They pulled up in front of an elaborately embellished Federal mansion with a gorgeous porch and outbuildings to the side. While she gaped at the beauty of the building, Matthew came around and opened her door.
A swarm of butterflies fluttered in her belly. What would his family think of her? Would they judge her to be good enough to be the mother of their precious nephew and grandson? They’d seemed to like her when she was a friend, but things would be different now. This was Flynn’s family, and despite having met most of them before, she wanted to do the right thing. Make the right impression, for Flynn’s sake.
Matthew took her hand as she stepped out, and guided her in with a warm palm at the small of her back. As they walked through the door, her gut clenched tight. Suddenly she was alone. And small. Just like when she was a child visiting her grandparents or accompanying them to their friends’ homes. Big, impressive houses where the cream of society lived.
People waiting to judge her and find her lacking.
Noises floated on the air from a room farther away—a large family laughing, talking, glassware clinking. She was reminded of her mother visiting the Larrimores’ for the first time—the beginning of their campaign of exclusion and snubbing.
Matthew leaned down to her ear, his breath warm as it feathered over her cheek. “Everything okay?”
She looked up into his brilliant green eyes and the world tilted to correct itself and she was back to being herself again. “Everything’s fine,” she said.
Except that she’d never have him. Another difference between her arrival here and her mother’s at the Larrimore mansion became clear—her father had been besotted and had proposed with romance and genuine passion. Matthew had offered her a ring “if she needed it.” The ache inside was almost unbearable. She shut it away—dwelling on it wouldn’t change a thing, it would only make today harder to live through.
They entered a large, exquisitely decorated room and Elizabeth and RJ smiled as they came over to greet her. Matthew introduced her to Lily and her fiancé, Daniel, then Kara and Laurel came into the room, glasses of iced tea in their hands, deep in conversation. They saw her and came over to kiss her cheek, both with mischievous grins—Laurel had obviously told Kara about the kiss she’d witnessed the night Elizabeth had been taken in for questioning.
Elizabeth slid her hand in the crook of Matthew’s arm. “You said you had something to tell us?” Her eyes were wide, hopeful, and Susannah had a bad feeling. His family thought this was going to be a happy announcement, perhaps even an engagement…
“I do. Where’s Flynn?”
Elizabeth waved an arm toward the door. “In the kitchen house with Pamela. She’ll keep him out there till we come for him.”
“Thanks.” Susannah saw the tension lurking in his eyes when he glanced at her, but his face was calm and composed when his gaze returned to his family. “Perhaps if we all sit down?”
“Shall I get the champagne?” Laurel asked.
Matthew winced, finally understanding their expectations, and his shoulders seemed to take on an even heavier weight. “It’s not that sort of news.”
There were some rumblings in the group. “Then what the hell kind of news is it?” RJ asked, clearly speaking for them all.
“Let’s go in here,” Matthew said, indicating the less-formal family room. Buzzing with curious anticipation, his family filed in, sitting on couches, Kara on the corner of a coffee table, RJ on the armrest of one couch.
“There’s something I should have told you before now,” he began. His shoulders were tense. Standing a few feet to the side of him, Susannah knew this was tearing him up inside because he felt he was betraying Grace, but he was going to do it, anyway. Because he thought it was the right thing to do. She’d never loved him more. She wanted to lace her fingers through his to offer support, but knew it would give the wrong impression to his family, and they were already suspicious more existed between Matthew and her than friendship.
Instead she moved an infinitesimal step closer and he looked up. She gave him an encouraging smile, and some of the tension melted from his features.
He turned back to his family. “You all know Grace was unable to carry a baby to term. What you don’t know is that Susannah was the surrogate who carried Flynn.”
There were a couple of gasps, and a few comments about not having told them sooner, but he continued on. “There’s more. When Grace and I were having difficulty conceiving…” He drew in a long breath through a tight jaw. His back was ramrod straight. This was the moment of truth—he was breaking a vow he’d made to his dead wife. Matthew wasn’t the kind of man who made vows easily, she knew. And he’d break them even less easily. Uncaring of the consequences this time, she moved to his side, freely giving whatever she could. His hand snaked out and wrapped around hers, squeezing her fingers tight. When he continued, his voice was even and strong. No one—who wasn’t having their fingers squeezed to within an inch of their health—would guess this was hard for him.
“We found that Grace’s eggs weren’t able to be used. She went to Susannah again for help, and Susannah’s eggs were used instead. Susannah is Flynn’s biological mother.”
There was silence in the room. Not a comment or clink of glass, or movement. Matthew’s grasp on her fingers didn’t ease. Despite wondering how his family was reacting to the news, to her, she kept her gaze on Matthew. He needed her.
“The reason Susannah has been here recently is when Flynn was in danger of needing a bone-marrow transplant, I wasn’t an ideal donor because of my penicillin allergy. I called Susannah, and she graciously said she’d come to Charleston and do whatever we needed. She’s been here on standby. In case Flynn needed her bone marrow.”
Elizabeth was the first to move. She sprang out of her seat and claimed Susannah in a fierce hug. “You did that for my grandson?”
