A Lover's Vow

“The day is almost over,” he added after getting no response from her. His voice had shifted to a smooth yet husky tone, sending shivers up her arm. “We pulled it off, being on our best behavior and all, so I thought I’d come over and say hello.”

She was tempted to tell him what he could do with his hello. Instead, she took a sip of her wine to help fight off the sensuous dominance radiating off him. It took every ounce of fortitude she had to hold his gaze, pretending nonchalance when she was so aware of him. Her body’s reaction to him made her livid with him as well as with herself. “I can’t believe your audacity,” she said in a low, cutting tone.

His smile was slow and seductive. “Yeah, I do have balls, don’t I?”

Now why did he go there? Her gaze lowered to the area below his well-proportioned waist. He had an incredible masculine build that not only made her speculate about his balls but also about every single inch of him. She snatched her focus back to his face and watched his eyes darken at the same time his mouth spread into one of those gotcha smiles. He’d realized what she’d been thinking when her gaze had dropped.

“Look, Dalton,” she said in a stern voice, while trying not to make a scene. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I don’t like you.”

He chuckled, and instead of irking her, the sound sent a small quiver humming up her spine. “Then that makes us even, Jules, because I don’t like you, either.”

* * *

Although he might not like her, he did want her, Dalton admitted, staring at her with an intensity he hoped she found unnerving. He could envision all the things he would do to her if he ever got the chance. She was the cause of many sleepless nights and the loss of his peace of mind. Even worse, she was stopping him from desiring other women. Whenever he saw Jules, her level of femininity struck a blow to his libido, mainly because what he saw in her was something he would never get.

Bullshit.

He refused to acknowledge she was different from any other woman he saw, wanted and got. He knew women, could read them like a book. Although he would be the first to admit there were a few of Jules’s chapters he’d rather skip. The bottom line was that she wanted him, probably just as much as he wanted her. She could pretend otherwise. She could fight it. She could even deny it. But a woman’s scent didn’t lie. She wore Amarige like no other woman, and the way it mingled with her body’s chemistry was so damned mind-blowingly hot, like some aphrodisiac that was drugging him senseless, making him act like a boor when he should be a gentleman. It was revving up his sexual awareness of her, and he was convinced the feeling was mutual.

“Since our total dislike for each other has been established, why are you here, in my face?” she asked, cutting into his thoughts like a sharp knife.

She hadn’t seen anything yet, he thought, leaning in closer to that same face, breathing against her ear as if he were about to let her in on a little secret. In a way, he was. “I like riling you, like seeing you flustered and all hot and bothered. I can tell, although you might deny it. I could remedy things easily, to both our liking. I could put smiles on our faces that could last a lifetime. The animosity between us ends here if you come home with me tonight.”

There was a brief moment of silence. “Dalton?”

“Yes?” He’d heard a catch in her voice. Why did it have to sound sensuous, so unbearably sexy, causing his breathing to stop as he hung on, waited in lustful anticipation for her response?

“Go fuck yourself.”

Those three words had been whispered low but spoken clearly, direct, definitely matter-of-fact, no holds barred. His eyes narrowed as anger ran up his spine. Instinctively, he took a step back, refusing to let what she’d said affect him. And he rejected the idea that the strange tight feeling in the middle of his chest meant anything. Her snubs were becoming commonplace, like oil rolling off his back, because in the end, they would make her capitulation that much sweeter.

He pulled back and smiled down at her, saying with none of the calm he actually felt, “I’d rather do you than myself. Sorry you’re missing the opportunity.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not missing any opportunity, trust me. And—”

The clapping of hands drowned out her next words. They both turned when Jace and Shana appeared holding hands. They had changed into traveling clothes. It was time for them to leave on their honeymoon—two weeks on the beaches in Cape Town, South Africa.

