Читать книгу The Illegitimate Heirs: Luke, Zach and Jake - Kathie DeNosky - Страница 12

The following morning, barely an hour after they were picked up by a limousine at the Knoxville airport, Haley walked down the aisle of a little log wedding chapel in Pigeon Forge toward Luke and the rotund minister waiting to unite them in holy matrimony. Dressed in a black pin-striped suit, pearl gray shirt and burgundy tie, Luke looked as handsome and confident as she had ever remembered seeing him. And within a few short minutes, they would be husband and wife.

Unbelievable.

After all these years, the man of her dreams had finally seen her as more than his glorified secretary. The only problem was, when he finally did take a second glance in her direction, all he’d been able to see was a fertile egg and an incubator.

When she reached the end of the aisle and stopped beside Luke, the grandfatherly minister smiled. “Please turn to face one another and join hands.”

Haley was sure she stopped breathing when Luke captured her hands in his and smiled down at her. His encouraging expression and the feel of his solid palms against hers sent tingles rippling up her spine and reminded her that later on that evening, she’d feel those same strong hands elsewhere on her body, exploring, caressing, teasing.

“Are you ready to put the final touch on this deal?” he asked, completely unaware of the direction her thoughts had taken her.

“I…um, suppose I am,” she murmured, not at all surprised that he refused to acknowledge their marriage as anything more than one of his business agreements.

“Good. The meeting with the Laurel people is due to start in…” he glanced at his watch “…a little less than forty-five minutes.”

“Of course.” She glared at him and before she could stop herself, added, “I couldn’t possibly expect you to keep them waiting for something as trivial as your own wedding.”

Frowning, Luke looked at her like she’d sprouted another head. “You knew that I’d scheduled the meeting for today.”

Didn’t he realize that no matter the reason for a marriage, a woman’s wedding day was special to her? That having the groom rush off to a business meeting immediately following the ceremony wasn’t exactly the stuff a woman’s dreams were made of?

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, resigned that he would never understand.

His smile faded and clearing his throat, the minister interrupted their verbal sparring to ask “Are y’all real sure you folks want to go through with this wedding?”

“Yes,” Luke declared, his tone leaving no doubt he meant it.

When the man turned his attention her way, she glanced up at Luke. Even though she was keenly disappointed over his insensitivity, the time for backing out of this fiasco had come and gone. She’d given her word and that was something she tried never to go back on. Besides, she wanted a baby—his baby—more than she’d ever wanted anything and she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity for the child she wanted to be that of the man of her dreams.

“Yes, I want to marry him,” she admitted, surprised by the surety in her own voice.

“All right, I guess if you’re both agreeable, we’ll get started then,” the minister indicated, sounding more than a little doubtful as he opened his book of wedding vows. “We are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in the bonds of—”

Staring at Luke, she heard very little of the blessedly brief ceremony and was surprised when the minister asked, “Do you have a wedding ring for your bride, son?”

Luke frowned. “No.”

“It’s really not that important anyway,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t reflect her disillusionment.

She didn’t know if Luke had forgotten about a ring for her or if he purposely hadn’t bought one. But either way, it was one more detail about her wedding day that she’d just as soon forget.

The man raised one bushy gray eyebrow, then shaking his head turned to the groom. “Luke, do you take Haley to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in his rich baritone when Luke gazed into her eyes and answered, “I do.”

The minister nodded, then turned to her. “And Haley, do you take Luke to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

“I…uh…yes. Yes, I do.” Knowing their marriage was only a temporary arrangement, she hated making a vow she knew for certain wouldn’t be kept.

As if he couldn’t quite believe what he was about to say, the minister shook his head as he announced, “Then by the power vested in me by Sevier County and the great state of Tennessee, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He gave Luke a questioning look. “Son, if you want to kiss your bride, now would be the time to give it a try.”

For the briefest of moments, as she watched Luke lower his head, she thought he was going to brush her lips with his and that would be the end of it. But the light of challenge she detected in his intense gaze a split second before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, warned her that the kiss was going to be anything but casual or brief.

Haley caught her breath and when his mouth settled over hers, every cell in her body seemed to zing to life. At first, his firm, warm lips moved over hers with such tender care, such thoughtfulness, she felt as if she might just melt into a puddle right there on the chapel floor. But when he tightened his arms and pressed her even closer, her heart began an erratic cadence and a current of electrified heat coursed from the top of her head all the way to the tips of her toes.

