Читать книгу The Bride Said, 'I Did?' - Cathy Gillen Thacker - Страница 12

Dani stared at Beau in a mixture of astonishment and disbelief. “You really can’t think we’re going to spend the night together.”

His smile flashed, wicked and mesmerizing. “As your husband and the father of your baby, where else would I be?”

That again. Scowling, Dani folded her arms in front of her. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to deck him or kiss him. She just knew she had an overwhelming desire to do something physical where he was concerned. Deciding in the end it would be best just to keep as much distance from him as possible, she looked down her nose at him. “You’re carrying this practical joke too far, Chamberlain.”

She wasn’t all that surprised to find he didn’t think so. “If you really think I’m pulling your leg, or worse, that the lab work Lacey ran at the hospital was inaccurate, then put it to the test yourself,” he dared with a complacent smile. “Go to the pharmacy and pick up a home pregnancy kit. Run the test yourself.”

Dani regarded Beau uneasily. Why would he even suggest this, she wondered, restlessly shifting her weight from one bare foot to the other, unless it was true? Once again, Dani searched for hidden cameras, saw none. Still clinging to the hope this was all a bad dream she’d soon wake up from, Dani regarded Beau calmly. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” he volleyed back, in a low rich voice that practically oozed testosterone.

With effort Dani ignored the tremors of sexual awareness gathering deep inside her. This evening was beginning to feel too much like a date, with a kiss or two or three in the making. And it wasn’t. She would do well to remember that.

Dani went over to get his hat, which he’d left on a shelf next to the back door. Marching to his side, she pressed it into his hands. “Laramie is a small town. If I went in and purchased one, the news would be all over town in an instant.”

To her dismay, he merely put his hat aside, grabbed one of her hands, then leaned a shoulder against the door frame and made himself all the more at home. She tried without success to unobtrusively wrest her fingers from the strong warm tantalizing grip of his.

Beau lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, sending another tingle of awareness arrowing through her. Still holding her eyes with provoking gallantry, he murmured, “Then I’ll buy it for you. Especially if it’ll make you feel better to run a second test—one you’ve supervised yourself.”

Dani swung away from him, not sure why he got under her skin this way, just knowing he did. “If you went into a store to purchase a pregnancy test, you’d definitely attract attention—even in a town like Laramie, which does a pretty good job of respecting your privacy. Then, before you know it, the story would be all over the tabloids.” Miserably Dani closed her eyes. “I can see the headlines now. Desperate for Child, Beau Chamberlain Buys Home Pregnancy Kit.” She opened her eyes and regarded Beau stoically. “No thanks.”

Beau rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb and sent her a taunting grin. “You know, you seem to have a real talent for that.” He winked. “Maybe you should give up reviewing movies and consider writing for the tabloids.”

Dani rolled her eyes. “You’re killing me, cowboy.”

Beau lifted his hands in an amiable fashion. “I’m glad you have a sense of humor about this,” he drawled, still regarding her appreciatively. “The way things are going, we’re both going to need one.”

Dani glared at him and said nothing.

Beau pushed away from the door and straightened his tall broad-shouldered frame. “You still don’t believe we’re married and you’re pregnant, do you?” he said, closing the distance between them once again.

If she was only going on the possessive protective way he was behaving, she probably would believe it. But she knew better, she reminded herself firmly, backing up until she reached the counter. Things this crazy and romantic did not happen to her. “No reason I should,” she retorted.

The doorbell rang.

Beau seemed irritated by the interruption. He looked at her impatiently. “Expecting anyone?”

“No,” Dani said. “You?”

“No.”

The doorbell rang again, more insistently.

She locked eyes with him deliberately. “I suppose you want me to get it?” she asked drolly.

Beau made his way through the stacked boxes to the living room, where he plopped down on the sofa and stretched his long legs out in front of him, continuing to make himself completely at home. “It is your house.”

Shaking her head, Dani headed past him for the front door. She opened the door, half hoping to see a TV camera crew yelling “Surprise!” Or better yet, Dr. Lacey Buchanon McCabe, there to tell her the hospital lab had made a terrible mistake.

Instead, she found Billy Carter, the young man she’d been trying to gently discourage. His tall gangly frame was pitched forward with a determined eagerness that had Dani instantly on her guard. A liberal amount of styling gel tamed his rusty-brown hair. Round spectacles framed his intelligent brown eyes. Instead of his usual movie-slogan T-shirt and jeans, he was dressed in baggy khaki pants, a deep-purple dress shirt and vividly flowered tie, and clutched a fistful of flowers. The goatee he had grown to make him look older than eighteen was neatly trimmed, and he reeked of a seductive-smelling aftershave.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Billy said breathlessly.

