The Texas Cowboy's Quadruplets. Cathy Thacker Gillen

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СКАЧАТЬ frowned, alarm causing her pulse to flutter. “You’re sure about that?”

      “Positive.” His gaze narrowed. “But you don’t have to take my word on that. You can look up the reputation of these suppliers yourself.”

      Mitzy rubbed the tense muscles of her forehead.

      Chase squinted down at her. “I don’t recall your father ever skimping on materials.”

      Mitzy winced. Admitting miserably, “He didn’t.”

      His brows furrowed. “And you didn’t order it?”

      “No.” Heaven’s no!

      His expression remained maddeningly inscrutable. “Any idea when the change might have been made?”

      Her throat constricting, she headed for her dad’s private office, thinking a clue as to why this all happened might be there. “I don’t know.” Hoarsely, she admitted, “I haven’t been here since Dad died last May.”

      And as CEO, she should have been. Frequently. No matter how difficult or gut-wrenching she found it.

      Silently berating herself for her inexcusable lapse in judgment, she slogged past the door that had always stayed open. Flipped on the lights. Saw her dad’s worn denim jacket slung over the back of his chair. A box of his favorite mints sitting open on the desk. The World’s Greatest Dad coffee mug she had made for him in elementary school sitting there, next to his calendar, clean and ready to be filled.

      For a moment, it was almost as if her father had just stepped out for a spell. And would come striding back in, larger than life, at any second.

      A sob caught in her throat, as she realized just how much she wanted that to happen.

      An anguished cry left her mouth.

      And then the grief and tears she’d been holding back came pouring out in a harsh, wrenching torrent.

      The next thing she knew, Chase’s arms were wrapped around her. He pulled her close as even more tears flowed and her slender body shook with sobs. She clung to him and he held her until the worst of the storm passed. And for one sweet moment, time really did stand still. There’d been no decade apart. No heartbreaking end to their engagement. No years of them pretending each other didn’t exist. No years of not speaking.

      There was only him and her, and her overwhelming need for comfort and the urge to lean on his incredible strength.

      The surprising yearning to kiss him one last time.

      So she lifted her head, and did.

      Though it was supposed to be the goodbye kiss she had never given him, the final denouement in their ill-fated relationship, the brief caress quickly turned into something else entirely.

      A reminder of all they had shared that was at once passionate and tender, sweet and loving, as well as a jarring testament of all they had given up.

      And that, too, was more than she could bear on this very emotional day.

      She and Chase had let each other down and crushed each other’s hopes and dreams once. She’d be a fool to venture down the same path and hope for a different result.

      Hand pressed against his chest, she tore her mouth from his and pushed him away. “No,” she gasped, common sense returning with reassuring speed. It didn’t matter how much she was hurting or how alone she felt.

      She looked Chase in the eye. “There’s no way in hell we’re getting involved again!”

       Chapter Two

      Mitzy half expected Chase to argue with her. Try to persuade her otherwise, as he had during the days immediately following their breakup, years ago. Instead, he stood there, watchful, patient, infuriatingly silent. His implacable calm—in the wake of her complete emotional upheaval—leaving her even more on edge. Finally, he said, “You’re right. We have more important issues to address right now.”

      What was more important than where the two of them went from here? If not straight into bed? “Like what?” Mitzy asked, wishing he didn’t look so big and strong and completely irresistible.

      He lounged against the wall, arms folded in front of him. “The fate of your dad’s company.”

      Needing some distance between them, Mitzy walked around her dad’s desk, then stood facing him with her hands hooked over the back of the chair. She gestured at the dust gathering everywhere she looked. “Obviously, I need to cowgirl up and get it back on track.”

      He nodded seriously, then warned, “Before you can do that, however, you’re going to have to assess the depth of the damage.”

      His sexy baritone kindled new heat inside her. Aware he was watching her, gauging her reactions as carefully as she was measuring his, she tilted her chin. “You think there’s more?”

      “There usually is.”

      She inhaled deeply. Breathed out slowly. And tried not to panic considering what else she hadn’t been aware of and didn’t yet know.

      “You’re speaking of some of the small companies you’ve purchased and turned around,” she guessed.

      He nodded.

      Before he could say more, a loud knock sounded on the outer door of the facility. Mitzy looked at Chase. “Expecting anyone?”

      “No. You?”

      With a mystified shake of her head, Mitzy crossed the cement facility floor. Her sixty-seven-year-old stepfather was standing on the other side, in the usual expensive sport coat, slacks and button-down. His thick silver hair was as neatly combed as always, his eyes warm and assessing behind the silver-rimmed glasses.

      “Your mother sent me to check on you,” Walter Fiedler said. “She was worried about you being here alone, but—” his glance took in Mitzy’s just-kissed state and moved to Chase “—I guess she needn’t have been. Hello, Chase.” He extended his hand.

      Chase stepped up with his usual masculine grace. “Walter.”

      “Good to see you.”

      “Likewise.”

      The two men exchanged polite smiles. An awkward silence fell.

      Walter turned back to Mitzy. “I don’t mean to pressure you, dear, but I think your mother’s feelings are a little hurt by the way you disappeared so soon after we arrived. So if you could wrap this up...and come back to the house soon...?”

      Inundated by guilt, Mitzy said, “I’ll be right there, I promise.”

      The older gentleman nodded in approval, then turned back to Chase. “Will you be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner? Judith’s cooking all of Mitzy’s favorites.”

      It wasn’t such a far-fetched assumption to make, given the two men had initially met СКАЧАТЬ