Married In Name Only. Jules Bennett

remained silent as he just stood there with a look she couldn’t quite describe. Part of her recognized the desire, but there was a layer of something else and she couldn’t tell if it was disdain or frustration.

      The way Lucas used to look at her would have her clothes falling off in record time. They’d never argued, they’d had their future all mapped out...until one day she’d realized she had to let him go.

      “Are you going to help me or not?” she demanded because getting caught up in nostalgia was not going to help her sanity or her business.

      “My assistant can take down all the information and the deposit for my services.” Lucas tossed the letter back onto his desk. “I’ll be in touch.”

      Anger bubbled within her. He was not going to dismiss her that easily. True, they’d ended on abrupt terms, but that didn’t just erase all they’d shared to that point. She wouldn’t let him just brush her aside when this was all she had left.

      “First of all, I’m not dealing with your assistant, I’m dealing with you.” He was about to see just how serious she was about getting his help. “Second, I don’t exactly have all of the funds right now. But I promise you will get every dollar you are owed. I’m not leaving until you agree to take this case.”

      Lucas took in a deep breath and circled his desk. With slow, methodical moves, he came to stand directly in front of her, bringing with him a waft of aftershave that smelled expensive and downright sexy.

      Expensive and sexy? That summed up Lucas Ford in two simple words. He’d always been in a totally different league, but she’d been naive enough to believe the difference wouldn’t matter.

      She’d been so utterly wrong and they’d both been crushed in the end.

      “You need me.” His bold statement was as honest and real as anything they’d ever said. “You’re stuck without my help. Is that what you’re saying?”

      Paisley gritted her teeth and nodded. He had her in a difficult position and he damn well knew it, but she’d meant it when she said she wasn’t leaving without his help. She had nothing left to lose, but she had everything to gain.

      A smile spread across his tanned face and made those bright blue eyes shine with amusement and something akin to deviousness. “There might be a fee you can afford.”

      * * *

      Lucas didn’t know what game he was playing, but once he’d started talking, he couldn’t stop himself. Paisley waltzed in here looking too damn sweet and innocent than should be allowed—and he knew she was neither. She couldn’t be, not with the way she’d pulled a Dear John breakup with him twelve years ago. That had obliterated any “sweetness,” and he’d stolen her innocence one stormy night in the garden shed on his father’s estate.

      They’d been each other’s firsts so of course she’d stuck with him. He refused to admit it was because he was foolish enough to actually think they’d marry and live happily ever after.

      Now she came to him with another type of letter, this one dropping a veiled hint that the devil himself was her biological father.

      Oh, she didn’t come out and name Sterling, but the clues she dropped with words like “billionaire” and “well-known Houston businessman” and the real red flag of “a man nobody wants to mess with.”

      Sterling Perry had ruined so many lives over the years and the trickling effect would last for some time to come. In fact, Sterling was the whole reason Lucas had entered into private investigator work to begin with. Once Sterling had ruined Lucas’s father, wiping out the businessman’s reputation when he spread lies about stolen money and Sterling claimed to have proof to back up his claims. All of it turned out to be bogus, but the damage had been done. It had ruined Lucas’s father.

      Lucas had vowed to work to seek justice for those who couldn’t obtain it themselves.

      Most recently, Sterling’s crooked investments had bankers scrambling to secure their reputations and businesses. So many small businesses were affected, like Paisley’s wedding shop.

      But now he’d been arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud and Lucas hoped like hell the man never saw the light of day again...though something more damning would have to be found for Sterling to be put away for the amount of time he deserved.

      Lucas never liked Sterling, never even wanted to mention the man’s name, and now Paisley was asking him to research the guy? Was there a ring of truth to this cryptic letter?

      As much as Paisley had hurt him, Lucas still couldn’t imagine a monster like Sterling having a child like Paisley. The last thing he wanted to do was get wrapped up in either of their lives...and if those two lives were entangled? Damn it. He turned cases down on the daily simply because he didn’t want them for one reason or another. He could quit working now and never have to worry about making a living again. Money had never been the issue and that wasn’t the reason he hesitated now.

      Something pulled at him. No, not something. Paisley. Even after all these years, she had some damn hold over his conscience. He knew she worked hard for her business and she struggled now, both emotionally and financially.

      Plus, he knew that emptiness at the loss of a parent. How could he just ignore her when she needed someone and clearly, he was it?

      But he wasn’t a fool, and he was going into this with more experience than he’d done before and his generosity would most certainly come at a price.

      “Listen,” she started before he could get to his offer. “I know I hurt you years ago—”

      “You left a damn note.” A note he’d held on to for too long until he’d finally tossed it into his fireplace and watched it burn while he’d downed copious amounts of his favorite bourbon. “After all we’d shared, I deserved better. Or maybe the serious relationship was only one-sided.”

      “You know that’s not the case,” she defended with a layer of hurt in her tone. “I had to let you go, Lucas. Your father...”

      Intrigued, and maybe a little pissed at the fact she was even here, Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. “My father, what?”

      Paisley licked her lips and tucked her hair behind her ears. A slight nervous habit she’d clearly never outgrown. An instant later, she squared her shoulders and tipped her chin.

      “Your father told me I was holding you back,” she stated. “You were all set to head off to Harvard with a full scholarship and, well, he was right. I would’ve held you back. You would have put all your goals on hold to stay with me.”

      Gritting his teeth, Lucas thought back to the night he’d found her letter on the seat of his truck. Upon reading it the first time he’d thought it was a joke, but then he’d read it a second and third time, knowing full well his Paisley had gotten scared and hadn’t trusted what they had...she hadn’t trusted him.

      Ultimately, that had been what hurt the most. She hadn’t had enough faith in him and the fact he would’ve conquered anything to be with her. Forever.

      But he hadn’t known the bit about his father until just now. That was a new pain. The betrayal from his own father who witnessed how distraught Lucas had been and kept urging him to move on with his life and put adolescent relationships in the past.

      Pushing aside the raw memories, Lucas dropped his arms and shrugged. “That’s a nice story. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. Doesn’t matter at this point.”

      Paisley opened her mouth as pain flashed in her hazel eyes. Then she merely nodded as if she couldn’t even come up with a plausible defense, which just proved his point that she didn’t have one. Seeing her again did bring back a rush of memories, but even more maddening was the fact that her standing before him had his body stirring.

      Damn it. He could block out the hurt, he could even block out how foolish he’d been to think they were a forever thing, but he couldn’t block out the way she’d felt