Kady had Daryl drop her off outside of some apartment building just across from Central Park. She went inside the entryway when someone else opened the door just as if she belonged there, then waited until the car drove off before she came out again. She stepped out the door and headed for the park as fast as her legs could take her.
Earlier in the week, she had already determined a particular bench she would wish to use if she ever had to. It was in a somewhat secluded section, but close enough to the street that she could easily get away if anyone tried to harm her.
She headed to it now, nervously looking from side to side along the way. She didn’t wish to run across anyone, homeless person or cop, so she moved quickly to her destination, not even noticing if anybody was following behind her as she went.
On the bench, she couldn’t get comfortable no matter how hard she tried. Thoughts and memories from the day kept swirling through her mind like a tornado. The way Archer had put his coat around her shoulders at dinner, the way she felt when he looked at her. Their long, quiet conversation about everything and nothing as they ate the most delicious meal that Maggie had prepared kept replaying in her mind.
The images kept coming, but it was almost like remembering a dream. They were so far removed from the cold, hard bench she was laying on now. She finally managed to doze off, but it was only to a restless sleep. She knew this place was very dangerous, but she had nowhere left to go.
She awoke to the sound of voices sometime later. She froze in place, adrenaline surging as she recalled horror stories of people attacked in the park at night, hoping whoever it was would simply go away, but that’s not what happened. With a start of surprise, she recognized the voice the next time the man spoke.
“And this is where you followed her to? You just let her fall asleep on some bench in the middle of Central Park? Don’t you know what kind of people hang around this place in the middle of the night?”
It was Archer’s voice. Kady’s stomach clenched at the realization as she abruptly got to her feet and met his eyes. It was no surprise that the other person to whom he was speaking was the same man who had driven her away from his home.
She wondered if Daryl was actually one of Archer’s employees and simply hadn’t informed her of it, but she didn’t bother to ask. What difference did it make anyway? Either way, he’d told him where to find her.
“Kady, if the idea of loving somebody is so frightening to you that you would rather spend the night here than even give it some thought, then I won’t ask you again,” Archer said, keeping his hands clenched at his sides, and there was a strange note of fear in his deep voice. “If you come back, it’ll be strictly business. If that’s really what you want.”
“I’m just not sure this is a good idea,” Kady replied, as tears pricked at her eyes. She cast an embarrassed look at Daryl, and he turned and walked a few feet away, leaving them to talk with some semblance of privacy. “I’ve never been with a man before, and I always wanted it to be special—and having kids is supposed to be special too, isn’t it? I just– I just don’t know what to do.”
“Look, I don’t have all the answers to your questions. I never expected you, or this. I never thought– Well, I am not leaving you out here in any case,” said Archer, suddenly stern. “You’re coming home with me.”
Chapter 11
They were sitting together in the back of the car. It was obvious that they were both feeling somewhat emotional by the strained silence between them as Daryl started the engine and began to drive. The tension sat thick around them in the dimness, the only light that of the moon and the few stars that were peeking out from behind the straggling clouds. Kady was well aware of the driver’s periodic glances in the rearview mirror, the look on his face showing concern.
He really had only been trying to help, she decided. Maybe even since the first time she’d seen him. He must have known what job she was there for, and maybe he thought she looked like a good fit or something. Matchmaking, perhaps? She just didn’t know.
But her real concern wasn’t how she felt about a meddling driver who was only looking out for her well-being, but rather with the man he’d brought to her rescue. Archer stared out the window for the first couple of minutes, leaving Kady to stare down at her hands as she nervously wrung them in her lap. She took a deep breath to give her courage.
“I’m sorry, Archer,” she finally whispered. “I got scared, that’s all. So much is happening so fast, and I never in a million years expected to hear those words coming from a guy like you.”
“A guy like me?” he repeated, glancing at her over his shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You don’t know what it’s been like for me,” she responded. “I told you where I’ve come from; how far I’ve had to climb already just to be where I am now.”
“It doesn’t matter to me where you come from,” he stated, the earnestness in his voice like a balm soothing her ragged nerves. He turned to take one of her hands, effectively ending her twiddling. “I’m only interested in where we will go from here. In our future.”
His words, the way he had said our future, had the sting of tears prickling at the corner of each eye.
“But you must know I’ve never lived in your world,” she said, as the tears that had been threatening before began to fall now. “I don’t know how to be a billionaire’s girlfriend.”
“You haven’t been anybody’s girlfriend anyway,” he chuckled, squeezing her hand. “No matter who you choose to be with for your first time, you’ll still have a lot to learn. And I want to be the person to show you, to teach you everything you’ve been missing.”
“No, I’m talking about how to act and stuff,” she protested. “What to do at some high society function, or what sorts of things your friends would think was not okay to say or do.”
“So what?” he scoffed. “I’m attracted to you. I want you the way you are, and if they can’t see the amazing person that you are, well, then they aren’t really my friends anyways, right?” He could see that his words hadn’t really helped to ease her tension. “There’s always etiquette class, right? Or just act like you’re on the runway. Be confident. I’m sure you could figure it all out, Kady.” Archer gently squeezed the hand he had engulfed by his own. “Or, we can figure it out together.”
