Exquisite Betrayal (27 page)

“
Jesus-ever-lovin’ C. What the hell
are you thinking? These are huge!”

“
They’re two and a half carats
each.”

“
What the... I can’t accept these. No
way. They’re way too expensive and I’d be afraid I’d lose
them.”

“
Fallon, I need to tell you something
about them. About me. Come here, please.” I lead her to a seat and
we sit down. “My parents were wealthy. My dad owned a large
printing company in Great Britain. It was before the computer age
hit big. Anyway, he was extremely well invested so we had a lot of
money. When my parents were killed, they had everything set up in
wills and trusts so Tilly and I were well cared for. We’ve never
wanted for anything. My mum had tons of jewelry. Tilly and I split
everything down the middle. I let her take all that she wanted so
she got to choose everything first and I got all the leftovers. And
I was fine with that. Anyway, you’re the only person I’ve ever met
that I wanted to give anything like this to.

“
I love you Fallon. More than
anything. I’d give you all my worldly possessions. All you have to
do is ask. I’ve been waiting for that special person to come along
that I could give these to, and that special someone is you. So
please accept them. And they’re insured, so if you lose them, no
worries. We’ll simply replace them.”

“
I’ve never had anything like
this.”

“
I didn’t think you had, but that’s
not why I’m giving them to you. I want you to have them because I
loved my mum. She was awesome. And she wore them all the time. She
would’ve wanted someone I love to have them. Please take them and
wear them every day. For me.”

She looks at me, assessing me, and then
nods. “If I lose one of these, I’ll kill you, Sinclair. And then
I’ll go through life feeling guilty as hell.”

“
Listen to me right now. This is
materialistic shit that is meaningless compared to you. Do you
understand me? If you ever spend one day feeling guilty because you
lose something like this, I’ll… well, I don’t know what I’ll
do.”

“
Spank me?”

“
Huh? Oh, you naughty, naughty girl.
Now put them on before I really do spank you.” I wink at her. “I
have to tell you something else, too. I don’t want you to be angry
with me. I did a little snooping and I paid off your student loans.
Now, before you get all pissed off at me, I just want you to know
that the money isn’t a big deal to me. It makes me happy to do this
for you and I know how troubled you were by the amount of it. It’s
nothing for me, Fallon. So don’t give it another
thought.”

She stares at me a second and her face turns
serious. “Ryland Thomas, thank you for doing that. I promise I’ll
cherish these with everything I have.” Her hands quiver as she
places them on her ears and I can’t help noticing the shimmer in
her eyes.

“
Fallon, what is it?”

Her head shakes back and forth, letting me
know she can’t discuss it now, therefore I simply take her hand and
she clasps it as hard as I’ve ever felt her hold it before. She’s
silent as we ride to the restaurant, leaving me to puzzle her out
in my mind. I want to ask, although I know she doesn’t want me to,
so I keep quiet.

The tears threaten to explode, yet I force
them back. He hasn’t any idea how fortunate he is to have a piece
of his mom. I’ll tell him, but not until we get home, I don’t want
to make a fool out of myself in public. Our dinner is pleasant
enough, with delicious food, however it’s mired in my issues. He
skirts around them, knowing he can’t ask me and it makes for a
weird night. His hand rarely lets mine go, and for that I’m
thankful.

We finally arrive back home, and when he
turns the car off, he turns to me and says, “We don’t have to talk
about this if you don’t want.”

“
I do want, but not in the car.” He’s
such a gentleman; he’s opening my door and helping me out before
I’m even aware of it.

Once inside, he pours me a brandy and hands
me the glass. I look at the deep amber fluid and feel the tears
I’ve been holding back all night push their way past my lids.

“
When my dad died, I was in such a
haze I didn’t realize what was going on.” My voice is hollow
sounding and it occurs to me that I’ve never told this to anyone
before. “You know exactly how I felt, I’m sure. My body didn’t feel
like it was connected to my brain. There were broken pieces of me
scattered everywhere, and I was trying to find them so I could glue
myself back together again. I knew I needed to function, I just
didn’t know how.

