She glared back. “How do you take yours?”
“I don’t want to put you out.”
“Well, I’m going to make it, anyway. So you’d be putting me out a lot less if you answered my question.”
The woman was pigheaded as all get-out. “Okay. Fine. Black.” At least he’d have her attention through the duration of a cup of joe, which he planned to nurse.
He watched her as she turned and padded barefoot, hips swaying under the cover of that big white robe, in the direction of what he presumed was the kitchen. He waited until she was out of his line of vision before he made his way into the living room and settled in a floral-print, overstuffed armchair.
He raked his fingers through the close-cropped hair on his head. How could he have been so stupid? He didn’t make a habit of having unprotected sex. Actually, he’d been so wrapped up in work lately, he hadn’t had many opportunities for protected sex. Nonetheless, he didn’t do it. For obvious reasons. But dammit, Jordana had been so aggressive that night. So wonderfully, deliciously insistent and responsive…only a dead man could’ve said no.
His body responded as he remembered that night. He sucked in a deep breath, fighting against arousal. Seeing her for the first time after all these months, with her clean morning face and her blond shoulder-length hair, slightly tussled as it started to dry, reminded him of why he hadn’t been able to resist her. She was sexy as hell, of course he hadn’t refused her. God almighty, despite the mess they were in, he even wanted her now.
He leaned forward in the chair, bracing his forearms on his knees, lacing his fingers loosely together. Maybe there really was a thin line between love and hate. Well, desire and hate, he quickly corrected. He didn’t know her well enough to be in love with her…no matter what his body was trying to tell him. Obviously, he didn’t really hate her, either. He was upset and more than a little angry at how things had turned out.
That had him focusing on the darker side of the desire-and-hate equation. The clear-cut side. His emotions might be muddled right now, but the one thing he knew for a fact was he hated the way Jordana had hidden his child from him. Anger coursed through his veins and clarified his momentary confusion.
He would stick to his plan. He would not leave Atlanta until she agreed to marry him and come back to Red Rock, Texas. His child would not be born illegitimate. Come hell or Jordana Fortune, he would do the right thing.
* * *
Jordana drew enough water in the kettle for a cup of tea for herself and a cup of coffee for Tanner. Her hand shook as she measured the French roast into the press-pot coffeemaker. The smell of the grounds—mixed with the thought of Tanner Redmond sitting in her living room with a stubborn set to his square jaw and a wild look in his chocolate-brown eyes made her stomach pitch. She held her breath for a moment, hoping to tamp down the awful sensation.
Smells she’d loved prepregnancy—like coffee and her favorite perfume—nearly turned her inside out now. Even so, enduring the stench of coffee was a small price to pay for an excuse to get away from Tanner for a few moments to gather her thoughts. Because the man who had been so gentle and patient with her back in December seemed like an entirely different animal now. She had about four minutes to figure out how she was going to change his mind and send him on his way.
Jordana stiffened as the wave of nausea swelled and tried to crest, despite the fact that there was nothing left in her stomach. She drew in a deep breath—in through her nose, out through her mouth. She repeated the process until her stomach finally settled. Morning sickness had plagued her since the second month of the pregnancy. In fact, it was her first clue that something different was going on with her body. Her doctor assured her the symptoms would go away in the second trimester, but so far, no luck. She’d been blessed with the variety of morning ills that sometimes lingered well into the afternoon. Today felt like it would be one of those days. It had been hard enough to drag herself into work and hide the fact that she was under the weather. People started to take notice when, for lack of a better excuse, she blamed her condition on rotating bouts of the flu and extreme exhaustion. Both excuses had worn thin a while ago. Now, what she didn’t need was for Tanner to come waltzing in and blow her cover.
She could just kill her cousin Victoria for spilling the beans to Tanner even after Jordana had explicitly told her she wasn’t ready to face him. In her trademark fashion, Victoria had pushed the issue, badgering Jordana, claiming she should just bite the bullet and tell him now because there would never be a perfect time to break news like this. Jordana should’ve known in Victoria-speak, her cousin was actually saying, “If you don’t tell him, I will.” The woman had never been able to keep a secret. When Victoria got something in her head, inevitably, it ended up rolling right off her tongue.
Jordana glanced at the clock. It was about six-fifteen in Texas. She had a sudden urge to pick up the phone and give the busybody a piece of her mind. But the kettle whistled, alerting her that the water was ready. She poured the water over the ground coffee in the press pot and over the tea bag in her favorite mug, setting the timer so both could steep for three minutes.
She’d talk to Victoria later, and when she did, her cousin was going to get a piece of Jordana’s mind, the likes of which she’d never seen before.
Jordana already knew what her cousin would say. … “Perhaps I was wrong to move things along the way I did, but really, Jordana, I’ve done you a huge favor.”
The last time they had spoken, Victoria had been spouting nonsense about how she believed that Jordana’s marriage to Tanner was inevitable. That they belonged together in the same way Victoria and her fiancé, Garrett, did. Victoria swore she could feel it in her bones. What her cousin didn’t realize was just because she and Garrett fell in love didn’t mean it would work out for Jordana and Tanner.
