“Eli!” a male voice called.
Desire turned to her left as the rest of the Fontaines emerged from a cluster of couches under a window overlooking Crystal Lake—Bryce at the front, followed by his lovely petite and very pregnant wife, her fourteen-year old nephew, Jason, her nieces, eight-year-old Alyssa and five-year-old Anastasia, and Elyse, Eli’s twin sister.
A young couple approached Bryce and Kaya, stopping their progress, and while the adults conversed, the three younger children ran ahead of their parents. Jason continued his leisure stroll, looking around the restaurant as if he were expecting someone. Haley, their nanny, trailed behind them, but kept a watchful eye on the youngest children.
Desire returned her attention to Chase as the girls sped past her to him. They paid her no mind at all. It was as if she wasn’t even there. She was old news. Mr. B was new. New to her too, she conceded as the mystery of Chase Hunter skyrocketed to a whole new level in Desire’s world.
“What’s your name?” Alyssa asked, smiling sweetly up at Chase through a pair of brown eyes.
“He’s Mr. B,” Eli said. “He’s Daddy’s friend.”
So, he’d graduated from colleague to friend, Desire thought, gazing down at the group of children gathered around Chase. She didn’t miss the animated grin on his face as he interacted with them. Her pulse quickened at a vision of Chase on the floor romping with their own future children.
“You must be Alyssa,” he said, grinning at her.
“Yes, I’m Alyssa.” Her smile widened as she twirled a finger around a strand of her long curly brown hair. “How do you know my name?”
“A little birdie told me.”
She snickered, brazenly. “I’m eight. How old are you?”
Way too old for you. Desire smiled, remembering how at that age she had been crushing on a then eleven-year-old Chase. Run along, little girl. This catch is mine.
“A gentleman never reveals his age,” Chase said, giving Alyssa a wink before turning to Anastasia. He pinched her nose. “And you must be Anastasia.”
She giggled shyly and held on to her sister’s hand as she stared at Chase through bright hazel eyes.
“Elyse, right?” Chase said, ruffling the curly black hair of the youngest Fontaine. “You have your daddy’s black eyes and your mother’s lovely smile.”
Unlike her gregarious, garrulous twin, Eli, Elyse was quiet, sweet, and shy. She was usually in her father’s arms when Desire had run into them in public—a true daddy’s little girl. And true to her nature, Elyse ran back to her parents and right into her father’s arms.
“Hi, Miss Desire,” Jason said, joining them. “You look really nice.”
“At last, someone noticed me,” Desire said, grinning at the teenage boy. “Thank you, Jason.”
“Is he your date?” he asked, pointing at Chase.
“Um, yes. Ch—Mr. B, this is Jason Rogers. Jason, my date.”
Chase shook Jason’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Jason. You look a lot like your father, Michael.”
“You knew my dad, my real dad?”
“Yes. I had my first ski lesson from him.”
“He taught me, too. But I don’t ski as much anymore. It reminds me of him too much and it still hurts that he and my mom aren’t around anymore. Maybe when it doesn’t hurt as much, I’ll start skiing again.”
Desire’s arm automatically went around the boy’s shoulders. Although she said nothing, she could feel the tension in his body subside at her hug. She was a grown woman, and yet the anticipation of losing her father was already sending her into depression. She could only imagine what it was like for Jason and his sisters to lose both of their parents in one day, before they even had the chance to really know them. “It will get better, Jason,” she said, for her benefit as much as for his.
“Bryce told me that you’re excellent at martial arts,” Chase said. “You’re on your green belt now, and the star student in the region? That’s quite an accomplishment.”
The sparkle returned to his eyes. “Thank you. I’m going to a camp in New York next month. Then it’s down to Washington DC for the East Coast tournament. I’m excited about camp but a little nervous about the tournament. I’ll be up against some of the best.”
“I’m sure you’ll do well,” Chase said.
“Daddy, look. It’s Mr. B,” Eli shouted as his parents joined them.
