Exquisite Acquisitions

Troubled, she sighed quietly and handed back the phone. “He’s a good man.”

Carter nodded. “Listen, I know Roark. He’s gotten himself into some really tight spots before, and he’s always gotten out.”

Her voice was a mere whisper. “Are you telling me not to worry?”

Carter was concerned his friend was in trouble, but he couldn’t do a damn thing about it until he heard from him again. “No sense in worrying. I have faith in him. Roark knows what he’s doing. But whatever it is, he sure as hell wanted me to get this message to you without going through the normal channels. He’s not sure who he can trust.”

“I understand. Thank you for going through the trouble. Will you promise to let me know if you hear anything more from him?”

“I can do that,” Carter said.

“Thank you.” She walked him to the door. “And congratulations on your engagement. I think any woman would love to have a Tarlington ring on her finger.”

Carter grinned. “That’s the plan.”

She gave him a full-out dimple-inducing smile, and Carter figured she didn’t offer those up too often. “I think your soon-to-be fiancée is a lucky woman.”

Carter thanked her and left Waverly’s with a diamond ring in his pocket and a hum in his heart. He’d accomplished his two goals today.

Tomorrow his life would change forever.

Pajama-clad, Macy stared at her reflection in the hotel mirror, the phone to her ear and her legs stretched out on the massive bed. She never liked reserving a room with a king bed. With her slight frame, too much of the mattress went to waste. But then, getting two doubles made her feel lonely, as if there was someone missing who should be sleeping in the other bed. Macy had offered to share her hotel room with Avery, but her friend had booked with a smaller, more secluded hotel. Macy had respected her privacy.

“Are you still thinking about that cowboy from the auction today?” Avery asked.

She smiled into the phone. The cowboy? Now, he would take up a good portion of her bed and nothing would go to waste. “Guilty as charged. But you can’t blame me, can you? My love life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If I only had one-tenth of the lovers MovieMash.com claimed I had, it would be a miracle. I haven’t been on a date for eight months. That qualifies me for that new reality show, Dating Dilemma.”

“Oh, Macy. It only means you’ve been dealing with your mother’s illness and grieving. You’ll know when the time is right.”

Avery, too, had recently lost a parent, a father she’d hardly known, so she could relate to the heartache Macy felt. Avery had been such a dear friend when Tina died. They’d shared the bond of loss together.

“You had the hots for the cowboy. That’s a start,” Avery encouraged.

With a sigh, Macy glanced in the mirror again and shook her head at the simple yellow-and-white flowered nightgown she wore. She made a mental note to buy sexy lingerie. “That’s true.”

There was something about the cowboy that called to Macy. She’d been smitten from the moment she’d spotted him. Smit­ ten. Such a perfect word to describe her feelings for a mystery man who’d helped her get through a tough time today. Not that he’d ever know he’d helped her, but still, Macy had warm feelings for him that went beyond the physical.

“The poor guy,” she said quietly. “He bought the cursed diamond. I overheard him saying he was getting engaged tomorrow.”

“How did you hear that?”

“I have eagle ears, remember? Just as we were walking out of the auction, I heard him tell Ms. Richardson why he bought the ring. I was crushed.”

Avery giggled. She thought Macy was kidding, and why wouldn’t she? Any normal person wouldn’t develop strong feelings for a man she’d just laid eyes on. But Macy couldn’t really share the truth, that as soon as the cowboy announced he was getting engaged, her heart sank and her stomach clenched. The disappointment overwhelmed her. It had hurt Macy to think that her fantasy cowboy was already taken, and now hours later she still couldn’t wrap her head around it. “He hasn’t proposed yet and his marriage is already doomed.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” her friend said. “Wouldn’t you like to think it’s not the diamond rings but really some odd quirk of nature, an imbalance of romance or simply a weird coincidence that those three marriages ended with heartbreak?”

“I don’t know, Av. Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s not the rings. Maybe I just don’t believe in love anymore. I mean, my mother and all of her close friends have had their hearts broken from love affairs. You know how much my mother loved my father. When he died in that crash, she’d been so angry with him for leaving her alone.”

Clyde Tarlington had been a talented actor in his own right and a loving father to Macy, but gambling and liquor were his true loves. He’d been addicted to both. When he won big, he’d buy rounds of drinks for everyone, and unfortunately one night ten years ago, his big win meant losing the most important gamble of his life. He’d gotten behind the wheel of his car and plowed the front end of his Lamborghini into a tree just three blocks away from their home. His blood alcohol level had been double the legal limit. That night, his luck had run out.

“I know that was heartbreaking for her,” Avery said.

“But she picked herself up and married husband number two and then husband number three. And you know how well those marriages worked out.” Macy’s throat tightened with remorse. “That cowboy bought loser number three’s ring.”

Avery’s voice softened. “Macy, are you going to be okay? I can come over.”

“No, don’t be silly. It’s after midnight. I’m fine,” she fibbed.

Macy had financial woes that made her dizzy with dismay. Avery knew most of it, so there was no sense rehashing her legal problems. She was being sued for refusing to back down on her principles. And now she was paying the consequences, literally, with her mother’s estate. She had an appointment with her New York attorney tomorrow that she wasn’t looking forward to. “I appreciate you being my rock today. I leaned on you and you came through.” She faked a yawn and made it noisy enough for Avery to hear. “I’m pooped. I’m going to climb into this big bed and get some sleep.”

“Okay…if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. I’ll see you for dinner tomorrow before your flight. Have a good night.”

“Same to you, Macy. Sleep tight.”

“I intend to,” she fibbed again.

She wouldn’t get much sleep. Her troubles would follow her into the night.

Carter sat across the table from Jocelyn in a cozy corner in the Russian Tea Room, the muscles around his lips pulling tight. He stared at her with unblinking eyes. The setting, the diamond, everything was perfect. Except her answer. “No?”

“That’s right,” she whispered. “No, I won’t marry you.”

With a shake of his head, he leaned back in his seat in disbelief.

Jocelyn flipped her blond hair to one side, a habit he’d noticed her doing when she was annoyed. The long strands fell over the thin strap of her glimmering gold dress. Her full lips, glossed in cherry red, formed a pout. Then she sighed dramatically, as if the weight of the world was crushing her shoulders. “I thought you knew this thing between us wasn’t serious.”

He kept his tone level. “How was I to know that?”

“We’ve never spoken of the future,” she said. Her eyes flashed to the opened velvet box he’d laid near the edge of the table. “Not in specific terms.”

Carter’s voice elevated. “You mean, when we were lying in bed at night and you’d say how much you wanted a family one day. Three kids, exactly. And when you said you wanted a second home in the Hamptons, those were just random ramblings?”

He had trouble believing her rejection and searched his memory for clues. How had he missed her signals? He thought they wanted the same things in life.

She ignored the question, speaking in a tight voice, “We haven’t known each other long, Carter.”

“A year isn’t long enough?”

“Not with you living in Wild River and me living in Dallas. We haven’t seen that much of each other.”

Raw, ego-deflating pain gutted his insides. The flat-out rejection worked a number on his pride and made him look at Jocelyn in a new light. One that wasn’t flattering. A steady tick began to eat away at his jaw.

“The ring is a stunner, really.” The diamond that would never see her finger sparkled against incandescent candlelight. “But I can’t accept it.” She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I don’t love you.”

In one fell swoop, he gripped the plush black ring box and clicked it shut before shoving it into his pocket. He didn’t want to look at the damn thing anymore. “Can’t be clearer than that.”