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Bearllionaire(5)

By:Terry Bolryder


A small bell jingling over the door alerted her to someone entering, and she looked up to see Scott.

She noticed with some small satisfaction that his fine, blond hair was thinning and the lines on his forehead were deepening. She didn’t think it was fair for such an awful person to be so handsome, and she thought it was about right that he was losing his looks now.

He didn’t seem to think he was, however. She could tell from the cocky glow in his gray eyes that in his mind, he was still the hottest thing in town and any woman should simply feel blessed to be in his presence. Someone should tell him that as of last night, that was no longer true.

As of last night, he was at least three ranks lower on the hotness totem pole.

Her mouth watered as she shoved the papers haphazardly into a file. Each of the men from last night was an amazing specimen of the best mankind had to offer. The fact that they were all together was startling. The fact that they were also brothers was mind-blowing.

The fact that she could think about them now, with Scott’s presence both threatening and obnoxious in the distance, was something she’d rather not think about.

“Seems like you’re doing all right for yourself here,” Scott said sardonically, walking forward into the store in a relaxed posture, hands in his too-tight Chino pockets, wearing a leather jacket over his worn, pink designer polo. Scott was the picture of average success and above-average looks, with his smooth skin and boyish good looks that were only slightly marred by his wrinkles.

But Janna knew beneath the good looks was a personality that was less than ideal. Less than normal. Less than desirable. But that didn’t stop her heart from aching just slightly at what she’d thought she wanted. Security and a home with him. Even now, as he eyed her with what he must feel was a charming look, a part of her wanted nothing to have happened between them. For her to never have found out what he was doing behind her back. So they could go back to what they were. When she was happy.

At least she’d thought she was happy.

Maybe, in all reality, all she’d been was comfortable.

Certainly, looking into Ryder Hart’s sapphire eyes, she had seen the promise of everything except comfortable. Life with him, even at its best, would never be anything like it was with Scott.

Not that she knew him enough to know much about him. But something about his intimidating presence, the sense that he took no crap from anyone and he took care of his business, made her think life with him would never be easy, but it also would never be full of the cowardly crap Scott had dished out.

“You okay?” Scott asked, taking another unwelcome step into the room toward the front counter. “You seem a little out of it.”

Her heart skipped a beat and she kept her eyes on the folder she’d just closed. She never knew what to say to Scott. A part of her felt that if she talked to him at all, it’d be letting him win in his game of trying to pretend nothing had happened. That he could just start over pursuing her and she’d fall at his feet once again.

Maybe that would have been true before. When she was new to this town and alone and younger and not sure she could stand on her own two feet. But now she was certain. She had friends in Leslie and Kylie and a life here with a successful and busy business, and she didn’t need stupid Scott interfering.

But how to tell him that without actually talking to him? She really felt if she spoke to him, she’d start yelling and never stop.

“You’re going to have to talk to me at some point, Janna,” Scott said. “You can’t just keep ignoring me. Not in a town this small.”

She sighed. He should have thought of that before he cheated on her. Yes, they’d be trapped alone in this small town. He probably thought since she didn’t have many options, she’d come back to him eventually, regardless of how he’d treated her. But that simply wasn’t how things had worked out, thank heavens.

Sapphire-blue eyes winked in her mind again. Maybe she should be a little less standoffish. Maybe just so she didn’t have to look at Scott.

But then, when she first met Scott, hadn’t things been so much more exciting and promising? Maybe she was forgetting how it all went down. Maybe she was just trying to distract herself or hoping for rescue from an awkward situation. Whatever it was that had made her think Ryder Hart was an option, it also seemed to have called him out of thin air, because the bell over the door rang a second time as his large presence filled the room.

Maybe it was just the cold air that blew in at his bold entrance, maybe it was just the way his broad shoulders filled the room and the way his simple elegance bespoke wealth and power in a style Scott couldn’t achieve with ten times the effort.