear the tightness in Sterling's voice. Apparently, Cassandra heard it as well. She set down her half-eaten cake and excused herself to go speak to Sreenivas.

"We could bring in Sreenivas to do a yoga retreat at the Inn," Sterling said. His tone of voice said things were back to business now between them now. "I'm sure Elle and Edward would allow us to borrow him once in awhile."

"If he came in the summer, he could give a few lessons to the campers, too," Lucy said, fully aware that she was entering the lion's den here. "Just ten or fifteen minutes in the morning."

"I don't think we'll be able to borrow Sreenivas before the end of
this
summer," Sterling said coolly. His face was impassive, his mouth set in a thin straight line. There was none of last night's seductive softness or mischievous sense of humor.

Lucy knew exactly what he was telling her. The camp was done. He had not changed his mind, despite her Plan B, despite their having made love twice. Before she slept with Sterling, she had wondered how she would feel if her Plan B didn't work. Would she regret sleeping with him? Would she be embarrassed?

Now she had her answer. No. Even though she knew she should regret it—she'd just slept with her boss on a business trip—she didn't. But did Sterling? Lucy wasn't sure.

Chapter 16

The plane was approaching cruising altitude and Sterling was regretting upgrading Lucy's seat to first class. It had seemed like a good idea when he'd done it, before the surprise birthday party last night. After the three days they had just spent together, it had struck Sterling as awkward for him to fly home first class, while Lucy sat back in coach. So he upgraded her ticket.

That didn't seem like such a hot idea anymore.

One, he was afraid she'd bring up the camp again. Elle's seduction strategy had been a bust. Clearly, Lucy was not the kind of woman who could be romanced into changing her mind. That had been painfully evident at last night's party. She'd shown no compunction about bringing up the camp again ... at his party, no less. And finding another camper at Elle and Edward's B&B? They were coming out of the woodwork, it seemed, like zombies in some cheesy horror movie. Everywhere Sterling turned, another camper.

No, Lucy had slept with him for the fun of it—and with no sense of obligation afterward. Imagine that, he thought ruefully. A woman whose approach to sex was the same as his had always been. Not that it hadn't been fun for him. Oh, it most certainly had been. Too much fun, almost. Because now they were heading back to St. Caroline, teeny-tiny St. Caroline—a town much too small for him to get away with sleeping with an employee. Much as he might want to continue doing so. And he definitely did.

Which brought him to reason number two for wishing Lucy was back in coach: she was too much of a damn distraction sitting this close. During takeoff, when she had been white-knuckling the armrests, it had taken all his willpower not to reach over and cover her soft hand with his. It had been impossible not to notice her taking slow, deep breaths to try and calm her fear. The curves of her breasts beneath her white sweater had risen and fallen with each inhale and exhale.

Right now, the citrusy scent of the B&B's organic shampoo was drifting over from her hair to his nostrils. He wanted nothing more than to just bury his face in her hair, thread his fingers through those soft waves, pull her face around to meet his ...

He leaned back in his seat and closed his tired eyes. It would be lovely to just sit here on the flight and picture Lucy as he had seen her the other day in the sauna. Naked and daring him to kiss her, daring him to go further. But he was hurtling back toward reality, at hundreds of miles an hour. Actually, reality had found him out here even. At five o'clock this morning, his mother had called with the news that his father's condition was deteriorating. Sterling wished his mother had told him earlier—months ago—about the gravity of his father's illness. He would have come home sooner, contrary to popular opinion. He and his father did not have a close relationship, it was true, but John Matthew was still his father and Sterling would have come back to St. Caroline if his mother had asked.

It would have made things at the Inn easier, too. Trying to fix things during the peak summer season wasn't really possible. You need a certain amount of lead time to implement changes. Realistically, Sterling was looking at staying in St. Caroline at least until next summer. He'd be there over the winter, his absolute least favorite time in St. Caroline, when the skies were gray and bitter winds whipped in off the bay. Many of the restaurants and shops on Main Street closed for the season, too, making a sleepy little town even sleepier.

His heart sunk in his chest. He had never wanted to run the Inn. Honestly, he wasn't sure he was even up to the challenge. Sure, he'd spent his entire adolescence working for his father. Sure, he knew how the place ran, knew how every person who'd ever run every department had done things. He could rattle off bookings and profitability numbers forward and backward. But he was missing the most important part of the equation. His father had loved the Inn with all his heart. His big, open heart. Everyone who worked at the Inn seemed to love it that way, like it was their own business.
It's only me who can't stand the place.

He looked over at Lucy. She had reclined her seat and pulled the airline's scratchy blanket over her arms and chest. Her eyes were closed but Sterling couldn't tell whether she was asleep or not. What had possessed her to move to St. Caroline? It sounded like she'd had a good career going in Washington. Her marriage broke up, but Sterling couldn't imagine that being enough to send someone fleeing to a tiny town where, frankly, there weren't that many eligible men. Other than maybe that Douglas guy, the camp director. He wondered whether he and Lucy had ever hooked up. They seemed like more than just good friends. That evening at the Blue Crab Bistro, when he and Elle had been meeting with the bankers for the first time, he'd been certain Lucy and Douglas were dating. There had been an ease about them, an intimacy that looked closer than one would expect from two coworkers having drinks.