by Sara Orwig
“Don’t bother your cook about Hattie. I can bring what little she eats. And I’ll bring her sippy cup. I’ll take care of her.”
“That’s okay now, but Kirby will have to learn what Hattie needs.”
She nodded. “Also, I’ll make a list of the furniture she needs and we can talk about—” She broke off to stare at him. “I can’t believe we’re discussing marriage, even when I know it’s a marriage of convenience.”
“Talia, you’re very appealing. I don’t understand why you aren’t taken, why men aren’t lined up to take you out.”
She laughed. “Thanks, but I never have dated a lot. As a teacher and now with Hattie, I’m not around single men very much and I don’t really want to go out and I’m sure men can sense that.” When Nick didn’t look convinced, she added, “Maybe you and I just have some kind of weird chemistry between us. I figured that kiss was the norm for you.”
“Our kiss a few minutes ago the norm? Oh, no. Regina and I were friends and then we fell in love and that makes a difference. Love changes everything. You and I are strangers.”
“Does this change your feelings about the marriage of convenience?”
“Change my mind? Oh, no,” he said, smiling at her. “Far from it. After the kiss we just shared, I’m still on fire and I’m more for this marriage of convenience than I was before. I think it’s a workable idea. I want my child to have a mother who loves her. And the bedroom side of it may turn out to be a giant plus.”
She felt tingles from the look in his eyes and the husky sexy tone in his voice. “I have to admit, those kisses just now were a giant bonus for me, too. I’m ready for some fun in my life.” She smiled at him. “Just keep in mind the purpose in getting married.”
Holding on to the nearest furniture, Hattie began to toddle away from Talia, who stood and picked her up. Talia gathered her things and put her purse and the big bag over her shoulder while she held Hattie with her other arm. “Wave bye-bye to Daddy,” she instructed Hattie.
Hattie waved her chubby little hand.
“Very good,” Talia said and smiled at Hattie.
“It’s going to take me a bit of time to get used to being Daddy,” Nick said. “Even though I was one, Artie was too little to talk or know what was going on. I didn’t get called Dada or anything. I’ll have to get accustomed to my new status.”
“That’s fine. She won’t know you’re adjusting to it. Good night, Nick.”
“You’re not going to kiss me good-night?” he asked and she saw the twinkle in his eyes and realized he was teasing.
“I think we did that sufficiently for tonight. On the other hand, I think it would make her happier to know she has parents who are compatible,” she said, smiling at him. Still holding Hattie with one arm, she placed her other hand on his shoulder and leaned close to kiss him on the cheek, feeling the short stubble.
His arm circled her waist and he kissed her briefly on the mouth and released her to smile at her. “She looks happy, so I suppose you’re right.”
Nick walked to the car with her, opening the car door and watching while she fastened Hattie into the car seat.
Finally Talia was buckled in the driver’s seat, ready to go, and Nick closed the door, leaning down to talk to her through the open window. “I’ll send a car to pick you up for dinner tomorrow night. My butler has kids. He can go tomorrow with my chauffeur and they can get a car seat for Hattie and get it installed and then I’ll send the limo for you. How’s that?”
“It seems as if it would be easier for me to just drive to the ranch.”
He shook his head. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll send the limo.”
Startled, Talia nodded and realized life with Nick was going to be different from life as she had always known it. Limos, butlers, chauffeurs, trusts—her world was going to change drastically, thanks to Madeline and Hattie. It would change for the better because some things would be easier. She thought about Nick’s kiss and felt hot all over, wanting his arms around her again. That was going to be a monumental difference. Would it work out without love between them? She didn’t think he would get over his loss for a long time and she didn’t expect him to fall in love.
Talia couldn’t picture her life in the near future. She couldn’t imagine going from teaching to living on a ranch. Besides taking care of her precious little Hattie, she would get to paint and draw, something she’d never had time to do. And then there’d be the nights with Nick, sitting around the dinner table, sharing private time once Hattie had gone down for the night. Then...
“Talia?” he prompted.
Coming out of her daze, she nodded at him. “Sorry, this is a monumental change that never occurred to me and I got lost in my thoughts. I’m not going to argue about you sending a limo for us,” she said, smiling and shaking her head.
“Let’s get married soon, Talia. Hattie is my daughter. Frankly, I’d feel better if she had a little more security in her life than you’re able to provide.”
“That’s true, Nick, but sending a limo isn’t keeping a low profile.”
“I know, but it’s safer. If we’re going to marry, let’s go ahead and do so. You can have a small wedding, can’t you?”
“Oh, yes. It’s my second wedding. I don’t want another fancy formal white wedding dress this time. I don’t have family. I have a few close friends I’d like to invite. You’re the one with family and heaven knows how many friends,” she answered, thinking she was marrying an incredibly handsome man. He had looked handsome and appealing to her before he proposed and kissed her, but now she was dazzled by him. Looking at his mouth, his full lower lip, she wanted to kiss him again.
“I’ve had one big wedding. I’m not having another, especially when it’s a marriage of convenience,” he said. “We’ll have a very small wedding, maybe a slightly larger reception because my friends might as well meet Hattie and you. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, whatever you want,” she said. “And about the honeymoon... I’m so excited over Hattie and my future, I don’t think one is necessary.”
