He bent to nuzzle her neck. “Does it matter?”
“We’re both pretty grungy.” She twisted her lips. “I could use a shower.”
He nibbled the skin behind her ear, coming down beside her and scooping her into his lap. “I hadn’t noticed.”
She sighed as he kissed his way around to her collarbone, pushing aside the neckline of her T-shirt to gain easier access. He slid a hand beneath the hem and stroked her breast through her bra, lightly pinching the nipple. She groaned. “Luc…”
The flush on her cheeks deepened when he slipped a hand inside her shorts, finding the soft fluff between her legs. She arched into his caress, her breathing ragged.
He’d been teasing earlier. He had every intention of giving her a quick kiss and then getting some business done while she was in the shower. But Hattie was smarter than he was. Clearly a kiss wasn’t enough.
He ripped at the zipper on her shorts, jerking it down and removing those and her panties in one quick maneuver. Seconds later, he had her beneath him as he settled between her legs. Hearing her chant his name in soft whispers went straight to his gut. Somewhere deep in the recesses of his brain he realized this was dangerous. This mindless, desperate urge to take her. But he couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to.
He entered her a bare inch and hesitated, his body racked with tremors. Her eyes fluttered shut. He touched her cheek. “Look at me, Hattie.”
She complied, her eyes cloudy and unfocused. He went an inch deeper, and they groaned in unison. She panted, her chest rising and falling rapidly, but she held his gaze.
Struggling for almost nonexistent control, he stroked her cheekbone. “We have to deal with this.”
Her head moved slowly in a gesture that could have been agreement or denial. “You talk too much.” She grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling his head down for a kiss. “Just get on with it.”
The breathless demand snapped his feeble efforts to maintain any kind of sanity. If she wanted it, he’d give it to her. No questions asked. He drove deeper into the hot, tight warmth of her, wanting desperately to make it last longer, but realizing with a sort of incredulous despair that he was losing the battle.
He gritted his teeth, holding back the scalding rush of pleasure. But Hattie’s sudden cry and his own body defeated him. He surged harder, blindly emptying himself until he felt blackness close in around him.
A long time later he rolled off of her and flopped onto his back on the plush carpet, staring at the ceiling fan rotating overhead. He felt Hattie’s fingers twine with his, and heard her voice, filled with unmistakable amusement. “Now I really need a shower.”
He laughed, stung by chagrin at his emotionally reckless behavior but filled with a deep, boneless contentment. He glanced at his watch and swore. “I have to make two quick calls. But I won’t be long, I promise.”
She leaned over to kiss him. “It’s okay, Luc. Really.”
“And was it okay that I took you like a wild man?”
“You were pretty intense.”
Remorse rode him for not even fully undressing her. “What can I say? You’re a temptress.”
She looked down at her rumpled clothes and rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah…that’s it.”
He stood up, and she followed suit as they each adjusted their clothing. Though he wanted nothing more than to drag her into the bedroom, he resisted the urge. Unless he knew for sure that Hattie was falling for him, he’d be well-advised to rein in his sexual enthusiasm.
But he couldn’t resist the urge to woo her. “Why don’t we go somewhere fancy for dinner? We can talk about your situation, maybe dance a little…”
Her expression was difficult to read. “That would be nice.”
“And we can relax by the pool this afternoon. I’ll get Marcel to serve us lunch out there.”
“Sure.”
He watched her turn toward the bedroom. “I could join you in the shower,” he said, consigning his phone calls to the devil.
Hattie shook her head. “Do what you have to do. We’ve got plenty of time.”
Luc let her go for the moment. She was his, body and soul. Perhaps she didn’t know it yet, but he would fight dirty if he had to. He wouldn’t lose her…. Not again.
Hattie stepped under the strong, stinging spray of the shower and luxuriated in the hot, steamy flow of water. It was amazing what twenty-four hours of deprivation could accomplish. She would never have made it on that TV survivor show. Never mind eating bugs; she would have begged to be voted off after the second day just so she could be clean again.
