Читать книгу Unexpected Legacy: Once Pregnant, Twice Shy / A Baby for the Doctor - Jacqueline Diamond, Lori Copeland, Jacqueline Diamond - Страница 17

Nine

Kate was turning out to be one of those pregnant women who had nausea every morning, and it wasn’t fun at all. But at least by Thursday evening at Molly and Julian’s rehearsal dinner at the Gage mansion, she felt better. The wedding was to be held this upcoming Saturday at noon, and the gardens had been bursting with activity all day as contractors had started delivering tables, chairs...the works. Through the windows on the other side of the living room, Kate could see the beautiful white trellis that would serve as the chapel, halfway to being fully erected.

It was going to be a beautiful wedding.

Her heart soared as she watched Molly and Julian laugh while talking to the minister. Julian towered behind Molly, who seemed to be leaning back against him as if he were a pillar. His arms were loosely around her, his chin resting on the top of her head.

There was no doubt in Kate’s mind when she saw them that they belonged together. Molly had always loved Julian, but Kate hadn’t realized that Julian had loved her sister back until a couple of months ago.

She’d always believed in having one soul mate...until, at eighteen, she’d realized that the man she thought might be her soul mate didn’t seem to agree. He’d never openly touched her like Julian had touched Molly, but now she kept remembering the way he’d made love to her.

Did he care about her? Or was this all about her leaving?

“There you are!” Kate heard the booming voice of Eleanor Gage from nearby, and in the same instant, spotted the person she was speaking to as he came into the room.

Dressed in a black suit and gleaming silver tie, Garrett made such a striking figure that the atmosphere altered dramatically with him near. His beautiful face looked thoughtful and intense as he kissed his mother on the cheek, then lifted his head and seemed to be scanning the area for something. His gaze stopped roaming when he saw her, and she couldn’t breathe.

With an expression almost of relief, he came over. He had such purpose in his step, and her heart almost stopped when she saw the way his eyes glimmered with...happiness?

Oh, God, she was going to die when she had to tell him.

“We should’ve driven over together.”

His liquid black eyes raked her figure, and her pulse skyrocketed as though he could suddenly see with some sort of X-ray vision the little baby growing inside her. For a moment she thought he knew. He knew her secret and it would all be out in the open.

Drawing in a deep breath, she blew a loose strand of hair out of her face. “I hitched a ride with Beth and Landon.” The thought of being alone with him in the close confinement of his car again both terrified and excited her.

The more distance she kept from him, the smoother her plans would run.

He seized her elbow and pulled her along the room, leading her to the terrace doors. “Come with me outside.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to talk to you, Kate.”

She let him lead her to the exact spot they’d visited on his birthday, when he’d found out she was leaving. Rather than release her, his hand stayed on her elbow as he smiled and took in her dress with the thirsty eyes of a man who intimately knew her.

The situation worsened when he bent his head and his voice caressed her ear, its texture a seductive black velvet. “So what have you been up to? Besides avoiding me?”

She ducked, not wanting him to know he still made her knees weak, her insides mushy. She wished—goodness, she wished—that Garrett wasn’t considering marriage to another woman, so that Kate wouldn’t dread the moment she’d have to mention a child was on the way so much.

“Working and...packing.”

“Packing,” he repeated without any inflection whatsoever.

The fact that his hand was on her elbow, causing all sorts of ripples of want inside her, made her drop her gaze to take in the contrast of his tan skin with her fair complexion. As though that were an instruction for him to let go, he dropped his hold.

His eyebrows pulled low over his eyes—eyes that were hard with frustration.

“Kate, honestly, what the hell are you running from?”

Anger flared inside her. What else would she be running away from but him? “What do you care if I leave? Why are you so hell-bent on stopping me? Go and worry about your heiress!”

“I will, but you come first, Kate. You’ve always come first for me. Before anything in the world. And I happen to be responsible for you, Kate.”

“Oh puhleeze! Responsible, my fanny. I’m a grown woman, Garrett, a fact that you can attest to yourself. Why do insist on continuing to treat me like your sister?”

“Sister? Kate, I freaking slept with you!”

Her eyes widened in shock. Her throat clogged with emotion, and she spun around toward the glass doors. “I can’t do this right now. Not here. Not now.”

He stopped her with one hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. But it would be very damn simple for me to marry an heiress right now if it weren’t for the fact that you and I made love, Kate.”

“We had se—”

“We made love.”

His eyes glowed down at her fiercely. Crazily, she even thought she saw longing there. But if he longed for her, why would he even consider marrying anyone else?

“I told you it was a mistake. Please just carry on with your plans, and I’ll carry on with mine.”

“God, you’re so stubborn, Kate.” He propped his elbows next to hers on the balustrade and gazed outside, his expression pained. “You’ll never be able to forget your father died because of me, will you?”

She swallowed and shook her head. “No. That’s not true. I don’t blame you, Garrett. You were just a boy, and you wanted to help your father. Like you always want to help everyone. You misunderstood what I said. I might have blamed you for a time because I needed someone to blame. I was so angry.”

