Demanding His Brother's Heirs

by Michelle Celmer

  Though he wasn’t much in the mood for talking, he answered the phone. After the obligatory hellos, Lewis asked Jason how business was going in New York.

  “I was hoping I could get out of here in a day or two, but it’s not looking that way. Probably Friday at the soonest.”

  “You don’t sound too thrilled about that.”

  No, he wasn’t. “Don’t I?”

  “You love a challenging business deal. The riskier the better.”

  He used to.

  When he met his friend’s observation with silence, Lewis said, “Why don’t you just tell her how you feel?”

  “My feelings are irrelevant.”

  “You say that a lot, but I don’t know if you really believe it anymore.”

  Whether he believed it, or even liked it, wasn’t the point.

  “You’ve worked hard all of your life,” Lewis said. “Why not take a little time off, give yourself a break? Spend some quality time with Holly and the boys.”

  Spending more time with Holly was the last thing he should be doing. She and the boys were settled and safe, and that was all that mattered. Well, all that should have mattered.

  “Will you be driving down tomorrow?” he asked Lewis.

  “I’m sending Preston in my place.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, but Miranda has an appointment with a specialist.”

  “What kind of specialist?”

  “An obstetrician who specializes in high-risk pregnancy.”

  Jason blinked. “Pregnancy?”

  “Oh, did I forget to mention that we’re pregnant?”

  “I think so!” Jason said with a laugh. “Congratulations. I guess third time was the charm.”

  “I guess so.”

  Jason couldn’t have been happier for his friend, and was maybe just a little envious. “Miranda must be thrilled.”

  “She’s busting at the seams to tell everyone, but we’re going to wait a few months to make the official announcement. You know, just in case.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Cautiously optimistic.”

  Jason could understand Lewis’s apprehension, given how hard it had been for them to conceive. “Does Holly know?”

  “Miranda is on the phone with her as we speak.”

  Jason’s call-waiting buzzed, and it was Holly. “Speak of the devil. She’s calling me right now.”

  “I’ll let you go.”

  “Give me a call tomorrow and let me know how the appointment goes.”

  They said goodbye, and Jason answered Holly’s call. “Hello.”

  “Did you hear the good news?” she asked excitedly.

  “I just got off the phone with Lewis.”

  “Miranda is so excited. She’s wanted this so badly. She’s already picking out baby furniture and paint swatches. I want to throw her a baby shower. She’s due in early spring.”

  “Do you want more children?” he asked, the question coming out of nowhere. What the hell would he ask her that for?

  She didn’t seem to find the question unusual at all. “I’m not against the idea of having another child, but I had such a difficult pregnancy. I guess it would depend on the circumstances.”

  “But if you knew you absolutely couldn’t?”

  “I would be fine with that. But I have the boys. It’s different for Miranda.” There was a slight pause, and then she said, “Why do you ask?”

  Good question. “Just curious.”

  She bought his flimsy explanation, or maybe she was just being polite. Maybe she could see right through him.

  “The boys miss you,” she said.

  “I miss them.”

  “And I miss you, too.”

  He closed his eyes and sighed. Damn, why did she have to say things like that? He didn’t return the sentiment. But considering the time he’d spent calling and texting her, it was probably obvious. He just couldn’t seem to help himself. He could go only so long without hearing her voice.

  “I thought that I might take flowers to Jeremy’s grave,” he said, though to him it was hard to picture his brother lying in the ground. It was just a gesture of respect, because for all Jeremy’s faults, Jason loved his brother. And he knew Jeremy was in a better place. A place where he would no longer be tortured by his addictions. Where he would find peace. Call it heaven or the afterlife or maybe even another dimension. Whatever and wherever it was, Jason believed he would see his brother again someday.

  “That would be nice,” she said. “I haven’t been back since the funeral.”

  “Maybe next month on his birthday we could go together, the four of us.” Like a family, but not quite.

  “I’d like that. When do you think you’ll come home?”

  Home. That word had taken on a whole new meaning lately. “Probably not until Friday. Sooner if I can manage it, but I can’t make any promises.”

  “It’s supposed to be a beautiful weekend. Maybe we can do something fun with the boys.”

  “Figure out what you’d like to do and we’ll do it.” He didn’t really care what she chose as long as he was with her and the boys.

  “Hey, I forgot to tell you that Devon rolled over today.”

  “Get out, really?”

  “Yep, back to stomach.”

  “They’re getting so big, I can practically see them growing.”

  “Uh-oh, one of the boys is crying.”

  “Kind of early for their feeding,” he said.

  “Yeah, maybe I can get him back to sleep. I have to let you go.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you Friday.”

  “I look forward to it,” she said.

  “Oh, and Holly?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I miss you, too.”

  Eleven

  Holly lay draped on a chaise longue on the back deck, trying to get some sun without burning herself to a crisp. The air was still cool but the sun warmed her pale skin. Her bathing suit hung on her like loose skin, but she had gained about five pounds since she got here. Regardless, she would probably have to buy a new one.

