Million Dollar Marriage. Maggie Shayne

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СКАЧАТЬ why do you think my brother did that, Holden?”

      Holden shrugged. “Because he was a bastard?”

      Ryan lowered his head quickly, probably to hide a hint of amusement. “I like to think my brother realized the error of his ways, in the end. I like to think he wrote those conditions into his will so his firstborn son wouldn’t make the same mistakes he did.”

      Holden sighed deeply and shook his head. “Therein lies the problem, Uncle Ryan. If I marry some decent woman, I will be doing just that. Repeating my father’s mistakes. Ruining a good woman’s life by tying her to me. For God’s sake, look at my mother.”

      Ryan did. He glanced up, scanned the crowd. Holden followed his gaze and found Mary Ellen Fortune standing alone, a drink in her hand, staring up at the portrait of her dead husband. Fifty-six, and still a knockout. She’d kept her figure. Her red hair didn’t have a streak of gray in it, and since Cameron’s death, she’d even had it cut into a more modern style that bobbed just above her shoulders and moved when she did.

      “She was wasted on him,” Holden said. “He made her miserable. And I wouldn’t want to follow in his footsteps by making some other good woman equally unhappy. Unfortunately, unless I do, I don’t inherit a dime.”

      Ryan looked back at Holden again. “Your lawyers…”

      “I spoke to them an hour ago. It’s over. The judge upheld the will as is. No more appeals, no more contesting it. It’s over.”

      Ryan sighed deeply. “I’m sorry, Holden.”

      “Yeah. So am I.” Holden took a long pull from his glass.

      “But just because your father was a womanizing louse, doesn’t mean you have to be.”

      “Too late, Uncle Ryan. I already am.” He glanced up at his father’s portrait. The golden boy looked down at him. His smile seemed to Holden almost mocking. Blond hair, blue eyes, clean-cut, all-American, rich SOB. It was like looking into a mirror. Holden lifted his glass in mock salute. “You win, Dad.” Then he downed the contents. As he did, he spotted exactly what he’d been looking for. Someone he could take home, take to bed, and ravage in every possible way until he got this will stuff out of his system.

      She was standing near the barbecue pit, talking to Matthew and his wife Claudia. Her back was to Holden, but he could see enough. She was…exquisite. Jet hair, so black it seemed almost blue in the slanting afternoon sun. So smooth…like satin. He’d bet her eyes were dark, too. Ebon, and slanted. Native American eyes, to go with that bronze skin. Slender, yeah, with just the right curves to her. She was hot. Dressed to hide it, sure. Forest-green silk suit. But that skirt was short, and tight, and her legs looked as if they never ended. She’d be a wild woman in bed.

      “Now there’s someone I’d like to meet,” he muttered to Ryan, and when his uncle didn’t answer, Holden turned to see he’d lost Ryan’s attention. It had been stolen the second Lily Cassidy had entered the room. As usual, Uncle Ryan only had eyes for the dark beauty who’d captured his heart thirty years ago, and only recently come back into his life. Lily’s heart was in her eyes as she crossed the room and Ryan took her hands. If anyone in the world deserved to be happy, it was those two. Holden wished for the millionth time that Sophia would just agree to the divorce and set his uncle free. Everyone knew it was the money she’d been after all along.

      With a sigh, he returned his attention to the other dark beauty, the one out in the courtyard with his cousin the doctor. He supposed he ought to be grateful for at least one of his father’s traits—he’d never yet met a woman who would tell him no. And from the looks of her, he didn’t expect this one to be the first. Holden exchanged his empty glass for a full one at the portable bar set up in the great room, and sauntered out through the wide-open patio doors to the pit where Matthew tended the ribs. He pretended great interest in the cooking process, all the while keeping one eye on the lucky woman he’d chosen to ease his misery tonight. “Anything I can do, cousin?”

      “Hand me that platter. This batch is done.”

      Holden snagged the platter and held it obediently as Matthew began piling ribs on it. The smell was heavenly. But Holden was more interested in watching the two women—Claudia, Matthew’s wife, and that hot little number she was talking to. She’d turned a little as he’d come out. He still couldn’t get a good look at her face. The platter grew heavier in his hand. “So, Claudia, where’s the guest of honor? Not sleeping through his own party, is he?”

      Claudia glanced his way with a smile. She and Matthew had never seemed happier. His cousin had something—something Holden would never have. A wife who adored him. A family. A future. Holden felt a flash of envy and a hint of self-pity. He squelched both.

      “That’s exactly what he’s doing,” Claudia said. “All the excitement of the christening wore him right out.”

      The darker one looked his way. He caught her eye, but she quickly averted her face. There was something familiar about her. “You…haven’t introduced me to your friend.”

      Matthew suppressed a chuckle. Claudia just shook her head. “Oh, come on, Holden. You know Lucinda.” At Holden’s blank look she went on. “Lucinda Brightwater? From high school?”

      And then, even as he blinked in shock, the woman spoke.

      “I’m afraid I never made that much of an impression on your cousin, Claudia,” she said, her voice slightly chilly. Yet deep and rich, like warmed honey. At last, she faced him.

      Holden caught his breath. But this knockout couldn’t possibly be that untouchable, pristine, painfully shy girl he remembered. “Lucy Brightwater?” he asked, failing to hide his surprise.

      She lifted her dark brows. “The one and only.” She started to turn away. “I think I see someone I know. If you’ll excuse me.”

      “Hold on a minute!” Holden automatically moved closer, gripping her arm lightly. “Hey, it’s been years. Give a guy a break, huh?”

      She looked at him, her gaze icy, before it dipped to his hand on her arm. Her message was clear.

      He let go immediately. And the beautiful woman walked away. Lowering his chin, Holden sighed. “She sure grew up touchy. Gorgeous, though.”

      “She’s not your type,” Claudia said. “As I recall, you made that fact painfully obvious to her back in school.”

      He knew she was right, but he’d be damned if he’d admit it. “Shoot, if she’d looked like that back in school—”

      “I think that’s the point, cousin,” Matthew volunteered. “You’re tipping the platter.”

      Holden straightened the platter and a rib fell off. Shaking her head, Claudia came forward and took the dish from him. Holden eyed her. “Besides, I don’t remember being nasty to her in high school. At least, not enough to merit that icy reception.” Anyway, he’d had his reasons for steering clear of Lucy back then. Reasons…that all still existed. So why didn’t he just drop it? Why was he still watching her weave her way through the crowded great room? Why was he still running off at the mouth? “I always admired her. She…reminded me of Mom in some odd way.”

      “She had a huge crush on you back then, Holden.”

      “That’s right… That’s right. I used to СКАЧАТЬ