Romancing My Love(29)

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather spend time alone with them?” Her heart was going crazy at the idea of meeting his family, even though they weren’t his immediate family. It was a big deal and confirmed just how much he liked her.

“I’d rather spend time alone with you, but short of that, I’d rather you were with me every second of every day.”

Rebecca was glad she was sitting down, because he said everything she felt, and if she were standing, her legs would have surely failed her.

“Okay,” she managed.

They made plans for Pierce to come down and meet her at noon, and after a long kiss goodbye, Rebecca drove to work feeling ridiculous for needing her stupid car. Tomorrow I’ll leave the darn thing at home. At Pierce’s, she corrected herself.





Chapter Sixteen


REBECCA HAD BEEN trying to find a quiet moment to talk to Daphne, but the morning had been crazy busy, and now that it was lunchtime, she bit the bullet and pulled Daphne aside.

“Daphne, I need to tell you something.”

“Sure, hon. What’s up?” Daphne picked up an order from the counter and reviewed the ticket, matching the items to the order.

“You know how I told you that my boyfriend was a businessman?”

“Sure. Oh, Henry wants me to check him out.” She winked. “He’s such a worrywart. I knew he liked you.”

“Well, you’ll get a chance to in about five minutes.”

Daphne’s eyes lit up. “He’s coming here?”

Rebecca fidgeted with her order pad. “He sort of owns the place.”

“What place?” Daphne cocked her head.

Rebecca lowered her voice. “He owns the resort.”

Daphne pulled another waitress over. “Wilma, can you take this to table six, please? I need to talk to Rebecca.”

Oh shit. Daphne sounded so serious that Rebecca didn’t know what to expect.

Daphne pulled her over to the break room. “Honey, are you talking about Pierce Braden? Tall, dark, and scrumptiously handsome? The gentleman of all gentlemen, Pierce Braden?”

Scrumptiously delicious, too. “Yes.”

“Oh, hon.” Daphne hugged her. “Everyone here loves the man. We’re talking serious big boss crush by every woman in the place.”

“It’s not like that, Daphne. I had no idea who he was when we started dating, and I don’t care what he has. I care about who he is.”

She searched Rebecca’s eyes. “Good. Okay, good. That’s good.”

“I just wanted you to know, because you asked me who I was dating and I didn’t want you to think I didn’t trust you. It’s all kind of new, so I wasn’t even really sure how to handle it, but we talked about it and he doesn’t want to pretend we’re not together, so…”

Daphne hugged her again. “Sweetie, he’s such a nice man. Everyone loves him.” A flash of worry passed over her face, then faded just as quickly.

“What is it?”

Daphne leaned in close. “It’s just that, you know, he is a good man, Rebecca, and we all want him to end up with a good woman, and you’re definitely a good woman, but…Word around this place is that he’s kind of a ladies’ man, if you know what I mean.”

She’d expected to hear just that, but she hadn’t expected it to hurt the way it did, like a paper cut, quick and sharp. “I know. He told me.”

“He did?” Daphne patted her chest like she was trying to calm her racing heart, which, knowing Daphne, she was. “Good. Good, Rebecca. Then—”

“I know all about his past. He was very honest, and I trust him, Daphne. I mean, I really trust him, like I’ve never trusted anyone before.”

Daphne reached for her hand and gave it a thoughtful squeeze. “Trust your heart, Rebecca. That’s what I would do. Henry was no saint when I met him, the little dog.” She smiled. “Heck, girl. I wasn’t very pure either, but we knew from day one that we were meant to be together. The universe has a way of figuring out the things in life that get hung up between our heads and our hearts.”

“Thanks, Daphne. I was worried that people around here might treat me differently.”

“Oh, they may. You are dating not only the best-looking man in Reno, but the big guy on campus, too.” She patted Rebecca on the back. “Just ignore any snide looks and keep being who you are, darlin’.”

“Pretty easy, since I have no clue how to be anyone else.”

