Читать книгу Twin Ties, Twin Joys: The Boss's Double Trouble Twins / Twins for a Christmas Bride / Baby Twins: Parents Needed - Raye Morgan - Страница 11

IT HAD been three long days since Mitch had returned. He and Darcy had been working together for two of them, and he hadn’t said a word about the twins. She’d started out on pins and needles, jumping every time he came near, waiting for him to bring up her babies and get things settled between them. But he was acting for all the world as though that afternoon at Mimi’s had never happened. And she was rapidly losing patience with him.

“Why didn’t you want me to know?” he’d said to her accusingly.

Well, Mitch, maybe this was why. Maybe it was because I knew you wouldn’t react the way I wanted you to react. Maybe it was because you’re just a big jerk.

Not really. After all, how could she criticize him for acting right in line with the way he’d warned her. He didn’t want kids, didn’t want to be tied to one woman, or tied down in Texas. So what did she expect?

Still, she came into work resolved on the fourth day. This was the day. It was time. She was going to confront him, get everything out in the open, make sure they each knew where they stood. She’d pumped herself up. She was ready to make him deal with the situation.

Sitting down at her desk, she was a model of fierce determination, drumming her fingers on the heavy wood and waiting for him to show his face.

And then she heard the laughter in the hallway. Turning, she beheld the spectacle of Mitch being escorted into the office suite by a bevy of the building’s most attractive young women, all seemingly in a party mood. They giggled and called out teasing suggestions as they left him, and he looked very pleased with himself as he waved them off.

As the elevator doors closed on the last of them, he turned back to favor Darcy with a crooked grin. His tie was pulled open, as was the neck of his crisp white shirt. There were lipstick marks on his cheek and neck. His blue eyes were dancing with pure male happiness.

“Good morning,” he said.

She couldn’t respond. Something was choking her.

“Uh … sorry I’m a little late,” he added, shrugging with boyish helplessness. “Some of the girls asked me to come in early for a meeting. I didn’t realize they were planning a little surprise ‘welcome back’ party for me.”

“I see,” she managed to get out, and darned frostily, too.

But it was no use pretending. All her confidence was draining away, as though someone had pulled the plug on her reservoir. She didn’t need to be reminded of what an attractive man he was. Women responded to him the way flowers turned toward the sun. It was a natural phenomenon she couldn’t have stopped if she’d wanted to. She knew he had a thousand other options besides dealing with her and her twin boys.

So where was this confrontation she’d been planning? He walked on into his inner office, whistling tunelessly, and she closed her eyes. No confrontation, no settling of things. What was she trying to prove, anyway? If he wanted to be a part of her life, he would have said so by now. If he had any interest in the babies, he would have asked about them, or come by to see them. She couldn’t make him care. If it wasn’t there, it just wasn’t going to be and she might as well face it.

Hurt and anger simmered inside her, but she tamped them down. She had work to do, and luckily, a reason to get out of the office and leave all this behind for most of the day. She had a few loose ends to attend to and then she was off on a field trip—and as far away from Mitch as she could get in one business day. The trick would be to avoid him and get out of here before he knew she was going.

Working quickly, she spent the next hour clearing up the work left over from the day before. She was almost ready to leave when she heard him coming back out of his office and she started typing furiously, concentrating like a laser beam on her work. Maybe he would notice how busy she was and go on by. She could always hope.

“Ah, Darcy,” he said, almost as though he hadn’t already seen her that morning. “There you are.”

She sighed. Oh well. Looking up, she threw him a glance with the hint of a glare.

“You’re right,” she said tartly. “Here I am. Just like always. On time and with my wits about me.” She stacked a few folders as though that was a very important thing to do right now.

He stood right over her and she didn’t have to look up to know he was smiling. She knew he actually enjoyed it when she didn’t play the docile employee. Why did she keep providing him with red meat this way? She couldn’t seem to help herself.

