Harlequin Kimani Romance September 2014 Bundle: Seduced by the HeirSecret Silver NightsSomeone Like YouIndulge Me Tonight

by Pamela Yaye

  “It’s in the dining room.” She turned to her dad. “You’ll have to carry it out. It’s a little larger than Mom led me to believe.”

  “You had Adam there to help you,” Gemma Granville said. “I didn’t think you’d have a problem.”

  There it was, Teddy thought. She’d gotten Adam’s name into the conversation. This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. And there’d be no stopping her probe for details.

  “Thanks to you and his mother.” Teddy glanced at her mom, giving her that stop-interfering look. But Gemma just smiled.

  To her husband, she said, “Kevin, would you get it and put it in the car?”

  The look her father gave her mother was one Teddy had seen many times. He knew she was on a crusade and whatever his efforts, she wouldn’t be derailed.

  “It’s between the columns,” Teddy directed.

  Alone with her mom, Teddy took her favorite mug from the cabinet and one for her mom. She filled them with coffee and returned to the table.

  “I was surprised Adam wasn’t with you,” her mother said as she sipped the hot liquid.

  “It’s his parents’ anniversary and he’s having a dinner for them.”

  “Oh, he didn’t invite you?”

  “Mom,” she warned. “We’re not joined at the hip.”

  “Not yet,” her mother whispered. Teddy didn’t think she was supposed to hear that. At least she gave her mom the benefit of the doubt.

  “I do like him,” Teddy said, sipping from the mug and beginning her subterfuge.

  Her mom smiled. “Do you think he might be The One?”

  The hopeful lift to her voice made Teddy feel guilty. She hated deception, but she’d agreed to this fake proposal so she had to go through with it.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. “But we’re going to keep seeing each other. Wherever it goes, it goes.”

  “That’s a start.”

  She patted her daughter’s hand the same way she had when Teddy was a gawky teenager in need of her motherly advice.

  “Mom, don’t get your hopes up. This may not work out. We’ve met a couple of times.”

  “But you agreed to another date,” her mother stated.

  Teddy nodded. “We liked each other enough to try it.”

  “Good.” Her mother clasped her hands together.

  “Stop,” Teddy said. “You’ll get excited about this and it could be over in a matter of weeks.” Teddy knew it would be over in a short time period. She and Adam had already set their expiration date.

  “Oh, don’t be so negative,” her mother said. “He could be the best thing that happened to you. Give it some time.” After another sip of her coffee, she said, “Speaking of dinner, you’re invited so I hope you have something dressy to wear. I mean, something special.”

  They hadn’t been discussing dinner, but it was a safer subject than Adam, so Teddy let the change happen. Of course she had a nice dress. Her mother knew Teddy had a closet full of clothes for every occasion. Yet she felt Teddy needed to make an impression on someone who would be attending the dinner, someone who could probably help her father. She wondered what her mother was wearing. “The university must be going all out for Dad.”

  “Oh, they are.”

  Teddy found out why she needed the special dress several hours later when her father pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant too many miles from home for Teddy not to be suspicious.

  “This is a really long way from Princeton,” Teddy commented as they exited the car.

  “I hear the food is good,” her mom said. “Have you been here before?”

  “I’ve done a couple of weddings here. And the food is really good.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Her mom took a moment to look at the small village. Every shop was completely outlined in tiny white lights. Teddy knew the area was lighted this way year-round.

  “If you ever do your own wedding, you can probably use this as a place for a reception.”

  Her mother’s message wasn’t lost on Teddy. She ignored it and looked at the building. The place was huge and it had a large parking lot. When you lived in Princeton, you understood the need for adequate parking since it was at a premium in the college town.

  Inside the place was warm and inviting. She didn’t hear her father give his name, but they bypassed all the people in the waiting area and followed the receptionist to an adjacent room.

  All Teddy’s training and experience at remaining calm and keeping her emotions in check deserted her when she entered the private party room. She gasped. Adam sat at a U-shaped table with people who were obviously his parents. She assumed the others were his brothers and their dates. He’d told her neither of his siblings were married.

  Adam stood up slowly and stared at her. “Wow,” he said, taking a long moment to look her up and down. Teddy felt a blush cover her, but couldn’t deny that she liked the way he made her feel. Now she understood why her mother insisted on checking to see what she was wearing. The black knee-length sequined dress lay haphazardly on her closet floor where it had fallen when her mother rejected it for the scarlet strapless chiffon she now wore.

  Disengaging himself from the group, Adam came to stand in front of their three-person party. He kissed her lightly on the lips. “I don’t know what’s going on,” he whispered. Then in a louder voice, he said, “Let me take your coat,” as if he’d been expecting her. She handed him the drape she had over her arm and he placed it on an unoccupied chair at an empty table. Apparently, the assembled party of guests were the only occupants of the room.

