Read Online Runaway Vegas Bride by TERESA HILL - Free Book Online Page B

never hit an old man in my life. I’ve never hit anyone….”
    Except Wyatt.
    He gave her a nod that said, Well done, Jane .
    “I have no trouble believing the last part,” Ms. Steele agreed, yet still seemed troubled.
    “I am so sorry about this whole mix-up.” Jane tried sounding her most earnest. “I strive to never cause trouble for anyone, and I’m sure Wyatt does, too. I’ve apologized profusely for giving him a black eye—”
    “And I, of course, have forgiven her completely,” he jumped in. “Knowing that it was most definitely unintentional on her part. So there’s really no problem here.”
    With that, he got to his feet and urged Jane to do the same, as if his pronouncement that there was no problem was all that was needed to clear up this whole thing.
    Jane smiled hopefully in Ms. Steele’s direction, then did as Wyatt wanted and walked out the door ahead of him.
    As he followed her, she could hear Ms. Steele call out to him, “We’re not done with this, Mr. Gray.”

Chapter Six
    W yatt thought they both deserved a drink after that little scene in Ms. Steele’s office, and Jane, looking like she was still figuring out how her no-doubt neat, orderly life had come to this, let him steer her quite easily to the dark, quiet bar across the street. He set a drink in front of her before she ever uttered the first word of protest, and then she just sat there, looking bewildered, embarrassed and a little sad.
    He really didn’t want to make Jane sad.
    “Why was Ms. Steele so sure this was all your uncle’s fault?” she finally asked.
    Wyatt frowned, wondering if he could bring himself to do the old denial-and-downplay routine with her.
    No, he couldn’t.
    “Leo tends to…shake things up wherever he goes,” he began, then had to admit that was definitely downplaying. “Actually, Jane, he chases after women like a man who’sbeen celibate for years—which I’m sure he’d tell you feels like a reasonable equivalent of being married and faithful to one woman for the previous eleven years. And now that aunt Millicent is gone, he seems to feel the need to make up for lost time. He doesn’t just go after one woman at a time. This thing with your grandmother and your aunt—I’m afraid it’s not unusual at all for him. This is the norm.”
    She shook her head, disbelieving. “He’s eighty-six!”
    “I know. I keep hoping he’ll get too tired for all of this, but so far…he hasn’t even slowed down. He’s been kicked out of three retirement homes, bringing complete chaos to the places. Women who’ve lived together happily for years suddenly turn on each other, when he favors one over the other, no matter how brief his attention span.”
    “He can’t live by himself?” she suggested.
    “He probably could, but he won’t. You know how favorable the ratio of men to women is in these places. He thinks a retirement park is a paradise for men. And nothing I’ve said to him has been able to change him in any way. If he gets kicked out of Remington Park, I don’t know what I’ll do with him,” Wyatt admitted. “And I’m truly sorry for any problems he might cause between your aunt and your grandmother.”
    “I love them so much,” Jane said. “They make me crazy, but I just adore them.”
    “Yeah, I feel the same way about Leo. He was more of a father to me than my real father was. I mean, my father’s not a bad guy or anything like that. He’s just…well, he was more interested in his own life than mine. But Leo always took the time to look out for me, guide me, explain things to me. He was there if I needed help. I’d do anything for him.”
    “There should be some kind of pill to make men faithful,” Jane said.
    “If there was, Leo wouldn’t take it.”
    “Well, I still feel like I have to apologize to him,” she repeated. “I did take a swing at him, after all.”
    “I’m not sure he deserves an apology—”
    “No, I have to. What I did was wrong, and I always