The Successor Read online

  What were you thinking? he scolded himself. Get your head on straight. You can’t sleep with your father’s assistant. In his desire for Kate, he wasn’t watching for Gus, and now the dog was missing. He cursed again and took out his phone to use as a flashlight and poked around the landscape, looking for the adventurous corgi.

  Chapter 5

  Kate

  Kate hurried back to her grandmother’s house. She was going to ask for a car to take her, but her entire body felt so charged. She replayed the scene over and over in her mind. The way Grant towered over her made her feel so small yet protected. He was so tall! Kate was not a short person—she had modeled as a teenager. She thought about Grant’s ice-blue eyes, dark in the starlight, and his hair, military short, but when it grew out, she would be able to run her fingers through it.

  Stop it, she chided herself. She took several deep breaths of the clear early-spring air as she hiked up the drive to her grandmother’s historic house. It wasn’t as large as the Holbrook estate, but it was familiar and home.

  “Katie!” her grandmother called as soon as Maria, the housekeeper, let her in.

  Her grandmother was sprawled out on her fainting couch in the living room. The television was on low volume, showing a panel discussing Grant Jones and the Tedson case. Her grandmother, Margaret, jumped up. She was spry for a woman in her seventies.

  “Sunscreen, exercise, and a gin and tonic at two p.m. keep me young,” she would always tell Kate.

  “Hi, Grandma.” Kate hugged her.

  “Sit down and have a drink with me. Maria, bring Kate a nightcap.”

  Kate waved the maid away. “I’m tired,” she said.

  “Oh, no, you don’t. I don’t want to hear any of that,” her grandmother admonished her. “You have to tell me all about the new Mr. Holbrook. My word in heaven, he’s all over the news. All over, I tell you. I need the full rundown. I’m meeting the girls for tennis at the club tomorrow, and I swore I would tell them everything.”

  “I can’t blab about Mr. Holbrook’s business,” Kate said, horrified.

  “I knew Walter when he was in diapers,” Margaret said. “I changed his diapers, actually. There are no secrets with me. Now spill. But first the good stuff, then the play-by-play. Did you see him with his shirt off? Any tattoos in unusual places?”

  Kate blushed, saying, “Grandma!”

  “So you saw something.”

  “No.”

  “What happened? You’re flushed, and your eyes are dilated. Canoodling in the butler’s pantry? Tryst in the garden?”

  Kate blushed a deeper shade of red. Her grandmother gave her a knowing smile. “I can’t blame you. If only I were fifty years younger. Did you do your patriotic duty?”

  “He only kissed me,” Kate said through her teeth.

  “Ha! I knew it!” her grandmother said triumphantly.

  “I’m going to bed,” Kate announced, kissing the older woman on the cheek. “I have to give him a tour in the morning.”

  “Maybe I’ll have a lunch date with him,” her grandmother said suggestively, waggling her eyebrows.

  “Not tomorrow—he’s overwhelmed enough as it is,” Kate said over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

  Kate ran the water in the tub, then she tied up her hair and slipped in, settling down for a long, relaxing bath. The sexually frustrated part of her brain commented that the bath would be so much nicer if only Grant were there to share it.

  “Cut it out,” she whispered to herself. “That is your boss’s son. You cannot afford to lose this job. Not after what you did! Just ignore it. Buckle down. Grant is about to be thrown to the wolves, and Walter Holbrook is expecting you to help him through it.”

  After giving herself a talking to, Kate toweled off as the water drained. She applied her nightly facial serums and creams. Her grandmother’s voice spoke in the back of her mind. “Spread it on your neck and down to your décolletage. You don’t want to have tennis chest.” As she spread the cream down her chest, all she could imagine were Grant’s hands on her.

  “Forget about him!” she hissed at herself. What was wrong with her? After the incident, she had sworn off falling for men. She was concentrating on building her professional reputation. That was her goal, and sleeping with her boss’s son did not meet that objective at all.

  She slipped into the four-poster bed with the softest sheets imaginable. Normally, she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but she tossed and turned all night. By the time the early hints of sun peeked through her window, she wasn’t feeling any more rested.