  Teddy introduced her parents. Behind him Adam’s mother and father had risen and now stood in front of her. Adam introduced Merle Sullivan and Dr. Ann Sullivan, and Teddy already suspected her mother knew Adam’s mom. Adam’s father was the CEO of a midsize insurance company. He was a portly man, over six feet tall with thinning hair that was a mixture of gray and black. Dr. Sullivan was short and petite. Her hair was cut almost to her scalp, making her face strong and prominent. Yet her smile was beautiful and Adam had gotten his eyes from her. Teddy didn’t have time to process all the information because the other family members quickly joined the small congregation. Galen and Quinn were Adam’s brothers. Both had dates and Teddy wondered if they were also on the receiving end of their mother’s quest for married sons.

  Adam slipped his arm around her waist and she felt heat flow to her toes. As everyone headed for the table to retake their seats, Adam took her hand. The two lingered behind the others, staying close to the entrance.

  “It wasn’t my idea. I nearly swallowed my teeth when the three of you walked in,” he said. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “But I can see my mother’s hand in this...coincidence.”

  “Well, I suppose it’s time we went into our act,” she said, her voice low. “Get ready.”

  “For what?”

  “The Gemma Granville Marry My Daughter Show.”

  * * *

  Adam almost laughed at that. Teddy had no way of knowing that his mother could hold her own when it came to her sons and the marriages that were still to come. Quinn and Galen weren’t immune to their mother’s machinations, but tonight they weren’t on the front line.

  Glancing at Quinn, Adam noticed the shadow of a smile on his brother’s face. He could almost hear him asking, Is she the one? Adam had no answer for that. There was something indefinable about Teddy, but so far the two were only trying to solve the problem between themselves and their overzealous mothers.

  “Are you two going to hover over there all night or join the rest of us?” Quinn called from his place across the room.

  Adam and Teddy turned to face Quinn and the waiting table. Adam put his hand on her back and urged her toward the U-shaped table that had been laid out festively for an anniversary. Both the
chairs and tables had been covered in white. Place settings were laid out for a six-course meal. Adam wasn’t sure he’d survive it.

  The two took seats. “Sorry for holding things up,” Teddy apologized to Adam’s parents.

  “Don’t worry about it.” His mother brushed her apology aside. She placed a hand on her husband’s and continued. “We remember how it was to be newly in love.”

  Adam’s ears should have slid off his face at the amount of heat that flashed within him so fast the entire room had to see it. Glancing at Teddy, he was surprised to see her smiling.

  “You think this is funny?” he whispered.

  “Hilarious.” Then she gave her attention to his parents. “Adam didn’t tell me how long you’ve been married.”

  “Tonight we celebrate thirty-eight years,” his father responded for the first time since their introduction. He smiled, one Adam had seen many times and knew was genuine.

  “Happy years.” Quinn raised his glass and toasted them.

  “Can you imagine being married that long, Teddy?” her mother asked.

  “Mother, I can’t imagine being married for one year, let alone several decades. But...” She paused and took Adam’s hand. Hers was warm and calm, while his, despite the heat generating in his body, was ice-cold. He wondered where she was going with this. “...maybe one day we’ll all meet again for an anniversary and I’ll answer that question.”

  Adam thought his mother was going to beam out of her chair. The smile on her face rivaled the size of her dinner plate. Quinn looked stunned. His brother Galen’s mouth dropped open and Teddy’s mother’s face mirrored that of her coconspirator.

  “Wait a minute,” Galen said. “Are you telling me, you two are serious?” He pointed from one to the other with the index fingers of both hands.

  Adam cleared his throat. “Well, we haven’t known each other that long, but...” he stopped for effect and the need to swallow the lump of lies he was about to tell “...things are progressing.”

  “Progressing?” Galen repeated.

  Teddy nodded. “I hope you have no objections.” She gazed directly at Galen, then turned to his parents.

  Adam’s mom spread her hands. “We’re thrilled.” Then a moment later, she continued, “Of course, we want you two to be sure.”

  Adam watched the bobbing heads. He knew the two mothers in this room had already decided that they were more than sure.

  * * *

  Teddy held her sides, hesitating on the steps to her porch, as she laughed for the hundredth time during their ninety-minute drive back to Princeton. She and Adam had reviewed the evening’s events since leaving the restaurant and climbing into his car. Adam drove and Teddy was glad she didn’t have to negotiate the dark roads as tears sometimes trickled down her cheeks over some comment or action one or both of their mothers had made.

  She opened the door to her house and both entered the dimly lit foyer.

  “If you don’t stop,” she informed Adam, “I’m going to have to go to the hospital so they can stitch up my sides.” She took short breaths, trying to control the pain in her sides, but she started to laugh again. Hiccupping, she stopped.

  “I apologize for my parents,” she told him after a moment.

  “It was just as much my mother’s fault as yours.”

  “They ambushed us.”

  “But we were ready. I’m sure both of them went home as happy souls.”

  He smiled at Teddy and it was almost her undoing. Every time she saw him, her heart fluttered and her stomach felt as if butterflies were playing inside her.

  “Do you want something to eat?”

  “I’m starving,” he said. “I couldn’t eat anything during dinner.”

  “I know.” Teddy headed for the kitchen. “Between your brothers and our parents, I was afraid I’d choke if I tried to swallow anything.”

