Loving Pierce (Heart & Soul Series Book 4) Read online

  Loving Pierce

  The Heart & Soul Series, Book 4

  By Elizabeth Lennox

  www.ElizabethLennox.com

  Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Author.Elizabeth.Lennox

  Or on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Elizabethlenno1

  Copyright 2019

  ISBN13: 9781944078980

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from “Resisting the Sheik’s Commands”

  Chapter 1

  “Have a healthy day!”

  Kaitlin glared at the overly perky receptionist, muffling an automatic, sarcastic response. This was a health spa, she silently reminded herself. Of course the overly positive receptionist was going to be perky and healthy and blah blah blah.

  So instead of snapping impatiently, Kaitlin pasted a smile on her exhausted face. “Thank you,” she mumbled, wondering where her rum punch was hiding. Last year, she’d traveled to Antigua and that resort had a friendly woman holding a tray of highly punched rum punch. Glancing around, Kaitlin groaned. No rum punch!

  Lugging her suitcase behind her, Kaitlin grumbled mentally, wondering if she’d made a massive mistake. Everyone here had at least twenty pounds more muscle than she did. Kaitlin preferred storing her energy rather than wasting it on a treadmill or waking up at an un-Godly hour to perspire along a road. She could run, but something big and hairy and with a lot of fangs needed to be chasing her first. And even then, she’d probably look for a hiding place first.

  With a sigh, she smiled automatically at the staff members who seemed to be walking around with an annoying bounce to their steps. She could be bouncy, she assured herself silently. But not after a long flight that had included two additional, exciting hours sitting in the plane on the tarmac due to issues that, shockingly – insert sarcasm here – were never fully explained. Add to that, she’d accidentally wiggled while going through those “naked” scanners at the TSA inspection line. She’d had the lovely experience of being frisked in surprisingly intimate places, by a not-so-surprisingly grumpy TSA agent. Note to self, never show frustration while being frisked. The frisking becomes slower and much more intimate.

  “Hi there!” An overly excited staff member by the name of “Jenni” bounced over to her. “I’m here to help you sign up for activities for the week,” Jenni announced. “How about if we walk over here to my desk and I can give you a rundown on all of the exciting things that are happening?!”

  Kaitlin sighed. Since the woman didn’t have an icy glass of rum punch, the offer wasn’t particularly tempting.

  “That sounds great,” she said, instead of the response that popped into her mind.

  “Excellent!” Jenni-With-An-I replied, then spun around, bouncing over to what looked like a wooden table with a computer on top.

  “Not a desk,” Kaitlin muttered, thinking about her desk at home that was cluttered with notes for her next novel. But she sat down on the wooden chair that looked very expensive and artsy, but felt like a torture device that had obviously been chosen by a sadistic interior designer. Suppressing another sigh, Kaitlin resigned herself to the usual litany of questions.

  “Okay!” Jenni-With-An-I clapped before placing her hands on the keyboard. “Tell me about your fitness goals for the week! I’ll create a schedule that will help you meet those goals!”

  Kaitlin was too tired for this level of enthusiasm. But she also suspected that this was part of the registration process. She wasn’t getting a room until she went through the sign up. Unfortunately, Kaitlin’s real goal for coming to his resort had nothing to do with fitness or celery sticks. What she really wanted was to explore the haunted house right on the edge of the resort’s property line. As an author of mysteries and horror novels, Kaitlin was eager to check out the site, take pictures and get a feel for the old, stone house. But since the house was technically on private property, and the owner had refused to allow her access, Kaitlin had been forced into plan B. Hence the lack of rum punch, the demoralizingly intimate TSA pat-down search, and having to deal with the uber-perky Jenni-With-An-I.

  “So, how about an early morning sunrise hike to get the blood flowing?” Jenni-With-An-I suggested.

  “Um…” Kaitlin looked at the other woman with horror. “Does that morning hike come before or after several cups of coffee?” she asked.

  Jenni-With-An-I blinked, obviously not sure how to respond to that question. “Well, before, of course.”

  Kaitlin groaned. “Is there a later hike?” she asked, thinking that a hike wasn’t such a horrible idea, and might be the best way to reach the haunted house.

  Jenni-With-An-I brightened. “Of course! Mark takes groups on hikes throughout the day. You definitely want to grab one of those hikes because Mark sets a good pace but takes time to point out various points of interest.” Immediately, the perky Jenni started tapping on the keyboard, obviously signing Kaitlin up for the hikes. Kaitlin figured that the hikes would be okay, as long as the breaks were long enough for her to catch her breath. As a writer, most of her day was spent sitting down. She took an aerobics class three times a week, but besides walking to the kitchen for meals and pouring herself another cup of coffee, that was about the extent of her daily activity. Every year, she vowed to improve her cardio exercise and she’d even bought a set of free weights. Oh, Kaitlin loved those free weights! They were absolutely perfect! They stopped her office door from slamming closed in the spring and fall when she opened the windows to let in the fresh breeze.