Though they’d been working together for days now, she’d managed to avoid too much direct contact. Luckily he’d been spending a lot of time in meetings. Even luckier, the requirements of her job kept her out of the office a lot of the day. She was planning to do as much fieldwork as possible from now on.

“I’ll agree you’ve got a strange sense of humor about you,” he was saying. “But wits? We’ll see.”

He was trying to make a joke, trying to lighten the mood between them. But she didn’t want it lightened. She made another careful pile of folders.

“I’m busy,” she said without looking up.

“As usual,” he noted. “But maybe you can spare me a minute or two.”

She finally raised her head and reluctantly met his gaze. She’d been right. He was silently laughing at her.

“What can I do for you?” she asked with as much regal chill as she could manage.

“You can type up these meeting notes for me.” He waved pages of yellow paper with a lot of things scribbled on them in her direction. “Okay?”

She looked at them. Her impulse was to grab them and start typing away. After all, it wouldn’t really take all that long. But she stopped herself. She had to guard against letting him put her into a role she didn’t deserve. So instead of accommodating him, she flashed him a look and shook her head.

“No, actually, I can’t. Give them to Paula.”

“She’s out this morning.”

“She’ll be back.”

“Maybe.”

He still stood there, waving the papers at her.

She glared at him. “I guess I need to remind you again. I’m not a typist.”

He frowned as though he didn’t understand the word. “You’re not a what?”

“A typist.” She rose and opened a drawer, pulling out her little molded purse. It was obvious he thought she was being silly, but she didn’t care. She’d worked hard to achieve her position and she wasn’t going to let him discount it.

“I’m also not a secretary. I’m not even an administrative assistant. In fact, if you think about it really hard, I’m sure you’ll recall that I’m a property acquisitions agent.”

She tucked the purse under her arm and started toward the elevator, looking back at him over her shoulder.

“And I’m off to do some acquiring work right now. In fact, I’m late for a meeting with a contractor on the Pearson Development. So if you’ll excuse me …”

He was following her, looking interested. “You’re meeting with him right now?”

“Yes. I’m going out to Shadow Ridge.”

“Great. I’ll go with you.”

Stopping dead, she swung around to face him.

“What?”

He shrugged, looking remarkably handsome and civilized now that he’d wiped off the lipstick and straightened out his dark blue suit and the silver-blue tie. “Why not? I’ve got to get to know more about this business. You can show me the ropes.”

She sagged. The last thing she needed was to spend the day carting him around and feeling resentful while doing it. “But Mitch …”

He was taking no arguments. “Look, Darcy. I’m like someone who’s been dropped out of the sky here. I mean, I know I used to work here part-time when I was in high school and college, but I never paid much attention. I only wanted to get out of this town as soon as I could. On the whole, you know a lot more about this business right now than I do. If I’m going to do a decent job, I’ve got to learn. You can teach me.”

She was supposed to teach him all she knew? Hah! That would be the day. She’d come by her knowledge the hard way, and he could do the same. Still, she couldn’t deny him a seat in her car. If only there was some way she could talk him out of coming with her.

“You’re going to miss lunch,” she warned him hopefully.

“Lunch.” He narrowed his eyes speculatively. “Are you talking about those cardboard slices of bread with some kind of fish substance slathered between them that they sell in the break room vending machine? Hmmm. Yes, that is a lot to give up just so that I can ride out into the warm sunny day to a rural area and listen to builders talk building. But sacrifices must be made.” He gave her a lopsided grin that was, unfortunately, totally endearing. “Besides, we can grab something on the road. A hamburger maybe.”

Folding her arms over her chest, she frowned, feeling sulky. “I don’t ‘grab things on the road.’”

He smiled, leaning across her to press the button for the elevator. “Don’t worry. There’s nothing to it. I’ll show you how.”

“Oh brother!”

“Besides,” he said, his smile fading and eyes darkening seriously as he leaned close to say it softly, “we have some things to talk about. This will give us a chance to do that.”

