Strictly Business [Stud Service 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Missy Lyons

  Nothing anybody said to him would want to make him give up on seeing Susannah again.

  Most anybody wouldn’t consider talking back to him either. “I didn’t ask you for your opinion. Did you find out her last name for me at least?”

  “That’s another thing. I don’t get you, Colt. You are head over heels in love with a girl—”

  “I never said I was in love!”

  “And you don’t even know her last name? I swear I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without something crazy happening.”

  “Nothing crazy happens to me.”

  “Uh-huh. That’s why the funding fell through. Or you couldn’t get the building materials sent from Miami in time for the construction to start.” Sam wasn’t going to give him an inch.

  “Those are all minor details and the reason I pay you to help me follow up on everything. I can’t do it all myself. So what’s the girl’s real name?”

  Sam rolled her eyes.

  “I have no idea.”

  Colt sighed in frustration. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously!” He ignored it when she rolled her eyes at him a second time. Some things you have to overlook to get the job done. “I still can’t believe you don’t know her last name, but I couldn’t find out for you because you let her stay in the guest cottage. There is no record of her reservations in the hotel computer, and no one seems to know who the hell she is other than she goes by the name Susannah.”

  He swallowed hard. Finding Susannah was proving harder than he first thought it would be. “I don’t know what happened to her, but I intend to find out. It could be she’s in trouble. She mentioned she was kidnapped as a child. I don’t know why, but it could mean something now, and maybe she’s connected to someone important they want to hurt.”

  “Or maybe she’s on a boat somewhere because she found a new millionaire boyfriend.”

  The very idea of her being with another man prickled his skin and caused the hairs to rise up on the back of his neck. He could stand to believe that she could do that to him. “Susannah’s not like that.”

  Sam smirked. “You don’t know what she’s like. You’ve known her for how long now? A few days or an entire week?”

  “She’s really sweet and not after my money.”

  “Okay, little Miss Susannah is better than that. What else do you know about her? I need a little more information to try to figure out who she is. Where is she from? What does she do for a living? You know—that kind of thing.”

  “She’s a scientist, and she was supposed to get on a boat next week to do research on the coral reefs for the next six months. I think she said she’s from Texas.”

  “Do you know how many ladies are named Susannah and live in Texas? It’s the South.” Sam’s mouth gaped open, and then she shook off her irritation and surprise. “Never mind. Can you narrow it down just a little for me? Do you remember her talking about a certain city?”

  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Oh yes, it was called Destiny.”

  “Now that’s something I can work with.”

  “So…you think you can find out who she is?”

  “If you ask kindly, I might could.” Samantha broke into a thick Southern accent.

  “Just do it.” He wasn’t in the mood to play games. He plunked the cell phone down on his desk and gave her an icy stare. “Whatever it takes. Find her.”

  “Yes, sir.” Sam made a mock salute and got up to leave. “Your wish is my command.” Then she grumbled on her way out of the office about him being impossible.

  He had faith in her, even if Sam questioned it herself. Sam was good at being able to do what others couldn’t, and it didn’t sit well with him that this might the last time he saw Susannah.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Time had passed since she saw Colt, and her heart seemed emptier, but somehow she made forward progress on her goals and life. On her next trip to shore she let her family know she’d need a new cell phone sent to her.

  They were glad to hear from her, and as much as it cheered her to listen to her sister’s voices again, she felt lonely.

  It hadn’t been long enough to tell if her one time with Colt was fruitful. She hoped for a pregnancy. Having his baby would give her something to hold on to. Someone to love. Something to remember him by.

  When her hopes were high, she purchased a pregnancy test. She had not real symptoms, no tender breasts, no sickness, but her stomach had begun to cramp.

  There was a chance it could have happened.

  She read the directions carefully, and it suggested she use the urine as soon as she woke up in the morning to test with to get a higher concentration of the pregnancy hormone.

  She followed the directions and waited hopefully for the extra blue line to appear.

  She hoped and waited for the full five minutes, and nothing happened. Her heart broke in two, and she cried alone in the bathroom. Waves of emotion she had held back over the last few weeks poured out.

  If she wasn’t pregnant, it was truly over. There would be no reason to contact Colt again. Nothing binding the two of them together, and the only thing she would be left with was empty memories.

  It was with a heavy heart she wrapped the evidence of her hopes in tissue and deposited it in the trash can.

  She sniffled before washing her face with cold water. A trick her grandmother had taught her to help make the red, puffy look in her eyes go away.

  The rest of the crew wouldn’t care if she was not pregnant. She still had a job to do, and she had to go out and tag sharks today.

  She was in paradise, and yet it felt like she was in a private hell because she wasn’t with the man she loved.

  Six more months of pretending she was happy, and then she could go home.

  She dried her hands and opened the door to leave.

  Work was waiting.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Colt was in the middle of answering his morning e-mails when Sam barged in his office and slammed a newspaper down on his keyboard.

  She had a smirk on his face that said she was very proud of herself. “Found her.”

