Compromised in Paradise (Compromise Me 3)

Hope died. She ran a hand through her hair, tugging the strands until her scalp protested. “Nothing I couldn’t handle, and I didn’t tell you about it because I handled it.”

“Define ‘handled.’”

Of course he’d question her. Nature had woven the control-freak gene into his DNA, and he had a hard time accepting anything as properly handled unless he handled it himself, or at least personally approved the plan. While she understood real concern lurked beneath his arrogance, this wasn’t a St. Sebastian business venture. This was her life, and when it came to her life, she didn’t answer to him. A familiar pressure started to build above her eye. She pressed her fingers to the spot. “You’ll have to check with the Montenido Sheriff’s Department if you want the official disposition.”

Amazingly, her brother relented. He propped his forearms on the table and leaned closer, his face serious. “Just tell me you’re okay.”

Standing up for herself was one thing. Stonewalling a brother who cared about her, another. “I’m okay. Honestly.” But the concern on Rafe’s face didn’t clear. Apparently Luc wasn’t the only one worried. Her embarrassment would have to take a backseat to reassuring her family. “I got targeted by a con artist. A not very good one, as it turned out, but I contacted the authorities and dealt with it.”

“So no sociopath from Seattle?”

She shook her head. “A vineyard owner in Washington. I met him at my friend Isabelle’s wedding and we hit it off. We saw each other several times over the next couple months. It was easy because I was constantly bouncing up there to oversee the spa remodel for the St. Sebastian, Seattle, but” —she shrugged—“you know how it is. Once I didn’t have another reason pulling me up there, the whole thing lost momentum—for me, anyway. I was flattered by the effort he put into keeping things going, but he started talking long-term, and ultimately…” She fiddled with her napkin. “I didn’t feel the same. He was moving way too fast, and it didn’t make sense because we’d had a very limited relationship. I passed on the next couple invitations, but when that didn’t discourage him, I told him the truth. Distance. Work. Priorities. Blah, blah, blah. We parted friends, I thought.”

In truth, she hadn’t thought about it much at all, at the time, because her heart had never been in it. Not with him, or anyone else. She wasn’t proud of the fact, but there it was.

Are you sure? Even as the question whispered through her mind, the thought of Rider standing at the bar, giving her shivers from just the shape of his hands. Rafe peeled her busy fingers off the knot she’d made of her napkin. “But?”

“But he wasn’t interested in friendship—or me—I eventually found out. He wanted an infusion of funds for his cash-strapped winery, and figured a close, personal affiliation with the St. Sebastian family was an easy way to secure it. After I kissed him good-bye, he got some guy to cyber-stalk me while he played the role of my helpful, protective friend. When fear and gratitude didn’t drive me back into his arms, he decided to focus strictly on scoring some cash. He had his guy threaten to post a…um”—heat seeped into her cheeks as she struggled for the right words, because this was her brother—“revealing video unless I forked over fifty grand.”

Rafe cursed under his breath. “Arden, you can’t just—”

“No lectures, okay? Give me some credit. I didn’t just anything, and that’s where he made his mistake. With the Montenido Sheriff’s Department monitoring everything, I demanded to see the video before I agreed to discuss payment because, you know, I hadn’t knowingly participated in anything. I received a blurry snippet that could have originated from only one person. The sheriff’s department secured a warrant for his electronics and found the evidence. Local authorities questioned him. He confessed. I pressed charges, learned a valuable lesson, and moved on.”

Her brother’s hand tightened on hers briefly, and then he eased back. “For the record, I was going to say you can’t just keep things like this to yourself. You have family, and we love you. If someone threatens you, I need to know.”

She held her reply while the waitress dropped off the check and cleared their plates. “I didn’t feel threatened. Not much,” she qualified when her brother raised an eyebrow at her. “The whole thing was annoying, for the most part.” Annoying, and then humiliating, to discover a man she’d taken pains to let down easy hadn’t actually been into her at all. “Nothing tipped toward creepy until just before we celebrated the grand reopening of the Las Ventanas resort, and by that time I’d already gotten Sheriff Booker involved.”

“I’m glad you did, and I’m happy he ran it down quickly, but you should have also gotten me involved.”

Bossy men ran in her family. She responded with an eye roll. “Yeah, well, I didn’t. What are you going to do about it now?”

He picked up the check. “Buy you breakfast, and ask you what lesson you learned.”

“Sorry?”

“You said you learned a valuable lesson.”

“Oh.” She scooted her chair closer to the table, rested her elbows on the surface, and drew her shoulders up. “I guess I should say the incident reinforced something I’ve always known, but lost sight of.”

“Namely?” He slid his credit card into the leather folder containing their bill.

“As much as I like to think people are attracted to my razor-sharp wit and sparkling personality, the truth is my last name almost always plays a part.” She held up a hand when Rafe would have spoken. “I am who I am, and I’m proud of my family. I don’t mean to sound like a poor little rich girl.” She let her attention wander the lounge, with its soaring ceiling and five-star view. “But I need to keep in mind that when someone meets me, they see more than just the girl in front of them. They see a lifestyle, and a brand, and in some cases, an opportunity.”

She broke off as the waitress approached to take the check, but her thoughts kept busy.

Rider doesn’t see a lifestyle, a brand, or an opportunity. All he sees is the girl in front of him.

Because that’s all you’ve let him see, and all he wants to see. The only opportunity in play for either of you is a week of fun.

When the server retreated, she shushed her inner voices and vowed, “I won’t be so gullible again. As much as I hate to admit this, Dad probably has the right idea with his unsentimental approach to relationships.”

“Shit, Arden. Did you bang your head as well as your knee?”

She’d anticipated some form of validation from her brother, but his reaction told a different story. Their father’s scowl carved a notch between his brows.

“What?”

He shook his head. “I expect that kind of cynicism from Luc. Not from you.”