by Miranda Lee
She walked slowly up the steps to stand close to Tina, her expression still troubled. ‘Does Dominic know?’ she asked warily.
‘I tried to tell him today, but I made a stupid mistake in the telling and he had Security throw me out of the building.’
Concern gave way to outrage. ‘He what?’
‘It was my fault, Mrs Hunter,’ Tina explained hurriedly. ‘I see that now. When I told him that Bonnie was his daughter I forgot to add that I am not the mother. I think he took one look at me, knew I was a stranger to him, and jumped to the conclusion I was trying to operate some kind of scam.’
Outrage changed to puzzlement. ‘If you’re not the mother…then, who is? Your sister?’
‘No. My best friend.’ Tina swallowed as that awful lump filled her throat, the one which always came when she thought of Sarah’s dying. ‘Sarah worked at Hunter & Associates all last year. She was Dominic’s secretary from late July till the 25th November. Bonnie was born on August 19th. Sarah was critically injured when she was knocked down by a bus last month. She…she lived a few days, but didn’t make it. Before she died, she made me Bonnie’s legal guardian. Her birth certificate actually says ‘father unknown’, but I know Bonnie’s father is your son.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Very sure, Mrs Hunter.’
Mrs Hunter was frowning. ‘Did your friend actually tell you Dominic was the father of her baby?’
Tina hesitated. She didn’t want to lie to the woman. It was just that the truth was so complicated, and possibly confusing to anyone who hadn’t known Sarah well. The actual evidence Tina had concerning the identity of Bonnie’s father was largely circumstantial, and partly second-hand. Mrs Hunter might think Tina was jumping to conclusions, but she knew better.
‘Sarah and I told each other everything,’ she said firmly at last, happy that this had been the truth—at least till they’d parted company. ‘We were more like sisters than friends. Your son is Bonnie’s father all right, Mrs Hunter. A DNA test should remove any doubt, however, if he continues to deny paternity.’
‘What…what do you mean…continues?’
‘Sarah went to see him when she found out she was pregnant. Dominic refused to believe the baby was his, though he did give her some money for a termination.’
‘Which she obviously didn’t have…’
‘No. Sarah didn’t believe in abortion.’
‘Thank God,’ the woman sighed, and smiled down at the baby in her arms before glancing up at Tina, tears in her eyes. ‘I’ve always wanted a grandchild. You’ve no idea. I honestly thought I would never have one. Dominic was so adamant about not wanting marriage and children. And then his brother, Mark…well—’
She broke off and frowned at Tina. ‘You said you were made the baby’s legal guardian. Why is that, Tina? I know you said you were like a sister to this Sarah, but what about the child’s maternal grandparents? Or aunts and uncles?’
‘Sarah’s mother died in a house fire when she was nine. Sarah never knew her father, or her grandparents. Her mum was a bit of a black sheep, you see. Ran away from her home in the country to the city when she was a teenager. She wasn’t married when she had Sarah. I gather the father abandoned them before she was born. So, no, there are no close relatives interested in Bonnie. I’m all she’s got at the moment.’
‘I see. And what is your situation, dear? Are you married?’
‘No, I’m not.’
Mrs Hunter’s expression was thoughtful. ‘I see. Er…are going to raise little Bonnie all by yourself, then?’
‘I will if I have to, Mrs Hunter. But I’d prefer to have some help. I haven’t any family, either, you see. My mother died in the same house fire Sarah’s did. She was an unmarried mother too, you see. And a runaway as well.’
Not to mention a woman of the night. Both women had been. But Tina thought it best not to bring up too much of their unsavoury backgrounds lest Mrs Hunter be the sort of person who thought such things were hereditary and not environmental.
‘When Welfare could find no relatives who wanted us,’ she went on matter-of-factly, ‘Sarah and I spent the rest of our growing-up years in a state institution.’ When they hadn’t been fostered out to people, that was.
‘Goodness. You poor things!’
