Her Secret, His Heir (The Diamond Club Book 11)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Melanie laughed with him. “She’s a smart woman.”

  “Don’t I get a bit of credit for calling her?” he asked as he relaxed into the chair beside her bed.

  “No. You are too confident already. I’m not giving you any more credit.” They sat there talking back and forth, teasing and laughing, and it felt good, Melanie thought. Alexander nursed again, and she realized that she’d started thinking of their son with that name. They still hadn’t agreed on a last name, but that was a battle for another day.

  When she started to drift off, he took Alexander out of her arms. “Sleep, Mel. I’ll be right here with Alex.”

  She fought the need to sleep, but she was too wiped out after the trauma of the day. “What if he…

  “If he wakes up and is hungry, I’ll wake you up. You need to sleep when he sleeps,” he told her and turned to close the blinds. Before he turned around, Melanie was sound asleep.

  Chapter 13

  “I’m scared,” she whispered as she looked down at Alex in her lap. They’d named him Alexander Michael Larsden-Hughes, a compromise on the last name. It was a mouthful, but Melanie was convinced from his lusty cries and demands for feeding that he could handle a big name.

  “What are you afraid of?” he asked, touching her shoulder gently.

  She looked up at him, noticing that he’d touched her a lot over the past three days while she’d been in the hospital. He hadn’t kissed her again, not after that first time. But he touched her in different ways. Just a touch to the shoulder, helping her walk down the hallway to exercise her sore muscles, kissing her hand or her fingers, rubbing her back when he helped her sit up or sit down.

  Thankfully, he hadn’t been around when the nurse suggested a shower. She’d bet that he would have offered to help her with that as well. Not that she would have allowed it, but he would have enjoyed watching her blush while she argued against his assistance.

  “I’m terrified of bringing him home. What if I get into an accident? What if…”

  “Melanie, I bought a new SUV, just for this,” he glanced behind him with a shake of his head, “as well as something big enough to carry all of the flowers and presents home with us.” He chuckled. “Between your parents and mine, we’ll have to buy a new house for everything.”

  She gasped. “Oh no!”

  “What?” he demanded, motioning for the person pushing the wheelchair to stop.

  “The crib! I haven’t put it together yet! I didn’t…”

  “Relax, Mel. Jake and my dad built it two days ago. Between Chloe, your mother, and my mother, everything is ready. There is a closet full of diapers, your fridge is filled up with easy meals, and there are more flowers than the royal garden. Trust me.” he soothed.

  She relaxed. Sort of. What did he mean when he said “we” and “us”? He sounded as if he were planning to be with her during the next few days. Or longer?

  Correction, she knew exactly what he wanted, but she wasn’t marrying him. He wanted to marry her because of the baby, and because he thought that kids should have two parents. No doubt, a two parent family was better. But she wasn’t going to pretend to be married to a man when he didn’t love her. She simply wasn’t that good of an actress. Nor could she marry a man who didn’t trust her.

  It was confusing and she was just too nervous about getting Alex home safely. She’d deal with Jackson later, she promised herself.

  “Ready?” he asked softly.

  “Not really,” she replied honestly.

  A deep chuckle told her that he appreciated her honesty. “I’ll take it slow and easy,” he promised. He took their son out of her arms and settled him in the car seat, strapping him carefully.

  “You traded in your Mercedes?” she asked, stunned. She knew he loved the powerful, high-end vehicle.

  “No.”

  “But…?”

  “I bought this one, but I still have my other car. I got you a new one as well,” he told her. “A smaller SUV, but one with more room that will be easier to get Alex in and out of.”

  “You traded in my car?” she asked, shocked and not sure how she felt about that.

  “Nope. One of the parents at the plant sale last week drove your car home and I put the keys in your kitchen. You can trade that one in and get cash for it and accept the SUV I bought you, or you can let it rot in the driveway. I’d rather you drive the safer vehicle, but it’s up to you.”

  With that, he scooped her up and carried her to the passenger seat of the big, black SUV that probably cost more than her whole house! The soft leather cushioned her sore body, but that comfort only lasted for a moment because he wasn’t finished. He leaned in to secure her seatbelt, shocking her with his intimate touch. When she was secure, he pulled back only slightly, resting his strong hand on her knee, the warmth seeping into her body.

  When he pulled into her driveway, she heard Alex starting to squawk, needing to be fed. With a sigh of relief, she started to jump out of the SUV, but her incision stopped her and she gasped at the pain the sudden movement caused.

  Jackson immediately understood what she was doing. “Melanie, wait! Hold up and I’ll help you out.” She waited for him to come around to the other side of the vehicle. With seemingly little effort, despite the extra weight she’d put on during her pregnancy, Jackson lifted her out of the vehicle, carrying her into the house. “You’re going to need help with the stairs too. So just wait here and let me get Alex inside, then I’ll help you up the stairs.”

  Melanie watched with an aching heart as he carefully lifted the car seat out of the SUV, and carried their son into her small house. She was grateful that he hadn’t insisted on going to his place, even though he had a lot more room and it would have been more convenient. There were even servants’ quarters in his house, although he didn’t have any live in servants – just a maid that came in once a day to cook and clean for him and a lawn maintenance service that took care of the outside.

