by Leanne Banks
Abe shrugged. "He was a tough guy. He helped advance the company during a time when more companies were failing than thriving." He paused while his son digested his words. "It was still my choice to pursue my military career. The consequences of that choice are my responsibility and no one else's."
"So why did you have Nicola call to arrange lunch?"
"I wanted some time with my son before I leave for Washington."
Ian nodded his head slowly. "Good enough."
Abe knew he hadn't answered all his son's questions, but he sensed a slight unbending toward him that made his chest feel less tight.
"But what's really on your mind?" Ian asked, taking a bite of his own steak.
Abe stared at his son in consternation. "I just told you—"
Ian waved his hand. "I'm not talking about you and me and lunch. I'm talking about what had you distracted a few minutes ago."
Abe approved his son's keen observational skills. No wonder Ian was so successful. He rubbed his lip, considering whether he should discuss his concerns with his son. A strange prospect, he thought, but his son had grown into a strong man, a trustworthy man. He felt a surge of pride. "I want Nicola to come to Washington with me. She insists she's not interested. I'm stumped."
Ian took a swallow of coffee. "Do you want her on staff?"
Confused, Abe wrinkled his forehead. "Of course. How else?"
Silence followed and Ian cleared his throat. "I didn't know if you had a more personal interest in her."
"She's too young," Abe immediately said.
Ian nodded, but said nothing.
"She should find someone her own age."
Ian remained silent.
"It would be incredibly foolish for a man my age with my less-than-stellar history with romantic relationships to get seriously involved with a woman almost twenty years younger than I am."
Ian glanced away then met his gaze dead-on. "But do you want her?"
His son's direct question hit him like a lead pipe. He took a moment to catch his breath.
Ian shrugged. "It's none of my business, but it seems to me that if you meet a woman who makes your world turn, then you shouldn't pass up the chance of keeping her in your world. No disrespect intended, but you're not getting any younger. If you want Nicola like I wanted Kate, then you'd better go after her full throttle. Or you'll regret it the rest of your life."
Abe looked at his son, torn between surprise at his son's directness and amusement at his predicament. "When did you turn into such a blunt, bottom-line man?"
Ian met his gaze and a whisper of a grin lifted his lips. "It's hereditary."
* * *
Summoned to his highness's inner sanctum with a crisp, perfunctory request via Crofthaven's paging system, Nicola walked toward his office. She knew Abe had met Ian for lunch today and probably still had his nose out of joint over her calling his children on his behalf without his knowledge. Fine, she told herself. She hated it when Abe was displeased with her, but maybe in some crazy way, his anger would make it easier for them to part. Her heart twisted at the thought. Sometimes it was still hard for her to believe she was pregnant. Until the intermittent nausea or need for a nap hit her. When she thought about raising a child by herself, she fought the surge of panic and told herself she could do it. She would do it.
Mentally girding herself, she lifted her hand to knock on his office door just as it was whipped open. Abe closed the space between them, took her hand and tugged her inside the office, pushing the door closed behind her. He lowered his mouth to hers for a lingering kiss and pulled back. "Thanks for interfering."
Her heart racing, she blinked at him in surprise. "What?"
He lifted his lips in a heart-stopping smile and the sensual glint in his eyes produced the effect of melting her. "Thanks for interfering. I had lunch with Ian today. It was good."
Nicola felt her chest expand in relief. She hadn't realized she'd been so tense. "I'm glad." What an understatement. She was thrilled and wanted to know more. "What did you talk about? Did he ask sticky questions?"
"We talked about several things, and yes, he did ask some sticky questions, but it went well." He paused and chuckled. "I was surprised at how much like me he can be. Never would have thought it."
She heard the pride in his voice and smiled. "Chip off the old block?"
"I wouldn't go that far," he said. "I'm glad Ian didn't have my learning difficulties. One thing I made damn certain was that the kids got tutors if they needed them."
Nicola felt a lump in her throat. "You told Ian about your learning disability?" she asked, surprised.