Tanner simply didn’t see her “that way.” If he did, he would’ve called her during the past four months. But he hadn’t. Not even once.
As she watched the timer tick down the remaining minute before she had to go back into the living room and face Tanner, she knew she needed to come up with a plan.
Think…
After one night together, she didn’t know him very well. They’d danced and made small talk the evening of Wendy and Marcos’s wedding. It was enough time to form the conclusion that he probably was a decent guy. A decent guy who’d followed up on his responsibility after her cousin spilled the beans.
She needed to let him know he was released from all obligation. Off the hook. Dismissed. She had a sinking feeling nice guys didn’t walk away from their duty that easily.
The timer dinged. She plunged the press pot’s filter, then poured the steaming brew into a large ceramic mug and carried it and her tea around the corner into the living room with what she hoped was confident ease.
It was time to face the music. The sooner they got down to business, the sooner Tanner Redmond headed back to Texas and out of her life.
He sat up straighter in the chair as she approached, but not before she’d glimpsed the slump of his shoulders that belied the burden he was carrying. He looked big and bulky and slightly out of place folded into the floral-print chair. And really handsome, she thought, before she caught herself.
“Here you go.” She handed him the mug. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m due in the office for a conference call in less than an hour and I still have to get dressed. So drink up.”
He lifted his eyebrows but held her gaze. “I didn’t come here to drink coffee. Though I do appreciate you making it for me—”
“I know. So, let’s cut to the chase. You’re here because my cousin Victoria made you believe I need your help. I don’t. I may be pregnant, but I’m not in trouble. I’m going to have this baby, and you are under absolutely no obligation to me or to the child.” She paused and drew in a deep
breath, hoping to quell another wave of nausea. “I think that covers just about everything.”
She remained standing, hoping he’d take the hint. Instead, he took a long sip from the mug. “Mmm…good coffee.”
Seriously? Irritation skittered along her nerves. “Tanner, did you hear what I said?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I heard you. But what you don’t seem to understand is this isn’t just your child. It’s mine, too. You may think you have it all under control, but you need to know right now. I’m not leaving here until you agree to marry me. Because no child of mine will be born out of wedlock.”
* * *
“Marry you?” she squeaked.
He watched the emotions play out on her face. First, confusion. Next, a look that resembled something just short of horror. Then the color faded from her cheeks, leaving her deathly pale. Despite the spectrum of emotion, the stubborn set of her jaw never eased.
So, she was going to make this hard on both of them. Didn’t she understand it could be so simple? Really. All she had to do was the right thing and agree to marry him, and then he’d leave—for the moment, anyway. She could get dressed, go to the office for her phone meeting—or whatever it was she needed to do—while he made arrangements with a notary or the justice of the peace to marry them right here in Atlanta. They would make their union legal sooner rather than later. For the sake of the baby.
Or maybe because he wanted to pin her down now before she managed to slip away again like she did the last time he saw her. The morning after the storm, he’d taken her to find her family and she’d left him with a handshake. A handshake and a “Thanks…for everything.” He’d known his share of women—spent the night with more than a few—but none had ever shaken his hand the morning after.
“Look, Tanner, you can’t just waltz into my home and expect me to marry you.” She looked exasperated. “Do you really think that’s the answer to this…this…situation?”
So, that’s what she wanted to call it. He looked at her for a moment, weighing his words. “Who else knows about our little situation?”
She crossed her arms over her ribs, pressing the robe against her frame. She didn’t look pregnant, but then again, he had no idea how far along women were when they started showing.
“No one else knows I’m pregnant, and I’d like to keep it that way. For now, at least.”
“Well, they’re going to find out eventually. Don’t you think it would be better to hear it from you…or us? Do you have any idea what it was like to learn that the woman I hadn’t spoken to in four months was pregnant with my child? Jordana, why didn’t you tell me before Victoria forced your hand? Why didn’t you call?”
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking a little guilty. “I’ve only known I was pregnant for about three months.”
She was hedging. “Three months is long enough. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I guess I was afraid. So many pregnancies don’t make it past the first trimester. I just didn’t want to alarm you.”
“Alarm me?” he said. “Were you ever going to fill me in?”
Her mouth held that stubborn line, but then he realized her brown eyes were swimming with tears. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I never meant for this to happen.”
* * *
The hard-nosed approach to getting Tanner Redmond out of her condo hadn’t worked. But the tears did. Jordana wasn’t an actress. The waterworks were genuine, compliments of the perfect storm of pregnancy hormones and frustration that consumed her all at once. It hit like an emotional tidal wave crashing down on her before she could run for cover.
After that, Tanner had easily agreed to give her time to think, time to get dressed so she could make her meeting on time—but only after she’d agreed to meet him for lunch tomorrow—Saturday, her day off.
She lifted the mug of naturally decaffeinated English breakfast tea and sipped at it tentatively, unsure of how her stomach would respond. But it was her conscience that felt ill. She’d decided the best way to let him off the hook was if she unexpectedly got “called out of town” tomorrow.
