How To Seduce An Heiress: The Reluctant Heiress / Pride After Her Fall / Project: Runaway Heiress

Should she let these brothers—these Delaney men—into her life?

She stopped painting to clean her brushes and then continued cleaning tables and doing housekeeping tasks she had put off. It was all she was suited for at the moment. Her concentration on her painting was poor with her thoughts continually returning to her conversation with Garrett. His words rang in her ears. I don’t want to lose you….

But he had lost her. She didn’t think there was any way she could forgive him for not telling her his purpose from the start. He had been as intimate as a man could be without revealing the truth about himself. That was what hurt most of all. It was the first time she had trusted totally, let go of her caution and doubts, and then found that the whole time she hadn’t known the truth about him or why he had wanted to meet her.

Take the money and give it to charity. Do some good with it. You don’t have to keep it or live on it.

Edgar had said the same in his own way. But she couldn’t see that she was hurting herself— She had no real need of the money.

You’re being stubborn and unreasonable about this—spiteful and hurtful for no reason.

Stubborn and unreasonable, spiteful and hurtful. Both Garrett and Edgar had accused her of being selfish.

She washed her hands and put away her brushes, going to her room to look at the letter from the Delaneys’ attorney.

You are not getting back at your father.

Was she wrong and both men were right? Would she have huge regrets?

She rubbed her forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. Everything had seemed so clear to her when it had first come up, but now she was beginning to wonder.

“Garrett,” she whispered, angry with him and missing him all at the same time. Garrett had caused her to rethink her feelings about relationships. Was she about to rethink the whole Delaney situation because of him? She rubbed her hands together in anguish.

Had Garrett gone back to Dallas now, to his life there?

Had there been a woman in his life already? Had his declaration that there wasn’t a woman been the truth—or another deceitful statement?

She spent a miserable, restless evening with little sleep that night. The next day, she got out the information from the Delaneys and their attorneys, and the copy of her father’s will, which told of the bequest and the conditions.

She sat at her desk and read, studying the legal documents in her quiet house, weighing possibilities that she thought she never would have considered.

Edgar always had her best interests at heart. He had backed Garrett, hoping Garrett could persuade her to take her legacy.

What she longed to do was see Garrett and talk to him. Facing the truth, she was shocked by her wish. When had Garrett become so important in her life? Could she forgive him? At the moment, she felt no inclination to do so. And even if she did, was he still angry with her? Garrett might not be forgiving. Her spirits sank lower. The pain of her argument with him was not only monumental, it kept growing.

She had never felt so lost in her entire life.

Friday night, for Edgar’s anniversary celebration at his gallery, Sophia dressed in a plain, long-sleeved black dress. The neckline dipped to her waist in the back and the skirt ended above her knees. Her hair was looped and piled on her head, held in place with combs. She remembered what Edgar had said about when she wore her hair knotted on her head, but she didn’t care. Tonight she felt better with her hair secured and fastened high.

Feeling numb, barely aware of what she was saying or the people present, she greeted old friends, talked briefly with people about different paintings and was pleased for Edgar that he had a good turnout.

Edgar appeared at her elbow in a gray suit with a pale blue tie that brought out the blue in his eyes. He looked his usual friendly self, as if their last conversation had never occurred.

“To anyone who doesn’t know you, you look as if you’re having a good time,” he said. “To me, you look as if you’re hurting. Sophia, you’ve made an appearance. You don’t have to stay.”

“I’m fine, Edgar. Thanks, though, for telling me I can go.”

“Have you thought over what I said to you?”

“Of course.”

“I won’t ask your conclusions. Have you seen Garrett?”

“Not at all. I haven’t talked to him or seen him this past week, which is what I told him I wanted. Whatever I do, Edgar, I do not intend to pursue a relationship with Garrett,” she said, thinking her words sounded hollow and false to her own ears.

“That decision is solely yours and I have no comments to make. I don’t usually interfere in your life.”

“No, you don’t, and I appreciate that as much as I appreciate the comments you make concerning my paintings and the art world.”