“
My mom was still in Spartanburg then,
it was before she moved to Atlanta. She came and got me. I don’t
remember much of those days. I barely remember his funeral. He was
an only child and both of his parents were gone so everything fell
on my mom. I suppose I can understand why she was so bitter about
it. I mean, after all, they weren’t married anymore and there she
was, having to deal with all of that.

“
Anyway, when I finally surfaced from
the fog I’d been living in, I realized that when she’d sold the
house, she’d gotten rid of everything in it. I was left with
nothing. All of his mementos had either been given away, sold or
trashed. She never asked me if I wanted to keep anything. She just
took it upon herself to get rid of it all. I have nothing left of
him except for a few pictures of us. He had these wooden carvings
he’d made for me that she just trashed. She said they were
worthless. I’m sure they were, but they were mine and he’d made
them for me.

“
He and I would camp together and she
sold all of our gear. He had an old gun collection from his father
that she gave away. She tossed all his scrapbooks from high school.
Just tons of things. So when you gave me these earrings, it
triggered the fact that I have nothing of my dad’s.” I sit there
and shake my head. “I’m sorry. I know it happened long ago and I
need to get over it already, but I just wish I had something like
this. You know? Something that he loved.” My hands move to my ears
and I caress the earrings, not because they’re valuable and pretty,
but because I know how much it meant for him to have given them to
me. “I’ll treasure these, Ryland Thomas, I truly will.”

“
Fallon.” He simply looks at me with
that intensity in his eyes. It’s as though he can’t speak. His lips
touch mine and my fingers are in his soft hair. I’m holding him so
tight that I don’t ever want to let him go. When we stop, our
breathing is ragged as we stare at each other. Then he says, “Your
mum’s a selfish bitch.”

For some reason, that strikes me as funny so
I laugh. He laughs with me as we merely hold each other, the
tension flowing from me.

“
You don’t know that half of her. Just
wait. I’ll never understand how my dad ended up with her. They’re
so different.”

“
Fallon, I wish things had turned out
differently for you. I wish you had something of your father’s. I
know how important it is. I’m so sorry, love.”

“
Me, too. But now you know why I
couldn’t talk about it earlier.”

He brushes my face with the backs of his
fingers. “Let’s go to sleep, gorgeous. I thing we both could use a
good night’s rest.”

I’m pulled to my feet and then he leads me
to the bathroom where he gently removes my make-up and then hands
me my toothbrush already loaded with toothpaste. I watch him as we
both brush and floss. Next, he undresses me and leads me to the
bed. I curl up next to him, but he has none of that. He pulls me on
top of him, and I sink onto his warmth.

“
Right where you belong, love.” he
says into my ear. My arms wind around his torso and that’s the last
thing I know as I drift into a dreamless sleep.

***

His nose is nuzzling my cheek, but that’s
not what wakes me. It’s the heat that is inching into my depths,
and my moans. “Ahhh,” I cry. His hands are gripping my hips and
he’s gliding into me, ever so slowly, but hitting me on that place
that’s going to make me climax.

My arms are still hugging his waist, but now
my fingers are digging into his muscles. “Faster.” My voice is
hoarse from sleep, however he hears me loud and clear. I’m suddenly
rolled onto my stomach. It takes me by surprise.

“
Lift your hips, babe.” I do and a
pillow appears like magic.

“
Thanks Houdini,” I say and he
laughs.

“
The comedienne will be gone in a
second,” he says.

“
Oh, yeah?”

“
Hell, yeah,” he says right as he
slams into me, his hand flat on my stomach as he pulls me against
him.

“
Ahh!”

“
Too hard?” he stops and
asks.

“
No,” I’m panting now. “Not
nearly.”

