by Cat Schield
Why was it every time he touched her she came apart? Only the fact that they were on a public beach kept her from surrendering to the sensual light shimmering in his eyes.
“Hello?” a voice called from the entry.
Bella’s heart plummeted when she spied Blake’s ex-wife. For her impromptu visit, Victoria had chosen to wear a pair of wide-legged white linen pants and a sheer white blouse over a lacy camisole. Her long blond hair was fastened into a messy knot atop her head with loose tendrils framing her face. She wore gold sandals with four-inch heels. The look was perfect for a party at the yacht club or demonstrating to your ex-husband how much he was missing.
“Hello, Victoria.” Bella shifted Drew’s weight higher on her hip. “I didn’t realize you were in the Hamptons.”
“I’m staying with Blake’s sister.” Victoria’s perfect lips curved into a smug smile.
It took a second to register that Blake’s ex-wife wasn’t the least bit surprised to see her. “I heard Jeanne rented a house nearby.”
“Just three houses down. We’re neighbors. Isn’t that nice?”
While Bella wondered why Blake had neglected to mention this, Victoria rattled on. “I tried calling him earlier, but got his voice mail, so I thought I’d pop over and invite him out for lunch.”
“He’s down at the beach.”
“Looks like you all were.” For an instant Victoria’s perfectly arched eyebrows came together. “It didn’t take you long after my divorce to break your promise.”
“Blake needed my help.” Bella glanced behind her, wondering where he was. She would appreciate him running interference with his ex. “And the reason I made the promise was no longer valid.”
“I’m still Drew’s mother. We’re still a family.” Except for her initial greeting, Victoria hadn’t paid Drew a bit of attention. Her focus was all on Bella.
Bella bit down on the inside of her lip to keep from firing back at Victoria. No need for the model-turned-actress to know how much Blake had shared about the reasons for his divorce.
“Of course you are.” Bella decided the safest thing to do was change the subject. “How have you been?”
“Just terrible,” Victoria said, her tone turning tragic. “I miss Blake. I made such a mistake leaving him.”
Bella was at a loss for what to say. Last night Blake had held her in his arms, made her come alive. Not once had he mentioned that he’d had dinner with Victoria or that she was staying with his stepsister.
“I’m sure you did what you felt was best at the time,” Bella murmured, grateful that Drew was beginning to fuss so she didn’t have to meet Victoria’s gaze.
“I was afraid. Blake put so much pressure on me to be the perfect mother. He has all these expectations because of what happened with his own mother.”
Curiosity aroused by Victoria’s declaration, Bella pinched her lips together to contain the questions that flooded her mind. Blake’s past was none of her business. But her silence acted to prod Victoria to more revelations.
“He never really recovered from her abandonment. He was only eight at the time. It’s why he expected me to stay at home and spend every waking second with Drew. But that’s not who I am. My career makes me happy.”
“Victoria—” Bella began, only to have the woman interrupt her.
“You can talk to him. You can make him understand that a woman can do both. Have a career and be a mother.”
“I really don’t want to get involved in what’s going on between you and Blake.”
“Aren’t you already involved?” Victoria’s gaze grew laser sharp. “Look at you. Blake and I have been divorced scarcely a few months and you’re already moved into his house and taking care of his son. You’re just one happy little family, aren’t you?”
“I’m Drew’s nanny. That’s it.” Unbidden memories of previous night rose into her mind and Bella felt heat rush into her cheeks.
Victoria’s lips thinned. “You’ve wanted him all along, haven’t you?”
“That’s not true.”
“Sure it is. I knew from the moment Blake introduced us that you would fall for him. A naive little farm girl from Iowa. What a laugh. I should have argued harder for a different surrogate.”
Bella’s breath caught in her throat. Victoria was a better actress than any of them gave her credit for. Bella had had no idea Blake’s ex-wife disliked her so much.
“I don’t think we should be talking about this in front of Drew,” she told Victoria.