“Well,” Susannah stammered, surprised, “I didn’t need to do anything in the end.”
“But you came. And you were willing.” Elizabeth stepped away, tears shining in her eyes. “Thank you.”
RJ was next to grab her in a bear hug. “We all love that kid. Thanks for being here for him.”
She was hugged and thanked by each Kincaid in turn, becoming a little disoriented and wobbly, but then, still in a hug from one of his sisters, a familiar hand clasped hers and she was grounded again, anchored in uneven waters. She glanced around the group, and something struck her. This family was unlike any of the society families she’d met with her grandparents. And they were nothing like her grandparents themselves. She’d been so wary of the Kincaids, so caught up in her expectations of wealthy, powerful families, that she’d allowed herself to be prejudiced. That was unfair. They were a warm, loving family.
“But why was this such a secret?” Elizabeth said when they’d settled again. “Why hide who Susannah is?”
Susannah turned to Elizabeth before Matthew could speak. This was one time she could save him the anguish of answering. “He was honoring Grace’s wishes, and that took a lot of courage.”
Matthew looked at her, and there was such emotion in his eyes that her heart missed a beat.
“You know,” Elizabeth said, “I think lunch might be ready. Let’s go into the dining room.” More was said, but Susannah couldn’t hear anything besides a background buzz. She was watching Matthew. He didn’t move until the room was quiet, then he took her hand. “Will you come with me out into the garden?”
She knew he was going to ask her to stay here in Charleston. The way he’d almost asked earlier. Yet nothing had changed between them. She still loved him. He still wanted her, she had no doubt, but not the way she needed him to want her. If she had to refuse him again, she might just fall apart.
She was about to deflect the question, when he added, “I promise I won’t ask you to stay again.”
What else did they have to say to each other? Yet it was such a simple request and he was standing before her so tall and solid and Matthew that sh
e couldn’t find it inside herself to say no. A few more stolen moments together before her evening flight could hardly make things worse than they were.
With emotion clogging her throat, she nodded, and followed him out. They were deep in the elaborate gardens, a long way from the house when he stopped walking and turned to her.
“I need to say something to you, and you won’t want to believe it, but please just listen anyway.”
“Okay,” she said warily.
There was silence for a long moment and she watched a line form between his brows, the dip of his Adam’s apple. “You think I only see you as a replacement for Grace and you were probably right at the start.”
“I didn’t help, by trying to fit into your lives seamlessly.”
“That was a blessing. At that time, with Flynn so unwell, I appreciated that more than I can say.”
“But it meant you never saw me.”
“I saw you,” he said huskily. “I see you now.”
“Matthew—”
“You’re the woman who intuitively found my favorite place in the house to be alone.”
She frowned, then understanding dawned as clear as the blue sky above them. “The wine cellar.”
“The cellar has been the only place I can be me in that house. Sometimes I’ve needed that for five minutes. Not a father or a husband or, more recently, a widower. Just me. And you went there for the same reason, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“And I didn’t mind being there with you. Sharing it with you.”
She went to speak again, but he placed a finger over her lips. “You’re the woman who throws her arms out to the sky just to feel the breeze against her face. Who introduced me to pink grapefruit gelato and who cooks decadent desserts. Who has a strange fascination with my wrists and hands.”
A smile wobbled on her lips. “I thought I was being subtle.”
“You were. But I was watching you closely.” He tenderly smoothed the hair back from her face. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I still can’t.”
This was breaking her heart. She blinked, not knowing which way to turn, what to do or say. “Why are you making this more difficult?”
“You’re the woman who stood up to her grandparents and forced them to treat her properly,” he said as if she hadn’t spoken. “Maybe the only person who’s done that to the Larrimores, and they’ve come back to you and I’ll bet money they’ll be in your life again, but on your terms.”
That was one charge she couldn’t accept. She shook her head. “I’m not sure—”
He put the finger back over her lips. “You were magnificent in your strength with them.”
A painful pressure was building behind her breastbone and she pushed a hand to it to ease the ache. It made no difference. “Please, Matthew.” Her eyes burned with unshed tears.
“I see you, Susannah,” he said with fierce certainty. “Maybe at the start I was foolish enough to let you slip into Grace’s role in our family, but you’re no replacement. You’re Susannah, and I see you.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. “Matthew…”
“Most important of all you’re the woman I love.”
Her heart turned over in her chest as she hardly dared to believe. “You said—”
“I swore I’d never love again,” he said, cutting her off then he winced. “A stupid, stupid thing to say, to even think. I was trying to save myself from the hurt of the breakdown in my relationship with Grace, but being without you for these past few days…that’s been worse than any pain I was trying to avoid.”
“For me, too,” she said, her lips quivering, happiness swelling within.
“Tell me one thing. Do you love me? Because if you don’t, I swear I’ll—”
With a tentative hand, she reached out and stroked the side of his face. “I love you, Matthew, almost more than my heart can bear.”
“Susannah,” he said in a thick voice, and crushed her in his arms. “I said I wouldn’t ask you to stay, and I was serious.” He stepped back, just holding her hands between his. “I want much more than you to merely stay. Marry me.”
