Jeremy opened his mouth.
Then Kyle smiled. And wrapped his fingers around the younger man’s throat, squeezing just enough to make the younger man’s eyes bulge in fear. He walked toward the door, making Jeremy shuffle backward. When they reached the landing of the stairs, Kyle looked deliberately down them. “It’s a long way to the ground, isn’t it?” he said, and felt Jeremy’s nervous swallow against his palm.
He lowered his hand. “Don’t come back,” he suggested softly. “Or I’ll tie you and your family up in court for so long that whatever means you’ve got will end up in the hands of very happy, very wealthy attorneys.”
“Now look here. I don’t know who the hell you think you are—”
“I’m Kyle Montgomery,” he said softly. Waited a moment until Jeremy recognized the name. “I made it my business to know all about you and the St. James clan weeks ago. And you will regret it if you cause my family one more moment of pain.”
“Your family?”
“That’s right.” He glanced back at Emma, who was sitting on the couch, cradling Chandler protectively in her arms. “My family.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Montgomery.”
Kyle shrugged, unimpressed. “That’s your right, of course. But it’s not me you should fear. It’s Emma. Because she’ll claw out your eyes if you come close to our son. And I’ll take great pleasure in standing aside to watch. Then I’ll feed you to her friends in Buttonwood. The ones who know how you treated her once you’d had your fun. Emma brings out great loyalty in people, you know. She’s that kind of woman—with integrity. Then we’ll make a trip to the bar association. They don’t take kindly to law students who cheat on their bar exams.”
Jeremy paled. “You wouldn’t. I didn’t cheat—”
“Who are they going to believe, Jeremy? You do have that incident on your record from your sophomore year in college. You know the one?”
Jeremy swore. “Fine. Forget it. She can keep the little brat. She always was more trouble than she was worth. Wouldn’t even sleep with me until I told her I’d marry her. And then—”
Kyle shut both doors in Jeremy’s face, cutting off his bitter tirade, and turned to Emma. “Now. Where were we?”
Emma rose, with Chandler still in her arms. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I never dreamed that Jeremy would reappear and be so…unpleasant.”
“That’s not your fault, sweetness. I believe we were somewhere around here.” He nudged her back onto the couch and sat down on the footlocker across from her. “As I was saying—”
“It was good of you to try to protect us,” she interrupted. “But truly, I could have handled him.”
“You did fine,” he agreed. “And I know you don’t need me, but I’m hoping—”
“I didn’t keep the money, either,” she added. “I truly did send it off to Dooley and to the chapel, and baby clinic here.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.”
“And I plan to send back all this furniture, Kyle. It’s just not right that I’ve got it all. And the piano. Oh, I love the piano, just as you knew I would. But it’s much too generous. And I really don’t have the space—”
Kyle sighed and cupped his hand behind her neck, covering her mouth with his. She moaned softly, her words finally ceasing. He kept right on kissing her. It was an activity he’d become addicted to.
But Chandler squawked between them and Kyle sat back on the footlocker. “Be quiet,” he said to both mother and son.
Emma’s mouth opened. Then slowly closed. Chandler kicked his legs happily, little gurgles and grunts coming out of his tiny bow mouth.
“I meant what I said to the jerk,” Kyle said. “You are my family. You and Chandler. I didn’t say I wanted to adopt him to scare off Jeremy. I said it because I want it to be so. For me. For you. For Chandler.”
Emma’s heart squeezed. Then Kyle took Chandler out of her arms and settled him in his crib on the other side of the cramped room. “There’s just gonna be times I want your mama to myself,” he said conversationally. “Now and then.” He returned to the footlocker in front of the sofa and handed Emma the fat binder he’d brought in with him.
She frowned, looking down at it. He opened it for her. Inside were small carpet samples and a rainbow of paint colors. “What is this?”
“You hate all that white in my house,” he murmured. “As it happens, so do I. Add color to my house, Emma Valentine. Add color to my life.”
A tear worked its way from her eye and dropped onto the book of samples.
“Remind me to look at the view,” he continued, his voice dropping a notch. “To smell the flowers. Give me a reason to come home from the office an hour early. Or go in an hour late, because I’m too busy making love to my wife to beat every single employee into the parking lot. And play your beautiful music, sweetness. Because with you by my side, I can really feel it.”
Emma looked into his eyes, feeling faint as that intense green gaze absorbed her.
“I’m looking for a wife, Emma Valentine,” he said softly. “A real one this time.”
Emma laughed softly and swiped the tears from her cheek. Kyle smiled, too. And stuck his hand in his pocket. His long fingers shook a little when he held out the diamond solitaire ring. It was as different from the glittering diamond-crusted band he’d presented that day at the Crest as a ring could be. No less beautiful. But much more suited to Emma’s elegantly simple style.
He took her trembling hand and slipped it on her finger. “Let me be Chandler’s father. Let me give him a houseful of brothers and sisters if that’s what you want. I love you, Emma. Give me your heart. God knows you’ve both already got mine.”
She curled her hand around his and pressed it to her, then slipped into his arms with a soft cry. “It is yours, Kyle. I love you.”
He rose, pulling her with him. “Then you’ll marry me?”
She nodded, blindly seeking his mouth with hers. “Yes. Anytime you say. The sooner the better.”
He laughed, low and exultant and so masculine that she melted inside even more.
“We could elope,” he suggested, his eyes full of love and desire. He lifted her right off her feet, and Emma wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders.
She chuckled, delighted and weak-kneed and plumb crazy about him. “Well,” she said, her voice honey smooth despite the giddy bubbles dancing in her chest, “we do have the wedding photos already taken care of.”
Their eyes met. “So we could head right on into the honeymoon,” he finished.
Emma smiled slowly. “Oh, sugar. The way you think.”
“Oh, Emma, honey,” he drawled right back at her. “The way you love me.”
Her lips curved. “Did I ever tell you how much I love the way you smell?” she whispered against his ear.
Kyle smiled, then shuffled them toward the couch and pulled her down over him, filling his hands with her dark glossy hair. Filling his heart with the love shining from her eyes. “I won’t ever stop loving you,” he said.
She went still. Then she laid her palm against his jaw and kissed him, impossibly sweet. Impossibly desirable. “Neither will I, Kyle, my love. Neither will I.”
Their lips met.
In his crib across the room, Chandler gurgled softly. When nobody rose to dote on him, he kicked his feet a few times. Then stuck his fist in his mouth and sighed with satisfaction.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Allison Leigh for her contribution to the So Many Babies series.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5545-9
MILLIONAIRE’S INSTANT BABY
Copyright © 2000 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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