“Me, too.” He leaned forward and stared at the cluttered tables and chairs out on the lawn, and Kate watched his profile as the urge to touch him began to consume her.

“But my anger isn’t about that now. It’s about me. It angers me to want something that I can’t have.”

He glanced at her curiously, his head cocked to the side as he patiently waited for her to explain.

“Having a family is something I’ve wanted my whole life,” she admitted, softly.

He dragged her into his arms, and she was so exhausted from learning she was pregnant, she closed her eyes and let him. His thumb stroked her arm, causing goose bumps to jump along her bare flesh.

“I never thought I’d have one of my own, and now I can’t stop thinking about it,” he whispered.

Fighting to ignore the sensual stirring inside her, Kate closed her eyes, her connection with him too great to ignore. She suddenly wanted to cry, right here in his arms, at his confession. Because she was sure he was imagining having a family with someone else, with a woman he might marry for convenience. Not with Kate. Still, she loved him so much she couldn’t hate him for wanting the same thing that she did.

“You deserve to be happy, Garrett. You’ve tried to take care of all of us for so long. Even Julian and Molly.”

He rubbed her back and she rubbed his. “They hate me for making them keep their hands to themselves until now.” His whisper stirred the top of her hair.

His scent made her light-headed but instead of drawing away, she drew closer and inhaled, happy that he had an arm around her. “You’ve always tried to do the right thing.”

His lips twitched against her scalp, and he edged back and glanced down at her, searching her expression. “You’ve always trusted me, Katie. To do the right thing. But you don’t trust I’ll make the right choice with Cassandra?”

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, and when she attempted to pry free, Garrett kept her pinned to him. Even his eyes held her trapped. “Relax. Let’s not fight, all right? Let me just hold you like this.”

His body emanated heat, and her every cell perfectly recalled the night she had belonged to him. Kate’s throat closed so tight she couldn’t talk, especially when she settled down against him once more. He ran a hand tenderly down the back of her head, and she relaxed her muscles despite herself.

“Katie, let me make it better for you,” he whispered against the top of her head.

Kate closed her eyes. She knew he felt compelled to watch over her, but Garrett had been tied to his promise and had looked at her as a duty his whole life.

Kate would rue the day she ever trapped him any further.

But now she was carrying his baby.

“If you leave—” he tipped her chin back to look at her “—who’s to tell me it isn’t your way of making me come get you?”

She edged back, wide-eyed, then scowled. “I would never do that! I don’t want you to...do anything. Plus, it would be hard for you to follow me with a new wife attached to your arm.”

“A wife I will not have if I choose not to,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re so interested in her if you’re not interested in staying here?”

She glared, and suddenly it was just too painful to look at him.

She shook her head, and turned to walk away but he wasn’t letting her go just yet.

“Where are you going, Katie?” he taunted. “Do I frighten you? Is it me you’re running away from?”

She was struggling, but he caught her and looked fiercely into her eyes. His breath fanned her face, slow and steady, warm and unexpectedly sweet.

“Garrett...” she whispered, dying with want as she clutched his shoulders.

He squeezed her. “Kate, I’ve known you all my life. I’ve been there for you all my life—I have to be there for the rest of it. You have to let me. We need to talk about what happened. We can’t just pretend that it didn’t when I’m consumed with knowing that it did.”

Her eyes were fastened to his mouth, and all she could think of was that his mouth was there for her. His lips were there to sear her again, brand her again. Kate trembled with the need to wrap herself around his shoulders and neck and never let go. She wanted to crush his mouth with hers and do all the things she hadn’t done with anyone else because she’d been waiting for the boy she secretly loved to look at her.

Now he was looking at her. His gaze hungry, missing no detail of her features. Almost seeing into her soul, discovering her secret, aching love for him.

“Tell me why you’re leaving. Is it because of me?” He couldn’t seem to help himself as he lifted his finger to trace her lips. Her breath caught, and his face darkened as he watched.

Kiss him. Tell him it’s him and that he’s going to be a father! But while all these impulses rampaged through her, she drew back an inch and considered it a good moment to retreat before she truly lost her senses. She’d lost them once. Now she was pregnant. She didn’t want to castigate him for that night, a night she had been wishing and praying would someday happen. She didn’t want him to pay with his whole life. She simply loved him too much.

Kate shook her head and glanced away. “No, it’s not you.”

Spinning away before she could lose her head, she hugged herself and stared into the house, where there was light and music and smiles everywhere.

“You could be carrying my—” Garrett cleared his throat behind her “—you could be pregnant, Kate.”

The air felt static as she turned back to him in alarm. “Excuse me?”

The intensity in his eyes terrified her. “We didn’t use protection, Freckles.”

She shook her head. Fast. Almost too fast.

“You’d tell me if there were consequences, right?” he asked meaningfully.

Her world tilted on its axis. What if she went ahead and told him that she was having his child? Her stomach cramped at the thought.

She was loath to worry Molly a day before her wedding. Kate was the eldest and had cared for her like a mother, had always set a good example. How could she bear detracting from her sister’s joy right now?

