Czytaj książkę: «All For Love»

Chapter 1

Gem, I am sorry and I hope you can forgive me one day.

—Niecee

Gemma Westmoreland lifted a brow after reading the note that appeared on her computer after she’d booted it up. Immediately, two questions sailed through her mind. Where was Niecee when she should have been at work over an hour ago and what was Niecee apologizing for?

The hairs on the back of Gemma’s neck began standing up and she didn’t like the feeling. She had hired Niecee Carter six months ago when Designs by Gem began picking up business, thanks to the huge contract she’d gotten with the city of Denver to redecorate several of its libraries. Then Gayla Mason had wanted her mansion redone. And, last but not least, her sister-in-law, Chloe, hired Gemma for a makeover of the Denver branch of her successful magazine, Simply Irresistible.

Gemma had been badly in need of help and Niecee had possessed more clerical skills than the other candidates she’d interviewed. She had given the woman the job without fully checking out her references—something her oldest brother, Ramsey, had warned her against doing. But she hadn’t listened. She’d figured that she and the bubbly Niecee would gel well. They had, but now, as Gemma quickly logged into her bank account, she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps she should have taken Ramsey’s advice.

Gemma had been eleven when Ramsey and her cousin Dillon had taken over the responsibility of raising their thirteen siblings after both sets of parents had been killed in a plane crash. During that time Ramsey had been her rock, the brother who’d been her protector. And now, it seemed, the brother she should have listened to when he’d handed out advice on how to run her business.

She pulled in a sharp breath when she glanced at the balance in her checking account. It was down by $20,000. Nervously, she clicked on the transaction button and saw that a $20,000 check had cleared her bank—a check that she hadn’t written. Now she knew what Niecee’s apology was all about.

Gemma dropped her face in her hands and felt the need to weep. But she refused to go there. She had to come up with a plan to replace that money. She was expecting invoices to come rolling in any day now from the fabric shops, arts and craft stores and her light fixtures suppliers, just to name a few. Clearly, she wouldn’t have enough funds to pay all her debts. She needed to replace those funds.

She stood and began pacing the floor as anger consumed her. How could Niecee have done this to her? If she needed the money, all she had to do was ask. Although Gemma might not have been able to part with that much from her personal account, she could have borrowed the money from one of her brothers or cousins.

Gemma pulled in a deep frustrated breath. She had to file a police report. Her friendship and loyalty to Niecee ended the minute her former worker had stolen from her. She should have suspected something. Niecee hadn’t been her usual bubbly self the last few days. Gemma figured it had to do with her trifling live-in boyfriend who barely worked. Had he put Niecee up to this? It didn’t matter because Niecee should know right from wrong, and embezzling from your employer was wrong.

Sitting back down at her desk, Gemma reached for the phone and then pulled her hand back. Dang! If she called Sheriff Bart Harper—who had gone to school with both Ramsey and Dillon—and filed a report, there was no doubt in her mind that both Ram and Dillon would hear about it. Those were the last two people she wanted in her business. Especially since they’d tried talking her out of opening her interior design shop in the first place.

For the past year, things had worked out fairly well with her being just a one-woman show with her sisters, Megan and Bailey, helping out if needed. She had even pulled in her brothers, Zane and Derringer, on occasion, when heavy lifting had been involved. But when the big jobs began coming in, she had advertised in the newspapers and online for an administrative assistant.

She stood and began pacing again. Bailey was still taking classes at the university and wouldn’t have that much money readily available, and Megan had mentioned just the other week that she was saving for a much-needed vacation. Megan was contemplating visiting their cousin, Delaney, who lived in the Middle East with her husband and two children, so there was no way she could hit her up for a loan.

Zane and Derringer were generous and because they were bachelors they might have that kind of ready dough. But they had recently pooled all their funds to buy into a horse-breeding and -training franchise, together with their cousin, Jason. She couldn’t look in their direction now, due to that business venture. And all her other siblings and cousins were either in school or into their own businesses and investments.

So where was she going to get $20,000?

Gemma stood staring at the phone for a moment before it hit her that the thing was ringing. She quickly picked it up, hoping it was Niecee letting her know she was returning the money to her or, better yet, that the whole thing was a joke.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Gemma, this is Callum.”

She wondered why the man who managed Ramsey’s sheep farm would be calling her. “Yes, Callum?”

“I was wondering if I could meet with you sometime today to discuss a business proposition.”

She lifted a brow. “A business proposition?”

“Yes.”

The first thought that crossed her mind was that engaging in a business meeting was the last thing she was in the mood for today. But then she quickly realized that she couldn’t let what Niecee did keep her from handling things with her company. She still had a business to run.

“When would you like to meet, Callum?”

“How about today for lunch.”

“Lunch?”

“Yes, at McKay’s.”

