Lead Me On (35 page)

Her mouth gaped. "You can't be serious. No one does that anymore."

"Believe me, Alli. Men appreciate something more if they have to work for it So, I'm going to make him work a bit because you're my sister, and you deserve to be appreciated."

"Aunt Viv, help me." She turned to her aunt, who was standing by the sofa, taking it all in with avid interest. "Talk some sense into him."

"Sorry, but I agree with Adrian. You make this too easy, and that man will spend your whole marriage holding back, while you keep waiting for him to leave you. Make him work for it, and you'll both be a lot more secure in the long run." Vivian smiled. "Besides, it's so much fun to watch men squirm."

Alli held her hands out, pleading for reason. "You've both been drinking champagne for most of the morning. I'm not going to trust you to make a decision that will affect the rest of my life. I love this man, do you hear? I love him."

"Then why aren't you with him?" Vivian asked.

"I don't know." Her head ached with confusion. "A lot of reasons."

"Allison," Adrian said quietly. "If you won't do this for your own peace of mind, do it for mine."

She gave him a questioning look.

"Think about it," he said. "If Peter had had to jump through a few hard hoops to get to you, he never would have gotten close enough to hurt you. Don't ask me to stand by and wonder if I'm giving another user free access to my sister."

She struggled with what to do, but realized they were right. Scott needed to know she accepted all of him, the good and bad. Just as she needed to know he honestly loved her, loved her enough to fight for her. With a silent prayer, she nodded.

Adrian picked up the phone and punched in the number. "Hello, Scott." He smiled into the phone and Alli's heart nearly stopped. "This is Adrian. Nice interview."

Alli buried her face in the bouquet, imagining Scott's reaction. Had he been waiting by the phone, hoping she'd call?

"Yes, Allison's here. She'd like to talk to you, but I think you and I have a few things to settle first, if you'd care to come over ... Yes, now would be fine ... I'll be waiting." He turned off the phone and grinned. "He's on his way."

Alli lifted her head. "How did he sound? Was he angry, embarrassed, what?"

"I think ... 'wary' would be a more accurate description."

"I've changed my mind. I can't do this to him. As soon as he gets here, I'll talk to him privately."

"You will not. I'll meet him on the veranda." Adrian pinched her chin. "But don't worry. I'll only make him suffer a little before I let him in to see you." He winked at their aunt. "Too bad we don't own a shotgun."

The blood drained from Alli's face as Adrian headed up the stairs. She turned and found her aunt smothering a laugh. "He was joking, right?"

"I don't think so. In fact, I do believe he inherited your father's flare for the dramatic. Speaking of drama, where's the best place to watch this act unfold?"

Allison's mind raced as she tried to think of a place where she could call out to Scott if things got out of hand. "Marguerite's sitting room, in the tower. It has access to the balcony over the veranda."

"A turret with a balcony?" Vivian grinned. "Oh, that's perfect"

If a man ever needed luck, Scott needed it now. He stopped the car and looked up at the inn. The gargoyles snarled back at him, zealously guarding their domain. This was such a mistake, he told himself. He should put the car in reverse and head back. Not just for the beach house, but all the way back to New Orleans. He needed to stop fooling himself that Allison would still want to get back together.

He hadn't even been able to watch the interview, but had sat before the blank screen of the TV watching the clock and picturing her reaction. With every minute that ticked by, nausea had grown.

He had to see her one last time, though, and Adrian did say she was willing to talk to him.

He looked at the porch and saw something move in the shadows, reminding him of six months ago when he thought he saw Marguerite's ghost. When the figure stepped forward, though, it didn't transform into the ethereal Allison. It turned into her brother. Adrian moved to the top of the stairs and took up a stance with his feet braced shoulder-width apart, arms crossed over his well-muscled chest.

Resigned, Scott got out of the car and walked toward the porch. A few dozen sparrows pecked at something in the grass. As he crossed the lawn, they took flight with a noisy flutter and settled in the hanging baskets. At least no guests were around to witness whatever would happen next.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Allison's brother. "So how do we do this? Do I suffer through a few insults first, or do we go right to the part where you try to break my face?"

"Nothing quite that barbaric." Adrian grinned. "I just want to know your intentions."

"My 'intentions'?" Scott stared at him, wondering if he'd stumbled onto the set of some antebellum melodrama. "Are you joking?"

"Not at all."

"All right." He took a deep breath. "I intend to ask Allison to forget common sense and marry me, but if you think I'm going to ask your permission, you're nuts. This isn't the Old South, and you're not her father, so I don't need your permission for anything."

"No, but if you marry Allison, you'll be part of this family whether you like it or not. You might have noticed we're a tad closer than your family seems to be."

"I noticed." An unexpected longing, hot and sweet, rose up inside him. To be part of what he'd seen from the outside, the open affection and unquestioning support Would Allison's family really accept him?

"So," Adrian said, looking entirely too smug for Scott's comfort, "if you want to make Allison happy, and make a marriage between the two of you work, you do need my blessing. And that's what you're going to ask for. Right after you tell me why I should give it."

