She nodded her approval and speared a bite of her gnocchi. “You really should try this. It’s outstanding. Early-morning delivery?”
“Actually, I’m on-line.” She appeared positively gleeful at that news. “Why? Are you a fan?”
“Nope, I think it’s dreadfully boring.”
Andrew shook his head slightly to clear it. Obviously he was missing something. “Then what’s this all about?”
“Consider it a reality check. One more thing. Would you mind eating at least part of a garlic roll?”
Katrina Anastasia Hamilton Devereaux soon-to-be-Winthrop was a hell of a conversationalist. Talking with her was rather like chasing a roller coaster. “Would you mind explaining?”
“I’ve had quite a few of them and, they’re rather strong.” That was an understatement. They were safe even if they found themselves in the midst of a vampire coven. “And I thought it would be a good idea if we kissed before we went home—to test and make sure one of us isn’t repulsed by the other when it comes down to it. And with all the garlic rolls I’ve had I just thought it’d be a good idea if we started out on an equal footing. You know if you haven’t eaten one, you could be really put off by…” The tip of her tongue wet the fullness of her lower lip in nervousness, and he felt an instantaneous tightening in his groin.
Andrew plucked a roll from the basket.
He didn’t like garlic.
He ate the entire thing.
KAT AND ANDREW LEFT Mama Leone’s behind and stepped into the soft glow of a streetlight.
“I’d recommend carrying out our test in the privacy of a car, preferably mine. I believe it offers more room,” Andrew suggested.
Kat would have argued in favor of Carlotta if she’d detected even a hint of criticism, but she recognized that Trudy was much roomier. “Where are you parked?”
“This way.” Andrew guided her with a light touch to the small of her back. She stepped over the uneven pavement and realized her future hinged on this one kiss.
Her Wall Street Journal reality check earlier had served its purpose. Andrew had shown such insight in presenting her with the simple yet exquisite opal-and-sapphire ring instead of the cold elegance of diamonds, it unnerved her. She absolutely did not want emotional attachments or compatibility with this man. Ye gods, she’d almost crowed with relief at the news he was an on-line subscriber. She was safe. And one step closer to getting her baby.
Now she just needed to verify they were physically compatible.
They stopped next to the gray sedan and Andrew opened the passenger door for her. Kat slid onto the cool smoothness of the leather seat. She knew she enjoyed looking at him—especially the rear view—and his touch elicited a tingling awareness, but she had to know how they would both respond to the intimacy of a kiss. Better to know now than after they’d married.
Andrew slipped into the driver’s seat, breaking her contemplation of their compatibility. He casually tossed his suit coat into the back seat before he turned a CD player on and the low, plaintive wail of a saxophone wove itself around them.
“I figured you for a Beethoven or Mozart kind of man.” Surely it was the intimacy of the music and confines of the car that lent her voice that husky quality, not anticipation.
Andrew reached across the distance separating them. “No Beethoven. No Mozart.” He traced the line of her brow, his touch featherlight but sure. She shivered from his heat against her cool skin. “Does that repulse you?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Good.”
Kat tucked one leg beneath her and shifted closer, trailing her fingers over the hard line of his jaw, savoring the slight rasp of his beard against her. She felt the pulse beneath her fingertips race. Was it hers or his? Perhaps both. She wasn’t sure. “How’s that?”
“Fine, just fine.”
He stroked the sensitive softness behind her ears, easing his hands into her hair, drawing her closer. Kat quivered as a slow, languorous heat stole through her. Darkness shadowed his face, but the rapid rise and fall of his chest beneath her hand told its own story.
She loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt, her fingers shaking as she came into contact with the heated satin of his chest. Andrew sucked in a harsh breath and she heaved a sigh, finally remembering to breathe. As a prelude to a kiss, this was a doozy.
Impatient, Kat hooked her finger above the knot of his dangling tie and tugged him to within a fraction of her mouth. His ragged breath mingled with her own. “Are you ready for this? What do you think?” she said, her voice raspy.