She dried off with one of the inn’s sinfully thick towels. A nap sounded appealing, but she wasn’t prepared to give up a day of sunbathing. Donning a robe, she returned to the bedroom and rummaged in her suitcase for the only swimsuit she had not yet worn. It wasn’t at all skimpy by today’s standards, but the shiny gold fabric clung to her body like a second skin. When Luc appeared in the doorway, his jaw actually dropped. “Tell me you’re not wearing that thing outside our room.”
She grinned, and then summoned a pout. “I thought you would love it.”
He strode toward her. “Love it, hell. When a suit looks like that on a woman, the designer’s only motivation is to drive men insane.” He skimmed his hands over her body. “Good Lord. It feels like you’re naked.” He smoothed her bottom. “Are you sure you want to go to the pool? It’s nice and quiet and cool up here in our room.”
Though the coaxing note in his voice made her knees weak, Hattie held him at arm’s length. “I want to go home with at least a semblance of a tan. So I refuse to be distracted by your masculine charms.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You think I’m charming?”
“I think I’ve made that pretty obvious this week.”
He laughed, and for a brief second, she wondered if he felt anything more for her than lust. His actions seemed to indicate affection, but nothing he had said in any context contradicted his earlier plan to make their marriage temporary.
She wanted so badly to say the words swelling in her heart, but she chickened out. It was still too soon.
When Luc’s cell phone rang she headed for the door. “You get that if you want to. I’ll be out at the pool.”
The concern in his words when he spoke with the caller stopped Hattie dead in her tracks.
The conversation was brief. Luc hung up, his expression serious.
Her skin chilled. “What’s wrong?”
“The baby’s running a temperature.”
Hattie sank onto the sofa. “How bad?”
“A hundred and three. It’s probably just a virus. They’re on the way to a pediatrician right now. Ana wasn’t unduly concerned, but she was sure you’d want to know.”
“I do. Of course.”
Luc eyed her. “What are you thinking?”
She winced, feeling ungrateful for all he had done. “Do you mind if we go home? I need to be with her…to make sure she’s okay.”
He nodded. “I thought as much. Start packing, and I’ll see what kind of flights I can find.”
Seventeen
It was almost midnight when they made it back to Atlanta and drove from the airport to the house. Leo was on hand to pick them up since they didn’t have a car. He and Luc sat in the front. Hattie in the back.
Leo looked over his shoulder. “How was Key West?”
“Very nice,” she replied, refusing to be baited.
The two brothers chuckled in unison. Hattie pretended a sudden interest in the passing scenery.
Leo helped unload the luggage into the foyer, shook Luc’s hand and kissed Hattie on the cheek. “Let me know how Deedee is. I’ll be at the office in the morning.”
As he drove off, Hattie yawned. Ana met them in the hallway, not waiting to be asked for an update. “She’s sleeping. The doctor says it’s a bad ear infection. She may need surgery to have tubes put in.”
Tears sprang to Hattie’s eyes, a reaction to fatigue and the thought of having her s
mall baby put to sleep.
Luc put his arm around her. “We’ll deal with that when the time comes. Thank you, Ana. Hattie and I will take it from here. You go get some rest.”
“If you’re sure. I wrote down her medication schedule on the nightstand in her room and the two bottles are there, too.” In the nursery, Hattie approached the crib on tiptoe. But Deedee was sleeping peacefully, her bottom in the air as she crouched in a ball on the mattress.
Luc touched Hattie’s arm. “I’ll bring our bags up. Why don’t you get ready for bed?”
Hattie couldn’t resist stroking the baby’s back. “She still feels so hot.”
“The antibiotic will take a while to kick in. We can set the alarm and give her ibuprofen during the night. Go on,” he urged. “You’re weaving on your feet.”
“Okay.” Hattie took a quick shower and changed into a nightgown that was pretty but not overtly sexy. Now that they were home, her thoughts were in turmoil. She hated that she felt like an insecure teenager again, wondering if a boy liked her. Everything had seemed so simple, so natural out on the island.