The feel of his solid body against her much softer one as he coaxed her mouth to open for him caused an interesting little swirl in the most feminine part of her and Haley didn’t have the presence of mind to put up so much as a token protest. Allowing him access, she leaned into him as he stroked and teased. But when he engaged her tongue in a game of advance and retreat, she felt as if her knees had turned to rubber and she wrapped her arms around his trim waist to keep from falling in an undignified heap at his feet.

She’d been kissed many times before, but never like this, never with such tenderness and purpose. Not even their first kiss had affected her as profoundly, and by the time Luke eased away from the caress, Haley felt completely and irrevocably claimed.

She silently stood by Luke’s side as the chapel’s photographer snapped several pictures, then handed him the disk of still shots and a DVD of the ceremony, along with their newly signed marriage certificate.

“Thank you,” Haley murmured as Luke took her hand in his and led her up the aisle and out of the chapel door to their waiting limo.

“I’ve got to hurry to make the meeting with the Laurel employees on time,” he said, helping her into the backseat of the long black car. When he slid in beside her on the plush leather seat, he checked his watch, then tapped on the window separating them from the driver. “Take me directly to the Laurel Enterprises office in Gatlinburg, then drive Ms. Rollins up to the Mountain Crest Lodge.”

“You don’t want me to attend the meeting with you?” Since she was his executive assistant, she’d been included in several employee meetings in the past and she’d assumed that would be the case this time.

He shook his head. “Besides meeting with the office staff, I’ll be touring a couple of job sites and talking to the work crews. But I plan to be back in time for dinner this evening.”

“Will I need to go shopping for food?” At least buying a few groceries and preparing a meal would give her something to fill the empty hours of the long day ahead.

“No. I’ve arranged for a caterer to make dinner for us. And the housekeeper will oversee the clean-up in the kitchen before she leaves for the evening.”

After college, Haley had done her own cooking and cleaning and she liked it that way. Having someone perform those duties for her again was going to take some getting used to.

It took a moment for her to realize that the car had stopped in the parking lot of Laurel Enterprises on the outskirts of Gatlinburg. As with most of the other buildings in the area, it was a log structure that complimented the surrounding environment, instead of detracting from it.

“What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?” Being abandoned by her new husband right after they exchanged vows, then sequestered in a mountaintop lodge with nothing to do wasn’t exactly the way she’d dreamed her wedding day would unfold.

“It’s a nice spring day. You could sit on one of the decks and enjoy the view of Mount LeConte,” he said, waiting for their driver to open his door. “Or you could spend the afternoon relaxing in the hot tub.” He started to get out of the car, then turned back. “But whatever else you decide to do, make sure that you get plenty of rest.” Giving her a quick kiss and a smile that spoke volumes, he winked. “If you’ll remember, we’re going to start making a baby tonight.”

All the way up the mountain to the lodge where they would be staying, Haley tried to remind herself that her marriage to Luke was one of convenience. He viewed their union as the means to an end—a way to get the heir he wanted.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help but resent the fact that he wasn’t even willing to take their wedding day off from work. Nor could she stop a keen sense of sadness from filling her. She’d always envisioned having a baby with a man who loved her and was as devoted to her and their child as she intended to be.

And although she’d known and accepted that theirs was a one-sided relationship, that knowledge did very little to help her stifle an almost uncontrollable urge to let the flood gates open and have herself a good cleansing cry. Nor did it keep her from wanting to tell the driver to turn around and take her back to Nashville and the safe haven of her comfortable little apartment.

Long after the limousine driver let him out in front of the Mountain Crest Lodge and drove back down the mountain, Luke stood staring at the dark windows of the huge three-story log structure. Haley hadn’t bothered leaving a light on for him and he couldn’t say that he blamed her. Hurrying off immediately after the wedding ceremony to meet with the Laurel people, he’d left her to fend for herself on their wedding day. That was probably more than enough to get him nominated for jerk of the year.

He checked his watch. It was well past midnight and he’d missed most of his own wedding night as well. He didn’t pretend to be an expert on the subject by any means, but even he knew that kind of behavior fell short of what was expected of a newly married man. And especially one who had wed for the sole purpose of making his partner pregnant. But the truth of the matter was, he hadn’t expected the intensity of his reaction to Haley when he’d watched her walk down the aisle toward him or the emotions that he’d experienced during the ceremony. Wearing a simple, sleeveless white dress and with her hair in that curly style he’d liked the day he stopped by her apartment, she had been absolutely stunning. And he still had a hard time believing that in the five years she’d worked for him, he hadn’t once taken notice of how beautiful she was.

