Beauty From Love

  “Got it, Jack.” She’s calling him Jack? I don’t like that. With the exception of Mrs. Porcelli, all of his employees call him Mr. McLachlan. This woman’s not even a paid employee; she’s an intern.

  “I’m finished here if you’re ready to go.”

  Oh boy, am I ever.

  We’re not fifteen minutes into the drive when I can stand it no longer. I have to ask. “You’ve not mentioned Bianca. When did she come to work for you?”

  “December.”

  Oh hell. He’s been working with this woman for two months and hasn’t mentioned her once? What gives? “Why haven’t I seen her before today?”

  “She’s rotating through the vineyards. This is her first week at Avalon.” A beautiful woman has been roaming around my home vineyard for a week and I didn’t know? What kind of dumb-ass wife isn’t aware of that?

  “I find it a little strange she was dressed in a short skirt and low-cut blouse for intern work. Wouldn’t that be a little inappropriate for scouting?”

  “She was dressed like that because she had an appointment in town this morning. She won’t go out scouting in that.” He glances at me and then back at the road. “Where are you going with this, L?”

  I recall the way her breasts were thrust in his face. “She looked like she was trying to breastfeed you when I walked into your office.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. I’ve known that girl since she was a child. She’s Mr. Brees’s granddaughter. You remember him, right? One of my very good clients who gave us the tickets to Madama Butterfly. Accepting her as an intern is a favor to him.”

  He’s wrong. That child is all grown up and, outfit aside, I saw something in the way she maneuvered her body around him. She wanted him to want her. I know because a woman has the gift of intuition and mine is screaming at me, Beware of this woman, Laurelyn. She wants your husband.

  He doesn’t see it, or maybe he just refuses to admit it to me, but my radar is on high alert. I won’t be taking my eyes off her any time soon. “Of course I remember who Mr. Brees is. He’s responsible for my first opera house orgasm.”

  “Really, L? You’re giving Randall Brees, a man who very much resembles a Keebler elf, credit for that orgasm?”

  “You know what I mean. He’s the reason I met your family. If he hadn’t sent you those tickets, I wouldn’t have been with you in Sydney on the night Henry was taken to the hospital. Meeting the McLachlans set our whole arrangement into a different motion—it changed everything. Mr. Brees has no idea but he may very well be behind me becoming your wife.”

  “Wow. Here I was thinking all this time that I was the reason you became my wife.”

  I roll my eyes. “Ha ha.”

  “All joking aside. You have no reason to worry about Bianca. She knows you’re my wife and I’m not interested in her.”

  I hate looking like the jealous wife. It’s not an attractive look for anyone, but I’d choose it over the naïve, played wife any day. “I’ll cool my jets because I trust you but let’s be clear about one thing. She makes one false move—one—and she’s gone.”

  He grasps my hand and brings it to his mouth for a kiss. “Anything you say, babe.”

  We arrive at Henry and Margaret’s a couple hours before my party. Jack Henry plants himself in the living room with his dad so he can check out the score of some game on TV. Suits me. I want to talk to Chloe about Ben, so I go into the kitchen. I see my chocolate cake on the counter and have an incredible urge to grab a fork. “Someone is eyeing that dessert very intently.”

  “I’ve been craving this cake since the last time we were here. I almost called to beg you for one last week. I was willing to drive four hours to pick it up.”

  “You should’ve called me. I would’ve made one and brought it to you.” Margaret’s grinning. I’m sure she’s assuming I have this special craving for a particular reason, but I don’t. I think it’s just a delicious cake and I didn’t get enough of it before.

  I can tell Chloe is processing this conversation. “I’ve seen that same reaction from some of the people at the restaurant and they’re always pregnant. Think you could be?”

  Margaret knows we’re trying but I’m not ready to go there with the rest of the family. And yet I don’t want to lie to Chloe. She’s my sister-in-law, and also a good friend, but I don’t want to say anything to spur more questions. I shrug, attempting to appear nonchalant. “Not that I’m aware of.” I walk over to take a look at what she’s preparing—and change the subject. “What did you decide to go with?”

