The Heiress's Secret Romance. Martha Kennerson

to deal with Morgan Kingsley.

      Kathleen figured if she could interview him about the complaint one of two things would happen. She’d either be able to clear the charges once and for all or find a reason to move forward with a full investigation. Now all she had to do was find a way to interview Morgan without him catching on. Kathleen knew just the person to ask for help too.

      * * *

      Morgan stood in the immaculately decorated living room of his younger brother Brice’s home and smiled. He remembered how not very long ago when he’d visited his brother, Brice would direct him downstairs to his man cave and away from the living room. The painful memories of his then soon-to-be ex-wife were too much to handle. Morgan was happy his brother and sister-in-law had since reconciled, even though at first he hadn’t seen it happening. Watching Brice handle his conflicting feelings for Brooke while being forced to work with her told Morgan that Brice would be the perfect person to ask about his foreign feelings for Kathleen and how best to handle them.

      “Here you go.” Brice handed Morgan a bottle of beer.

      “Thanks, man. You sure this is cool? I haven’t interrupted anything, have I?” he asked, noticing his brother’s wet hair, pajama bottoms and T-shirt.

      “Not now,” he replied, smiling.

      “Good, I’d hate to disturb Brooke. How’s she doing with everything?”

      “She’s fine. She hasn’t had an MS flare-up in a while.”

      “That’s great. I still can’t get over how well you two are handing Brooke’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis. I’m proud of you, bro.”

      “I appreciate that. We’ve made a decision.”

      “About what?”

      Brice’s face lit up. “We selected a surrogate, and we’re starting the process next week.”

      “For real?”

      “Yep.” Brice nodded.

      Morgan hugged his brother. “Congratulations, man. I know how much you want kids, but I also know how much you need to keep Brooke safe.” He took a long pull from his bottle as he watched Brice’s expression morph from happiness to fear back to happiness again in the matter of seconds.

      “Let’s sit down.”

      Morgan took a seat in one of the two large wingback chairs across from his brother, who was now sitting on a sofa. “Have you shared it with the rest of the family?”

      “No. You’re the first. Mother won’t be surprised, since she’s the one who made the recommendation and found us the perfect agency.”

      “Why am I not surprised?” Morgan took another drink from his bottle.

      “Because she’s Victoria Kingsley. Now, what brings you out here? You were all cryptic when you called,” he asked, finally getting around to taking a drink from his beer bottle.

      Morgan placed his now empty bottle on the coffee table. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, clasping his hands. “There’s this woman—”

      “Oh wow...wait.” Brice held up his left hand and put his beer bottle down on the floor. “You came to see me about a woman?”

      “Yeah, so...”

      Brice clapped his hands and started laughing. Morgan knew he deserved his brothers’ ribbing after all the hard times he’d given all of them about their problems with women while he incessantly played the field after Bonnie broke his heart, but now really wasn’t the time. He needed his help. Morgan sat back in the chair. “You done?”

      “Sorry, man. I’m done. What’s going on and who is this woman who has finally got Morgan Kingsley, the king of the bachelors, Mister No-Woman’s-Worth-the-Drama all twisted up in his feelings?”

      “Her name is Kathleen Winston—”

      “The trainer from OSHA?” Brice frowned.

      Morgan rose from his seat. “That’s the one.”

      “Damn, man, she just got there, and you’ve already—”

      “No, I haven’t.” Morgan started a slow pace around the room. “I haven’t done anything, and that’s the problem.”

      “I don’t understand.”

      Morgan released an audible sigh. “Neither do I, which is why I’m here. So, what do I do?”

      Brice frowned. “About what?”

      “Men...” a small, soft voice called out as Brooke descended the stairs and entered the living room, barefoot and wearing a robe.

      Morgan stopped midstride, and Brice stood. He reached for his wife’s hand and pulled her into his arms, kissing her on the cheek. “Sorry if we disturbed you, sweetheart,” Brice stated.

      A warm feeling came over Morgan watching the sweet exchange, and while normally such a sight never affected him, he was finding himself thinking about how nice it would be to have such a moment, maybe with a beautiful stranger who he couldn’t even have a real conversation with.