But it was when she’d looked up at him with those trusting turquoise eyes, that a need to protect and take care of her threatened to overwhelm him.

And if that wasn’t enough to throw him for a loop, the kiss they’d shared at the end of the brief ceremony was. When he’d kissed her the night before, it had been quite promising and more than a little pleasant. But it couldn’t compare to the kiss they’d shared to seal their vows. The feel of her soft, sweet lips beneath his and the need to possess her had been staggering. He’d never in his entire thirty-six years experienced anything even close to that with any other woman.

That was what sent him rushing off to meet the Laurel people. He’d needed the distance to regain his perspective on the matter.

Unfortunately, the meeting ran a lot longer than he anticipated, then he’d learned of a labor dispute that threatened to shut down work on several job sites. By the time he’d straightened out the problem so that the jobs could resume the next week, it was well after midnight. And if missing the wedding dinner he’d arranged for them and not being there to make love to Haley on their wedding night didn’t lock up the prize jerk award for him, he didn’t know what would.

He sighed heavily as he started up the steps to the front door of the lodge. As he keyed in the security code and opened the door, he wondered if she would honor their agreement of having his child. But as he walked through the great room on his way to the master suite, he shook his head. There was no doubt in his mind that Haley would hold up her end of the arrangement. If there was one thing he knew about his executive assistant, it was that her word was as good as any signed contract. And he’d known from the minute she’d outlined her conditions that if he accepted her criteria, she’d go through with it.

Still, that didn’t change the fact that she probably expected a lot more from him on their wedding day.

Luke narrowed his eyes at the sight of his big empty bed. The comforter was still in place, indicating no one had been in it. He looked around the room and noted that her overnight case was nowhere in sight.

Where the hell was she?

His strides purposeful, he crossed the great room and taking the stairs two at a time, went in search of his wayward assistant. There were seven other bedrooms in the place and Haley had damned well better be in one of them.

By the time he got to the door at the end of the hall, Luke was already planning to call the housekeeper and put the woman through the third degree about when Haley had left and if she’d indicated where she was going. But when he glanced in the last bedroom, his irritation instantly disappeared at the sight before him.

The moonlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows bathed the room in an ethereal light. Haley looked like a golden-haired angel curled up in the middle of the king-size bed. Walking over to wake her and ask her why the hell she wasn’t in his bed in the master suite, Luke stopped short at the iridescent trace of tears on her flawless cheeks.

She’d been crying?

Without warning the protectiveness he’d experienced at the wedding chapel began to spread throughout his chest and he didn’t think twice as he quietly shrugged out of his suit coat and began to loosen his tie and unbutton his shirt. Tossing them on the chair across the room, he removed his shoes and socks, then unzipped his trousers and added them to the growing pile of clothes. Careful not to wake her, Luke pulled back the covers and stretching out on the bed beside her, reached out to take Haley into his arms.

As he pulled her against him, he thought he heard her murmur his name in her sleep, but he didn’t have time to dwell on what that might mean when she moved to snuggle against him and placed a delicate hand on his bare chest. The feel of her slender body aligned with his and her soft palm against his hair-roughened flesh sent heat streaking at the speed of light down the length of him and he concentrated on drawing in his next breath.

Suddenly, and completely without warning, the memory of their wedding kiss came rushing back and his body hardened so fast it left him feeling light-headed. The memory of the feel of her perfect lips against his had him wondering what the hell he’d been thinking. Why had he put work ahead of what he knew for certain would have been one of the most exciting nights of his life?

Luke glanced down at Haley’s head cradled on his shoulder. He’d like nothing more than to wake her and make love until they both collapsed from exhaustion. But all things considered, he doubted she’d be overly receptive to the idea of sharing her body with the man who had abandoned her in favor of work.

Tightening his arms around her, he forced himself to relax and concentrate on getting some much needed sleep. The first thing in the morning, he’d let her know he regretted the way things had gone the evening before. And once she was in a more congenial mood, they could spend the rest of their stay in the mountains on the pleasurable task of making her pregnant.

