Dynasties Collection

She cleared her throat, breaking the silence. “I brought coffee.”

Both men looked at her, but neither made a move in her direction. Gavin and Pops had never been short of conversation and yet they weren’t talking.

“Is something wrong with the tractor?” she asked.

Gavin straightened. “One of the nuts is rusted. I’m having trouble breaking it loose from the bolt to attach the plow. If soaking it in motor oil won’t free it I’ll have to cut the bolt and wait until the store opens to get a replacement.”

She searched his face, seeking the man who’d held her and made love to her so tenderly last night. Instead she found no welcome in his expression. Confused and slightly hurt, she turned to her grandfather. “You’ve been out here a long time. Why don’t you take a break and warm up?”

Pops swung down from the seat and made his way to her, stopping between her and Gavin. His eyes seemed to probe hers. “How’re you this mornin’?”

A smile she couldn’t hold back curved her lips, but then the odd undertone in his voice registered. What did it mean? Did he know Gavin had been in her room? No. He couldn’t. They’d been quiet, and her last memory of Gavin had been of him kissing her good-night and telling her he was going upstairs to his room. She’d mumbled, “Okay,” through lips almost numb from his ravenous kisses, and then, oblivion. She didn’t remember him actually leaving.

“I’m fine. How are your bones this morning?”

“Good enough.” The succinct answer wasn’t like him.

Gavin joined them, but kept out of her personal space—unusual for him. He silently met and held her gaze. She wished she could read him well enough to know what he was thinking. But she hadn’t even known him a week. Way too soon to be getting as serious or as intimate as they had. They’d skipped a lot of get-to-know-you steps in the dating game.

Too late to worry about that now. As Pops would say, that horse had already fled the barn.

“Pour me a cup, girlie.”

Blinking at the reminder of why she’d come out here, she filled the mugs. “I can call someone to clear the driveway if you don’t think you can get our tractor working.”

Gavin accepted a mug. “If I can’t get this bolt loose I’ll have the Jarrod Ridge crew take care of it.”

“Don’t want your damn charity,” Pops grumbled.

“It’s not charity. It’s a neighbor helping a neighbor,” Gavin countered tightly.

“Neighborly, huh. Is that what you call it?”

Alarm slithered over Sabrina and a sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She looked from one man to the other. The tension and antagonism between them was palpable. That could only mean one thing.

Pops knew Gavin had been in her room last night. Her lungs emptied.

Would Pops condemn her? Would he call her a slut the way her father had? Would he shake his head in disgust and stare at her with disappointment-filled eyes? Would he order her to get out because he couldn’t stand the sight of her?

She gulped. Her parents had been more concerned with the embarrassment her unplanned pregnancy would cause them and the potential backlash on their careers than they had on the effect of the situation on her life.

Bracing herself, she searched her grandfather’s face and waited. For condemnation, for understanding or … or anything. Instead, like Gavin, he offered no clues to his thoughts or feelings.

The one thing she’d wanted just days ago—to break up the camaraderie between Gavin and Pops—had fallen into her lap. Right after she’d decided she didn’t want it anymore. Not when she might be falling for Gavin.

And that enmity could very well spread to her.

Now what was she going to do?

How could she make it right?

She didn’t have a clue.

Ten

“Sorry it took me so long to get here. I was in the middle of something,” Gavin told Blake as he joined his brother in the Jarrod Ridge offices. Coming here still made him uncomfortable even without their father behind that desk dispensing orders and disapproval.

He’d received Blake’s text message requesting a meeting hours ago, but he’d refused to leave the Snowberry Inn until he’d plowed the parking lot. Doing so would have meant Henry plowing it and possibly breaking a hip, and/or killing himself with that old tractor before the deed was settled. Besides, Gavin realized, he liked the old geezer and didn’t want him to get hurt.

And then old habits had kicked in. He’d returned to the lodge to shower off the tractor grease and change clothes before putting in an appearance. Being dirty in the public rooms of Jarrod Ridge had always brought down their father’s wrath. On second thought, he should have come here filthy, just to make dear old Dad roll over in his grave.

Blake gestured to a chair. “What’s the status on the land?”