Dalton shifted his gaze from the smiling couple and back to Jules. She was still looking at Jace and Shana with genuine happiness on her face. But he saw beyond her happiness for her sister and his brother. She was clearly not a romantic at heart, and he’d picked up on her cynicism a few times. They thought alike in some ways, and Dalton figured that if given a chance, they would set a bedroom on fire. He would see to it. But there were a few things about Jules he was determined to find out. Unravel. Sink his teeth into. And then he would sink his body into hers. Make her scream. Holler. Bite him a few times. Come unglued and put an end to this shitty attitude she wore like a suit of armor. The thought of taking her on in the bedroom made a tingling sensation spread through him. Right now she was made of ice, and he couldn’t wait to see her melt.

“You’re a difficult person, Jules Bradford.”

She glanced at him, her smile gone. “You’re still here? I thought you would have seized the opportunity to leave.”

“With my tail tucked between my legs? No woman will ever drive me to such madness.”

“Really? And as far as my being a difficult person, I disagree. I just refuse to tolerate bullshit.”

He leaned in closer again. “Then I don’t understand why we don’t get along, since I refuse to tolerate bullshit, either.” He straightened and smiled down at her. “See you around, Juliet.”

And then he walked away.

Two

“Do you ever get the feeling you’re being followed?”

Caden Granger glanced up from the file he was reading and watched his brother Dalton walk into his office to plop down in the chair across from his desk. He figured it was going to be one of those days. When Jace had left for his honeymoon, he had deliberately assigned Dalton projects guaranteed to keep him busy. Now that the two-week honeymoon was over, Jace was back and Dalton...was being Dalton.

“No, can’t say that I have,” Caden said, leaning back against his chair. “But if you are being followed, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Dalton pursed his lips in a hard line. “Why would you say that?”

“Because I’m your brother. I know you. You’ve probably pissed somebody off. A jealous husband, perhaps?”

Dalton glowered. “I don’t do wives, so there shouldn’t be any husbands out for blood.” He paused a moment and said. “Unless...”

Caden lifted a brow. “Unless what?”

“Nothing.”

The single word was spoken too quickly, and Caden eyed his brother speculatively. “Well, if you’re not worried about jealous husbands, then maybe Jules Bradford has put a hit out on you.”

The edge of a wry smile appeared on Dalton’s lips. “If I haven’t put one out on her first.”

Caden rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”

Dalton nodded. “Seriously.”

“I meant that as a joke.”

Dalton shrugged broad shoulders. “Can’t say the same.”

“Then you have issues. And, from the sound of it, they are rejection issues.”

The smile dropped from Dalton’s face. “I can handle rejection, Caden. What I can’t and won’t tolerate is a woman who tries to play me.”

“Play you?”

“Yes. Play games with me.”

“Is that what she did?”

“Hell, yes. That night she brushed me off, but then told me to find her. So I did. I hired a private investigator to find her, and when I did, she acted all shitty, like my finding her was no big deal, and she didn’t want to be bothered when she knew the score. I found her for a reason.”

“And that reason?”

Now it was Dalton who rolled his eyes. “Damn it, you know the reason, and she did, too. I found her, and she didn’t deliver. Her entire attitude sucked. And then she showed up at that club a second time just to remind me about what I wasn’t getting.”

Caden didn’t say anything for a long moment. He knew his brother. He was still hot behind the collar about an incident that happened a few months ago. Dalton took holding a grudge to a whole other level. Unfortunately, the woman he loathed was Shana’s sister.

He drew in a deep breath, glad that Jace was back from his honeymoon and would be coming into the office tomorrow. There was only so much of Dalton that Caden could handle at times. When he, Jace and Dalton had left Charlottesville years ago for college, all three had sworn never to return permanently, only for visits. Having their father charged with their mother’s death years earlier had left deep scars. After college, Jace had settled in LA and worked for the state of California as an attorney; Caden had pursued his dream of making it big in the music industry. His love for his saxophone had earned him his first Grammy at twenty-seven. He’d spent most of his time touring the country and playing his sax to sold-out crowds. And as for Dalton, after a stint in the NFL, he left the US for Europe and made a name for himself as a playboy and boy toy. Because of good investment decisions, Dalton was the one who’d become the billionaire. The one who believed a person should work smarter, not harder. And the one who liked to whine about practically anything. Like he was doing right now.

