Читать книгу The Billionaire's Borrowed Baby & Baby Business - Джанис Мейнард, Katherine Garbera - Страница 14

Chapter 5

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Wearing ancient jeans and a faded Emory T-shirt, Luc sprawled on the leather sofa and stared moodily at the blank television screen. Was he insane? Power. A nice fantasy. Clearly he was fooling himself. What man was ever really in control when his brain ceded authority to a less rational part of his body?

Just being close to Hattie these last few days had caused him to resort to cold showers. He told himself that his physical response to her was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to memories… to sensual images of the way he and Hattie had burned up the sheets.

She’d been a virgin when they met, a shy, reserved girl with big eyes and a wary take on the world. As if she was never quite sure someone wasn’t going to pull the rug out from under her feet.

He’d been embarrassed to tell her how many girls he’d been with before meeting her. A horny teenager with unlimited money at his disposal was a dangerous combination. In high school, he’d been too concerned about keeping his body in shape for sports to dabble in drugs. And even drinking, a rite of passage for adolescent boys, didn’t hold much allure. Perhaps because he had grown up in a house where alcohol was freely available and handled wisely.

But sex…hell, he’d had a lot of sex. Money equals power…even sixteen-year-old girls could figure that out. So Luc was never without female companionship, unless he chose to hang with his buddies.

When Hattie came into his life, everything changed. She was different. She liked him, but his money didn’t interest her. At first, he thought her attitude might be a ploy to snag his attention. But as they got to know each other, he realized that she really didn’t give a damn that he was loaded.

She expected thoughtfulness from him, attention to her likes and dislikes. She wanted him to know her. And that was something money couldn’t buy.

It was only much, much later that he realized his money was actually a stumbling block.

A faint noise made him turn his head. Hattie hovered in the doorway, her sun-streaked blond hair pulled back into a short ponytail, her feet bare. She was dressed as casually as he was.

He patted the seat beside him. “Would you like more wine?” The upcoming conversation might flow more easily if she relaxed.

She shook her head as she perched gingerly on the far end of the couch, tucking her legs beneath her. “No, thanks. Water would be nice.” Her toenails were painted pale pink. The sight of them did odd things to his gut.

He went to the fridge behind the bar, extracted two Perriers and handed her one. As he sat back down, he allowed the careful distance she had created to remain between them. It meant she was nervous, and that gave him an edge. He handed her a slim white envelope. “We’ll start with this.” Inside were three credit cards with her soon-to-be name, Hattie Parker Cavallo, already imprinted.

She extracted them with patent reluctance. “What are these?”

He stretched an arm along the back of the sofa. “As my wife, you’ll need a large wardrobe. I entertain frequently, and I also travel often. When it’s feasible, I’d like you and Deedee to accompany me. In addition, I want you to outfit the nursery upstairs. I’ve put a selection of baby furniture catalogs in the desk drawer in your bedroom. Ana will show you the suite I picked out for Deedee. If it doesn’t meet with your approval, we’ll decide on another.”

She paled, her eyes dark and haunted.

He ground his teeth. “What’s wrong?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I…I feel like you’re taking over my life. Like I’ve lost all control.”

His fists clenched instinctively, and he had to force himself to relax. “I understood there was some sense of urgency to the situation…that we needed to back up your lie quickly.”

“There is…and we do…but…”

“But what? Do you disagree with any of the arrangements I’ve made thus far?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then I don’t understand the problem.”

She jumped to her feet and paced. With her back to him, he could see the way the soft, worn jeans cupped her butt. It was a very nice butt. With an effort, he dragged his attention back to the current crisis.

She whirled to face him. “I’m used to taking care of myself.” The words were almost a shout.

Something inside him went still…crouched like a tiger in waiting. He feigned a disinterest he didn’t feel. “We don’t have to get married at all, Hattie. My team of lawyers loves going for the kill. Custody situations aren’t their usual fare, but with Eddie in self-destruct mode, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince a judge that you’re the obvious choice to raise Deedee.” He paused, risking everything on a gamble, a single toss of the dice. “Is that what you want?”

Hattie pressed two fingers to the center of the forehead, clearly in pain. Her entire body language projected misery. “I want my sister back,” she said…and as he watched, tears spilled down her wan cheeks.