“I have the situation under control,” he replied with a confidence he wasn’t sure he believed. But damn it, he would not fail.

Blake grinned. “I remember saying that last month about me and Samantha.”

“Yeah, and your assistant turned the tables on you. That won’t happen with me. I’m close to getting the property back from Henry Caldwell.”

“How close? Should I let the construction crew move on to another project?”

Frustration made his molars slam together. “If we do, then we’ll lose them for months.”

“That’s right. We’ll have to wait until they finish their next job. But they’re about to wrap the current project and can’t afford to stand idle.”

Damn. He had to pick up the pace. Move the marriage forward. He weighed the idea, and surprisingly, it didn’t repulse him as much as it once had. He also needed to get back on Henry’s good side and marrying Sabrina would do it. The sooner, the better all around. “How’d you go about your wedding?”

“Excuse me?”

He eyed his brother. “Arranging a marriage, Vegas-style.”

Blake’s eyebrows lowered. “Why?”

“I’ve been seeing Sabrina, Henry’s granddaughter, and I’m thinking of proposing.”

“You?”

“Sure. Why not? She’s beautiful. I enjoy her company, and the sex is good.” Damned good. Phenomenal even. But his brother didn’t need to know that.

Blake started shaking his head even before Gavin finished speaking. “That’s not a reason to get married.”

“No. It’s three reasons. Three good ones.”

Blake gave him a pitying look that chafed. “You might want to hold out for love.”

“Who says I don’t love her?”

“You haven’t said you do, which means you don’t.”

Because he didn’t lie. “I’m not the kind of guy who shares personal stuff like that. But I care about her. A lot.”

And strangely, that wasn’t a lie.

“Then take it slow and see what develops.”

“I don’t want to wait.”

Blake frowned. “I’m not liking the smell of your urgency. This isn’t tied to getting the land, is it?”

Gavin considered prevaricating, but Blake was too smart to be fooled. “Henry will be … encouraged to sign the deed sooner if I’m part of the family.”

“Don’t do it, Gavin. Don’t tie yourself to someone you don’t love. It’s not fair to you and it’s disrespectful to her.”

“Says the man who seduced his assistant to keep her from quitting. I know what I’m doing.”

“Those sound like famous last words—words you’ll regret, I might add.”

He brushed off his brother’s concern. He didn’t have a choice. “Like I said, I have the situation under control. Don’t let the crew go. We’ll be ready to break ground as soon as they finish their current job.”

He rose, ending the meeting before his brother could ask more probing questions, and made his way to the door. The idea of whisking Sabrina off to Vegas was growing on him. No fanfare. No money down the drain. No witnesses. But he wasn’t doing that until he had a prenup. For that he needed Christian, the family attorney and soon-to-be brother-in-law.

But first, he needed a ring and a pitch she couldn’t refuse. Until he proposed and Sabrina accepted, the rest was a moot point.

“You win,” Sabrina said after the waiter discreetly backed away from the table, leaving her and Gavin to their afterdinner coffee. In normal circumstances, a highfalutin place like the riverside restaurant wasn’t her style. But with Gavin seated across from her at the candlelit table the evening seemed magical.

“How do I win? Aside from the great company,” Gavin asked in that deep, rumbling voice of his that sent a shiver down her spine.

Her cheeks warmed. She didn’t know where to begin. From the moment he’d shown up at the inn’s front door wearing an immaculately fitted black suit and carrying a dozen red roses every single minute had seemed like a fairytale.

“You got me to a restaurant with a wine list the size of a telephone book and no prices on the menu and made me love it. The food was amazing. And this …” She flicked a hand to indicate the linen-draped table set in an intimate alcove overlooking the Roaring Fork River and the landscaping beyond the window decorated with twinkling white lights. “I don’t know how you managed to get reservations on short notice when most people wait a month to get in, but this is so … perfect. The flowers, the wine, that decadent tiramisu … everything.”

He smiled a little, but he seemed tense. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I want nothing but the best for you. For us. From here on out.”

Her heart hiccupped at the serious look in his eyes. She swallowed. “What do you mean?”