“You are,” Dani said dryly.

Billy nodded. “Can I speak to you inside?”

“Sure.” Dani let Billy into the front hallway.

“I was hoping we could go out tonight,” Billy continued hurriedly, transferring the flowers from his sweaty palm to hers.

“Out?” Dani repeated, not sure where this was going.

“Just the two of us,” Billy clarified seriously.

Dani decided if this pass was on the level, Beau did not need to hear it. Firmly she put the flowers back in Billy’s damp hands, took his arm and directed him back to the door. Naturally, Billy dug in his heels and refused to budge. “Not here in Laramie, of course,” he continued in a voice loud enough for Beau to hear every word.

Doing her best not to cringe, Dani tilted her head to the side and continued to regard her protégé warily. Behind Billy, Dani could see Beau watching with unveiled interest. Was it her imagination or did he suddenly look a little jealous, as well as disapproving? “Why not Laramie?” Dani asked Billy.

“Because.” Billy shrugged and leaned forward urgently, pushing the flowers back at her. “People would see us together. No offense.” He colored slightly. “I mean you seem really young to me, but—”

“I’m a decade older.”

“Right. And people would, well, you know—”

“Think it inappropriate?” Deciding they’d wrestled with the flowers enough, Dani put the bouquet aside.

“But it wouldn’t be,” Billy rushed to assure her.

Then why was he suggesting they hide whatever they wanted to do?

Dani wondered. She sighed, shoving a hand through her hair. “Billy—”

Billy took her hand eagerly in his. “I just want us to be friends, Dani. I mean, really good friends.”

As gently as possible, Dani extricated her fingers from his clammy palm. In the background she could see Beau unfolding himself from the sofa, frowning and coming toward them.

“We’re going to be working together, starting tomorrow,” she told Billy firmly, then spoke as if underlining every word, letting him know this couldn’t—wouldn’t—happen. “I’m not going to be just a mentor and a friend to you, Billy. I’m going to be your employer.”

“So?” Billy shrugged again, not the least bit upset or discouraged as, unbeknownst to him, Beau was coming up right behind him. “I know plenty of people who work together who also date,” Billy told her practically.

“Not Dani,” Beau said as he swaggered forward and deliberately inserted himself between them.

Billy blinked and pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. He stepped back, nearly tripping over his feet in the process. “I didn’t know you were here,” he stammered nervously.

What you need is a man, her sisters had said. Someone to discourage Billy. And clearly Billy needed to be discouraged. Big time, Dani thought. On the other hand, she didn’t want to encourage Beau in the process. “Beau’s here, all right, but he’s not supposed to be here,” Dani said sweetly, giving Beau a drop-dead look only he could see.

“But I am here,” Beau corrected with a debonair assurance that made Dani grit her teeth.

“Unfortunately,” Dani muttered. She did not like his possessive attitude one bit. Like everything else he’d done in the past few hours, it was a bit too convincing for her liking. Much more of his Academy Award-winning performance, she thought, willing her pounding heart to slow, and Beau’d have her believing he really was staking a permanent claim on her.

“Is he giving you any trouble?” Billy demanded, scowling and stepping between them. “Because if he is…” Billy continued, the threat in his low tone obvious.

The last thing Dani wanted was a fistfight taking place in her hallway. “No, no,” she told Billy hastily as she stepped between the two males. She pushed all romantic thoughts from her mind. “It’s okay.”

Beau, taking advantage of the moment, placed his hands on her shoulders. He tugged her against him, so her spine was against his chest. “Actually,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head with husbandly affection, “it’s very okay, isn’t it, Dani?”

Ignoring the sensual feeling of his palms on her bare skin, Dani turned to face him, intending to let him know to cool it with a look. As their eyes clashed, he smiled and touched her face with the callused roughness of his palm, cupping her chin in his hand, scoring his thumb across her lips. She had the sharp suspicion he was about to kiss her as thoroughly and expertly as he had before, and the even sharper suspicion she’d be lost if he did.

Watching, Billy became even more upset. “I didn’t know the two of you were friends.”

“We’re more than friends,” Beau confirmed, suddenly becoming even more possessive. Maybe because he knew such action was guaranteed to get under her skin. He closed in on her deliberately, not stopping until there was a scant two inches between them. “In fact, I’m her—”

Dani elbowed him. “Very good friend.” No way was she letting him say the word husband. She had enough explaining to do to her three sisters as it was. She was not adding Billy to the list. Beau merely smiled, looking more determined than ever to come out the winner in this battle of wills.