  But instead, he brought them back to her house.

  Was that significant? She didn’t know how or why, but it felt important.

  “You okay?” he asked when he turned around with Alex in his car carrier to find her at the bottom step of her porch.

  “I’m fine,” she assured him. But even so, he carried Alex into the house, then picked her up instead of helping her walk up the porch stairs. “I’m going to have to do that myself, you know,” she said, lingering on the removal of her hand from his shoulder.

  “I know, but you’re letting me do it for now, and I’m enjoying it.”

  She rolled her eyes, her hands slipping down over her still round stomach self-consciously. “You can’t be enjoying all of this. I’m going to break your back, Jackson.”

  He pulled back, looking down at her with surprise. “Melanie, are you under the impression that you’re not the most beautiful woman in the world?”

  She tried to pull away but his hands tightened on her upper arms. “I’m not beautiful, Jackson. I’m huge and…”

  “Stop, Mel. You’re gorgeous. As for your weight, you just had a baby! Give yourself time to recover. You’ll lose the weight without a problem.”

  She stared up at him. “What if I can’t?”

  “Then you’re not going to obsess about it, because I want you no matter what.”

  She saw the sincerity in his eyes and held her breath. But she couldn’t trust him. She couldn’t believe in him ever again.

  “I need to feed Alex,” she said, pulling away and walking over to the car carrier where little hands and feet were wiggling in the air.

  “Welcome home, little man!” she cooed softly. She laughed, thinking that he was excited. Yes, intellectually, Melanie knew that he was too young to be able to smile. He just didn’t have the muscles in his face yet to create a smile. But she sensed his excitement as well as his confusion at the new environment. When she stood up with him in her arms, her incision hurt only slightly. Turning, she found Jackson watching her with a look in he
r eyes, another look that she couldn’t…or wouldn’t…interpret.

  She turned and walked into her tiny family room. Moments later, she found Jackson right beside her with the nursing pillow, ready to help her sit down and feed their son.

  And so it went. Over the next few weeks, Jackson was there all the time. He slept at his own house, but he didn’t leave until about midnight, giving her time to sleep during the early evening. He was back at her house before six o’clock, helping her with Alex in the early morning. He gave her time to sleep and ensured that she ate meals, which she would have given up because she was so incredibly wiped out.

  Even better, both of them took Alex for a long walk every day. The exercise accomplished several things. She got out of the house, which gave her some fresh air and helped put life back into perspective. Without him to encourage her to get out of the house, Melanie knew that she would have fallen into post-partum issues. She was already beating herself up for failing Alex, even though he was thriving and growing and even smiling already. But the hormones surging through her body after giving birth weren’t kind to her psyche. Getting out into the warm sunshine helped enormously. It also helped her lose the baby weight.

  But the last thing their walks did was to get the three of them out of the way so that a cleaning team could come in and clean, straighten up, make meals for the next twenty-four hours and…well, just make life a whole lot easier for a new mother.

  Of all the things he did for her, having a clean house and not needing to worry about meals was the best part of her day. So not only did she come back from her walks with Jackson and Alex refreshed and feeling better with the new endorphins rushing through her bloodstream, she came back to a clean, newly organized house. It was…magical.

  Chapter 14

  Melanie was going to kill him!

  Jackson might be wonderful, but she was still going to kill him

  Staring at the counter, she couldn’t miss the ring that was sitting there. Staring at her. Mocking her.

  It was a beautiful diamond ring. The diamond glittered in the summer sunshine, seeming to wink at her. Mock her!

  “Are you going to try it on? See if it fits?”

  Melanie turned away from the beautiful ring, grabbing something out of the fridge. “No,” she snapped, turning away and trying to walk through to the family room. But Jackson was there, holding Alex in his arms and blocking her path.

  “Why not?”

  “Because!”

  “Because you’re being stubborn, Mel. Put the ring on. See if you like it.”

  Rubbing her forehead, she glanced down and realized she’d pulled out a bottle of mustard from the fridge. Mustard? Huh?

  “I love the ring. The style isn’t what bothers me.”

  “Tell me what it is that bothers you. We can work this out.”

  She shook her head. Looking up at him, she let the tears fall from her lashes. “I’m too tired to fight you, Jackson.”

  With a groan, he pulled her into his arms, cradling her against one shoulder and Alex on the other. “Talk to me Mel. What are you fighting?”

  She sniffed, trying to fight the tears. But she was just…she was worn out. Too many touches. Too many long nights of too little sleep. She was exhausted and beaten down. Alex was the love of her life, but he was…exhausting.

  “I love you,” she burst out, the tears falling uncontrollably. “I loved you months ago and then you rejected me without explanation. More than that, you didn’t listen, you threatened me, and you cut me out of your life, without even….Then you came back and you’re just as wonderful as before that horrible day. But…”

  “But what?” he asked, pulling back so he could look into her eyes. “But?”

  She sniffed, hating that her face was probably all blotchy from crying while he looked handsome and amazing and virile and just…it wasn’t fair!