Gavin reached across the table and captured her hand. Her pulse did its usual skip on contact. She loved the strength and gentleness of his hands and the warmth of his skin on hers. He caressed the heart of her palm with his thumb, stirring up a fizzy sensation low in her abdomen.

“Sabrina, I want to go to sleep with you in my arms like we did last night and wake up with in you in mine every morning.”

A thrill shot through her. At the same time, fear tickled her nape. But she’d promised herself seven months and she’d take it. A finite period of pleasure would be safe. But part of her—an itty bitty part—had begun to want more. She struggled to catch her breath. “I’d like that, too.”

His fingers tightened. “I don’t want to have to sneak around to be with you, and I don’t want to upset Henry. I respect him too much for that. Him catching me coming out of your room this morning made us all uncomfortable.”

Understatement of the year. Pops hadn’t said a word, but the tension had hung over them like a dark cloud all day. “I thought you were going back to your room as soon as I fell asleep.”

“You asked me to stay, and I didn’t have the strength to refuse.” Before she could correct him Gavin shifted, reaching into his suit coat pocket with his free hand and withdrawing a small black velvet box.

That couldn’t be what she thought it was.

“Marry me, Sabrina, then we can share as many nights like this as we want.” He flipped open the lid, revealing a pale blue stone set on a woven gold band.

She gasped. This couldn’t be happening. Not to her. She wasn’t ready.

“The stone reminded me of your eyes. Bright, clear and beautiful. And when the light catches it right, there’s an inner fire that ignites. From the moment I saw it, I knew it belonged on your finger and that I wanted to be the one to place it there.”

No one had ever said anything as romantic to her in her life. Her head reeled and her pulse pounded in her ears. She lifted a shaky hand to her chest. “It’s—Gavin, the ring is beautiful, but we haven’t even known each other a week.”

His gaze remained steadfast. “Long enough to know we’re as perfectly matched as two people will ever be.”

Wanting to say yes was wrong on so many levels, but the tiny word danced on the tip of her tongue. And that was crazy. It was too soon to make such a momentous decision. Hadn’t she sworn never to fall in love again because she didn’t think she could survive the hurt of losing someone special? And wasn’t Gavin still a rich guy?

But he is so much more than that, an insistent voice in her head argued. He’s fun and sexy and smart. He made her feel alive and special. She’d been wrong about him on so many levels. He didn’t act as if he were entitled to anything he wanted, and he didn’t treat her as if she was less worthy because she was less wealthy.

Stop it. Just say no. Or ask for more time.

But what if she did and she lost him forever? Was she willing to risk that? No. And what if this moment was the one that she’d remember for the rest of her life? She fought to clear her head and use logic. “We barely know each other.”

“Ask me anything.”

“I don’t even know you well enough to know what to ask. What about your job and your insistence on leaving Aspen?”

“I’ll make Aspen my home base. That way you can be here for Henry.”

“Where would we live?”

“For now, I have to live on Jarrod property.”

“I can’t leave Pops alone at night.”

“I’ll arrange for someone to stay with him.”

He made it sound so easy. “Why are you in such a rush?”

“I don’t want to miss another day with you.”

If a heart could actually melt, hers would be a soggy puddle beneath her feet right now. So much for her resistance to his charm.

“I’ll charter a plane and first thing in the morning we’ll fly to Vegas.”

Shock knocked her back in her chair. “Vegas?”

“In another week you’ll be too busy for a vacation. We’ll find a little chapel and get married and be back before Henry misses us.”

A cold rock settled in her stomach, squashing all her warm, fuzzy feelings. “You want to elope? Tomorrow?”

“Why wait?”

“We’re moving too fast.”

“Do you love me?”

The abrupt and unexpected question stunned her speechless. She’d been trying very, very hard not to let her mind wander down that dangerous, slippery path. Her stomach churned, and her thoughts swirled wildly. Did she love him? The weight of the answer settled on her like a cold blanket of heavy snow. “I—I am falling in love with you.”

He closed his eyes, squeezed her hand and inhaled long and slow. His emotional reaction to her confession touched her deeply. Then he met her gaze again with determination-filled eyes. “Marry me so we can be together.”

