Leanne Banks: Trouble in High Heels

She’d fumed over his lack of passion for a good hour, then fell asleep. Kenny moved toward her and rolled over to offer his belly to be rubbed. Lori smiled and obliged him. She shouldn’t overthink her marriage to Jackson. The only rational part of it was that she now had access to her inheritance, and the first check she planned to write was to Virginia.

Rising from bed, she showered and dressed in jeans for the day. She walked downstairs and found Jackson, Maria, and Geoffrey in the kitchen. “Good morning.”

Maria looked down her nose at Lori. “Good morning. Did you enjoy your vacation?”

“I took care of some business, but yes, I did have some fun, too. I think it’s best to try to find the fun in as many of life’s moments as you can. Don’t you agree?” Lori asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“It isn’t always easy to have fun. Some of us have to work,” Maria retorted.

“Yes, but-”

“I must go down to the barn now,” Maria interjected and left the room.

“Whew!” Lori said, looking after her. “Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“You shouldn’t criticize her,” Geoffrey said. “She hasn’t had it easy like you and I have.”

Lori felt as if she were striking out all around. She turned nervously to Jackson. “How are you?”

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll be here today, but I’m going to Dallas tomorrow.”

She nodded, feeling an odd uneasiness at the prospect of him leaving. “I’ll write the ch-”

“We can talk about it tonight,” he interjected and stood.

“Okay,” she said, wondering where the man who had ravished her body yet held her tenderly had gone. All she saw in Jackson ’s eyes was thinly veiled impatience. Her stomach twisted at his lack of emotion. She felt like a fool. Why? she wondered. It wasn’t as if she and Jackson had professed undying love. Oh, wait. They actually had done that during the wedding vows. But she was certain he hadn’t meant it. And neither had she. Had she?

“Do either of you know where Virginia is?”

“I think she’s with the campers this morning,” Geoffrey said.

“Okay, I’ll give her-” She corrected herself. “I’ll talk to her later.” She turned to Geoffrey. Her second task for the day was to tell him she couldn’t marry him. “I’m ready to get back to cleaning chores. Will you be joining me?”

He gave a heavy sigh and nodded. “You’re not going to eat?”

Lori’s appetite disappeared as she watched Jackson leave. “I’ll just grab a biscuit on my way out the door.”

Ten minutes later, she and Geoffrey walked to the cabins and began working. “Anything important happen while I was gone?” she asked him as she grabbed a bucket and headed for the bathroom.

“Just the regular everyday earthquakes and tidal waves,” Geoffrey said soberly.

Lori appreciated his deadpan levity. “All in one day, here in the middle of Texas. I’m surprised it didn’t make the news.”

“I am, too,” he said, grabbing a mop. “Lori,” he said and she glanced up at him.

“Yes?”

He locked his jaw and closed his eyes as if he were in pain, then dropped to his knee.

Oh, no, she thought. Not another proposal. “Geoffrey, before you-”

He lifted his hand and shook his head. “No. I must. It’s my duty. It’s the only way. I must. I-” He broke off and wailed. “I can’t do it.” He rose to his feet. “I just can’t. My family may lose everything, but I can’t marry you.”

Moved by his distress, she took a step toward him. “That’s okay, because I-”

“I just can’t,” he said, his voice breaking. “I’m in love with Maria, and it would be sacrilege to marry you.”

Lori felt her jaw drop. Shock raced through her. “Maria?”

“Yes, I’m sorry I’ve been deceptive. I tried to resist her. I really did, but the woman is a goddess.” He cleared his throat. “You’re perfectly nice and lovely, but Maria is-”

Lori bit her lip in amusement at the slight ego slap. “No, it’s okay. Something has happened, and I couldn’t marry you anyway.”

“Of course,” he said but clearly didn’t believe her.

“No, really,” she said.

“I’m sorry that I’ve wasted your time.” He sighed. “There will be hell to pay with my family. If I’m lucky, they’ll simply disown me.”

Lori felt a tug of sympathy for the kind British duke who’d followed her to the middle of nowhere and ended up falling for temperamental Maria. “Out of curiosity, how much money do you need to get things back on track?”

He named a sum that would force her to go to Jackson. Lori grimaced.

“I know. It’s a bloody fortune. And for you Yanks, the pound makes it doubly worse.”

She nodded. “Is there any way you could make the house income-producing on its own?”

“I can’t imagine how.”

“I don’t know. Make it a prestige bed-and-breakfast kind of thing? Have visitors pay to stay in a duke’s house. Let them be duke for a day or something.”

“It sounds a bit like prostitution. My stepmother would hate it.” He paused. “Knowing how much she would hate it makes me like the idea even more.” He sighed. “I don’t want to be in a financial pit the rest of my life. What I’d really like to do is write music for film.”

Lori’s mind began to turn with possibilities. “Then why don’t you?”

“For one, I don’t have any connections.”

“I could help with that.”

“Would you?”

She nodded. “Do you have anything you could give someone?”

“Yes, but I suppose I’d also need some sort of backing or partnership to start up a company. It’s too much to ask of you. You’re too kind. I should take care of this myself.”

“Well, there could be some benefit to me. What if you’re a huge hit? I can say I knew you from the beginning. I helped launch you.”

“You’re too kind,” Geoffrey said. “Why couldn’t we fancy each other?”

“I like the idea of having you as a friend,” Lori said. “I’ll need to clear this with my consultant, but it shouldn’t be a problem,” she added, certain Jackson would have no problem with this financial move. After all, she might even see a return on this investment.

“You want to do what?” Jackson asked, staring at her in disbelief.

Lori winced at his tone, glancing around the barn. The horses were resting in their stalls. All except for Rowdy, of course. “Lower your voice. You’ll disturb the horses.”

“The horses are not what is disturbed,” Jackson said, shaking his head. “Two days. You’re married two days and you’re already spending half your inheritance.”

“That’s an exaggeration. I’m not spending half of it. Besides, I’m not really spending it except for the check I gave Virginia. And you knew I was going to do that as soon as possible.”

“Yes, but this crazy scheme with Geoffrey-”

“It’s a loan and an investment,” she said.

“And what will you do if he never pays you back?” Jackson demanded. “Take his house in England and sell it.”

She shifted on her feet. “That wouldn’t be very nice.”

Jackson rolled his eyes and rested his hands on his hips as he walked toward her. “Lori, you can’t keep spending your money this way. I know you see yourself as a professional philanthropist, but if you keep going like this, the time will come when you will be the one needing charity. You can’t fix everything.”

She knotted her fingers together. “I know, but poor Geoffrey came all this way to marry me, and even though he’s in love with Maria, it’s not-”