Julia and I came to a stop at the final door as I turned the doorknob and pushed inward.
A smile came to my face as I peered around. When this plan to keep Julia began to take shape in my thoughts, one of the calls I made was to Margaret, asking her to make a special trip to my home to freshen this room. She seemed so surprised that I might have a guest that she assured me she would get it done. I didn’t think about the fact that I was asking her to travel up my twisty lane following a snowstorm.
Margaret didn’t complain.
Now, seeing the glistening wood of the tables in the sitting room and the open curtains throughout the suite, I knew she’d done as she promised.
“It’s beautiful,” Julia said.
I walked to the window in the sitting room beyond the fireplace. Pushing the drapery to the side, I stared out at the frozen bay. “You can see the bay from here and from the balcony in the bedroom.”
Julia ran her hand over the leather loveseat near the fireplace. “This looks new.”
“Not new, just not used.”
I followed a few steps behind as she went from room to room, stopping at the doorway to the bathroom as she examined the updated amenities, the marble tile and glistening chrome. I also stopped at the entry of the bedroom, watching as she roamed around, peering into the closet and out onto the balcony. “Have you changed your mind?” I asked, wanting her to say yes and saying a silent prayer to an unknown entity that she’d say no.
Julia took a deep breath.
As she did, the way her pert breasts pushed against her white blouse and the muscles in her neck strained, creating that sexy V near her collarbone, caught my attention. I scanned lower, to where her black slacks accentuated her trim waist.
My thoughts went back to the night when I’d undressed her unconscious body.
Today she was a strong and capable woman.
That night, she’d been a fragile bird in need of care.
That night, it took all my willpower to not peer beneath the bra and panties.
In doing so, I’d shown Julia the restraint I’d lacked with others. This beautiful angel deserved better than a man like me. She’d said that she was twenty-four. That made me nearly two decades her senior, and yet, as that night progressed, the unthinkable occurred. Julia came back to life, a vibrant beacon calling to me and inviting me into her orbit. Now that I was here, I didn’t want to break free.
Contemplating my question, Julia paced, stepping upon the floors and rugs in her high heels as if she were bred to move in a graceful manner. Given what I now know of her family, she had been.
Julia McGrath had been placed on this earth to secure her, her family’s, and Wade’s future.
Instead of doing that, she was here in my home with a man capable of destroying her and her family’s business.
I heard the warning bells.
Much like sirens from the lighthouses out upon the Apostle Islands, the ones in my mind were cautioning of the danger that lay ahead.
The words were on the tip of my tongue. I would tell her that my offer of a job was rescinded. I would help her find her way back to Ashland and back to Chicago.
Before I could voice my thoughts, Julia spoke, “I don’t want the guesthouse, Van.” Her smile lit up the bedroom. “I want time to think, but being alone in your guesthouse would be too lonely. This suite is beautiful. And,” she added, “I’ll have company.”
“Maybe you should reconsider the entire offer.”
“I have. I don’t know what brought me here, whether it was cosmic irony or what your grandmother called red sin, but I can’t deny that I too am interested in both you and this opportunity, too interested to walk away. I’ll contact my parents. After the first of the year, I’ll go back to Chicago and find out what’s happening with Wade Pharmaceutical. I think that after what I found out about Skylar, I want to stay far away from Chicago beyond the wedding date and let the dust settle.”
Maybe Julia was right with what she said earlier.
She was the fly and I was the spider.
Or maybe I was right—Julia was the innocent doe, wide-eyed on unsteady knees and I was the wolf. Either way, she’d just been invited to my web or my den.
Given her acceptance, with time she would come to regret her decision.
Forty-one years had taught me one thing I couldn’t deny. I knew myself. I knew what I was capable of doing. I also knew that I hadn’t felt this way around a woman in a long time. Perhaps I was wrong about my doomsday outlook. Maybe time had tamed the beast within me. Over ten years had passed since I let the beast win.
I had to believe that Julia was different and I could control the man I’d been.
This agreement would end up either very good or very bad.
Time held the answer.
“I haven’t changed my mind. I’ll take the job,” she said with a smile.
My cold heart didn’t know if it should leap with joy or sink with despair. It wasn’t easy to have hope when for so long it had been an elusive bitch. And yet staring down at Julia’s blue kaleidoscope within her expressive orbs, I told myself that this relationship would end differently.
After all, it had begun differently.
Life wasn’t a loop such as the movie Groundhog Day would suggest.
This was a new chance.
“Then it’s settled,” I said. “Welcome.”
Julia
I stepped into the lobby of the hotel in Ashland. The large hotel was constructed on the shore of the Chequamegon Bay in 1877, by the Wisconsin Central Railroad interests. The stately wooden pillars and trim created an atmosphere that gave one the feeling of stepping back in time. Its central location within Ashland was perfect for visitors. It had been perfect for me, allowing me to peer out my window at the frozen bay and walk a few blocks to shops and restaurants.
With my mind on my decision to move in with Van, I wasn’t paying attention. I should have been looking around at my surroundings. I wasn’t.
“Julia.”
I sucked in a breath at the familiar voice.
The counter ahead of me was empty. I turned toward the lobby, seeing the fireplace and furniture, and yet not one chair or sofa was occupied. I turned again in time to come face-to-face with Skylar Butler.
I’d never denied he was handsome; neither had he.
His dark blond hair was combed back. His khaki pants and brown loafers showed below the hem of his unbuttoned wool coat. The coat parted enough to see his patterned button-up shirt, undone at his neck. This was Skylar’s idea of casual.
His blue eyes met mine. “Julia, we need to talk.”
With my hands in the pockets of my coat, I stood taller. “Skylar, you didn’t need to make this trip.” My gaze narrowed. “How did you know where I was?”
He took a step closer. “I know you rented a car. We can return it here in Ashland and drive back to Chicago together. That will give us time to talk.”
“I don’t need time. I don’t need to talk.”
He looked around the lobby. “This doesn’t need to be discussed in public.” He motioned toward the elevators. “We could go to your room.”
“Again, how did you know that I am staying here?”
“I don’t love Beth.”
I took a step backward.