Lucky Charm Page 9

  “Not a problem.”

  “Hey.” She reached out and smoothed his forehead with her hand. “Relax, okay? I didn’t want to put you in a bad mood and ruin the whole night, but it was important enough to tell you about.”

  He nodded. “I’m glad you trusted me,” he said gruffly.

  She smiled. “I do. Now, let’s change the subject.”

  He exhaled hard. “That’s a good idea.”

  “So how much of a grilling did Holly give you about us?” Gabrielle asked, doing a one-eighty.

  Reminded of his precocious daughter, he laughed. “Grilling is a good word for it. She’s a master interrogator. I told her we dated in high school and broke up before college.”

  “And she accepted that without asking anything else?” Gabrielle stretched her legs out in front of her and wiggled her toenails, which were painted a hot pink.

  “Oh, she asked for details, all right. She asked if I was going to marry you the way her mother had married John.”

  Gabrielle jerked her head toward him, her eyes open wide.

  Now, whatever had possessed him to admit such a thing?

  “What did you tell her?” she asked.

  “Nothing. She got distracted before I had to answer.”

  “Derek?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What would you have told her? If she hadn’t been distracted?”

  He propped his hands behind him and leaned back, settling in for an honest discussion. “I would have told her that I left you, but it hadn’t been easy.”

  “Then why did you do it?” She glanced out over the ocean, her expression sad.

  A warm breeze blew her hair back and his fingers itched to run through the silky strands, but he refrained, closing his fist instead. “You know why. I couldn’t let it touch you,” he said, referring to the curse.

  Gabrielle bit on the inside of her cheek to keep from tossing back a sarcastic reply. She knew from experience if she baited Derek, he’d withdraw. And she needed to hear what he had to say.

  “Tell me about Holly’s mom.” She couldn’t bring herself to call her his ex-wife.

  “She’s a good woman who deserved better than me.” He groaned. “I already told you how we ended up together.”

  A group of kids ran by their area of the beach, laughing and talking loudly.

  He waited before he continued.

  He met Gabrielle’s gaze, the pain in his eyes as great as the one in her heart. “Go on,” she said.

  “That’s where I started to think about the curse and how it related to my future. I loved you, so I broke up with you to protect you from the fallout that all men and the women they loved in my family have suffered. But I didn’t love Marlene.” He never broke eye contact with her. “Not the way I loved you.”

  He’d said it the other night, but hearing it now caused her breath to catch in her throat and her heart thudded heavily in her chest. As bad as she felt for the other woman, this was exactly what she’d always needed to believe. That he’d never been able to move past loving her, just as she’d never been able to fully commit to someone else.

  He needed to know she’d felt the same way. “Derek—”

  He placed his hand over her mouth. His touch was electric. Her body tingled and every nerve ending came alive.

  “Let me finish explaining first.”

  She nodded.

  “After the shock of Marlene’s pregnancy wore off, of course I offered to marry her.”

  “It was the gentlemanly thing to do.”

  He inclined his head and looked up at the sky. “That wasn’t the only reason. I realized that Marlene was giving me a chance to have a future—a wife, a family.”

  All the things she’d wanted with him, Gabrielle thought, but said nothing. What good would it do now? They could only move forward from here.

  “It might not have been the situation I would have chosen, but that’s what made it so perfect. I thought that since I cared about her but wasn’t in love with her, the curse wouldn’t ever come into play. The wording specifically said—Any Corwin male who falls in love would be destined to lose his love and his fortune. Because I didn’t love Marlene, I thought I was safe.” He exhaled hard. “I was wrong.”

  Gabrielle’s heart picked up speed. This was her chance to question the curse, the opportunity she’d been waiting for to change Derek’s way of thinking.

  She scrambled to her knees and inched closer to him. “Derek, listen to me. I need you to think,” she said, knowing her future depended on his reaction to her words. “Tell me why your marriage broke up and how you think it was because of some ancient curse.” She intentionally sounded as sarcastic as she felt.