Her heart began to thump in her chest. So he wasn’t going to ignore their situation after all. Well, good. Maybe. But just the fact that he thought they could discuss things on the fly given an odd moment or two didn’t bode well. You just didn’t make life commitments that way, did you?

As they hit the highway and left city traffic behind them, her anxiety began to melt away. How could she stay tense when that big ole Texas sky was shockingly blue and almost cloudless above them? There was something irresistible about an open road. She relaxed, her hands loose on the wheel.

Mitch had been quiet since they’d left the parking garage. Glancing at him sideways, she wondered what he was thinking. Was he preparing what he wanted to say to her? Or was he still mulling things over? Why didn’t he just go ahead and get it over with? She had a feeling it must be really bad if he couldn’t just spit it out on the spot.

Now she was getting tense again. This was no good.

“What kind of music do you like?” she asked, suddenly wanting something to fill the silence between them.

“You choose.”

She hesitated. “Well, are you still Texan enough to take in a little country and western? Or have you become too cosmopolitan and sophisticated for us hayseeds?”

“Am I still Texan?” He turned toward her, appalled by the question. “Is the Pope Catholic?” She refused to give him a smile. “Last time I looked.”

“There’s your answer.” He snorted. “Am I Texan?” he repeated, and for good measure, he sang her a few lines from, a popular song, finally coaxing a smile from her.

“Not bad,” she had to admit. “You’re a man of many talents, aren’t you?”

He laughed softly. “Darcy, I have only just begun to reveal myself to you.”

She shook her head but she knew he was still feeling a bit full of himself after the way all those women had treated him that morning. He stretched out his long legs as best he could in the confinement of the car, and suddenly she was very much aware of him as a man—a man with a hard, gorgeous body, which she remembered only too well. She caught her breath as memories flooded her for a moment, pictures of his golden form stretched out on white sheets in lamplight.

Oh my. She hadn’t thought of that for ages—and she really should block those things out of her mind, if she possibly could. She started to reach to turn up the air-conditioning, then caught herself just in time. But she couldn’t stop the heat from flooding her cheeks, and she was only glad he seemed too occupied with the passing landscape to notice.

“You know, Darcy, you’ve got a few surprising facets to your persona as well,” he said a few minutes later, turning toward her again. “It was a real shock to find out you had … the twins.” His voice deepened. “I have to admit, though I thought of you often over the last two years, I never pictured you as a mother.”

Well, that was just downright annoying. Sure, she was a mother. But that very fact made him a father. He seemed to be forgetting that part.

“I never thought of you as a Texas businessman,” she shot back. “So we’re even.”

He frowned. “I’m not a Texas businessman,” he protested.

“No?”

“Not really. Only temporarily.”

“Well, cleaned up like you are, you could pass for one.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

They were silent for a moment, then he spoke again.

“So what did you think of me as?” he asked curiously.

She raised an eyebrow. “Fishing for compliments?”

“Not at all. Just curious.”

She hesitated. What had she thought that day when she’d opened the door to Jimmy’s pied-à-terre and found the hunky hero from her teenage years standing there in the Paris rain? He was exactly what any woman would have conjured up for herself if she’d had a magic wand. But what had come to mind at the time?

“An adventurer I guess.” That wasn’t exactly it, but the best she could come up with on short notice.

“An adventurer.” He said the word as though that startled him, as though he wasn’t sure he liked it.

“That’s not the way you see yourself?”

He shook his head, looking distracted. “No. Actually I see myself more as a human rights worker.”

She looked at him in astonishment, then had to swerve back into her lane. A human rights worker? And here she’d thought he was some sort of modern day mercenary. Maybe they had different ways of defining that term.

“You’re kidding. Right?”

He sighed. “Never mind. For now, I guess I’m a businessman.”

“So that’s for sure, is it?” she asked, turning onto a smaller two-lane road. “You’re saying that this return to your home town isn’t permanent? That it’s just something temporary in order to make your mother happy for a while?”

