The Tycoon's Marriage Bid Read online

  ‘Put whatever you want washed in there. I’ll have someone in town take care of it.’ He then plucked her suitcase off the chair and set it on the bed beside her. ‘I’m arranging for more groceries to be delivered. The fridge is about empty. Is there anything in particular you want?’

  She tucked her tongue between her teeth for a moment. It had to be her imagination that he was making a point of their enforced domesticity. ‘A reprieve from bed rest. You think they’re stocking that on the shelves in Lucius?’

  His lips twitched. ‘Probably not.’ His dark gaze drifted over her. ‘How are you feeling?’

  He could pretend that his ex-wife wasn’t watching them avidly, but Nikki couldn’t. ‘Self-conscious,’

  she murmured under her breath. ‘Maybe Valerie would like some coffee or something,’ she said more naturally.

  Alex glanced over his shoulder. ‘Coffee’s in the kitchen,’ he said brusquely. ‘Help yourself.’

  Nikki’s eyebrows shot up, but Valerie merely shrugged and turned. A moment later her slender, black-clad legs passed the fireplace again on her way to the kitchen.

  ‘Well?’ Alex was watching her. ‘You’re pale. What’s wrong?’

  ‘Maybe you should see to Valerie?’ Nikki’s voice was little more than a hissing whisper.

  ‘She’s capable of pouring herself a cup of coffee,’ he assured her, his tone dry. ‘Why are you sitting so oddly?’

  ‘My back is stiff from all this inactivity. Don’t you think you need to see why she’s here?’

  ‘I know why she’s here.’

  Foolish, foolish Nikki. ‘You invited her.’ Of course he had. Hadn’t he and Valerie been nearly inseparable in the months before Nikki had quit?

  ‘No, I did not invite her.’ His voice was as low as hers. ‘Hell, I’ve been trying to’ He broke off, looking irritated.

  Trying to what?

  Nikki had no chance to ask because Valerie sauntered back into view, sipping from the oversize mug that Alex often used to serve Nikki’s soup at lunch.

  ‘So ’ She leaned her shoulder against the fireplace mantel. ‘Whose mess are you cleaning up this time, Alex?’

  Chapter Nine

  Alex had to curtail the urge to throttle Val as color flooded Nikki’s creamy cheeks. He turned his head, focusing a warning glare on his ex-wife that she seemed to take inordinate glee in ignoring.

  ‘Whoever it is must be important,’ Valerie stated blithely. ‘Why else would you take time away like this while the Macfield deal is still on the table?’

  ‘Macfield? You were working on that deal last year. I thought it was supposed to be a slam dunk.’

  Nikki’s voice was only slightly strangled, due to Val’s incredible lack of tact, but her surprise was still plain. Rightfully so, since she’d sat in on a good number of his early meetings with George Macfield.

  And trust Valerie to bring it up.

  Just then, Alex couldn’t begin to remember any of the reasons why he continually tried to help Val help herself.

  ‘It should’ve been,’ he answered.

  ‘And it would have been,’ Val interjected, ‘if George Macfield hadn’t gotten wind of a bidding war between Huffington and RHS for his little shop of horrors.’

  Alex raked back his hair and shot Val another look. ‘Macfield isn’t a shop of horrors.’

  Val shrugged. ‘All of their equipment looks like it’s straight out of a science fiction movie.’

  ‘RHS wants Macfield? But why?’

  Alex looked back at Nikki, oddly grateful that she, at least, could focus on the point even when Val seemed bent on mischief. ‘RHS doesn’t want Macfield.’ His family’s health care empire had more resources than the devil himself. ‘But they know that I need Macfield.’

  ‘I’m still not following,’ she murmured. ‘Why would your family want to prevent you from expanding?’

  ‘Because that’s the way my father works. If he can improve RHS’s hold in the market while at the same time destroying the one thing I managed to accomplish without him, he’ll die a happy man.’

  ‘Oh, Alex,’ Val scoffed. ‘Your father doesn’t want to destroy Huffington. He wants to add it to RHS.’

  It’s the same thing, he thought.

