The Billionaire Boyfriend Trap (13 page)

Reece had been young then too. It was a heavy
burden for someone just entering manhood. I wished Cassie could see
that, but I didn't try to talk her out of her anger toward him. It
had been boiling for so long that a few words from a woman she
hardly knew wouldn't make a difference.

"My age," Becky muttered, shaking her head.
She stood and gave me a nudge. "We better go. It's getting cool.
Will you be okay, Cassie?"

Cassie nodded and stood too. She tucked her
hands into her back pockets and gave us both sad smiles. "I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to come over so morbid. It's just that having
this place sold out from under me has shaken my foundation. I'm
dealing with some things right now that I thought I'd left behind.
The thought of leaving this place has stirred it all up again."

Becky drew her into a hug. "You don't have to
deal with it alone. Call me if you need to talk."

Cassie waved us off from the front porch. I
watched her in the car's mirror, a slender figure with the final
rays of the sun burnishing her hair. She was so small against the
large house, so vibrant and young against its haggard exterior. It
seemed wrong somehow that she was living there all alone. Someone
like her deserved to be in a loving relationship with a man who
cherished her. She wasn't like her tragic sister. She was strong
and, up until now, had always seemed happy.

"I don't get it," Becky said as we drove out
of Willow Crescent. "She was the same age as me."

"Wendy? I know. It's so sad. Poor
Cassie."

"Yeah, it's terrible for her, and that's what
I don't get. Cassie loved her sister and their grandmother seemed
like someone who had a lot of love to give too. Why did Wendy have
to go and kill herself over a guy?" She shrugged. "It's such a
waste."

I could understand her difficulty grasping
the concept. Becky had fought hard to cling to life, and hearing
about someone ending her own must be a difficult concept to fathom.
"You heard Cassie. She said her sister was delicate and needed
gentle handling. It sounds like she had some sort of obsession
where Reece was concerned. I'm no expert, but Wendy probably had a
mental disorder. Maybe it wasn't diagnosed, or if it was, she
wasn't getting the proper medication. If that's the case then it's
even sadder. But it's not Reece's fault. Not from where I'm
sitting."

"He dumped her for another girl. That's
pretty shitty."

"He was a teenager too. Teenaged guys do some
shitty things without realizing it."

She
humphed
. She hadn't had a
boyfriend since beating the cancer. Maybe she needed to get out and
meet someone. "Cassie clearly thinks he's to blame," she said. "If
she thinks he's an asshole then I'm inclined to believe her.
Besides, the papers all make it sound like he's a greedy, heartless
bastard."

I sighed. "Don't believe everything you read,
Bec."

"He's going to tear down the house of the
sister of an old girlfriend who killed herself over him. Not even
you can say he's a good guy after hearing that."

Maybe. But I also knew he was having second
thoughts. Maybe, with a little more persuasion, he would forget his
plans for a hotel in Serendipity Bend altogether.

***

Flowers arrived on my doorstep before I left
for work the following morning. The card read:
Pack a bag.
You're coming home with me tonight. Reece.
It would seem he
hadn't completely left his bossy nature behind.

I packed a change of clothes to wear to work
the following day and left a note for Becky with a promise to call
later. I slipped Reece's card into my jacket pocket to remove
evidence of the sender.

Becky called me as I strolled up to my desk.
"It's not that I mind you staying the night with him again," she
said. "But I don't even know his name."

"Listen here,
Mom
, stop worrying about
me," I teased. "He's a good guy. I know what I'm doing. If it makes
you feel better, I'll message you his address so you can send the
police if I go missing."

"This isn't funny, Cleo. If it were me
spending the night at some guy's house, you'd want to know every
last detail."

"Stop worrying, Becky. I have to go. My boss
is glaring at me."

Reece wasn't glaring. He was standing in the
doorway, one shoulder against the frame, a curious smile playing at
his lips. "You still haven't told your sister about me, have you?"
he asked after I hung up.

"I'm just waiting for the right time," I
lied. There was no right time. Ever.

"Why not now?"