The stunning former fashion model regarded her in disgust. “He’s nine months old.”
“He might not understand the words, but he’s sensitive to tone and body language.”
“Fine.” Victoria leaned toward Bella and lowered her voice. “Since you’re so worried about Drew, you’ll want to make sure I only have to say this once. Keep your little crush on Blake to yourself. He and I are meant to be together. That’s the way it is.”
That she made no mention of Drew irritated Bella. “They’re a package deal,” she reminded the other woman. “Blake is devoted to his son. He’s going to expect the woman he marries to be equally committed to Drew.”
“And I suppose you think that’s you?”
Bella was stunned by Victoria’s vehemence. How was it possible that such a beautiful, successful woman could be intimidated by her? “I have no interest in marrying Blake.”
“Why not? It would set you up for life. All your family’s financial problems would be a thing of the past.”
The slap of Victoria’s words loosened Bella’s tongue. “Like you, I don’t want to be a mother.”
“Yet here you are playing one to Drew.”
“I’m his nanny,” Bella repeated, enunciating each word so her message was clear. “Blake needed someone to fill in for a couple months. I needed money for my sister. It’s nothing more than that.”
“Then make sure it stays that way, because if anything you do keeps me from getting him back, I’ll make sure he knows the truth about Drew.”
Instinctively Bella clutched Drew tighter. Her heart jerked in alarm. “That will only hurt your relationship with Blake.”
“Remember the mother who abandoned him? If he finds out you’ve done the same thing to your son, he will hate you forever.”
Bella flinched away from the malice in Victoria’s eyes. “My relationship with Blake is strictly professional. I’m his son’s nanny,” she reiterated. “If he doesn’t want to reunite with you, it will not be because of anything I’ve said or done.” Shaken by her encounter with Victoria, Bella headed for the stairs. “If you’re looking for Blake, try the beach.”
Without another word Victoria marched off, leaving Bella to ascend the stairs on shaky legs. Thanks to their little chat, Bella was no longer certain a summer fling with Blake was a good idea. As tempting as it was to spend the next couple of months getting him out her system, as Deidre had termed it, with Victoria back in the picture and angling for a reunion, Bella was better off returning her relationship with Blake to a professional footing.
While she ran Drew’s bathwater, Bella stripped him out of his sandy attire. Either he was still energized by his time on the beach or Victoria’s hostility had riled him up; whichever was the case, Bella had a heck of a time keeping the sand from scattering all over the bathroom. Once he was seated in the water, splashing happily, she sat down against the wall and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, following Drew’s antics with only half her attention.
It was peaceful sitting here. How many times had she watched her brothers or sisters in the tub? Too many to count.
Bella plucked Drew from the water and wrapped him in a thick towel. Cuddling him against her, she turned toward the door and spied Blake. How long had he been standing there? He’d showered but hadn’t taken time to dry his hair. It had a tendency to curl when it was wet. The sight struck her as adorable, a ridiculous term to use for someone as vigorous and masculine as Blake.
“I�
��m sorry Drew’s bath took so long.” She stumbled over her apology, thrown off balance by his clean scent and penetrating regard. “Give me a second to get him dressed for your lunch with Victoria. Is she still here or are you picking her up?”
“Neither.”
He continued to loom in the doorway, barring her way. Butterflies swirled in her midsection at the way he overpowered the generous space with his strong personality and commanding form.
“But I thought…?”
Blake hooked his free hand around her neck and drew her close. Bella was too startled to avoid the lips that came down to claim hers. Hard and demanding, the kiss stole her breath. She had no choice but to yield to the hunger that surged through her. He devoured her in slow, deliberate strokes of his tongue and lips.
She murmured in protest as he eased back, but the sound of Drew’s babbling reached through the fog of passion that held her enthralled. She twisted away from his kiss.
“Blake.” Her fingers clutched Drew’s towel. “You have to stop doing that.”
