He’d been wandering around the room while the speeches went on, observing the crowd. Now he wondered how well his half brothers knew Crystal, if they were the type who could charm women into their beds, and if they’d view a woman alone like Crystal as fair game. He’d heard that his siblings were married, but then, there were plenty of men who didn’t view marriage as a deterrent to their pleasure, and plenty of wives who were willing to look the other way. No doubt all the Carson men were charming. His mother had told him that his father was.
And the rest of the Carsons had a few things Ace didn’t have. Money. Success. Respectability.
Oh, no, he wasn’t the least bit respectable and he never tried to be. If there was one prime rule he lived by it was Never pretend you’re something you’re not. Never be a wanna-be. He’d learned that lesson very well, had had it impressed upon him at an early age.
“So just get every thought of Crystal Bennett out of your mind,” he told himself. “Time to go to work, Ace.”
He moved across the springy grass toward the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Crystal, her head bent toward a young man who was gesticulating wildly with his hands and holding up what looked to be a spoon. Crystal gave the man a long soulful look, said a few words, and then the young man’s face broke into a smile before he moved away.
“Looks like one crisis averted,” Ace said with a chuckle. Now to his own situation. It appeared the presentations were over, and people were starting to mingle on the grounds and attack the food. It was time to begin meeting his new temporary neighbors.
“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said to a large sixtyish woman wearing a hot-pink dress and lots of clanking bracelets. “Nice party, isn’t it? Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Ace Turner Carson. Lovely dress you’re wearing. That color most definitely brings out the pretty roses in your cheeks.” He tilted his head and smiled at her.
She giggled. “Thank you, sir, and yes, it is a nice party. Ace Turner Carson, did you say? Not one of our Carsons?”
Ah, she’d asked the right question.
“I hope you’ll consider me yours,” he said with a wink.
The woman giggled again and almost fluttered her eyelashes, wishing him well as he moved on through the crowd. Glancing around the room, Ace looked over people’s heads and located Crystal. She was looking his way, but when his gaze caught hers, she quickly glanced away.
Just as well. He didn’t know why he was so aware of her presence, anyway. It wasn’t right. He hadn’t come to town to connect with anyone, and when he was done here, he planned to move on. Quickly. No looking back. So it was best if he stopped looking around for the lady right now. She had those vulnerable eyes, and he was a man who would only hurt her, especially considering his feelings about dating women with children. Children needed contact with responsible adults. Responsibility wasn’t exactly one of his strong suits, either. Best to remember that, he thought with a frown.
Wandering near a group of men debating the merits of opening the new maternity wing, he started to pass them by, then thought better of it.
“The old hospital was what we had for years and it was just fine,” one man said. “All this money spent for nothing.”
Ace cast him an amused look, which caught the man’s attention.
“What does that look mean?” the man asked, bristling.
“Not a thing,” Ace said, holding out his hands in a gesture of innocence. “Just that I was thinking that having a new maternity wing probably means room for lots more babies, and there’s only one way I know to get more babies. Can’t imagine why a man would be complaining about that.”
The rest of the men in the group chuckled, and finally the bristling one shrugged sheepishly and laughed along with them. “Bet you’ve had your share of women wanting to make babies, too,” he shot back. “You new around here?”
“I sure am. Name’s Ace. Ace Turner Carson. No babies to my name, but I do like all the activities that lead up to them,” he said, slapping the man on the back and moving away before anyone could ask him about his name.
That was the point for now. To get just a few people buzzing and wondering. Could he be related to the mighty and well-respected Ford Carson?
“Oh, yeah,” Ace whispered to himself. The great Ford Carson wasn’t quite as respectable as everyone thought. After all, he’d fathered an illegitimate son and then left the son’s mother to fend for herself. Not such an exemplary character, after all, was he? And neither was the son. In fact, he could be quite a thorn in a person’s side, if he wanted to be.
He definitely wanted to be.
The buzz behind him grew a bit. He heard the name Carson mentioned once or twice. He moved on, staying to himself for the most part, but now and then stopping to plant a seed.
“Not too fast, Ace,” he told himself. “We want to stretch this out. Let it bloom and grow over weeks. Let the doubt and the questions begin to build slowly.”
He saw several men glance his way. They looked a lot like the pictures he’d seen of his half brothers, but he wasn’t ready to meet them yet, and he knew how to evade someone when he wanted to. He moved on.
And then he looked up and saw Crystal again, her pretty hair slipping over her shoulders. He practically willed her to look up at him, and she did. He could almost hear her sharp intake of air. He could almost see the delicate blush that covered her cheekbones and no doubt all of her honey-and-cream skin as well.
For half a second he held her gaze, but she quickly turned away.
Ace felt a slight twinge of anger at himself. He wanted her to look at him. Longer. More meaningfully. With desire in her eyes and on her lips. Actually, he wanted her to come closer. Close enough to touch.
She was a vision in pale blue, surrounded by men in suits, all looking at her as if they’d offer her the world if she’d just smile at one of them.
But then, some men didn’t have the world to offer. They just drifted from one thing to the next, rootless, and liked it that way. Liked it very much.
Ace forced himself to look away from Crystal.
“Ace Carson,” he said to a man he met a few minutes later. A doctor from the hospital by the looks of things. “Nice town you have here. Nice hospital, too.”
“Glad you like the place. We do, too. My name’s Jared Cross,” he said, holding out his hand. “I work here. Child psychiatry. Family planning.”
“Family planning? Then you’re involved in this new wing?”
“I have a definite interest, yes,” the man said. “We have a well-known fertility clinic here. It all ties together. I’m really pleased Mission Creek Memorial pulled this off. It was quite a feat. Lots of work and dedication.”
The man’s comments confirmed what Ace had begun to suspect. For such a little thing, Crystal had a big impact on people. She took her work seriously. Again Ace scanned the room for her. Finally he located her, holding court in the middle of a crowd of obviously wealthy benefactors. He relaxed and turned back to find Jared grinning.
“She’s something, isn’t she?” Jared said.
“I wouldn’t really know. I just arrived in town. But yes, she is intriguing,” he said, unwilling to let on just how intriguing he found her. And how unnerving it was to find himself lusting after a woman he had no business lusting after. It was obvious she was not only a serious innocent, but he was beginning to learn that she had major ties to the Carsons through this hospital and also through Fiona Carson Martin, his little half sister who was also involved in fund-raising. He’d heard it whispered that they were friends.
“So the woman’s intriguing?” Jared repeated with a knowing grin. “In my opinion, the woman is a wonder. She’s fervent about the need for this wing, and