  She looked up at him, her lashes wet with tears. “But what if something else happens that you don’t like? Are you going to leave me again?”

  He sighed and leaned his head closer to hers, tightening his arm around her waist. “Mel, I’m so sorry!” He kissed the top of her head. “Let me put Alex on his blanket and then I want you to listen to me.”

  She nodded, thinking it was time to have this out. Not talking about their issues hadn’t worked. But she was pretty sure that talking things through wouldn’t help either. But she loved the way he carefully put Alex onto his back and set the arched toy holder over their little man’s head.

  When Jackson came over to her again, he took her hands in his and led her over to the sofa, close enough to watch Alex play.

  “Melanie, when I saw you hugging your brother, my mind sort of…exploded. I’d never experienced jealousy before.”

  She looked at him, not sure she believed him. “Never?” she asked.

  “Never. Women would come and go, but I thought that was fine. Until I met you. And you blew me away.”

  That sounded nice. But…“So if I was so important to you, why did you reject me?”

  His fingers tightened around hers. “Because you were so important.”

  She blinked, shaking her head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  He sighed, rubbing his face as he fidgeted with one of Alex’s toys. “It does if you consider where I’ve come from.”

  “Jackson, your parents are a wonderful loving family. You…”

  “I’m talking about business. When my brother was at MIT and I was a Harvard, he developed a video game program that was…” he shook his head. “Well, it was leaps ahead of the competition. I promised to take his product to market and set us up in business. Jake is brilliant at computer technology, but I’m the business guy.”

  Melanie knew all of this, but she didn’t understand why it was relevant. “What does this have to do with us?”

  “Everything. In an odd way.” He searched for the right words, trying to explain. “When I first launched Jake’s product into the marketplace, there were a lot of people who tried to take advantage of my inexperience. But the one thing they didn’t understand was that my brother and I both had my father’s influence growing up. He’s one of the most successful bankers in the world. The man can see issues coming ten steps ahead of his competition. And that’s exactly how it should be. Business is basically a game of chess. The leaders place their pieces strategically, then wait for their plan to win.”

  Melanie listened, but she wasn’t sure she understood his point. “And you’re…?”

  “I’m an excellent chess player. I manipulated things to our advantage, all legally and ethically, but I trapped the people that were trying to trap me, trying to steal my brother’s product. I had to think logically. I had to maintain a strategic advantage over every competitor or all of my brother’s hard work would have been for nothing.”

  Yeah, she got that he was good at business. His company was amazing and had disrupted the tech industry. They were leaders in the tech world and on top of the gaming industry. But she still didn’t understand what that had to do with him not trusting. “So…you’re saying that you’re good at business? I already knew that.”

  His thumb rubbed over her knuckles. “Yes. I’m very good at business. What I’m not good at is emotions.”

  Melanie stared as he tugged at a soft giraffe that Alex was trying to put into his mouth. The little guy was holding onto it with his hands, mouth, and both feet.

  “So, you had emotions and…I’m still not understanding.”

  He looked over at her. “What happens when you are tired and the kids in your class are out of control?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t let them get out of control. I have ways of keeping them engaged so that they don’t get out of hand.”

  “Exactly. That’s what I do with business. I keep control. I have methods I employ that help me maintain my control. I never allow emotions get in the way of a decision. When that happens, I lose. Everyone loses. My brother loses, the employees that work
for me lose. I won’t let that happen.”

  She was starting to understand, but understanding wasn’t going to help them here. “So you’re saying you’ve abandoned all emotions.”

  He shook his head. “I thought I had. I thought I was in control.” He was watching her carefully. “And then you walked into my office talking about tomatoes and worms and art classes.”

  She swallowed, a sadness creeping in on her. “And you started to feel things.”

  “Exactly. I fell in love with you. But I didn’t know it until….well, until recently. All I knew months ago was that you’d cheated on me.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to argue with him. “I know. You didn’t cheat on me. But that’s what I thought. That’s all I could see. I walked in on you telling your brother that you were in love and I couldn’t think rationally. I couldn’t think strategically. I felt a fury unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.”

  She blinked back the tears. “So you banished me. Because I made you feel emotions.”

  He abandoned Alex’s giraffe and took her hand, squeezing it gently until she looked up into his eyes. “Melanie, I didn’t push you away. I punished myself.”

  She blinked, obviously trying to understand him, but failing. “There’s a difference?”

  “Yes. A big one, actually.”

  She still didn’t understand. “Jackson, all I know is that you were supposed to show up and you didn’t. Instead you ignored me. When I tried to contact you, I was threatened with legal action.”

  “I know,” he sighed, and pulled her into his arms. For the first time since he’d seen her at the plant sale, she didn’t resist. He counted that as a victory. “You threw me, Mel. I was so lost in the way I felt about you, about how you made me feel, that I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you. And since I’d never experienced jealousy before, I didn’t understand what it was. As a guy, I can’t fix something I don’t understand. And I couldn’t confront it either. So the only thing I could do was push away the one thing that mattered to me as punishment for feeling those emotions. Emotions that threatened my family, my brother, and my whole company.”