But now…back on Luc’s home turf, all her earlier reservations returned. Would Luc expect to share her room? Was she supposed to go to his?
The nursery was adjacent to Hattie’s suite. Ana and Sherman had slept in a nearby guest room while Luc and Hattie were gone.
When Hattie returned to the baby’s room, her steps faltered. She hung back in the hall, her heart wrenching painfully. In the room decorated with nursery rhyme murals, a night-light cast a soft, pink glow. Sitting in the maple rocker, his head leaned back, eyes half-closed, was Luc. And in his arms lay a sleeping baby.
Deedee was nestled against Luc’s chest, one tiny hand clutching a fold of his shirt. The contrast between the big strong male and the tiny helpless baby twisted something deep in Hattie’s chest. This was what Leo had feared. That Luc would fall in love with Deedee.
Luc himself had alluded to the fact that he understood the bond between parent and child. Clearly Hattie’s niece had wormed her way into his heart. Seeing the two people Hattie loved most in the world…seeing them like this made her realize that she had backed herself into a difficult, if not impossible, corner.
Luc didn’t believe in romantic love anymore. And Hattie alone was responsible for his cynicism. But if he loved Deedee, how could she take the baby away when the time came? How could she break Luc’s heart a second time?
In the dimly lit room, Luc crooned a soft lullaby, his pleasing baritone singing of diamond rings and mockingbirds. The tender way he held the baby was poignant.
Hattie made herself step into the room. “I’ll take her now so you can get cleaned up.”
Luc’s eyes, sleepy lidded, surveyed his wife. “Are you coming to my room to sleep?”
Wow. Trust Luc to cut straight to the chase. She steadied herself with a hand on the dresser. His meaning was crystal clear. But she had no clue how to respond. “Well, uh…”
His expression went blank, no trace of anything revealed on his classically sculpted features. “Don’t sweat it, Hattie. We’re both tired. But I’ll be more than happy to help with the baby during the night if you need a hand.”
Before Hattie could come up with words to explain the confusion in her heart, Luc gently placed Deedee in the crib, brushed by Hattie, and was gone.
Hattie rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands, inhaling deeply. Damn it. Had she hurt his feelings? His male pride? She hadn’t intended to say no to sleeping with him, but his artless question caught her off guard. This was uncharted territory.
They could no longer use a pretend honeymoon as an excuse to indulge in passionate sex. They were once again smack-dab in the throes of reality. Luc had married Hattie because she asked him to help protect an innocent baby. And perhaps because he could make Hattie dance to his tune and prove that she meant nothing to him. Did he also expect their physical intimacy to continue?
The baby was sleeping peacefully. Hattie made sure the volume on the monitor was adjusted and slipped out of the room, pulling the door shut as she left. Her big bed, which had seemed so luxurious and comfortable last week, was now a torture device. She tossed and turned, flipping the covers back in an effort to get cool.
She missed Luc, missed his big strong body snuggling with hers. What did he want from her? He’d seemed completely calm during their earlier conversation…not that it was much of a conversation. He’d taken her momentary confusion as a “no,” and Hattie hadn’t meant that at all, at least not completely.
Her befuddled brain had been scrambling to process all the pros and cons of maintaining a sexual relationship now that they were home. Ana and Sherman would know…and Leo, probably. Something like that was difficult to keep a secret.
So when the situation with Eddie was resolved and Hattie had to go, what then?
The next morning, Deedee was noticeably improved. Luc played with her for a half hour before announcing he was going to the office.
Hattie handed the baby off to Ana and frowned as she followed Luc down to the foyer. “You’re still supposed to be on your honeymoon. They won’t be expecting you…”
He shrugged into an immaculately tailored navy suit jacket, his expression impassive. “I’m back. Work will have piled up. I might as well get a jump start on things.”
Hattie couldn’t think of a thing to say to stop him from walking out the door.
As she stood at the window watching her husband’s car move down the driveway, her cell phone rang. After ascertaining that it was an unknown number, she answered. “Hello.”
“Mrs. Cavallo?”
“Yes.”
“This is Harvey Sharpton. I work for your husband, and I have good news.”
