“Are you sure? Maybe just the one would be better. What if you spend all this money to have it framed and they don’t sell at all?” she asked, voicing one of the fears jabbering in her ear, dampening her joy.
“I sincerely doubt that will happen. However, I will keep them all if they don’t sell. I want them all anyway but since you don’t want to sell to me...”
“It’s not that I wouldn’t sell them to you...I just don’t feel right doing so,” she clarified. “I would give them to you.”
“And I would never allow you to give away your work. This is...” His voice caught and he paused to collect himself. “Lilah...I can only hope our babies get half your talent. You are...incredible.”
The words stunned her, but the sentiment behind them, humbled her beyond measure. She smiled through her tears and reached out her hand. If there was ever a moment that she knew exactly what she wanted, this was it.
And she wanted him.
“Let’s go,” she said.
He accepted her hand but his brows bunched together in concern. “Are you okay? Are you tired?”
“Not tired but I’m ready for bed.”
She sent him a coy look and his Adam’s apple bobbed as her meaning sank in. She flipped off the lights and locked the atrium.
There were too many clothes between them.
And judging by Justin’s quickened step as they headed to Lilah’s room, he couldn’t agree more.
By the time they reached her room, their desire had reached a fever pitch as they tore at each other’s clothes, eager to feel skin against skin. Would it always be this way with them? She hoped so. Justin’s touch ignited a need she’d never experienced and she was greedy for more.
She’d become almost insatiable.
He rained kisses down her neck, to her breasts. He didn’t give her an opportunity to worry about her changing body as he worshipped each new curve and valley created by her burgeoning pregnancy. If anything, he seemed unable to get enough of her and his urgency fed her own. She straddled him and he entered her with one gentle push. Their lovemaking slowed to a sweet and gentle pace as Justin made allowances for her condition. Soon, Lilah had reached her peak and she shuddered all around him, crying out as wave after wave crashed down inside her, wrenching a prolonged orgasm from her body that left her gasping for air from the sheer pleasure erupting from her nerve endings.
“God, you’re so damn sexy,” he said in a tight voice as he soon found his own release, bathing her with his love and gasping her name over and over as his thrusts slowly stilled and his breathing was as harsh as her own.
This was true between them—this connection that defied all reason.
And she couldn’t deny its power.
* * *
JUSTIN LAY WITH HIS HEAD near Lilah’s stomach, pressing intermittent kisses to her rounded belly as he tried to catch his breath. Her gloriously naked body glowed in the dim moonlight as the sweat dried on their skin. She looked like a proud heathen goddess with her voluptuous curves softening her formerly lean body with a little more padding that he found incredibly sexy.
The night sounds buzzed all around them as the ceiling fans whirred to push the hot air from the room. Justin was blissfully content until he heard the muffled vibration of his cell phone tucked away in his discarded shorts.
Lilah lifted on her elbows and frowned. “What is that sound?”
He sighed and rolled to his feet. “It’s my cell phone.”
“Who would call so late at night?” she asked, puzzled.
Justin knew but didn’t want to say. He’d been ducking Rudy’s calls. By now the man had probably hit DEFCON 1 on the panic level and was one whiskey away from calling the FBI to report him missing. When Rudy’s name flashed on the screen in a frantic pulse, Justin pressed his lips together in agitation but answered anyway. “Hey, Rudy, what’s up?”
“Holy shit!” Rudy exploded at Justin’s attempt to sound casual. “Where the hell have you been? I haven’t been able to raise you on the phone for over a week! I was about to call the authorities and report you missing.”
Called it. Justin rolled his eyes and then gestured to Lilah that he was going to take the call outside. Once clear, he said in a low tone, “First, calm down. Everything is fine. I just wanted to enjoy a little time to myself without being harassed about work. What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait?”
“You tell me,” Rudy said, still heated. “A little bird has told me something that really raised my blood pressure and I hope to God it’s not true.”
The fine hairs on Justin’s neck rose but he remained cool. “Yeah, such as?”
“Why St. John? Why not Tahiti or Fiji?” Rudy countered with suspicion. “I wondered when you told me and it seemed an odd choice. Particularly when you returned early from your first vacation and it was the place of your father’s choosing for you. Given your relationship, I would’ve thought that’d be the last place you’d want to return. So it got me to thinking...”
“Spit it out, Rudy. It’s late.”
“Who’s the girl, Justin?”
And there it was. Somehow Rudy had sniffed out the truth. Or at least some variation of it. He had a choice: lie to gain some time to work up to telling the truth or just let the chips fall where they may and come clean. On one hand it angered him that his personal business was on everyone else’s radar, but then he knew that was the price of politics so he couldn’t rail too loudly. Still, the reality of it sucked when it worked against you.
“Her name is Lilah and she’s...” not a girlfriend, not his fiancée “...someone special to me. I’d appreciate some discretion. I’m not ready to tell my parents yet.”
Rudy exhaled sharply but didn’t sound too sorry when he said, “Sorry, bud. You should’ve returned my phone calls. Your parents left for St. John on the 9:00 p.m. flight. My guess is they’ve already landed in St. Thomas.”
