ever really was.”
“Then why risk your career and family for her?”
In truth, he’d helped his family by protecting the business. “She forged his name on documents and I let the authorities believe I’d signed my name, to protect my dad’s reputation. If his business collapsed, a lot of people I really care about would be out of work. So I took the blame, hired an attorney, and got the charges dismissed.”
She shook her head. “Then who took the blame when you were exonerated?”
“The company who’d filed the original complaint went bankrupt and everything was dropped. No one was charged and…” Jayna came out smelling like a rose. “I left my dad’s firm.”
“He didn’t believe you even after you were cleared? Your own father? That’s preposterous.”
“You’ve never met him,” he said quietly, hearing the hate and anger in the undertones of his words and making no effort to hide those emotions. They were too real. “As long as I was the bad guy, everything he did in the past was excused. He even convinced some cronies on the Arch Board to ban me from getting a license and deny me permission to sit for the rest of the exams.”
She leaned against one of the white columns of the building. “Is this why you’ve kept your name off everything? Won’t sign a contract? Haven’t filed anything formal yet?”
“I will do all that, but I wanted to convince you first of how right I am for the job.”
“Why? Why is it so important?”
“If I complete a full project on this scale, I can sit for my exams, get my licenses, and start my own business.” He gave her a direct gaze, as truthful as what he was telling her.
“Were you trying to win me over or convince me to hire you by using sex?”
“No,” he insisted. “That just happened.”
“Not yet it didn’t.”
“Whether you believe me or not, my plan was to tell you over dinner, but then they made this decision to have this impromptu meeting and I really didn’t want to give you an excuse to quit. Plus”—he tapped the affidavit rolled in her hand—“I wanted to get some concrete proof that I’m telling the truth.”
She closed her eyes like he’d hit her, saying nothing.
“What happened when I left?” he asked.
“I got on the agenda.” The words were barely a whisper, as soft as the sea breeze that lifted a curl of her hair.
“I knew you could do it.” He had to fight the urge to touch her. “That’s great, Lacey.”
She finally opened her eyes, none of the misery gone from their topaz depths. “Why weren’t you straight from day one, Clay? Why didn’t you tell me that this job could make or break your career? Maybe I would have been sympathetic.”
More regret gnawed at him. Why, indeed? “When we met on the beach, you were so certain I was coming at this through the back door,” he admitted. “I thought it was smart to prove to you what I could do first.”
“Like last night? What you could do up against a wall?”
The words punched a hole in his chest. “No, Lacey.”
“How can I possibly believe you didn’t just use sex to sweeten the deal and make sure I was too far gone to send you packing?”
He waited a beat, then asked the obvious. “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Too far gone to send me packing?”
She didn’t answer.
“Excuse me, do either of you know Ms. Lacey Armstrong?” The voice came from the parking lot, making them both turn.
A man came forward. He was heavyset, and thin gray strands of hair lifted as he hustled toward her. Clay immediately recognized him, mostly by his out-of-place suit, as the person David Fox had been talking to earlier.
“I’m Lacey Armstrong.”
His face brightened, already pink and sweaty. “Oh, that’s fortunate.” He reached out his hand. “I’m Ira Howell with Wells Fargo Bank in Fort Myers. Have you presented your plans to rebuild on the Barefoot Bay property?”
Lacey stole a glance at Clay before answering. “I didn’t present much,” she said. “Why?”
“Do your plans include building on the Everham and Tomlinson properties adjacent to your lot?”
She tensed a little, and nodded. “Yes, they do. Why?”
“You don’t own those properties, ma’am.”
“I’m in the process of purchasing both lots. I’ve made offers and am waiting for the paperwork.”
“Not anymore you’re not. My client closed sales this afternoon on both properties. Your plans will have to be scaled back. Or canceled.”
“The Everham and Tomlinson properties sold? That’s not possible.” Lacey choked softly,