Hattie’s chest tightened. “What is it? Tell me, please.”
“Little Deedee’s father has screwed up royally this time. Another DUI. A hit-and-run again, this time involving pedestrians. Fortunately, no one was fatally injured, but the judge threw the book at him. And when we came forward with the nurse’s testimony, the one who heard Angela’s request, the judge granted you sole custody.”
Hattie could barely speak. “Thank you so much,” she croaked.
“There are some papers you need to sign.”
“I’ll call you and make an appointment soon. I appreciate your calling me.”
She sank down on the bottom step of the grand, sweeping staircase and put her face in her hands. The relief was overwhelming. She wanted to tell Luc immediately…needed to share her joy with the one person who would understand more than anyone else. But he was gone.
All day she rehearsed what she would say. Forty-eight hours ago, it would have been much easier. The Luc she had made love to on her honeymoon was far more approachable than the stern businessman he had reverted to upon their return.
When he didn’t make it home in time for dinner, her stomach sank. Maybe she was foolishly naive. Building castles in the air instead of planning for a future without Luc.
Finally, at eleven o’clock, she went to bed and fell into a fitful sleep. Something awoke her in the wee hours—a muffled thud, perhaps a door closing. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was already time to give the baby a dose of medicine. Without bothering to put on a robe, she stole down the hall in her bare feet and opened the nursery door. For the second time, she found Luc with Deedee in his arms. He was standing beside the bed, the infant on his shoulder, patting her softly on the back.
Luc was wearing nothing but thin cotton boxers. Despite the hour and her fatigue, Hattie’s body responded. It was conditioned now to expect searing pleasure, and Luc’s scent, his masculine beauty, triggered all sorts of dancing hormones.
He turned to face her, speaking softly. “I’ve already given her the medicine. I thought you were asleep.”
She shrugged. “I had a lot on my mind.”
Ignoring Hattie’s conversational gambit, Luc kissed Deedee’s head before laying her back in the bed
. He yawned and stretched, the corded muscles in his arms and chest flexing and rippling. “I checked her temp. It’s almost normal. You don’t need to worry.”
Deedee wasn’t Hattie’s greatest concern at the moment. Instead, it was the way Luc was acting…aloof, unconcerned—about Hattie, that is. She took a step closer to him. “I never meant to imply that I wasn’t going to sleep with you. You caught me by surprise, that’s all. Do you want me to come with you now? I’m glad you’re home.”
He stilled, his dark eyes opaque, impossible to read. His shrug spoke volumes. “The baby needs you.”
And I don’t.
The unspoken words hovered between them. They might as well have been an aerial banner tugged through the sky by a plane.
Hattie didn’t know what to say. It seemed as if he was trying purposefully to hurt her. And he was succeeding.
But she had learned a lot about him in the last week. Deep inside the coldly confident, unemotional man was a younger Luc. One who had been hurt repeatedly. One who had learned to shield his softer side. One who built walls. She took a courageous step in his direction. “The reason I wasn’t able to sleep is because you weren’t beside me.”
Luc teetered on the edge of his own personal hell. Hattie was offering herself to him, coming to him of her own free will.
He was almost positive she was falling in love with him. Women couldn’t hide things like that. Hattie didn’t sleep around. And even though he was her husband, she wouldn’t have shared his bed just for sex.
So why was he hesitating?
The dark knot of remembered pain inside him said, Do it. Tell her to go to hell. Tell her you don’t need a wife who’s been bought and paid for. Tell her you don’t want her.
Would she see through the lie?
Could he instead reach for the rosy future that seemed almost within his grasp? A wife, a baby, a happily-ever-after?
People he loved left him. His parents. Hattie. If he brought her and the baby into his heart and home and then lost them, he wasn’t sure he’d survive.
He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to grab her and pull her close. Instead, he shrugged. “We should probably reevaluate our relationship. See where things stand with the custody situation. I have a hell of a lot to catch up on at work…and you’ll be spending time with the baby.”
The Billionaire's Borrowed Baby Page 15