  “I’m going to stop trying to sleep and accomplish something productive,” she said. She went down to the gym on the first floor of the house and lifted weights, then she jumped in the pool for a swim. After working out, she felt slightly more balanced. She dressed then waved to her grandmother, who was already dressed and breakfasting in the solarium.

  “I’m off!” she said cheerily.

  “Do bring the young Mr. Holbrook to the club, Kate. We must show him off!”

  “Bye, Grandma!” Kate said.

  “I hope you put on nice underwear just in case!”

  Kate ignored her grandmother and took off at a brisk walk to the Holbrook estate. She greeted Stefan, the butler, at the door.

  “Grant is taking his breakfast on the terrace,” he told her, “if you would like to join him. I’m sure you need to go over the day’s itinerary. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.”

  “Of course. Thank you,” she replied and went out to the back of the house.

  She paused for a moment, looking at the scene before her. Grant was sitting on the stone terrace, his chair half turned toward her, the morning sun bathing his skin. He was wearing sunglasses that Stefan had pilfered from Walter’s collection. He looked as if he belonged, surrounded by all the elegant surroundings. She could see him smile as Gus ran around the table. She walked over to him, her heels clicking on the polished stone. Grant propped his sunglasses on his forehead to look at her.

  “Good morning,” he said. She gave him a professional smile and took some of the eggs and toast from the serving platter.

  “Did you sleep all right?” she asked him.

  “It was fine.”

  “Great!” she said too brightly, trying not to look at him and catch the hungry look in his eye. “I’d like to go over the itinerary for the day, if you don’t mind.”

  Chapter 6

  Grant

  Grant did not want to go over an itinerary. The only thing he wanted on his schedule for that day was to take Kate up to the room and finish what he’d started the previous night.

  After she’d run off, he finally caught Gus and took the corgi upstairs with him. He had splashed cold water on his face, but it didn’t do any good. Even though he was exhausted, Grant hadn’t been able to fall asleep. He lay in the too-soft bed and tried not to think about Kate. But her smell and the softness of her skin burrowed into his consciousness and wouldn’t leave him. Gus didn’t help matters. Every time Grant thought he was about to fall asleep, the puppy would whine, needing to take a trip to the little boy-dog’s room.

  In the very early morning, Grant finally managed to grab an hour of sleep after lying down on the floor. He had been awakened by Stefan’s knocking on the door. The butler had interrupted Grant’s vivid dream of Kate straddling him and lazily moving her hips. The knock had jolted him out of the fantasy, and he had jumped up as he heard the door open.

  “Rise and shine,” Stefan had announced, opening the curtains.

  “I’m up,” Grant told him.

  “Very good! You have a busy day today.”

  Grant had taken an icy-cold shower to wake up and then did two hundred pushups and some core exercise routines. After taking a slightly warmer shower to wash the sweat off and dressing in his biological father’s old clothes that were hanging in the closet, he had gone down to the terrace for breakfast.

  “Kate will be joining you shortl
y,” Stefan had told him as he set out the food in steaming polished silver containers.

  Gus got his own bowl, and Grant ate, listening to the sounds of a happy corgi munching. He steeled himself, however, as he heard Kate’s voice echo through the French doors leading out to the terrace. He wondered what her reaction would be when she saw him.

  Calm professionalism, he decided after listening to her talk about the itinerary. She’s just going to pretend like it didn’t happen. And you should do the same, he thought.

  “We’ll go for a brief walk around the grounds and then into town,” she said brightly.

  Grant nodded then asked, “Aren’t you going to change your shoes?” He pointed to the expensive-looking stilettos on her feet.

  “We’ll stay on the path,” she told him. “It’s not far. I’d like to point out where everything is.”

  Grant whistled for Gus, then they set off on the tour.

  “This is the outdoor pool,” she told him as they took a set of short stairs off of the terrace to a perfectly landscaped garden with a sparkling pool nestled in the center. The garden was lush with flowers and trimmed bushes. The light marble in the planters, the path, the pool deck, the railings, and the statues tied the whole space together.