  The birthday girl, or boy, always get to choose the meal. I couldn’t come up with anything that sounded great so I told Chloe to choose for me. “My version of chicken and biscuits. I thought you might like it since it’s sort of similar to your southern cuisine.”

  “That sounds so good. I need a huge glass of sweet tea to go with it.”

  “Done. Jack told me you’d want that rather than wine so I gave it a try.” Smooth one, McLachlan. You got me out of having to refuse alcohol.

  She takes out a pitcher from the fridge and pours some over ice. “Try this and tell me if it’s sweet enough for you.”

  It’s really good. “You nailed it. Tastes just like Nanna’s.”

  “It tastes like syrup to me but Jack said it had to be really sweet.”

  “He knows me well.”

  Margaret leaves the kitchen saying she wants to check on the game’s score. She gave me a wink when she said it so I’m certain she has an agenda—to quiz Jack Henry on how the baby-making efforts are going since she can’t ask me in front of Chloe.

  “How are things with Ben?”

  “Really good. I know Jack hates him but I like Ben a lot. He treats me well—better than any of the other losers I’ve dated lately.” She gets a giddy look on her face. “It’s crazy, Laurelyn. It’s only been a little over a month since we started dating but I think … I think he could be the one.”

  I never thought Ben was a bad guy. He just got a little zealous when Jack Henry started swinging his weight around. Honestly, I think he liked the challenge Jack Henry presented more than he liked me. “It’s not crazy at all. I knew very soon after I started dating your brother that Jack Henry was the only man I’d ever love.”

  “Ben’s perfect for me, although I never thought I’d want to be with someone in the business. They don’t make the best family men.” She looks up at me and scrunches her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Jack has changed because of you and he’d never be absent like Dad.”

  “It’s fine. I know what you mean … but you should probably be prepared for your brother to cause problems. He’s not happy about your relationship.”

  “I don’t care. His approval isn’t a requirement for me to be happy.”

  “I’ll work on him.”

  Chloe comes over to give me a hug. “I’d appreciate that. I say I don’t care if he approves, but that’s not the truth. I want him to accept Ben.”

  “I think he will in time. All of this is still fresh. Be patient with him.”

  She puts a baking dish in the oven, sets the timer, and then comes back to sit with me at the bar. A huge grin spreads across her face. “This isn’t something I could say to Addison but I’ve been dying to tell someone.” She giggles before leaning over to whisper, “Ben is supremely fucklicious.” She groans. “Mmm … the man is damn good at what he does.”

  Okay. So, I don’t have to ask if they’re having sex—not that I would anyway. “It certainly helps when it’s good, doesn’t it?”

  “Oh yeah. No man has ever done to me the things he does. I just thought I was having good sex before. But umm … no. Is that how American men are?”

  “I only had one sexual relationship before Jack Henry, and it was terrible, so I think you lucked out with Ben being … supremely fucklicious. It has nothing
to do with him being American.”

  She’s wearing a shocked expression. “Laurelyn. You only had one sexual partner before my brother?” Her eyes are huge. “You were almost a virgin when you met him. I bet he fucking loved that.”

  “Actually, he hates it. He wishes I hadn’t had the one.”

  “I can totally see that; he’s a greedy bastard. But you’re his wife so I guess he’s supposed to feel that way.”

  Jack Henry comes into the kitchen to grab a beer. “Smells good in here, sis.” We both go silent and he knows he’s interrupted something. “What are you up to in here?”

  “Nothing,” we say simultaneously and then look at one another and burst into laughter.

  “Girl talk?”

  “Yeah. You could call it that.”

  He twists the cap off his beer and tosses it into the trash. “I like girl talk.”

  “You wouldn’t like hearing this. It’s not your flavor.”

  “Try me.”

