LEAD ME ON by Julie Ortolon (best pdf ebook reader TXT) 📗

She laughed. “Somehow I doubt you had much trouble finding a date for the prom.”

His expression sobered. “I wasn’t much into things like the prom.”

“What were you into?” She cocked her head as the wind picked up.

“Nothing much.”

She started to say that wasn’t fair, but noticed how far they’d ridden and pulled to a halt. “We need to turn back.”

He glanced at his watch. “No, we’ve got time left, and there’s a really great inlet up ahead where we can dismount and let the horses cool off a bit.”

“No. I never go any farther than this.”

“Why not?” He turned his horse to face her.

“That house there.” She pointed to a modern structure with soaring glass walls and a flat roof that sat atop a man-made mound rather than on stilts like the other houses along the beach. The retaining wall that surrounded it on the front and sides made it look like an ultra-modern castle. “That’s the LeRoche family beach house.”

“So?”

“So, I’m not comfortable riding by it.” She rubbed her bare arms, noticing that the temperature had dropped. “What if one of them is out by the swimming pool in back and they wave? I’d have to wave back like I was some friendly stranger, since I doubt they’d recognize me. Why would they? It’s not like people as rich as the LeRoches bother to keep up with their distant, middle-class cousins.”

“Do I detect a touch of animosity?” He raised that blasted, sexy brow again.

“Try outrage,” she answered. “And if we didn’t have cause to hate them before, we sure do now.”

He rocked back in the saddle. “What do you mean?”

“John LeRoche, the current patriarch on that branch of the family tree, is suing us.”

“What?” Scott demanded. “On what grounds?”

“He claims we made some underhanded deal with Chance’s bank to get them to foreclose on Pearl Island.”

“What do you mean, ‘Chance’s bank’?”

“Oliver Chancellor’s family founded the First Bank of Galveston, which is now the Liberty Union National Bank. Even though his father had already sold the bank, Chance was still working there when the foreclosure took place. John LeRoche is claiming Chance talked the bank into foreclosing because he knew we wanted to buy Pearl Island. And that Chance used prior knowledge to help us get the property.”

“Did he?”

“No! Of course not.” Allison batted hair out of her eyes as the wind swirled. “Chance is one of the most honest, upright people I can imagine. Besides, he and Rory weren’t even involved until after the foreclosure. That’s how they got to know each other, by us trying to get a loan from his bank to buy the place.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.”

“Legally, maybe not. It’s a bogus lawsuit, and John LeRoche has no chance of winning. But if he drags this out, it could get costly, and Chance thinks that’s his real goal. John LeRoche wants to drive us out of business so we’ll have to sell the house.” The thought of losing Pearl Island after all the work they’d put into it tore at her heart. And it wasn’t just the work, it was the connection she’d always felt to the house, even before they owned it. “What makes me mad is he doesn’t care about Pearl Island. None of the LeRoches do. They only want to own it because of the good luck Marguerite has brought them in the past. The Pearl was like a Midas touch for them, which is how they got to be so obscenely wealthy in the first place. Now that they’ve lost possession of the charm, John LeRoche is having all kinds of financial problems. He’s desperate enough to do anything to get the house back.”

She shook her head as fear filled her heart. “I don’t know what we’ll do if we lose it. Not just the house, but the business. It means more to us than I can tell you, to have something that’s ours. Something that can’t be taken away from us. At least I thought it couldn’t be taken away.” She looked back at the beach house. “God, I hate the whole LeRoche family sometimes! They did nothing to deserve Pearl Island. They left the house abandoned for years. And now that we’ve put in all the work, invested every dime to our names, they want to steal it back.”

“So what are you going to do?” he asked quietly.

“Fight,” she answered without hesitation. “No matter what it takes. Pearl Island is rightfully ours, and we’re not giving it up.”

Scott looked out over the gulf, his expression thoughtful. “Actually, you’re right, we should be getting back. That storm is rolling in faster than I thought.”

Chapter 10

Scott was strangely quiet on the drive back to the inn. Deciding to leave him in peace, Allison turned her attention to the drama of the storm.

The clouds that had been bumping around on the horizon a mere hour before now covered the island like black mountains blocking out the sun. The first fat raindrops quickly grew into a downpour, pounding on the roof of the car. Scott turned on the windshield wipers and headlights as traffic slowed.

Then they turned onto the private bridge to Pearl Island, and Allison’s stomach tightened at the thought of facing Rory and Adrian with all of them knowing she’d slept with Scott last night.

“Pull around back,” she told him as they approached the house. A variety of vehicles crowded the parking lot near the front, letting her know most of the current guests were inside. But then, few people would be at the beach or antiquing in town in weather like this. “If you don’t mind using the back entrance, we won’t get as wet.”

He turned into the small, oyster-shell lot behind the house and parked between Chance’s BMW and the old Jeep she and Rory shared. Adrian’s motorcycle had been pulled up onto the back porch. The pounding of the rain seemed louder when Scott killed the engine.

“Well,” she said,