“I—I don’t know, Archer, maybe we should just take this slowly?”
“Well…” He paused, and suddenly it was his turn to look nervously at his hands, his long fingers tangled intimately with hers. “ It can’t be too slow if we’re actually wanting to do the baby thing,” he replied, his voice held an edge of trepidation as he continued slowly, finally looking at her with resignation in his eyes. “My mother told a bit of a lie to keep me out of prison last month. That’s why I was trying to figure out what to do about it in the first place.”
“What kind of a lie?” Kady wanted to know, the hope that had been kindling in her chest taking a nosedive at his words.
“She told the judge that since my girlfriend was pregnant, that it would be unfair to send me to jail for three to five years, especially for a crime I didn’t even commit,” he replied, obviously struggling to find the right words to explain. He leaned back and sighed deeply. “She really laid it on kind of thick, you know? But it got me thinking, though. I’ve been tired of the endless parties and all the women who don’t even care how I think or feel. I figured, even if I can’t find a girl who loves me, I could at least produce one who was pregnant at the hearing in two months, and keep myself from going down.”
“So, you’re trying to get a girl pregnant with your child to get out of a jail sentence? You know how crazy that sounds, right? And saying that you want to start a real relationship with me, but you don’t even know if you’d be able to participate in it beyond the next two months?” Kady growled. “I really can’t believe what I’m hearing from you.”
“I know, I know, it might sound stupid, Kady,” he responded. “But I’ve had
months to think it over, and while yes, originally I was thinking only of selfish reasons to go forward with this idea, I also…” He paused for a moment before continuing, his words slow and deliberate, “I came to realize that I want more than the playboy lifestyle I’ve been living. I want, I want a family. Someone to make all this, all the hard work and millions of hours that I’ve put into building this business, worth it, you know? I only know I was speaking straight from my heart. I don’t know if I could deal with having you without my heart getting involved along the way. I’m trying to be honest here.”
“So is that everything that you need to tell me before I make up my mind?” she questioned, trying to process everything he had just told her, the honest sincerity shining in his dark eyes, helping to make her believe that he really had spoken the truth.
“Yeah, it is,” he answered, sounding suddenly drained. “I’ve come completely clean, and I’m hoping that you have, too.”
“I’ve got no secrets,” she admitted easily. “I grew up in the slums and pulled myself out of them. And if I say yes to this crazy idea, it’s not because you could elevate me any further, just so you know.”
“I know that,” he reassured her. “I’ll tell you what: we’ll give this thing a try, and if I do go down, you can keep living in my house even if we don’t manage to get you pregnant. You could get yourself on your feet and move on if you wanted to, or you could decide that you want to wait for me. That’s assuming that I don’t completely avoid jail at all. The judge must know that I’m just a guy trying to make an honest living. My business record should have been enough on its own to prove that.”
“So what, then, we’re just trying each other out or something?’ Kady scoffed. “You don’t want to define it, you just want to do it, is that it?”
“Sure, why not?” he said, kissing the top of her head. “But one thing, Kady. If you get scared again, promise me that you won’t run away. We can talk to each other and work through it, okay?”
“What about if I panic when—well, you know,” she asked, blushing harder than ever.
“When we’re about to make love?” he asked, his voice tickling at her ear as he whispered the words.
“Y-yeah, that,” she said, looking at their joined hands nervously.
“Mm, I think I could probably make sure you don’t want to run away by the time we got that far,” he smirked.
“Just getting me hot and bothered is no guarantee I won’t freak out,” Kady replied. “I get panic attacks. I can’t help that.”
“Well, do you panic when you are out on the stage?” he asked.
“Never, only the entire time beforehand,” she said. “Once I’m on, I’m solid as a rock.”
“Making love is just like being center stage.” He winked. “Once you’re actually out there, it’s all about the show. Just remember that and you’ll be fine.”
Kady laughed when he kissed the side of her neck, glancing over at his grinning face as he did so. Relief, and something more, something like affection but deeper, shone from the depths of his gaze. It made her breath catch in her throat as she stared back at him. “You’re crazy, Archer,” she told him. “You really, really are.”
Chapter 12
They got out of the car and Daryl drove on, parking it in the garage and thus proving Kady’s theory about his employment status once and for all. She heard, rather than saw, him driving out again, probably in his own car so he could return home to the wife he’d told her he had. Kady briefly glanced back just as they reached the front door and saw him exit the gate.
“Are you as worn out from all this as I am?’ Archer asked, as he unlocked the door and the two of them stepped inside.
“You have no idea,” she replied. The panicked midnight run, combined with the uncomfortable park bench that had served as her bed for the night, had all left her exhausted. Not to mention everything that had happened during the day itself. It was a wonder she was still standing at all.
She was starting to feel nervous now that they were here, wondering what Archer would have in mind. He reached for her shoulders and drew her backwards so her back was pressed to his chest, kissing the top of her head again. The sweet, innocent gesture had those stupid butterflies erupting again, but this time in flutters of pure desire, despite her aching tiredness.