He tried to leave her alone, he really did. But her heartbreak twisted something inside his chest. She didn’t protest when he took her in his arms, when he pulled the elastic band from her ponytail and stroked her hair, careful not to further hurt her injury.

She felt fragile in his embrace, but he knew better. Her backbone was steel, her moral compass a straight arrow.

The quiet sobs didn’t last long. He felt and sensed the moment she pulled herself together. She stiffened in his embrace. Though it went against his every inclination, he released her and returned to his seat on the sofa. He took a swig of sparkling water and waited her out.

She studied a painting on the wall. It was a Vermeer he’d picked up at an auction in New York last year. The obscure work immortalized a young woman in her tiny boudoir as she bent at the waist to fasten her small shoe. The play of light on the girl’s graceful frame fascinated Luc. He’d bought it on a whim, but it had quickly become one of his favorite pieces. Impulse drove him at times—witness the way he’d agreed so quickly to this sham marriage.

But in the end, his impulses usually served him well.

He grew impatient. “I asked you a question, Hattie. Do you want this marriage? Tell me.”

She turned at last, her fists clenched at her sides. “If I don’t go through with this, Eddie’s family will know I lied. And they’ll use it against me. I don’t have a choice.”

Her fatalistic attitude nicked his pride. His heart hardened, words tumbling out like cold stones. “Then we’ll do this my way. You can’t run out on me this time, Hattie. I love irony, don’t you?”

* * *

His sarcasm scraped her nerves. She was being so unfair. Luc had done everything she had asked of him and more. He didn’t deserve her angst and criticism. She owed him more than she could ever calculate.

The fact that her body still ached for his only complicated matters.

Swallowing her aversion to the feeling that she was being bought and paid for, she sat back down and summoned a faint smile. “Giving a woman that much plastic is dangerous. Should we discuss a budget?”

His expression was inscrutable. “I know you pretty well, Hattie Parker. I doubt seriously if you’ll bankrupt me.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, laying it on the cushion between them. “This is next on the agenda. I thought it was customary to make such things a surprise, but given your current mood, perhaps I should return it and let you choose your own.”

She picked up the box and flipped back the lid. This was a flawless diamond solitaire. Clearly he understood her style, because the setting was simple in the extreme. But the rectangular stone that flashed and sparkled was easily four carats.

She bit her lip. “It’s lovely,” she said, squeezing the words from a tight throat. He made no attempt to take her hand and do the honors. She told herself she was glad. When she slid the ring onto her left hand, the brilliant stone seemed to take on a life of its own.

“So you don’t want to exchange it? I wouldn’t want to be accused of controlling your life.”

His tone was bland, but she felt shame, nevertheless. “I love it, Luc. Thank you.”

It was his turn to get up and pace. “I’ve made some preliminary wedding inquiries. Do you need or want a church wedding?”

Disappointment made her stomach leaden. Like most girls she had dreamed of her wedding day. “No. That’s not necessary.”

“Our family owns a small private island off the coast, near Savannah. If you’re agreeable, we can have the ceremony there. The location precludes the possibility of Eddie or any of his relatives showing up to make a scene. Do you have someone you’d like to stand up with you?”

She picked at a stray thread on the knee of her jeans, her mind in a whirl of conflicting thoughts. “My best friend, Jodi, would have been my choice, but her husband is in the military, and they were transferred to Japan two months ago. With Angela gone, well, I…”

“I’m sure Ana would be honored to help us out.”

It was a good choice, and a logical one given the circumstances. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“A honeymoon will be important,” he said, bending to turn on the gas logs in the fireplace. The spring evening had turned cool and damp.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

He turned to face her, his expression blank. “We can’t risk any accusation that our marriage isn’t real. I know you’ll protest, but I really think we should go away for at least a week. Ana’s niece is a college student working on her early childhood certification. I’ve already spoken to her, and she’s willing to stay here at the house with Ana and Sherman while we’re gone, to help with the baby.”

Hattie gnawed her bottom lip. He’d neatly cut the ground from beneath her feet. Every argument anticipated and countered. It all made perfect sense. And it scared the heck out of her. “You seem to have thought of everything.”

He shrugged. “It’s what I do. As far as the wedding dress and the ceremony itself, I’ll leave that to you. I have a good friend who is a justice of the peace. He’s prepared to fly down with us and officiate.”

“Who’s going to be your best man?”