His hand wandered to caress the nape of her neck. She arched ever so slightly, grazing the tips of her breasts against the hard planes of his shirt-covered chest.
“I think you talk entirely too much,” he muttered against her lips before claiming them with his own.
There was nothing tentative about his kiss and Kat responded with equal forthrightness. She lost herself in a whirling kaleidoscope of sensation. The taste of red wine and garlic mingled with passion. The rumpled silk of his hair as she ran her fingers through it. His branding touch that stroked up her calf to her thigh.
Somehow, during the course of the kiss, Kat wound up in Andrew’s lap, wedged between the hard wall of his chest and the unyielding steering wheel. Her arms draped around his neck and his hand kneaded her buttock at the edge of her panties. Without removing his mouth from hers, he murmured, “Does it feel like I’m repulsed?”
Snuggled in his lap, she had ample evidence to the contrary. “No. I’d say definitely not repulsed.”
Kat was nibbling at his lower lip when a sharp rap on the passenger window startled them both into looking up. She sat in stunned confusion as a flash blinded her. Footsteps pounded away.
Andrew abruptly shifted her back onto her side of the car and raked a hand through his hair. Without uttering a word, he radiated tension.
“What the heck was that?” Kat asked, although she had a sinking feeling she already knew the answer.
“That, Ms. Devereaux, is an overzealous photographer for the local paper. You and I will make tomorrow morning’s news. Leave your phone off the hook and, since both our families read the paper, I suggest we find a nice, discreet justice of the peace tomorrow.”
Kat tugged her skirt down as Andrew confirmed her suspicion. That promised to be one provocative photograph. She knew all about the press. She shuddered as she remembered how they’d ravaged her like a pack of vultures when Nick had skipped out with his embezzled millions. But what was newsworthy about Andrew Winthrop and herself? “Why would they want a photo of us?”
“It’s that damn eligible bachelor deal.” Andrew massaged his temple. “It brought out matchmaking mothers and one hounding photographer.”
Oh yeah. She’d sort of forgotten about his prime catch status. One day she wanted to hear more about those matchmaking mamas, but right now she needed to concentrate on the photo disaster. “No self-respecting paper will turn that shot down. Well, maybe the Wall Street Journal would.”
Andrew grunted a harsh laugh.
Kat gathered her sensually scattered wits. Andrew was right. They’d planned to present their marriage as a fait accompli. Also, if they were married it would take the impact out of the photograph. Kat was very much aware she was marrying a conservative man so he could gain a partnership in his extremely conservative, family law practice. Not to mention the school board and her students’ parents were likely to take a dim view of a photograph of her sprawled in Andrew’s lap. She didn’t think they’d find it much of an example for the students.
She’d never considered that his recent designation as one of Florida’s most eligible bachelors had elevated him to local celebrity status. Thanks to Nick, Kat was well versed in damage control. “Meet me at your house tomorrow morning at eleven. You bring a justice of the peace, Eddie and Bitsy. I’ll bring Jackson. Surely they can have our contracts ready by then if we call them tonight.”
“Tomorrow then. Eleve
n o’clock.”
Kat jumped out of the car and slammed the door. She didn’t have time to sit around tingling from a kiss—make that a helluva kiss.
She had a wedding to go to tomorrow.
Her own.
3
ANDREW SWUNG OPEN his front door and found Edward and Bitsy regarding him with sly amusement. Edward held up a folded section of newspaper to Andrew’s face and cocked his head, comparing the two. “What do you think, Bitsy? The chin and the nose are the same, but I don’t know about that hair standing on end and the unbuttoned shirt….” Edward trailed off.
Bitsy laid a speculative finger against her nose. “I don’t know where he could’ve come up with a body double on such short notice, so I suppose it is my darling, straitlaced brother.”
Andrew glared at the smirking couple before him—to think they wondered why their child displayed a penchant for mischief.
Edward regarded the photo in mock wonder. “Eight years I’ve known you, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen you even slightly disheveled.”
