Maureen Child - Saving His Blackmailed Lover

“Good luck with the show,” Cecelia said.

“Thank you. Hang in there. Oh, and don’t forget that Wes and Isabelle’s engagement party is coming up. You’re not getting out of it, you know.”

Oh, she knew. Cecelia said goodbye and got off the phone. She needed to remember to pick up a gift for that. Frankly, she had been surprised to receive the invitation, but Isabelle was the kind of woman who wanted to be friends with everybody, even the girl who had spilled the beans about her secret daughter and upended her whole life.

She had RSVP’d two weeks ago, but now she was regretting it. She didn’t really want to stroll into the Texas Cattleman’s Club and have to face everybody after the breakup. More than a few people there would get a sick amount of pleasure from her misfortune. But she said she would go, so she would go.

Cecelia had just turned back to her computer when she heard a tap at the door. She looked up and immediately felt a surge of panic run through her. Deacon was standing in her doorway, a look of expectation and irritation on his face. She’d been hoping, in vain, apparently, that he would be too busy to come looking for her this morning. “Good morning, Mr. Chase. What can I do for you?”

Deacon arched a curious brow at her and just shook his head. “So this is how it’s going to be, huh? It never happened?”

Cecelia smiled, putting on her most businesslike face as she tried to ignore the rough stubble on his jaw that she’d brushed her lips across only hours earlier. Her fingers tingled with the memory of running through his golden-blond hair and pulling him close to her. “I always like to keep things professional in the workplace.”

“And later, when we’re not in the workplace?” he asked.

“There’s not much to say about last night, now or later, except that I apologize for the way I acted. It was inappropriate of me to burden you with my problems. After Chip broke off the engagement, I wasn’t sure where to go or what to do. I made the wrong choice, and I’m sorry.”

Deacon’s green-gold gaze flickered over her face, studying her as though he could see the truth there. His jaw tightened, and finally he looked away. “The head of your painting crew is looking for you. He’s waiting in the lobby.”

Cecelia watched as Deacon turned and disappeared from her doorway without another word. The warm, attentive Deacon from last night was gone, leaving only the cold businessman behind. She hated that it had to be that way, and she wished he could understand. Now, more than ever, she needed his warmth and his compassion. All too soon, the rest of Royal would be turning their backs on her. But there was too much history between them, too many memories and emotions to cloud the present. She knew she had to put up a wall to protect her business and her reputation.

And her heart.

Five

He was a damn fool for thinking that their night together would go down any differently than it had.

Deacon knew better. He knew better than to just fall in the bed with Cecelia and think that things had changed. Just as before, he was good enough when they were alone, but not in public. He had thought that perhaps he had proved his worth, and that maybe things would go differently between them this time. Not so.

It had been a week since she’d shown up on his doorstep. They’d danced around each other at the hotel each day, both seemingly drawn to, and repelled by, each other. Cecelia avoided eye contact and stuck strictly to topics about work. But as hard as she tried to play it cool, it didn’t change the underlying energy that ran through all of their interactions.

He wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of him chasing after her, however. The teenager whose heart she’d broken would’ve chased her anywhere if he thought he could have another chance. Real estate billionaire Deacon Chase didn’t follow women around like a lost puppy dog.

But if there was one thing Deacon had learned in the past week, it was that she didn’t regret that night. Not even one teensy, tiny, little bit. He’d seen the way her cheeks flushed when she’d looked up and seen him standing nearby. She had been hungry for the pleasure he happily gave her. That kind of hunger was nothing to be remorseful about. She’d come to him that night because she wanted to forget what a mess her life was for a little while, and he’d delivered in spades. More than likely, she regretted that she didn’t regret their encounter.

Deacon hadn’t lost too much sleep over it. They’d had sex. Amazing, mind-blowing sex, but just sex. It’d been thirteen years since they’d gotten together. They weren’t in love with one another, and it was ridiculous to think that they ever would be. It would’ve been nice if she had said goodbye as she crept naked from his bedroom, but he supposed it had saved them from an awkward morning together.

No, what had bothered him the most during the past week was seeing who Cecelia had become over the years. Despite his feelings about her and their breakup, he had still loved the girl Cecelia had been. She’d been the sweetest, most caring person he had ever known outside of his own family. When the rest of the school, and the rest of the town, had turned their back on Deacon, Cecelia had been there.

The woman he watched stomping back and forth through the lobby of his hotel in high heels and a tight hair bun was not the Cecelia he remembered. She was driven, focused, almost to the point of being emotionless. What happened to her? When they had shared their dreams for the future as teenagers, being a hard-nosed CEO had not been on Cecelia’s list of ambitions.

If he looked closely, every now and then Deacon could see a flicker of the girl he used to know. It was usually near the end of the day, when the stress and the worries started to wear her down. That was when her facade would start to crumble and he could see the real Cecelia underneath.

He was watching her like that when Shane approached him. “She’s quite a piece of work, isn’t she?”

Deacon turned to him, startled out of his thoughts. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve always thought that Cecelia was a victim of a contradictory modern society. If she were a man, everyone would applaud her for her success and uncompromising attitude in the boardroom. Since she’s a woman, she’s seen as cold and bitchy. Heck, I see her that way after the way she treated Brandee. But there’s no way she could’ve gotten this far in business if she wasn’t hard.”

“You make it sound like nobody likes her.” That surprised Deacon, since she’d been the most popular, outgoing person in high school. Everyone had loved her.

“Well, she has earned quite the reputation in Royal over the years. Aside from her few close friends, I’m not sure that anybody really likes her, especially inside the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Tell you what, though, it’s not for their lack of trying. She’s just not interested in being friends with most people. She and the rest of the mean girl trio tried to sabotage my relationship with Brandee. They thought it was a big joke. I don’t know if folks are just not good enough to be her friends or what.”

Deacon flinched. “That doesn’t sound like her at all. What the hell happened after I left town?”

“I don’t know, man.” Shane shrugged. “Maybe you broke her heart.”

Deacon swallowed a bitter chuckle. “Don’t you mean the other way around? She’s the one who broke up with me.”

“Yeah, well, maybe she regrets it. I certainly would rather date you over Chip Ashford any day.”

“Aw, that’s sweet of you, Shane.”

“You know what I mean,” Shane snapped. “I’d be a bitter, miserable woman if I were dating him, too. I’m curious as to what will happen to her socially, now that she’s broken it off with Chip, though. A lot of people in town tolerated her and her attitude just because she was his fiancée.”