She wondered if he knew that McKay’s was her favorite lunch spot. “Okay, that’ll work. I’ll see you there at noon,” she said.

“Great. See you then.”

Gemma held the phone in her hand, thinking how much she enjoyed listening to Callum’s deep Australian accent. He always sounded so ultrasexy. But then he was definitely a sexy man. That was something she tried not to notice too much, mainly because he was a close friend of Ramsey’s. Also, according to Jackie Barnes, a nurse who worked at the hospital with Megan and who’d had a bad case of the hots for Callum when he first arrived in Denver, Callum had a girl waiting for him back in Australia and it was a very serious relationship.

But what if he no longer had that girl waiting for him back in Australia? What if he was as available as he was hot? What if she could forget that he was her oldest brother’s close friend? What if...

Dismissing all such thoughts with a wave of her hand, she sat back down at her computer to figure out a way to rob Peter to pay Paul.

* * *

Callum Austell leaned back in his chair as he glanced around the restaurant. The first time he’d eaten here had been with Ramsey when he first came to Denver. He liked it then and now this would be the place where he would put into motion a plan some would think was way past due being executed. He would have to admit they were probably right.

He wasn’t sure exactly when he decided that Gemma Westmoreland was destined to be his woman. Probably the day he had helped Ramsey build that barn and Gemma had arrived from college right after graduation. The moment she got out of her car and raced over to her older brother’s arms for a huge hug. Callum had felt like he’d gotten hit over the head with a two-by-four, not once but twice. And when Ramsey had introduced them and she’d turned that wondergirl smile on him, he hadn’t been the same since. His father and his two older brothers had warned him that it would be that way when he found the woman destined to be his, but he hadn’t believed them.

That had been almost three years ago and she’d been just twenty-two years old. So he’d waited patiently for her to get older and had watched over her from afar. And each passing day she’d staked a deeper claim to his heart. Knowing how protective Ramsey was of his siblings, especially his three sisters, Callum had finally gotten up the nerve to confront Ramsey and tell him how he felt about Gemma.

At first Ramsey hadn’t liked the idea of his best friend lusting after one of his sisters. But then Callum had convinced Ramsey it was more than lust and that he knew in his heart that Gemma was “the one” for him.

For six months, Ramsey had lived with Callum’s family back in Australia on the Austell sheep ranch to learn everything he could so he could start his own operations in Denver. He had hung around Callum’s parents and brothers enough to know how dedicated the Austell men were once they fell in love.

His father had given up on falling in love and was on his way back to Australia from a business meeting in the United States to marry an Australian woman when he’d met Callum’s mother. She was one of the flight attendants on the plane.

Somehow the already engaged Todd Austell had convinced the Detroit-born Le’Claire Richards that breaking off with his fiancée and marrying her instead was the right thing to do. Evidently it was. Thirty-seven years later the two were still married, remained very much in love and had three sons and a daughter to show for it. Callum was the youngest of the four and the only one who was still single.

His thoughts shifted back to Gemma. Ramsey claimed that of his three sisters, Gemma was the one with the fiery temper. The one a man would least be able to handle. He’d suggested that Callum pray long and hard about making the right decision.

In the end, Callum had convinced Ramsey that he had made the right decision and that a hard-to-handle woman with a fiery temper was the kind he liked. He was more than certain that Gemma was the woman for him.

Now he had to convince Gemma... He’d have to be stealthy about his pursuit. He knew Gemma had no intention of engaging in a serious relationship after she had witnessed how two of her brothers, and several of her womanizing cousins, had operated with women over the years, breaking hearts in their wake. According to Ramsey, Gemma Westmoreland was determined never to let a man break her heart.

Callum straightened up in his seat when he saw Gemma enter the restaurant. Immediately, the same feeling suffused his heart that always settled there whenever he saw her. He loved the woman. He no longer tried to rationalize why. It really didn’t matter at this point.

As she walked toward him, he stood. She was probably 5­8", but just the right height for his 6­3" frame. And he’d always thought she had a rather nice figure. Her dark brown, shoulder-length hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He thought she had dazzling tawny-brown eyes, which were almost covered by her bangs.

Callum had worked hard not to give his feelings away. Because he’d always been on his best behavior around her, he knew she didn’t have a clue. It hadn’t been easy keeping her in the dark. She saw him as nothing more than her brother’s best friend from Australia. The Aussie who didn’t have a lot to say and was basically a loner.

He studied her expression as she got closer. She seemed anxious, as if she had a lot on her mind.

“Callum,” she said and smiled.

“Gemma. Thanks for agreeing to see me,” he said as he took her oustretched hand.

“No problem,” she said, sitting down once he released her hand. “You said something about meeting to discuss a business proposition.”

“Yes, but first how about us grabbing something to eat. I’m starving.”

“Sure.”

