The #1 Bestsellers Collection 2011

by Catherine Mann

  And there hadn’t been anyone since then. A fact he wasn’t ready to consider for too long. “You would really cut us off from being together, after the great week we’ve had, just because I want to marry you?”

  “I don’t like being manipulated.”

  A smart man listened, and he’d never been accused of being stupid. “I asked you a simple question, which you answered. I’ll back off.”

  “As long as you understand. I watched my parents live in a loveless marriage. It destroyed them and hurt all of us. Maybe that’s something you can’t grasp.”

  Apparently he hadn’t overplayed at all. She’d just shared a vital piece of information with him. But Jordan also understood that he had pushed as far as he could for one night. He’d won on the dating issue, and that was going well. So he would continue with the dates. Have her sister Cassie add persuasive insights for Brooke. Let the romantic Bahamas work some magic.

  And keep the engagement ring/wedding band set in his pocket ever-ready for use.

  Five

  The Bahamas midday sun baking overhead, Brooke stared out the limousine window and stretched her legs in front of her. The hem of her skirt teased her calves, her whole body hyperaware of the smallest caress ever since Jordan had reawakened every last hungry hormone inside her. Who would have thought a pregnant women could be so sensually focused on a nonstop basis?

  Brooke plucked at her loose peasant blouse, the limo suddenly stuffy. Their morning flight had been early and a bit tiring, but already she could feel the tension seeping from her muscles with each mile closer to seeing her half sister. And how awesome to be away from all the media scrutiny.

  If only her need for Jordan didn’t make her so physically edgy.

  She couldn’t deny that Jordan had come up with the perfect way to spend their weekend. She only wished she could gauge his feelings. The man never gave anything away. He just kept that sexy smile and sleepy-eyed look focused on her, always lightly, teasingly touching her in some way.

  Like now.

  Jordan’s thumb caressed the inside of her wrist. “How do you feel?”

  Oh, if only he knew. She’d entertained the most vivid dreams about him just the night before, her imagination cut loose in sleep to imagine all the things he could do to her body with just his talented touch.

  “I’m fine, just a little tired. But mellow, totally.” She swept a hand to encompass the seaside road leading up to her sister’s estate in an exclusive gated community of stucco homes. “Who wouldn’t be relaxed at a place like this?”

  “You should take it easy,” he said for about the fiftieth time this week, making her wonder if he was avoiding her bed out of concern for her health.

  “It’s not as if I worked this morning. I only flew in an airplane, for goodness’ sake. I even called my doctor before we left to get an official okay to travel. Remember?”

  “I want to meet this guy.” A twitch flicked in the corner of his eye. “Check his credentials.”

  She resisted the urge to go on the defensive. Of course he wanted to interview the physician who would deliver their child. She would feel the same way in his position.

  “Her credentials, and you can come to the next appointment.”

  “That’s it?” His tic stopped. “No arguing?”

  “My family always says I’m the peacemaker type.”

  “Peacemaker.” He frowned. “I would rather you be honest with me than hide your feelings.”

  That sounded too much like the start of a conversation that could steal her deliciously pleasant imaginings of running her hands down his bare, sun-warmed chest. Thank goodness the limo pulled to a stop outside her sister Cassie’s rambling home. She’d seen Cassie often enough since their father’s will was read, but this was the first time Brooke had visited the Bahamas mansion.

  The driver opened her car door, and she swung her legs out. Conversation would have to wait anyway as her sister already waited for her on the front porch, a towering man just behind her—Brandon Washington, Cassie’s fiancé and the Garrison family lawyer.

  Gold-and-green garland framed the entranceway and the couple, reminding Brooke that holidays should be spent with relatives. Cassie had lost not only her father this year, but her mother, as well. Brooke was glad to see that Cassie appeared to be moving past the grief and on with her life.

  If only they could have consoled each other. However, forging a relationship with Cassie had taken all the Garrison siblings time. Brooke resolved to lure Brittany here with her once things settled down after the wedding.

  Jordan’s shadow stretched over her. Was the man able to sense when she even thought the word wedding?

  The realization reminded her how dangerous it might be to indulge her fantasies about Jordan this weekend. She needed to be careful not to wade in over her head with this man, something she feared would be all too easy to do given the magnetic spell he held over her.

  Brooke angled her head back to whisper, “Jordan, do you want to know what would honestly relax me the most right now?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Could you and Brandon make yourselves scarce so I can have some low-key alone time with my sister?”

  Jordan squeezed her shoulder, tormenting her with all the things they shouldn’t do this weekend. “Consider it done.”

  Brooke advanced the rest of the way up the stone stairs, a smile firmly in place, and blessedly she saw nothing but welcome in Cassie’s outstretched arms. She stepped into the hug she had needed so desperately since telling her family about the baby.

  Beside her, she could see the men shaking hands and thumping each other on the back as Brandon extended his congratulations.

  Brooke’s eyes filled with tears, and Cassie pulled back, tut-tutting. “No, no, this is a happy time. Dry up those tears.”

  “Hormones. I can’t help it.” She swiped the back of her hand along her cheeks. “I’m sad, I cry. I’m happy, I cry.”