The three of them had returned to Charlottesville when their grandfather, Richard Granger, had suffered a fatal heart attack. What they hadn’t counted on was making a deathbed promise to him to take over the family business, Granger Aeronautics. They hadn’t expected a failing company, one deep in the red. But they had made the promise and rolled up their sleeves. Hiring Shana’s crisis management firm had been the smartest decision they could have made. She’d discovered employees divulging trade secrets and helped expose someone they thought was a family friend as a killer.

“Caden, are you listening to me?”

No, he wasn’t really. But he knew he should. This issue Dalton had with Jules wasn’t good and could cause lots of problems in the long run. “Yes, I’m listening,” he lied. “You were talking about Jules. Let’s look at this logically for a moment, Dalton. Have you considered the possibility that when you did find Jules that you came on a little too strong? That maybe you were too focused on what you expected? You probably walked into her office with a hard-on.” The look that suddenly appeared on Dalton’s face let Caden know he’d guessed correctly.

“So what if I did? Like I said, she knew the score,” Dalton countered.

“And you would have taken her right there in her office.”

Dalton shrugged unashamedly. “I had no problem doing that. It would have saved time.”

Caden shook his head. It was hard to believe the audacity of his brother at times. As the youngest Granger, Dalton had grown up spoiled and pampered...especially by their mother. Things came easily for him, at times too easily. As a result, he often had an air of entitlement about him. “And you assumed she would feel the same way you did?”

“Don’t see why not. She did challenge me to find her. Besides, spontaneity is the spice of life, Caden. But I wouldn’t expect you to understand that. You’ve been living in Shilohville for too long.”

A smile couldn’t help but touch Caden’s lips. “And what does Shiloh have to do with this?”

“Admit it. You’ve loved your wife forever, even when you were kids and didn’t know what love was. Granted, the two of you were apart for a few years, thanks to her bastard of a father, but you never hired anyone to find her. You didn’t go to bed every night dreaming about what you would do to her when you did. You never—”

“Okay, Dalton, I get the picture, although I don’t agree with everything you’re saying. No man should expect a woman to put out on their first date. Hell, it wasn’t even a date. You just showed up at her office. I can just imagine how surprised she was to see you there.”

“She should have known I would eventually find her. She should have expected it, and she should have been ready—definitely more accommodating. Instead, she all but gave me her ass to kiss, and for that reason...”

Caden listened as Dalton continued with his tirade; coming out with crap he hoped like hell his brother would regret saying later. One thing was for certain; Jules Bradford had pissed him off big-time, ruffled a few of those manly feathers. He wouldn’t be surprised if she had been the first woman to do so, definitely to this degree.

“I happen to like Jules,” he broke in to say. When Dalton gave him a look that was sharper than glass, he added, “After all, she did find out who tried to kill me. And it didn’t take her much time to do it.”

“Fine. Shana’s Wonder Woman, your wife is the Wine Lady and Jules is Miss Whirlwind. If she hadn’t figured things out, someone else would have.”

“Not me, for sure,” Caden said, remembering the period of time he was trying like hell to forget.

“Then you owe her. I don’t,” Dalton said, easing out of the chair.

“Shana’s dinner party this weekend should be interesting with both you and Jules there.”

Dalton glanced over at Caden. “No, it won’t be, because I don’t plan to attend.”

Caden frowned. “Why?”

“We just discussed it. I tolerated Jules’s presence at the rehearsal and the wedding, but I’ll be damned if I’ll be in the same room with her again when I don’t have to.”

“But this will be Shana’s first dinner party that she’ll be hosting as a Granger.”

“Won’t be her last. Maybe she should have stayed a Bradford.”

Caden just stared at Dalton. He knew that although Dalton wouldn’t admit it, he liked Shana a lot. And he probably disliked her sister just as much. “At some point, you and Jules need to forget the past and move on. Shana is her sister, and Jace is your brother.”

“So?”

“So you’re both driving us all crazy. And since she probably dislikes you as much as you dislike her, I can just imagine what Shana is dealing with.”

“Not my problem. Like I said, I won’t be coming.”