“Good. We’re getting another good turnout tonight.”

“You are. The flowers are beautiful,” she said, glancing around the room at baskets of flowers that held anniversary cards.

“Lots of people accepted my invitations and responded. We’ve sold two of your paintings and the evening is quite early.”

“That’s gratifying.”

“Are you still going to Santa Fe?”

“Probably, but I haven’t made arrangements yet.”

“Good. I think you should stay here this time of year.” He glanced around. “The crowd is growing. I’ll go greet the new arrivals.” He moved away and she walked along, greeting people she knew.

As she made her way through the gallery, she glanced toward the front door and her heart skipped. She looked into Garrett’s gray eyes and it was as if they were alone in the gallery. All noise, surroundings, people—everything faded from her awareness except him.

Seven

Without breaking eye contact, Garrett walked through the crowd toward her. In a dark suit and tie, he looked as handsome as ever and every inch the part of the wealthy, commanding executive. The closer he came, the more her heart pounded. With an effort she looked away, turning to gaze at a painting and keeping her back to him.

Her emotions seesawed from joy at the very sight of him to the familiar anger she had borne for nearly a week.

“Sophia.”

His deep voice sent electricity racing over her nerves. She turned to face him.

“Why are you here?” she asked. In spite of her simmering anger, her voice held a softer tone she couldn’t hide.

“I knew you’d be here. I received an invitation a while back from Edgar.”

“We have nothing to say,” she said stiffly and turned her back. Garrett stayed beside her.

“I have something to say. Have you thought about our conversation?”

“Of course I have. I’ve thought constantly about all of it, about what you said and what you did.”

“You can’t blame the Delaneys for trying to meet you. All they ask is a chance to talk with you. Frankly, they’re curious, too, about their half sister.”

“I have no curiosity whatsoever about meeting them. Particularly if any of them would remind me of my father,” she said, yet her words sounded hollow and empty. She clung to her old argument out of habit, but it was beginning to lose strength. Garrett had stepped in and changed her life.

“They’ll all remind you of him, just as you’ll remind them of him.”

She shot him a look as anger welled up. “That wasn’t what I wanted to hear.”

“Sophia, let go of your grudges and just give them a chance. You can give yours away and after a year on the Delaney board, if you still feel the way you do now and don’t like them, you can go on your way and never see them again. But if you give them a chance, I think you’ll find a family that you will grow to love.” He stepped closer and she turned away slightly.

“I sent you some brochures and annual reports. You’ll see all the good the Delaney Foundation is doing. That all started when Will stepped in. Argus built that fortune, but Will and his brothers are the ones who have put Delaney money to many good uses. If you cooperate, more wealth can be poured into charitable causes, good causes that Argus never gave a dime to. That is sweet revenge right there, Sophia.”

She looked up to meet his gaze.

“Spend Argus’s money in a manner he never did,” he urged.

Without commenting, she moved on to look at another grouping of pictures and was aware that Garrett followed, moving close beside her. She detected his aftershave, a scent that triggered unwanted, painful memories of being with him. Memories that tormented her.

“I’m glad you’ve thought about our conversation. If you change your mind, let me set up a meeting. I’ll fly you to Dallas and back whenever you want. Or if you prefer, any or all of them will come to Houston and meet whenever and wherever you want.”

“Garrett,” she said, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. “If I decide to see them, I will not go through you. As I already said, I don’t want to see you or talk to you again,” she said. Even as the words left her mouth, she remembered Edgar’s warning that she was letting go of a good man.

“Have you once thought about if our situations had been reversed? What would you have done?”

Startled again, she glanced up and looked away, clamping her jaw closed and refusing to answer.

“I didn’t think so,” he stated. “I didn’t have to tell you who I work for or anything else when I did. I voluntarily told you when you knew nothing about it.”

“That doesn’t win you any points. I still feel deceived. I trusted you in the ultimate way, which I wish I could undo or at least forget.”