  “Fair enough, then. Let me look at you while you finish sopping up those tears.” Her sister stepped back, smiling. “Pregnancy most definitely suits you. You’re gorgeous.”

  Brandon whistled low. “Amen to that.”

  Cassie swatted him lightly on the stomach. “You could be a little less enthusiastic in saying that, my dear.”

  The high-powered attorney slung an arm around Cassie’s shoulders and dropped an unabashedly adoring kiss on his fiancée’s cheek. “I’m a one-woman man, and you know it.”

  Cassie softened against him, her marquise-cut diamond engagement ring glinting in the early-afternoon sun. “Just so you don’t forget it.”

  Rings, rings everywhere. Brooke resisted the urge to stomp her foot in frustration.

  It was as if Jordan had special ordered all these engaged couples and their happiness just to tempt her. Instead she felt tormented by the ease in the relationships of her siblings with their loved ones. This was how things should be.

  She was right to stick to her guns about dating rather than jumping into some marriage of convenience.

  Jordan clapped Brandon on the shoulder. “How about you give me a tour of the place while our ladies here talk baby stuff?”

  “Sounds like a plan to me, Jefferies. Let’s start out by the pool house bar.” Their voices drifted on the sea breeze, leaving the sisters alone.

  Brooke reached to hook arms with Cassie, relaxing when her sister seemed to have no problems with the continued affection. “Thank you for welcoming us on such short notice.”

  “It’s no trouble at all.”

  “Are you sure? Our visit is so last minute. We can stay at the hotel.”

  Since the reading of their father’s will, her sister controlled the Garrison Grand-Bahamas nearby.

  “Don’t be silly. I have plenty of room and kept Mother’s staff after she passed. We’re fine.”

  “Okay, then.” Brooke walked alongside her over the threshold into the splendor of Cassie’s home, a busy, wonderful mix of contemporary, col
onial and Queen Anne. “I must admit I welcome the extra time with you. We have a lot of lost years to make up for.”

  “I always thought my life was full here, and my mother truly was okay without the trappings of a wedding ring or marriage certificate.” Cassie’s eyes lingered on a portrait of John Garrison with Cassie’s mother, the bronzed beauty who had held his heart if not his name. “But now that the tension has passed since the reading of our father’s will, I am enjoying having siblings. Of course the big family is nothing new to you.”

  Brooke tore her gaze away from the image of her father and continued with her sister toward glass doors leading outside to a dense garden. “Just because I grew up with brothers and a sister doesn’t mean I value you any less. It just took me a while to see past …”

  “My getting such a large portion of your family’s estate?” Cassie sat on a stone bench near a huge fountain.

  Brooke sagged to sit beside her, the verdant scents from the tropical flowers not strong enough to override the acrid air of betrayal. “Dad lying. You had the truth all those years. We had a lie. That was—still is—hard for me to see past.” She slid her hands protectively over her stomach. “I want my child to have a life filled with the truth.”

  “So you came here for more than a place to prop your feet and sun your face.”

  Her mind crowded with images—that portrait of her father with his other family, so many engagement rings, and largest of all, Jordan’s face coming toward hers for a mind-numbing kiss. “I think perhaps I came here for answers.”

  “Ah, sister dear, the problem is, just because I found a way or your other siblings did for whatever reason, doesn’t mean that’s right for you. Everyone has to find their own path.”

  Which left her with nothing more than a host of questions and two swollen feet. If only life were as simple as tossing a penny into that sparkling fountain so she could wish her world right again. She stared into the bubbling waters, her mind mixing around the images of the portrait, rings—Jordan’s handsome face. Simply the thought of his kiss made her skin tingle all over as if she’d plunged herself into the fountain.

  At this rate, how would she ever manage to resist falling into bed with him?

  Moonlight glistening on the surf, Jordan looped his arm around Brooke’s side and enjoyed the gentle kick of his child against his fingertips. The little one seemed restless tonight.

  And something was up with the baby’s mother, as well. He wasn’t sure what churned around in that beautiful head of hers, but she’d been jittery since they’d arrived. Not the reaction he’d planned for.

  He’d hoped bringing her here would advance his cause. With luck, this midnight walk by the water would calm her and romance her. But he wanted more than romance from her. He wanted commitment. He wanted to plant his ring on her finger the way Cassie Sinclair’s hand sported Brandon’s rock.

  No question, Brandon was one astute dude on a lot of points. Brooke Garrison was a hot pregnant woman.

  Her pink dress with the gauzy wrap draped around her shoulders complimented her new curves. The simple elegance seemed all the more perfect with her bare feet furrowing in the sand. He couldn’t help but notice how her dress tied at the shoulders, simple little strings he could so easily tug and undo …

  Stop. Many more thoughts like that and he would have her ducking behind a dune.

  “How was your time with Cassie?” He thought of all those photos packed in every corner of the house. The outward structure of the place might resemble the South Beach Garrison mansion, but no question, John Garrison had found a home here. It was that element that had been missing from Bonita’s house, even Brooke’s condo. He just hadn’t been able to pinpoint it until now. Could Brooke distinguish the difference?

