This Little Baby
Page 23
Paulina stared at Gil’s implacable broad shoulders and hugged her arms around her. Without Mikey’s chubby, busy warmth, she felt alone and vulnerable. It had been a mistake to come. The bond of friendship and intimacy that had woven her and Gil together was already fraying thin.
The swing cranked back and forth as Gil went to stand near the green marble fireplace and rested his elbow on the mantel. “What about Ted?” he asked.
“I’ve identified the driver who killed him.”
She heard Gil draw in a sharp breath.
“It was Jean-Luc,” she went on quietly. “Remember his friend Alain mentioned he’d done some bodywork on Jean-Luc’s Mustang?”
Gil nodded.
“I asked Robbins to have the police lab run some tests. The paint fragments removed from Ted’s body match the paint on Jean-Luc’s Mustang.”
Jean-Luc killed Ted Gil swore softly under his breath, trying to absorb the shock of Paulina’s announcement. Relief at finally knowing the truth twined with anger at the man who’d destroyed his family. Gil’s gaze settled on a pewter-framed photograph of Ted, Cindy and Mikey, taken in the hospital the day of Mikey’s birth.
Gil couldn’t change what had happened. But there was some comfort to be had in the knowledge that Ted and Cindy would live on in Mikey. Gil silently promised his brother and sister-in-law that Mikey would never lack for love or attention.
Behind him, Gil was aware that Paulina was sitting quietly on the couch, her back taut, her hands folded in her lap. Now, of course, he understood what prompted her visit. He understood the gifts for Mikey and the thin veneer of tension covering her features that made her cheeks look like they were sculpted out of ice: duty. Her sense of duty required she deliver this bad news that anyone with an ounce of compassion could see had to be delivered in person.
The realization demolished the tenuous hopes he’d built in anticipation of her visit like an errant wind sweeping through a house of cards.
Gil swallowed the disappointment rising in his throat and glanced at the swing. Mikey’s eyelids were drooping. The kid had kept to his half of the plan; he was looking cute and he’d kept the drooling to a minimum.
“Considering that Jean-Luc tried to sell Mikey, I guess I’m not surprised he’d resort to murder,” Gil said finally, keeping his face turned from her. It was easier not to look at her, not to remind himself how beautiful she was, how much he wanted her in his life and Mikey’s life. How much he needed her. Panic trembled through him. “Just add your time to my final bill.”
“Your final bill has already been paid in full.”
What did she mean? He swiveled to look at her, wanting to pierce the artificial veneer concealing her emotions. “It was only half what I was expecting. No offense, but your math is way off.”
She tilted her dark head to one side and met his gaze head-on. Gil noticed with regret that the stars were gone from her eyes. She looked…bleak.
Paulina tried valiantly to hide what was in her heart. She couldn’t exactly tell him that you don’t overcharge someone you love. And she did love him. Being in the same room with him reinforced the fact. Which was all the more reason she should leave before this got any more awkward. At least her mother was in town this week, so she wouldn’t have to go home to a depressingly empty apartment. “My math isn’t off,” she said firmly, closing the subject.
She rose from the couch hating the fact that her knees wobbled, undermining the dignity she was struggling hard to maintain. “I should be going now. Mikey looks like he needs to be tucked into bed.”
Gil nodded, saying nothing.
There was nothing left to say between them, anyway; they understood each other perfectly. The irony of it left a bad taste in her mouth.
Though he walked beside her to the door, Paulina felt as if he was miles from her. He reached for her russet leather jacket, holding it for her as she slid her arms into the sleeves. Her nerve endings went on alert when his fingers rested for a fraction of a second on her shoulders, then dulled with discontent as he turned and opened the door.
A brisk November wind blew through the foyer, teasing at a lock of his dark hair as she struggled to come up with a word of farewell other than good-bye, which conjured up painful images of them making love. She finally held out her hand and whispered, “Take care.”
“I will.” His large hand engulfed hers. Paulina felt the warmth of him blaze a pathway through her veins all the way to her heart. She tried to withdraw her fingers to break the connection.
To her surprise, he resisted, keeping a secure grip on her. “Here’s the deal, Ms. Stewart,” he said quickly. “I love you. I love who you are and what you do. And I want to be with you. I want to look at you across the breakfast table every morning and think to myself that the best damn private investigator in the world is my wife.” His fingers squeezed hers. “I would never try to keep you from performing your job. Mikey’s my responsibility. I stay home with him. I take care of him. I don’t mind you flitting off to parts unknown at a moment’s notice. I can live with your life-style as long as I know in my heart you’re coming home to me, that I mean as much to you as you do to me. You’re so damn significant to me it scares me.”
He drew a ragged breath. “Hell, Paulina, I want to marry you. But if the idea of marriage frightens you, I’ll settle for a lifetime affair.”
Paulina’s throat was so strained with checked emotions she couldn’t speak. The sacrifices Gil was prepared to make stunned her. Did he truly love her that much? Then she thought of Mikey. As generous as Gil’s offer was…she couldn’t deprive Mikey of a real mother. A hot tear coursed down her cheek. “N-no, Gil. It just wouldn’t work.”
His expression fell and he dropped her hand as though she’d slapped him. She saw him grapple for his composure and her heart folded in two. He didn’t understand… It wasn’t fair that he be the one to make all the sacrifices. He needed a partner in every sense of the word
She cupped his cheeks in her palms, her voice quivering as she tried to explain. “I love you, but Mikey needs two parents, who have his best interests at heart. If this is going to work, I want equal opportunity hugs with Mikey. So, how about we compromise and share office space in the house? Maybe if you get me on line I can keep my agency functioning without having to be there every—”
He stopped her with a kiss that whisked the breath from her lungs and made her think it was time they christened his bed upstairs. His heart pounded against hers, the two patterns combining into a turbulent rhythm. Paulina kicked the front door closed with her foot and nixed the bed. The couch was much closer, and as an added bonus, they wouldn’t have to disturb Mikey. Gil’s fingers kneaded her back as if he were trying to assure himself she was real.
“How do you feel about getting married by Tuesday while my mother’s still in town?” she asked breathlessly, breaking the kiss. Not that she thought her mother wouldn’t come back for her wedding. They’d rekindled their relationship over the last few days. Sarah would eagerly embrace a grandchild and a son-in-law.
“I’ll marry you any day, any time,” Gil said huskily, wreaking a fiery assault of kisses on Paulina’s neck. “But what made you change your mind? You seemed so sure.”
“You,” she murmured, shivering with delight as a patch of goose bumps rose along her spine. “And my dad.” The prospect of being an instant mother didn’t seem nearly so scary knowing Gil would be with her every step of the way. In fact, it seemed downright exhilarating.
His tongue touched the lobe of her ear. “Your dad?”
“Mmm-hmm. He taught me that some things were meant to be…and you convinced me that being with you and Mikey was one of them.”
Gil chuckled low in his throat and lifted her against him, so she could feel the strength of his arousal against her belly. “And I’ll keep on convincing you for the rest of your life.”
Paulina gave a blissful sigh and locked her legs around him. She trusted him to keep his word. And she planned to enj
oy every minute of it. Particularly the part where they worked on a sister for Mikey.
eISBN 978-14592-6852-4
THIS LITTLE BABY
Copyright © 1997 by Joyce David
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone beanng the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention
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Table of Contents
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Excerpt
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Other Books by
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Copyright