His answer was a deep, soul shattering kiss that left her wishing they were anywhere but on her father’s steps. When he ended the kiss he growled softly, “It’s a date.”
Could a doctor’s visit be called one? Viviana’s heart fluttered nervously. So far our dates haven’t exactly been conventional, so why not? “I’ll text you the information.”
He nodded. “I had planned on coming back Friday night, but I’ll wrap things up early.” He kissed her lips softly. “I don’t want to go, but I have meetings tomorrow on matters I’ve put off recently.”
“I understand.”
“I’d also like to look at the local real estate. Your apartment is nice, but I’d like our child to have a backyard to play in.”
Our child. Those words never failed to send her mind scrambling to make sense of how her life had forever changed. “You don’t have to—”
“I will provide for my child. That is non-negotiable,” he said with surprising steel in his voice.
Although the opposite reaction would have sickened her, she still had to ask, “And if I said no?”
The steady look he gave her sent a shiver down her spine. It brought back to mind what her father had said about Grant probably not needing a course in how to defend himself. Grant might have been patient and forgiving so far, but who was he when he wasn’t? If a man with his resources turned vindictive how could she possibly protect her family from him?
“Why would you?” he finally asked.
She swallowed hard. “We may not always agree on how to raise this child. What happens then?”
“I’m sure I could bring you around to seeing reason.”
She gurgled on a laugh, then realized he was serious and pulled back from him. “Or I could kick some of that arrogance out of your ass, and we could discuss it like two normal, average, ordinary parents.”
“I’m not a high school boy. You don’t scare me. In fact, I might enjoy that exchange.” The smirk on his face told her exactly where his thoughts had gone. “And I can assure you there would be nothing average or ordinary about it.”
She didn’t want to laugh because it was a serious topic, but she couldn’t help herself. “Or normal.”
“Says the woman who still scares half the men in this town.”
“Are you done?”
He shrugged, still looking far too pleased with himself. “I could be.” He looked for a second as if he were waiting to see if another zinger would come to him. “Yes. That’s it.”
Okay, let him chew on this. “There is a house in town I’m interested in.”
“Fantastic. Send me the information.”
“It’s three blocks from here.”
“Okay.”
“As in my family could walk to it.”
He met her eyes without blinking. “I’m assuming the doors will have locks. Does it have a big yard? Are any homes for sale near it? We could clear an adjoining lot for a playground.”
“Sure we won’t need the whole block?” she suggested sarcastically.
“Would you want that much room?”
She shook her head. The way he spoke about large financial projects as if they were nothing brought home the reality of how wealthy he was. Am I wrong to imagine he sees me as his equal? “Sometimes you scare me.”
“Because you don’t know what I’ll do next?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
She added, “It’s not a good thing.”
His smile widened. “No? On this we’ll have to agree to disagree.” He had that pleased with himself expression on his face again so she let the topic drop. It would have been endearing if it weren’t so vital to figure him out.
Chapter Fifteen
‡
Three weeks later, Viviana was at her desk in her office trailer, smiling even though no one was with her. Grant said he’d end his workday early to take her to dinner. She glanced at the clock on the wall, hating it for running slower than normal that day.
She knew he’d be there at exactly five o’clock. When Grant said he would do something, he did it. When he said something mattered to him, his actions matched his words.
When her first obstetrician’s appointment was moved up to two days after he’d left, she’d been apprehensive to tell him. He’d said he had a busy week ahead of him. He’d planned on seeing her around that schedule. Nevertheless, he’d said he wanted to be there for the first sonogram so she’d called him. Immediately, he’d canceled his meetings and had come back to Cairo. No questions. No hint of irritation.
When she’d asked him if he wanted to go to her first sonogram with her, she’d imagined all it would involve would be a device being run over her stomach. The ob-gyn asked them both an exhaustive number of questions then showed them a wand-like tranducer probe. She explained that the baby would be so small that this was the best way to ensure proper placement of the fetus as well as estimate the due date.
At first she was so embarrassed she couldn’t look at Grant. He took her hand, though, and spoke to her gently as if he knew how vulnerable she felt. As soon as the process started, all embarrassment faded away. Grant was right there with her, squinting at the monitor screen at the hard to decipher tiny crescent shaped image the doctor assured them was their baby.
“You’ll see much more on your next sonogram. I’d like to see you once a month.” The doctor had turned to her computer to input information while she spoke. “Would you like to know the sex? It seems early to ask, but babies grow at remarkable speed. Your little one will be here in a blink of the eye, or at least that’ll be how it feels.”
Blink of the eye? I’m not ready yet. I don’t have a single thing for it yet. Viviana looked to Grant as a mild panic set in. Except him. Grant had a similar overwhelmed expression on his face. The doctor had waved off the reaction and said, “I’ll write that you’re not sure, and you just tell me when you come back. How is that?”
