Chapter 1
“What are you doing here, Mr. Pace?” Juliet asked the man who approached her in the parking lot of the collective.
Still arriving in pairs or threes, Finn had gone in ahead of her when the guard had come up with Pace.
Though no new incidents had happened in weeks, they couldn’t be too careful these days.
Pace gave a smug smile. “You remember my name.”
“From the art gallery.” She’d also looked him up on the Internet after she’d met him.
“I remember you, too. I’m here, Ms. Sullivan, because I’m thinking about signing up for your yoga class.” He glanced around and his brow furrowed. “But I’m a bit surprised you have guards on your place who stop prospective clients.”
Instead of answering his implied question, she asked, “How do you even know my name?”
“You told me at the art gallery.”
“I forgot about that. It was weeks ago.”
His slate blue eyes turned devilish. “To make sure you were telling the truth, I also snuck a peek at the receptionist’s desk after you left and she took a bathroom break. From that, you were easy to track down.”
The guard asked, “He okay to come in, Juliet?”
“Yes, Ellen. Thanks.” She opened her studio and let Pace into the reception area. She dropped her bag in her office, hung up her jacket and walked back out. Before she could speak to him, her phone rang. Automatically, she glanced at it. Oh, dear. “Hold on a sec.”
“I have all the time in the world for you.”
She stepped back into the office. “Hey, Joey. How are you?”
“Not good, sis. I’m thinking of comin’ to town.”
“Joey, I told you that you can visit any time, as long as you’re clean.”
“I am. I’ll see you in a few weeks.” And he hung up.
Oh, boy.
She walked back out. “Sorry about that.”
“Who was it?”
She blew out a heavy breath. “My baby brother.”
“He has a problem with addiction?” Ryder shrugged. “I couldn’t help overhearing.”
“Yes, among other things. Enough of this, though.”
She studied him. Today he wore a beige suit with a blue shirt that highlighted his eyes. No tie. The slight October wind tousled his blond hair. “I’ve heard about you, Mr. Pace. So I can’t imagine why you’re here.”
“You’ve heard about me?”
“The billionaire playboy. I was direct and asked the receptionist who you were.”
“Hmm. I didn’t know you asked after me.” His voice dropped to a rich, warm baritone. “That makes me happy.”
“It wasn’t like that. You made me nervous.”
Light brown brows furrowed. “Why?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Does it have to do with the guards?”
“Yes.”
He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. “Tell me.”
“No.”
“All right. Then I have a proposition for you, Juliet.”
“I’ll bet you do.” Hell, Juliet thought. Why was she treating him like this? He wasn’t an enemy. “I’m being churlish. I’m just surprised to see you. Why would you want to take a yoga class from me? You have the money to hire a private yoga teacher. Or go to a more upscale yoga spa.”
“I could do that. And I will. If you say yes.”
“To what?”
“A date with me, lovely lady.”
Juliet’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t been on a date since Michael died two years ago. But she had to admit the thought of going out with this gorgeous man caused something to stir in her belly. Unfortunately, he was way out of her league.
* * *
Ryder Pace wasn’t as confident as he sounded.
This woman, this blond-haired beauty with eyes the color of the sky, had intrigued him since he met her at the art gallery last month.
He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.
That was why he was uncharacteristically pushy about a date, for God’s sake.
He never pushed women for anything. They pushed him. But he was driven to see Juliet again.
She shook her head and her hair fell down over her breasts. “The answer is no, Mr. Pace. I won’t go out with you.”
“Then sign me up.”
“Fine. I’ll call your bluff. Come into my office and we’ll fill out the form together.”
“Gladly.” He walked into her space. It was classy, with tones of greens and blues on the walls, a print of Monet’s gardens and, what do you know, her copy of the Rice Prescott painting, the one she’d been doing when they met in the art gallery. “I like your space.”
“I do, too.”
“You have your version of Prescott’s The Road in here.” He gave her a broad smile. “You got a crush on the guy?”
“Hardly. I’ve never seen him or even a picture of him. He’s somewhat of a recluse.”
