“Yeah, I know. He already called.” Micah looked at Lilah. “She told him to calm down and then she hung up on him.”
Lilah actually felt herself flush as Reed turned an interested gaze on her. “Is that right?”
“He was shouting at Micah and I couldn’t stand it,” she said, throwing her hands up. “Shoot me.”
“Hell, no,” he said, smiling, “I only wish I’d been here to see it.”
Lilah grinned at him. So far so good.
“It was awesome,” Micah admitted.
When Connie brought the coffee and cookies, Reed turned his gaze back to his brother. Lilah felt Micah’s nerves and knew he was as anxious as she was.
“I don’t want to go back,” the boy said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. “I hate it there, Reed. They make you wear this dumb uniform and somebody’s always telling you what to do and the food sucks, it’s all healthy and you can’t even eat when you want to—”
He said that last as if he were being force-fed twigs and grass.
“And Mom said I have to stay there this summer, too, and there’s only me and two other kids in the whole place over the summer and it’s really creepy at night when it’s so empty and—”
“Take a breath,” Reed advised softly and pushed the cookies toward the boy.
Tears stung the backs of Lilah’s eyes. Sunlight glanced in through the windows and lay across the kitchen table in a puddle of gold. Rosie smacked her hands on the food tray, and Connie came up to stand beside Lilah, as if they were building a wall to defend one lonely little boy. The question was, would they need it?
“You can stay here,” Reed said, and Micah’s gaze lifted to his, hope shining as brightly as the sun.
“Really?” One word, said in a hushed awe that held so much yearning Lilah’s heart broke with it.
“Yeah, I hated boarding school, too,” Reed said, shaking his head. “It is creepy at night, especially when most of the other kids are gone. We’ve got plenty of room, so you can spend the summer here and we’ll figure out what to do about school in September.”
“Really? I can stay?” Micah’s voice broke and he wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands.
Lilah released a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. She should have known Reed would come through. Hadn’t she seen enough evidence over the past couple of weeks that he wasn’t nearly as detached as he pretended to be?
Reed ruffled the boy’s hair, then took a sip of his coffee. “I’ll clear it with Father and your mother. On one condition…”
Wary now, the boy asked, “What?”
“You have to get rid of that ugly uniform and start wearing jeans and sneakers.”
Micah’s bottom lip trembled, his eyes went shiny and in a rush of gratitude, he jumped out of his chair and hugged his brother. Lilah’s heart swelled as she watched Reed hug him back, and she shared a smile with Connie. Then Reed caught her gaze over Micah’s head and she could have sworn she saw another piece of his personal wall break apart and shatter.
God, she was falling in love. Reed Hudson wasn’t a cold man, she thought, he had just been protecting himself for so long, it had become a way of life. His gaze bored into hers and even at a distance, she felt the heated stare right down to her bones.
Yep, she thought. Love. There was no future in it. There would be no happy ending. Oh, she was in serious trouble—and the only way out was pain.
* * *
A few hours later, Reed reasoned with his father. “Micah can stay with me. He hates that stupid school so why keep him there if I’m offering an alternative?”
A part of him wondered why he was offering, but the more sensible part knew exactly why. He had been in Micah’s shoes and the memories were still clear enough that he understood just how the kid felt. Sent off to boarding school, allowed home only at Christmas and sometimes during the summer. Otherwise, ignored and endured until school started up again. There was no reason for Micah to go through it any longer.
Besides, the memory of the kid’s tears had been burned into Reed’s mind and heart and damned if he’d send his brother back to a place that made him miserable.
“We’ll spend the summer together and if he’s happy, he can go to school here,” Reed continued firmly, using the only tone of voice his father respected. “There’s a good school just a few blocks from here.” He’d made a point to check out the schooling situation before confronting his father.
“Even if I’m willing to let him stay, Micah’s mother will never agree,” Robert Hudson muttered.
“Come on, Father,” Reed said with a laugh. “You know Suzanna will be fine with anything that keeps Micah out of her hair.”
His father huffed out a breath. “True. I don’t know what I was thinking when I married her.”
Neither did Reed, but that wasn’t the point. Although he would admit that his father had wised up fast. He’d been married to Suzanna only a little more than a year. Then, the money-grubbing woman had disappeared from their lives. Thank God. “So you’re okay with Micah staying with me?”
“It’s fine,” his father said after a long minute. “I’ll call the school tomorrow, tell them he won’t be back. Then I’ll let Micah know.”
“Good.” Relief that he hadn’t had to make a bigger fight of it filled Reed. He’d been willing to go to battle for his younger brother, but the fact that he hadn’t had to made everything much easier. “How’s Nicole doing? Baby news yet?”
His father sighed. “She’s fine, but the doctor says it could be another two weeks.”
Hard to believe his father was still out creating children he never seemed to have time for. But Robert kept marrying much younger women who always insisted on having a family of their own.
“Tell her I said hello.”