“Leo.”

“Does he know about me…about Deedee?”

“I told him I was marrying someone he knew, but I left it at that. Leo will be there. But as far as he is concerned right now, this is a normal marriage. You and I will be the only people who will know the truth.”

“You’d lie to your own brother?”

“I’ll tell him the situation later…when it’s a done deal.”

“And your grandfather?”

“He’s flying over for his big birthday party in the fall. I won’t encourage him to come this time.”

“I wonder if Leo will even remember me.”

Luc chuckled. “My brother never forgets a beautiful woman. We’ll get together with him for dinner when we come back from our honeymoon, and you can reminisce.”

Hattie winced inwardly. Leo probably thought she was the worst kind of tease. Leading Luc on back in college and then dumping him. Leo would side with his brother, of course. Just one more thing to look forward to in her new, surreal life.

She took a deep breath. “When are we going to do this?”

“May 14 works for my schedule. I’ve cleared the week following for our honeymoon. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go? The company has a top-notch travel agent.”

She smiled faintly. “Since I’ve never really been anywhere, I’ll let you choose.”

“I thought Key West might be nice…a luxurious villa on a quiet street. A private pool.”

Her mouth dried. “Um, sure. Sounds lovely.” Why did she suddenly have a vision of the two of them naked and…cavorting in the moonlight? Dear heaven. May 14 was two and a half weeks away. This was happening. This was real.

She couldn’t wait any longer to address the elephant in the room. Or perhaps she was the only one who was worrying about it. Luc was a guy. Sex came as naturally to him as breathing. He probably thought nature would take its course.

But she needed to have things spelled out. “Luc?”

He rejoined her on the sofa, this time sitting so close to her that their hips nearly touched. Deliberately, he lifted her hand nearest him and linked their fingers. “What, Hattie? Permission to speak freely.”

His light humor did nothing to alleviate her nerves. She squeezed his hand briefly and stood up again, unable to bear being so close to him when she was on edge. “I had a feeling earlier this evening…at dinner…that one of the things you wanted to discuss in private was sex. It makes sense…to talk about it, I mean. You’re a virile man, and I assume you’ll be faithful to our wedding vows. So no one can question the validity of our marriage. For the baby’s sake.”

His face darkened. “For the baby’s sake…right. Because I assume that otherwise you could care less if I went to another woman for satisfaction.”

He was angry, and she wasn’t sure why. She picked up the elastic band he’d removed from her hair. With swift, jerky movements she put her ponytail back in place. She didn’t want to think about how it felt to have his fingers combing through her hair, his hard, warm palms caressing her back.

“I’m trying to explain, Luc, that I’m okay with it.”

“Okay with what?”

His black scowl terrified her. If she handled this wrong, he might back out entirely. “I understand that it makes sense for us to be intimate…while we’re together. A man and a woman living in the same house…married. I’m willing.… That’s all I wanted to say.”

His lip curled. His dark eyes were impenetrable. “Well, you were right about one thing.”

“I was?”

“I did want to talk about sex.”

“I thought so.”

“But while I am deeply touched by your desire to throw yourself on the sacrificial altar, I don’t need your penance.”

“I don’t understand.”

His legs were outstretched, propped on the coffee table. He feigned relaxation, but his entire body vibrated with intense emotion. “It’s simple, Hattie. All I wanted to say was that it seems somewhat degrading to both of us to exchange physical pleasure for money.”

The way he drawled the words physical pleasure made her belly tighten. “You’re confusing me.”

“Sex has nothing to do with this marriage agreement. Is that clear enough? If we end up in bed together, it will be because we both want it. I’m attracted to you, Hattie…just as I would be to any beautiful woman. And I have a normal man’s needs. I’ll welcome you to my bed anytime. But you’ll have to come to me. Your body is not on the bargaining table.”

He was being deliberately cruel. Perhaps she deserved it. But humiliation swept through her in burning waves. She had offered herself up in all sincerity, and he had reduced the possibility of marital intimacy to scratching an itch.

Dimly, apprehensively, she began to understand what Luc was going to get out of this marriage. He was going to make her dance to his tune. He was going to make her beg.

And what scared her even more than being totally at his mercy was the inescapable knowledge that she would be the one to crack. And she might not make it through the honeymoon.

The Billionaire's Borrowed Baby & Baby Business

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