Trying her best to prolong her tantalizing dream, Haley moved closer to the warm, hard masculine body lying next to her. But one by one, as her senses woke up, she became aware of several things at once. The feel of crisp hair beneath her palm, the light woodsy scent of a man’s cologne and the sound of soft snores chased away the last traces of sleep and opening her eyes, she found herself face-to-face with Luke.

Her sharp intake of breath must have wakened him because the corners of his mouth slowly curved up in a sleepy smile a moment before he opened his eyes. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

“What are you doing here, Luke?”

His low chuckle caused a wonderful fluttering sensation deep in the pit of her stomach and made every one of her feminine instincts come to full alert.

“If you’ll remember, we got married yesterday. This is where I’m supposed to be.”

“Oh, I remember.” She shook her head and started moving away from him. She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “But I was under the impression that you had forgotten all about that.”

The smile on his handsome face faded and before she knew what was happening, he reached out and pulled her back to him. “I really regret that I missed having dinner with you last night.” He used his index finger to brush a strand of hair from her cheek. “But during my meeting with the Laurel office staff, I learned about a labor dispute with the work crews which had to be resolved immediately or there would have been a walkout on Monday.”

Her skin tingled everywhere he touched her, but Haley tried her best not to notice. As far as she was concerned, no matter what the reason for their marriage, there was no excuse for a man to completely ignore a woman on what was supposed to be one of the most important days of her life.

“There’s always going to be something that needs your attention.” She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but his arms were like two steel bands holding her firmly against him.

“That’s true,” he said, confirming her suspicion that she would always come in a distant second to Garnier Construction. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Would you like to know what’s going to claim my attention today and tomorrow?”

“Not particularly.” She wasn’t interested in hearing about labor problems or another meeting with office managers. All she wanted to do was take a shower, get dressed and pack for their return trip.

“That’s too bad because I’m going to tell you anyway,” he continued as he ran his hand down the outside of her thigh, then back up, bringing the tail of her nightgown to her waist. “Today and tomorrow, you will have my complete and undivided attention.”

Haley wasn’t sure if her heart skittered to a stop because of what he’d said or from the feel of his hand slipping beneath her gown to caress her lower back. “B-but I thought…I mean, you said we would be going back to Nashville early this morning.”

“I’ve decided that we need time to rectify the situation you brought to my attention the other day at the office. We need to get to know each other on a more…personal level,” he said, giving her a smile that warmed her all over and left no doubt about what he had in mind. “We’ll head back home in a couple of days.”

“Home? Meaning your mansion?”

He nodded as his finger traced the lace edge of her panties. “Didn’t you inform the complex that you would be moving? Surely you didn’t think you’d be returning to your apartment, did you?”

She shook her head. “I…still have to…move my clothes.” How was she supposed to think with his fingers dipping beneath the scalloped trim?

“Don’t worry. I had some of my staff move your personal effects after we left yesterday,” he stated, his voice low and intimate.

Haley froze. “You did what?”

He kissed her shoulder. “Everything will already be unpacked and put away by the time we get back on Tuesday.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Your arrogance has no bounds, does it?”

“What do you mean?” He had the audacity to look truly puzzled.

“Did it ever occur to you that I might not like someone else handling my underwear?”

He smiled as he continued to touch her and every stroke of his warm palm on her suddenly sensitive skin increased the heat building deep inside of her. “I don’t…know what surprises me more…your arrogance or…you taking a day off from work,” she explained, struggling to catch her next breath and trying desperately to remember she was irritated with him.

“Why would my taking time off surprise you?” he asked, his warm breath close to her ear.

“The only time I’ve ever known you to take a day off from the office was when your sister graduated from college,” she retorted, trying to concentrate on something besides his hands moving steadily over her body. She was definitely losing the battle.

“I’m not all work,” he insisted, slowly easing her to her back. When he leaned over her, his smile and the gleam in his vivid blue eyes told her in no uncertain terms exactly what he meant when he added, “Believe me, I do know how to play, sweetheart.”

“I’m, uh, sure you do,” she hedged, staring up at him. “But I don’t think—”

“That’s all right. I’ll do the thinking for both of us,” he interrupted as he brought his mouth down to cover hers.

His lips teased and caressed, making Haley forget anything she’d been about to say. Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she gave up trying to think and lost herself to his tender exploration.

How could she even begin to form a rational thought when she was lying in bed with a half-naked man? The very man she’d fantasized about for over five years? The man who was kissing her like she was the most desirable woman he’d ever known?