He hadn’t said he loved her back. But from what she’d learned of his childhood, of his mother’s death when he was four and his father’s overbearing nature, she suspected words of love wouldn’t come easily to Gavin. She’d have to work on that.

“Gavin, even if I accepted your proposal, I wouldn’t elope. I did that the first time.” The hand in her lap clenched and released. Should she tell him? Yes. If their relationship had a future, then it had to be based on total honesty.

“There’s something you need to know. The reason I was in such a hurry to get married the first time is because … because I was pregnant. I—I was still in high school when I found out. My parents gave me the ultimatum of getting rid of my baby or getting out of their house. In their circle, unmarried daughters didn’t have unplanned babies.” She searched his face, trying to read his reaction, but failed to see so much as a flicker of emotion.

“I told Russell, and when he came home from boot camp we eloped. I haven’t been home since. I went with him when he reported to Fort Bragg. I was angry at my parents for not being there for me when I needed them, and I didn’t tell them until after the ceremony, but I’ll always regret not inviting my grandparents. Pops and Grandma were hurt by my selfishness, and I won’t do that to Pops again, not after all he’s done for me.”

Gavin’s eyes filled with compassion. “What happened to your child?”

Loss welled in her chest. “I miscarried shortly after Russell was deployed. The doctors don’t know why. It just … happened. They said it shouldn’t happen again, but we didn’t try. We wanted to wait until Russell got out of the military. And then he—then he was gone.”

He gave her hand another squeeze. “You had to go through that alone?”

“Losing my baby, yes. But Pops was there for me after Russell.”

“I’m sorry. What about now? Do you want your parents at the ceremony?”

They wouldn’t care enough to take the time away from their precious university. “They’re probably too busy to fly out.”

“Then it will be just Henry and us.”

“What about your family?”

“That’s up to you. As far as I’m concerned, as long as you’re there I don’t need anyone else.”

Yet another of Cupid’s arrows scored a direct hit to her heart. Pops would be happy to know he was right when he’d told her that when the right one came along love would hit hard and fast. She hadn’t believed him. After all the pain she’d been through she’d believed herself immune to love. Apparently not. Her feelings for Gavin were far different from the slow-building affection she’d had with Russell.

“Could we wait a little while?”

“Would you be comfortable staying at my place every night until the wedding?”

She sighed. “No.”

“Do you really want to sleep alone?”

He did have a point. “I’d rather be with you.”

He removed the ring from the box and extended his hand, palm up. Tremors started deep in her belly. Why was she being such a coward when she could have more than she’d ever dreamed of—a passionate marriage to a man she loved and a chance to take care of Pops.

“Say you’ll marry me, Sabrina,” he encouraged without one hint of impatience. “On Monday we’ll get our marriage license, and I’ll set something up as soon as I can at the resort and we can be together. Possibly even as soon as Monday evening.”

Her lungs emptied. Her head spun. Her conscience said Slow down but her heart said Yes, yes, yes. She offered Gavin a trembling hand and met his dark gaze. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Gavin Jarrod. I want to be your wife and spend the rest of my life waking in your arms.”

He took her hand and slid the cool ring onto her finger, then kissed her knuckles. “Thank you.”

Teary-eyed, Sabrina stared at the ring—a symbol of the kind of happiness she’d never intended to allow herself again. “The stone is beautiful. What is it? A sapphire?”

“A blue diamond.”

Her heart went ka-bump. “Aren’t those incredibly rare?”

“Not as rare as you.”

The words added yet another fairy-tale twinkle to the evening. But a teensy part of her brain asked if a man who bought priceless blue diamonds would ever be happy with a plain-old-quartz kind of girl.

“Let’s go back to the inn and share our news and a bottle of champagne with Henry.”

Sabrina couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate except maybe in Gavin’s bed. But making love with her fiancé would have to wait.

The guilt knife twisted in Gavin’s gut every time Sabrina beamed a smile in his direction. She loved him.

And he didn’t deserve it.

But he couldn’t allow his feelings to show. Not with Henry watching him like a hungry hawk. Sabrina had already been through so much, her parents’ betrayal, losing her baby and then her husband. He had no right to pile more misery on her. But backing out of the deal now would hurt her more than sticking it out and letting her love slowly fade over time—as it undoubtedly would.