  “Your aunt Nancy planned this garden layout,” she said.

  “My father has a sister?” he asked.

  “By marriage,” Kate replied. “She’s the wife of Walter Holbrook’s older brother, Jack. You’ll be meeting the both of them in the next few days.” They continued on the tour.

  “It’s a bit cold for outdoor swimming, but there is an indoor pool in that building there. Also…” She pointed to another smaller building. “This is the pool house.” Grant had never seen a pool house. It was about the size of a large studio apartment and even had a small kitchen.

  “The grill is outside of it. Your father has parties out here for charity in the summer when it’s a bit warmer,” Kate said, gesturing to the grill.

  It was more than just a grill, though. It was a whole outdoor chef’s kitchen. Grant was amazed at the shiny stainless-steel equipment. He wished he knew how to cook just so he could use it.

  “It’s a great space for entertaining, “she told him, motioning him onward.

  Grant followed Kate down another path as Gus raced out in front of them.

  “This building here,” she said, “houses the stables. The estate has several miles of bridle paths and more difficult cross-country trials. If you would like to ride, you—”

  “I don’t ride horses,” Grant interrupted her. “I grew up dirt poor. We didn’t have money for things like that.”

  “Oh.” Kate said. She looked startled. “Of course. Well, I’ll show you, anyways.”

  The groom introduced himself to Grant and showed him around. Grant breathed in the unmistakable smell of horse. Gus barked at the large snorting animals, and Grant snatched him up. He didn’t want someone to step on the dog.

  Kate showed him the tennis courts, the driving ranges, and the organic garden with the rows of honey-bee huts. Then she walked him through the house. Being confronted by all the wealth of his biological father when Grant had grown up with nothing was fraying his nerves. The house had a state-of-the-art gym, millions of dollars’ worth of art on the walls, and most over-the-top in Grant’s mind, a grand ballroom.

  “When this house was built originally,” Kate said, “it was all the fashion to have a ballroom. Walter bought this house in the early aughts and restored it to perfection. It is a stunning restoration, and the house is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Isn’t this ballroom marvelous? Sometimes Holbrook employees even have weddings here.”

  Grant turned around, trying to take everything in. The murals on the ceiling, the high glass windows—it was suddenly too much.

  “I’m done,” Grant said abruptly.

  “But we haven’t even seen the conservatory or the library or the music room!” Kate cried.

  “I don’t care,” Grant snarled. “I can’t believe my father was wallowing in all this wealth when I was suffering. I hate people like him. I can’t believe I was trudging around the Middle East, watching my friends die, while he was here, having parties.” He cut himself off. He didn’t want to go down that dark path. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his heart rate.

  Kate looked up at him, concerned. She looked as if she was about to ask him if he was okay. He cut her off before she could speak.

  “Didn’t your itinerary say that we were going into the town?” he asked, changing the subject. “Maybe we could run by a PetSmart or something, and I could buy some things for Gus.”

  Kate giggled. “A PetSmart! No one here shops there. Or at least if they do, they don’t admit it.”

  Grant felt his face screw up into a scowl, but he smoothed out his features when Kate looked at him in slight alarm.

  “Whatever you have is fine,” he said curtly.

  They took a car into town. The chauffeur dropped them off on a cute main street with brick sidewalks. Unlike the small towns in the Midwest, in this one, there were people with subtle signifiers of wealth walking the streets, looking at storefronts that had expensive boutique after expensive boutique. Grant walked with Kate past several shops selling high-end clothing brands, only a few of which Grant recognized.

  She waved to several people, saying, “Can’t stop to talk! I’ll call!” as the people they passed slowed to a crawl, pretending they weren’t staring at Grant.

  “Here we are,” Kate said as they stopped in front of a store that had a black-and-white sign that read Scottie Dog Groomer and Pet Boutique.

  “It’s a boutique pet shop. No chain stores here!”

  “I got that,” Grant said dryly as he opened the door for Kate.