  “Great! You’re signed up for the seven o’clock hike each morning. Now…” Jenni-With-An-I pressed a few more buttons, “What about exercise classes? We have yoga, spinning, Zumba, Pilates, weight lifting…” Her eyes widened and she clapped excitedly, stopping whatever Kaitlin might have said in response. “Oh, you must sign up for Greg’s weight lifting class! All of the ladies love him! And he makes your muscles sing!”

  Immediately, Jenni-With-An-I turned back to her computer and started clacking away, oblivious to Kaitlin’s horror at her muscles ‘singing’! “Um…is that a good thing? I mean, shouldn’t I start off with my muscles humming? Singing seems like a huge stretch for someone like me.”

  Jenni stopped clicking long enough to laugh and wave a hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t be silly! Greg will take good care of you! He’ll work your muscles in ways that you didn’t think were possible!”

  Again, Kaitlin wasn’t sure that was a good thing, but since Jenni was already moving to the next ‘exciting class’ there didn’t seem to be a way to stop her.

  “What about a bit of easy yoga after Greg works you over each day? I can get you in with Hans, and yes, that’s really his name. Hans has the absolute best moves in the world! He can get you into a zen mode better than anyone!”

  Now Jenni was talking! Kaitlin perked up with that news. “Easy yoga actually sounds pretty nice,” Kaitlin agreed with a nod. But at the same time, she was wondering what time lunch was. Jenni-With-An-I didn’t understand a writer’s schedule, which usually included lots of coffee each morning, followed by hours of nibbling on whatever food was in the fri
dge, usually bad foods left over from the takeout that had been ordered the previous night because…well, let’s face it, Kaitlin was a night person. When she got into “The Zone” during the late afternoons, stopping her fingers from finishing one scene after another simply wasn’t an option. Once a scene came to her mind, Kaitlin wanted to get it worked out and written up. Cooking was out of the question most nights. If it wasn’t takeout, then a bowl of cereal was her go-to meal.

  “This schedule is looking great!” Jenni exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Why not add in some swimming for a change of pace in the afternoon?” She clicked away at her computer again. “There’s an aerobics aquatics class at one in the afternoon. Then you could go directly to a spin class.” She tilted her head slightly, her sleek, blond ponytail drifting over her shoulder. “Actually, why don’t we switch those around? If you go to the spin class directly after lunch,” she paused to pull her eyes away from the computer screen and beamed perkily at Kaitlin, “you won’t have to worry about being too full from lunch. Everything here is perfectly proportioned and magnificently prepared. Which means you won’t be too full for the spin class, but you’ll be sweaty afterwards. If you take the spin class, then the aquatics aerobics class, you will feel wonderful afterwards!” And without waiting for a response, Jenni signed Kaitlin up for what sounded like day after day of hell.

  “What about…?” Kaitlin began when Jenni clapped her hands yet again.

  “Oh, this schedule is perfect! Because I just found an opening with Larson for an evening massage! He’ll dig into your muscles like nothing you’ve ever felt before. You’ll be like butter by the time you walk into dinner each evening.” More clicking and then she turned back to Kaitlin. “There are evening walks as well, but you don’t need to sign up for those. We just move everyone from the dining room to the walks as soon as you finish each day. And then maybe you’ll want to soak in the hot tub at the end of the night, which will help your muscles recover and be ready for the next day’s activities.” She glanced at the screen and laughed. “I see that you’ve reserved a suite, which means you have a private hot tub! Lucky you!” She leaned forward slightly. “You might want to join the others in the main hot tub though. A lot of romance has blossomed from those late night hot tub meetings!”

  Kaitlin smiled weakly, not sure exactly how to respond. Sex? With strangers? Ick! But even…well, romance was pretty much out of the question too. After…okay, so she wasn’t thinking about him. Not anymore. Kaitlin reminded herself that she’d spent too many nights crying over a man that…a man that she shouldn’t still be crying about. He was well and truly in her past!

  Kaitlin shifted in her chair, forcing herself to stop thinking of the past. “I doubt that romance is going to blossom for me this week.” Or any week, she vowed. Been there, got the wounds from rejection. Not something she wanted to experience again.

  “Oh,” Jenni replied, only slightly deflated. Probably most people viewed a place like this as a singles resort, but not Kaitlin. This was a work event and she had a mission. Haunted house? Yes! Romance? Absolutely not!

  “Well, suit yourself. I’ll walk you to your suite and you can get settled. Dinner starts in about thirty minutes, and you’ll have your very first evening walk! Won’t that be fantastic?” she enthused.

  Kaitlin tried to smile, but memories were still flooding her and she couldn’t summon even a ghost of a smile. Instead, she grabbed the handle of her bag and stood up. “I appreciate…” her voice cracked and she stopped, fighting back tears with a sigh. Darn it! Six months! She’d been crying over that man for six, stupid months!

  “I just…need to freshen up,” she told Jenni.

  Kaitlin was relieved to see the bubbly blond woman wasn’t completely oblivious. At the first sign of distress, Jenni immediately stood up and grabbed several pages off the printer behind her. “Here’s your schedule for the week, as well as the location of each class.” She led the way down a hallway, giving Kaitlin a tour of the facility along the way. There was the pool and weight room, and the huge hot tub. There were other rooms that Jenni discussed, but Kaitlin stopped listening. Five minutes later, she was alone in her room, looking out into the deepening shadows of the beautiful mountain resort.