Abe lifted his hand and shook his head. "Not specifically. I told him I wasn't a good student."
"Close enough for now," she said and felt her heart squeeze tight. If she couldn't share Abe's life, then she wanted him to have a better relationship with his children. "I've wanted this for you for a long time."
He met her gaze. "I've wanted you for a long time," he said in a low, rough voice.
Nicola's heart stopped in her chest. Her throat turned dry. "We agreed that we should keep our relationship professional. You'll be leaving."
Abe shook his head and closed the space between them. "You agreed. I didn't. And if I have anything to say about it, you'll be going to Washington with me."
* * *
Two days later, Nicola felt as if she were playing dodgeball with Abe. For every step she took away from him, it seemed he took two toward her. He'd invited her to dinner three nights in a row. She'd successfully avoided him the first two, but since she had accompanied him to an appearance that ran late, she had no valid excuse tonight.
Despite the fact that the trendy, romantic restaurant was packed, Abe tipped the host an extra twenty and she and he were seated at a lovely corner table with a view of the water.
"What can I get you to drink?" the waiter asked.
"Wine?" Abe asked.
Nicola shook her head. No more drinking for her. Alcohol wasn't good for growing babies. "Water. I'm very thirsty tonight."
A few minutes later, the waiter took their food orders. Nicola went with grilled chicken and vegetables. No seafood until she could remember which fish had too much mercury. She'd skimmed an article, but couldn't remember the exact details.
"I'm surprised you didn't get the tuna. Isn't it one of your favorites?" Abe asked.
He'd noticed. The knowledge sent a tiny forbidden thrill. She shrugged. The prospect of eating tuna made her stomach turn. "I'm in the mood for something different."
Abe nodded and reached for her hand, surprising the stuffing out of her. He'd always been careful to avoid public displays of affection. "What are you doing?" she asked and tried to pull her hand back.
"I'm holding your hand. What's the problem?" he asked, still holding her hand in his.
She glanced around. "What if people are looking?"
"Then they'll know the truth," he said in a voice so calm it made her nuts. "We have a personal relationship."
"No, we don't," she whispered, then corrected herself when she saw Abe's lifted eyebrow. "Yes, we do, but we don't need to share it with the world."
"Don't you think you're overreacting? I'm just holding your hand, not going at it with you in the coat closet, although…" His voice trailed off, suggesting he wouldn't mind doing all kinds of things with her in the coat closet.
Feeling heat rise to her cheeks, Nicola grabbed her glass of water and took a gulp. Spying the waiter heading toward them with bread and salads, she jerked her hand away from his. "Behave," she told him in as stern a voice as she could manage.
After the waiter served the salads, Nicola took a deep breath to calm herself and picked up her fork to take a bite of salad. She felt Abe's hand on her leg just above her knee and her fork fell from her hand, clattering to her plate.
Staring at him in amazement, she put her hand over his to remove it. "What is with you?"
He turned his hand over and laced his fingers throu
gh hers, and the tender gesture disconcerted her.
"I miss you," he said, holding her gaze.
Her heart stopped and she could hardly bear to look at him. She would have to leave him. She couldn't continue leading him or herself on. She bit her lip. "How can you miss me? I haven't gone anywhere."
"Yes, you have. I know you have feelings for me. Why are you avoiding me?"
Because I don't deserve you. Because I'm pregnant. Because if the truth came out, it could hurt you and I never ever want to do that. "I told you that since you're leaving, I thought it would be easier on both of us if we backed away from so much—" Wonderful sex. Spending so much time with you that it makes me only want to be with you more. She broke off and cleared her throat "—personal interaction," she finally said.
"I disagree," he said in a gentle voice that possessed an underlying firmness that she'd learned meant he wasn't budging. "I think we should make the most of the time we have left. Especially if you're not coming to D.C. But for the record, Nicola, I will do my best to change your mind."
Nicola saw the rock-hard determination in Abe's eyes and knew she was in big trouble.