“Yes, Eli, I see that.” Bryce placed Elyse on the floor. “So you’ve met my children, Mr. B,” he said to Chase. “Sorry about Eli waylaying you like that.”
Desire didn’t miss the wary glances between Bryce and Chase, but before she could analyze them, his two youngest daughters were tugging Bryce’s hands.
“Can we go to the playroom, Daddy?” Anastasia asked, as a burst of laughter came from the room next door. “I want to see the fishes in the aquarium.”
“Yeah, Daddy, can we, please, please, please?” Elyse chimed in. “I want to ride the train.”
“Okay, just for a minute. We have to leave soon.” He signaled Haley over, and after quickly introducing her to Chase, he instructed her to take the three youngest children next door.
Eli raced ahead of his sisters. He was definitely not a follower, but a born leader like his father, Desire thought.
Kaya glanced at the two older children. “You, too. Go.”
“The novelty of that room, the fishes, and the trains wore off a long time ago for me, Mom.” Jason said.
“Me, too,” Alyssa added. “It’s boring. I’m a big girl now.” She flipped her curls over her shoulder, and smiled up at Chase.
“Okay, then, Charlie and the car are up front. You can go wait with him. We’ll be out soon.”
“But, Mommy, I—”
“Alyssa, you heard your mom.” Bryce’s voice was uncompromising, yet gentle. “Say your goodbyes, both of you. You’ll see Mr. B and Miss Desire again soon.”
Alyssa folded her arms and pouted in protest, but she obviously knew better than to argue with her father. She grudgingly said goodbye to both Chase and Desire before reluctantly following her brother to the door.
“She seems like a darling little girl, but boy, you have your hands full with her,” Chase said with a smile.
“You have no idea. She’s growing up too fast for my liking,” Bryce said, before turning his attention to Desire, finally making her feel like she was a person, and a visible one at that. “Desire, you look absolutely stunning. Wow.” His smile was genuine, admiring.
“I second that.” Kaya touched her on the arm. “Such a beautiful dress. You look like a queen.”
Desire felt warmth rising to her cheeks. “Thank you, both of you.” She cleared the catch from her voice, marveling that members of the Summers and Fontaine families could stand next to each other, and compliment each other without an ounce of tension between them. They’d made remarkable progress.
“Is it a Joanne’s exclusive?” Kaya asked, running a finger along the sleeve of the dress.
“Yes. It’s a present from Mr. B. Along with the shoes, the purse, and the jewelry.” Desire narrowed her eyes at Chase as she recalled his questions about her relationship with Bryce in the boarding house yesterday, when he was undoubtedly aware of the whole situation all along.
“He has exceptional taste,” Kaya said, smiling up at Chase who seemed fascinated with Bryce’s wife.
“Kaya, this is Mr. Bennett. Mr. Bennett, my wife, Kaya.” Bryce made the introductions.
Bennett now? How thick could this plot get? Desired wondered.
“So you are the infamous and mysterious Mr. Bennett. It is an honor to finally meet you.” She held her hand out to him.
“The honor is mine, Mrs. Fontaine.” Chase kissed her hand. “You’re even more gorgeous than your pictures.”
She laughed. “Oh come on, no need for formalities, especially not after the last-minute stages and dance poles you added to our honeymoon cottages. They were perfect.”
“So your husband tells me.”
Desire watched Chase’s face turn red. “You designed their honeymoon cottages,” she asked, as the nature of his relationship with the Fontaines, and probably the other billionaires, dawned on her. So that’s why he was able to land a table at Hotel Andreas tonight. “You’ve been working as an architect all these years?”
“You haven’t told her yet,” Bryce said.
“I’m telling her everything tonight.”
“I didn’t realize you two knew each other,” Kaya said to Desire.
“We go way back.” Chase said “We grew up next door to each other until she was fourteen, and then her family moved to Granite Falls.”
“Really? Were you friends, or more?” she asked, tossing each of them a meaningful smile.
“More. Much more. Tonight is all about reconnecting, hopefully picking up where we left off years ago,” he said in a deep timbre voice as he smiled at Desire.