That seemed to offend him. “Leave my mother out of this,” he said gruffly.

She looked at him in surprise. After all, he was the one who had originally brought the subject up. She hadn’t realized it was out of bounds.

But he seemed to recognize what she was thinking.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m sort of defensive about my mother right now. I’m feeling a little protective.”

Mitch protective toward his mother. She’d thought rebelling against his family situation had been the whole point. That was the impression she’d had from what he’d told her in Paris. Obviously she didn’t have a handle on the full picture.

She pulled the car into the parking lot at the construction site. The twin mobile trailers, which served as the administration and engineering offices, sat in front of where they’d parked. Switching off the engine, she turned to look at the man beside her.

“I’m not sure why you came back,” she told him candidly, “but since you did, we need to settle the business about the twins. We can’t leave it up in the air the way it is now. Just what is your role going to be in their lives?”

He didn’t answer right away, but he was studying her face, his gaze sliding over her lips, her nose line, her smooth skin, then tucking into the protected area around her ear. When his gaze finally rose to meet hers, she saw a sort of storminess there. But only for a moment.

“We’ll talk,” he promised. “Later today. Right now, we’ve got work to do.” He turned away and reached to open the door. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

She followed more slowly, wondering what she was going to do with this man who wanted her to “show him the ropes.” She should resent him, but somehow she just couldn’t do that. Still, she had to be careful. “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile,” she whispered to herself, shaking her head. That was just it. Keep track of your inches!

It was over an hour later when they emerged from the trailers. Darcy was feeling a bit shell-shocked. The meeting had started as usual. She and the contractor had gone over some figures and discussed a timetable. She’d brought up a few minor issues she’d had problems with and he tried to smooth over her concerns. All the while, Mitch had watched silently. And then he asked a question about the Heartland Project.

It was like he’d lit a fuse. The contractor seemed to take his question as a challenge, and before Darcy knew what was happening, the two men were shouting at each other and arguing about things she thought were pointless. She tried to intervene, but they didn’t seem to hear her. They argued sharply, then came to an agreement about something. What it was she couldn’t have said.

Then, as quickly as it had started, the firestorm was over. The two men had found a point in common and were talking like—well, maybe not old friends, but old acquaintances, at least. And as they left the trailer, the contractor shook her hand warmly and told her he would take care of all her little items, no problem.

“Thanks, Darcy,” Mitch was saying as they walked back toward the car. “I learned a lot.” He grinned. “I especially learned that I’d better leave the talking to you whenever possible.”

“On that point,” she said, sliding in behind the wheel, “I think I agree.”

He glanced over as she started the engine. In truth, he’d been impressed by the way she’d handled herself. She was good at what she did, good at talking to contractors, good at holding her own when the going got tough. Funny how that opened a whole new side of her to him, a side he’d never thought about during that weekend in Paris.

But it didn’t change anything. It didn’t help him to get over this weird fascination. He still wanted her with a deep, throbbing ache that wouldn’t go away, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

He’d spent the last two days trying to figure out a way this was going to work. At first he’d thought maybe he would get used to having her around all day. After all, there were plenty of other beautiful women at ACW. Just that morning he’d flirted with a lot of them. Unfortunately, as pleasurable as it had been to be lionized by a group of lovely ladies, he’d found himself looking at his watch and wondering whether Darcy had come in to work yet long before his welcome party was over.

Which just went to prove that this situation was impossible. He couldn’t work with her. It was slow torture to see her and not be able to touch her. He looked at her now as she turned onto the highway. She was wearing a short, tailored skirt that rode up enough to display a nice view of her gorgeous legs. Just watching the interplay of muscles as she worked the accelerator made his blood begin to race a little faster.

It was a bittersweet reaction that came up all the time. A part of him reveled in his instant response to this woman, and another part rejected it, trying to turn it back before it caused him to make another mistake.

