by Heidi Betts
Taking her hand, he straightened a couple of things on his desk, then led her to the door. “Let’s get out of here before something—or someone—else interrupts us.”
On the way to his town house on the Upper West Side, Cullen told the cab driver to take the long way, cruising down Broadway so Misty could ooh and ahh over the brightly lit marquees.
She’d never seen a Broadway play before, and he promised to escort her to any shows she wanted, any time she wanted. Of course, there were entirely too many to choose from, and in order to attend more than one or two, she would have to stay in Manhattan with him…and she wasn’t at all sure that was how things would work out.
They arrived home late in the afternoon, and though she had expected him to pick up where they had left off in his office, when they reached the bedroom, he instead insisted she lie down to rest. She was having too much fun and didn’t want to sleep, but he promised to take her out to dinner if she did—to his brother’s restaurant, Une Nuit, no less.
It was an offer she couldn’t refuse, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she realized she must have been exhausted after all, because she drifted immediately off to sleep.
When she opened her eyes several hours later, Cullen was seated on the edge of the bed, smiling down at her. She startled at first, then pulled herself up to sit with her back against the headboard.
“How long have you been watching me sleep?”
“Just a few minutes.”
She ran her fingers through her hair, sure it was a mess, then brushed at her mouth and the corners of her eyes. “Did I drool?” she wanted to know.
He chuckled. “No. You’re beautiful—and very ladylike—when you sleep.”
“Thank goodness. Is it time to go to dinner?”
“We can go any time you’re ready. Bryan has the family booth reserved for us, so there’s no hurry.”
He’d exchanged his casual clothes for a more formal pair of tailored black slacks and jacket with a white dress shirt underneath. Thankfully, she’d brought a black knit dress along that would be appropriate for dinner at his brother’s upscale restaurant.
“Let me change,” she said, throwing back the covers and sliding off the king-size mattress.
She thought he’d leave the room while she got ready, but he stayed where he was, watching her every move. If she hadn’t spent the past four years walking nearly or fully naked around him, she might have been embarrassed.
As it was, she barely would have noticed his presence if she hadn’t felt the heat of his gaze searing her skin while she stripped out of her skirt and top and slipped into black stockings and the versatile little black dress. Thankfully, the material stretched to cover the bump of her belly without needing alterations or camouflage to look decent.
Ten minutes later, she was ready to go. Cullen held her hand as they left the house and slowly walked the two short blocks to Une Nuit.
The restaurant was brimming with people when they arrived. Customers, dressed to the nines, smiled and laughed over their meals while the waitstaff bustled between tables taking orders and serving food.
Misty was immediately impressed by the ambience and popularity of Bryan’s establishment. Black suede banquettes and armchairs surrounded copper-topped tables, with low red lighting illuminating the entire space. She was used to bright and glitzy, but Une Nuit was the epitome of trendy but romantic.
As soon as the maitre d’ saw them, he smiled and led them through the main dining room to a private booth reserved for members of the Elliott family whenever they chose to drop by. Cullen gestured for her to take a place behind the table, then slid in next to her, thighs brushing.
She was almost too distracted by her surroundings to think about eating, but Cullen leaned close to tell her about the different appetizers and entrées; which ones he’d tried, which were his favorites, which were restaurant specialties. Everything sounded wonderful to her.
After they placed their orders, Cullen moved in tighter, putting his arm around her shoulders.
“What do you think?” he asked, tipping his head toward the center of the dining area.
“If the food is half as wonderful as the atmosphere, I’ll think your brother is a genius. This place is amazing.”
“Hey, you finally landed a smart one, little brother.”
Misty jumped at the intrusion, but Cullen merely grinned up at the man hovering behind them over the back of the booth.
So this was Bryan she thought, as he swung around and took a seat across from them. He was tall, with the same black hair and blue eyes as his younger brother and father had. The family resemblance was so strong, even if a person hadn’t known they were Elliotts, they would immediately realize the three men were related.
“Misty,” Cullen said, waving an arm in his brother’s direction, “meet my brother, Bryan. He’s the owner of this fine establishment and an all-around pain in the ass.”
“Funny,” Bryan remarked, “when we were kids, that’s what I used to say about you.”
They were like two puppies wrestling over the same chew toy, and she couldn’t help but smile.
Bryan held his hand out over the table’s centerpiece, a shallow bowl of water with three floating lighted ivory candles in the shape of some stunning exotic flower.
Misty returned his quick shake.
“It’s nice to meet you, Misty. Is my brother treating you okay?”
“I’m treating her just fine,” Cullen answered for her. “Unlike some men, I know how to treat a lady.”
“Don’t let him fool you,” Bryan said, flashing her an amused wink. “Everything he knows, he learned from his big brother.”
Cullen scoffed, and Misty could only grin.
“So how are you two doing?” Bryan asked, turning serious, his gaze focusing mainly on Misty. “Has the family given you a warm and friendly welcome?”