A shiver of delight ran down her spine then worked its way outward, till she was trembling all over. He saw the real her. He was willing to accept his love for her. It was too much…
“Marry me, Susannah Parrish, and make a life with me and Flynn.” His brilliant green eyes were full of love and yearning. “And when I say make a life with us, I mean just that. Not the life we have now, but one we create together, that reflects all three of us. We can live anywhere, do anything. As long as we do it together.”
“Yes,” she said, but it only came out as a faint rasp. So she drew in a long breath and said it again, making sure it was as strong and sure as she felt. “Yes, Matthew Kincaid, I’ll marry you. There’s nothing in this world that could make me happier than to create a life with you and Flynn.”
He picked her up and turned them in a circle before releasing her and kissing her. Everything inside her danced—the air was warmer on her skin, the sun shone more brightly. Matthew, her Matthew, loved her. Wanted to build a life with her.
Then she drew away. “And I promise you, I won’t let Flynn forget Grace. She loved him, and he needs to know that. But I have a question for you.”
“Ask me anything,” he said, emotion shining in his eyes.
“Since you’ve been watching me this closely and seem to know so much about me, did you know I’m pregnant with your child?”
His eyes widened and his jaw slackened. Then a grin split his face and he picked her up again. Laughter bubbled up her throat and out.
“I’d planned to tell you today, but I knew it was going to be hard for you to explain to your family about Flynn, so I wanted to let you do that first. I—”
“I don’t care when you were going to tell me, as long as you did.” He kissed her. “Flynn will be beside himself to have a little brother or sister.”
She bit down on her smile, trying to be serious for a moment. “Matthew, I’m not very far along, so do you mind if we don’t tell anyone yet?”
“Frankly that’s one secret I’d be glad to keep for now.”
And then he leaned down and kissed her with all the passion and honesty she’d ever hoped for.
* * * * *
Turn the page for an exclusive short story by USA TODAY bestselling author Day Leclaire. Then look for the next installment of
DYNASTIES: THE KINCAIDS,
BEHIND BEDROOM DOORS
by USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Lewis
wherever Harlequin books are sold.
The Kincaids: Jack and Nikki, Part II
This was a mistake. This was a mistake. This was a huge mistake.
Nikki Thomas pushed the door to her office shut, tempted to lock it, as well. Unfortunately if someone dropped by, she’d be forced to explain, something she was unwilling to do. If only she hadn’t made that outrageous bid at the bachelor charity auction for Read and Write, a local nonprofit organization that supported literacy in everyone from five to ninety-five. If only the man she’d bid on had been anyone other than Jack Sinclair.
But she had bid on Jack Sinclair, the most despised man in all Charleston, South Carolina. Jack Sinclair, the Kincaid bastard. Jack Sinclair, the direct competitor of The Kincaid Group, the firm she worked for as a corporate investigator. Jack Sinclair, the man who’d taken her in his arms one short month ago and kissed her senseless. Kissed her in a way she’d never, ever been kissed before. Kissed her in a way she wanted to be kissed again.
Soon.
Working up her courage, she crossed to her desk and placed the call on her cell phone, preferring not to use the company landline to contact “the enemy.” A moment later, a woman answered, clearly an admin. “Please connect me to Jack Sinclair,” Nikki requested briskly.
“Certainly. May I ask who’s calling and what it’s regarding?”
“Nikki Thomas.” That was the eas
y part. Answering the other question was the not-so-easy part and a ball of tension formed in the pit of her stomach. How could she be so cool and collected when it came to her job, and such a mess when it came to personal relationships? It didn’t make any sense. “It’s regarding… It’s regarding an appointment Jack and I were forced to postpone.” Okay, that would work. Enough information to get past the dragon at the gate, but not so much it caused undue comment.
“I’d be happy to help you with that appointment. I have Mr. Sinclair’s calendar right here.”
Damn. Not enough info to get past the dragon. “Thank you, but he asked that I speak to him directly. If you could just let him know I’m on the line?”
“Of course, Ms. Thomas.”
Several minutes of silence ensued, long enough that the urge to simply hang up almost had her pressing the disconnect button at least half a dozen times. Before she could give in to impulse, Jack’s dark, distinctive voice sounded in her ear. “Nikki?”
She closed her eyes, fighting back a shiver. If a voice could be a food, his would be dark, creamy Belgian chocolate, the sort that melted on the tongue and gave that delicious sensation of bittersweet richness. She fought to keep her voice calm and level, to hide the almost overwhelming need for a hit of the chocolate she was imagining.
“Hi, Jack.” For some reason her voice came out low. Sultry.
“I thought you’d changed your mind about our date.” His voice also sounded low. Sexy.
She managed a quick laugh. “Hey, I won you fair and square. I’m not about to change my mind.” Especially not after that mind-blowing kiss they’d shared.
“Paid top dollar for me, as I recall.”
“A thousand of those top dollars, as I recall.”
“I’ll try to make it worth every penny. I gather you’re ready to collect what you’ve won?”
What Happens in Charleston... Page 16