‘We survived, Mrs Hunter. But you can understand how we became so close. Sarah has entrusted me with the care and upbringing of her daughter and I aim to make sure she has the very best. I have no intention of Bonnie ever ending up like we did, with no money, and no adult to love and care for her.’
‘You won’t have to worry about that, dear. I’ll be here for her, and for you. And so will Dominic, once I have a word or two with him. You can depend on that! Look, I think you’d best come inside and tell me absolutely everything. Then I think you’d best stay till Dominic gets home this evening and we can have a family pow-wow over all this.’
Tina was taken aback. ‘Your son lives with you?’
‘Well, yes…he does.’
‘Oh, dear!’
‘He’s not a Mummy’s boy, if that’s what you’re thinking. His decision to live with me was a practical decision, not a sentimental one.’
‘Believe me,’ Tina said drily, ‘I don’t think your son is a Mummy’s boy. It’s just that he’s not going to be pleased to find me here when he comes home. Maybe you could ring him at the office and forewarn him.’
‘Absolutely not! No! He doesn’t deserve forewarning,’ she said brusquely. ‘Besides, Fridays are never a good day to ring Dominic at the office. I’ve already rung him once today and received a very poor reception. Which reminds me. I’d best ring Joanna and cancel her dinner invitation for tonight.’
‘Not because of me, I hope,’ Tina said, while wondering who Joanna was. A friend of Mrs Hunter’s? Or Dominic’s?
Mrs Hunter smiled a strange little smile. ‘Not at all, dear. She’s just a widow friend of mine. She can come another night. I’m a widow too, so little Bonnie won’t be having a grandfather, I’m afraid. But you’ll have me, won’t you, darling?’ she crooned down at the baby. ‘Now, come along, dear, you bring the pram and I’ll carry Bonnie. We’ll have a cup of tea and a nice long chat. Then, afterwards, we might fill in the rest of the afternoon down at the shopping mall, buying a few little things for Bonnie here. Would you mind?’
‘Oh, er…not at all.’
Off the woman went, making baby talk at Bonnie as she went, leaving Tina to do as ordered, trailing after her with the pram in rather a daze. There she’d been, thinking Mrs Hunter was such a sweet, gentle soul.
Which she was. But she was also a whirlwind of energy and decisiveness. Tina supposed it was unlikely that a too soft or susceptible personality could have produced a son like Dominic Hunter.
Dominic Hunter…
A lesser girl might have quailed to think of his reaction when he first spied her in his home this evening. She could just imagine it. Those hard blue eyes of his would narrow dangerously. The thick straight brows above them would beetle together again while smoke would waft from his flared nostrils. His broad shoulders would broaden while that huge chest of his would fill with outraged air. He would be ready to explode in seconds!
Tina smiled to herself.
She could hardly wait.
CHAPTER FOUR
DOMINIC considered being deliberately late home. He even contemplated ringing his mother at the last moment and claiming a fictitious business dinner in town.
But cowardice wasn’t really his bag and he climbed into his blue BMW just before six and headed for the bridge. He would endure the dinner but had no intention of making any effort with that woman.
With a bit of luck Damien’s merry widow—and his matchmaking mother—would finally see he was a lost cause where she was concerned. Lord, nothing turned him off quicker than gold-digging females who gushed all over him.
Blondes weren’t really his thing, either. Nor double D cup breasts which jiggled like unset bowls of jelly.
Give him a tall, slender brunette, with long legs, a tight butt and firm boobs, and he was instantly interested. Make her a challenge and the combination was irresistible.
Joanna Parsons was neither.
An image of the brunette who’d been in his office today popped into his mind.
Again.
She’d been doing that all afternoon, even distracting him from work on several occasions.
Still, she’d been deliciously sexy in those tight white pedal-pusher pants and chest-hugging white ribbed top. Her hair was sexy too. Long and dark and kind of wild-looking, just like its owner.
Pity she was a con-artist. Or a fool.
Dominic was wondering which she might be when he turned into the driveway and parked the car outside the double garage. He still hadn’t made up his mind by the time he slipped in the back door.