She toyed with the rim of her drink glass, feeling suddenly nervous, just like she did every time the topic of Cullen’s family—or being welcomed into it—came up.
“Oh, yes, they’ve all been very nice.”
“Even Granddad?” This time, his clear blue eyes went straight to his brother.
“He’ll come around,” Cullen responded simply.
Bryan’s attention skidded away from them to a spot far beyond their booth. “Sorry I can’t stick around, but I’m being beckoned. A restaurateur’s job is never done. Misty, it was great to meet you. I’m looking forward to having you as my sister-in-law.”
He flashed her a smile and offered his hand again. “Enjoy your meals. Order whatever you like, it’s on the house.”
“That isn’t necessary,” Cullen told him.
“Of course, it is. Consider it my gift to you to celebrate your engagement.”
He waved his arm one last time before disappearing into the heart of Une Nuit.
“Our engagement?” Misty repeated, brows arching with interest as she sipped her nonalcoholic cocktail.
Cullen cleared his throat. “I may have mentioned something along those lines when I told him we’d be dropping by.”
“But we’re not engaged,” she pointed out.
“We would be if you’d say yes to one of my proposals.”
She fought the grin that threatened to break out across her face. He sounded petulant, as though she was keeping him from something he really, really wanted. It was flattering and warmed her deep down in places only Cullen seemed capable of touching.
Still, she didn’t want to joke about marriage to him or lead him to believe she would eventually accept—no matter how much she might want to.
“I’m sorry, Cullen,” was all she could think to say.
For a moment, his stern expression remained, and then his eyes lightened from a dark, stormy blue to the color of the sky in summer.
“Don’t apologize,” he told her. “I fully intend to wear you down. Besides, I didn’t bring you here to propose to you again, or to make you feel guilty for saying
no. I brought you here for dinner, and to impress you with another branch of my family tree so you would have an inkling of what awaited you if you ever did say yes. Are you adequately impressed?”
The tilt of his lips was too adorable to resist. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“I’m very impressed,” she said softly. “Thank you.”
Their meals came then and they spent the next hour eating, talking and flirting. Cullen fed her bits of his entrée from his own fork, and she returned the favor, until things turned so hot, she was afraid they’d set the room on fire.
The sight of his lips moving as he chewed set her skin to tingling. The feel of his thigh pressed to hers heated her blood to a near boil. And from the look in Cullen’s eyes, he was as aroused as she was.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, snagging her hand and sliding out of the booth as soon as they’d finished the last of their desserts of crème brûlée flavored with mango and passion fruit juices.
“What about the check?”
“I hadn’t planned on it, but I think I’ll take Bryan up on his offer.”
He stopped in the middle of the restaurant, nearly causing her to bump into his back. Spinning on his heel to face her, he drew her close and kissed her like a man stranded in the desert without food or water who had suddenly stumbled upon a bubbling oasis.
She responded, heedless of the fact that they were standing in the middle of his brother’s very popular and very crowded restaurant. When he finally pulled away, diners were staring at them, but Misty couldn’t find it in her to care.
“I’ll pay him back later,” he rasped in her ear. “For now, I just want to get you home so I can strip you down and make love to you for the rest of the night.”
That sounded good to her. Heart pounding in her ears, legs the consistency of grape jelly, she nodded and uttered the only word her passion laden brain would allow. “Okay.”
Nine
A s much as he did not want to, Cullen returned to work the next day. Luckily, his eyes popped open a little before 6:00 a.m., before the alarm could wake Misty. Lifting her arm from his chest, he climbed carefully out of bed and began getting dressed.
Somewhere deep in his gut, he liked the idea of having her curled up under the covers every morning while he got ready to leave for the office. He liked watching her while she slept, knowing that if he climbed back in beside her, she would welcome him with open arms and use her hands and mouth to convince him to call in sick.
Stifling a groan, he tightened the knot of his tie, gave his libido the “down boy” command and forced himself to walk out of the room with only one last wishful glance at her lush sleeping form.
The morning moved at a snail’s pace and he could barely concentrate on the tasks in front of him until he glanced at his watch and realized Misty would likely be out of bed by now.
He picked up the phone and punched in his own number. It rang several times before voice mail kicked in.
Dammit. Knowing Misty, she probably didn’t want to answer his home phone because she knew—or rather, assumed—no one would be calling there for her.
He hung up and immediately redialed. He’d keep trying, he thought, but if she still didn’t answer, a quick trip home wasn’t out of the question.
“Hello?”
Her voice was tentative, nervous.
“Good morning, sexy.”
“Good morning,” she said, her tone still low, but sounding much more confident. “I didn’t know if I should answer your phone or not, but when it kept ringing, I thought it might be important.”
“For the record, you can answer my phone. Don’t forget, Bridget might call to invite you out. If it’s anyone else, you can take a message.” A beat passed while he let that sink in, then he added, “And it is important. I miss you.”
Silence greeted him for the space of several seconds before she murmured, “I miss you, too. This place is awfully big and quiet without you.”