“Now that Jace has married Shana, we’re all practically family.”

“Like hell. That’s like saying that now you’re married to Wine Lady, your in-laws are family, as well. There’s no way Sandra Timmons or Dr. Sedrick Timmons will ever be considered family to me.”

Caden didn’t say anything for a moment because he was finding it hard to consider them family, too. “I hope that you reconsider coming on Saturday night, Dalton. It would mean a lot to Jace and Shana if you did.”

Dalton shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “If they feel that way, then I hate to disappoint them. But I will have to.” He glanced at his watch again. “I have a meeting with my security team. I’ll see you later.” He turned to leave.

“Wait. When you came into my office, you said you thought you were being followed.”

Dalton turned back around. “I’m sure I’m just imagining things. Both you and Jace recently came within an inch of losing your lives, so I’m starting to get a little paranoid. And I don’t like it worth a damn.”

* * *

An hour later, Dalton entered his own office at Granger Aeronautics, the company his great-grandfather, Sutton Granger, had founded. He was sure that when the old man had done so, he’d believed he was starting a legacy for all Grangers to follow. And they had for a while. As expected, his grandfather, Richard, had followed in Sutton’s footsteps, and Dalton’s own father, Sheppard, had done likewise, working beside Richard to build a dynasty to pass on to his three sons—Jace, Caden and Dalton.

There was no doubt in Dalton’s mind that things would have continued that way if his mother, Sylvia, hadn’t been murdered, and his father arrested for the crime. Jace had been sixteen, Caden fourteen and Dalton only twelve. His mother’s death had hit him hard, but his father’s imprisonment had been even harder. Neither he nor his brothers believed their father capable of killing their mother, but a jury had found him guilty and sentenced him to thirty years.

Dalton drew in a deep breath. Instead of sitting down at his desk and diving into some of the emails that were mounting up, he walked over to the window and looked out. Nice view, although he thought the ones seen from Jace’s and Caden’s windows were better. Every once in a while, he enjoyed ribbing them about that.

He stood there a moment, staring out the window and remembering his conversation with Caden. Leave it to Caden to bring out Jules’s one redeeming quality. She was a private investigator and was good at her job. So what? Maybe he did owe her for that, just like he owed Shana for her part in saving Jace’s life. Shit, he didn’t like owing anyone anything. But he did love his brothers, and the thought of anything ever happening to them was too much to think about.

And it was time for him to pay his father a visit. Jace had gone to see him right before the wedding, and Caden had gone just last week. Caden said their father had asked about him. Dalton needed to go before his father got some crazy idea about why he hadn’t been visiting.

In a way, Dalton felt guilty. He’d known about his mother’s affair with another man, but he’d never told his dad. He’d been only eleven when he’d found out, and Sylvia had sworn him to secrecy. That had been a huge secret for any kid to carry around, but he loved both of his parents. He often wondered whether his parents would have divorced had Dalton told his father about the affair. Then he could have gone his way, and she could have gone hers and...

Dalton shook his head. With those thoughts, one would assume he believed his father was responsible for his mother’s death, and that a divorce might have spared her life. That wasn’t the case, since he knew his father was innocent, and that he’d already spent fifteen years behind bars for a crime he hadn’t committed.

Dalton and his brothers had fulfilled one of their grandfather’s deathbed promises, and now it was time for them to take care of the other. They needed to find out who had really killed their mother so their father could finally be freed.

He moved away from the window to sit down at his desk. The first thing he needed to do was to call Shana and thank her for the invitation to dinner this weekend and let her know he wasn’t coming. Knowing Shana, she wouldn’t ask why, but she would know the reason. The bottom line was that he didn’t have to put up with anyone he didn’t want to put up with and, at the moment, her sister topped his list.

A couple of weeks ago at Jace’s wedding, he’d considered putting a plan in place to play Jules the same way she’d played him. Although that idea wasn’t completely off the table, he didn’t want to have anything to do with Jules for the time being.