He was so much taller than her, she thought, comparing the softness of her body to the hard male body pressed close behind her. Kady was on the short end as far as models went at only five feet six inches, but Archer had to be at least a foot over that. She liked it.
“We should get some rest,” he commented, stifling a yawn. “You’re welcome to come snuggle in my bed with me if you want, although I suspect you’d rather go back to your own. I’m just not sure I want you to, since I already had to go get you back once as it is. I don’t have it in me to make a second run right now.”
“I said I wouldn’t run away,” Kady grumbled, stifling a yawn of her own. “I always keep my promises. By the way, if I had been in any kind of mood to join you, that comment just killed it, you know.”
“Sorry,” he said softly, the tenderness in his voice wrapping around her heart and giving it a painful tug. “Shall I try again? I want you to come to bed with me. And not for sex, either. I just want you near me.”
“Why?” She wondered just as softly, not even aware she had asked the question out loud until he answered.
“I want to hold you and maybe talk a little,” he replied. “Maybe discover your favorites or pick your brain about computer stuff or something. There’s really no motive beyond that. I promise”
“I-I’m sorry,” she said, apologizing. “I’m not used to somebody being nice to me unless they’re trying to get something out of it.”
“Don’t get me wrong, sweetheart, I would love to—get something,” he chuckled. “I’m just too tired to initiate a virgin right this minute. That takes—a lot—of effort.” He paused between words to kiss the back of her neck once, and then again on the other side. “Come with me—please?”
Kady’s insides did a little flip at the gentle contact as he trailed his mouth down along her shoulder. One of his hands slid down to caress her thigh, and it made her jump. Both of them laughed at this.
“Ticklish?
“Maybe,” she admitted. “That’s new info for me, though.”
“Maybe we’ll discover some more of those spots sometime,” he replied, as he let her go. He held out his hand, waiting to see if she’d work up the courage to take it and come with him to his rooms. With a deep breath and desperately hoping she wasn’t making the wrong choice, she took it, and together, they headed for the stairs.
Dee saw them walking together down the hall and hid a smile as she watched them pass. As soon as they couldn’t see her, she crossed her fingers and happily shook them in the air. What could be more exciting than seeing Archer Devonshire actually on the verge of falling in love?
#
“Want some jammies?” asked Archer as he grinned up at her. He had just pulled out a pair for himself, but hadn’t yet shut the drawer. Then he pulled out a pair for her and shut it, handing them to her.
Kady laughed as she compared his very tall, very muscular body to her much smaller frame. She took the pajama top and shook it out, holding it to her body. “I thought I was trying to go to sleep, not swim in your clothes. If I put on something of yours, I might get lost inside there and you’d have to go on a search and rescue mission just to find me in the things.”
“Does that require any slow, languid unbuttoning, along with tasting anything that I might happen to find there?” he teased. “Because if so, I’m more than willing to oblige.”
Kady giggled shyly at this statement, a flush spreading rosily at his husky words. But then she gasped as Archer began to unbutton his shirt, preparing to don his own pajamas. “Wait, you’re going to just get undressed? Right there?”
“I am,” he grinned back at her unabashedly. “Thought you might li
ke to catch a glimpse of what you’ve been bargaining for.”
“You’re trying to entice me?” she inquired with a sudden grin of her own, wondering where this bold temptress had been hiding.
“Baby, I’ve already done that,” he said, drawing her into his arms.
Kady’s heart thudded hard in her chest as she rested her cheek and one hand on Archer’s naked chest. Her fingers found a few tendrils of dark hair and she smoothed them over, prompting him to kiss the top of her head again. She was beginning to think he liked doing that a lot. She knew for a fact that she did. Every time he did that, it made her feel cherished in a way she never had felt before.
No sooner had she thought this than his hand came down to cup her chin and tilt her face up. His gaze went from sweet to sultry in a matter of seconds, right before he dipped his head towards her. He kissed her tenderly on the lips, making her belly do a little dance. The kiss wasn’t overly long, nor did he try to deepen it. It was just—sweet, it really was sweet. If he kept doing things like that, he really would entice her. He would really entice her a lot!
“Get dressed and into bed, sweetheart,” he encouraged, the roughness of his voice testament to the fact that she wasn’t the only one affected by his kiss. “I’ll finish changing in the bathroom—this time.”
“Thanks, Archer,” she whispered softly.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, smiling broadly as he headed for the bathroom door. “Try not to miss me too much while I’m gone.”
“Oh, I’ll do my best,” Kady replied with a silly laugh as she climbed into his bed. It was so soft and so comfortable, the giant mattress–who knew they made something bigger than a king sized? –lured her into its depths. As she dug her way underneath layers of down comforters and more silk sheets, Kady couldn’t help but sigh as her body melted bonelessly into the bed beneath her. She went right to sleep in less than a minute, much to Archer’s disappointment when he found her like that upon his return.
Dazzle: The Billionaire's Secret Surrogate (Contemporary BWWM Romance) Page 5
