His By Any Means: The Black Sheep's Inheritance

Shaking her head, Colleen said, “But J.D. wasn’t my first patient. This has never happened to me before.”

He shrugged the argument aside. “You’d never worked for a Lassiter before, either. I’m only surprised you haven’t already heard the speculation.”

She plopped down onto the edge of her mattress, her mind racing as images from the past few months flashed across her brain. She hadn’t really paid attention before, but now that she was looking at things in a new light, she realized he was right. The gossip had already started. She remembered knowing winks, slow smiles and whispered conversations cut short when she entered any of the local shops.

“Oh, my God. They really think that I—that J.D.—oh, this is humiliating.”

“Only if you let them win,” he said quietly and she looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. “Small minds are always looking for something to occupy them. If you live your life worried about what they’re saying, you won’t do anything. Then they win.”

“I really hate this,” she murmured. He did have a point, but this was the first time in her life that she was the subject of gossip. She’d led a fairly quiet existence until she’d taken the job with J.D.

Sage was looking at this from an entirely different angle. The truth was, as a Lassiter, he was insulated from the nastiest rumors and innuendos. He didn’t have to worry about what people were saying about him, because his career was already made, and he had a powerful family name behind him. Besides, how bad was it to have people discussing how incredibly gorgeous you were?

No, this was different. If people were talking about her, it could affect her work. Her life. If the nursing agency she worked for got wind of any of this, they might be reluctant to send her out on other assignments—and that made her cringe. On the other hand, if she simply accepted J.D.’s generosity, she could make her own way. Though she would still, as a nurse practitioner, have to work through local doctors and hospitals.

“My head hurts,” she muttered.

He laughed and it was such a rich, surprising sound, it startled her. Looking up at him, she saw that his eyes were shining and the wide smile on his face displayed a dimple she was fairly certain didn’t show up very often.

“You’re thinking about this too much.”

“It’s very hard not to,” she told him, shaking her head. “I’ve never been in this position before and I’m not really sure what to do about it.”

“Do what you want to do,” he advised.

Want was a big word. She wanted a lot of things. World peace. Calorie-free chocolate. Smaller feet. Her gaze drifted to Sage’s mouth and locked there. And she really wanted to kiss him.

As that thought settled into the forefront of her mind, Colleen cleared her throat and tried for heaven’s sake to get a grip. Honestly, she’d been alone so long, was it really so surprising that a man like Sage Lassiter would tangle her up into knots without even trying?

“Everything okay?” He was frowning now.

“Fine. Fine.” She breathed deeply and repeated, “What I want. Do what I want.”

“Not so hard, is it?”

“You wouldn’t think so...” But she’d been raised to consider more than her wants. There was doing the right thing, and in this case, she just didn’t know what that was.

“You know,” he murmured, “once you show people you don’t care what they think, they usually stop talking about you.”

Wryly, she asked, “And if you do care what they’re saying?”

His lips quirked into a quick half smile that tugged at something inside her. “Well, that’s a different story, isn’t it? But why would you care?”

“Because I have to work here. Live here. If people think—” She swallowed hard. Everything she’d worked toward, everything she’d built in the past five years. Her reputation...her hopes and dreams. It could all disappear.

Suddenly, the windfall from J.D. looked like more of a curse than a blessing.

“You’re giving other people all the power here,” Sage said, drawing her attention away from her thoughts.

“I don’t want to, but...” Shaking her head, she folded her hands together on her lap. “Ever since this morning, my mind’s been filled with questions. And now I don’t know what to do about this.”

“Not much you can do about it.” Sage walked around her, pushed the open suitcase out of his way and took a seat beside her on the bed. “The will’s a done deal.”

“But I could donate the money.”

He shrugged. “People would still talk. The only difference would be you wouldn’t have the money.”

She sighed heavily and turned to look at him. He was so close to her, his muscular thigh was just a bare inch from brushing against hers. Heat rushed through her and Colleen forced a deep breath as she met his gaze. His eyes weren’t as frosty as they had been earlier, yet they were still unreadable. As if he’d drawn shutters down, to keep others from sensing his emotions. He was so closed off—much like J.D. had been when she’d first come to take care of him. But, she reminded herself, it hadn’t taken her long to bypass the older man’s defenses and get him to really talk to her.

The difference was, Sage wasn’t her patient. He was a strong, completely masculine male who made her feel things she hadn’t felt in far too long. Which was, of course, not only ridiculous, but inappropriate. He was the son of her patient. A family member who’d just gone through a devastating loss. He wasn’t interested in her and she would only do herself a favor if she found a way to tamp down the rush of attraction she felt every time he came close. Of course, way easier said than done.

“Look,” he said, his voice quiet, “why don’t we have dinner tonight? Give us a chance to talk some more.”

She blinked at him, so stunned she could hardly manage to croak, “You’re asking me out?”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “I’m asking you to have dinner with me.”

Not a date. Of course it wasn’t a date. Idiot.

“Why?” And why are you questioning it, her mind demanded.

“Well, I still want to talk to you about J.D.,” he said. “And it’s been a long day. For both of us.”

Of course. That explained it, Colleen told herself firmly. He wanted to talk about his father and all she’d managed to do was talk his ear off about her problems.

“Okay,” she said after a long moment. “That would be nice.”

“Great.” He stood up and looked down at her. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“I’ll give you my address.”

“I know where you live,” he told her. “I’ll see you tonight.”

He knew where she lived. What was she supposed to make of that?

“Can I carry your suitcase down to the car?”

“What? Oh. No, thank you.” She glanced around the room. “I’ve still got a few things to pack up.”

“All right then, I’ll leave you to it,” he said, heading for the doorway. When he got there, he paused, turned around and speared her with an unfathomable look. “See you tonight.”

When he left, Colleen stared after him for a long minute. Her heartbeat was racing and her knees felt a little wobbly. Her reaction to Sage was so staggering, she wasn’t really sure how to deal with it. However, as the sound of his footsteps faded away, Colleen told herself that she couldn’t really be blamed for her response to his presence. He was like a force of nature. Sage Lassiter was a gorgeous steamroller, flattening everything in his path.

And Colleen realized that now, for whatever reason, she was in his path.

Four (#u37696086-b3d5-5af3-8c22-fdc2e2c3d438)

“So how’s the rest of dealing with the will going, Walter?” Sage drove straight from Big Blue to the lawyer’s office. He wanted a chance to talk to J.D.’s lawyer without the explosive release of emotion that had happened when the family was gathered together. Not that he’d been able to dismiss the anger churning inside him. The plan had been to arrive, calm and cool, and outstare the older man. That didn’t happen though, because he was far from feeling cool and detached.