Billy, meanwhile, looked oddly relieved, now that he’d gotten over his disappointment. “So I guess you two have plans for tonight, huh?” he guessed.

Beau nodded. “Big ones. But we trust you to keep that under your hat.”

“Sure. No problem.” Billy looked past her at the clock that was now inching toward seven-thirty. “Look, I don’t have anything else to do this evening, so if you want me to go ahead and start unpacking the boxes of videos tonight, I could.”

“No. Tomorrow morning, nine o’clock, will be soon enough,” Dani said. She took his elbow and escorted Billy to the front door.

Beau swaggered forward and held the door for him. “We’ll see you then,” Beau said.

“I will see you then,” Dani corrected.

“You’re right,” Beau drawled. He gave her a self-assured faintly baiting look. “I’ll probably be sleeping in.” The implication being, Dani thought, that Beau planned to have a very long and tiring night. Doing what, she didn’t even want to imagine. This just gets worse with every second that passes.

“Good night, Billy. Thank you for the flowers.” Dani propelled him out the door. She shut it behind him, then turned and faced Beau. He looked very grim. Disapproving, almost. “What?” Dani demanded impatiently.

Beau pointed to the moving carton with the bouquet on top. “The flowers. You shouldn’t have accepted them. You should have given them back. In case you haven’t noticed, he’s got a giant crush on you,” Beau continued as Billy’s beat-up blue compact with the FILMBUF license plate pulled away from the curb and drove off.

Deciding Billy wasn’t the only one who needed to leave, Dani opened the front door again. She took Beau by the hand and stepped out onto the front porch into the soft breezy heat of early evening. “You think that’s news to me?”

“You should nip this thing with him in the bud,” Beau continued. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the cushioned wicker love seat at the far end of the porch and tugged her down to sit beside him.

For the life of her Dani couldn’t figure out why Beau was so concerned about this. Or why he seemed to think Billy could be a threat to either his or her happiness in any way. “I’ve tried.”

His eyes glimmered with a cynicism that stung. He cocked his head and gave her a thorough once-over. “I saw.”

If there was one thing Dani hated, it was being forced to defend herself when she’d done nothing wrong. And she’d done nothing to make Billy think he was ever going to be anything other than her friend. Or shortterm employee.

Her nerves jangling, Dani jumped up and, irritated, began to pace the length of the porch. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her linen slacks and balled her hands into fists. “I don’t want to hurt his feelings.” And despite Billy’s outward I’m-so-cool persona, he was just as vulnerable as she had been at that age.

Beau leaned back and clamped his arms over his rock-solid chest. “You don’t think leading him on will hurt his feelings?”

Pointedly ignoring that remark, Dani stopped to perch herself on the railing to examine the fragrant magnolia bushes and brilliant crepe myrtle planted all around the front porch. “The only reason Billy is gaga over me is because I work in the film business. Trust me. What he is really feeling—he just doesn’t realize it yet—is gratitude for the encouragement I’ve given him. I think his dreams of becoming the next Stephen Spielberg or George Lucas are possible. From what he’s told me, no one else in Laramie does.”

Briefly, compassion and empathy glimmered in Beau’s eyes. And Dani sensed why. An actor who had made it solely on his own, with no familial connections of any kind, Beau knew what it was like to overcome enormous odds and achieve the kind of success very few ever did. “It’s quite a leap from here to Hollywood,” he conceded thoughtfully after a moment, rubbing his jaw.

“Tell me about it,” Dani murmured. She’d had to work like crazy to get her movie reviews published. First in a single Los Angeles newspaper and now in a syndicated column that appeared in dozens of newspapers across the nation.

“But there are other people—filmmakers—who could mentor him,” Beau continued. “With your connections…”

She looked at Beau, letting him know with a glance that she was not passing Billy off like a piece of clothing she no longer wanted, even if he could be ridiculously naive at times about relationships between men and women, what was possible, what was clearly not. She would get through to Billy eventually, and she would do it without crushing his eighteen-year-old heart. “Not that it’s any of your business, Chamberlain, but I promised Billy a summer job and I intend to honor that promise. Plus, I really need his skills.”

Beau pushed to his feet and waited for her to continue.

“I signed a contract to do a book,” Dani explained as Beau sauntered closer. “One thousand and one reviews of ‘date night’ movie videos. Everything from the classics to the newest releases.”