  For a moment—like, a nanosecond—I consider telling him how supremely fuckable his sister finds Ben but then decide I can’t do it; I don’t want to sour his mood. “I love you too much to do that to you, cave man.”

  I’m the only one who didn’t have a gift for Laurelyn at my parents’ house on Friday night but she understood since it wasn’t her actual birthday. However, today is. She’s going into town for lunch with Addison and that couldn’t work better for me since I’ll be picking up her gift and driving it home. I want her new Cayenne here, but hidden, when she comes back from her day out in Wagga Wagga.

  She comes into the office to say goodbye. “Ooh, I haven’t seen Mr. good-looking suit in a while.”

  She’s right. I haven’t worn a business suit in quite some time. “You like?”

  “Oh yes. It reminds me of the way you looked when we first met. You’re still hotter than the devil’s ass.”

  “I have a business meeting in town with a new client. He has two hundred storefronts. Not huge but this guy has established these businesses in a ridiculously small amount of time, so I’d expect him to double it within the year. I think it’s going to be big.” I’m not obsessed with work like my dad was but I’ll be pretty damn happy to score this account.

  “That’s great news.”

  I sort of need to know what her plan is for the day. “How long will you and Addison be out?”

  “I’m not sure. We’re doing lunch at Alfredo’s and I’m hoping I can talk her into doing some shopping. She really needs a pick-me-up. Hiding the pregnancy from Zac is wearing her down.” That’s just like Laurelyn to take her special day and turn it into a way to cheer up her friend. Sometimes I get mad at her for always putting others ahead of herself, but it’s who she is.

  Addison deserves to be worn down. It’s no small thing, what’s she’s doing. That baby is Zac’s too and he deserves to know it exists. “Maybe that should be a sign to her that she shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “No argument there. You know I’m supporting her, not her decision, right?”

  “I know. I guess I thought she’d come around in a day or two.”

  “I’d hoped for that as well but Addison’s stubborn once she makes up her mind about something.”

  That’s the pot calling the kettle black. “Sounds like someone else I know. Maybe you should take her vibrator shopping to get all this off her mind.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.”

  Is she serious? “I was kidding, L.”

  “I’m not. I think it would lift her spirits.”

  This could work out well for me if Laurelyn buys something fun for us. “Well, if you do, I don’t want you coming home with one of those vagina pleasers that performs like a circus monkey.”

  “A circus monkey vibrator?” she laughs. “Really, McLachlan?”

  “They have them in performing rabbits and dolphins. Why wouldn’t they make a monkey?”

  “Okay. Nothing in the form of an animal or anything that penetrates.”

  Good. She remembers. “Because?”

  “Nothing goes inside me but you. Got it.” She says it like a child reciting a rule to her teacher.

  I roll my office chair toward her and reach out to grope her bum under her light denim dress. I pull her between my legs, my face level with her stomach. I kiss it atop her clothes. She’s wearing her boots. I haven’t seen her in those in a while. I wonder if I can talk her into wearing them tonight. “Mmm … now I’m a little excited about what you might bring home for us to try.”

  “Any requests?”

  “Mmm … choose something adventurous.”

  She giggles—very much like a child instead of the mature woman she is—and it makes me smile. She looks so innocent when she laughs that way, especially while wearing this little country sweetheart outfit. But I know better. There’s very little this sweet girl enjoys more than a good ol’ hard fuck. “Adventurous. I can do that.”

  She leans down and kisses my mouth. It’s brief, just a sweet goodbye not intended to make my dick stand up. “Don’t forget we have dinner reservations at seven thirty.”

  “You never told me where you’re taking me.”

  “And I’m still not.” I want to see the surprise on her face when we return to Ash and sit at the same table where I propositioned her fourteen months ago. I wish I could’ve taken her there for the one-year anniversary but it wasn’t possible, considering we were at Avalon becoming husband and wife. Our lives have been a little crazy since so this has been my first chance to get her back there.

