Marrying the Millionaire (16 page)

That being said, he slid his wedding
ring off his finger and went and placed it inside his desk drawer.
He should’ve taken off the damn ring a long time ago. Right after
she’d died.

Don had warned him to keep a cool
demeanor around Jason until he gathered more information that would
prove he was Salina’s killer. Now that task was going to be
difficult. Challenging. Right now, nothing would please him more
than to choke the life out of the bastard.

Knuckles rasped on
Richmond’s closed office door. A ragged breath pressed from his
lips as he plopped down in his leather chair.
Keep a cool head.
“Come in,” he
said, forcing the stress to ease from his heavy
shoulders.

The door peeled open, and in walked
Jason. No-good-ass Jason. He and Salina deserved each other, he
thought, tempted to strike the blond-haired, blue-eyed devil. “You
wanted to see me?”

Not only do I want to see
you, I want to kill you.
Bile bubbled at
the surface of his stomach. The possibility that this man may have
touched his wife made Richmond want to vomit. “Yes. Come in and
close the door.” Steaming like boiling water, Richmond’s leg swung
back and forth beneath his desk. “This isn’t going to take long.
I’m changing your duties here at the Equestrian. You will no longer
give Isabelle riding lessons.” Jason’s eyes turned ice blue as his
white face turned crimson.
Don’t let him
know you’re on to him.
“I’m making you the
Operations Director.”

Air whooshed from Jason’s
mouth. His hand flung over his heart. “You had me scared for a
second. Thought I was in trouble,” he uttered with a southern
drawl.
I bet you did.
“Operations Director. Wow! This is a promotion,
right?”

Wanting to shove his shoe up Jason’s
ass, Richmond managed a fake smile. “Yes, Jason. This is a
promotion, with an increase in salary.” Jason’s grin widened on his
lying face. “Chelsey will go over your pay with you a little bit
later today.”

“
Okay. Thanks.” He wagged a
finger at Richmond. “I promise you…I’m going to be the best darn
Operations Director you’ve ever seen.”

“
I bet you are, Jason.”
Irked by Jason’s cool, aloof manner, it took everything in Richmond
not to jump across the table and kill him. Jason had no clue that
he and Don were on to him and watching his every waking move. His
every single step. If Jason ever thought about hurting Isabelle, or
CJ, or Kayla, he’d fire a bullet straight into his heart and drop
his conniving ass to the floor. Best believe it, Richmond thought,
thinking of the licensed loaded gun strapped to his lower
spine.

Bitter and resentful, Richmond crossed
the room and stood in front of Jason. Glaring into his blue eyes,
the bones in his fingers ached to wrap around the devilish man’s
throat and strangle him until he passed out. “Now, if you’ll excuse
me, I’m headed out to play Polo.”

A GENTLE OCEAN BREEZE ROSE from the
depths of the nearby glistening blue water, then swirled down over
Kayla’s face as she sat on the bench beside Sandella at the
community park. Across the street from the beach, she watched the
kids run around on the playground and became quite acquainted with
the pretty lady Richmond was so smitten of—his good friend’s
wife—Sandella Wexler.

The cool autumn breeze blew leaves
around Kayla’s feet. She swiped a piece of hair behind her ear.
“So, Sandella,” she said, looking at CJ and Isabelle chasing after
the pudgy pigeons, “do you and Braylon want any more
children?”

Bouncing Logan on her knee, Sandella
nodded. “Yes, we do. But not right now. My bakery, SugarKanes,
keeps me so busy, I’d probably lose my mind if I had another baby
right now. The company is growing by leaps and bounds, and sooner
or later I’m going to have to open up another location. Probably
sooner than I’d planned, too.”

If Kayla found the right man and got
married, she’d love to have more children. “That’s great. Did you
always want to go into business for yourself?”

“
Yes. But if it hadn’t been
for Braylon, SugarKanes would’ve never happened.”

“
Why not?”

Sandella shrugged. “I didn’t believe
in myself or my abilities. Braylon drafted the business plan for
SugarKanes, and without my knowing he started selling my baked
goods over the Internet. He even found the lot to build upon. He
did everything for me.”