Beau stopped just short of her perch and regarded her curiously. “How did you pick which ones to review?” And were there any of his movies in the group?

His unspoken question hung in the air.

“That’s just it.” Dani bit her lip as she answered his question, and tension flooded her anew. “I haven’t yet. And with every major film studio sending me several thousand films, I’ve got a ton to sort through. Just cataloging them is going to be a bear.”

“Which is where Billy comes in,” Beau guessed. He leaned forward, bracing a hand on the railing on either side of her.

Dani leaned back slightly. Her heart was pounding. She was tingling all over. She told herself it was the tension causing her body to go haywire and not his proximity. She glowered at Beau. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks even as she sought to get a handle on her soaring emotions. “Billy’s knowledge of films, past and present, is incredible. He can help me sort through them.”

Beau leaned in closer. “When is your manuscript due?”

Dani swallowed, her adrenaline pumping for a completely different reason. “A year from now.” Dani tried not to feel too overwhelmed by the work still to be done or the enormous project she had taken on. “They want it in the stores by the following Christmas.”

She could practically see the wheels turning as Beau did some quick calculations. “Which means you’d have to watch and review three movies a day,” Beau surmised grimly after a moment. He folded his arms.

Dani studied Beau’s handsome face and tall muscled form. There was nothing soft or easy about him. She sensed there never would be. He was who he was, take it or leave it. Trying not to think how much they had in common that way, Dani nodded and replied, “Approximately, yeah. In addition to writing my weekly reviews for syndication. That’s why I need so much help this summer getting organized.”

Blue eyes narrowing, he continued to study her relentlessly. “Sounds like you’ve taken on a lot.”

Too much, he meant, Dani noted resentfully. “I think I know what I can and cannot handle,” Dani retorted stiffly, releasing a slow, ragged breath, not about to admit that recently she’d had the same concerns herself. “Not that it is any of your concern.”

Beau merely stood there.

“You were just leaving,” Dani reminded him.

Beau nodded. “I was.”

“But…?” Dani hopped down from her perch and tried to sidle past him to avoid any further discussion. Not about to let her go that easily, he put up a hand to stop her, and her ribs made contact with the flexed muscles of his forearm, instead. With a sigh of frustration, she moved back so they were no longer touching and tried not to imagine a life with a man so hell-bent on having his own way all the time.

“I changed my mind,” Beau said, a determined look on his face.

Dani’s temper kicked into full gear. “You’ve decided to end this lunacy of a marriage at long last?”

Beau shook his head. “I’ve decided,” he enunciated clearly, “to protect my turf.”

Dani flushed self-consciously. Without warning, she had an idea what it would be like to really be Beau’s wife, to wake up in his arms every morning, to lie in his arms every night. The thought was as tantalizing as it was disturbing. Being near him this way was like playing around a fire. Stay too far away, and you’ll never get warm. Come too close, and you’ll get burned. Deciding it was best just to keep a fair distance between them, she propped her hands on her hips and said, “I told you before. You can’t stay here. Laramie is a small town.”

“So small,” Beau agreed, looking very much like he wanted nothing more than to make love to her then and there, “that all the hotel rooms are booked.”

“So stay with Greta and Shane McCabe,” Dani suggested, knowing it would be a dangerous proposition to have Beau too close to her for too long. Because the truth was, she did desire him and always had. She swallowed, pushing those thoughts away. Then she continued firmly, “They’re close friends of yours.”

One corner of Beau’s mouth quirked in a smile. “They’re also newlyweds,” he answered, leaving no question about what he thought Shane and Greta would be doing most nights. Exactly what he probably wanted to be doing.

Dani turned away from him and walked to the other end of the porch. She reached down to touch the silky white petals of a magnolia blossom. Needing something to hang on to, she plucked it from its stem, turned back to Beau. He was still eyeing her with a depth of male speculation she found disturbing. “That didn’t stop you from practically brawling with Shane in the middle of the street a few weeks ago.”

Beau shifted so he was standing with his legs braced apart. He jammed his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. “That was a publicity stunt for Bravo Canyon.” He paused, still looking her up and down, from the breeze-mussed strands of her coppery hair to her bare toes and back again. “Or hadn’t you heard?”

“Could this be one, too, pray tell?” Dani asked sweetly, with a lofty wave of the fragrant white blossom in her hand. Abruptly she felt a little sick, realizing there could be yet another reason for these drawn-out shenanigans of his besides mere payback. Publicity.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Beau said with a smug smile. He strolled toward her. “Hang in there and see.”

