The Millionaire's Forever (13 page)

“Half naked, then saw the bloodied knuckles on my hands from kicking Seth’s ass, and assumed they were telling the truth,” Mason said.

Larry nodded. “The boys said you and your friends set the fire in retaliation.”

“And the honest Chief Carter saw a way to make Mason pay for the supposed assault on his daughter without Olivia having to face public scrutiny or a trial, right?” Jake demanded.

“That’s about right, and he was afraid to come forward after that. Afraid that he’d end up going to jail or prison. He was all Olivia had after her mother died. He didn’t want her to end up in foster care if he got busted for what he’d done to you,” Larry admitted. “So you three can have words with Carl till you’re blue in the face, but he’s never going to apologize because he did what he did for Olivia’s sake. What you’re looking for isn’t here. I knew the truth and I didn’t stand up for it. I’ll always regret that. I know we’re being investigated. I’ve already been contacted, and I’ll accept whatever punishment the law decides I deserve.”

Jake glared at Larry. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? That you decided to man up now that you’ve been busted for it? I lost my brother in that hellhole.” Jake pointed a finger at Mason and Cole. “You two can stay here and shake hands and let bygones be bygones if you want. I’ll wait in the lobby until he leaves.” He brushed by Larry, bumping the deputy hard with his shoulder. “You son of a bitch.”

Cole got up slowly. “It might have made a difference had you come forward before the investigation started. But now, it looks like you’re just trying to cover your ass. I’m out, too.” He slammed the door behind him.

Larry winced. “Kind of expected that. Whatever he is, whatever he’s done, Carl did it because he loves Olivia. He thought he was protecting her. I know that you and Olivia are together, but he’s always going to be her father and she’s always going to love him. So you’re going to have to figure a way to deal with him one way or another as long as she’s in your life.”

“Or rather he’ll have to learn to deal with me,” Mason said.

Larry gave a half smile. “Perhaps.” He turned to leave. “I really am sorry.” With a quick jerk of his wrist, he opened the door and let himself out.

Mason finished his drink and then left. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator into the lobby Jake and Cole approached. “Are we going to confront the chief?” Jake demanded.

“He’s a sick old man, barely able to communicate, from what the report Scott gave me says.”

“So that’s it? You’re leaving? Flying back home to the chief’s daughter?” Jake snarled. “Maybe that’s why you can act so damn forgiving. She wouldn’t give it up to you back then but screwing Olivia now makes everything okay. I wonder if she screwed Cole or me if we’d—” Whatever else Jake was going to say was lost when Mason punched him ass over elbow across a chair.

He moved around the chair and went to one knee beside his friend, keeping a firm hand on Jake’s shoulder. “I told you not to question her integrity. Leave her out of this.”

“Hey, come on, you two.” Cole grabbed Mason’s arm.

“You hit me. Over a woman.” Jake’s eyes widened and he touched the corner of his busted lip with the back of his hand.

Cole let go of Mason’s arm and gaped. “What’s going on?”

Jake snorted. “My guess is that Mason’s angry because he thought he was using Olivia but she’s probably using him. I think she’s using him to cover her ass for the boyfriend lie she told and there’s nothing more to it than that.” He scrambled up when Mason glared at him. “Seriously, Mason. The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. If you are sleeping with her, you’d better be careful. Maybe she plans to get pregnant to get her hands on your fortune.”

“She doesn’t want my money.” Mason got up and brushed the knee of his pants.

Jake spread his hands wide. “I’m telling you the truth and you know it.”

Cole slapped Mason on the back. “You’re a rich man. She’s having some financial struggles right now. She’s a beautiful woman. She’ll play that damsel in distress act and the next thing you know, she’ll have half of your fortune.”

Chapter Thirteen

Weeks later, Olivia was thankful when her stomach finally decided to get off the roller coaster. She was well over her strep throat but still had a lot of extreme tiredness and queasiness. If it weren’t any better soon, she’d have to go to the doctor.