* * *
Three
« ^ »
In the limousine, Nicola's cell phone rang as she went over notes for the speech Abe would give to the businessmen's association in approximately twenty minutes. "Sorry. Excuse me just a moment," she said to Abe and pulled her phone from her purse.
"Miss Granville. Carolyn Hopkins returning your call about the furnished town house on King Street
. It's still available, and I'll rent it month to month with a substantial deposit."
"Oh, that's fabulous. How soon can I move in?"
"It's ready now. Already been cleaned."
"I'll take it," Nicola said.
"Move," Abe echoed, his voice oozing surprise and displeasure. "When did you decide to—"
Nicola bit her lip. She hadn't exactly figured out how to tell Abe she was moving out, but she'd decided moving was necessary. It was too difficult trying to keep the secret of her pregnancy from him twenty-four hours a day. It was too difficult resisting him twenty-four hours a day. She'd been hoping for something nonconfrontational and cowardly like an e-mail. "Thanks so much. I'll stop by tomorrow with the deposit. Bye for now." She disconnected and turned back to the speech. "I think this group will be especially interested in your stand on tax breaks for small business and—"
"Why in hell are you moving?" Abe interrupted. "And when were you planning to tell me? After you'd left? Via e-mail?"
Nicola winced. Sometimes it was very inconvenient the way Abe could see straight through her. "I'm moving because it's not necessary for me to be at Crofthaven any longer. If you recall, the reason I originally moved to Crofthaven was because we were working sixteen hours a day and I was tempted to sleep in my car instead of driving home." She saw him open his mouth and surged onward. "Things are different now. We're not moving at a frantic pace anymore."
"I thought you liked Crofthaven."
Her heart twisted. How could she not love a home so steeped in family history when her longest stay at a foster home was eighteen months as a teenager? "I do. The history and elegance of it, and it's beautiful for the holidays."
"So what's the rush to leave?" he asked, studying her.
Nicola resisted the urge to squirm. "I just don't think it's appropriate for me to stay at Crofthaven now that the election is over. I don't think it looks right."
He shook off her explanation. "Crofthaven is huge. And it's not as if you're staying in my bedroom or I'm staying in yours," he said, his eyes glinting with heat and the barest hint of challenge.
She felt a rush of warmth at the flood of images that raced through her mind. True, she thought. She and Abe hadn't spent a lot of time in her bed or his. Their lovemaking had been more spontaneous. More than once, they had sexually combusted in his office, and there'd been that time in the limo. Her mouth went dry at the sensual memory. She picked up her bottle of water and took a long, cool swallow.
The limo thankfully pulled to a stop in front of the hotel hosting the businessmen's association meeting. "Oh, look at that. We're here already." She scrambled to gather her material.
Abe covered her hand with his. "Nic, what's going on? You're not acting like yourself."
Her heart hammered in her chest and she reminded herself that despite the fact that Abe seemed to be able to read her like a book, he did not have an internal sonogram and could not know she was pregnant unless she told him. "It's just a different stage in the project. The campaign has wound down and you're gearing up for your move to Washington. I'm taking some time to assess my options." There, she thought, that sounded calm and businesslike.
Abe looked at her for a long moment, then chuckled and shook his head. "Bull." He lifted her hand to his mouth. "You're running. I wonder why."
Her breath hitched in her throat. You don't want to know. Trust me, you don't want to know. "The only running we're doing right now is running late," she said, pulling her hand from his and tapping her watch. "We need to get inside for the meeting."
Nicola scooted inside the hotel to make sure everything was in order for Abe's arrival then returned with a representative from the businessmen's association to greet Abe and accompany him to the ballroom where he would speak.
As soon as Abe walked through the doorway, the speaker at the podium stopped. "Ladies and gentlemen, there's our new senator. Abraham Danforth."
The crowd erupted in applause, rising to their feet. Nicola felt a swell of pride for Abe's popularity. He'd worked hard and he'd earned the respect of the people.