But it still happened every time she walked past him and he caught a hint of her fresh, sweet scent, every time she spoke to someone else in the outer office and he sat with his eyes closed listening to her cool, rich voice, every time she got up from her desk and he watched surreptitiously as she walked away toward the elevator, her silky hair rippling sensually, her round little bottom swaying impertinently, while sweet desire surged in his body, and cold, hard reproach stirred in his brain. No other woman had ever played with both his mental and physical response the way Darcy Connors did. He loved it and hated it at the same time.

And that was why he should be working to get her out of his daily life.

“How close are we to the perimeter of the Heartland Project?” he asked suddenly, realizing they must be passing near it.

She looked at him sideways. “There’s a pullout at that hill ahead that gives a pretty good overview of the eastern boundary,” she said. “I’ve got a pair of binoculars in the glove compartment.”

“Great. Let’s stop and take a look.”

“Sure.”

She pulled off the highway at the viewing area, rolling up to the thick guardrails.

“Here we are,” she noted.

“Great,” he said. “I really want to get a good look at this.” He gazed at her earnestly. “But first I want to talk about our situation for a minute.”

She threw him a startled look, but she did as he suggested, turning off the engine and turning toward him in the car. She didn’t say a word, waiting for him to take the lead.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” he said firmly, determined not to show how mixed his feelings were about her. “We can’t deny that we made two children together. And of course that it’s as much my problem as yours.”

She reacted as though he’d attacked her. “My babies are not a problem!”

He frowned, regretting his wording. “Darcy, relax. I didn’t mean it that way exactly.”

She was glaring at him. “Obviously they are a problem for you.”

He sighed, not sure how they’d gotten off to such a bad start so quickly. “That’s really not fair, Darcy. You knew from the beginning that my life was going to be nomadic. That I never expected to have a wife or kids because I couldn’t be fair to them. I never pretended otherwise.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “I know,” she said softly, her tone almost as good as an apology.

“Okay. Listen, first of all I want to commend you for having the babies. I know that’s easy for me to say, not being with you or even knowing it was happening at the time. You went through it all by yourself for nine months. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. And how much I admire you for it.”

“It was a beautiful period of my life,” she said somewhat defensively. There had been plenty of not-so-beautiful things about it, of course, but she wasn’t going to whine about them.

“That may be,” he said. “But I know it was hard.”

She bit her lip. If he kept being so nice about things, she would start to cry. Her eyes were already stinging and she knew what that meant, but she refused to let it happen. She would not cry in front of him! If tears came she was going to jump out of the car and throw herself over the edge and into the canyon.

Well, not really. But thinking that gave her the strength to hold back the emotions that tried to overwhelm her.

“So, tell me this,” he went on, staring out at the plains stretching out away from their position instead of looking her in the eye. “Why didn’t you put them up for adoption?”

A sense of shock, very near horror, shot through her. Anger came tumbling behind it, but she pushed it back. She was going to stay calm if it killed her.

“I guess I’m just too selfish,” she said gently.

He nodded. “You did consider it?”

“Of course. I went for counseling about it. I met some wonderful couples looking for babies, people who would have given my boys a great life, probably better than anything I can give them. But in the end …” She shook her head. “I just couldn’t do it. I wanted them so much.”

He nodded again. “Okay. And you’re holding to that decision?”

She stared at him. Just the fact that he could ask a question like that showed how little he understood what parenthood was all about.

“Are you asking me to consider giving them up now? Are you insane?”

He held up a hand. “Okay, okay. I just wanted to make sure. I want to get things perfectly clear between us.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I think we need to establish a base so that we can figure out how we’re going to do this. I want to provide for them in an equitable way so that the burden isn’t entirely on you.”

She stared at him, vaguely aware that he was still talking, going on about monthly payments and trust funds and clothing allowances. He hadn’t said a thing about the boys themselves. He wanted to start writing checks to remove himself from the entire mess. He just didn’t get it, did he? The anger that had been simmering bubbled up.