Maybe she’d caught something on top of the strep. She’d been working night and day lately, so it could be that she was in need of some rest. The attorney handling transferring the land to Mason had informed her that the paperwork was finished and should arrive at the end of the week. When she got that, she would head back to Texas and then hopefully her life would return to normal.

Or as normal as it could be with producers from hit talk shows calling asking for interviews. She’d even been invited to dance on one of the dance competition shows. Olivia snorted. While she enjoyed dancing, fumbling around and having people criticize her moves wasn’t her idea of a good time.

She stretched her legs out on the blanket, listened to the birds call to one another, and tried to quiet her mind. Lately, she’d taken to pausing from work every day even if it was only for fifteen minutes to sit by the lake and meditate. That helped her to feel somewhat refreshed. She jumped when a shadow fell across her. Shading her eyes, she looked up at Mason. “Hi. I didn’t hear you come home last night.”

“I tried to be quiet so I wouldn’t wake you, but you were sleeping pretty hard because I dropped a glass right outside your bedroom and you never stirred.”

Yawning, Olivia said. “I think being sick kicked my butt.”

He frowned. “Are you better now?”

“Perfectly fine. Just tired. How was your day?”

“Unsatisfying all the way around.” He took a seat on the ground beside her. “How’s your day so far?”

Olivia looked away from his handsome face. “Beth said the air conditioner broke at the shop you rented, so I’m working on getting the guy who put it in last month to get his butt back out there and fix it, but he keeps blowing me off.”

“Who does he work for? What’s his name?”

Groaning, Olivia gathered her items to go back inside now that his presence disturbed her peace. “Mason, I don’t need you to step in and handle it. The only reason I’m even using the shop is because you were right. There wasn’t enough room in the extra bedroom. I’m trying to get the air-conditioning handled because I want it to be running smoothly for you when I leave.”

“I would handle anything you needed me to.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow as they walked together. She held a hand up when her phone rang. Beth. “Hang on. I have to take this. No, did you show him the paperwork for the air conditioner?” Olivia wanted to snarl in frustration. She didn’t know what was wrong with her lately. The tiredness, the mood swings. Couldn’t be menopause; she was way too young for—wait a second…she was late. A bout of nausea hit the pit of her stomach and she interrupted her friend. “Beth, let me call you back on this.”

The fatigue, the nausea… She wanted to get inside and check her calendar. Maybe she was mistaken. Got caught up working too much and the dates were mixed up.

“Is everything okay?”

“Fine.” There was no way she could say what she was thinking unless she wanted to see Mason freak out. If she had a guess, she’d guess he wanted to be a dad as badly as he wanted to have her father as a roommate. “I’m going to run an errand,” she said once they were inside the house.

“Want some company?”

Olivia stopped. What was up with Mason? He was acting different. Edgier. Like something had upset him. She studied him but couldn’t put her finger on what it could be. “No, this shouldn’t take long.”

“Take one of the cars.”

For once, Olivia didn’t argue. She nodded and hurried to her room to get her purse. She didn’t want to take the time to wait for a taxi. She wanted to get her hands on a pregnancy test and see if her suspicions were true. Digging through her purse, she pulled out her planner and quickly skimmed back to last month. Trailing her finger across the entries, she stopped. No dates were circled. No notations.

By the time she picked up the pregnancy test at Walgreens and arrived back at Mason’s home, Olivia had thought of and rejected half a dozen things that could cause her to miss a cycle. But it couldn’t be.

She’d gone on birth control pills as a teenager to help regulate her periods. What were the odds that she could be pregnant?
Oh no.
The antibiotic. The doctor had said to use a backup but…at the time she wasn’t having sex so it hadn’t been an issue.
No, no, no.

She paced the bathroom and then when her watch beeped, Olivia peered down at the stick. Two lines. A visit to the doctor would confirm one way or the other. Wrapping the stick up with shaky fingers, she buried it in the garbage can, washed her hands and pasted on the fake smile she’d worn for weeks. How in the world could she tell Mason he was going to be a father?