Go fuck yourself. She had a lot of damned nerve. No woman had dared ever tell him something like that. He knew he needed to get her out of his mind because, honestly, Jules Bradford really wasn’t important. What he needed to spend his time doing was concentrating on the important business at hand, namely, Granger Aeronautics, and finding his mother’s real killer.

Jace would be back in the office tomorrow, and Dalton intended to meet with both him and Caden to discuss strategies about the latter issue. Getting their dad out of prison was the most important thing on his mind.

Three

Jules slid her car into the first available parking spot in front of the condo where Dalton lived. She called herself all kinds of fool for being here, even though she knew it was necessary if she wanted to talk to Dalton. He’d never answer his phone if he saw her name on the caller ID. “It’s not about you,” she muttered to herself. “It’s about your love for Shana—that’s the only thing that could make you even think about putting up with this bullshit.”

She and Shana were two years apart and had always had a close relationship. Shana had been just months from turning fifteen and Jules thirteen when their mother had died of pancreatic cancer thirteen years ago. Their father had raised them alone while working as a police detective in Boston. He had retired a few years ago, wanting a quiet life, and had decided to settle in Charlottesville, the place where he and his wife had met while attending college. Jules had been the first to follow their father to Charlottesville, where she established a private investigation firm. Shana had relocated to Charlottesville a few years later.

The three of them always managed to do things together, even when Jules’s busy work schedule took her out of town, as it often did. But things were somewhat different now. Shana was married, and Jace was now the main planet in her universe, which meant he would be taking up a lot of her sister’s time. And Ben was involved with Mona, something Jules knew she had to get used to. Mona was the first woman her father had been seriously involved with since her mother died, and he rightly deserved to be happy.

She had called Shana earlier today to welcome her back to town and to find out how the honeymoon had gone...like it would have been anything but great. During the conversation, Shana reminded her about Saturday night, which would be the first dinner party she would give as Jace’s wife. Shana was excited but somewhat disappointed, because she had gotten a call from Dalton saying he wouldn’t be coming. No one had to figure out the reason behind that decision.

What Jules loved most about her big sister was that at no time did she try to make her feel guilty because Jace’s brother wanted to act like an ass. Shana knew the whole story, from start to finish, and refused to take sides. In fact, she wouldn’t give her opinion one way or the other, even when Jules had asked for it.

But still, Jules knew that Dalton’s refusal to come to dinner was a letdown, although Shana tried not to show it. Her sister didn’t deserve that. She deserved better than having Dalton Granger as a brother-in-law.

And Jules felt that she herself deserved better than having to come here, seeking him out to talk about it. Why she was even wasting her time, she wasn’t sure. History had shown on more than one occasion the man had a one-track mind. He had this entitlement complex that needed to be knocked down more than a few notches. All they ever did when they were within five feet of each other was argue. Dalton Granger brought out the worst in her. Most of the time, intentionally. But at least she could try to convince him that it wasn’t about him and her, but about Jace and Shana. They didn’t need their siblings on the warpath. For Jace’s and Shana’s sakes, they should try to at least be civil to each other. They’d almost succeeded during the wedding weekend. Had almost made it to the end, but of course, he’d felt the need to rattle her, piss her off big-time. And what made her even madder was that she’d let him. Why did he have the ability to get under her skin?

She killed the ignition of her car and sat there a moment. She didn’t see him or that red two-seater sports car he drove around town. But she felt something. The air surrounding her seemed to be spiked with intensity. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was invading his space. And now it seemed as if his space were invading her.

How could that indescribable masculine aura that seemed to cling to him surround her now, even when he was nowhere to be seen? But it didn’t take much to remember how he’d looked at the wedding. The visual suddenly shot heat up the full length of her spine, making her hot inside.

Jules refused to believe her sudden rise in body temperature had anything to do with Dalton. After all, he was just a man. But she would admit he had this predator side that was powerful at times, almost overwhelming. Of course, she staunchly refused to let that happen, although the very idea sent a shiver through her body. That quiver prompted her to turn the car’s ignition back on to generate some heat. It was October, and there was a definite chill in the air. Everyone had begun wearing overcoats weeks ago and was anticipating the season’s first snowstorm before the end of the month.