When he used the tip of his tongue to trace the edge of her mouth, she couldn’t deny him entry. She wanted to once again experience his taste and the feeling that Luke was claiming her for his own.

Her pulse sped up and she wasn’t entirely certain it would ever return to normal when he slowly slid his hand from her back to her abdomen, then up to the underside of her breast. Never in her wildest imaginings could anything have felt more sensual as when he cupped the soft mound and began to relentlessly tease the puckered bud with the pad of his thumb.

“You’re so sweet,” he said, breaking the kiss to nibble his way down her throat to the top of her nightgown. When he raised his head, he gave her a smile that heated her all the way to her soul at the same time he used his finger to trace the delicate lace edging at the neckline. “Let’s get you out of this.”

Before she could respond, he tossed the comforter back and propping himself up on one elbow, used both hands to rip the thin cotton garment from the top all the way to the hem.

Gasping, she reached for the sheet. “Good heavens, Luke, you didn’t even give me the chance to take it off.”

He was not the least bit apologetic when he shoved the sheet farther from her grasp. “I didn’t want to waste the time.”

“That was the only gown I brought with me…I didn’t expect to be staying more than one night,” she explained, covering her breasts with her palms.

Taking her hands in his, he moved them to her sides. “Don’t try to hide from me, Haley. We’re married. There’s no reason for you to be embarrassed or shy with me.”

“But couldn’t we learn about each other on a more personal level with our clothes on first?” she asked as a fiery flush heated her cheeks.

She knew he thought she’d lost her mind, but that couldn’t be helped. To have their relationship go from strictly business with no contact outside of the office one day, to being married and naked in bed together the next was more than a little intimidating. And even though she’d dreamed that one day he’d notice her as a woman instead of just his competent assistant, in her fantasies, things between them had never progressed this far this fast.

“I told you before that there’s no better way for a man and woman to get acquainted than making love,” he reminded, lowering his head to kiss the tip of her breast. “Besides, the sole reason for our getting married was for me to make you pregnant.” Laughing, he traced the valley between her breasts all the way down to her navel. “And that would be hard to do with clothes on, sweetheart.”

When he lowered his mouth to her overly sensitive nipple, a swirl of heat gathered in the very core of her and Haley forgot about everything but the way Luke was making her feel. Shamelessly threading her fingers through his thick black hair to hold him to her, it took a moment for her to realize he’d slipped his hand below the band of her silk panties.

Inch by slow inch, he caressed his way to her most secret parts, and she thought she’d melt from the delicious heat threading though her veins. The intense longing he created was like nothing she had ever known and she didn’t even try to stop her moan from escaping.

“Look at me, Haley,” he said, raising his head from her breast. When she did, his smile sent another wave of tingling sensations straight through her. “In the past few minutes, I’ve already learned several things about you that I wasn’t aware of before.”

“R-really?”

Smiling, he nodded. “You like the way I make you feel when I touch you here.” When he moved his fingers to dip inside and stroke her intimately, every fiber of her being hummed with pleasure.

“I…oh…y-yes.”

“And you really like for me to do this,” he added, nipping at the tip of her breast with his firm lips.

When he took the bud into his mouth to draw on it deeply, exquisite feelings flowed to every nerve in her body and her will to resist became nonexistent.

Unable to make a sound, she nodded as Luke continued his gentle assault on her senses. Completely lost to the feelings he was creating within her, she didn’t have the slightest clue when he’d removed her panties and his boxers. But the feel of his bare body against hers and the solid strength of his arousal as he pressed himself to her thigh, brought back some of her sanity and she shivered from nervous anticipation.

“I’ve gotten to know you quite well already, sweetheart,” Luke informed, kissing her. “But now it’s time you learned something about me.”

“W-what…would that…be?” she asked, finding oxygen in extremely short supply.

“I want you,” he said, nudging her legs apart with his knee. “I want to be deep inside of you. Right now.”

As he moved to cover her, she closed her eyes and lay back against the pillows. The electrifying excitement he’d built inside her was undeniable, but so was a fair amount of nervous apprehension.

He’d said that making love was a good way to get to know each other on a more personal level. And there was something very important that he was about to find out about her. Something that she was fairly certain he would have never guessed.

What was Luke going to think when he found out? How was he going to react when he discovered that his wife had never been acquainted with any other man the way she was about to become acquainted with him?