  Teddy started to laugh again. Tears cornered in her eyes and she used her fingertips to wipe them away.

  “Quinn.” She paused, taking a sobering breath. “When Quinn asked your mom where she was hiding my wedding gown and the room went deathly quiet, I thought she might answer that it was in the coat closet.”

  Adam laughed. “Then Galen joined with...” He stopped as they both remembered his brother coming up with the same thought about where the gown was located. “And then adding that the minister was probably coming in for dessert and would perform the nuptials.”

  “The look on your mom’s face was priceless, even though I was totally afraid my mother might say it was all true,” Teddy said.

  The gales of laughter continued. Teddy held her head. All the laughing was making it throb. She forced herself to control it and went into the kitchen.

  Adam followed her. “Can I help with anything?” he asked as she opened the refrigerator.

  Teddy stopped and stared at him. “Can you cook?” she asked.

  “I’ve been known to boil water,” he said. “And I make a mean macaroni and cheese. If pushed, I can boil spaghetti and open a jar of sauce.”

  Teddy smiled. “I’m not used to having anyone in my kitchen, so why don’t you set the table?” She pointed to the cabinets holding plates, glasses and silverware. “Does your mother also find dates for your brothers?” Teddy asked.

  “Often,” he said. “They threatened to accept jobs far from home if she didn’t stop.”

  “And that worked?” It seemed an easy solution. Teddy knew it wouldn’t work for her. Her mother still found blind dates for her and she lived two hours away, plus she worked a lot of weekends.

  “For about a week.”

  “Who were the women at the anniversary? Were they mother-finds, too?”

  Adam shook his head. “During the planning process, they both stated they were bringing their own dates. Even though we were only going to be a family, we knew our mother would do something unexpected.”

  “Me,” Teddy said.

  Adam nodded. “I should have had a clue when I noticed the extra place settings, but I never thought I’d see you come through the door.”

  “My mother let me believe we were going to a dinner with the university organizers. The fact that it was in Smithville was a little unusual, but I wasn’t expecting to join in on your parents’ dinner.”

  Minutes later they were sitting down to a meal of omelets, sausage, toast and decaf coffee. It only took a few minutes to cook and even less to eat. Filling their cups with more coffee, Teddy added cream to hers. Adam drank his black.

  “This is a better meal than the steak I had earlier tonight,” Adam said.

  “Last night,” Teddy corrected. “It’ll be daylight in three hours.”

  Adam took their dishes to the sink and rinsed them. Teddy got up and joined him. Together they finished the dishes and took their cups to the living room.

  “Tired?” Adam asked when Teddy sank into the sofa. He joined her there.

  “A little,” she said, stifling a yawn. “You’re going to have to go straight to the office, if you shouldn’t already be there.”

  “I checked in before we left Smithville. I imagine the world of finance won’t collapse before morning.”

  He put his arm around her and she leaned into him. Teddy started to giggle.

  “What’s so funny?” Adam asked.

  “My mom, when she asked me if I could imagine being married thirty-eight years.”

  Adam laughed, too. “I’m sure your answer wasn’t ideal for her, but you weathered it.”

  “I wonder what she would have thought if I’d really said what came to my mind first?”

  “Which was...” Adam prompted.

  “Thirty-eight years with the same man. I shudder to think.” She mock shuddered and laughed, but Adam didn’t join her despite his arm being around
her shoulders.

  “Have you ever really given it thought?” His voice turned serious. He was holding Teddy in his arms and she couldn’t see his face, but she could feel the tension that had somehow crept into his body.

  Teddy moved back to look at Adam. “I never thought of being married,” she answered.

  “Really?” Adam’s brows arched.

  “Really.”

  “You plan weddings. Marriage ought to be the first thing on your mind.”

  “Or the last,” she said.

  “You see hundreds of couples pledging their last breath to love. You design the perfect gown and give the fantasy wedding to strangers. And not once have you ever imagined it would one day be your turn?”

  Teddy hesitated a long time. “I did once,” she said. “The first gown I ever designed was the one I wanted to be married in.”

  “The groom?”

  She smiled briefly. “There was no groom. Only my fantasy of the perfect man. But I made the gown, added the finest lace. It was perfect, inside and out, and it fit every part of me.”

  “I bet you were a beautiful bride. I’d like to see it.”

  Teddy was shaking her head before Adam finished his sentence.

  “Why not?” His arms tightened around her.

  “I sold it.”

  “Why?”

  “After I finished it, I took it into the office for Diana to see. She insisted I put it on. While I was dressing, a client came in. Diana was helping her when I came back. The woman saw the gown and loved it. She loved it so much tears rolled down her face. She wanted to buy it. Diana told her it wasn’t for sale, but she kept asking what we’d sell it for. She was willing to pay anything. The business was new. We needed the money.”

  “So you sold it?”

  “I sold it.”

  “Regrets?”

  “For a while, but not anymore.”

  “Now you’re a cynic?”

  Teddy laughed. “Me? What about you?”

  “Okay, we’re both cynics,” he agreed.

  “It’s a good thing we found each other.”

  “You know you are the most intriguing woman I’ve ever met?” he said.