They’d both nodded. To make herself feel better prepared, Viviana had gone out and bought several books about what to expect while expecting. The next day, stating the same reasoning, Grant had bought an office building in town.
A whole building that hadn’t even been for sale. Who does that?
Grant. Grant does that. He said he would create a satellite office here and he did.
Viviana checked the clock in her office again and her smile widened. When he’d started commuting daily from Boston to visit with her and her family she’d thought it would be too much, but the more time she spent with him the more she wanted. Never had Viviana been with a man who was as kind, considerate, or reliable as he was. As soon as she told him about her mother’s foundation, a sizable anonymous donation came in that had changed the lives of several people in the community.
Add in that he was sexy as all hell and determined to get to know her before they had sex again, and what woman wouldn’t have fallen a little more in love with him each day?
There was only one fly in the soup. One concern she couldn’t ignore no matter how she tried to rationalize it away. The more Grant became part of her life, the less he was willing to talk about his family or friends in Boston. Whenever she brought them up, he found a way to change the subject. It was a change from when she first met him, and she didn’t know what it meant, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was important.
He knew everything about her—down to the names of her best friends in elementary school. What do I know about him beyond who he is when he’s with me?
Is there something or someone in Boston he’s running from?
Is it that his family doesn’t approve of me? Are they rejecting our child?
She pushed that thought back because it had the power to sour her otherwise great mood. There’s nothing to worry about. We don’t have to rush. While waiting for our little one to arrive, we have plenty of time to figure each other out.
At exactly five o’clock Grant stepped into Viviana’s office and swung her up in his arms. He l
acked the words to describe how good it felt to return to her. One day soon he intended to end each night loving her and wake each morning to her snuggled to his side. “Hey, beautiful, you ready to go?”
She kissed him boldly and soundly.
He ended the kiss with a regretful chuckle and a mental reminder to his hardening cock that fasting now would be rewarded with a lifetime of feasting. It remained defiantly overeager.
Viviana had offered her couch to Grant again, and despite his frustration, he’d declined a second time. There was an order to things and a reason for that order.
He wasn’t going to marry a woman he didn’t know.
He couldn’t truly know Viviana unless he expanded their relationship beyond how much he wanted to fuck her again. None of his initial concerns had anything to do with their sexual compatibility. No, that box had been the first one checked off.
However, he’d also wanted to see her with her family.
With her friends.
When she was happy, angry, sad.
He wasn’t a short-term investor. Once he committed it would be for life. Over the last few weeks she’d exceeded his expectations and surprised him again and again.
He’d expected to be amused by her, but she could tell a story even better than her brothers. He’d never laughed as much as he had with her.
He knew she was good with people, but he hadn’t realized how good until he’d seen her in action. Watching her crack the whip then offer carrots of encouragement gave him a whole new respect for how smoothly her father’s company ran. Small problems didn’t have time to grow into larger ones because she nipped them in the bud. He understood now why she was both adored and respected by the workers. It wasn’t out of deference to her father or brothers. If an argument ensued between two of the crew, she marched out of her office to address it. She could intimidate men twice her size then leave them smiling and smitten when she walked away. He wished his executive staff had half her team management skills.
Grant had never considered himself a people person, but he could listen to her for hours and walk away wishing they’d had more time. His original plan had been to work in the city all week and see Viviana only on the weekends. Being invited back early to attend her first sonogram had been such a relief that he’d given up on the idea of taking things slowly with her. Sometimes even the most careful planner had to leap when his instincts told him to.
As predictable as a sunrise? Not anymore.
I don’t want to go back to that life. I want this—with her.
“I have a surprise for you,” he murmured. “A present.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” she said as she checked his hands to see if he was holding anything.
“I know, but I wanted to.” He laughed at the child-like excitement in her eyes.
“Do you have it on you?”
“No.”
“Give me a hint. Living or non-living?”
“I’m not saying. How will it be a surprise if you guess what it is?”
“My family never did surprises. Come on, just a little hint.” She ran her hands up the front of his jacket, but he caught them with his before they reached his breast pocket. Although it wasn’t what he was referring to, he didn’t want her to feel the ring box.
“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late. It’s my turn to cook.”
She laughed. “You mean your private chef’s turn.”
He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Your family says it counts.”
“It’s cheating.” Her eyes were dancing with the delight of teasing him.
“So is ordering pizza, but we eat it every fifth night.”
Her mouth opened and shut without a word coming out. When a little line appeared between her eyebrows he knew he’d won. “Okay, cough up the surprise. I can’t take it anymore.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Not yet. Grab your purse. I can’t be late.”
She did, then linked hands with him as they exited the trailer together. “You should give me three chances to guess it.”
He pretended to consider it. “In exchange for what?”
Instantly her cheeks reddened and her voice turned breathless. “What would you want?”