"This could go to my head," Abe murmured to her as he smiled and waved. "If I didn't have you around to keep me on the ground."
Nicola's heart twisted. "You don't need the ground, Abe. You're flying."
For a sliver of an instant, he looked as if he was going to argue, but then he seemed to remember he was on the job. "Later," he said, promising a sticky discussion with that one word.
Nicola would do her best to make sure later was never.
* * *
Even though she knew it was for the best, Nicola didn't enjoy packing her things the next morning. She'd been too exhausted the previous evening to do more than fall into bed. Dressed in a terry robe with her hair still wet from her shower, she transferred as many of her sweaters and slacks as she could from the cherry dresser to her suitcase.
Packing reminded her of her teen years, which had felt like one move after another. The social worker had assured her that the moves weren't her fault. Her foster families had loved her, but circumstances had always pushed her out. A divorce, job loss, a move. Even today Nicola knew rationally that her foster families' decisions not to keep her weren't because they hadn't cared for her, but it didn't stop the knot in her stomach. She'd always feared not being wanted.
This time was different, she told herself. Abe wanted her to stay.
But if he knew the truth, he wouldn't.
Her stomach knotted again. She tried to ignore it, but her anxiety wasn't helping her already tenuous stomach. Sinking into an overstuffed chair, she took a tiny bite of a cracker and sipped her decaf tea.
She glanced around the beautifully appointed room and remembered other small rooms where she'd slept. Wriggling her bare toes into the plush carpet, she sighed at the combination of indulgence and class. Gleaming cherry dresser and armoire, a cherry desk and hutch that housed her computer, fax and printer, were counterbalanced by the chaise longue upholstered in yellow-and-rose cotton sateen, draperies in coordinating fabric that permitted privacy or when pulled back allowed the sun to stream in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Top it all off with a king-size bed with a mattress that even Goldilocks would have agreed was just right and who wouldn't be in heaven?
Nicola gave a wry, silent chuckle to herself. Crofthaven was a different world for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks in rural Georgia. The luxury of the pla
ce was almost sinful. The staff answered her every need. Sheesh, she remembered the time she'd offended the housekeeper by fixing her own breakfast.
A woman could grow accustomed to being spoiled like that. If that woman weren't Nicola. Nicola had never forgotten this was temporary.
Like so many things in her life had been. Temporary father, temporary mother, temporary families. She'd continued the theme with her career, moving from one public relations assignment to the next. For her, the allure of Crofthaven wasn't the luxury. It was the heritage that seeped through the walls. Generations of Danforths had laughed and cried here. When she inhaled, she felt as if she were breathing in the essence of family. Despite the fact that Abe felt as if he'd failed as a father, he'd provided a place and a sense of tradition for his children. They knew who they were. They knew what being a Danforth meant and no matter where they were, they knew they weren't really alone.
Nicola had been alone for a long time. She slid her hand over her belly protectively. Not anymore. She had another little someone in her life and she would do her best to be everything her baby needed.
A knock interrupted her thoughts. It was probably the housekeeper. "Come in."
Abe walked into her room and she stood, caught off guard. Her heart leaped. Tall, confident, strong and smart, he was everything she'd wanted in a man without knowing it.
His gaze fell over her and she immediately felt underdressed. Abe was the kind of man who required her to be on her toes and at her best all the time. She saw him look at her suitcase and her stomach sank. Uh-oh.
"It's silly for you to move," he said. "If you come with me to Washington—"
"Which I'm not," she reminded him.
He clenched his jaw. "Even if you don't, then there's still no need for you to move out right now." He paused. "Do you hate Crofthaven so much?"
"Not at all," she said, surprised at his suggestion. "What's not to love? It's beautiful."
He shrugged. "It can seem cold sometimes. The kids probably hated the formality of it. My brother and I did sometimes."
"I think Crofthaven is fabulous," she assured him. "It's more than the furnishings or the building. It's that your family has lived here for generations."