“He is?”
“I like his work, that’s all.”
That’s enough.
“You can sit down.”
He took a chair and she dropped into the one behind the desk at a computer. Her posture was perfect, befitting a yogi. She tapped some keys.
“Ryder Pace,” she said as she entered his name. “Address?”
“I don’t give that out, Ms. Sullivan. Or can I call you Juliet if I’m your student?”
She frowned, but admitted, “Most of my clients do.” She looked back to the computer.
“Age?
“Thirty-seven.”
“Date of birth?”
“July 17.”
Her pretty brows shot up.
“What?”
“That’s my birthday, too. But I’m younger than you.”
“By how much?”
“Five years.”
He grinned.
“Height, weight.”
“Six-two, 170.”
“Any medical conditions, allergies, previous surgeries?”
“None.”
“Emergency contact?”
“Carter Kline.”
“Relationship?”
“Business associate.”
For a moment, she felt sorry for him, having no family or even friends in his life to assign a medical proxy. She removed something out of her drawer. “I need to take your blood pressure and see for myself if you’re healthy enough to be in my class.”
He stood, whipped off his suit coat, then sat back down. She bent over him to attach the cuff to his bicep. He could see her good muscle tone through her peach yoga top. And she smelled like heaven.
She straightened. “Wow. This is great. 117 over 70.”
“I adhere to a strict regimen for fitness with cardio, weights and diet.”
“No indulgences?” She was flirting with him now. Hmm, that was progress.
“I never said that.”
“Do you see a doctor regularly?”
“I have a physician come to my house twice a year to check me out.”
“I’ll bet you have a dentist on speed-dial, too.”
“As a matter of fact—”
“Never mind.” She sat again and entered the information on the computer, then looked over at him. “That’s it. You’re enrolled.”
“Which level?”
“Beginner’s, since you’ve never taken a class before. You have a lot to learn about yoga.”
“When’s the first class?”
“Tomorrow. At nine a.m. sharp. I take clients any time during a session, especially a basic one.”
He gave her a killer smile. “I’ll see you then, Juliet.”
She nodded. “Mr. Pace.”
“Ryder, please.”
“All right, Ryder.”
He liked hearing his name roll off her lips. And luscious lips they were.
* * *
At the end of the day, all the practitioners met in the staff’s common area and pulled chairs into a circle.
“Hi, everybody,” Daisy said. She was in charge today. “Before we start, I have a question.” She zeroed in on Juliet. “Come on, lady, spill.”
“About what?”
“Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. The guy who came to see you today.”
“He’s a new person in my beginner’s yoga.”
“Now, Jules,” Oliver said, “Before you went inside, he was looking at you like you’re tonight’s desert.”
“His name is Ryder Pace.”
Heath’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit. The billionaire? How do you know him?”
“I bumped into him that day I went to paint at the art gallery last month. We talked about the painting I was copying.”
“That’s all?”
“Not quite.” Her tone was frustrated. Daisy felt bad for her. “Don’t make too much of this, but he asked for a date today. When I said no, he decided to sign up for my class. I couldn’t refuse that.”
Heath laughed. “You know I love you Jules, but you just aren’t like the models and debutantes he’s known to date.”
“I tried telling him that! He wouldn’t listen. I know he’s out of my league.”
Finn harrumphed. “I’d say he’s out of your league. You are a beautiful person inside and out.”
“Thanks, Finn. Can we get off this?”
“We should,” Scarlet added, her hazel eyes, accented by her dark red hair, were shining. Since her fiancé, Joe Larson and his son had moved in with her she was smiling all the time. “I have some news. Joe and I set a date for the wedding. The day before Thanksgiving.”
“His divorce will be final by then?” Finn asked.
“Yes. A little past, but we want to be sure that’s all taken care of.”
“Where’s the wedding?”
“At the farm. It’ll be small. But you’re all invited.”
“We’d better be,” Heath said. “And good for you, Daisy.”
“I agree. Now let’s get back to the collective.” Daisy glanced down at the agenda. “There’s nothing new from Jeff Marshall. Has anyone had anything suspicious happen?”