Damn. He thought of her in his big empty town house and went hard. He thought of her in his big empty town house, missing him, wishing he were with her, and that hardness turned to a throbbing painful ache.
“I’m coming home,” he grated out through a throat gone closed with desire.
She laughed, the light tinkling sound carrying over the phone line. “No, you aren’t. You have work to do.”
“It can wait.” He didn’t think making love to her could.
“Don’t be silly. You’ve taken enough time off to cater to me, and I’ll still be here when you get home.”
Cullen didn’t know which warmed him more—hearing her call his place “home” or hearing her say she’d be there when he got back. A part of him knew she could pick up and fly back to Nevada at any moment. He could walk in the door one day and find her gone.
“In the meantime, I thought I’d wander around, snooping in all your cupboards and drawers,” she went on. “Are you hiding any naughty secrets you don’t want me to find?”
His lips curled up in a grin. “Sweetheart, for you, I’m an open book.”
“Mmm,” she purred in response. “Interesting concept.”
“Well, if you’re not going to let me come home and rock your world, then I suppose I should get back to work.”
“All right. I’ll see you tonight, then.”
“I’ll call if I’m going to be late.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, Misty,” he said before she could hang up.
“Yes?”
“Will you marry me?”
He could almost see her eyes widen in sudden panic, the pulse in her neck pick up speed.
“Not today,” she finally answered. “But thank you for asking.”
Despite being rejected for what must have been the fifth or sixth time, he found himself smiling. “I guess I’ll just have to ask again tomorrow.”
The next day, and every day after, Cullen called home several times, just to hear Misty’s voice. And while he had her on the line, he always made sure to ask her the same question. “Will you marry me?”
Each time, her answer remained unchanged, but he didn’t stop trying. If anything, her refusal made him more determined. Like a medieval warrior, he would continue to storm her castle walls until they crumbled and she gave in to the inevitable.
A week or so later, Cullen made his way to the EPH gym where he was meeting his brother for a midday exercise session. He tried to work out for an hour every day, and whenever Bryan could make it, he joined in.
After changing into shorts and a sweatshirt with the neck and arms cut out, Cullen headed for the free weights. Bryan joined him and they both began to do arm curls.
“So how are things going between you and Misty?” his brother wanted to know.
“Great,” Cullen answered honestly.
Things between them were fabulous. The sex was earth-shattering, as always, and he found her near-constant company more intriguing than he could have imagined.
He was never bored with her, and that was more than he could say about any other woman he’d ever dated. If only she would accept one of his countless marriage proposals, life would be perfect.
“Has she taken you up on your offer to marry her yet?”
Cullen ignored the slight smirk on his brother’s face. “No. I’m still working on it, though. She’ll come around eventually.”
“Are you sure you want her to?”
At Bryan’s softly spoken question, Cullen’s movements slowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Hey…” Bryan held up his free hand, continuing reps with the other. “I’m not trying to piss you off. I’m just asking if getting married is what you really want, or if you’re only asking because you got her pregnant.”
If a comment like that had come out of anyone else’s mouth, he’d have already driven his fist into the offender’s teeth. But his brother was his best friend and confidant, and Cullen knew he meant well.
“I’m
not sure,” Cullen said, for the first time putting voice to his true feelings. “I want to marry her. I just don’t know if it’s out of a sense of duty or because I truly care for her.”
“Don’t you think that’s something you should figure out before you walk down the aisle?”
“If only it were that easy,” he said, once again finding the rhythm of his pumping arm.
Bryan switched the weight he was using to his other hand, then took a seat on the empty bench next to Cullen’s. “Look, you’re not the only one who had responsibility with a capital R drilled into him all his life. Dad and Granddad both made sure we knew what they considered the measure of a man.”
Cullen huffed out a breath. “And we saw where that got Dad, didn’t we? Forced to marry when he was eighteen because he and Mom got themselves into a sticky situation.”
“Isn’t that the same situation you’re in now?”
“Yeah,” he reluctantly replied. “Which is why I’m not sure whether I’m pressing Misty to marry me because I want to be with her, or because I’m predisposed to follow in Dad’s footsteps.”
After lowering the heavy metal dumbbell back to its place on the weight rack, Cullen sat back, wiping sweat from his brow. “I don’t want my child to grow up without a father, Bryan. I don’t want to be a part-time dad, either, and I don’t want Misty to be a single mother. Her life has been difficult enough without the opportunities we’ve had. She works hard to support herself and doesn’t need to spend the rest of it scraping by.”
“You’d never let that happen. Even if you decided not to be involved in the child’s upbringing, you’d make sure they both had whatever they needed financially.”
A ripple of acknowledgment skated through his belly at the truth of his brother’s words. He could never stand idly by, knowing that his son or daughter was in need of something the Elliott wealth could provide.
But then, he wasn’t sure he could just stand by and watch. He wanted to be there, elbow deep in dirty diapers and feeding schedules. He wanted to see his child’s first smile and first steps and first time climbing on the bus to school.