“Stop,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to hear it. It’s not money that I need from you.”

He looked surprised. “If you’re talking about … well, commitments, Darcy, you know I can’t …”

She looked away, avoiding his eyes. “I know that. I’m not asking you to completely change your life around.”

“So what exactly are you asking from me, Darcy?” he asked softly.

She closed her eyes. It was a darn good question. What she wanted in her heart of hearts was something impossible and she didn’t even bother bringing it up. Opening her eyes again, she turned and met his gaze. This was so important. If only she could find the right words to make him understand how very important it really was.

“I’ve tried to think this through and define what’s best for the boys,” she said. “They need a dad. You’re the first choice. You don’t have to marry me to be their dad, you know. If you could imagine just being a presence in their lives …”

Her voice choked and she stopped. He made a move toward her, but she pulled back.

“If you don’t think you can do that,” she went on in a rush, “I wish you’d tell me right away. Because I’ll have to find someone else to be their father-figure.”

His blue eyes registered shock at that. “What do you mean?”

She straightened her shoulders, regaining her strength. “I think that was pretty clear. I’ll need to marry someone. Someone else,” she added hastily.

“Someone else? Who?”

She shook her head, feeling stronger all the time. “Oh, I don’t know. There are a few candidates.”

“Kevin?” he asked, a hint of scorn in his tone.

She shrugged. “He’s a possibility. But actually, I was thinking more along the lines of …” She hesitated, wondering if she really wanted to say this, then rushed ahead. “Bert Lensen in accounting.”

“Bert Lensen?” He frowned. “Isn’t he that short, chubby, balding guy?”

“Yes. Very nice man. Not married. Seems to like me. Always asks about the twins.”

“Uh-huh” He shook his head, looking skeptical. He was beginning to suspect he was being snowed. “I don’t know, Darcy. I just don’t see you with a man like that.”

“No?” Her eyes flashed. “Well, think again. He’s perfect, actually.”

“Perfect! You’re not serious.”

“Sure. I’m not looking for a weekend fling,” she said pointedly. “I’m looking for a ‘slow and steady wins the race’ sort of guy. I need a real father for my children. I need someone reliable.”

“Unlike me.”

She drew breath deep down into her lungs. She could read a deep sense of injury in his gaze. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, just make him think a little.

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you meant.” He turned away. “Face it, Darcy. Using your criteria, I’m not good enough to be the father of my own children.”

“Mitch! I never said that!”

“You didn’t have to say it. It’s obvious.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “And damn it all,” he said gruffly, shifting back to look at her, “you might be right.”

She was not going to make a comment. And this had all the signs of a conversation going nowhere. Maybe they needed to take a break from it.

“We ought to get going,” she said, staring hard into his blue eyes.

“Sure,” he responded, holding her gaze with his own.

Something sizzled in the air between them. The air was suddenly thick and hot and she felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

“Why don’t you grab those binoculars and let’s go take a look at the landscape,” she said, reaching for the door handle and making her escape.

He stayed where he was for a moment, watching her get out of the car and walk over to the railing. This was just plain nuts. He’d never felt so out of control.

He’d always prided himself on being able to stay detached from the women he had relationships with. He was up-front about what could be expected. No one he’d ever dated had cause to complain—and he’d never stayed in one place or with one woman long enough to build up any sort of commitment expectations.

But everything had gone out of whack with Darcy. From the moment their gazes had met in the rainy doorway, it had been as though something were drawing them together. He’d never felt this way before. And now, when she started talking about marrying Bert Lenson … The first thing he’d felt was an ugly urge to go beat the poor guy to a pulp. The thought of another man touching her was like a knife in his gut. He couldn’t stand it. But as of this moment, he had no real claim to her.

Nothing was making any sense.

Swearing softly to himself, he took the binoculars from the glove compartment and left the car to join her at the railing.