  ‘But this is crazy!’ Nikki sat forward so abruptly Alex figured she meant to launch herself off the round bed, and he took a hasty step forward. But she seemed to catch herself when he moved.

  ‘I can understand why any health system would want to add a gem like Huffington to their fold, but why the interest in Macfield?’

  ‘To force my hand. They can’t buy me out, because I refuse to sell to them. But if they make it impossible for me to continue expanding, then they know the clinics will ultimately fail, because I won’t be able to keep my edge in the industry. If I don’t want every single one of my employees to be standing in the unemployment line, I’d have to sell. Either to RHS or another health system.’

  ‘I still don’t see what’s so bad about that.’ Valerie’s voice was reasonable. ‘You stand to make a fortune. Your family’s offer is a good one.’

  ‘A fortune isn’t what Alex wants.’ Nikki’s voice was quiet, her gaze focused on him only until he met it. Then her slender throat worked in a quick swallow, and she looked away. ‘Huffington isn’t about money. It’s about being the best teaching and clinical center, about leading the industry in research.

  That’s what’s important to Alex. Helping people. Whether it’s a seven-year-old soccer player or an eighty-year-old stroke victim.’

  ‘Honey, you don’t have to trot out the company line to me,’ Val murmured drolly. ‘I’m in public relations, remember? I’m well aware of Huffington’s mission.’

  Alex watched, oddly caught by the subtle flush that rose in Nikki’s cheeks. It was easier to blame the warmth inside his chest on that than the fact that Nikki seemed to understand something about him that his ex-wife, a woman who’d been in his life all of his life, didn’t.

  Huffington’s mission was Alex’s mission.

  But Val had never been able to recognize that the two were indistinguishable.

  He shoved up the sleeves of his sweater. ‘Put your laundry in the pillowcase,’ he told Nikki, then turned to Val. ‘I’ll meet you outside.’

  Val’s eyebrows rose a little. But she lifted a shoulder and sauntered back into the living area to collect her coat. A moment later, the door opened and closed behind her.

  Too bad the relief of her absence was only temporary. He’d wanted her to return his phone call. He hadn’t wanted her to show up here.

  ‘Is RHS a real threat, Alex?’ Nikki’s voice was quiet.

  ‘It wouldn’t be if the old man hadn’t learned I was after Macfield. Can’t blame George Macfield, though. He’s just holding out for the best deal.’

  ‘Why didn’t you say something about this before?’

  Nikki didn’t seem to be making any move to fill the pillowcase, so he opened her nightstand drawer and pulled out all the contents, pausing only momentarily as he recognized his own sweater.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  He pushed the clothing, sweater and all, into the pillowcase. ‘Taking care of things.’

  She snatched the case from him, clutching it protectively. ‘Because you think I can’t?’

  He sighed. Sat on the edge of the bed and eyed her.

  Her blue eyes were dark. Vulnerable.

  Had she always been so vulnerable?

  Or was it just her brushes with him, his family, that had done it?

  ‘Because I can.’

  Her brows drew together. ‘I don’t like feeling beholden.’

  ‘You don’t like feeling as if something is out of your control,’ he corrected. That was going to prove even more problematic unless he did something about it.

  The corners of her soft lips twitched wryly. ‘Well. There is that,’ she allowed. ‘I owe you, Alex. And I well, I don’t know what to do about that.’

  �
�Come back to work?’ He lifted his eyebrows, his voice deliberately light.

  She huffed, but the faint smile stayed in place.

  It was a helluva time to realize he’d prefer to sit on the side of the round bed with Nikki and her faint smile than go out and deal with Val.

  ‘Add the rest of your clothes,’ he said as he rose. ‘Maybe Val will prove useful and drop the stuff off in town when she leaves.’

  ‘But I thought’ Nikki broke off.

  He paused, waiting. But she just waved her hand dismissively. He watched her for a moment longer.

  Fresh color filled her cheeks and she made a shooing motion with her hands. ‘Valerie is probably freezing outside.’

  He supposed it was possible. But if he knew Val and he did she rarely let herself be uncomfortable for any length of time. Still, he turned and left the cabin, grabbing his coat along the way.