"I told you, Reece. It's too new and you
don't do girlfriends, remember? You said so yourself."

He had the decency to wince. "Yeah, about
that." He pushed off from the doorframe and approached my desk with
a lion's predatory grace. "I admit that it's been a long time since
I met anyone I wanted to be with. Properly be with. But I think I
might have found someone."

I swallowed. "It's too early, Reece. We need
to slow down."

He leaned his knuckles on my desk and lowered
his head. "If that's what you want. But I'm warning you, I'm not
very good at slow. Once I see something I want, I go and get
it."

"Then you, Reece Kavanagh, need to learn some
patience." I grabbed him by the tie and pulled him to me for a
quick kiss.

But he didn't get the memo about the quick
part and deepened it. God, I'd missed him in the brief time we'd
been separated. I wanted to keep on kissing him and maybe even let
him ravish me on his desk, but I set aside my emotions and pulled
away. It wasn't just the fact that anyone could step out of the
elevator and catch us. It was also the death of Wendy that bothered
me. I'd told Becky that guys did shitty things like get new
girlfriends before breaking up with old ones, but I didn't totally
believe my own words. It had been a cruel thing to do, especially
if he knew she wasn't the sort of girl who could cope with losing
him.

Cruel. That's how Cassie had described
him.

My phone beeped and Ellen's name flashed on
the screen. Reece kissed my forehead and headed back into his
office. I checked Ellen's message.

Call me. Urgent!

Reece's door was closed, but he could emerge
at any moment so I headed out to the bathroom at the end of the
corridor then called her back.

"What is it?" I asked. "Has something
happened?"

"Have you seen today's papers?" Ellen's voice
had an edge of panic to it, so unlike her.

"They're sitting unread on my desk."

"Check out
The Roxburg Chronicle
, page
fifty-eight in the Society section. It makes interesting
reading."

Society section? Hell. "Give me the brief
version."

"You were snapped getting into a car with
Reece Kavanagh. According to the journalist—and I use the term
loosely—you seemed very cozy. The car took you to his
apartment."

The blood drained from my face. I suddenly
felt light-headed and had to grip the basin for support. "Have I
been identified?"

"Your name is there and the fact you work for
Reece. It goes on to say that he often has relationships with his
staff."

I groaned. "Crap. This is
just…
crap
."

"It might not be so bad. So you slept with
him and now everyone knows it. It could work in our favor. It
usually does with the other girls."

"I'm not like the other girls!" Why couldn't
she see that? Why couldn't she see that I was now no better than a
hooker, trying to get something out of Reece Kavanagh in exchange
for sex? It wasn't money in my case, but I didn't think he'd see
the difference. Neither would Becky.

"I know," she said quietly. "That's exactly
why I picked you for this job."

I squeezed my forehead where a pounding
headache had taken root. "I don't care if it helps you or not," I
told her. "What about Becky? What will she think when she finds out
I'm sleeping with the man who's screwing her friend over?"

"Does she read
The Chronicle
?"

"No."

"Then she probably won't find out. Take a
deep breath, Cleo, and calm down. This isn't the disaster you think
it is. I only wanted you to find out before anyone else did so
you'd be prepared."

She was right. Maybe it wasn't a huge
disaster, as long as Becky didn't read the paper. "Thanks, Ellen. I
know you've always got my back and I appreciate it."

She didn't respond straight away, which was
odd. Ellen wasn't normally lost for words. "Be sure to take time
out from work and enjoy yourself," she finally said, her voice
soft. "Maybe you could be good for Reece."

I drew the phone away from my ear and stared
at it. What the hell did that mean? "How do you know if I'd be good
for him?" I asked, putting it back to my ear.

"Instinct. I've been in this game a long time
and I know what makes guys like Reece Kavanagh tick. Trust me, it's
not what you think."

"Nope, I still don't get what you're
saying."

"I don't have time to explain now. Check in
later, okay?" She hung up, leaving me more confused than ever.

I headed back to my desk. Reece's door was
still shut so I searched through the newspapers. They were
delivered every morning by the mailroom and it was my job to scan
them for interesting news items that might affect RK. I never
looked at the social pages until now.

