Inheritance (The Lost Bride Trilogy, #1)(89)

“Holy crap.” She grabbed her wine, took a gulp. “Give me a second, because this is good. Unsettling for a minute, but good.”

“That’s your biological grandmother.”

“Okay, back to unsettling. But it’s good. We have an identity, and that has to be positive. I’m not calling her Grandma. I mean, when you think about it one way, she’s younger than I am. I wonder if Collin ever met … his mother.”

“I don’t think he ever mentioned that to my father. I didn’t tell my dad or Collin. I told Owen, because hot babe.”

“Is it odd that I’m going to feel easier knowing who she is?”

“I think it would be odd if you didn’t. She isn’t trying to scare you. She wasn’t trying to scare me. She was, and is, making a connection.”

“She died here.” And it hurt Sonya’s heart to think of it. “She had to be afraid, in pain, but she plays music for me. I got a chance to bid on a major account today, and she played happy music for me.”

“What major account?”

“Oh.” Distracted, she pushed a hand at her hair. “Do you know Ryder Sports?”

“Sure. Based in Boston. I’ve bought plenty of their stuff online.”

She smiled. “What did you think of their website?”

“Sucks you in, easy to navigate. Your work?”

“I headed the team that designed it. They’re expanding, putting a store in Portland, and want to update. I’m going to be competing for the job against my old company. Which is … let’s go back to unsettling.”

“Not for long.” He said it so matter-of-factly, he gave her a boost she hadn’t known she needed. “You’re confident in your work for a reason.”

“They’re a strong, innovative company. But I’ve got the chance, and I’m taking it. And as you’re a client, I’ll say this in no way means I won’t give your firm exactly what it needs and wants.”

“Never doubted it. And speaking of clients, I’ve got a little work to do for the one I saw before I got here.”

“We’ve still got pizza.”

“No breakfast tops the breakfast of cold pizza.”

“On that we agree. We’ll split it.”





Chapter Nineteen



It would help, Sonya thought as she took two slices for a plate, if she didn’t like him so much. His looks, his manner, that easy way. She wasn’t a puddle of hormones, but she could definitely feel them pulsing whenever he came around.

It was either get over it, or make that move and see.

A casual goodnight kiss at the door, she decided. And she’d know if they equaled hang-out buddies or had the potential for more.

He reached for the pizza box just as she turned. Bodies bumped. For one humming second, eyes locked.

“Sorry.” He took a full step back.

No casual kiss at the door then, but …

“Are you sorry because you are or because you think you should be? If it’s the first, I’ll stop wondering. If it’s the second, I’d like to know why.”

“I’m sorry I think I should be.”

“All right, sort of. But that doesn’t answer the why.”

“First off, the firm represents Collin’s estate.”

“Your father represents the estate, and my interests.”

“We’re a family firm.”

“Okay, but … I kind of looked it up.”

The faintest hint of a smile came into his eyes, then curved his lips. “Did you?”

“I thought it might, possibly, become an issue. My take is, I’m not actually your client, and even if I were, you’d continue to represent me competently. And, at your father’s advice, I hired a lawyer in Boston. I’m not going to date him.”

“Good policy.”

“Especially since he’s my mother’s boss. But you said first off. If you’re not attracted that way, then—”

“You’re not a stupid woman, by any measure. But that’s the beginning of a very stupid statement.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “The way I see it, you’ve had a lot of major upheaval in less than a year. You called off your wedding.”

“That’s right. I think that’s the sensible thing to do when finding your fiancé in bed with your cousin, don’t you?”

“Sensible doesn’t mean you weren’t hurt.”

“I was pissed. Shocked, and that still grates because it makes me a fool. And pissed, which is better. But I’m a little ashamed to admit I wasn’t as hurt as I should have been. As I would have been if I’d loved him the way I thought I did. The way I should have loved a man I was going to marry. But he wasn’t the man I thought he was, and that makes me a fool.”

“You’re not—”

Fire snapped into her eyes as she jabbed a finger at him and stopped him cold.

“I knew something wasn’t right. I knew it, but I kept telling myself it was wedding jitters. I don’t generally get jitters, but, well, I never planned a wedding before. And he wanted exactly the opposite of what I did. I wanted lovely and intimate and romantic, and he insisted on…”