  “Gabby, I know the curse isn’t rational. But in my family history, facts are facts. And I watched it play out again in my own life.”

  “How?”

  “Marlene came from a family that didn’t have a lot of money. Her father was a solid working guy until he died when Marlene was in junior high. Her mother was an Italian woman who stayed home to take care of the kids, but after her husband passed away, she had to get a job as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Marlene was the first one to go to college. Getting pregnant wasn’t in her plans, but we agreed to keep the baby and make it work between us. I tried.” He sounded tired and weary, as if relating an old story he could no longer quite believe.

  She placed her hand over his. “I’m sure you did everything you could to stay together for Holly’s sake.”

  He nodded. “I worked damned hard to make enough money to stem Marlene’s childhood insecurities about being poor. But she didn’t understand about the long hours I had to put in. And the more strained things got at home, the harder I worked. By the time we divorced, there was nothing left of the friendship we’d shared.” He shook his head, his frustration obvious.

  Gabrielle squeezed his hand tighter. “Did you ever think it was something as simple as two people who aren’t in love might not be able to make a marriage work?”

  “I sure did. Until I took a huge hit financially. I’d worked my way up at a large securities firm. I did well, made big money for my clients and for myself. Later, I began investing capital in companies I thought were going to do well. Start-ups like JetBlue Airlines among others. Around the same time as my divorce, I put a large chunk of cash into what was supposed to be a sure thing.” He shook his head and laughed wryly. “That’s when I learned there’s no such thing.”

  As Gabrielle listened to him, her frustration grew. “It would have happened, anyway! A financial miscalculation has nothing to do with a curse. Don’t you see how each incident—your divorce, your money problems—they’re not related. There’s a logical, rational explanation for each!”

  He remained silent so she continued. “Let’s say for the sake of argument, there is such a thing as a curse. It kicks in if you fall in love. But you weren’t in love with Marlene. No love, no curse!” she yelled at him.

  “Well, if things got that bad with Marlene, I sure as hell am not going to take that chance with you!” His brown eyes flashed with determination.

  But she was equally determined to make her point. “Well, I’m not going to give you a choice.” She settled into his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him close and planted a warm, hot kiss on his lips.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  DEREK HAD NEVER BEEN able to win an argument with a determined Gabrielle. And the woman now straddling his lap was equally strong in her resolution to come out on top. Pun intended. Although, he wasn’t laughing. He was completely, thoroughly aroused.

  Her lips were hot and seductive as she made her point. A point he couldn’t remember, thanks to the pulsing in his groin and the desire flooding his body. He couldn’t focus on anything except the delicious woman seducing him on the beach, so he did what any sane man would do.

  He kissed her back. Slid his hands up the bare skin on her back and kneaded her soft flesh, all the while deepening the kiss. He slid his tongue
around her mouth, losing himself in sensation. Need surrounded him.

  A haze of pure enjoyment rushed over him when suddenly, she cupped her hands around his face and slowly ended the kiss.

  He breathed out hard.

  “I missed this,” she said softly, her gaze meeting his. “I missed you.”

  “Yeah. Me, too.” More than he’d wanted to admit.

  Even now, the tremors in his body continued, along with the sound of desire filling his ears. Of course, it could be the ocean behind him, but he chose to believe Gabrielle’s effect on him was that potent.

  “What are we going to do about it?” She wiggled her hips against him, and though her dress covered all his sins, her eyes darkened, telling him she felt him grow hard between her thighs.

  She certainly wasn’t going to accept “nothing” as an answer.

  “We need closure,” she said.

  “I agree.” He couldn’t just let her walk out of his life. Not yet. He needed more.

  She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You do, huh?” Her lips curved upward in a pleased and somewhat smug smile.

  For once they were on the same page.

  “Excuse me,” a stranger said.

  Startled, both he and Gabrielle jerked their gaze upward.

