He didn’t mind the hurry or the back-and-forth drive he’d be doing, though, because it was for Heddy.
That thought sounded an alarm in his head.
It wasn’t as if he’d sworn off women since Audrey—Carter was proof of that—it was just that Audrey had left him disinclined to go too far out on a limb with any woman again. Let alone too far out of his way—and Cherry Creek to Arcada, then back to Cherry Creek, then back to Arcada to take Heddy home, was definitely out of his way.
And yes, he was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t going a little bit out on a limb with the woman, too.
Why the hell else had he wanted to kiss her so badly last night that even after she’d obviously rebuffed him the first time, he’d still caught her off guard and kissed her on the damn forehead later?
Not that it was a damn forehead. Like the rest of her, it was a beautiful forehead.
It was just that he didn’t understand why, after she’d given the no signal, he’d still been so driven to kiss her that he had anyway, even if only on the temple.
And now this: a record-breaking quick shower and a whole lot of drive time. All for Heddy.
What was going on with him?
In the past three and a half years he’d been told by numerous women that he was guarded; that he was removed and remote; that he was emotionally unavailable. And he didn’t deny any of it. So how was it that this particular woman was getting in under the radar?
This particular woman with whom he was not only doing business—and he didn’t mix business with pleasure—but also this particular woman with whom the Camdens already had a bad track record.
Since Audrey, he made sure to keep things simple with women. Clean. Cut and dry. Under control.
After what he’d gone through with her—and getting over her—he was determined that nobody got in too far, and no marks were left getting out.
And if Audrey hadn’t been lesson enough, which she had been, now, on top of it, there was Carter.
Not only had he become insta-dad, but Carter’s existence had served as an eye-opener to how a casual fling could still get complicated.
Learning that there was even a chance that he could be a father had left him feeling the need to be more cautious than ever. He hadn’t so much as gone to dinner with a woman since the possibility of parenthood had started. He hadn’t so much as wanted to go near a woman since then.
Until Heddy Hanrahan.
Who was the absolute wrong woman for him to be getting involved with.
Even if he didn’t have his nothing-but-a-little-hobby policy with women, even if he didn’t have Carter to remind him how much deeper things could get than he thought they were getting, even if he wasn’t dealing with being insta-dad and wasn’t mixing business with pleasure, there was no way—no way—he could have a personal relationship with Heddy of all people. It would be adding insult to injury after what his father had done with her mother, and he could not, under any circumstances, let that disastrous history repeat itself.
Not that it could completely repeat itself, he thought as he dried off.
When his father’s romantic relationship with her mother had died out, his father hadn’t wanted to continue to see or to deal with Kitty Hanrahan in any way. He’d wanted to pretend she no longer existed.
That was the real reason behind Camden Incorporated cutting ties with Hanrahans Bakery and using a different supplier. The reason his father had persuaded his grandfather and brother not to help Harry Hanrahan expand to meet demand. And the reason that Hanrahans had ultimately gone under.
The grant and new business arrangement with Heddy were to make amends for all of that. So in that sense, there was no chance of history repeating itself, as far as the business end was concerned.
But the personal part?
As Lang went from the bathroom into the closet that also served as a dressing room, he thought about last night.
About wanting to kiss Heddy so much that he’d actually stolen a damn kiss. Like a kid.
He just hadn’t been able to stop himself.
Stunning, sweet, funny, easy-to-be-with Heddy Hanrahan somehow seemed to be getting in under the radar.
And he didn’t seem able to fight it.
It was just tough.
He liked her. He liked her in a way he hadn’t liked anyone in a long, long while.
They clicked. And there was no explanation for that when it happened. It just did.
Now here he was—his pulse raced with every glimpse of her, he hated to say goodbye when he needed to leave her and he wanted to be with her again the minute he did.
Now here he was—thinking more about every detail of the way she looked, about the sound of her voice, about how to get her to smile or laugh, than about the business at hand.
Now here he was—thinking about her every minute he was away from her, incapable of closing his eyes without the image of her there in his mind.
But it just couldn’t be, he told himself firmly as he combed his hair then roughly ran his hands through it to muss it up slightly.
He didn’t want it to be.
He wanted to make up to the Hanrahan family for what his father had done. He wanted to see Heddy succeed. And yeah, he wanted to be the one who got her there.
But that was all he wanted.
No relationship. No romance. Nothing serious.
So no more kissing! Lips, temple, anywhere!
He slipped his feet into his handmade Italian loafers and returned to the bedroom where Carter didn’t even glance at him.
But he addressed the child as if Carter were in on all the thoughts that had been going through his head. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do, pal. We’re going to get her business up and running as fast as we can, and then we’re making tracks away from her. And in the meantime, it’s business and nothing but business.”
Carter took his eyes away from the television to look at him as if he were crazy.
“You being around should keep me on course, shouldn’t it?” Lang asked the toddler.
“Immuh not round,” Carter argued as if that was all he could glean from what Lang was saying.