A round of no.
“Maybe it’s over?” Scarlet suggested with hope in her voice. “Nothing’s happened in nearly two months.”
Oliver spoke up. “I don’t know if we can ever be sure we’re safe if the culprits aren’t found.”
They were all silent. Then Finn asked, “This topic’s depressing. Is there anything else to go over?”
“Sorry, Finn, but it’s kind of related to that. I wanted to talk about the juice bar. It seems that if we keep that open, anyone wanting to do us harm has access to us.”
“My clients love that space.” This from Finn and the others voiced similar experiences with their people.
“Damn it,” Heath said, his voice raised. “I hate how this is affecting our lives both personally and professionally.”
Again, they all agreed.
“So no one wants the bar closed?”
“It’s not that,” Juliet said. “We don’t want to give into him.”
The rest of them agreed.
“Then, I’ll go along.”
They covered some financials and housekeeping things, then they adjourned. But Daisy worried about Juliet and a guy much savvier than she was. She is too innocent for him.
* * *
“Can we have a snack?” Billy asked, as soon as they got into the house after school. It seemed he was always hungry.
“Me, too.” Ever since Michael died, Tommy was shy and waited for his brother to do the asking then followed along.
“Of course. I put apples and pretzels on the table.”
They flung their backpacks onto the kitchen floor and raced over. “Not so fast, guys. Where do you put your backpacks after school?”
“In the mud room.”
Juliet’s house wasn’t overly big but it was well-laid out and spacious enough for a family of four. Now three.
She’d read somewhere that Ryder Pace lived in a huge mansion in the most prestigious section of Rockford.
And why the heck was she thinking about him? Okay, she knew why. She felt a dark spark of attraction to him, which was crazy because he was the opposite of Michael.
The kids backtracked, took care of their things then went to the table. She joined them.
“How was school today?”
“I got a B+ on my spelling test,” Billy said.
“That’s great.”
“Tommy?”
“It was super. We got a guinea pig for our room.”
“How much fun is that.”
The boys dug into the food. Around a bite, Billy asked,
“Can we play Minecraft after we eat this?”
“You guys get to decide on how you want to spend your hour of screen time a day.”
“I wanna watch TV.” This from Tommy.
“I wanna play the video game.”
“That’s workable, you guys.”
Billy edged Tommy with his shoulder. “Come on, Tommy. Play with me.”
“Don’t pressure your brother. You can do different things.”
“Nah. It’s no fun alone. I’ll watch TV with you.”
When they finished their food, they went into the family room which was open to the kitchen. Thankfully, they agreed on a program.
Juliet went to the sink and stared through the window at the still-green grass and the traces of red and yellow in the leaves of the trees.
Then she poured some water into a cup and put it in the microwave.
As it heated, she wondered what Ryder drank, coffee or tea?
Probably the former. She guessed they would agree on nothing.
Best to put him out of her mind. She’d learned a lot about compartmentalizing when Michael died. God, she missed him.
* * *
“Ryder? Where are you today?” Carter asked.
Ryder had been caught staring out the window of his office by his business associate. But he wasn’t seeing the copse of trees and bushes or purple irises in bloom.
“Sorry. I got a lot on my mind.” Which was a lie. He had one thing on his mind, and she wanted nothing to do with him.
“Can we talk about the merger now?”
“Yeah.” He sat at the conference table in front of his computer.
“I sent you the pros and cons as I see them.”
He called up the document. Pace Industries, his computer conglomerate needed his attention. When he finished reading the lists, he looked up. Carter was one of his favorite partners. “It seems to me that the cons are few and the pros many. You want to do this, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you head it up.”
“Seriously?”
He understood the skepticism. He didn’t delegate lightly. “Yeah, I trust you.”
“Then I’ll take it.” Carter studied him. “You feeling all right?”
“Sure, like I said, I got a lot on my mind.” When Carter left, Ryder lazed back in his chair and thought about Juliet again. What was she doing right now? He checked his watch. She was probably sitting with her boys after they got home from school. He liked the image.