He was halfway up the stairs, heading for the sanctuary of his bedroom and private en suite bathroom when the sound of a baby crying stopped him in his tracks.
Frowning, Dominic turned and listened. It seemed to be coming from the front living room.
The television?
Not the television, he decided when the cries came again. Too loud. And too…real.
An appalling possibility popped into his mind.
Surely not, he thought. She wouldn’t dare!
But then the baby cried again and he knew she had.
Whirling, he flew back down the stairs and over to the doorway of the room in question, disbelief and fury sending his blood pressure sky-high.
And there she was, large as life, wheeling a pram up and down on the polished wooden floor, singing very softly as she did so.
Dominic had opened his mouth to let her have it when she abruptly stopped the singing, and the wheeling. When she bent over to inspect the suddenly silent contents of the pram, the sight of those already tight white pants pulling even tighter across her extremely attractive derrière made him almost forget how angry he was for a moment.
But only for a moment.
‘Hey, you there!’ he boomed out.
She spun round, her dark hair flying out in a shining halo before settling more sedately on her slender shoulders. Her dark eyes flashed with extreme irritation as she hurried over, her fingers pressed to her lips.
‘Hush up, for pity’s sake,’ she hissed. ‘I’ve had the devil of a time getting her off to sleep. I think it’s the strange house. Normally she goes off like clockwork after her bottle.’
Before he could say another word, she put a firm hand on his chest and pushed him backwards into the hallway, after which she carefully closed the door behind them, as though this whole scenario was perfectly normal and reasonable.
Dominic could only shake his head in amazement. Not a con-woman, he decided in total exasperation. A fool! A deliciously attractive fool, but a fool nevertheless!
‘I don’t know what you’ve told my mother,’ he muttered, ‘but you’ve got the wrong man. I am not the father of your baby.’
‘Keep your shirt on, Mr Hunter. I never said you were.’
Instant bewilderment scrambled his brains. ‘Huh?’ was all he could manage.
‘You can’t be the father of my baby because I don’t have one,’ she explained, as though he were an idiot. ‘I should have told you in your office but I simply didn’t think. Bonnie belongs to Sarah.’
‘Sarah?’ he repeated blankly.
The brunette gave him a very droll look. ‘I hope you’re not going to tell me you don’t know Sarah, either. Sarah Palmer,’ she repeated coldly. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, she was your secretary for several months last year, Mr Hunter, during which time you had an affair with her.’
Shock held Dominic speechless for a split second. But then anger swept back in. If Sarah thought she was going to pin the paternity of a baby on him on the strength of that one night, then she could think again!
‘Sarah was my secretary, I admit,’ he ground out. ‘But we did not have an affair!’
The brunette folded her arms and practically rolled her eyes at him. ‘Oh, come now, Mr Hunter. I didn’t come down in the last shower. I know exactly what happened between you and Sarah. How you can stand there and deny having slept with her is beyond me!’
‘I don’t deny having slept with her,’ he bit out. ‘But it was only the once and I used protection. I repeat, I am not the father of that baby, or any other baby. As I said to you before, honey, you’ve got the wrong man.’
She actually smiled at him, an icy smile which set his teeth on edge. ‘You are Dominic Hunter, the head of Hunter & Associates, aren’t you?’
‘You know damned well I am.’
‘Then I’ve got the right man. But if you insist on a DNA test, I won’t object.’
‘A DNA test!’ he exploded. ‘I’m not having any damned DNA test!’
‘Oh, yes, you are, Dominic.’
Dominic spun round to find his mother eyeing him with one of those stern looks which spelt her complete unwillingness to be persuaded otherwise. He knew because he’d seen that look many times during his lifetime. He groaned, then sighed his resignation to the inevitable. If he didn’t succumb to a DNA test his life was going to be hell!
Still, once he’d calmed down a little, Dominic realised it was probably a good idea to have the test done. What better way to back his denial of paternity than with irretrievable scientific proof?
‘Very well,’ he agreed, with a return to composure, and both women looked surprised, even the dark-eyed brunette.