“I will.” His father’s voice softened. “Thank you. I appreciate it. And on another subject,” he continued a moment later, “who told that woman she could hang up on me?”
Reed laughed. “Nobody tells Lilah what to do. She came up with that solution on her own when you were ranting.”
“Huh. Well, I liked her. She’s got spine.”
Amused, Reed thought that his father had no idea. After he hung up, he sat back in his desk chair and glanced to the corner of his desk. Just last night he and Lilah had been right there, wrapped up in each other, tearing at each other’s clothes, mindless to anything but what they were feeling. Instantly his body went hard as stone as memories flooded his brain. He groaned, shifted in his chair and steered his brain away from thoughts of Lilah to focus on his new set of problems.
Last month, he was living in a hotel and had nothing to worry about but his clients and the occasional call for help from a sibling. Now he had a house, a housekeeper, a baby and a twelve-year-old to think about. There was just no way Connie would be able to take care of the house and two kids. He was going to need a nanny. And until he found one, he’d need Lilah to stay on.
Though his body liked that idea, his brain was sending out warning signals. But it wasn’t as if he had a choice here. He had to work and there were two kids who needed looking after. Surely she’d see that and understand why she had to stay longer than she might have planned.
With that thought firmly in mind, he left his study, headed down the hall to Lilah’s room and quietly knocked at the door. The hall was dark but for the night-lights. Rosie’s bedroom door was cracked open, but Micah’s room was closed up tight. The house was quiet, almost as if it was holding its breath. Just like him.
She opened the door and the first thing he noticed was the scent of strawberries. Her hair was still damp from a shower and lay in waves atop her shoulders. She wore no makeup at all and she was still more beautiful than any woman he’d ever known.
His heart jolted in his chest as his gaze met hers. She wore a bright yellow nightgown, the hem stopping midthigh. It had a scooped neck, short sleeves and was covered in pictures of puppies. All different kinds of puppies, from
poodles to German shepherds. For a second or two he couldn’t even speak. Finally, though, he lifted his gaze to hers and asked, “Like dogs?”
“What? Oh.” She glanced down at herself, then shrugged. “Yeah, I do.” Then she frowned. “Is something wrong? The kids okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” he said quickly, easing the worry that had leaped to life in her eyes. He probably should have waited to speak to her until morning. But it was too late to back out now. “We have to talk, Lilah.”
* * *
A sinking sensation opened up in the pit of her stomach as soon as she heard those words. Never a good way to start a conversation, she thought, stepping back and waving Reed into her room. Lilah had one instant to wish he hadn’t seen her in her puppy nightgown, then that thought fled in favor of other, darker thoughts. She’d known this talk was coming.
Ever since the night before when they’d shared some truly spectacular sex, Lilah had been waiting for Reed to take one giant step backward. But it was all right because she’d already decided that the only way for her to deal with her new feelings for Reed was to leave. As quickly as possible.
She’d seen him in action now, not only with Rose but with Micah, and she could believe that though he maintained safe distances from most people, he wouldn’t be cold to children. His gentleness with Micah coupled with his willingness to let the boy move in with him had been the cherry on top of her decision. No one that understanding and kind would be anything less to the baby who’d been left in his care.
Reed paced the confines of the guest room as if looking for something. He raked one hand through his hair and then turned to look at her. “We never talked. About last night, I mean.”
“I know. But really,” she said, “there’s not much to say, is there?” Now that she knew she loved him, Lilah really didn’t want to listen to him tell her how there could be nothing between them. How it had just been sex—no matter how life altering. That he wasn’t interested in a relationship.
Why not just set the tone right from the beginning? She would be the one to say that she didn’t want anything from him. That she had no expectations. Just because her heart would break when she left him didn’t mean he had to know that.
“Seriously?” He looked surprised, both eyebrows winging up. Then he laughed shortly and shook his head. “Of course you would be different from every other woman I’ve ever met.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” It had sounded like an insult, but he looked almost pleased as he said it.
“It means—” he paused, pulled the curtains at the window back and let the moonlight flood the room “—that every woman I’ve ever spent the night with woke up with diamonds and wedding bells on her mind.”
Lilah laughed a little at that. Well, good. She was happy to be the one different woman in his life. At least, she thought, he’d remember her. If her private dreams were more romantic than she was letting on, they weren’t something she was going to share, anyway. Lilah had known going in that there was no future for her and Reed so why pretend otherwise? Why give him the slightest indication that she was disappointed? That she’d miss him? No, thank you. She’d keep her own pain private.
“You’re completely safe,” she said. “I promise. It was an amazing night, Reed, and I’ll never forget it, but it was one night.”
Frowning, he said, “Right. I just—never mind. Doesn’t matter. So, if we’re both clear on last night, there’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
Lilah sat on the edge of the bed, pulled the hem of her nightgown as far down as she was able and said, “Go ahead.”
“The thing is,” he said, “I’m going to need you to stay a while longer.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t expected that. Especially after last night, she’d half thought he’d hand her a plane ticket this morning and wave bon voyage from the porch. Which was, she could admit privately, why she had gotten up early and taken Rosie for a walk. She hadn’t wanted to hear him explain why he didn’t want her.