  “He’d love this place,” she whispered to the silence. The “he” in question was Pierce Rossen, the man she’d thought to spend the rest of her life with. The man who had moved into her world, stolen her heart…then crushed it.

  “Why did I say those stupid words?” she sighed, shaking her head as she crossed over to her suitcase. It took several moments for the pain in her chest to ease up. She closed her eyes, willing the sadness away. “If I’d kept silent, we might still be together.”

  But Kaitlin wasn’t the kind of person who could avoid her feelings. She loved Pierce with all of her heart and being. The man was…amazing. Tall and strong, the silent type, but she’d learned to translate his looks. And oh boy, those looks had been powerful! He could step into a room, his eyes searching for her and...wham! As soon as their eyes clashed, she could feel the sensual pull, even from a distance. Close up, he was nearly overwhelming.

  At first, she’d felt self-conscious about her chatty nature. But slowly, she’d figured out that Pierce enjoyed her conversations, even if most of them were slightly one sided. He’d listen, nod, and communicate with a touch or a look.

  Kaitlin shoved workout clothes into the various drawers around the suite, furious with herself for even thinking about Pierce! She’d told him that she loved him and…well, he hadn’t responded. Those incredible eyes had been blank. No other reaction.

  “Fine! He doesn’t love me! Why can’t I get that through my head?!”

  With a fury that was unprecedented, she stripped off her traveling clothes and pulled on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. Not sure what to expect for dinner, she simply tied her hair up into a pony tail and surveyed her image. She wasn’t horribly overweight but…okay, in the past six months, she’d put on a couple pounds. Stress eating. Another problem she could lay at the feet of Pierce.

  But in truth, it wasn’t his fault that she’d fallen in love with him. At the end of the day, Kaitlin knew that she was to blame for her current situation. For the past six months, she’d grieved the end of her relationship, fallen behind on her writing schedule, and let everything go.

  “No more!” she announced to her reflection in the mirror. “Time to move on!”

  Chapter 2

  Pierce rushed through the doors of the emergency room, scanning the room as he went. Immediately, a nurse recognized him and hurried out from behind the counter. “Mr. Rossen?”

  “Yes,” he snapped, irritation and panic making his voice sharp. “Where’s my father?” he demanded.

  “He’s resting now,” the nurse explained in a calm, reassuring voice. “From what we can figure,” she continued as she led him through the maze of hallways towards where his father was resting, “your father fell about three days ago. He broke his arm, and was in too much pain to get up. The dehydration and lack of food caused him to go into cardiac arrest.”

  “Where was his housekeeper?” Pierce demanded.

  The nurse shrugged. “I’m not aware of his home situation, sir,” she said, deferentially. “But he’s here now and he’s safe. He’ll need a bit of rehabilitation in order to fully recover, but he’s not in pain now.”

  Pierce nodded curtly, then pushed through the door of the private hospital room. Pierce was shocked at his father’s appearance. Jonas Rossen had been bigger than life when Pierce was a child. But over the years, his father’s bitterness, anger, and drinking had taken a heavy toll. Pierce made it a point to visit his father at least once a year, but the old man was so rancorous, so angry at his wife’s betrayal more than thirty years ago that he wasn’t a pleasant man to be around. Several years ago, Pierce had bought the house in the mountains of Tennessee for his father, paid the salary for the staff who ensured that he was taken care of. But he refu
sed to pay for his father’s alcohol.

  “What the hell do you want?” his father griped, his rheumy eyes creeping open slightly.

  “I see you’re just as enjoyable after your heart attack as you were before,” Pierce commented drily, stepping into the room and looking around. There was only one set of flowers, and they’d probably been ordered by his assistant. Jonas Rossen was not a pleasant fellow and had alienated all of his friends after he’d divorced his wife three decades ago. And ever since then, he’d rail about how women were untrustworthy, that his ex-wife had only married him for his money, and the world was a better place now that she was no longer in his life.

  Pierce knew that his father’s anger was gnawing away at his body, deteriorating his health and making him miserable. But the man had conveyed a good life lesson; keep your heart separate from personal relationships. Life was easier when one wasn’t emotionally involved.

  Even as he thought that, Kaitlin appeared behind his eyes and the devastation on her face when he hadn’t returned the “I love you” six months ago. Mentally, he wanted that moment back. He wanted to go back in time and pull her into his arms, kiss her, and…well, if he couldn’t actually say the words, he wanted to show her how he felt.

  But decades of his father’s bitterness and his mother’s abandonment had kept him silent. Now he was alone and irritated, being snapped at by a man in his sixties who looked like he was in his eighties, the results of decades of alcohol abuse and bitterness.

  “What do you want?” his father finally snapped, staring at the wall instead of looking at his son.

  “I want to help you get back on your feet,” Pierce explained with strained patience. When all was said and done, Jonas was still his father. Pierce might not respect the old man, but he didn’t want Jonas to die.

  Even when the old man made it difficult for others to be around him. “Why? So you can revel in my bad luck?”