As if on cue, a waitress strolled over with menus and placed glasses of water in front of them. “I hope this place is acceptable,” Callum said, moments later after taking a sip of his water.

“Trust me, it is,” Gemma said smiling. “It’s one of my favorites. The salads here are fabulous.”

He chuckled. “Are they?”

“Yes.”

“That might very well be, but I’m not a salad man. I prefer something a lot heavier. Like a steak and the French fries I hear this place is famous for.”

“No wonder you and Ramsey get along. Now that he’s married to Chloe, I’ll bet he’s in hog heaven with all those different meals she likes to prepare.”

“I’m sure he is. It’s hard to believe he’s married,” Callum said.

“Yes, four months tomorrow and I don’t recall my brother ever being happier.”

“And his men are happy, too, now that Nellie’s been replaced as cook,” he said. “She never could get her act together and it worked out well for everyone when she decided to move closer to her sister when her marriage fell apart.”

Gemma nodded. “I hear the new cook is working out wonderfully, although most of the guys still prefer Chloe’s cooking. But she is happy just being Ramsey’s wife and a mother-in-waiting. She doesn’t have long now and I’m excited about becoming an aunt.

“Are you an uncle yet?”

It was his turn to smile. “Yes. My two older brothers and one sister are married with a child each. I’m used to being around kids. And I also have a goddaughter who will be celebrating her first birthday soon.”

At that moment the waitress returned. Callum resented the interruption.

* * *

Gemma appreciated the interruption. Although she had been around Callum plenty of times, she’d never noticed just how powerfully built he was. Her brothers and male cousins were all big men, but Callum was so much more manly.

And she had to listen carefully to what he said and stop paying so much attention to how he said it. His thick Australian accent did things to her. It sent a warm, sensual caress across her skin every time he opened his mouth to speak. Then there were his looks, which made her understand perfectly why Jackie Barnes and quite a number of other women had gone bonkers over him. In addition to being tall, with a raw, masculine build, he had thick chestnut-brown hair that fell to his shoulders. Most days he wore it pulled back into a ponytail. He’d made today an exception and it cascaded around his shoulders.

Gemma had once overheard him mention to her sister, Megan, that his full lips and dark hair came from his African-American mother and his green eyes and his square jaw from his father. She’d also heard him say that his parents had met on an airplane. His mother had been a flight attendant on his father’s flight from the United States back to Australia. He’d told Megan it had been love at first sight, which made her wonder if he believed in such nonsense. She knew there was no such thing.

“So what do you think of Dillon and Pamela’s news?”

Callum’s question cut into her thoughts and she glanced up to meet his green eyes. She swallowed. Was there a hint of blue in their depths? And then there was his dimpled smile that took her breath away.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said, suddenly feeling the need to take a sip of cold water. “There haven’t been babies in our family in a long time. With Chloe expecting and now Pamela, that’s two babies to spoil and I can’t wait.”

“You like children?”

She chuckled. “Yes, unfortunately, I’m one of those people who take to the precious darlings a little too much. That’s why my friends call on me more often than not to babysit for them.”

“You could always marry and have your own.”

She made a face. “Thanks, but no thanks. At least no time soon, if ever. I’m sure you’ve heard the family joke about me never wanting to get serious about a man. Well, it’s not a joke—it’s the truth.”

“Because of what you witnessed with your brothers while growing up?”

So he had heard. Any one of her brothers could have mentioned it, especially because she denounced their behavior every chance she got. “I guess you can say I saw and heard too much. My brothers and cousins had a reputation for fast cars and fast women. They thought nothing about breaking hearts. Ramsey usually had a steady girl, but Zane and Derringer were two of the worst when it came to playing women. As far as I’m concerned, they still are.” Unfortunately, she’d overheard one of Zane’s phone calls that very morning when she had stopped by to borrow some milk.

“I can clearly recall the times when Megan and I, and sometimes even Bailey, who was still young enough to be playing with her dolls, would be the ones to get the phone calls from love-stricken girls in tears after being mercilessly dumped by one of my brothers or cousins.”

And they were females determined to share their teary-eyed, heart-wrenching stories with anyone willing to listen. Megan and Bailey would get them off the phone really quickly, but Gemma had been the bleeding heart. She would ease into a chair and take the time to listen to their sob stories, absorbing every heartbreaking detail like a sponge. Even to the point at which she would end up crying a river of tears right along with them.

She’d decided by the time she had begun dating that no man alive would make her one of those weeping women. And then there was this inner fear she’d shared with no one, the fear of falling in love and having the person abandon her one day...the way she felt whenever she thought about her parents. She knew she had no logical reason for feeling abandoned by them because she was certain if they’d had a choice they would have survived that plane crash. But still, as illogical as it might be, the fear was there for her and it was real. She was convinced there was no man worth a single Gemma Westmoreland tear or her fears, and intended to make sure she never shed one by never giving her heart to anyone. She would be celebrating her twenty-fifth birthday in a few months and so far she’d managed to keep both her heart and her virginity intact.