He walked closer until he stopped right in front of her. Lilah had to tip her head back to meet his eyes. In the moonlight, with his face half in shadow, he looked dangerous, mysterious and so very good. She took a breath and tried to rein in what was no doubt a spill of hormones rushing through her bloodstream. But it wasn’t easy, especially since now she knew what it was like to be with him. To have his hands on her, his mouth. She shivered and took another breath.
He scraped one hand across the back of his neck and said, “The thing is, now that Micah’s going to be staying here, I can’t expect Connie to watch over both kids and take care of this place all by herself.”
“True.” Lilah’s mind started spinning. She really hadn’t stopped to think about the logistics of everything. But he was right.
“I’m glad you agree. So look, I need you to stay—”
Her foolish heart leaped.
“—until I can find a nanny.”
And then it crashed to the ground.
Oh, God, for her own sake, Lilah knew she should leave. Not only had she left her business alone long enough, but if she stayed on here with Reed, her heart would only get more and more involved. And that would only make eventually leaving that much harder.
“So?” he demanded impatiently.
Lilah smiled. “You really need to work on your patience chakra.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Why was it, she wondered, that the man could look so completely irresistible when he was standing there staring at her as if she were speaking Martian? Everything about him appealed to her. From his gruff exterior to the tender lover, to the kind and understanding man he was to his siblings. Lilah was toast and she knew it.
She sighed and stood up, but kept a good foot of space between them. She wouldn’t leave him in the lurch. No matter that it might end up costing her, she had to at least help him find the right nanny—for the kids’ sakes if nothing else. “Okay, I’ll stay.”
He blew out a breath and grinned, never knowing what the power of that smile could do to her. “That’s great. Okay.”
“But…”
“Always a but,” he muttered, giving her a wary look. “What is it?”
“I’ve already been away from my business for two weeks.” Lilah had been spending two or three hours every day, checking online and then getting her employees to go into the store to fulfill orders. Her emergency system was working fine, but she’d feel better if she at least checked in, in person. “I need to fly home for the weekend, check on stock and have a meeting with my employees.”
He frowned thoughtfully, then said, “All right. How about this? We’ll all go.”
“What?” Laughing now, she looked up at him in surprise.
“I’m serious.” He shrugged. “Micah, Rosie and I will go with you. We can take the family jet this weekend—it’ll be more comfortable.”
Undeniable, she thought, since she hadn’t been looking forward to the flight home even if it was only an hour and a half.
“You can show us the mountains,” he was saying, “see your place. Then we’ll all come back together.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said, though she loved the idea of him coming to her town, seeing where she lived. Maybe it would be a way for her to remember him with her once this time with him was over. God, she really was a sap. Having memories of him in her tiny hometown would only make living there without him that much harder. And yet…
“I’d actually like to see the shop where you make all of the amazing scents that are always clinging to your skin,” he murmured, and lifted one hand to sweep her hair back from her face.
She shivered at his touch and held her breath, hoping he’d do more.
“Strawberries tonight.” He moved in closer, bent his head to her neck and inhaled, drawing her scent inside him. When he looked into her eyes again, he said, “I like strawberries even more than vanilla.”
Her stomach did a slow slide into h
appy land and her heartbeat jumped into a racing, thundering crash in her chest. Whatever her brain might be worrying over, her body had a whole different set of priorities.
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” she whispered when his mouth was just a breath from hers.
“Probably not,” Reed answered. “Do you care?”
“No,” she admitted and let him pull her down onto the bed.
His kiss was long and deep and demanding. His hands swept down to snatch up the hem of her nightgown and she trembled as he cupped her breast and rubbed her hardened, sensitive nipple. His tongue dipped into her mouth, tangling with hers in an erotic simulation of just what he wanted to do with her next.
And foolish or not, Lilah was all for it. If she had to give him up, then she might as well enjoy him while she had him, right?
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on when he rolled them over until she was sprawled on top of him. Then she broke their kiss and looked down into misty green eyes that she would see in her sleep for the rest of her life.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered, stroking his fingertips along her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Her heart felt as if a giant fist were squeezing it tightly and the ache was almost sweet. These few moments with him were all she would have. She wanted to remember everything. Every touch. Every sigh. Every breathless word.
When he bent to kiss her again, Lilah moved to meet him, parting her lips, loving the slide of his tongue against hers. The soft sigh of his breath mingling with her own.
Moonlight flooded the room, silence filled the air and—a long, plaintive wail erupted from the baby monitor on the bedside table. Lilah broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against his. Rosie’s cry continued to peal into the quiet and Lilah smiled sadly. It was like a sign from the universe.
“I think someone somewhere is trying to tell us something.” She gave him a sad smile and rolled off him to stand beside the bed. “I have to go to the baby and you should probably just…go.”
The Baby Inheritance (Billionaires and Babies) Page 12