  Before he’d left for the city, Jason had given her all the information for her new account, along with a debit card. When she’d logged in and checked the balance online, there already had been ten thousand dollars in the account. But so far she hadn’t spent a penny. Pretty much all she had done since Jason left was eat, sleep and lie around and play with the boys. She kept asking Faye for that chore list, but her answer was always, “I’m working on it.”

  Faye probably didn’t have time to write it up, considering the way she had been waiting on Holly and the twins hand and foot. Holly was convinced that Faye was clairvoyant, because she always seemed to know what Holly wanted before Holly even knew she wanted it. She also had the twins’ schedule down to the minute, and was always there to help with feedings and diaper changes. And even dispense parental advice. The twins were napping now, and Holly had asked Faye to call her when they woke. But knowing Faye, she would feed them then play with them for an extra hour first.

  It went against Holly’s very being to let someone take care of her like that, but Faye had a way of making it feel okay. She had been giving Holly the time and space she needed to regenerate, to be a productive human being again, and Holly had no way to express her gratitude.

  The alarm on her phone went off, telling her it was time to turn on to her stomach. She flipped over on the soft cushion, the loose nylon of her suit riding up her butt cheeks. It didn’t matter really. She could be out there stark naked and no one but Faye would see her. The nearest neighbor was almost a quarter mile down the shore in either direction. Jason had told her his property was the largest on the lake, although at one time, before the
Great Depression, his family owned pretty much all of the land on this side of the lake.

  George was in town getting supplies, which he transported in Jason’s boat, so she would hear him coming and have plenty of time to cover up. Jason wasn’t due back until tomorrow night.

  On the Sunday before Jason left for the city, he’d driven her and the boys into town for a late lunch at the country club, where everyone knew his name. Then they’d walked the busy streets window-shopping. Everyone seemed to know him, and they fawned over the twins. A few of the younger, seasonal employees in the shops even had offered to babysit. Holly would go so far as to say that they’d been treated a bit like royalty.

  In the few weeks she’d spent with Jason, the sexual attraction that she had hoped would fade had only grown more intense, and obvious. He wasn’t helping matters in the least. He seemed to take every opportunity he could find to touch her. Be it their fingers brushing as they did a baby exchange, or his muscular thigh touching hers when they sat close—which they shouldn’t have been doing in the first place.

  Before he left for the city, he’d given her what she’d thought would be a platonic hug, but then as she was backing away he’d brushed his lips across her cheek, so lightly it was barely more than a tickle. But it was a tickle that she’d felt everywhere, and his eyes had said he wanted to do a lot more than kiss her.

  That made two of them.

  That still didn’t change the fact that they couldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, get involved physically. Logically she understood the repercussions. But logic had nothing to do with this. She was running on pure emotion. So it was almost a relief when he’d left for Manhattan on Sunday night.

  For about five minutes.

  The dust from the tires of the limo that picked him up had barely settled before she’d begun to miss him.

  “The view out here is especially pleasing today.”

  At the sound of Jason’s voice just feet from where she lay—with her butt cheeks still hanging out—Holly’s heart kicked into third gear. But when she opened her eyes and looked up at him, she was embarrassed to find him staring at her bare bony ass.

  To try to cover herself now would not only be pointless, it also would make it look as if she had something to hide. She’d owned bikinis that showed off a whole lot more than he was seeing right now. So instead of freaking out, she pushed herself up on her elbows and greeted him with a smile, doing what was probably the worst thing she could under the circumstances. She looked him up and down and said, “The view from here isn’t so shabby, either.”

  She was rewarded with a sizzling smile. He looked so distinguished in his dark blue pinstripe suit and paisley tie. “You’re early. I thought you wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.”

  Still eyeing her behind he said, “It looks to me as if I got here at just the right time.”

  The deep thrum of his voice burned her skin more than a dozen suns could. He really needed to stop saying things like that. It was too tempting. She’d forgotten how much fun it could be to flirt. What it was like to feel sexy and lusted after. But that didn’t make it okay.

  Wearing what she had come to think of as his devilish smile, he took off his jacket, draped it on the back of the chair next to hers and sat down. “Anything exciting happen while I was gone?”

  “Not since we talked this morning,” she said. They’d shared many calls since he’d left. Most of them had been at night, and some had lasted for an hour or more. She’d learned an awful lot about him during those calls, and now he knew just about all there was to know about her. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about. She no longer looked at him as Jeremy’s other half. Jason was truly in a class by himself. His quirky sense of humor kept her laughing, and his smile made her heart beat faster. His big sturdy hands made her long to be touched.

  “Anything exciting happen in the city?” she asked.

  “Nah, just boring business stuff.” He nodded toward her lower half and she braced for a butt comment. “You’re getting a little pink.”

  “Pink?” She wasn’t even blushing.

  “Your back. You’re getting a sunburn.”