  “I’ll be sure to return in time. Should I dress casually?”

  “I have something in mind for you to wear so I’ll have it laid out for you.”

  “You choosing my clothes is a little weird.”

  “It’s not weird.” Okay. It is strange but there’s a reason. I want her in the dress she wore that night—the floral one with only one shoulder. I hope I’m able to find it. “It’s something I haven’t seen you wear in a while and I like the way you look in it.”

  “Now you have me wondering if you’re a closet cross-dresser. Am I going to come in and find you wearing my lace panties one day?”

  “I’m choosing something for you to wear, L, not me.”

  “Okay. I gotta go. Thanks for letting me drive the bullet.”

  She calls my Sunset that since it’s so fast. She says it gets away from her because it’s such a smooth drive. “Please be careful. And don’t speed.”

  I stand at the window and watch her disappear down the drive before I phone Daniel. “She’s gone. I’ll be ready to leave in fifteen minutes.”

  I’m finishing some last-minute details on a new order when Bianca comes into my office, without knocking. She’s traded her short skirt for short khaki shorts and her low-cut dress shirt for a thin, tight white T-shirt with a deep V neckline. I’m glad L isn’t here to see this because she wouldn’t like it at all. In fact, it makes me a little uncomfortable after the things she brought to my attention on the day she met Bianca. In light of that, I think it’s best if I finish the paperwork later. “I’m going into town for a little while but I’m expecting a delivery and I’d really like it if you could take care of it for me.”

  She places her hand on my shoulder. “Anything for you.” I lean away from her touch to reach into my drawer for nothing in particular. I really hope she isn’t going to be a problem, but my gut is telling me otherwise. One wrong move and she’s out of here. That’s what L said. I definitely foresee that being a problem, but my business relationship with Brees means nothing if this girl causes a problem for L and me.

  Please, Bianca. No wrong moves. It’ll screw us both.

  I get out of my chair and move around my desk in the opposite direction of her as I head toward the door. “I have a business meeting and I have to make a pickup, so I’ll be out
until this afternoon.” L’s new Porsche SUV had to be purchased at a dealership in Sydney and driven to Wagga Wagga, so it’s waiting in the parking garage at the hotel where my business meeting will take place. It couldn’t have worked out better.

  I run into Harold on my way out to meet Daniel. “Glad I ran into you. I have a single bag of a new potassium-deficiency product coming in today. Bianca is going to be watching for it and will bring it out to you. I thought we could try it on that area in the southwest corner and see if it does a better job than the old product.”

  “Sure thing, boss.”

  When I finish landing my new client, I go into the parking garage to fetch L’s sleek black SUV. It’s sharp, even if it’s a family vehicle. I could’ve gone with something flashier but she’s chosen to become a mum, so this fits her. It’s classy without looking like a muscle man should be driving it. I hope she isn’t disappointed I didn’t buy her a sports car. I’m certain she’ll understand that wasn’t a sensible choice.

  She isn’t ovulating so tonight isn’t about us trying. It’s about us having fun and boy, do I have a little bit of naughty in store for her. I told her to buy something adventurous but the truth is I already have. I can’t wait to see her in the sexy lingerie I bought or try out some of our new toys. I have to adjust myself inside my pants. I’m getting hard thinking about it.

  My meeting ran longer than expected so I’m a little later than I’d like when I get back to Avalon. Harold flags me down in the driveway from the edge of the vineyard, and I know something’s up. “You told me Bianca was bringing the potassium today?”

  “Yeah.”

  He shakes his head. “She never brought anything to me.”

  “Did you ask her about it?”

  He shrugs. “I haven’t seen her to ask.”

  Hmm … that’s not right. I told her to accept the package and take care of it and she agreed. “I don’t know what happened with her, but don’t worry about it. We’ll get it out tomorrow.”

  Harold steps back to admire L’s new vehicle and whistles. “That’s one good-looking ride, Mr. McLachlan.”