A muscle worked in his jaw and his gray eyes seemed to consume her. Her pulse raced and even as she was lashing out at him because she hurt, she remembered his kisses too well.

“I’m sorry you feel that way. I don’t. I can’t forget and I’d never want to undo the moments we spent together.”

She should stop him or walk away—anything to reject him—but she couldn’t move, trapped in his compelling gaze. His focus shifted to her mouth and she couldn’t get her breath. In spite of her anger with him, there was no way to forget his kisses. She grew hotter with fury because she could not stop reacting to him physically.

Taking a deep breath, she turned away, breaking the mesmerizing spell. She moved on, no longer seeing him in her peripheral vision. Finally, she couldn’t keep from looking. When she glanced around he was gone.

Her first reaction of disappointment stirred a surge of anger. She should be glad he had left. She tried to forget him, but it was impossible. Feeling unhappy and forlorn, she gathered her things and left without interrupting Edgar, who was talking to people.

At home, she sank in a chair. Her unhappiness grew, settling on her like a dense fog that shut out everything else. Garrett had looked so handsome tonight. She thought of being in his arms, the shared laughter and the passionate moments. She reminded herself that she was not in love with him, but she still felt betrayed. Impatiently, she changed clothes and went to her studio, pouring herself into her work, trying to shut out memories and longing. But once again, she had to stop because she was doing a poor job, ruining what had started as a satisfactory painting.

She spent the weekend in misery, with Garrett’s arguments constantly nagging her. Everything he had said, Edgar had echoed. She had always tied the Delaney sons to their father, but they’d simply ended up with him, too, through no fault of their own, just as Garrett had pointed out.

Monday morning the brochures and reports Garrett had sent arrived in the mail. Clipped to the annual report was an envelope. She opened it to shake out the contents.

Snapshots fell on the table. She couldn’t keep from looking at them as they tumbled out of the envelope and she saw the Delaney brothers. And there were pictures of the little girl, Caroline.

Sophia’s insides clutched and she drew a deep breath. She picked up each picture, starting with one of Caroline. In a pink sundress, she had a huge smile and held a furry white dog in her arms. Sophia set aside the picture and picked up one of four men smiling at the camera. She recognized Will from the picture Garrett had showed her.

She stared at all of them. She bore the most resemblance to the two older brothers, Will and his deceased brother, Adam. For a while she pored over them before setting them aside and pulling out an annual report to start reading. A lot of money was going to help Dallas schools and parks, autistic children, medical research, various university scholarships. There was a long list.

Next, Sophia pulled out the will and read, seeing what would occur if they did not claim their legacies. It was a clear paragraph in which Argus stated that each inheritance would go to the church Argus attended and to the city for art projects—both worthy charities, but that money could do so much more if she cooperated with the Delaneys.

Rubbing her forehead, Sophia continued to think. When she considered meeting with them, should it be one or all of them? Would she feel overwhelmed by them? She could request they meet in Houston where she was at home. When the possibility began to overwhelm her, she went to her studio to inventory her paints and repair a broken chair, trying to think about something else, but she kept seeing the picture of Will and Caroline—the two people who looked the most like her.

Would it hurt to fly to Dallas and meet them? In spite of her anger with Garrett and what she had said to him, she imagined telling Garrett she would go with him. Even though she didn’t want to go back to the relationship she’d had with Garrett, she knew she would feel better if he was with her.

She shook her head. She couldn’t do it and she wanted to spend more time thinking about it.

In the late afternoon Edgar called to ask her to dinner.

“Thank you,” she replied, smiling faintly. “But I don’t want another lecture on why I should see the Delaneys. I think I’ll pass, Edgar.”

“Sophia, you and I go way back. I feel like a father to you. Whatever you decide, I do not want it to come between us.”

“It won’t as far as I’m concerned. But you may be unhappy with my decision.”

“I’ll live with whatever you decide. I really have your best interests at heart, though.”

“I know you do,” she replied with a sigh. “I’ve been giving it consideration today.”