“We’re trying to reconnect, too. At least I am.”
“Reconnect with whom?” Desire asked.
“My mother. She’s visiting. We had dinner upstairs in her room.”
“Oh.” Desire tossed Kaya a curious glance. Last year when Bryce and Kaya had visited Desire’s parents to tear down the wall between them, Kaya had told them that her mother had abandoned her as a child and that she’d grown up in Florida’s welfare system. As far as Desire knew, Kaya and her mother had never had a relationship since Kaya moved to Granite Falls to take care of her nephew and two nieces after their parents were killed in a car crash five years ago. This is where she’d met and married Bryce, who was the children’s godfather at the time. Together, they were raising the orphan children, along with their own. “I didn’t know you and your mother had reconciled.”
Kaya uttered a soft chortle. “We’re trying. I went to see her when I was pregnant with the twins, but she wasn’t even ready to meet me halfway. We kept in touch, barely, but when I told her that I was pregnant again, she asked if she could meet her grandchildren.”
“Why is she staying here, and not with you?” Chase asked.
“I don’t want her in my home, not until she has proven that she can be trusted.”
“And probably not even after that,” Bryce stated, pulling his wife into his arms, and kissing the top of her head. “She will never have the opportunity to be alone with any of our children. Not as long as I live.”
Kaya’s eyes clouded with apparently sad memories. “She abused me physically and emotionally when I was a child, walked out on me when I was thirteen, then came back a year later, pretending she wanted me back in her life. But that didn’t happen, thanks to my caseworker who found out that her then boyfriend was a registered sex offender. When the judge gave her a choice between him and me, she chose him. God only knows what kind of deal she’d made with that man, concerning me.”
“I didn’t realize how difficult a childhood you had, Kaya. I’m sorry.” Kaya’s story made Desire appreciate her parents even more—despite the fact that her father had kept her and Chase apart for so many years.
“She’s been going to counseling, and one of the steps is that she reconciles with me. She said she was sorry for what she did to me. I don’t even know if I believe her. I’m not getting my hopes up. I don’t need her to complete my life. When I needed her, she chose not to be there.” She shrugged. “She can stay in Granite Falls as long as my children are interested in seeing her, but only in the presence of either Bryce and or me. I don’t want them to grow up and resent me for keeping them away from their grandmother. I haven’t told them anything negative about her. I’ll let them draw their own conclusions when they’re old enough. Hopefully, by then, she’ll have really changed.”
“Well, at least you’ll be able to tell them that you tried,” Chase said.
“Exactly.” Kaya rubbed her hand over her stomach, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth as she caressed the child in her womb.
Desire felt a sharp contraction inside her own womb as Chase suddenly placed his hand on her shoulders and pulled her up against him. His hold was gentle, yet possessive. Very possessive.
“Pregnancy agrees with you, Kaya. You are glowing. When’s the big day?” Desire asked.
“September eighth.”
“Twins again?” Chase teased.
“Oh, God forbid. I don’t think I would survive another set of twins. It’s just one this time. A boy, which makes my husband very happy.” She threw her head back and grinned at Bryce. “He says we need to even the playing field.”
“It’s only fair.” Bryce bent way down to plant a lingering kiss on his wife’s upturned lips at the same time that he placed his hand over hers, still resting on her baby bump. “Now, we have three sons and three daughters.”
“Congratulations to both of you. I wish you a smooth delivery and a very healthy baby boy,” Desire said to the parents-to-be.
They smiled their thanks, then Bryce spoke. “I think we’ve taken up enough of your time. You have lots to talk about.” He held a hand out to Chase. “We’ll talk later.” He brought Desire’s hand to his lips. “Desire, it’s always a pleasure to see you. Enjoy your evening. I don’t have to tell you what a remarkable man you have here. Go gently with him.”
Kaya held her hand out to Chase. “It’s nice to have finally met you, Mr. Bennett.”
“Actually, my name is Chase. Chase Hunter. ‘Chase’ will do just fine.”