  Outside, Valerie was leaning against the hood of her rental car, cozily wrapped in coat and scarf, her nose buried in the coffee mug as she watched his approach.

  He stopped several feet away. ‘Okay, Val. What has Hunt done now?’

  She tried looking innocent, but failed miserably. Same way she always had whenever it came to Alex’s cousin. ‘You’re the one who’s been leaving me messages all over Cheyenne,’ she reminded him.

  ‘To which the usual response would be picking up the phone and returning the call. Not traipsing all the way here to Lucius.’

  ‘Which is a seriously small town,’ Val said humorously. The effort to sidetrack him was ineffective.

  There was only one thing that would have distracted Valerie from her increasing dependence on Alex. The one thing that had always come first for better or worse with Val. ‘Hunt?’ he pressed.

  Her eyes narrowed with annoyance. ‘Not everything in my life centers around Hunter, Alex.’

  He lifted an eyebrow. ‘You’ve made an effort this past year at trying otherwise. But the only thing that has ever pushed you out of your box has been Hunt. So, what’d he do?’

  She stared into her coffee mug, her finger slowly tapping the rim. ‘He’s leaving Elizabeth.’

  Alex barely paused at that. ‘This is news?’

  Val flinched a little and he sighed. ‘He’s been saying he’s going to leave her since about two weeks after he married her.’ Alex waited a beat. ‘Twenty years ago.’

  ‘Eighteen,’ Val corrected stiffly.

  No matter how irritated Alex got with her, he still had a soft spot for Valerie. Protecting her was as natural to him as breathing. But the on-and-off relationship she’d maintained with his cousin for her entire adult life was beyond his comprehension. It always had been.

  He scrubbed his hand down his face. Beneath his boots, the snow creaked. He looked at the cabin, picturing the woman inside. In Nikki’s position, Val would have run screaming to him to save her reputation and her ego.

  Nikki Day, however, stood straight and walked alone.

  He eyed Val. She was taller than Nikki and her reed-thin figure possessed none of the curves. Her hair was as blond as it had been when she was five years old, and her eyes were green. Today, they weren’t bloodshot, which he considered a small blessing, and maybe some indication that she was finally finding some peace in her life. Maybe.

  It wouldn’t stay that way, though, if she didn’t see Hunt for what he was.

  Alex felt as if he were walking yet another tightrope, and this one was thinner than the Huffington-Macfield-RHS deal.

  ‘Are you here to tell me you’re quitting and going back to the family fold in Philadelphia?’

  Her expression tightened. ‘I don’t live for my career, darling,’ she reminded him.

  He let the familiar dig pass. ‘Did you finish the prep for the Valentine’s Day dance?’

  ‘Not quite.’ But she waved her coffee mug as soon as the words left her mouth. ‘Don’t look at me like that. We’re doing local radio spots next week. Not just in Cheyenne, but also in Phoenix. It’ll all be fine.’

  ‘And then?’

  She lifted one shoulder, looking sleek and languid. But he knew it was an act she’d cultivated long ago. ‘Then Hunter says he’s going to meet me in Arizona. We’re going to take some time off together.’

  The nightmare worsened. ‘How much time?’

  ‘A few weeks. Maybe more.’

  ‘He needs to be at RHS’s next board meeting.’

  ‘You don’t worry about me coming back to work, but you do worry about Hunter being at the family’s quarterly board meeting. You’re so good for my ego, darling.’

  ‘I worry about a lot of things where Hunt is concerned,’ Alex said grimly. ‘He’s never been faithful to Elizabeth or to you. What makes you think any of that has changed?’ He knew his cousin hadn’t, and wished there was a way of convincing Val of it without everything blowing up in his face.

  ‘Hunter has never missed a board meeting,’ she said, a little too doggedly.

  ‘It’s about the only thing he hasn’t missed.’ Hunter was reliable about a few things: womanizing, stringing Val along and keeping himself in the monetary favor of the almighty Reeds. ‘Don’t get involved with him again, Val.’ He eyed her when she didn’t respond. ‘I see. You already are.’

  ‘Please don’t be angry with me, darling. I can’t take it when you’re mad.’

