Million Dollar Marriage Read Online Free Page B

caught his breath. But this knockout couldn’t possibly be that untouchable,
     pristine, painfully shy girl he remembered. “Lucy Brightwater?” he asked, failing
     to hide his surprise.
    She lifted her dark brows. “The one and only.” She started to turn away. “I think
     I see someone I know. If you’ll excuse me.”
    “Hold on a minute!” Holden automatically movedcloser, gripping her arm lightly. “Hey, it’s been years. Give a guy a break, huh?”
    She looked at him, her gaze icy, before it dipped to his hand on her arm. Her message
     was clear.
    He let go immediately. And the beautiful woman walked away. Lowering his chin, Holden
     sighed. “She sure grew up touchy. Gorgeous, though.”
    “She’s not your type,” Claudia said. “As I recall, you made that fact painfully obvious
     to her back in school.”
    He knew she was right, but he’d be damned if he’d admit it. “Shoot, if she’d looked
     like that back in school—”
    “I think that’s the point, cousin,” Matthew volunteered. “You’re tipping the platter.”
    Holden straightened the platter and a rib fell off. Shaking her head, Claudia came
     forward and took the dish from him. Holden eyed her. “Besides, I don’t remember being
     nasty to her in high school. At least, not enough to merit that icy reception.” Anyway,
     he’d had his reasons for steering clear of Lucy back then. Reasons…that all still
     existed. So why didn’t he just drop it? Why was he still watching her weave her way
     through the crowded great room? Why was he still running off at the mouth? “I always
     admired her. She…reminded me of Mom in some odd way.”
    “She had a huge crush on you back then, Holden.”
    “That’s right… That’s right. I used to see her hanging around at practice sometimes,
     watching me.” He remembered more than that, too. He remembered that he’d decided she
     was far too good for the likes of him. She probably still was.
    “I suppose thoroughly ignoring a girl who’s not upto your standards is something you do so often you’re barely conscious of it anymore,”
     Claudia said.
    Ignoring her, Holden stared across the crowded room to where Lucy Brightwater was
     now chatting with Ryan and Lily. She looked a bit like Lily. Same dark coloring, same
     dramatic black eyes. Damn, no wonder Ryan had been in love with Lily for thirty-some-odd
     years. A woman like that…
    “I’m sure as hell not ignoring her now,” he heard himself mutter.
    “Well, you sure as hell ought to be,” Claudia snapped. “Leave her alone, Holden. She’s
     not a one-night-stand kind of woman.”
    “No. No, I remember that about her. She was always pretty…” He shook his head. “Man,
     she sure grew into her looks.”
    “There’s a lot more to Lucinda Brightwater than the way she looks. As there is with
     most women, not that you’ve ever bothered to look any deeper than the surface.”
    Holden shrugged. “Fine. You want to start listing her stellar qualities, go ahead.
     I’m listening.” And interested, he thought. In fact, he was dying to know what Lucinda
     in the Sky Brightwater had been up to all these years.
    Claudia narrowed her eyes at him, then shrugged. “Fine, I will. Lucinda is kind, compassionate
     and caring. She’s intelligent and accomplished and sensitive, and a casual fling with
     a man like you could do a lot of damage to a woman like her. Leave her alone, Holden.”
    As she turned and strode away to set the heaping platter on a table, Holden sent a
     confused glance athis cousin. “You’d think I was the devil himself, the way she acts.”
    “Some might say you are,” Matthew said. “Claudia’s a little protective of Lucinda.
     They got pretty close during the pregnancy and all.”
    Holden tilted his head, lifted a brow.
    “Lucinda is Claudia’s doctor. Works over at Red Rock General.”
    Holden blinked. “She’s a doctor? ” He looked her way once more. Damn, she didn’t look like any doctor