He gives me a wicked laugh. “Oh, is that a
fact?” He’s ramming into me again and I love it. The thing about
sex with Ryland Thomas is, he does the unexpected and it’s always
shocking. His hand slides up to my nipple and first he brushes it,
but then pinches. Not hard, at first, just enough to make me moan.
Between that and him pushing into me from behind, I’m filled with a
multitude of sensations I can’t begin to describe.

“
Talk to me, Fallon. Is this
okay?”

“
More than okay. Fan-fucking-tastic.”
I can barely speak. He gives a throaty laugh that turns me on even
more, if that’s possible. I’m in for another surprise when he pulls
me up against him, my back flush with his chest as he still pounds
into me.

“
Fuck, Fallon. I’m coming apart with
you.” He’s holding me around the waist with one arm and the other
hand slips down to my clit where he does that little circling thing
that sends me straight into an orgasmic high. I’m crying out his
name over and over as my muscles all tighten up around him and then
I hear that guttural sound coming from him, telling me he’s getting
his own. My arms move up around his neck as I lay my head back
against him, trying to gain control of my breathing.

“
Sinclair, that’s some kind of wake-up
call you got goin’ on there, honey.”

His lips are moving all over my cheek and I
feel his body shake as he laughs. “Glad you approve.”

“
I don’t want to leave
today.”

“
I don’t want you to leave
today.”

He turns us so we can lie back down. I feel
him slip out of me. “Boo, I hate it when that happens.”

“
Well, love, we can’t stay connected
all the time, now can we?”

“
Suppose not.”

“
I think I’ll follow you back
today.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Uh-huh. I need to get a jump on the
apartment hunt.”

“
Sweet!”

We shower, pack up and head for San
Francisco late in the morning. I’m loving life. Knowing Ryland
Thomas, he’ll have a place by the end of the week.

***

I was wrong. Two days later, on Tuesday,
Ryland Thomas signs a lease on a house in Pacific Heights. It’s
unbelievably awesome with the most amazing view of the bay. He’s
having it furnished by a decorator and it should be ready in a
week. In the meantime, he’s staying with me. He’s going back to
Tahoe to pick up some clothes, but other than that, he’s going to
buy everything he needs so when he goes back and forth he won’t
have to pack anything other than a few items of clothing and his
computer.

Work has me hustling. Ruth keeps sticking
her head into my cubby quite a bit, which has me concerned because
Kristie assured me I wouldn’t be working with her when I
interviewed, but now it seems she wants to be involved with my
critiques on every book. The big convention in Atlanta is next week
and we’re tying up all the loose ends for that as well.

Ryland Thomas is running all over the city
with his decorator, so that by the time we get home from Atlanta,
everything will be done in his house. Tilly is so excited that
he’ll be living here full time, she can hardly stand it. Everything
seems to be coming together in ways that I never would have dreamed
possible.

***

Kristie and I are heading to the airport.
She doesn’t realize how close I am to Tilly, aka R.T., although
I’ve wrangled that invitation for Ryland Thomas to attend our big
hospitality function with Tilly. He’s coming as R.T.’s guest. The
convention ends on Saturday, but I’ve gotten approval from Kristie
to stay until Monday, so I can squeeze in a visit with my mom.
Ryland Thomas is staying with me and he’s going to meet her. Lucky
guy. Oh, she’ll be all sweet to him, yet he knows the truth about
her.

The flight is long, but we check into our
hotel and then scramble around to get everything ready for our big
function the next day. There are a ton of details to attend to.

“
Will you make sure the hotel has the
guest list?” Kristie asks. “And make sure the caterer has the
proper headcount.”

“
I’m on it.” I head out the door.
We’re staying in the same hotel as Tilly and Ryland Thomas, so I
text them both my room number. They were on the same flight as me,
but were fortunate enough to be in first class, which means I
haven’t had much time with either of them.

After taking care of my tasks, I head back
to the room where the function is being held when someone grabs me
from behind and pulls me into a darkened hallway. Then the sexiest
man on Earth is passionately kissing me as he lifts me up with my
back against the wall. My legs find their own way around his
waist.