“And because of that you don’t ever plan to get seriously involved with a man?”

She drew in a deep breath. She and her sisters had had this conversation many times and she was wondering why she was sitting here having it with Callum now. Why was he interested? It dawned on her that he probably wasn’t; he was just asking to fill the time. “As far as I’m concerned that’s a good enough reason. Those girls were in love with my brothers and cousins and assumed they loved them back. Just look what that wrong assumption did to them.”

Callum took a sip of his water, deciding not to respond by saying that as far as he was concerned her brothers’ behavior was normal for most men, and in some cases women. Granted, he hadn’t been around Zane and Derringer while they had been in their teens and could just imagine some of the things they had gotten in to. Now, as grown men, he knew they enjoyed women, but then most hot-blooded men did. And just because a man might be considered a “player” somewhat before finally settling down with one woman—the one he chose to spend the rest of his life with—that didn’t necessarily mean he was a man who totally disrespected women. In fairness to Zane and Derringer, they treated women with respect.

He wondered what she would think if she knew how his behavior had been before he’d met her. He hadn’t considered himself a womanizer, although he’d dated a slew of woman. He merely thought of himself as a man who enjoyed life and wanted to have a good time with the opposite sex while waiting for the girl destined to share his life to come along. Once she had, he’d had no trouble bringing his fun-loving, footloose and fancy-free bachelor lifestyle to an end. Eventually, the same thing would happen to her brothers and cousins.

No wonder her brothers thought she was a lost cause, but he refused to accept that. He was determined to show her how things could be if she were to fall in love with a man committed to making her happy.

In a way, he felt he knew Gemma. He believed that beneath her rough and tough “I’ll never fall in love” exterior was the heart of a woman who not only loved children but loved life in general. He also believed that she was a passionate woman. And that she was unknowingly reserving that passion for the one man capable of tapping into it. The same man destined to spend the rest of his life with her. Him.

The waitress delivered their food, and they engaged in chitchat while they ate their meal.

After they had finished eating and the waitress removed their plates, Gemma leaned back in her chair and smiled at Callum. “Lunch was wonderful. Now, about that business proposition?”

He chuckled, reached over and picked up the folder he had placed on an empty chair. He handed it to her. “This is information on the home I purchased last year. I would love you to decorate it for me.”

Callum saw how her eyes lit up. She loved her work and it showed in her face. She opened the folder and carefully studied every feature, every detail of the house. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was giving her 9,200 feet of house to do with as she pleased. It was an interior designer’s dream.

She lifted her gaze with a look of awe on her face. “This place is beautiful. And it’s huge. I didn’t know you had purchased a house.”

“Yes, but it’s still empty and I want to turn it into a home. I like what you did with Ramsey’s place and thought you would be the ideal person for the job. I’m aware that because of the size of the house it will take up a lot of your time. I’m willing to pay you well. As you can see I haven’t picked out any furniture or anything. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

Now that much was true, Callum thought. What he didn’t tell her was that other designers had volunteered to decorate his new house, but he had bought it with her in mind.

She glanced back down at the papers in front of her. “Umm, eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, a huge kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, theater, recreation room and sauna. That’s quite a lot of space for a single man.”

He laughed. “Yeah, but I don’t plan on staying single forever.”

Gemma nodded, thinking that evidently Callum had decided to settle down and send for that girl back home. She glanced down at the papers again. She would love taking on this project, and he was right in thinking it would take up a lot of her time. But then she definitely needed the money.

“So, what do you think, Gemma?”

She glanced back up at him and smiled. “I think you just hired yourself an interior designer.”

The smile that touched his face sent a tingling sensation flowing through her stomach. “I can’t wait to see it.”

“No problem. When can you get away?”

She pulled out her cell phone to check her calendar and her schedule for this week. Once she saw the place and gave him an official estimate, she could ask for a deposit, which would make up some of what Niecee had taken from her. “What about tomorrow around one?”

“That might be a bit of a problem.”

“Oh.” She figured he would probably be tied up at Ram’s ranch doing something at that time, so without looking up she advanced her calendar another day. “What about Wednesday around noon.”

He chuckled. “Twelve noon on Monday would be the earliest availability for me.”

She nodded when she saw that time was free for her, although she wished she could see it sooner. “Monday at noon will be fine.”

“Great, I’ll make the necessary flight arrangements.”

She put her phone back into her purse and glanced over at him. “Excuse me?”

“I said that I will make the necessary flight arrangements if we want to see the house Monday at noon. That means we’ll need to fly out no later than Thursday morning.”

Gemma frowned. “Thursday morning? What are you talking about? Just where is this house located?”

Callum leaned back in his chair and gave her a one kilowatt smile. “Sydney, Australia.”