…

At the end of the week, Mason had never been so thankful to see the weekend arrive.

Delicious scents wafted from the kitchen into the living room and Mason inhaled deeply, then paused. Today was the cook’s day off. Tossing his briefcase onto the sofa, he rubbed his dog’s head and then went to the kitchen, the Great Dane following.

A handwritten recipe was propped against a stack of bowls and Olivia hunched over it, her finger following a line of instructions as she muttered out loud. The short skirt she had on was just as delicious to view as the scent in the air was to smell.

“You’re cooking?”

She held up a finger, finished reading, and then looked at him. Her hair had escaped the band in several places. Flour smudged the end of her nose and the apron she wore had a dollop of chocolate in the center of the chest. Lifting one side of her mouth, she blew a strand of hair away. “I’m making chocolate chip cookies,” she said proudly.

“I thought you didn’t like cooking.”

“It’s not that I don’t like cooking. I just never really got into it.”

Mason looked at the rack of cookies cooling on the counter and picked one up. He bit into it and immediately spit the bite back out. “I think something went wrong.”

“What?” Olivia took a bite and scrunched her face up. “Eww. Too salty!” She tossed the cookie back on the pile with the others. “I made a roast and vegetables. That turned out okay. But I really, really wanted chocolate chip cookies.” Twisting her fingers together, she burst into tears.

Mason’s inner alarm went off. Olivia wasn’t the kind of woman who cried easily. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. They’re just cookies.” He pulled her against his chest and stroked the back of her hair.

She sniffed against his suit and then looked up, her lower lip quivering. “They weren’t
just
cookies. They were chocolate chip ones with the recipe my mother used to make.”

“You can make some more.”

Shaking her head, tears continuing to roll down her face, Olivia said, “We’re out of chocolate chips.”

Cupping the sides of her face, he said, “The stores are filled with chocolate baking chips. I’ll buy them all if you’ll stop crying.”

Olivia made a noise that was a cross between a laugh and a sob and covered his hands with hers. “What are you going to do when you come across a problem your money can’t solve?”

“I doubt that’ll happen.” Kissing her, he said, “You sit tight. I’ll be back with the chocolate chips.”

Mason barely managed to keep his speed at the posted limit on the way back after he’d gone to the store, loaded the buggy with several bags of chocolate chips, and then for good measure, added a few containers of fresh cookies from the store’s bakery. He didn’t know why it was so upsetting to ruin cookies, but it upset Olivia and that’s all that mattered.

He found her in the kitchen, wiping up the counters after she’d disposed of the cookies, and plunked the bags down. “There you go.”

Her mouth dropped. “How many cookies did you think I’d make?”

“I don’t know.” He stripped off his suit coat and placed it across one of the stools. “I’ll help you.”

She frowned. “Do you mean watch me so I’ll do it right this time?”

“Someone has to supervise.” He removed his tie and rolled up his shirtsleeves.

She smiled. “Then you make the cookies and I’ll instruct you.”

“How about we do it together?”

“Have you ever made cookies before?”

“I’ve never baked a dessert in my life.”

“Wow, then I guess I’m teaching you more than new things in the bedroom.”

He laughed at that. “You’re teaching
me
?”

Olivia set out the flour and baking soda. “Of course. You should be grateful.”

“I think you skipped a lesson.”

Tapping a finger on her chin, Olivia pursed her lips. “I don’t think so. What lesson would that be?”

“This one.” He scooped her up and strode to the room housing the indoor pool. Without breaking his stride, he said, “Don’t let go.” Holding on to her tightly, he fastened his mouth over hers in a deep kiss and jumped into the pool. They sank below the water, their mouths still hungrily seeking each other before rising above the surface.

Olivia pushed the wet strands of her hair back. “We’re fully clothed! Your suit is ruined.”

He swam toward her. “I don’t give a damn about the suit.” Pulling her close, he pushed her skirt up.

She laughed. “You’re crazy.”