“What the hell, Rudy!” Justin whispered harshly, agitated for the intrusion and worried about Lilah. “What did you tell them?”
“Listen, you’re not the only one with a life on the line. Your father’s reputation is at stake because he’s endorsing you, as are all of your father’s supporters. We can’t have any kind of scandal rock the boat when we’re so close to winning! Say goodbye to your island honey and be done with it.”
“It’s not that simple,” he ground out.
“No, it really is. Is she worth it? Who is she? No one that can help your career, therefore, she has to go.” At Justin’s angry silence, Rudy tried to tone down his harsh words by saying, “Listen, I get it. We’ve all had someone in our past who felt like something special at the time, but trust me, you don’t want to throw everything away over a sweet piece of ass. How about this...after the election you can still hook up. Maybe we can even find a nice little apartment for her in the city, somewhere out of the way or even better, how are her secretarial skills? Maybe we could put her to work as a personal assistant. Don’t worry, there are ways around these types of problems. But right now, we need you to focus.”
Justin felt sick. And dirty. It was all he could do to keep from throwing the phone into the wild, overgrown foliage lining the walkway.
“You there, Justin?” Rudy asked when Justin refrained from responding for fear of saying something he couldn’t take back. “Say your goodbyes. Take my word for it, it’s better this way.”
“Where are my parents staying?” he asked tightly.
“The Worch
ester. One of the suites.”
“I’ll be in touch,” Justin said curtly, and then clicked off. His blood percolated with impotent rage. He felt trapped and suffocated. He wanted to take Lilah and run away but there were so many lives connected to his campaign that he couldn’t in good conscience screw over. Rudy, he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about, but there were plenty of good, solid people in his employment who gave up positions with the competitor because they’d believed in him. He couldn’t let them down.
But he’d do anything to protect Lilah. And if Rudy so much as breathed a word of his disgusting little proposal to Lilah, he’d put his fist in Rudy’s slick, ass-kissing mouth.
“Justin?” Lilah’s voice floated through the open window.
“Coming,” he answered, returning inside with a false smile.
She turned sleepily on her side, rubbing her stomach as one of the babies must’ve given her a little kick. “Who was that?”
“Campaign manager, Rudy. There’s a bit of a situation he wanted to make sure I knew about.”
At that Lilah opened her eyes to stare groggily at him. “What kind of situation?”
He drew a deep breath and then let it out. “My parents are arriving tonight. In fact, they might already be here.”
* * *
ALL SLEEPINESS FLED from Lilah’s body as she sat up. “Your parents? Why?”
Justin looked irritated and just as unhappy about the situation as she but likely for different reasons. “Someone let slip that I was seeing someone here. When Rudy couldn’t get ahold of me, he alerted my parents and they thought you were a significant threat to my campaign so they’re on their way, likely to talk some sense into me away from the prying eyes of the press.”
“Oh, God,” Lilah breathed, her hand going to her chest. “I can’t breathe. They’re going to see that I’m pregnant. I mean, there’s no hiding this!” She pointed to her belly and then tried to cover herself with the light sheet. Suddenly, she felt overexposed. He grimaced and helped her cover up. “They’re going to hate me.”
“They won’t,” he assured her but he looked worried. “I won’t let them.”
Lilah groaned. “I don’t feel good,” she said, rubbing her stomach and then rolling onto her side in pain. Damn her nervous stomach.
“Are you okay?” Justin asked, coming to her side immediately. “Is it the babies?”
“No, it’s my nervous stomach. I internalize stress.” She groaned in embarrassment as her stomach gurgled. “Get ready for something not so sexy,” she admitted as her cheeks flushed with heat. She struggled to her feet and waddled to the bathroom.
Moments later, Lilah reemerged and climbed into the bed. “So what’s going to happen?” she asked, trying to be brave when she wanted to run.
Justin bit his lip, contemplating his answer. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “Let me take point on this. Just follow my lead. I won’t let them say or do anything that will offend you. I promise.”
She believed him but she was worried. Was he about to throw away everything for her? Could she let him?
Her stomach grumbled again and Justin looked at her with sympathy. “Still upset?” he asked.
She shook her head and admitted sheepishly, “No...now I’m hungry.”
He chuckled and tucked her under his arm. “Well, let’s raid the kitchen, then. Can’t let my babies and my girl starve.”
Lilah grinned and decided to worry about tomorrow when it came.
* * *
JUSTIN’S PARENTS CONVERGED on Larimar early the next morning after receiving a message from Justin to meet him there. Lilah and Justin figured it was better to meet them with home field advantage and if things went south, they could always ask them to leave. It seemed a good plan, though Justin wasn’t sure what he was going to say to lessen the shock when they saw Lilah’s stomach.
Lora and Heath agreed to take Pops out for a ride around the island to give them some privacy while Celly covered the front desk.
Vernon and his wife, Virginia—or Ginny as her close friends called her—arrived exactly on time as was the senator’s habit and walked into the airy lobby of Larimar with stiff expressions on their wilted faces.