  A woman stood over them. “This isn’t a private beach. And it’s not the place for public displays of affection,” she said, toe tapping in disapproval. “I suggest you get a room.” She sniffed and strode off, her nose in the air.

  “I’m mortified,” Gabrielle said, her voice rising in horror.

  Derek couldn’t help but laugh. “Relax. She’s a stick-in-the-mud. We’re off in our own corner, not bothering anyone.”

  Gabrielle bit down on her lower lip. “Well, still. There are kids around. You wouldn’t want Holly coming across a couple doing what we just did on a public beach.” She delicately climbed off him, careful, he noticed, not to look at the lingering evidence of his arousal bulging in his jeans.

  “Good point.” He pulled her toward him again and placed a brief kiss on the tip of her nose. “It’s just that you can make me forget everything but you.”

  She grinned and rose to her feet.

  He followed, straightening his clothes and thinking about Gabrielle’s effect on him. Decision made, he had no choice. He was finished denying the attraction. Nothing in the curse prohibited a short-term affair.

  Closure, as Gabrielle had said.

  Together they packed up the blanket and basket, when suddenly he turned and faced her again. He wrapped his arm around her waist, but instead of letting himself get caught up in another embrace, he turned her around and playfully swatted her behind.

  “No more PDA,” he said, laughing. “Let’s get our things and get moving.” He grabbed the basket while she picked up the blanket and they started up the beach.

  He couldn’t help but think about the implications of their talk as he walked to his SUV. Tonight had changed the dynamics between himself and Gabrielle. He’d agreed to find closure between them. And considering he knew how Gabrielle’s mind worked, he had no doubt private displays of affection were going to play a large part of that closure.

  DEREK WOKE UP EARLY the next morning and was on the phone with his cousin Mike by nine. Derek was deliberately vague with his story, omitting the fact that Sharon was being blackmailed. He didn’t want to put Mike in a position where he had to act, nor did Derek want to betray Gabrielle and Sharon’s confidence. Mike was happy to dig up information, but he warned Derek to be careful.

  A short while later, Mike called back and Derek had some solid facts. Sharon’s ex, Tony DeCarlo, was out of jail and living in a small suburb outside of Boston. As far as Mike could tell, Mr. DeCarlo was a model citizen—or he just hadn’t been caught.

  Although Derek would have liked to pay the man a visit by himself, he wasn’t about to risk going solo and facing Gabrielle’s wrath. He could handle her anger, but if she stopped trusting him, she’d go off on her own next time.

  Gabrielle seemed to appreciate his efforts—she was chatty and upbeat the entire trip. He didn’t want to take her expensive convertible, which was an attention-getter, and so he drove his SUV, pulling up to the address Mike had given him, a small rented garden apartment in a surprisingly nice area. Gabrielle immediately jumped out of the truck.

  “Hey, wait up.” He caught up to her on the walkway. “Let me do the talking, okay?”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not okay. I have a few questions for him and I’m going to ask them.” She strode ahead of Derek and headed for the first-floor apartment, ringing the bell before he joined her.

  “Who is it?” a male voice called out from behind the door.

  “A friend of a friend,” Gabrielle said.

  Derek folded his arms across his chest, resigned to letting her handle things and acting as backup if she needed it. Obviously she wasn’t going to give him a choice.

  The door opened halfway. “What friend?”

  Gabrielle recognized the man from old photos Sharon had sent her while in college—before her new boyfriend had turned into a nightmare. “Hi, Tony?”

  “Who wants to know?”

  “Me. I’m a friend of someone you used to date. I believe you remember Sharon Merchant?” Gabrielle asked in a sweet voice.

  Tony’s wary expression turned dark. “I don’t have anything to say to Sharon or to you.” He started to shut the door but Derek slipped his sneakered foot inside.

  “That’s no way to treat a lady, buddy. At least hear her out.”

  Gabrielle shot Derek a grateful look. “How’ve you been, Tony?”