Who in hell was she? he began wondering. And what was she to Sarah? Her sister, perhaps?
He stared at her, thinking she looked nothing like Sarah at all. ‘So tell me, Miss Know-it-all, why didn’t Sarah come and see me in person about this baby of hers? Why send someone else in her place? Don’t tell me it’s because she’s afraid of me because I won’t believe that.’
Dominic was taken aback when those coal-black eyes, which till now had held such cynicism and contempt for him, suddenly shimmered with tears. When his mother walked over and put a comforting arm around the girl’s shoulders, the penny dropped.
Sarah was dead.
That beautiful, sweet, lovely girl was dead.
His heart squeezed tight, and he wondered how she’d died. In childbirth, perhaps? But surely that kind of thing didn’t happen these days.
‘Sarah was killed in a road accident a couple of weeks ago,’ his mother explained before he could ask, her own eyes reproachful towards him. ‘She stepped out in front of a bus and was critically injured. Witnesses said she seemed to be daydreaming. Sarah didn’t have any close relatives so she made Tina Bonnie’s legal guardian. They were best friends. Tina’s come here today to see if we’ll help raise the child.’
‘That’s all very sad,’ Dominic said. ‘And I’d be glad to give Tina some money, if that will help out. But, Mum, I am not Sarah’s baby’s father.’
His mother nodded. ‘I appreciate you probably believe that, son. It explains your otherwise appalling behaviour. But Tina says Sarah told her you were the father for certain. She also said Sarah came to you and told you about her pregnancy when she was just a few weeks along. You denied you were the father back then, but gave her some money for a termination.’
‘But that’s just not true!’ Dominic denied, truly shocked. ‘If Sarah told you this, then she lied,’ he directed forcibly at the brunette, who seemed to have swiftly recovered from the threat of tears to look at him coldly once more, her mouth pursed with scorn. ‘I swear to you, I knew nothing of Sarah’s pregnancy. Neither did she come and see me about it.’
The brunette’s already disapproving lips curled over in even more derision. ‘Sarah didn’t tell lies.’
‘Oh, for pity’s sake, everyone tells lies!’ he snapped.
‘Do they indeed?’
Her sarcasm stung, as did her ongoing scepticism. She didn’t believe a word he’d said. Dominic wasn’t used to having his credibility doubted, an
d he didn’t like it one bit.
He glared into those hard black eyes of hers, but they held his easily, and scornfully. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by the most amazingly strong feeling, a mad compulsion to make her believe him, to take her in his arms and kiss that contemptuous mouth of hers till she melted against him, till she was all soft and compliant, till she was incapable of disbelieving, or denying him anything.
His head whirled with the dark intensity of his desires, his hands actually twitching with the urge to grab her right then and there. If his mother hadn’t been standing guard he might actually have done so.
The realisation stunned him. For he wasn’t that kind of man. Not normally.
Shaken at such an uncharacteristic loss of control, he curled his wayward fingers into fists and jammed them into his trouser pockets, only to discover to his horror that he was partially aroused.
He could not believe it. Never in his life had a woman got under his skin like this. He was torn between a black fury and an even blacker frustration. The more he tried to will his flesh into subsidence, the harder it became. Finally, he whipped his hands out of his pockets and did up the buttons on his suit jacket, at the same time drawing himself up tall in an outer display of dignity.
The irony of his actions was not lost on him, but be damned if he was going to risk being humiliated in front of this female.
‘You actually believe all this rubbish?’ he demanded of his mother, looking for distraction in argument.
‘Tina showed me a photograph of Sarah,’ she replied coolly. ‘She’s one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen.’
‘Meaning I wouldn’t have been able to resist her, is that it?’
‘Most men couldn’t, Mr Hunter,’ the object of his torment piped up. ‘Especially when Sarah imagined herself in love with them. She confessed to me she was in love with you last October, not long before Bonnie must have been conceived. When Sarah was in love with a man, there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for them.’
Not like you, Dominic thought as he glared at her scorn-filled face. You would never be any man’s slave.