“I like doing that.” His voice was flat and emotionless. “I think you do, too.”
She refused to respond to the challenge in his eyes. “We can’t.” She took a hurried step back when she realized her close proximity might be misconstrued as further invitation.
“You were singing a different tune half an hour ago.” He kept his hands to himself, but his hot gaze was just as devastating to her willpower.
“I haven’t been thinking straight for the past twenty-four hours.” Seeing that he wasn’t buying her explanation, Bella hurried on. “You have no idea how charming you can be.”
“I know exactly how charming I can be, but you can’t seriously expect me to believe that’s why you slept with me.”
“I’m attracted to you.” Bella gave him a one-shoulder shrug, but wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I won’t deny I wanted you. But after some more soul-searching, I realized the two of us engaging in a casual romp is just ridiculous.”
“And naturally this has nothing to do with Victoria showing up here today? What did she say to you?”
“She wants you back.” The breath Bella gathered was less steady than she would have wanted. “You, her and Drew are a family. I think you owe it to yourself to give it another try with her.”
“The three of us are not a family. She left us.” The way his own mother had left him.
Bella winced. Convincing Blake he was better off with his ex-wife wasn’t going to be easy. “And she regrets that.”
“Is that what she told you?”
“Yes.”
“What else did she say?”
Here’s where she had not wanted to go. “I told Victoria—and I’m going to tell you—I don’t want to be involved in whatever’s going on between you two.”
“There’s nothing going on.”
“I don’t think your ex-wife sees it that way.”
“I don’t care which way she sees it. The reality is she’s not willing to give up her career to be a mother to Drew.”
“Does she have to? Can’t she do both?”
Victoria had been right about Blake’s expectations. He wanted his wife to surrender everything she was in order to be Drew’s mother. It was one thing if a woman wanted to put her family first, the way that Bella’s mother had. It was something else for a man to insist that she do it.
“Her career isn’t something that Vicky can do halfway. With her last play, I was lucky if she was home before ten at night. And that was before the play opened. She spent at most an hour or two with Drew a week.”
“I would have made a rotten marriage counselor,” Bella grumbled, beginning to see Blake’s point. Both he and Victoria had valid issues. Irreconcilable differences had caused their marriage to end. “Maybe you two can find a way to compromise. Figure out some middle ground.”
“She came by today to tell me she has an audition for a television series in Los Angeles. How are we supposed to be a family if we’re on two different coasts?”
“She invited you to lunch. Why not go and hear her out?”
“Because I already have a date with you.”
At the word date a sensation lanced along Bella’s nerve endings. Excitement? Anxiety? Her emotions were too scrambled for her to distinguish one from the other. The last thing she needed right now was to be seen in public lunching with Blake. How was she supposed to keep Victoria from getting the wrong idea once the gossip began to spread?
“I know I agreed earlier to have lunch with you and Drew, but maybe it’s not such a good idea for us to be seen together like that? People might get the wrong impression.”
“People in general?” he echoed. “Or someone in particular?”
She had no intention of answering him. “Won’t it look odd for you to be seen lunching with the help?”
His mouth twisted with displeasure. “Is it really my reputation you’re worried about, or is it yours?”
“Mine.” The instant the admission left her lips, she wished it back. “You probably think it’s dumb that I value my privacy, but after growing up in a small town where everyone knew your business and having to share a house with seven nosy siblings, I’ve discovered that being anonymous is one of my favorite things about living in New York City.”
Blake regarded her for a long, silent moment before nodding. “Fine. We’ll drive up the coast to a little out-of-the-way place I know. The food is terrific and you won’t have to worry about anyone spotting you with me. Happy?” He sounded anything but.
“Delirious.” She gave the word the same sarcastic spin he’d used, but her insides were dancing with joy. “Give me ten minutes to shower and get dressed.”
“Take twenty. I’ll dress Drew and meet you downstairs.”