The inn’s phone rang. “I’ll get it,” Sabrina said and hustled down the hall.

Henry waited until she was out of the room to set down his champagne flute. “You’re determined to do this?”

“I make her happy.”

Henry’s snowy white head bobbed. “That you do. If not, I’d be calling off the whole deal despite my concern about her being alone after I’m gone. But I’ll be watching.”

“As you should be.”

“Don’t think that ring—no matter how much you paid for it—gives you carte blanche to anticipate your vows under my roof again.”

“I understand. We’ll have a private ceremony at Jarrod Ridge as soon as I can arrange it. I’m shooting for Monday.”

“Why not here?”

“Because if the marriage doesn’t work out, I don’t want Sabrina to have any bad memories attached to the Snowberry Inn.”

Henry grunted. Gavin didn’t know if the noise indicated approval or disapproval.

Sabrina returned. The confused, or maybe dazed was the right word, expression on her face, made him want to hug her—not a normal reaction for him. He wasn’t the hugging type.

“That was Samantha Jarrod. She said she’s your sister-in-law. I’ve been invited to a bridal shower for your sister Erica on the nineteenth.”

Blake must have said something to his new wife. Gavin’s family was already bringing Sabrina into the fold. Too late to back out now—even if he could find another way to get his hands on that land.

Her wedding day.

Sabrina paced inside the atrium at Jarrod Manor Monday afternoon, struggling to settle her rattled nerves and slow her breathing before she hyperventilated.

She needed to remind herself why she was rushing into marriage. But between shopping for a wedding dress and several walk-in guests at the inn, she’d only seen Gavin once over the weekend before this morning’s rushed trip to the Pitkin County clerk’s office for their marriage license.

So much for it being bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony on her wedding day.

Was she doing the right thing?

Her conscience had been screaming that question since Gavin had presented her with the prenuptial agreement Saturday evening. Signing the document had seemed like planning the end of her marriage before it began. But Gavin had explained she needed to protect her interest in the inn, and he needed to protect his siblings’ interests in Jarrod Ridge. Logically, everything he said made sense, but that didn’t mean it didn’t bother her.

To focus on something besides the emotional cauldron boiling in her belly she examined the location Gavin had chosen for their ceremony. She had to give him points for choosing a scenic setting.

The solarium with its vaulted ceiling had already been decorated for Christmas even though Thanksgiving was still weeks away. A massive Christmas tree decorated with red and white poinsettias and twinkling white lights dominated one end of the room, lending a festive air to what should be a simple exchange of vows officiated by one of her grandfather’s poker buddies—a retired judge. At the opposite end of the solarium a poinsettia and greenery-draped stone fireplace dominated the wall. And in the center of it all, a beautiful brass fountain shaped like the jagged mountains beyond the windows gurgled. Under other circumstances, she imagined that gurgle would be quite soothing.

Chilled, she made her way toward the crackling flames and held out her hands toward the heat. Light from the overhead chandelier caught the Colorado-blue-sky diamond of her engagement ring, revealing the inner fire Gavin had mentioned. She’d fallen in love with the ring the moment she’d seen it, but when she’d learned the blue of the stone happened to be Gavin’s favorite color she’d loved it even more. Finding a dress in the same hue felt as if destiny had stepped in to confirm her decision to marry a man she barely knew.

But that didn’t lessen her nervousness.

She swept a hand down the long satin skirt and shifted her shoulders in the sheer lace and beaded bolero jacket overlaying the strapless satin sweetheart top. The dress was a little lower cut than she was accustomed to wearing, showing the top curves of her breasts. She turned to let the flames warm the skin left bare by the deep V-back of the dress.

She hadn’t had a wedding dress when she’d married Russell. They hadn’t had the money for one.

Stop. Don’t think about Russell today.

The door opened, providing a much needed distraction, and Gavin strode in looking powerful and charismatic in his black suit, white shirt and blue-and-black-striped tie. He had a red rosebud in his lapel and one hand behind his back. Her heart quickened.

“Are you ready?”