Lang used the remote to turn off the DVD and television, then unlocked the bedroom door. “Get your shoes so we can put them on and go.”
“Hetty an’ ZsiZsi an’ Zsorzse!” Carter confirmed, letting Lang know he intended to bring his stuffed monkey.
“Yeah, you can bring George,” Lang confirmed, feeling indulgent and thinking that maybe it was good that his female family members had forced him to care for Carter.
If anything was a glaring reminder to keep him and a situation with a woman under tight control, it was suddenly finding himself raising a kid.
And when it came to Heddy, he seemed to need a little extra reminder.
* * *
“Forget the last name. Forget the stores. Forget the grant. Forget everything! I’m taking you to my grandmother’s house for Sunday dinner and that’s all there is to this.”
“Uh-huh...” Heddy responded dubiously to Lang’s reassurance.
She’d been too nervous about this dinner to even glance at the grant paperwork and business contract that Lang had brought. Now she’d spent the drive from her place to Cherry Creek asking questions about protocol. Was his grandmother called Mrs. Camden or did she have a different last name? Would the dinner be sit-down or buffet? Should she cut and serve the cheesecakes, or would some sort of kitchen staff be doing that? Did all of his family know who she was and about the previous connection with Hanrahans Bakery? Did they all know about the grant and that she was basically an employee? Did they appreciate having their Sunday family dinner invaded by someone who was going to work for them?
And on and on the questions had come until Lang had la
ughingly told her to relax.
“You’re not going to Buckingham Palace, you know. And we aren’t nose-in-the-air kind of people. Is that how you see me?”
It wasn’t. Not at all.
But Heddy didn’t answer him because right as he said that, he turned off Gaylord Street onto a stone-paved lane that led up to a house that made her eyes widen in awe.
The house was a two-story, brick-and-stucco Tudor mansion that curved in a semicircle away from a five-car garage. The steep roof was dotted with dormers and two brick chimneys. There were shutters framing all the windows and ivy growing up the walls to just under the gables.
The centerpiece of the meticulously manicured grounds was an elaborate fountain surrounded by the circular drive. A redbrick wall kept the entire property enclosed, and while there weren’t turrets or a moat, Heddy thought the house that towered above it all was very castlelike. And intimidating.
“It’s a little like a palace,” Heddy muttered in awe.
“Nah, it’s just a big old house. A nice big old house, but still, just a big old house.”
It was the kind of place that Heddy drove by and wondered what it must be like on the inside.
And who could possibly afford to live in it.
She’d worn one of her best pairs of gray wool slacks and a white cowl-necked sweater that Clair had given her for Christmas—what she considered dressy casual as spelled out by Lang the night before. But looking at the Camden mansion made her wonder if she was still going to be underdressed.
She imagined that, in a place like this, everyone else’s dressy casual would be designer labels—far better than what she had on. And she suddenly felt like Cinderella going to the ball without the benefit of a fairy godmother’s help.
“I don’t know about this,” she said.
Lang had parked behind the line of luxury vehicles that hugged the curb of the drive and turned off the engine. He didn’t ignore her alarm but instead reached over and covered her hand with his, squeezing tight.
“It’ll be fine, you’ll see,” he said comfortingly. “Think of this place as a frat house or a dormitory—barely big enough to handle the ten kids who ended up here. It’s just home.”
Hardly the three-bedroom, ranch-style, cookie-cutter track house she’d grown up in and had called home.
But having Lang’s hand covering hers was sending a glittery sensation through her that served as a distraction and actually did help. Despite the fact that it also set off a bit of a red flag because she liked having him touch her more than she wanted to like it.
That was something to worry about later, though.
“‘Just home,’” she repeated as if that might convince her.
“Come on, you’ll see,” Lang assured her, tightening his grip once more before he released her hand and got out of the SUV.
Lang unstrapped Carter from his car seat and lifted the toddler to the ground. Heddy got out, too, regretting that she’d let him persuade her to do this.
“ZsiZsi!” Carter said excitedly, running for the oak front door with leaded glass in its upper half that rose high above a wide, curved three-step landing. Obviously he was familiar enough with the place to also feel at home here.
But rather than follow the boy, Heddy met Lang at the rear of the SUV to help him unload the cheesecakes and carry them in.
The cheesecakes were in separate boxes, which Lang had stacked in two larger boxes to aid transport. He handed the lighter of the two to Heddy and took the one with more cheesecakes in it for himself. Slinging it onto his left hip, he closed the rear hatch.
Then he turned to Heddy, whose continuing discomfort must have shown in her face because one glance at her made him grin and shake his head at her.
“I’m really not taking you to stand in front of a firing squad. Honest, it will be fine—nobody bites,” he said, putting his free arm around her shoulders to urge her toward the house.
Having his arm around her was yet another distraction. A big one because Heddy was suddenly hyperaware of being tucked into Lang’s side, enveloped by that long, muscular arm.