Scott blew out a breath, thinking a physical fight would be so much easier. And less painful. Summoning his courage, he met Adrian's gaze head-on. "I love her. I think I have right from the beginning. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. I thought I could control things, but when it comes to Allison, I can't control anything. Gawd." He scraped both hands through his hair. "Do you have any idea how frightening that is?"

"Not a clue." Adrian's mouth quirked with suppressed laughter. Scott's whole life hung in the balance, he felt nauseous, dizzy, and the bands of tension around his chest made it hard to breathe—and Adrian found it funny?

Scott narrowed his eyes, dearly wanting to hurt the man. Just one quick jab to the face. "I know I lied to her, and that hurt her. I never meant to, though. She said she can't trust me, but if she'll give me a chance, I'll try to be what she wants, even if it includes being more open about things." He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Look, if you'll just let me talk to her so I can tell her all this, then she can tell me once and for all if I have any hope that someday she'll feel half of what I feel for her."

"Scott?" Allison's voice drifted down to him. He looked up and found her standing on the balcony with the turret beside her, like a vision from a fairy tale. The breeze ruffled her dark curls adorned with a circlet of flowers. "You don't have to wait for someday. I already love you."

"Oh, thank God." He bowed his head as relief rushed through him in one big, drowning wave. When he looked up again, she was gone. For a split second, he thought he'd imagined the whole scene, then he saw Adrian holding the front door open, like a butler welcoming him inside.

He headed up the steps, one at a time, picking up speed as he passed through the door, until he was running across the hall and up the stairs. She met him on the landing before the stained-glass window and flew into his arms. He crushed her to him, lifting her off her feet before he set her down and cupped her face. "Tell me again, so I know I heard right."

"I love you." She gazed intently into his eyes. "I'm so sorry for what both our fears have put us through. I never should have pushed you that day—"

"No, I shouldn't have been such a coward."

"You didn't have to be afraid. I don't care about any of the things you mentioned in the interview, except that your past makes you a better person in my eyes, not a lesser one. I still want to know you, though. And love you. For as long as you'll let me."

"Forever, I hope. If you can forgive me for being stupid."

"Only if you forgive me."

He kissed her hard, then pressed his forehead to hers. "I have missed you so much. Every day, I told myself it would get better, that I'd get over you. But it was a lie. I'll never get over you. Never!"

"I've been the same way," she confessed. "But I thought you didn't want to try."

"You have no idea ..." He gave a shaky laugh. "I wanted to try, but I was sure you wouldn't want me once you got to know me. I'm still not sure."

"Oh, Scott" She rested her hand on the side of his face, smiling into his eyes. "You are so worth loving."

He kissed her again, softly this time. Then he raised his head and steeled himself. "Okay, here's the deal. We bungled the no-strings-attached, no-emotions-involved concept pretty badly, so I think this time, we should try the opposite. Marriage and the whole nine yards. The next time you get hurt or scared, I don't want it to be so easy for you to walk away or kick me out."

She opened her mouth, but he pressed a finger to her

lips.

"Before you answer, though, I have to warn you up front when I do something, I do it all the way or not at all. I don't believe in giving up once I set my sights on something, otherwise, I never could have gotten published. So, if we get married, there'll be no quickie divorce a year or two later. I'm not like my sister, I don't believe in changing spouses as often as I change shoes. I'm talking total commitment or nothing." He removed his finger. "Okay. Now, you can answer."

"Yes." She laughed, then held up her hand when he started to pull her to him. "Wait! I have a warning of my own. I want what my sister has, I want you to be part of my family and I want a family of our own."

"As in a baby?" His eyes widened.

"Not right away, but yes, I want children." She saw the fear flash across his face, and smiled at him. "I've watched you with Chloe. You'll make a wonderful father."

"Okay." He nodded. "But you have to promise to help me out on the finer points of being a father."

"You'll have all of us to help you out."

He nodded, looking nearly as dazed as Chance had been when Lauren was born. "Then let's do it. Right now." He grabbed her hand and turned to go downstairs.

She dug in her heels. "What, start a family?"

"No, get married. You're even dressed already." He frowned at her dress. "Except why are you wearing that dress and carrying a bride's bouquet?"

She looked down and laughed, since she'd forgotten she was holding the bouquet. "Rory and Chance renewed their vows this morning and I was her bridesmaid."

"Oh, that explains it. I thought I was hallucinating. But as long as you're dressed and have the flowers, let's go find a judge."

"No."

"No?" He paled.

"We need a license, silly."

"Oh, license. Right. I knew that."

"And"—she cupped his face—"I want the whole family here, so we have to wait until Rory and Chance get back from their honeymoon. If I'm only going to marry once, I want to do it right."

He pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand. "Just as long as you don't change your mind."

"I won't." She smiled. "I love you."

"Thank God. And thank you, Marguerite," he called to the house. Alli frowned in confusion and he smiled. "For making me the luckiest man alive."