Justin thought it best to meet them and bring them into the private section to avoid any altercations with the guests. He happened to catch a look from Celly as she watched them walk past and the Caribe woman did not look impressed with either of them. No doubt, she felt protective over Lilah and seemed ready to give the Caleses a piece of her mind if they so much as looked cross-eyed at Lilah. Justin appreciated Celly’s gruff nature. At least he always knew where he stood with her, which was a quality he’d come to respect since entering politics.
“Justin dear, why are we meeting here?” his mother asked, pushing a strand of her hair from her face and pressing a linen handkerchief to her brow. “Good lord, it’s hot. There was air-conditioning at our suite at the Worchester. Why couldn’t we meet there?”
“You get used to the heat, Mother,” he said, gracing his mother with a kiss on the cheek. “Follow me.”
Vernon made a sound of barely restrained impatience but followed without a word. Justin’s instincts told him this was going to be the battle of his life. He hoped he was up for it.
He’d never gone toe-to-toe with his father before and won. In the past he’d been too weak, too spoiled to risk losing what he felt was his way of life. Now he realized he had bigger purpose. His father would learn that he wouldn’t be pushed around. Not anymore. Hopefully, his father would respect that he was finally standing up for something bigger than himself and even more important than politics.
“Mother, Father,” he said, pushing open the door to the living room where Lilah awaited. “I’d like to introduce you to Lilah Bell, the woman I hope to marry. Lilah...these are my parents, Vernon and Virginia Cales.”
It didn’t take long for all hell to break loose.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“YOU’RE P-PREGNANT!” Virginia Cales exclaimed as she sank into a nearby chair and her husband began to bellow.
“What is the meaning of this!” Vernon Cales shouted, his face turning a florid red as he looked to Justin as if he wanted to throttle him.
Lilah cringed as Vernon clenched his fists and looked ready to punch a hole in whatever was near enough. It seemed useless to cling to the usual social etiquette of exchanging pleasantries so she didn’t bother; not that anyone would’ve heard her attempt anyway as Vernon and Justin had started yelling at one another and Virginia had begun to cry.
Lilah wanted to cry, too, but just as her eyes began to swim, she felt the babies kick and roll around in her womb as if doing somersaults. She straightened and her gaze narrowed. This was ridiculous. There was no way they could hold a decent conversation among all the ruckus. Putting her two fingers in her mouth she blew hard, producing a whistle loud enough to shatter eardrums. Everyone stopped and clapped their hands over their ears, including Justin, as they turned to stare.
She wagged her fingers in a subtle gesture, explaining shortly, “A little trick my Grams taught me. She could whistle and we would come running. Sort of a family thing.” Now that she had their attention, she drew a breath and continued in a more pleasant voice, “It’s very nice to meet you. I wish the circumstances were different but they’re not. The facts are simple—Justin and I met while he was on vacation and I discovered I was pregnant after he left.”
“Convenient that you managed to snare a
wealthy young politician hopeful,” Vernon muttered, earning a black look from Justin. If it weren’t for the restraining hand Lilah placed on Justin’s shoulder, he might’ve toppled the old man into the tall plant beside the sofa. “We’re going to require a paternity test. You can bet on that.”
“Justin...are you sure it’s your baby?” Virginia ventured stiffly. “Mistakes happen, of course, but one must be sure it’s your mistake.”
Lilah swallowed, hating that she’d referred to their babies as a mistake but she tried to stay focused and not dissolve into tears. For better or worse, these uptight people were going to be her babies’ grandparents. Oh, God, the idea made her shudder.
Justin corrected his mother, saying, “Babies. Lilah is a twin and she conceived twins.”
“Twins,” Virginia repeated faintly, as if the thought of one baby had been bad enough. Now two? Lord have mercy. “Darling...we should’ve discussed this in private. These are delicate matters...”
“There’s nothing delicate about it, Mother. I want to marry Lilah. Plain and simple.”
“Ah, hell,” Vernon grumbled to the ceiling. “Now he wants to get married. Son, you’ve barely begun to care for yourself, much less a wife and two kids. Does your girl know about your exploits back in the city? How you’ve never held a job long enough to collect a true paycheck? Too busy partying and having a good time to bother with something as menial as work.”
Justin’s cheeks burned but he said, “What about the campaign, Dad? I’ve been doing a pretty good job of running my own life since I hit the campaign trail. Remember how proud you said you were of me just last week?”
“That was before—” he gestured wildly at Lilah “—this! Now it seems I was hasty in my praise. I never in a million years would’ve suspected that you’d screw up this big.”
Red blotches crawled up Justin’s neck. “I’ve learned a lot and changed even more,” Justin said in a steely tone. The tension between the two men was enough to choke a horse and Lilah could only watch apprehensively as they squared off. “It’s true I didn’t know Lilah was pregnant, but I never forgot her. As soon as I got some time off from the campaign, I came here to be with her. I wanted to marry her then. Learning she was pregnant, well, it just made everything fall into place even more snugly. It feels right. It’s what I’m going to do.”
Something to Believe In Page 23