  “I’ve booked an appointment for Gus. We’re a little early, but I think they will accommodate him. We can shop for whatever he needs while we wait.” Grant was expecting to be hit with the smell of animals, but the shop smelled clean. In the back, he saw a Great Pyrenees finishing up his grooming session with a blow dry of his fluffy fur.

  “Darling, darling, darling!” A tall woman with long, glossy hair and fresh makeup ran over to them in mincing steps in her stilettoes. She and Kate hugged like old friends.

  “This is Brandy,” Kate introduced the woman. “She will be grooming Gus.”

  “Of course we’re ready for Gus Gus!” Brandy said, bending down to pet the corgi. “My sister, Ginny, is here helping.” The woman fluffing out the well-behaved Great Pyrenees waved to them.

  “In that case, Gus needs to be outfitted properly. Maybe you can pick out what you think he needs?” Kate said airily. “We’re going to grab lunch at the bistro. We’ll be back!”

  “I hate that… well… insert bad word here,” Kate said as soon as they were out of the shop.

  Grant barked out a laugh. “You seemed like such good friends,” he said to her.

  “We went to school together. I don’t like to burn bridges. Her daddy bought that shop for her as a hobby. She’s such a conniving little—you get the idea.”

  Grant smirked. “Watch your language. There are children present.”

  “The dogs there are well-groomed, though. Not that she even knows how to run a business. Ginny, her sister, does it for her. Ginny basically runs that shop.”

  They stopped for lunch at a French bistro down the street.

  “They have fantastic quiche,” Kate told him, “and bacon-and-potato soup, as well as a great croque monsieur. Let’s order all of that and a fresh green salad, please,” she told the waiter. “We can split it, and you can try everything.”

  It wasn’t that much food. Kate seemed full, but the meal only whetted Grant’s appetite.

  Kind of like—stop it, he snapped at himself.

  When lunch was over, they strolled back to the groomer’s. The walked in and saw the corgi, a brand-new leash keeping him loosely tied to a wrought-iron hook on the wall. Gus was ecstatic to se
e him.

  “Gus looks great!” Grant told Brandy.

  She preened the little dog’s fur, saying, “He was a perfect gentleman.” The corgi was even fluffier than before, and he smelled better too.

  “I’ve got new dog tags on order for him,” Brandy said. “Here’s all the rest of his new stuff.” She handed Grant a dog bed filled with toys, treats, and scarves for a well-pampered pup.

  Kate paid while he snuggled the puppy as the women in the shop cooed over him.

  Kate seemed more relaxed on the way back to the estate. She chatted about the people they had passed and cracked jokes. Grant felt himself relax in her presence.

  When they arrived back at the estate, Kate followed him up to the room and deposited the packages on the couch in the sitting room. Grant’s stomach rumbled.

  “Are you still hungry?” she said with a slight laugh. “I forgot how much men eat.”

  “I am,” he said, giving her a smoldering look, “but not for that.”

  Chapter 7

  Kate

  In two steps, Grant walked up to her. He pressed her against the wall, kissing her long and slowly.

  “I can’t stop thinking about this,” he told her in between kissing her neck.

  She panted as he undid her pants.

  “I’m going to fuck you,” he whispered to her. “Do you want it from the front or the back?” He kissed her again before she could answer, then he tore open her blouse, actually tore it open! She shrieked mentally as the buttons flew everywhere, comically pinging off the expensive vases and objets d’art that were placed tastefully around the room.

  Grant unhooked her bra and sucked on a nipple, making it hard, and he rolled the sensitive flesh with his tongue. The sensation went straight down to between her legs, and she moaned. Grant laughed and kissed his way down her abdomen. Then he pushed at her pants, pulling them down and turning her around in one swift motion.

  He pushed his hand between her legs, one hand in her hair. She felt his fingers rub hard against her, and she stumbled out of her pants on the floor as he pressed her up against the back of the leather chair, grinding his hips against hers. She wrestled out of the remnants of her shirt and bra that were hanging off on one arm as he pulled off his own clothes.