Sealed With a Kiss (4 page)

Before John was halfway across the backyard,
Dylan and Annie ran toward them.

“No unlocking necessary,” Annie said as she
ducked under the plastic screen. “Even Dylan’s body heat can’t keep
me warm out there.”

Rachel ignored the blush on Annie’s cheeks
and started to tie the middle string. She had a feeling that John
Fletcher wouldn’t have trouble keeping a woman warm. Even a woman
with ulterior motives who wanted to see how his daughter was.

When the knot was tied, she stepped back and
smiled. They were here to enjoy the last single night of Dylan and
Annie’s lives. If she could do a little snooping and find out just
how Bella was, she’d be even happier.

John Fletcher didn’t know a lot about her,
but by the end of the night, Rachel was hoping to know a lot more
about him.

***

John wasn’t sure when he’d started to enjoy
himself. He was sitting beside Rachel, listening to the
light-hearted banter bouncing around the table. Over the last hour
they’d been joined by other friends, filling the patio with a buzz
of laughter and happy conversation.

He’d met Tess and Sally not long after
Charlie had lit the fire in the big stone fireplace. They were part
of The Bridesmaids Club and Rachel’s friends. Dylan had been right
- when Rachel and her friends got together, no one was safe. Their
funny stories and good-natured ribbing brought a smile to
everyone’s faces, including his. He leaned across the old wooden
table and picked up another slice of pizza.

Rachel watched him as he bit into layers of
beef, salami, bacon, and mozzarella cheese.

He swallowed what he was eating and frowned.
“Have I got sauce on my face?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I didn’t
think you’d eat pizza.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “You’ll think I’m
crazy.”

He’d learned a lot about Rachel over the last
hour. She was impulsive, easily excited, compulsively happy, and
able to be part of two conversations at once. There wasn’t any room
for craziness in her brain.

“Try me.”

She looked at the pizza, then back at him.
She leaned in close and her blonde hair brushed against his arm.
“You’re rich,” she whispered. “I thought you’d have a housekeeper
making you healthy meals.”

John grinned. Rachel wasn’t joking. She
honestly thought that he wouldn’t eat the same food as everyone
else. He’d never been particularly worried about what other people
thought of his life, but for some reason, Rachel’s opinion made him
laugh. “Everyone likes pizza.”

Annie, the bride-to-be, pointed at her plate.
“Everyone that’s not getting married likes pizza. I feel like I’ve
turned into a rabbit.”

Rachel had told him that Annie was on a
strict diet. No amount of tempting could make her eat one spare rib
or anything dripping with cheese. John had no idea why Annie was
starving herself, but he’d never been very good at second-guessing
the way a female brain worked.

A waitress brought out more plates of hot,
spicy food, drawing a groan from Annie.

Rachel passed her the salad dressing. “This
might make your dinner taste better.”

Annie took the bottle out of her hand. “As
long as I fit into my wedding dress, I’ll be happy.”

As the conversation randomly moved from one
thing to the next, John relaxed, laughing more than he had in a
long time. It felt good to be sitting with a group of adults who
wanted nothing more from him than his company.

“I still don’t know why your mom didn’t like
the peppermint creams,” Sally said to Dylan. “It doesn’t make
sense.”

“Nothing about my mom makes sense,” Dylan
said with a smile. “I love her, but she changes her mind about
everything. One year we were driving to Denver for a vacation.
Halfway there, she changed her mind and we ended up in Texas.”

“Did you have a good time?” Molly asked.

Dylan nodded. “My mom might change her mind,
but she’s fun to be around.”

“That must make up for her spontaneous
nature. What about you, John? Do you have any childhood vacation
tales to share with us?”

He looked at Molly and took her question at
face value. “We didn’t go on many vacations. My parents preferred
to stay at home on their ranch.”

Rachel looked at him. “Are you from
Montana?”

“I spent the first eighteen years of my life
here.”

“And then?”

John picked up his pizza. “And then I joined
the military.”