*
The second half of June vanished before Blake could tear himself away from East Hampton and return to New York City. He, Drew and Bella had settled into a nice routine.
They ran five miles before breakfast, ate eggs or pancakes, then Bella and Drew went to the beach while Blake worked in his office. They reconnected for lunch and while Drew napped, Blake discovered all sorts of new and interesting ways to make Bella moan. She had a delightful range of impassioned sounds and he was happy cataloging each one.
Once Drew woke, he and Bella would go for a swim and then play until dinner while Blake made calls to New York. They almost never went out. The beach house had become a cozy world for just the three of them. Leaving it would mean confronting reality. And Blake was certain neither he nor Bella wanted to do that.
He suspected his friends were wondering if he’d ever stop turning down invitations. He had little trouble imagining the gossip being exchanged over drinks at the club or shopping in town. His divorce from Vicky had been fast and quiet. He’d kept the reasons for it private, but something as juicy as Victoria Ford having an affair with Gregory Marshall wasn’t something that could remain undiscovered.
His relationship with Bella was too new, too tenuous to survive the curiosity of his social circle. Nor was he ready to share her with anyone. He was enjoying having her to himself far too much.
After a long day at the office, he was glad to head home. The penthouse was a hollow shell without Drew, and he realized how easy it had been to forget his ordinary life in Manhattan and live a fantasy in East Hampton with his son and a woman who was a nurturing caretaker and an outstanding mistress.
Blake stood in the living room, a scotch in his hand, and contemplated Central Park. In another year Drew would be running over the grass with Blake in hot pursuit. He could almost hear his son’s joyful giggles. And the woman who stood by and watched? Bella.
His breath caught. She’d been appearing more and more in his thoughts about the future. He’d pictured quiet dinners with her in the penthouse. Them pushing a stroller around the zoo. Attending Drew’s soccer matches together. It was a very different life than he’d had with Vicky.
“Mr. Ford.” Blake’s housekeeper stoo
d in the arch between the living room and front hallway.
He glanced at his watch. “Is it time for dinner already?”
“No.” She advanced. “I was cleaning out the closet in the third bedroom. Mrs. Ford came by earlier this week and wanted to pick up some things she’d left behind.” Mrs. Gordon paused and looked uncomfortable. “I told her I couldn’t let her in without your say-so, but that I would pack everything up and get it delivered to her.”
“That’s fine.” Blake was about to turn back to contemplating the view when he noticed an envelope in Mrs. Gordon’s hand. “Is there something else?”
“This.” She advanced toward him. “It fell out of a box filled with her old tax records.”
Vicky had always handled her own money. Early in her career, a friend of hers had lost everything when her business manager embezzled from her. Blake had always enjoyed watching his wife sit at her desk and work her financial data. As frustrated as he often became with her frivolous nature, this was one aspect of her personality that he wholeheartedly appreciated.
“What is it?” Blake quizzed, taking the envelope from his housekeeper. It had already been slit open, allowing him to remove the contents.
“It’s a bill from the fertility clinic.” Mrs. Marshall sounded worried.
Blake scanned the statement. It was indeed a bill. One that had only his wife’s name on it. The bottom line was a great deal less than what they’d been told to expect for in vitro fertilization.
Probably because the services rendered had been for artificial insemination instead.
As the import of what he was reading sunk in, Blake felt his stomach drop. Thoughts spinning, he double-checked. Yes, Bella was listed as the patient. But she hadn’t been implanted with fertilized eggs. She’d been impregnated with his sperm.
Drew wasn’t Vicky’s son.
He was Bella’s.
*
With Blake in the city for a few days, Bella decided to take Drew on a tour of some local museums. East Hampton had a rich history that fascinated her. Established in 1648, it was one of America’s earliest settlements. Fishing and farming was the way most made their living until the early part of the twentieth century, when the town began attracting the wealthy as well as artists and writers.