Between the expanse of Kat’s shapely legs and his shirt gaping open, disheveled was an understatement.
“Yeah, Eddie?” Andrew deliberately used the nickname. “Well, you’ve never seen me get married, either, so consider it a week of firsts. Now if you two have finished the Laurel and Hardy routine, perhaps you’d like to come in.”
Andrew had seen the photo as soon as his paper was delivered. He’d spent the morning trying not to think about the reaction of his well-heeled clients—or the sleek line of his future wife’s legs, the feel of her firm buttocks pressed against his lap.
Bitsy and Eddie moved past him, into the den. “So what kind of ring was Kat wearing?” Bitsy quizzed.
Andrew closed the door and answered automatically, “Opal and sapphire.” Her question sank in and he spun to face her. “You noticed a ring in that picture?”
“Of course. And you can bet every other woman who looked at it noticed it as well.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Bitsy sighed dramatically. “How can you seemingly sophisticated men be so incredibly naive sometimes? No, I’m not kidding.”
Andrew sought confirmation from Edward, who shrugged off the unvoiced query. “Don’t look at me. The workings of the female mind remain a mystery.”
Bitsy ignored his comment. “Dad’s furious. Livid. Enraged. Beside himself.”
“Now that’s a surprise. When did you talk to A.W.?”
“Puh-leeze. Give me a little credit. After you called last night we screened our calls. We let him leave a message on our machine. Don’t tell me he didn’t call you as well.”
“Sure he did. Left a message much the same as yours, I suspect. Who was the girl and what the hell was I doing?”
“That’s it in a nutshell. What’re you going to do about it?”
“I’ll talk to him later today, and then it’s what you’re going to do about it. It’ll be quite interesting when the rival paper runs the story tomorrow that the mystery woman in the photograph is actually my wife. Of course, this will be leaked by an anonymous but reliable source.” Andrew decided she deserved teasing for her earlier body-double comment. “And I can’t think of anyone better suited to leak gossip than you, Bitsy.”
Bitsy swatted at him and then rubbed her hands together in glee. “Do you want me to call now?”
“Why don’t you wait until after the fact,” suggested Edward, “since neither the bride nor the justice of the peace has shown up yet.”
“Okay. Speaking of the bride, did you bring in the camera?”
“No, it’s in the car.”
Andrew held up a hand. “No cameras. No photos.”
Bitsy shook her head in disgust and continued toward the door. “Maybe you don’t care about any photos, but one day your child will want to see her mother and father’s wedding photos. Juliana loves looking at ours.”
Andrew didn’t offer a rebuttal. He knew he’d make a lousy parent—he didn’t have time in his life for anything other than his work—but he’d never deliberately do anything to hurt the child he and Kat would create. Not even something as trivial as denying her, or him, wedding photos.
Quite the contrary, in fact. He waited until the door clicked behind his sister to turn to Edward. “The stipulation’s the way I wanted it? Even though I waive parental rights, I retain the right to name this child as my heir?”
Edward nodded an affirmative.
“How’d you get Hamilton to sign off since it’s not what Kat wanted?”
“Hamilton’s no fool. Even though their family has enough money tied up in trust funds to take care of the kid, he felt it was in both the child’s and Kat’s best interests not to waive rights to Winthrop money.”
“Excellent.”
The front door slammed, heralding Bitsy with camera in tow. “I’m going to check on Juliana and make a cup of coffee. Either one of you want anything?”
“No thanks.” Unless she could serve him up his partnership and he could forgo this farcical foray into matrimony.
“Nothing for me.” Edward lowered his voice even though Bitsy moved onto the kitchen. “Yeah, well it’s not going to be so ‘excellent’ when Kat finds out. She’s going to be plenty angry with all of us.”
A twinge of doubt surfaced before he dismissed it. She’d left no room to negotiate the point. Andrew stared out the window, unseeing. “I can handle one woman’s anger, but I will not sign away a Winthrop’s birthright.”