Nudging the neck of her shirt aside, he fastened his lips around her nipple, sucking gently, and she let her head fall back in a moan. His fingers stroked the outside of her panties before he slipped one finger past the material to plunge deep inside her. He pulled out and then plunged back in in a rhythmic movement until she whimpered.

“Now, Mason. Now.”

Unzipping his pants, he freed himself and drove into her wetness. As she climaxed, she called his name, and when she’d stopped shuddering, she said, “You didn’t…”

“I know.” He pulled out of her. “Come with me.” They swam toward the shallow end and Mason grabbed a float. “I want you to lie half across this. I’m going to come up behind you. It’ll give us a different angle.”

When she was settled on the float, Mason pushed it to the side of the pool. “Hold on to the side.” He used the buoyancy of the water to enter her. “This leaves my hands free to do this.” Reaching around, he stroked her and she bucked against him. “You like that?” He kissed the side of her neck and continued to touch her as he moved in and out of her, deeper and deeper until he couldn’t take the pressure any longer. He cried out, letting go at the same time Olivia did.

“Oh…”

“Are you okay?” He kissed her ear.

“I snorted a nose full of water, but it was totally worth it.”

He laughed and helped her turn to face him. “I think we should bake cookies every damn day.”

She laughed and he thought he saw a shadow cross her face, but maybe it was the lighting, because when he stared harder, he didn’t see it. He kissed her passionately and levered himself from the water. Reaching down, he took her uplifted arms and hauled her up onto the tile.

“I look like a drowned rat.” Olivia wrung out the bottom of her shirt.

Mason took off his shirt and dropped it onto the tile, followed by his pants and underwear. He winked at her. “You look good enough to eat.”

She paused. “I think you’re right. We should bake cookies every damn day.”

…

Olivia toweled off in her bedroom and picked out a pair of jeans and a button-up yellow shirt to put on. Since getting the confirmation from the doctor that she was pregnant, she’d gone over it in her mind how she was going to break the news to Mason.

Maybe she was fretting for no reason and he wouldn’t freak out. Maybe he’d be glad that he was going to have a son or a daughter. Regardless of how he felt about the baby, he had a right to know he would soon be a father.

She would tell him tonight and at the same time, she’d give him the paperwork for the land. Squaring her shoulders, she wandered from her bedroom into the kitchen. Mason poured two glasses of wine and offered her one.

Olivia took it but set it aside without drinking any.

Mason put some of the roast and vegetables into a covered dish and slid it into the oven to warm them. “I’ll take care of this if you want to grab some of those dinner rolls and get them ready.”

Watching his hands as he deftly moved about the kitchen, Olivia could imagine him holding their newborn child. She frowned. How would all this work with her living in Texas and him living in Illinois? He hated her father and her father hated him. Mason was bent on revenge and…how was she going to keep her child from getting caught between a grandfather and a father? How would she teach a child about love and forgiveness when Mason was anti–both emotions?

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really.” Olivia transferred the bread onto a broiler pan and brushed the rolls with melted Parmesan and spices. She slid the pan in the oven on the rack below the roast.

“You’ve been quieter than usual.” He sipped his wine and watched her over the rim of the glass.

Placing the oven mitts within reach so she’d be able to get the rolls out when the timer went off, Olivia said, “Well, there is something I need to tell you and I don’t really know how.”

“Is it about the past?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s about the present and the future, too, I guess.”

He moved to where she stood and took her hands in his. “Just tell me, Olivia.”

“Okay…I was sick and I went to the doctor. She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.”

His brows drew together and he slid his hands up to hold her upper arms. “You’re fine now? Nothing serious?”

The concern on his face…did that mean he cared for her? Could it be possible? “I’m fine. Mason, I’m going to have a baby.”

He let go of her and took a quick step backward, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open in shock. “Pregnant?”

“I know…”

“You said you were on the pill.” His voice sounded accusatory.

“I am.”

“Let me see them.”

Olivia blinked. “What?”

He held his hand out. “I want to see them for myself.”

It was her turn to gape. “Are you serious?”