Images of her on her knees taking him deeply in her mouth flashed through his mind, but he shoved them back. Just as quick, his accommodating psyche recreated vivid images of how she’d clung to him as he’d pounded into her. He nearly changed his mind and dragged her back into the trailer, but he’d put a lot of effort into making sure the evening would go smoothly.
He had the ring.
He’d invited her family.
They knew where and at what time to meet them.
All that was left was to give her the surprise, give her the ring, and set a date.
He opened the passenger side of his car and picked a folder off the seat. He took it with him after closing her door and walking around to his. Once inside, he tapped the folder on the steering wheel a few times as he considered showing her the contents. “I also have something for your family, but I’m not one hundred percent certain they’ll like it.”
Perhaps it was the seriousness of his tone that brought the look of concern to her eyes. “Do you want me to look at it first?”
Although he appreciated her offer, he tucked the folder on the side of his seat and shook his head. Yes, Viviana had added light and color to his life, but he didn’t want to have the same relationship with her family that he had with his. He wanted to be as real with them as he was with her.
Being himself was something he had never comfortably done in Boston. Here, he didn’t have to be perfect. Things made sense, and people said what they thought. It wasn’t the emotional minefield he was tired of navigating with his own family. At first he’d felt guilty about answering his siblings’ phone calls with brief texts, but giving himself time away from them was freeing.
With Viviana and her family he’d found what he hadn’t known he’d craved—a place where he could be himself. He was excited to finally have a tangible way of showing them what they meant to him.
Go big or go home.
Chapter Sixteen
‡
Viviana was confused when they drove past her father’s home and kept going. She almost said something, but Grant was obviously taking her somewhere else, and wherever it was he couldn’t hide his excitement about it. He glanced at her several times, each time his smile growing wider.
“You have no idea where we’re going, do you?”
“I don’t.”
“I’m impressed with your family’s ability to keep a secret.”
“What did you bribe them with?”
“I may have promised to lend your brothers my Spider.” They pulled over to the side of the road. “But I couldn’t have finished without their help.” He stopped, then added, “Actually, I could have, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.”
His smile was so bright, so mesmerizing, that rather than look around she simply smiled back at him. She was more excited by the idea that he’d spent time planning something with her family than she could possibly be over wherever they were going. “You’re crazy if you let my brothers drive so much as your lawnmower.”
“I don’t own one of those. At least, I don’t think I do.”
“Uh huh. Well, after my brothers are done with your car, you may not own a Spider either.”
“Viv?”
“Yes?”
“Stop talking and look behind you.”
She turned in her seat and looked out her window. The front of the house she’d told him she was interested in buying was freshly painted, and its yard was beautifully landscaped. What caught and held her attention, though, was her father and brothers sitting on the porch waving at her. “What are they doing there?” The answer came to her in a whoosh. “Did you buy the house?”
“No, you and I did. We bought the houses around it, too, but I thought it’d be too obvious if I started demolish
ing them. It was hard enough to renovate the inside without you noticing.”
“You renovated the inside? In a couple of weeks? That’s impossible.”
He shrugged. “It’s funny what becomes possible if you throw enough money at it.”
She was happy and scared in equal amounts. “That’s a fast renovation.” And a fast step in our relationship. One I’m not sure I’m ready for.
He took her hand in his. “I want to live with you in that house. I want to raise our children there.”
“Children? We’re only having one.”
“I’m sure we’ll want more. I come from a large family. You’re one of three. Money’s not a problem for us so we could have a dozen if we wanted.”
“A dozen?” Her head started to spin as panic rose within her. “That sounds—” Frightening. Exhausting. Crazy.
“Wonderful, doesn’t it?” he finished for her.
“Actually—”
“Viviana Sutton”—he took a box out of his breast pocket and flipped it open, revealing a huge diamond solitaire—“will you—?”
“Let’s take a minute to think about this first.” She snapped the box shut. Oh, my God. Oh. My. God.
He gave her a long look then slowly opened the box again. “It’s an engagement ring,” he said, as if there was a possibility she’d confused it with something else. “The last three weeks have been amazing. We fit. We enjoy each other. Marry me. We’ll make us official and our baby will be a Barrington.”
Reason battled with euphoria. The diamond dwarfed any she’d seen in person and flashed like a lit-up stop sign. “This is so fast.”
“The best way to miss an opportunity is to hesitate instead of acting.”
She hugged herself and glanced again at her family on the porch of the home he’d bought for her. It would be so easy to say yes, but if they made a mistake now, it wasn’t just them who would pay the price. “I don’t know. I need to think this through.”
“What is there to think through? Name the obstacle and I’ll remove it.”
With her heart thudding wildly, she searched his face. He was sincere. But— “What does your family think of us getting engaged?”
More Than Love Page 17