“Excellent news. Somehow I thought you would eventually let reason take charge. Usually you’re quite levelheaded and sensible, and I expected the moment to come when you could stand back and see what you’re doing here.”

“Edgar, I’m getting the lecture again.”

“All right, I apologize. If you don’t want dinner, I’ll try again another time. But don’t go flying off to Santa Fe. Running isn’t going to help on this one.”

“All right, I’ll bear your suggestion in mind.”

“‘Bye, Sophia.”

She put away her phone and gazed into space. She didn’t feel like eating. The sun slanted in the western sky and in another hour twilight fell. With it her spirits sank and nothing could get her mind off the Delaneys—and Garrett. She thought about the time she had spent with him, going back over their moments together, their lovemaking. Had he really cared about her? Or had it been a tactic he used while he tried to get close to her for his own purposes?

Even though his deception hurt badly, she missed him and his dynamic personality. Her life had been different with him, more exciting even through the most ordinary moments.

Have you once thought about if our situations had been reversed? What would you have done? His words had echoed continually in her memory. If she had been the one to try to get to know him with secret intentions, would she have had the same kind of reaction?

Had Edgar been right—was she making a mistake she would regret forever? Worse, had her anger with Garrett been misplaced? Had he been working toward a solution that would help them all, including her?

Garrett flew home Monday morning and went to see Will in the afternoon. Entering Will’s office, Garrett carried a wrapped package under his arm. He crossed the room to place it on Will’s desk.

“What’s that?”

“It’s for you, from me.”

Will gave Garrett a puzzled, searching look and picked up the package to open it while Garrett settled in a leather chair across from the desk.

He tossed aside wrappings and paper and lifted out a painting in a simple wooden frame. “Garrett, this is excellent.”

“It’s one of hers. Now I don’t have to tell you that she is truly talented—you can see for yourself.”

“Damn, I’ll say. This is a great picture. Looks like Santa Fe.”

“It probably is.”

“I’ll put it here in the office. Give me a sales slip and you don’t need to bear the expense.”

“Forget it. It’s a gift. Of course, she knows nothing about it.”

“Yeah, too bad,” Will said. His smile faded as he set the picture on a nearby table and then picked up the wrapping to dispose of it in the trash. He sat and faced Garrett.

“I did my best, Will. Sorry I didn’t come back with Sophia.”

“We all know you did what you could. What do you think? Any chance she’ll appear?”

“I don’t think there is, but she was taken aback when I showed her your picture with Caroline and told her this was Caroline’s future inheritance, too.”

“She must have really hated the old man. He didn’t abuse any of us, he just ignored us until we were young adults. Even then, it was never a deep relationship. But once I started in this business that all changed.”

“From what I could glean her anger toward him came mostly from him ignoring her. And she’s angry over how much he hurt her mother. He merely liked her mother, but her mother always loved him.”

“I don’t know where we go from here.”

“I’ll think about it. In the meantime, keep hope alive because I sent her annual reports and brochures about the companies. I sent a few family pictures. I’ve said a lot to her that she can’t keep from thinking about.”

“Good. Maybe your efforts will pay off.”

“It may be Caroline who does it.”

“I don’t care how it comes about, but we’d all like to know her. We’d like to have her in the family, which is where she belongs. Give her time and then you can try again.”

“Next time, Will, get someone else. She’s made it clear she doesn’t want to deal with me.”

“Garrett, sorry if this job assignment interfered—” Will started.

Garrett shook his head. “I’m ready to start catching up here. If you want me, I’ll be in my office.”

As Garrett stood, Will came to his feet. “Garrett, we all appreciate what you did for us. Time will tell. It may be too soon to judge.”

“Even though she hasn’t yielded on this, she’s a great person. She’s a very talented artist. I bought five paintings, including yours. I liked her.”

“Evidently you had something going with her and this killed it. I’m sorry for that.”

Garrett shrugged. “She was happy to tell me goodbye.”