But it was nothing more than a friendly gesture, she told herself. To bolster her confidence. It wasn’t a hot, hunky man who looked terrific in brown tweed slacks and a cream-colored cashmere mock turtleneck sweater putting his arm around her in some romantic way. It was just someone who knew she was nervous offering her reassurance.
Yet when they reached the front door and he let go of her to open it, she wilted a little in disappointment.
“ZsiZsi?” Carter called as he charged into the enormous foyer with its high vaulted ceiling and crystal chandelier that hung over a large round entry table.
To the right was what appeared to be a formal living room where people were mingling. An elderly woman was standing in the connecting archway. At the sound of Carter’s voice, she turned, bent and opened her arms, calling out an affectionate, “There’s my boy!”
Carter wasted no time running into those open arms and hugging her effusively around the neck while announcing, “I brought Zsorzse.”
“Then we’ll get out the monkey food,” the elderly woman said before she sent Carter into the throng of people and came into the foyer with a welcoming smile on her lined face.
“Hi, GiGi,” Lang greeted, kissing her on the cheek when she got near enough.
“Hello to one of my other favorite boys,” she said, winking at Heddy as she hugged Lang.
“And you must be Heddy,” the older woman stated when she’d released her grandson.
“Heddy Hanrahan, this is my grandmother—”
“I’m GiGi. Everyone calls me that and I barely answer to anything else anymore.”
“Nice to meet you,” Heddy said softly, taking in the sight of the woman Kitty Hanrahan had once expected to have as a mother-in-law.
Georgianna Camden was not more than five feet tall and had a grandmotherly shape—not fat but fluffy. She was wearing a mauve pantsuit that was classic but not stuffy. Her salt-and-pepper hair was short and curly around a face that still showed signs of glowing beauty.
Heddy wasn’t sure whether it was the Mrs. Claus pink cheeks or the sparkle in her blue eyes, but she exuded an earthy warmth and friendliness that went a long way in making Heddy begin to relax.
Of course it didn’t hurt that Lang was still very close beside her.
“We need to get these cheesecakes into the fridge, GiGi,” Lang announced, adjusting his hold on the box.
“Oh, we’re all looking forward to those! Margaret and I made space for them. Get them in the fridge before they’re ruined,” the older woman instructed just as the door opened and in came a man who resembled Lang, accompanied by a woman and an elderly gentleman, who went straight to GiGi and kissed her hello.
Lang made the introductions. “Cade, Nati, this is Heddy. Heddy, Cade is my cousin. Nati will be his better half when they set the date and get married. And that’s Jonah Morrison—Nati’s grandfather and GiGi’s friend.”
Quick greetings were exchanged before Lang led the way through the entry, past a wide, curving staircase with carved oak posts and banister. They ended up in a homey restaurant-size kitchen with a tile floor, tarnished brass lighting and plumbing fixtures, and pristine white cupboards.
“Wow, dream kitchen.” Heddy envied the space, which contained a commercial-size refrigerator/freezer, a six-burner gas stove with a built-in grill, double ovens, a triad of sinks, an expansive island in the center of the room for workspace and a breakfast nook large enough to hold a conference table.
“We spent a lot of time here fixing those dinners that gave me the mad chopping skills you saw at work last night,” he said as he opened the refrigerator and began to load cheesecake boxes into it.
When they were finished, Lang showed her a second way out of
the kitchen, leading them through a dining room set up for a buffet service and into the formal living room from a different direction.
More introductions were made—too many for Heddy to keep track of even though she tried. The one constant with every Camden she met, though, was that same down-to-earth warmth and friendliness that she’d found in both Lang and his grandmother. The Camdens had a true gift, Heddy decided, for casting off whatever status their name might carry. Lang had been right—there were no noses in the air, nothing intimidating about any of them. By the time Lang’s cousin Jani raised her voice to say she had an announcement, Heddy was beginning to actually feel at home.
“So, I know you’ve all seen me go through years of silly, unnecessary worrying about my sad single ovary,” Jani said when she had silence and every eye was upon her. The attractive man who’d been introduced as Gideon Thatcher was now standing beside her.
“In keeping with the theme of moving fast...” Jani said with an adoring glance at the man who was holding her hand and beaming back at her. “Not only did we meet, fall in love and get married within five weeks, but here we are, on almost our second month anniversary with another announcement. We know people say not to tell this early, but I just can’t wait. We heard from the doctor on Friday and...” She paused as if there was a drumroll, then nearly shouted, “There’s a baby on board!”
As cheers and congratulations were shouted and family members rushed the obviously happy couple, Lang leaned close to Heddy’s ear and explained, “Jani wasn’t sure she was ever going to be able to have kids and there was nothing she wanted more, so this is sort of a mini-miracle.”
The news put a lump in Heddy’s throat but she plastered a smile on her face and nodded.
Then she took a big drink of the wine Lang had brought her and prayed for strength to get through the rest of the evening now focused on celebrating the happy couple’s baby news.
An evening not too unlike one she herself had had with Daniel.
Once upon a time.
* * *
It's a Boy! Page 8