Kayla enjoyed hearing about Sandella
and Braylon’s love story, which eventually led to a beautiful
marriage and an adorable daughter. “Your husband obviously loves
you. You’re both so lucky to have one another. I’d do anything to
find love like that one day.”

Placing baby Logan on the bench
between them, Sandella tilted her head. “Ah, Kayla. You’ll find
love someday. I’m sure there’s some man out there that would love
to marry you and treat your son as his own.”

Kayla waved her hand in the air.
“Girl, please. Men these days look at women with kids like they
have a disease. They run as fast as they can from women with
children. No man is going to want to take care of me and my
son.”

“
What about Richmond?” A
flash of sincerity crossed Sandella’s face.

Kayla’s head jerked. “What
about him?”
I know she’s not implying what
I think she is. Richmond’s not in the least bit interested in me
now. Nor will he ever be interested in someone like me.

“
He’s single. Nice.
Attractive. Probably lonely. He’s a great guy. Been through so
much. Braylon and I would love for him to meet someone new to bring
a little joy in his life.”

Kayla giggled at the wild thought.
“With all these stretch marks on my stomach, a man like Richmond
would never date a woman like me.”

Sandella bent over and kissed Logan’s
cheek. “What do you mean, a woman like you? You obviously have no
clue how pretty you are, Kayla. Although we just met, I can tell
how nice and fun you are. And just so you know, men are attracted
to you. I even happened to overhear a few men talking about you the
other day while having lunch at SugarKanes. In fact, you may know
one of the guys. He works for Richmond. His name is
Jason.”

Kayla’s heart dunked at the mention of
Jason’s name. Forgoing any further conversation about Jason, she
rounded up the kids. Afterwards, she and Sandella drove down the
street and had lunch at SugarKanes.

Sitting at the table next to the
window inside the sweet-smelling bakery, Kayla opted for the
chicken pesto Panini and a side salad. Sandella had had her
employees whip up a bowl of tomato bisque and grilled cheese for
her and Logan.

As Kayla and Sandella sat
there enjoying each other’s conversation, someone snuck up behind
her and covered her eyes with their large hands. The hands
shielding her vision felt strong and callous. Had to be a man’s
hands. Just knowing it had to be Richmond, she smiled.
Oh, Richmond.

The gentleman covering her face
pressed the side of his face to hers. “Guess who?” The sound of
Jason’s voice caused her grave disappointment. When he removed his
hands from her face, she glared up at him to find a wicked grin
plastered on his lips. Tempted to throw Sandella’s soup into his
stupid face, she offered him a curt smile instead.

“
Mind if I join you
ladies?” Jason’s southern drawl boomed over her head. He pulled out
the chair and took a seat before either of them could
answer.

“
Sorry, I can’t stay. I’m
on my way to the equestrian.” Kayla reached into her purse, pulled
out a twenty dollar bill, and handed it to Sandella.

Sandella shooed the money away with
her hand. “Lunch is on me today.”

An appreciative smile curved Kayla’s
mouth. “You don’t have to do that.”

“
But I want to.” Sandella
picked up the pink box with teal lettering from the table and
extended it to Kayla. “Don’t forget your cupcakes.”

“
Thanks. I can’t wait to
eat one later, especially the pumpkin-flavored one.” Lord knows,
she didn’t like this Jason guy. “Aren’t you supposed to be giving
Isabelle her horseback lessons in thirty minutes?” She disapproved
of the curious, deep longing sparking in his eyes as he stared at
her.

Jason looped his fingers through the
holes of his jeans and smiled as big as the ocean across the
street. “Nope. Not anymore. Richmond promoted me to Operations
Director. I started my new job today. Someone else will be giving
Isabelle her horseback riding lessons.”

Hmm. If Richmond promoted
him, maybe he’s not as bad as I think he is.
She really needed to work on not judging people before
getting to know them. “Congratulations.”

Jason gave a quick nod of his head.
“See you around.”