  “What?” He was in shock. If she meant she found Susannah it could change his world. He couldn’t get that woman out of his head. No matter how hard he tried over the past few months. He snatched the newspaper up and read the headlines. Desperate Heiress Seeking Daddy. Below the caption was a picture of Susannah and their bodies entwined on a beach. Private areas were blurred out, but it was obviously taken while they were making love in the sand, and faces were clear. “What’s this?”

  “Susannah Gibson is a trust-fund baby, and her family is in the oil business. You didn’t tell me that, or I may have figured this out ages ago.”

  “She wants a baby? I don’t get it.”

  “Then read on. I’ve been investigating the truth to this before I presented you with the facts, but it’s in black and white. The Gibson daughters are all on a deadline to find studs or daddies to have a baby with. Last year the parents got irritated and reversed the trust funds until they went out and settled down somewhere to have a family.”

  “She would have told me.”

  “I don’t know. If it were me, I don’t think I would have told anyone. That would scare off every serious guy interested. Sorry, sir, I don’t want a boyfriend. I just need your baby-maker.”

  Sam’s cruel laughter twisted his heart. He had unprotected sex with her, and if she was just after that…

  “Do you think she’s pregnant?” he asked in all seriousness.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.” Sam held up her hands in disgust. “You should know these things better than me. Is there a chance she is pregnant?”

  Memories of their time together flooded his brain. Of all the times they were intimate, he didn’t take precaution one time, but once was all it took to get pregnant.

  He gritted his teeth. Damn it. After all his precautions, the same damn thing that happened to his brother was about to hap
pen to him. Susannah was probably pregnant, and that was why she disappeared so fast. She was hiding that fact from him. “Find her. I need to know.”

  “Yeah, I’ve already made an attempt to contact her family. They have shut down all outside communication because of this media thing. It’s going to take a personal trip out to Texas to see them in person, and as for Susannah, I have to assume she is somewhere on the Caribbean ocean.

  “Her family will know where she is. I am not worried about finding her at this point in time, but you have to tell me what you were thinking. You are always so responsible. You always have your shit together, and then she comes along.”

  He was angry, and he was prepared to take this to court if he had to get custody of his child. Susannah might be beautiful and seem sweet on the outside, but she was like every other woman he had met in his life. She wanted to use him and then leave him as soon as his usefulness was gone.

  He hardened himself for the coming storm. He was prepared to fight if he had to. “It was one mistake. I’m human, but it won’t happen again.”

  * * * *

  The sails swelled, pulling the skiff easily through the ocean waves. Susan had tagged three sharks that afternoon. It was a good day in her book. Now with the sun low in the sky, nearly touching the ocean waters, spilling a dazzling array of colors into the horizon, it was finally time to go home.

  Today when they went to shore, Susannah would be getting off the boat and going back to Texas. She would miss the bright, crystal-clear, green-blue waters and exploring the reefs here in the Caribbean, but she missed her house and her cat and her horse.

  She visited once, but it was technically Tennessee, not Texas, and it was to see her oldest sister get married. Since her oldest sister was married, her parents were happy once again and the pressure to find a stud was temporarily off of Susannah’s shoulders. Although she knew she had to keep looking for her personal stud eventually and the reprieve from the storm wouldn’t last long. Her parents were just as stubborn as she was, and once they realized their little game worked on their children, they would do it again.

  The boat was cruising at a steady forty knots until it got inside the harbor, then they slowed their speed dramatically. Susannah stood at the front of the boat, letting the winds lift her hair from her shoulders. Sea mist on her face and tears in her eyes. She loved the islands. It would be hard to say good-bye, but it was time for her to move on.

  After they docked the boat, two sailors helped to tie it down, and they set up the ramp for her to get off, along with the crew members who were scheduled for leave that weekend.

  Carl gave her a shell necklace earlier that day. It was a tradition to wear it when they walked ashore. It was a nice reminder of her duty to the sea she was leaving behind. The crew lined up, and she gave each one a tearful good-bye and promised to keep in touch with each one of them before taking her bags to shore.

  Her feet felt unsteady after being on a boat for the last six months. She walked, but for the first few hundred feet it felt like the ground moved beneath her. Even though she knew it was all in her head, it made her feel unsteady.

  This is when she would turn full circle and go home. She had called a cab to wait for her in the parking lot ahead of time. The dock was full in the late afternoon hustle and bustle of a small city. The weathered fishermen were unloading their catch, and the tourists were leaving the chartered boats. It was a mixture of every level of life and a cultural diverse melting pot.

  She shifted her bags over her shoulder and made her way through the small groups to the grassy parking lot. She didn’t see a cab anywhere, but between the battered cars belonging to the locals and the snazzy rental cars belonging to the tourists was an oddly out-of-place, black stretch limo.

  She froze. There was only one man she knew who owned a limo on this island and…“No, it couldn’t be.”

  Then her fears were confirmed. Out of the passenger seat in the back stepped a well-dressed businessman that she instantly recognized despite having had months pass since she last saw him.

