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“I guess I can see your point. But still…”
“No buts. If I do this, I’m not only letting myself be exploited, I’m letting my daughter be exploited. And I’ve got to protect Rayna at all costs.”
There was a soft sigh on the other end of the line. “I didn’t think about that. Still, it’s pretty cool that a producer wants to make a movie about your life, even if it’s not going to happen.”
“I guess,” I agreed noncommittally.
“So what’s going on with Debbie?” Alaina asked, referring to the ownership of the agency. “Is she still screwing Jason?”
“Actually, I’m not sure about that. She hasn’t mentioned him, so maybe that’s a good sign. I hope it means she’s decided to stop her affair and concentrate on her family.”
“You never know with Debbie.” Debbie and I had been friends since I’d started working for her, but we didn’t see eye to eye about her affair.
“This is true. Other than that, nothing much new here. Other than we all miss you and can’t wait for you to return.”
“I’m hoping next week. The doc says my ribs should be healed by then.” Alaina paused. “But enough about me. How’s Lewis?”
At the mention of his name, my stomach tightened. Not exactly the appropriate reaction, considering he was my fiancé.
“He’s all right. I guess.”
“You guess?” Alaina asked. “Haven’t you spoken to him?”
“We’ve talked.”
“When was the last time?” Alaina asked, her tone saying she didn’t believe me.
“A couple days ago.”
“Mmm-hmm. Are you avoiding your fiancé?”
“No.” And I didn’t like the way Alaina had said fiancé— as though she were mocking me.
“When are you gonna tell him?” she asked.
“Tell him what?”
“That you don’t want to marry him.”
“I—” I stopped abruptly, unsure what to say. I had accepted Lewis’s engagement ring, which had been part and parcel of his offer to help me come up with enough cash to get Tassie off of my back.
Lewis’s proposal had trapped me between a rock and a hard place. I wanted—no, needed—his help. But I didn’t quite know how to ask for his financial help and turn down his proposal. I’d loved Lewis once, but he had been a total player. I couldn’t have been more surprised when he told me he’d help me with my Tassie problem—and then had proposed.
According to Lewis, he knew now that he loved me and that I was the only woman for him. He was done with his cheating ways and wanted to make a life with me.
“Vanessa?”
“Oh, sorry. What did you say?”
“I’ll take that as a no,” Alaina said.
“Ally, you know I love talking to you, but I’ve got a ton of work on my desk.”
“You can’t avoid this issue forever. Pretty soon, Lewis is going to start talking about setting a wedding date, and if you don’t love him, don’t want to be with him, you have to tell him. You can’t marry him just because he’s got the financial means for you to fight Tassie.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Ally.”
“All right, girl. But think about what I said.”
Think about it? I could do nothing but.
Like Alaina had said, Lewis was the only one who could help me fight Tassie. And I certainly didn’t want to seem as though I would use him only for his cash. How could I turn down Lewis’s proposal? Especially since he claimed to love me?
I stared at the photo of me and Chaz again, then put it back in the desk drawer. It was after Alaina had been attacked by her ex that I’d gotten a new perspective. That maybe passionate love was overrated. Passionate love led to seriously painful heartache.
The kind I was suffering now.
I’d come to the realization that it was probably far better to have a marriage based on friendship and respect. Sexual chemistry—like what Lewis and I had once shared—was a bonus.
Not that there was any sexual chemistry right now. Try as I might to convince myself of the non-passionate-marriage argument, I was still grieving over Chaz, and until I’d gotten over him, I knew I couldn’t share my body with Lewis.
But perhaps some time soon…
Even as I tried to convince myself of that, my mind wandered to the photo of me and Chaz, and that happy time we had shared.
And I knew in my heart that I wanted that back.
Wanted him back.
4
I put Chaz out of my mind and concentrated on work. It was the only way. Actually, it was the best way. Focusing on work made me forget about the grief I was feeling in my heart.
At least temporarily.
There was still no call from my sister, but I took her lack of contact as good news. Trust me, if she had been planning to see a divorce lawyer, she would have called and made me join her.
Thank God she hadn’t. I didn’t need her drama on top of my own. Already, I’d missed out on taking Rayna to the zoo because of Nikki.
I glanced at the wall clock. It was almost three-thirty. I would try to leave a little early today, head home, get Rayna, then take her to the lake so we could feed the ducks. There was a spot in Coconut Grove we’d been a few times, and it was always a fun experience.
My daughter needed fun right now. We both did.
And she needed to know that even if the man she’d known as her father wasn’t coming back, I would always be there for her.
I got up, stretched my body, then strolled to the window. As was typical every day during the summer months in South Florida, we’d have an afternoon downpour. I welcomed the short showers as they cooled things down. The sun always returned after the rain, and right now, it was shining brightly on downtown Miami.
My phone rang. I turned around and took three long strides back to my desk and snatched up the receiver before the phone could ring a third time.
“Vanessa Cain.”
“Ms. Cain. Hello.”
I swallowed.
“This is Bradley Harris.”
The man didn’t have to identify himself for me to know that it was the lawyer I’d come to dread hearing from. “Yes. I recognized your voice.”
“I called this morning, but I haven’t heard back from you.”