She had to wait until after the wedding.

She bit her lip, glancing away. “Whatever happens, I meant what I said. I’m not marrying ever without love.”

“Why? Do you love another man?”

Swallowing, Kate met his stormy black gaze. “No, Garrett. It would have been hard for me to love anyone, when my whole life I’ve been in love with you.”

He blinked at her words.

God.

She couldn’t believe she’d said them.

But she had.

She had to come clean.

She glanced away, blushing. “That’s why I slept with you that night, Garrett. And that’s why I’m leaving. I want to be loved back.”

He stared at her as though flabbergasted, motionless and unmoving.

“We need to go. Dinner is about to be served,” she murmured and went inside.

He didn’t follow her for minutes, and from inside, she saw him leaning on the balustrade with his face in his hands, breathing hard.

Her insides knotted with pain for him. Maybe she shouldn’t have confessed it. But Beth was right. Kate was a coward, afraid he’d hurt her. She’d had to at least let him know that all the time they’d spent together had meant everything to Kate, even when she knew he had not ever been emotionally available to love her like she wanted him to.

Garrett was a fair man. He was a man who recognized his own flaws, maybe even to the extreme extent that he saw flaws where none existed. She knew he felt...unworthy. That he believed a man had died because of him. But he was also generous and giving, and he wouldn’t be able to stand the idea of causing Kate any pain.

He’d let her go so she could find what she was looking for, especially once he recognized that he wouldn’t be able to give it to her himself. And he’d marry his heiress, for whom he wouldn’t need to feel anything. But at least Kate had stopped lying to him and to herself about not loving him anymore. At least she’d told him her real reasons for leaving.

Baby or not, she would still go.

Once they were seated at the tables in the formal dining room, she felt him stare at her as intently as ever from across the floral centerpiece.

Waiters brought over the salads first—arugula, organic pear, goat cheese and candied pecans, topped with a soft vinaigrette dressing with a hint of pomegranate. That was followed by an assortment of lamb, duck, beef tenderloins and chicken medallions, accompanied by the most deliciously spiced vegetables Kate had ever tasted.

She ate whatever she was served and almost still felt a little hungry. But most of all, she was conscious of everything Garrett did on the opposite side of the table. Under the table, she held her hands over her stomach, where she could feel and sense her baby, feeling almost nostalgic that the father was so close, and didn’t even know what he’d just given her.

She stole peeks at him throughout the night as idle conversation abounded. When their eyes met, emotions and confusion flooded her.

Once they were enjoying a variety of sorbet, cheese, and sweet desserts, Landon pushed his chair back and stood. “Cheers! To Julian and Molly,” Landon said, and glanced at Garrett.

Kate saw the manner in which Garrett nodded somberly at Landon, almost as though saying, “You’re next,” and Kate jerked her eyes down at her plate, the nausea suddenly coming back with a vengeance.

But no matter how fervently she wished it, there was no taking back her I love you.

* * *

The next morning, all three Gage brothers sat across the conference table from their half brother. Garrett noticed how Landon and Julian were taking stock of their brother. Emerson was beastly in size, very large and muscled. As president of his personal security business, it seemed fitting, but today Emerson was also proving to be a very moody man. He’d seemed impatient to leave from the moment he arrived.

It seemed truly unjust to Garrett that his father had treated Emerson and his mother the way he had. And when he’d died, he’d ended up hurting everyone, for the truth easily had come to light. Their lawyers had had to explain to the Gages, once they took over all the financial accounts, why there were so many transfers and payments made to an unknown woman.

When they’d learned it was because this woman had borne a Gage son, Garrett’s mother had entered a wild depression for years, and he didn’t even want to think of how it had been for Emerson and his mother. It had hurt the Gages to lose their father to death, but the pain of losing him while he was living might possibly be even worse.

Now every bit of pain and resentment marked Emerson’s hard, unyielding features. Garrett couldn’t know the true extent of his resentments, but he’d bet they ran deeper than the man let on. His energy was too controlled, and his eyes were too ruthless and sharp to reveal his emotions.

Garrett knew it would hardly matter to Cassandra which man she married as long as she got out of her brother’s clutches, and he and his brothers would be happy to compensate Emerson for the task.

If, that was, they could convince the stubborn man to agree to this whole scenario.

With a bleak, tight-lipped smile, Emerson finally spoke after Landon explained the situation. “If this chick is as hot as you all say, why don’t you marry her?” he asked, silver eyes trained on Garrett.

“Garrett’s not inclined to marry,” Landon answered. He sat calmly in his leather chair on the opposite side of the conference table.

“Well, that makes two of us,” Emerson said with a growl. “I’m never marrying, especially no damn heiress.”

“You might like to reconsider with what we’re offering,” Landon said, signaling at the open folder sitting before him on the table. “You’ll be a very rich man, Emerson, if you agree to this.”

“I’m already very rich without needing to deal with any of you.”

“Emerson, we’re talking fifty million for your take alone. That’s almost ten million a month for just marrying her.”