Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 by Maisey Yates (inspirational books .TXT) 📗

“So do I.”

“And really don’t let Holden find out.” Creed’s brother-in-law, married to Emerson, the middle Maxfield sister.

“Why is that?”

“My loyalty is torn. You’re my brother. Holden… Well, his loyalty is in one place firmly. And, also, I get the feeling he’s done some things.”

“Look, nothing happened that Cricket didn’t want.”

“I’m confident in that. I’m still confident it won’t matter to Wren.”

“Just let us sort it out.”

“I can’t keep secrets from her. But I can keep her busy.” Creed grinned.

“Great. Do that. And keep this to yourself. What’s going on with me and Cricket is nobody’s business but ours.”

“I just don’t get why. I mean, she’s cute enough, sure. But…”

Jackson felt a violent surge of…protectiveness? He didn’t even know. Just something primal and overly irritable. He couldn’t explain what appealed about Cricket. It was not simple. But… She was special, and when he saw her as something other than an adversary to be defeated, he could truly see that. She was tough. And beautiful. Naive in some ways, sure, but in others… Like a person outside age or time. Not like anyone or anything he’d ever known. He came back to that vision he’d had of her the first time he’d rolled up to the ranch.

When he thought of her as a feral pirate queen on the deck of her ship. And he should have known then. She wasn’t a woman to take prisoners, and neither would she be one to negotiate. She wasn’t going to give up on what she wanted half so easily as he had hoped. And now, he didn’t even want her to. Because somewhere in all of this, he’d begun to root for her. He wanted her to win. That vulnerable, delicate piece of herself only he’d seen was something he wanted to protect now, not exploit.

“Don’t worry about me. And don’t worry about Cricket. She can more than handle herself.”

And he was…well, dammit all, he was going to help her.

* * *

Jackson had been gone for most of the day, and it was probably for the best, Cricket had to concede. She wished he was in bed with her instead of seeing to ranch chores. But the ranch chores were important and all. It was kind of the whole point of having him on the property. But now she wanted the point to be more of him in her bed, and honestly, who could blame her? Having an orgasm was a lot more fun than doing chores.

But…she also needed to do something other than chores today. Which was how she found herself driving to Maxfield Vineyards.

She usually avoided the place as much as humanly possible. But it was weird. Today, with a bit of distance from her family, from everything that they were, and all the pain and isolation she had experienced growing up here… She was not feeling trapped by it. It felt…better. She felt able to appreciate the beauty of it. The rolling vineyards, the vast, Tuscan-style villa. The elaborate pavilions and tasting rooms. It was a beautiful facility, when she wasn’t a prisoner.

“Prisoner” wasn’t really fair. But she had felt trapped in her circumstances, that was for sure. And now that she had another place to be, now that she had…

Honestly, had a night with Jackson changed her so much? She looked the same. She had checked herself over in the mirror this morning just to see if this change was visible, that shift that had taken place inside of her last night. But as far as she could tell it wasn’t. She took a breath, and put her car in Park, right in the circular drive just in front of the massive entry to her family home. A place that had never, ever felt like home to her. But she didn’t have the same knot of dread that she used to have when James was in residence, didn’t have the same feeling of discomfort. So there was that.

She knocked, because she didn’t live here anymore, and when one of the members of the staff opened the door, she was led in as politely as if she were a guest.

She stood in the foyer, waiting for her mother to appear.

When she did, Cricket could only stare. Her mom was still every inch the lady of the manor, even though the circumstances at the manor had changed pretty drastically.

“Cricket,” Lucinda said, smiling brightly. “What brings you by?”

“I… I really need to talk to you. About…” She took a breath. “I spoke to Cash Cooper last night.”

“Oh,” her mom said, faltering.

“I asked him if he was… If he was my father.”

“Cricket…”

“I know that you are in love with him. And I know that he was in love with you. And I know you didn’t marry him because you chose money over love. I just thought that maybe…”

“He’s not your father.”

“That’s what he said.”

Her mom looked…embarrassed. “Was he…”

“He wasn’t mad. I mean, not much. Jackson was kind of mad, but… I don’t know. I was just embarrassed. But I really thought… There’s something wrong with me? I think? Because I’m not like anyone in this family, and I just thought that maybe I would fit better with the Coopers. And I thought that after I found out that you were in love with him…”

“I was always in love with him. I always will be. I gave things up, Cricket. For a life that I thought would make me happy. But I was very foolish. I was very wrong. And it has taken me all this time to be able to admit it. All this time to be able to understand. Just how… Just how wrong I was. I thought this house could take the place of love. I thought money could do it. And then I thought social standing, because Cash managed to go and make all that money, just to show me what I was missing. I won’t tell you I wasn’t