He walked out, feeling as if his story with Sophia was now officially over. He went back to his office in long strides and closed the door, crossing to his desk to start on the backlog of email. He only got through two before he stopped to pull out his phone and retrieve the picture of Sophia in the snow. His insides clenched as he looked at her picture. Memories engulfed him of that night and that moment when he could not resist kissing her.

He ached for her. Realizing where his thoughts were going, he put away his phone and concentrated on trying to catch up on work that had piled up while he had been away. But all through the day, memories of Sophia were distractions. His thoughts would drift to her and then when he realized he was lost in reminiscence and forgetting his work, he would try to focus.

Wednesday night, when he returned home from work, Garrett swam laps and worked out before going to his room to shower. As he dressed, he pulled on sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Glancing at a bedside table, he picked up the delicate gold bracelet he had given Sophia. He turned it in his hand, remembering it on her wrist. He recalled the moment she had thrown it at him. With a sigh, he laid it back on the table.

He wasn’t hungry so he skipped dinner and went to his workshop to start building a rocking chair, sawing and losing himself in the labor, finding a respite from memories for a short time only to stop working to think about her.

He shook his head and returned to building the chair, a task that at any other time in his life would have given him real pleasure. But not now, not tonight.

Thursday came and he hadn’t talked to Will about Sophia since Monday. She apparently had held to her original decisions and his disappointment was heavy. As he sat in his office, his cell phone beeped. He glanced at the number and frowned, growing nervous and curious. He touched it to say hello and heard Sophia’s voice.

“Good morning,” he said cautiously, hope flaring.

He struggled to keep from speculating on the reason for her call.

“You win, Garrett,” she said, and he closed his eyes. Just her voice made his heart thud. He wanted to see her and be with her to such an extent it took a second for her message to register. His eyes flew open.

“How’s that?” he asked, holding his breath.

“I’ve decided that I will meet with the Delaneys.”

Relief swamped him, and along with it, his yearning to be with her intensified. “Sophia, you won’t regret it,” he said. “I’ll arrange the meeting wherever you want.”

There was silence and his heart drummed as she hesitated. “I’d like you to come with me. This is not something I expected to be doing and I don’t want to meet them alone.”

“Of course I’ll go with you if that’s what you want. How about Saturday evening for dinner, if that gives Zach time to get back from wherever he is?”

“Whatever you work out,” she said in a quiet, forlorn voice that didn’t sound like her. “I haven’t decided what I’ll do, but I will talk to them. I would prefer to avoid having attorneys present for this meeting. This is just to meet and get acquainted.”

“That’s all I asked. Then it will be between you and the Delaneys. I don’t think you’ll be sorry. You’re doing the right thing—the unselfish thing.”

“We’ll see.”

“You can stay at my house. We can keep out of each other’s way. If that doesn’t suit you, I know you can stay at Will’s.”

“I’ll stay at your house,” she replied, surprising him.

“Excellent. How about flying Saturday early afternoon?”

“That’s fine.”

“I’ll pick you up at one. It’ll take little more than an hour to get here.”

“I know.”

“Sophia, thanks,” he said, meaning it, his heart racing with joy, relief and longing. He would see her in two days. “I’ll be glad to see you.”

“I’ll see you Saturday,” she said. Noncommittal words spoken in a noncommittal tone. Was she still angry? Or did staying with him mean she might give him another chance? He had no idea what to make of her tone or her plans. “My house at one.”

“That’s great. The Delaneys will be overjoyed that you’ve agreed to meet them. And, Sophia, I’ll be glad to see you. I’ve missed you.”

“We’ll see each other Saturday,” she said in the same noncommittal tone.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “See you soon.”

“‘Bye, Garrett.”

She was gone. His pulse raced. He tried to curb his excitement because it was a baby step in the right direction, but not a commitment.

Saturday. Eagerness lifted his spirits.

He called Will on his cell. Before Will could even say hello, Garrett spoke. “I just had a call from Sophia, Will. I’m picking her up Saturday afternoon at one, and you all can meet with her Saturday night. I figured it would be easiest to do this over a dinner because it will be more relaxed than meeting in an office.”