“
Mmm-hmmm. Have a good day,
Sandella. Thanks again for the delicious lunch.”

“
You’re welcome. Can’t wait
to do it again next week.”

Kayla strapped CJ and Isabelle in
their car seats and drove down Ocean Drive. Making a left at the
traffic light, she drove down another long road filled with trees
on either sides. Reaching Spaulding Drive, she made a right, and a
few minutes later she drove the Range Rover that Richmond had
insisted she drive up into Spaulding Equestrian Center and
parked.

Holding Isabelle and CJ’s hands, Kayla
lead the kids to the rear of the building, toward the horse trails.
Spotting Richmond riding a horse while playing Polo with three
other guys, the scent of freshly cut grass permeated her nose.
Letting go of CJ and Isabelle’s hands, Kayla stopped walking and
observed the domineering, masculine sight of Richmond as he
dominated the game of Polo.

Galloping horses’ hooves stomped over
the grounds, drumming loud noises into Kayla’s eardrums. The horse
carrying Richmond hurtled in the direction of the white fence.
Dressed in complete Polo gear, Richmond raised his polo stick and
swung. The orange ball flew in the air.

With his Polo stick gripped in his
hand, Zeke steered his cantering horse toward the flying ball and
swung. The ball then went flying back in the other
direction.

“
They’ve been at it all
day,” Chelsey said, coming to stand beside Kayla.

“
Must be nice to play Polo
in your leisure.” Kayla found the way Richmond played the sport
attractive. The way his toned, muscular butt bounced up and down on
the horse’s saddle enticed her. When Richmond spotted her glancing
his way, his lips pulled into a sexy smile and she just about
wilted like a flower in the hot summer sun.

If Sandella thought the two of them
had a chance at kindling a romance, she was dead wrong. Apparently,
her new friend had trouble seeing. For all she knew, he probably
had a girlfriend.

Chelsey folded her arms over her
breasts. “Just so you know, Richmond was in a rotten mood earlier
today.”

Must have something to do
with why he stormed out of the house this
morning
. Flipping her hair over her
shoulder, she looked down at the children, then back up at
Chelsey’s face. “Do you know why?”

Chelsey shook her head. “I don’t have
a clue.”

Waiting for Richmond to finish playing
the sport, Kayla grew quiet and focused her eyes on him. Hearing
heavy footsteps walking along the grass behind her, she kept her
face forward. A minute later, she felt the strong presence of a man
standing behind her and assumed it was Jason.

“
Suade and Richmond ain’t
gon’ get nothing done around here if all they do is play all day.”
Kayla whirled to find Russell standing behind her. “How you doing,
young lady?” he asked with a big, hearty smile.

Kayla’s eyes squinted
against the sun shining down over the stables. “I’m doing fine. And
you?”
Lying man. Talking about you never
knew my grandfather. Just because he didn’t have any money like
you, don’t give you the right to deny your friendship with
him.

“
I’m doing quite well.”
Russell’s eyes turned to Chelsey. “Hi, Chelsey.”

“
Afternoon, Russell.”
Chelsey rubbed the back of her neck. “Here comes Isabelle’s new
riding instructor. His name is Samuel Adkins.”

“
Why is my granddaughter
getting a new instructor? Jason did a mighty fine job, if you ask
me.” Russell’s tone was laden with discontentment.

But no one asked you, now
did they?
Kayla thought, watching Samuel
head their way.

Chelsey quickly made the introductions
to everyone. It was hard to tell, but Kayla’s discernment told her
that this Samuel guy was nice and would be way better at teaching
Isabelle than Jason.

“
Well, I got to get back to
work, y’all. Good seeing you, Kayla.” Chelsey began walking
away.

“
You, too,
Chelsey.”

“
I’m about to head on home,
too.” Russell requested, “Do me a favor, Kayla…tell my sons,
Richmond and Suade, I’ll catch up with them later.”

Kayla had no clue that Richmond had a
brother named Suade. “Which one is Suade?”

“
The one in the blue shirt,
riding the black stallion.” Russell’s cowboy boots pivoted in the
dirt, and he stalked away.