  “Busy. I work and I come home. There’s no time for chitchat.”

  “So why aren’t you at work now?” According to Derek’s cousin, Tony had been stocking shelves at the local supermarket. He had positive employment reviews and no complaints against him.

  “It’s my day off. What’s it to you?”

  She shrugged. “Just curious. This is a nice apartment. Mind if I ask how you afford it? I mean, stocking shelves doesn’t pay that well.”

  “My sister lives with me and shares the rent. Again, what’s it to you?”

  “Some of those pictures you took of my friend resurfaced.”

  His face turned pale. “I had nothing to do with it!”

  “So you say,” Derek said, stepping forward. “But she received a package that has your MO. It’s hard to believe someone else is behind it.”

  “Believe what you want, but it wasn’t me. You think I’d risk going back to jail?” he asked incredulously. “No way, man.”

  Gabrielle narrowed her gaze. “Did you keep extra copies of the pictures?”

  He shook his head. “The cops took them all.” He stepped outside, joining them as if he had nothing to hide. “Look, I was young and stupid. I saw a quick way to make money by taking advantage of naive women. And I paid for it. That part of my life was over a long time ago.”

  Gabrielle glanced at Derek, silently asking what he thought.

  “If you don’t believe me, that’s your problem. But you’re not going to pin this on me.” He tipped his head to one side. “Are we finished now?”

  “For now,” Derek said.

  Gabrielle nodded. “Just don’t leave town,” she said, turning her back on the other man and walking away.

  Derek jogged after her. “Just don’t leave town? What kind of bad TV cop language was that?”

  “So sue me. It was all I could think of on short notice.” She strode to the vehicle, her hair swaying as she moved. “God, that was useless.”

  Derek shook his head. “Maybe not. He’ll be nervous now. If he’s behind it, he might make a mistake.”

  “Do you think he’s the one blackmailing Sharon?”

  Derek leaned against his car. “I have no idea. I guess we’ll know more after we hit the Wave tonight.”

  “Speaking of the Wave, will you dance with me tonight?” she asked, her eyes sparkling
with anticipation.

  “I’m surprised you’d want to. The last time we danced together—”

  “We had fun at the prom, didn’t we?”

  He’d bet Gabrielle deliberately cut him off before he could discuss their last night together—and the horrible way things had ended the next day.

  “We did.” He still remembered picking her up at her parents’ house. She came down the stairs wearing a gorgeous off-white ruffled dress that bared one shoulder and draped her curves perfectly.

  He hadn’t gone to the prom that night knowing he was going to break up with her right afterward. As a result, they’d enjoyed a very special evening. The next day, a letter he’d sent to his birth mother had been returned to him, unread and marked Return to Sender. Obviously, she hadn’t wanted to hear from him.

  That was when he’d decided he had to insulate himself and the people he loved from the pain associated with the curse. Breaking up with Gabrielle had seemed like the only way to protect both of them from imminent future anguish.

  “Well, I want to dance tonight, so be ready,” she said, obviously not thinking about what had happened after the prom.

  “You got it,” he said. If she could put it behind her, then so should he. “What are you doing this afternoon? I’m taking Holly swimming. Want to come?”

  “I’d love to. Unfortunately, I promised Sharon I’d come by and keep her calm this afternoon. She’ll be climbing the walls waiting for tonight. Although I can’t imagine this guy showing up now that we’ve confronted him.” Gabrielle glanced back toward the apartment building.

  Derek shrugged. “He’s not just going to drop his plan. Let’s take it one step at a time, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “So how about you invite Sharon? There’s nothing like some sun, sand and preteen chatter to get her mind off her problems.”

  “Good idea!”

  Later that afternoon, he was forced to rethink the wisdom of his invitation when he caught sight of Gabrielle in a sleek one-piece bathing suit, looking sexier than any woman had a right to. With his daughter around, he had to keep his hands to himself, and he realized he’d signed up for an afternoon of pure torture. And he had only himself to blame.