Jordana had decided she’d be doing Tanner a favor by doing this. Her administrative assistant, Marta, would call and deliver the news later this afternoon. She’d tell him, No, unfortunately, she was not certain when Jordana would return.
That meant there would be no way Tanner, who had a business to run back in Red Rock, would be able to wait for her in Atlanta. He’d have to get back to tend to his flight school. Once he was able to put some distance between them and think things out rationally, he’d realize getting married was not the answer. They’d work out a visitation schedule—one of the perks of Tanner being a pilot was he’d be able to fly in and see his child as often as he liked. By that time, he’d see that marriage was just an unnecessary burden to place on everyone involved.
She straightened a stack of papers on her desk, beginning her daily tidying-up ritual early. Because she planned on leaving early. She was indeed going to take herself out of town. She’d take her laptop and the files her father had asked her to read through and go to her favorite bed-and-breakfast on St. Simons Island. The time away at the beach would do her a world of good. Not to mention, she wouldn’t have to ask Marta to lie to Tanner. Truly, she would be out of town—on business.
He could rest assured that he made a valiant effort, but he would know full well that he was absolved of any and all obligation to her and the baby.
Jordana stared out her office window on the twenty-second floor, high above Peachtree Street. The breathtaking view of downtown Atlanta did little to soothe her. The shiny, mirrored buildings only seemed to reflect the fact that running away to the beach didn’t make the real challenge go away. Eventually, she would have to break the news to her parents. The mere thought turned her stomach inside out. She put a protective hand on her belly. Maybe what she was feeling was the remnants of the morning sickness. She glanced at her desk clock. It was nearly noon. She needed some nourishment, needed to feed the baby something other than saltine crackers. She wrote a reminder to herself on a Post-it note to follow up on an idea she wanted to present to her father before she left for St. Simons—the idea stemmed from a lead he had mentioned. Maybe if she proved just how conscientious she was at work, he would be more accepting of the news that she was about to become a single parent.
The buzz of the phone intercom startled her and made her drop her pen.
“Ms. Fortune,” said Marta. “There’s a gentleman here to see you.”
Jordana’s heart hiccupped. She wasn’t expecting anyone, but she had a dread-filled hunch she knew just who it might be.
“Thank you, Marta. Does this gentleman have a name?” She purposely softened her voice so not to shoot the messenger.
Marta was quiet for a few beats before she said, “Yes, ma’am. He says his name is Tanner Redmond.”
Chapter Two
For a very brief moment, Jordana contemplated an escape plan. It was a crazy idea, of course. Tanner was standing right in front of Marta and had heard her talking to Jordana. Escaping or pretending she wasn’t in the office was not an option. But it didn’t mean she had to make herself available to him.
She just needed a moment to think. …
“Marta, would you please ask Mr. Redmond to have a seat in the lobby? I’m in the middle of something and I need to get to a stopping point. Please tell him I’ll be out to see him in a few minutes.”
“Certainly, Miss Fortune.”
Jordana sat in silence, rubbing her right temple. The last thing she needed was to argue with Tanner about their situation, right here in the office. The more she thought about the way he’d just barged in here, the more it irritated her. Really, it was pretty darn presumptuous of him to just show up. But maybe that was his way. After all,
hadn’t he appeared unannounced on her doorstep at daybreak, expecting her to receive him in a moment’s notice?
Then again, she had set the tone for those instant expectations. One-night stands tended to give a guy the green light to bypass the basics of common courting courtesies and slide directly into home plate.
A pang of guilt squeezed her heart. It just figured, didn’t it? The first time she had sex—the one time—she’d gotten pregnant. The thought made her feel sick, but this time it had nothing to do with morning sickness. The reason she couldn’t bear to face him went much deeper than one-night-stand regret. Yes, every time she looked at him she remembered how out of her mind she’d been that night of the hurricane…out of her mind because she was afraid she was going to die in the midst of a tornado, never having made love to a man.
Until that night with Tanner, Jordana had been a virgin.
And Tanner didn’t even know that she had given him the most precious gift she had to give a man. A part of herself she’d guarded jealously, because it was reserved for the man who would be the love of her life. That’s why she’d been a twenty-nine-year-old virgin when she’d met Tanner.
She closed her eyes against the memory, as if squeezing them tight enough might obliterate the mental images of the way she’d thrown herself at him. She hadn’t even been aware that she had the power to seduce a man.
She placed her hand on her stomach. Giving him that part of herself had led to another gift…a baby that would tie them together. Forever. Whether they got married or not.
She pressed her fingertips over her closed eyelids and tried to obliterate the image of herself in Tanner’s arms. When that didn’t work, she opened her eyes and forced her mind onto a different train of thought.
Maybe Tanner had come to the office to tell her he’d changed his mind. Jordana sat up straighter in her chair. Yes, that was better. Maybe he had to go back to Red Rock earlier than expected, and had come to say goodbye…?
Fortune's Unexpected Groom (Harlequin Special Edition) Page 2