She watched him finish his slice of pizza.
Dylan asked him a question and everyone joined in with their
opinion about the latest scandal to hit the streets of Bozeman.

Rachel leaned toward him. “You don’t like
talking about yourself, do you?”

“It’s easier not to.” He’d learned the hard
way not to speak about where he’d come from and what he did. There
were lots of reasons why being a billionaire was great. There were
other, less obvious ones, why it wasn’t.

He’d been in enough situations to tell him
when to be careful. And for some reason, his internal radar was
telling him to slow down and watch what he said. “You don’t
freelance as a reporter, do you?”

Rachel shook her head. “No. I leave that up
to Logan.”

Logan was married to Tess, one of Rachel’s
friends. John had met Logan not long after he’d moved back to
Bozeman. Relocating Fletcher Security’s head office to Montana had
created a ripple on the information highway. Half the folks of
Bozeman wanted to know all about the man who’d transformed the old
flour mill into a security company. The other half couldn’t care
less.

Logan was a reporter for the Bozeman
Chronicle and a former war correspondent. He still freelanced for
some of the major newspapers around the country. John didn’t want
to end up on the front page of any newspaper. When he’d first moved
to Bozeman, he’d steered clear of Logan, dodging his phone calls
and emails for as long as he could.

Their first meeting had gone better than he’d
expected. They’d come to an understanding, trading information like
a game of poker. Logan wanted to know what he was doing and why he
was doing it. John wanted to promote his company, not himself. The
stories that Logan wrote were focused on the public face of John’s
business and the jobs he was creating. The rest was left alone,
filed away for another time.

John had hoped that once most people got used
to seeing him around town, no one would care what he did. On the
whole, keeping a low profile had helped keep him invisible, and he
wanted it to stay that way.

Rachel nudged his elbow. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “What happened after
you joined the military?”

“I was stationed overseas for a while. I came
back to the States six years ago and started Fletcher Security. I
built my business from nothing into what it is today.”

“So you’re just another country boy turned
billionaire success story?” She looked impressively underwhelmed by
the sketchy story he’d given her.

“You could say that. Although the billionaire
part is fairly new.”

Rachel frowned. “It must take time to get
used to having so much money?”

John looked closely at her. “Not as long as
you might think. Most of my profits are reinvested straight back
into my business.”

“So no gold encrusted chandeliers or jets
whisking you away for luxurious vacations?”

Before John could answer her question, Molly
gently banged her dessert spoon against her wineglass. “I’d like to
propose a toast,” she said in her lilting Irish accent. “To Dylan
and Annie, two of the nicest people I’ve met. May your marriage be
strong and true, tied together with bonds that will last all time.”
She raised her glass and smiled. “To Dylan and Annie. Slainte.”

Everyone raised their glass to toast the
nearly married couple. John glanced at Dylan. He looked so nervous
that it almost brought a smile to his face. Until he remembered why
he was nervous. Annie meant everything to him. He’d given his heart
and soul to her, expecting nothing in return. It was the kind of
relationship that Dylan had never thought he’d find. The kind of
relationship that he didn’t think he deserved.

John watched Rachel as Annie kissed Dylan’s
cheek. A gentle smile lit Rachel’s face and her eyes filled with
tears.

He picked up a napkin and handed it to
her.

“Thanks.” She wiped her eyes and smiled
through her tears.

The wobbly breath she took told him more
about what she felt than her words could have. She cared deeply
about her friends and believed in love. It was a dangerous
combination for a man who was trying to keep away from single
women.

She left the napkin on her lap and turned
toward him. “Was it hard to find a babysitter for Bella?” A soft
blush skimmed along her cheeks. “I know I’m changing the subject.
But if I keep watching Annie and Dylan I’m going to cry again.
There are only so many tears I can manage before my face goes red
and blotchy.”

Her face was already red and blotchy, but she
still looked beautiful. “Mrs. Daniels, my housekeeper, is looking
after Bella tonight.”

“Did you talk to her about the letter she
sent to The Bridesmaids Club?”