There I was, getting into Reece's car with a
wistful look in my eyes as I stared at him. Wistful or drunk, it
was hard to tell. I groaned and folded the paper up again.

Reece didn't emerge from his office all
morning, saving me from making a decision on whether to show him
the newspaper or not. I couldn't decide what to do. If he saw it,
he might want to make our relationship—or whatever it could be
called—known to the wider world. That meant telling Becky, Cassie,
our colleagues. I wasn't ready for the backlash that would come
with the admission. Wasn't ready to be set up as his girlfriend
only to be dumped on my ass when he found someone else, someone
less like a school teacher and more like a model or actress.

I found it hard to concentrate, but I managed
to write up some reports. I even drew up a document recapping the
entire Serendipity Bend project. It certainly made something clear
in my mind by the end—Reece had done almost nothing on the project
for a week, despite some outstanding tasks waiting for his signoff.
It was a good indication that he wasn't going ahead with it. I
needed to insure he continued to think that way.

Just before lunch, the elevator doors opened
and a whirlwind in the form of my sister emerged brandishing a
rolled up newspaper, her face a picture of thunderous fury.
Hell, damn and fuck.

She threw the paper on my keyboard in front
of me. "Found you," she hissed. She stabbed her finger on the
paper. "Cassie saw your photo this morning and called me. When were
you going to tell me you were working for Reece Kavanagh
and
fucking him?"

"Becky, calm—"

"
Don't
tell me to calm down! I will
not calm down! I am so goddamned angry at you right now, Cleo."

I came around the desk and gripped her
shoulders. I could feel the anger vibrating through her and I began
to shake too. Not in anger but worry. I'd never seen her so
emotional before. It couldn't be good for her.

She shook me off and stepped out of my reach.
"How could you do this to me? You've lied to me—"

"I never lied."

"Avoided telling the truth then. Goddamn it,
Cleo, he's the enemy!"

"Am I?" drawled Reece from the doorway. I
hadn't heard the door open. I'd been so caught up in Becky's
reaction that I'd shut out everything else.

"Reece," I said and stopped. What should I
say? Whom should I address? I decided my sister was the immediate
concern. "Becky, can we go somewhere and talk about this?"

I reached for her but she slapped my hand
away then stamped her fists on her hips. Reece came up behind me, a
solid, reassuring presence. I ached to remain there and show a
united front, but it was the wrong time. Wrong time, wrong guy, as
far as Becky was concerned.

"Let's talk about it right here," she
said.

"I don't think we should. You need to calm
down. Getting upset like this isn't good for you."

"I'm not a china doll, Cleo! Getting mad
isn't going to kill me. Catching the bus or listening to other
people's problems isn't going to see me back in hospital."

"Hospital?" Reece echoed. "You're sick?"

Becky pinned him with a sharp glare. "It's
none of your business, but I had cancer a while back. I'm fine now
but some people insist on wrapping me up in cotton wool because
they think I can't handle stuff."

"Stuff like this?" I picked up the newspaper
and waved it in her face. I hadn't meant to get mad at her, but
something inside me snapped. Something that had been winding up
over the last few weeks and had finally been coiled so tight that
it broke, releasing a river of pent-up emotions. "Look at the way
you're reacting, Bec. I knew this would happen, that's why I didn't
tell you."

Reece took the paper out of my hand and
flicked through it.

"I'm reacting this way because you're
sleeping with Reece Fucking Kavanagh!"

"Becky! Enough!"

Reece stopped flicking pages. "Why is this a
problem?" he asked, tapping the photo of us. "I like Cleo and she
likes me. It's nice of you to worry about her, but I promise you I
won't hurt her."

"Yeah, sure. Like you've never hurt anyone in
your life."

I grabbed her arm, hard, and steered her
toward the door. "Don't," I snapped.

She wrenched free and rounded on us both.
"How can you stand there and tell me you won't hurt my sister when
you've hurt so many other people? Cassie is my friend and you're
going to drive her away with your heartless, greedy scheme."