  She was afraid of the consequences for having left him without saying good-bye.

  She was afraid of what he would say. What would he do? Why he was here now.

  She didn’t need to be hurt again.

  “Susannah, I bet you thought you’d never see me again.” She felt a heat flush her body when his eyes hungrily scanned her body. “Can’t say it’s a pleasure, but you do look good.”

  “What are you doing here?” She was ready for a fight, but that was the last thing he wanted to do.

  His voice grew deeper, more serious. “I came to talk to you.”

  She sniffed. “Why bother? What we had was wonderful—but it’s over now.”

  “Over? Not really. When were you going to tell me you’re pregnant?”

  She was surprised. Why did he think she was pregnant? “Who told you I was pregnant?”

  “A little birdy told me.” He frowned but stood still as if he were waiting to see if it was true. The stricken look must have made him think it was true. “I want a blood test.”

  Her sharp voice cut the thin air between them. “That won’t be necessary. I am not pregnant. I hate to disappoint you. Even if I was, it wouldn’t matter. I saw the way you were with your assistant. I know I am not the only woman in your life.”

  “Sam is my cousin. I really couldn’t stop thinking about you when you left me so suddenly. I’ve never had that happen before.”

  “I—” She stumbled over her choice of words. What did she say to that? She was so deeply in love with him after a week she had to bury herself in her work to forget him.

  “Why didn’t you return my calls?”

  “I couldn’t think straight after I was with you. I lost my cell phone, and then I really thought there was something between you and Samantha.”

  “No, she’s a good girl and she has a good man, but it’s not me. I’ve only got eyes for one woman in my life.”

  “Don’t do this to me, Colt.” Her voice cracked, and she turned her head to wipe at her eyes. Damn, was she crying? “I already had to get over you once. I don’t think I could be strong enough to do it again.”

  He reached out to her, placing his hand on her shoulder, and she shivered under his touch. At that, he pulled her body into his arms, hugging her close. “I know what you are facing. The thing about the baby and the trust fund.”

  Shocked, she faced his gaze. “How do you know about that?”

  “As soon as you left it was in all the papers that we were having an affair and you were desperate for a love child.”

  She sighed. Somehow she had hoped he wouldn’t hear about that. Her family had forwarded her the copies, and her father had professed his extreme disappointment in her behavior, but as embarrassed as she was, she knew it would all boil over and be forgotten the moment another millionaire playboy got his name in the gossip rags.

  “Let me help you.”

  “What are you saying, Colt?”

  “How about you get in the limo and we discuss the details on the way to the airport?”

  “How did you know where I was going?”

  “I talked with your family.”

  “You talked with my family?”

  “Just get in, Susannah. Let’s not make a scene out here in public.” His eyes pleaded with her to obey his wishes.

  She ducked down low and scooted over the white leather seat to the other side of the limo. He took her bags from her and placed them in the trunk before circling the car.

  He got in and closed the door behind them. He shifted on the seat until he was within inches of her and then placed his hand on her thigh.

  He waited until the limo began driving away to speak to her again. “If you are going to get pregnant, you should be married, and the baby really needs a father in his life.”

  “You have known me for four days, and I’ll be the first to admit the sex was good, but you are saying you want to marry me? It wasn’t go
od enough to commit the rest of your life for it.”

  “I can’t stand the thought of you having another man’s baby and I know what you did—what you were trying to do was get us to have a child without me knowing about it. I don’t want that to happen. I want to be there to watch my child grow up. I want to help him to learn to ride his first bike. I don’t want to be an outsider in my son’s life.”

  “I understand, but I didn’t want to force you into anything like this.”

  “Marry me, Susannah.”

  There was an intense look in his eyes, and she wasn’t sure she should take that marriage proposal seriously. It was impulsive. It was stupid, and at the same time it tugged at her heart strings. She wanted to say yes. “What? You’re insane! We barely know each other.” She suddenly pulled away.

  “We knew each other well enough to make a baby together.”

  “That’s different. It was strictly…business.”

  “I want the baby to grow up with me in my home, Susannah. If you won’t agree to marry me, then you are going to have a hard time finding someone else willing to do it. Not after the news hits the national gossip newspapers. No guy is going to put up with being a baby-maker.”

  “You might be surprised.” She sighed. She knew enough fortune hunters to know they would love to get her pregnant and attached to them for a lifetime, but she really didn’t want that to happen.

  “Why not? It won’t take long to get pregnant. You get to keep your inheritance—if you don’t like it you can let me raise the baby and you still get to keep your money.”

  “It’s not about the money, Colt.” She shouldn’t have to tell him about the personal details of her agreement with her parents. They wanted a relationship with their grandchildren, and if they didn’t get that, then they would find another way to control and manipulate her.

  She could never sign away her rights to a child even if they didn’t care. He wouldn’t want to give up a child anymore than she did. “I see your point now.”

  “Do you?”

  “This is just so sudden. I haven’t seen you for six months. How do we know we have something that is going to last? How do we know we even have the same chemistry we did?”