“That’s fine with me. One more thing you might think about... Hattie’s name. I want to change it. You’ll be a Duncan soon and Madeline is gone and so is her family. You’ll be able to see to it that Hattie knows Madeline was her blood mother, but I would like her to have the Duncan name.”
“I think that’s a good idea. I’ll always make sure she knows about Madeline, but you’re her dad. I think she should be Hattie Duncan.”
“What about a middle name?”
“She doesn’t have one. Madeline couldn’t think of one and said she didn’t need it anyway. You could give her Madeline for a middle name. Or Madeline’s last name—Prentiss.”
Nick thought for a moment, obviously trying out the names in his head. “Not Madeline,” he decreed. “Some kids might call her Hattie Maddie. So let’s go with Prentiss. Hattie Prentiss Duncan. Has a good ring to it.”
“That’s fine with me, Nick.”
“Talia, this is going to be good. You’ll be good for my little girl. She’ll be loved and it will be almost a seamless transition for her. It’s an enormous relief.”
“I hope you grow to love her, Nick.”
“I will. I’ll do my best to be a good dad.” He stepped back from the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he said. Wind caught locks of his brown hair, tangling them above his forehead. He smiled at her and just his smile made her pulse race. It would be so easy to fall in love with her handsome future husband. She would have to constantly remind herself to guard her heart, even though she didn’t think it was going to be possible.
But right now, she wouldn’t worry. She wouldn’t let anything negatively impact this wonderful night. She would be Hattie’s legal mother. She would be a stay-at-home mom to the little girl she loved. Hattie was so adorable, she was certain Nick too would lo
ve his little girl just as he had loved his son. They’d have an amazing life together, the three of them. How could they not? Nick had fulfilled her deepest wish.
She thought about their kisses and her heart pounded, desire making her wish his arms were around her and his mouth on hers again. The man could kiss like no other she had known. He was the sexiest man she had ever met. Put that together with Nick giving her the deepest desire of her heart and he became the most appealing male on the globe.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him as she drove back to her place. His kisses made her hot just thinking about them. What would it be like to make love? She tingled all over, and before she combusted, she told herself to wrangle her sexy thoughts and concentrate on her driving.
Easier said than done.
That night, long after she was in bed and Hattie was asleep, Talia lay awake, staring into the darkness, still remembering being in Nick’s arms and kissing him. He had clearly warned her he would not fall in love. She needed to take sex the way Nick would—without getting emotionally involved.
“I can’t do that,” she whispered aloud in the dark bedroom. She knew if she was intimate with Nick, gave him her body, her heart would go along with it. She was going to love him for giving her Hattie. She could try to keep a wall around her heart, but Nick was too appealing, too sexy, and he had given her the one thing in this world she wanted most.
She had to go into this marriage of convenience knowing that was all it was to Nick. A convenience. He had given her Hattie, and as long as he gave Hattie the love of a father for his child, Talia knew she shouldn’t expect anything more.
She adjusted her pillow and turned on her side, but sleep was elusive. A half hour later, still wide-awake, she went to check on Hattie.
She stood beside her crib, watching Hattie sleep. “You’ll have a daddy now,” she whispered, looking at Hattie curled on her side, the pink bunny held tightly in the crook of her arm. “You’ll have a daddy, a chauffeur and heaven knows who else—and you’re going to take me into that world with you.” Relief and joy filled her. At the same time, doubt pecked at her thoughts. Would she be able to adjust and get along with Nick? Keep Nick happy? She couldn’t answer those questions. She was marrying a man who was a stranger.
“I’m going to marry your daddy and be your mommy forever,” she said softly, focusing instead on the joy that welled up again in her heart. “Sweet baby, I get to be your mommy. I will love you all my life and take care of you the best I can. And your daddy? I’ll just have to learn to live with your daddy, who doesn’t love me. As long as he loves you—and he will—we’ll be fine. As long as he kisses the way he did tonight, it should be a blast being married to him. He has to be the sexiest man on this earth. I’m going to try to keep my heart intact, but with kisses like tonight’s, I don’t think I can. Nick Duncan. Mrs. Nicholas Duncan with daughter Hattie Prentiss Duncan.” The names sounded good on her lips.
“It seems impossible, doesn’t it?” she asked the sleeping baby. “Only it is possible and it’s going to happen. I’m going to marry Nick Duncan. He doesn’t love me and he never will, but he’s giving me my fantasy. Is he going to break my heart?” She shrugged. “Nothing would ever hurt like losing you, Hattie, and now you’ll be my baby forever. And I will try to be the best mother possible. I will love you with all my heart.”
She kissed the top of Hattie’s head and slipped out before she stirred. As she moved through her small house, she felt dazed. Her life had changed in the past few hours, a change she hadn’t expected. In a short while she would be marrying Nick Duncan and have a sprawling ranch and an elegant mansion to call home. Not to mention the sexiest man ever beside her.
But she knew their marriage would never involve love. Time might carry him away from the pain and loss he had suffered, but she didn’t expect him to fall in love with her.