They went back to work, and Rebecca felt much better having come clean to Daphne. She hated keeping secrets. It wasn’t part of who she was, despite her Secrets are a girl’s best friend comment she’d tossed out on her first date with Pierce. Not telling him about staying in her car was also weighing heavily on her mind, but that was a secret of a different kind. She had every intention of telling him about that at some point. She just wasn’t sure when that point was going to be.

She was finishing up with a customer when Pierce walked into the restaurant. Her heartbeat didn’t just quicken; it sprinted. The employees lifted their eyes in his direction, stood taller, and watched as he weaved through the tables, heading directly toward Rebecca with a confident gait and a look in his eyes that shot right to her heart. Everywhere he went, he commanded attention. Even Rebecca’s customers glanced his way as she waited off to the side.

Oh God! Her legs had turned to jelly and she wasn’t thinking straight. The last few nights came rushing in, swirling inside her and warming her all over. She was dating the boss. Did everyone in the restaurant know who he was? She felt her cheeks flush as she tried to figure out what to do. Should she go right to him? Go back and place the order? She had no idea where her boss was, but it didn’t matter, Pierce didn’t give her a chance to decide. As she walked away from the table, he came to her side—in a cloud of heat that sizzled and burned. He casually placed a hand on her hip, leaned down, and kissed her cheek.

“Hey, babe.”

It was a simple, sweet kiss. She’d made love to him, touched and tasted every inch of him, and that simple kiss blew away her brain cells like fluff in the wind. It was all she could do to smile.

“Almost ready?” he asked.

She cleared her throat and forced herself to answer. “Yeah. Just let me get my purse from the back.”

“I’ll come with you.” He kept a possessive—protective?—hand on her lower back as they walked through the kitchen. The chef looked up and smiled.

“Hey, Mr. B. I’ve got your order up in two minutes. Robin has your table ready in the courtyard.”

“Thanks, Bob.”

Bob ran his eyes between the two of them as they headed into the break room. Rebecca tried to act calm, cool, and collected but feared she failed miserably and that everyone could see her insides were doing some sort of shake, rattle, and roll dance. She grabbed her purse from her locker and drew in a few deep breaths before returning to Pierce’s side. He was reading the schedule that hung on the wall, with one hand in his pocket, his hair brushed back from his face, and his clean-shaven cheeks calling to her to touch them. She pictured him going gray around the temples, fine wrinkles around his eyes. She could see the two of them together as they got older, Pierce wanting to fix all the things that were difficult for her and her wanting to stand her ground. She could see them making love and waking to the sound of a crying infant, chasing a toddler through the park. Oh Lord, she could picture forever with him and they’d known each other only a few days—and, by golly, it felt real. How could she be so certain? It made no sense and perfect sense all at once. From her head to her toes, and everywhere in between, she was one hundred percent in love with Pierce. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth, as if she could silence her thoughts.

She might be able to quiet her mind for now, but there was no way she could silence her heart.





Chapter Seventeen


PIERCE AWOKE THURSDAY morning with Rebecca’s arm draped over his stomach and her cheek pressed against his chest. He pulled her closer, and she snuggled in with a sleepy, contented sigh. She wore a camisole and panties, and looked sexy and adorable at once. In sleep, her face was totally relaxed. The pucker of stress he’d sometimes noticed around the corner of her eyes was gone and her lips were slightly curved upward. He usually sprang out of bed to fit his run in before work and then arrived early at the office so his day stayed on track. That jolt of get-up-and-go wasn’t there. His mind was laden with Don’t-move-a-muscle. Hold her. Enjoy her. And his body was enjoying the feel of her against him entirely too much to move.

His efficient and overachieving business mind tried to sever his lovesick thoughts with reminders of his due diligence team’s discovery of liens against the Grand for unpaid payroll taxes, which were not reflected in the books, and according to the books, made no sense. He had his team doing more discovery today, going through the actual books, not just tax return and financial statements. Based solely on what he knew at this point, the Grand was worth several million dollars fewer than what they’d been led to believe. He’d spoken to William Benson, the owner of the property, and Benson was adamant about the asking price. The end of the day would bring answers.