“Really?” I asked, feigning surprise as I rolled my eyes. “You know, we have a temp receptionist right now. She must have forgotten to give me the message.”
“That must be it,” Bradley said, but I could tell by his tone that he didn’t believe me.
“How can I help you?” I asked brightly.
“I’m calling to see if we can arrange a meeting to discuss the transfer of the condo to my client.”
The condo. Not “your condo.” As if I had no ownership of it whatsoever.
“You want a meeting,” I repeated.
“Yes.”
“You know, I’ve got a very busy schedule. Maybe we can arrange something in a few months.”
“Ms. Cain, I know what you’re doing.” The lawyer sounded a little exasperated. “You think that if you put this meeting off, the problem will simply go away. I assure you, it will not.”
I said nothing.
“There are two ways to do this. The easy way—and the hard way.”
I rolled my eyes again. Now the lawyer sounded like a character out of a bad movie. “You don’t have to threaten me.”
“I’m not threatening you. But you do need to know that this is a serious legal matter, one that won’t be resolved with stall tactics. And trust me, you don’t want this going to court.”
I frowned, thinking. I wasn’t too sure that Bradley was right. In fact, I figured he was trying to scare me. However, I knew that going to court would cost money. Money I didn’t have.
I didn’t have even the slightest interest in meeting with attorney Bradley Harris and the woman who had been a thorn in my side. But despite the fact that I’d been avoiding Tassie’s lawyer, I knew he was right. I couldn’t avoid Bradley and Tassie forever. At some point, this situation would have to be resolved.
Fine—if Tassie wanted a meeting, we’d have a meeting. However, she would soon learn that I wasn’t planning to hand over anything to her.
She was in for a fight.
“Ms. Cain?”
“When?” I asked. I knew I sounded testy, but I didn’t care. “When were you and Tassie thinking of having this meeting?”
“Early next week would be good for my client. We can meet in Miami, as I know that will be more convenient for you.”
“Very thoughtful,” I muttered softly, not meaning my words. But the lawyer was right. I would have to meet with him and Tassie Johnson sooner or later.
It would just have to be sooner.
“Will that work for you?” Bradley asked.
“Yes. How about Tuesday? The afternoon will be better for me.”
“Let me verify my schedule and speak with Tassie, then I’ll get back to you.”
“You do that.”
I hung up the phone, emitting a groan as I did. Then I forced myself to draw in a few steady breaths.
I was looking forward to this meeting as much as a person looks forward to root canal. But on one hand, I was glad that the lawyer had forced this meeting. Because with a date set, I would have to take action myself.
The last time I’d spoken with Bradley Harris, I’d been determined to fight back. Determined to keep my home from the hands of a greedy, conniving bitch. I’d called a reporter from the Miami Herald who’d followed the story of Eli’s death and asked for her help. But as the days passed and I hadn’t heard from her, I’d put the whole matter out of my mind, wrongly hoping that Tassie would simply go away.
I needed to call Cynthia Martin back, see what the reporter had discovered. Perhaps she’d forgotten my request or had been too busy to do any digging. If that was the case, my call would prompt her into action.
And if she’d been unable to find any dirt on Tassie, then I’d have to hire a private investigator. Because I knew the dirt was there.
I felt certain that Tassie was involved with the man who’d been at her side at Eli’s funeral. There was no law against that, especially since she and Eli had been separated for years. But it mattered in terms of the way Tassie had portrayed herself in the media—like the doting, grieving widow who’d never stepped out on her man, even though he’d had his own indiscretions. And she had painted me out to be a gold digger who had relentlessly pursued her pro-athlete husband for his cash.
Given her lies, I knew that for Tassie perception was everything. A woman like her would hate to have the truth about her own adulterous relationship exposed for the world to see.
And if she hoped to persuade a judge that she deserved my home because she and her husband had been very much together at the time of his death and that I was simply a woman on the side, she also needed to keep up her grieving widow charade.
With Cynthia’s help, I was about to blow that plan up in Tassie’s pathetic face.
Well, I hoped I was. Even if I believed that Tassie had been living her own life and had been romantically involved with at least one man in the past seven years, I still needed proof. Proof was the only thing that would persuade her to leave me the heck alone.
My temples throbbed. Talking to Bradley Harris and thinking about my predicament had brought on a headache.
I withdrew a bottle of ibuprofen from my desk and downed two capsules with the dregs of my cold coffee. As I was swallowing, my phone rang again.
I hesitated—and then was angry that I even had to be wary of answering my office phone. Damn Tassie Johnson.
I picked up the receiver and placed it at my ear. “Vanessa Cain.”
“Baby,” came the smooth, sexy voice.
My stomach tensed slightly at the sound of Lewis’s voice. It shouldn’t have, of course, considering he was my fiancé.
Then again, he wasn’t really my fiancé—well, not in the true sense of the word. He’d proposed marriage, and had assumed that I’d accepted. I’ll admit, I didn’t do much to let him think I hadn’t accepted his proposal, but I hadn’t really had a choice. He was the way out of a problem—the problem being the woman who wanted to take my home from me and my daughter. Lewis could easily give me the money to pay off Tassie Johnson.
The simple fact was that I couldn’t afford to turn down Lewis’s proposal. Not when I knew that it was part and parcel of his offer of financial help.