Talia knew loss, too. She had been hurt badly in her first marriage. She had lost her mother and her dad. She had suffered two miscarriages. Having endured all that, she knew they understood each other’s pain.
Again, she smiled as she thought about the joyous, happy fact that she wouldn’t lose Hattie. For that she would be forever grateful to Nick and she would do her best to help him be a daddy to Hattie. That was the best with Nick she could hope for and that had to be enough.
She returned to her bed, but knowing she was too wide-awake to sleep, she pulled a pen and paper from her nightstand and set about making her lists. One for the baby furniture and items she’d need to purchase, and another of the few people she’d like to invite to the wedding. Nick’s guest list would no doubt be more plentiful, with his business contacts, friends and family.
What would his family think about her? The thought struck her out of the blue. And what would they think about Nick marrying to give Hattie a mother? His brothers and grandmother would know he wasn’t in love. Would his family accept her?
More important, would they accept Hattie—a little girl whom Nick had known nothing about?
Doubt started creeping in, quietly but steadily, and by the time Talia shut off her light, she knew she’d lie awake till morning.
What was she thinking, marrying a man she barely knew with a family she didn’t know? Marrying a man she didn’t love and who didn’t—wouldn’t—love her? How could they make this marriage of convenience work?
Four
Nick went up the walk to his grandmother’s house, which was the original ranch house and much smaller than his home or Stan’s palatial ranch house. His gaze ran over the house that was smaller than his. The original part was built pre–Civil War. Each Duncan to live in it added to the house and made changes. It had been repaired, improved and enlarged through the years, and Nick liked the old place, but he wouldn’t live in it. He climbed the wooden steps to the porch, walked to the front door and rang the bell as he entered so they would know he was coming.
“Hello, Mr. Nick,” Braden said as he walked toward the front door as Nick stepped inside.
“Hi, Braden,” Nick said, greeting the man who served as cook and butler for Nick’s grandmother. Braden Aldridge had worked for them since Nick was a kid. He wore his usual white shirt and black trousers and black boots.
A woman came down the hall and Nick smiled as he greeted the former nurse and now a companion for his grandmother. Her round face was framed by brown hair streaked with gray in a pixie cut. “Hi, Ida. The weather’s good. I thought maybe Grandmother would be outside.”
“She likes the air-conditioning a bit better,” Ida said. “As always, she’s looking forward to your visit.”
“Something smells good, Braden.”
“A pot roast. I’m sure you’ll be asked to stay to eat with her.”
“I can’t today, but I hope I can get some to take with me. No one can beat your pot roast.”
“She supervises. It’s sort of ‘our’ pot roast.”
“Grandmother has always been a good cook. We’ll see if I get an invitation. Whether I do or I don’t, I’ll come by the kitchen before I leave anyway,” Nick said, smiling at the cook, who was one of the best.
“How’s she feeling?” he asked Ida as he walked beside her.
“She’s fine and happy you’re coming to see her.”
“Good. I have some family news that she can tell you. I hope it doesn’t upset her.”
“Uh-oh. I was going to say that I can’t wait to hear the news...unless it’s bad news.”
“No. Whatever she tells you, I think it’s good news, and I think I’m doing what’s best, but it’ll give her a shock.”
“Now I am curious,” Ida said, smiling at him. “She’s in the back and anxious to see you. Maybe I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Well, not tonight. I have company.” He left her and walked down the hall to enter a large sunroom with a view of the patio to the south.
“Hello,�
�� he said, entering the room and crossing to his grandmother, who sat in her favorite recliner with her feet propped up. Switching off the television, she sat up as he leaned down to kiss her powdered cheek, getting a whiff of her usual lilac perfume. “You look comfortable,” he said.
“I’m very comfortable. Now, this is not the usual time you come by for a visit, so what’s up?”
He sat across from her, thinking how little she had changed over the years. Her gray hair was in its usual bun at the back of her head. She was tall and thin, but stronger than she looked. Her eyes were light brown, unlike his or his brothers’. Her glasses had slipped down her nose and she removed them, rubbing her eyes and looking at him.
“So what brings you visiting?” she asked. “You can’t possibly smell that pot roast from your house, but I know it’s one of your favorites.”
“That it is,” he said, wondering how she was going to take his news. He hoped they didn’t have conflict over his marriage or over Hattie. “No, I didn’t come calling because of the pot roast.”
“Well, you might as well stay and eat some because I know how you like it and we have a lot.”
“Thank you, but I can’t stay because I’m having company and I’m going back to Dallas this afternoon.”
“I’ll send some home with you.”
“I’d like that.” They sat looking at each other and he knew he might as well tell her his news and get her reaction over with and go from there. He leaned forward, placing his arms on his knees and looking into her brown eyes. “I’m going to tell you two things that I think will shock you, so I’m just giving you warning now.”
“Am I going to faint?”
He smiled. “I don’t think so. You never have so far.”
Her eyes twinkled and he wondered if she could take his next announcement as calmly. “Horace called and said a woman named Talia Barton wanted to see me and I should see her.”
“Horace? Our attorney, Horace?”