John chose his words carefully. “Bella was
worried about me. She thought I was sad because I don’t have a
wife. And before you ask why I’m sad, I’m not. Bella thinks that if
I don’t smile, then I’m unhappy. I have to work on making sure I
don’t frown so much.”

“You’re doing it now.”

“What?”

“Frowning.”

John lifted his hand to his face and his
frown deepened.

“You could always get Bella more involved
with other children. Then she wouldn’t have time to worry about
you.”

“She already does ballet class.” A cheer rang
out from inside the bar and John glanced over his shoulder. Another
bride-to-be had just walked past the window, dressed in a veil with
a bouquet in her hands. It was just as well Bella wasn’t here. She
would have been grilling each of the brides about what their
dresses looked like and how many bridesmaids they had.

“What about a different type of program?”

He turned back to Rachel.

She sat forward and rested her elbows on the
table. “She could join a drama club? The local library runs a
wonderful program. Some of the children in my class already go to
it.”

The whole idea of Bella visiting Bozeman
Elementary School was to get her used to being in a classroom.
After Christmas she’d be going to school, settling into life in
Bozeman like any other child. He hadn’t thought joining other
after-school programs would be worthwhile.

“It might be too much.”

“It’s only once a week. It would give Bella
another opportunity to meet children that will be in her
class.”

“She’s met you. That’s got to be just as
important?”

“Except I’m not going to be her teacher. I’m
a substitute teacher at the moment. Jackie Reynolds will be
teaching Bella.”

John felt his frown deepen. When he’d met
with the school’s principal, he’d been very clear about why he was
sending Bella to school once a week. He wanted her transition into
the local school to be as easy as possible. Part of that transition
involved placing her in the classroom that she’d be in after
Christmas. Putting Bella in a classroom with a different teacher
wasn’t what he’d had in mind.

“Don’t worry about Bella,” Rachel said.
“Jackie is a great teacher. I’m sure they’ll get along fine.”

John’s mind was working overtime and coming
up with answers he wasn’t comfortable with. Bella liked Rachel. His
daughter needed a tutor for the next two months. If Bella couldn’t
have Rachel for her teacher in January, then he’d do everything he
could to make sure she became Bella’s tutor now. He didn’t know
what she earned, but it had to be a lot less than what he was
willing to pay.

Rachel glanced across the table and smiled at
something Annie said.

He took a deep breath and ignored the warning
buzzing inside his head. Spending more time with Rachel would be a
big mistake. But his daughter needed a tutor and Rachel was the
obvious choice. If he could convince her to take the teaching job,
Bella would be happy and he’d have one less thing to worry
about.

He had a lot to do over the next few weeks.
With two big contracts still being negotiated and Christmas almost
on their doorstep, he’d be spending less time at home than he would
have liked. Any spare hours that he had would be spent with
Bella.

There wouldn’t be time in his life for
anyone, including a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who thought that
billionaires didn’t eat pizza.

CHAPTER THREE

Rachel was sitting at one of the tables at Annie and
Dylan’s wedding reception. The newlyweds were dancing their first
waltz of the night. She smiled as Dylan spun Annie into a very
unwaltz-like move.

Their wedding had been beautiful. Pastor
Stevens had officiated, saying some of the loveliest words she’d
ever heard. More than once, she’d glanced across the church at
John, watching his reaction to the simple vows that had been
spoken. She’d thought about him and the card his daughter had made,
for longer than she should have. Bella seemed to be happy around
her dad. She smiled and laughed and did all of the things a normal
eight-year-old would do. But there had to be something missing in
Bella’s life for her to want to find a bride for her father.

Rachel hadn’t worked out what was missing,
and she wasn’t sure it was a good idea to try. She’d enjoyed John’s
company last night, maybe a little too much. He’d seemed to enjoy
her company, too, and had looked almost disappointed when she’d
gone home with her friends.

But with a wedding the next morning and a
bride who was stressing about every last thing, leaving Charlie’s
Bar and Grill early had been the best thing she could have
done.