Kaya gaped at Chase like a college freshman girl meeting the senior hunk for the first time. “You’re Azura’s son? Oh my God! You are the Chase Hunter? I can’t wait to tell Michelle, Shaina, and Tashi that I met you first. Oh, they’re going to be so jealous.”
From her reaction, Desire figured that Kaya and the rest of the billionaire wives knew all the little sordid details about Chase Hunter. His reputation would always precede him. Was this what she would be dealing with every time someone recognized him? She’d just drawn in a breath of relief and sent up a thankful silent prayer that they’d be dining in private tonight when the concierge appeared to tell them that their room was ready.
“Just in time,” Bryce said, taking Kaya’s hand. “My wife’s becoming too excited. It was nice to see you, Desire. You should both stop by the estate sometime soon. It’s only fair that you admire another of your creations up close, Chase.”
“We will definitely pay you a visit soon, Bryce. Kaya, I look forward to chatting with you and Michelle, Shaina, and Tashi. Give them my best.”
She grinned shamelessly. “I will.”
Bryce guided his wife toward the playroom to collect their kids.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, Chase Hunter!” Desire slapped him in the gut.
“Yes, I do,” he said in a winded voice. “But you heard Bryce. You’re supposed to go easy on me.”
“That depends on your explanation,” Desire responded as Chase linked their arms. She felt a flush run through her as every head turned to gaze at them—both male and female—as they strolled through the lobby and in the direction of their private dining room.
They walked down a long ecru-colored hallway lined with a red carpet, a number of closed doors on the right, and round marble tables with tall crystal vases of red roses and white baby’s breath on the left. Shimmering chandeliers lit their path. Desire was filled with awe at the elegance and beauty surrounding her. She’d visited this hotel several times to conduct business with wealthy clients, yet she hadn’t even realized that this exclusive wing existed. This was definitely a different kind of world than the one she was used to. And now instead of serving in it, she was being served in it.
At the sound of a soft feminine laugh, Desire glanced behind her just in time to see a couple, dressed to the nines, enter one of the rooms they’d passed. She glanced up to find Chase smiling at her. He said nothing, but the tender look in his eyes told her that he found great joy in bringing her, of all women, into his new and sophisticated world. Despite the fact that she was peeved that he’d kept it from her, Desire’s heart soared with love for him.
“Here you are,” the concierge said, stopping at the very last door.
“Thank you, Austin.” Chase placed his hand on the gold-plated lever. “I’ll take it from here.”
“Enjoy your evening, madam. Sir.” Austin bowed and retraced his steps.
Chase opened the door, and stood back for her to enter.
“Chase! Oh my gosh!” Desire exclaimed, as she walked, not into what she’d expected would be a dining room, but into a little spherical garden with bed after bed of blooming flowers of every color and variety, hedged in by a green wall of Thuja Green Giants, one of the many evergreen trees that the town of Evergreen was named after. Hundreds of white votive candles separated the flowerbeds, and strings of white fairy lights strewn around the trees provided their only source of light.
The black outline of the Presidential Range loomed majestic in the background, and even though the privacy shrubs obstructed her view, Desire knew that the water trickling from the gold marble fountain fashioned into a representation of Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” came from Crystal Lake, directly behind the shrubs.
As euphonious romantic tunes drifted from invisible speakers, Desire transferred her gaze to the middle of the garden where a romantically set glass-top table and two white, cushioned love seats sat under a white silk canopy that was decorated with red roses. Four large white pillar candles burning at each post crystallized the romantic setting. An amalgamation of savory aromas escaping from sterling silver serving pans warming on a buffet table a few feet behind the canopy reminded Desire that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
Tears sprang to her eyes to think that this man loved her so much that he’d gone to all the trouble to make this night special for her. The fact that he’d hidden his rise to power and wealth these past two days didn’t matter anymore. This dazzling slice of heaven that he’d given her exonerated every transgression he’d ever committed against her.
“Chase,” she whispered in a broken voice, “I’ve never seen anything so romantic. It’s almost surreal.”