“Hell hath no fury like a woman deceived.” Eddie misquoted in final warning.
Outside, a car sputtered to a stop, backfired once and died.
Andrew squared his shoulders at the surge of adrenaline rushing through him. He stood one matrimonial step away from getting what he’d worked for all these years—his partnership.
“I believe my blushing bride just arrived.”
KAT PARKED BETWEEN the gurgling fountain gracing the circular driveway and the front walkway. She checked her rearview mirror to make sure Jackson pulled in behind her. She’d driven by the house when she’d investigated Andrew, but it was set far back from the quiet residential street and she’d never seen it this close. They’d met at his beach house.
An impeccable lawn gave way to impeccable evergreen shrubs. Everything was unmitigatingly serene, unrepentantly verdant. Kat shuddered at the uniformity.
She snapped a retractable leash onto Toto’s collar—she didn’t know how understanding her groom would be of Toto’s incontinence today—and waited for Jackson to join her at the brick-paved walkway. Toto darted about, intent on introducing himself to every shrub.
“Nice house.” Jackson surveyed the whitewashed stucco with the red-tiled roof.
Kat shrugged at the rectangular structure, smiled at her brother and led the way to the front door. “I’m not particularly interested in his house, just his sperm.” She needed to remember that was all she was interested in. Last night had proved their physical compatibility. She’d just have to keep it in check.
Jackson seemed decidedly unamused by her attempt at humor. “Are you sure you want to do this? You and Andrew haven’t signed these documents yet.” He lifted his briefcase. “Or made any binding legal commitment. You can still change your mind.”
“That binding legal commitment is known as marriage, and no, I don’t want to change my mind.”
“If you’re marrying him because of this—” Jackson indicated the section of newspaper folded against his briefcase “—don’t worry about one racy photograph…and it is racy. The fickle public will forget soon enough.”
Kat patted his cheek. “Don’t worry so, Jackson. You know I’m not marrying him because of that photo. I’m past ready to have a baby. It may have moved the schedule up a little, but the deal was already put to bed.” She glanced at the photo and laughed. “Don’t take that literally. Although Andrew is one heck of a kisser.”
Jackson scowled and straightened his already
straight tie. “That definitely falls into the category of more than I wanted to know.”
As he reached for the doorbell, Kat stopped him. “Jackie, you and Eddie settled all the details in the contract?”
He tensed beneath her fingertips. Apparently he still didn’t approve of her marrying Andrew. “Of course we did.”
Bored with marking his territory, Toto plopped onto her foot.
“Okay, I just had to check.” Kat squeezed Jackson’s arm and released it. “You know you’re my favorite brother.”
“I’m your only brother.”
She reached around him and pressed the doorbell. “Yeah, well, if I had another one, you’d still be my favorite.”
The door opened and Kat found herself poised on the threshold of her new, temporary home, face-to-face with her groom. For the next few months, possibly the next year, she’d see this man across the breakfast table. Despite the fact they qualified as polar opposites, it wasn’t a dismaying prospect. A quiver of anticipation arrowed through her. He appeared as immaculately groomed as his lawn, but far more arresting.
A low heat began to simmer inside at the look in his eyes as they swept over her. Kat was glad she’d chosen the sleeveless linen dress. She’d told herself it was because it was elegant, cool and comfortable and it matched the stones in her engagement ring, but she also knew the sapphire blue complemented her eyes. She’d left her legs bare—she didn’t wear panty hose, not even for her own wedding—but she had rushed out this morning and bought a pair of strappy sandals, right after she’d purchased Andrew’s wedding ring. She’d also conceded to vanity and brushed on a light coral lipstick.
She moistened her lips as the seconds dragged on and they continued to study each other. She absently hoped the baby inherited his nose and cheekbones.
A flash shattered the moment.
“The groom greeting the bride at the door.” Bitsy sang out a caption for the photo.
Andrew welcomed Kat and Jackson with a sweep of his hand. “Please, come in.”
New and…Improved? & Andrew in Excess Page 16