  How any woman could be so wise to the world on so many fronts, yet remain so blind to one man, was a mystery to him. ‘Things won’t work out the way you hope, Val. I don’t want to be picking up the pieces again when they don’t.’

  ‘There won’t be any pieces,’ she insisted.

  ‘There are always pieces.’

  ‘Not this time.’ Her smile was brilliant and brittle enough that if he hadn’t already been worried about her, he would have started. She stepped forward and hugged him tightly. ‘Please don’t be miffed.

  You know I hate it so.’

  He patted her back and sighed. That was Val. She’d never understood that he wasn’t mad. Only saddened by someone wasting her hopes on someone completely unworthy.

  ‘Alex?’

  Val turned her head beneath his chin as they both looked back at the doorway.

  Nikki stood there, one hand clutching the door, the other rubbing her swollen belly.

  He stepped around Val and strode toward the cabin. ‘What’s wrong? Why are you out of bed?’

  Her gaze avoided his as she extended an arm. He realized she was holding her cell phone. ‘It’s Miriam. She’s pretty desperate to talk to you.’

  He took the small phone, his fingers brushing hers, and she quickly turned back inside, closing the door. He eyed the solid wood panel for a long moment, then put the phone to his ear. ‘Yes?’

  Miriam’s voice was high-pitched with anxiety. ‘Your father’s been calling you all day. He’s looking for you.’

  Great. ‘Did you tell him where I was?’ He could practically hear her gulp.

  ‘Yes,’ she squeaked.

  He wanted to snap at her for being so gullible, but something prevented him. The memory of Nikki chastising him because Miriam had always been afraid of him.

  Hell. He didn’t want people afraid of him.

  That was his father’s tactic, not his.

  His jaw ached, though. ‘It’s fine, Miriam,’ he told her after a moment. ‘Let me know if you hear from him again.’

  She sounded tearfully relieved as she assured him she would, and ended the call.

  ‘Problems?’

  He pushed the phone in his pocket and eyed Val. ‘You’d better drive back to Billings while it’s still light. You’ve always hated driving after dark. And make sure Hunt gets to that board meeting.’

  She eyed him oddly, then nodded and handed over the coffee mug before climbing into the car.

  He didn’t wait to watch her drive away.

  He went back inside, carrying the mug into the kitchen.

  When it rained it poured.

  ‘Alex?’

&nb
sp; He flipped on the faucet and rinsed the mug, then left it in the sink. ‘I’d better not come in there and find you standing up again, Nik.’

  She didn’t respond and when he went into the bedroom, she was lying in the center of that round bed.

  She looked concerned. ‘Where is Valerie?’

  ‘She left.’

  Her brows knit together in a motion that was so quick he thought he might have imagined it.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.

  ‘Any reason why I wouldn’t be?’

  ‘I wish ’ She hesitated, her gaze flicking up to his, then away again. ‘I wish you’d told me about RHS

  and Macfield.’

  ‘Why does it matter to you?’

  She winced. ‘I care about what happens to you your company. What are you going to do?’

  ‘Hope to hell that Hunter votes against RHS’s acquisition of Macfield at the quarterly meeting. He’s the only one who might conceivably go against my old man’s wish to put me out of business, and it’ll take someone with that large a share of stocks to vote it down.’

  Her face tightened a little and he felt the impact in his gut.

  ‘Your cousin?’ Her voice was careful. Too careful.

  And he knew. If there had been any question that his suspicions were off base, her schooled, painfully cautious expression eradicated it.

  ‘Hunter.’ Alex kept a tight rein on himself. ‘You’ve met him.’

  ‘Yes.’ Her voice was thin.

  ‘Who knows what game he’s playing, though.’ He went on deliberately. ‘Hunt has always been a law unto himself. Figure he’s the one who spilled the beans about my interest in Macfield in the first place.’

  Her fingers were busily pleating the edge of her loose flannel shirt. ‘W-why would he do that?’

  ‘Probably because he was pissed that Val left Philly and came to Cheyenne.’

  She swallowed. ‘Why would your cousin care that you and your ex-wife were getting back together?’