After the way he’d lied to her about his name, then disappeared without a word of explanation, she would debate that issue. But his close proximity and hearing him call her “darlin’” with his rich Texas drawl caused her to shiver.
“A-all right,” she finally replied, forcing herself not to lean away from him, even though it made her extremely nervous being so near.
She was willing to say just about anything to get him to turn off the charm and get out of her office so that she could draw a decent breath. Besides, the longer he stayed the greater the possibility he’d find out why she’d spent several weeks desperately trying to reach him. And at the moment, that was something she just wasn’t ready to address, nor was her office the place to do it.
“If you’ll explain to Derek that it’s wrong to behave that way toward other children, I’ll let him off with a warning this time,” she decided firmly. “But if it happens again, he will have to serve the suspension.”
“Fair enough.” He straightened to his full height, then, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, rocked back on his heels. “Now that we have that settled, I’ll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing.” Walking toward the door, he stopped and turned to give her another one of his charming smiles. “By the way, it was a very pleasant surprise running into you again, Arielle.”
And jackasses have sprouted wings and learned to fly, she thought, barely resisting the urge to convey her sarcasm aloud. But before she could comment on his obvious lie, he exited her office as quickly as he’d barged in.
Sinking back into the plush leather of her desk chair, Arielle tried to think. What on earth was she going to do now?
She’d given up all attempts to find him months ago when every one of her efforts met with a dead end. Of course, now she knew why. The man she’d been looking for didn’t even exist. It had been Zachary Forsythe, hotel and resort magnate, who had held her, made love to her and…lied to her. And here he was living in the city she’d recently moved to, with a nephew in her preschool.
“How did my life get so out of control?”
Burying her head in her shaking hands, she did her best to organize her scattered thoughts. She had no idea what to do, if she should do anything. Clearly he’d never expected to see her again, and wasn’t overjoyed that he had. And she certainly wasn’t thrilled with the situation, either.
Her stomach did a fluttery lurch and, placing a calming hand over it, she tightly closed her eyes as she fought to keep her emotions in check. First and foremost, she’d made a huge mistake falling for his charismatic charm. And second, she’d wasted countless hours trying to find a man who’d just proved he wasn’t worth finding.
But she’d foolishly held out hope that he’d have a plausible explanation for leaving her to wake up alone all those months ago. Deep down she’d known she was deluding herself, but it was easier than acknowledging how gullible and utterly foolish she’d been. Now there was no denying that he was every bit the jerk she’d feared him to be.
She swallowed hard and, opening her eyes, reached for a tissue to dab at the moisture threatening to spill down her cheeks. Her move to Dallas was supposed to be a good thing—a symbolic gesture of leaving the past behind and making a fresh start. But he’d just ruined that. There was no way she could forget about him and move on with her life if he showed up at the school from time to time.
Sniffling, she reached for another tissue. She hated being so darned weepy all of the time, but then, that was his fault, too.
Her stomach clenched again and she automatically opened her desk drawer, reaching for the bag of crackers she kept for just such occasions. Yes, Zachary Forsythe was to blame for her hormones making her emotional, as well as her other current problems. And the most pressing problem of all was figuring out how and when to tell the biggest jerk in the entire state of Texas that even though he wasn’t married as he said he would be, in about five and a half months, he was indeed going to have a child of his own.
Zach entered his executive office at the Forsythe Hotel and Resort Group corporate headquarters still thinking about his unexpected run-in with Arielle Garnier. He’d thought about her a lot since their time together in Aspen, but he’d never expected to see her again. And certainly not at the same preschool where his nephew was enrolled. But thanks to the little boy’s latest antics, Zach had been put in the awkward position of pleading Derek’s case to the woman he’d, for lack of a better word, dumped a few months ago.
Walking over to his desk, Zach sank into the high-backed chair. Swiveling around, he gazed blindly at the framed aerial photograph of his luxury resort in Aspen. He distinctly recalled Arielle telling him that she was a teacher at some nursery school in San Francisco. So why had she relocated to Texas? And where had she come up with the money to buy the most prestigious preschool in the Dallas area?
He supposed that her older twin brothers might have had something to do with that. If he remembered correctly, she’d told him that one was a highly successful divorce attorney in Los Angeles and the other owned the largest construction and development company in the south. They certainly could have afforded to front her the money to buy the school. In fact, they’d been the ones who’d given her the week’s ski trip, complete with deluxe accommodations at the Aspen Forsythe Resort and Spa for her twenty-sixth birthday.
Focusing his attention on the photograph of the luxury mountain resort, Zach couldn’t help but grin when he thought about the first time he’d met Arielle. It had been her engaging smile and flawless beauty that had first attracted him. Her silky, dark auburn hair had complimented her porcelain skin to perfection and she had the prettiest hazel eyes he’d ever seen. But as the evening wore on, it had been her sense of humor and obvious intelligence that had him thoroughly captivated. By the following morning, they had become lovers.
As he sat there thinking about what had been the most exciting, memorable week of his life, his office door opened. His sister slowly walked across the room to lower herself into the chair in front of his desk.
“Did you speak with Mrs. Montrose about Derek?” she asked, propping her cane against the edge of his desk. “She’s always been extremely fair and since the accident, she’s been very understanding about his uncharacteristic behavior.”
Zach shook his head. “Helen Montrose is no longer in charge at Premier Academy, Lana.”