  Oh. “My fair skin is a curse.”

  “You need more sunblock.” He picked up the bottle of sunblock spray that she had set on the ground by her chair. “Would you like me to do it?”

  “Sure.”

  The cool spray felt good on the hot skin of her back and legs.

  “I miss the days when people had to rub the suntan lotion on,” he said with a sigh.

  The thought of his hands sliding over her skin made her lady parts tingle. “Well, technically you still can. Sometimes the spray misses places, and it’s better to rub it around and make it even so you don’t get random burn spots.”

  “What are you trying to say?” he asked her.

  Good question. What was she trying to say? She hadn’t meant to imply that she wanted him to rub lotion on her. Or had she?

  “I’m merely stating a fact.”

  One brow rose and he grinned that wicked smile, going in one instant from conservative entrepreneur to devilishly handsome rake.

  How did he do that?

  Jeremy, she hated to admit, had seemed almost two dimensional in comparison. She could sort of understand why, since he’d had so many secrets to juggle. It must have been complicated trying to keep the lies straight in his own head, especially being under the influence of narcotics. The truth just seemed so much easier. At least she had always thought so.

  “So you’re definitely not asking me to rub lotion on your back?” Jason asked her.

  Okay, so maybe there were times when the real truth was better left unsaid. So she told him what she considered a little white lie. “Definitely not.”

  “Because I can.”

  And oh, did she want him to. All the more reason to say no.

  “I promise I’ll keep it completely platonic,” he said.

  Nothing about having his hands on her could ever be platonic.

  “Actually,” he said with a frown, “you’re awfully red. How long have you been sunning your back?”

  “I’ve been out here around an hour, and every fifteen minutes I flip over. Kind of like a hamburger.”

  “Well, I think you’re done. Maybe a little overdone.”

  He was probably right.

  She pushed herself up in the chair and swung her legs over the side so she was facing him, holding up her saggy suit so she didn’t give him another peek at her wares. “I should probably go in and take a cool shower.”

  “If you need someone to platonically rub aloe on your back...”

  She laughed. “You’re my guy. I know.”

  He grinned. “How about we leave the twins with Faye and have dinner out tonight? We could invite Lewis and Miranda. Make it a celebration.”

  “That sounds like fun.” She rose from the chair, slipped her feet into her flip-flops. “Let me check and see if that’s okay with Faye.”

  “You know it will be.”

  “But it would be rude and presumptuous not to ask.”

  “That’s why I pay them handsomely, so I don’t have to ask.”

  “They work for you, not me. I prefer to ask.” And even if they had worked for her, she never would have felt comfortable ordering them to do anything. Although at some point she might have to learn how.

  On her way up to the shower she stopped to talk to Faye, who was sitting on the sofa feeding the boys their bottles. Of course she was more than happy to watch them tonight, and while Holly showered. They chatted for a few more minutes, and then Holly went up to take her shower.

  She took a long, cool one, soaping herself up to get the sunblock off, wishing it was Jason’s hands sliding all over her. But she resisted the urge to slide her hand between he
r legs for some much needed relief. Maybe tonight after she went to bed.

  She stepped out onto the mat, and had just wrapped a towel around herself when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Figuring it was Faye with the twins she didn’t hesitate to pull it open. But it was Jason.

  The man did have impeccable timing.

  His eyes raked over her. “I came to tell you that Miranda isn’t feeling well so they won’t be joining us for dinner.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  “Can I come in?”

  “I’m in a towel,” she said as if he hadn’t noticed.

  “That’s why I want to come in.”

  Oh. My. God. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “No. I think it’s an excellent idea.”

  * * *

  Without waiting for an invitation, Jason stepped into her bedroom and shut the door behind him. He didn’t care if it was a bad idea. He didn’t care about anything but getting her naked and burying himself deep inside of her.

  When he’d seen her lying there, her smooth behind rosy from the sun, it had taken every bit of restraint he had not to throw her over his shoulder and carry her to his bedroom.

  “I should go check on the boys.”

  He took a step closer, and she took one back. “They’re with Faye.”

  “I know, but—”

  “That towel is coming off,” he said, and her eyes went a little wide. But this time when he took a step closer she didn’t move.

  A long strand of wet blond hair stuck to her plump lower lip. He reached up and brushed it free, stroking her cheek, and something in her seemed to give. She whimpered softly, leaning into his palm so that he was cupping her cheek.

  “I want you so much,” she said.

  “So take me.”

  She looked up at him, and he found himself instantly caught up in the soft blue of her eyes, the feel of her smooth, pale cheek against his fingers. Good God, she was beautiful and desirable, and he didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to stop touching her. Ever. Her wet hair tangled in his fingers as he cupped the nape of her neck, and a soft moan escaped between her parted lips. Lips so full and plump and inviting he had to kiss them. But it was Holly who slipped her arms up around his neck, pulled him down to her as she rose up on her toes. The instant their lips touched he was toast.