He stopped just short of her, looking once again as if he wanted very much to kiss her. Pulse pounding, Dani backed away from him. Try as she might, she could not get Beau off her front porch without creating a scene. The best way to play it, she decided stubbornly, was to make her responses to his macho maneuvers so dull and uninteresting that there was no way he would want to continue to spend time with her.

So she gave up trying to get Beau to leave, walked to the front door, leaving him to follow at will. She would begin to close down the house for the night, even though it was barely eight o’clock. “Fine, Beau. Have it your way,” she said in a low bored tone as she tossed aside the blossom and marched into the house, him hard on her heels. Discounting him completely, she shut and locked the front door behind them. “Bed down on my sofa for the night. See if I care. Just bear in mind—” she favored him with a sweet taunting smile “—that marriage or no marriage, nothing of a romantic nature is going to happen here.”

At the mention of their marriage, Beau’s black brows drew together like thunderclouds over his midnight-blue eyes. “Meaning what?” he asked sarcastically as Dani headed for the stairs. Sauntering closer, he crossed his arms and girded his thighs as if for battle. “You’ve already decided to give up on us?”

“There is no ‘us.”’ Feeling hot color flush her cheeks, Dani spoke as if underlining every word. Not about to let him get the better of her, now or at any other time, she held her ground, despite the fact they were now uncomfortably close. Close enough for her to inhale his alluring cologne. Close enough for her to see the speculation gleaming in his eyes.

Beau braced his legs a little farther apart, gaze skimming her deliberately, provocatively. “Careful. You don’t want to make a decision like that too soon.”

Heart pounding, Dani studied him. Unwilling to think what it would be like if someone as used to getting his own way as Beau decided he wanted to be a permanent part of her life, she drew an unsteady breath. “You really aren’t going to leave?” she asked rudely, knowing for Beau there were no real deterrents, only obstacles to be overcome.

“I am your husband,” he reminded her with a look of utter male supremacy. “And since husbands and wives generally stay under the same roof…”

Finding his low sexy voice a bit too determined, too full of sexual promise for comfort, Dani turned away uneasily. “Fine.” She put up both hands in surrender and kept walking. “Do whatever you want. But if you think you’re getting a blanket or a pillow,” she said over her shoulder as she headed up the stairs, “you’re dreaming, cowboy.”

“You’re going to bed already?” he queried, not bothering to hide his disappointment over that.

Dani smiled, aware she had just won a victory in this battle of wills, albeit a small one. “You bet I am.” She smiled sweetly and watched his disappointment deepen. Unable to help herself, she added, “Of course, if you get bored you can always change your mind and leave.”

BEAU WATCHED Dani’s slender body disappear into the master bedroom at the head of the stairs. Desire welled up inside him, but he knew for tonight anyway, it would go unsatiated. As much as he would like to wake up in bed with her again, sans clothing of any kind, he knew they had things to figure out first. Things they probably should have figured out before ending up in bed together initially.

He wasn’t sure they’d be able to wait until they had all the answers they needed, given the potency of that kiss they’d shared this afternoon and the memory of how it had felt to have her warm naked body draped over his. But he wanted at least some of those answers, some explanation for what had apparently happened between them. And he knew, whether she admitted it or not, that so did she.

Deciding he might as well get comfortable, given the long boring evening ahead, he kicked off his boots and stretched out on the red sofa in the living room. He knew what she thought—that he was sticking to her like glue and staying the night merely to annoy her and prove a point. But she was wrong. He was staying because being with her was the only way to remember what had happened during that thirty-six-hour period neither of them could quite recall.

If the two of them had made love and gotten married and inadvertently or purposefully made a baby—so quickly—there had to have been a reason. And a darn good one, Beau was betting. Either they’d both taken complete leave of their senses, something he was beginning to see was a distinct possibility; been hypnotized by aliens and chosen to propagate a new species; blackmailed, drugged, tricked or somehow forced into the nuptials—by whom or what he sure as heck couldn’t imagine as there was very little that could make either of them do anything they didn’t want to. Or she’d been so madly in love with him and he with her that they couldn’t bear to be apart one moment longer. Which seemed likely, given how physically attracted they were to each other, as their kiss this afternoon had proved. And seemed equally unlikely, given how quick they were to disagree on just about everything.

Heck, Beau thought as he folded his hands behind his head and sought to get more comfortable, maybe they’d just decided to have a baby together, despite their different views on life, and decided they needed to be married—temporarily—to do that. Whatever their motivation, they were in this predicament now up to their chins, and no crazy TV show or small-town pressures or mutual work demands were going to negate that.