  “Good. Very good, actually. It’s a journey forming a sister bond once we’re already grown-ups, but we’re definitely well on our way to the friends part.” She kicked her way through the surf. “Cassie’s an amazing person.”

  “All the Garrisons are definitely overachievers.” He leaned in to sniff her neck, catch a hint of her perfume.

  “Is that a compliment?” She tipped her head toward him, then pulled back as if reminding herself she shouldn’t give in.

  What might things be like between them once they got past all the stop-and-start negotiations of this marriage deal? A no-holds-barred Brooke was something he wanted to see.

  “In my book it is.” Their child would probably be a supercharged handful, and yeah, he looked forward to the challenge.

  “Do you ever take vacations? Just pick up and leave all the work behind?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “You’re here because you want to win me over. That’s different.”

  She’d figured that out? He should have realized she would. Still, that didn’t make the effort wasted, especially if it worked. “I’m lucky my job takes me to amazing places. I tag on an extra day to sightsee when I can.”

  “What about after the baby comes?”

  Ah, now he saw where she was going with this, and he liked that her thoughts were finally on the future. “Obviously a child means we’ll both make changes in our lifestyles. I expect that. I look forward to it.”

  Did she trust his answer? He couldn’t tell, and she’d stopped talking so he searched for something to fill the silence that would reassure her. “I did just pick up and leave once, six months after I graduated from college. Emilio and I backpacked across Europe.”

  He hadn’t thought about that awesome month in … Hell, he couldn’t remember when he’d dredged up memories of that time.

  She snuggled closer against his side as they strolled. “You’re really close to your brother.”

  “We are. Always have been since we were kids. And now he’s the only family I have left.” Jordan paused. “Or rather, he was. Now I’ve got this baby—and you.”

  “Sounds like the perfect sort of vacation.”

  “It was great, until …” Crap. He’d meant to dig up pleasant words to soothe her.

  “Until what?” She glanced up at him.

  He settled for, “We went home.”

  “Come on, Jordan.” She squeezed his side. “You’ve heard about me and my father and how painful the past months have been. This sharing thing needs to be a two-way street.”

  The pain of that time kicked over him. The power, even after so many years, surprised him more than a rogue wave. “We came home early because our parents died.”

  She stopped in her tracks, her hands falling to rest on his chest. “Oh, God, Jordan, I’m sorry. I knew they were dead, but I didn’t realize you’d lost them both at the same time. That must have been so difficult for you. How did you lose them?”

  “In a boating accident. Emilio and I came home from Europe and assumed control of the business in Dad’s place.”

  “And you never took a vacation again.” Her eyes glinted with a sympathetic air that made him uncomfortable.

  He wanted to win her over, but not this way. “Like I said, I’m seeing the world on my terms. When the baby comes, I get to make my own schedule because I’m the boss. I promise, the kid will get trips to Disney. Don’t worry.”

  She stared into his eyes and he wondered if she would press him on the issue of his parents. He braced himself.

  Finally, she looked away and started walking again. “So when this baby asks about how Mom and Dad met and decided to start a family, what do we say?”

  Relieved to be off the hook from more emotional topics, he answered with the first thought that popped to mind. “We tell him or her the truth.”

  “The truth?” She snorted on a giggle. “Isn’t that a bit much for a child?”

  “Not the way I see it.” His emotions still too damn raw, he needed—welcomed—the distraction of splaying his hands over her shoulders, sliding them up into her hair. A whiff of her perfume caught on the breeze to tempt him again.

  “How do you see it?” Her words hitched with a be
traying breathiness.

  He stepped closer, skimming against her, each brush a hot temptation. “I would say that I saw a one-of-a-kind woman who knocked me off my feet.”

  Her chest swelled with a gasp, her fuller breasts pressing against him as she leaned. “That’s nice.”

  “Not nice so much as smart. I know special when I see it.” When he felt it. Like now. He soaked in the silkiness of her hair against his fingers.

  Her lashes fluttered closed, then half-open again. “You’re using those stellar corporate boardroom skills on me.”

  “Why is it so difficult for you to trust what I say?” He shoved aside a punch of guilt over the newspaper leak. He had been thinking of her peace of mind.

  “It’s been a tough few months, learning about my father.” She waved a hand in the general direction of Cassie’s house. “Finding out about this other life of his. It can shake a person’s trust, especially when I already had doubts about the whole happily-ever-after gig in the first place.”

  “I can understand that.” That wasn’t what he’d intended in bringing her here, damn it. He worked to steer the conversation back on path. “My parents had a great marriage. I’ve seen how it should work.”

  “They loved each other?”

  “Yes.” The loss squeezed his gut again.

  She stared at him. Waiting. For?

  Hell. She was talking about that L word, or the lack thereof between them.

  He’d promised to be honest with her. He’d been able to go to the press to make things easier for her, but this would be different. He knew that.

  He hooked his hands behind her waist, wishing this could be simpler, wishing they were free to take their time and let the simmering passions and feelings build.

  Then again, would they have ever made time for that to happen if not for the pregnancy? The sand shifted under him as he thought of all he would have missed if he’d stayed away from Brooke Garrison. “Feelings grow over time. We have a lot to build on.”